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“Daisy, you want to take us up?” Atom swept onto the bridge.
“Sure, boss,” Daisy rumbled from the pilot’s seat. “Got a dest in mind?”
“I’ll figure it when we get off this rock. We’ve a full hold and money in our pockets. I’d say it’s time we move on.”
Something brushed against Atom’s leg, eliciting a startled jump.
“What the...” he turned to find a miniature cheetah purring as it wandered about his feet. “What is this?”
“Oh, that’s just Mae,” Daisy rumbled a laugh as he ran the ship through a preflight check. “She goes with me wherever the black takes me.”
Atom stared at the knee-high feline, dumbfounded.
“No pets on the ship,” he sputtered.
“You never said that when I signed on,” Daisy mumbled as he focused on the lights dancing across his console. “Do you want to find a new pilot? I guarantee you won’t tag anyone good as me.
“Or crazy enough to do what needs doing,” he grinned.
Atom stared down at him, weighing his options.
“I like cats,” he shrugged as the cat wandered about the bridge. “But, I’ve never seen one on a ship before.”
“That tells me something about you,” Daisy gave a lazy grin as he clicked his tongue. The cat hopped up into his lap and spun a few times, kneading his legs with needle-like claws before settling into a purring ball. “Only military ships don’t allow pets.”
He frowned as he continued with his pre-flight check.
Atom stared at Daisy’s back, clenching his jaw as he processed the statement and its ramifications.
“Mae can stay,” he leaned on the back of Daisy’s seat with a resigned air. “Maybe she’ll keep the mouse population down in lieu of a more mechanical pest control. I can be on board with that.
“Just make sure she doesn’t mingo on my pillow,” Atom said as he turned to leave.
“Don’t leave your door open,” Daisy shot back with a good-natured laugh.
––––––––
Atom sat on the metal landing overlooking the hold. He dangled his legs and leaned on the railing. Below, the hold floor sat stacked with beef laden cryo-crates.
“It’s a fortune on the right market,” he mumbled as he pressed his cheek against his arm. “Question is, can we hit the right market on our way out to Mary?”
“I’ve routed several courses that will take us to prime markets for our current cargo,” Kozue stated. “Unfortunately, none of them follow what you would call a direct route.
“The other option is to take a loss on our cargo,” she said with concern.
“I don’t see how the crew would like that very much.”
“Is it their decision to make?”
“On some level,” Atom replied as he watched Margo run through an open patch in the maze of cryo-crates, following a flash of fur. “Their cut depends on what we can sell the cargo for. I don’t think they’ll want to pitch in if we dip below the profit line. I sure don’t.”
“Then you need to converse with them and see what they are willing to do.”
Blowing out a weary sigh, Atom climbed to his feet. “Keep an eye on Go for me,” he rubbed his stubbled cheeks and smiled down at his beautiful child as she scurried after her new four-pawed playmate.
“Sure on, cap,” Kozue’s casual words gave Atom pause.
He furrowed his brow and looked up into the empty space above. “And tell the others I want to hold a meet in the galley.”
Atom left the hold and double-stepped the short staircase to the crew level. As he passed the crew quarters Shi emerged from her narrow cabin and fell in beside him.
“What’s on the dock?”
“We need to figure out exactly where we’re going.”
“You aim to tell me we ain’t just idly floatin’ about the black? Could a fooled me. I reckon we ain’t had much of a clear course since I stepped foot ‘board the One Way Ticket.”
“Profit,” Atom ducked through the galley hatch to find Daisy and Byron already seated at the table. “My only compass has been profit to this point.”
Atom nodded to the others and slid into the booth. Shi followed suit with a swaggering grace, but left a careful cushion between them. Without a hitch she flipped out a thin blade and began trimming her short nails.
“So, what’s floating?” Daisy growled.
“I own this ship,” Atom began. “I’ve got a responsibility to keep her on the float and a good part of that is turning a profit at every port. Now you know how it all breaks down. You know you each get one share and I get two, one for me and one for the ship. That share buys fuel, kip, and general upkeep. Load up doesn’t cost anything extra as I take that before we divvy.
“But I never considered taking a loss,” Atom paused and looked around the table. “If we take a loss, we might not have enough to fill the hold. If I can’t do that, then I don’t have the cred to pay out to you.”
“Why would we ‘ave to take a ‘it?” Byron’s mind turned figures as he spoke.
“We have a destination,” Atom nodded. “Problem is, there’s no call for fresh beef anywhere along our route.”
Daisy narrowed his eyes and studied Atom. “Why you telling us this? I’ve never been on a ship where the cap talks so to the crew. Everywhere else it’s simply do what’s ordered and you’ll get your pay when the cap’s good and ready.”
“I’ve been on ships worse than that,” Atom studied the table, trying to decide how much of his life to divulge. “I’ve been on ships where a crewman would throw himself out an airlock at the captain’s command.
“I have no desire to run a ship that way,” Atom lifted his chin. “I don’t want to run on fear. You all have a say in what we do, seeing as it’s your livelihood too.”
Silence filled the galley. Shi broke the tension by snapping her blade shut. With measured movement she swept her trimmings into her hand and carried them over to the recycler. She wandered to the narrow range and plugged in a water cube. She hesitated a moment before flipping on the heat.
The others watched her actions.
“I for one, appreciate havin’ a voice for the first time,” she drawled with her back to the table. “Makes me feel a part of the crew.”
“You was crew as soon as you nabbed the job,” Byron glanced at Atom.
Atom nodded in agreement.
“I know, but this way feels stronger,” she pulled the cube from its socket and poured the steaming water into a metal mug. “I’m an outrider, always have been. Ain’t got much use for getting’ close to folks, seein’ as I usually move on right quick. Don’t like spendin’ too much time on one spot, neither.
“But I reckon this is different,” she pondered.
“What I say seems to make a difference in what I’ve got to go an’ do,” she returned to the table, blowing steam away from the mug of fresh bitter. “Meanin’ to say, I appreciate you askin’ me my o-pine on the next step.”
“I aim for something different,” Atom studied the table again. “I can’t go back to the way things were. If your lives are affected by my choices, you need a say.”
“So what’s keepin’ us from finding a market where we’ll spin a profit on this beef?” Byron asked. “We’re already a day out from Rommel. Seems we should ‘ave made this decision before we broke orbit.
“Where’re we ‘eaded if not for landfall?”
“We are floating on a short burn,” Atom leaned back in his seat. “We’re headed for nowhere, but we are direct between our final destination and the port where Kozue calculates our highest profits.
“A course adjustment and a long burn should put us on our way, minimal loss on time and fuel,” he crossed his arms and looked at the others, awaiting a reply.
“I’d always burn for the profits,” Daisy shrugged. “But that doesn’t tell me what the final dest is. That might play into what we do.”
“We need to drop off the passengers,” Atom stated.
Byron scrunched his eyebrows and scratched at his ear. “The two blues?”
“Yeah. They’re headed to the Shelley system.”
“How much they shellin’?”
“Usual fare.”
“Makes no sense,” Daisy cut in. “Shelley’s down the Fingers. All bodies know beef sells better in the Palm. If you’ve split the difference, you really are floating us to the black, straight out to nothing.
“Do they know you’re talking about taking their one week trip and turning it into three?” Daisy leaned forward, intimidating despite the peaceable look on his face.
“No, I haven’t talked to them yet,” Atom tensed for confrontation.
“Yet,” Daisy leaned back and began drumming his fingers on the table. “They should probably know.
“But,” Daisy glanced to the others. “Regardless of what they say, I vote profit.”
“Profit,” echoed Byron.
Atom turned to look at Shi. Sipping her piping bitter, she studied the depths of her mug. Then she looked up at Atom with a steady glare.
“I say profit, seein’ as they’re just passengers,” a dark smile flashed, but failed to touch her flinty eyes. “Unless they’re willing to cover the difference.”
“Profit it is,” Atom clicked his tongue in thought, only to have Mae materialize on the seat beside him with a purr. Startled, he motioned for Shi to let him up from the table, and then he edged past the cat. “Daisy, set us a course for the Palm. I’ll run stats with Koze and let you know which system we’re floating for.”
“On it,” Daisy extracted his bulk from the booth and padded after Atom. Once beyond the galley hatch he halted Atom with a whisper. “Why we really headed to Mary?”
Atom kept his eyes fixed forward.
“I know it ain’t to drop a pair of passengers,” Daisy continued. “Fare ain’t near enough and I’m not the only one seeing that. I might just be the only one with the stones to actually ask.”
“They asked for help,” Atom said without turning.
“And just who are you that people come half across the Hand to ask for your help?”
Atom swung to face Daisy. He squinted up in the dim light of the hallway, trying to decide how much information he could and should pass on. He scowled up at the ursine brute.
Daisy waited with stoic patience, hands tucked in his pockets.
“I think you’ve figured out some of my past,” Atom said. He rubbed the back of his neck, at a loss for words.
“Captain Ulvan,” Roger Thach burst up the stairwell from the passenger level with panic in his eyes. “Your AI just inform us of your decision to make for Knuckles before you turn your ship for Mary.”
He threw himself on his knees and clutched at Atom’s hand. “We cannot last three weeks,” he pleaded. “The time we used finding you may have been too much. Everybody could be wiped from planet face. You promise us help and you cannot take back your word.”
“I can if I so choose,” Atom fixed Roger with a cold stare.
Beside him Daisy stiffened.
“But I am not a man to go back on my word,” Atom rose to his full height, but his tone remained soft. “What am I without my word and my name?
“I told you that I’d help you. That I will. I need to take care of mine first,” he pulled his hand from Thach’s grasp and stepped back. He crossed his arms defensively, but he noted Daisy leaning closer to the man with looming menace. “If I can’t turn a profit, it hurts my crew. I’ll get to your people as soon as we drop our cargo for that profit.
“It’s the way it has to be,” a glimmer of the Lord High Admiral seeped out.
Thach pressed his forehead to the floor.
“We pay double on any price you find in Knuckles,” he lifted his head to sneak a timid glance at Atom. “Or maybe even Palm.”
Atom stared at the prostrate man, his mouth flapped like a landed fish a couple times before he gathered himself and lifted his wide eyes to Daisy.
“It’ll shave two weeks,” Daisy grinned. “And keep the family black.”
Atom narrowed his eyes at the words. Then he cleared his throat. “We started as a group of wanderers who fell into a crew. But I think you’re right. We are becoming a family, creating our own small han.
“Roger, we’ll put it to the family, but I don’t see how they could turn your offer down.”
“We don’t have to,” Daisy grinned as he glanced back toward the galley. “They all voted profit at the table. Seems I have a new course to plot in the nav-comp. With your say so, Cap.”
Atom hesitated a moment before nodding his consent.
The hulking pilot knuckled his forehead. With unusual grace for a man so large, he ducked into the pit and dropped into his seat.
Grabbing the miner by the shoulder, Atom lifted the man to his feet.
“You sure you can afford to pay up on this offer?” he guided the man back toward the galley. “I was planning on making it all the way out to the Palm. They pay top cred for fresh beef there.”
“You come through on your end. Leave payment to me. With freedom we will be able to pay whatever you want on your cargo,” Roger gave a hopeful smile.
“That’s a big if, but if I can’t pull this off I don’t plan on being around to complain about payout,” he looked around the empty galley. “Just make sure you keep my people out of this and if I fail, get them away safely.”
He stopped at the far door and turned to face Thach. “If I die, the ship will be theirs, but I’m leaving it to my AI to tell them. But that’s only if I can’t help you.”
Thach nodded, eyes wide with amazement. Then he vanished.
“So they’re family now?” Kozue asked.
“Closest thing Margo has,” Atom looked worried.
––––––––
Two days into their burn for the Nievaal System proximity alarms woke Atom from a light doze as he tried to snatch a nap after working a brutal shift with Byron repairing a ruptured coupler in the power plant. The coupler had caused minimal damage and while they lost acceleration time, the One Way Ticket maintained velocity to keep on schedule for their destination.
Under Byron’s direction Atom and Shi had cleaned and assisted as the mech shut down the main system and shifted life support over to back-ups. The procedure left Atom sweaty and grime covered, but in good spirits.
Calm, but exhausted, he had showered and collapsed into his rack, lulled to sleep by Margo’s gentle snoring.
Hours or minutes passed before Kozue wrenched him awake.
“Koze, what’s happening?” he demanded as he blinked in confusion.
Dry and gritty, his eyes refused to focus on anything despite the dim light Kozue kicked up in his cabin.
“Distress call,” she replied.
“Class?”
“Small transport. It looks to be a C-617 Swallow. Passenger carrier.”
“What’s the problem?” he whispered as he swung his legs off his bunk and cradled his head in his hands.
“From the info burst: a fuel line ruptured on the mech deck; fuel ignited causing undetermined damage to the power plant; vented the mech deck to contain fire. Also, it seems they have lost crew members in the incident and their AI is offline.”
“Tell Daisy to punch an intercept course and let them know we’re on our way.”
With a weary sigh he rose and snatched his dirty shirt from the floor. He pulled it over his head as he shambled to the door. There he yawned and glanced back at Margo to make sure she had slept through. Satisfied, he ducked through his hatch into the hall and headed toward the bridge.
Snapping his suspenders up with one hand, he tried to smooth down his unruly curls with the other.
“What’s the clax for?” Shi asked as she appeared from her room with sleep matted hair and a long loose shirt that hung to her knees.
“Prox alert,” Atom trotted for the bridge.
Shi padded along barefoot behind him. “Proximity to what?” she asked through a yawn.
“Another ship.”
“We taking her?” Shi perked.
Atom flashed a disappointed glance and shook his head.
“We don’t pirate,” he stated as he ducked through the galley and emerged on the other side. “I’ll scav a wreck, but I won’t take life that don’t need taking.”
“Fair enough,” Shi shrugged and tried to tame her hair with her thin leather thong. “So we aim to aid these folk?”
Atom nodded as he entered the bridge. “It’s the code.
“Daisy what can you tell me?” Atom leaned on Daisy’s chair and peered out into the void.
“Right now, not a whole lot more than what Kozue already passed along,” Daisy sat at the yoke and scowled into the black. “We’re still too far for a visual, but from their burst they only have four passengers on the ship. Tack that onto two surviving crew and I’ll state for the record, they’re traveling fair light for this run.”
“Too light?” Atom straightened.
“Even I ken that,” Shi yawned as she hopped to perch on the navigator’s console. “Swallow class, even basic mod will carry forty fare.”
“Shi’s right,” Daisy said. “A C-class should double that easily, triple if they pack tight. For some reason they’re only burning with four. That means they’re wasting creds for this run. They’re up to something.”
“Sure seems off,” Shi tucked her long shirt between her legs before folding up to sit cross-legged and watch the proceedings.
Atom looked back at her in thought. “Daisy, let me know when we’re in hailing distance.”
“I could send a burst now.”
“I know, but I want to see who I’m talking to. Meantime, I’m grabbing a mug of bitter. I need to be awake for what’s ahead.”
Grumbling as he walked from the bridge, Atom stretched his neck. “It’s been too long since I pulled a twenty and only got a couple hours of rack time before the sirens called me back.”
He mumbled along as he made his way to the galley. Behind his back Daisy and Shi exchanged a puzzled glance.
––––––––
“Atom,” Shi poked her head into the galley to find the captain in the booth leaning on a fist, fast asleep. She kicked the seat. “Cap, they’re in hail range.”
Snorting with surprise, Atom bolted up straight as a ramrod. “How long?”
“Hour plus,” she shrugged. Shi had showered and somehow looked as fresh and deadly as ever.
Atom noted the bulk of her pistol belt beneath her rugged poncho.
“Expecting trouble?” he slid from the booth and tossed down his cold bitter.
Somehow the hour nap put him in a different frame of mind. He wiped his eyes and glanced about the galley. Byron stood at the range, pouring himself a cup of bitter.
Atom gave Shi a tired, lopsided grin.
“Never know,” Shi tucked her short hair behind her ears and sauntered from the galley.
Atom followed a step behind.
“Distance,” he asked Daisy, ducking into the bridge.
“Ten thou. I’m in d-cell,” the pilot leaned back and interlaced his fingers behind his head. “We should intersect in roughly forty-five, but we’re in vid range now.”
“Good, hail and get them up on the scope, Shi,” he turned to his small command console and focused on the blank screen. He glared, willing the screen to work. Eventually it flickered to life and a thin Asian woman looked back. She seemed surprised by the face that met her, but in a heartbeat she composed herself.
“I am Mei Ling,” she spoke fluent common, although with a clipped accent. “Captain O’Dell of the Queen Kriller was on the mech deck when the fuel line ruptured. We owe our lives to that man, but we are drifting at the moment and both the captain and mech were flushed when O’Dell purged the fire.”
“Sounds like a heap of trouble fell on your head there,” Atom glanced over at Byron as the boy wandered onto the bridge sipping his bitter. “Might be we could offer some aid, but how do we know you aren’t aiming to roll us the second we lock ports?”
“Scan us,” the woman’s voice held a tinge of panic. “You can see we’ve six breathers aboard and we’re running on auxiliary power.”
“How come the crew isn’t fixing up your rig?”
“There’s a pilot and a cook left breathing, sir,” she looked deep into Atom’s eyes. “If you don’t help us, we’re as good as dead.”
“You’re in the lane, I’m sure some good sa-mary would give you aid,” Atom drew back from the screen and looked over to where his crew sat listening. “Why is the Kriller running so light?”
Mei Ling hesitated, her eyes dropped.
“Don’t lie,” Atom wore a pleasant smile. “It won’t do you any good.”
The woman bowed her head. “We’re on an errand from our han.”
Atom studied the woman, his smile unflinching. “What han would that be?”
“Karahkwahan,” she lifted her chin with pride.
Atom turned the name over, rolling it on his tongue.
“Karahkwahan,” he sighed. “I don’t suppose this errand would have anything to do with the MacKenziehan?”
“You know of our family rivalry?” Mei Ling looked surprised. “We are to go to war with them and I’ve been sent to raise some of our bannermen.”
“Can’t say I know too intimately of your dealings, but I remember hearing rumors of a long-standing feud between your two families. I’ve no ties to either. So, if I have your word as a Karahkwa that you aim to behave, I think we can offer you some assistance.”
“My word is my bond,” Mei Ling stepped back from the screen and with a formal bow, extended her hands in supplication.
“Can you send us docking codes?”
“I believe so.”
“Good, we should be coupling within the hour,” Atom cut the connection and turned to Daisy. “Keep on the intercept course. We’re going to see what help we can give these folks.”
“Works for me,” Daisy eyeballed his displays and gave the yoke a corrective tug. “I never like leaving folk floating in the black. I sure wouldn’t like being stuck out here without any hope.”
––––––––
By the time the One Way Ticket approached the Queen Kriller, Margo had risen and wandered up to the bridge. She watched with sleep clouded eyes as Daisy brought the ship into a delicate proximity and with an expert hand, matched the Queen Kriller’s velocity.
Shi absently ruffled Margo’s dark curls as the girl wandered past. “Atom, I’ve talked to Byron and he’s ready to head over.
“Should we all go?” she ducked her head in Margo’s direction.
Atom shook his head. “Shi, you and By are with me. We’ll see what we can do to help over there. Daisy, I’m leaving you in charge of the ship,” he pulled an extra pistol from the back of his belt. “I’m leaving this with you in case things melt. If they do I want you to burn for the nearest port.
“Don’t worry about us.” Atom cocked his eyebrows.
Snatching his hands back as if Atom held an uncontained core, Daisy shook his head. “I don’t use guns, never have. They’re too messy and nothing good ever comes from them.”
“I disagree,” Shi sneered, flipping her poncho back to reveal her brace.
Atom hesitated. “Fair enough,” he slid the pistol back beneath his brown coat. “Either way about it, you save the ship. We’ll find our way back to you.”
“And Go?” Shi straightened her poncho.
“She’s with me, of course. We don’t part company unless absolutely necessary. Margo and I are the only family we have, so I wouldn’t let the black of space separate us.”
“You sure about that?” Kozue’s haunting whisper filled his ears.
“I’ll grab By and meet you down at the lock,” Shi glanced at Margo and slipped from the bridge.
“Daisy, the ship is yours.”
––––––––
Daisy nestled the two ships together like coupling whales. Only the slightest shudder reverberated through the hull to let Atom know when to throw the switch and extend the docking umbilical.
“He’s so smooth, I never would have guessed he had trouble with the drink,” Atom said.
“Reckon he’s been tipplin’ aboard?” Shi asked.
“Don’t think so. I don’t keep any aboard. Too many ways to die out here, we don’t need to add to that by dancing with the viper.”
“He could’ve brought it back aboard in his ruck.”
“I suppose he could have,” Atom slapped at the controls as the umbilical locked onto the Queen Kriller’s hatch. “But I haven’t smelled it on him. He hasn’t been any trouble. In fact I would rate him with some of the top pilots I’ve known in my day.”
“But he ain’t had the shakes yet,” Shi pulled her pistols out one at a time and subjected them to a rigorous inspection. Satisfied, she cocked them and settled her poncho to hide her figure, and her instruments of death.
Atom followed suit, dwelling on her words as he did so. Pistol on his hip and his second gun tucked in the holster at the back of his belt, he checked them for load and cleanliness. Lost in thought, he spun the chamber against his palm, feeling for any speck of dirt in the mechanism. Then with a snap and a flourish he secreted them away.
“You’re bringin’ your rail?” Shi asked.
“I’m not that good,” Atom laughed and drew the pistol from his hip. “Conventional. I know it’s still dangerous, but I don’t aim to punch a hole in a person and then the ship.
“What do you think of Daisy?” he looked down at Margo as he slid his pistol home.
“Daisy,” Margo squealed the pilot’s name with a broad grin.
“She likes him,” Byron looked back and forth between the adults.
“That works for me,” Atom turned back to the hatch in the floor and squinted at the closed portal. “Kids can tell you more about a person’s spirit than any test or conversation could ever hope to reveal.
“Thoughts on what we’re getting into?” he asked as he craned his neck to follow the progress of the pressurizing umbilical on the vid beside the main cargo hatch.
“If they popped a fuel line and vented the core then we might be looking at a hot derelict,” Byron looked nervous, but seemed to cover it by focusing his words and mind on the task. “Lot a times when you vent a core the shock’ll crack containment.”
“So they might be floating hot?” Atom asked.
“Good chance.”
“You were rockbound,” Shi gave Byron a curious look. “How’s it you know so much about the happenin’s up in the black?”
“Well, I’ve never experienced it first hand,” Byron studied his shoes. “But I’m a mech through and through. I can fix anyfing. I’ve worked cores over, every shape and size, back on Gump. Darl, I’ve been spending my down reading up on what to expect up ‘ere in the void.
“Thing’s is fair the same whether they’re on a rock or a ship,” he put his hands on his hips and thrust out his jaw in defiance. “They just act a touch different. Don’t mean I can’t fix what needs fixin’.”
“If it can be fixed,” Atom shrugged into his ragged brown coat and covered his pistols. He cracked his neck and frowned at Byron.
“Anyfing can be fixed.”
“Aye, but is it worth the price?”
“Trill ko question,” Byron lost some of his brashness to a new thought. “So she might be a derelict if the core’s cracked. Wouldn’t be werf us doubling fuel burn to tow her back in.”
“We could sell the cords to a wrecker,” Shi bounced from toe to toe, anticipating action.
“It’s not our ship to sell,” Atom said.
The umbilical pressure equalized and a green light flickered to life on the controls. Atom powered open the hatch in the belly of his ship and snapped Margo to the clips built into his jacket. Leading the way he hopped from the solid footing of his hold floor into the nil-grav of the sealed tube and floated toward the Queen Kriller. Behind him Shi and Byron stepped off.
Shi floated in a casual manner, much the same as Atom, but Byron lost his orientation and began a slow rotation.
Shi hid a smile behind a fist and a polite cough.
Then with an acrobat’s grace she caught a handhold and snatched Byron from his accelerating spin. She pulled him close. “Use the handholds until you get the hang of it. Glide from handhold to handhold, like this,” she pushed off and floated down to the next ring in the umbilical.
It took Byron a moment to understand and orient himself, but once he realized each support strut had four handholds, the mech managed to trail his crewmates.
At the far end of the umbilical Mei Ling opened the Queen Kriller’s docking hatch and waited for Atom and the others to arrive. Strain painted a harrowing picture on her features, even as salvation floated across the umbilical bridge. She watched as Atom kicked the final strut and spun himself about to bob to the surface in the Kriller’s grav field. In a single, efficient motion he pulled himself up to stand before the woman.
“Thank you so much for offering help,” Mei Ling bowed low from the waist, extending her hands, palms up in a gesture of friendship.
“It’s the least we could do,” Atom glanced over the hold as he returned the bow and unhooked Margo from his back. “You said there were five others left aboard. Do any of them need medical attention?”
Mei Ling rose, her head barely reaching Atom’s chest.
“Are you a doctor as well?” she asked.
“No, but I have some experience with trauma. I served a stint in the legions a long time ago. Front lines teach things a man shouldn’t know. Plus, we have a fully stocked med unit aboard the One Way Ticket. Do you need it?”
“One of my men broke his arm when the fuel line ruptured.”
Atom noted her possessive word choice.
“We can handle that,” Atom gestured to Byron as the boy clambered from the hatch and flopped to the deck. “This is Byron, my mech. Can you point him in the direction of your core room so he can see what needs doing?”
“I can find it,” Byron studied the serpentine spread of piping overhead and hauled himself to his feet. With a wan smile and a wave he trotted away.
“Shi go with him.”
“Aye, cap,” she ghosted after Byron on soft soles.
Atom tousled Margo’s hair as he looked down at the One Way Ticket. At Mei Ling’s command the cargo hatch thudded shut, cutting them off from easy retreat. With a distracted air he flipped his coat back, revealing his pistol.
“Let’s go take a look at your man,” he said, gesturing for Mei Ling to lead the way. “So, who are you that you travel accompanied by servants?”
Mei Ling froze and cast a startled look back at Atom.
“Let’s go upstairs,” weariness and strain etched her face. “We can talk there.”
Atom nodded and motioned for Margo to follow. He trailed behind, careful to keep between Mei Ling and his daughter. Withholding information put him on guard and as he mounted the steps to the upper floor he loosened his pistol in its holster. Slowing as Mei Ling reached the top of the short flight of stairs, Atom waited for Margo to mount the bottom stairs before following the woman into the long mess hall.
“Don’t be nervous,” Mei Ling’s mirthless smile touched Atom. “We have no desire to ambush you. We don’t even have the ability to.”
She wandered across the hall to where a battered group of men gathered around a table with varying expressions of dismay and despair hovering about their slouching forms. One of the men, a crewmember, struggled to his feet, but Mei Ling held up a hand to give pause. A simple look passed and the man resumed his dejected repose.
“He is the pilot and the young man next to him is the cook,” Mei Ling sank into a seat across the aisle, alone at her own table. “Please sit and maybe we can come to some sort of arrangement as to what happens next. I assume our path will be dictated by whatever Byron can tell us of the situation.”
Atom nudged a chair out with his foot and dropped into the seat across from Mei Ling with casual distance. Margo ran from the door and clambered into his lap. She studied the woman with innocent curiosity.
“First off, tell me who you are,” Atom said. “I don’t fancy surprises and I don’t much fancy helping those that can’t be honest with a fellow like myself.”
“Trust runs both ways.”
Atom leaned into the table, shifting Margo aside.
“How do I know I can trust you?” she steepled her fingers and locked Atom with a gaze of authority. “I gave you my han and intentions when we spoke earlier and yet I do not know the name of the man I face. How do I know you aren’t a scavver looking to kill us and gut the ship?”
An easy laugh burst from Atom, although his hand never left his pistol.
“If we’d planned on jumping the ship I would have crossed suited and blown the lock. It’s a hell of a touch easier to decomp than face you stood up. Plus we risk blowing the hull any which way if we end with a firefight in these parts.”
Mei Ling studied him. “My ignorance on these matters must show,” she relaxed, allowing a pleasant smile to fight through her rigid façade. “My men....”
“There you go again,” Atom cocked his head. “Your men. Who are you that you have men? Us common folk don’t have men. I’m a cap, and I only have crew, but I don’t think I’d go so far as to call them my men.”
Mei Ling bit her lip. Her hands dropped to her lap and resignation weighed on her slight frame.
“It seems I have little recourse in this matter,” she bowed her head for a moment, and then she lifted her gaze to lock Atom’s eyes. “I am Mei Ling Karahkwahan.”
She spoke no more.
“Do you know who that is?” Kozue whispered in Atom’s ear. “She’s the head of the Karahkwahan, the most powerful trade family in the Fingers. They dominate three of the Fingers and hold sway in the other two.”
Atom’s face lit with surprise. “And you only travel with three guards?”
“They are sufficient for my current task.”
“Then it’s probably good that I had no intention of taking your ship,” he eased his hand away from his pistol.
Mei Ling smiled again, this time command and authority replaced the previous attitude of resigned submission. “I’m sure for your assistance we can work out something beneficial to both of us.
“And once again I will request the name of my rescuer,” the twitch of an eyebrow provided a subtle exclamation point.
“Atom Ulvan,” he met her gaze.
“No han?”
“Once upon a yesteryear,” a casual shrug met her scowl. “I’ve no need for my han anymore.”
Mei Ling skewered Atom with her steely gaze, as if she knew his past.
“I met an Atom Ulvan once, perhaps it was a yesteryear,” a knowing smile broke the icy stare. “But that man sat close to the emperor on a distant world, so far from here I doubt he ever would have heard of my han.”
Before he could counter her playful banter Kozue interrupted. “I’m detecting dangerous radiation spikes,” she had a sense of urgency rarely heard from an AI.
To back up her words Byron burst through the far door to the dining hall with Shi half a step behind. Mei Ling looked up in alarm as her men leaped to their feet, shedding their former lethargy like a costume. Hidden weapons appeared in their hands.
“It’s going to rupture,” Byron yelled, holding his hands in plain sight as he stared down the guns with fearful eyes.
“Hold,” Mei Ling rose to her feet, absolute authority to her men.
Atom followed her example.
“What’s happening?” he hoisted Margo and slung her onto his back, securing her with the clips.
“When the fuel line ruptured it threw out the cooling system,” Byron and Shi covered the distance and skidded to a halt between the tables. “Venting was the only answer, but it means we can’t get in to repair the system wiffout recompression and hoping the system en’t completely drained. I tried to do what I could remotely, but it’s no good. The core’s melting through its casing. We’re probably absorbing some dangerous rads right now.
“Atom, we’ve got to jump this ship, right now,” he looked around at the others with pleading panic in his eyes.
“Daisy pulled the Ticket back to a safe distance as soon as you boarded the Queen Kriller,” Kozue said. “He won’t be able to dock the ships again before the core melts through containment and a nuclear detonation destroys the ship.”
Atom turned to Mei Ling. “Do you have suits?” he snapped. “A ship this size has to have enough for all passengers.”
Mei Ling looked surprised, but turned to the two remaining crew.
“You two, show us where the ship’s suits are kept,” she ordered before turning back to Atom. “Can your ship handle us?”
The pilot rose and trotted for the aft hatch.
“Of course,” Atom motioned for Mei Ling and her guards to follow the crewman and brought up the rear with Shi and Byron. “Sorry for not trusting you. I had my pilot back my ship off. We’re going to have to free jump it.”
Fright flashed in Mei Ling’s eyes as she turned to her rescuer. “Free jump?”
“I don’t see another choice,” Atom took the stairs three at a time as he pressed to keep up with the others in their flight.
The ship’s cook led the group to a storage room near the empty bridge and upper airlock. Trembling fingers punched in the access code and he threw open the door to reveal dozens of emergency suits sealed and stacked in space-saving decompression bags.
“These won’t last long out there,” Atom reached past the chef and distributed the suits. “But they should get us off this crate with enough time for Daisy to pick us up.”
In a frenzy everyone tore open their bags and began climbing into the suits.
“How much time do you estimate?” Atom asked Kozue.
“A few minutes, maybe less,” her voice sounded mechanical. “The heat in the core chamber is climbing at a rapid rate. As soon as the barrier cracks, that heat is going to interact with the other systems and create an uncontrollable nova.”
“And rads?”
“At this moment you need to go through decontamination and the trauma suite will craft a nano-cocktail to repair damaged DNA.”
“So, we’re still redeemable,” Atom studied the frantic throng dressing in the narrow hallway. “Have Daisy bring the ship in close so we don’t have far to jump.”
“I will open the cargo doors to afford a larger target.”
“Thanks, Koze,” Atom gritted his teeth in frustration as he ripped through the storage closet for a child’s suit.
After rifling through the narrow recess from front to back and failing to locate what he needed, Atom tore open an adult suit. In a fluid motion he detached Margo and thrust her into it. Fingers flying he sealed up the suit and slapped on a helmet.
Margo grinned, a tiny head peeking from an adult-sized suit.
Atom handed her to Shi, who stood suited and ready, and climbed into his own astral life preserver.
“Get going,” he slapped the helmets of the crew. “If you’re suited up, head to the hatch.
“Cycle through the lock,” he pulled his suit up around his waist. “Wait on the hull, we’ll all jump together.”
Shi moved without hesitation. She set Margo down beside Atom with a questioning glance. Atom nodded. In silence she turned and pressed down the hall, herding Byron ahead of her as she moved for the door. Mei Ling, escorted by her men, followed.
Atom, moving on auto-pilot, popped his helmet on and sealed it with a click.
He helped the cook with his helmet. “Move now,” he spoke with low authority.
As everyone disappeared down the hall, Atom cast about for something to strap Margo to his back. Raiding another storage compartment in the hall he found a long spooled line and knotted several loops to securely bind his daughter to his back. He locked the spool and clipped it to his suit.
Bouncing a few times to test the strength of his makeshift harness, he sprinted to catch up with the others. They crowded around the small airlock, impatient panic dancing among them.
“Why aren’t you out yet?” he demanded, sliding to a halt behind the group.
“It’s only big enough for two at a time,” the cook turned back, fear in his wide eyes and sweat gleaming on his bald head. “Your girl put the mech and Mei Ling through first. Then she followed with the pilot. We’re waiting for decomp to cycle back up”
“So we have four on the hull?”
“Firm, sir,” one of Mei Ling’s men spoke without turning. He focused on the red light above the airlock.
“Kozue,” Atom said in a quiet voice, turning from the others. “How do things look out there? Can you determine a timeframe?”
“Daisy has the ship in place to catch you. He says he is as close as he can get without risking the One Way Ticket under the current situation. The core is eighty-seven percent compromised. I am detecting plasma bursts on the lower decks, aft.”
The light flicked green and the door hissed open.
“Jam three in,” Atom pushed two of the guards and the cook into the confines of the lock. He put his shoulder to the door and crushed the three men inside. A slap of the controls started the cycle and several seconds later the outer door released three men into the void.
Atom watched the outer door swing shut. “When this pops we’ve got to be in there like jacks,” he cast an apprehensive glance down the hallway.
A rumble echoed from the belly of the ship.
“Atom, a plasma burst just punched a new hole in the hull,” Kozue said, a calm juxtaposition to the chaos about to erupt.
“Patch me through to Daisy.”
A moment later Atom heard his pilot’s strained cursing.
“Boss, that last pop just threw you into a new spin,” Daisy said between selective words in various languages. “I’m trying to adjust rotation, but you might have to time your jump.”
“Can you do anything to give us a good window?”
The light flashed red as the lock cycled. A moment later it blinked green.
Atom cracked the seal and shoved the remaining guards ahead of him. He backed in, trying to protect Margo as much as possible. As he pulled the hatch shut he managed to squeeze his bulky arm enough to activate the lock. Twisting his head inside his suit he gave Margo a confident grin.
She looked uncomfortable, but unfazed by their current situation.
Air cycled out.
An explosion ripped through the ship.
Margo cried out as the impact jostled their coffin-like confines. Fortunately their packed situation prevented movement beyond their heads in their helmets.
“Kozue, report.”
“Atom,” Daisy said with breathless fear. “You just lost the tail. The ship broke her back. And you lost a suit, flying relative north.”
The hatch cycled open.
Atom waited as the men clambered from the hatch, clinging to the handholds around the airlock with terrorized tenacity. Another explosion rippled through the void in silent vibrations.
Venturing a last reassuring wink to Margo Atom climbed from the hatch and surveyed the situation. He breathed a sigh of relief to find his crew and Mei Ling among those clinging to the nearby wreckage. Looking over the ship, Atom decided only a miracle had saved them from being completely obliterated by the force of the explosion that ripped the ship neatly in half.
Aftershock eruptions lit the free floating aft section of the ship in popcorn puffs of light, but for the moment the Queen Kriller’s fore section spun on a rapid, but peaceful, tangent away from the danger.
“Atom,” Mei Ling caught sight of the emerging captain and nil-grav crawled her way toward him. “I’ve just lost Eron.”
Atom pulled himself away from the hatch and planted himself beside the woman.
“Right now I need you to focus on you,” he grabbed the front of her suit and bumped their faceplates together, locking eyes with the woman in the process. “He’s a casualty. We mourn later. Right now, my only goal is to get the rest of us safely aboard my ship.”
“But...” she cut off with a yelp as Atom gripped her arm through her bulky suit.
“You have four others that are still alive and need you leading them,” he growled.
Without waiting for a reply he turned and looked over the survivors. In climbing from the ship they had spread out from the hatch. Hooking his feet in one of the handholds, Atom stood up to see around the curve of the ship’s flank.
“Everyone to me,” he called out over the coms and beckoned them closer. “We have to be ready to jump for the Ticket. There’s no telling how long before something in this half of the ship decides to go.”
Like terrified spiders they skittered along the hull to congregate at his feet.
“We’ll go in pairs, it should move us faster without throwing off our mass too much.”
As the others paired off he looked around to locate the One Way Ticket. Atom swore softly as he grasped the gravity of their situation. When the ship broke her keel the force of the explosion had added a y-spin to the previous x-rotation. The remnants of the Queen Kriller danced through the heavens in a bizarre dervish. With each flashing pass Atom watched Daisy try to bring the ship into some semblance of a matching motion.
“I can get the pitch,” Atom heard the strain in Daisy’s voice. “But there’s no way I’m getting our bulk to fit that roll in time to do you any good.”
“The roll does nothing for us,” Atom snapped. “You’ll burn too much fuel trying. No sense in burning it to save us if it leaves us drifting. Just get the pitch and we’ll time our jumps.”
“No way you hit it. Jumping’ll be like spitting in a duster and hoping you don’t get your face wet.”
“I’ll deal with it. You get her steady and close.”
Atom watched the ship flash past with dizzying regularity.
“You all paired?” his eyes remained locked on the spinning ship. “First pair, up next to me. I’ll hold you steady and you get ready to jump when I give the word.”
Atom glanced down as Mei Ling and the ship’s pilot space-crawled over to him and rose to a crouch by his side. He held them firm, trying to keep them from drifting away. They clung to each other with tenacious fear.
“Alright,” Atom soothed. “I’m going to start counting down. When I get to zero you jump together. Jump straight and your momentum will get you to the Ticket.
“Kozue, you helping?”
In response the AI began chanting with mechanical proficiency.
“I’ve got prime spin, according to Ko,” Daisy yelled around the AI’s chanting.
Atom counted down in time with Kozue and on cue the first pair sped away. As if by magic they flew true. In rapid succession he sent the second pair, the cook and the guard with the broken arm, winging towards the safety of the One Way Ticket.
Atom blew out a relieved breath of tension as he watched the first four standing in his hold.
“Shi, you and By are next.”
“Figured,” the gunslinger touched her faceplate in mock salute, dry humor in every situation. “See you back aboard, cap.”
Atom counted down. Byron clung tight to Shi, his breath came in shallow gasps. At zero they leapt, but Byron hesitated and threw off Shi’s trajectory. Atom could only watch in spinning snapshots as they flew.
“They’re off,” he muttered to himself.
“I know,” Shi replied. “Life ain’t always bright.
“Reckon I’ll see you in hell,” a dark chuckle punctuated her words.
As he flashed past, Atom watched Shi shove Byron away. The sudden force drove the boy back on course and on the next pass Atom watched the mech scramble into the arms of those waiting in the hold.
Atom waited for the last guard as he bobbed his head to Kozue’s cadence.
“Hell’s too good for you,” Atom yelled as he and the guard launched into space.
They flew true.
As they floated away from the wreck, Atom eyeballed their trajectory and at the last moment nudged off from the guard. The man flailed like a crashing goose as his momentum carried him over the heads of the waiting group and slammed him into the rear wall of the cargo hold.
Atom slipped just past the cargo bay door.
Reaching out he snagged a handhold. Momentum swung him around hard and he twisted to avoid slamming his bulk into Margo. Absorbing the punishment with his shoulder, he took a moment to orient his senses in the void.
He blinked away the impact and located Shi drifting away beneath the ship’s belly.
Margo giggled as he scampered over the hull with as much agility as a Napoleonic sailor. As he glided across the ship’s surface he unhooked the spool from his suit and clipped it to a passing handhold. Then, at the tail of his ship, with a wild yell of terror and adrenaline, he kicked off into the black at the mercy of a spider-silk line.
“What are you doing, cap?” Shi demanded as she looked between her feet to find Atom flying slowly toward her.
“Hoping.”
“Hoping you ain’t misfiring?”
“Something like that. Or hoping this spool is long enough to catch up with you.”
“You snagged a spool?”
“How’d you think I got Go to stay like this? You think she’s just holding on? Or wait, I’ll bet you think I just have a magnetic personality.”
“That’s awful, cap. Now I just think you blew a servo.”
“Atom,” Daisy cut in. “I’m tracking your com. Keep up the chatter and I’ll tag along as slow as I can.”
Atom looked down and located the One Way Ticket. The ship began a swooping turn and pulled away from the spinning derelict. Under Daisy’s hand the freighter followed Atom’s voice.
“Chatter, chatter, chatter,” he said.
“Keep on it.” Atom could hear Daisy’s scowl. “Figure following your useless voice will take us away from that ship in case she....”
A flash lit the dark, and a shockwave rumbled through Atom’s chest.
“Well, there’s her nova. Looks like your little stunt got us clear, Shi.”
“Stunt?” Shi waved her arms, a parody of terrestrial swimming. “Does that mean I can collect tips?”
“I’ve no rules against it,” Atom’s laughter filled the coms. “Daisy, I’m closing on Shi. No idea what my spool looks like, but I’ve about sixty meters ‘til I snag her.”
“Shi, I don’t get why you went and did something like this,” Daisy said.
“I did it ‘cause By would have mingoed his suit by now,” Shi watched Atom drawing near. “He probably would have drowned by now and you can’t save a pisscicle out here.”
“Thirty meters,” Atom judged.
“You know you didn’t have to jump after me,” Shi said. “I know Daisy could have just round abouted the ship and trailed me down.”
“Maybe, chances drop the longer he takes.”
“Exponentially,” Kozue agreed. “Shi, you are traveling at 5.38 meters per second. You are currently 1,192.5 meters from the ship. Without Atom in your vicinity, your retrieval rate would be 4%.”
“Twelve hundred meters, that’s a long line,” said Atom.
“I’m glad it hasn’t run out yet,” Shi added in amazement.
Kozue continued. “If we had waited the added time to secure Atom your distance would have roughly been 1,250 meters and your odds...”
“Kozue, that’s enough with the tech,” Atom growled.
“No,” Shi replied in somber realization. “She makes me glad to have a cap like you. Kozue, what are my odds with Atom here?”
“Approximately 97.48% retrieval rate in our current situation”
Atom marveled at Kozue’s voice. Somehow the AI maintained her programmed voiceprint, but all emotion had reverted to computer-like proficiency.
“What’s the three percent?” Shi asked.
“The line could snap.”
“Ten meters,” Atom called out.
“I believe the percentage is rising,” Kozue continued. “Daisy is running the ship in your rough direction. It is challenging to lock down a completely accurate trajectory, but he is close enough to ensure the line does not snap with the full weight of both your bodies.
“Even if the line holds, it could do catastrophic injury to any of you at full velocity. And I do not suppose Atom could maintain a firm enough grip to keep you from continuing on your current vector.”
“Five meters,” Atom counted down until he reached out and grasped Shi. With relief he jerked her to his chest and clung to her.
“What now?” Shi asked.
“I’ve got her, Daisy,” he glanced back between his feet. “I can just barely make out the ship.”
“Hold tight,” Daisy said with relief. “We’ll get you back in.”
The slack began disappearing in the spider line as the One Way Ticket grew in size. On a cautious approach, Daisy sailed the ship like a blind leviathan and as he drew closer Atom realized the ship would have passed within a hundred meters of their vector.
“You’re damn good to get that close,” he said as Daisy made a slight course alteration and drifted closer. “I think you would have had better odds than Kozue gave.”
“Only with Daisy at the tiller,” Shi craned her neck inside the helmet.
“Aren’t you glad you decided to put up with Mae,” Daisy gave a whoop of pent up tension and then fell into a deep, belly laugh.
“That cat is always welcome on my ship,” Atom said.
With a gentle tug the line drew taut. At the same time the ship swooped in behind like a graceful blue whale. As the ship closed in Atom realized everyone still stood in the open cargo hold. Bolted to the floor and hooked to a winch motor, the reel coiled and pulled the wayward crewmembers in.
“How’d that happen,” Atom and Shi touched down with a dancer’s finesse.
“Mei Ling climbed the hull to retrieve it as soon as she saw what you were doing,” Byron said. “She brought it back in, even though it could have jerked her clean off the ship if it had spooled out before they got it anchored.”
“It was nothing,” Mei Ling dropped her head with embarrassment. “Captain Ulvan risked his life to save my people and honor dictated I attempt to return the favor.”
As Atom unwound the wire the others smothered them with hugs and congratulations. Only when Daisy closed the hold and gravity returned to the chamber did Atom realize Margo’s soft snores filled the com in his ear.
He sat down and cracked his helmet’s seal, grateful for the fresh air that greeted him.
––––––––
“Atom, I believe there is something scrambled in your brain,” Mei Ling’s face lit up with a broad smile as they crowded around the galley table. “To simply jump from a ship like that on the hope that you could save your crewmember is unthinkable.”
“I didn’t think, I reacted,” he sipped his scalding chai. Only his tapping foot betrayed the adrenaline that still coursed through his veins.
“I wish I had such instincts,” the smile faded from Mei Ling’s face as the look in her eyes grew distant. Without noticing she began twisting the hem of her sleeves between thin, delicate fingers. “Eron might be here if that were the case.”
“No way you could have saved him. Going after him would have been a suicidal free jump. I may have been crazy with my instincts, but at least I had a spool I could pretend was my safety net to rationalize what I did. Plus, if you’d jumped you wouldn’t have been there to save my life.”
“That doesn’t ease my heart.”
Atom bowed his head. “Truth,” he stared into his cup. “It’s never easy to lose anyone. But you can’t hold yourself responsible for what you can’t control. Even then you can’t bear that weight or else it’ll crush you.”
Curiosity filled Mei Ling’s face as she lifted her gaze to study Atom. “My how you remind me of that someone from yesteryear.”
Atom hesitated. Then he set his chai down and barked out a disarming laugh. The release of pent up tension proved infective and the others joined him. They rejoiced in life after their close call with the deep.
“I’m glad I share some traits with your old friend,” Atom dabbed a moist eye.
“I never said he was a friend,” Mei Ling’s smile faded. “He was simply someone I met in passing a half a galaxy away.”
Atom measured his response, but Roger Thach saved him the effort.
“I am happy to offer assistance to travelers,” he grimaced. “But what of our current business engagement?”
Picking up his mug again, Atom took a measured sip. His eye contact with Mei Ling continued a moment longer than necessary before he shifted his attention to the miner. He glared over the rim of his metal mug.
“You know little of space,” he gripped the cup in both hands, just below his chin, savoring the fragrant steam. “We didn’t set out to help these travelers because we felt like it. We helped them because it’s the obligation of every captain and every ship that burns the black to help anyone in need.”
“I meant nothing...” Roger began.
Atom cut him short. “We may have entered cautiously, but we had to help. We helped because at some point we’re going to be the ones on the short end of that drift, and if we don’t have the stones to help now, how can we expect anyone to help us out?
“So it wasn’t a little choice, a little inconvenience. It was obligation,” he set his mug down with purpose and leaned forward. “As to our previous business, it will continue. However, that obligation extends to dropping our new passengers as close to their port of choice as I can without running my tanks dry. You and yours will get what I promised, but the code of the black trumps that promise. Until that time, you’re a passenger aboard my ship, and I don’t take kindly to being called out for facing up to my duties.”
Atom motioned for Shi to move. Sliding from the booth, he departed the galley and left the table silent and awkward.
––––––––
“Interesting approach,” Kozue’s voice regained its familiar playfulness.
“I don’t aim to be pushed around by clients,” Atom growled, as he stormed past the crew quarters and ended up by the upper hatch of the cargo hold. “Right now I don’t need to be pushed around by anyone. Where’s Go?”
“Still sleeping in your quarters.”
“Let me know if she wakes. I need to think for a few.”
Kozue fell silent, leaving Atom to plop himself on the landing. He kicked his legs out into space and leaned on the middle railing. Down below Mae stalked through the shadowed alleys between the cryo-crates. He studied her path. When she disappeared into a darkened corner he straightened his posture, closed his eyes, and turned his thoughts inward.
It took several deep, calming breaths before Atom centered himself and focused on listening to the voice of the universe.
“Why did you choose this path?” Kozue whispered, her voice timid.
Atom opened his eyes, preparing to reiterate his request for solitude, but found the ship had vanished. Rickety, wooden thatch surrounded him, replacing the familiar confines of the One Way Ticket. The flimsy walls shook under a violent lashing from a bitter, winter wind. Looking about with curiosity, Atom studied the wood floored hut. A single sleeping mat lay in the corner. A small, cold fire pit dominated the center of the meager dwelling. Woven rushes hung in the doorway.
“It’s a lonely journey,” Kozue said.
The wind blew the door covering aside and Kozue, framed in wintery glory, stood against the wind. Behind her a white furred bear stalked.
“Do I have a choice?” Atom demanded, leaping to his feet.
“There’s always a choice.”
He moved to the door but halted just inside the hut’s dimness, a step beyond the brilliant snow glare.
“I could have died with you,” he said.
“To what end?”
Looking down he found he only wore a loincloth to shield himself from the winter gale. “But what would’ve happened to Margo?” he puzzled through his thoughts.
“You made the correct decision,” Kozue reached out for him, even as the wind buffeted her and whipped her hair about her face. “I will never hold that against you. You know I made that decision for both of us.”
“But you died.”
“I sacrificed myself.”
“If I’d been smarter I could have saved you too.”
“Atom, there was nothing you could have done,” Kozue stepped forward, still yearning for contact with her lover. “You can talk yourself in circles dwelling on the past, but it will never change the patterns already woven in the tapestry.”
“Then why are you here?”
“To question the path you now take.”
“It’s a warrior’s path.”
“You surround yourself with people because you can’t stand to be alone, yet the journey you’ve begun is a solitary one.”
Behind her the pale bear reared up, scenting the wind.
“They stalk you,” Kozue folded her hands together and turned, looking past the stalking bear for hidden enemies in the alpine vista.
“That’s why I move, constantly.”
“What life have you chosen for our daughter?”
Atom returned to his place before the unlit hearth and dropped down to sit cross-legged, his back ramrod straight. He scowled at the ashes.
“In this life I must teach her to survive. You know as well as I that we can’t settle somewhere. Walkerhan soldiers or imperial assassins will eventually track us down. The Walkerhan betrayed us to the emperor and he chose to believe their lies. In my eyes they are now one and the same. But now that they have revealed their intentions, I have the advantage.”
“We know their intentions, but what are yours?”
Atom lifted his sorrowed eyes from the dead firepit. Kozue still had not entered the hut, but she fixed him with her own heartbroken look from the doorway. She spoke with sorrow and passion, saying, “Do you seek revenge, renewal, reconciliation?”
He hesitated.
“I seek survival,” he growled through the screaming winds.
The bear struck.
Crushed to the ground beneath the bear’s paw, Kozue lay unmoving, a crumpled heap in the drifting snow. Seeping blood stained the purity of her white robes. The bear stood over Kozue and roared with red flecked maw, thrusting its head into the shack.
Atom rose to his feet with death in his eyes. He bowed his head and held his hands before him, cupping them against his chest. With a tickling flicker a flame leaped into existence. Atom focused and the flame grew. The bear stared at him with dead eyes, growling, but holding back in aggressive fear.
Bowing from the waist in rigid formality, Atom lowered the flame into the hearth and a warming fire danced from his finger to the tinder.
A flickering glow bathed the interior of the shack.
Atom found himself clothed in light. As he examined himself the light coalesced into heavy plate armor, trimmed out in fur. In his hand a glistening length of naked steel appeared.
From his crouched position he lashed out with pent up fury. The blade sang and the bear’s head dropped beside Kozue’s bloodied corpse with a steaming snarl.
The windswept slope disgorged a dozen more bears. They rose like snowy specters, their nicotine stained coats tinkling with a million singing ice crystals. Their looming forms cast eerie white shadows in the Hoth-like snowscape. A grim smile strained at Atom’s face as he stepped from the shack, his heavy boots crunching through the snow crust. The bears shambled forward, their bulk forming a formidable bulwark as they lumbered up the hill.
Gripping his sword with determination, Atom prepared to meet their onslaught.
“Hope I’m not disturbing you,” Mei Ling said in her pleasant lilt, snapping Atom from the grip of his vision.
He blinked away the snow blinding glare and searched the dim hold.
“No,” he cleared his throat. “I was just reflecting.”
“Do you mind if I join you?” without waiting for a response she curled her legs and knelt on the landing beside Atom.
He scowled into the dark, but relaxed when he turned his attention to the woman “No, that’s fine. I could use the company. To be honest a little convo might be just the thing to shake some ghosts.”
He studied Mei Ling, waiting for her response, but she seemed content to sit in silence.
With idle delicacy she smoothed her split skirt. Atom marveled at her mixed ancestry. He studied her blond hair and contrasting almond shaped eyes. Long lashes fluttered as she pursed her lips and lifted her eyes to meet Atom’s probing gaze.
“What?” a demure drop of her eyes.
“Sorry,” Atom scratched at his neck. “I guess I’m not done spacing.”
“What’s your AI’s name?” she changed tack.
“Kozue.”
“I knew a Kozue once. I believe she was the wife of an admiral from yesteryear,” her knowing smile stunned Atom as she looked into the distance. “She was beautiful.”
“That she was,” Atom’s face hardened the moment the words passed his lips.
A flicker of the eye proved the only acknowledgement to Atom’s blunder. “I thought it was you. When did she die?”
Atom’s hand drifted to his empty belt of its own accord.
“I mean no harm. I’ve no quarrel with you,” Mei Ling executed a graceful pivot on her knees. Facing Atom with her delicate hands resting in her lap she fell silent. Her eyes implored and Atom read a haunted peace in the look.
He dropped his head. “Six months, maybe seven. Time’s a funny thing out here in the black. How did you know?”
“Why else would you have risked Margo aboard my ship? If her mother was alive you would have left the girl on your ship when you came to my assistance. I think you and I share some heritage. Warrior’s blood runs in our veins. We must live our lives on the sharp edge between life and death and those that we love must walk that line as well.”
“Margo has chosen. After her mother died and before I left I visited a friend and she could have stayed, lived a real life instead of this wandering existence. I tried to send her away,” said Atom. “I opened the door for her to choose her own life, but she followed me when I left.”
“You gave her the test, didn’t you?” Mei Ling gave a knowing smile. “My father did the same for me.
“A doll or a pistol,” with teahouse grace she rose to her feet and shifted closer to Atom, this time settling close beside him. “I too chose the way of the gun.”
“If you truly know me, then you know my way has always been the path of violence,” Atom swung his legs up and spun his seat to face Mei Ling. He sat cross-legged, almost touching her knees.
“The Fist of the Emperor,” Mei Ling arched an eyebrow. “Admiral, assassin, executioner.”
“That was a former life. Now I’m just a captain and a father.”
“Your former position is occupied by Lucien Rajput of the Walkerhan. The Meriwetherhan has been struck from the registers.”
“The han no longer exists?” Atom deflated. “They’ve been removed, every man woman and child. They’re either dead or cut off from belonging to a han, so they’re as good as dead any which way.”
“I hadn’t heard that. If they are struck, it doesn’t matter if any of my people survived. They’re castoffs with no han, no future, and no protection.”
“And you?” She reached out and laid a hand on Atom’s clenched fist.
“Severed. Like I said, I’m just a merchant captain and a father. The best I can hope for is to provide a life for my daughter. She will know my ways, but I hope she marries into a good family. No han will touch her without a family to back her.”
“I wouldn’t worry about that now,” she gave his hand a squeeze and returned to her hands to her lap. stiff-backed seat. “The future will take care of itself while we just keep pressing forward.”
“And what about you?” Atom stared at her soft hands, the touch lingered. “I seem to recall you married and heading one of the most powerful guilds in the Fingers.”
“Life changes,” she dropped her gaze, allowing her hair to fall over her face.
“How so?”
“I believe we have much more in common than you might think. I am on my way to gather bannermen. My husband was recently killed,” her jaw trembled, but she maintained her stiff posture. “And my son with him.”
“How did it happen?”
“They were out for a walk on the edge of our family lands, looking over the woodlands. Zbruch thought they were safe, safe enough to not need guards. Turns out they weren’t. We found the bodies later that day. Someone tried to make it look like an animal attack, but the cuts were too clean, too metallic.
“It had to be retaliation for poaching the Verona system from the MacKenzies,” her dark eyes flashed.
“Would they really take out your consort over a system?”
“It does seem drastic, but who else would send such a message?”
A fracture cracked her steely façade and tears welled up and to drop from beyond her veil of hair.
“I miss them,” she whispered, rising to her feet and spinning in a fluid motion.
“I know,” Atom joined her. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “The pain will become more bearable.”
She melted into his arms. With passion fueled by grief she clung to him. He held her, pressing her face to his chest as the sobs wracked her slight frame. Stroking her hair, he felt his own pain well up like a whispering spring of sorrow.
The hatch hissed open behind them and Shi stepped through. “Uh, apologies,” she mumbled and retreated through the door.
Mei Ling’s sobs shifted to quiet laughter as she clung to Atom.
“Thank you for letting me get that out,” she pulled back enough to grace Atom with a tear stained smile. “Sometimes I think a body just needs to be able to open up and vent. Trouble is, the higher up you get yourself, the less people you can actually open up with. As bad as it sounds, I’m glad to have someone I can do that with.
“I am sorry about your wife,” she buried her head in his chest again, but this time gave a heartfelt hug.
“I know what you mean,” Atom closed his eyes and savored the moment.
“I’ll let you get back to your crew now. They probably already have their own version of what we’re doing in here.”
Atom, hesitating, pulled away from the embrace. “Crews are always the same. If it helps you to play with Margo, you have my blessing.”
“Many thanks,” she gave a pained smile. “It may help.”