Talia's Planet

by Heather Lee Dyer

  "Very low power readings, no comm. We’re going to have to board her," he says grimly.

  "Be careful. Remember no matter what she says or how she acts, Captain Kae is dangerous."

  "Right. I'll let you know what we find."

  "Keep this comm open, please. Looks like the Council wants live updates." The familiar alert runs across my screen letting me know the Council is back on my computer.

  My stomach twists, and I feel slightly dizzy. I sit up straight. "Did you two feel that?"

  "Yes!" Doc whoops next to me. "They work. The engines are running."

  "And the upgrades? Are they stable?"

  I hear Doc typing frantically on the console. "We're flying at four times our normal speed right now. Everything looks good, and there's still a lot of power left. We'll keep it here until we test for stress and leaks."

  "Good job, all of you. Can I borrow the comm for a second?" the Commander asks me.

  "Of course." I scoot over so he can sit down.

  The Commander goes to a ship-wide channel and announces the good news and thanks everyone who worked on the project. After I pull up the big picture vid the Commander happily announces that the Migration hasn't pulled ahead of us yet and we're still going to be able to take the First Contact position along with the Blue Ridge.

  I perk up at that. I wasn't sure the two ships would still stay together after being modified. The Blue Ridge could easily go ahead of us. But we've already taken on First Contact supplies, so I guess it makes sense. I try not to get too excited, even though my body is humming with hope. Zayn might still want to live on the Blue Ridge, but at least he’d be nearby.

  "Guess it's time to update the Council." Commander Saj stands up.

  "Even though they've been watching this whole time?" I point to the indicator on my computer.

  "Well. Yes, even with that. Wonder how they did that."

  I shrug and enter a few commands to transfer all comm connections to my cube. I unjack and follow the Commander and Doc out.

  When we exit the lift, I realize the Commander isn't taking us to engineering. We're on the upper level. I follow in silence, trying to make sense of everything that's happened. Will the Council be all right with the decisions I had to make?

  We continue on through the bridge and sit down in the Commander's office.

  "Is it all right if I jack my cube in so we have the connection to the security ships on vid for you?"

  "Yes, here you go." The Commander shows me the port.

  I sit down, keeping my fingers on the cube in case they send a message.

  The Commander's computer buzzes. "Figures. The Council isn't quite ready yet."

  The vid above us comes to life. "Resurrection, this is Juneau. We're inside the Aurora."

  "What does she look like?" I ask as my pulse quickens.

  "We entered through engineering since it suffered the least amount of damage. The bio star fuel plant looks good, but the Aurora's engines aren't functioning at all. We won't know to what degree until we get in that area. Emergency power is on and we haven't found any crew yet."

  My palms are sweaty and I wipe each one on my pants. "So does it all look like damage from the asteroids?"

  "Yes, I believe so. Do you mean you're concerned about sabotage from inside?"

  "I would be prepared for anything, Captain."

  "Captain Wiles, this is Commander Saj. Are you able to access any of the command systems?"

  I nod. If there was sabotage that might be a good way to tell. Kae would've locked everyone but herself out of the secure systems.

  "I'll find a computer and try, sir."

  They leave the comm open while they move forward. Several of his men shout in the background and sounds of scuffling and voices are heard.

  "Can we get vid with this?" asks Doc.

  "No, just audio. He must not have had a strong enough connection for the body cams. Wish I could see what he's seeing though." Commander Saj starts pacing again in the small office.

  I smile to myself. Frustrating being blind, huh?

  "Wiles here. We've found a few crewmembers. No major injuries yet. They said that most of them buckled in when they entered the asteroid belt. We're going to head to the bridge. I tried one of the computers, and it wasn't responding."

  My smile fades. She's probably locked them all out. "Captain, we can always override the systems later, but we need to find Kae first."

  "Almost there. There's more damage at this end of the ship." We hear crackling and the sound of liquid spraying in the background.

  "The bridge hatch won't respond. I’m going to try forcing it manually to open."

  We listen to the sound of grunts and metallic scraping.

  "Got it open. There are only emergency beacons in here. Looks like all the consoles are dark. Except one."

  Captain Wiles swears. "Found Captain Kae."

  My heart stops. We hear noises from the rest of his team and more scuffling.

  "Captain? Are you all right?" Commander Saj asks anxiously.

  "She's dead. Looks like she hit her head on one of the consoles."

  "Are you sure?" My heart starts beating again. With every fiber of my being I want to see her. Make sure it's her and that's she's really dead.

  "Very sure. I'll take a vid and send it over the data stream. There's several other crew here that are also dead. One of them is her first officer. Shame."

  I slump over the cube in my lap hiding the tears streaming down my face. My whole body feels like I've been electrocuted and drowned all at the same time. Although this isn't the way I wanted it to happen, I'm finally free of Captain Kae. She can never hurt me or anyone else again.

  CHAPTER 24

  Drones

  After a complete sweep of the ship, the only dead were the three on the bridge. Commander Saj finishes giving the team orders on what to do with the Aurora and its crew.

  "Talia?" Doc asks softly next to me. "Are you all right?"

  I wipe my hand down my face and straighten up. "I will be." I give him a weak smile. “It’s just a lot to process right now.”

  “I understand. Just let me know if you need anything." Doc pats my shoulder.

  "Miss Jade, can you pull up the live vids of the ships around the Aurora?" Commander Saj asks.

  My cube vibrates with an incoming message. I quickly throw up the vids that Commander Saj asked for before creating another connection for the incoming message. The Council finally graced us with their presence.

  "Commander Saj, Miss Jade. Looks like we've got the Aurora back."

  The Commander speaks quickly. "Yes, Chairman Lee. Since we noticed you hacked into my ship's comms, I'm guessing I can skip the full update."

  I stop fidgeting and turn toward the Commander.

  "Yes, we've seen what's happened, but we want to know what you'll do now." Chairman Lee is polite enough to sound embarrassed.

  "As I've haven't had time to talk to my crew, I'm going to ask that we delay answering for a few hours. We've been through a lot these last few days, and we need time to do just that–figure out what to do next."

  We hear murmurs behind Chairman Lee.

  "Is there something wrong, Chairman Lee?" I speak up, almost not wanting to know, but sensing there's something else going on.

  "It's just that the Community Circles are still unhappy about not recycling the asteroid belt while we're here."

  I can’t help myself from rolling my eyes. "After we just almost lost one of our bio star fuel plant ships and two jump ships, they’re still worried about fresh minerals?" My voice comes out louder than I planned and I clench my fists. But, seriously?

  "Yes, even after the news vids reported the Aurora was damaged and several crew dead," Chairman Lee states simply.

  “And you and the leaders of the Circles explained all the details of what we’ve been dealing with?”

  “Yes,” the Chairman says.

  I bite my lip and pull up some of my engineering drawings
. Ones that I had worked on when we were redesigning Midpoint station. This might work to appease the people.

  "I'm happy that you're working with and concerned about the Community Circles now, Chairman Lee." My sarcasm drips thicker than I intend. But right now I really don’t care.

  Chairman Lee chooses to ignore my tone. "It has been beneficial to have these representatives help us to communicate our concerns to their people. We've had less rioting and have actually had some very productive discussions with them."

  Imagine that. People getting along better once they know all the facts and are included in the important discussions. I hold back an “I told you so” and swipe the designs from my cube over to the Council.

  "I'm glad it's worked out that way. It'll make populating our new planet a bit easier now that we're all working together without secrets." All right, I couldn't resist that much.

  "Anyway, I just sent you a project I worked on with some of the engineers from Midpoint station. It's a system of monitored drones we can leave at intervals starting with the asteroid belt and leading to our new planet. It'll create a monitored route for future trade to this area. Each drone is a travel beacon, data collector, and communication relay all in one. We figured that once we got everyone settled onto the planet, there’d still be those that have the wanderlust to travel the stars. There'll be people that will want to come out here and set up manned habitats, or small colonies. Then they can recycle the belt, and it'll add to our future world economy with trade and jobs. It’s a win-win situation."

  "So you hope that this will appease the people who want to recycle now?" Chairman Lee asks.

  I work hard to keep my face neutral. "Right now, we need everyone in the Migration to work together to colonize our new planet. We can't separate now that we're so close to home."

  Voices rise and fall as the Chairman discusses it with the rest of the Council. I mute them and turn to the Commander. "I hope it was all right that I showed them that project before I had approved it through you. It's been so crazy I didn't have time to show you."

  "It's a great idea, Talia. Doc here had already shared your general idea with me earlier." He chuckles, and Doc shifts nervously beside me.

  "Yes, well Doc was a big help in designing the drones." I grin.

  My cube buzzes under my fingers and I unmute the Council.

  "The Council has approved the drones to be built, programmed, and dropped at regular intervals on the way to our new home. We also, as always, agree that it's a good plan to keep our people all together, working as one, before we split off into the stars again. This idea should hopefully give the people something to look forward to."

  "Thank you. We'll get started with the drone plans right away."

  "Once the Aurora is back, we'll meet again to readjust our flight and navigation plans."

  I nod.

  "Thank you, Chairman Lee," the Commander says politely and cuts the comm. "We have a few hours before the others get back to the Blue Ridge. What's on your schedules?"

  "I'd like to grab something to more than a protein bar to eat and then check how close the Resurrection is to being finished." I stand up and stretch.

  “I second that idea,” says Doc.

  "Commander, that reminds me, I have one more thing I need to talk to you about."

  "Right. Of course you do." Commander Saj chuckles. "Let's walk and talk. It's been way too long since any of us had a bite to eat, I'd like to get something as well."

  I follow the Commander and Doc off the bridge. Once we're in the lift, I turn to the Commander. "I think we should officially rename the ship. The Resurrection is known for being the prison ship of the Migration. That's not what it is anymore. Not only does it carry the Biolab Zeg, it's going to be the First Contact ship. And it only has one floor of prisoners left. Since its mission and purpose has drastically changed, I think the name should reflect that."

  Commander Saj laughs. "I've been thinking about that as well. I've been on this ship since the beginning. And now I’ll get to see it make first contact with our new home. It's a great honor, and I have you to thank for that. You saw her potential as more than just a half-empty prison. You've filled her with purpose and with crew and families. It's full of life now." He grunts. "So what’s your suggestion for her new name?"

  "I think she should be called the Somerset, to honor everyone in the past and present who sacrificed and worked so hard to get us to this point. Their sacrifices along with the honor of being the first humans to step foot on our new planet will be a legacy that will not be forgotten."

  The Commander squeezes my shoulder. "That’s an excellent suggestion, Miss Jade."

  The lift door opens, and we step out.

  We continue at a slow pace down the hallway. "And do you have everything you need here, Miss Jade?"

  I stumble for a second but catch myself. "Of course, Commander. I love my job here, and I find everyone great to work with."

  "Captain Reyes was like a father to you, was he not?"

  I stop in the middle of the corridor, Doc almost bumping into me. The Commander and I have never talked about anything this personal. Is he having second thoughts about having me aboard? "Yes, of course. I'll miss him terribly, and everyone else on the Gryphon." I take a deep breath. "What is it that you're getting at, Commander?" I feel a familiar dread in the pit of my stomach creeping in.

  "I'm just making sure that you'll be happy here. Everyone you've known since your parents was on the Gryphon–Captain Reyes, your crew, your friends, and even your job."

  "I'll go ahead and save us seats," Doc says nervously as he hurries past me.

  Chicken. I hope I'm glaring in the right direction as I hear his footsteps disappear around the corner, leaving me alone with the Commander.

  "Are you doubting my place here on your ship, Commander?" My pulse thuds in my ears as I wait for his response.

  "No, not all, Miss Jade. In fact, I would fight any request of yours to be placed elsewhere." He laughs softly and starts walking again.

  I follow him, my hands fidgeting behind my back.

  "It's just that if you're going to be living on this ship, we ought to get to know each other better, don't you agree?"

  "Yes?" It comes out as more of a question than an answer. I'm totally confused by this conversation.

  "And you and Commander Mise's son are friends?"

  My hands still. "Yes. We've gone through a lot together."

  "And will he be joining us here?"

  My ears perk up at the underlying tone. Commander Saj knows there was more than friendship between Zayn and me.

  I shake my head. "I'm not sure, Commander. But I'm guessing Zayn will stay on the Blue Ridge, where all of his family and friends are." Saying the words out loud that I've been thinking about the last few days is terrifying. I find it difficult to breathe.

  "I can understand that, but I think he would benefit more from working with you and Doc."

  "You do?"

  "Of course. You and Doc make a great team and have worked to make all three projects successful. David is a great engineer, but if Commander Mise is the smart man that I know he is, he'll encourage his son to leave the Blue Ridge to escape his pilot reputation."

  "I appreciate the support, but I think Commander Mise would prefer that Zayn return to being a scout ship pilot."

  Commander Saj grunts. "Sometimes in order to move forward to what we strive for, we must leave behind what we've known. For example with you leaving the Gryphon. If you hadn't done that, you would've never accomplished all that you’ve done here. If Zayn really wants to become a great engineer, he might need to do the same. And we would definitely be proud to have him here."

  We reach the cafeteria door, and the noise prevents me from saying anything in response. As we walk through the line and get our food I think about what Commander Saj said. Why is he telling me all this right now? Does he want me to ask Zayn to stay? Does he think I still have influence over him?

&
nbsp; I pick at my food throughout the meal while listening to the conversations going on around me. Commander Saj joins us for the entire meal, asking each crewmember at the table about their week, their family, or how they're doing. I shrink a little as I realize that he wasn't singling me out–he really does care about all of his crewmembers. I smile as it also dawns on me that these people are now my new family. They're also the ones who I'll be working with and living with until we reach Planet 2. The only dark spot on this new future is the absence of Zayn.

  CHAPTER 25

  Surprise

  I decide that I'll be more useful to my team if I get some rest and start fresh in the morning. The corridors and lifts to my room are starting to feel familiar, and I smile as I let myself into my room. Even without Zayn across the hall it's still good to be part of this crew. I kept myself separate on the Gryphon by bunking behind engineering. It made sense then, when I was getting used to my new abilities and limitations. But here I'm happy to be part of the everyday activities of this crew. I don’t feel I have to prove or explain myself here. I haven't even felt insecure about the scar on my face.

  I sink into bed, exhausted but satisfied. I can picture in my mind the Midpoint station's new arrays as they communicate with the drones, which we'll start building tomorrow. Then we can get out of this system and head home.

  Images of water and trees swarm throughout my dreams. I wake before my alarm and again enjoy a hot shower. I let my hair dry down instead of just shoving it into a ponytail, and then I check my cube for anything gone wrong overnight. I relax, as it seems everything was calm while I slept. Our engines are stable, and the cosmetic repairs are almost done. The only thing left to do is to bring on the first contact supplies. I decide to make that a priority on my list for the morning.

  I grab my pack and throw my cube and space suit into it. I step out the door, throwing the pack over my shoulder.

  "Oooof." I run into someone standing just outside. This is becoming a bad habit, Talia. "I'm so sorry, I wasn't paying attention."

  Warm hands keep me from falling over but don't let go. "That's all right, I was waiting for you." Zayn's deep laugh vibrates through me.