Chameleon Ch 41

Jackson stood outside the offices of the Terra Ceti Supply Conglomerate, his head bent to his knees, leaning on the wall with one hand, coughing out the last bits of his breakfast. Adams knew from experience that the captain’s first sympathetic nervous response was vomiting, but he was nowhere convenient to hand him a towel.

In fact, he was nowhere at all! He didn’t know where he was.  

Rianya! He’d forgotten about his wife. And his kids, and his impending kid, and Jake. He measured the sun’s arc across the sky with his eyes and concluded he had about two hours of light left. He caught up with his brain and put the tiny circles to work. He knew the plan – what happened, get people to safety, work the problem. Or, something like that.

With another robust hack to clear his throat, he dashed over to the landing plat looking for Mosi. He didn’t see the man anywhere.

“Mosi!” he shouted. “Mosi! Rafiki! Are you here?” He jumped to a meter-high cargo box and scanned the vista. “Mosi!” He tore his jacket from his shoulder and waved it over his head like a flag.

“Captain Jack? Is that you?” he heard. “I am coming!” A minute felt like an hour before Mosi was close enough to see. Jackson vaulted to the ground.

“Mosi!”

“Captain Jack, calm down, you’re shaking!”

“My ship is gone. It’s left orbit, or crashed, or I don’t know what. I couldn’t call her and the yahoo inside can’t find her!”

“Captain, Captain,” Mosi said, grabbing his shoulders to hold him still, and looking in his eyes. “Starships don’t just fall out of the sky. She’s just not on the radar.”

“No, no she’s gone. I can’t contact her, I can’t find her on the scope, and on the data scroll her blip pulled away from the planet hours ago!”

“Let me help,” the man said.

“Go to my wife, and take her here,” Jackson said, handing the small map from his pocket to Mosi. “I know the young man who lives there. His name is Jake.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m not bringing her to this freak circus!”

“Okay, okay, okay, Cap’n., don’t hurt yourself. I will go get her, and take her to the house.”

“She will tell you that she doesn’t need help, but please, Mosi, hold onto her. And do not tell her the ship is gone!”

“No, no, Mr. Tom, I won’t. We don’t know it’s gone, you just can’t contact her, right?”

“My ship is gone! She’s not in orbit. She’s been stolen!” Jackson screamed, surprising himself at the volume he commanded. “Just take her there and tell her I’ll be along soon.”

“I will, Rafiki, I will. You try to calm down. She’s got to be there.” The man with crazy hair sprinted away toward the town. Jackson had to do something, but he didn’t know what. He saw the Osprey a hundred meters away, and had an idea.

With newfound energy he jogged across the landing zone falling hard against her side with his hands out for brakes. At the hatch he entered the sequence 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13 on the touchpad. The hatch clattered, then the pad turned red and flashed. He slammed his fist on the panel and tried again. The latch clanked, and the pad flashed red.

“Come on!” Oh, oh, he forgot that zero wasn’t necessary. 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13. Hatch buzzed, the latch clicked, and the pad turned green. He flung the door open and hurdled the threshold, settling immediately in the pilot seat. Powering up the helm, the Osprey welcomed him with familiar lights, sounds, and displays. He pressed his palms against the cool dashboard, touching the spirit of Maria Mitchell. A cool breeze dried the sweat on his forehead, and he smiled.

“Hello, Baby Bird. Let’s call the mothership.” The energy cells were fully charged, the antenna gain turned up, all the frequencies open. “Maria Mitchell, this is Jackson, come in. S. S. Maria Mitchell, please respond on any frequency.” He waited; no response. He tried again. “Maria Mitchell, this is Captain Jackson, please respond.” Nothing. Was she unable, or was she unwilling, to respond? Maybe the Pegasi took her. Maybe her com system was down. Maybe there was a hull breach where the hull was patched. Neptune above, what if another box of radioactive waste hit her?

“Maria Mitchell, this is Jackson, please respond.” Silence.

Only one more launch was left in the Osprey until it could be refit. Maybe… the dash counter had 10 landings and 9 take offs. That was its limit. If he took off and she wasn’t in orbit, he’d be back down soon, maybe for years. If he took Rianya and the girls, and they weren’t there, same scenario, but now they’d be upset knowing the ship wasn’t there. If he found the ship and was unable to get the Osprey into the launch bay for refit, again, he’d be back on the planet.

Don’t panic. That was rule one. The situation on Kinnae was different. Here they could eventually get a ride to Earth with a Kinnae freighter or send word to send a ship from Novissimus. Yes, there was a way off Tau Ceti D to get home; they weren’t stranded. His next breath was a little lighter.

Jackson programmed a beacon signal and sent it out on a high frequency carrier wave. He set it to repeat and loop until he returned to shut it off. He stood, felt as if he were in zero-G for a moment, and then his blood came back to his head from wherever it had been sequestered. Rianya would remember the name of the organ that stored blood.

Rianya. And Zalara, and Honey.

He climbed out of the Osprey and reset the locking mechanism. His adrenaline had started to subside, and his parasympathetic system took control. He’d burned out, his heart slowed, his brain threatened sleep, his innards begged for dinner. Those 100 meters back to the Terra Ceti building might have been 100 kilometers for as much energy as he had suddenly.

Before he reached the door, Leonid burst out like a tornado. Jackson awoke and jumped back a few steps. Now his heart was going again, his hand covering his chest as if it might pop out from the shock.

“Captain! I have good news!”

“I need some good news,” he said with a deep breath.

“The captain of the Kiian cargo ship called his companion ship, which is out about half a light year, it’s coming from Novissimus. That captain said a ship going toward Omicron was about 100 million kilometers away, and they tried to contact it, but it wouldn’t answer.”

“Was it the Maria Mitchell?”

“They can’t say for certain. But the electro emissions weren’t Kiian, so they just ignored it. They confirmed that its trajectory was Tau Ceti to Omicron. I bet that’s your ship. I can send a message to Novissimus to intercept it with one of their ships.”

“How long will that take?”

“I’ll get the message there in a few days, they can intercept in maybe two weeks.”

“I suppose I don’t have many other options. Do it.”

“I’ll get on it right now, Captain. Come in and have some coffee. You look dead on your feet.”

þ

Oil lanterns, torches, bonfires, and cook flames lit a path for Jackson to follow, from the Terra Ceti facility through, the town and to Jake’s home. The Earth coffee helped his mood, powering his journey to a place he couldn’t forget. Before he’d gotten very far, he bought some bug-free snacks for Zalara and Honey, and three grilled poultry from a vendor. The girls were recharged, and the birds warmed his hands that had gone numb from forming so many fists.

The sunlight was nearly gone, the last beams of yellow turned into pink and orange against the clouds, the smoke from fires adding to the dramatic skyscape. The children beat him to the door and bounced through without hesitation. He put on his best poker face before going in.

Jake sat in front of the fire on the floor, and Rianya was in the alcove, asleep on the bed. He’d quickly herded the girls to keep them from waking his dozing guest. He motioned for Tom to come in and join him on the floor.

“Your wife is lovely. I’m happy you came to say goodbye. I have thought about this night for years.”

“You’re not serious,” Tom said, handing the cooked meat to Jake before mercifully splaying out on the floor, stretching his back flat, and staring at the ceiling. The fire warmed an area in front of the hearth that four people could easily fit within.

“I am. I hoped my mother would have been here but that can’t be helped. She spoke about you often.” Jake took the food to the kitchen area and promptly returned. Tom squirmed inside. He gave a nervous chuckle.

“Whatever about?” He closed his eyes, enjoying the relaxation.

“Space, science, the stars and aliens.” Tom lifted his head and looked for the two girls. They’d found something interesting to do in the kitchen, and Tom had to tell Jake what happened.

“Speaking of space and stars, I need to tell you something. We were planning on leaving after dinner, when you went to the plant, but, uhm, well, my ship is gone. It’s not in orbit.”

“Tom…what?”

“At first, I thought it crashed from another hit of radioactive waste, but working with Mr. Varona we found it left orbit a few hours ago. A Kiian ship thinks it found her on her way to Omicron.”

Tom sat up and enjoyed a few cracks of his spine loosening up. The two stared at each other. The fire in the box flared, crackling fiercely like fireworks, then popped a few times before settling back down to a slow, flickering waltz.

“Why? What are you going to do?”

“Try to stop her and bring her back so we can shuttle up and board.”

“Can you get passage from one of the Kiians or Pegasi?”

“Catching her would be difficult. A ship from the space station there is going to try and stop her half way. But if worse came to worse, I suppose the station could send a ship for us, or we could buy passage on a Kiian cargo ship. But both of those take months.”

“You are welcome to stay with me, as long as you like. I’m not sure where to put you but I’ll not put you out.”

“That’s kind of you. I can always sleep in the Osprey if—”

“No, I won’t hear of it. What kind of host would I be to make you sleep across town in a space pod while your wife was here? I’m terrible with names. I know she told me her name but I can’t remember it for some reason.”

“Rianya.”

“Yes! I think I was surprised, that’s all. You hadn’t said anything about her. She carries a child.”

“You noticed?” Tom eased himself to the floor again and gazed at the open ceiling, looking at the rafters and the roofing.

“I’m sorry. That was very forward of me.”

“I’m joking. I meant, it’s impossible not to notice.”

“Let me prepare the dinner and you just lay there and rest.” Jake sprang to his feet and disappeared. Tom was too tired to sleep, but he decided that it would be okay to accept Jake’s hospitality while he pondered the disappearance of his ship. Why in heaven would she leave orbit for Novissimus and leave him, Rianya, and the girls here? Quixote and half the people on that ship had been stranded with him on Kinnae. Where was their empathy? And where was his Maria Mitchell?