Escape Velocity (The Black Star Chronicles Book 1) Page 9

“I am not part of your crew, and I am not on the research team. I am here under order of the Triumvirate Maximus. I, again, request to speak with Aleksandra,” Kali explained.

  The door slid open, and Kali walked in. Aleksandra sat in her chair and motioned for Kali to approach. “What is it little bird?”

  Something about being called little bird drove Kali crazy. She sighed and attempted to hold back her emotions and have a tactful conversation with Aleksandra.

  “I would like to remain awake during the trip,” Kali said.

  “Not happening,” Aleksandra said while hardly paying any attention to Kali, “Anything else?”

  “First, I am the daughter of a Triumvir. I am here under orders of the Triumvirate Maximus, and you should show me the respect due to my position,” Kali explained, “Please stop what you’re doing and pay attention.”

  “Very well, little bird, you have my attention.”

  “Stop calling me that,” Kali ordered.

  “I don’t think I will, and you can’t really make me. You can make me hear your petition, but that is about it.”

  “I will remain out of stasis in order to ensure the safety of the research team during travel to the research area. I don’t think that is unreasonable,” Kali said.

  “We have not planned for rations to feed another mouth during that time. Your request is logistically unsound. You must be in stasis during the travel. Our current level of supplies will not support feeding another mouth for over 280 days during our travels,” Aleksandra explained.

  “Do a one-for-one swap with one of your crew for me.”

  “I can’t. They all have duties to attend to while we’re superluminal.”

  “I can do their duties.”

  “It isn’t that simple.”

  “Why not? Do you think I am not smart enough to do their work?”

  “It isn’t that.”

  “Then what is it?”

  “You have to know what their duties are. You have to know the ship. You don’t know any of that.”

  “Have someone teach me.”

  “We don’t have time for that.”

  “Why not?”

  “We’re running a skeleton crew. There aren’t going to be extra people to neglect their duties while they chase after you making sure you do what you’re supposed to do.”

  “Well, who is the least essential person?” Kali asked.

  “It doesn’t matter. You’re not switching with them,” Aleksandra insisted.

  “I wouldn’t mind going in stasis Domina,” said someone from one of the stations on the bridge.

  “Not now,” Aleksandra said.

  “What do you do here?” Asked Kali.

  “I am communications. Hardly an essential task and if you know how to work a holocom, you can work one of these stations.”

  “You’re not helping,” Aleksandra told her communications person.

  “I am sure we could spare a day or two of rations while I show her what is expected. Then she can take over and I can go down for the rest of the trip.”

  “See, Commander, it is possible. Why not give me a chance? If it doesn’t work out, you can put me in stasis and wake them up later,” Kali said.

  “I see,” Aleksandra said. “Let me think about it. For now, the answer is no, and I’ll let you know.”

  “That’s it. That’s all you can say?” Kali asked.

  “For the moment. I’ve heard your petition, and I owe you no further obligation. Leave my bridge before I have you escorted off,” Aleksandra said in her official tone.

  “Very well. I’ll be awaiting your decision,” Kali said as she walked off the bridge.

  _ _ _

  Kali entered the quarters assigned to the research crew, and Ryn approached her. “So how did it go?”

  “She is considering it. I think she will let me stay awake.”

  “I doubt it. I think she just told you that to get you out of her hair while she makes final preparations for stasis,” Ryn said.

  “You’re not being helpful, you know that?” Kali said.

  Ryn chuckled and said, “I told you I’d let you ask. I didn’t tell you I’d help you make it happen.”

  “Fair enough,” Kali said walking to her bunk. On her way, she passed Lia’s bunk and noticed that Lia looked particularly forlorn. “You ok, Lia?”

  Lia sniffled and wiped her eyes. Kali hadn’t noticed the tears. “I am ok. Just thinking how much Keon would have enjoyed being here right now,” Lia said.

  “Oh, I am sorry about that. He would be pretty excited huh?” Kali said.

  “Very. There were supposed to be two convoys. Ryn was going to send one destroyer and one cargo train with the gravitational projectors ahead of the main research crew.”

  “Why would he do that?” Kali asked.

  “So we could work on the final calculations on Trinity while they traveled. It’d give us an extra six months.”

  “So why not work while we travel out there?” Kali asked.

  “Because the food is too expensive for that many people in space that long,” Lia explained.

  “But since Keon,” Lia teared up again, “Uh, died. We had to change our plans.”

  “I am sorry for your loss. Were you two close?”

  “Thanks,” Lia said wiping her tears again, “Yes. I think we could have gotten married if he would have been a Seraphim. I loved him, but we can’t breed down.”

  “Stupid rule if you ask me. My parents proved to the world that it doesn’t matter. If you love someone, you should be able to be with them.”

  “I never thought of it like that. But genetics are something you can't argue with.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It never would have worked. For us to mate. What kind of monster would be born?” Lia asked.

  “Oh. Half Seraphim and half Cherubim. I mean I don’t know. I heard the Empyreans did crazier things trying to perfect genetics.”

  “Yeah, like killing malformed children or torturing underperforming students for the sake advancement. I don’t know that I could live in a society like that.”

  “I heard mothers didn’t even see their children until after the scientist cleared them. Then they hoped their children made it through the rigorous testing and standards set forth by the Ascendant leadership,” Kali explained.

  “Just barbaric if you ask me. They call themselves Ascendant but stoop to such barbarism.”

  “Kind of hypocritical, huh?”

  “You could say that,” Lia said.

  Kali had the feeling Lia wanted to spend some time alone and said, “Yeah. Try to enjoy the trip anyways, Lia. I may not have known him well, but that's what I think Keon would have wanted.”

  “Kali,” Lia said, “Could I ask you something?”

  “Of course.”

  “How did you deal with your father’s death?”

  “Well, I didn’t for so long. I killed people and eventually went down a very dark path.”

  “So, it’s all true?”

  “What’s all true?”

  “What they say about you?”

  “Well I don’t know everything that is rumored so it is hard to say if everything is true or not. Plus, I like to keep my name in the clear,” Kali explained.

  “I understand. I don’t feel enraged but like guilty I couldn’t protect him.”

  “Exactly. I know exactly how you feel,” Kali said.

  “How did you do it?”

  “Do what?”

  “Let it go.”

  “I haven’t let it go, trust me, Lia.” Kali said, “I’ve just seen that I may need to adjust my ways because the means I am using may not be justified by the end I am seeing. If you follow me.”

  “Not exactly.”

  “Well for example, when my father was attacked at our estate I flew out of the house and killed the attackers. That is rather justifiable. However, let’s say you support the gendercide and I kill you here and now just because you side with them
doesn’t give me a reason to kill you.”

  “I think I am starting to see your point.”

  “What I am getting at is, I want the gendercide to stop, but I need to find a better way to make it stop than killing everybody who supports it,” Kali said.

  “Yeah, I’d agree with that,” Lia said.

  “You know, don’t tell him, but Ryn has helped me a lot with it. I never talked to anybody about it before and he pulled it out of me. Slowly at first but over time he dug deeper and pulled harder. He even put his own life on the line.”

  “Wait, what? Ryn’s life was in danger?”

  “I shouldn’t talk about it. I don’t think he wants anyone to know, plus this goes a long way with me keeping my name clean. So, I think I’ll decline to comment on that,” Kali said.

  “Ok, everybody, time to get into stasis,” announced a Dawnbreaker crewman. He motioned and said, “If you all can follow me I’ll escort you to the stasis rooms.”

  The research team secured their belongings and started heading towards the exit of the room to follow the escort. Kali stayed behind.

  “Kali, that means you too,” said Ryn.

  “You’re not my Dominus, remember, Ryn?”

  “You know, this reflects poorly on your mother,” Ryn paused and emphasized, “and your father.”

  “How?”

  “Your petulance tells people who see this that you were raised poorly and their reputations suffer because of it. Now, I know that that isn’t the case. You think you’re doing what is right in your mind. However, other people who don’t know what I know may think otherwise.”

  “I can see your point.”

  “So, do you want people to think Egil raised you like that?”

  “No,” Kali said.

  “Then let’s go!” Ryn encouraged.

  Kali got up and joined the crowd headed to the stasis rooms. After several twists and turns through the Dawnbreaker they entered the room with the ship’s stasis pods.

  The pods injected the occupant with a paralytic and anesthesia before reducing the temperature and suspending the animation of the Empyrean within. This would allow them to survive as long as the pod could maintain the freeze.

  If the pod lost power the auxiliary power storage in the pod stored enough energy to properly bring the inhabitant back to normal conditions and resuscitate them. However, if the ship decompressed and lost power, the occupant would die.

  This caused many Empyreans to be wary of the system. Although death by stasis was rare, that did not calm the fear associated with it. One by one the research crew checked in for processing.

  The staff assigned them a pod number, and they reported to the pod for processing. They took their clothes off and checked them in for storage during the stasis. They each stepped into their pod and the attendant initiated the automatic sequence to put them in stasis.

  After entering stasis, the pod went down beneath the floor, and the next pod entered from the ceiling. An automated system organized the pods out of sight.

  The stasis staff could call any pod to any bay if someone needed to exit stasis early. Otherwise, the whole lot processed automatically at the wake date and time.

  “Name?” The attendant asked.

  “Kali.”

  “There must be some kind of mistake. You’re not on the list. Please step aside. Next.”

  “Wait, what? I am not on the list?” Kali asked the attendant.

  “I didn’t stutter, you’re not on the list. Next.”

  “Hey! Don’t talk to me like that. You’re out of line. Now, I expect an answer. If you can’t get it for me, get someone who can,” Kali ordered.

  “Yes, Domina,” the attended said. They called over another stasis attendant, “Will you help her? She’s not on the list.”

  “Come with me.” The new attendant motioned. Kali followed him to a holostation where he reviewed the logs. “Here, Commander Aleksandra exempted you from stasis.”

  Kali’s heartbeat increased with joy, “Really?”

  “The logs don’t lie. If I were you, I’d rather be in stasis. The trip is going to be really boring.”

  “Let’s hope. Thank you!” Kali said. She scanned the queue for Ryn. She wanted to tell him the good news. She found him about to enter his stasis pod. She rushed over and said, “Wait!”

  “What is it, Kali?” Ryn said with a puzzled look.

  “It worked! I don’t have to go into stasis.”

  “That’s great news. Keep watch over us, Kali. I’ll see you in seven months,” Ryn said. He entered his pod. The attendant for his pod initiated the sequence, and Ryn fell fast asleep before the pod froze his body.

  Kali watched as one by one the rest of the crew entered stasis. She continued to watch as the rest of the Dawnbreaker crew reported to enter stasis.

  After several hours, everyone scheduled for stasis had been processed, and the din of the crowd had stopped. Despite being in that room for the last several hours, somehow it now felt so much larger to Kali.

  “Kali?” a Dawnbreaker crewman asked.

  “Yes?” she responded.

  “I am Novalie, but you may call me Nova. I’ll be your trainer for a few days until I enter stasis as your replacement.”

  “Excellent. Where do we start?”

  “First, we need to get you set up with Dawnbreaker credentials. Follow me.”

  Kali and Novalie started walking out of the stasis room. “So where do I get my credentials?” Kali asked.

  “First we have to get your visitor credentials upgraded to Dawnbreaker crew credentials at the security office. Then we should visit the communications office to get you system credentials, and that should do it,” Novalie explained.

  “So how long have you been aboard the Dawnbreaker Novalie?”

  “Nova, please. I’ve been here for 300 years.”

  “That’s crazy. You have been on this ship since before I was even born.”

  “How old are you?”

  “I’m 136, you?”

  “Not quite 2,000 yet.”

  “So, what do you do here?”

  “I run the communication section. I will be training you on what Aleksandra will expect from you during your time as my stand in.”

  “Which is?”

  “Not too much, we don’t receive communications while superluminal. So mostly you ensure ship-wide communication stays up. It's pretty much foolproof. As long as the ship is powered up, you shouldn’t have any problems,” Novalie explained.

  “Do you know what changed her mind?”

  “Who’s mind, about what?” Nova asked.

  “Aleksandra’s mind about me going into stasis.”

  “I have no idea. She told me to fetch you and get your credentials set up so I could train you before I entered stasis. Which is fine by me because I think the trip will be dreadfully boring,” Nova said.

  “Are there any members of the crew you don’t trust?”

  “That’s a strange question. Why do you ask?” Nova said.

  “Because I have a bad feeling. This crew recently lost a Cherubim to gendercide violence. I don’t want anything else bad to happen,” Kali explained.

  “I guess we’re sort of insulated from the whole gendercide thing. We’re hardly ever planet side and when we are it is never for long.”

  “Do you have any new crew?”

  “Actually, we do. We have a new electrical tech who joined when we picked your crew up.”

  “What do you know about them?”

  “Only that they’re a highly qualified Seraphim.”

  “Oh,” Kali said pondering why a Seraphim would take an electrician job on a destroyer.

  “She seemed nice. Met her when she came to get credentialed; said she wanted to see space.”

  “She?”

  “Yeah, though I can’t remember her name. Tall, pretty green eyes and light brown hair. I never forget a face; it is names that escape me.”

  “Well, she’s going into stasis
, right?”

  “I don’t think so. I am pretty sure almost the entire electrical crew remains awake. Especially with this many in stasis. Imagine if we had a power issue. What would we do?”

  “Good point,” Kali said.

  “You don’t think she could be one of them?” Nova asked.

  “One of?”

  “The gendercide people?”

  “I doubt it.” Kali lied. She had a terrible feeling about the new crew member and couldn’t overlook it.

  “Oh, ok,” Nova said. “Here is the security office. After you.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Nova, what brings you by? And with such pretty company, how are you gorgeous?”

  “Bruce! Don’t mind him, Kali, he’s a big flirt. I need you to issue her Dawnbreaker credentials per Aleksandra,” Nova explained.

  “Can do!” Bruce said as he got to work on Kali’s credentials, “What is a lovely lady like yourself doing on a ship like this?”

  “My mother, Triumvir Genevieve, ordered me to protect the leader of this research team. Their research is significant to the Triumvirate Maximus,” Kali explained.

  “Oh well, your reputation precedes you, Kali.” Bruce’s flirtatious demeanor switched to his official tone.

  “What is that supposed to mean?” Kali asked.

  “Nothing,” Bruce said. “Please place your finger here for DNA sample.”

  “Wait. What is that supposed to mean?”

  “It's nothing. Forget I said it.”

  “No, you’re going to tell me what you meant or I’ll….”

  Bruce cut her off, “You’ll what? Come over here and make me? Like I said, your reputation precedes you.”

  Kali took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “I see your point.” She placed her finger on the pad Bruce previously indicated. An automated beep sounded and she picked up her finger.

  “You’re in our system now. You shouldn’t have any problem accessing any of the ship, provided Aleksandra grants you access,” Bruce explained.

  “Thank you, Bruce,” Nova said. Kali and Nova turned and left the security office heading for the bridge.

  “I am sorry about that back there. I am really trying to work on that,” Kali said.

  “Oh it’s ok. I’ve heard your story. I don’t blame you one bit. If you asked me they had it coming.”

  “Oh?” Kali said.