Desert Stars (37 page)

He reached the main corridor and
palmed the keypad to the bridge. Lars was the only one inside;
Jalil walked in and took a seat at the station next to
him.

“
Oh, hi,” said Lars.
“Feeling a little bored?”

“
Maybe,” said Jalil,
turning to the window. Outside, the swarm of refugee ships
glittered lazily around the enormous bulk of the jump station. A
few moved back and forth between the long docking arm and the rest
of the swarm, but most of them remained stationary, suspended in
the weightlessness of space.

“
Where’s Mark?”

“
Dad? Oh, he took the
shuttle to the administration office to try and get us clearance.
Thought it would be better to try things face-to-face than by
transmission.” He shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe it’ll
work.”

He doesn’t seem like
himself,
Jalil mused. Ever since the
invasion, Lars had been a lot more pensive. Even now, he stared out
the window at the stars, an uncharacteristically serious expression
on his face. Not that Jalil blamed him.

“
At least the danger is
behind us.”

“
I wouldn’t speak so
quickly,” said Lars. “The way this war is going, I wouldn’t be
surprised if Gaia Nova is the next system to fall.”

Jalil frowned. “What do you
mean?”

“
Think about it. Where’s
the next Imperial garrison between here and Gaia Nova? All the
major bases are on the Tajjur side of the Empire, to guard their
access to the New Pleiades. The Hameji took Karduna because it
gives them a straight shot at the Imperial capital.”

Jalil’s stomach fell as he remembered
the mass accelerators, slagging Kardunash IV into oblivion. He
thought of Mira, looking up at the sky as a ball of fire sped
towards her, bringing death and destruction in its wake. The
thought made his whole body shake.

“
Do you truly believe Gaia
Nova will fall?” he asked, his voice barely a whisper.

“
Yes,” said Lars. “Unless
the Imperials launch a decisive counterattack in the next couple of
days, that’s how it looks.”

Save me.

Lars put a hand on his shoulder and
gave him a halfhearted grin. “Hey, don’t take it so hard. No one
really knows what’s going to happen next. Besides, this might cheer
you up: I found Will Farland.”

“
You did? How?”

“
On the localnet. He
escaped with a group of refugees seeking passage into the Empire
like us. I’m going to meet with him after my sleep cycle—care to
join me?”

“
Sure,” said Jalil, his
heart pounding. What with the way events were cascading all around
him, he didn’t know whether to be ecstatic, mournful, or
frantic.

At that moment, a chime announced an
incoming transmission. Lars hit the button and leaned forward to
speak into the microphone at his station.

“
Hello?”

“
Lars, son,” came Mark’s
voice over the intercom. “I’ve got some good news.”

“
Oh, yeah? What’s
that?”

“
I found your
mother.”

Lars perked up at once.

“
Really? Where is
she?”

“
She’s with me on
the
shuttle.
We’re about ten minutes away, if you’ll give us clearance to
dock.”

“
Of course,” said Lars.
“How did you find her? What happened? How did she
escape?”

Mark’s chuckle mingled
with the static of the transmission. “She came out on the
Genevieve,
along with a
few family friends. It’s a long story—she’ll tell you herself once
we’ve made it on board.”

“
Right, right—starting the
autodocking sequence now.”

He hit a few keys on the instrument
panel before sprinting from his seat at a dead run toward the door.
“‘Chelle!” he shouted. “Mom’s alive!”

* * * * *

A few minutes later, Jalil gathered
with the others in the corridor below the airlock. The hatch
opened, and everyone started talking at once.

“
Mom!”

“‘
Chelle!
Lars!”

Michelle lunged forward and threw her
arms around her mother, Ellen Stewart, the moment she stepped from
the ladder. Lars soon followed, with Nash standing to the side with
arms folded. Mark climbed down last, smiling broadly as he wrapped
his arms around them all.

Not sure what to do, Jalil stood off
with Nash and watched the happy reunion. Mother, father, daughter,
and son laughed and cried, holding each other tight as if they
would never let go. A lump rose in Jalil’s throat at the
sight.

“
Mom, we’ve been worried
sick about you! Ever since the invasion—”

“
How did you escape? Did
they hurt you?”

“
Have they attacked the
Colony? What’s going on back home?”

“
Hold on, guys,” Mark
said, pushing the others back. “Give your mother some
space.”

“
Thanks, honey,” Ellen
said.

As the others stepped back, Jalil got
a better view of her. She was a slim, middle-aged woman, with blond
hair and pearly-white skin. Though she smiled, she had a sad look
on her face, as if still in shock from the things she’d been
through.

“
I left before the Hameji
arrived at the Colony,” she said. “They had already gotten to
Kardunash III, though. I don’t know what they did there, but I’m
sure…” Her voice faded out.

Mark stepped forward and put his arm
around her. “Fortunately, our home was spared from the worst of it.
Last I heard, the Hameji have taken a few hostages, but have agreed
not to leave a garrison in exchange for tribute.”

“
More importantly,” said
Ellen, “they’re allowing civilians to return.”

Lars nodded. “Then we have to go
back.”

“
What?” said Michelle,
spinning around to face him. “Go back? Are you crazy?”

“
It’s true,” said Mark,
his expression gravely serious. “Your mother and I have talked
about this, and we’ve decided that’s what we need to
do.”

“
But—but the Hameji,” said
Michelle. “How can we live under them? Remember what they did to
K-4!”

“
Which is exactly why we
need to go,” said Lars. “Can’t you see? Our fathers established the
Colony as a bastion of democracy in a universe of kings and
emperors. As long as I’m still alive, I’m not going to let that
dream die.”

Watching Lars, Jalil realized that
something within the young man had changed. It was as evident as
the light in his eyes, and the newfound confidence that quickened
his step. A month ago, he had still been just a boy; now, he talked
and acted as if he’d matured beyond his years.

Michelle looked from her father to her
brother and back again, biting her lip as if to hold back a flood
of emotions.

Mark put a hand on her
shoulder. “I’m sorry, ‘Chelle,” he said. Then, turning to Nash, “I
don’t expect you to come with us, and I don’t want to force you two
apart. We’ll be leaving in three days on the
Genevieve;
if you’d like to come
with us, you’re more than welcome, but if not—”

“
How could you do this?”
Michelle screamed, pushing him off. “And just after we’re all
together again, too!”

Neither Mark nor Lars nor anyone else
said anything. Jalil shifted uncomfortably as Michelle screamed
again and stormed off towards the mess hall. Nash turned as if to
follow her, then stopped and looked sheepishly back at
Mark.

“
I’m sorry,” he said.
“‘Chelle—”

“
Let her go,” said Mark.
“She needs some time alone to process all this. Besides, I see you
have something on your finger there.”

Nash glanced at his hand and blushed,
but when he looked back up again, an insuppressible grin spread
across his face.

“
Oh my God,” said Ellen,
her eyes widening. “Is that a ring?”

“
Yes,” said Nash.
“Michelle and I… we’re engaged to be married.”

Ellen shrieked with delight and ran up
to embrace her future son-in-law. Mark stayed back, arms folded
across his chest, but a broad smile slowly spread from ear to
ear.

“
When did this happen? How
did you propose? When are you getting married?” Ellen asked, one
question blurring into the next. As she rattled on, Lars stepped
forward and put a hand on Nash’s shoulder.

“
Congratulations,” he said
simply. Their eyes met, and they both nodded.

As Jalil stood by and watched them
talk, his mind began to wander. All this talk of marriage made him
think of Mira, for some reason. He imagined what it would have
happened had he returned to the camp to marry her, rather than
coming out to Karduna. Was that the better choice? Was he foolish
to have left the only home he had known? But if he hadn’t come out
to Karduna, he never would have found out that he was a citizen of
the Colony. And what about Will Farland? Here was a chance to
finally meet someone in his family—his real family. None of those
opportunities would have come to him if he’d gone back to the Najmi
camp with Mira.

Besides, if he’d stayed on Gaia Nova,
he would be oblivious to the Hameji and the danger they posed. To
think of them bringing their mass accelerators into position above
the rust-red desert, pummeling the surface into
oblivion—

Save me.

“
So what’s the plan?”
asked Lars. “The
Genevieve
is leaving in three standard days; I take it
we’re leaving with it?”

“
That’s right,” said Mark.
He turned to Jalil. “You’re welcome to come with us, you
know.”

Jalil opened his mouth, but didn’t
know what to say. He looked from Mark to Nash and back again,
trying to come up with a response.

Nash beat him to it. “What
about the
Bridgette?
” he asked. “Why don’t you just take it?”

“
Good question,” said
Mark. He put a fatherly hand on Nash’s shoulder. “You’ve been a
loyal, hardworking crewman, but I know it’s not fair to expect you
to come with us. You’re a citizen of the Empire; the Colony isn’t
your home, and I don’t expect you to feel the same sense of
patriotism that we do.”

“
Yes,” said Nash, “but
‘Chelle, she—”

“
She doesn’t deserve to
have us decide the course of her life. Ever since she was a little
girl, she wanted to travel the stars. The
Bridgette
is more of a home to her
than the Colony ever will be. It saddens all of us to say goodbye,
but I know she’ll never be happy if we make her come with
us.”

“
But what about the
wedding?”

Mark sighed. “It doesn’t look like
we’ll be able to be there for that. The best we can do is wish you
both luck.”

Nash nodded, his face
unreadable.

“
As for the
Bridgette
,” Mark
continued, “since you’ll both need her more than we will, it’s only
fitting that we give you the ship as our wedding
present.”

Nash’s jaw dropped, and
his eyes widened. “Leave us with the
Bridgette?
Are you sure?”

“
I am,” said Mark,
smiling. “You’ll make a fine captain, Nash. I’m sure you and
Michelle will be very happy together.”

“
Th-thank you, sir!” Nash
exclaimed. He took Mark’s hand and shook it with both of his own.
“How can I ever repay you?”

“
Take care of my daughter.
And later, after this war blows over, come back and find us. No
matter how bleak things look now, I’m sure this goodbye won’t be
forever.”

God-willing,
Jalil thought to himself. He wondered whether he
could say the same thing of his goodbye to Mira.

* * * * *

Mira watched as Nazar’s caravaneer
drove away across the desert, kicking up a plume of dust visible
for miles. The early morning landscape was cool and almost
perfectly tranquil; with the sun still low on the horizon, long
shadows still covered the sleeping desert. The peacefulness calmed
her somewhat, but it didn’t reflect the feelings in her
heart.

“
There he goes,” muttered
Surayya, her voice as serious as if someone in the family had died.
She turned to Mira and gave her a mournful stare.

“
At least we have a couple
of weeks before the next merchant convoy comes through,” said
Amina, trying to be helpful. “Who knows? Maybe in that time you can
convince Father not to throw you out.”

I doubt it,
Mira thought to herself.
Mother would never allow it.
Once
Shira
had reason to hold a grudge,
she would die before letting it go—even if those it hurt were her
own flesh and blood.

Well, so be it. Mira had known the
risks, she’d made her choice, and now things were set in motion
that no one could turn back. The dissipating dust plume was
evidence enough of that.