by Dom Testa
Triana couldn’t imagine what he was experiencing. She guarded her own thoughts and privacy with intensity, and Bon was clearly the same way. When he made the connection with the Cassini, it wasn’t the searing physical pain alone that crippled him; it was the pain of opening every hidden, private cove of his mind to others, of losing all emotional and mental control.
That, she decided, would be enough to bring her to her knees, too. It explained so much about Bon—and the link with the Cassini—that she had never considered.
In a completely impulsive moment, Triana leaned forward, her hand on Bon’s knee, and placed a kiss on his lips. When she pulled back, she found his ice-blue eyes boring into hers. After an awkward moment, he put his hand behind her head and gently pulled her forward into another kiss.
“Wait,” she said, pulling back again. “I can’t let you think I’m doing this to talk you into something you don’t want to do. That’s not—”
“I know,” he said.
“No,” she said, pushing away from him. “This isn’t the right time for this. It will only complicate things.”
He slowly shook his head. “Things are already complicated.” He stood up and gathered his shoes and socks. Then, fixing her with a deep stare, he said, “You need to figure out what you really want.”
Taking a few steps away, he stopped and looked back. “Get the translator. I’ll make the connection.” Then he turned and strode quickly down the path.
Hannah walked alongside Gap toward the Engineering offices, one of her hands looped through the crook of his arm. His head was down, his mind vaulting from one thought to the next, and he was completely unaware that it was she who was guiding them through the corridor, subtly maneuvering them both in order to remain exactly two feet from the wall.
Gap had so far not questioned Hannah any further about her Kuiper Belt theory and the Cassini. It seemed so bizarre, but if the crew of Galahad had learned anything on their journey, it was that the bizarre was commonplace in space.
And, as far as he was concerned, if Hannah was sure that it was true, chances were that it was. Her ability to sift through countless mounds of data and somehow make sense of it all was remarkable; that ability had already proven to be a lifesaver during their encounter with Saturn and Titan. Her contributions to the mission were significant, and she wasn’t even a member of the Council.
What of his contributions?
A scowl worked its way across his face as he pondered the thought. What exactly had he brought to the table? Upon first examination, it didn’t seem like much. He had felt almost helpless during the confrontation with the stowaway; in fact, it was Bon who had saved Triana’s life, then Triana who had saved the ship.
During Galahad’s perilous journey past Saturn, Hannah had discovered the mysterious force called the Cassini. Then, once again, Bon had stepped up and helped to deliver the ship to safety.
Now there was trouble within and without as they weaved their way through the treacherous Kuiper Belt, and managed an internal crisis with Merit.
Gap assessed his contributions to this point, and the only thing that stood out was the problem with the heating system. And on that count he had failed so far. He was the Head of Engineering, and yet had no engineering successes to his credit.
No wonder Triana had applied her attentions to Bon. For that matter, what exactly did Hannah see in him? Airboarding lessons only carried so much weight. Would she soon reach a point where she, too, wondered the same thing? Since they had been together she had only seen him fail, it seemed. He hadn’t been able to stop the ship’s dangerous acceleration around Saturn, and this perplexing heating problem had actually induced laughter from her.
The realization of it all suddenly hit home. Self-confidence had never been a problem for him, which made these doubts even more discouraging. Insecurity was unknown terrain for him.
His mind drifted to home, back on Earth. The days spent with friends at school and in his gymnastics club, the nights spent laughing with family. On one hand it seemed so long ago, a fond but fading memory. Was it possible to go back, to savor the time he had left with his family? If he wasn’t contributing here…
“Everything okay?” Hannah said.
The last thing he wanted was to allow these doubts to set. In mere minutes Hannah had apparently picked up on his discomfort. “Sure, everything’s fine,” he said, turning to give her a quick smile. “Just thinking, that’s all.”
She gave his arm a squeeze.
They neared the Engineering section, and as it came into sight Gap set an intention. He would spend less time on the Airboard track, less time gossiping with friends, less time playing Masego with Roc. From now on he would pay more attention to the duties that his fellow crew members—like Triana—expected him to perform. He would earn his place on the Council all over again.
One way to do it would be to help Triana defeat the rising tide of discontent aboard the ship; that meant defeating Merit. So far it seemed as if Bon was the only person who had taken Merit on. Gap resolved to play a bigger role than he had.
But, first things first. It was time to make his title mean something on the ship. Without fail he would solve the nagging problem of the heating system.
“Roc,” he said as they entered the section and walked up to the control panel. “Let’s fix this thing once and for all.”
The computer wasted no time with a reply. “If you’re referring to your fashion sense, I’ve already told you that it’s impossible. You are destined to always match stripes with plaids.”
“The heating system, Roc. Let’s go back to the very beginning. I want to take a completely new approach.”
“I sense that you have not yet visited with Triana,” Roc said. Gap looked at Hannah, then back at Roc’s sensor. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about a miraculous breakthrough in the technology of heating systems for interstellar spacecraft. We’ve decided to shut the whole system down and hand out candles to every crew member. It’s a much more reliable heat source, provided we can keep a supply of matches.”
Gap smiled. “I’m a little pressed for time, Roc. Quit playing around and let’s get to work.”
“No work to be done here, my good man. I’m still tracing the original problem, but the system is repaired.”
The smile on Gap’s face faltered. “Repaired? A temporary fix?” Roc said, “Temporary in the sense that it will only last us until we arrive at Eos. After that we’ll probably cannibalize the system for use on one of the planets.”
Now the smile was gone. Gap scanned the control panel, where each of the readings showed normal and steady. “You fixed it?”
“When, oh when, will you realize my powers?” Roc said. “Next up, the common cold.”
“Wow,” Hannah said. “That’s great!” She tugged on Gap’s arm.
“Isn’t that great news?”
Gap paused, aware of the puzzled expression on her face. By all accounts he should be as delighted as she was, and his reaction must have been bewildering to her. He forced a half-smile and replied, “Of course it’s great news. Terrific news. One less problem for us to deal with.”
He turned back to the sensor. “Thanks, Roc.”
For the first time that Gap could recall, the computer had no snappy comeback. Apparently Roc was as mystified as Hannah, and chose to remain silent.
“Okay, well,” Gap said to Hannah, “I’ve got some other things to take care of this afternoon. Want to catch up later?”
She peered into his face, a look of concern coming over her. “Sure,” she said quietly. “Maybe we can grab a bite to eat.”
“Sounds good,” he said. With a quick peck on her cheek he was out the door, leaving her standing alone at the control panel.
25
The atmosphere was all wrong. Triana stood near a vidscreen in the Control Room, with a half-dozen crew members working nearby, and she could sense it. The air itself was fine, but a strange vi
be enveloped the room, a feeling of conflict and tension. No one said anything; they didn’t have to.
Her conversation with Bon had been successful, and yet, once again, it had been clumsy and confusing. She could have gone straight to her room and collected the translator, but instead had chosen to check on their progress through the Kuiper Belt. It seemed imperative that Bon make the connection with the Cassini as soon as possible, but a cooling-off period seemed equally important. She decided to give it one more hour, an hour that would hopefully prove to be peaceful.
It wasn’t. An alarm sounded, snapping her back to attention. “Roc?” she said. “Collision warning,” the computer said. “Not as big this time, but tumbling very erratically. This will take a moment.”
Triana bit her lip and waited. There was no sense pushing for more information. She glanced over at Gap’s empty workstation and wondered where he was.
Roc spoke up. “I’m nudging us a bit.”
“You’re what?”
“Nudging. You know, pushing, tipping, prodding.”
Triana raised her hands. “Fine. Nudge. What’s the verdict?”
“Well, that little warning system in the Engineering Section has done it again. With the nudge we’ll miss this particular piece of rock by almost a quarter of a mile.”
A quarter of a mile. Triana let her breath out quietly, not wanting to appear flustered in front of the other crew members. But a quarter of a mile was less than fifteen hundred feet. In space, that was nothing. In fact, without the alert from the warning system, and Roc’s immediate correction, it meant that mere seconds were all that separated success from destruction.
Seconds.
Triana walked over to Gap’s workstation and sat down. She could feel the eyes of the crew following her, estimating her stress, her confidence. It was as if she could read some of their thoughts: “See, Merit was right, we need to get out of here.”
How many were with her? How many had joined the ranks of the yellow arm bands? Who was a friend? Who might be an adversary? The thoughts weighed heavily upon her.
Was she absolutely sure that she was right and Merit was wrong? Another collision warning had only intensified the conflict that bubbled within her. Who was she to say that her way was…
No, she told herself. No! Don’t do this. Not now.
She kept her back to the room, punching in mindless computations on the keyboard, meaningless searches for information that had no impact whatsoever on their mission. Anything to keep herself occupied for a few moments while she tried to make sense of everything. If Roc noticed what she was doing, he kept quiet…thankfully.
When the intercom sounded, it came as a relief. “Tree, it’s Gap.”
“Yeah, where are you?” she said.
“Could you come down to Level Four, please?”
There were only crew quarters on Level Four, including Gap’s. She started to ask him a question, then thought better of it. Instead, almost grateful for the distraction, she simply told him that she’d be right down.
A minute later she stepped off the lift and found a cluster of almost two dozen crew members standing around. Gap waved her over to the side.
“What’s going on?” she said.
“Another fight,” he said, indicating two boys who waited behind him. “Well, mostly just a lot of pushing and shoving. I just happened to be walking from my room to head up to the Control Room when I heard the commotion.” He looked over at the assembled throng. “It certainly drew a crowd.”
Triana bit her lip. She turned back to face the crew members gathered in the hall. Their faces reflected a mixture of amazement and concern. “Okay, do me a favor, please?” she said to the throng. “Can you give us a few moments to talk here? Either go back to your rooms, or wherever else you might have been going. A little privacy, please?”
It took a moment to clear out. There were several glances exchanged, some that had an almost challenging look to them. Triana heard more than a few grumbles, and briefly wondered if more drama was imminent. But slowly the crowd dispersed, leaving the two Council members and the two combatants, one of whom, Triana finally noticed, was Balin, one of the two boys who constantly followed Merit. Tall and imposing, Balin eyed her coldly as he readjusted his yellow arm band which had apparently been pulled out of place during the scuffle.
Triana looked at the other boy. It was Jhani Kumar, a normally quiet boy from India. It seemed odd that he would be involved in something like this. She decided to address him first.
“Jhani, what happened here?”
He looked at Balin before answering her. “Nothing.”
“Nothing,” Triana said. “Uh-huh.” She looked at Balin. “Would you care to answer the question?”
Balin gave a dismissive snort. “I’ll see you later.” He turned and began walking toward the lift.
“Hey!” Gap shouted. “What are you doing? Get back here.” Balin turned to look back at them. “What are you, the police? I don’t have to jump when you speak. You might be on the Council, but you can’t order me around.”
Gap took a couple of steps toward the boy, who, although taller, flinched backward a step. “It’s called keeping order,” Gap said. “If you’re involved in a fight on this ship, it’s our responsibility to solve the issue. You know that’s true.”
“You heard what this guy said,” Balin sneered. “Nothing happened. Can I go now, officer?”
Triana took Gap’s arm before he could advance again. “Sure,” she said to Balin. “You’re free to go.”
He laughed and spun around. In a few moments he was out of sight.
Triana looked back at Jhani. “Why don’t you tell me what happened, okay?”
Jhani shifted awkwardly on his feet. “He’s a loud-mouth bully, that’s all. I’m tired of listening to it, especially when he’s spreading false rumors.”
“Like what?”
“He was yelling that Alexa Wellington is about to die. He was blaming you and the Council.” Jhani lowered his voice. “Alexa is my friend. I went to visit her just an hour ago. She’s not about to die.”
Triana stared at him. “No, of course she’s not. Where did he say he got his information?”
“He didn’t. He just said that she was about to die, and that we would all end up dead if we kept following you.”
Triana shook her head, then reached out and touched Jhani on the shoulder. “Okay, that’s fine. We’ll see you later.” As he turned to leave, she added, “And thank you, Jhani.”
He nodded and mumbled a response that Triana couldn’t hear. Soon she was alone in the hallway with Gap, and was stunned when he turned on her.
“What do you think you’re doing?” he said, his face flushed.
“What do you mean?”
Gap pointed towards the lift. “You just let that thug Balin walk away without any accountability at all. It’s exactly the same mild-mannered nonsense that’s let Merit get away with…with…”
“With what?” Triana said, her tone matching his. “With speaking his mind? You think I should out-bully him? Is that right?
“No, but I think you should show a little more leadership,” Gap said. “I’m sick of this. They are stirring up more and more trouble each day. Now they’re even lying about Alexa, trying to scare everyone into rebelling. And you let him spit in our faces and walk away.”
Triana kept herself quiet for a moment before responding. She didn’t want to say something that she regretted later. When she spoke, her voice was low and determined. “I’m just as unhappy about this as you are, Gap. I don’t like what they’re doing, either. But I’m in no position, even as the Council Leader, to keep them from voicing their opinions. When Balin walked away I didn’t know about the Alexa comments. I will address those rumors when I speak to the crew. Until then…” She took a step toward him. “Until then, I will not fight foul behavior with more of the same. I will not stoop to their level. Do you understand that?”
“That’s just great,”
Gap said. “You have no problem talking tough with me, I see, but the creeps on this ship get a lot of sweet-talk.”
Triana was speechless for a second. “What is wrong with you?”
Gap didn’t answer. Instead he gave her a parting look that seemed full of venom, and marched off down the corridor.
“Gap,” she called after him, but he disappeared around a turn.
Her face was pale. Although it should have looked like she was merely sleeping, something about the expression—was it the eyes, the eyebrows, the set of her mouth?—did not look like sleep. Instead Alexa seemed to be deep in thought, eyes simply closed, pondering a great problem.
And it was unnerving.
Channy stood at Alexa’s bedside, one hand stroking Iris, who went about one of her daily cleaning rituals, propped against Alexa’s motionless side. Monitors kept a vigil over Alexa, keeping rhythm with her heartbeat, her breathing, her life force. There was no other sound in the room.
Channy shivered. The sight of Lita’s assistant, usually one of the more outgoing personalities aboard Galahad, now lying in a coma, was surreal. Danger had been a constant companion on the journey, yet this scene carried the force of visual evidence; seeing a friend this close to death made their plight real.
Lita walked into the room and offered a greeting and smile as she moved to the opposite side of the bed.
“It’s okay that Iris is here, right?” Channy said.
“I honestly haven’t checked it out in the databanks,” Lita said, “so I couldn’t tell you what the true medical answer is. But in my heart I want Alexa to feel comfort, and if that means sharing some energy with a friendly soul like Iris, then I’m all for it.”
Channy nodded, then glanced down at Alexa. “Can she hear us talking?”
Lita considered the question. “Let’s just assume that she can, at least on some level. There’s conflicting theories on that, too, but I come in and talk to her every hour or so, just in case she can.” She looked back at Channy. “You okay?”
“Oh…” Channy paused. “No.”