Purposely misunderstanding his comment, I ask, “Does that mean you’re authorizing me?” Yeah, I didn’t need to see Niall’s flinch to regret that comment as soon as it left my big mouth.
But the captain laughs. “Only with proper supervision. And by that I mean myself, Officer Radcliff, and Chief Hoshi only and not some clever loophole you’ve found. Understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
While the adults return to work on the bridge, Niall walks with me as I head to my quarters. The ship’s lights along the corridors are dimming slowly, mimicking sunset. Not that they ever go completely dark, but the low light helps us stay on the same sleep/wake cycle as Earth.
I ask Niall about his work in security. “How long have you been helping your dad?”
He runs a hand through his dark hair. “All my life, or so it seems.”
I wait but he doesn’t elaborate and by his tense posture I guess it’s a sensitive subject. “So you’re more than an intern?”
“Yeah. Captain Harrison refers to me as one of his junior officers.”
Stopping in my tracks, I laugh.
“What?” He takes one look at my expression and raises his hands. “No. No way. You’ll get into huge trouble.”
“Why? I’m just following the captain’s orders, Officer Radcliff.” I try to go for innocence, but I can’t erase my gleeful smirk.
Niall groans. “No. Don’t drag me into one of your crazy schemes.”
“I hate to tell you this…no, wait, this is actually gonna be fun, but guess what? You’re already involved. Or have you forgotten the symbols?”
“That’s not…” His shoulders droop. He sighs as he drops his hands. “How long until we reach Yulin?”
“Forty-seven days.”
“It will be a miracle if we don’t both end up in the brig by then.” He strides down the hallway.
I rush to keep up. “Face it, you’ll be bored when I’m gone.”
That earns me a derisive huff. I wonder if I’m going to miss him when we arrive at Yulin. I jerk my thoughts from that dangerous path, replacing them with the reminder of my promise when I left Xinji. No. More. Friends.
When we reach my quarters, he pauses. “See you tomorrow, Mouse.”
“Until then, Toad.”
My parents ambush me the second I step through the door. I inform them about what happened.
“Do you think they’ll share those files with us?” my mom asks me.
“If they’re actually any good, I don’t see why not.”
But the days pile up and no one has contacted my parents about the contents of the files. Niall claims to be out of the loop and his annoyance over that appears genuine. Chief Hoshi just frowns at me when I try to bring the subject up. My parents’ frustration is clear and they’re getting nothing but typical delay tactics from Officer Radcliff and the captain. I offer to retrieve those files for them, but they won’t allow it. According to them, spending the rest of the voyage in the brig would go on my permanent record. I don’t have a problem with that, but they’re worried about my future.
Five days after I helped with the files, my parents are called to the captain’s office for an important meeting.
“Finally,” Mom says.
When they return, their faces are drawn. My father pours them each a shot of whiskey—the good stuff they hoard for special occasions. His hand shakes and the bottle’s tip clinks against the glasses.
Fear washes through me. “What happened?” I ask.
“I’m sorry, Li-Li, it’s classified,” Dad says.
I open my mouth to protest.
“For now,” my mother adds, stopping me. “We still have a number of meetings with the captain before we can discuss this with you and the other scientists. Just give us a few days. Please.”
The please worries me more than anything else. “Okay.”
Two days later while my parents are in an important session with the lead scientists, there’s a loud banging on our door. I’m working on some task designed to keep me busy so I’ll patiently wait for the big, terrible news. ’Cause I’ve already figured it has to be horrible just from my parents’ hushed conversations, significant glances and all the things they don’t say out loud.
Niall barges in as soon as the door opens. Every muscle in his body is clenched tight and his expression is exploding sun, supernova furious.
“What’s going on?” he demands.
“I don’t—”
“Don’t lie to me.” He grabs my upper arms in a tight grip. “You’ve read the files. You had to. No way you could resist.”
“No. I haven’t.”
He stares at me as his fingers dig deeper into my flesh. Pain stabs down to my bones.
“Let go of me or I’m going to knee you in the balls. Hard.”
That snaps him out of it and he jerks back, releasing me.
I rub my arms. “What happened?”
“You sure you haven’t—”
“I’ll admit it’s been killing me. But no. I haven’t. What happened?”
All his fury rushes out of him and, in one smooth motion, he plops down on a chair, and cradles his head in his hands, resting his elbows on his knees. I brace for his news.
“My father is transferring to Yulin to head up the security on the planet.”
Wait, what? “We have a security force.” All the Warrior planets do. Not a very good one because scientists vetted by the company multiple times tend to be law abiding citizens. Then it dawns on me. “Oh.”
“Yeah. Something in those files from Xinji has DES on high alert and your security force isn’t equipped or trained for whatever it is.”
“Oh.”
Niall looks up and meets my gaze. “And guess who isn’t eighteen A-years old yet and has to go planetside with him?”
I suck in a breath. “Your father wouldn’t—”
“He did.”
Seven
2522:047
No wonder Niall was so upset. This ship is his home. And he has to be very close to eighteen A-years old. “Did you talk to your father about staying?”
“Of course I did! He said no.”
“How soon until you’re eighteen?”
“Thirty-two days after we arrive at Yulin.”
“That’s…I can’t…” At a complete loss for words, I just stare. Poor guy. Niall would never see the captain or the crew again. Ever. “Captain Harrison?” I try.
“Agreed with my dad.” Hurt betrayal sharpens his tone and flashes in his eyes. Then Niall surges to his feet. “Oh, and you’ll like this. According to the captain, they need me on the planet because of my experience and skills.” He spits the words out. “Your nerdy security force is ill prepared.”
“For what?”
“I’ve no fucking idea. That’s why I’m here! I figured you would know.”
Ah. I glance at my room. “All right. Come on.” When Niall follows me inside, I’m already regretting my decision, but I can’t…not help him. Not when he looks so shattered.
Closing my door, I sit at my terminal. As I expected, the files are not hard to find. It’s almost like they’ve been waiting for me.
“I thought you have limited access to the Q-net from here,” Niall says, standing behind me.
“I did, and, according to your father, I still do.”
“If you’re not triggering our security, you must be really good.” A pause. “It’s the Chief’s training, isn’t it?” Before I can reply, he says, “No. Don’t tell me. I don’t wanna know.”
Smart. He’s right. All those hours with the Chief have shown me just a fraction of what the Q-net is capable of and DES has only tapped into a small portion.
Pulling up the files, I ask Niall, “Where do you want to start? There’s hundreds of them.”
“Can you look for certain terms like security and danger?”
I initiate a search. Within seconds the files are sorted. “We’re down to twenty-seven.”
“Better.
Let’s start with the top one and go from there.”
No way I’m going to put it on the screen, so when I open the first one, Niall inserts his tangs and crouches next to me. Suppressing a sigh, I scooch over and let him share my seat. The file is far from complete, but there’s enough there to cause my insides to twist with fear.
…one thousand and forty-six Warriors destroyed… cameras show… piles of debris… hundreds missing…
…Dr. Gary Swenson, chief chemist, found dead at his workstation… multiple lacerations… C.O.D.: exsanguination.
…unable to confirm…explosions…
…Keller, xenobiologist, found… sublevel… eviscerated…
…multiple perpetrators, weapons unknown…
…communications blocked… sabotage?
...unlocked… curfew and buddy system enacted…
A knock on my door sends me a meter into the air.
“Li-Li,” my father says. “We need to talk to you. Got some time?”
“Uh, just a minute, Dad,” I call, while working to hide the evidence. Then I realize I have more to hide than files. I lower my voice. “Um…I don’t suppose you can fit under my bed.”
“I’m not hiding.” Niall stands.
“But…” I gesture to the terminal. “They’ll suspect.”
“Suspect what?” He pockets his tangs.
Is he purposely being obtuse? “That we’re worming despite the captain’s orders.”
“We can use the Officer Radcliff loophole.”
“Niall,” I hiss.
“Is something wrong?” my dad asks. “I hear voices.”
“Uh…be right out,” I say.
Then Niall gets this evil little grin on his face. “Let’s give them something else to suspect.” He scrubs his hands through his hair, creating little spikes. He reaches for me.
I step back. But he’s quick and grabs my shoulders, pulling me close.
“Oh no you—”
His lips press against mine, cutting off the rest of my protest. They’re firm and warm and sparks of electricity shoot through my body. He’s had some experience with this and…damn…all coherent thoughts dissolve as his fingers weave through my hair. His clean scent of sage grass fills my senses and he tastes like mint. Wait… when did our lips part? When did I start kissing him back?
“Lyra, what’s going on?” my mother demands.
We jerk apart.
“What the hell?” I ask Niall.
“You needed to look like you’ve just been kissed, Mouse.”
An angry heat flushes my face. “You—”
“Mission accomplished,” he says and opens the door. Both my parents are standing there. “Hello, Dr. Daniels. Mr. Daniels.”
My father steps back to let Niall pass, but my mother blocks his path to the exit. A coldness emanates from her that makes absolute zero feel warm. “Hello, Mr. Radcliff. I didn’t know you were visiting us tonight,” she says.
“I just stopped by to see Lyra.” He sidesteps my mom as if unaware of her disapproval. “Later.” He gives us all a jaunty wave and is out the door before anyone can respond.
I’m gonna kill him. But first, I brace for the lecture. And they don’t disappoint. Did you know an unwanted pregnancy can ruin a person’s future? And that these space boys—my mother’s term, not mine—have sex with girls all over the Galaxy because they know they won’t ever see them again? I try to remind my parents that I’m a reasonably intelligent person, that I already know all this and they should trust me. But they remind me about my teenage hormones, and that reason, intelligence, and logic are all trumped by the chemical cocktail that is raging in my body. Yes, they used the word raging. And, thinking back to Niall’s kiss…they sort of have a point.
So I cease trying to argue and endure the clichés and lame parental advice. All the while, I’m plotting to kill Niall in very painful and creative ways. It helps me not to flinch when my mother starts instructing me on various birth control methods while my father turns bright red with embarrassment.
Finally the talk winds down and I jump in and ask about what they’d wanted to discuss before they ask me to sign a virginity pledge or something. Don’t laugh, it’s happened before.
“Oh.” Mom glances at Dad. “We wanted to let you know what happened on Xinji.”
What I thought were problems with my parents and Niall dissolve into mere trivialities with the reminder of all those people on Xinji. Dread floods through me as the words exsanguination, explosions, and eviscerated flash in my mind.
“You better sit down, Li-Li,” my dad says.
Realizing I’m clutching the back of the chair, I relax my grip and sink into the cushions while my parents perch on the edge of the couch facing me.
My mother draws in a deep breath. “The people on Xinji are gone, Lyra.”
“Gone as in…” I can’t say the word.
“Dead, yes.”
My fingernails dig into the nubby material on the arm of the chair. “Everyone?”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure?”
She covers my hand with her own. “A DES scan confirmed there are no life signs other than the local wildlife.”
“All of them?”
“Yes.”
Oh no, Lan. And her husband. And the archaeologists. And the geologists. And… A strange lightweight sensation sweeps through me and black and white static swirls in my vision.
“Lean forward, Lyra. Put your head between your legs,” Mom says.
The room starts to spin, but I do as instructed.
Mom rubs my back. “Deep breaths.”
Grief has a stranglehold on my throat and I can’t draw any air. My eyes burn with tears that track up my forehead because my head’s upside down. And that weird sensation is just the distraction I need to kick start my lungs. A sob breaks free and then I’m sucking in lots of hiccupy, snotty breaths. Grief isn’t pretty.
After that, I’m not sure of the course of events except I end up in my dad’s lap. He’s holding me and I’m curled up against his chest like I used to do when I was little. Once I calm down, I untangle from my father and sit next to him on the couch. Mom hands me a wet cloth to wipe my face.
“What happened?” I ask.
“You almost fainted,” Mom says.
“Not that. Xinji.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.” I press the cloth’s cooling relief to my forehead. “That was…” Well, I’m not quite sure what that was all about. “I’m okay.”
My mother exchanges a significant glance with my father.
I sigh. “Would you rather me find out at soch-time tomorrow?”
Mom stiffens, but then relents. “There’s still a great deal of information missing, but DES, Captain Harrison, Officer Radcliff, and we believe it was looters.”
Did I just hear that right? “Looters? But they just steal Warriors. They’ve never attacked, let alone killed anyone.”
“It appears there is a new…gang for lack of a better word,” Dad says. “This gang is ruthless. They appeared from nowhere and just attacked the base. No explanation and no mercy. We guess that the Warriors must be selling for a fortune on the black market, but there is no way to confirm that at this time.”
“Have they attacked any other planets?” I ask.
“Not that we know, but DES is sending Protector Class ships to the Warrior planets to protect them. Of course it’s going to take years for the ships to reach them all. Even though we’re way out on the edge, there’s a Protector Class ship accompanying an Exploratory Class vessel nearby and will be at Yulin in two E-years.”
Fear blooms in my chest. “We’re still going to Yulin?”
“Yes.”
“But—”
“Don’t worry, Li-Li. Captain Harrison assigned us his security force, they have a great deal of experience.” Dad gives me a shrewd look. “Is that the real reason Mr. Radcliff was here? He must be happy to be going planetside with us.”
/> I don’t bother to correct him. Even if his kiss meant something, which it didn’t, Niall would never be happy about being assigned to the planet. To him, it’s the same as being banished by his family. “What about the ship? Won’t they be defenseless?”
“Our security people will remain here. They’re not picking up passengers in Yulin so they’ll have some time to train and will get more personnel at their next stop. Speaking of the ship, Chief Hoshi asked if you could help her a few more hours a day. With the launch and re-routing of the Protector ships, DES has to make changes and it’s complicating everything, including the ship’s trajectory.”
“Of course I’ll help.”
Assisting the Chief those extra hours proved to be an excellent distraction. Instead of my imagination envisioning the poor people on Xinji being murdered (eviscerated!), my brain was stuffed full of all the changes the ship needed to execute in order to arrive at Yulin without getting caught in the Protector ships’ crinkle fields. To see a fraction of the Q-net map out the new star roads, set schedules, and plan supply drops in just our section of the Galaxy was like witnessing pure magic.
And then my parents needed help prepping for arrival. The construction team finished building the base and removed the sand from four of the Warrior pits before they left. For the second time during this voyage, I looked forward to soch-time. It was a break from work. Even though Niall spent the entire two hours brooding, I was happy to just sit and not think. Our project of organizing Lan’s symbols was put on hold. No surprise. Niall’s devastated over leaving his family and every time I think about Lan tears threaten. And I can’t help but wonder if her discovery scared someone. Lots of people believe that the aliens are long gone and good riddance. What if she found evidence that the symbols tell us where to find them or something like that?
Yulin’s sun grows bigger and bigger in the bridge’s window as our remaining thirty-nine travel days slip by in a blur of activity. Captain Harrison grants me permission to remain on the bridge when the ship approaches the planet as long as I promise to stay out of the way.
Navigating the Stars Page 9