Fall of shadows, p.7
Fall of Shadows, page 7
part #7 of Steven Gordon Series
‘I think I will also let you loose on the marines. I am sure they will enjoy the challenge.’
‘Then I look forward to it.’
chapter 17
Admiral Morach Valachean stepped on board his new flagship. He realised immediately that the ship had been redesigned to accommodate its Human crew, but he wasn’t so tall that he had to bow down as he walked through the corridors. He was impressed by how clean the ship was; he wasn’t so impressed by his new Post Captain. Rumours had reached him over the preceding weeks, and he had wished this day hadn’t come at all. His aides were looking less than impressed.
When he reached his state room, he invited Jean Wilson in on her own. He was immediately impressed by the luxury of the suite, and even more so by the library. He made a beeline for it.
He sighed, ‘Sea battles, ancient, modern, tactics of the sailing ships, Roman, Greek. I have never heard of any of these.’ He plucked a very large volume from the shelf, ‘Aircraft carrier tactics of the second world war.’ He opened a few pages. ‘Oh! Very nice. Wonderful in fact.’
‘I am happy you like them sir. I have all of those myself. I thought you may enjoy them also, so I added them to your personal library.’
He suddenly found a new appreciation for this strange female.
‘You have all of these?’
‘Yes sir. My copies are looking a little sorry these days, but I treasure them. Most of the books in your library are considered essential reading by the Admiralty. Those aren’t. You may dispose of them if you so wish.’
‘I see, you mean they now belong to me, a gift from yourself Captain.’
‘Yes sir.’
He was seriously impressed. ‘Thank you Captain.’
‘Please don’t make too much of it, I realise that in this part of the galaxy, paper, and books such as these are very rare. At home, however, they are not a precious commodity.’
‘I am also aware of that.’ He took the large book over to his desk and tried the chair.
He sighed, ‘Oh this is very comfortable. Much nicer than the Burning Wind. Your ship is also a credit to you Captain.’
‘Thank you.’
‘May I ask some personal questions?’
‘Of course sir.’
‘Isn’t your chest extremely large, even for a Human female?’
‘Aren’t you extremely ugly, even for an alien male?’
It took him a moment, but his laughter soon rocked the room.
‘Yes, too personal. I understand. Are you mated Captain, do you have a family?’
‘No sir, neither.’
‘You must at least have a suitor.’
Jean thought it over, ‘I suppose you could call him that.’
‘Is he at home?’
‘No, he is with the Goodwill Ambassador’s guard.’
‘Oh! Maybe I know him. I spent some time on his ship.’
‘His name is Charlie Murison, he is a Captain.’
Valachean was quite taken aback, ‘Charlie, I know Charlie. Didn’t he just rescue them from the Albany?’
‘Yes sir, he did.’
‘I like to count Charlie as a friend of mine. You are a very lucky lady.’
‘He did mention that he had met you. He did like you.’
‘He is very smart. Tell me, how come he wasn’t with the Ambassador when they were kidnapped?’
‘He was on duty on the bridge of the ship at the time. It wasn’t an official engagement.’
‘I see. He told me he wasn’t a proper ship’s Captain, yet he managed to avoid the Albany and then rescue your people. Very competent. So… he did mention me?’
‘Yes, he seemed to admire you.’
‘I enjoyed my chats with Charlie. He introduced me to classical music. Do you have any on board?’
‘An extensive library.’
‘I will enjoy browsing through it.’ He sat back. ‘I wasn’t quite sure what it was the Grand Commander had in store for me Captain. Now I begin to see the path he is taking. I think I am going to enjoy it. Are you looking forward to your new post?’
‘To be on the edge of the frontier, all of the crew, including myself, are extremely excited.’
‘Then I think we are going to get on very well. I am looking forward to working with you Captain.’
‘And I you, sir.’
‘My aides aren’t going to be so impressed. I will endeavour to keep them off your back as much as possible.’
‘I wouldn’t bother wasting your precious time sir. I am capable of looking after myself, and my crew is fiercely loyal, as they will discover to their cost if they cross me.’
‘Then let the lines of battle be drawn; this should be quite entertaining.’
Chapter 18
‘They honestly nicknamed it Deep Space Nine?’ Buzz was reading the lettering on top of the space station. He didn’t seem very impressed.
Steven cocked his head slightly to read the lettering better, ‘That isn’t its official designation is it?’
It was Hailey that answered. ‘Its official designation is Space Station Nine.’
Steven stood upright. ‘We are here, we will be as well as stop and inspect it. We have six months to waste after all.’
‘It does belong to you Stevie.’
‘Sort of I suppose. Mum says they have more frequent breakdowns than the other stations and asked me to investigate.’
The docking of the two ships took twenty minutes, fifteen minutes longer than it was supposed to. Steven wasn’t all that happy about it. He was even less impressed by their greeting. A cheery faced red head in dirty clothes met them at the air lock. Steven and Komoru’s noses wrinkled.
‘Hi there, we are so excited to see both of you.’
Steven reeled back a bit, ‘Wow, what is the smell?’
‘Dung.’ Their blank looks prompted her to say more. ‘You know: shit!’
Steven coughed, ‘I am aware of what it is. Why is the place stinking of it?’
‘This is where the live animals come to before being shipped out across the barrier. They are here for final inspection and decontamination.’
‘We know, but why does it stink? Why are you covered in shit?’
‘This station wasn’t designed for animals. There is no automated clean up service. There are machines, but they break down a lot.’
Steven was shocked, ‘You are doing it by hand?’
‘There is no other way. The tankers to remove the waste are also late. That isn’t helping things either. We are pretty full. Don’t worry, you get used to the smell.’
It wasn’t long before Komoru headed back to her ship. Steven was forced to go it alone. What he saw didn’t make him happy. He quickly got all of his engineers and together they fixed the broken machines. They were there for a week. They crews pitched in, only Komoru didn’t participate. Nor did she go near Steven for days afterwards. By the end of the week the crew were calling the station ‘Deep Shit Nine’.
They moved on to the next station. This one was more orderly. Goods were continually being shipped in and out. Anything arriving from Earth was sterilised before it was shipped onwards and vice versa. No one seemed overly excited about their visit. They moved on.
Every station had a designation and a purpose. The last was a deep listening post, which scanned hundreds of thousands of miles in every direction. These were the men and women on the front line of the war against the Albany. They caught and tracked anything coming through the barrier. As a purely military post, everything was done by the rule book.
As they approached Earth things began to get busier. The sight of a battle fleet leaving near Earth’s vicinity to patrol the barrier was quite an inspiring sight. As they passed the Builder’s ships, every vessel put on every light on their port sides and flashed vigorously at them. It cheered them all up. When they reached the moon, two warships of a design they couldn’t recognise pulled out of the docks. Steven knew they were ‘gifts’: top spec ships for those Emperors or Kings who supported their bid. These ships were the price of that bid. Steven knew that top crews would soon give them a shakedown voyage, and make a detailed analysis of each ship’s strengths and weaknesses.
Steven couldn’t help but feel a little depressed as Babes came into dock at their home on the moon. His apartment was spotless, but he felt it was a little sterile. Komoru bounced in.
‘I’m going shopping with the girls, would you like to come?’
‘No.’
‘Oh! Alright, catch you later.’
Steven went through to the fridge. It had been stocked prior to his arrival. There was even a couple of bottles of beer. Steven’s hand hovered a little, then he grabbed one of the bottles. He found a bottle opener in a drawer and tossed the cap into a bin.
He had barely sat down when his mother burst in. She came to a sudden halt.
‘Wow, that’s a first.’
Steven got up with a smile and gave her a hug.
‘I’m a big boy now Mum. It was looking back at me.’
‘It is only three o’clock in the afternoon.’
‘I never asked,’ he sat down and took another slug. ‘It is very refreshing.’
‘All I am saying is it must be bad if you have taken to drinking.’
‘This is my first alcoholic drink in months. Don’t make an issue out of it huh!’
‘Then in that case you are forgiven. Enjoy it Steven.’
‘I surprisingly am.’
Mary chuckled, ‘It is just so good to have you home and safe. Where is the wee hero?’
‘You mean Charlie.’
‘Aye.’
Steven shook his head. ‘No idea, no one has.’
Her face fell a little, ‘Oh! What’s going on?’
‘He has disappeared.’
Mary paled a little, ‘He hasn’t been captured has he?’
Steven managed a laugh, ‘No nothing like that. He is with the Modloch armed forces somewhere. Grand Commander Rannalld has stolen him away. The powers that be are screaming blue murder. They have been in touch with me five times this week. I politely told them to go to hell. Not my problem. Rannalld was supposed to drop them off at the nearest Human or Federation base; none of them turned up.’
‘Them!’
‘The night shift crew, the Bear, Eddie and Lewis. We know where Lewis is, but no one is after him, just those still serving.’
‘You mean they are moonlighting?’
‘Pretty much. Can’t say I blame them. They were going to farm them out to the new Ambassadors, or so I was led to believe.’
‘What are the Modloch saying?’
‘That they will drop them off when it is convenient for them to do so.’
‘Ah! I smell horseplay.’
‘They went looking for a fight.’
‘I see, so the Earth Defence Force should just back off.’
‘If they are smart.’
‘Jean was telling me there is a little friction between Charlie and Komoru.’ Steven dropped the beer from his lips and stared at his mother for a few seconds. ‘Oops.’
Steven took a moment to gather his thoughts.
‘It is bad.’
Mary was surprised, ‘Bad? What do you mean bad!’
‘Something happened to Charlie when he was on leave. He won’t tell anyone what it is; when he got back he was very distant from everyone, then one day he just blew at Komoru. He was violent Mum, and it isn’t the first time. I thought he was going to kill her.’
Mary was shaking her head, ‘That doesn’t sound like Charlie.’
‘Trust me. He threw the pair of us around like ragdolls one night.’
‘What the hell is going on Steven?’
He paused, ‘You know about his extra ability?’
‘Of course.’
‘When they were visiting the Gisha planet, Komoru told Jean about it.’
‘Not Charlie.’
‘Charlie and Jean aren’t in all that deep a relationship Mum.’
‘Of course. It isn’t something you would trust to someone you aren’t in a deep relationship with.’
‘Exactly!’
‘So why did Komoru tell her? What for?’
‘I don’t have Charlie’s ability, Mum.’
‘Jean told me she thought Komoru was being vindictive. She just didn’t say what about. I thought she was imagining things, but not quite it seems.’
‘Well, when Charlie found out, he went nuts. Basically took over the ships, paralysed me and Komoru, threw us about like rag dolls and threatened her life.’
‘He can do that… take over the ships?’
‘Sort of. He can create a nullifying field around himself. None of the crew can handle him; he promised the ships he wouldn’t kill us providing they didn’t try and interfere. It was scary.’
‘That isn’t Charlie, what was he thinking Steven? Has that power gone to his head?’
‘He was worried that someone on that planet overheard. That they were being monitored twenty-four seven.’
Mary took a deep breath as she grasped the situation. ‘Charlie is involved with some pretty important people.’ Her hands flew to her mouth. ‘Oh! No. They would kill him.’
‘In a heartbeat. It is what I use him for. Komoru did apologise when she finally understood how silly she had been, and everything seemed to be all right. Then he went on leave. When he came back, he was different. Avoided us like we had the plague. Then Komoru caught up with him one day and said something. He went off his head. Took her by the throat. She thought he was going to kill her. After that he pretty much hid himself away. Erected a dampening field around himself. Wouldn’t talk to anyone except Lewis.’
‘What did Lewis say?’
‘Lewis wouldn’t tell us. I don’t know what happened to him when he was on leave, but it must have been bad.’
‘You think it had something to do with what Komoru did.’
‘It has to be. He refuses to speak to me about it. In his words: “I tell you, Babes knows, Ico knows and then Komoru knows,” and he doesn’t trust her as far as he can throw her.’
‘He actually said that?’
‘That’s what he said.’
‘Yet he saved all of you, including Komoru.’
‘He could have thrown her out of an airlock and none of us would have been any of the wiser. He seemed a lot calmer then, like he had come to terms with whatever it was that had been getting to him. I don’t trust him any more though Mum. He scares me.’
‘That’s bad Steven. I didn’t know things had gone that far. Why does she hate him so much?’
‘She didn’t like the way he was treating me. Over protective really.’
‘Treating you?’
He held his hands up, ‘My fault, not his. Remember the time you and he were setting up the PD company?’
‘Yes.’
‘He couldn’t reach me to tell me. I was avoiding him at the time because I was dealing with secret stuff. So he went and set it all up himself.’ He took a breath, ‘Then I found out about it the wrong way. I hauled him in front of the other senior members of staff and was going to have him kicked off the ship.’
‘Oh Steven, didn’t you just ask him in private?’
‘Nope. I was intending making a big show of it. Of course it backfired. He told me what had been going on and that you had been involved. Talk about egg on my face. Every time I tried to talk to him, he just shouted at me. I sent Buzz to try and calm him down, that didn’t work. Eventually I asked to see him in private. I was too embarrassed to speak to him in public. Do you know what he said?’
‘Was this so hard?’
Steven’s mouth dropped open for a second, ‘Did he tell you?’
Mary laughed, ‘No, let’s just say it is obvious and leave it at that.’
‘I was going to bawl him out, instead he bawled me out and taught me a very valuable lesson.’
‘Has it helped you?’
‘All of his lessons have. The problem is we aren’t sitting in a classroom and there are no tests. He apologised but told me that he didn’t have the time to teach me the nice way.’
Mary sat back, her clasped hands pushed down between her knees as she thought the situation over.
‘It isn’t good Steven. Violence is completely unacceptable.’
‘He hasn’t been in a good place since the major incident. All his friends have said that it has changed his personality.’
‘Hardly surprising is it?’
‘No, but I can’t have the violence either. I just don’t know what to do.’
‘You have no idea what happened to him while he was on leave?’
‘Not a clue. I think talking to Lewis did help calm him a little.’
‘How did you deal with it?’
‘I gave him lots of extra duties.’
‘He did them.’
‘He likes doing them.’
‘No one likes doing extra duties.’
‘He loves them; honest.’
‘Change the punishment.’
‘To what? There isn’t anything else.’
‘Can you do without him?’
‘Just tried that.’
‘Yes, and look what happened.’
‘Exactly. I’m not a trained diplomat. I don’t think I can actually do it without him.’
‘What about a psychiatrist?’
‘What is the point if you can’t tell them the truth? The moment he told them he could read minds, they would lock him up.’
Mary had to agree with his logic, ‘You have a point. His friends?’
‘He hasn’t told any of them that I am aware of.’
‘Then back to Lewis again.’
‘All he would say that what happened to Charlie was very bad, and we needed to leave him alone; give him time to get over it.’
‘What about his friend the engineer? Have you asked him?’
‘I suppose I could try. He is a brilliant engineer, but isn’t the smartest when it comes to personal relationships. He might give the game away.’
‘That’s a starting point. What planet was he on when Komoru gave away the secret?’
‘The Gisha, but there is no proof it has anything to do with Komoru.’
‘Oh grow up Steven, of course it has. Why else would he have attacked her? Does this race have an Emperor?’
‘Then I look forward to it.’
chapter 17
Admiral Morach Valachean stepped on board his new flagship. He realised immediately that the ship had been redesigned to accommodate its Human crew, but he wasn’t so tall that he had to bow down as he walked through the corridors. He was impressed by how clean the ship was; he wasn’t so impressed by his new Post Captain. Rumours had reached him over the preceding weeks, and he had wished this day hadn’t come at all. His aides were looking less than impressed.
When he reached his state room, he invited Jean Wilson in on her own. He was immediately impressed by the luxury of the suite, and even more so by the library. He made a beeline for it.
He sighed, ‘Sea battles, ancient, modern, tactics of the sailing ships, Roman, Greek. I have never heard of any of these.’ He plucked a very large volume from the shelf, ‘Aircraft carrier tactics of the second world war.’ He opened a few pages. ‘Oh! Very nice. Wonderful in fact.’
‘I am happy you like them sir. I have all of those myself. I thought you may enjoy them also, so I added them to your personal library.’
He suddenly found a new appreciation for this strange female.
‘You have all of these?’
‘Yes sir. My copies are looking a little sorry these days, but I treasure them. Most of the books in your library are considered essential reading by the Admiralty. Those aren’t. You may dispose of them if you so wish.’
‘I see, you mean they now belong to me, a gift from yourself Captain.’
‘Yes sir.’
He was seriously impressed. ‘Thank you Captain.’
‘Please don’t make too much of it, I realise that in this part of the galaxy, paper, and books such as these are very rare. At home, however, they are not a precious commodity.’
‘I am also aware of that.’ He took the large book over to his desk and tried the chair.
He sighed, ‘Oh this is very comfortable. Much nicer than the Burning Wind. Your ship is also a credit to you Captain.’
‘Thank you.’
‘May I ask some personal questions?’
‘Of course sir.’
‘Isn’t your chest extremely large, even for a Human female?’
‘Aren’t you extremely ugly, even for an alien male?’
It took him a moment, but his laughter soon rocked the room.
‘Yes, too personal. I understand. Are you mated Captain, do you have a family?’
‘No sir, neither.’
‘You must at least have a suitor.’
Jean thought it over, ‘I suppose you could call him that.’
‘Is he at home?’
‘No, he is with the Goodwill Ambassador’s guard.’
‘Oh! Maybe I know him. I spent some time on his ship.’
‘His name is Charlie Murison, he is a Captain.’
Valachean was quite taken aback, ‘Charlie, I know Charlie. Didn’t he just rescue them from the Albany?’
‘Yes sir, he did.’
‘I like to count Charlie as a friend of mine. You are a very lucky lady.’
‘He did mention that he had met you. He did like you.’
‘He is very smart. Tell me, how come he wasn’t with the Ambassador when they were kidnapped?’
‘He was on duty on the bridge of the ship at the time. It wasn’t an official engagement.’
‘I see. He told me he wasn’t a proper ship’s Captain, yet he managed to avoid the Albany and then rescue your people. Very competent. So… he did mention me?’
‘Yes, he seemed to admire you.’
‘I enjoyed my chats with Charlie. He introduced me to classical music. Do you have any on board?’
‘An extensive library.’
‘I will enjoy browsing through it.’ He sat back. ‘I wasn’t quite sure what it was the Grand Commander had in store for me Captain. Now I begin to see the path he is taking. I think I am going to enjoy it. Are you looking forward to your new post?’
‘To be on the edge of the frontier, all of the crew, including myself, are extremely excited.’
‘Then I think we are going to get on very well. I am looking forward to working with you Captain.’
‘And I you, sir.’
‘My aides aren’t going to be so impressed. I will endeavour to keep them off your back as much as possible.’
‘I wouldn’t bother wasting your precious time sir. I am capable of looking after myself, and my crew is fiercely loyal, as they will discover to their cost if they cross me.’
‘Then let the lines of battle be drawn; this should be quite entertaining.’
Chapter 18
‘They honestly nicknamed it Deep Space Nine?’ Buzz was reading the lettering on top of the space station. He didn’t seem very impressed.
Steven cocked his head slightly to read the lettering better, ‘That isn’t its official designation is it?’
It was Hailey that answered. ‘Its official designation is Space Station Nine.’
Steven stood upright. ‘We are here, we will be as well as stop and inspect it. We have six months to waste after all.’
‘It does belong to you Stevie.’
‘Sort of I suppose. Mum says they have more frequent breakdowns than the other stations and asked me to investigate.’
The docking of the two ships took twenty minutes, fifteen minutes longer than it was supposed to. Steven wasn’t all that happy about it. He was even less impressed by their greeting. A cheery faced red head in dirty clothes met them at the air lock. Steven and Komoru’s noses wrinkled.
‘Hi there, we are so excited to see both of you.’
Steven reeled back a bit, ‘Wow, what is the smell?’
‘Dung.’ Their blank looks prompted her to say more. ‘You know: shit!’
Steven coughed, ‘I am aware of what it is. Why is the place stinking of it?’
‘This is where the live animals come to before being shipped out across the barrier. They are here for final inspection and decontamination.’
‘We know, but why does it stink? Why are you covered in shit?’
‘This station wasn’t designed for animals. There is no automated clean up service. There are machines, but they break down a lot.’
Steven was shocked, ‘You are doing it by hand?’
‘There is no other way. The tankers to remove the waste are also late. That isn’t helping things either. We are pretty full. Don’t worry, you get used to the smell.’
It wasn’t long before Komoru headed back to her ship. Steven was forced to go it alone. What he saw didn’t make him happy. He quickly got all of his engineers and together they fixed the broken machines. They were there for a week. They crews pitched in, only Komoru didn’t participate. Nor did she go near Steven for days afterwards. By the end of the week the crew were calling the station ‘Deep Shit Nine’.
They moved on to the next station. This one was more orderly. Goods were continually being shipped in and out. Anything arriving from Earth was sterilised before it was shipped onwards and vice versa. No one seemed overly excited about their visit. They moved on.
Every station had a designation and a purpose. The last was a deep listening post, which scanned hundreds of thousands of miles in every direction. These were the men and women on the front line of the war against the Albany. They caught and tracked anything coming through the barrier. As a purely military post, everything was done by the rule book.
As they approached Earth things began to get busier. The sight of a battle fleet leaving near Earth’s vicinity to patrol the barrier was quite an inspiring sight. As they passed the Builder’s ships, every vessel put on every light on their port sides and flashed vigorously at them. It cheered them all up. When they reached the moon, two warships of a design they couldn’t recognise pulled out of the docks. Steven knew they were ‘gifts’: top spec ships for those Emperors or Kings who supported their bid. These ships were the price of that bid. Steven knew that top crews would soon give them a shakedown voyage, and make a detailed analysis of each ship’s strengths and weaknesses.
Steven couldn’t help but feel a little depressed as Babes came into dock at their home on the moon. His apartment was spotless, but he felt it was a little sterile. Komoru bounced in.
‘I’m going shopping with the girls, would you like to come?’
‘No.’
‘Oh! Alright, catch you later.’
Steven went through to the fridge. It had been stocked prior to his arrival. There was even a couple of bottles of beer. Steven’s hand hovered a little, then he grabbed one of the bottles. He found a bottle opener in a drawer and tossed the cap into a bin.
He had barely sat down when his mother burst in. She came to a sudden halt.
‘Wow, that’s a first.’
Steven got up with a smile and gave her a hug.
‘I’m a big boy now Mum. It was looking back at me.’
‘It is only three o’clock in the afternoon.’
‘I never asked,’ he sat down and took another slug. ‘It is very refreshing.’
‘All I am saying is it must be bad if you have taken to drinking.’
‘This is my first alcoholic drink in months. Don’t make an issue out of it huh!’
‘Then in that case you are forgiven. Enjoy it Steven.’
‘I surprisingly am.’
Mary chuckled, ‘It is just so good to have you home and safe. Where is the wee hero?’
‘You mean Charlie.’
‘Aye.’
Steven shook his head. ‘No idea, no one has.’
Her face fell a little, ‘Oh! What’s going on?’
‘He has disappeared.’
Mary paled a little, ‘He hasn’t been captured has he?’
Steven managed a laugh, ‘No nothing like that. He is with the Modloch armed forces somewhere. Grand Commander Rannalld has stolen him away. The powers that be are screaming blue murder. They have been in touch with me five times this week. I politely told them to go to hell. Not my problem. Rannalld was supposed to drop them off at the nearest Human or Federation base; none of them turned up.’
‘Them!’
‘The night shift crew, the Bear, Eddie and Lewis. We know where Lewis is, but no one is after him, just those still serving.’
‘You mean they are moonlighting?’
‘Pretty much. Can’t say I blame them. They were going to farm them out to the new Ambassadors, or so I was led to believe.’
‘What are the Modloch saying?’
‘That they will drop them off when it is convenient for them to do so.’
‘Ah! I smell horseplay.’
‘They went looking for a fight.’
‘I see, so the Earth Defence Force should just back off.’
‘If they are smart.’
‘Jean was telling me there is a little friction between Charlie and Komoru.’ Steven dropped the beer from his lips and stared at his mother for a few seconds. ‘Oops.’
Steven took a moment to gather his thoughts.
‘It is bad.’
Mary was surprised, ‘Bad? What do you mean bad!’
‘Something happened to Charlie when he was on leave. He won’t tell anyone what it is; when he got back he was very distant from everyone, then one day he just blew at Komoru. He was violent Mum, and it isn’t the first time. I thought he was going to kill her.’
Mary was shaking her head, ‘That doesn’t sound like Charlie.’
‘Trust me. He threw the pair of us around like ragdolls one night.’
‘What the hell is going on Steven?’
He paused, ‘You know about his extra ability?’
‘Of course.’
‘When they were visiting the Gisha planet, Komoru told Jean about it.’
‘Not Charlie.’
‘Charlie and Jean aren’t in all that deep a relationship Mum.’
‘Of course. It isn’t something you would trust to someone you aren’t in a deep relationship with.’
‘Exactly!’
‘So why did Komoru tell her? What for?’
‘I don’t have Charlie’s ability, Mum.’
‘Jean told me she thought Komoru was being vindictive. She just didn’t say what about. I thought she was imagining things, but not quite it seems.’
‘Well, when Charlie found out, he went nuts. Basically took over the ships, paralysed me and Komoru, threw us about like rag dolls and threatened her life.’
‘He can do that… take over the ships?’
‘Sort of. He can create a nullifying field around himself. None of the crew can handle him; he promised the ships he wouldn’t kill us providing they didn’t try and interfere. It was scary.’
‘That isn’t Charlie, what was he thinking Steven? Has that power gone to his head?’
‘He was worried that someone on that planet overheard. That they were being monitored twenty-four seven.’
Mary took a deep breath as she grasped the situation. ‘Charlie is involved with some pretty important people.’ Her hands flew to her mouth. ‘Oh! No. They would kill him.’
‘In a heartbeat. It is what I use him for. Komoru did apologise when she finally understood how silly she had been, and everything seemed to be all right. Then he went on leave. When he came back, he was different. Avoided us like we had the plague. Then Komoru caught up with him one day and said something. He went off his head. Took her by the throat. She thought he was going to kill her. After that he pretty much hid himself away. Erected a dampening field around himself. Wouldn’t talk to anyone except Lewis.’
‘What did Lewis say?’
‘Lewis wouldn’t tell us. I don’t know what happened to him when he was on leave, but it must have been bad.’
‘You think it had something to do with what Komoru did.’
‘It has to be. He refuses to speak to me about it. In his words: “I tell you, Babes knows, Ico knows and then Komoru knows,” and he doesn’t trust her as far as he can throw her.’
‘He actually said that?’
‘That’s what he said.’
‘Yet he saved all of you, including Komoru.’
‘He could have thrown her out of an airlock and none of us would have been any of the wiser. He seemed a lot calmer then, like he had come to terms with whatever it was that had been getting to him. I don’t trust him any more though Mum. He scares me.’
‘That’s bad Steven. I didn’t know things had gone that far. Why does she hate him so much?’
‘She didn’t like the way he was treating me. Over protective really.’
‘Treating you?’
He held his hands up, ‘My fault, not his. Remember the time you and he were setting up the PD company?’
‘Yes.’
‘He couldn’t reach me to tell me. I was avoiding him at the time because I was dealing with secret stuff. So he went and set it all up himself.’ He took a breath, ‘Then I found out about it the wrong way. I hauled him in front of the other senior members of staff and was going to have him kicked off the ship.’
‘Oh Steven, didn’t you just ask him in private?’
‘Nope. I was intending making a big show of it. Of course it backfired. He told me what had been going on and that you had been involved. Talk about egg on my face. Every time I tried to talk to him, he just shouted at me. I sent Buzz to try and calm him down, that didn’t work. Eventually I asked to see him in private. I was too embarrassed to speak to him in public. Do you know what he said?’
‘Was this so hard?’
Steven’s mouth dropped open for a second, ‘Did he tell you?’
Mary laughed, ‘No, let’s just say it is obvious and leave it at that.’
‘I was going to bawl him out, instead he bawled me out and taught me a very valuable lesson.’
‘Has it helped you?’
‘All of his lessons have. The problem is we aren’t sitting in a classroom and there are no tests. He apologised but told me that he didn’t have the time to teach me the nice way.’
Mary sat back, her clasped hands pushed down between her knees as she thought the situation over.
‘It isn’t good Steven. Violence is completely unacceptable.’
‘He hasn’t been in a good place since the major incident. All his friends have said that it has changed his personality.’
‘Hardly surprising is it?’
‘No, but I can’t have the violence either. I just don’t know what to do.’
‘You have no idea what happened to him while he was on leave?’
‘Not a clue. I think talking to Lewis did help calm him a little.’
‘How did you deal with it?’
‘I gave him lots of extra duties.’
‘He did them.’
‘He likes doing them.’
‘No one likes doing extra duties.’
‘He loves them; honest.’
‘Change the punishment.’
‘To what? There isn’t anything else.’
‘Can you do without him?’
‘Just tried that.’
‘Yes, and look what happened.’
‘Exactly. I’m not a trained diplomat. I don’t think I can actually do it without him.’
‘What about a psychiatrist?’
‘What is the point if you can’t tell them the truth? The moment he told them he could read minds, they would lock him up.’
Mary had to agree with his logic, ‘You have a point. His friends?’
‘He hasn’t told any of them that I am aware of.’
‘Then back to Lewis again.’
‘All he would say that what happened to Charlie was very bad, and we needed to leave him alone; give him time to get over it.’
‘What about his friend the engineer? Have you asked him?’
‘I suppose I could try. He is a brilliant engineer, but isn’t the smartest when it comes to personal relationships. He might give the game away.’
‘That’s a starting point. What planet was he on when Komoru gave away the secret?’
‘The Gisha, but there is no proof it has anything to do with Komoru.’
‘Oh grow up Steven, of course it has. Why else would he have attacked her? Does this race have an Emperor?’
