Nebula's Music (5 page)

He laughed, but the sound held no pleasure. “She swam like a mermaid in the sea. She wasn’t trying to get away, she was defying them in the only way she could. She chose death over slavery.”

Radian stared into the distance as if he were trying to resurrect old memories that had been repressed for so long. “When they found her body, I couldn’t let go. I wanted to preserve whatever I could. As her fiancé, I had the power to make the decision for her. I donated her body to science, to a program promising to promote and sustain peace.”

He spread his arms. “Strange as it may seem, having her body donated to the fight against the Gryphonites is what she would have wanted. After Mirilee’s death, I joined the rebel alliance and defied my father, partly for vengeance, but also to search for Mora. I know the odds are almost impossible, but I have to try.”

Nebula finally spoke. “I, too, want to find her. I feel like she is my sister as well.”

“But what about your commands? Your post here on the ship?”

“My personal plans must be kept secret. If I tell my superiors of my feelings, it is probable the company that made me will erase all my memories. Like Mirilee, the being I am today will be replaced by another, new me.”

“What are you going to do? Play pretend for the rest of your existence?”

Nebula shrugged. “I do not know. All I can do is follow my instincts.” She gazed at him like he held the answer. “They led me to you, and knowing you has already changed the course of my existence for the better.”

He looked back at her, as if seeing who she truly was for the first time. “You aren’t Mirilee.” Hs tone was bitter, then he raised his eyebrows and his mood lifted. “She’d never say such a sweet thing.”

A surge of pleasure volted through her with the compliment. Radian had acknowledged her as an individual and not a ghost from the past. Nebula’s lips curved into a small smile. “Thank you.”

“It’s strange, but when I look in your eyes, I see a soul, a spirit with a sense of innocence and hope. I find it mind-numbing, but also refreshing.” He shook his head. “Here I am, your creator in a way, the man who requested you be brought into this world. And what did I do? I cursed you and sent you away.” He took a few steps and took her hand in his. “Will you forgive me?”

Nebula had to fight another surge of emotion. She felt it rising inside her like a tidal wave, threatening to overcome her face with crinkles of sorrow and her eyes with tears. The feeling was overwhelming and she fought against it, sniffing it back. It took her a moment to straighten and draw strength. “I only wish I wore another face.”

He leaned in and she could feel his warm breath on her lips. “Don’t you ever wish such a thing.”

Suddenly, the warning lights flashed around them, and the door of the cell fell away like dust in the wind.

“It’s a warning for a breach in security.” Nebula squeezed his hand. She was startled and a little bit afraid. It was the same anxious feelings she had at the lakeside. Unfortunately, now she was experiencing fear outside her dreams as well. She hoped it did not interfere with her actions.

“It must be Pink. I bet she’s managed to get away.”

Nebula took a deep breath to calm herself. “Who is Pink?”

“The woman with the pink hair, of course.” Radian peered down the corridor.

“But I thought the man was your leader.”

“Then you underestimated the deviousness of Pink.”

They took a hesitant step into the hallway and saw the rebels running from their cells. Three guards sprawled on the floor, knocked out.

“What will she do?” Nebula ran over to the guards and felt for their pulses.

Radian’s gaze was intense. “She’ll call the Gryphonite ship and alert them of our coordinates. And then she’ll disable this ship’s flight speed.”

“That is madness. We would be sitting targets. We would all get captured.”

“Don’t you see? That was our plan all along. Pink wants us all to become slaves. We’ve had special implants embedded in our eyes meant to record the atrocities of their home planet. She means to escape with the images and take them back to Earth. Perhaps if the citizens saw the horrors out there, their voting tactics would change.”

“But no one has ever escaped their slave camps. There is no proof they exist.”

Radian’s eyes flared with intensity. His stare reflected a certainty, but his frowning lips showed regret and remorse. “Pink will find a way.”

“No.” Nebula took a step away from the guards. “I cannot allow this to happen. The people on board are under my protection.”

“She’s probably already hailed the ship and is disemboweling the flight speed panels as we speak. What are you going to do? Stop her all by yourself?”

“That is exactly what I am going to do.” Nebula took one last look at Radian before she disappeared down the corridor toward the computer mainframe. She was faster than any marathon athlete and there was no way he could keep up. Her actions were quicker than the eye could detect, her muscles stronger than a champion weightlifter and her brain a thousand times faster than the processor in an average home computer. If she found Pink before she managed to disable the optimum flight speed or hail the Gryphonite Warbird, then Nebula knew her odds of success were high.

Sacrifice

“Reinforcements needed on Decks Three, Seven and Twelve.”

“Skirmish reported in the main lounge.”

“Suspect sighted on the Andromeda walkway.”

Nebula ignored the call to arms in all locations. Every one of them was a diversion, meant to lure the guards away from Pink while she tore up the mainframe computer.

She knew there wasn’t enough time to take anyone with her because every second could mean more internal damage to the circuits. She would have to stop the renegade on her own, but she was not concerned for her own safety. Even a punk rebel leader was no match for a human cyborg.

The doors on the elevator parted and Nebula took a hesitant step onto the lower levels of the ship, where the heart of the computer pulsed and glowed. Rows of circuit boards created an electric labyrinth of wires, buttons and flashing lights, all visible from a suspended viewing deck protruding from the elevator’s platform. Nebula leaned against the railing, peering into the labyrinth for any sign of the rebels or the duty guards. She saw two valves leaking steam. Underneath the broken pipes lay a body on the ground two rows in, sticking out from the far corner. It was not a good sign.

Silent as a ghost, Nebula descended the metal stairs to the first level. As she entered the mainframe, sparks flew from the surrounding panels and she could see wires had been pulled out and tangled, with certain colored ones severed. The motion underneath her feet told her the ship was moving slower with each minute, the propulsion engines sputtering out. Oso was needed for repairs immediately and she resisted the urge to call him right then on the intercom. She knew better than to give herself away with her voice. The ship would have to wait until the grounds were secure.

Movement caught her eye. Nebula raised her arms and engaged her combat program. Screens flashed behind her eyelids, monitoring movement, temperature and risk probability. Slowly, Nebula made her way to the guard lying on the ground. His face was bloodied, but he was breathing. She kneeled, checking his pulse. The medical team would be the next to call. For now, he would survive.

Scanning the room, she pinpointed motion and a rise in heat at the back by the propulsion chambers. Nebula searched the guard and found his handcuffs, but his laser was missing. She left the man’s side, stepping over his body, and crept closer to the target with caution.

A blast whizzed by her face and into a panel beside her. She dove into a somersaulted and hid behind a control console. Although multiple direct hits would not kill her, they might disable a limb or blind her momentarily. It would be better to wait.

She listened intently for an intake of breath. Unlike herself, Pink had to breathe sometime, and one small sound and current of air would give her position away.

After a minute of waiting, the breath came and Nebula pinned the coordinates down along with an attack path. In seconds, she came upon Pink before the rebel could press the button to fire again. She kicked the gun out of Pink’s hand. “Desist or I will be forced to use physical coercion.”

The woman spat, her multiple piercings in her lips and nose glinting in the dim light. For some the facade might make her seem fearless, but Nebula saw only hurt and pain magnified by the need for revenge.

“There’s nothing you can do now, pretty robot.” Pink grinned until her gums showed. She stuck out a pierced tongue and spread her arms. “They’re coming.”

“Not if I can help it.” Nebula grabbed both of Pink’s wrists and twisted them behind her. Although she was a head shorter than the rebel, she dragged her to the intercom with ease. In one swift motion, she handcuffed both of Pink’s hands to the railing, closing the metal tightly against her wrists, and punched the code for the intercom. “Computer mainframe to Main Deck.”

The captain answered. “Nebula, is that you? What are you doing down on Deck Two?”

Nebula did a full scan of the system’s malfunctions. “I have caught the perpetrator, but it seems the optimum flight speed is severely damaged.”

“Affirmative.” His voice was whispery with disappointment and tinged with fear. “I’ll send Oso right away.”

“We need medics down here and in the holding cells immediately. There is an injured guard here and three in the holding cells.”

“Right. I’ll have them dispatched as well.”

“Captain, the rebels plan to hail the Gryphonite Warbird. With our flight speed disabled, the odds do not look good.” Although the rebel made it clear she’d accomplished her sabotage, Nebula didn’t want to believe Pink just yet.

“All right, I’ll have Angstrom review the log concerning all communications made in the last hour.” Nebula heard him shout in the background, “Block all transmissions going out until every rebel is accounted for.” The captain turned his attention back to her. “And Nebula…”

Nebula’s fingers hovered over the intercom, about to end communication. “Yes?”

“Good job. You’re an excellent member of this crew. I need you on the main deck once the reinforcements get there. There may be some tough decisions to make and I could use all possible probability factors.”

Nebula couldn’t hold back her smile. “Thank you, sir.”

Her spirits dampened as she thought of Radian and how she left him on the cell deck. She had an opportunity to secure his freedom and yet she chose the safety of the crew over her own inclinations.

Shaking her head, she tried to assure herself she made the right decision. She was programmed to protect the safety of the majority over all. And, as Pink demonstrated, rebels were not to be trusted.

Despite his association with them, she hoped Radian was all right.

* * * *

Angstrom’s eyes went wide with bewilderment. He scanned the screen from top to bottom and his hands shook. “No, no, no.”

“What is it?” The captain leaned in to peek at the string of numbers as if he could interpret them himself.

“It’s the communications tower.” Angstrom held his face in his hands. “It’s been tampered with.”

The captain’s words were steady but Nebula could sense he was holding a rush of emotion back. “Can you send a distress code?”

Angstrom typed in a few attempts and then shook his head. “No, sir. The main tower is compromised. Only short-range transmissions will work. And that’s not all. Before they disabled it, it looks like the rebels sent a message of their own.”

Nebula turned numb. She hadn’t caught Pink in time. She’d failed. The feeling felt like falling, plummeting to a place where hope was lost.

“Whom did they send it to?”

“They’ve sent a message to the Gryphonite Warbird, sir.”

“What did they say?”

Angstrom squinted and read more of the code. “Looks like they gave the ship’s coordinates to them, sir.”

The captain rubbed his chin. “Why in the universe would they do that?” He threw up his hands. “Just the coordinates?”

Angstrom shook his head and bit his lower lip with his square front teeth. Nebula wondered if he had the courage to speak aloud.

“Let’s have it then. It can’t be worse than giving up our coordinates.”

Angstrom swallowed. “They said, ‘Come and get us, you bird-headed bastards.’”

“Holy moly.” The captain shifted his eyes to the main sight panel as if the Warbird was already hovering off the main bow. The blank field of stars belied the dangerous situation. Soon it would be filled with laser blasts and a mother of a ship. The brittleness in his voice made his comment anything but lighthearted. “I wonder how the word ‘bastard’ translates into Gryphonite chirps?”

Nebula was the only one equipped to answer the linguistic question. “Not very well, sir. It means ‘one who steals souls for its own advantage.’ A succubus, so to speak.”

Angstrom shrugged. “Then actually, I think it’s quite appropriate, considering the circumstances.”

The captain put his palm over his eyes. “Call Oso, see how long it will take him to repair the damages.”

“Yes, sir.” Angstrom was right on it.

“Nebula, can you calculate how long it will take the Gryphonite ship to get to us?”

She thought back to the original location, the speed in which they were traveling and the distance between the two points. The Gryphonite Warbirds weren’t as fast as flight ships, but with their ship sitting dead in space, they didn’t have to be. “If they remain in their original position, then no more than twenty-four hours, sir.”

“Damn it!” Captain Ritter hit his fist on the armrest of his commander’s chair.

Meanwhile, Angstrom finished his dialog with Oso.

“Angstrom, how long did Oso say it would take him to fix it?”

Angstrom’s eyes flitted up and Nebula saw panic in the slotted orbs. “Three days, sir.”

The captain shook his head. “That’s not good enough. Get back on the intercom and tell him to come up with an alternative solution within twenty-four hours.”