Dreaming of Atmosphere (13 page)

15.

Nearly ten hours later, we were closed up in the command module. The hull repairs were almost done, enough for us to get underway again. Artemis had been stabilised by a nanite injection that began to repair the damage to her body, and I’d helped Zoe rig up a portable monitoring sensor that would feed information to Zoe’s overlay. All while we worked, we never once mentioned our encounter, but I could see she was still thinking about. A subtle change had come over us, we stood closer than we needed, and we found reasons to get the other’s attention. Even though I knew little about medical technology, I somehow found myself useful.

I found myself pondering my new found attraction to her, and where it had come from. Was it simply my need for psychological healing that drove me to her? Was I being inappropriate, taking advantage of my position of authority over her? I’d always found her attractive, but I’d never found her
appealing
. Now all I could think about was her. At least I wasn’t thinking about Artemis anymore. Not that I was before. I mean, I wouldn’t even try, well she was very forward in her advances. She had a way of muddling up my thoughts when she was near. But now it was as if a fog had cleared from my mind. Now I
despised
her. I couldn’t even think of why I’d found her attractive before. She was poison, I could see that now, and Zoe was my antidote.

“What are you so happy about, Donny?” asked Max, who had caught my far away stare and the smile that was turning the corners of my mouth up.

“I’ll tell you later.”

“He fight with
shirtan
!
Warrior smiles with pride!” came Crege in the front.

“You both did, I’m proud of you all.” said Max, grinning. She switched on the PA and spoke into the mic, “Whatever happens in the next few hours, I want you all to know that I’m proud of you all. You’ve handled this crisis with grace and courage. I love you all. Even you, Cuts.”

Fel turned around and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“It is always an honour to work under one of such calibre, Maxine, you do the Dreaming proud.”

“
Kitrak
!” came the salute from Crege, thumping his chest.

“You’re the best Captain on this ship, Max!” I said, grinning ear to ear. She thumped me on the arm and smiled back.

“You guys are horrible. Especially you, Donny.”

“The Corporate shuttles are hailing us, Captain” broke in Fel, “They’re asking us to ensure atmosphere is in the port airlock and prepare for boarding. The one designated
Alpha
is moving to dock. The
Beta
is standing off, probably on overwatch in case we try anything.”

“Let them in, tell them we’ll meet them at the airlock. Let’s go, Donny.”

This time I’d brought my ablative jacket and wore my PX-2. I even stashed a couple of party poppers in my jacket inner pocket. I escorted Max along Deck 1 to the port airlock and watched through the port holes as a black shape arranged itself over the outer airlock door. A few minutes later the outer door chimed and Max activate the release. He hatch irised open and several dark forms stepped through to the outer airlock chamber. There was two large, alien guards on either side of a man wearing a long black coat and suit that shimmered in the bright light. It was as if it was made of black gloss plastic, with tiny stars sparkling in the light. Behind the guards were four menacing looking synthetics. These were larger, more powerful robots, and they carried what looked like thermal cutters in their hands. A shoulder cannon rested on each synthetic, beside their angular heads.

The guards were pale green, almost blue-skinned men with nearly featureless faces. Pink, or pale red, eyes glowed faintly from their grim faces. These were instantly recognisable as Frikk, mercenaries from the Tantis System near the far side of the Votus-Eridani Network. They were heavily armoured and carried stub-rifles, carbine energy weapons that use a pistol grip. They’re great for close range gun fights, such as starship interior fighting.

The man didn’t look pleased to be here. Screw him, we weren’t either. Max opened the inner airlock once the outer one was closed and the guards pushed their way into our ship, virtually pushing us back at the point of their guns. The man followed.

“I am Captain Maxine Cooper, skipper of this unaffiliated freighter. Would you care to explain why my ship was attacked and boarded illegally?”

“You are harbouring an enemy of the Corporations, and have destroyed Corporation property while doing so.”

“Perhaps we should take this to my conference table.”

“You will assemble your crew immediately.”

“Okay, but you’re wasting your time. I told your boss there was no one here that isn’t part of my crew, and those drones were destroyed in self-defence.”

“Comply, and we’ll be done with this unpleasant encounter as soon as possible.”

Max glared at the man, and then stalked towards the ladder well to Deck 2. She called over my shoulder to muster the crew in the mess deck. I ran back to the command module and told the others, then piped the crew via the PA.

By the time I got down to the mess compartment, nearly everyone was there. When the last of us had arrived, we were pushed into a group in the middle of the compartment. The guards and the synthetics surrounded us and generally looked menacing, while the Corporate man paced. I found myself standing next to Zoe, and I nodded to her reassuringly.

“Corporate Intelligence indicates that this ship is in the employ of one Benedict Jenner, and that an agent of this individual boarded the Dreaming of Atmosphere at the Corus Cluster. You will turn Artemis Deriss over to me, and her cargo, and the Koveli-Xue Corporation will not hold your Captain or your crew responsible for the destruction of its property twelve hours ago. Failure to comply will cause the forfeiture of the Dreaming of Atmosphere, and the incarceration of Captain Cooper. Your crew will be left at the Harakiwa Station to find their own way.”

“Under whose authority does the Koveli-Xue Corporation act? You can’t just seize our ship or myself without a legal writ! We don’t have any Artemis what’ser name on board and we never have.” Maxine was doing her best lawyer interpretation.

“But you don’t deny working for Benedict Jenner?”

“We do, we never have and never will work for criminals.”

“Our records indicate that you have received payment from Jenner in the past, your argument is invalid.”

“Unknowingly! He was acting through a factor, a man by the name of Isaac Cameron.”

The man had that faraway look people get when reading their overlays.

“That is correct. We have confirmed Isaac Cameron did indeed act in Benedict Jenner’s place. However, we have footage from Corus Cluster security that shows you and your First Mate meeting with Jenner before leaving the habitat.”

“And that’s when we found out who we had been working for previously. You can see how we reacted to that.”

There was more staring off into space from the man.

“I see. Your statements do indeed seem to check out. We have one anomaly unexplained, however. Your departure from Corus Cluster.”

We all tensed up. Max was trying her best to keep a poker face; it was only because I knew her so well that I could see the tension in her neck and back. A warm hand slid its way into mine and I looked down to see Zoe’s hand there. I looked into her eyes and saw the fear there. I squeezed her hand and smiled, I hoped it was reassuring and I tried my best to look confident. The man continued.

“There was a surveillance malfunction reported at the same time as your listed departure and an hour prior. There seems to be missing footage of events leading up to your departure, and they resume without explanation shortly after you leave.”

“So? The Corus Cluster is a poorly maintained station, everyone knows that.”

“You don’t find it convenient?”

“I find it for what it is. A shitty security system on a shitty station in a shitty star system.”

The man stared down at Max for several long minutes. Eventually he turned away and barked an order to the synthetics, who began to march off in different directions.

“My security detail will search your ship, if we find Ms Deriss you will be dealt with harshly. I cannot guarantee the safe passage of your crew to Harakiwa Station, if this is the case. Droids, be sure to scan for magnetically shielded cavities. We are wise to modern smuggling techniques, Captain Cooper, and will tolerate no misdirection on your behalf.”

The man continued his pacing as the synthetics left the compartment, leaving us with the Frikk and the Corporate man. For once, I saw the cunning of old man Hieron at work. Magnetically shielded cavities used to be hard to find, but were necessary for the safe shipment of certain contraband that needed to be protected from radiation. Chemicals, narcotics and nanites were susceptible to radiation damage, and using magnetic shielding protect them from the harmful rays from outer space. Hieron Donovan, however, never smuggled the more common types of contraband. He never used magnetic shielding, and turns out he was never caught either. After nearly an hour of searching, the synthetics returned and reported in the negative. They had not found Artemis in her coma. The man was not happy.

“What is your destination?” he demanded

“Eridani System. Looking for some quality leave time for my crew. We’ll be looking for work when we get there. Had enough of the frontier for now.”

He stared into Max’s face, but I could see she was more confidant now. A vein began to pulse on the man’s forehead.

“Koveli-Xue does not forget, remember this, Captain Cooper. If you have been deceiving us we will learn about it and you will pay for this sli...” Right at the end of the man’s rant Maxine suddenly punched him in the stomach, driving the wind from his lungs. The Frikk and the synthetics raised their weapons almost in unison. While the man wheezed for breath, he held a hand out behind him for them to hold their fire.

“You shoot up my ship, put my crew in danger, detain me and my ship and falsely accuse us of smuggling. Then to top it all off you threaten me. Get off my ship. I will be reporting this illegal action to the Protectorate fleet when we pass through the Harakiwa Jump Gate.” Max snarled through clenched teeth, her fist held at her sides.

He recovered and gave her an ugly sneer and turned about swiftly so his long coat swished in the air. His synthetics followed him out, and the two Frikk waited a moment with deadpan stares before filing out towards the command deck airlocks. Once they were off the ship, Max, Fel’negr, Crege and I rushed to the command module. We tracked the two shuttles as they left, and we didn’t hear from the Spear of Orion or her shuttles again. Within the hour, we were under way once more, and we fished Artemis out of the cavity we’d stashed her in.

16.

At last we arrived at the Harakiwa Jump Gate. Of all the advances in technology over the centuries, none have eclipsed the importance of these wonders of science. These massive structures are the arteries of galactic society. They link the thousands of star systems that make up the Galactic Protectorate, and allow trade to exist between the stars. They exist, and because of this humanity has swept the galaxy and left behind Mother Earth.

As history would tell it, one of the first Jump Gates was opened on our home planet nearly fifteen centuries ago. This taught us the terrible lesson that Jump technology and gravitational mass don’t mix. The resultant explosion forever robbed us of the birthplace of humanity. Jump Gates, from that point on, were only ever constructed at points in a system where gravity holds little sway. Lagrange points in a system were carefully checked and analysed, and even then perfect points were nearly impossible to find. The custodians of each gate timed activations to coincide with the faint waxing and waning of gravitational pull, as planets pass by and tug gently upon the great rings.

Structurally, the gates are a torus of metal and machinery easily large enough to accommodate the largest of starships. Conspiracy theories abound about private Corporate Jump Gates that lead to hidden star systems accessible only to the Corporate elite, but such stories have little basis in fact, I’m sure. Anchored to each Jump Gate is a military outpost called a Jump Station. These habitats serve as the primary base of operations for the Protectorate military fleets, and tend to cater to frontier traders and transporters. They’re an excellent source of gossip and news, and many travellers stop at the Jump Stations at either end during their journey. The stations are named for the system their Jump Gate connects to. For example, the station on this side of the Jump was called Harakiwa Station, while the Station in the Harakiwa System was called Argessi Station.

We had no plans to stop at the station on the Argessi side of the Jump Gate, but Max told us we were to stop at the Argessi Station to refuel and pick up supplies. I knew she had an ulterior motive for stopping as well, but she was being very secretive about it.

There was a moderate amount of traffic passing through the gate and we joined a queue, the bane of Crege’s existence. Today he showed an unusual amount of patience, however, and he managed to remain silent the entire time we waited. Within a few hours we were entering the Jump Gate, and this did wonders for our spirits.

Artemis had since woken up. We filled her in on what transpired and she for once had nothing to say. She seemed to be thinking things through; although what decisions she was making I had no idea. Just when it looked like she wasn’t going to say anything at all and we moved to leave her to rest, she called out to Zoe.

“Thanks,” she said, “You saved my life.”

Zoe muttered something about just doing her job, and sheepishly went about organising some instruments for calibration. I left Artemis to her sombre mood, and carried on with my duties for the day. Later, I called in again to check on her, and collided with Zoe as she was leaving the med lab in a hurry. Her face was bright red and she was looking at her feet when I ran into her. She muttered an apology and ran off without so much as a greeting. I looked after her, confused, and turned back to the patient. She was giggling.

“Oh, this is priceless!” She was laughing, “You’ve graduated from Space Daddy to Sugar Daddy!”

“What? What did she say?”

“Nothing, it’s more what she
didn’t
say that told me. I could practically see her floating. Did you know she was humming?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. We don’t gossip on this ship, just so you know. I suggest you follow the rest of the crew in this matter and keep your mouth shut.”

“Oh, I’m just having a little fun. It’s been so
boring
on here, I don’t even have access to the ship’s library. Tell you what, you get Maxine to relax the local network ban for me and I’ll not start singing playground songs about you two.”

I gave her my best tough guy glare, which never seemed to work on her before either. I sighed and told her I’d have a word with Max and see what I could do. I left the med lab and started to look for Zoe, I could hear Artemis giggling again and she started singing a song.

“Seth and Zoe, sitting in a tree, K. I. S. S. I. N. G.”

I found Zoe in her cabin, sitting on her bunk with her hands in her lap. I sat down beside her and bumped her shoulder with mine. She looked up at me and I could see she’s been crying. I put my arm around her and she leaned into me. I thought it was time I explained a few things to her.

“Zoe, what happened between us? It was good. It was what we both needed right then and I don’t regret it at all. But we live day in day out within arm’s reach of not only each other, but all the rest of the crew as well. On top of all that, I have a responsibility to you, one I take very seriously. My role is to guide you and help you grow as a space traveller, to make sure you have all the support you need to become an experienced, reliable member of this crew. It’s a role that has the potential for me to take advantage of the relationship. I don’t want to hurt you, but I also have to put the rest of the crew into that picture as well. This can’t be good for the crew’s morale.”

She looked up at me then.

“But they love you. Wouldn’t they want you to be happy?”

“Yes, there’s that. But what if this doesn’t work out between us? Will you leave the ship? If not, can you stand to be around someone who’s hurt you? How will it affect your performance? How will it affect mine? Will the tension we generate be detrimental to our crew?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t mean to get upset, it was just that bitch. She sure know how to push buttons.”

“She’s manipulative, I told you that remember? I said she’d use sex as a tool to get what she wants, and I didn’t necessarily mean her own.”

“So that’s it? There’s no talking about…this?” She indicated she meant her and me.

“When we were hit by that boarding pod, and I heard it hit the living spaces, all I could think about was your safety. I nearly headed directly to your cabin to make sure you were safe. I can’t think like that. I have other responsibilities as well, ones that are just as important as you.”

“But we, we weren’t…we hadn’t gotten together then…”

I thought about that. She was right, I was already thinking about her that way before the attack. With her sitting beside me, our sides touching, I could feel her warmth, and I didn’t mean the temperature of her body. She really cared about me.

“I guess I’ve started to have these emotions since we started talking.”

“About your PTSD?”

“Yeah. I didn’t really think of you as someone I could be with before then, I was too fixated on my responsibilities. I know Fel’negr and Crege would both disapprove of us. Crege especially.”

“What about Max?”

That was a tough one. “You know, I think I should ask her. She once dated my father back when he was the Captain, you know?”

This surprised her.

“Wow, she could be your mum!”

“No, I’m pretty sure they would have told me if that was the case. I tell you what, I’ll go talk to her, privately. See what she says about this mess we’ve gotten ourselves into.” I stood up and she stood with me.

“Okay, but if she doesn’t allow this, I want one more kiss before I lose you.” I was only too happy to oblige. Who was I do deny such a request?

I found Max in her cabin, where she’s been spending most of her time lately. She was sitting at her writing desk and staring out her view port at the strange colours and patterns that were moving beyond it. It wasn’t a real port hole, but an image created from an external sensor.

While a ship moved along the string that connected two Jump Gates, space outside was strange. It was almost like we were moving through a nebula, only there were large organic looking shapes and spiralling lines everywhere you looked. The ship itself moved down a diaphanous tunnel of sorts, the sides always seeming to be the exact distance apart no matter how close the ship got to them. Superstitious space farers believed that staring too long at the brane outside the string would send you mad. I wasn’t so sure.

Max was sipping a mug of coffee and turned to face me when I entered.

“Captain, can you talk?”

“Of course, Donny.”

“First up, Artemis is looking a lot healthier. I think we’re past the stage where we have to worry about her dying on us ad taking out the engine spaces.”

“Good, sooner we get her on her feet the sooner I can kick her arse. We need to find out from her what the Koveli-Xue Corporation wants with her and this damned package.”

“Can we at least give her access to the ship’s local network? She’s getting bored and taking it out on the crew. We give her something to do besides tease us and maybe we can get some work done. It’s affecting crew morale.”

She sighed, “All right, I’ll tell Fel he and give her a restricted login.”

That’s one bullet dodged. Now for the other one.

“I feel it’s my duty to inform you that Zoe and I, well we…” I suddenly felt really embarrassed to be talking about my sex life with someone I’ve always considered the only parent figure in my life.

“You….?” She offered.

“Well, we kind of, you know?”

“What? No I don’t know? Just say it.”

“Max! We slept together!” There I said it. My face was heating up again.

“Oh. Oh!” She did a double take.

“I’m sorry, I know that I’m her Space Daddy and that I shouldn’t…”

“Who cares? I’m happy for you!”

“You are?”

“Yes! She’s a lovely girl!”

“But I’m…she’s…”

“You’re a man, she’s a woman. That’s what you’re supposed to do when you like someone.”

“But…”

“Look, life is precious out here on the frontier. Our last few weeks should have shown you that. You have to find happiness wherever you can find it. If that person can fulfil more needs than just physical comfort, then all the better. You like her? Great. I like her too.”

“You do?”

“I hired her didn’t I?”

“Did you hire her entirely just for my benefit?”

“Ha-ha! You’re a cheeky bastard, aren’t you?”

“I just thought, that it would be inappropriate. Crege and Fel said…”

“Those two are the only members of their race on this ship. The poor bastards haven’t had a piece of skirt from their own kind in years. Sure, they might bleat on about honour and responsibility, but I bet if hired a Garz’a woman next time I’m hiring Crege would practically jump her bones.”

“You’re not worried that I’ll make things complicated for us and the crew? You’re not worried that it might affect my priorities during a crisis?”

“What? You think I’ll have a problem with you putting the life of our only doctor above one of the others?”

“That’s not what I mean!”

“Look, I trust you, Donny. You’re a bit thick sometimes, but I know when the shit hits the fan that you’ll pull us through. You’ve done so many times already, despite going through all that heavy shit from your time with the marines. I want the best for you, and if you say you like her, that’s enough for me.”

She stood up and gave me a fierce hug. I felt really foolish, thinking that Max wouldn’t approve of us. I felt good about it now.

“So, how is that other thing going?”

“What other…oh, the PTSD?”

“No, but that’s a start.”

“You mean the Nano-proliferation? I’m warming up to the idea. I’ve learnt a fair bit. Those vids helped.”

“But you’re not totally sold yet?”

“Not one-hundred percent. At least I don’t think I’ll turn into the bogeyman if I get it. Besides, they sound very expensive. I don’t think it’s going to be something that will just fall into my lap any time soon. I’ll keep thinking about it.”

“Okay, now how about that other thing?”

“Zoe’s been helping a lot…”

“I bet she has!” she couldn’t help but laugh, and my face went bright red again, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! God, I feel like a schoolgirl. Okay, sorry. Go ahead.”

“I haven’t fully opened up about what happened, but I don’t feel like it’s something I have to hide from anymore. I don’t feel ashamed about it either.”

“That’s really great news. I’m proud of you, son.” She squeezed my elbow and gave me another smile. I returned the smile and left, heading for my own cabin.

Zoe, can you come to my cabin, please?

Sure, what’s up?

I just spoke with Max.

And?

I’ll show you when you get to my cabin.

Show me? I’M ON MY WAY!