Angry Ghosts (26 page)

Thompson looks over from his screen at Beckert, and the young Geek is oblivious, concentrating on his tasks. Thompson s
miles fondly at him, stirred by Maiella’s endorsement and comforted at the thought of some part of her traveling with them. When he looks back at his screen, Maiella’s face is wracked with sadness.

“I don’t know how to say good-bye!” she sobs at last. Fearfully, she looks over her
shoulder, concerned someone may have heard the outburst. Pulling herself together, she places one hand in the other. “And I don’t know how to let go...”

Her eyes glance over her shoulder again, making sure no one is around. When she tu
rns back, her face is a mask of detached indifference.

“The cadre would just as soon I walk out of an air lock. I even considered it, but now? I don’t care about that anymore. And yes, the
colonists are good to me...” She breaks off mid-sentence, struggling for the words. “But because of what we did, I’ll never be one of them.”

Agitated, and frustrated at how difficult it is to express what she is thinking and feeling, she sudd
enly looks up, going for broke.

“You both
know
me. I don’t know why that means so much to me, but it does. And I don’t know how to let that go!”

Anger flares in her.

“Forget what the cadre thinks! Do your job, get all the data, blast those blueskins to oblivion, just bring yourselves
back
. Do you understand me?
All
of you.” The wave recedes, washing her face of all emotion, leaving her hauntingly desolate. “You’re all I have...”

Sobering suddenly, she squares her shoulders with the screen. “Bring yourselves home. I’ll be waiting to welcome you.” Her face brightens as she imagines that happy homecoming. Taking a step back, she salutes with a big grin. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do. I’ll see you soon.”

The video ends, and the two operators soak in the emotional aftermath. Argo lets out a long sigh while Thompson closes and deletes the file.

“Team Forestall,”
the radio blurts,
“bay equalized, you are cleared for departure.”

“Understood, Cadre One,” Beckert
replies.

The b
road outer bay doors separate, and the cabin swaying resumes as Beckert walks the craft out onto the crater floor. Each step carries them farther from the gravitational enhancement.

“Prepare f
or ascent,” the Geek announces.

Hunkering down on its struts, the craft leaps explosively upward. Beckert triggers a key, and the undercarriage falls away as a complete assembly. Small plates slide closed over the attachment points, and Beckert ignites the thrusting engines. The craft soars high above the crater rim, gravity’s effect dissipating dramatically.

Off to starboard, the
Europa
glints large and impressive; and it triggers a bewildering range of thoughts, strangely pertaining to duty and loyalty.

“Major,” Beckert shouts above the thruster’s roaring crackle, “incoming message from Captain
Keller!”

“Put it through,” Thompson orders, and on all three of their displays, Keller’s lined face appears. Behind him
is a crowd of colonists, packed together in the cramped shuttle, enjoying their bottled drinks and cheering one another with noisy clinks.

“Thompson, Argo, and Beckert...it’s hard to say everything we’re thinking right now.
We hate to see you go. But we're glad you found us. If you hadn’t, we’d still be wandering the cosmos, hope dying a little more until...well. And we know you still carry guilt for the deaths of our people. We've said it before, and we want to say it again to make sure you know that it was an accident, and
we forgive you
.”

Keller pauses thoughtfully.

“I realize you Cadre lads aren’t much for parties, but what the hell. Gregor has something he wanted to say.”

Keller steps aside and Sharon, Javier, Gregor, and the counselor unfurl a
hastily painted banner, which reads:

Fuck those lizards up!

From off-screen, Keller’s voice shouts, “
Jesus
, Gregor!
No
, the
other
thing!” He walks into view and collects the contraband, trying not to laugh.

Gregor grins and pulls out another furled banner. The others help
stretch out the new one, painted in fine calligraphy:

We’ll tell our children about you
.

Keller smiles and takes a long swig from his glass. “Hey, anybody got somethin’ to say to these guys?”

All eyes turn toward the screen; and cheers erupt in thunderous outpourings of elation and gratitude, arms raised in the air, swishing drinks, and clapping. Keller lets the shouting go on for a while and then steps in front of the screen. He is about to speak when several random hoots start the cheering all over. Keller gets a super-sized grin, grabbing his temples and laughing along until, at last, it is quiet enough for him to be heard.

“This is all for you and in your honors.” Keller’s smile straightens, and he leans forward wi
th sincerity. “Everything you've done, and especially what you're doing for us now, gives us hope... As captain of this crew, I can’t tell you how much of a gift that is. Hell, you
Ya-hoos
keep your heads out there, we may even see you again.
Europa
, out.”

Thompson nods heavily. Pushing all other thoughts aside, his focus turns to the mission.

“Geek.”

“Sir?”

“Execute.”

Beckert’s goggles flash with complex code, and the ship surges into the void with a flash.

**THE END**

Continued in
Black Hawks from a Blue Sun

A child of the Space Age, F Allen Farnham always held a passionate interest in the future of high technology. Impatient to live in that future world, he eagerly consumed any scientific article or Science Fiction novel that promised a glimpse. Herbert, Heinlein, and Huxley are three of his greatest influences.

When not working he loves to travel, enjoying the variety of people as much as the landscapes. He now resides in Milford, NH with his dog, Hamlet.

Farnham'sfirst novel
,
Angry Ghosts
,
was acquired by Eirelander Publishing in 2009 and re-released on e-boo
k
in 2013. The seque
l
, Black Hawks From A Blue Sun
,
was released in 2010. His latest book,
The Exhausted Dead,
was released in 2012.

www.CadreOnePublishing.com