Heart of the Nebula

by Joe Vasicek

  “And you. Have you spoken with Lieutenant McCoy?”

  “About the stowaway? Yes, we… discussed the situation not an hour ago.”

  Jarvis’s voice had a hard edge to it; Sara guessed there had been something of a confrontation.

  “And what did you decide?”

  Jarvis scowled. “As the ‘highest ranking officer on this ship,’ the lieutenant has ‘requisitioned’ this transport to detain her for the length of the voyage.”

  Sara frowned. “He has? But where will he keep her?”

  “I believe the lieutenant is working that out now.”

  What are you trying to do, James? Sara thought to herself. What do you hope to accomplish by this? Now that she had cooled down a bit, she had to admit that there was something admirable in the way he’d reached out to the girl. Whatever his faults, he tried to do the right thing as he saw it.

  “Well?” asked Jarvis. “Are you going to try to change his mind?”

  “Why? Would you have done anything different?”

  Jarvis snorted. “Certainly. I’d have dropped her off at the next port and washed my hands of her.”

  “You wouldn’t have brought her back to the Colony?”

  “Bring her back? Sara, she’s a stowaway. She doesn’t belong on a ship like this, especially for such a sensitive diplomatic mission.”

  Sara agreed, but the situation had changed, and there was little they stood to gain by opposing James on this issue. She knew when to pick her battles.

  “The girl seems harmless enough. As long as she stays out of the way, I don’t think there’ll be a problem.”

  “Perhaps.”

  “My father will see to it that you’re adequately compensated for your troubles,” said Sara. “And once we return to the Colony, the girl will be tried and convicted for her crime.”

  Jarvis squinted, as if she were still unsure. “But what about the mission?” she asked in a hushed tone, glancing at the astrogator to make sure that he was out of earshot.

  “Don’t worry,” Sara said softly. “If anything, it will make things easier. So long as James is preoccupied…”

  She didn’t have to finish the sentence. Captain Jarvis’s lips turned up in a smile as she nodded.

  Sara turned and glanced out the forward bridge window. The massive spherical bulk of a starlane jump station loomed near in the shimmering starfield. Like a half-forgotten monolith, it marked the only sign of human habitation for light-years in any direction. A tiny handful of ships moved back and forth between brightly flashing buoys that marked the zones for incoming and outgoing traffic. Sara watched as a bulk freighter passed through the orange lights and flashed briefly before it disappeared into jumpspace.

  “How long before we arrive?” Sara asked.

  “Two of the starlane stations are down due to maintenance,” Jarvis reported. “Still, that won’t prevent us from continuing on our own drives. Barring any unforeseen complications, we should arrive in the Gaia Nova system in less than two days.”

  “So we should arrive early.”

  “Yes, but only by about twenty standard hours.”

  “Very well. Thank you for your understanding, Captain.”

  Sara left the bridge, musing that twenty hours would give her precious little time to establish a meeting with her contacts. She would have to be quick—Jarvis’s quick nod at the end of their conversation had told her as much.

  Well, as the daughter of the Colony’s shrewdest politician, she didn’t anticipate that being a problem.

  * * * * *

  “So we’re almost at Gaia Nova,” said Lars, whistling a little as he leaned back in his chair. “What are you going to do about that stowaway while we’re there?”

  “Sterling and I will take turns watching her,” said James. “She won’t interfere with your work.”

  “You sure you can handle her and the mission at the same time? She’s a feisty young thing. Reminds me of my sister.”

  James groaned. It was true: the girl had an attitude that was starting to get on his nerves. Even though he’d gone out of his way to treat her well, even giving up his quarters to give her a bed to sleep on, she had treated him with nothing but contempt. At least she hadn’t tried anything genuinely stupid, like running out in one of the escape pods. Then again, once they arrived at port, it would become that much harder to keep her from running away.

  “Not a problem. We’ll bring her back.”

  “Funny that she would choose a luxury yacht to stow away on. How did she manage to get on board?”

  “I don’t know,” said James. “But I don’t think she chose the Freedom Star for any particular reason. It was probably just the first ship to leave.” Which made him wonder: how many runaways like Kyla were stowing away on the other ships?

  “Interesting. And why exactly do you want to help her?”

  “Because,” said James, then stopped and shook his head. “I don’t know. It’s just—have you ever worked really hard for something, only to have someone tell you that it’s all been for nothing?”

  “All the time. That’s the game of politics, my friend. You’ve just got to grow a thick skin and carry on.”

  “No, not like that,” he said. “I mean, when you spend your life trying to save someone, and they won’t accept it?”

  “Like your sister, Stella,” said Lars. He put a hand on James’s shoulder. “I know it’s hard, but you can’t beat yourself up for it. If the girl doesn’t want your help, what can you do?”

  “I’ll help her anyways. She doesn’t know what she’s throwing away.”

  Lars sighed and shook his head. “James, James—when are you going to learn that you can’t save everybody?”

  “It’s not everybody I want to save—it’s her.”

  “But why? What is she to you?”

  “She’s a citizen of the Colony,” said James, slamming his fist on the table, “and that means I swore an oath to serve and protect her. I’m an officer in the Corps, after all—I’m supposed to be a sheepdog.”

  Lars gave him a puzzled look. “A sheepdog?”

  “They used to have them in the planetary agri-domes on Kardunash IV. Whenever they’d take the sheep out to pasture—”

  “I know what a sheepdog is, James. But what does that have to do with anything?”

  “It’s an analogy,” he explained. “The universe is full of wolves and sheep—killers and victims. But the killers can also turn around and protect the victims, just like the sheepdogs protect the sheep from the wolves. They’re the guardians of civilization, and when they fall, everything else falls with them. I may be a killer, but I’m not a wolf—not so long as I look after the sheep.”

  Lars frowned. “So you’re saying that the citizens of the Colony are like sheep, and you’re the benevolent dictator that herds them around?”

  “No, no, no—I’m the one who protects them.”

  “Sounds like the same thing to me,” said Lars. “If you want to help this girl, I suggest you take a more laissez-faire approach. Give her some space, and show that you’re not trying to control her. She’ll come around eventually.”

  James nodded. “You’re right. I need to let her own the decision.”

  “Exactly.”

  Lars sat back and looked out the window. Gaia Nova’s yellow-white sun shone dimly on the outer edge of the system, but it still dominated the starfield. James glanced at the old, battered station that was now the system node, surrounded by scrap and debris from the remains of the sister stations. Once, the complex had been a thriving center of commerce and trade. Now, after the brutality of the Hameji conquests, it was a pale shadow of its former self.

  “Just one more jump,” said Lars, breaking his train of thought. “Are you going to meet with your sister?”

  “If she’s there,” James said softly.

  Lars nodded and turned back to the window. James stared long and hard at what had once been the holiest star in all of human civilization—before
the Hameji, that was. Before the wolves.

  * * * * *

  Sara watched from the back of the bridge as Captain Jarvis and the crew of the Freedom Star made preparations for the final jump. Outside the main forward window, the blinking red nav buoys crept ever closer. The Gaia Nova system node was only about fifty light-hours from the system sun, close enough that the star dominated the view without drowning out the distant ones. The node itself lay out of view of the main window, but she knew it was there, coordinating what little traffic still flowed to the former seat of the New Gaian Empire.

  “Attention passengers and crew,” Captain Jarvis spoke into the microphone for the ship-wide loudspeaker. “We are about to make our final jump and should arrive at Gaia Nova’s primary station in less than an hour. Please make sure all your personal belongings are stowed securely, and seat yourselves comfortably for sublight maneuvers.”

  The familiar chime sounded from the nearest speaker, indicating the coming jump. Sara took a deep breath and tensed a little as the flashing nav buoys passed out of view. Moments later, a tingling sensation began at her fingers and traveled up her arms. Her stomach flipped and her vision began to spin. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, tightly gripping the armrests on her chair—and then, in an instant, the sensation passed. They were through.

  As Sara regained her bearings, the bridge door hissed open behind her. She turned and glanced over her shoulder in time to see James walk in, dressed in his olive-green fatigues.

  “Good upshift, Captain,” he said, saluting. “Everything’s going well, I trust?”

  “Quite well, Lieutenant,” Captain Jarvis said coldly. “Can I help you?”

  “I actually thought I’d join you on the bridge for the final docking maneuvers—if that won’t be a problem, of course.”

  Jarvis sighed. “No problem at all, Lieutenant. No problem at all.” She motioned with her hand to the seat next to Sara, which was folded up into the wall.

  “Hello,” said James as he pulled down a seat beside her. “How are you doing?”

  “Very well,” said Sara, smiling diplomatically. “And you?”

  “Not bad.”

  He sat down and fastened himself securely, just like the rest of the crew. Captain Jarvis picked up the microphone.

  “Attention passengers, we’re about to make a couple brief course corrections, each no longer than thirty seconds. You may experience some mild disorientation, however, so we ask that you remain seated for the duration of maneuvers.”

  The chime sounded again. Sara discreetly reached down and activated Nina through her wrist console. She glanced at the Lieutenant, but he didn’t seem to notice.

  “Good upshift, mistress,” came Nina’s voice through her earpiece. “Do you need any assistance?”

  EXECUTE COMMHACK, she hastily typed.

  “Acknowledged, mistress.”

  As the AI silently went to work on the ship’s main computer network, Sara’s stomach lurched ever so slightly before the gravitic dampers kicked in. Out the forward window, the moon dropped out of view, leaving nothing but washed-out blackness.

  “How’s the stowaway?” she asked James, breaking the awkward silence. It wasn’t the most desirable of conversation topics, but considering the fact that docking maneuvers were already underway, it was an expedient one.

  “She’s… adjusting,” he said, stumbling for words. “I think it’s going to take some time before she cooperates with us, though.”

  Out the forward window, the glowing arc of a horizon swung into view, making Sara catch her breath. After spending the last few days in the milky-white darkness of deep space, the view was absolutely spectacular.

  James whistled. “Would you look at that?”

  Sara had only been to Gaia Nova once, but she had been too young to remember much of it. All she knew was that the planet before her was nothing like the world she’d visited. Giant craters pocked the rust-red surface like unsightly scars, the largest basins filled with hardened lava flows. The few major bodies of water were gray with ash, while enormous dust storms covered large swaths of the surface. Here and there, she caught the metallic glint of man-made structures, or what was left of them: broken remnants of the magnificent arcologies that had once graced more than half of the planet’s surface. Now, all that remained were mangled and twisted ruins.

  “Coming into position,” Captain Jarvis said as the opposite horizon dropped level to their view. “Hold on.”

  Sara glanced down at her wrist console. Nina had successfully hacked through the admin firewall, and now brought up a message prompt on her screen. Glancing over her shoulder to make sure James wasn’t watching, she typed in a quick message:

  To: Z. Nabat del. re: Colony K3 L5b request meeting time and place; when and where?

  She hit enter and glanced over James’s shoulder at the holoscreen monitor on the other side of him. It showed a series of astrogational transmissions between the outrider and the station, but sure enough, her message was nowhere on the screen.

  “Message sent,” said Nina. “How else may I be of service?”

  STAND BY.

  “Acknowledged. Standing by.”

  “So this is what a slagged world looks like after the dust settles,” James said, bringing her back to the present. “It’s worse than I’d thought.”

  “I’ll thank you to cut the idle chatter, Lieutenant,” snapped Captain Jarvis.

  “Transmission received,” came Nina’s mechanical voice through Sara’s earpiece. “Would you like me to read it to you?”

  She discreetly reached for her console’s keypad. DISPLAY ONLY.

  “Hey, what’s this?” said James. “It looks like a transmission from the station.”

  A cold chill ran down Sara’s back. Her fingers froze over her wrist console.

  Jarvis looked back at him and frowned. “Bringing it up.”

  No, Sara thought. Please don’t—

  “It’s not from the station, it’s from the Hameji,” said James. “Some commander by the name of Jahan. It’s—” He stopped short, staring at the screen.

  “It’s what?” Jarvis asked.

  “It’s addressed personally to me.”

  Sara hastily glanced back down at her wrist console. Meet at 1430 hours local time at the Goldenstar Cafe. Ask for Soner, and come alone.

  “It’s an invitation to meet with the Lady Sholpan,” James continued, his voice unusually soft. “Fourteen hundred hours station time. That won’t conflict with any of your meetings, I hope?”

  “No,” said Sara, taking a deep breath to mask her relief. “That’s perfect.”

  * * * * *

  Kyla felt more than heard the grind of docking equipment as the Freedom Star arrived at the station. It came as a faint rumble through the bulkheads, barely noticeable except to someone who knew what to listen for. She stood alert, gripping the long handhold on the wall as the floor stopped tilting and finally equalized.

  This is it, she thought to herself. Her heart beat a little faster as she slung her bag over her shoulder. It would be tricky to sneak out, but if she waited long enough—

  The door hissed open, making her jump. James stepped through, followed by the pale-faced ensign.

  “Going somewhere?” James asked, motioning to the bag with his eyes. She dropped it to the floor and stood up straight, meeting his gaze without flinching.

  “I’ve come to let you know that we’ve arrived at Primus Station,” he said. “We’re going to be here for about five days, then we’ll head back to the Colony. During that time, you’re free to make yourself comfortable on the Freedom Star and—”

  “I want off.”

  He sighed and shook his head. “We’ve been over this before, Kyla. Now, if you behave yourself, I can help you get off with a lighter sentence once we get back to the Colony.”

  Kyla clenched her fists. “No,” she said, shaking her head. “I’m not going back.”

  “I’m afraid that’s your only o
ption.”

  “It’s for the best,” the ensign added, looking rather sheepish.

  Best for who? Kyla thought to herself, her cheeks burning with anger. She looked James in the eye, as if by sheer will to force him to release her.

  “You’re free to move about the ship,” James said. “Food, showers, entertainment systems—all of the amenities are at your disposal.”

  “And what about when we get back home?”

  “What are you running from?” the ensign asked. “Why are you so determined to get away?”

  Before Kyla could answer, James stepped in to her defense.

  “That’s none of our business, Sterling. She doesn’t have to tell us if she doesn’t want to.” He turned back to her. “I can’t make any guarantees when we get back, but I’ll do my best to see that you’re treated well.”

  “You don’t know what it’s like,” she said, her voice low. “Child services, the underworld…”

  “We’ll deal with that later. In the meantime, so long as we’re at port, the airlock will be secured at all times. Only an officer can open those doors, and only from the bridge. If you try to get off of this ship, you will fail.”

  A lump rose in Kyla’s throat, making her hands quiver. She tried to choke it down, but she felt as if she were trapped against a wall with nowhere to run. Panic rose in her chest, and she fought back the urge to lash out.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, glancing at her over his shoulder. “But when this is all over, you’ll thank me.”

  The door hissed shut, and the footsteps faded until she was left alone. With her cheeks burning and her heart pounding, Kyla collapsed on the narrow bed and buried her face in the pillow.

  “I hate you, James!” she screamed, grabbing at the bedspread as if to tear it apart. “I hate, hate, hate you!”

  Chapter 7

  James walked down the broad, well-lit terminal of the station’s spaceport. Traffic was sparse, and black-clad Hameji soldiers were everywhere. Visors covered their eyes, and most of them carried heavy assault rifles in hand. Without his own firearm—guns were forbidden, so as to not provoke the Hameji—James felt as if he were naked.