Dark Space Universe by Jasper T. Scott Read online

  “Found it,” Pandora announced, and pointed to a viewport at the nine o’clock position. In the center of the display, a particular star was highlighted with yellow brackets.

  Lucien rotated his chair to face the viewport. He read the distance in light years to the star. It was in scientific notation—2.9e6. Two point nine million light years.

  “How long will it take to calculate a jump there?” Tyra asked.

  “A little over four hours, ma’am.”

  “Get the calculations started.”

  “Aye-aye,” Pandora replied.

  “Troo, send a message back to Astralis. Tell them where we’re going—get the nav data from Pandora—and let me know when they reply.”

  “I is telling them,” Troo replied.

  “Let’s hope they is understanding you,” Lucien muttered.

  Tyra flashed him a wry smile. “Pandora, deploy probes to the surface of Panda-1A-V, IV, and XIV. We’ll collect them on our way back to Astralis.”

  “Deploying probes,” Pandora said.

  “Commander Ortane, set condition blue throughout the ship. Everyone take some down time and meet back here in four hours—at… zero one twenty. Pandora—”

  “Yes, Captain?”

  “You have the conn.”

  Pandora said nothing to acknowledge the hand-over of command.

  Tyra frowned. “Pandora, did you hear what I said?”

  “Yes, ma’am, sorry. I didn’t want to jinx it.”

  Amusement glittered in Tyra’s eyes. “Let me know if there are any new developments.”

  “Aye-aye, Captain.”

  Tyra rose from her chair and turned to Lucien. “Care to join me for a night cap in the officers’ lounge?”

  Lucien nodded. “Sure, why not.”

  * * *

  The officers’ lounge was located at the bow of the galleon, just below the viewing gallery where they’d all met for the first time. Shaped like a U, the lounge was surrounded by viewports: small windows in the private booths lining the sides, and large, floor-to-ceiling ones arrayed in front of the dance floor and games area at the curved end. The ceiling was dark and inscrutable, with small pinprick-sized light fixtures that looked just like stars.

  “Welcome to Starlight,” Tyra said. Classical music played in the background with strings, piano, and a flute all vying for their attention.

  A bot bartender stood dormant behind the bar in the center of the lounge. Besides Pandora, it was the first such bot Lucien had seen aboard the ship—despite Tyra’s claim that they filled most of the crew positions on board. He asked Tyra about that on their way to the bar.

  “Our Galleons are heavily automated,” she explained. We have repair drones, cleaner drones, KP bots, a quartermaster, marines, fighter pilots, and every other kind of bot you’d care to mention, but they’re all docked at their charging stations until needed.”

  “Makes sense,” Lucien said as they reached the bar counter and took their seats. Tyra gestured to the bartender and a pair of blue holoreceptors flared to life as it turned to face them.

  “What’ll it be, Captain?” the bot said in a cheery male voice.

  “Whiskey on the rocks,” she said.

  “And for the XO?”

  “I’ll have a beer,” Lucien replied.

  “Coming right up, officers,” the bot said, and whirred away on two wheels to make their drinks.

  They sat in silence, contemplating the view from the panoramic viewports at the bow. Lucien tried to pick out a certain spider-shaped constellation to find the star where they were headed, but it was impossible. Finding constellations is a lot easier from the surface of a planet, where there are fewer visible stars to play connect the dots with.

  Their drinks arrived just as a loud burst of laughter drowned out the background music. Lucien took a swig of his beer and swiveled on his stool to see who it was. Addy and Jalisa came walking in together, arms looped, and doubled over with amusement, as if they were old friends from school. Maybe they are, Lucien thought. Behind them came Troo and Brak, and last of all… Garek and Tinker. The latter walked gingerly with an arm draped over the old veteran’s shoulders.

  Lucien blinked, surprised to see Tinker up and about so soon. “Guess his injuries weren’t as bad as I thought.”

  “Or maybe our medical tech is just that good,” Tyra said, catching his eye with a wink.

  “And whose fault is that?” Lucien countered.

  “Etherus’s.”

  “So it’s Etherus’s fault that all of our greatest minds decided to hide their advances from the public?”

  “No, it’s Etherus’s fault that we felt the need to hide our advances in the first place.”

  Lucien looked away, deciding not to argue. Addy and Jalisa reached the bar and waved the bartender over. Garek and Tinker arrived a few seconds later and added their orders, while Brak and Troo walked off in the direction of the games area. Just as well. A drunk Gor wasn’t a pretty sight—or for that matter, a telepathic Fossak who’d suddenly lost all of her inhibitions about peeking into other people’s private thoughts.

  “So, you think I’m sexy,” Addy said, taking a seat on the empty bar stool beside Lucien. She took a sip of her beer and watched him over the rim of her mug.

  Tyra arched an eyebrow at her from Lucien’s other side. “How can you take pride in something you were born with?”

  “It’s not about looks,” Addy said. “You’re just as hot as I am, Captain, but sexy is as sexy does, right XO?” Addy asked, and slowly slid a hand up along Lucien’s thigh.

  He eyed her hand, waiting to see how far she’d go with the captain watching.

  Her hand reached his crotch, and Tyra rolled her eyes. “Get a room—or at least a booth,” she suggested, waving at the nearest one she could find.

  “Sounds good to me,” Addy replied. “What do you say, Lucien?”

  “I’m flattered, but I’m not sure fraternization between a superior officer and his subordinates is allowed…” he glanced at Tyra for support.

  She shrugged. “So long as it doesn’t start to get in the way of your jobs, it’s not a problem, and if it does become a problem, we can always re-assign one of you to another ship.”

  “In that case—” Addy grinned and took Lucien’s hand. “—follow me.” She was already leaving the bar.

  Lucien’s arm snapped straight, but he didn’t budge. “Hold on, Addy.”

  Her grin turned to a pout. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing, just… maybe some other time.”

  Addy blinked, then shrugged. “Your loss, Lucy.” She dropped his hand and walked off, heading for the couch where Tinker was busy nursing his drink through a straw and a pained grimace.

  “Well, that’s the first time I’ve seen a man turn down a proposition like that,” Tyra said. “You’re not gay, are you?”

  “So what if I am?” Lucien asked, arching an eyebrow at her.

  “You’re not,” Tyra replied.

  “No,” he agreed.

  “Getting over a break-up? No… that would have played into your motives for coming here, and we’d have found it with the mind probe. You think she’s sexy, but somehow she’s not your type?”

  Lucien shrugged. “Just not in the mood.”

  “Got a headache?” Tyra asked through a wry smile. “Lucy is a more fitting nickname than I realized.”

  Lucien frowned. “You’re obviously young and inexperienced, so I’ve cut you some slack, but here’s a tip: a crusader, or a captain, as you call yourself, doesn’t stoop to the level of her subordinates when they’re tossing around insults, pejorative nicknames, et cetera. Moreover, a competent leader is never sarcastic, arrogant, or condescending to her crew.”

  Tyra took all of that in, watching him with narrowed eyes. Ice clattered in her glass as she took a sip, but she said nothing, so he went on.

  “You need to find some way to earn our respect. Just because we’re Paragons and you’re a cleric, doesn’t m
ean we’re all idiots by comparison.”

  “I know that.”

  “Do you?” Lucien challenged.

  Tyra let out a sigh.

  “How did you get this command? Some kind of nepotism? Your father’s a big-shot at the Academy?” Lucien shook his head. “We never show that kind of favoritism in the Paragons.”

  “Now who’s acting superior?” Tyra asked.

  “Fair enough, but the question stands. If I’m going to be following you into life or death situations, I need to know you have some legitimate claim to your authority—the same way you want Etherus to prove he’s really God.”

  Tyra grimaced. “Guess you’ve got me there. The truth?” she asked, while rocking her tumbler to stir her drink.

  Lucien nodded and took another sip of his beer.

  “We’re all a little arrogant, and all of us are sarcastic and condescending to anyone who hasn’t been to the Academy. Most people accept things blindly, just because Etherus said so. They don’t ask questions, even when those questions are staring them in the face—and science is all about asking questions.”

  “That’s how you see us?” Lucien asked. “As mindless drones?”

  Tyra nodded.

  “No wonder you’re so damned impossible.”

  “But you’re right,” Tyra hastened to add. “I shouldn’t assume superiority just because you’re Paragons. You all left the Icosahedron to come on this mission, and for most of you it’s because you had doubts, because you started asking questions. Like you—subconsciously an agnostic, but consciously a devout Paragon, walking around on egg shells in your own brain.”

  Lucien regarded Tyra with a frown. “I haven’t agreed with that analysis.”

  “The data’s irrefutable.”

  “There you go again,” Lucien said. “Assuming you know better.”

  “It’s not an assumption if there’s evidence to support it,” Tyra said. “This is what I’m talking about. You’re not schooled in science. You’re schooled in—”

  “Combat. Diplomacy. Peace-keeping. Piloting. Marksmanship. Hunting. Survival. Climbing. Zero-G maneuvers. Team leadership—”

  “Okay, okay, I get it.”

  “We have different training and different beliefs, but that doesn’t make us inferior,” Lucien said.

  “You’re right.”

  “So? Stop acting like a cleric and start acting like a captain.”

  “I’m sorry.” Tyra raised her drink to her lips and drained the glass. She set it down on the counter with a sigh. “I can’t promise I’ll change instantly, but I’ll work on it.”

  “Good, and in return, sometime you can teach me more about this religion of science that you clerics believe in.”

  Tyra’s cheeks puffed out with an angry retort, but she appeared to swallow it. “That was a test.”

  Lucien flashed her a grin. “You’re catching on, Tyrant.”

  “That’s Captain to you, Commander. Next time I catch you calling me that, you’ll be busted back to ensign.”

  “Understood. It won’t happen again, Captain. See? You do have some command training in you.”

  Tyra nodded slowly. “I’m a fast learner. I’ll catch on.”

  “Good. Now, maybe you can help me deal with one of my command challenges.” Lucien nodded over to where Garek stood alone in front of a broad viewport, sipping his drink and brooding at the stars. “Any chance you can tell me what happened between Garek and my parents to lose him his rank?”

  Tyra shook her head. “It would be a violation of his privacy. Probe data is confidential. Why don’t you go ask him? He might tell you.”

  “I guess that would be the right approach.” Lucien drained his beer and slid the empty bottle across the bar. It slid a little too far and fell off, but the bartender bot was fast. He caught it in one hand and tossed it over his head, catching it in the other.

  “Show-off,” Lucien said, and held up his index finger. “Another, please.”

  “Coming right up, Commander,” the bot replied, and sent a full bottle sliding back across the bar at high speed. Lucien caught it before it fell off his end of the bar.

  “What’s your name?” he asked.

  “My designation is KP-3.”

  “As in Kitchen Patrol number three?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Lucien glanced at Tyra, and she shrugged.

  The bartender explained, “We are easier for humans to tell apart if our designations indicate our duties aboard the ship,” KP-3 said.

  “That might work for all the other bots, but a bartender needs a name. From now on you’re Kip,” Lucien decided.

  “I am… Kip,” the bot replied, testing his new name.

  “Exactly.” Lucien left the bar and headed for Garek’s corner of the lounge.

  Time to find out what’s got your afterburners smoking, old man.

  Chapter 13

  “Hey there, Garek,” Lucien said as he approached.

  The scarred veteran glanced at him briefly, then looked away and took a sip of his drink.

  Silence stretched between them like a rubber band.

  “Nice view,” Lucien said, nodding to the viewport.

  Garek grunted and took another sip of his drink.

  What was he brooding about? Lucien wondered. And what in the universe had happened between him and his parents? He considered dancing around the issue, trying to lure it out of the man with subtlety, but he wasn’t a big fan of subtlety, and he suspected that neither was Garek.

  “How did you lose your rank?” Lucien asked.

  Garek turned to him with a thin smile. “What makes you think I want to talk about it, sir? You think I’m standing over here by myself because I’m secretly desperate to bare my soul?”

  Lucien shrugged. “I guess I’ll have to go on what I see then—a crusader busted down to champion, all but drummed out of the Paragons, wearing scars on his face like badges of honor, and aged like an old shoe because he thinks that’s the only way he can prove his experience. Oh, and let’s not forget leaving New Earth to come on this mission. You feel like you were treated unfairly, and now you’re having a good old time feeling sorry for yourself.”

  Garek’s face was an expressionless mask. “Are you done?”

  Lucien shook his head. “Not quite. I still haven’t guessed what you did. Made a bad call? Got a bunch of indigenous aliens killed? Ran from a fight?”

  A muscle twitched in Garek’s jaw. “You really want to know what happened?”

  Lucien nodded.

  “All right. We were exploring Andromeda—myself, your mother, your father, and two other crusaders with their galleons. Five in all. My daughter was with me, still a tyro in training. She went out with one of the ground teams to a nearby star, but her team never returned. We sent a follow-up mission to bring them back, and we found them alive. Barely.

  “They’d been tortured half to death by a species of stone-age reptiles, and they were about to be eaten alive. In fact, we arrived just in time to put one poor tyro out of his misery.”

  Lucien grimaced. He had a feeling where this was going.

  “We rescued everyone else,” Garek said. “My daughter had to spend a month in intensive care to erase her scars, re-grow her missing digits, and fix all of her broken bones. She also had to have her memories of the incident erased, but even that wasn’t enough. Just the second-hand knowledge of what had happened to her was enough to induce a full-blown panic attack every time she put on an exosuit. Rather than go through therapy, she decided to leave the Paragons, and she joined the Academy to become a cleric instead. I couldn’t blame her.”

  Lucien nodded. “That’s why you’re here. She’s on Astralis.”

  “Almost all of the clerics are,” Garek replied.

  “I’m sorry. That must have been terrible, but it still doesn’t explain how you lost your rank, or what any of this has to do with my parents.”

  Garek smirked. “I was with the rescue team. So were your paren
ts. We went down with a full legion of marines. I wanted to kill the reptilian bastards for what they did to my daughter, but your parents stopped me. They actually had to stun me and have my men carry me back to my shuttle.

  “When I came to, back aboard my galleon, I pretended to be more reasonable. Your father was there. He talked to me, explained that revenge wouldn’t undo anything that had happened. Like I didn’t already know that.”

  “Revenge isn’t the Paragons’ way,” Lucien said, nodding.

  “So I’ve been told,” Garek replied. “While we were busy calculating our jump home, I armored up and stole a shuttle to pay a visit to the barbarians’ camp. I micro-jumped straight to the planet’s surface to get a head start on anyone who might try to stop me.”

  Lucien blinked, taken aback. Micro-jumping to a planetary surface was risky. Habitable planets all had magnetic fields that interfered with quantum-jump calculations, making them imprecise at best. “You could have ended up a hundred meters underground, breathing a mouthful of dirt.”

  “Well, I didn’t, and I wasn’t exactly in a rational mood, so I didn’t care about the risks. I opened the hatch to find a horde of hungry lizards waiting for me, but I was ready for them. I knocked them all out with stun grenades and I tied them up with stun cords.

  “When they came to, I set to work with a pair of razor swords. Pretty soon my helmet was so badly smeared with lizard blood that I had to take it off so I could see. That’s when one of the beasts broke free and sliced me up with its claws.” Garek ran a hand along the most visible scar on his face, and Lucien noticed half a dozen other hair-thin white lines criss-crossing around it. “I was in such a rage, that I didn’t feel a thing.

  “Your parents found me an hour later, covered in blood, and watching a mountain of lizard bits burn. Actually, I was about to see if they tasted like chicken, but…” Garek shrugged. “I guess it’s just as well they caught me when they did. I might’ve caught a nasty parasite.”

  Lucien felt his gorge rising. He shivered and swallowed it down. “The lizards were sentient?”

  “Highly intelligent, but not very civilized.” Garek smiled. “Sorry you asked?”