“I know how,” I said. I didn’t tell them I hadn’t actually operated it. The time Gregor had shown it to me, it had been in the docking bay and we hadn’t powered it up. I’d just have to figure it out. “I’ll check back in once I’m there.”
I ignored their voices trying to argue me out of it, adjusting the volume so I couldn’t hear them. Luckily, I managed to find a clear short route to Gregor’s maintenance area. I stopped when I walked in, struck by how Gregor’s presence permeated the space. He had broken regulations by filling his workshop with weird souvenirs from out of the way places, which hung from the ceiling like giant mobiles. I didn’t know if they were tools or artwork or musical instruments, or all three of those things. I wished I had taken the time to ask him about them.
I turned away but when I reached over to open the repair pod airlock I caught sight of an image propped on Gregor’s desk. It was of a girl with wild purple hair and blue swirls decorating her face. I didn’t recognize her. Gregor had never mentioned a girlfriend. Picking it up, I slipped it inside my shirt, thinking I’d try to find out the girl’s identity when this was all over. I’d tell her what Gregor had done.
I entered the airlock, powered up the pod and opened the outer doors. As I maneuvered the tiny craft out and along the edge of the station, I tried to get a feel for how to increase and decrease its speed but couldn’t do anything very smoothly.
I turned the earpiece back on. “Okay, I’m out of the station,” I said, making the craft move along the bottom ring in the direction of the salvage ship and the last remaining cylinder.
The repair pod had an assortment of arms that could be extended with various tools on the ends of them. Closing my eyes, I pictured Gregor pointing out the function of each one of them. Gregor had spent a lot of time explaining them, because he loved using the pod even when there was nothing to repair.
“So far, so good,” I muttered to myself.
“Can you hear us?” Lainie’s voice came over the earpiece.
“Yes,” I said, “but I can’t see you. Stay out of sight of the salvage ship.”
It felt like it took forever to get to the cylinder and once I was there, I couldn’t get ahold of it. I tried three times, failing each time.
“Quinn, the salvage ship is moving further away,” Lainie said. “Even if you get the cylinder, you’re not going to be able to get to the ship once it picks up speed.”
“You are supposed to be out of sight of it. How do you know it’s moving away?” Leave it to Decker to ignore my order. I redoubled my efforts.
“I got it!” I shouted when I finally had the cylinder secured in one of the pod’s grasper arms.
“You’d better hurry if you are going to do something with it,” Decker said.
It was frustrating the pod didn’t have much speed, but then neither did the salvage ship. I pushed the acceleration on the pod as hard as I could, though it felt like it was barely moving.
Yet another warning came from the same voice that gave the warnings in the station. “You have exceeded recommended velocity for this model. Shutdown may occur.”
“Not yet, it won’t,” I said.
I dipped the pod under the station and made my way along the lowest ring until I could see the salvage ship above me.
I brought the pod up along the bottom part of it to something that looked like part of an old sightseeing vessel. There were people inside seated at tables. One of them saw me and pointed. I grinned and waved at them, wondering if my grin looked as crazy as Gregor’s had.
“Just get rid of that explosive and get out of there!” Lainie shouted.
“I have to put it in the right place,” I said. “Too low and it may only take out part of the ship.”
“Quinn, they see you! Someone is back in the weapons bay! Get out of there!”
Midway up the salvage ship I spotted the perfect site. I set the cylinder down on a piece of wing that had belonged to an early liger model. I maneuvered the arm to set the timer on the explosive, thinking I had to set it for a short enough time to blow before someone could remove it, yet give me enough time to get away. I chose twenty seconds and then armed it, setting a timer in the pod as well. The countdown began.
Reversing the pod, I backed away from the salvage ship.
“Quinn … ” Lainie said.
A booming noise cut her off and I felt myself spinning out of control.
Chapter 18
Mira’s voice came through the darkness. I felt something tickle my face and when I opened my eyes, she was leaning over me, her hair touching my face.
“You blacked out,” she said. “Decker got you back.”
From somewhere close by I heard Mags warbling her lullaby. I looked beyond Mira to see Decker and Lainie standing there. They wore such serious expressions, I said, “Don’t look so grim. From the sounds of it, I didn’t die, right?”
Lainie managed a smile. “Right,” she said. “But you nearly scared all of us to death. And you don’t look so good. Your one eye is kind of murky looking.”
“I’ll be fine once I see a doctor,” I said.
“That was crazy,” Decker said, ‘but nice job.”
“So I guess it worked?” I asked as I struggled upright. I looked out the viewport. Large pieces of debris were everywhere.
“You blew up the salvage ship and the lab,” Lainie said. “But you nearly blew yourself up too.”
“The explosive went off too soon. I guess the timer was faulty. What about the raider ship?”
Lainie’s mouth turned down. “It got away. With luck, Ansun wasn’t on it. I hope he was still on the salvage ship.”
“I hope so too,” I said. “Though we shouldn’t count on it.” I sat back down, my legs unsteady. “I feel like a tachesum has been stomping all over me.”
That only brought a weak smile to Lainie and nothing from Mira. Decker went over to the control console. “We could go back to Fosaan and wait it out until your father gets here, Quinn. Or we could go back to the station and get the oxygen turned back on.”
I was too wiped out to care what we did. With Mira beside me, I leaned my head back and closed my eyes while Decker and Lainie debated.
I reopened them when Lainie said, “Whoa, something huge has just entered the system.”
I forced myself to get up again, worried that the raiders had some other crazy ship, though once I got to the viewport, I knew it wasn’t a raider vehicle. A giant gleaming vessel filled the display, the word EVEREST emblazoned across the top of the command deck. “That’s a Military Command and Control Ship. I can’t believe it. Those monsters don’t just hop around the galaxy.” I sighed. “Not good. It’s under my grandfather’s command. He’s probably aboard.”
“Why isn’t that good and why would it be all the way out here?” Lainie asked.
“I don’t care why they are here,” Decker said. “As long as they are, no raider ship is going to come after us.”
“They are probably hailing the station,” I said. “Can you get into that frequency to let them know we are here?”
“No, it will be scrambled,” Decker leaned back in his chair. “There’s nothing that sophisticated on this shuttle. But it doesn’t matter. They have to know we’re here. They’ll be hailing us soon enough.”
He was right. Seconds later a voice said, “Shuttle pilot, state your ident.” A young woman in a lieutenant’s uniform appeared on the display.
“No one aboard has a military ident,” Decker told her. “There’s been an emergency on the space station. It was taken over by raiders. There are no authorized personnel there anymore.”
The woman paused for just a fraction of time at the news, but then asked, “Where are the military personnel?”
“We’re not quite sure. We think they’ve been taken to an island on the planet.” Decker gave the coordinates. “There may be raiders on the way there to get them.”
“You have to get there fi
rst,” I called out to her. “You have to send someone to pick them up.”
“And who are you?” The woman frowned as she stared at Decker through the display.
“My name is Decker Rigan. My father is Commander Leif Rigan.”
“What is the source of the debris around the space station?”
“A raider ship blew up,” Decker said.
I could tell from the woman’s expression she didn’t believe Decker. Ships didn’t just blow up on their own, and the station had no offensive weapon capability.
“Who blew it up?” the woman asked.
Decker looked back at me. I moved forward so I was in view, “Um … I did.”
The lieutenant’s eyes widened. There was a moment of silence and then, “Remain on your current heading. Any deviation will be assumed to be a hostile action.” The visual slip blinked out.
“Great, now they’re going to be really on edge,” Decker said. “Could you have said that a different way? They’ll probably just blast us in case we’re raiders too. If I were them, I wouldn’t let us on board.”
“What was I supposed to say? Let me sit there. I want to try something.” I hated to use my grandfather’s name as leverage, but if any moment seemed to be good time to do it, it was this one. “Hello. Hello. Please respond with visual.”
The woman’s face reappeared.
I leaned in so she could see me. “This is Quinn Neen, Admiral Neen’s grandson. If he is aboard, he will recognize me. Or just check the records of the space station personnel and their families. My name and image will be on there.”
For just a moment, the lieutenant’s mouth dropped open and then she snapped it shut. “Just a moment please,” she stuttered, disappearing from view.
It took longer than a moment for her to reappear. “You are cleared for landing. Is someone aboard capable of piloting the ship into the docking bay or should we send a pilot to rendezvous with you?”
Decker snorted. “I can do it.”
The woman launched into a series of headings and instructions. I stepped back, deciding I wouldn’t distract Decker. It wouldn’t be good if Decker nicked part of the command ship coming in.
“Your grandfather is an admiral?” Mira asked.
“He’s not just an admiral,” Lainie said. “He’s the head of the Konsilan, which means he’s basically in charge of the entire military.”
Mira’s mouth turned down and I felt her pull back a little.
“It doesn’t matter who he is,” I said, thinking she probably assumed my grandfather was like Ansun. “I barely ever see him.”
It didn’t seem to reassure her. She took hold of one of my hands and pleaded, “Don’t tell him about me. Don’t tell him who I am. Please.”
“Why?” I asked, not understanding the desperation in her tone.
“What would they do with me?” Mira let go of me and moved away. “Before the Apocalypse, Earth wanted the Fosaanian royal family to abdicate and leave the planet. I don’t want to be forced to go somewhere else that I don’t choose.”
“I don’t think they would do that. Not now.”
“How do you know?”
I had to admit I didn’t know. “All right. I won’t say anything. None of us will. Right, Lainie, Decker?”
Lainie nodded her head in agreement. Decker was too busy piloting to answer, but he did nod his head. “You don’t seem happy your grandfather might be on that ship,” Lainie said to me.
I went back to look out at the giant ship. “It takes a major issue to get a command and control this far out in the galaxy. I wonder how they found out about Ansun so quickly.”
“We’ll know soon enough,” Decker said. He managed to get the shuttle into the hanger bay without incident, but when he brought it to a stop, we just stood there looking out, all of us awed at the sight of the place. It was at least three times as large as the station’s hanger.
An array of people in uniform stood waiting for us. I didn’t see my grandfather.
Mira held back, looking more frightened than I had ever seen her. I was surprised at her reaction. I said, “It’s okay, really.”
“There are so many Earthers out there. I’ve never seen so many at once.”
“No one out there is as tough as Ansun, and you can face him down, so there is nothing to worry about.” I took off the necklace she had given me and handed it back to her. “I think you need this more than I do right now.”
Mira clasped her hand around the stone like she was happy to have it again. “I gave it to you as a gift,” she said. “I shouldn’t take it back.”
“We can call it mine, but it looks better on you than me,” I said. She smiled and put it on. I took her hand. We walked down the ramp. I hadn’t realized the mere sight of Mira would cause a reaction. A man in a major’s uniform walked toward us and then stopped when he saw Mira. Many people in the group began to talk and I heard the word “Fosaanian” several times. The major recovered himself and continued toward us. There was no welcome in his expression.
“Mr. Neen,” he said to me, “I’m Commander Escarr. Does any of your group need medical attention?”
“No,” I said, thinking I’d ask for a doctor later. I wanted to find out what was being done to rescue the scientists first.
“We didn’t realize you had a Fosaanian with you,” the major said, frowning at Mira.
“This is Mira.” I realized I didn’t know her last name, or even if she had a last name. Mira didn’t volunteer one.
The major didn’t acknowledge her. “I’m to show you and your companions to a conference room,” he said to me. A woman in civilian clothes, a purple robe and a colorful headband holding back her hair, stepped forward and spoke to the officer, so quietly I couldn’t hear what she was saying. She looked over and caught my eye, smiling at me. She appeared friendly enough, reminding me a bit of Dr. Becca. Both were about the same age and with an easy manner that radiated confidence.
“Stay here please,” the major said to us before walking to the back of the room with the woman.
We just stood there awkwardly until the two came back. She smiled at all of us again and held out her hand to me. “I’m Raisa Nakano, Mr. Neen. I’m the new teacher, but I’m also a cultural anthropologist and I’m very interested in Fosaanian culture. Mira, I’m so delighted you are aboard. I thought since your friends need to be debriefed, I could show you around and we could talk.”
Mira moved closer to me. “I don’t know the word ‘debriefed.’”
“They just want to find out what happened,” I told her. I knew if it had been decided Mira would go with the woman, it was no use arguing she should stay with us instead. I’d been around military people enough to know now we were aboard the ship, it was all about following orders.
“I thought my father was bringing you,” I said to the woman. “Where is he?”
“Your father is on board. When your grandfather decided to make this trip, he arranged for your father’s ship to be picked up. It’s in another hanger bay.”
I wondered why he wasn’t here to meet us, but didn’t think it would be a good time to ask.
“Admiral Neen is waiting,” the major reminded us, shifting around like he was impatient to get us where we were supposed to go.
“We’ll see you again in a little while,” I said to Mira. I let go of her hand, missing the warmth of it as soon as I did. Raisa led her away, but before the major could escort us out, I turned to the two cadets who were positioned at the entrance to the shuttle. I hadn’t noticed anyone ordering them to guard it, but that was clearly what they were doing.
“You aren’t going aboard the shuttle, are you?” I asked them. “My parrot is on board.” I knew Mags wouldn’t take well to strangers. The men stared at me like I was speaking an unknown language, so I repeated myself a few times. “The bird will get upset if strangers come on board.”
Finally, one of the men threw up his hands. “We don’
t have any orders at this time to board. We just follow orders.”
“Right,” I said. “If your orders change, tell someone about the bird.”
The major led us to a room which had one large table in the center and chairs all around the walls. It was crowded with people who all turned to stare at us when we walked in. It grew more crowded as the group following us found places. I saw my grandfather seated at the head of the table beckoning me forward.
The crowd moved aside as I walked over, trying to act like I wasn’t about to fall down. An older woman in a uniform with nearly as many decorations as my grandfather stood next to the table. “Let me introduce you to my grandson,” my grandfather said, not even looking at me. “Quinn, this is Commodore Oshiro. She’s in charge of the academy at Wellton.”
The woman shook my hand. “I’m very pleased to meet you. From what little I’ve heard of your exploits in the last few hours, you’ll make a fine addition to the officer trainee corps.” I just nodded at that, knowing this was not the time to go into detail about my other plans.
My grandfather said to the group, “I’ll speak to my grandson alone for a moment before we start.” The room cleared out just as quickly as it had filled up. My grandfather motioned me to a seat near him.
“Is there any news about the scientists?” I asked as I sat down. “Have they found them?”
“There has been contact. We’ve sent a crew to pick them up.” He tapped his fingers on the table, but didn’t say anything. It made me uncomfortable. My grandfather was never at a loss for words. I hoped nothing was wrong with my mother or Piper. I started to speak but my grandfather held up his hand for silence. I shut my mouth.
“I’ll wait to hear your story when everyone else is back in the room,” the man said, “so you won’t have to repeat it. I wanted to speak to you about another matter. I was watching your arrival. Who is that Fosaanian girl and how did she end up with you?”
I hadn’t thought this would be about Mira. I tried to explain who she was and why she was helping us, though my grandfather’s steady gaze made me fumble over some of it. I feared I wasn’t telling the story very clearly. As Mira had requested, I left off the part about her place in Fosaanian society.
Station Fosaan Page 21