“Priority One of the mission is to destroy The Mother and as many of her supply-SB’s as possible. Priority Two is, if possible, board the bitch, secure an encrypting machine codenamed Libra, in which all Silent Boat communication is managed so they can do ‘shark attacks,’ and leave without the enemy ever knowing we’ve got it.”
My mouth was dry. My hands were sweating. He finished with an almighty sentence:
“Do this, and the 2nd Fleet can go into the Dark Sea and turn this whole fucking war around.”
He put the cigar in his mouth and smoked, waiting, while my mind was jumping all over the place like a ping-pong ball. This was big. This was really big.
“That… The mission…” I started to say.
“Yes?”
“It sounds dangerous.”
He laughed out loud and chewed the cigar.
“It’s borderline suicidal!”
And, as he was laughing that devil’s laugh, that power-hungry danger-addict Navy-crazy scary manipulator's laugh, I said:
“I can see why she hated you.”
That was stupid! I knew it the moment I said it. That was a stupid, stupid thing to say. I could see his face turning into stone. The pain so obvious in his eyes. So real. What a stupid thing to say!
“I’m sorry, sir… What I meant was…”
I had to say something. Something honest. Something sincere. From the heart. I said:
“She loved you as well, sir. Very much. She resented you, yes, but she really loved you.”
His eyes were different now. Cold. Distant. He said:
“Well? Are you doing this or not?”
And I knew the answer already:
“Yes, sir. I am.”
He pressed the button.
“Good. Erbay will set you up. Be ready for him.”
Erbay came out of the bushes and unlocked the Admiral’s chair.
“I’m sorry, sir,” I said.
“It’s alright, lieutenant. Don’t worry about it.”
It wasn’t alright, but there was nothing else I could do. I saw them leave and then I got up and returned to bed on my own.
*
On my night stand, next to the bed, was an unfamiliar envelope somebody had left for me. I opened it. It was my discharge papers. It seems my doctors had deliberated and decided I could leave at my convenience. Yeah, right… Nice timing.
I didn’t really know how to get ready for Erbay. I just picked up all my stuff and shoved it into my bag. Finally, I left it under my bed and went to the library. Had just thought of something.
I came back to my bed soon afterward and ended up waiting for Erbay the rest of the day. He showed up when I was dozing off before dinner. He kicked my bed, just strong enough so I’d wake up. And I did. And looked at him.
“Pick you up tomorrow morning. 0700.”
“That late, hein?” I joked. 7 a.m. was kind of tardy for the Navy, in fact. I guess I’d sleep late.
“Just be ready.”
“Sure.”
“Uniform, I mean.”
“Okay.”
“Not a word to anybody.”
“Fine.”
“And don’t be cocky.”
“Fuck you.”
I had been ready for the last few weeks, actually. The fucking spook went away, and I closed my eyes again.
*
0700 hours. We were leaving a bit later than would be natural because the Admiral wanted to say goodbye to me. I’m glad he did.
“I’m sorry for what I said yesterday,” I told him.
“Don’t worry about it.” He smiled. “You’re family, and family members say these things to each other once in a while. That’s how it works, I guess.”
I didn’t know if he was being honest or not, but I assumed he was. Anyway, he was trying to be nice. I was moved. I gave him the book.
“Here. Some poetry. This was her favorite author.”
He picked it up and looked at it as if it was a strange thing.
“From the library?” He smiled.
“I don’t expect they’ll go find me out there for the return.” I smiled back.
“Don’t be so sure…” He joked. “Thank you, Byl.” He said. And he meant it. He’d liked the gesture. He looked into my eyes. “You understand your orders will be verbal only? You cannot take into the ship anything that will identify you.”
“Yes, sir.”
“You will be at Commander Erbay’s orders. You’re the captain of the ship, but he’s the mission’s CO and the mission comes first, is that clear?”
“Perfectly, sir.”
“Your ship is the Arrabat. It’s an adapted sloop-of-war.” He sat back. “In the old days, when we were still sailing on water, sloops were led by a particular rank. ‘Masters and commanders.' Knew that?”
“Not really, sir.”
“That’s before ‘commander’ became a rank on its own.” He played with the unlit cigar in his hand. “You will be captain of the Arrabat, but officially you’ll be promoted to commander, is that clear?”
“Yes, sir.”
In truth, I hadn’t even thought of a promotion. There were no ranking commanders in frigates or lesser ships. Commanders were ranking officers in larger warships.
“You’ll receive better pay, pension, and benefits.”
“That’s good, sir.”
“Your mother will get that if you don’t return.”
“That’s good, sir.”
He paused and looked at me with concern.
“Be careful out there, commander.”
I smiled.
“I will, sir.”
“Listen to Erbay. He knows what he’s doing. He’ll train you on the way. Listen to everything he says.”
“I will, sir.”
“She’s a good ship. Swift and smart. You’ll like her. “
“I’m sure I will, sir.”
“I picked out your officers myself. And all the men were screened by my people.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“So you’ll probably have a tight ship.”
“That’ll be great, sir.”
“Well…” He raised his frail hand. I got to my feet and shook it, as firmly as I could without harming him. “So long, commander. Off you go.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Work the land, milk the cows…”
“Harvest the crop.” I finished. “Sunrise to sunset, sir. Sunrise to sunset.”
We smiled at each other. I saluted. He saluted back. And off I went.
INTERLUDE D – SURVIVOR
Mirany understood the Harvy was in terrible trouble as soon as the second contact was announced. She had never heard of two Silent attacking a convoy at the same time, much less three. Inside a second, she thought of me, out there in the Loghi, she thought of her crew, but then she thought of the thousands of refugees holding each other in the bottom of the hulls.
“Torpedo! Going for the Fott, Captain!”
The Fott was right behind the Harvy. Mira looked back and saw the explosion being carried all the way towards them.
“Hold on!”
The ship shook violently. And then came the shrapnel.
“Damages!?”
“Hull 5 is badly hit, Captain!”
“Captain!” Called Zhany. “We don’t have comms with hulls 4 and 6!”
And Mira didn’t even hesitate.
“Zhany, you have the bridge! You know what to do! Krytia! With me!”
Mira and Krytia went down to the deck and climbed on a transport kart. In seconds, they were speeding towards the stern.
“I’m leaving you on 4.” Said Mirany. “Get the escape pods ready and organized. Children first. Got that?”
“Yes, Captain!”
The kart stopped next to H4’s gate, and Krytia stepped out. Mira grabbed her arm.
“Krytia! Thank you.”
And that was a goodbye. That was the moment Krytia realized the Harvy was not going to survive.
“Thank you, Captain.” She replied.
Mira accelerated the kart, and she never saw Krytia again.
*
Wolton, a short, thin young man, was the captain of Hull 6. He greeted Mira two seconds before the ship shook violently again from more impacts. They both held to the walls.
“Bad, Captain?” He asked, a few seconds later.
“Pretty bad, Captain Wolton.” Replied Mira with a soft smile. “We’ll be targeted very soon. We need to get the pods ready.”
Wolton went pale. And then he nodded. He took Mira across the hull, towards the emergency escape pods, giving orders left and right to any crew member he met on the way.
“Children first.” Reminded Mira, as they arrived next to the pod marked 6.3.
“Yes, Captain.” Smiled Wolton. “We have it covered.”
She looked back and saw a few children coming through one after the other, grabbing the shoulders of the ones in front. Wolton opened the pod door, while crew members guided the refugees inside.
“You have all the pods online?”
Wolton nodded.
“All fifteen.”
“How many people?”
“We figure 150.”
Mira swallowed hard. 150 people was less than 15% total. Less than 15% of all refugees would survive, let alone the crew of the Harvy. She looked at Wolton.
“One adult per pod. We need to do this quic…”
And that’s when the first torpedo hit them.
*
Mira woke up with a piercing headache. She had several pairs of eyes looking at her closely. Oh, the headache! There wasn’t much light around, but she finally could see the children around her. She was inside an escape pod. She looked back. The door was closed. The pod had been launched!
“Are you okay?”
One, two, three, four children. Between the ages of four or five and ten or eleven. Most of them, crying.
“How many…? I’m fine. How many of you… of us here in the pod?”
“Ten, miss.” Replied the oldest girl. “They’ve put six of us in those drawers over there.”
She pointed to the cryo-cribs in the walls. Mira swallowed hard. There was real danger in cryogenics. Especially for children. She tried to get up, slowly. The headache seemed to prey on her, to lean against her, but she resisted. She picked herself up. The little girl, the oldest one, held her arm, helped her up. Mira smiled at her, thanking her. She wanted to give comfort to the crying ones, tell them that everything was alright, but first, she had to see. She had to know. She approached the wide thin watch at the front of the pod. She was going to look out when suddenly she saw a shadow. Something coming from the starboard side, very close, getting between the sunlight and the small escape pod. A ship.
She looked, while her hand immediately picked up the emergency microphone. And then she froze. She looked out, and it was a Silent. An enemy ship. A slender dark figure. Very close, moving slowly, even though slowly, for small ships in Space, was too fast… She looked around very quickly. There wasn’t any other vessel around. None she could immediately see. She looked down, pressed the buttons, checked the sensors. Nothing close. She knew she couldn’t miss it. She knew she couldn’t miss the contact. It was dangerous either way, and she had to make the right choice. She clicked on the mike.
“Emergency, emergency! This is Emergency Escape Pod 6.3 from Webbur merchant ship Harvy. Do you hear me?”
Silence. No one responded. Mira could hear the children crying quietly behind her. She looked back. They were all in a corner. The oldest girl was closer to her. Looking up at her. Awaiting instructions.
“What’s your name?” Asked Mirany, softly.
“Hedder… But they call me Hedi.” Said the little brown-haired girl, no more than twelve years old.
“Hedi… I’m Mira. Could you help me with them?” Mira nodded towards the other children. “We’re gonna be okay. Could you help your friends?”
Hedi tried to smile and gave a little nod, before turning around and go comforting the others. Mira turned to the mike once more.
“Emergency, emergency! This is Emergency Escape Pod 6.3 from Webbur merchant Harvy. Do you hear me?”
Silence. She sighed and tried once more.
“Emergency, emergency! This is Emergency Escape Pod 6.3 from Webbur merchant Harvy. Do you hear me?”
And this time, she felt a click in the mike. A response.
“Who is this?”
An Axxian voice. A straight, cold accent.
“This is Emergency Escape Pod 6.3 from Webbur merchant Harvy.” She repeated. “Do you hear me? We need assistance.”
There was a law of Space. A law of assistance. Every vessel had to help one another. Even in war. Escape pods were helped. Taken in. They would be prisoners, but alive. Survivors. But then the other responded.
“I’m sorry, Emergency Escape Pod 6.3. We cannot help you.”
This was what she feared. Silent Boats had limited supplies. And they had missions. They didn’t take prisoners. There was the law. But they were outside it. They didn’t take any prisoners.
“Please! Can you identify yourself?” Asked Mira, feeling a sliver of desperation. “We have children on board!”
Maybe that would turn them. Maybe that would change their minds. There were children! In the name of all that’s sacred! There were children!
But then she heard the words:
“Good luck.”
And that was it. The Silent was gone.
*
Mira turned to the children. They packed together against the back wall, looking miserable. Hedi was the oldest. There was also a boy of about 8 or 9, and two others, obviously brother and sister, of about 5 years old. Mira sighed.
“Hi. I’m Mirany. And who are you? I know Hedi. But how about you?”
The children looked at her, frightened. It was Hedi who made the introductions, in a tired tone.
“This is Jona. He’s 8. And these are Uny and Goy. They are twins.” She turned to the younger ones. “How old are you? Six?”
“Five…” Whispered Uny, the little girl, showing an open hand.
“Nice to meet you.” Smiled Mira. “Well, here we are. I’m a Captain. This is our ship. You must be the crew, right?”
The children looked at each other, puzzled. Mira continued.
“Let me see. Hedi will be my X.O., my second in command. You know what that means, Hedi?”
The girl looked confused.
“No, mom.”
“It means that if I happen to be asleep, or I’m not around for some reason, you’re in charge. Every one okay with that?”
The kids nodded silently. Mira looked around.
“What do you think of our ship?”
Goy said something almost no-one could hear.
“What did you say?” Asked Mira.
The little girl stepped in for her brother beside her.
“He says the ship is a little bit tiny.”
Mira smiled.
“Yes, she is. Do you think we can handle her?”
The children nodded affirmatively again.
“How’s she called?” Asked Jona.
“The ship?” Replied Mira. “So far, she’s called Emergency Escape Pod 6.3. What do you think? Should we give her another name?”
They looked at each other, timid.
“Maybe… Maybe we could call her Janny?” Suggested Uny.
“Janny. Sounds good. Who votes ‘yes’?”
Everyone raised their hands.
“Very well.” Concluded Mira. “From now on, our ship’s name is Janny. Should we get to know her?”
*
The Escape Pod Janny was a small vessel with two different levels. In all the escape pods of the Harvy Mira had installed some features that made vessels like these considerably better than average. One of these features was the new, even though expensive, adhesive graviton floors. They gave the crew a sense of weight and attached a person to the floor, even though it m
ade it difficult to move, as if the floor was sticky and painted with glue. It was even powerful enough to have a mild gravitational effect on things in the room. Pens fell down, for example, although very slowly. Mira had the escape pods overhauled after the first convoy. After the first death. Loly. She had asked me to do it.
On the superior level, there was the bridge and the bunks, as well as a table with seats. The inferior level had no adhesive floors, so it was a 0-Gravity environment. On that level, there was a suit for space walks, an exit chamber, the engine access panels, supplies, and equipment. And also the bathroom, basically a cylinder where you want to use tubes and pipes.
*
For a while, Mira was able to keep everything under control. She instituted routines with military precision that always had the children occupied. They would take breakfast at the same hour, and lunch and dinner. They would clean everything every day, they would have a few hours of play and Mira would read to them from the digital library, and even let them see a movie or so. And they would carefully repeat the same routine every day. Then Mira would have a couple of hours for herself while the kids slept. She would check the route towards the Mirox over and over, check the engines, check the life systems. Only then would she go to sleep.
The kids displayed amazing discipline and restraint. She couldn’t imagine any kid from Webbur with this kind of peaceful manners. They rarely gave her any trouble even though they were sad and dazed for having lost everything they owned and loved. And even though they were locked down in a small lonely ship, they didn’t get bored or dismayed, they just endured. They responded very well to her, to any order whatsoever, and her routines seemed to work.
Supplies had not been meant for so many awaken people, but as most of them were children, they would last for a few weeks with little need for rationing. Every calculation told Mira they would take three weeks to reach the Mirox asteroid belt. After that, she was sure she would be able to make contact and signal for help. And three weeks… Well… They might just make it.
*
One day, though, when Mira was taking a rare shower after isolating the bathroom with the appropriate plastic sheet, she was interrupted by Hedi knocking on the cylinder.
Fighting the Silent Page 14