Stone in the Sky

by Cecil Castellucci

  My gate was not too far from where the Humans were. I grabbed a seat and I watched. I was hesitant to approach them. I wasn’t ready to jump in and join just yet. I had barely been able to process Reza, Caleb, and Els, who had come to the Yertina Feray a year ago. Seeing an entire group of Humans together made me even more uneasy. They looked like a large family yet were totally diverse in their appearance. They had taken over their area with small tents as though they were camping there. If I was going to accomplish my mission, I needed to think about what I would say and how I would say it. I was dressed as an Imperium officer, so I wasn’t sure that I would be trusted. Seeing so many Humans together made me feel strange.

  Were they waiting for a ride? Had they come to Togni Station for a reason? Were they trying to get to Bessen? To the Earth Embassy, even? Or were they just between hitches?

  I stared at them openly as I thought about how best to warn them about how Brother Blue was using bodies to fake the colonies. Were they safer here in such a public hub or more at risk? What would I say? “Don’t get on a ship.” Or, “Don’t trust another Human.”

  I might as well say, “Don’t trust me.”

  One of the old Human men pointed at me, which made the others look. I had forgotten to be discreet. I noticed that the parents called their children to come closer. That answered my question. They didn’t like me, probably due to the uniform. I wanted to shrink into myself. I wanted to let them know that I wasn’t that much different from them.

  I was about to go somewhere and alter my outfit so that I could approach them when I noticed a group of three Human Imperium officers talking to the same alien who had pointed me toward the Wanderers.

  I saw the Imperium officers give the alien something and then walk over to the group of Humans. An older, large Wanderer woman with long gray hair went straight up to them and began gesticulating madly. It was clear that people here looked to her as a leader, although I knew from Heckleck that Human Wanderers did not have leaders the way that a planet or government did. Just journey leaders. At the end of a journey, a new leader was picked for the next leg. Heckleck had explained to me that in this way, no one person gathered too much power. She must be their journey leader and that would be marked on her.

  I moved forward to try to hear, but was afraid that if I got too close I would be caught by the other Human officers who would know I was an imposter. One of them, an older man who looked like he was in charge, was trying to calm the journey leader while the other two were making the Wanderers line up by age.

  The Human officer in charge made an announcement, and there was a bustle of activity within the Humans’ group. They separated about a third of the Wanderers. I couldn’t help but notice that the officers chose all the healthy young to middle-aged Humans; in other words, the best ones to start a colony with.

  My heart skipped a beat, perhaps Brother Blue really was building something on those planets?

  As the smaller group gathered their things, there was much hugging and crying and wailing. The aliens who passed the scene either ignored it or looked embarrassed by these lesser beings living such a ragtag lifestyle.

  “Humans,” I heard them mutter in disgust as they passed me by.

  I watched as the officers led the small group away, wondering if the Wanderers felt the way I did when I watched my mother and sister take off on the Prairie Rose without me.

  The announcement for the shuttle to the Jinjon was called, and I tore myself away from the scene and to the gate.

  “Will there be any Humans on this voyage?” I asked the Nurlok as I boarded.

  “No,” the Nurlok said, its whiskers moving when it spoke. “We just dropped off a bunch. They’re over there.”

  “Do you know where they were heading?”

  “Do you Humans head anywhere?”

  “Some of us do,” I said. I pointed to my uniform, grateful for its help in my lie.

  The Nurlok muttered a curse under its breath and time stamped my entry to the shuttle.

  I took one last look at the Humans who had stayed behind to wait for another transport, and I wondered what would happen to them, with a third of their group gone, only the old and the very young left behind. They still had each other, but gathered together on the dock, they seemed very alone. I saw the large, gray-haired woman who had been in charge leave the group and go up to a gate. She was probably trying to hitch, before anything else happened to them.

  I should have warned them. But I didn’t. I wouldn’t let another group slip by me again.

  It would haunt me.

  21

  As a lone Human, I stood out as strange and untrustworthy, so I kept to myself. I had to be as small and invisible as I could be. To be unnoticed was to survive.

  The Nurloks on the first ship left me alone for the most part, occupied with their own woes. There was no bartering here, and my currency chit was very low. Trevor was the only asset I had, but I didn’t want to sell him. It would be too dangerous to be completely on my own. I didn’t think I could bear it.

  I booked time on the communications array so that I could continue my search for the Noble Star. While I was there, I decided to send Tournour a message. Not wanting to use my own name, I used the false name that Hendala had gotten for me on Tallara: Safti McGovern.

  It was an inventory of sweets, salts, and waters. It was the only way I could tell him what ship I was on.

  Message: Tournour. Constable. Yertina Feray.

  Ship: Jinjon

  Species: Nurlock

  Water: Bitter

  Sweets: Low

  Salts: Heavy

  Inquiry as to return status?

  Two days later he’d sent me a message back.

  Message: Safti McGovern. Jinjon.

  Inventory: Empty without your goods.

  Status: Quarantine still in effect. Do not approach the station.

  Notes: In thanks for your attention and patience in this matter, please find currency wired from speculator’s account. This will be a regular drop. Looking forward to next status report. Hopeful for change in my reply.

  Receiving the cryptic message lifted my low spirits. I knew that the currency couldn’t be from him. Tournour was already risking his position by having contact with me. Transferring funds from his account would be too noticeable. It was normal to check in with ships about supplies that the Yertina Feray might need. These invoices could easily be buried in a mountain of similar paperwork. But the currency must have been from Reza. With his alin claim, he had enough to spare me an unlimited credit line. I kept my feeling for them both so separate in my mind that it was strange to know that they were still working together to keep me alive. I didn’t know how or when I would ever be able to thank either of them.

  I vowed that I would send Tournour a message from each ship I boarded to let him know where I was. I wanted someone to know where I was, or else I would go mad from the isolation.

  Meanwhile, there were hours to fill and nothing to do. To pass the time I played simple games with Trevor when I wasn’t near a window staring out at the streak of stars. My mind had weeks to meander, but I had to keep sharp.

  After two weeks, I left the Nurlock ship for a Dolmav one that was heading to the Nomi system where the last coordinates I had for the Noble Star were. But I knew that it had likely moved on. I hoped that it had left a trail for me to follow.

  “I’m sure they’ve been looking for you,” the Dolmav crewmember said as she helped me through the airlock.

  “How do you mean?” I asked, hopeful that there was news of the Noble Star.

  “We’ve got some Humans traveling with us.”

  The Dolmav must have assumed that I was with them and happily brought me down to the quarters where the Humans were. I felt eager. This would be my first chance to let the Wanderers know that they should steer clear of anyone claiming to resettle them.

  She banged on the door, and the quarters opened. These were not Wanderers. There were five Humans we
aring Imperium uniforms in the room. I had worried about being alone while I was traveling, and now among these Humans I was in more danger than ever.

  * * *

  “Hello,” I said when they all looked up at me as I entered the quarters.

  “Going out or coming back from a run?”

  “Going out.”

  “I’m Ashland. This is Blattberg, Cullen, and Digger,” the one who was a leader said. She was tall and blond and looked like she spent too much time in the Sunspa.

  “Safti McGovern,” I lied, using the fake name that Hendala had gotten me.

  “We’re coming back,” Digger said. He was a redhead covered with freckles.

  I nodded.

  “Got about 300 between us,” Blattberg said. He squinted when he talked and had a nasally voice.

  “A pretty good haul,” Cullen said. She looked like she was the smartest one in the bunch. I would have to avoid her.

  “I was hoping for 500,” Ashland said sounding disappointed. “For the bonus.”

  My stomach sickened as I realized that they were talking about Humans.

  “No one’s got 500,” Blattberg chimed in. “It’s too hard to track them down on ships, they skip around so much.”

  “It’s not like they’re going anywhere,” Digger said.

  “They could be, if they listened to us and stopped just roaming around aimlessly,” Blattberg said.

  “And then it’s not like there are that many suitable for colonization when you do find them,” Cullen said.

  I had already seen that they were taking the healthy and the young. The ones you’d build a real colony with.

  “What’s your best number?” Blattberg asked me.

  “Fifty,” I said, trying to come up with a non-competitive number. “I’ve only just started.”

  “Just in from Earth?”

  I nodded. “Where did you send them?” I asked.

  “We’re a Marxuach crew. You?” Cullen asked.

  “Andra,” I said, picking the colony that I thought was currently the farthest away from us. I took a side glance at Cullen to see if she was buying my lie.

  “You’re a bit far for Andra,” Cullen said suspiciously.

  “Like I said, I’m on my way out. I was just at Bessen for some intel.”

  “And then they sent you out alone?” Cullen said looking at me funny.

  “I’m not alone,” I said using my bartering skills to shift focus, I pointed to Trevor. “I’m meeting up with my group in two jumps.”

  “What does it do?” Ashland asked, going up to Trevor and examining it. I quietly sighed in relief that my tactic had worked.

  “It’s a mining robot,” I said. “I’m to give it to the colonies to help with the settlement.”

  I flipped some switches on Trevor to show how it could mine and perform simple functions.

  “You can see how useful these would be on a planet that you’re trying to break in. Good for mining, plowing, protection, entertainment. They’re going to bring them to every colony.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Digger said. They poked and prodded Trevor some more and somehow Digger managed to slide open a very hard to see secret side panel that exposed an orange button.

  “Don’t touch that,” I said, pushing his hand away from the button.

  “Why?” he asked.

  “It’s so that an operator can blow the unit to get through an especially hard piece of bedrock or in the event of a cave in,” I said.

  Digger put his hands down and backed away. I actually had no idea if that was something that Caleb had fixed, but I wagered he would have.

  The other Imperium officers nodded as though that made sense.

  “You’re going all the way to Andra?” Ashland asked.

  I nodded.

  “Going to start out and work my way in,” I said.

  “We’re going in concentric circles,” Ashland said.

  “They don’t always let me stop off at a colony, though. How often do you go to Marxuach? I hear they have beautiful lakes there.”

  I had no idea what kinds of lakes were on Marxuach, but I was betting that they had never set foot on a colony. I wanted some confirmation of my suspicions.

  “We don’t even have time to go to Marxuach. We just gather the Wanderers we can and put them on alien ships that Earth Gov has hired to transport them there.”

  Hired transports. Alien collaborators.

  “Different colonies, different protocols I suppose.”

  They nodded.

  “Where you from back home?” one of them asked.

  “Southwestern United States,” I said.

  They all chimed in with their home region. I noticed that when each person said their home, their eyes lit up. That’s what having a home did to you. It lit you up.

  I’d earned their trust, but I didn’t want to talk about Earth. I was going to be caught if I talked too much. They would know I hadn’t been there for years if I spoke about it.

  “I’m very tired,” I said. “Space lag.” They all nodded in understanding, and I said my goodnights and then zipped myself into my sleep pod. The Imperium Humans stayed up for many hours, and unable to sleep from fear, I listened to them as they played cards and babbled about their missions.

  They reminded me of Reza, Caleb, and Els when I had first met them. Young excited cadets making their way out into space. It made me sad that they had no idea that they were being betrayed. I envied them their innocence.

  They laughed at how dumb they thought the Wanderers were.

  “One fought me tooth and nail! Don’t they know that we’re taking them to a better life?”

  “I hear that all that space travel makes you stupid.”

  “It makes you stupid.”

  “Ha ha ha.”

  “Seriously, those Wanderers should be thankful that we’re out here rounding them up and giving them a home.”

  “They’ve been away from planet life so long that they’ve got some strange ideas about it.”

  “Did you hear that there was a group that went to Bessen to complain about the resettlement project?”

  “They are idiots. Good thing we’re here to show them how to be civilized.”

  “Which colony do you want to live on when your tour is done?”

  “Me? I want to go to Killick, the first colony.”

  “Man, I want to go back to Earth.”

  “I’ve already put currency for a house on Kuhn. They say that it’s greener than any place on Earth.

  It was hard to go to sleep to their talking. It wasn’t their fault that they were so wildly misinformed. They were ignorant, and I couldn’t help feel a bit sorry for them knowing that one day they would realize the horror of the lie that they’d helped to perpetrate. I wanted to climb out from my pod and shake sense into them. But now was not the time. Eventually, I was able to drift off.

  When I awoke, I waited until I heard them leave the quarters before I unzipped myself.

  I had to get off of this ship soon. The longer I stayed on this ship, the easier it would be for me to lose my cover. I went directly to the Dolmav First Officer to request a transfer to new quarters and then to the next ship.

  “I thought you Humans liked to be together,” the First Officer said.

  “Don’t you long for time away from your crew members?” I asked.

  He nodded.

  “I can pay,” I said.

  I traded everything I had with me in my bag, three Loor protein paks, an all-planet emergency blanket, some dried flowers from Tallara, and a piece that had fallen off of Trevor.

  Within an hour I had my own private sleeping pod and a simple child’s jumpsuit that fit me poorly. I commanded Trevor to stand guard.

  Then I went and sent my message to Tournour on the Yertina Feray.

  Message to Tournour.

  Message: Tournour. Constable. Yertina Feray.

  Ship: Snake’s Kiss

  Species: Dolmav

  W
ater: Stagnant

  Sweets: Half

  Salts: One

  Inquiry about quarantine?

  And another message in bottle to Caleb and the Noble Star.

  Message to Noble Star from Tula Bane

  Seeking: Passenger Caleb Kamil

  Request: Rendezvous point

  It was five days before I got a message back from Tournour.

  Message: Safti McGovern. Snake’s Kiss.

  Inventory: Zero Zero Zero.

  Status: Blue

  Notes: Wind season just begun. Associate safe.

  22

  Between the difficulty of travel, the sporadic messages from Tournour, the failure to hail or pinpoint a location for the Noble Star, and the crushing loneliness unlike I had ever known before, I was beginning to get discouraged.

  I felt doomed to flail through space like a cork on an ocean. Not having an end in sight, just following the tides of where the ships ebbed and flowed.

  The search for Humans was time consuming and exhausting. It took me two more jumps before I hit a ship that had Wanderers on it.

  I learned that every ship was different. Some had comfortable quarters. Some had sleep pods. Some had full crews. Some had skeleton crews. Some were large and new. Some were old and could barely run.

  All of them were like dropping into mini-worlds with politics and hierarchies that I didn’t understand or belong to.

  The view was always slightly different or dark on the different ships. While on the Yertina Feray I could feel the gradual spin of the station; with each ship I traveled on, I could feel it gaining speed and slowing down. What I liked on them all was the blur of the stars through the windows as we were moving forward.

  Forward.

  It was something I hadn’t done in so long. I had been so stuck.

  Trevor played me music. Trevor played simple games with me. Trevor played the shipping news. But it was a poor substitute for a friend. I missed having friends. I wondered about Thado and the arboretum. I tried to imagine Tournour’s day-to-day rounds. I pictured Reza braving the windy season on Quint.

  So when the Per crew members confirmed that there were Wanderers in the lower decks, a part of me had hoped that I could at least be social for this part of the journey.