by Tony Healey
* * *
“Sure you want to do this?” Gunn asked her.
Chang read her lips and gave her a thumbs up. Until the airlock was sealed, the Chief would be unable to communicate with the Commander via her comm. unit. There was no way for Lisa Chang to hear her through the transparent steel and glass helmet.
Meryl Gunn stepped back, over the threshold of the airlock. She waved to Chang, who waved back with her free hand. In the other she held a glass bottle.
Gunn closed the door.
Chang heard the comm. unit crackle to life as the seal was made. She knew that the air was being bled from the chamber and the pressure corrected.
“Can you hear me, Commander?”
“Affirmative.”|
“Don’t be too long out there,” Gunn said. “And be careful. I don’t want to end up in charge of this tub. I’ve got my work cut out as it is.”
“Don’t worry Chief. I will be.”
“Lisa . . .” Gunn started to say.
“I know.”
The Chief said nothing more.
Chang turned to the airlock on the other side of the room. The light over the door changed from red to green. She trudged forward, encumbered by the heavy suit, and depressed the manual control switch. The hatch swung open for her, a few stray breaths of air rushing out into space.
Chang stepped out onto the hull of the Defiant. The stars seemed to glide past like phosphorescent plankton atop a dark sea. She remembered not to look at them.
Not only could it make someone performing an EVA sick, it could on occasion cause a kind of psychosis. The sheer wonder of the infinity all around you could send your mind into depths from which it might never return.
Chang’s boots stuck to the hull as she walked out several metres. She held the bottle up. Inside there was a letter, and a photo of Olivia Rayne’s parents Chang had found in the recently deceased crewmate’s quarters. She’d folded the photo up and fed it down the neck of the bottle. However, the letter was from her. She’d plugged the bottle with a cork and made sure it was in there extra tight.
“Well, here we go,” she said, aware that she spoke only for herself. She’d switched her helmet comm. off. There was only herself and the stars, and of course, they did not care much for the microscopic concerns of humanity.
“You were my friend. And I loved you,” Chang started to cry, completely unable to wipe her eyes.
She cocked the bottle back over her shoulder, then launched it forward, into the void. It turned end on end. The momentum afforded it from her throw would increase exponentially over time. With nothing within the vacuum to slow the bottle down, it would travel on and on, farther and farther into the cosmos.
It gave the Commander some comfort to think that her message in a bottle would probably endure beyond any of them. The longings of her heart, locked within the bottle, were now a heavenly body on a course with eternity…
* * *
Meryl Gunn filled each shot glass with vodka. She spun the cap back onto the bottle. “Come on. Everyone grab a glass.”
Belcher rallied the others together to join in on the toast. Even the Krinuans, who sniffed the noxious liquid with wrinkled, feline noses.
Gunn lifted a shot. “To everyone we’ve lost along the way, and those of us who’re left to remember them. Cheers.”
She threw the shot of vodka down her throat in one go, grimacing from the dry burn. The others repeated her call of “Cheers” and downed their shots, too. The Krinuans indulged as well, but they seemed less impressed than anyone else with it.
I suppose they only drink milk, Gunn thought.
With all the shot glasses back on the work bench, Gunn clapped her hands together. “Right! Let’s all get back to work! Chop chop!”
Belcher shook his head, laughing at the Chief’s sudden shift in attitude.
She jabbed a finger in his direction. “And you, Gary! Move it!”
He didn’t wait for her to repeat the order, lest he feel dragon’s breath at his heels.
5.
“Hold on! Just coming!”
Jessica stumbled out of the shower cubicle and wrapped herself in a towel. The Krinuans had done a fine job duplicating the bathing units aboard the Defiant. Even down to the towels, though they felt anything but cotton, they were still soft to the touch. The Krinuans found the concept of actually drying oneself a completely alien concept. They simply shook off. Their fur dried in minutes.
Unfortunately, the crew of the Defiant lacked that ability.
Jessica was dripping wet as she ran to the door and pressed her hand against the sensor to disengage the lock.
“Oh,” she said at the sight of both Commander Greene and Captain Praror.
Blood rushed to Greene’s cheeks. “Uh… if you want us to give you a minute…”
“We didn’t mean to impose,” Praror said.
“Don’t be silly. Back in a pinch,” Jessica said. She motioned for them both to take a seat while she got dressed.
She emerged from her bedroom towelling her hair, but at least she now wore clothes.
“You caught me with my hair down,” she said. “Literally.”
“Again, I apologise for our imposition. But this cannot wait,” Praror told her.
Jessica frowned. She sat down opposite the two of them. “Oh? What is it?”
Commander Greene shifted in his seat but he left it to Praror to explain their visit.
“Two hours ago we received data from a probe of ours. It is one of thousands travelling from one uncharted system to another, cataloguing what it finds. At regular intervals we receive a data packet from each probe,” Praror explained.
“And I guess you’re putting all of this together, adding it to your charts,” Jessica said.
“Precisely,” Praror said. “Usually the data collected by the probes is of little import. Most uninhabited planets. Some with basic life. Occasionally an intelligent species that we earmark for contact when the time arises. And sometimes…”
He looked to Greene. The Commander took the hint that he was to continue.
“Sometimes they come across something out of the ordinary,” Greene told her. “Like a ship.”
“A ship? What sort of ship?” Jess asked.
The Commander looked her square in the eye, his face deadly serious. “One of ours. It bears the same signature as all Union ships. A derelict ship from our side of things… just sitting there.”
6.
The briefing room was small, most of the floor taken up by a holo display. Praror replayed the data readings from the probe. In front of them was the crown of a planet, depicted in sandy shades and light blues. White streaks of cloud marbled the atmosphere like wisps of hair over a bald head.
Floating above the planet was a ship. And Jessica recognised the design and configuration.
“Runner class,” she said. “I remember it. They were old when I was a cadet.”
“Yeah, you’re right. They were the backbone of the fleet at one time,” Greene said. “Antiques now, though.”
Jessica fixed him with a look. “Our own ship’s not far off…”
Greene clutched his chest as if he’d been shot. “On behalf of the old girl, I’m hurt.”
Praror cleared his throat. “As you can see, the unknown vessel is currently in a high orbit above the planet. However it is not stable, though it would seem otherwise. The vessel is in a deteriorating orbit that will see it begin to graze the upper atmosphere in less than ten days.”
“Any idea how long it might’ve been there?” Jessica asked.
“We have extrapolated that, given its current orbit vector, the ship has been in situ above the planet for over fifty years,” Praror said.
“That’d mean it arrived here about the same time as Hawk,” Jessica said.
“Yeah that’s right,” Greene said.
“Our own directives do dictate that when discoveries such as these are made, we must investigate further,” Praror said with wh
at passed as a smile. “I would like to offer you a ride, if you’d like to come.”
“If you hadn’t offered, I’d have suggested it,” Jessica said.
She stood watching the old ship, her head full of questions.
* * *
“You don’t have to go if you don’t want to,” Selena told him.
Hawk threw a few more items into a small carryall on the end of the bed.
“I gotta,” he said simply. “Yuh know I gotta.”
“Yes,” she said.
“I’ll be back before yuh know it,” Hawk said.
Selena nodded. She looked down at the floor for a moment. He lifted her chin with his finger, a smile on his face.
“It’s what I need. I’m no use to anyone sat around here, mopin’.”
“I understand,” Selena said. “And I know you’ve got to do it. But that doesn’t mean I want you to go. I’ve got used to having you around. To being like a normal couple.”
Hawk kissed her full on the lips. She slipped her arms around him as they kissed.
“Like I said, I’ll be back before yuh know it,” Hawk said again.
I hope so, Selena thought.
* * *
“You sure you don’t want to contact the Defiant and let Meryl know?” Jessica asked.
Commander Greene shook his head.
“She’ll only worry. This is only a short trip. I’ll tell her about it when we get back.”
Jessica said nothing more on the subject. The two of them arrived at the landing platform for the transport that would take them into orbit. Hawk was already there, bag in hand. He looked the best he had since his treatment at the hands of General Carn. Once more he looked like a man with purpose, rather than the shell he’d become.
“Someone’s eager,” Greene said.
Hawk shot him a flyboy salute. “Eager Beaver’s my second name, son.”
Greene chuckled.
“Come on you two, Praror’s already up there waiting for us. Let’s not keep him waiting any longer,” Jessica said.
“Aye Cap,” Hawk said.
She shook her head as Greene hustled past her with, “What he said.”
“No respect . . .” Jessica said under her breath as she followed them both onto the transport.
* * *
Captain Praror showed them to their bunks. They were little more than simple racks stacked atop one another between bulkheads, barely long enough to allow someone to stretch themselves out.
“I’m sorry it’s not much. The Naxor don’t put much stock in comfort,” Praror said apologetically.
“They’ll do fine,” Jessica said. “So we’ll be travelling incognito as the enemy.”
“I’ve recently learned the meaning of that phrase, Captain King. Yes we will be flying the Naxor ship. If there are enemy forces where we’re headed, they’ll think twice about firing on their own people,” Praror said. “I’d like to avoid a fire fight on this trip if possible.”
“Agreed.”
Praror watched them set their things away. “We’ll be underway in a moment. I’ll leave you all to get settled.”
Commander Greene watched Praror go, then dropped his bag on one of the beds. But before he could say or do anything, Jessica coughed. “Ahem.”
“Huh?” Greene asked, looking at her.
“You’re seriously going to let me drag my crippled butt up to the top bunk, Del?” she asked him.
The Commander blushed for the second time in less than twenty-four hours and grabbed his bag. “Course not,” he mumbled and threw it up on the top bunk.
Hawk shook his head as he laughed. Jessica winked in his direction.
The ship bucked beneath their feet as the clamps were released.
“Off we go,” Jessica said.
7.
Commander Greene and Captain Nowlan were asleep when Jessica made her way quietly to the bridge.
“Captain, you’re awake,” Praror said with a welcoming smile. The expression caused his whiskers to bunch up and stand to attention.
“I don’t sleep well lately,” Jessica said. She looked around. “Small crew, I noticed.”
Praror shrugged. “Small ship. Small mission. There are three of you and six of us. More than enough for a little jaunt across uncharted space.”
“You say it like that, it sounds simple,” she said.
Praror sat down at a nearby station. “When you’re riding in a stolen enemy vessel it is.”
“True,” Jessica said.
“How are you?” Praror asked her unexpectedly.
Jessica frowned, her head to one side. “How d’you mean?”
Praror pointed to her legs. “Your difficulties.”
“Oh. That. It comes and goes. I brought the stick with me, but I’ve not had to use it for a day or so. It sort of fades away,” she said.
“Will it ever go?” Praror asked her.
For a moment Jessica thought of her father, Captain Singh. How he’d learned that he had MS shortly before dying. He’d known he was her father.
There were still so many questions to be answered. Did he know all along? If not, when did he find out? Why did he keep it from her?
Answers that would never come.
“It’ll never go,” Jessica said. She shrugged. “I’ll learn to live with it.”
Praror nodded slowly. “You are a brave woman, Captain. A fine Warrior.”
Jessica looked away. She’d never been able to cope with outright praise. It made her uncomfortable.
“How long until we get there?” she asked Praror.
“Another six hours,” he said. “Do try to get some rest, dear Captain.”
Jessica smiled. “I will.”
She left the bridge and went back to her bunk. She laid back, one arm tucked under her head. When she closed her eyes she could almost believe that she was back on the Defiant. But the illusion wouldn’t hold.
It wasn’t the heart of the Defiant that beat beneath her. It was some other vessel, and the heart wasn’t there. It was just an engine powering the Naxor ship and nothing more.
There was no beat. The Defiant had a pulse and Jess missed it.
* * *
A Krinuan fetched them to the bridge. Praror stood with his hands clasped behind his back. On the viewscreen was the bright curve of a planet. “We have arrived,” he announced.
“And the ship?” Greene asked.
“Tracking its signal now. We’re also scanning the area for hostiles,” Praror said.
“Got it,” the helmsman reported. “Locking in co-ordinates.”
“Execute. Full speed,” Praror ordered. He glanced at Jessica. “Time to make our rendezvous.”
* * *
The old ship was falling.
“Definitely Runner class,” Greene noted.
“Yuh,” Hawk said. “No doubt about it. Can we zoom in? Get a look at that registration?”
The helmsman did what he could to zero in on the rotating ship ahead of them. It tumbled above the planet, locked into a dance of death with the planet’s gravity well. Soon the dance would end in flames. But they had time yet.
“Improving resolution,” the helmsman said.
The image cleared. As the ship turned to face them again, the registration became clear.
Hawks’ eyes widened with surprise. “The Warrior?”
Praror looked to Jessica. “Your namesake, Captain.”
King shot him a disapproving look. She crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Hawk, you know that ship?”
“Yuh,” he said. “Registration TU-31985.”
“Wow. I didn’t realise you had such a good memory,” Greene said.
“It’s not that,” Hawk said. “In my time, hell, before the two of yuh were even born… the Warrior was infamous. At the time, no other Union ship had ever seen as much action as the Warrior. She was in every major battle.”
“I don’t remember seeing anything about her,” Jessica said, frowning. “And I’m pretty
good with Union history. You know, the Marquis wars and everything.”
Hawk shook his head. “That’s because y’all won’t find any mention of it in the history books.”
Greene exchanged puzzled looks with Jessica. “I don’t follow,” he said.
Hawk crossed his arms. He continued to gaze at the viewscreen, at the dead ship before them. “Her designation and purpose were top secret. Only top brass knew of her existence. And myself. I was involved with the Warrior for several covert missions. Yuh won’t find any record of those, either. To any ships that came across her, either in passing or in the field of battle, she was just Warrior. Another ship. But she was anything but.”
“Okay. So she was black ops. How come she’s here?” Jessica asked.
“The last I heard, the Warrior went dark on a mission against the Draxx. That was shortly before I ended up here. So who knows?”
Praror interrupted. “Excuse me, but you all may want to be seated. We’re going to attempt a docking procedure. If we can successfully couple to it, we can use our engines to pull it into a higher orbit.”
“You heard the man,” Jessica said. She took a seat.
* * *
The Naxor ship turned and turned, the alien planet swinging about the viewscreen in tight circles. It was enough to make anyone feel sick, even with the presence of artificial gravity. However, the Krinuan pilot did a fine job of inching them closer and closer to the Warrior, matching its alignment, velocity of spin and rate of fall toward the planet.
“Easy,” Praror said.
The helmsman nodded, his full concentration on the awkward mating of two foreign starships to one another. The viewscreen showed the very front of the Naxor ship. A docking collar emerged from the nose of the craft, and the Krinuan brought them to within a few feet of the dock on the side of the Warrior.
With a few well-placed bursts of thruster power, the pilot eased the two ships together. The seals closed around the Warrior’s dock, and the pressure gauges worked to equalise with that of the other ship.
“Docked.”
“Good work,” Captain Praror said. “Initial readings?”