“I am sorry. It is so different. You are different, but impressive. All the same. A floating turtle is in charge? Please excuse us. We’ve never seen anything like this. We haven’t even contemplated anything like you. And you tell us that you’re not the aliens, but there are real aliens out there. I don’t know about the others, but I could use a drink!”
Pace smiled. “That’s something I think we could all use. We do have a little wine on board, don’t we, Captain?”
“We do,” Rand said softly, nodding.
Earth Two
“ETA one hour,” Pace said over his shoulder as he eased the EM thrusters to keep the ship angled away from the giant space station. The pilot slowed The Olive Branch expertly as he strove to match the orbit of the station.
It was a giant spinning cylinder with tendrils extending far beyond the open ends. The humans of Earth had perfected a shield technology that enabled both ends of the cylinder to appear like they were open to space, but the atmosphere was contained. Within the cylinder there were concentric, smaller cylinders circling the central access, similar to the way the Traveler was constructed.
Light was channeled through one end that permanently faced the sun. Nearly the entirety of the station’s exterior was covered in solar panels to harness solar power, deliver energy without waste, without taking up any extra space.
Within the cylinders, fields and cities abounded. It looked like a lush planet folded backward. Everything a civilization needed to survive.
Below The Olive Branch, the planet Earth, a blue and green orb, rotated slowly. Clouds danced tightly across the surface far below. Brown deserts and mountains, the green of untold flora, and the blue of vast oceans covered the planet’s surface.
It didn’t look as dead as the earthers led them to believe.
“Take The Olive Branch into the central core of Earth Two, through the main opening. There is docking space large enough to accommodate your ship, even larger. This used to be the shipyard where colony ships were built. Since then, we’ve expanded, enclosed a large portion, and reduced our shipbuilding to just what we need for work within the system,” Brayson explained.
Rand shook his head when Pace looked for him to confirm the order.
“I don’t want to do that. The Olive Branch needs to be in open space. We have solar panels of our own,” the captain lied. “Please, we’ll take the shuttles in. I hope the good people of Earth Two understand.”
Rand held his hands out as if pleading. He smiled weakly. Cain watched Brayson closely.
“I don’t see that it will be a problem. Let me see if we can put you into a docking orbit on the far side, closer to the sun,” Brayson replied helpfully. He raised his hand and spoke into his sleeve.
“Flight control, this is Captain Brayson, currently aboard The Olive Branch, requesting permission for a space-side dock oriented toward the sun. We will shuttle to the landing zone….Alpha Three Radial One Five Zero. Thank you, flight control. See you in a few, Jennings.”
Rand breathed a sigh of relief. Cain’s jaw ached from clenching it so tightly. The ease with which it was done made him feel guilty about his hesitation to trust the people. They seemed open to all the requests that the people of Cygnus had made.
Pickles rotated in his chair to look at Major Cain. “How many ex-girlfriends do you have?” he asked.
Rand’s forehead wrinkled as he wondered what made Pickles ask that question at such a time. The visitors watched carefully, curious. Kalinda continued to look at the space station that filled the screen before her, while her hand explored Astral Star’s leg. Pace had been doing the same thing with Tian, but once the new course was delivered from flight control, he was busy preparing to fly the ship and had to take his hand away.
The Earth woman rested her hand comfortably on Pace’s back as he happily worked.
“What? I don’t know. One, I guess. Damn, Pickles, putting me on the spot!” Cain sounded like he was whining, even to himself. He stood up straight and lowered his voice, trying to sound more Marine-like. “Why do you ask?”
“Because you said an ex-girlfriend called you an animal.” Pickles turned back to his position, working the screen and sorting through the data. The sensor operators were vacuuming everything they could pull through their passive mode and filing it for future reference. Jolly was already analyzing the information, and Pickles was monitoring, looking for any threats to the ship.
Commander Daksha had kept Jolly’s interaction with the earthers to a minimum since he was hopelessly honest, a good trait but not when trust was uncertain.
“Both of them, then,” Cain answered. “Ex and current have called me names that I shan’t repeat in polite company. I will admit that I may have deserved it.”
Cain tried to look smug, but ended up laughing it off.
He rubbed his face, surprised that it still itched, having been nearly two weeks since the med bot repaired the scratches. He wondered what that was about while the bridge crew laughed at his expense.
Cain made a note to thank Pickles for his genius diversion to remove the tension on the command deck. The major also wanted to ask why the captain lied about the solar panels.
Pace eased the ship forward, tapping into a minute amount of power available in the EM drive. They didn’t need much to travel a hundred kilometers.
“Ten minutes to dock,” Pace announced.
“Major Cain, I would appreciate it if you led the party to Earth Two. Come with me and we’ll talk about who we’d like to send. This is a momentous occasion!” Commander Daksha said through his vocalization device. He swam casually through the hatch and into the corridor, continuing toward his quarters.
Cain followed silently.
Once inside the commander’s quarters and the hatch was closed, Daksha ordered Jolly to cut off all communication systems.
“I want you to lead the party ashore because I don’t want to overwhelm the humans with the rest of the people. I don’t think they are ready for us. Take Leaper with you and Ascenti, and Brutus and Penelope of course. Then we’ll send Pace and Kalinda since they seem to be friendly with their earther counterparts. And finally, Ellie.”
“Friendly with their counterparts,” Cain repeated slowly as the image Jolly shared surged to the front of his mind. He blinked, trying to clear it away. “Why Ellie?”
“Because she was the face of our message, and I saw you on two different planets, Cain. You and Ellie make an unstoppable team. I’m honored to have you represent all of Cygnus.” Daksha sounded matter-of-fact through his vocalization device, as if he’d analyzed the data and the answer had been properly arrived at.
“I’m honored, and I don’t know what to say, Master Daksha.” Cain looked down as he shuffled his feet. He was still a young man, very young.
“You’ll be fine, Cain. Braden would be proud if he could see you now. And Prince Axial De’atesh. Brutus and Ellie are both good for you. They keep you grounded.” Daksha floated serenely over the hot sand, swimming every now and again to remain in place as the ship glided toward its docking place. “You better go, gather the team. I’ll tell the bridge crew. Everyone will meet at the hangar bay.”
Cain nodded and started to leave, then stopped. He turned his head and spoke over his shoulder. “Can you have Ellie meet me in the corridor? I think Briz still has me banned from engineering. I don’t have time to free myself from an insulbrick shower.”
Cain was serious, but Daksha chuckled by way of the device hanging around his long neck. “I will smooth things over with our chief engineer, Master Cain. Please keep your neural implants open at all times while in the station. I can’t guarantee that there won’t be interference, but we’ll try to stay in touch nonetheless.”
“Aye, aye, Commander,” Cain answered as he passed through the hatch and disappeared into the corridor.
Daksha floated higher until he was clear of the few obstacles in his quarters. BJ was curled up in his usual place on the Tortoid’s shell.
‘I would have liked to go,’ Billy Joe suggested.
‘This one will challenge us greatly, and we need you here,’ Daksha answered simply. ‘When we go over there, you will be overwhelmed with the number of people and aberrant thoughts. I expect they will not be too welcoming of us, because we are so different, my friend. Cain will pave the way to make it better, but it will be very hard on you.’
‘Thank you, Daksha. I look forward to seeing another new world,’ the ‘cat replied.
***
Cain and Ellie were holding hands as they waited for the others. Brutus and Carnesto sat, looking patient, but they weren’t. The ‘cats never enjoyed riding in the shuttle because they were stuffed in as an afterthought. The shuttles were designed for humans. Daksha and Jolly had requested a new design and Briz said he’d work on it, despite the fact that it was the responsibility of the De’atesh Shipyard to build such things.
The priority given would depend on what The Olive Branch brought home from Earth. It was also important that Holly have his issues resolved so that his split personality could disappear. Maybe that meant that humanity had to resolve their issues first.
Cain was afraid to go home for that very reason. He was afraid that Holly would come up with new and ingenious ways to kill him. Cain wondered if Holly had lost faith in the pure-heart test. Cain didn’t know, but would want assurances before he left the ship once they returned to Cygnus space.
We have to do this one little thing here, first, Cain thought to himself. Why are you thinking of going home? The glory of a triumphant return? Look at who is holding your hand. That’s the only triumph that matters. From this, all good will flow.
Cain knew that he should have been anxious, but he wasn’t. Daksha was right. Ellie made him better. He made her better. They were a great team. They were the face of Cygnus VII.
‘Oh, brother. Let me get out my waders,’ Brutus said in his thought voice. ‘If anyone is the face of Cygnus VII, it’s right here, buddy!’
Brutus lifted his chin, twitching a scarred ear. His green-orange pupils showed large in the bright light of the hangar bay. He yawned only to show his fangs.
Cain bumped Ellie with a shoulder. “Look at him preen. He’s the face of Cygnus VII.”
“Look at Carnesto! Such a proud and stately kitty!” Ellie replied. Both ‘cats waved a single paw at their humans.
“Universal gesture, indeed. It’s our way of saying hello to the people of Earth!” Cain exclaimed. He saw the others approaching through the clear panels that lined the hangar bay, showing the corridor beyond.
Brayson and his two people were accompanied by Stinky and the kitten Penelope. Black Leaper had his spear and made a show of using it as a walking stick. They knew they couldn’t bring weapons onto the station. That would send the wrong message.
Sergeant Stalker was there, too, with Hortense, even though she and the kitten would remain behind.
Ascenti appeared, gliding past the windows and banking hard to fly through the hatch. He flapped once to get enough height where he could land on one of the shuttle’s fins. Cain gave him the thumbs up.
“It is nice to fly again,” he said through his vocalization device. Cain nodded.
Pace and Kalinda walked with their counterparts from Earth. Cain wondered if their new relationships would cause a problem. ‘Will it, Brutus?’ Cain asked.
‘Their loyalty is to this ship and the crew, but they like the earthers very much.’ Brutus watched the group intently.
‘That’s what I thought. I hope we don’t have to test it. I hope they don’t want to remain behind or any of the others. What the hell would we do then?’ Cain replied.
‘A rhetorical question,’ Brutus said. ‘What if people from there want to go with us?’
The kitten raced through the hatch in front of the group and ran straight for Brutus. He jumped up quickly as the kitten, who was almost as large as his father, crashed into him.
Two twists and a backflip later, the kitten was thrown through the air and landed heavily, on her feet but dazed.
“Enough,” Cain told her, stabbing a finger in her direction. She immediately sat up and started licking a paw to wash her face.
Brutus had recovered and was sitting as if he hadn’t just been attacked. ‘You’re a good dad, Brutus,’ Cain told him.
‘I know.’
Cain smirked as Captain Brayson approached with his hand out. They shook.
“Talking with your ‘cat?” he asked.
“I’m his human, but yeah. That obvious, huh?” Cain asked cordially.
“I recognize the look on your face. It’s usually one of disbelief. I can only imagine what Brutus is telling you.”
Cain nodded. “You don’t want to know, and no, it’s not about you. It’s always about me and my shortcomings. I think he keeps a list, a very, very long list.”
The captain slapped Cain’s shoulder and then stepped aside so the others could start boarding.
Pace and Tian entered the shuttle first, climbing into the pilot and co-pilot seats. The navigators then went inside, sitting next to each other as far forward as they could go. Lieutenant Black Leaper stopped and looked back at Sergeant Night Stalker before he ducked through the hatch and took the seat opposite Kalinda. The captain sat next to him. Cain and Ellie filed in and then the ‘cats found laps to sit on.
‘I saw you look at her butt,’ Cain taunted Stinky over the neural implant.
‘Did not!’ the Wolfoid retorted. ‘You are such a voyeur, Cain.’
Ascenti flew away from the fin and then executed a tight turn, adjusted as he approached the hatch, then tucked his wings as he passed through, backwinging once inside and slapping both Cain and Ellie in the head as he slowed. The Hawkoid landed in the space between the pilot and the co-pilot on the rack that he could get his talons around to hold himself in place.
“Sorry about that,” he mumbled through his vocalization device.
“Sorry about what?” Cain asked politely. “I wonder how far Briz has come in regards to a shuttle that is better suited to the people?”
‘Now that was a rhetorical question,’ Cain told Brutus as he scratched the ‘cat’s ears, hanging on as the hatch closed and the shuttle slid silently toward the opening bay door and into space.
Lieutenant Pace expertly guided the ship from The Olive Branch, arcing away as the ship rotated behind them. It took two full rotations before the hangar bay door closed, but no one saw as they wondered at the immensity of the space station known as Earth Two.
The captain had said they used to build colony ships within. Colony ships were massive in their own right. Cain had had to work his way from one end to the other of the RV Traveler. It had taken days of hard travel and the loss of one of his Marines.
They didn’t have a map of Earth Two readily available within his neural implant this time. Or did he?
‘Jolly, can you find a map of Earth Two and send that to my implant?’ Cain asked the AI.
‘I will try, but the station’s systems are shielded and I don’t want to highlight my attempt to access them. Would you like me to throw caution to the wind and soldier on?’ Jolly asked.
Cain tried not to laugh as he closed his eyes to make sure the others didn’t see him communing. ‘No, Jolly. That was just a thought I had, but we definitely don’t want to come across as hostile. Keep looking around. Maybe someone left a window open that you can peek through.’
Welcome to our Home
Tian wanted to take the controls of the shuttle as they approached the landing pad, but the systems were nothing like what she was used to so she settled for guiding Pace in, relaying orientation and flight speeds as she received them over her communication device.
Pace expertly put the ship onto the pad horizontally, unlike the usual vertical landing in full gravity. It required more than usual thruster engagement, but Pace enjoyed the challenge. No one seemed to share his sense of accomplishment, which he found disappointing.
“Well done, master pilot!” she congratulated Lieutenant Pace. He grinned and took her hand.
‘Brutus?’
‘Sincerity of the mushiest sort. You humans and your mating rituals are so ridiculous.’ Brutus shook his ‘cat head as if trying to rid himself of a pesky fly.
‘The greeting party?’ Cain pressed.
A group of people waited behind the shuttle where the hatch was. Brutus stared at the closed hatch.
‘Quite the jumble of thoughts. Most of them think we’re aliens. Can we go back home now?’ Brutus asked. ‘I don’t like it here.’
‘We haven’t even been ‘here’ yet. Give it a few, little man, and we’ll do our best,’ Cain said reassuringly. The anxiety Cain hadn’t felt before surged through him with Brutus’s latest warning. ‘Let Ellie know and keep us in touch, if you can.’
‘If I can, indeed. You were already in her mind and will continue to be, because it’s so much easier than me playing pivot man,’ Brutus replied sarcastically.
‘Are you ready to be the face of Cygnus VII, my love?’ Cain asked.
‘Not sure about all that, but yes. Let’s see what there is to see, lover,’ Ellie answered.
Cygnus Arrives: Humanity Returns Home (Cygnus Space Opera Book 3) Page 23