Cast of Nova

by S J McLaughlin

  “Well, your captain’s an idiot if he got you caught and you’re not even a part of my crew. Just wandering through and ended up on my ship?”

  “He might be an idiot,” Mira said, “but between the two of us, you’re the one who slept with him.”

  The color drained from Nova’s face. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “Kendal,” she said. “He told me lots and lots about you when we got drunk back on Jenny.”

  “You,” Nova said. “You, you, you.”

  Mira smirked. “Look at this here. We got the leader of the terrorist group responsible for attackin’ Nau Cedik, the ex-Union Admiral and a tyrant to the system, and she can’t even get a word from her mouth cause I mentioned a man.”

  “Shut up,” Nova said.

  “Tell me,” Mira said. “Just between the two of us. You just as bald down between your legs as your head there?”

  Nova’s lips tightened and her body tensed up as she fought anger. Her eyes were half closed as she looked at Mira though narrow pupils.

  Mira could tell she was trying to keep reserved, and all she needed was a little push to get her over the edge. “Cause if you are then I can see why he likes you better.”

  Nova tried to claw at Mira, but only managed to yank at her chains and cut her wrists on the metal cuffs. “Shut up, you insignificant brat!”

  Mira burst out laughing. “You’re too fun, you know that?”

  Nova breathed through her teeth and boiled with anger.

  After a second, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, going from pissed to calm in seconds.

  “There,” Nova said. “You’ve had your fun. Now what do you want from me?”

  “Just got some questions,” Mira said. “Where they takin’ us?”

  “The Morana,” she said. “Third biggest flagship in the Union, but most would argue it’s the best ship out there. Now commanded by Admiral Tearly. They’ll hold us in the detention block until we arrive either at a planet for trail, or a penal colony where we can expect to spend the rest of our lives.”

  Life in prison, Mira thought. The idea terrified her. And the more she let the thought sink in, the worse she felt. “How long ‘till we get there?”

  “The Morana, or the prison?”

  “The prison.”

  “We’re not too far off, so I’d say about a month. They like to keep their prisons away from the main Union planets.”

  Mira looked away from Nova and kept her head rested on the seat until docking. She couldn’t see what was happening, but could feel the waves and tremors of fluctuating gravity as they settled down in the decks of the Morana.

  The Union guards came in and unhooked the prisoners one at a time, leading them out single-file. Nova looked almost calm while she waited for her chain hook to detach. Nova was put in line behind Mira, and they marched of out of the shuttle at a tedious pace.

  The shuttle had landed in a hanger larger than Mira had ever seen. The length reached as far as the street in Benith Town and the ceiling was high enough she couldn’t make out the type of metal. Over a dozen shuttles were lined up, with rows of people marching towards the doors at the end of the room.

  Mira kept her eyes open for Kendal. Even if she couldn’t help him, she wanted to know he was alive.

  “Don’t worry,” Nova said. “If they’ve taken him anywhere, they’ve taken him here.”

  Mira rolled her eyes and marched forward. They were dividing the prisoners between men and women, then putting them in pairs of two.

  “They have different detention blocks for men and women?” Mira asked.

  “Don’t be stupid,” Nova said. “Just different entry proceedings and rooming. We’ll all be lumped together when it comes time to eat and work.”

  “Sorry for askin’,” Mira said and kept her eyes frontwards.

  Their place in line was coming up. Her stomach knotted with each person processed. The line shuffled forward, step by step as prisoner were filled through two separate doors, in groups of two. There were far more women than men. The officers had to put men to the side and wait until the next came up before pairing up

  “You two,” the filing officer said, pointing at Mira and Nova. Her voice sounded dry and bored, like she’d rather be anywhere else at the moment.

  Mira and Nova went through the doors and were funneled along a network of hallways until they arrived at the processing room. Long and narrow, with bright lights and bench near the entrance. On the other side of the room was a desk and two doors, one to an inventory room, and the other to the detention block.

  Nova and Mira sat on opposite ends of the bench and waited. Neither spoke, nor looked at each other.

  A minute passed before the inventory room door opened. An officer walked in with a clipboard. He was dressed in a blue and white Union outfit and had blonde hair that stuck up in the front. He was well built, more tone than either Mira or Nova, yet shorter than the both of them. He had some kind of narrow weapon on his belt, and an emergency switch on his wrist.

  “You up first,” he said. “The pretty one.”

  Neither one of them budged.

  The officer sighed and said, “the one that’s not bald.”

  Mira stood up. Pretty?

  She approached the desk and stood at attention the way she remembered Kendal doing back when he was still fresh out of the Union.

  “Remove all belongings and set them on the counter,” he said, not even giving Mira a glance as he set a sealed and stuffed plastic bag on the desk. He clicked on his pen and made a few notes on his clipboard.

  I wonder how sharp that pen is, Mira thought as she took off her belt and set it on the desk. She had nothing in her pockets and had no bags or satchels. Everything important to her was on that belt or on her back.

  The officer looked at her and raised a brow. “Clothes too.”

  Mira swallowed, and took off her clothes, bit by bit, and laid them out on the counter. She hesitated on handing over her jacket, hands trembling as she set it down in a pile with the rest. Probably not gonna see that ever again.

  She shivered and crossed her arms over her chest. The hairs on her arms and legs stood on end as the cold air nipped her bare skin. She looked back at Nova, expecting to see her snickering, but she wasn’t even looking.

  The officer took Mira’s clothes in gloved hands, and bundled them up to toss down the chute. Just as he was about to drop them, he stopped. Something about her shirt had caught his eye.

  That’s a Union shirt, she remembered. After they captured Boe, she had ditched most of the uniform, but the shirt and trousers were nice enough she wore them with her mother’s jacket.

  The officer dropped the clothes down the chute. He then collected all of Mira’s personal items in a cardboard box and slid down a separate chute that led into the inventory room.

  “Tell me,” he whispered, low enough Nova would never hear, “you’re Union, aren’t you?”

  Mira swallowed. You got yourself a chance, now use it. “Yeah,” she said, keeping quiet enough to keep Nova from hearing. “Was part of that there raid, but a few officers that didn’t like me so much threw me in the shuttle and erased the records. Afraid there’s not much I can do about that, seeing as how I wasn’t much a rank and not crew on the Morana, just on assignment here.”

  “I almost believe that,” he said. “And if that’s true I feel sorry for you. But I can’t risk much, especially with my rank.”

  Mira nodded. Was worth a shot.

  He looked around the room, as if making sure no one was watching. He took something from the drawer and held it up. “Portable radio,” he said, showing her the small cylindrical device that sat in the palm of his hand. The top had buttons, and the bottom an extendable wire. “It plugs into the outlets in the room to charge. If you keep the volume down no one should take it away from you. Might help you pass the time in there. I don’t think you’ll be getting much time out of your cell.”

  Mira smiled.
“It helps, thanks.”

  The officer unzipped the plastic bag and slipped the radio inside. “I’m going to ask you some questions,” he said. “And when I’m done you’ll take your package through to the hygienic room just through that door. Once cleaned, you can open your pack and put on your clothes and proceed to your cell.”

  Mira nodded.

  “What’s your name?”

  “Mira Rao”

  “And your age?”

  “Twenty-two,” she said. “In standard years.”

  “Ever had any children?”

  “Not that I’m aware of.”

  The officer raised an eyebrow. “Ever been convicted by the Union?”

  “No.”

  “Ever been out of Union space, or on any Ven Star planets?”

  “No.”

  “Ever been affiliate with the Union, or Union related partners or subsidiaries?”

  “I told you I had,” Mira said, feeding into the lie.

  “I’m putting no,” he said and finished up the check-list before tearing the page out and filing it. “Please wait by the door until I’ve processed baldy there.”

  The officer called up Nova. Mira waited by the door as the officer went through the same proceedings. Nova might have had the decency not to watch as Mira stripped, Mira watched every second Nova’s.

  She was somewhere between being muscular and being malnourished. Scars and bruises covered her body, and she looked chewed up and spat out. Mira wondered what kind of life she must have lived to have that many scars, until Mira remembered that she had just as many. I think if you shaved my head, me and her would look awfully alike if you ignored the skin color.

  “Name?”

  “Nova Ross.”

  “Age?”

  “Forty-seven in standard years.”

  “Ever had any children?”

  “Came close once, but it didn’t make it to term.”

  “Ever been convicted by the Union?”

  “Once. For high treason.”

  The officer took a deep breath. “Ever been out of Union space, or on any Ven Star planets?”

  “Many times.”

  “Ever been affiliate with the Union, or Union related partners or subsidiaries?”

  “I was admiral of this ship for almost ten years,” Nova said. “Back when you were still learning to count.”

  “That is all,” the officer said. “Take your bag and follow Miss Rao into the hygienic room.”

  Mira opened the door and went in first. The room was small, more like a booth than anything, and had slick waterproof surfaces that slanted down to a drain in the middle The walls were covered in high pressure nozzles, and there was a blinding light on the ceiling that made it hard for Mira to keep her eyes open.

  The door shut behind them and the water turned on. They were jetted from all sides. Harsh pressure that melted the filth off the both of them and blew Mira’s hair all over the place. High pitched whining and wailing from the pipes as water misting and splashing too hard for Mira to keep her eyes open.

  It stopped after half a minute. Mira’s hair was matted flat and she was dripping. Her ears were ringing loud enough she didn’t know the door was open until the guard had yanked her out by the arm.

  The detention block was long and narrow, with cells along the left-hand side that reach up to a second floor with a catwalk above the first floor doors. Dark and depressing, but Mira thought it was nicer than Nova’s ship.

  They were given cell C73 at the tail end of the end of the room. A cell just wide enough to lay on the floor at a diagonal without touching the corners. It had a bunk bed, a latrine, a sink, and a shelf just wide enough to set a book on.

  Once inside, the doors shut behind them. Simple metal bars with an electronic lock.

  Nova threw her bag on the top bunk and climbed up. Mira heard her lay down and roll towards the wall.

  “Ain’t putting on your clothes?” Mira asked.

  “Sleep first,” she said. “I’m not in a rush to be wearing the Union triangle again.”

  Mira rolled her eyes and opened her pack. She set her radio under her mattress and took out the uniform. It was a soft pink, with an inverted Union triangle on the shoulder. She looked at each piece before putting them on. A sleeveless shirt with 655987 written across the left side.

  She slipped it on, the shirt loose and hanging off the shoulders. It didn’t fit tight at all, and if she leaned forward too far she’d flash the room. The pants were loose as well, but had a string to tighten it to her waist. No shoes, belts, or anything hard. Two pieces of clothing and that was it.

  Other than the uniform, she had a soft toothbrush, a small tube of toothpaste, a bar of soap, sanitary pads, and a hair-tie. She set all them on the shelf and laid down in bed.

  The Morana was close to night-cycle, but she wasn’t tired. She tried to count how many hours it’d been since her last sleep, but couldn’t keep track. Can’t be more than ten, she guessed, laying her head down and trying to keep her eyes closed, but couldn’t. She wondered where they’d taken Kendal. If he was on the same ship as her or not. If he was still alive or not.

  “I might be able to find that out,” she muttered, rolling over and taking the radio from under her mattress.

  She rolled over and took the radio out from under her mattress. The default station was light music. Probably what they played for the Union officers to work to. She set it next to her pillow and kept it hidden from any guards that might pass by.

  Soft jazz ain’t what I’m lookin’ for, she thought as she cracked open the casing and pulled off the bit of metal keeping the radio from accessing all the frequencies.

  She shuffled through the stations, getting snippets from Union communications: “Bachman still under maintenance after—you didn’t have proper clearance to board, this will be written up on your report—all engine readings normal—cargo bay is unusually packed for this time of—Tearly didn’t seem happy despite my more than generous work.”

  “Wait,” Nova said, popping her head down from the top bunk. “Go back to the last one.”

  “Go fuck yourself,” Mira said.

  Nova slithered down and sat on the bed beside her, listening in. “Go back to the last one.”

  “Fine.”

  Mira dialed back the frequency: “most of the ships we got were taken by salvage, but this one was small enough to fit here. Transport class, older design.”

  Mira smiled. “That’s my ship!”

  “Shut up,” Nova said.

  “That’s in docking bay 27 and were waiting on order about what we should do with it. But the real interesting part is, now you didn’t hear this from me, but the real interesting part is this machine. It’s like a strange needle with a platform right in the center. We had to load it on its side just to fit it in, and even then had to put it in our biggest cargo bay.”

  Mira titled her head. “What’s he talkin’ about?”

  “Something that belongs to me,” Nova muttered. “They have something that belongs to each of us, it seems. Your ship’s safe in docking bay 27, at least for now.”

  “Why’s they keep it?”

  “Union’s desperate for good ships,” Nova said. “If they can find a pilot they might use it for transport or something. I don’t know.”

  Nova climbed back up to her bunk, her weight sagging the box-spring down and making it rattle. “Now get some sleep!” Nova said.

  Mira sighed. That’s all that bitch wanted, wasn’t it? Listen to my radio then crawl back and hide.

  She turned down the volume and kept flipping through the frequencies, trying to listen for any signs of Kendal. As the night went on, the stations mixed together in a blur of static and voices until she finally fell asleep.

  Chapter 28

  Part of him was glad they hadn’t put him through processing, yet being in Vernan’s personal office handcuffed to the air vent wasn’t much better. At least he wasn’t thrown into one of those pink uniforms and pu
t in a cell with a violent stranger.

  The grate was too high for him to sit down. He could rest his knees on the floor, but his arms were stretched up above his head with the cuffs chafing his wrists. He spent a night like this.

  Either standing comfortably or kneeling in pain. It was hard to figure out which position let him sleep easier, constantly switching between the two all night.

  By the time he managed to drift asleep, it was day-cycle.

  The door opened, startling him into standing up straight and shaking off whatever sleep he might have found.

  Vernan hadn’t come himself. He sent Blake.

  Kendal looked at him, eyes narrow and head titled. Blake looked like a kid to him. Face smooth and shaven, not a scratch or a scar to be found. His hair cropped short and his uniform just the slightest too big in the shoulders. Had he changed, or was Kendal looking at him different?

  Time felt frozen. Both started at each other, not sure which should speak first. Didn’t Vernan tell him that it was me? Kendal thought. Or did he keep Blake oblivious and told him it was just an escort.

  “I never expected to find you here,” Blake said. A smile crept onto his face. “Turning up on the Morana months after your betrayal.”

  “You’ll find I’m just full of surprises,” Kendal said. “While it seems that you’re still fetching people for Vernan without thought or hesitation. Like a dog chasing a stick thrown by its master.”

  “At least I have something worth doing. You’re nothing but a washed up criminal waiting to be locked away in the fanciest prison the Union has.” Blake’s expression was caught between a scowl and a grin. “In all honesty I can’t imagine what the admiral even wants with you.”

  “What?” Kendal tried to walk over to him, forgetting about the chains. He was yanked right back by the wrists, making him groan as the metal dug into his already chaffed wrists.

  “Tearly wants to see you,” Blake said. “Not that I have a clue why, but who am I to question the admiral.”

  “Maybe if you questioned him you’d be doing more with your life than being a suck up.”