Space Junque

by L. K. Rigel

  Or the Space Junque. Before Jake was killed, he hadn't yet set a course. The ship was drifting with no established orbit. She searched the stars -- and spotted something moving, something not on fire.

  The hydroponics annex. It would have to be something that large to see with the bare eye. Cripes, she wished she hadn't seen it. Now she would always be aware of it circling the planet, reminding her of everything that had been lost up there.

  Wait a minute. The shades! She pulled the ISS shades out of her flight pants and switched them to night vision. They immediately locked on a large chunk of hull debris. Not on fire, so it must be in orbit. She widened the frame.

  It wasn't a chunk of debris, and it wasn't in orbit. It was the Space Junque, intact, but heading for the earth. It was going to fall somewhere close, out in the bay.

  At around five thousand feet -- according to the shades -- the cargo bay opened and the orbit runner buzzed out of the hold like a wasp. It hovered in the air as the Space Junque plunged into the sea.

  The sound of wrenching and snapping metal lasted less than a minute, like the last groans of a dying beast. The poor Space Junque seemed to give out a death gasp as oxygen escaped from inside, and then the sea swallowed the beast whole. A tear slid past the shades and down Char's cheek.

  R.I.P. Space Junque.

  The runner swooped down and took a pass along the shoreline then zoomed up into the sky. With the shades, Char could see Jake at the runner's controls, a wild grin on his face as he took the craft upward again and into a loop. He finally set down about a hundred feet from her.

  The bubble canopy popped open and Jake climbed out. He walked along the water's edge, and she watched him fall to his knees and kiss the wet sand as a wave receded. It was a telling gesture, and it eased Char's mind a little. His Junque was gone, but he kissed the ground instead of cursing it.

  He sat back on his heels and ran his hands through his hair, pushing it off his face. Then he saw her.

  Char ripped the shades from her face and ran to him. Only feet away, she stopped. It might not be Jake. But then an Empani wouldn’t pull a loop de loop or drop to its knees to kiss the cold wet sand.

  "Jake." She smiled her welcome, and he reached up and put his hands on her hips with that sly twinkle in his eyes.

  "I'm going to have to break my promise, Meadowlark. I won't be able to show you the captain's quarters."

  "That's all right." She leaned over and kissed his forehead. "You'll still get your dessert."

  "No, Char." He pulled her onto his lap and they fell back onto the sand. Another wave washed around them. "I want so much more than dessert from you."

  The pounding surf matched her heartbeat, and the space junk meteors overhead were more spectacular than fireworks. With Jake’s warm slow kiss Char wanted to tear his clothes off right there, but the tide was coming in and they were already covered with sand and saltwater. They moved to the rock where she'd been sitting.

  "What happened?" They both spoke at the same time.

  Char thought of the Empani and said, "Mine's more complicated. You go first."

  "I was in the cargo hold and the loading ramp's warning light came on. I figured I was a dead man, but I was standing right by the little runner ship so I climbed inside and sealed the canopy. When the door opened, the runner was swept out into space. I figured out how to link to the Junque and open the cargo hold to get back inside."

  He kissed her again. "I thought I'd lost my mind. There were no breaches. It was like all of you had just vanished. Using my amazing powers of deduction, I figured Asherah had somehow transported everyone to Corcovado, which is what you said she wanted."

  "You didn't."

  "No." He grinned and kissed Char’s nose. "I didn’t. I scanned ground communications and picked up Geraldo saying he had you and the girls in the compound."

  "Very clever."

  "How is Rani?"

  “Oh, Jake.” Char's heart compressed. "I'm so sorry. Rani died."

  Tears filled Jake’s eyes, and he looked away. After a few minutes he said, "I took too long. I never should have stored the medicine in the cargo bay."

  "No, Jake. Antibiotics wouldn't have helped. The DOG hit her gut with a disruptor. No one can live without their intestines. Nothing could have saved her."

  For now, Jake had to grieve in the old way. And it struck Char how terrible was death in that old godless world. Everything was different now. Could it truly be the end of the world—the end of Rani?—if the gods were real?

  She would tell him tomorrow about Rani's soul.

  They watched the light show in the sky until the tiniest hint of first light rimmed the horizon. A new day was coming. A new world. The rosy crescent fattened and yellowed into white, and the light danced like fire on the bay.

  When the sun rose, the day was glorious.

  -o0o-

  Space Junque

  (Apocalypto 1)

  Visit http://www.lkrigel.com/

  Also by LK Rigel

  Spiderwork (Apocalypto 2)

  Firebird (Apocalypto 3)

  Give Me – A Tale of Wyrd and Fae (Tethers 1)

  Bride of Fae (Tethers 2) coming July 2012

  The Loves of Leopold Singer

  And now, the opening chapters of Spiderwork

  Spiderwork (Apocalypto 2)

  Spiderwork Preview: The End of the World

  The end …

  At night they went out to watch the world fall down.

  By early evening the beach was crowded with people from the compound. This was the best place to see the dazzling night sky, away from the lights of Corcovado whose power grid still operated.

  Char found a good spot on the sand beyond the waves’ reach and spread out the blanket. Jake dropped down, did a pushup, and rolled over onto the blanket, leaning back on his elbows. He gave Char a wink. He looked gorgeous in his flight pants and suspenders, the buttons on his Henley open and the sleeves pushed up to his elbows. She loved his forearms, the smooth skin over taut muscles.

  Jake’s smile disappeared as a guy came up behind her, too close. Char recognized him, a cook at the canteen in the admin building. He reached for her hair, but Jake’s look stopped him and he moved on.

  Char was an object of intense curiosity among the locals since dropping out of the sky a week ago. Literally. Rumors had spread that Char’s hair, an unnatural blood-red color, was a sign from the gods. That they’d returned to save humanity from the apocalypse. Everybody wanted to touch Asherah’s hair, as they called it.

  Char kissed Jake’s cheek. “My hero.” The desire that had plagued her since they arrived coursed through her body. She was crazy with wanting him, but he hadn’t touched her all week. He’d been hit hard by Rani’s death. His half-sister had been his partner in the Space Junque and his best friend. It was probably a bad idea to come down to the beach, but Char was desperate to wake him up. Make Jake realize he wasn’t dead yet.

  “Shib, I forgot the coffee,” she said. “Save our place. I’ll be right back.”

  At their apartment, the coffee jug was on the counter in the galley beside a bowl of real strawberries that weren’t there before. There was a note from Geraldo: I hope Asherah’s daughter will find pleasure in this small gift.

  What a shibdab. A politician to the end. Everything clean and pure in Corcovado was built on corruption. The emperor was dead, and the gods had returned. Now he’d ingratiate himself with their chosen ones. Char popped a strawberry in her mouth, wondering what he’d offered Durga. Cripes the fruit was fresh and sweet. She put another one in her pocket for Jake, grabbed the coffee, and headed out.

  Crossing the compound courtyard she saw Durga and the other girls. They marched along two-by-two with ten-year-old Durga at the head and their chaperone, the old woman they called the matriarch, at the rear.

  The girls were from a boarding school outside Mexico City. Asherah had appeared to Durga several times in the last year and told her about a new world to come. No one
had believed Durga. She was interrogated by the Talibanos Unidos and pronounced delusional. Even when her hair turned blood red they didn’t believe her. Even when the black widow spider tattoo appeared on her shoulder. A week ago, Char wouldn’t have believed either, but she’d seen Asherah herself, talked to her. Char’s hair had also turned blood red. The color of Asherah’s hair.

  The goddess had told Durga to flee, to get off planet immediately. She’d made it as far as Vacation Station with the matriarch and these few girls. Rani had taken them under her protection until Jake arrived and rescued them from the disintegrating space station.

  “My sister,” Durga said. They were the only two, as far as Char knew, who’d been physically changed by Asherah, but Durga’s connection to the goddess was more profound. She was secure in her bond, proud of it. Her left shoulder was uncovered—as if she wanted to be sure people saw the spider tattoo. “We’re going up to the statue. Come with us.”

  “But we’re going up tomorrow,” Char said. She didn’t like being on the mountain where Rani died. They’d buried her body up there and were holding a memorial in the morning. The statue on Mount Corcovado was where they’d been teleported at Asherah’s command by the Empanii, creatures no one knew anything about.

  “We’re going to watch the show,” little Maribel said. She was eight years old and Durga’s opposite—blonde and blue-eyed, fragile, sweet, shy.

  The show. No one at the compound could bring themselves to say what it really was.

  “Anyway,” Char said, “I’m meeting Jake on the beach.”

  “Ooh.” Chita made kissing noises. “Two little lovers sitting in a tree.” The others all giggled.

  “Exgusting.” Maribel wrinkled her nose.

  Char patted her head. “Someday you won’t think so.” To Durga she said, “We’ll see you tomorrow.”

  In the fading light, Char picked her way along the crowded beach. There were a few children—of course Geraldo would make sure Corcovado had a hospital—but it was mostly adults. Jake had taken off his shoes and was digging his toes in the sand. The sight of his bare feet struck Char’s funny bone. She said, “Close your eyes and open your mouth.”

  In a show of undying trust, he obeyed. His groan of pure pleasure on biting into the strawberry made her hot all over. He spread his arms, and she hugged him with all her strength. She kissed his neck and snuggled with him to watch. The sun dipped behind Mount Corcovado, and the streaks of light across the heavens brightened.

  “I never knew the world could be so beautiful,” she said. She filled her lungs with the astoundingly clean air. All her life the sky had been too polluted to see stars. A clear view of the universe was the main attraction of Vacation Station, the orbiting resort of choice for those who could afford it.

  “It’s not so beautiful out there.” Jake kissed her forehead. “Before the Junque crashed, I went around a few times. Bombs were going off on every continent. The sky was on fire everywhere but Garrick and Corcovado. It’s like some kind of force field shielded both places. A miracle, right? Your Asherah must have spared the two from destruction. But why?”

  “Corcovado I can believe,” Char said. “But what kind of god spares Garrick?”

  “Now that’s where you’re going all wrong,” Jake said. “Never try to understand the gods. According to all the old scriptures I studied in school they don’t make sense. It’s part of their mystery.”

  “I’m glad Asherah dumped us here instead of in Garrick. If the world is going to end, I don’t mind spending my last days here.”

  Corcovado was pristine, right out of an historical holofilm. You could drink from its springs without treating the water. For the first time Char loved being in the world, merely being alive. Breathing clean air. Feeling a breeze on her face. Tasting fresh water. Civilization had collapsed. The human race had finally destroyed itself and was taking the planet with it. Perversely, she was happier than ever.

  “Ooh!” The beach crowd applauded a larger meteor. Was it so easy to block from their minds what made that pretty light? De-orbiting space junk burning up in the atmosphere. The debris of satellites and ships destroyed or crippled by the DOGs—the Defenders of Gaia.

  That meteor could be the cabin of a shuttle. There could be people inside. A hundred thousand people had been living off planet. Not only world’s political and economic elite, but those lucky enough to get jobs serving them. They had abundant food and clean water and could see the stars. Until last week, they had seemed the lucky ones. Likely some still survived up there, and there was no way to save them.

  “Tell me about Rani again,” Jake said. “What you saw.”

  What they saw. Rani’s soul. What else could it have been? She’d told Jake the story every day. He couldn’t let his sister go, and Char was the last person to judge on that score.

  “When you were gone and no one knew how to land the Space Junque, Asherah appeared with those beings she calls Empanii. There was one for each of us, and they seemed to be people each of us loved. The matriarch’s son, Maribel’s mother, my sister Sky. And you were there for Rani. The manifestations were so true down to the sound of Sky’s voice and the smell of her skin when she hugged me. She even wore the twin to my necklace.”

  “Empanii.” Jake turned the word on his tongue. “Empathy. Empathic beings. They scan your mind to find a form to take.”

  That felt right. “The form and everything that goes with it. Mine knew exactly what I wanted to hear.”

  The glorious blazes continued above, unrelenting and unchanging in frequency. The wind from the surf grew cold, and the people around them began to collect their things and return to the compound.

  “Rani recognized you in the end, Jake. The Empani you. She said your name, just as Sky put her arms around me.” Char shuddered. The Empani’s embrace had been so real. She still found it hard to believe that hadn’t been her sister in the Space Junque.

  “And then we were all on Corcovado, on the mountain. Sky—my Empani—was gone along with the others. Only the Jake Empani remained, holding Rani’s hand. I think that’s when she died. Or her body died. Something came out of her, an echo of her that rose like vapor, and I thought this is Rani’s soul. I do believe it was Rani’s consciousness in some form. And Jake, she seemed at peace.”

  With the sun down, it was cold and people started to drift back to the compound. Walking by, they acknowledged Char in one way or another. Some glanced at her furtively and looked away. Some smiled shyly. Some nodded in a show of respect or even bowed.

  “Now you know how it feels,” Jake said. He was a bastard, but he was an Imperial bastard—and son of the Emperor’s favorite concubine. He’d experienced enough kowtowing in his life.

  One man made eye contact, the cook again. His eyes were bright, and he lunged at her.

  “Hey!” Jake leapt to his feet. “What are you doing?” The cook grabbed at Char’s hair before Jake could pull him off.

  “Please! I just want to touch Asherah’s hair,” the cook said. “I have to know...”

  Cripes.

  “You idiot,” Jake said. “Get out of here before one of Geraldo’s goons sees you. You could be banished for that.”

  The guy’s face went white.

  “It’s all right,” Char said. “He didn’t know.”

  “I didn’t know.” He nodded eagerly.

  Char pointed dramatically and said, “Go and sin no more.”

  The cook turned even paler. He fell backwards on the sand, scrambled to his feet and ran. Jake burst out laughing.

  “I was only joking!” Char said.

  “I know, but then I know you’re not a goddess.”

  It was good to see Jake smile. A miracle to hear laughter in his voice.

  “You’re a woman.” He kissed her, his lips warm and his need urgent. “A living, breathing woman.”

  They stayed on the beach until everyone else had gone and made love until the sun came up. There was just enough time to get back, take a
shower, and hike up to The Redeemer. The gigantic sandstone statue’s head bent forward and its arms stretched wide as if accepting them all into some promised nirvana.

  Durga and the girls were already there along with the matriarch.

  “My sister.” Durga threw her arms around Char’s waist, and Jake went to talk to the matriarch.

  Char hugged the little tyrant. Durga was such a contradiction, a little girl despite being chosen by a goddess for…something. She was confident and commanding one moment, shy and in need of nurture the next. If only Rani had lived. The two had formed a bond, and Rani could have guided her to adulthood. Char didn’t even like Durga much, but she accepted that they were bound together by experience and would be together until the end.

  If the world was going to go on somehow, what did Asherah have in mind for these girls? They were so young! At the edge of the group, Maribel had her thumb in her mouth and held a woman’s hand. The woman looked familiar, but Char couldn’t place her. She leaned down and whispered to the girl, and the two started to walk away.

  Char’s body went rigid. “Cripes!” She pointed at the two walking toward the mountain’s sheer drop-off, and Durga’s head jerked around.

  “That’s not her mother.” Char recognized the woman now, Maribel’s Empanii on the shuttle.

  “Maribel!” Durga screamed and sprang after them. She grabbed the woman and locked eyes with her. The Empani metamorphosed into a white heron. It twisted and flapped its wings and pulled out of Durga’s grasp.

  “Well,” Jake said as the bird flew away. “There’s something you don’t see every day.”

  They’d buried Rani’s body about fifty yards from the statue base. Routine was comforting in the face of catastrophe. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, bury the dead.

  “Rani was my sister. We had the same father.” Jake was the first to speak. His words came slow through his pain. “And she was my best friend.”