Her tone was as tough as a general’s. “Sacrificing myself for the greater good is what I am programmed to do. It is in my orders.”
Angstrom’s gaze pleaded with the captain in disbelief, but the captain’s face remained tight and unyielding. “Flight Fleet regulations, section one-hundred twenty-eight, evacuation procedures.”
“We should make one of those rebels stay behind.” Angstrom rolled his eyes. “They’re the ones that got us into this trouble in the first place.”
The captain shook his head. “They are not to be trusted. Besides, Nebula, Angstrom, Oso and I are the only senior officers with the expertise to run the separation and propulsion programs.” He touched Nebula’s arm. “I can stay in your place.”
“No.” Nebula took a step toward him and held his eyes in her own glaring gaze. “Do not disgrace me. Allow me to do my job.”
The captain took one long look at her, summing her up.
“You will be needed to lead the crew back home.” She knew she had him in a tough spot. There was no way he could forsake his duty.
With a jerk of a nod, he walked back to his office, speaking over his shoulder. “Very well. Begin evacuation procedures immediately.”
Chapter 7
Stowaway
Angstrom squeezed the air right out of her as he grasped her tightly in his arms.
“It is all right,” Nebula whispered near his pointed ear. “This is what I wanted.”
He pulled away with shock in his eyes, but there was no time for explanations. Gasps rang out on the main control deck as a warp hole formed just a half parsec away from their coordinates. The Gryphonite Warbird was on its way.
“We must leave now!” The captain ushered the remainder of the senior officers off the control deck and into the elevator.
Angstrom ignored the ripple of space appearing before them and looked into Nebula’s eyes. “You’ve been a great friend, Neb.” He broke into tears and his lips trembled.
The captain put a hand on his shoulder and pulled him away. “Come now, before it is too late.”
Angstrom entered the elevator and covered his face with his hands. He went to move back onto the control deck as if he had second thoughts but another crew member held him back. As the others entered the elevator, the captain stood before her. They were the last two people on deck.
“Nebula, once we are on Deck Thirteen, begin the separation procedures.”
Nebula nodded. “Yes, sir.”
The hole was getting bigger. It looked like it sucked the stars right into it, bending the nature of space and time in its wake.
The captain backed into the elevator. “And try to hold the Gryphonites off with conversation. Stall as long as you can.”
“I will try, sir.”
“We’ll send reinforcements to this location as soon as we contact help.”
Nebula nodded again, although she knew the Warbird would be long gone by then and she secretly wished to be taken prisoner anyway. She watched as the captain pushed the code into the panel.
“And Nebula…”
“Yes, sir?” She wondered what he could possibly have left to say.
“Try to stay out of trouble now, okay?” He smiled a crooked half grin of regret mixed with respect and pushed the button. The doors melted into place and the other members of the crew were gone.
Nebula was entirely alone. For a moment, she stood on the brink of oblivion, staring at the sight panel where the warp hole loomed. A cold feeling swept over her and she felt her skin prickle. She collected herself as if she’d been scattered all over the floor and hovered over the controls to release the back of the ship when the time came.
The time it took the elevator to reach the lower decks felt like an eternity. Once it opened and closed on the lower deck, Nebula authorized the directions for the front-back separation. Warning alarms rang in her ears as the deck’s lights flashed red. The locks on the bridge unfastened, and she could feel a tug underneath her feet as the back of the ship detached.
Nebula said a silent good-bye to everyone on board, including Radian. At least she’d kept him safe. However, she knew he’d be taken to trial and a rush of guilt swept over her. She felt like she’d delivered him into the hands of the enemy. Not only that, but any clues to her past went with him. She had to remind herself she had had no choice.
Once the other half of the ship was free, she engaged the thrusters, sending it launching into space. She calculated the coordinates for optimum flight speed and sent it on a clear path back to Earth. The engines weren’t working at full capacity, but they would make it. Nebula had completed her job.
Now all she could do was watch as the Gryphonite ship loomed closer in the black void of space. She stared it down and felt her destiny looming every minute it came closer. The elevator opened behind her, interrupting the spell of fate and she whirled around.
There Radian stood haloed by the golden light. She saw determination in the lines of his face and the set of his shoulders. His eyes held an emotional tug. Nebula felt a wash of relief to see him, but damned his presence in the back of her mind. She’d sacrificed everything to keep him safe, and there he was at her side.
“What are you doing here?”
Radian closed the distance between them. “I couldn’t stand to lose you again.”
“But I am not Mirilee,” she declared, her voice forceful. “A person is the sum of their memories and their experiences. I may have her body, but I will never be her.”
He was now only a breath away. His hands cupped her cheeks, bringing her face up to meet his. He looked like someone who’d made up his mind for good. “I know, and I stand by you nonetheless.”
A blinking red light called her attention away and Nebula moved, breaking the spell. “It is the Gryphonite ship. They are hailing us.”
Radian nodded his approval. She put them on full screen and pressed the receive button.
Although she knew what the Gryphonites looked like from images in her database, it still shocked her when the black eye turned in her direction. Beneath it, a jagged beak dripped drool at the tip. The eye blinked once and narrowed as the beak opened, flexing the jaws.
There was a series of shrill squeaks and piercing chirps. She did not need the translator to tell her it was a warning. “Surrender now or die.”
Radian ran a hand through his spiked hair. “How long does the crew need to get away?”
“A few minutes more, just to be safe. We are lucky they have not noticed half the ship is missing.”
“And they say Gryphonites have the eyes of an eagle.”
Nebula was surprised to find that she had an opinion. “More like the eyes of a vulture.”
Radian laughed but there was no happiness in it. “And maybe their brain size as well.”
“You are aware when they seized a ship that crash-landed on Gryphod, they stole the mechanics of space travel?”
“It makes sense that they’d have to steal it. A race that flew to begin with would never have the need to dream up a flying machine, never mind space travel. Go on, buy them some time.”
Nebula recorded her voice and put it through the language processor. She knew they would never fall for their claims, but because of the translation required, the correspondence would be time consuming. “We are a UPA-alliance vessel and fall under the jurisdiction of the UPA. An attack would violate rule two-hundred twenty-five of the Interplanetary Regulations.”
Radian patted her on the back. “Well said.”
Nebula waved away his credit. “It is a programmed response contained in my circuit boards for this exact type of situation.”
The response was forthcoming. “By aiding and abetting terrorists, you have violated rule forty-six of the same UPA-alliance treaty you speak of. You must be taken to Gryphod and charged under our terrorist act. If you do not surrender and provide us the phase coordinates, we will attack.”
He shrugged as
if their fates were predetermined. To her surprise, he did not look afraid. “Well, this is what you wanted, wasn’t it?”
Nebula nodded and smiled, emboldened by his confidence in her. “All part of my plan.”
“For Mora, then.” Radian pressed the monitor back on again.
“For Mora,” Nebula whispered under her breath. She said into the language processor, “We surrender.”
Radian placed a protective arm around her shoulders. “Let them come.”
* * * *
It did not take the Gryphonites long to materialize on board. They were taller than Nebula imagined, rising a full foot above the common human height, and leaner, with sinuous muscles running through their feathered bodies. Five of them solidified in front of them, wearing nothing but their feathers and holsters armed with lasers.
Two of them stepped directly into the elevator, searching for more prisoners, while the three remaining Gryphonites fluttered toward them. Their sharp, taloned feet left scratches in the pristine metal floor. Their movements were fluid like snakes and their eyes cold and calculating.
Communication was not probable without the language translators. They approached silently, like wraiths collecting the damned to usher into the depths of Hell.
The leader leaned toward Nebula’s face and she had to resist the urge to cringe. It smelled foul, like wet down and sweat. With an eye on either side of its head, it had to crane its neck to study her directly. Nebula shrank back a measure, afraid it would see she wasn’t completely human. She held out her hands in a gesture of obedience. The bird man pulled back and seemed to exchange a glance with its cohorts.
“Don’t let them scare you,” Radian assured her in a whisper in her ear. He raised his hands as well. “I’ve been preparing for this moment for five years now and they all seem like a big bag of feathers.”
The one in the middle let out a war cry and Nebula’s ears immediately adjusted to dull the high-pitched sound. She looked over to Radian, but he was not so lucky as to have a pitch adapter. He gritted his teeth and squinted until the echoes of the wail faded.
Metal handcuffs were clasped on their wrists with clawed hands. Soon, the deck faded into a billion dusty particles as they were phased out. Nebula felt her body and mind travel to a dimension where time had no meaning. She’d been phased in and phased out before, but this journey seemed all the more spiritual to her since she developed the emotions to feel the vastness of the galaxy at her fingertips and her spirit soar through space. For a moment, she was cast away, weightless like a single grain of sand in an ocean tide, and the next, she was herself again, feeling her feet underneath her as the world came back into view.
They appeared in the lower levels of the Gryphonite Warbird. Although made from metal, the ship looked like more of a den than a medium of space travel. At one time, it belonged to another race. Now the Gryphonites claimed it for their own, scattering their feathers, half-eaten bones and droppings along the corridors like a primitive species.
Nebula assessed the stench and found traces of human blood, fecal matter and urine. The conditions were definitely violating a number of UPA health and safety standards, never mind casting the race in a negative view. Her eyes logged all information like two tiny video inputs. Ironically, she was doing exactly what Pink and her crew had come to do, although a cyborg’s visions and recordings would be much clearer and hold up without a doubt in the context of court. If only she could make it out with her memory board intact.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a shove as the Gryphonites herded them down the corridor and into a cell where other humans cowered in the shady corners. A metal door closed behind them and they found themselves trapped.
“Are you okay?” Radian brushed his hand against her cheek like she was a child.
“Perfectly fine.” Although the question was unnecessary, she couldn’t help it from entering her heart. She had to remind herself it was Mirilee whom he cared for, not her.
Nebula didn’t waste one second as she traced the confines of the cell with her delicate fingertips. Radian waited patiently, watching her every move. When she stood back and took another look at the metal door, he spoke. “Is it possible to break out?”
Nebula stood on her tiptoes and pushed on the metal door slightly. The door groaned but didn’t move. “Yes.” She turned around to face him, fully confident.
After testing their confines, she took note of the others hiding in the corners of the cell. There was a young boy around fifteen years old, leaning against the back of the cell. He peered at her through his floppy hair, which drooped over a freckled nose. Next to him sat an older woman wrapped in shawls.
“No way.” The boy crossed his arms. “I’ve been trying for days now and the hinges won’t even budge.”
“Eldin.” The woman pulled his shoulder back. “Don’t antagonize them. We don’t know who they are.”
“It’s fine, Ma. What are they going to do, kill us? We’re already as well as dead.”
“That’s enough!” The woman looked at Nebula and wrinkled her nose. “My apologies for my son. His anxiety is getting to him.”
“No worries, ma’am.” Radian brushed the comment off like a stray hair on his shoulder. “We’re all under stress right now.”
Nebula popped the lock on her handcuffs with a jerk of her wrists. The shackles slid to the hay-strewn floor and the boy stared in awe. “Whoa, how’d you do that?”
“Come here.” Nebula held out her hand and he took a few slow steps forward, eyeing her with suspicion as he stretched out his arm. She could see the metal digging red welts into his wrists. With a single click, his constraints fell to the ground with a clank. Nebula turned to the older woman. “Please, ma’am, let me undo yours.”
She stood and walked toward Nebula, staring into her unblinking eyes. Nebula had seen that particular expression of wonder and restraint before. She knew the woman recognized her kind. Although Nebula appeared human, she could never hide she was an android from another human being.
“Thank you,” the woman replied. Nebula was surprised she didn’t mention she was a cyborg. She rubbed her wrists and offered her name. “Illena.”
Nebula took her hand. “Nebula. And this is Radian.”
Illena looked at Radian but was hesitant to offer her hand. Nebula had to remind herself he was still wearing his punk rebel clothes and dyed hair. “Nice to meet—”
“Hey, you’re a robot.” The boy gawked at her and then at the broken cuffs. “A real robot.” He went over and poked her arm.
Nebula pulled away, a pang of hurt piercing her stoic composure. She felt inferior, as if she were a mere gadget or toy.
“Eldin,” Illena scolded. “You can’t just walk up and touch a stranger.”
“But she’s not a person, Ma. She’s an android, a machine made from the dead.” Eldin regarded Nebula in awe.
Nebula glanced at Radian but his eyes wandered away, as if he were guilty of making her the monster this boy made her out to be. She wanted to melt over to him and tell him she forgave him for always seeing Mirilee, for cursing her, for sending her away, for everything. But she didn’t move. The moment came and went, and she stood motionless.
Eldin interrupted the silence. “If you’re some all-powerful robot, then why don’t you break down the door right now? Let us all out so we can steal a scout ship?”
“Because we are not trying to get away, not yet.” Nebula’s tone had an edge to it. She was going to have to control this boy’s raging emotions or he would get all of them in trouble. “We plan to travel to Gryphod and release a certain prisoner held hostage there. When the time is right, when the ship has landed, we run.”
Eldin stared at Nebula with a smile plastered on his face. “Rescue mission, huh?”
Radian nodded. “That’s right.”
Nebula threw Illena’s cuffs on the ground, stirring up dust. “You can help us or not, your choice.”
Eld
in looked back at his mother before offering his hand. “Count me in.”
Chapter 8
Canyon’s Rim
Nebula longed for her music. Her fingers twitched with the urge to touch the keys of her Steinway, still back on the abandoned flight ship, drifting to nowhere fast in space. Now she felt the melody flow through her as more than a series of codes and craved its swell and its release. Maybe the music could help her understand the feelings she harbored for Radian, emotions threatening the nature of who and what she was.
Radian propped himself up with his back against the cell wall, eyes closed as if he were asleep. Nebula could tell by his breathing he was only resting and could spring into action at any moment. Eldin and Illena lay beyond him, their huddled forms rising and falling in deep slumber.
“Don’t you ever sleep?” Radian’s whisper surprised her. She hadn’t noticed him open his eyes. She hoped he didn’t sense her staring moments ago.
Nebula was embarrassed to have to justify her nature. “No, it is not necessary for my survival.”
“Don’t you ever crave an escape?”
Nebula leaned forward with intensity in her eyes. “Every day.”
She could see her honesty surprised him because his eyebrows rose and he straightened, adjusting his position. “What is it you want to escape from? You have a great position, a fulfilling career.”
Nebula titled her head, assessing how much to tell him. Despite the caution lurking in her logical mind, her words flowed freely. “The black void inside me. It throbs with a hunger I cannot satiate.”
Radian shook his head. “That’s awful. Is there anything that quells the pain?”
Her face went blank as if she put herself on pause. How could she tell him he was the remedy? It would sound desperate and irrational. Besides, any pull of emotion would complicate their mission and possibly jeopardize their success.
“It does not matter. The solution is impossible, unattainable by any means.”
Radian narrowed his eyes. “Nonsense. There must be some way for you to find happiness.”
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