by S. H. Jucha
“You just told me I look beautiful today, Captain,” Kasey replied, chuckling. “What crew member screwed up his sign language?”
When Harbour smiled, her eyes lighting up, Kasey regarded her for a moment, and his expression sobered. “Will there be anything else, Captain?” he asked politely.
“Negative, Kasey, thank you,” Harbour replied.
When Kasey had enough distance from Harbour, he mumbled, “Captain Cinders, you old space dog, you,” and he chuckled to himself.
* * *
On the Belle’s bridge, Jessie requested Birdie set up a call with Commandant Strattleford. He intended to place a Pyre-wide call through the JOS, which would be received by every ship, stationer, and downsider.
“What would be the purpose of your call, Captain?” Emerson asked, when he heard Jessie’s demand.
“That information would be delivered during my announcement, Commandant. This is my right per the Captain’s Articles.”
“Under normal circumstances, I would agree with you, but these aren’t normal circumstances, Captain Cinders. I have no idea what strange manifestations you and your people have experienced, because of your exposure. I can’t allow you to panic Pyreans with some sort of fantastical ramblings. I’m sorry, Captain, you’ll have to wait until the six-month quarantine period has elapsed, which, as we’ve previously stated, was reset when you arrived at Emperion.”
Jessie would have argued further, but Emerson abruptly terminated the call, and Jessie was left to swear at his comm unit.
Birdie whispered to Harbour, who laughed outright. “Captain Cinders, Birdie wants to know if you’d like to make your Pyre-wide call from here. Seems this ship has the communications gear, and she has the knowledge.”
“I keep underestimating the capabilities of this ship,” Jessie admitted. “If you would be so kind, Birdie, I wish to make my call now.”
Birdie grinned and her thin, aged fingers flew over the comm panel. When Birdie was ready, she nodded to Harbour.
“This is Captain Harbour, broadcasting from the Honora Belle. I’m prefacing a Pyre-wide message of great importance. Please standby.”
“This is Captain Cinders, with a message for every Pyrean citizen. It is my duty, as a ship’s captain, to report any issue or obstacle that might be significant. I attempted to do this several minutes ago, but the commandant, in his infinite wisdom, saw fit to refuse me. Many of you are probably aware that six months of quarantine has been declared by the governor and the commandant against the Spryte and the Annie after we discovered an alien site on Triton. That six-month period has been reset twice. The first time was when we were joined by the Belle, when Captain Harbour graciously came to our rescue with sufficient resources to outfit us for the period.”
Jessie could hear the shouts of the spacers and residents near the bridge, who whistled and applauded Harbour’s decision. What he couldn’t hear was the same loud celebration of spacers aboard ships and stations across Pyrean space, none louder than in the Miners’ Pit.
“The quarantine was reset a second time, when my ships and the Belle joined the Pearl at Emperion. We’ll wait out the time period here. The purpose of my message is to warn everyone away from Triton. We’ve discovered the alien site is active. There is an enormous power supply beneath it, and the energy dome that covers the installation precludes all normal communications methods near it. I can’t stress this enough. We have no idea why this site exists, but the fact that it’s active should be enough to warn away all captains. And, if this isn’t enough, Darrin, known Pyre-wide as Nose, found nothing of value for my company on Triton … no heavy metal deposits and no slush. So, if you’re foolish enough to make the trip to this moon to visit the alien site, be sure that you’re willing to make the trip at your expense.”
“The aliens,” Harbour whispered to Jessie. He frowned at her, thinking that it wasn’t a good idea to mention the bodies, but she nodded firmly, encouraging him to speak up.
“I’m reminded by Captain Harbour of one other point about the site. Within the dome and on the deck of the installation are a group of alien bodies enclosed in vac suits. Two distinctly different body shapes are easily distinguishable. From our observations, we can tell that the aliens died fighting each other. Their vac suits are holed by a form of beam weapon that they’re still carrying.”
The bridge crew was eyeing Jessie, while he broadcast to the citizens of Pyre. When Birdie tipped her head up and gathered some wrinkled neck skin in her fingers, Jessie nodded his head in understanding.
“It’s impossible to determine the age of this site,” Jessie continued. “Its technological capabilities are far beyond ours, but we can see by the buildup of dust, surrounding the dome’s outer edge, that the site has been abandoned for centuries. However, not wanting to be caught off guard in the future, we’ve set up a monitoring device. My ships can’t receive the signal at any great distance, but the Belle has the equipment, and Captain Harbour has established a round-the-clock watch on the visuals and ground-monitoring signals.”
Jessie glanced at Harbour and lifted his eyebrows, asking if she had anything to add.
“This is Captain Harbour, again. You might find this hard to believe, but Captain Cinders is too much of a gentleman to explain why we were refused the services of the JOS comm system. Apparently, the commandant thinks that we might be contaminated by visiting the alien site in such a way as to have our thinking fouled and incapacitating our speech. I can assure you that none of us show any untoward symptoms that would indicate an alien infection, although I can’t speak for Captain Cinders, but I think he’s always been an odd one.”
The bridge crew’s polite laughter was easily picked up and transmitted throughout Pyre, and Harbour lifted an eyebrow at Jessie, who grinned in reply.
* * *
The combined ships’ crews and residents worked at a fevered pitch. Calendars were marked with a countdown after Jessie set the launch date. The Belle would leave first, while Jessie’s ships recovered their equipment.
For Jessie’s crews, the mission to Triton, which had become a bust for valuable metal deposits, was replaced with a new and better opportunity. Filling the tanks of the Belle would go a long way toward banking a pile of coin toward comfortable retirements, and the thought of a continued relationship with Captain Harbour meant they could compete with any other tanker captain who ventured out to Emperion.
The residents of the Belle were invested in keeping the ships’ crews well-fed and content, and the spacers found they never had it so good. The crew couldn’t pass an empath without receiving a dose of appreciation, but most found reasons to avoid Sasha. Her power could have the spacers wearing loopy smiles for hours and forgetting what it was they had intended to do.
More of the Belle’s cabins were opened and decorated for downtime sleepovers by Jessie’s crew. At the forefront of the residents’ minds was the realization that their ship, and by extension themselves, was no longer the home of society’s odd and disenfranchised. The spacers had transformed the Belle from a stationary hunk of metal to a sailing vessel once again. More important, their ship had performed an invaluable service by rescuing Jessie’s people. The residents’ steps were lively, their pride having been returned to them.
In addition, the future looked bright for the colony ship. The coin received for the impending huge load of slush would fill the general account and enable upgrades to the ship, and the residents had wasted no time submitting requisitions for items that they thought would benefit the Belle. But an uppermost thought, often shared by the residents, was of the day they voted for a captain. Repeated time and again in conversation was the comment about how lucky they were to be the ones who chose to support Harbour and stay aboard the ship.
-39-
The YIPS
Captains, crew, and residents awoke in the morning to be greeted by the all-important date. It had been six months since the mingling of the ships from Triton with the Pearl, which restarted the q
uarantine clock.
Crew followed their final orders, as to which ship they would accompany. Most were returning to their original positions, but Jessie had skimmed crew from each ship to reside on the Belle and ready the unloading process.
“You wanted to see me, Captain?” Aurelia asked, when she reported to Jessie’s cabin aboard the Spryte.
“I’m transferring you to the Belle, Aurelia. Get your gear. The shuttle launches at thirteen hundred hours.
“Whatever you order, Captain,” Aurelia said quietly.
Jessie could see Aurelia was crushed by the directive, but she was taking his order like a spacer.
“It’s this way, Aurelia,” Jessie said gently. “In the eyes of JOS security, you’re still a fugitive. My ships will be returning to either the YIPS or the JOS for unloading, supplies, and downtime before returning to Emperion. You can be sure, one way or the other, the Spryte, Annie, and Pearl are going to be searched. If not boarded with a commandant’s order in hand, security is going to be posted in the terminal arms, eyeballing every crew member who exits my ships. Do you want to take the chance of falling into security’s clutches, after what you’ve heard from Captain Harbour about the collusion between the commandant and the governor?”
“No, sir,” Aurelia replied.
“There’s only one way we can make it tough for security to get to you. You stay aboard the Belle. That’s one value of the pumping station. It’s our installation, which means, technically, the colony ship isn’t docked. If the Belle isn’t docked and is capable of getting underway, security has no jurisdiction, no authorization to board her. You’ll be safe.”
“Am I done as a spacer, Captain?”
“Do you want to quit, Aurelia?”
“Not on your life, Captain, I want a position on your ships, preferably with the crew of the Annie.”
“And here I thought you would request my ship,” Jessie teased.
“I would, Captain, if your ship was the one doing the exploring. A girl’s got to go where the excitement is,” Aurelia replied, grinning.
“Spoken like a true spacer and explorer. Yes, Aurelia, when we get through this thing with security, you’ll have a job on my ships. Wait,” Jessie said, holding up his hands. “Don’t get too excited. You’ll have to interview with Captain Erring for a berth on her ship.”
“Already have, sir. She says my position is waiting, once you clear me to return,” Aurelia replied. She couldn’t resist a smug expression.
“Cheeky, spacer,” Jessie grumbled, but he was smiling. “Go get your gear and report to the shuttle for transfer with the others who are going to remain on the Belle.”
* * *
The Annie left Emperion days after the Belle sailed and headed for the JOS. The ship was greeted by a medical team with orders from the commandant to prevent the ship from docking at the terminal arm until the medics had an opportunity to conduct a blow out to vacuum and sweep the ship afterwards for any unidentifiable DNA formats.
Yohlin complied with every request, per Jessie’s orders, and, three days later, the medical team gave the ship a clean bill of health. Yohlin insisted the commandant announce stationwide the procedures he’d implemented to check the Annie for alien contamination. She raised such a fuss that the commandant had Major Finian broadcast the message just to get her off his back.
When Yohlin led the first group of spacers off the ship, she noted that Jessie was right. Six security officers lined the terminal arm, checking their comm units and comparing an image of Aurelia to every crew member who passed.
Despite launching from Emperion’s orbit days before Jessie’s ships, the Belle arrived at the YIPS behind the Spryte and the Pearl. The YIPS crew had unloaded two of the Pearl’s six tanks, when Dingles announced to Harbour that the Belle was stationary at 50 meters off the end of the terminal arm.
“Station manager calling, ma’am,” Birdie announced to Harbour.
“Captain Harbour, here, Mr. Pendleton.”
“Welcome, Captain Harbour. I don’t mind telling you that you gave us some nervous moments, while we watched the Belle creep toward us. My compliments to your crew, especially your pilot. I was told you could position your ship fifty meters off the terminal arm, and my laser says you did just that.”
“Nice to be appreciated, Mr. Pendleton.”
“Please, Captain, I’m a working stiff. Call me Evan.”
“Certainly, Evan. I understand the pumping station is already in place. We can begin laying the pressurized hose whenever you’re ready.”
“Give us one more day to complete the hookup of the station to our lines and check its integrity. I’ll give you a call when we’re ready.”
“Understood, Evan. Do we get the same medical checkup as the Spryte and the Pearl?” Harbour heard Evan’s chuckle.
“I told the medics they wouldn’t find anything on Jessie’s ships. Alien bugs are more likely to run screaming from Pyrean spacers than to seek them out as hosts.”
“Why do I think there’s a but coming, Evan?”
“Yes, ma’am, the medical team can’t perform a blow out of the colony ship. I think they don’t know how to conduct one, but that means I can’t allow anyone off your ship.”
“No problem, Evan. My crew prefers our cantina and hydroponic food over the limited resources offered by the YIPS.”
“You have a cantina, ma’am?”
“Built and stocked by Maggie of the Miners’ Pit.”
“That tempts me to visit your ship except for …”
“Except then you’d be breaking the newly added quarantine rules of the commandant,” Harbour finished for Evan.
“Yes, ma’am,” Evan replied quietly. “I’m awfully sorry about this, Captain.”
“Not your fault, Evan. Let me know when you want us to begin building our pipe connection.”
“Aye, Captain.”
* * *
“Birdie, time for that special call,” Harbour ordered, after the crew had completed the linking of the Belle to the pumping station and the slush began flowing. Jessie had been right about the dearth of frozen gasses. Demand had far outstripped supply, and the YIPS processing tanks were nearly empty. The Belle’s delivery was desperately needed for station and downside systems operators.
“Aye, Captain,” Birdie replied. She’d programmed the connections into her comm board and called the principals in advance to warn them of Harbour’s call. Immediately, Jessie, Dingles, and Aurelia were connected, and Birdie set their connection to monitor only.
Harbour sat in her command chair, sipping on a green. When the connections were finalized, Birdie nodded to Harbour.
“Captain Stamerson, Commandant Strattleford, and Governor Panoy, I’m officially notifying you of the outcome of the Captain’s Court held yesterday aboard the Honora Belle.”
“There’s no such thing as a Captain’s Court,” Lise objected vociferously.
“Quite the contrary, Governor,” Harbour replied, warming to the conversation. Either she was broadcasting her pleasure, or the crew was pleased by the nature of the call. Either way, they were wearing smiles.
“I’ll be sending a set of files to each of you that I imagine the governor failed to send you, Commandant, for whatever reason. You can read them at your leisure. However, I’ll summarize them briefly for you.”
Harbour took another swig of her green, realizing it was her initiating the smiles on the faces of her bridge crew, and, at this point, she didn’t care. She wanted them to share in her pleasure.
“The Honora Belle predates our settlement, and, as such, is independent of the rules governing Pyre. According to the agreements signed by the original colonists, the Belle’s captain has the power to adjudicate any matter, concerning the colonists and descendants of this ship until such time as a formal election process of the new government is convened and completed. That process was never begun, which means my powers, as duly elected captain, remain in force over every descendant of this ship.”
“Please understand this call wasn’t to solicit your comments, Governor. Either let me complete my announcement or I’ll end our conversation.”
Jessie, listening on his private link, whistled softly. The woman he had greeted at Triton was different from the one he had met earlier in the storeroom aboard the JOS, and since Triton, she’d continued to adopt her role as ship’s captain. His admiration for her efforts found a new level.
“I convened a Captain’s Court to review the events surrounding the death of Dimitri Belosov. Standing before me was the complainant, Aurelia Garmenti.”
“Complainant?” Lise shouted. She was apoplectic at hearing Dimitri’s murderer was termed a complainant.
“Governor, if you wouldn’t mind, I should like to hear the outcome of this process,” Stamerson stated, with firmness.
“Thank you, Captain,” Harbour said politely. “It was alleged by Aurelia Garmenti that following a lifetime of incarceration, she was required to spend time with Dimitri Belosov, who sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions. It was during one of these occasions that Aurelia chose to defend herself, and she chose to do so in the only manner available to her. She frightened him. Dimitri could have fled the room, but he chose to back onto the balcony and either toppled over the railing or threw himself over.”
Lise was seething at this turn of events, but she needed to hear how Harbour proceeded, so she clamped her teeth shut with great difficulty.
“I heard from the complainant, her mother, and her sister, as to the nature of their enforced imprisonment. And, since the perpetrators of the kidnapping of Helena Garmenti and the subsequent incarceration of the family for seventeen years have already been convicted and sentenced for these crimes by the Review Board, I found substance for the complainant’s claims of abuse by Dimitri Belosov. However, to ensure that fairness was observed, I secured multiple witnesses as to Dimitri Belosov’s character.”