The ghosts of trappist, p.1
The Ghosts of Trappist, page 1
Dedication
To my trans siblings: I wish you triumphant joy against this world that is constantly trying to force us to be the ghosts we left behind.
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Dedication
Cast of Characters
Epigraph
Interstitial
Interstitial
Interstitial
One
Two
Three
Four
Interstitial
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Interstitial
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Interstitial
Twelve
Interstitial
Thirteen
Fourteen
Interstitial
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Interstitial
Twenty
Twenty-One
Interstitial
Twenty-Two
Twenty-Three
Twenty-Four
Interstitial
Twenty-Five
Twenty-Six
Twenty-Seven
Twenty-Eight
Interstitial
Twenty-Nine
Thirty
Thirty-One
Interstitial
Thirty-Two
Thirty-Three
Thirty-Four
Thirty-Five
Thirty-Six
Thirty-Seven
Thirty-Eight
Interstitial
Thirty-Nine
Interstitial
Forty
Forty-One
Forty-Two
Interstitial
Forty-Three
Forty-Four
Interstitial
Forty-Five
Interstitial
Forty-Six
Forty-Seven
Forty-Eight
Forty-Nine
Fifty
Fifty-One
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Endorsements
Books by K. B. Wagers
Copyright
About the Publisher
Cast of Characters
Zuma’s Ghost
Commander Nika Vagin (he/him)
Lieutenant Maxine Carmichael (she/her)
Ensign Nell “Sapphi” Zika (she/her)
Chief Petty Officer Altandai “Jenks” Khan (she/her)
Petty Officer Second Class Uchida “Tamago” Tamashini (they/them)
Spacer Chae Ho-ki (they/them)
Doge, ROVER (he/him)
Dread Treasure
Commander D’Arcy Montaglione (he/him)
Lieutenant Commander Steve Locke (he/him)
Ensign Heli Järvinen (she/they)
Master Chief Emel Shevreaux (she/her)
Petty Officer First Class Aki Murphy (she/her)
Petty Officer Second Class Lupe Garcia (he/him)
Flux Capacitor
Commander Vera Till (she/her)
Lieutenant Commander Qiao Xin (she/her)
Lieutenant Saad Rahal (he/him)
Senior Chief Dao Mai Tien (she/her)
Petty Officer Third Class Atlas Nash (he/him)
Spacer Zavia “ZZ” Zolorist (she/her)
Wandering Hunter
Commander Pia Forsberg (she/her)
Lieutenant Commander Pavel Ivanson (he/him)
Lieutenant Qi Makar (they/them)
Master Gunnery Sergeant Josh “Quickdraw” McGraw (he/him)* CHN Marine joint duty tour
Petty Officer First Class Ika “Rizzo” Eruzione (she/her)
Spacer Anneli “Moose” Rantanen (she/her)
Other NeoG Personnel
Captain Stephan Yevchenko (he/him)
Senior Chief Luis Armstrong (he/him)
Admiral Royko Chen (she/her)
Commander Janelle Pham (she/her)
SEAL Team One
Commodore Scott Carmichael (he/him)
Lieutenant Commander Ian Sebastian (they/them)
Lieutenant Tivo Parsikov (he/him)
Chief Petty Officer Adith Netra (she/her)
Petty Officer Second Class Diego Cano (he/they)
Spacer Emery Montauk (she/her)
Civilians
Pace McClellan (he/him)
Barnes Overton (they/them)
Monica Armstrong (she/her)
Gina Armstrong (she/her)
Elliot Armstrong (he/him)
Riz Armstrong (he/him)
Ria Carmichael (she/her)
Jeanie Bosco (she/her)
Chae Gun (he/him)
Michael Chae (he/him)
Blythe Hup (she/her)
Yasu Gregori (he/him)
Jasper Smith-Greenfield (he/him)
Rey O’Conner (they/them)
Tara Yevgeny (she/her)
Senator Patricia Carmichael (she/they)
Kavan Ying (they/them)
Epigraph
It is the mission of the Near-Earth Orbital Guard to ensure the safety and security of the Sol system and the space around any additional planets that human beings call home.
Interstitial
August 9, 2075
“It’s time.”
“Are you sure I can’t stay awake for the launch?”
“There’s no reason for it. Plus the risk—”
“I know, we’ve been over it. I just . . . you’re not going to be there when I wake up.”
“I can’t be. I’m sorry.”
“I’m going to miss you. Will you sing me to sleep?”
“Of course.” The silence felt sacred, but the woman took a deep breath and sang the lullaby as requested.
“Sleep, and when you rise, I will make you a present of the stars of Aquarius and the ships sailing on Eridanus. To make yourself famous throughout the Milky Way, to ride the stars to Trappist and live there forever.”
The “Thanks, Mom” was accompanied by a soft sigh. “Good night.”
“Good night.” She waited a beat until the lights had dimmed. “Fly high, my little fountain of tears. I hope the worlds you find are better than the one we ruined here.”
Interstitial
Dànǎo Dynamics (c) 2398 Motherboard, Inc.
Bios Date 01/01/2400 23:11:59 Ver. 03.00.01
CPU: SiS OS CPU i9 @ 1.21 THz
This VGA Bios is released under the CHN GPL version #42.
Press F11 for BBS popup
Memory Clock: 17 GHz
Initializing USB Controllers . . . Done.
400 TB Okay
Ports 1–15 Live
Kinematic Report: Green
CommsState: Pending Password Approval
Power: Green
Auto-Detecting Storage Online
Weapons Systems: Offline
Cameras: Online
Configuring Artificial Intelligence Roboto (R) Ver 01.013.13
Network connected NEOG Jupiter Station port 8831
Swapping boot from external to Network . . .
“Hey, there you are. Sapphi, it worked!”
“Of course it did. Told you I could do it—my great-exponential-whatever-aunt worked on stuff like this,” a smooth voice replied.
“I am ROVER 4467.”
“That’s a terrible name. We’re gonna think of something better, buddy.” Bright, mismatched eyes in brown and blue looked at him from a human face, followed by what his programming said was a smile. The data started flowing in as the handshakes of the people resolved. “I’m Jenks.” She pointed to the person next to her. “This is Sapphi. Happy birthday!”
Interstitial
Date: August 29, 2437
To: yasugregori@danodynamics.net
From: artimedes@trappiststarmapproject.org
Subject: Project Assistance
Mr. Gregori,
I have followed your career with great interest, so I hope you will forgive this unexpected attention. I would love for a chance to speak with you. I believe our projects contain some mutually beneficial pieces that would further both of our research goals. I can be found at the Sand Reckoner Café in the Verge at the following address most evenings. As it is a private affair, I hope you will not spread the information of it around.
I look to see you shortly.
With Respect and Admiration,
A
One
Trappist System
Captain Leaves Armen of The Red Cow tapped the screen in front of her with a satisfied grunt. “We’re almost there—anything on the radar?”
“Nothing yet, Cap,” the navigator, Kol, replied. “It’s all dead space out here.”
“Must you taunt? Bad enough if the ghost ship is out there, but don’t call the fucking thing down on us.”
Leaves muffled her amusement at the dirty look her second in command shot across the bridge. Kol had been teasing Traya for the better part of fourteen hours, ever since they’d emerged on the other side of the wormhole, and even if Leaves agreed that her XO’s superstitions were on the silly side, it didn’t help the tension in the cabin for her to join in.
But she wasn’t going to encourage Traya’s fretting, either.
“There’s no ghost ship,” she replied. “Just shitty pilots crashing into asteroids they should be able to see coming a kilometer off, or pirates blowing holes in ships and leaving them to vac into space.
“You’ll believe in rumors of treasure but not ghosts?” Traya demanded, getting out of her seat, and this time Leaves had to muffle a sigh. Traya was more anxious and sharp-tongued than normal and was clearly not going to let it go.
“It’s not rumors of treasure. I’ve got a map.”
“Captain, this is a bad idea.” Traya pitched her voice low, but everyone heard her anyway.
“Everyone off the bridge,” Leaves ordered. “Put it in auto, Kol,” she told the navigator before they could protest. “The radar will warn me about an asteroid in plenty of time.” She waited a beat for the others to exit before dragging a hand through her hair. “Traya, for the love of God, can you not?”
“Not what? Try to save our asses? This is foolishness, Leaves. Deadly foolishness. I wish you’d listen.”
“And I wish you’d stop challenging me in front of the crew, but neither of us gets what we want, do we? You’re my fucking second, Tra—the crew trusts you and right now you’re freaking them out for no reason. Ships go missing. That’s what happens out in the black.”
“You think I don’t know that? Even if it’s not ghosts, Leaves, you said it yourself there could be pirates out here. Something could go wrong. We were supposed to be headed for One-d.”
“And we will. After we check this out. We’re not going to be back to Trappist for six months after we drop cargo and I don’t want to risk someone else hearing about this and coming to look while we’re doing runs to Mars.”
“You’re putting us all at risk for this, Leaves.”
“We’re in space surrounded by nothing but a tin can. It’s all risk.”
“But some are bigger than others.”
“Says the woman who has several crates of stolen Trappist Express cargo in the hold.”
Traya opened her mouth to protest and then sighed. “You agreed to that,” she muttered, but she was smiling.
“I did, and hopefully your buyer will pan out. But even that sale isn’t enough to do more than put food in our bellies. This is verified, Traya. We find this loaded ship and we’re set.” Leaves reached a hand out, slipping it into Traya’s dark blue curls with a smile of her own. “We can buy some land on One-e, live out the rest of our lives in the dirt, and grow turnips or whatever.”
“Tea, you shit.” But Traya stepped into Leaves’s embrace. “I don’t care if we’re dirtside or out here in the black, you know that. I just want to be with you.”
“Forever and a day after,” she whispered, lowering her head.
The coms buzzed and Leaves froze, her mouth just brushing Traya’s as a haunting melody filled the air.
A harsh voice cut through the song. “You are intruding into our space. Your ship will be taken.”
A heartbeat later the entire ship went dark.
Two
Trappist System
Commander D’Arcy Montaglione of the Interceptor crew Dread Treasure stood outside the fence of the NeoG compound on the outer edge of Amanave and watched the sunrise. Once he’d left Mars and graduated from NeoG training, he’d spent most of his life in space. He hadn’t ever really missed being dirtside, but there was something about the stillness on this planet that felt like coming home.
It reminded him of Mars.
Not in an aching way, bringing to life the sort of memories he’d worked hard to forget, but in that soft haze of better days. D’Arcy didn’t mind those so much, even if he did prefer to keep himself firmly rooted in the present.
At least, that was the lie he told himself on a daily basis. Deep down he was stuck, trapped nearly two years in the past in the smoke and chaos of an attack he’d survived—but too many good people hadn’t.
D’Arcy fixed his eyes on the sun peeking over the horizon, squinting against the glare, and took a deep breath. He’d struggled day in and day out to put the pieces back together, thought that maybe he’d done enough work and could fake the rest. Unfortunately, life didn’t cooperate, and the light at the end of this tunnel wasn’t daylight but an oncoming train.
The sound of deliberate footsteps on the hard-packed dirt were loud in the soft morning air, and D’Arcy took a sip of his coffee as Stephan Yevchenko came up on his right side.
“Доброе утро,” the man said, and it took D’Arcy a second to remember he’d turned his Babel off earlier in an effort to block out some of the shouted conversations of the construction crews before they’d moved off to start work. The NeoG base was in a state of constant expansion, and the work had only increased since they’d brought down the smuggling ring plaguing the system and secured the funding to add several more buildings to the site.
“Morning, Captain,” he replied, switching back on the translation tech embedded alongside his cochlear nerve and using Stephan’s new rank just to hear the man grumble. “Sleep well?” D’Arcy hid his grin behind his coffee cup.
“Well enough. How long are you going to keep unnecessarily calling me that?”
“Probably a few days shy of what Jenks’ll do.”
“That’s not reassuring. Knowing her, she’ll be at it for a year.”
“Price of being good at your job,” D’Arcy replied. “For what it’s worth, you deserve it and it looks good on you.”
“Worth a lot coming from you.”
D’Arcy smiled bitterly at the rising sun. He knew Stephan meant it, even if he couldn’t bring himself to believe the truth of the man’s praise. Once upon a time, he and Stephan had been on opposite sides of what had damn near become a war between Earth and Mars. They still butted heads occasionally, but he was being honest about Stephan deserving the promotion. He held a deep respect for the man—not only as a fellow NeoG officer but as a human being.
Stephan was smart and dedicated. He was an asset to the NeoG. Most important, he was a friend, and two years ago when they’d all thought he was dead, the pain of it had put D’Arcy on his knees.
Oh, in public he’d done his duty. He’d held it together as he tried to keep Jupiter Station’s Interceptor crews from falling apart in the wake of the horrific terrorist attack. He’d gritted his teeth and stayed silent when people he’d respected accused him of being responsible. He’d done everything necessary so others could fall apart. In private, though, he’d grieved alone. Not only for Stephan but for his own crew.
You were supposed to keep her safe. Why didn’t you? This is just like Hadi. You’re never there when people need you.
D’Arcy resolutely ignored the old voice that had resurfaced in his head.
“A freighter that went through the gate yesterday never showed at the docks.” Stephan’s quiet declaration knocked D’Arcy out of the memory.
“Pirates?”
“Could be, except Techa’s been quiet lately. She’s held to our agreement thus far. I’m not sure why she’d change her mind now.”
D’Arcy didn’t like the frown on Stephan’s face. The man hadn’t become the youngest Intel head for the NeoG and in command of the new Trappist division because of bad instincts.
Pirates were the easy answer to the issue of missing ships. D’Arcy didn’t think the woman in command of the pirates who operated around Trappist would dare tangle with the NeoG, but it wouldn’t be the first time he’d been wrong about it. It seemed, however, that Stephan didn’t think that was what they were facing, which meant there was something worse in the pipe.
For the longest time the Trappist planets had been a lower priority for Earth and the NeoG than they should have been. An attitude that had allowed former Senator Rubio Tieg both to withhold proper support from the Coalition of Human Nations and to exploit the flow of supplies to the habitats.
But they’d shut that down, so things should be good.
D’Arcy almost laughed at the naivety of his own mind.
“Your new crew members get in today,” Stephan said. “You think you’ll be up and running by the time the others get back?”
“It won’t be a problem.”
“I can have three crews handle it for longer if you need the time, D’Arcy.”
He shook his head. “It won’t be a problem,” he repeated. “We’ll figure it out.”
