Children of Hope

by David Feintuch

  “He’s not your presiding Bishop! He ministers to Hope—”

  “He presides in my Church, and speaks for my God!” Ms Frand’s voice was agonized. “And yours, isn’t it so? And it’s beyond question that Captain Seafort harbors the Sloan woman.”

  “Sarah, you watched that godawful holo their deacon shot. Would you rather they’d burned down the Captain at the spaceport? Would that have been more lawful? Would you rejoice?”

  “Edgar!” Frand’s fists bunched. “I was on the bridge with you. Did I rejoice?”

  “No, you dispensed a running stream of curses that curled the middies’ hair. That’s why I don’t understand—”

  “I’m perplexed, and came to ask: where does duty lie?”

  “Well, don’t expect me to relieve Nick.” Tolliver’s voice held a note of finality. “I’ve threatened that for the last time. He’s a madman, but he’s my madman. I’ll go down with—” A soft buzz. “Just a moment.” He came into view, took up the caller. “Tolliver, here. What, Tad? Oh, good Christ! When? Who’s there?”

  Ms Frand said, “What, Edgar?”

  Tolliver covered the caller. “That bloody outrider! He’s agitated, skittering back and forth. Janks says he’s rolled into the airlock. It looks like he’s leaving us.”

  “It was insane to leave the lock open.”

  “How else could he tell us he wanted out?” To the caller, “Sound General Quarters! Watch the fish off our bow. Key off laser safeties, prepare to fire at my command. Notify the Station. Send Romez to rouse Nick—the Captain, that is. I want him awake for this. Hold open the bridge hatch; I’m on my way!” He grabbed his jacket, thrust past Frand. To me, startled, “What the devil are you up to? Go to your—”

  But I was off like a shot, running as best I could in the light grav, ricocheting from one bulkhead to another. HARRY MUSTN’T LEAVE.

  Alarms shrieked. “All hands to General Quarters! Corridor hatches will seal in one minute!” Anselm’s voice was strained.

  I tore past the ladder railing, leaped down the stairs.

  That was a mistake.

  The bow gravitron was set low. Level 1 was at Lunar gravity, one-sixth Terran. For a moment, I practically floated down the ladder.

  Level 2 was controlled by the midships gravitron, which was set at one standard gee. Accelerating as I plunged, I crashed to the Level 2 deck. For a moment I lay stunned. Thank Lord God I’d fallen on my good shoulder. If I’d landed on my wound I’d have passed out.

  “Thirty seconds to corridor hatch seal!”

  “Oh, shit!” I lurched to my feet, raced along the corridor. I skittered past a suited figure. Another. An airlock squad, hurrying to their duty station.

  “Hey, what the—”

  “Outta my way!” Gasping, I raced through section seven. Section six. Finally, five hove into view, around the bend. Mr Janks and a mate stood guard, just our side of the hatch and the transplex barrier.

  “Closing all hatches!”

  “Randy, hold—”

  The corridor hatch slid from its bulkhead pocket. As the opening narrowed, I dived through. A rubber seal scraped my heel. The hatch slammed shut. Behind me, muttered curses, pounding at the hatch panel. That would do Janks no good; on the bridge, Anselm would have keyed the overrides.

  “Harry!” I pounded the transplex barrier that barred my way. The outrider was nowhere in sight. “Hey, boy!”

  Tolliver’s voice crackled. “Mr Janks, Level 2 airlock is cycling. Stand by in case …” A pause. “He WHAT?” His outrage clawed through the speaker and shook me by the lapels.

  “Here, fishie!” My tone was coaxing. For some deranged reason, I giggled. No, it’s not funny, you snark. Harry’s leaving, and taking Fath’s hopes with him. I pounded my one and only fist on the transplex panel.

  But Harry wouldn’t hear me, in the distant airlock.

  “Randy Carr! Get away from there this instant, you glitched little …” A deep breath. “Harry wants out. We don’t know why. So leave him be, lest you start a war!”

  I scrambled atop the table, strained to reach the uppermost grommets holding the transplex to the bulkhead. They wouldn’t give. One-handed, I didn’t have enough leverage. How long did a frazzing airlock take to cycle? I needed to free the grommet right fucking now! Hit it, joey! Use something on the table! I bent from the waist, nearly pitched headfirst to the deck, did a wild dance to keep my balance.

  “Mr Janks, I’ll open the hatch to Four. Subdue that bloody joeykid! Use your stunner!”

  I righted myself, snatched up Fath’s ancient clock, hefted it to get a good grip. On tiptoe, I swung hard, bashed the east bulkhead grommet. Again. It came loose. Now, the west.

  “Captain, Janks reporting, with Seaman Hostler. Where is he?” The master-at-arms’s voice wasn’t on the speaker, but he was only a meter behind me, on the far side of the sealed hatch.

  “On the table, taking down the barrier! I have him in the holo-cam. DON’T TOUCH THAT, YOU IMBECILE!”

  I took an ineffectual swipe at the camera, but it was beyond reach. I turned my attention back to the stubborn grommet. The metal casing of the clock had a nasty dent. I whacked the grommet, caught my knuckles. I squawked, sucking my fingers. No time, idiot.

  “Sir …” Janks sounded hesitant. “If he’s taking down the barrier … we’re not suited. The airlock, and that beast and his viruses …”

  Tolliver cursed a blue streak. Abruptly the speaker went dead. Then, after a moment, his voice came, more controlled. “Suit up, but for God’s sake, hurry!”

  “Two minutes, sir, no more.”

  The second grommet shattered. Shrapnel clanged off the far bulkhead. Now I’d have to crawl under the frazzing table for the bottom fasteners.

  The hell I would.

  I lay across the table, my head flopping off the edge, braced my boots against the barrier.

  A bad idea. Very, very bad. A wave of nausea shook me. The overhead spun slowly.

  I gulped, tasting bile. Closing my eyes, I willed away the slow drift of the corridor. With all my strength, I rammed the barrier with my heels. It jarred my spine clear up to the neck. The transplex shivered, but held.

  Again.

  The top of the transplex panel bent slightly. Over and again I rammed it. My feet ached. The panel bent inches, then more.

  “Sir, we’re suited.”

  One more time. The barrier came crashing down. I staggered to my feet.

  “Very well, opening section four hatch.”

  As the hatch opened, I threw over the table, kicked it hard toward the hatch. Janks, startled, leaped back. With all my might, I rammed the table leg into the bulkhead hatch seal, twisted. A section of the seal ripped. It dangled from the bulkhead.

  “Why, you—” Awkward in his suit, Janks snatched at my arm.

  An alarm wailed. “CORRIDOR HATCH INTEGRITY COMPROMISED. SECTION FIVE SUBJECT TO DECOMPRESSION IF—”

  I evaded him, dashed down the corridor to the lock. Behind me, Janks hauled a stunner from his pouch.

  Mikhael had taught me the airlock controls, that day eons past, when he, I, and Yost were on station.

  The inner chamber had nearly reached vacuum. I glanced into the porthole; Harry stood motionless. I slammed the override, preventing the outer hatch from opening. I hit the emergency re-air, hoping Tolliver wouldn’t think to overrule me from the bridge. If so, I was helpless.

  Harry quivered.

  “Hurry up!” I danced from foot to foot like a joeykid needing to use the head. Behind me, two suited figures lumbered down the corridor.

  “Randy, whatever you’re doing,” Tolliver.

  “Come ON!”

  Seeing my hand poised at the controls, Janks loped at me with surprising speed.

  The gauge flashed green. I slapped the inner hatch panel.

  The airlock hatch slid open.

  Janks lunged with his stunner. I dived into the lock. Janks eyed me, Harry, the airlock. He hesitated. Coolly, I slapped th
e hatch closed.

  Harry quivered.

  My eyes darted to the outer hatch, all that lay between me and … the cold unrelenting vacuum that had killed Dad. I tried not to vomit, barely succeeded. I stamped my foot at Harry. “You goddamn BASTARD!” My voice was shrill. “Fath gave everything for you!” I waved for emphasis, realized I still brandished the dented clock. “Time! We were only trying to tell time!”

  “Mr Tolliver?” Janks, outside the lock. Muffled by hatch and suit, his voice was barely audible. He scowled through the transplex porthole.

  “Can you get the boy out?”

  “If I shoot it, sir. The … thing.”

  “Only if it harms him.” A pause. “It means to leave. We can’t let it burn through our hatch. Randy, get out of the lock!”

  “Prong yourself!”

  A gasp, perhaps from Tolliver, or a middy on the bridge.

  I echoed the gasp, to show the depth of my contempt. Officers thought they were so bloody high and mighty.

  In our tiny compartment, Harry skittered from bulkhead to bulkhead. I prayed he wouldn’t try to go through me.

  “Joeyboy, if it eats through the hatch, you die of decompression!” Tolliver sounded grim.

  “Better than burning.” I wasn’t sure why I said it. Fath and Corrine, not I, faced—

  “What?”

  “Send Janks away, I’ll come out.”

  “I can’t.”

  I said, “Why? You let Harry in the lock before. Janks wasn’t anywhere near.”

  “But neither were you.”

  “Don’t worry about me.”

  “I won’t.” His tone was sober. I understood. The ship was his only concern.

  Though it was a bit late, I tried to sound reasonable. “Sir, have Janks escort anyone who’s in section five through the corridor hatch to six. Then, if we decompress, no one will die.”

  “Except you.”

  “Except me.” I might care. I’d have to think about it.

  “Why’d you sabotage the section four hatch?”

  “To buy time. To keep Janks and Hostler busy so I could …” Talk to the outrider. It made no sense, and I didn’t say it aloud.

  Harry’s movements in the airlock became more frenzied. I tried not to flinch.

  Tolliver hesitated. “Randy, if I withdraw Janks, will you decompress your section?”

  “Not if I can help it.” Anyway, how could I? I wasn’t armed. And I couldn’t exactly ask Harry’s help. That was our problem.

  A long pause. “Very well. Mr Janks?”

  “Sir, I might be able to stun him, without getting too close to the beast. And Hostler and I have lasers, if he gets too riled.” For a moment, I thought he meant me.

  “No, send Hostler to clear five. Thanks to this young maniac, air seals are breached; I’ll set up six as your decon chamber. You stand guard in five, just beyond the damaged corridor hatch. Shoot if the alien tries to get past you. Otherwise, leave them alone.”

  “For God’s sake, sir, why?”

  Tolliver’s voice was bleak. “Randy chose to put himself in harm’s way. I expect acid or virus will get him. But the fish Outside is quiescent. My goal’s to get the outrider off Olympiad with no further loss. I’ve got airlock hatch overrides on the bridge; I could release Harry to space right now, but I won’t kill the boy while the alien’s watching.” His tone suggested he might well do so, after. “Let Randy have his moment. But if Harry goes back into the lock, I’ll cycle and expel him. Randy, at that point, if you interfere, I’ll have Janks cut you down.”

  “Understood, sir.” I licked my lips. “I agree.”

  “I won’t ask your word, it’s worthless. Janks, withdraw.”

  “Aye aye, sir.” The clump of boots.

  “And Randy?”

  “Yes, sir?”

  “You’re on your own. If this goes wrong, I’ll make no effort to save you.”

  “Thank you, sir.” At least I had my pride.

  I slid my fingers to the inner hatch release, peered through the porthole at the corridor. I couldn’t see Janks, but he might be lying in wait. Could I risk it?

  I’d have to. Another moment trapped in the airlock with an agitated outrider, inches from deadly vacuum, and I’d lose what was left of my mind.

  I keyed the hatch release.

  Nothing.

  Panicked, I jabbed it again, but the hatch to the corridor didn’t budge. I moaned.

  You idiot. “Mr Tolliver? Open, please.” I’d forgotten about his overrides.

  He didn’t deign to reply, but the inner hatch slid open. I took a step backward, toward the security of the corridor. Wait. Gritting my teeth, I thrust the clock under my arm, darted past Harry, grabbed the manual hatch rewind lever from its slot on the bulkhead, retreated again to the inner hatch, bent to the deck. Carefully, I wedged the lever against the airlock seal, preventing closure. Tolliver had no reason to trust me. I wasn’t sure I could trust him either. He might have let me stride out of the airlock, but slam it shut with Harry inside. Now, he couldn’t.

  Janks was nowhere to be seen.

  Sweaty, dizzy, I leaned against the bulkhead. Pull yourself together, Joey. You have your chance. You’re alone with Harry, you stopped him from leaving.

  Now what are you supposed to do?

  Save Fath. Communicate with this quivering blob of acid. Do what Anselm, Fath, Mikhael and Frand couldn’t.

  The corridor holocam swiveled, fastened on me. Tolliver would be watching, pacing the bridge in mounting fury.

  My mind was a muddy blank. In retrospect, drowning my troubles in Fath’s bottle didn’t seem so good an idea. “Come on, Harry. Out.”

  He quivered, flowed from bulkhead to hatch, but didn’t leave the airlock.

  I waved the clock, hoping to provoke a response, or at least get his attention. “Here, fishie, fishie, fishie!”

  Nothing. I stamped my foot. “Come on, you frazzing …” I’d destroyed my life for nothing. What Tolliver would do to me didn’t bear imagining. The brig. Charges even Fath wouldn’t set aside, lest he carry favoritism to unheard of lengths. Fath would disown me, and I’d deserve it.

  With no warning the outrider rocketed into the corridor, caromed off the far bulkhead. He raced toward section five, to the downed transplex barrier and Jess’s silent servos. At the last possible moment he veered aside. Jaw agape, I stood rooted in the center of the corridor, just outside the airlock.

  Harry flew from bulkhead to bulkhead, abruptly careened back toward me. In the nick of time I dived into the airlock. Heart thudding against my ribs, I peered out.

  Harry was perhaps two meters from my hatch.

  Quivering.

  It was too much.

  I stormed out of the lock. “Stop that god-awful quivering!”

  He paid no heed.

  “What are you? Why do you hate us? Why’d you kill Kevin?” I wiped my eyes. “WHY WON’T YOU LISTEN?” With all my might I flung the clock at him.

  He skittered aside, resumed his quivering.

  “STOP IT!” My scream left me hoarse, but had no effect on the outrider. “Fine, want to quiver? Here!” I set my body to shaking, sidled as near to Harry as I dared. “Like it, you frazzing blob?”

  If anything, he redoubled his fluttering. I did likewise.

  Abruptly Harry veered to a bulkhead, skittered down the corridor, flowed a meter up the bulkhead from sheer momentum.

  “Oh, it’s like that, huh?” I raced down the corridor, tried to run up the bulkhead, caromed off, managed not to fall. “Here, let’s do it again!” I ran back toward the lock, slammed into the bulkhead, but was too winded to get far off the deck.

  “RANDY, FOR GOD’S SAKE!”

  “THERE’S NO GOD!” I set myself to quivering. Sweat poured down my face. “Fath’s wrong, you all are!” I let myself shake ever harder. In a moment, I would fly apart, and it would be over.

  Harry rolled near.

  “Sat … is … fied?” My breath came in labore
d gasps. “I c’n … do it … too!” At last, I could sustain my frenzy no longer. I stumbled to the lock, kicked free the hatch lever I’d used to jam the lock. “Go, you alien fuck!”

  Harry didn’t move.

  “Get in! You’ll be home in a minute!”

  His colors pulsed.

  I snatched up the clock! “A minute!” I jabbed at the second hand through shards of shattered glass. “See? That’s all we were trying to tell you!”

  Harry quivered.

  If I’d had two fists, I’d have beaten him to death, and his acid be damned. “Taste it!” I tossed the battered clock to the deck. He did nothing. I stood over it, squatted until my thighs touched it. “Taste the damn thing!” I stepped aside.

  “Randy, it’s no use.” Tolliver’s tone was almost compassionate. The holocam gazed with unblinking eye.

  With shocking speed, Harry flowed over the clock.

  A sizzle.

  In a moment, he rolled off. Something in the clock smoked.

  “A minute!” I scuffed a small “m” on the deck. Cautiously, I picked up the ruined clock. “The hand went like this.” I reached through the shards of glass, propelled the bent red pointer. I yanked back my hand, sucked blood from my fingers. Damn glass. I looked for a place to set down the ruined instrument.

  The Bible, an old teapot, and the clock I’d smashed were all the mementos Fath had of his own father. More reason for him to hate me. “The hell with …”

  My voice trailed off.

  Harry drew near. His colors flowed. From the mass where his torso would be, if he’d had one, slowly, an appendage emerged.

  I glanced down the corridor. A dash to safety, to … Where? The outrider moved ten times faster than I.

  I shrank back against the bulkhead. Harry was a meter away. Half a meter. The appendage reached out.

  I squeezed my eyes shut. Dad, pray for me. I can’t; I don’t believe in—

  I opened one eye the tiniest iota. Harry had drawn himself up, to my height or more. The appendage loomed, inches from my face. I turned my head, pressed my cheek to the bulkhead, my only hand squeezed to my side. If I touched Harry, I’d die all the sooner. “Mr Tolliver, you were right.” My voice was unsteady. “It was stupid, I’m sorry, good-bye—”