Dani shifted uncomfortably under Patrick’s gaze. She knew her father had struggled after her mother’s mysterious disappearance, but he had tried his best to hide it from her. “What do you mean?”
Patrick pressed his lips together and glanced over Dani’s shoulder back at the crew. “This isn’t the time or the place to discuss this.”
Dani bit her tongue, unhappy with the answer. She turned to walk back to her crew. Their wide-eyed expressions told her that they heard at least part of the argument. She prepared herself for a barrage of questions as she neared them.
Zadria immediately ran off toward Patrick.
“More coffee?” Cassia asked before darting off.
“I’m going to go help her,” Cruz signed before trailing after her.
“Howard, we need you over here,” a technician called from across the room.
Howard looked relieved as he scuttled away.
“Let’s hear it.” Dani sighed.
“Hear what?” Jag shrugged.
“I’m sure you’ve got somewhere to be.”
“Nah.” Jag sipped his coffee. “I’ll tell ya what though. I don’t like that guy.”
Dani looked over her shoulder at Patrick and Zadria before turning to face Jag again. “And her?”
“Well, that’s a different story.” Jag winked.
Dani rolled her eyes and lifted herself onto a crate next to where Jag was standing. “They don’t trust us.”
“Well...” Jag shrugged. “Do you blame them? Things don’t exactly look good from the outside looking in.”
Dani frowned at him.
“Hey now, don’t get angry with me. This isn’t my doing.” Jag held up his hands defensively. “I’m just saying, there was a lot of so-called ‘evidence’ against you. I don’t think you realize how much people hate us.”
Dani shifted in her seat, glancing around the hangar at the various groups. “Maybe.”
“No ‘maybe’ about it, love. I lived it. I’m sure you had your share of shit being locked up, but things weren’t easy on the outside either. We’ve all had a pretty rough go since the trial. It’s hard being out there without your crew, you know. Sometimes you feel just so...”
“Alone?” Dani asked after he trailed off.
Jag chuckled. “Well, not alone alone. I had plenty of company. Just not the company I wanted per se. It’s hard to get by on just the memories of the good ol’ days with nothing to look forward to.”
“We did have some good times.” Dani smiled fondly.
“And we will again. Just quit pissing off Mr. Big Shot over there, and his lackey. Half the crap that comes out of his mouth is bullshit and you know it. No point in trying to set him straight. Even though the Houston is off grid, he’s still just another GC drone.”
“Kind of weird when you say it like that.” Dani laughed quietly.
“Like what?”
“It wasn’t even a year ago when we were GC drones.”
“Well, not on that level though.” Jag swung his coffee toward Patrick. “I mean, we got the job done, sure. But it was usually on our terms. We just made it difficult for them to give us a good tongue lashing because we always managed to do what no one else could.”
Dani nodded as Cruz and Cassia finally rejoined them.
“Is everything alright?” Cassia asked, handing Dani another black coffee.
“Yeah, I just need to quit letting Patrick push my buttons.” Dani took the fresh drink, setting aside the cooler one she hadn’t even finished. “Thank you.”
“You know, despite what everyone else thinks, we stand by you, Dani,” Cassia said. “We know you’re innocent, otherwise we wouldn’t be here.”
Dani returned her smile. “It’s just hard to relax anymore. It’s like they’re all waiting for us to betray them.”
“Boy, are they going to feel stupid when they realize we’re the good guys,”. Cruz signed.
Dani and her crew laughed together, and she felt the tension release from all of them.
“I love you guys. I hope you know that.” Dani hopped off the crate and headed toward Howard and the technician.
“I just don’t understand,” Howard mumbled to the technician as Dani approached them from behind.
“Something wrong?” she asked.
Howard turned around, his face puzzled. “There just seems to be a problem with the weapons and shielding systems. Everything had been manually disarmed. If Steve here hadn’t triple checked everything, we would have missed it.”
Dani frowned. “You should probably tell Patrick.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Steve jogged in Patrick’s direction.
Dani watched him leave before turning to Howard. “Someone’s trying to sabotage us?”
Howard sighed. “It appears that way, but I don’t know. It is a prototype and the activation protocols are different than other GC ships. It could have been an honest mistake.”
Dani pursed her lips momentarily before lowering her voice, “Something feels off about this.”
Howard nodded. “I agree. Let’s see how Patrick handles it.”
Patrick was making his way toward them, Zadria in tow. “You’re certain?”
“Yes, sir. One hundred percent.” Steve pulled up his console and accessed the schematics. “The systems were shut down here, and here.”
“So, it was done from the outside then. The crew was locked in the ship all night; they wouldn’t have been able to access those compartments.”
“Wait, you locked us in the ship?” Dani glared at Patrick. “What if something had happened?”
“Scan the areas for any biological traces and review the security footage,” Patrick ordered.
“Yes, sir.” Steve ran off and opened a compartment, removing a large piece of equipment.
Dani shifted, putting her hands on her hips. “Are we really not going to talk about you locking us up like animals?”
Patrick raised his eyes from the console to glance at Dani and then Howard. “No.”
Dani’s blood began to boil, and her hands balled into fists. Howard’s calming touch on her shoulder and the shake of his head halted any actions she was contemplating.
“You should listen to Howard, you know. He seems to be the only one on board with a solid head on his shoulders.” Patrick stared at the console as he flipped through surveillance stills. His eyes widened and he cleared the screen, swiftly walking away.
“If that man—”
“It’s not worth it, Dani,” Howard soothed her. “Once we’re off Houston, things will get better.”
“We’ll see.” Dani glared at Zadria as she walked past her and reboarded Osirion.
Dani wove through the technicians that dotted the halls of the ship. Each possessed a handheld scanner of some sort, and they appeared to be looking for something. Dani didn’t stop to question them; instead she made her way to her room.
After punching in her code, Dani closed her eyes and exhaled deeply as the doors opened and she was greeted with more technicians. She did her best to ignore them, walking over to her bed and flopping down on it, sighing loudly. The various technicians paused to look at her after the sigh, but soon returned to their scanning. Dani rolled her eyes then closed them, trying to tune out the beeping scanners.
“Frickin’ hell,” she said, punching her hands down into the bed before getting up and leaving the room. She quickly made her way off the ship and through the hangar, ignoring anyone who called out to her along the way. Dani turned down the winding halls until she reached the simulation room.
Barry sat at the desk, feet on the table and coffee in hand. Dani’s sudden burst through the door caused him to upset his coffee down the front of his shirt. “Hey! Oh... it’s you.”
“Wormhole simulation, Barry. Now.” Dani shoved open the inner door without hesitating and climbed into the simulator, waiting for the programming to begin.
Dani cracked her knuckles and gripped the controls as the swirling beast of a wormhole
appeared on the screen before her. Without hesitation, she dove into the open mouth of the drain-like tunnel, spiraling in much like her hopes and dreams came spiraling down after her last trip through.
The simulator shook and jolted as the power flickered. Dani maintained laser focus as she expertly maneuvered through the debris locked inside the small space. She reached out with her instincts, allowing them to guide the way as problem after problem arose. Soon, she was barreling down the death trap, bobbing and weaving to avoid asteroids and cloud-like rubble fields.
Dani’s instincts told her to increase speed, though logically it would make it harder to miss the debris.
It’s just a simulation, she thought as she increased power to the thrusters. Faster. Faster.
Dani was now running on pure instinct. Her hands guided the ship before obstacles even had a chance to register on the sensors. Her eyes narrowed down the tunnel, straining to see every unknown object ahead. Her breathing slowed and her hands remained steady as she tuned out the past. Up ahead, she could see the exit and the canvas of stars at the end of the tunnel. With another burst of the thrusters, she was through the hectic swirling of the tunnel and out into open space.
Scenario Four: Complete.
She released the controls and relaxed back in her seat, smirking at the program as it blipped off the screen. “Got you.”
Dani released her restraints and popped open the door, climbing down out of the simulator.
“There’s the Dani I wanted for the job.” Patrick’s voice sent a chill of anger up her spine.
“Look, Patrick...” Dani trailed off as soon as she saw he wasn’t alone. A sizable crowd had gathered around the playback screen. Patrick, Zadria, the rest of the crew, Barry, and a few technicians all looked visibly impressed.
“What? You doubted her?” Jag scoffed.
Dani couldn’t help but smile as Patrick shot Jag a dirty look. She walked right through the crowd and out the doors, her crew close behind.
She felt like the hero she used to be as she marched down the hall, head held high and her crew close by. There was no parade, no band, no cheering, but in that moment her heart was full and her pride swelled. Patrick may not trust her now, but he would have no choice when she was out from under his thumb and running missions beyond the safety of the Houston.
“We good?” Dani pointed at the lead technician without missing a step as she entered the hangar.
His nod was all she needed to lead her crew aboard Osirion. When she turned to close the loading door, a red-faced, heavily-breathing Zadria was sprinting toward the ship, with Patrick close behind. Dani paused, her hand poised over the controls as Zadria ran past her.
Dani’s eyes were locked on Patrick’s. “Time to see what this bird can do.”
Patrick gave the thumbs up, but Dani had already started closing the doors with a smirk. As soon as the seal was complete, she turned and made her way to the bridge.
There, outside the door, her crew was lined up and at attention. Even Zadria fell in, though she was still gasping for breath. Dani smiled and nodded to each of them as she entered her access code to unlock the doors and stepped inside.
Wordlessly, the crew took to their stations. Dani took a deep breath as she fastened her restraints and looked around the bridge. Cassia was to her left, Jag to her right, Cruz was forward right, and Zadria was forward left. Howard took a seat at a small station near the entrance. Howard’s station was a new feature that didn’t exist on Alaska’s Vengeance, and Dani was happy to have him in the bridge.
“Lock in,” she ordered, her eye on Jag.
Jag hesitated for a moment before clicking in his restraints, doing so only after Dani winked at him.
Dani couldn’t wipe the grin off her face if she tried. The excitement of a first launch made her giddy. Her enthusiasm was reflected in the faces of the crew as they awaited their orders. All except for Zadria, who looked more like a teenager going for their first job interview with the constant smoothing of her uniform and shuffling of her feet. Dani contemplated offering words of comfort, but instead decided to allow Zadria to stew in her unease.
“Comm up. They should be in the small compartment in your armrest.” Dani pulled her own comm out and placed it in her ear.
“Houston, do you read?”
“Loud and clear, Osirion,” Patrick’s voice rang in her ear, not sounding nearly as annoyed as Dani expected, which was almost a disappointment.
She adjusted the volume and reviewed the screens on her console.
“Weapons and shield systems are a go,” Jag announced.
“Engines are good,” Howard echoed him.
“How are we on navigation systems, Cruz?” Dani looked over to him and smiled. “It’s good to see your face. Are you happy to be rid of that bell?”
“Green light on navigation, but honestly I miss the bell. It’s easier to ding that bugger than stop what I’m doing to sign,” Cruz replied.
“Check your other armrest,” Howard instructed.
Cruz looked down at his chair then smiled, pulling out a bell and mounting it on his control panel.
Ding!
“Well there we go,” Dani laughed.
“All other systems are green,” Cassia chimed in.
“Houston, we’re all set for launch.,” Dani double-checked all exterior doors to ensure they were sealed. “Clear the hangar.”
Lights began to flash throughout the hangar, illuminating the bridge in alternating red and orange lights as Dani dimmed the interior overhead lights to make the consoles easier to read.
“Hangar clear,” Patrick announced. “Proceed with launch protocol.”
“Deactivating launch bay gravity and activating launch propulsion system.” The extensive launch practice in the simulator helped Dani activate the proper controls quickly and effortlessly.
Osirion lurched as the launch propulsion system engaged with the belly of the ship below the bridge and started slowly moving the ship toward the hangar doors.
“Exciting,” Jag mumbled sarcastically.
“The button is right here,” Dani joked.
“I retract all previous sarcasm,” Jag quickly replied.
“Opening hangar doors,” Patrick advised over the comm.
The doors to the hangar opened, revealing the starry curtain ahead. Houston birthed Osirion into the field of blackness, the crew silent as the dark embraced them.
“Osirion is clear. Closing hangar doors,” Patrick’s voice broke the silence in Dani’s mind.
She breathed a sigh of relief, finally feeling the freedom she longed for.
“I hope we never have to get out of there in a hurry,” Jag was the next to speak up.
“The launch propulsion system can accelerate ships into space at whatever speed is necessary. In this instance, a speedy departure wasn’t required.”
“Good to know. Thank you, Zadria.” Dani nodded her direction.
“Our mission today,” Zadria continued, “is to practice maneuverability while remaining in Houston’s ICC field.”
“How big is Houston’s instant communication field, anyway?” Cassia asked.
“Quite large compared to other GC ships. However, we’ve been instructed to stay within this specific star system.”
“Anything special?” Dani asked.
“Nothing specific. See what she can do,” Patrick advised. “Within reason.”
“Where’s the fun in that?” Dani joked as she fired up the engines. “Let’s see what she’s made of.”
Dani wrapped her hands around the controls. Prickles of excitement made her hair stand on end all over her body. She pushed Osirion forward away from Houston. The ship responded well to her touch, almost as though it were an extension of her being.
Within the bridge, each turn, spin, and change of direction felt seamless. It seemed as though they were merely looking around on a virtual reality screen rather than barreling through space at incredible speeds.
“She
rides so easy,” Dani mumbled. “Let’s do a small hop, Cruz. Line up some coordinates within the star system. Jag, take us there.”
Dani sat back to allow her crew some experience with their new home.
The ding of Cruz’s bell signaled to Jag that the coordinates were locked in.
“Preparing to hop,” Jag advised as Osirion’s engines began to hum throughout the ship.
With a flash of brilliant light and a slight lurching feeling, they appeared closer to the larger central star than they were before.
“Wow, she hops quick.” Jag nodded, impressed.
“Indeed.” Howard chuckled.
“Looked good from our end. All systems still good?” Patrick asked.
Dani examined her console screens. “Everything is perfect.”
Chapter 7
The rest of the test flight passed in a blur. Osirion was a dream to fly and aced every test with flying colors. Dani kept waiting for something to go wrong with the prototype, but the problem never came. After several exercises, the worry faded away and she began to enjoy herself once more.
Osirion slingshot around the stars to pick up speed and tore through the star system as Dani maneuvered around imaginary enemies and debris. Jag was given permission to fire upon a small group of asteroids orbiting the star to test out the weapons systems. The high-powered energy beams disintegrated the massive stone formations on contact while Jag squealed in glee.
They returned to Houston and fell into orbit around the massive ship while they ate lunch and rehashed the successful tests. Even Zadria seemed more comfortable and joined in on the conversation with the rest of the crew.
“I must say, you performed quite well out there,” Patrick said to Dani over the comm after she returned to the bridge ahead of the crew.
She struggled to hold back a snarky retort and instead just said, “Thank you.”
“Maintain your orbit for now and get some rest. I’ll check in later. Keep the port-con with you at all times. Just in case.”
“Copy.” Dani checked the autopilot settings once more and stepped back out of the bridge with her portable console.
“It’s good to see you at the helm again.” Jag was leaning against the wall outside the bridge.
Osirion's Ascent Page 7