He pressed the barrel of his handgun to her temple, pushing her head to the side. Bastard. But I had to keep my cool. Either side stood a masked hostile, each pointing their assault rifle at me. I reached Level 19 and heard a voice from behind.
“Drop the weapon,” growled the man as I spun around to see a big masked hostile and much smaller one beside him.
“Whatever you say, Mr. Angry.”
I threw the laser rifle to my feet.
“Kick it to me,” he said, so I did.
“Happy, asshole?”
He just growled but said nothing.
I kept my hands up, showing no sign of any other weapons.
“I’ve surrendered. You’ve won,” I said, trying to sound down-hearted but reasonable. “You can let Talia go now.”
Patton laughed raucously, then shook his head as his mirthless chuckle morphed into a sneer.
“Luker, for all your big talk of life on the tough streets of L.A., you really are gullible,” he said before yanking Talia’s hair back, making her grit her teeth. She looked pissed.
“Well, I guess you know best Mr. Justice Councilor.”
“Enough of your bullshit, Luker,” he said, sounding irritated. “Get on your knees. Now!”
He pushed Talia to the floor, his buddy covering her as Patton pointed his pistol at me. I started sinking down as if complying, then stopped as if I’d thought of something. I had.
“Oh, and Patton…”
“What?”
“We’re still going to Aura you know…”
He shook his head dismissively and waved me to my knees with his gun.
Before I reached the floor, everything was plunged into total darkness.
With night vision already on, I acted immediately, grasping the 9mm in my pocket.
Then time slowed down and all hell broke loose.
I squeezed the trigger and the muzzle flash illuminated Patton, his stunned face frozen in the orange strobe as the round ripped into his chest. Talia scrambled between two stasis pods finding cover. I rolled to the right, out of the line of fire as a barrage of bullets erupted from behind and in front. They were shooting blind and one of the men beside Patton fell to friendly fire. I also took cover between two stasis pods over the aisle from Talia. Patton had fallen and after the first salvo his buddies sought out targets but hadn’t any light to find them. Crouching behind the stasis pods, I took down the remaining hostile beside Patton, then crawled behind the pods flanking the men who’d been behind me. They fired off another salvo in the meantime and backed against the bulkhead behind the pods opposite my new position.
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king, I thought as I took aim and shot the remaining two hijackers.
The remaining two on Level 19 that was—there were sixteen more below, but I’d seen nor heard nothing of them. Maybe they’d used their brains and stayed inside the stasis pods where Tiro said he’d seen them hiding. It couldn’t remain that way. First, though, I dashed over to Talia crouching tight against the back of a stasis pod.
“Hey Talia, it’s me,” I whispered, placing my hand on her face.
“Did you get them all?”
“Yeah, but there are sixteen more downstairs. Sirtis and his team are coming from Level 1, but they don’t have night vision. Where did Patton put your helmet?”
He’d been using the headset to communicate with me earlier.
“Must be around here somewhere,” she said.
“Okay, sit tight.”
I padded over to my laser rifle and gave it to Talia, then hunted for her helmet. I found it seconds later inside an open stasis pod along with Talia’s laser rifle. I gave her the helmet and took the rifle then got on the intercom with Sirtis.
“Lieutenant, where are you?”
“We’re on Level 1 taking cover in the control room,” he said quietly. “We heard the shooting from upstairs after the lights went out. What the hell happened?”
“Patton’s dead and so were the four hostiles with him. But Tiro counted sixteen more. We’ve got night vision. Hopefully, they don’t.”
With Patton down, the head of the snake had been sliced off. It was a mopping up operation from here on out. Patton had been beyond reason and had tried to kill us, so there was no reprieve for him or anyone who’d tried to kill us and thwart the mission. But how did I feel about killing him? Relieved, yes, but also sad that it had come to this. I could hold my head up and say he’d left me with no other option but I still felt the guilt and sorrow that a better way couldn’t be found. The line between good and evil runs not between us but through us. Patton had been on the right side of that line when I’d first met him but had resorted to violence when he didn’t get his way at the ballot box. The people of Hawaii had decided by majority what was for the greater good and had the choice to stay there or leave on the Juno Ark.
“So what’s the plan, captain?”
“I don’t want any more violence. I want to give these guys a chance. Hold position and standby for further orders, lieutenant. This may take some time …”
“Yes, sir.”
“What you doing, Dan?” asked Talia, confused. “Let’s go finish this thing.”
“Wait. Follow me.”
We padded down aisles inspecting pod after pod with combine night vision and infrared. The thousands of hibernating colonists showed up as cold as if they’d been dead, their body processes frozen in time at the cellular level. We worked quickly, covering floor after floor and calling in each hiding hostile to Sirtis. Partway through I had him organize more armed crew to take up position on Level 1 and Level 20, blocking the exits. Finally, Talia and I reached the small control room having radioed ahead just before so that Sirtis and his squad didn’t gun us down in error.
“You’ve logged all the locations?” I asked, still in total darkness.
“Yes, captain—sixteen in all.”
“Good. Now Talia and I will guide each squad member into position.”
And that’s what we did, placing an armed crewmember beside each stasis pod with a hidden hostile. They crouched behind each pod, hiding from the hidden. Their orders were clear—if the hostile tried to leave, order them to disarm. If they didn’t then that was their chance gone and they’d open fire.
Once all sixteen guards were in position Talia and I covered the top and bottom aisles. There’d been no incidents so far. Just minutes remained until the time of truth. I contacted Tiro and he patched my voice over the public address system.
“Attention all hostiles,” I said, my voice booming loud and clear throughout the pitch-black space. “Patton is dead and we have located each and every one of you using night vision technology. We could kill you now if we so choose to. But I am giving you the chance to surrender. If you resist you will be shot. In a moment, I’m gonna count to ten. If I’ve reached ten and you have not thrown all weapons out of the stasis pod and onto the floor beside you, then my crew have permission to neutralize you. This is a one-time deal to save your life. Make the right choice.”
“Target Twelve clear,” said the crewman.
I was about to start the countdown when another called in.
“Target Two clear.”
“Two have already made the right choice. Countdown starts now. Ten. Nine …”
“Target Nine, clear.”
And so it went until I reached four.
“… Five. Four …”
Crack, crack, the sound of distant gunfire pierced the darkness. I kept counting, as the call came in.
“Hostile Target Seven neutralized,” said the crew woman as the calls of surrender continued.
“… Three. Two. One. All crew report in …”
All crew were safe. Only one hostile had decided to fight.
“Tiro, switch on the lights—full illumination,” I said.
“Yes, captain.”
The stasis module lit up, the long row of pods stretching out in front of me. I breathed a heavy sigh of relief and
found my way upstairs to Level 19, where Patton had been. I passed crewmembers escorting prisoners to the bridge, some of whom I recognized from my time on Hawaii. It was a small place. Everyone knew everyone. When I arrived, Talia was already standing guard over the five dead hijackers.
She smiled, raising her visor before I went over to kiss her.
“You okay?” I asked.
She nodded, closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around me.
“Yeah, I’m fine now. Didn’t think I’d make it for a while back then.”
I curtailed our embrace, realizing I hadn’t yet checked the masked man on the floor behind.
“What a waste,” I muttered, surveying the dead around us.
The body of Kale Patton, once a respected lawman that had become obsessed with what he thought had been destiny. He and his cohort had been plotting their own Plan B all the while waiting for our moment of weakness—the last moments before we left Earth and had almost everyone in stasis. I squatted down and pulled off his ski mask. It was him alright. His sightless brown eyes stared back at me accusingly as I felt for a pulse. There wasn’t one and he’d already started to cool. It was over, but the voyage had hardly even begun.
EPILOGUE
120 Years Later, The Bridge of the Juno Ark
The distant vibration from the thrusters fell silent. I turned, looking back at Talia, smiling as she studied her control panel intently. She looked up and caught my gaze, her focused face breaking into a warm smile.
“What?” she said, her lips parting to reveal her white teeth.
“Do I detect the end of burn, commander?” I said formally.
“Yes, captain, you do,” she said. “We’re now officially in low planetary orbit. We’ve gone where no man—and not even a woman—have gone before.”
I chuckled and exchanged glances with Lieutenant Sirtis sitting in the other command chair, before returning to the world of Talia’s face.
“Parodying classic sci-fi now, I see.”
My neck was still a little stiff after the years in stasis had ended a week ago. I turned back to the scene outside the fifteen-foot-wide cupola, which dominated the front of the bridge. Dazzling sunlight spilled in at an angle above and to my right. Its light was indistinguishable from Sol’s. This time, though, I had a mostly functioning ship. There was no doubt; this was Aura.
“Polarization on the top and right panels, please Tiro.”
“Yes, captain,” said Tiro.
The top and right sides of the cupola darkened, dimming the rays dazzling my view of the planet below. The gradual arc of light blue atmospheric haze bordered the cold boundlessness of space. Below it, white weather systems populated the great hemisphere of the alien world. But they didn’t smother it like on Earth. No, this reminded me of my first trips to space to the Juno Ark, still attached to the orbiting shipyard—a time when the Earth had been nearing the end of the Age of Humans. Life moved in cycles—perhaps a new dominant species would emerge millions of years hence on Earth. We’d broken free from the confines of our island in space to start anew. I hoped that someday my successors would return. Sending a signal would be the first step. If we did it soon then they’d pick it up in sixteen years’ time. I’d be over fifty by then, biologically speaking. I was born six-hundred and seventy-three years ago, but I felt thirty-seven inside. Thinking back to Hawaii, I wondered what it was like there now. As far as we knew, they had not spent the last century and a bit overtaking us in the space race, sending a ship faster than the Juno to beat us to Aura. It was unlikely, of course, given their level of development. But one day, I felt they’d find a way. All of the animosity between the Stayers and Leavers would be ancient history by then, no doubt.
Between the swirls of cloud, great continents of greens and tans and browns spread out over the planet’s crust. Oceans of blue—just like on the old Earth—reflected their sun on a planetary scale. Scanning the increasingly familiar shapes of landmasses, I found Hyland-A, planned site of our first colony. One day, I hoped it’d become a great city to rival those of twenty-first century Earth. Small beginnings and all that. It nestled on the southern coast of a large island in the northern hemisphere at ten degrees above the equator. Forest surrounded the would-be colony site on a large river where it met the sea. The forest along the coast gave way to mountains to the north.
Talia’s soft voice broke my musings.
“Captain, we’ve detected a signal from the surface.”
“Location?”
“Hyland-A, sir.”
“Status?”
“They’ve just established a data link. We should be getting our first images within the hour.”
“Great news Commander—keep me updated, please.”
The first of the probes had landed and should confirm the site’s suitability. A few more probes and some scouting about with the rovers and we’d embark on colonization.
I tried to imagine what this pristine wilderness would be like. Naturally, I’d seen best-estimate impressions of Aura-c during training all those years ago. Not long to wait now. Would the sky be darker blue than Earth’s? Would the sunsets be purple? And what of the Auran flora and fauna? A whole new world awaited us, literally. I got to wondering once more about inner space and the Forever World.
“Tiro, how long until I can visit the Forever World again?”
“Captain, the bad actors were removed during the voyage when you were in stasis. However, in doing so I had to—”
“Yeah, excellent work, Tiro. But when can I see my mom and sister?”
“Approximately two weeks’ time, captain,” he said, unoffended.
Tiro had frozen the Forever World while he’d worked out how to isolate the minds that had supported Patton’s take over. That had been a slow process to say the least and involved many years with Tiro himself investigating inside the virtual world, finding the culprits. After he did, he removed their minds, quarantining them for trial at a later date. Even in the Forever World, we had to try to be just. Deleting their minds was like execution—although I guessed they could be restored. There’d be no Juliet in the Juno’s instance of the World. She’d decided not to be copied. I’d let go of her before I’d left Earth. Even though they’d always be a place in my heart for her she was a different person after centuries living her life without me.
I looked from the beauty of our new home world to the beauty of Talia. I breathed a sigh of satisfaction and took the middle seat between her and Sirtis. Turning to her, I placed my hand on hers.
“We set foot on Aura together, simultaneously, same time. No arguments.”
“But you deserve—”
“We’re together now.”
“Would you two knock it off,” said Sirtis, laughing. “We’ve got an appointment to keep down in the shuttle bay. If we don’t move now we’ll be late.”
“Err, I was kinda hoping to be late,” I said. “Baas got me to go through his speech for him. Don’t know why me. I’ll leave politicking to the politicians. I’m just—”
“No, my dear, you’re not just the captain,” said Talia, smiling. “You’re a leader. Baas is a leader. It’s what we need right now. Leaders.”
She pointed at me, her eyes narrowing, a smile on her face.
“Don’t play coy, I’ve read your little speech.”
I looked at her, then at Sirtis. He coughed, looked down at his feet.
“You too?”
He nodded.
“And Baas and a few others,” he said, suppressing a grin.
“I bet half the ship knows what I’m gonna say. Might as well not make a speech.”
Then a thought struck me.
“No,” I continued, “I will address the ship. Think I’ll just wing it and tell a few anecdotes about you guys. We can capture it for generations of Aurans to enjoy, being an historic speech and all. How about I tell them about your little hobby, Lieutenant Sirtis?”
His eyes widened, shook his head.
“You wouldn�
�t!”
Talia looked confused.
“What hobby?” she said.
“Knitting!” I whispered.
She looked at Sirtis and burst out laughing.
“Knitting?” she exclaimed.
“Nothing wrong with knitting,” he protested, only half in jest. “I find it … relaxing.”
After her amusement had subsided, Talia regained a little seriousness.
“Have a quick read through your speech we edited,” she said. “I think the words are fitting. It won’t just be the colonists listening, but later on millions in the Forever World and the generations to come.”
“Okay, it’s important; I get it.”
“Just don’t mess up, Dan,” she said jovially.
“No pressure then …” I said, chuckling.
***
Fifteen minutes later, the three of us arrived at the lower shuttle deck. The three thousand colonists seemed to fill every square foot of space between the shuttles parked off to the sides. On a small stage by the aft bulkhead stood a podium and the tall, dark form of Leon Baas. Our interim president was just about finishing up to the jubilant-looking crowd. A large banner hung on the bulkhead above him.
It read, The Juno Ark Arrives at Aura-c, March 13, 2711.
As we passed along the cordoned-off port side walkway to the front, Baas’s rich tones boomed over the PA.
“As your interim leader, I pledge to take care of this fragile democracy-in-the-making,” he said as he spotted us nearing the side of the stage. “Free and fair elections will be held at the earliest opportunity and in strict accord with the milestones set out in our development plan. We can never let the few rule the many as has been done so many times on Earth. Even now, we see the damage and impoverishment narrowly-held power and absolutism can bring the people. We need look no further than Valdus’s former kingdom and its extractive system set up to exploit the people. No, Aura shall be run for the common good with widely distributed power, checks and balances and institutions that serve all of the people. This is my mission. This is your mission. This is our mission.”
The crowd erupted into cheers and applause. Talia spotted her parents and brother in the throng nearby. She waved, returning their beaming smiles.
Home Planet: Arcadia (Part 3) Page 18