Edge of Solace (A Star Too Far)

by Casey Calouette

  “Not enjoying this, Captain?” Archie asked.

  “We should be done with this by now. There’s a schedule,” she said with the words trailing off. Her mouth remained open. Eyes grew wide.

  Archie turned his head back and grinned.

  A crawler mech descended upon one of the heavy striders and ripped it limb from limb. The feeds were wild as the Sa’Ami ground troops surged for position. The UC mech was precisely violent.

  “Hoo wee!” Archie shouted. It was invigorating to watch. His heart rose. Pride was his for now. He turned his head to Asa with eyes that beamed.

  Asa entered the room and rested her back against the wall. Color drained from her face.

  One of the guards pointed the tip of his baton at Archie and shook his head slowly.

  Pushing his luck, Archie decided, was not an option.

  The feed dropped out to an empty screen. A moment later it was replaced by an orbital view.

  “Is that it?” Archie asked.

  “No, we’ll burn the city from orbit.” Asa walked closer to the screen. The bluish-white planetary view reflected off her face.

  Archie shook his head and looked at the screen. “Why?”

  “We can grow another elevator.”

  The room was silent except for the background noise of the ship. Archie stood and walked into the bathroom. The polished stainless showed a face he almost didn't recognize. Pale, thin in the cheeks, a few days of reddish brown stubble dotted his chin.

  Thoughts of escape danced through his head. If he could get away now he could get to the elevator. Desperation strained as he pictured something, anything. He took a deep breath and grasped the cool steel of the sink.

  He felt something move. An odd feeling like the floor slipped. His eyes locked onto a single droplet of water on the edge of the sink. It shook slightly and slid down into the basin.

  “What?” he mouthed silently.

  Asa was standing in the same spot.

  Did he really feel it? He sat down silently and looked around. Something was off—he could sense it.

  Alarms sounded. Booming echoes shuddered the hull.

  Asa tipped her head slightly and turned to face Archie. Her mouth opened and closed. A confused look spread across her face.

  A hole the size of a man’s fist opened in the wall. A terrible bang sounded as the room was showered in splinters of alloy and stone. Everyone instinctively tensed and cowered.

  The hole whistled and hummed.

  Archie leapt to his feet. A smile grew on his face. Someone was shooting at the dropship! Then he realized he’d suffocate if he didn’t get out of the room.

  “Out!” Asa cried. She sprinted to the door and found it sealed. Vacuum alarms went off.

  One of the guards fell forward. A single stream of blood ran down his forehead. The other guard rushed to the door and gripped his palms on the flat alloy.

  “Don’t you have a kit here?” Archie asked. He glanced around the room and tried to think how much air they’d have. Not enough, he thought. There must be other rooms venting.

  “No!” she snapped back. “This was temporary. It must be an accident.”

  Archie ran across the room and lifted up the dead guard. His body felt heavier than he thought it should. He wasn’t as strong as a month before. He heaved the body and dragged it across the room.

  Asa spoke rapidly in a language Archie didn’t know. She stopped talking and looked at Archie. “What are you doing?”

  The body was heavy and awkward. Archie struggled to move it closer to the whistling hole. The vacuum leak seemed quieter.

  “Help me, dammit!” Archie yelled.

  The guard stood and pounded on the door. Asa ran next to the body and pushed it against the wall.

  There was a slight pop and the whistling stopped. Archie dropped back onto the floor and breathed in deeply. The air was just rich enough to give him something.

  “Hey cowboy,” Archie called to the guard. “Look at the alarm, the vacuum is on the other side.”

  The screen flickered. The planet view pivoted.

  “We’re moving,” Asa said simply. “Something struck us.”

  “No shit.” Archie said. “What’s your comms say?”

  Asa stumbled on the words. “They’re down.”

  A second blast rocked the ship. The floor shuddered. A roaring crunch boomed from every wall and beam. The view spun more and something blinked past.

  The shape was rough, large, and like a potato. Debris trailed behind it in a great train of particles.

  “What was that?” Asa whispered.

  The shape was gone from the view screen.

  “A powered asteroid. Where’s your pickets, Captain?” Archie knew the only thing that used a powered asteroid was a wildcat miner.

  “They left,” she whispered.

  The ship shook violently. The star scape on the screen changed instantly. A deep groan ran through the hull as if the very structure of the ship rebelled against the blink.

  “They’ll come for us,” Asa said.

  Archie looked at the Captain and had a hunch she was lying. “We’re going to need more air.”

  The guard slid down next to the door and mumbled to himself. Tears streamed down his olive cheeks.

  “That’s not helpful,” Archie said. He walked around the room and slapped at the walls. At each seam he ran a hand up and down.

  A slight whisper of air pushed against his hand.

  “We’ve got some time,” Archie said. “Air coming in here.”

  The baton rattled against the wall and Archie smiled. The odds were starting to look better. Now the only problem was where the hell would he go?

  *

  “Meestur Gratham! Meestur Gratham!” Faris shouted as he ran into the elevator complex. His fat arms flapped wildly above his head.

  A crowd of soldiers, Marines and sailors stood near the command post of the elevator complex. The controls and feeds were blank behind them.

  “Shit,” Yamaguchi said. Half of his armor was peeled off. He stunk like an animal.

  William stood upwind and watched as the fat Maronite slid up to the Ambassador.

  “Mr. Faris,” Ambassador Gratham said. The Ambassador faced the large man and smiled a smile only a politician could.

  The plump Lebanese huffed and strained to catch his breath. He took a huge breath and exhaled. Both hands were on his chest as if to restrain his breathing.

  “Kassub came in!” he said between heaves. “He left a mighty trail.”

  “Who is Kassub?” William asked. His ribs still burned intensely.

  Faris went to speak but was stopped by Ambassador Gratham.

  “One of Mr. Faris’s asteroid miners.”

  William stepped closer to Faris. “I’m Lieutenant William Grace, any word of the Malta?”

  He’d been hard pressed to stop thinking of the ship above. The blow the Malta took wasn’t necessarily fatal, but most definitely critical.

  “Eh? No, they just said they hit the Sa’Ami,” Faris said with a strained voice. He looked to Ambassador Gratham. “I shall send an invoice for the fuel and ore.”

  Gratham looked back in surprise. “What? We’ll see what your rock did, then the UC might repay a portion.”

  “Wait—what? Start over. What happened?” William asked. His heartbeat was rising.

  “We sent a message telling them to divert. Kassub, he was coming in to offload his ore.” Faris looked around and beamed. All eyes were on him and he seemed to be loving it. “So they burned as hard as they could and did a, uh, what’s that word? You use it to move little rocks?”

  William squinted his eyes and had an urge to slap the man. “Keep going.”

  Faris waved his plump hand and nodded. “On the backside of Canaan they empty all the ore, all that beautiful ore.” He paused a moment and took another deep breath. “So when they come by the ore is all around and whammo!” He slapped his palms together. “They hit.”

 
“Hit what?”

  Faris shrugged. “Everything.”

  “Can you talk to them? Do you have comms?” William shuffled closer to Faris.

  “Well, yes! Now about that payment, the Kassub has been out for quite some time.”

  “Give me the damn commset,” William growled.

  Faris turned and faced William. He raised an eyebrow and nodded. His hand slipped into his shirt and pulled out a transparent panel. “One moment.”

  William looked to Yamaguchi. “Sweep clear, LT?”

  Yamaguchi nodded. “Almost.”

  “We have reports of striders in the pines,” Gratham said.

  “We’ll pick ‘em out later,” Yamaguchi said. He ran his hand over his oily hair.

  Faris poked at the transparent screen. Sounds crackled and he shouted at his hand. “Shlamalukh? Shlamalukh?” His fingers poked and he shouted before the tinny sounds of a voice replied back. “Oh hey!”

  The voice on the other end spoke rapidly and in a language William didn’t recognize.

  Faris questioned the screen. His hands danced and gesticulated as he spoke. The excitement grew and spread as he spoke at the same time as the person on the other end.

  Silence spread across the room as Faris grew louder and stomped his feet. He drew a fat stubby finger and pointed it threateningly at the screen. “Aloho amich!” Faris nodded to himself and stuffed the screen back into his pocket.

  “Well?” William asked.

  “He says they should get combat pay. How ridiculous!” Faris shook his head.

  William’s face grew red. His temples pulsed and he began drawing together a stream of obscenities.

  Gratham laid a hand onto Faris’s elbow. “What did they say about the Sa’Ami, Faris?”

  “Oh, that? They blinked away, short hop, very inefficient. The Malta is still at the docking station. The rest of the ships are moving in.”

  “Rest of the ships? More Sa’Ami?” Gratham asked.

  Faris shook his head. “No, there is a UC dropship coming in with a few more ships. The rest of the fleet is heading across system.”

  “The rest of the fleet?” William spat. “Does anyone on that ship speak English?”

  Faris shrugged. “Maybe?”

  “LT! Let’s get prepped, we’re heading upstairs.” William said. He stalked off to find another nanite patch.

  “You heard the man! Reload and get a bite, we’re going for a ride,” Yamaguchi said.

  William peeled the patch off his chest and stuck on a fresh one. The pain had grown as the day wore on. Thoughts ran through his mind. The fleet was back! The dropship would be filled with the rest of Yamaguchi’s company.

  Thoughts of the Malta came to him. He wasn’t sure if he was happy or just relieved. Captain Khan had cast him off, but it was still his assignment. There would be a ranking officer in that fleet group that could set things right.

  *

  The room shifted and supplies piled in. Soldiers stood in suits of power armor with mud stained legs. Marines and sailors kept a respectable distance from each other. They began to load up on the bulk cargo car.

  “Excuse me,” a man said to William.

  William looked up to one of the largest men he had ever seen. The sheer bulk made the man—no, boy—nearly a giant. His face held a wisp of beard. His eyes were red and bloodshot.

  “Yes?”

  “I want to come with.”

  William cast a glance. Anabaptist.

  “This is a military mission, you can enlist later,” William said.

  The boys voice trembled. “My father died today.”

  William looked closely at the boy. “What’s your name?”

  “Abraham Yoder.”

  “I’m sorry Abraham, this is no place for a civilian.”

  Yamaguchi walked up with a dull clanking sound. His facemask was open. The smell of sweat poured out. “I’ve got eight suits operational. Oh hey, the kid with the axe.”

  William looked to Abraham. Recognition flowed across his face. “You struck down the Sa’Ami power armor with an axe?”

  Abraham nodded.

  “That was his father,” Yamaguchi said to William in a low voice.

  William looked back to Abraham and locked eyes. He knew what it felt like to lose a father to war. The thought of a raw civilian wasn’t something he liked. He wanted to say no, he wanted to boot him off and call an uncle. But instead: “Corporal Klein.”

  A wide shouldered Marine separated from the group and jogged over to William. He saluted and looked at the giant of a man next to him. “Sir?”

  “Get Abraham set up.”

  Abraham lifted his head up and stuck his chin out.

  Yamaguchi stepped closer to William. Both the men watched the large Anabaptist walk with the wide-eyed corporal.

  “What are you doing?”

  “We need the men, we’ll take the militia up top as well. Once everything is secured we’ll let them keep a watch,” William said. “It’s not unheard of to bring in locals when a crew requires it. Hell, sometimes they impress men into a ship.” He shifted his eyes away from Yamaguchi. The answer wasn’t exactly the truth. He didn’t want to admit that he didn’t know why he let Abraham come. Something inside him saw himself years before.

  The last thing they waited on was the militia. The colorfully dressed Maronites streamed in smelling of wine and bitter liquor. Maronite celebration and mourning came with a bottle on Canaan.

  Men shuffled and stood in the empty space of the elevator. Doors slid shut and the smell of mud mixed with overpowering body odor. Someone half gagged-coughed. The soldiers dropped face shields down. The sound of air purifiers running in the power armor brought jeers from the marines.

  The excitement rose. The feeling of the unknown. William remembered his trip on Redmond that seemed so very similar. Then they had to assault a ship, this time they’d just have to secure it.

  William thought back to Yamaguchi grumbling about the militia. He countered that some of the Maronites were employed, working with the elevator. They were technical support as much as back up. It was their planet and some of them deserved to take a part in this.

  Eyes darted out the slender window and necks craned. Everyone wanted to get a view.

  William waited next to Yamaguchi and wished he just could take a nap. His eyes closed and he thought back to Redmond once again.

  Fingers reflexively went to his chest. He felt the slender ration bar. He hadn’t been able to avoid hoarding food. Starvation was a constant companion even when he wasn’t hungry.

  “LT,” Yamaguchi said.

  William opened his eyes. They were almost there. “All you, Yamaguchi.”

  Yamaguchi nodded and slid the face mask down. The mud-stained skull mask looked even more intimidating. “Listen up! Armor with me, everyone stay here until we sweep.”

  William nodded to his Marines and straightened himself up.

  Outside the view was a rapidly dimming whitish blue crescent of light. Darkness was coming on the ground. The station came into view.

  Ragged gashes and scars gouged the length of the station. Each a dark brown streak that had moved parallel with the orientation of the station.

  The Malta hung motionless. The hole in the hull was like a shadowed scar.

  The elevator creaked to a halt and paused. A dim orange light blinked on the side control. Low atmosphere. Next to it the red light for no atmosphere was off. Compressors hummed in the rear of the capsule.

  Power armor streamed forward and brought weapons to ready. The suits were mud stained and carried tufts of grass. Bits of filth and debris still clung to the edges. They seemed out of place on the almost clinically clean elevator.

  “Minimum load,” Yamaguchi said. His hands slapped the charge lever. He nodded to one of the militia.

  The door opened. Cold air rushed in that smelled of apples and burnt resin. The power armor pounced out and the door closed.

  William paced in front of the do
or and waited. The comms were mostly quiet. The soldiers said little. In a few short minutes the all clear was sounded, but with a caveat.

  “LT,” Yamaguchi called. “We’re bringing suits, the militia is going to have to do some patch work. There’s a lot of damage here.”

  William relayed the information. Members of the militia stepped forward and waited for the suits.

  Another delay. He wanted nothing more than to get onto the Malta. That was his place. That was his duty, whether the Captain wanted it or not.

  The alarm sounded and one of the soldiers tossed in half a dozen maintenance suits. The door closed and the militia suited up.

  “Leaks over .5 CFM first, save the little ones for later. As soon as you have a balance let us in,” William said. He looked at each of the men and they nodded nervously.

  “Door’s sealed to the Malta,” Yamaguchi called back. “Want us to blow it?”

  “Hold on.” William yelled across the elevator. “Reed, Huron, c’mere!”

  The two Mars born Engineers pushed through the crowd.

  “Doors are sealed, know any tricks?”

  Huron looked to Reed. Reed nodded to William.

  “Get us to that airlock,” Reed said.

  “And we can open it.” Huron added.

  “My crew can, hold tight,” William clicked over to Yamaguchi.

  The door opened once more. The maintenance crew streamed out and closed the door.

  William was ready to tear his hair out when the alarm light flickered and disappeared. “Okay, here we go.”

  Abraham stood and walked to the front of the pack.

  “Abe. Stay with the militia.”

  Abraham nodded. The plate vest he wore looked comical as both sides of his chest squeezed out. In one hand he held a boarding shield and the other a pneumatic rifle. Both looked like toys.

  William was the first through the door. The smells assaulted him once more. Apples. Burnt plastic. A sooty acetylene tang made him want to sneeze.

  Marines passed him and secured the area. Not that they didn’t trust the soldiers but they had their own duty.

  By the time he reached the edge of the airlock, the Marines had taken up position on either side of Huron and Reed. A metal panel was slid aside. Slender wires floated out in the zero gravity. The pair of engineers were debating something.