Chapter 10

Chapter 10

 

Conner pushed a cleaning cart up the black and red polished floor of the dark stone-like tower hallway. He understood why the tower looked impressive on the outside, but couldn’t imagine why they had to make it spooky on the inside as well.

As he entered a room, a couple of haughtily-dressed Tantalians looked at him, their expressions darkening---if that was possible. The boy said something that sounded dirty and mean, but Conner didn’t understand. The girl said, “What is this ghostie doing here?”

Oh yeah, they’re racist, Conner thought. That could make things difficult.

“Someone get this paste out of my sight,” the boy said.

Another boy stood and walked toward Conner, making a shooing motion. “Foreigners aren’t allowed above the first ten floors, even servants. Go on.”

“Sorry,” Conner mumbled, backing the cart out. He hoped he would be able to keep going, but the boy followed him into the hall. “I’m going,” Conner said.

“I’m just making sure,” the boy replied. “For security reasons. I’m sure you understand.”

Conner almost laughed. This guy felt guilty about his racism toward whom he thought to be a legitimate servant, but that didn’t stop him from being racist. Funny thing was, Conner actually was a spy.

A commotion from the room ahead drew Conner’s curiosity. Several voices were talking in panicked tones. Conner didn’t know what they were talking about, but he heard the word, “defeat.”

His escort turned his attention away from Conner to poke his head into the door. “What was that? What’s happened?”

“The attack on Mithra was a catastrophic failure. Half our fleet destroyed, the other half captured. None made it back to Tantalus.”

“What?” The boy said, panic-stricken.

Conner’s response would have been the same, had he allowed himself to speak, except panicked with joy. The news was better than he could have imagined. Such crushing victory for the Resistance.

But he was focused and undercover on a mission, which meant he had to pretend to be sad. And because he suppressed his happiness, he noticed a treasure poking out of the boy’s pocket, an ID card. The boy was thoroughly distracted, and his butt was sticking out into the hallway. Glancing to both sides to make sure the hallway was empty, Conner reached and plucked the card from his pocket, depositing it in his own front pocket, and continued down the hallway as if following his servantly duty.

With any luck, the news of the battle would be enough to distract people from a lowly “ghostie” pushing a cleaning cart around, and with this card he would have free reign of the tower. It looked like today was going to be a good day.

 

* * *

 

“Well,” Callum said, looking at the image of the the Tarran and Resistance fleet units coasting one after the other through the enormous hyperspace tunnel, “this is a first.”

The communication unit chimed, and Rian had it received on the screen immediately, making it look like a window into the larger-than-life Tantalian bridge and its crew.

A tall girl stood in the center with cheeks sunken like a corpse and a neckline fit for a rebel. “I am General Viall Killetrek of the Tarran Imperial Space Force,” she said. “I demand to know where we are headed.”

“I am Vice Admiral Rian Setcher of the Allied Interplanetary Resistance Fleet. I ask your patience while I confer with my crew.” Rian closed the channel and turned to Callum.

“She mad,” Veronica said. Callum looked to see her grinning in the doorway.

“So Callum,” Rian said, “where are we going?”

“Uh,” Callum stared at him, working his mouth, trying to think of the least bad thing to say. He settled on the truth. “I don’t know. I didn’t want to send the Missile anywhere it could do damage---tempted as I was to sling it right back at Tantalus---so I keyed random coordinates.”

“So we could emerge anywhere.”

“Nowhere, actually. Some random point in space light years away from any star.”

“How long?”

“Uh, probably less than a week.” Callum’s eyes went to Veronica, who gave him an expression that said, Why would you ask me?

“A week?” Rian asked sharply.

“No, no,” Callum said, “probably not.”

“You don’t have any idea, do you,” Rian said.

“I mean, there’s a certain amount of time that the probability is so low that, I mean, we can be certain that it won’t be like a year or anything like---”

“I get the picture.” Rian ordered contact be reestablished. “Our destination is a neutral point in interstellar space. You may also rest assured that we did not intend for you or ourselves to be swallowed up by the hyperspace portal. It was only for your instrument of war crime.”

“Your impudence and negligence will not be forgiven.” Killetrek said.

“Our impudence? It was your side who tried to plunge our planet into a nulcear winter.”

“Particulate winter,” Callum muttered. “There was no nuclear involved.”

Killetrek made a noise like she was getting ready to spit. “Prepare to be destroyed.” She cut the transmission.

“They’re powering weapons,” a boy nearby said.

“Prepare to return fire,” Rian ordered.

Suddenly, a scattering of fireballs wracked the Tarran vessels as their cannons exploded. Some of their smaller ships were destroyed.

Callum inhaled sharply. “Don’t fire!”

“What happened?” Rian demanded.

“I don’t know,” Callum said, “but, remember we’re in hyperspace, not normal space.”

“What does that mean?”

“Apparently it means trying to fire blows up your own weapons.”

Rian pushed a button. “Attention all weapons teams. Do not fire. Remain on standby for now, but absolutely do not fire unless I give the order.”

Killetrek appeared on the screen again. Callum whistled. If looks could kill. “What black magic have you conjured this time?” she said.

Rian grinned, and Callum knew that, because he was a Vice Admiral, it was on purpose. “I’m afraid this time your quarrel is with the laws of physics.”

Killetrek glared for a long moment, and then cut the transmission without another word. The Second Light bridge rang out with self-indulgent laughter.

“Looks like we’ve won our battle,” Rian said. “Let’s hope the rest of the fleet does as well.”

 

* * *

 

The celebration brought the city to life. Music blared from every public venue. Every restaurant and bakery put out sugary and fatty treats. Weather control rolled in clouds over all major cities, upon which elaborate colorful light shows played, bathing the night in psychedelic mystique.

Oliver clapped and hummed along when he caught a melody, dancing with boys and girls he didn’t know. All shared the same energy, which filled the air so thick it could be felt. All were as close as family this night. Of one mind, one spirit: the spirit of victory.

From this state of transcendent revelry, Oliver suddenly he realized he hadn’t seen Mara for a long time. He didn’t know how long it had been. Not hours, he hoped, with a pang of impending guilt. He walked up and down the street, searching the faces.

After a second pass and no luck, he figured she must have found somewhere quiet to get away from all the chaos.

He found her by the canal, sitting with her knees pulled to her chest, watching the light show reflected in the water. She didn’t look up when he sat down beside her, and when he rested his hand on her shoulder she brushed it off. Oliver hesitated, then scooted a few feet away to give her space.

“If you’re mad about what . . . about how I acted on the ship, I’m sorry,” he said gently.

Mara shook her head. “It’s not you.”

She continued to stare silently at the water. Oliver wanted to prod for more. Wanted to ask what was eating her, what he could do for her to be a good boyfriend. His mind would not stop generating things he wanted to say. But he said none of them, because he knew Mara would talk when she felt like talking.

After a long time, Mara spoke. “When we get back to our time,” she said, “where do you see our relationship going?”

“We’ll keep visiting each other all the time, of course.”

“And then?”

Oliver hesitated. “You mean . . .”

“I mean if we grow closer and decide to think about getting married.”

Oliver hummed thoughtfully. “I suppose we’d travel the galaxy together. Maybe find somewhere we’d like to settle down.”

Mara finally looked at him. Her face was gorgeous, her red hair tucked behind her ear, her eyes glowing with the lights of the celebration. She didn’t smile, though, and she seemed to be holding back sadness.

He held her gaze for a long time, wanting to stay in this moment, afraid of what it would mean when it ended. She kept looking at him, hardly blinking. Kept drawing the moment out. Keeping it going. Not letting it end.

Then she blinked several times, and turned her face back to the water. “What if I asked you to come live in Oridion with me?”

Oliver started to get the feeling that something was balanced on the edge of a cliff. “W-why would you want to do that? There’s so much out in the galaxy to see.”

Mara squeezed her eyes shut, and a tear ran down her cheek. “The galaxy,” she said, “this . . . infinite world with infinite places and infinite possibilities . . . it’s your world. My world is small. Familiar. It stays the same year after year.” She took a deep breath. “That’s where I belong. Spending my years among people I know. Worrying only about getting food for the town and the quality of our relationships with each other. Growing old in the same cavern as I was born. That’s the life I want.”

“How can you say that?” Oliver said. “There’s so much out there. So much to see and learn. How could you voluntarily lock yourself up in a box of ignorance?”

Mara looked at him sharply. “I don’t want to walk away from here angry, and neither do you.”

Oliver softened his features. “I’m sorry.”

Mara nodded. “Now I’ll ask you one more time. Will you come and live in Oridion with me?”

Oliver knew that the cart had gone off the cliff. There was no getting it back. “You know I can’t do that.”

“Then it’s settled.”

Oliver shook his head quickly, as if shaking himself awake. “What? Just like that? Surely we can find some kind of compromise.” Oliver found himself standing. “Y-you’re being, you’re being . . .”

“Unreasonable?” Mara offered.

“No!” Oliver sat down again. “That’s the problem. Everything you said makes sense.” He put his hands together and leaned forward. “I want to travel the galaxy with you. See what wonders and mysteries we can find. Meet new people and cultures. You don’t want to do any of that.” He threw his hands up. “Logically, we should break up.”

Mara closed her eyes, tipped her head down, and smiled. “I was worried this was going to be a lot harder. I’m glad you understand.”

Oliver looked away. “I wish it were different.”

“Me too.”

They sat not looking at each other for a long time, the lights in the sky dancing to the rhythm of the music, the chilly night air cocooning them as one by one the threads between them dropped away.