Pew! Pew! - Sex, Guns, Spaceships... Oh My!

by M. D. Cooper

  “The answer to more support is always yes.”

  “I’ve come to think so.” Nikili fastened her helmet and joined Lucy at the hatch. Saverna arrived with Qeb and Revco on her heels.

  “Chaquita is already outside with Dad.”

  “Time to do some gardening.” Nikili ushered everyone into the airlock. She sequenced depressurization and led the way onto Spaceberg. They gathered around loaders with crates of plastic flowers. Chaquita and Hook had accomplished a lot very quickly.

  Saverna’s voice piped over the comm. channel. “I want to create the optimum sensation of sound and movement. “Set the flower pots down fourteen inches apart.”

  Nikili brought up commands on her faceplate and set the distance. It blinked at the ready in the upper left-hand corner. “Where do we begin?”

  “The hauler is the center point,” Saverna said. Vulture rumbled and the hauler lifted off, skating low over the ice. It parked a quarter mile away. “We’re dividing up. Dad, you stay here and establish a perimeter around Vulture then keep an eye on things. Mom, you have the quadrant north of the hauler. Lucy, west. Revco and I take east. Chaquita and Qeb, south.”

  Nikili saluted and marched to the north side of the hauler. She stared at a world of ice comprised of gray, red, blue and white. Crevices cleaved it into islands. Saturn loomed much too close, its ruined rings still glorious. She wouldn’t mind gazing at them every day.

  She set to work, planting purple pots of plastic daisies. Technology in the spacesuit kept her feet firmly on the ice, compensating for Spaceberg’s erratic spin. Hook had everyone check in every ten minutes.

  Nikili stuck the last daisy pot into the ice and switched on its motion sensors. She started back to Vulture. Flowers danced at her feet as she trod past. Saturn and the sun whirled overhead to the rhythm of Spaceberg; not at all in sync with the daisy song. Qeb, Hook, and Chaquita waited at the hatch.

  “More tankers arrived,” Hook said. “And fifty Hueys with chunks of Titan.”

  “How much bang?” Nikili asked. “Is it enough?”

  “Vulture and E51 are working together to determine the optimal spots.”

  “So, yes or no?”

  He reached for her gloved hand. “A strong most likely. Rhea is being evacuated. The likelihood of severe damage is high.”

  “Space balls and wind farts.” She gripped his glove, staring at his fingers, remembering the way they once comforted her. Why’d she give them up? Why’d she give him up? She met his steely gaze and cleared her throat. “I’m really sorry about everything. I was a real shit.”

  “You were, and I’m sorry I couldn’t figure out how to bring you back.”

  “No one could. It took a Spaceberg. I’m a major idiot.”

  “Now is all that matters.” His luscious lips quirked into a rakish smile, one that never failed to weaken Nikili’s knees.

  “I like Chaquita. She’s good for you and Saverna.”

  “She’s not you.”

  “I want to have this talk. I really do. We need to have it. Just not now. We’ve work to do.” She let go of his hand. “Get inside and coordinate the incoming ships.”

  “I’m holding you to your promise.” He trudged up the ramp and inside Vulture.

  Nikili surveyed the surface of the Spaceberg for the last three members of their team. “Saverna? Lucy? Revco?”

  “One more flower and I’m on my way,” Lucy responded.

  A figure raced over the ice, waving its arms. Nikili squinted. “Saverna?”

  Revco panted. “Help. She needs help.” He stopped and jumped up and down, continuing to wave his arms.

  A grunt came from Saverna’s channel. “Mom?” Strain broke her plea into fragments.

  Nikili used her jetpack to travel in the direction of the signal. “What’s wrong?”

  “I fell.”

  “I’m on my way.”

  “Me too,” Lucy responded. “E51 sent me her coordinates.”

  “I’m still suited up,” Hook said.

  “Hook, continue with Vulture,” Nikili answered. “That’s imperative. Revco, join the others on Vulture.” She took a moment to take two deep breaths. “Saverna, Lucy and I are coming. Did you fall into a crevice or are you still on the surface?” The jetpack had her gliding over the plains of Spaceberg at a good clip. It didn’t take long to reach the coordinates E51 blinked on her faceplate. She scanned the ice for her daughter.

  “I fell in a hole. I’m stuck.”

  “Nothing to worry about. Lucy and I will get you out. Are you hurt?”

  “My leg.” Her words quivered.

  “You’re going to be fine.” Nikili spotted the hole and crouched at the edge of it. The light on her helmet illuminated the top of Saverna’s helmet. “I see you.”

  Lucy arrived a moment later. “She’s wedged down there, huh?” She switched to the private comm. channel she shared with Nikili and E51.

  Nikili added Saverna to their private channel. “Yeah.” She was about to ask E51 to send their gear when two bots arrived. “Thank you, E51.”

  The Spaceberg shook. Nikili gripped onto the ice.

  Saverna shouted, “Help!”

  “Rhea is merely saying hello. Nothing to get excited about.” Nikili snatched her equipment off a bot and unraveled a line. She secured one end to the bot and grimaced at Lucy. “I’m going after her.”

  “I’ll make sure you both come out.” Lucy attached the other bot to the first. “I love you more than anyone else, Nikili Echols.”

  “You’re my lodestar, Lucy.” Nikili leapt into the hole. The line attached to the bot kept her from falling too rapidly.

  Green globs lined the sides of the chamber. “Balls,” Nikili said. “Do you have a spare daisy on you?” she asked Lucy.

  “I’m holding my crate, Mom.”

  “Turn one on.”

  The hole narrowed to the width of a person and a half. There wasn’t enough space to get beside Saverna.

  “I can’t without dropping the crate, and I fear if I let go of the crate, I’ll plummet to where you can’t get me.”

  “I heard that,” Lucy said. “E51 is sending another bot with daisies.”

  If there wasn’t so much to be worried about, Nikili would find that sentence funny. Out of the kit strapped to her waist, she removed a handle like the one Lucy had used to keep Nikili from drowning on the transport. She secured it to the neckline of Saverna’s spacesuit.

  A mossy landed on Nikili’s arm. Then another. If they punctured her and Saverna’s spacesuits, they’d both lose the fight with Spaceberg in a hurry.

  “ETA, Lucy.” Nikili’s hand moved to rub the back of her neck, but the space gear was in the way.

  “Coming down,” Lucy said. “Fear not.”

  A bot lowered beside Nikili, plastic daisies whirling on top of it. She couldn’t hear the song, but the mossies did. Their little mouths stopped in mid-chomp.

  Nikili cut her mic. “Huckamucka. Thank you spirits of the Sol.” She switched it back on and gripped the handle she had attached to Saverna’s suit. She yanked. Saverna budged a half inch and wedged tight. “I’ve got you. Let go of the crate.”

  “Mom?”

  “I’m strong. I’ll get us through this. Let go.”

  “Okay.” She inhaled sharply.

  More of her weight tugged on Nikili’s arm.

  “Good,” Nikili said. “Everything is okay.” She pulled on her daughter until they were face to face. The bot reeled out slack at Nikili’s signal, and she wrapped it around Saverna.

  Saverna’s clear gray eyes blinked, as innocent as the day she was born. “I feel so stupid. I’ve wasted so many minutes. Many will die because I fell.”

  “Oh, baby. Don’t think like that. Don’t take after me.” She felt the knot in her forehead tighten. “You’re saving people, doing so much good, doing something no one else can.”

  “You couldn’t get past the people you lost.”

  “Not everything is preventable. No
t everything your dad says is ridiculous. Forces are at play in the Sol at times. This is one of those times. The people I couldn’t save was one of those times.”

  “Forces of the Sol? Are you space sick, Mom?”

  “Spaceberg makes me realize some things are beyond me no matter what I do. I have to let those go and concentrate on where I can make a difference. You too.” She gave Saverna a gentle shake. “You’re making a huge difference to Rhea and Enceladus and the worlds beyond on threat alert.”

  “Let’s hope the forces are on our side.”

  “Our forces are aligned. We’ll be okay.” Nikili tugged on the line. “Haul us up, Lucy.” Her arms squeezed Saverna tight. Spaceberg could break into a billion pieces and she’d not let go. Of Saverna, she’d never let go.

  “We’re about to herd space balls, Mom, and set them on fire.” Her soft laugh filled Nikili’s ears. A huge hiccup interrupted her giggles. A moment later, vomit covered her faceplate. She gasped and clawed at the latches of her helmet.

  Nikili held her arms. “Saverna, calm down. You have to calm down. You have to trust me.”

  Saverna retched again. She wiggled and fought to get free.

  “You can’t take off your helmet. You can’t.” Nikili twisted, trying to reach a medpack. She couldn’t without dropping Saverna. “E51, notify Lucy of our status.”

  Nikili broke the surface and reached for Lucy. Lucy pulled her onto solid ground and slapped a medpack into her hand. Nikili attached it to her daughter and engaged the jets on her suit.

  Lucy waved at her to go. “Get her back on Vulture. I’ll finish up here.”

  “Don’t dawdle.” Nikili zoomed over the ice with her daughter in her arms. Saverna fought. Anyone would. Throwing up with a spacesuit on was nasty. Nikili adjusted the medpack, dosing Saverna with a mild sedative. She quit fighting so hard. Reaching the ramp of Vulture, Nikili didn’t turn off the jetpack. She propelled into the infirmary.

  She pried off Saverna’s helmet and set her on a bunk. “You need to stay calm.”

  “I’m covered in puke.”

  “Better than balls.”

  Saverna almost laughed.

  A bot arrived with a washcloth and basin of water. Two more assisted Nikili out of her spacesuit. She then helped Saverna, being mindful of the injured leg.

  The ship rocked, a reminder the ice world on which their ship was parked was about to crash into a world full of people. “How long, E51?”

  “Two hours to the point of no return.”

  “Where’s ORS Ashida?”

  “Two hundred yards from the hatch.”

  “What’s her ETA?”

  “She quit moving.”

  “Huckamucka with balls.” Nikili had Saverna lie down. “Hook, our daughter needs your help. Something is wrong with Lucy.”

  “I still have my suit on. I’ll get her,” Chaquita said. “Hook needs to command the incoming ships. You need to stay with Saverna.”

  “Don’t screw it up.”

  Chapter 20

  Chaquita ran out onto the ice. She engaged her jetpack and flew onto her face. Nikili had made it look so easy. Huffing, she pushed herself onto her knees and lumbered onto her feet. The sky became ice blotched with cities of green, Rhea blocking out the sky. A moment later, the stars were back. Spaceberg spun at a sickening rate.

  Chaquita signaled the salvager’s AI. “Help me compensate for gravity.”

  “Controls adjusted,” Vulture said. “Say one seven zero one when you’re ready.”

  “One seven zero one.”

  The jets engaged and moved her over the ice faster than she could run. Up ahead lay a crumpled figure, a mound of green covering her.

  Chaquita landed beside her. “Lucy?”

  Her groan sounded over the comm. system. “I applied a medpack. We need a flower or two.”

  Spaceberg shook and didn’t stop.

  Chaquita couldn’t swallow. “What if they punctured your suit and if we move them it unplugs the holes?”

  A dry chuckle came from Lucy. “Are you suggesting leaving me out here under a mound of balls?”

  “No.” She rifled through the emergency kit and found a handle. She reached through the mound of green and latched it to Lucy’s spacesuit. The green balls traveled up Chaquita’s arm. “Why don’t you have a daisy with you?”

  “I planted them all. Why don’t you have one?”

  “Shut up.” She gripped the handle as tight as she could. Mossies leapt onto her shoulders and chomped their way onto her faceplate, their teeth gnashing. The aliens were nothing but teeth. Chaquita clamped her lips so she wouldn’t scream. “I can’t see. Vulture, get us on board. Do I have to say one seven zero one again?”

  “No.”

  The jets on her back turned on and her body was lurched off the ground. She kept a firm hold of Lucy.

  “Have a few daisies at the hatch, Vulture,” Chaquita said. Lucy weighed more than Chaquita had anticipated. She put her other hand on the handle.

  “Flowers for balls coming up,” said Vulture.

  “Don’t switch the flowers on until you seal the hatch.”

  “Do you know the difference between a lady and a flower?”

  “Don’t get fresh. Didn’t Hook command you to behave?” The jets shut off and Chaquita thumped to the floor. Lucy landed on top of her. “Vulture, what’s our status?”

  “Daisies are singing, balls are dormant. There’s a daisy in the airlock with you.”

  “Is the hatch shut?”

  “Yes.”

  She brushed moss off herself and Lucy. She removed her helmet. Strains of Daisy made her sigh. “How could something so silly and stupid make me feel so safe and happy?”

  Lucy pried off her helmet and gulped down air. She plucked balls from inside her suit. “Thank you, Chaquita. It takes balls to fight balls.”

  “And daisies.”

  Chapter 21

  A tray of instruments lay on the bunk beside Saverna. Nikili brushed her fingers over her daughter’s face. Her flesh felt cool. “Let me put you out to fix your leg.”

  “If I’m unconscious, I can’t help you. You need me.” Beads of perspiration dotted her paling cheeks. “Every minute costs lives, Mom. Get me good enough and let’s get the job done.”

  “If we weren’t on a Spaceberg, I’d argue more.” Nikili perched on a stool and pulled on a pair of sterile gloves. “I can block the pain. Just don’t watch when I set your leg. I don’t want you to get sick again.”

  “It’s okay. My helmet is off.”

  From the tray of instruments, Nikili grabbed the sheers and cut off Saverna’s pant leg. Grabbing the spray bottle of disinfectant and some swabs, she cleaned the wound and Saverna’s skin. A box of pins opened when Nikili nudged it with a fingertip.

  “Squeeze my shoulder and scream if you need to.” Nikili flashed her most reassuring smile. “I don’t think you’ll need to.”

  The knot in the middle of Saverna’s forehead loosened. “You’ve done this before, right?”

  “Thousands of times. I’m an expert.” She slid the first needle into the flesh between Saverna’s thumb and index finger. “You needn’t worry.” The next pin went into the center of the ankle joint at the top of the foot.

  “You keep saying it.”

  “Because it’s true.” She mopped the sweat from Saverna’s brow.

  “You promise not to drug me up?”

  “I already did, but I promise again.” Needles sank into Saverna’s skin between the second and the third toes and the Achilles tendon. “One more.” She placed the last pin at the outer aspect of the ankle joint in the depression just below the prominent bone. “Better, right?”

  A little color returned to Saverna’s cheeks. She drew in a long inhale and let it out. “Yes.”

  A bot arrived with a small cup of juice. Nikili sniffed it. “Apple. Your favorite.” She squirted the contents of two vials into it and handed it to Saverna. “Drink.”

  She pursed he
r lips and wrinkled her nose. “What is it? You’re not breaking your promise, are you?”

  Nikili tested Saverna’s leg by pinching the flesh on her calf. Saverna didn’t flinch. “It helps coagulate blood and heal bone. Nothing more.” A lot of progress had been made today healing old wrongs, but the cuts ran deeper than Nikili realized. “You’re right to doubt me. I promised I’d be around after I left home, and I wasn’t. I didn’t make any effort. I will from now on, and I won’t break anymore promises. Not to you.” She held Saverna’s gaze, meaning every syllable.

  Saverna drank the medicine. “Time’s wasting. Rhea and Enceladus need us.”

  Without being commanded, Vulture projected an image of Saverna’s bone. Nikili firmly gripped Saverna’s leg above and below the break. Experience told her the image was slightly off. She followed her gut and yanked her daughter’s leg, settling the bone back into place.

  Saverna’s complexion shifted toward green. Gagging, she clamped a hand over her mouth.

  Nikili stuck her with an injection. “For the nausea.” From the box of pins, she removed a control switch. “When you feel pain, hit the button. It’ll send a charge through the acupuncture needles, amping up their numbing effect. It’s not a license to go running around, though, Saverna.”

  She took the control, tucking it into her shirt pocket. “I understand.” Sitting up, she prepared to swing off the cot.

  Nikili stopped her. “Not yet. You need a cast.” She sprayed one on. It took two minutes to set. She sprayed on another coat to be sure.

  Chaquita entered the infirmary, dragging Lucy. “She’s okay.” They plopped down on the empty bunk beside Saverna’s

  Nikili lifted a brow. “And you?”

  Chaquita blew her hair out of her face. “I confess, a little freaked.” She let go of Lucy. “But I’m okay.”

  She helped Nikili peel off Lucy’s spacesuit. Innumerable cuts dotted Lucy’s skin and her cheeks had a chalky pallor.

  “Mossies?” Nikili asked. “You were setting out flowers. How did this happen?”

  “Where are my kisses?”

  Lucy’s nose remained unmarred. Nikili gave it a peck.