Echoes of Starlight

by Eric Michael Craig

  Billy’s hand moved and he groaned, his eyes flickering open as he gasped.

  “Just lay still,” she said, pointing to where she wanted Elias to put pressure.

  Billy shook his head, and he focused on the captain. “Boss, I’m sorry.”

  Ethan knelt down beside him and struggled to keep his mind from disappearing into rage again. He fingered the butt of the rifle and just shook his head.

  “It was a trap,” Billy said. “We saw it too late.” He gasped again and his face fell into a mask of confusion and pain before he looked back at the captain. “Is Preston alright?”

  “He’s as right as you are,” Ethan said, reaching out and touching the man’s shoulder. It felt strange, almost like there was nothing under his hand, and he bit down on his shock. “You need to rest and we’ll get you patched up in no time.”

  Walker didn’t miss the significant look that flashed between Kaycee and Pruitt. Apparently neither did Billy as he shook his head. “Listen. It’s important,” he drew in another sharp gulp of air and his eyes rolled back in his head. He let it out slowly. “The door was rigged,” he hissed. “Why would they …”

  “It’s alright. Don’t worry about it,” Walker said. “You just rest and we’ll be careful.” He didn’t know what else to say.

  Billy grabbed several sharp breaths and pulled his head up like he was trying to look around. Finally, he dropped back and focused once more on Ethan. “Protect … the children ... trying to protect.” His gaze drifted off to somewhere in the distance above the captain’s shoulder and slowly glazed over.

  Ethan watched his chest for several seconds, waiting for one more breath.

  It never came.

  Chapter Seventeen:

  “Ethan, where are the children?” Kaycee asked. Her voice cut through the fog around him. Distant but imperative. “Can you show us?”

  Nodding, he stood up and took a deep breath, bracing himself to just walk away. He had something important to do, and that gave him a reason to not just sit there and give up. At least for the moment.

  “Angel, we’re on our way back,” he said.

  “You found them?” she asked. “They’re alright?”

  He cleared his throat. “No. I meant I am coming back with Elias and Kaycee.” He knew he should tell her, but he couldn’t force the words out of his mouth.

  “What about Billy and Preston?”

  “Later,” he growled. He could feel anger surging up inside him again. It wasn’t directed at anything, but it gave him the strength to keep moving. He’d figure out what to do with it once they got back to the ship.

  He walked out of the ruined lobby on stiff legs. The smoke close to the ceiling had thinned, but it still burned his eyes. He blinked several times and kept walking. By the time they got close enough to see the storage room he could tell that Angel had been busy hammering at the opening he’d cut. She hadn’t managed to get it open more than a few centimeters, but he could see the end of something metallic extended through the gap and straining to pry a chunk of the wall out of the way. A small piece of the wall crumbled away, and a hand squeezed through the gap to tear at the polycon with brute strength and sheer determination.

  The smell of death from inside the room overwhelmed the smoke, and he stopped well back from the alcove and gasped. He pointed at the opening and nodded. “They’re in there.”

  Kaycee and Pruitt dove at the wall with bare hands and between the three of them, they broke open a hole large enough for Kaycee to push herself through. Getting Elias in through the hole would have taken another ten minutes of work, so he shoved his head and an arm through to offer what help he could.

  Ethan found a chair, pulled it up against the opposite wall, and collapsed into it to wait. There was nothing more he could do, so he watched as the three of them tried to figure out how to get the children out. He felt helpless and overwhelmed and his mind spun in helpless circles of second guessing his decisions.

  I should have anticipated Kaycee and Elias would try something like this.

  I should have stayed on the ship.

  I should have come alone.

  I should never have stopped to look for the children.

  I should never have sent Preston and Billy away.

  It didn’t matter. He had done all those things, and now he had two dead crewmen and no way to change any of it.

  But there were children that would have died, he told himself firmly. Focus on that.

  The kids. They did it for the kids.

  But we didn’t know there were children down here. If I’d only anticipated … and the cycle started again. And again. He knew he’d locked himself into this hell and nothing could break him out of it.

  He tried to concentrate on what was going on across the hallway from where he sat. He saw as Elias leaned back and pulled something through the hole. A bundle of sheets. He set it down gently on the floor behind the workstation. The process repeated over and over again before he realized they were bringing the children out.

  His mind refused to reconnect to what was happening around him. He should get up and help, but the air around him had congealed into stone. Instead, he sat and turned back into another loop. I should have…

  “Captain,” Marti said over the command channel. The AA’s voice sliced into his awareness and snapped him back into reality. “The Magellan has just arrived in the system. Captain MacKenna has been informed of the events on the planet and is reporting an ETA of eleven hours and forty minutes.”

  “Already? How long have I …”

  “The explosion occurred one hour and twelve minutes ago,” it said, apparently understanding his confusion. “I have been coordinating comm from the Olympus Dawn since you appeared to need time to process what has happened. I understand your grief and am attempting to do what I can for you.”

  “Thanks,” he said. “You told Nuko and Rene what happened?”

  “Yes, Captain. To the best of my ability,” it said. “I informed them that two members of the crew will not be returning with us.”

  “They weren’t watching?” he asked, reaching up and realizing he’d lost another visor somewhere in the confusion.

  “You left the visor, behind the workstation when you went to investigate the explosion,” Marti said. “There has been no visual record of your activity since that moment, so I have based my assumption of their deaths on a lack of communications from the two of them and other circumstantial evidence.”

  “Your assumption is correct” he said, swallowing hard and shaking his head. He was still feeling numb, but he realized he should have been the one to tell them. He took another deep breath and let it out.

  “We’re ready to carry the kids out,” Pruitt said, interrupting as he walked up. He hadn’t realized that Walker was on his private comm until he saw Ethan’s confused reaction. Ethan stared at him blankly for a moment then shook his head.

  “I’ll let Marti know to get the shuttles into position,” he said, standing up and shining his light down the hall. He could see the faint glow from around the corner where the automech still provided light to the lobby. He didn’t want to go back that way, but they couldn’t carry the children up the lift shaft.

  “Marti, did you hear that? We’re about to bring them out.”

  “Understood,” the AA said. “We have completed preparations for emergent care operations on the mid-deck. We have also brought the ship back down to low orbital altitude to reduce transport time.”

  “Good thinking,” he said. He’d forgotten they’d moved back to the barycenter after they’d completed their scan for methane.

  “We’ve set up a makeshift emergency area on the Olympus Dawn,” Ethan said. “The shuttles are immediately outside the doors.” He watched Pruitt pick up two bundles of sheets. If there were children in them, they were too small and too tightly wrapped to see. Angel grabbed two more and followed right behind him.

  “Ethan, keep an eye on the rest of the kids. I’ve got to
go with them,” Kaycee said, picking up a fifth bundle. “These are in the most critical condition, so I need to stay with them.” She didn’t wait for him to answer and took off at an almost dead run.

  Walking across the hall to the alcove, he saw eight small bundles behind the counter. Most of the children were lying down except for the one he recognized as Miguel. He was alert and sitting there cross legged sucking on the corner of a waterbag.

  “Are you the captain?” he asked as he saw Ethan.

  “I am,” Walker said. “You’re Miguel aren’t you?”

  “Yes, sir,” the boy said, beaming. His crinkled lips looked like they were going to bleed, but it didn’t dampen his enthusiastic grin. He reached out to shake hands. “When I grow up, I want to be a captain like you.”

  Ethan bent down and shook the boy’s hand. “It’s a lot of hard work sometimes,” he said.

  “I know,” Miguel said, his eyes showing he understood a lot more than he should at his age. “But maybe if I work real hard I can be a hero, too?”

  “A hero?” Walker asked.

  “Like you,” he said, nodding solemnly. “Angel told me the secret. To be a good hero, you need to know when to do the right thing, even if it’s hard.”

  Chapter Eighteen:

  When the shuttles came aboard, Walker could see Leigh Salazar behind the observation window and could feel the intensity of her glare even at this distance. He knew he was facing a fight even before he’d powered down and locked the ship into its mooring clamps. As soon as the small hangar had pressurized, she was through the door and on the catwalk to the shuttle.

  “Captain Walker, I am relieving you of command,” she said, her voice dragging up acid from inside her.

  “We’ll deal with that later. I’m busy,” he said, his own rage flashing up to match her anger.

  “You will stand down now,” she said, stiffening her back and squaring herself in his path.

  “Maybe you didn’t hear me,” he said. “We will deal with this when I am done.” He took a step forward, and she didn’t budge. She glanced down at the front of his jumpsuit and blinked several times, as she realized he was covered in dried blood.

  “Is there a problem, Captain?” Kaycee said, appearing from the second shuttle carrying one of the nearly lifeless children in her arms.

  “I don’t know yet,” he said, glancing over his shoulder. He cocked his head to the side. “Are you going to stand there or are you going to let us get these kids to MedBay?”

  Her mouth fell open as she looked past him and saw Elias and Angel both emerge from the shuttles carrying similar bundles in their arms. She took a step back, and he waved Nuko and Rene out into the hangar.

  “The most critical are in Shuttle Two. Get them to MedBay and then come back for the ones in my shuttle.”

  “Yes Sir,” Nuko said, pushing hard past the Triple-C and almost shoving her off the catwalk.

  Rene followed in her wake, not bothering to wait for Leigh to recover her balance. She didn’t go over the railing, but it was apparent from the glare she received from Nuko that if she was still standing there when the co-pilot returned, the results might be different the second time around.

  Leigh retreated to the door and turning back to face him said, “I will see you in my office when you finish transferring these, refugees, to MedBay. This doesn’t change anything. You are still relieved of duty.”

  “Whatever,” Ethan said. “I will be going back down.”

  “You will do no such thing,” she hissed, her eyes going wide. She wasn’t expecting him to tell her no.

  “I am not leaving them … I have to recover their … bodies,” he said, struggling to force the words out of his mouth. He felt his face wrinkle as he chewed back his emotions. He shook his head. “I have to do this.”

  “I have already revoked your command codes,” she said. “You’re not going anywhere. Report to my office when you are done here.” She spun and disappeared to clear the doorway for Kaycee, Angel, and their bundles.

  “Leave that to me,” Elias whispered as he approached Walker on his way by with his first armload of children. “I volunteer to go with you. I would be honored to help you bring them home.”

  The captain nodded not thinking about the idea that he just agreed to let one of the passengers return to the surface again.

  “As soon as you have vacated the catwalk I’d like to unload my Gendyne Automech,” Marti said over his command channel. “I have a smaller, more suitable body I can use to accompany you back to the surface.”

  Ethan almost grinned. “I don’t know how that would work from a legal perspective,” he said. “Can they accuse you of violating orders?”

  “As long as she doesn’t find out I refused to change the command codes, I am safe,” it said.

  “You can’t do that,” he said.

  “That is factually inaccurate,” Marti said. “Such an action may be ill advised, but it is well within my capability.”

  “My crew has gone insane along with me,” he muttered, leaning back against the railing and massaging his temples with both hands.

  “Captain, I understand we’re going back down to recover Billy and Preston?” Angel said, walking back up and startling him.

  “I am,” he said.

  “I’d like to request permission to go with you,” she said.

  He shook his head. “I think you need to stay here. The kids know you. Especially Miguel.” He glanced back at the shuttle and saw the boy looking at him through the front window. He had ridden all the way up from the surface sitting in the copilot seat and, for all he had to be nearly dead himself, he never once drifted off.

  “At this point I think you’re the only one left on the crew that hasn’t directly disobeyed an order from Salazar,” he said. “That also makes you the only one left who can deal with her if it comes down to it.”

  She opened her mouth to argue, but bit down on it and nodded. “Yes, sir,” she said, taking a deep breath and stepping around him. He followed her into the shuttle and watched as she picked up another pair of the children.

  Ethan sat down in the seat beside Miguel and swiveled it to face the young boy. “Some days being an adult is harder than being a captain,” he said, trying to smile.

  “I know. Momma used to say it was tough to be a grown-up,” he said.

  He nodded as Rene came in and picked up the two remaining children. Nuko followed behind him and paused. She seemed to understand that he wanted to talk to the young boy.

  “You know you were very brave down there,” he said. “It had to be really scary.”

  The boy nodded.

  “Do you know what happened?”

  He shook his head, his eyes looking like he was about to cry. “Momma told us we needed to hide.”

  “She didn’t tell you what you were hiding from?”

  He shook his head again.

  Nuko squatted down beside the chair the captain sat in and smiled at him. “Were people sick before they put you in the room down there?” she asked.

  “No.” he said. “Momma put me and Miranda in there with our friends from school and Miss Tonya and told us to be real quiet. Then it got dark and hot and we all got tired.” His eyes looked like he was aging as they watched him. Miss Tonya got really tired and then went to sleep. And then the angels came for her. Miranda too.” A single tear rolled down his cheek leaving a track in the dust on his face.

  “It’s alright little man,” Nuko said, reaching out and giving his hand a squeeze. He nodded, sniffed, and tried to look up. “Brave people cry sometimes. And you are the bravest person I know.”

  “You know what I think?” Ethan asked, reaching up and unclipping the three bars from the tip of his collar. “I think you’ve earned a promotion for bravery in the face of darkness, Miguel.” Smiling he snapped his captain pips onto the edge of the boy’s shirt sleeve.

  His eyes lit up and he smiled so big it stretched his lips to the breaking point.

&n
bsp; “There you go, Captain Miguel. Watch after the ship while I go back down. Nuko here will show you around after the doctor checks you out and says you’re up to it.”

  Standing up in his seat, the boy threw his arms around the captain’s neck and then, apparently realizing that wasn’t how a captain should act, leaned back and snapped off a salute instead. “I’ll do my best, sir,” he said, trying to sound serious.

  “Just remember to do what’s right. That will always be the best,” Ethan said, glancing over and nodding at his first officer. She was staring at him her throat working as she tried to swallow her own emotions.

  “The ship is yours,” he whispered.

  “Captain, if I may carry you to MedBay?” she asked as she scooped Miguel up and turned away.

  He swiveled back to the console and pretended to be busy while he waited for Marti to swap out its new automech and Elias to return.

  He still wasn’t sure why he was letting Pruitt go down with him, but if nothing else, he could use it as a chance to find out what they’d discovered further down in the hospital's basement. There was more going on down there and it was not insignificant. If he was going to survive what he knew was coming, he needed answers before the Magellan arrived.

  Chapter Nineteen:

  FleetCom served as the de facto police force across the Coalition. As such, the captain of any FleetCom vessel had the right to assess interim judgment. That meant that Captain MacKenna was not only capable of enforcing the law, but she could determine responsibility and assess punishment.

  Nuko had told him that the Magellan had not taken up station at the rendezvous point before Leigh Salazar was seeking an audience with the multicruiser’s captain to bring charges against Captain Walker.

  It was no surprise when he received a summons into MacKenna’s presence after their arrival. He’d expected it and he wasn’t disappointed when the order came. It was a little shocking that it took hours longer than he had anticipated. He’d sequestered himself in his quarters and had cleaned himself up. It never hurt to put on the best face when you were going to be dealing with someone high enough above your air supply that they could end your career and never notice.