Nebula looked at him in disbelief. “But why?”
“I’m going to stay to help the others. It’s my job.”
And with a click of his fingers, the platform rose and Nebula looked upon Max for the last time. He stood with a hand up in salute, the same gesture the captain of the Flightship Freedom had done. Now the positions were reversed—this time she was the one leading the getaway.
Chapter 13
Missing in Action
Nebula settled into the flight chair of the Gryphonite Warbird. Hundreds of lives rested in her grasp. Thousands, in actuality, if she thought about all the people she could save by bringing witnesses to the UPA negotiations.
“What will stop the Gryphonites from blowing up this whole ship?” Nebula asked Kale, who sat on her left as co-pilot.
“Don’t worry.” Kale adjusted his vision goggles. “Max has got it covered. He’s disabled the ground defenses.”
Radian sat on her right, turning the gauges and checking the fuel. “I can’t understand this gibberish, but it looks like it’s ready to go.”
Nebula looked at the screens, her language processor working at high speed to determine which controls to use. She knew now why no one else could fly the Gryphonite ship. Every instruction was in their primal, scratchy writing and almost impossible to decode.
“Can you read it?” Kale sounded nervous for the first time that day.
Nebula cast him a sideways glance and smiled. “We shall see.” With a pull of the main lever, the ship shuddered and rose. The landing gear clanked as it retracted into the Warbird’s belly and Nebula felt the weightlessness of freedom.
“Watch out!” Radian pointed to the sight screen. “There are other Warbirds on the horizon.”
“I see them.” Nebula raised their shields and at the same time clicked the trigger, sending torpedoes out to the sister ships. The missiles disappeared, absorbed into the other Warbird’s shields. At least she knew their defenses worked against their own weapons and it would be useless for them to fire at their own ships. “I am now making the calculations for optimum flight speed.”
“You’d better hurry because those ships are coming closer,” Kale warned. Nebula realized the situation was now out of his control and it was driving him crazy.
“Almost there.”
Kale squinted, trying to interpret the scribbled writing flashing on the screen like chicken scratches. “Will they be able to track us?”
“I am mixing up the coordinates as best I can. It will look like we are going to the middle of the Lovian galaxy when in fact I am taking us directly into UPA territory. They are not supposed to travel there anyway until they have signed the treaty negotiations.”
“Good.” Radian settled into his chair.
Nebula looked over at him and a sly expression curved on her lips. “Hold on.” She touched the controls. The lights flickered once then nothing happened. Nebula blinked in surprise.
“What?” Kale threw his hands in the air. “Hold on for what?”
Meanwhile, the sister ships were getting bigger and more intimidating. If Nebula couldn’t stop the ships with their lasers, they might just barrel right into them to keep them from leaving.
“It is as if the panel is not registering my fingerprints.” Nebula’s circuits flowed at over speed, trying to decipher why and find an alternative. The anxious feelings returned and she hated it.
“Here, try this.” Radian handed her a piece of metal looking very much like a Gryphonite claw.
Nebula took the metal and scraped the same directions as before across the panel. The Warbirds were closing in. If they were hit, they would crash land back on Gryphod.
Finally, just as the Warbirds set their final trajectories, the ship jolted, sending them all backward in their chairs as they burst into optimum flight speed. Colors flew by on the sight panel, the red and brown of the desert planet turning to the black-and-silver studded canvas of space.
“We have it! We are at optimum flight speed!” Nebula felt like she could fly herself.
“You did it!” Kale broke out of his seat to holler and dance for the gods. It was the most emotion she’d ever seen from him and she liked it. He could use more of Angstrom’s lighthearted quirks.
“Good job, Neb.” Radian leaned over to kiss her. His mouth felt warm and soft on her lips. She closed her eyes and let herself be taken away to a place where even optimum light speed couldn’t breach. It was too bad she couldn’t stay there forever. In fact, every heartbeat brought her closer to the UPA and her own demise.
Kale’s voice broke their embrace. “Looks like we have visitors.”
Nebula whirled around, scanning the sight panel. “It cannot be.” In a momentary panic, she pictured a hundred Gryphonite Warbirds positioned in their way. But the space all around them was clear. They’d left the Gryphonites behind.
“Not those visitors.” Kale pointed to the back of the deck. “Over there.”
Nebula saw Illena and Eldin standing quietly together, side by side. She ran over to collect them both in her arms.
“You’ve saved us.” Eldin looked at her like she was a hero. He’d stuck a Gryphonite feather in his hair as a trophy.
Illena smiled, hugging her son, as if Nebula had given him back to her. “I can’t thank you enough.”
“It was not just me.” Nebula gazed out into the sky and the space beyond. “You should thank Radian and Kale, and above all, Max.”
The mood on deck grew solemn when she mentioned Max’s name. “He gave quite a sacrifice for us to be free,” Illena said.
“We are going to make sure it was not in vain.” Nebula placed a hand on Eldin’s shoulder and took Illena’s hand. “I have set the flight speed coordinates exactly for the UPA negotiations. We are going to make quite the entrance.”
“But you’ll be turning yourself in,” Illena said. “They’ll consider you UPA property. They’ll erase your memory for sure.”
Nebula knew this was coming. She wanted so badly for the story to end happily with her and Radian running off together to enjoy their lives, but logic dictated it was not meant to be. For her to have her dream would mean for so many others to lose theirs. “There is no other way. No one else can fly this ship, and my memories will be the final blow against the Gryphonites.”
“Surely there must be some way to save you!” Radian rushed to her side. “Please say you don’t mean it.”
Nebula could not bring herself to deny him, but she bit her lip and shook her head. “I am very familiar with the meaning of sacrifice.”
Radian’s voice was hushed. “No, Neb, no.”
Kale spoke from behind them, making all their heads turn. “I’ll fly it.”
“What?” Nebula turned toward him, incredulous. “But you do not know how.”
“I’ll learn.” He crossed his arms, daring her to challenge him. “Teach me.”
Radian cut in. “Listen to him, Neb. You can go free. We can be together.”
“But the UPA will be looking for me. They will not stop until I am found.”
“Not if you’re MIA.” Kale’s eyebrows rose. “And not if I claim to have seen your demise.”
Nebula’s was so relieved she felt like she would collapse on the spot. The shackles burdening her heart were released. “You would do that for me?”
Kale shrugged his shoulders in a gruff admonition. “I suppose, seeing you freed us all.”
Illena popped her head in between them. “I’ve been thinking about this, Nebula, and I want to invite you and Radian to live with us on Maui Two.”
“It’s on the edge of the UPA territory, and no one, if truth be told, goes there anyway. It’s a vacation resort, a minor stop along the way.” Eldin’s eyes were full of hope.
Illena nodded. “It would be the perfect hideaway.”
Nebula paused. She’d never been offered a family before. And here Illena was, handing it to her on a platter. Everythin
g fit into place like a puzzle coming together, the sanctuary of Maui Two the final piece.
“Come on, I’ve always wanted a robot sister,” Eldin whined. Nebula guessed he was partly joking but mostly serious.
Nebula looked to Radian with hope.
“Of course,” he replied. “Of course I’ll go with you.”
Epilogue
The disc shimmered like an oily sheen in Nebula’s hands. It held all the hopes and dreams of the escapees of Gryphod, along with all the nightmares and horrors as well. It was a firsthand account, a video clear as the sky on a summer day, a testament resounding stronger than any witness recap or horrific claim. Encapsulated in the slim frame, thinner than a piece of paper and lighter than a feather, was the truth.
“Here you go, burned from my central processor to the Gryphonite memory disc I found on the main control deck.” Nebula handed it to Kale. He’d been flying the ship on his own for three days now and performed an effortless landing sequence on Maui Two. Nebula was surprised at how quick he learned. It was startling how much one can achieve when a noble cause was to be accomplished. “The images end before I board the Warbird.”
“As far as everyone else knows, I was the pilot the entire trip.”
“Thank you, Kale. It is because of you I am free.”
“Well, it’s not every day I accept the offer to be a credited a hero.” He put his hands on his sides in a mock-boastful manner.
“When you get to the negotiations, give the disc to Angstrom. He will know what to do with it.”
“Right.” Kale secured the disc in his breast pocket, near his heart. “I look forward to meeting him.”
“I know he will like you.”
Kale bowed in respect. “Any friend of yours is a friend of mine.” He tilted his head and his beady black eyes twinkled at her. “Are you going to be all right?”
She looked to the lush green plains of Maui Two and watched as Eldin and Illena bartered for a pair of horses at a nearby farm. Radian emerged from a shop carrying a bag of ripe fruit and a loaf of bread. He looked at her and his face brightened, holding her entire world in his eyes.
Nebula assessed her new home and family with a satisfying sigh. “I will be just fine.”
Aubrie Dionne
Aubrie writes fantasy and science fiction for adults and young adults. She is a professional flutist in New England, and teaches at Plymouth State University and a local community music school. Although she tries to keep music and writing separate, the music always sneaks in!
Aubrie’s Website:
www.authoraubrie.com
Reader eMail:
[email protected]
Also by Aubrie Dionne
Nebula’s Music
Messenger In the Mist
Minstrel’s Serenade
Lyrical Press books are published by
Kensington Publishing Corp. 119 West 40th Street New York, NY 10018
Copyright © 2010 Aubrie Dionne
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
Lyrical Press and the L logo are trademarks of Kensington Publishing Corp.
First Electronic Edition: April 2010
ISBN-13: 978-1-61650-139-6
Nebula's Music Page 10