Solar Heat

by Susan Kearney

  As if the prospect that she might fail to stop Katadama wasn’t enough to worry about, she had a new concern. Sauren had picked up Tomar on the nav system. He was following them, stalking them. So far he’d stayed out of weapons range, but he could open a portal and drop out of deep space right in front of them at any time. While he didn’t have hyperspace technology aboard his vessel, he could tap into the machines the Ramans had established on the Zoran moon, the ones they’d been using to transport tranqed Raman Firsts to Zor.

  First chance they got, Derrek planned to knock out those lunar systems. But dealing with Katadama had to come before anything else—even Derrek’s brother Cade agreed. After Laurie had run away to a bunker on the planet to hide, Cade and his wife Shara had sent their children to safety but had returned to Zor. Cade had taken over the government—what was left of it—and was trying to restore order.

  While Derrek claimed Cade was a fool, Azsla knew Derrek worried over his brother. However, if Cade lived, he’d be elected in a landslide victory after standing by his home-world in a time of crisis when he could so easily have fled.

  Humans are complex creatures.

  As the alien thought popped into her head, she sat up quickly in Derrek’s bed. “What do you want?”

  Why must you assume that I want something? Pepko asked.

  “Why else would you be here?” She pulled the blanket up over her nudity. Although the alien may or may not have eyes, she didn’t want it leering.

  Really. Corporeal form has held no interest for me for several millennia.

  “You just like to hang out in my head because you are lonely?” Azsla prodded.

  Humans are more willing to sacrifice themselves for those they believe they know. So I thought we should get to know one another. Hang out.

  “Sacrifice ourselves?” She most certainly didn’t like the sound of that.

  Humans will go to extraordinary lengths to help their friends and loved ones. It ensures the continuation of your species.

  “And the point?”

  My species may be on the brink of extinction.

  “I’m sorry. Are you the last one . . . what do you call yourselves?”

  We go by many names. Your people will come to call us the Perceptive Ones.

  Azsla shivered. It was creepy enough that the alien was in her head. But when he mentioned the future in all-knowing terms, he weirded her out.

  “You should be happy that Derrek and I are together according to your plan. But you want something else from us, don’t you?”

  Yes.

  “Wow. Almost a straightforward answer.” She shoved a lock of hair from her forehead. “You going to tell me or are we going to play ten questions?”

  I don’t play games. I am preparing you . . . for the future.

  “How?” Azsla asked, wishing Pepko wasn’t so set on being cryptic. She didn’t like puzzles or prophets or aliens in her head. But when he didn’t answer, she found that he’d left her on edge. His talk of sacrifice had spooked her, and she didn’t feel the least bit prepared.

  Feeling a need to escape the empty cabin, she threw off the blanket, dressed, and headed for the bridge. She found Derrek with a cup of whai in hand, Tad perched beside him as he explained nav controls to his son. Tish stood at Sauren’s station, her eyes moving from scanner to scanner like a crew member. The fast-paced action in hyperspace seemed to agree with her.

  In greeting, Derrek lifted his cup in Azsla’s direction. “We’re almost home. Go ahead, Tad, show her.”

  Tad punched a button, and a large asteroid appeared on his vidscreen. White in color, the rock orbited Zor’s sun in a cluster with many other asteroids. While Alpha One wasn’t the largest, it appeared to be the most stable. It didn’t spin but held its orientation in a fixed position, allowing her to see only one side. The asteroid reminded her of a foot, and the ankle curve was where Derrek had made his home. He’d set the structure into the asteroid face with giant windows that allowed him to look out into the solar system. At the heel was a landing pad with locks for his ship, and a domed tunnel led from the spaceport to his home and to Taylo’s.

  “Sauren’s going to drop us off, then take the others to their new homes before returning to pick us up in the morning. That should give you time to go over the tactonics again with Taylo.”

  “We need to leave as soon as possible,” she reminded him. They had only a short window of time in which to blow Katadama. To wait meant Zor might draw the pieces into the planet’s gravitational pull. But if they timed it right, they should prevent any of the pieces from striking the planet.

  “We’re scheduled to lift off tomorrow morning.”

  Tad turned up his face to his father. “Dad, I want to come with you.”

  “Me, too,” Tish added from across the bridge.

  Derrek shook his head and sipped his whai. “It’s too dangerous. I don’t want you kids around radiation. You still have lots of growing up to do.”

  “I’m fully grown,” Tish argued.

  “Your mother is already unhappy with me. If I take you all into a dangerous situation, she’d never let me see you again—and with good reason.” Derrek stood, ending the discussion. “Sauren, take us in.”

  “Aye, boss man.”

  Tish watch him closely, and Sauren eased the controls to manual.

  “Next time I might let you land us,” Derrek said to Tad.

  “Wow.”

  Derrek blanked his instruments. “Tad, work the nav equations without the vidscreen.”

  “Why?”

  Derrek rubbed his son’s shoulder. “Every good pilot can perform those calculations in his head. We can’t rely on the instruments. As good as they are, they go down sometimes.”

  Azsla watched Alpha One grow bigger as they approached. She’d heard this asteroid had originally been Derrek’s first salt mine. After he’d taken out the salt, he’d used the empty mine shafts to build his home. And his company did the same with each salt mine they emptied, creating a community of homes for his employees that was close to self-sufficient.

  They created air from the chemicals they found, ditto for water. They grew food hydroponically. Yet they were dependent on Zor for medicines, plastics, machine parts, engine repairs, and a myriad of other products too numerous to count. If Katadama struck Zor, they couldn’t make a permanent home in these asteroids. They’d eventually have to move on.

  In the meantime, every home and facility was stuffed to the roof with people and their belongings. Most prayed to go home. But some would stay. Some might even use the asteroids as a home base to explore outward. With Derrek’s new hyperdrive, there was no limit to traveling the solar system, or the galaxy. They could go anywhere.

  As Azsla surveyed the starscape, the sheer size of space boggled her mind. If there were other species out there besides Earth and Ramans and Pepko, her people had yet to meet them. But she suspected the galaxy might be teeming with life.

  She could almost understand Derrek’s attraction to space. Almost. As the ship closed the distance between them and Alpha One, she caught herself holding her breath. One cracked seal, one loss of pressure, and they’d all be dead.

  Luckily, the systems held, and they set down with little fanfare, not so much as a puff of dust as the locks kicked in. Before they exited the ship, they donned space suits, and although their magnetic boots kept them firmly attached to the artificial decking, Derrek still clipped everyone to a lead line.

  “Dad, won’t our boots hold us?” Tad protested, while Azsla marveled at the scenery. The white rocks were quartz crystals, which reflected enough sunlight that her visor automatically darkened to protect her eyes. From here she could see Zor, a sapphire and emerald jewel in the heavens. The sun shone brightly, but thousands of asteroids shaded them from direct sunlight.

 
She tilted up her head and felt as if she were falling. Not a good idea. Quickly she straightened and let her swimming senses reorient. Without the magnetic boots, she’d have gone floating off into space. But it still wasn’t the same as real gravity. Her organs seemed to be floating around in her body, instead of resting comfortably in place.

  Sauren took off in the ship. Derrek led them toward his home and answered Tad’s question. “If the generator goes down and the backup fails to come on line, you could go floating off into space without a lead line.”

  “Has that ever happened?” Tish asked.

  “Once. I lost two good men. I listened to them die as their air ran out, and I promised them that it would never happen to anyone else. So you wear the leads if you come outside, or I’ll lock you in the dungeon. Got it?”

  “Yes, sir,” Tad said, then skipped—or tried to—his exuberance impossible to keep down. “We have a dungeon? Cool. Can I see it?”

  “Actually, you’re going to live in it,” Derrek told them. “I figured you’d like to spread out in your own space. Tish, you’ll have your own room. I hope you like plants. You’ll be quartered in the hydroponic section.”

  Azsla caught Tish’s grin of delight through her faceplate. As for Azsla, she was rooming with Derrek for their night on Alpha One—that is, if they got any sleep. She had lots of work to do and as much as she wanted to get started, she couldn’t help but admire Derrek’s asteroid.

  He’d spared no expense. Every system had backups. A marbellite wall by the entrance had the engraved names of people who had died here. It was a sobering reminder that simple mistakes could turn into critical disasters.

  They entered the double-walled lock, waited for pressure and air to circulate, then removed and carefully hung up their space suits. Derrek slipped magnets on his shoes and handed out a pair to everyone else.

  “Do we have to wear them?” Tad asked.

  “Not if you promise to be careful,” Derrek agreed.

  Tad whooped, shoved the magnets into his pocket, and let himself float. At his smile of delight, Tish followed suit. Azsla watched them twist and turn, but both of them were stuck. They couldn’t go up or down or sideways without pushing off, and they’d left themselves helpless.

  Derrek didn’t say a word. He simply waited for them to figure it out.

  “How about a hand, Dad?” Tad asked.

  “What would you do if I wasn’t here?” Derrek countered without offering to help.

  Tad took off his shoe and threw it against a wall. The shoe bounced back, and he caught it. The action moved him forward about an inch. Derrek laughed. “That might take a while. We’ll leave you two to have fun.”

  He took Azsla’s hand and led her out the lock.

  “I can’t believe he’s just going to leave us here,” Tish complained.

  “He’s tough,” Tad defended his father, sounding proud. “Besides, we can do this, Tish. Watch.” He threw his shoe and caught it again. Tish tried puffing air through her lips.

  Azsla kept her voice low so the kids wouldn’t hear her chuckle. “You think they’ll be okay?”

  “I’ll check on them through the link. It may take them an hour or two to work their way to a wall, but it’s a lesson they won’t forget.”

  Derrek led her through another airlock, and they entered a crescent-shaped all-purpose room with a domed ceiling that looked carved from rock. The ceiling had to be three stories high. A spectacular window gave them a view of spinning and orbiting asteroids, the sun, and several planets, including Zor. They could even see Sauren as he navigated Beta Five through the asteroid belt.

  Inside, despite the blackness of space that could have made the room cold, couches in bright colors—lemon, tangelo, and lime green—plus multicolored throw rugs and three-dimensional sculptures kept the place lively, cheerful, and very livable. It was a room where one could relax in front of a stone fireplace—one that had no chimney and used gas for fuel—watch a huge vidscreen, or conduct a party or a business meeting at the conference table.

  “The salt mine was originally this size, and then we followed veins deeper into Alpha One,” Derrek said. “Those veins now serve as corridors. We dug out extra space later as needed. Taylo and his wife Lasa live here full time. Lasa’s agreed to look after Cade’s and my kids while we’re gone.”

  Azsla had forgotten that Cade and Shara’s children were already here. They’d wanted to make sure their children would survive.

  As he spoke, a diminutive white-haired lady with sparkling green eyes and a snub nose greeted them with a wide smile. Derrek made the introductions, and then she asked, “Have a good trip?”

  “Yes, thanks.”

  Lasa set a tray of fresh-baked cookies on a table and spoke over her shoulder as she departed. “I made these for the kids. Thought they might like to try their dad’s favorite.”

  Derrek took a handful. “Thanks.” Then he placed one between Azsla’s lips. “Try.”

  The scent was strange to her, and the tan cookies had dark spots in them, but they smelled delicious. She bit into it without hesitation, and the most wonderful sweet flavor spread over her tongue. “What is that?”

  “Chocolate chip cookies. When Shara left Earth, she made Cade take her favorite foods through the portal. Good thing she was wealthy, because the portal closed soon after they left. However, we have a huge stockpile of chocolate, among other things.” He grinned, then the smile died. “Cade and Shara should be here with us, instead of on Zor.”

  “If we do our job right, they’ll be safe,” she said, then changed the subject. “Taylo and I are working on a timing device so I can set the charge, then still have time to get away. How long a lead time will I need to return to the ship and for us to depart into hyperspace?”

  “Fifteen micronbits. Let’s leave extra time and aim for thirty.”

  She shook her head. “I’d rather not set it so far in advance. The calculations need to be precise and made according to many factors, some of which change as the asteroid spins and light hits it. The longer the timer setting, the more chance of error.” She helped herself to another cookie and followed Derrek down a corridor. “Where are we going?”

  “I want to show you something.” He led her into his private suite, decorated in golds and yellows and soft bronzes.

  But the back side of Alpha One had a completely different view, and the huge window took center stage. She’d heard about Alpha One’s twirling water crystals, but to see them actually spinning outside took her breath away. Three blue spectrum moons orbited and spun, casting an array of changing sparkles over the pristine granitite face of Mount Crion, a glinting mountain peak whose jagged edges framed the crystals.

  “Wow.” She stared into the beauty of space and understood the appeal of living out here. “It’s so beautiful. Does it ever look the same?”

  “Nope. Maybe that’s why you remind me of home. You’re always changing.”

  “You make me sound flighty.”

  “Open-minded,” he corrected her. “Since you’ve left Rama, you’ve changed sides, accepted me and my children. You really are an amazing woman . . . for a First,” he teased.

  “You aren’t so bad yourself. But—”

  “Shh.” He slung an arm over her shoulder. “Let’s not talk about doubts. Not when we have to leave in the morning.”

  “All right.” She turned to him. “You don’t have an ice cave here, do you?”

  “Like the one in Pepko’s vision? No. Why?”

  “Because he claimed it was from our future. That would indicate we live through tomorrow. That ice cave is waiting for us sometime in our future.”

  “Maybe the interfering alien is good for something after all.”

  “You think?” Azsla embraced Derrek, enjoying the solid feel of him in her arms. “Did Pepk
o realize that I need you and your ship to blow up Katadama, and you needed me for the tactonics?”

  “I don’t know. He’s never explained why we must be together, only that we must be so.”

  Azsla shivered, and Derrek rubbed his arms over her back. “Is he playing us?”

  “Possibly. But I don’t have any regrets. Not since he brought you to me.” Derrek tightened his arms around her. “In a perfect universe, we might have found one another anyway—”

  “I like to think so,” she agreed. “But if Pepko disappears tomorrow—”

  “He may have lowered my natural inhibitions so I couldn’t resist you. But it’s me that wants you.”

  “How do you know?” she asked.

  “How do you know?” he countered with a chuckle. “Besides, Pepko claims he can’t change us, only help us see what’s already in our hearts. And I believe him.”

  “He’s manipulated us. But why?” she asked, almost hoping the alien would speak up. But he appeared to be gone, leaving them alone with their questions.

  24

  THE NEXT MORNING Derrek and Azsla left Alpha One. Knowing Taylo’s wife would take care of the children eased Derrek’s mind. If anything happened to him and Azsla, his friend’s wife would treat them like her own.

  Although Derrek had considered dismissing his crew, he needed them. However, because of the danger of the mission, he’d asked for volunteers and had been proud when all of them—Adain, Cavin, Paycon, and Doc Falcon—had agreed to accompany him. Even Azsla’s old crew had volunteered, but there had been no need to endanger Micoo, Jadlan, or Rak, who’d settled in as a crew on one of Derrek’s mining transports. However, he did need Azsla as a weapons specialist. Her role in setting the bomb off and destroying Katadama was vital.

  Even with the crew bustling around Derrek, the bridge seemed quiet. All business. He drank a cup of whai and stared at the vidscreen, the silence between him and his crew easy and compatible.