Libre, A Silver Ships Novel (The Silver Ships Book 2)

by S. H. Jucha

  Eric Stroheim stared at the Admiral, the anger evident on his face. He glanced to Tomas, expecting to find support for him against the New Terran’s outrageous behavior, but the Leader’s face mirrored that of the Admiral’s.

  Tomas continued to approach the silver ship. Up close, he examined the contrast between the dark, polished hull and the mottled areas, laying a tentative hand on a shiny area, and marveled at the ultra-smooth surface. It felt as if a fine layer of oil coated the ship’s skin.

  Being the gregarious individual that he was, Mickey launched into an update for their guests about what they had and hadn’t discovered about the ship. He went so far as to play the vid that Alex and Julien had created as they pieced together the mystery of the aliens, who burrowed into the planet’s surface and used subterranean passages to mine the planet’s minerals.

  The Rêveur’s people stood quietly by as their guests watched the vid unfold, a display of imaginative pattern mapping. When the vid ended, the view rotated to expose the substrata, which were highlighted in translucent colors, exposing the myriad of tunnels that connected the mined mineral locations to the silver domes. Mickey credited his Admiral and the ship’s SADE with the concept.

  Julien added,

  The Rêveur’s crew straightened their shoulders proudly as the Librans turned to regard Alex with wonder and, perhaps, with a touch of fear. While he appeared similar to them, his behavior and capabilities were far outside that of any Méridien they had known.

  Renée stepped beside Alex, taking his arm at the elbow as she had just done for the first time on their walk to greet the Librans, and sent, bestowing on Alex the honored Méridien term. Renée felt Alex’s hand close possessively over hers, and she smiled at him before turning a penetrating stare on Ser Angelina Monti, who did not miss the message.

  The Méridien’s most prestigious celebration day was Colonists Day. They were extremely grateful to their founders who had successfully developed their new world. That Earth colonists, raised on a stronger gravity world, possessed greater stature than present-day Méridiens, had added to their mystique and heroic image. Over the centuries, New Terra, with 11 percent greater gravity than Earth’s, had added more mass to the average New Terran than those of the Méridiens’ Ancients.

  And Alex stood out among New Terrans. His father, Duggan Racine, had trained as a shuttle pilot and fielded a job recovering space debris from orbit. Duggan’s assistant had quit when he was almost killed in a foolish accident with his EVA suit. Weeks of income might have been lost while Duggan interviewed for a replacement, but then his eleven-year-old son had volunteered to help him. Most fathers would have refused outright, laughing at the suggestion, but then most fathers didn’t have Alex for a son.

  Schooling could take place on children’s readers, so Alex would sit in the copilot seat, studying, while his father readied the shuttle and flew into orbit. Per his father’s strongly worded orders, Alex had stayed in the shuttle while his father performed the EVA trip and Alex operated the recovery winch. In zero-g, the space refuse, composed mostly of metal, had no weight. The hard work came after landing when the debris had to be dragged to the shuttle’s ramp, winched, and loaded into the hover-truck for transport to the recycling center. It had been heavy work for a young boy, until one day, having added thirty-nine kilos of muscle, it wasn’t.

  Tomas turned from admiring the captured ship.

  Alex sent.

  Eric stared aghast at Alex. His thoughts were laced with accusation.

  Alex released Renée’s arm and closed on the Leader, his mass intimidating the man, but the Méridien held his ground. Alex sent.

  Eric swallowed under the Admiral’s glare, noticing the blood pounding in the arteries of the New Terran’s thick neck. The Leader’s security placed their hands on their stun weapons, and Tatia signaled Étienne and Alain, who stepped toward the Leader’s two security personnel, escalating the tension in the bay.

  Alex sent, while extending a finger toward the Leader’s face.

  In the sudden stillness that followed Alex’s angry release, a quiet thought was heard:

  Alex turned toward the speaker, Tomas Monti, and in the face of the honest words that had been offered him, he deflated.

  Eric Stroheim, always the consummate Leader, recognized the extent to which the Admiral’s focus was shifting toward “his” Independents. So Eric vied for some attention of his own.

  Tomas walked up to Alex, carefully regarding him from top to bottom and side to side.

  -3-

  Alex, his people, and the visitors retired to the meal room where the tables had been rearranged to accommodate the two groups. Security took up positions behind their charges.

  Renée opened the discussion by summarizing the events aboard the Rêveur from its attack by the silver ship to its discovery by Alex in the New Terran system seventy years later. But the painful memories of the loss of so many House associates brought her story stumbling to a halt. Alex picked up the thread of the story, detailing the agreement with New Terra, the repair of the Rêveur, the rebuild of the Outward Bound, Alex’s old explorer-tug, and the manufacture of their fighters and missiles.

  Tomas inquired, endeavoring to discover the extent to which the strangers might aid his people,

 

  Tomas commented.

  Eric asked.

 

  Tomas asked.

 

  Tomas said, understanding dawning. Then he drew himself up in his chair and looked Alex squarely in the eye. he said as he extended his hand, no longer afraid of the New Terran’s grip.

 

  Eric queried and received from Alex an image of the immense disk-shaped ships under construction at the orbital stations. ong-term living and working environments. City-ships … I like this name.>

  Renée asked.

  Eric said,

  Tatia asked.

 

  sent Julien, requesting an interruption. On Alex’s affirmative, Julien joined the conversation.

  When confusion crossed the Librans’ faces, Alex explained their use of the term swarming to describe the exodus of the alien ships from the planet, comparing them to the evacuation of an insect nest.

  Tomas said.

 

  Tomas asked, sounding hopeful.

  Alex requested.

  Eric interjected, Eric had no sooner sent his thoughts than he froze in place. For some reason, his comments had elicited hostile reactions from the Admiral and his people; facial muscles twitched and eyes glared at him.

  The crew’s reaction fascinated Tomas. It was obvious Leader Stroheim had made an egregious error. Although what that error was, Tomas wasn’t sure. Even odder, the Admiral’s Méridiens were just as angry as his New Terrans.

  Renée laid a hand on Alex’s shoulder and had to exert much of her arm strength before she penetrated his anger and he subsided. she said, entering the fray.

  Eric Stroheim eyed the Rêveur crew, whose anger was still evident. The Admiral’s concept of “warriors” began to dawn on him.

  Renée continued,

  Eric’s thought struggled out.

  Renée reiterated, her own anger rising.

  Eric looked around at the ire evident in the faces around him. His own security escorts were confused, unsure of what to do in the midst of such a public display of animosity. Gratefully, Eric heard the Admiral order his people to stand down, and while their poses relaxed, their expressions didn’t.

  Tomas attempted to intercede. but he was halted in mid-sentence when Alex raised a hand to forestall him without taking his eyes off Leader Stroheim.

  The Admiral’s hard, unflinching stare undermined Eric’s confidence, and he sought to redeem himself. When the Admiral said nothing but continued to stare at him, Eric searched his words for what he had failed to say. The hostility had begun with his statement about the Rêveur’s SADE. While searching his comm recording for the entity’s name, his implant comm switched to private and he heard,

  Eric had led a life of privilege and security, especially during his tenure as Leader of House Bergfalk. The news of the alien menace meant action was required, action in the form of readying ships for his House associates in order to flee. But it was an orderly process, and with his extensive House assets, it had been easily achieved. There was no great cause for concern. They were, after all, Méridiens.

  Now, for the first time in his life, he felt unsure, ungrounded. It seemed foolish, but the naked animosity directed toward him was unheard of in Méridien society. He glanced to Ser de Guirnon for support, but saw only another hard face. She wore an impatient look, as if she was waiting for a petulant child to grasp the lesson, and Eric Stroheim took the cue.

  Alex replied, ignoring the man’s title.

  Eric understood this message as well. For the first time in his 136 years, Eric Stroheim, a House Leader, was required to treat a SADE as an equal.

  Julien replied.

  Trying to recover lost ground, Eric attempted to redirect the conversation. After delivering his apology, Eric discovered his implant comm was switched back to the conference link.

  Julien continued, Julien left the question unasked, testing the man.

  Eric said.

  Julien said, naming the SADE on one of the city-ships,

  Eric said and waited, but the SADE didn’t respond to his provocation, something he hadn’t expected. He considered the possibilities that this SADE was destined to become an Independent or that the New Terrans’ influence had corrupted him. A thought occurred to Eric, and he decided to test it.

  Tomas and Lina could scarcely believe what they had just heard. To them, it appeared Leader Stroheim was asking the Admiral to choose sides: House Bergfalk or the Independents.

  Alex said casually.

  To Eric’s amazement, the Rêveur’s Méridiens burst out laughing. He found it incredible that they didn’t realize the Admiral had just insulted them.

  Renée interrupted,

  This time, the laughter came from Tomas and Lina. Their eyes fell on Alex, seeking his affirmation. When Alex nodded to them, they lit
up at the thought of an entire world filled with people dedicated to freedom. Tomas declared.

  Alex said,

  Both Tomas and Lina couldn’t help the broad smiles they wore as they regarded the Admiral. Except, Lina’s smile, despite Renée’s unstated message, had a very different intent than that of her father.

  Eric Stroheim regarded the group carefully, looking from Alex to Renée to Tomas and back again. Realizing that his unfamiliarity with the minds of the Admiral and his crew was compromising his effectiveness, he made a crucial decision. he said with resignation. When he saw the Rêveur’s crew visibly relax around him, the thought crossed his mind that he may have made his first smart decision since coming aboard.

  said Tomas, taking advantage of the opening Leader Stroheim had provided him,

 

  Tomas asked, which garnered him a huge grin from Alex.

 

  Tomas leaned back in his chair and regarded Alex, noticing Leader Stroheim glancing his way several times.

  -4-

  At midday, Renée suggested the group break for refreshment and resume their planning afterwards. The meal became a study in contrasts. Eric picked at his food, lost in thought, not daring to communicate through Julien after his earlier slight against the ship’s SADE. Tomas surreptitiously watched the New Terrans, fascinated with the concept of a whole world of independent individuals and what that might mean for his people. Lina alternately regarded the Admiral and Ser de Guirnon. Their closeness told Lina that they were more than associates, and that thought drove her vivid imagination.