The Stars Down Under

by Sandra McDonald

  She bit her knuckle to drive away selfish thoughts and went out into the passageway. To her surprise, Toledo was lingering out there with Karl in his arms.

  “Didn’t want to disturb you,” Toledo said, hefting the koala. “Thought maybe this little fellow might cheer things up.”

  Karl came willingly into Jodenny’s arms and nuzzled her neck. Toledo’s thoughtfulness made her blink several times. “Thanks.”

  “How’s he doing?”

  “Not so good. Any news on the Roon?”

  “Still eyeing Earth like it’s the main feature on the buffet table.” Toledo stared at the bulkhead as if he could see through it to Myell. “Your chief’s going to be fine, Commander. He’s a tough guy.”

  Karl nuzzled Jodenny’s neck. She said, “I suppose.”

  Toledo offered her a rueful grin. “Oh, there’s no doubt about it. Married you, didn’t he?”

  He gave her a salute and went off. Jodenny cuddled Karl until Dr. Ruiz came out and said, “We’re all set in here, Commander. I expect him to sleep for the rest of the night. Like I said, seizures aren’t uncommon. Hopefully they’ll abate with time.”

  “And if they don’t?” she asked.

  Ruiz squeezed her arm. “Worry about that later.”

  Jodenny rejoined Myell. He was indeed sleeping, his face slack and his breathing steady. Karl clambered down her arms and nestled into the sheets. One of Myell’s hands moved automatically to cup his golden fur. She found herself irrationally jealous.

  “Don’t get too comfortable,” she told Karl.

  The koala yawned and went to sleep, leaving Jodenny to contemplate both man and robot. Her family, for as long as it lasted.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  Jodenny woke with a start when soft hands began fondling her breasts. She almost lashed out, but in the dim light of the infirmary room she could see Myell leaning over her, wonder and amazement on his face.

  “Kay?” he asked. “Jodenny?”

  She barely remembered taking off her boots and curling up on the second bed. Sleep had come hard and fast. Still groggy, she reached up and touched his cheek.

  “Are you back?” she whispered.

  His mouth descended on hers with a gentle kiss that grew greedier, harder. Jodenny wrapped her hands around his head and pulled him closer. Relief flooded through her, accompanied by a surge of fierce possessiveness. Mine, she thought, and against his mouth she said, “You’re never going away again.”

  He fumbled awkwardly, trying to join her on the narrow mattress. Jodenny urged him down to the deck instead, and yanked down the thin blankets as cushioning against the hard metal. She pinned him under her weight, kissing him again, running her hands over his bare arms and under his infirmary pajamas. He squirmed a little, ticklish. His hands on her back were clumsy, pawing instead of caressing, but she didn’t care.

  “Missed you,” she said.

  His lips and breath were warm against her throat but he made no sound.

  “Terry.” She cupped his face and searched his dark eyes. Saw recognition, but also confusion. “Talk to me.”

  He blinked at her and then said, crustily, “Lost.”

  “Who’s lost?” Jodenny asked.

  He swallowed hard. “Lost e-e-everything.”

  She sat up, pushing her long hair over her shoulder. The infirmary was cooler than she remembered and smelled like bitter medicine. Jodenny gripped Myell’s nearest hand and massaged the side of his head.

  “You haven’t lost everything, Terry. You’ve got me. Do you remember who I am?”

  His lips parted, hesitated. “Lieutenant?”

  Her stomach churned. “Is that all?”

  Myell’s hand tightened on hers and he suddenly smiled. “Wife.”

  “Yes.” She kissed his forehead. “Where are we?”

  Myell shifted his gaze to the bulkheads. “Not Aral Sea.”

  “No, not there.”

  He yawned so wide that she thought she heard his jaw pop. Jodenny snuggled against him on their nest of blankets. She kept her hand flat on his chest and listened to his breathing even out, deepen, turn to a faint snore. She didn’t sleep. At oh-six-hundred a med tech came in with Myell’s medication and stepped back in surprise.

  “Do you need help, ma’am?” he asked.

  Jodenny said, “No. We’re just resting.”

  Ruiz came by a bit later and was encouraged that Myell had spoken and taken some initiative. Jodenny woke him, and together she and Ruiz got him back into his bed. Myell seemed groggy, and shied away from the light Ruiz shone into his eyes.

  “Bad headache?” Ruiz asked.

  Myell squinted at him. “S-s-s-mells bad.”

  “The light smells bad?” Ruiz looked intrigued. “What exactly does it smell like?”

  Nam appeared at the hatchway and beckoned to Jodenny. She adjusted her uniform, scrubbed at her blurry eyes, and joined him in the passageway.

  “The Roon Carriers have started deploying more of their scout ships down to Earth,” he said grimly. “Several dozen are hovering over South America, Africa, Australia. Each of them is five times the size of the Kamchatka. No skirmishes yet, but people are starting to panic.”

  “What do you want me to do?” Jodenny asked.

  “Not you,” Nam replied.

  Jodenny shook her head. “He doesn’t even know where we are, Commander. Terry’s not your one true hope.”

  “I don’t have any others,” Nam replied, and slid past her.

  Ruiz was finishing his examination and seemed pleased enough. “The antiseizure medicine’s doing its job. Some retrograde amnesia’s not unexpected. The stutter is improving a little. Never ran into synesthesia before—that’s when he said the light smelled bad—so we’ll see how that plays out.”

  “Is there anything I can do to help?” Jodenny asked.

  “Just do what you’ve been doing, Commander.”

  After Ruiz left, Myell said to Nam, “You were th-th-there.”

  Nam asked, “Where, Chief?”

  “Village.”

  “Yes, in the village,” Nam said. “Do you remember?”

  Myell dropped his gaze to his fingers.

  “It’s important that you try,” Nam replied. “Remember the Roon? The aliens? They’re here at Earth. We don’t think they’re here to make friends.”

  Jodenny watched carefully, but Myell only picked at a hangnail.

  For several more minutes they both tried prompting him, but Myell’s memory was extremely sketchy. From the village he remembered a bonfire, seashells, a gecko. Of Garanwa he claimed to know nothing. He said he remembered living with Jodenny in Adeline Oaks, but couldn’t give them the address.

  “How about this?” Nam asked, and pulled a small cloth bag from his pocket. He shook the contents in his palm. “Do you remember these?”

  Jodenny had seen Myell’s dilly bag before. This one looked smaller, darker. The small wooden shapes inside were also different.

  “Where did you get that?” she asked.

  “He had it on him when we got here,” Nam said.

  She asked, “Why didn’t you give it back before?”

  “I was having it tested,” Nam said. His voice held no apology. “Nothing but wood and cloth, it turns out.”

  Myell had his eye on the carvings. He said, “Mine.”

  “Yes, yours,” Jodenny said, irritated at Nam. She plucked the gecko and crocodile from his palm, tucked them into the bag, and gave it to Myell. He curled up on his side and closed his eyes.

  Jodenny pulled the blanket up over his shoulders.

  “We need more information,” Nam said, fists clenched.

  “He can’t give you more than he has,” she replied. “I’d appreciate it if you left now. Sir.”

  After Nam was gone, Jodenny washed up, left instructions with the staff that Myell wanted no visitors, and went in search of Farber and Toledo. They were in Toledo’s cabin, watching the live vid.

  “What are the
Roon doing?” Jodenny asked.

  Toledo surrendered his chair to her. “See for yourself.”

  Jodenny skimmed through several channels of media feeds. Earth had never had a central government, not even before the Debasement. The hodgepodge nations that had survived the devastation were responding in different ways to the Roon deployments. The Asian Alliance was in observational mode. The Americanadians had launched some primitive missiles that bounced off the Roon scout ships like pebbles. The United North Kingdom had fired weapons as well, just as ineffectively. The Roon hadn’t retaliated, which Jodenny thought was a good sign.

  Toledo said, “Most of the ships seem to be mapping the oceans, or scanning it for something. They’ve only landed in a few places. They stay a few minutes, take off again quickly. They’re looking for something.”

  Farber crossed her arms tightly. “Cross thousands of light-years in search of what?”

  Buried treasure, Jodenny thought. The stuff of adventure myths. But she thought of Captain Cook, dispatched from England to explore the South Pacific. He hadn’t been looking for gold or silver. He’d been in search of knowledge, and the world of the Australian Aborigines had changed—had nearly been destroyed—because of it.

  Jodenny turned to a news channel coming out of New Sydney and listened to a young reporter with blond-and-black-striped hair. A Roon ship was over the Great Barrier Reef, a coral landmark that had been killed off during the Debasement.

  “What are you thinking, Commander?” Toledo asked.

  She sat back. “Nothing good. How are the crew and passengers?”

  “Crew’s holding steady,” Toledo said. “Passengers aren’t happy at all. They’ve started a petition.”

  Farber added, “Led by Mr. and Mrs. Zhang.”

  “A petition for what?” Jodenny asked.

  “Guaranteed safe passage to Earth,” Toledo said. He shrugged. “Keeps them busy.”

  Jodenny returned to the infirmary. Myell was sleeping with Karl curled up against him. She sat and stared, memorizing all over again the line of his nose, the graceful arc of his eyelashes, the little scar over his eyebrow. She’d never asked him how he’d gotten that, or why he kept it. He started to wake up, and she made sure that the first thing he saw was her.

  “Hey, sleepyhead,” she said.

  He tried to touch her face, but his hand was still clumsy. Thickly he said, “They’re here? R-r-roon?”

  “Do you remember them?”

  “Inter-lopers,” he said. “Get up.”

  With her help he rose off the pillows, and after a moment of rest he swung his feet to the floor. His gait was unsteady and he gripped her shoulder tightly, but he made it to the hatchway and seemed determined to keep walking.

  “Where are we going?” she asked.

  “S-s-see them,” he insisted.

  The medical lounge at the end of the passageway had a wallvid in it. Myell collapsed onto the sofa, his pajamas damp with sweat. Jodenny turned on the feeds, sat beside him, and watched his expression as more media reports came in.

  “Do you remember them?” she asked.

  His nose wrinkled. “Lizards.”

  She took his closest hand and massaged it in hers. “Do you remember Garanwa?”

  He leaned closer to the screen and ignored her question. Dr. Ruiz walked by, saw them, and stopped to observe. Jodenny said, simply, “He wanted to see the aliens,” and Ruiz pursed his lips thoughtfully before continuing on.

  “We think they’re looking for something.” Jodenny rested her head on Myell’s shoulder. “Do you know what it could be? Did Garanwa tell you anything?”

  He covered his face with both hands and didn’t answer.

  They sat there until the comm clicked and Captain Balandra’s voice said, “Attention all passengers and crew. As you’re aware, we will soon be entering Earth’s orbit. The aliens have shown no signs of interest in us, nor have they made any threatening overtures. We intend to approach one of their ships, reconnoiter, and perhaps establish communications.

  “I can’t predict how successful we’ll be, nor how this mission will end. I will tell you that Team Space is committed to your safety and my goal is for us to return safely home in the very near future, wherever home may be. Given the danger of this situation, however, I am asking all nonessential personnel to report to their lifeboats, and for essential crew to go to General Quarters. There will be no alarms sounded. Please proceed in an orderly and careful fashion to your lifeboats and duty stations. That is all.”

  All very polite and clear, Jodenny thought, but she had no idea how she was going to get Myell to a lifeboat, or if he could even make the trip. The medical staff, however, already had evacuation procedures in place. Ruiz and an orderly brought over an anti-grav wheelchair. Myell was cooperative and seemed to understand what they were doing, but wouldn’t leave without Karl.

  “He’ll be okay,” Jodenny said.

  Myell tried to get out of the chair.

  She said, “Fine, I’ll get him,” and went back to Myell’s room. Karl wasn’t in the covers or under the pillows. Jodenny got down on the deck, and saw him hiding under one of the beds.

  “Come on, Karl,” she said.

  He scratched himself.

  “I’m serious!” Jodenny said. “Get out from under there.”

  It took another long minute of coaxing to get him out, and she was still disgruntled when she carried him back to Myell.

  “I’m sorry we ever got you,” she told the bot.

  Myell’s face fell in dismay.

  Jodenny said, quickly, “No, I’m not,” and kissed the koala to prove it. She kissed Myell too, and earned herself a small smile.

  “Commander, this way,” Ruiz said.

  They evacuated to one of the medical lifeboats, which was larger than the others Jodenny had seen. Myell was made comfortable in a blue reclining chair. Two other patients from the infirmary were likewise cared for—a pregnant passenger in early labor and an able tech with an injured back. Counting additional crew, there were fifteen people in the boat. Jodenny wasn’t surprised when Commander Nam showed up at the hatch.

  “You’re not assigned to this lifeboat, Commander,” Dr. Ruiz said.

  Nam jerked his head toward Myell. “He’s my responsibility until we get back to Fortune.”

  Jodenny let Karl curl up in one of the underseat nets and gently rubbed Myell’s arm. The trip had tired him out, and he was dozing. She asked Nam, “Do you really think the Roon will fire on us?”

  “I hope to God not,” Nam said. “I’ve seen their hand weapons. Don’t even want to think of their shipboard armaments.”

  She waited for the sound of weapons fire, of damage and explosions. There was only the steady hiss of the air-circulation system and subdued conversation from the crew.

  “How long do you think we’ll be here?” one of the med techs asked.

  “Hours,” another answered.

  A third let out an unhappy noise. “Better here than crashing down to Earth in flames.”

  “There aren’t going to be any flames,” Nam said, severely.

  They watched on the vids as a Roon carrier grew closer. Jodenny wished Balandra would give updates over the comm, but the captain was probably a little busy. Nothing on the exterior of the Roon hull appeared to be weaponry, but there were several landing bays and surely those were fortified. The Kamchatka made several passes, each of them closer than the last.

  “It’s a dangerous game,” Nam said.

  Jodenny said, “It’s not a game.”

  The Kamchatka started another sweep of the Roon ship’s underbelly. Jodenny leaned forward, elbows on her knees, trying to make sense of the green scalelike attachments, the plates and protuberances and knobby features. She felt Myell’s foot lash out against hers, and turned in alarm as he bolted upright.

  “Stop them!” he shouted. No trace of the stutter remained. “Make them stop!”

  A bright light flashed across the vidscreen. A thump
vibrated through the Kamchatka, as if the whole ship had been slapped. The General Quarters alarm began to screech, tearing at Jodenny’s ears alongside Myell’s shouts.

  “Stop them!” he kept shouting. The tendons in his neck bulged and he bared his teeth. He tried scrambling to the hatch but Ruiz’s staff blocked him and started pulling him back. Jodenny tried to help, got an elbow in the face for her efforts, and was knocked off balance as the lifeboat unclamped.

  “Emergency release!” someone yelled. “Strap in!”

  The boat began to fall away from the Kamchatka. Myell was wrestled back to his seat and restrained. Jodenny hated to see Ruiz slap a sedative patch on his skin, but she didn’t interfere. Myell slumped back, his eyes rolling up. The lifeboat continued to accelerate. Nam yanked Jodenny to her cushion and pulled down a safety strap just as alarms lit up across the bulkhead.

  “Did they attack?” Jodenny demanded. “How’s the Kamchatka?”

  Nam pointed to a screen. “Repelled, but intact. Looks like only three or four lifeboats fell off.”

  “Can we go back?” Ruiz asked, his voice high with fear.

  “No propulsion. We can’t turn around,” Jodenny said.

  “Worse than that.” Nam’s expression was grim. “We’re plummeting too fast. Whatever the Roon are using on Earth-based nav systems must be messing with our autopilot as well.”

  The officer in charge of the lifeboat, Chief Alvarez from the Data Department, wrestled with the helm controls. Interior alarms began to wail. A voice from the Kamchatka was issuing advice, but even Jodenny could see there was little that Alvarez could do. In his chair, Myell murmured a sedated complaint. She grabbed his hand, and for good measure grabbed one of Nam’s as well.

  “We’re going to be fine,” Nam told her. The vibrations of the lifeboat made his voice waver. “Understand?”

  The tiny ship plummeted toward land.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Painkillers muddied Jodenny’s thinking.

  “Where are we?” she would ask, several times a day, and Myell couldn’t always remember. Sometimes Nam would answer. Sometimes Dr. Ruiz would answer instead. Myell would listen carefully, then wander outside into the blistering, parched outback and forget everything they’d told him.