Heart of the Nebula

by Joe Vasicek

  “I’m glad to hear it. I suppose you two will do whatever you want once we’re on our respective ships, but if you do decide to marry him, you have my blessing.”

  Sara smiled. “Thanks, Dad. I’ll keep that in mind.”

  He spread out his arms, and she hugged him again. This time, there was no stiffness in his embrace. They held each other for a long time, knowing that this would be the last they ever saw of each other.

  “I’ll miss you, Dad,” Sara whispered.

  “I know, dear,” her father said. “Be sure to message me before you go into cryo.”

  “I will.”

  The rest of her visit passed in a blur. As she stepped out the door and into the dimly-lit corridor, she felt more alone than she could ever remember. But it wasn’t until her father’s transport blinked into jumpspace that she allowed herself to cry.

  Chapter 16

  James stared out the forward window of the bridge of the Nabattan transport as they made the jump to Zeta Nabat. Nearly a week had passed since the crew transfers had begun, and the task was nearly complete. The only colonists left were the ones under James’s command.

  A sinking feeling grew in his gut as the bulkheads began to hum, but still he kept his eyes open, fighting the urge to blink. Perspective shifted, and for an instant the stars seemed to swirl—or rather, his point of view switched in some bizarre way that he couldn’t explain. It was as if he were simultaneously looking at the same stars from multiple angles across hundreds of parsecs of space.

  That’s the last time in my life that I’ll ever pass through jumpspace.

  “Jump complete,” said the chief astrogator. Like all the Nabattan officers, he wore the ubiquitous olive green fatigues with black epaulets.

  “Good work, men,” said Soner from the captain’s seat at the front. “Let’s bring the ship in to dock.”

  James leaned forward to get a better view out the window. Except for a slightly bluish haze, the Good Hope Nebula was so close it was all but invisible. The nebula obscured only the faintest, most distant stars, giving the view a slightly granular quality.

  “That’s odd,” said Lars. “I thought the nebula would look a lot brighter from here.”

  “Not this close,” said Sterling, turning around to face him. “It’s counter-intuitive, but the closer you get to the nebula, the dimmer it appears.”

  “Why is that?”

  “Because of light dispersal. From a distance, the nebula is just a point in the sky, so the reflection from the stars is concentrated. But up close, all that light is spread out across the whole sky, so in any one place it appears much dimmer.”

  Just a couple of klicks away, the ramjet launch station appeared like a dull gray speck in the off-black sky. Located at the edge of the termination shock, where the solar wind condensed before hitting the interstellar medium, the station was located almost twelve light hours from the nearest planet. James wondered what a voyage from the inner system out to this distant point would be like on one of his family’s small freighters. At sublight speeds, it would easily take years.

  “Are those the other colony ships?” Lars asked, pointing out the window. “That line of blue lights—are those the engine boosters?”

  “That’s right,” said James. As he peered at the little blue dots, though, his face fell and his eyes narrowed. Something about them wasn’t right.

  “That’s odd,” said Sterling. “Shouldn’t the line be more even? It looks almost… jagged.”

  “Is something wrong?” Lars asked. “I—”

  Before he could finish, the bridge door hissed open and half a dozen armed guards ran in, assault rifles drawn. Sterling’s eyes widened, and James rose instantly to his feet. He reached for his gun, but before he could draw it, he felt something hard pressing against his side.

  “Now, now,” said Soner, “let’s not do anything rash, shall we?”

  James looked down and saw that Soner had jammed a gun in his back. The soldiers quickly surrounded them, yanking Lars and Sterling to their feet.

  “What’s going on?” James asked, his voice low and dangerous.

  “Don’t worry, Commander,” Soner answered casually as he confiscated James’s pistol. “You’ll find out soon enough.”

  The soldiers swiftly patted them down for weapons and confiscated their wrist consoles. Without any way to communicate, they had no way of knowing what was happening to the other colonists. The Nabattans could be preparing a massacre for all he knew.

  Stay calm, James told himself, resisting the urge to fight back. Don’t do anything stupid. Your life isn’t the only one on the line.

  Soner examined James’s pistol with a mixture of curiosity and boredom. “A hand-crafted Gaian imperial model, with a customized laser sight and fully self-loading action. I must admit it is a fine artifact of a bygone era. Tell me, how long has it been in your possession?”

  James said nothing. Soner shrugged and slipped the gun into his belt.

  “Oh well—I don’t suppose you’ll be needing it anymore. It would be a pity to let such a fine piece of art go to waste.”

  “What do you want from us?” Lars asked. Though he kept his expression cool, his voice was tinged with fear.

  “That’s a very good question,” said Soner. “By now, it must be abundantly clear that you are in no position to negotiate. We have the power to take what we want, and there is nothing you can do to stop us. Rest assured, though, we have no intention of killing you. That would be far too much trouble.”

  “So you plan to let us go?” Sterling asked nervously.

  “Of course we do. It makes no difference to us whether you take our obsolete, barely functional ramjet fleet and abscond into the nebula. Naturally, we won’t leave you with anything that could be valuable, but my men should be taking care of that even as we speak.”

  Damn you! James wanted to scream.

  “Well,” said Lars, “if you’re willing to let us go, then it shouldn’t be too difficult to reach some kind of agreement.”

  Soner’s mouth turned upward in a sly, predatory grin. “Oh, we don’t intend to let all of you go. That would be a waste. No, we intend to keep some of you behind.”

  James’s blood ran cold. Chills shot from the back of his neck to the ends of his toes.

  “What do you mean?”

  “A simple trade, Commander—one that you can easily afford. There are more than a hundred young women in the cabin below us. We only want twenty.”

  Sterling gasped. James clenched his fists as dread turned to rage.

  “You sick bastard! We’ll never give in to your demands!”

  “Oh, yes you will, Commander,” said Soner. “I could have you all slaughtered in an instant if I wanted to. But I don’t think it will come to that, especially since you no longer have a say in the matter. My men are already among your crew, gathering volunteers.”

  “Volunteers?” Lars asked, his cheeks pale.

  “That’s right. Though if none are forthcoming, we may have to employ some means of persuasion.”

  James lunged forward and threw a fist at Soner’s face, but before he could strike, one of the soldiers grabbed his arm and elbowed him in the side. He struck the floor hard, only to have the wind knocked out of him by a sharp kick to the stomach. Stars swam across his vision as he doubled over in pain.

  Soner peered down at him. “There’s no reason to be uncivilized, Commander. As soon as we have what we want, we’ll let you board your ship and be gone.”

  James gasped for breath as Sterling gingerly helped him to his feet. The pain in his side kept him from standing up straight, and the taste of vomit filled his mouth.

  “Please,” Lars begged, “won’t you let us confer with the colonists so that we can come to this decision together? It’s only fair.”

  Soner shook his head. “I’m afraid that’s out of the question.”

  James stared at the bald little man with undisguised hatred. “I’ll be damned if I let you get
away with this.”

  “Then I’ll save a place for you in hell, Commander.”

  * * * * *

  The door to the cabin hissed open and a squad of Nabattan soldiers stepped through, their dull black armor giving them the appearance of monsters. Even though they wore their visors up so that their eyes were visible, Kyla instantly knew that something was wrong.

  “All right, I want everybody up and on their feet,” said the first one, a golden insignia on his shoulder plate setting him apart from the others. “Let’s move!”

  What’s going on? Kyla wondered as she rose from her seat along with the other colonists. She looked around for an alternate way out, but the soldiers guarded the only exit, watching the colonists closely.

  As she followed the crowd out into the main corridor, a low, metallic groan sounded through the bulkheads, making the floor shudder slightly.

  “James?” Jessica asked, her voice trembling. “Oh, God. Where’s James?”

  “Hush, dear,” Adam said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

  “But James—our only son!”

  “Quiet!” one of the soldiers yelled. With tears in her eyes and terror written on her face, Jessica complied.

  Her question was a good one, though. If anyone could save them from this mess, it would be James. But what if he was dead? Was that why this was happening? A small child whimpered somewhere off to her right, and a parent tried in vain to console her. What if no one was coming for them?

  Kyla glanced over her shoulder, but the soldiers had blocked off the aisle leading to the bridge. Was it just her, or were there more of them now? Some had unslung their rifles, and were examining the colonists rather closely. Other stood around joking with each other, the sound of their laughter strangely malicious in her ears.

  There was no doubt about it. They were on their own.

  The guards at the airlock had their assault rifles out and pointed at the floor. Kyla’s heart beat faster, but she did her best to swallow her growing anxiety. With nowhere to run, her best bet was to blend in. Like everyone else, she walked through and said nothing.

  The corridors on the Nabattan station were much dimmer than the transport ship, with dark gray walls and industrial floor grating. The place was also full of soldiers—even more than before. One of them took her by the arm and pulled her away.

  “Wait—no!”

  A sharp blow across the face stunned her long enough for them to start patting her down. When she realized that they weren’t going to drag her away from the others, she submitted to the search. They could take what they wanted from her so long as they didn’t take her away.

  Once finished, they released her on the other side without so much as a word and moved on to Jessica and Adam. Kyla slunk away from the soldiers as quietly as she could, into the next room.

  She was in a large cargo hold, with caged bulbs across the ceiling and grating on the floor. They’d come in through a freight airlock, something she hadn’t noticed before. The colonists who had come in before her huddled against the far wall, confused and disoriented.

  The Nabattans could massacre us in here, she thought to herself as she joined the frightened crowd. Or they could throw open that airlock and suck us all out. Her stomach felt sick, and cold sweat began to form on the back of her neck.

  It took a long time for the soldiers to process everyone. With everyone against the far wall, the Nabattans started to haul their bags off to an adjacent hold. The rest stood guard with their rifles drawn.

  “What the hell are you doing?” a young man shouted out from somewhere in the crowd.

  “Silence!” shouted the officer with the golden insignia, stepping through the airlock flanked by half a dozen soldiers. “For every one of you who talks, I shoot someone dead.” As if to emphasize the point, he pulled out his pistol and pointed it at the nearest prisoner—an old woman who shrieked and fell to the floor in terror.

  The room became deathly silent.

  “All right, then,” said the officer, eying them with contempt. “Listen up—here’s how it’s gonna go down. If you comply with our demands, we let you board your colony ship as planned. If you don’t—” he stepped forward and plucked a baby out of its mothers arms, holding it at arm’s length with one hand, “—then we kill you one by one, starting with this little tyke right here.”

  “No!” the mother screamed, running forward with arms outstretched to take back her baby. The three nearest soldiers stepped forward and beat her with their rifles until she fell to the floor, sobbing uncontrollably.

  Kyla glanced fearfully around the room, gauging everyone’s reaction. A few men stepped forward, rage written across their faces, but when the officer held his gun to the baby’s head, they stopped and kept still.

  “Very good,” said the officer, ignoring the struggles of the crying baby. “You learned faster than the last group. Now, here’s what we want: twenty of your young women stay behind with us.”

  A nauseous feeling rose in Kyla’s stomach. She swallowed hard and did her best to look invisible.

  “We can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way, folks. If twenty of you girls step forward right now, we’ll let everyone else go, nice and easy. If not, we’ll come through and take the ones we want. And if anyone resists—” he said, holding up the screaming baby. He left the threat unfinished.

  For several moments, everyone stood utterly still. The wailing of the baby filled the room, while the mother sobbed quietly, still lying on the floor.

  A single girl stepped forward from the rest of the group, her face deathly pale. “I’ll go,” she said softly.

  The soldiers grinned as they looked her over. She was a slim, twenty-something blond, wearing the simple gray jumpsuit of the working class. From the lack of reaction from the crowd, Kyla guessed she didn’t have any family who would miss her.

  Just like me.

  “I’ll go, too,” another girl whispered. She was a gaunt brunette, plain and undernourished, but not old or ugly. One of the soldiers said something under his breath, and the rest of them snickered.

  “That’s two,” said the officer, pointing the girls to the other side of the room. “Any more?”

  “Take me,” said another girl, stepping forward. This time, someone in the crowd cried out—a grown man with a thick red beard.

  “No, Diane!” he cried, falling to his knees. “Please—don’t go!”

  “Don’t stop me, Father,” she said, barely able to restrain her own tears. “If I don’t go, who will?”

  Who will? The words cut Kyla to the core. She glanced around at all the families and realized that almost everyone had someone who would miss them—someone like this father—who couldn’t bear to see them go. And unlike all of these nice girls from good families, Kyla knew full well what they were getting into. An endless cycle of beatings and rape, punctuated by self-hatred and a sense of utter worthlessness.

  The girl bit her lip and kissed her father on the forehead before turning and following the others. Her face was pale, but she walked forward with a firm resignation in her step, refusing to look back.

  “Very good,” said the Nabattan officer. “Who’s next?”

  For a long while, no one else came forward. Kyla’s knees went weak, and her stomach began to churn. The girls who had offered to sacrifice themselves watched from the other side, as if through an impenetrable wall that separated them. Her hands shook as she stared at them, and she suddenly found it difficult to breathe.

  I should be one of them, a voice in her head whispered. I know how to handle myself, how to survive. No one’s going to miss me when I’m gone.

  Two more girls volunteered. The begging pleas of their loved ones cut Kyla to her heart. Did they really deserve their freedom any less than her? If she got away because of their sacrifice, would she ever be able to stop hating herself?

  “I’ll go,” she heard herself say. “Take me.”

  Her first step forward was the most difficult
step she’d ever taken in her life. Behind her, Jessica cried out, but more out of surprise than anything else. Adam held her back, and Kyla continued the long walk to join the condemned.

  This is for you, James, she thought inwardly. This is me paying you back for everything that I owe you. He was the one who’d given her a second chance, after all. Now it was her turn to give that to someone else. And as the soldiers escorted her to the cluster of terrified girls on the far side of the room, she realized that she’d finally stopped running.

  * * * * *

  “Mistress?” Nina’s inflectionless voice sounded in Sara’s ear. “Your heart rate has been unusually elevated for the past twenty-two minutes. It is starting to disturb me. Please respond.”

  That was the last thing Sara could do, however. The Nabattan pirates had already confiscated her wrist console, and from the way they were herding her and the others at gunpoint, she didn’t think they’d have any qualms about shooting.

  James, she thought frantically. Where is he? Is he all right? It wasn’t clear what the Nabattans had done to him. He’d been on the bridge of the transport, along with Sterling and Lars, but the Nabattans had led her and the other colonists straight from the cabin into the station cargo bay like so many cattle.

  She shuddered as she thought about the girls they’d left behind—twenty brave young women who had given themselves in order to save the others. It wasn’t hard to imagine what the Nabattans would do to them. The whole thing was horrible and she wished she had the power to stop it, but the Nabattans held all the power. There was nothing she could do. At least it looked like everyone else was going to get away now. Their sacrifice had not been in vain—thank the stars for that.

  “Mistress,” said Nina, “you seem to be concerned about something. Can I possibly be of assistance?”