Stone in the Sky (29 page)

“What are you going to do?” a Loor in the corner asked.

“We're going to stay,” I said to the aliens.

But we Humans had nowhere else to go.

 

44

I could see them in the sky. Battleships. They were low in the atmosphere. What were they doing here?

There was a noise, like metal gears coming to a grinding halt. And then there was a flash of light. The field behind me blew up. I could hear the scream of some injured Humans. Where alin once bloomed, there was now falling dirt and yellow petals.

People were yelling.

I looked up at the ships, trying to see where they were aiming. A bright light of a laser blast cut the field again. I unfroze and began to run for the road.

Dirt sprayed around me as I dove for cover behind a large rock. I heard the rumble of the ships as their cannons revved up for another shot.

They did not seem to be hitting the settlement.

Lights streaked across the sky, like a storm of lasers.

“To town!” shouted Ednette.

Soon anyone who was not injured was running down the road to town.

The town seemed to be only place that was safe. Throngs of aliens pushed and pressed into the square. Alien helped alien get to safety.

I pushed through the crowd looking for Reza, hoping that I would find him. Finally I saw him being held up by a Dolmav, who was breathing heavily through his blowhole. Reza was bleeding.

“Are you all right?” I asked.

“They're going for the alin!” Reza said.

After more blasts, we could see the battleships lifting out of the sky and disappearing into space. It was quiet for a moment, and then we could hear people and aliens of all kinds calling for each other. We could see all around us a ring of fire as the fields burned.

“They only hit the alin,” Ednette said.

“They didn't want to strip the planet for resources,” I said. “They just wanted to get rid of the source of wealth.”

I had not wanted the other aliens to suffer, but by having Brother Blue audited, I could see now that it had served to expose all the aliens and their affairs on Quint. The Imperium wanted to make sure that they controlled the wealth.

“They didn't want us getting along,” Reza said.

I had no time to mourn for the lost alin, or for all the beings who would not benefit from it. These burning, razed fields meant death to many.

“Form a line!” I shouted. “We save what we can!”

Buckets, hoses, wet rags were found. I shouted instructions to water down the buildings, and Reza organized aliens to help to fight back the fire from the closest fields.

While I ran forward to help, I noticed Brother Blue and others running toward the launchpad to board the last ships off of Quint.

Coward,
I thought.

But I could give him no more of my attention. There was work to be done, and a community to save.

These were my people. Human or alien, they were under my care now.

 

45

At some point, a rush is over.

With the alin mostly destroyed, nearly all of the aliens left.

It was stunning how quickly a place could empty out. Within days, there were shuttered houses and shops. Within weeks there was a desolate feeling as the claimed fields around us were abandoned to the elements.

For those few aliens who were still on Quint, there was talk of new seasons and the replanting of the blooms that had survived. But you could see the defeat in everyone's faces. People were pressing out of the fertile Dren Line and trying hard to make things grow in ruined land. The amount of pollen harvested now compared to a few weeks ago was small and the reward nearly nothing.

At the launchpad, it was obvious that more ships were leaving than coming.

There were still a few aliens who arrived late to the rush and still excited by the prospect of speculating. They took advantage of the abandoned claims, but there were not as many as before; and it didn't stop the sense that what was once a buzzing planet was now dying. I was struck with a sadness that everything that I had helped to build up was crumbling.

Brother Blue had disappeared from Quint back to the Yertina Feray, but we were in the fields trying to salvage what we could. I had managed to give every farm some of the seeds that Reza had. Not just alin, but other things. We were parceling up the acreage and planting things. We sent the children, alien and Human, to gather all the insects that they could and release them into the scorched land. Anything that burrowed and turned. Anything to begin the healing.

Every seed I held felt as though it was a piece of a broken dream I had. I was enraged at how helpless I felt. Quint was ruined. It would take years to get back to where we had been.

In town, all the aliens gathered to hear the galactic news, and it wasn't good. The Imperium had a few planets in their sights as marked for review. They were mostly Minor Species, and Earth was one of them.

“This is my fault,” I said to Reza.

“You couldn't have known that they were going to burn the alin,” Reza said.

“He's probably up there, restoring his reputation as best he can,” I said. “I can't just sit here.”

“Well what are you going to do?” Reza asked.

“Listen to the news. It's causing the aliens on the Yertina Feray to react. There are commotions and Hochts nearly every day.”

A Hocht was a kind of duel that two aliens of the same species could call on each other to settle a disagreement. I rememebered when I had fought Caleb in a Hocht when I refused to help Els, Reza, and him upon their station arrival. A commotion was when all aliens came out and screamed in a mob. A commotion could quickly turn into a riot if not kept in check. It was one thing to do that when the Yertina Feray was empty and had a low population, but by all recent accounts she was bursting at the seams. If the aliens went back to their worlds suspicious and fighting one another, then that would trickle down to every aspect of interstellar politics and a government like the Imperium would stay in power longer. They had not burned the alin for no reason. They knew they were vulnerable unless they made sure everyone was fighting each other and not rising up against them.

“I need to get up there,” I said. “I can calm everyone down, I know I can.”

“Why do you think you can do that?” Reza asked.

“Because I'm the one that all the aliens up there trust,” I said.

Reza couldn't help but agree.

“I got everyone to work together down here,” I said. “Now I need to go do it up there.”

“I'll get a message to Caleb,” Reza said.

I would tell Tournour that I was coming home.

*   *   *

We could see the Imperium battleships in the sky once we cleared the atmosphere.

“They're everywhere,” I said, staring out the window as we approached the station. It looked like a flower surrounded by bees.

The Yertina Feray was completely hemmed in. All those ships meant that no one could get out.

“Can you even get us in?” I asked Caleb.

“Never underestimate the will of a determined man,” Caleb said.

He pressed a button and began to talk to the docking bay operators.

“You are not cleared to dock,” they said. “Please hold your position.”

“I've got a standing game at Kitsch Rutsok's,” Caleb said. “A full credit line. How about I turn that over to you and you let me slide in?”

“Negative,” the docking bay said.

“You're a Kao, right? How about I find you a pleasant little hole for your nest?”

“I do not have the authority to accept your offer.”

“You don't need authority. Just push a button and open a door,” Caleb said.

He did what I would do. He started trading favors for a way in. He was still not the best at it, and I knew I could do better. I told him to offer the waters that he had. I pitched in my small load of alin. I started giving him thumbs up and thumbs down, increasing or decreasing the amount of moves it would take to get us on board.

We were still circling the station hours later, hoping for a clearance to dock when Tournour broke in. It was not like him to deal with docking matters.

“This is Chief Constable Tournour. Am I talking to the captain of this ship?” he asked.

Just hearing the sound of Tournour's voice made the anxiety that coursed through me calm down.

“Affirmative,” Caleb said. He shot me a look, and I knew that something was wrong.

“Your business partner, Brother Blue, has requested to meet you due to irregularities in your agreement, before you are cleared to dock. I can't allow for any aggression to be brought onto this station. You must resolve your conflict prior to boarding.”

“Do you have suggestions for resolution?” Caleb asked.

“I suggest that either you leave the system or you jettison the package that you may have with you.”

Caleb looked at me. I shook my head no. I did not want to leave the system. He knew better than to argue with me. He knew my mind was set.

“I must deliver,” Caleb said. “The package is aboard and too precious.”

“I am well aware of that. You must jettison the package or the package will be destroyed upon boarding. This is not a threat. This is a fact.”

Then the com went silent.

“Look,” Siddiqui said, pointing out the bridge window. “Trouble.”

Looking through the window, we could see a small Imperium ship leaving the docking bay, heading toward us. We were quiet for a minute and then Caleb jumped into action.

“We have to get you off of the ship,” Caleb said. “I know what to do. Follow me.”

Caleb grabbed my arm, and I followed him as he rushed to the airlock of the ship, Siddiqui following fast on our heels. Caleb led me to the bay and started pulling down a suit and gear for me. He measured me with his eyes.

“What am I going to do? I can't leave the ship. Where am I going to go?”

He pointed outside. To space.

“Let's get you suited up,” Siddiqui said calmly as he grabbed the elements to make up a spacesuit from various drawers and lockers.

“I can't go out there,” I said.

“Yes you can,” Caleb said, pulling at my clothes. “You have no choice.”

“I have never been in a spacesuit. I have never space walked. People train for years to do that,” I said.

“Did you have emergency training when you were on your colony ship?” Siddiqui asked as he helped me into the cooling garment.

I nodded.

“It'll be similar to that,” Siddiqui said. “Just like the drills that you were made to do one hundred times.”

“Those were to get to pods,” I said. “Not to spacewalk.”

“You'll step outside with a tether,” Caleb said. “You'll hide underneath us, and then when they leave, we'll pull you back inside.”

Caleb and Siddiqui started dressing me, pulling the suit tight around me. Asking me about the airflow. Putting the helmet on my head. Asking if I could hear them.

“I need you to listen to me,” Siddiqui said. “When you get out there go slow. Very slow. Actually, slow is too fast.”

“Okay,” I said. But I didn't know what that meant. “Don't make any sudden moves, and try to concentrate on your center. You are your own gravity. Think of yourself as a dancer,” Siddiqui said.

“And never let go of the structure. Use your tether,” Caleb added.

“To move, go hand over hand, sideways. Up and down are nearly impossible,” Siddiqui said. “Your wrists aren't strong enough.”

“Okay,” I said.

“There is no resistance in space,” he said. “That's why you have to go slow.”

We could all hear the ship coming alongside of us.

“You have to go,” Caleb said. “They're here.”

“We'll come get you when it's safe,” Siddiqui said.

Caleb blew me a kiss, and then they both backed out of the docking bay and sealed the door. I was alone. I could hear as the air got sucked out of the room. The hatch opened, and I was pushed outside. The tether kept me from free falling, but the door closed and I couldn't help but try to grab for it. I was weightless, and it was silent. I was alone with the universe. My heart was beating so hard I thought I might explode. I was twisting, and I could see the small ship as it docked.

Quint was below me, and I had a sudden sense of vertigo. As though I were falling even though I was floating. I tried to find my center.

Would I get a signal of when to come in? I just had to wait it out. Wait until they left.

I had to know what was going on in the ship. I slowly went hand over hand to a point where I could see the windows.

There they were: Caleb, Siddiqui, and the two other Pirates. A door slid open and in came Brother Blue. I could see him screaming at my friends. They were shoved. Two Imperium guards, both Per, raised their four arms menacingly brandishing their two-shot pistols, one in each hand.

The crew was subdued. I could tell that orders were being given.

Another Imperium guard, a Brahar, started pushing open bins and pulling out things. I watched as others filed down the hall of the ship, finding secret panels. Pulling things apart. They were looking for me.

They all joined Brother Blue back on the bridge, shaking their heads. I could not be found.

I watched as Caleb said something, and I could see Brother Blue's face twist and turn red. I knew that look. It was the look he'd had when I'd pointed out the grain on the docking bay. It was the look he'd had before he'd beaten me and before he killed Els. I feared for Caleb, but breathed easier when I saw Brother Blue smile and turn away.

Then I saw Caleb shout something after him and watched helplessly as Brother Blue stopped and grabbed one of the two-shot pistols from the Per and shoot Caleb.

“No!” I screamed inside my helmet, the sound echoing like crazy.