by Kyle Pratt
“What night?”
“When Ferren tried to take us. I called to you.”
He remembered waking up with her voice shouting in his head. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
A single tear rolled down her cheek. “Tell you I’ve become a freak and a murderer?”
Naomi shook her head. “You are not changing. You are what you have always been.”
“The night I called you, the night I knew for sure that I was a Titan,” she took a ragged breath, “only seconds later I murdered someone and then another and another.” Tears welled in her eyes.
“You defended yourself. We all did what we had to do,” Justin stepped toward her. “I tried to kill Ferren. I shot….”
“You didn’t kill anyone,” she flashed the knife at him.
“Sis, what are you doing? Drop the knife.”
Haltingly, between gasping breaths and tearful sobs, her words came. “Titans are…savages…test tube creations…heartless monsters…they killed millions.”
Naomi shook her head. “That is what they were, but it is not what we are.”
Justin nodded in agreement.
She took a deep breath and a calmness came to her face. “I’ll never be a Titan.” She placed the knifepoint against her chest and thrust.
* * *
“How is she?” he asked.
“The external bleeding has stopped, but she punctured a lung and I am sure there is internal bleeding.” Naomi shook her head. “I feel helpless. Any clinic could treat her wound.” She sank into a chair. “It may be fatal.”
He sighed deeply and wiped his eyes. Hang on Sis. “I’m hoping the Titans will help one of their own.”
She frowned. “We are seeking safety and medical care amongst the worst mass murders in human history.” She paused. Her eyes drifted down. “I can guess how Mara must have felt.”
“And we have another problem. Surfeit, main screen on. Aft view.”
Naomi approached and scrutinized the display. “A ship? There is another vessel in the wormhole?”
“The Acheron,” he said with a nod. “They must have followed us in.”
“Look here.” She pointed to the pirate vessel’s bow. “He was hit, but not bad enough to stop him. What do you think Ferren will do?”
“I don’t believe he’ll fire on us now, too risky. He could destabilize the wormhole and kill himself. He’s greedy. If he captures us alive we’d probably fetch a much better price. He’ll get as close as possible so when we return to normal space, he’ll fire on our engines and thrusters.”
“What is your plan?”
“When we exit the wormhole, we’ll zigzag like crazy and hope the Titans don’t like pirates.”
With a frown, Naomi moved to the helm. “He is less than three kilometers behind us.” She turned to face Justin. “It will be nearly impossible to evade his weapons.”
Yeah, I know, it isn’t much of a plan. “When the time comes, do your best.” He stared at Ferren’s ship. “Speaking of time, when will we return to normal space?”
She looked at the navigation and FTL controls. “Without knowing our destination, I can only estimate, but it won’t be long—six hours maybe. You should get some sleep.”
He nodded. “I’ll check on Mara.”
Justin awoke seated at the end of Mara’s bed with his head resting against her foot. Slowly he stood rubbing his sore back and neck. Mara looked ghostly, but her quiet breathing assured him that she slept. Stay with us, Sis. I’ll get you help and find us a safe place. With the promise firm in mind, he marched to the bridge.
As he stepped into the compartment, Ferren pointed his finger, “It’s foolhardy to leave your bridge unattended.”
Justin gasped.
“If you want to kill yourself, I can help, but I prefer to take you alive.” He laughed uproariously.
Suddenly Justin noticed Naomi, eyes closed and motionless, standing out of the view of the communications camera. How did you get on my ship? He stepped slowly forward and then noticed a slight distortion of the pirates face. He sighed. You’re a hologram.
Ferren seemed to read his mind and laughed again. With a sweep of his arm he said, “Sit down. We should talk.”
“What about?” Justin directed his thoughts to Naomi. What’s going on? But, there was no reply. He moved to the captain’s chair and sat.
“I want you to surrender, of course.”
“Why should I?”
“You’re a Titan, we need to kill you.”
Justin glanced at his shipmate, pressed mute on the console, and asked, “Naomi, what are you doing?”
Keeping her eyes closed, she shook her head.
Pressing mute once more, he caught the pirate in mid sentence.
“…talk about it. Oh, and I must withdraw my offer of marriage to your sister. You do understand.”
Justin shook his head in disbelief. You married to her? Never going to happen. She’d cut off body parts you haven’t seen in years thanks to that fat belly. “I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately.” His voice dripped sarcasm. “I understand your situation, really I do. Why marry someone you’re going to burn at the stake in a few days.”
The pirate smiled. “Exactly. Now about your surrender,” A pained expression crossed his face and he rubbed his bulbous chest. “I would prefer you make this easy.”
“So, that’s your terms? I surrender so you can kill me—and my sister?”
Ferren frowned and rubbed his left arm. “That slave you’re so fond of might live. So, yes those are…”
“No.” Justin ended the transmission. His face felt warm. Does everyone know how I feel about Naomi? Turning to her, he asked, “Is everything okay?”
For a moment, she stood like a statue, then with a sigh her shoulders slumped. “I was out of view when he called.” She smiled mischievously. “I tried to give his overworked heart a good hard squeeze.”
“Give him a heart attack?”
She grinned.
“You can do that?”
The grin slid away. “Apparently not at this distance.”
Recalling Ferren rubbing his chest and arm he smiled. “I think he’s lucky you stopped trying.” He glanced at the controls. “How soon will we return to normal space?”
“Anytime now.”
Minutes later Justin bent over the captain’s console, straining against the seat harness. “I’ve brought up sensor displays. When we exit the wormhole you pilot. I’ll watch Ferren.”
Naomi nodded. “I’ve programmed in several evasive maneuvers.”
“Then we’ve done all that we can.” Justin leaned back in the chair and together they waited.
Justin stared at the chronometer before him and pondered the temporal qualities of the phrase, “anytime now,” Then forced his eyes to return to the sensor displays. His slow scan of the console halted over a slowly changing readout. “Ferren is closing on us.”
Naomi fastened her seat harness. “I am certain his sensors are better than ours. Most likely we are about to return to normal space.”
As if to validate her words, the sensors detected the wormhole event horizon. Stars appeared to break out from a central luminous mass and slide to various positions. Light flashed as Justin attempted to speak. The words choked in his mouth. Weightless and disoriented he floated against the harness.
The ship shot from the gate. With a thud gravity forced him deep into the seat.
Justin squinted at the screen. “What is that?”
The collision alarm sounded.
Chapter 13
Justin’s eyes widened as waves of wreckage swept past.
Naomi swung Surfeit hard to starboard as the aft section of a battleship rolled over them. Turning back to port to avoid other random ship parts of various shapes and sizes, she slid the vessel under the ruined superstructure of another ship.
More alarms sounded. A computer voice reported, “Hull breach, main deck, frame 52. Autosealing. ”
“We�
�ve been hit.”
“Ferren?” Naomi shouted over the alarms.
“Hull breach, main deck, frame 47. Autosealing.”
Justin silenced the alarms. “No, I don’t see him. It’s the wreckage. We’ve flown into a debris field. ” From the captain’s console, he sealed the airtight hatches. Again an alarm sounded. Again, he silenced it. Rubble of all sizes shot past them. “We’re getting pummeled by the smaller pieces.”
“Too many…too small.”
“It’s coming from the port side. Try to go with the flow to starboard. Match the speed and direction.”
She swung Surfeit starboard.
“Hull breach, main deck, frame 73. Autosealant failure. Reactor coolant failure.”
Justin cursed and unclipped his harness.
“Shut down the reactor,” Naomi called as she rolled their ship past a huge section of hull.
I know what to do. He stood as the ship veered violently. More falling than running, he landed with a thud on the controls. Rolling to the side he lifted the cover and yanked the Scram lever.
The mechanical computer voice declared, “Emergency reactor shutdown complete.” Then, with equal calm declared, “Hull breach, Engineering, frame 77. FTL drive failure. Ship on emergency power.”
Surfeit swung starboard and Justin, aiming toward the captain’s chair, slid, stumbled, then plopped back into it. The arc of a planet now filled the left side of the screen. “Is the debris thinning?”
Naomi veered to avoid a section of hull. “Yes…less now.” Seconds later, she fired thrusters and leveled off over the world. She turned away from the helm, breathing like a runner crossing a finish line. Her skin glistened with sweat, “That wreckage, what…where did it come from?”
Justin stood. “I don’t know, but I’ve got to check Mara.”
“What do you want me to do?”
As he quickly exited the bridge he said over his shoulder. “Listen for communications from the planet. Try to contact someone.” From the passageway he shouted, “If you can’t reach anyone, start sensor sweeps.”
As he entered his sister’s room his eyes locked on an empty bed with sheets half on the floor. “Sis, where are you?”
In the corner, a hand peeked above the bed.
He ran to her.
Ghastly white, Mara sat on the floor against the wall. “What happened?”
He lifted her onto the bed and briefly explained about the orbiting wreckage and damage it did to the ship.
“Seen Titans?”
He shook his head. “No, not yet anyway.”
“Leave now,” she took a ragged breath, “before they come.”
“We can’t Sis. We’re on emergency power. In a few hours we’ll be coasting in a powerless ship and after that…well….” He let the sentence die.
* * *
No transmission came from the planet, so for the next hour he and Naomi examined sensor logs and new information gathered as they orbited.
“Look here.” Justin pointed to the holographic display. “This is the view looking aft just after we exited the gate.”
Naomi moved close beside him.
“The display is paused now, but look what happens when I run it forward. See, there’s Ferren and…”
“He jumped away.” Her face had been somber since they cleared the debris field, but now she gave a weak smile.
“I guess he didn’t want to stick around and risk a collision with the rubble but,” Justin cleared the display, “I’m sure he’ll be back.”
“What is all the wreckage?”
“Apparently, it’s the remains of a major naval battle. The debris is in a decaying elliptical orbit around the planet. I can identify at least eight Earth Empire ships but, judging from the amount of rubble, I’m certain there were more.”
“Were they fighting Titans?”
“I can’t be sure, but since Dr. Galen sent you here and the sentinel ship and hologram were Titan, I’d guess that they were involved.” She shook her head and mumbled. “Did he really believe Titans would help me?”
Justin knew her question was rhetorical, but he shrugged in response.
Regaining her focus, Naomi scooted her face close to the screen. “What is this distorted patch of space?”
Justin checked. “The sensors don’t show anything, so it’s probably just an echo.” But it did seem to move with us.
“Your speculation about Titan involvement coincides with what I have found.” She called up a display of the planet. “There were six cities on this world. All sustained significant damage from large-scale nuclear explosions. Radiation levels on the surface vary, but average approximately 200 to 300 rems per year.”
“Is that deadly?”
She nodded. “Over time. Also, fallout and dust in the atmosphere appears to have cooled the planet.” She pointed to areas in the north and south of the world. “There are glaciers halfway to the equator.”
“If Titans lived here they are either dead or gone.” He watched her while she stared at the planet below.
She gazed at the displays for a moment. “The Titans are dead and so are we.” Slowly her head tilted up and their eyes met. “I’m sorry I led you down this path. You deserve better.”
“I have no regrets.” It was true, he had no misgivings about meeting her, but he did wish that they were both norms and could have lived a comfortable, ordinary life back in the CFS.
She plopped into a chair. “What should we do?”
“Tell Mara. She deserves to know.”
* * *
Sitting together in her room, they explained the situation. “So, it appears there are no Titans here, and the ship is out of fuel and will soon be out of power. I’m sorry Sis. I’ve run out of ideas.”
With a slight nod of her head she whispered, “Skiff.”
Justin turned to Naomi. “Can we use it to land on the planet?”
“Yes, there appears to be an intact runway, but as inhospitable as the planet appears it…”
“Is better than here. How long could we live there?”
“The radiation would probably kill us in a month, if the cold does not kill us first.”
“One month on the planet looking for a solution or two hours up here. I’ll take the former.” He kissed his sister on the forehead and hurried from the room.
As they packed what supplies they had into the small craft, Naomi said, “Death up here would be quicker and more peaceful.”
“Up here the only possibility is death.” He looked out the cockpit window at the world below. “Down there we have options.”
“Down there is a one-way trip. We can land, but without fuel we will never take off.”
He nodded. “Even if we did take off where would we go?”
“So we are buying only a little time.” She stacked the supplies she brought.
“Time to come up with another plan.”
“That is the last of the supplies. I’ll finish here, you go get Mara.”
Justin carried his sister to the skiff and, with Naomi’s help, gently laid her on a mat. Using cargo straps, they secured her as best they could.
“Stay here with her. I’ll fly us down.” Naomi moved to the cockpit.
He strapped himself into a nearby seat. “Hang in there Sis.” Reaching out, he took her hand.
She squeezed it as the docking clamps released.
Looking forward, through the cockpit window, the world below seemed soft and white. For several minutes, the ship fell in a quick, but smooth, glide. He watched as the sky slowly turned from black to dark blue. Increasingly the air buffeted the craft until the flames of re-entry engulfed the ship in a fireball falling ever deeper into the atmosphere. A lighter shade of blue greeted them when the fire died away. The craft shot through wispy clouds. Soon the billowy whiteness engulfed the ship. With each moment the air became thicker and more turbulent. Lightning crackled. The tiny skiff shook like a frightened child.
Naomi called over her shoulder, �
��Did I mention it might be bumpy?”
“No.” This is almost as bad as FTL travel. He looked down at his sister. Her deathly white skin unnerved him, but her eyes fluttered, assuring him she lived.
Looking forward, white clouds merged seamlessly with the snow-covered ground. The descent smoothed and gradually individual mountains and hills emerged from the whiteness. A fuzzy gray smudge came into view that slowly resolved into a hair-like line. “Is that the runway?”
“Yes.”
Seems narrow. Moments later, he felt a bump and the screech of the tires. Much to his relief they rolled down the icy smooth landing strip and stopped. The sun was already low on the horizon.
After checking on Mara he joined Naomi in the cockpit. He stared out at the frozen vista. How does the runway stay clear while snow and ice cover everything else?
To his right were, in the loosest sense of the word, ten or more buildings. Blackened by fire, windows broken and roofs collapsed, they showed little promise of shelter. He sighed deeply and wondered if landing on the planet had been the right decision. All I need is one intact hanger. “How much power do we have?”
“About eight hours.”
“Here is my plan. I’m going to go out and….”
She shook her head. “No. Don’t you see?” She gestured toward the window then glanced down at the console. “We don’t have winter gear and it is -36 degrees.”
“It’s best I find shelter before nightfall.” He stood and moved toward the back.
She followed. “Have you ever been in real cold?”
“Not like this, not freezing cold. Have you?”
She nodded. “We need to find coats, gloves, blankets so you do not kill yourself.”
There were no coats, but together they found blankets, wrapped them around his legs, torso and arms, and taped them in place. Justin found a worker’s cap that pulled over his ears.
“You look silly, but now you at least you have a chance.” She handed him one last blanket. “Hold this over your head and shoulders.” Looking him up and down she said, “I wish we had found gloves.”
“I’ll return as quick as possible, but I’ve got to find a place, a hanger maybe, where we can move the ship, find shelter and maybe power.” He stepped into the airlock.