Strange new worlds v, p.33
Strange New Worlds V, page 33
She swung back to the console, her decision made. The Enterprise had issued an invitation; she would accept it. See firsthand who or what really sat at the other end of the com system. “Enterprise, this is Lost Moon. I’ll be ready to receive you.”
“Ten-four, Lost Moon. A shuttle’s on its way.”
Quickly, Kendra stepped over to the sleeping pods and shook Alex awake. He was the oldest, the one least affected by the thinning air. The others needed their rest. She leaned against the bulkhead wall and took several deep, slow breaths as Alex stirred. Her pulse pounded in her ears.
“Are you all right, Grandma?”
Alex’s concerned voice helped drive away the darkness threatening to overwhelm her vision. Kendra blinked hard and nodded. She grabbed a lozenge from her pocket and popped it into her mouth. “Just thinking,” she lied as she took Alex’s arm and led him away from the sleep pods. She’d been living on glucose lozenges for almost two weeks now, trying to conserve food. But she’d have to eat soon. Her body was too old to take this kind of abuse.
“I don’t want to wake the others, Alex. But I need you to do something for me.”
Alex nodded, his little face serious. He was always serious; they all were. Kendra couldn’t even imagine how one could grow up knowing nothing but the inside of this tiny space pod. But these children had. She glanced around the area that served as both living quarters and command deck. A thirty-by-thirty sphere, half of it filled with life-support equipment. Ten years Alex had spent in this small space—he didn’t know anything else; neither did any of the others. Everything in their lives was limited—space, food, air. Even the view they had of the stars was small.
How would Alex react to the size of the vessel waiting for them?
Kendra shuddered. Thank goodness the viewport was now turned away from the Enterprise. The enormity of the ship stunned even her.
“I need you to help me into the spacesuit.” She grabbed the suit from its closet, and dragged it forward. “There’s another ship out there. It’s sending a shuttle.” Kendra stepped into the suit and helped Alex pull it up around her shoulders. It was the only suit they had. She tried not to think of that as she thrust her feet into the oversized boots and clamped them tight.
“What ship, Grandma? Why is it here?” There was more than curiosity in Alex’s voice. There was fear.
“They’re going to help us, but I have to go with them for a few minutes.”
A look of concern crossed Alex’s face and for a moment she thought he would resist. Kendra grabbed both of his shoulders and looked into his ten-year-old eyes. “This is important, Alex. I’ll be right back. I need you to watch over things while I’m gone.”
She could feel Alex’s pride beneath her hands as he straightened and nodded once. “I’ll take care of things, Grandma.” He helped maneuver the heavy helmet into position and checked to be sure the latches were tight and the helmet sealed. Kendra pulled him close in a hug, then turned and headed for the airlock. She locked the inner door, waited until the lock was pressurized, then opened the outer door, getting it dogged shut just as a bronze-suited figure approached.
* * *
Reed wasn’t sure what he’d expected, but it wasn’t the wrinkled face staring back at him through an archaic helmet that looked like it belonged in a museum. The woman was bloody old enough to be his great-great-grandmother. But the wave of relief he felt when he saw she was human must have been at least as great as the relief she felt, if the look on her face was any measure of judgment. She nodded once and Reed took the line he held in one hand, attaching it to a ring on her suit. He looked around for others, but the airlock was closed.
Things went smoothly on the trip across. Though the suit she wore was a cumbersome antique, the woman acted like an old pro, crossing the line hand over hand and slipping through the shuttle door without assistance.
Probably made a hundred more trips than I have, Reed thought, struggling to ignore the emptiness surrounding them. It gave him the willies, thinking about all that space. He grabbed hold of the shuttle and started to swing inside.
Suddenly, Reed found himself hurtling through space, brought up short by the cable attached to his waist and then whipped back. He saw a brief flash as a pod, or shuttle, he couldn’t tell which, whizzed by, his cable pulled up tight again, and his line snapped free, flinging him away from the melee. He looked up in time to see the second pod fire a brief burst of flame.
The cable between the pods whipped sideways, slamming into the shuttle. Somehow Tucker managed to keep the small vessel moving, but Reed could tell something had been damaged. Off to the side, the Enterprise appeared to be moving, at least from his perspective: hisspinning-whirling-moving-away-from-the- Enterprise -into-the-deepness-of-space perspective.
“Tucker, this is Reed,” he said, not sure how the passengers in the shuttle were faring. “I’m afraid I’m at loose ends out here.”
Tucker’s voice crackled over the intercom. “Hang on there, Reed. We’ll be right over.”
“Ten-four,” Reed replied, trying to keep the relief out of his voice. Of all the people to rescue him, it would have to be Tucker. But rescue by Tucker was better than no rescue at all.
Stars spread in front of Reed like the spangles on a girl’s dress he had dated in school. He couldn’t see the Enterprise or her objective any longer.
“Uh, Reed.” Tucker’s voice was slightly apologetic, and the skin crawled on the back of Reed’s neck as his stomach tightened.
“Looks like tea will be a short time coming. But you hang in there. We’ll be over as soon as we can.”
So the shuttle had been damaged. Reed fought down a tingle of panic. Shouldn’t be too long. They might have to send out a second shuttle, but he’d be rescued. He stared at the stars stretching out before him and shivered.
It was a long, long way home.
* * *
Kendra felt rather stupid lying on her back staring up at the dimly lit ceiling of the shuttle. She blinked away the sweat trickling into her eyes and attempted to raise her head, but the helmet was too heavy for her to lift off the floor.
A face appeared in front of her visor, wearing a grin that verged on insolence. The man grabbed her arm and helped her sit up before reaching down and unlatching her helmet.
“You look like you could use a bit of help. Keep this handy; you’ll need to put it back on in a minute.” He handed her the helmet before moving back to the front of the shuttle.
Kendra hadn’t heard a drawl like that in way too many years. “Thank you.” She glanced out the window and noticed they were moving away from the Enterprise.
“What happened?” she asked, fear making her voice quaver. She strained to catch a glimpse of the pods, to see the outside of the capsules still imprisoning the children.
“It’s okay, ma’am. We’ve had a bit of a problem,” the young man said. “Just you rest easy.” He ducked beneath a console.
Kendra chewed on her lip and shuffled toward the nearest seat. Everything ached—there wasn’t a spot on her body that wasn’t weary to the bone. She wanted to believe this was truly an Earth vessel, that she could relinquish her long-standing guardianship. But not yet. She had to find out for sure if these strangers were truly who they claimed to be.
“What happened back there?” she asked again.
“The engine on your pod fired.”
The silence in the shuttle was so deep, Kendra could hear her heart beating inside the spacesuit. “It couldn’t have.”
“I don’t know how your engines work, but I do think I know a rocket blast when I see one.” There was a touch of humor in the pilot’s voice. Something clanged beneath the console and he cursed, then backed out.
“There. That should do it, at least temporarily.” He stood, brushed off his hands, and sat down in the pilot’s seat, muttering as he gripped the control yoke. After a moment, the shuttle seemed to pick up speed and the stars spun as they turned. The pilot grinned.
“I’m Commander Tucker. We’ve managed to lose one of our crew members. He’s headed on a course to who know’s where right now. He’s always a grump if he misses his afternoon tea, so we’re gonna bring him home, if that’s okay with you?”
Kendra forced a smile. “Nice to meet you, Commander. My name is Kendra. But hadn’t you better get going? We’ve got a man to save.” The children were her priority, but she wouldn’t have a man die because she’d caused a delay.
* * *
The relief Reed felt when the nose of the shuttle came into view was more like a fainting spell than a celebration.
“I understand there’s a man here waiting for tea.”
Reed thought he’d never be happy to hear Tucker’s voice, but he’d been wrong. “What took you so bloody long?”
“Had a few adjustments to make,” Tucker replied. “You ready to come on board?”
Reed gave a quiet sigh as the shuttle maneuvered closer, and the woman in her antique spacesuit shoved off from the open door, trailing a cable. In a few short minutes, they were returning hand over hand to the shuttle. He pulled off his helmet as soon as the shuttle was pressurized.
“Never thought I’d be happy to see your ugly face,” Reed said, nodding his head at Tucker.
Tucker grinned. “How about being a gentleman and helping the lady?”
Reed reached over, unlatched the helmet, and pulled it over the woman’s head. She somehow managed to fold the bulky spacesuit she wore into a seat.
“I’d like you to meet Kendra,” Tucker said. “Ma’am, this is Lieutenant Malcolm Reed, our weapons officer.”
Kendra smiled and stuck out her hand.
“Thank you for helping me,” she said with a smile that deepened the wrinkles on her face until it looked like her eyes would get lost in their folds.
“My pleasure.” Reed felt his face growing hot. “What happened to the others?” he asked.
Kendra dropped her gaze. “There are no others.”
Reed turned away, puzzled. His hand went automatically to the phase pistol holstered at his waist. The old woman was lying.
But why?
* * *
The ride back to the Enterprise was silent and uneventful. Kendra sat entranced by the sight of the huge ship growing larger every minute. She glanced back at the Lost Moon, at its crazy, erratic movement, the tiny pods circling chaotically around each other. A lump rose in her throat. They’d lived so long in those cobbled-together pods, just the five of them. Provided the captain proved to be as honorable as he sounded, that all would change.
The edges of her vision darkened and Kendra reached into the pocket of her suit, pulled out a lozenge, and slipped it into her mouth. Lieutenant Tucker glanced at her, but she just smiled and settled back in her seat.
“All right, folks. Fasten your seatbelts. We’re about to be grabbed.” The motion of the shuttle abruptly stopped and Kendra clung to her seat. Somewhere overhead metal clanked and the shuttle jerked upward, directly into the belly of the monstrous ship.
Before she quite knew what was happening the door to the shuttle slid open and Lieutenant Reed was helping her step down. She tried to keep up as he guided her out of the docking bay or whatever they called the place they’d landed. In spite of the size of the ship, the halls and rooms seemed rather small, even when compared to the pods of the Lost Moon. The doorways were so short, the lieutenant had to duck. Kendra bit back a hysterical giggle. How many times had he bumped his head before learning that lesson?
They walked down a long, brightly lit corridor and entered a lift. Before she could ask any questions, however, the door slid open, and Lieutenant Reed waved her forward.
Kendra took two steps and stopped, stunned. Dozens of instruments and panels hummed around her. Brilliant pictures flashed across screens, some of them so rapidly her eyes could hardly follow. This bridge was more than twice as large as that of the Mother Sphere.
“Welcome aboard the Enterprise, Kendra.” A tall, slim man extended his hand. “I’m Captain Archer.”
There was definite pride in the captain’s voice, along with something else. Kendra pondered a moment, then realized he sounded much the way she did when the children were threatened. Protective.
“She’s beautiful,” Kendra said. She shook Captain Archer’s hand.
“Captain.”
Kendra spun at the sound of the cool, female voice. She began to shrivel inside. An alien, with upraised eyebrows and pointed ears, stood by a bank of instrument panels.
All Kendra’s hopes came crashing down. Despair washed over her so completely she thought she would drown. Thank goodness she hadn’t told them about the children. But what to do? If the children didn’t get help soon, they’d never make it to Earth.
“This is Subcommander T’Pol, a representative of the Vulcan High Command.”
Kendra managed a polite nod, struggling to keep her composure. She turned as the door to the lift slid open and another alien stepped out. Blackness crept around the edges of Kendra’s vision. Automatically, she reached in her suit pocket for a lozenge, and slipped it into her mouth.
Not just one, but two aliens. How many more had infiltrated the ship?
Captain Archer saw her gaze. “This is Dr. Phlox, our ship’s doctor. He’s here to take a look at you.”
Kendra shook her head violently. She had to get back to the children, had to figure out a way to . . . “I was not aware you had aliens on board.” She looked at the stern expression on the captain’s face.
“All of these people are members of my crew.”
His crew? Kendra stared at the Vulcan who stared back, her gaze cold and noncommittal.
“Captain,” T’Pol said. “I believe there is more to this woman’s story than she’s telling you.”
“Can you read minds?” Kendra blurted.
“No. It is simply illogical to assume you have been traveling by yourself all this time.” Kendra sagged in relief. Logic, pure and simple logic. She gazed around at the rest of the crew, human in appearance, all of them. “How many more . . . Vulcans are on board?” she asked. If she didn’t do something, the children would perish. This vessel seemed to be the only hope she had at the moment.
“None,” Captain Archer replied.
“And . . . those?” Kendra nodded her chin at the alien doctor.
“Dr. Phlox is one of a kind.”
Kendra could swear she saw the glimmer of a smile teasing the corners of the captain’s mouth. She lifted her chin above the lip of her spacesuit.
“Aliens attacked the Mother Sphere forty years ago, and I’ve been drifting in space ever since.”
“Why didn’t you bring the others out to the shuttle?”
The captain’s abrupt question threw Kendra off guard. “How did you . . . ?” The room started to spin. She had to make a decision before it was too late.
“There are four children still in that life pod.” Kendra pointed at the larger of the two pods still twirling on the display screen. The blackness crept into her vision, and she found herself sitting on the floor, the alien doctor hovering by her side. She struggled to focus on the doctor’s face, trying to ignore the raised lines on his head.
“I’m fine,” she said, certain the doctor had said something and guessing at what it might have been. “I just need to rest a bit.” She tried to sit up. The doctor took her arm.
“I think you need to come down to sickbay,” he said.
Kendra wondered at the sound of his voice. It had a relaxing tempo, a melodious rise and fall that was very peaceful. She blinked hard, trying to break free of the hypnotic effect he was having. “No. I have to stay here.” She looked up at the captain. “We need to get the children out of that pod. The life-support system is deteriorating and they have been living on reduced rations for at least six months.”
Captain Archer nodded his head. He glanced at the other officers on the bridge. “Anyone have any suggestions how we can get to those children without a repeat of the last incident?”
“There’s no way to get close to that thing, Captain,” Sato protested. “She’s spinning out of control.”
“By my calculations,” T’Pol said, “it should be possible to get the shuttle close enough to clamp on to the cable near where it attaches to the pod. Once that is accomplished, the weapons laser can slice through the cable, and the shuttle can bring back the pod with the children.”
“Tripp, take Sato with you. Reed, get your weapons ready.”
“Yes, sir.” Reed turned to his console and punched up the laser display. It would take a moment for the targeting coordinates to come into position. His stomach tightened and adrenaline pumped through his veins, but his hands moved with steady confidence. This command post was his domain: he wasn’t meant to drift around at loose ends in the unloving arms of space.
The shuttle moved into view on the screen and all of them watched as Tucker maneuvered it into position, dodging once as the errant engine fired again, changing the trajectory of the whirling vessel. Reed realized he was holding his breath when Tucker finally set the shuttle down on the cable and a suited figure appeared for a brief instant, securing the line.
“All right, Reed. You’re on.” Captain Archer’s voice was grim.
Reed looked at his coordinates, narrowed the scope of his target lock until it focused on the cable stretched between the two pods. Now it was a matter of timing—if he fired too soon, he might miss and hit the pod; too late and he might hit the shuttle. Taking a deep breath, Reed stared hard as the whirling vessel on his screen made another revolution. He’d made a few adjustments since the last time he’d actually fired the lasers . . . .
“Reed, if that engine ignites again, we’ll be right in its path,” Mayweather said.
“I’m aware of that.” Reed waited, hand poised above the firing button.
Now!
With the precision of a surgeon, a bright red beam of light shot out from the Enterprise, searing across the cable and separating it in half. Released from its anchor, the second pod went spinning off into the darkness.
