Wandering Star

by Steven Anderson

“Then you’re going to have to trust me.”

  She put her hands on my head and ran her fingers through my hair. “I do. I’m just scared, like I always am, thinking about what might happen.”

  Two weeks passed and there was still no word from Cuza. I concentrated on doing repairs and keeping Alice as comfortable as possible.

  One afternoon another two weeks later I was up on the Mission’s flat roof doing preventative maintenance on the communications array, checking and tightening connections and fine tuning alignments. The temperature had briefly hit fifteen or sixteen, a rare winter’s day when the sky was clear and the sun felt warm on my skin. Father Ryczek joined me as I was finishing and we stood together looking out at the Warrens over the chest-high stucco wall that surrounded the roof.

  “It’s all changing so quickly out there, Ted. I’m from here, I grew up less than a mile from where we’re standing. I thought I knew these people, I thought I was doing everything I could to help them. I saved a few of the children, protected some of the women that might have otherwise been killed or sold. When I redeemed men like Cuza I could feel God smiling on me. I never thought to try to change the way the clans related to each other and to the Central Government.”

  “You sound jealous.”

  “Maybe I am a little. The Confederation is giving these people something they never had before; hope that their lives and the lives of their children will be better. It makes me want to be part of it. But it’s still so fragile.” He looked at me. “Is Hannah really the kind of person that can drive this all the way to completion?”

  I thought a moment before answering. “I wrote a simulation program that models geologic processes. When I wrote it, it was just words and symbols on the screen and that’s all it would ever be unless I put it in the right operating environment. Then it does magic. Hannah is beyond smart. She’s also insightful, fierce and determined. She knows history and how freedom has been won and lost before.” I nodded. “Hannah is doing magic.”

  “I would have talked about seeds needing the right soil to grow but I get your point. You know I was asked by the church to meet with the leadership council of the Confederation, to head them off from challenging the status quo with the Central Government. Apparently the CG doesn’t think much of my efforts because Cuza tells me they’ve sent operatives into the Warrens to kill her. It’s put me in a position where I have to pick sides in a political fight, something I didn’t want to do.”

  “What will you do?”

  “Do you mean am I going to side with the men that oppress these people? No. I’m going to do what I’ve always done. I’ll try to save as many as I can, starting with Hannah.”

  We stood silently for a few minutes watching the scattered plumes of smoke rising lazily into the air. I hardly noticed the smell anymore.

  “Ted, I got a message from one of our churches in Eindhoven this morning. They have some donations for us, clothes mostly and some new toys for the children. Can you take the truck up to the north gate and pick them up at 1500? They should be in the same place as last time.”

  “Sure.”

  I turned to leave and Father Ryczek said to me, “Ted, you need to watch out for Cuza.”

  “Oh?”

  “He’s never met her that I know of, but I think he’s in love with Hannah now too.” He smiled at me.

  “Yeah, I can understand how that might happen.”

  I went back to our apartment and Alice was there.

  “Not teaching this afternoon? Are you feeling OK?”

  “I’m fine. Little soul is riding comfortably today. With the weather so nice Leticia decided to let the kids spend the afternoon on the playground. She sent me home.”

  “I’m headed to the north gate to pick up another load of donations. Want to ride along?”

  “OK, I’d like that.”

  Merrimac looked up from where he had been sleeping on the bed.

  “What about Mac?” I asked.

  Alice sighed, looking at the hopeful expression on both our faces. “Fine. But he stays in the back with the boxes.”

  Father Ryczek was right about the changes in the Warrens. There were more people on the streets as we drove and more waved to us as we passed. It felt like a neighborhood.

  I parked at the control building and got out, walked around and opened Alice’s door. “This shouldn’t take too long, just the guards usual sorting through old clothes looking for contraband.”

  “I’m going to leave my sweatshirt in the backseat,” Alice told me.

  “Are you sure? It’s getting cold out again.”

  “I’m sure. I’m going to leave my sweatshirt in the backseat with me in it taking a nap.” She smiled, proud of herself for being clever. I laughed.

  “OK.” I helped her into the back and she made herself comfortable. I kissed her and said, “Back in a few. Mac, keep her safe.” She closed her eyes and I could hear her humming to herself.

  I walked toward the control building and there was a man leaning against the wall by the door, partially blocking it.

  “Excuse me,” I said reaching for the handle. He didn’t move. I looked at his face. He wasn’t smiling. Out of the corner of my eye I had a quick glimpse of two others coming up on me from each side. I didn’t have time to react or cry out or try to run. I felt a sharp sting on the back of my neck, a hot, burning greasy feeling like the sting from a wasp. Whatever they were using was fast. I felt myself collapsing and had one last glimpse of the Mission’s truck where I knew Alice was probably still happily humming to herself if she wasn’t already asleep. Then there was a roaring in my ears and then there was nothing.

  CHAPTER 15

  FREEDOM

  I COULD HEAR THE SOUND of children somewhere nearby. My eyes were closed but there was bright light shining on my face. I spent a few seconds trying to remember where I was and why I had been asleep. Had I dozed off? I opened my eyes, squinting at the sunlight coming through the open window that looked out onto a courtyard where children were playing. I was lying on a couch in a large room with bare wood floors. The pieces started coming back together. The Warrens, driving in the truck with Alice, being attacked. Alice in the truck. Alice.

  I tried to sit up and the room spun and grew darker for a moment. I closed my eyes and braced my hands on the cushions.

  “Please be careful. I don’t want to have to try to pick you up off the floor.”

  “Hannah.” I couldn’t open my eyes but I knew her voice so well from my memories and my dreams.

  “Sorry about the sting. There’s too many people trying to find me just now.”

  “Alice. In the backseat of the truck.”

  I heard her sigh but it felt more like a slap across my face. “Alice has been taken care of. Your dog ran off but he acted like he knew his way home.”

  I looked at her, not able to say anything. She was sitting on a comfortable looking settee opposite me, legs stretched out and a display pad on her lap. Her hair was tied back and longer than I remembered it. I couldn’t look away from her face.

  Finally she laughed. “Ted, what are you doing here?”

  “I needed to make sure you were all right. I thought you might need to be rescued.”

  “You knew I was safe months ago and still you had Cuza looking for me until I had to either hire him or kill him. What are you really doing here, Ted?”

  My head was starting to clear now. I stood and looked at her across the room. She looked back at me, defiance in her eyes as I walked slowly toward her. She was wearing a holster under her left arm that I hadn’t noticed before.

  “I told myself that I came here to ask you the same question. Then I was going to ask you to explain what happened on Cleavus after I went to survey the caves. I was going to demand that you tell me what happened to Angela.” Her eyes flicked away for a moment and then came back to mine.
I was now directly in front of her and I knelt down on the floor. “And I was going to ask you why you couldn’t save Jake and why you did save Velena Copeland. I told myself that I needed you to answer those questions, but that was a lie.”

  She licked her lips and put her hand on my shoulder. I watched her fingers as they traced a line down my arm. “What is the truth, Ted?”

  I put my hand to her cheek and she closed her eyes and tipped her head slightly, inviting me to caress her ear and down the side of her neck. “The truth is that you and I have unfinished business.”

  She opened her eyes and smiled gently. “Yes, I think we do.” She took my hand and kissed the palm. “Before we get to that discussion would you join me for dinner in a few minutes? There are some people I’d like you to meet. After all, that’s why Father Ryczek sent you.”

  “Sent me?”

  “Yes. Sit with me a moment.” I moved up next to her and she shifted to face toward me. “He sent you because I told him I wouldn’t meet with him until I met with you. And then of course you had to bring Alice along with you. I guess that shouldn’t have surprised me.” I saw the anger in her eyes and I remembered how quickly her moods could change. “What is she, seven months along now?”

  “Almost.”

  “So it took you about six weeks after I left before you knocked her up?”

  “Do you mean six weeks after you left us there to die?”

  “They told me you were dead!” She took a deep breath and wiped at her eyes. “They said that they had killed you when you came back into town and I believed them. I attacked the man that told me, I hit him in the face so hard that I broke his nose. There was blood everywhere. They had to carry me on to the shuttle and I was fighting the whole time, kicking and yelling at them. I remember Charlotte holding me down once we were on board Wandering Star, telling me how brave I was to have tried to fight back and that it was going to be OK. I couldn’t tell her the truth, I couldn’t tell her what I had done to all of you.”

  “The Central Government said that you had been killed too.”

  “That was the cover story. You should have believed it.”

  “Or that maybe you had been taken by one of the clans and sold.”

  “Do you understand that if that had been true that you would never have found me? That it would have been merciful for you to never have found me?”

  “I had to try.”

  “With Alice by your side.” She crossed her arms, the fingers of her right hand tapping on the gun in her holster. “How many nights was it before she invited herself into your bed? Or was it the first night? Did she say that she was scared and didn’t want to be alone? I imagine she was in your bed every night after that, wearing you down until she got what she wanted and made you believe it was your idea all along.”

  When you have no defense the only option is to attack. “What about you? Whose destiny are you sharing now?”

  She looked away from me and her voice dropped. “My destiny is my own. I sleep by myself, when I can sleep.”

  “I’m sorry, Hannah. Coming here to fight with you was the last thing I wanted to do.”

  She tipped her head and looked at me. “Really? What was the first?”

  “I had lost you and by a miracle found you again, not dead, not broken. All I want to do is take you in my arms and hold you close. But you know that.”

  She shook her head and sighed. “Do you realize that every moment of our relationship has needed to be secret? From the first time I took your hand and led you to my hotel room until right now we haven’t been able tell anyone how we feel about each other, let alone show it? When they brought you in here I waited until everyone left and then I sneaked over and kissed you before you could wake up.” She wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. “I’m pathetic.”

  “Not pathetic. Human.”

  “Yeah, well, I can’t afford to be either one.”

  There was a tap at the door and a woman entered. “Ysabeau? Apologies for interrupting. Dinner is ready.”

  “Thank you, we’ll be right in.”

  Hannah stood, straightened her blouse and pushed her hair back away from her face. The transformation was remarkable. She was no longer the young woman struggling with lost love. She became the serious, sharp and decisive leader capable of remaking a world. She looked at me, her eyes clear and penetrating.

  “Ted, I don’t expect you to be able to speak for the church. Your role here is to take our concerns and proposals and pass them along to Father Ryczek, nothing more. We don’t dare put anything in writing or send it electronically, so you need to remember everything word for word if you can. I’ll set a time and date for a follow-up meeting when we’re done. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “And please remember to call me Ysabeau Romee. It’s a small thing, but it helps keep me alive.”

  We walked past several guards on our way up the stairs to dinner, including one I recognized.

  “Ysabeau paying you enough, Cuza?” I asked as we walked past. He smiled but didn’t answer.

  “That smile still bothers me,” I commented to Hannah.

  “Really? I find it charming.”

  A round table had been set up with eight chairs in the upper room.

  “Mr. Holloman, would you please sit here?” She indicated a seat one away from hers. “It will give you an opportunity to talk to Hetman Bsilnik of the principal clan Bovita.”

  He nodded to me as we sat but did not offer to shake my hand. “Are you clan or citizen?” he asked.

  “Mr. Holloman is offworlder, like me,” Hannah answered for me. “He will be our courier to Father Ryczek if his memory proves adequate.” She leaned over and whispered loudly to the Hetman, “Cuza says he has trouble remembering people who should be important to him.”

  He looked at me. “Is that true?”

  “A result of having been abandoned by all who I loved when I was younger.”

  The Hetman nodded sympathetically. “Yes, I had to fend for myself when I was little too. A hard life.”

  I smiled at Hannah and she soundlessly mouthed back to me, “I’ve missed you.”

  The conversation during dinner was surprisingly intelligent. Having met the old Hetman on Cleavus I was expecting a group of ignorant, violent men interested in personal power. I found them to be better versed in the intricacies of freedom movements and rebellions throughout the history of the Union than I was. My knowledge was primarily of Earth history. It made me feel suddenly parochial.

  Hannah called the meeting to order as the last of the dishes were being cleared. She was still reviewing action items when there was a loud ping from one of the jammers that had been placed around the room. Everyone fell silent. I looked around the room and saw a brief shimmer in the shadows underneath a sideboard along the wall. I suppose I should have expected that Merrimac would be following me. I continued to stare at where he was concealed, thinking, ‘Please, Mac, please don’t mess with my emotions right now. They are brittle enough as it is.’

  When the ping didn’t repeat after a few minutes Hannah said, “Automated scan most likely. Where were we?”

  “Amnesty.”

  “Right. Most of the clans that are still unaffiliated fought against the Confederation with casualties on both sides. It has been proposed to grant a blanket amnesty to these clans to ease their transition.”

  Debate continued for nearly an hour before deciding that amnesty would be granted to all except those who had committed ‘war crimes’. Two members of the committee were assigned to draft a definition of what actions would fit that category.

  The next topic was the proposal to work with Father Ryczek and the Warrens Mission as intermediary to the Central Government. Hannah allowed the debate to swirl until people started repeating themselves.

  “Let me see if I hav
e captured your concerns accurately.”

  Hannah scrolled through the list. Some members of the council were worried that an armed clash with the CG was inevitable and any contact could compromise their position or make the Confederation appear weak. Others worried about their own safety and wanted assurances that the church was not covertly supporting the Government. There were several other items detailing what concessions the Confederation wanted from the CG including self-rule, freedom for residents to travel, study and work outside the Warrens and for businesses to be able to sell their goods to citizens directly instead of through CG controlled monopolies.

  When they were done I repeated each message back three or four times to make sure that I wasn’t distorting their meaning. Hannah closed the meeting and the members of the council left individually so that no suspicion would be raised on the street.

  Hetman Bsilnik was one of the last to leave and he asked me, “What is your opinion of Father Ryczek? Will he support us?”

  “At the service last Sunday the scripture he preached on was from Romans, if I remember correctly.”

  Hetman Bsilnik put his hand on my shoulder. “It’s OK if you don’t.” I saw Hannah put her hand over her mouth and turn away to hide her laughter.

  “The scripture said, ‘The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light’. ”

  “I like those words.”

  “So do I.”

  The Hetman left and it was just Hannah and me and, somewhere hiding in a corner, a dog that was not a dog.

  “I should leave too,” I told her.

  “You should stay.”

  “Why?”

  “It’s dark now and the Mission is too far. Did you notice the empty chair at the table? That was Buna’s, the old Hetman’s second wife and my friend. She was killed last week by a CG assassin while trying to make it to a safe house. They shot her in the back while she was walking down the street.”