Boredom

Prisoners' scourge

Hi there Sparks!

A nice long single viewpoint today. One of my personal favorites.

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Missed an episode? Catch up here:

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After answering the hail from the bridge, Luke leaves to speak to the commander face to face, ordering me to stay put. Tom joins me presently, having safely deposited his charge and removed his burned and blood-stained parka. His green boots leave wet prints on the carpeted floor as he paces. I sit in the captain’s seat, all but biting my nails and still trying to make sense of what happened. It went down so fast.

I am just about to ask Tom his opinion when Luke storms back in, barking orders.

“Preflight checks, start the take-off sequence!” He shouts pointing at me. “Logan, use the landing vectors, Tom, program in a ten-minute solar charge before hyperspace entry. We’re going home.” I gape at our adoptive father in disbelief, too consumed by a conflict of emotion to move.

“What, why? No! Luke!?” I exclaim, anger and disappointment throttling me so that I can’t even form a complete thought. Tom slips into the navbooth and starts typing without a word. I can’t believe this!

I glance between them, blinking as I try to form a coherent protest, but Luke stares me down with his ‘serious’ look.

“Just do it.” He says urgently, “I’m on my way to Med Bay. I’ll explain later,” and spins around on his heel in the same breath, leaving the bridge before I can argue. The direct order hangs in the air, even though Luke is gone, enticing me with the possibility of rebellion.

Reluctantly, I turn towards the control panel and access the landing data to find the vectors. It isn’t the first time we have been left to pilot. Tom has already run through the basic systems, and we haven’t sustained any damage, but our fuel cells have not had time to recharge. The computer says what we have will be enough to get us into orbit. Tom programs in the correct orientation for the solar panels as we exit the atmosphere. Before I know it, we are back in space.

* * *

Damn him for being so timid! I think with gritted teeth, bringing my fist down hard on the armrest of my seat, as I stare out into the bright slipstream of hyperspace with a head full of curses. We could have fought our way through, we should have! Or we could have given her to them. It’s no business of ours what they want with her anyway. If they had their prize, they would have let us stay.

“Don’t let Luke hear you thinking like that,” Tom says as he enters the bridge carrying two steaming cups of coffee. I turn to look at him and answer, “Like what?” with a wry smile, knowing my twin brother doesn’t need Luke’s gift to guess my thoughts.

“It’s still a seventy-hour journey, Logan. You should get some sleep.” He says handing me a cup and I snort at the suggestion, turning back towards the viewing portal and all the terrifying vastness of space. We have been underway for ten hours and Luke has locked us out of the infirmary. We still have not been told why we are going home.

“I didn’t even get a shot off,” I complain, and burn my lip trying to sip the coffee, bitterly feeling the injustice of our long-anticipated vacation being cut short before it had even begun. Tom shrugs, blowing his coffee gently, but doesn’t say anything.

“We have been pent up at home for more than a year and now we have to go back.” He looks at me with a look that says, “What did you expect?”

“And you know Luke... We won’t be going away again until he has his new pet sorted out.” I sigh, rolling my eyes. “This trip was supposed to be for us, to spar and practice, maybe test some limits and reconnect-”

“Stop pouting.” He cuts me off, convincingly pretending that it doesn’t matter. “We’ll go to the mountains for a couple of weeks, Luke can take care of the girl there and we can still unwind.”

“You’re too good at that.” I sneer, and he frowns into his cup. I can see the hurt playing on his face, I can feel the disappointment beneath his perfectly nonchalant surface, saying all the things I have been thinking. How long we waited for this chance to reconnect with our heritage and maybe even the memory of our Father.

“It’s not about unwinding.” I retort with a venomous sneer. “You know what it’s about. Plus, we can’t really let loose at the cabin, not like we could have here, there. And don’t act all high and mighty, pretending you don’t feel cheated too,” I retort indignantly, failing to think of a way to say all the things I know we are both thinking.

“Well, don’t you pretend then,” Tom smirks inhaling deeply, “that you aren’t a bit curious about her. I saw you staring, mesmerized.” He chuckles hiding his bitterness almost perfectly, no one else would have noticed.

“It isn’t working.” I stare at him poker-faced. He feigns ignorance, “Your attempt at cheering me up.” I snap and Tom laughs, and I smile despite myself. “I wasn’t mesmerized,” I mumble into my half-empty cup, trying for nonchalance, but still coming off pouty.

I take a sip and breathe and stare up at the ceiling. “You know, I couldn’t sense a shred of energy off of her, even with the fireball in her hands, it felt...” I close my eyes trying to remember the details. “It felt like nothing! She had no energy signature whatsoever. I mean I could see her, but it was like looking at a shadow or a reflection, like she wasn’t real.”

“Well, the blast that knocked me down was powerful eno-” He stops abruptly at the sound of footsteps and we both look round to see Luke, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, hands freshly washed. He looks exhausted but smiles warmly as he steps past me to take a seat.

“I’m sorry boys.” He says, sounding as tired as he looks. “I know you’re both pretty stewed by now about why, let me explain.” He begins, then launches into a story about how we were ordered off-world. Apparently, the soldiers took issue with the fact that the invitation didn’t specify that Tom and I were Manorian. The commander incinerated the papers, saying the crown Princess couldn’t enforce her orders because she was no longer alive to do so.”

“Couldn’t you have... You know, ‘convinced’ him?” I suggest tentatively.

“While I am flattered by your faith in my abilities, I must admit,” Luke shrugs and sighs as though confounded, “I didn’t get the chance.”

“Maybe they were just too many.” He continues after a pause. “Somehow my influence was, diminished. Like I couldn’t fully get through to them all. I was able to do a little recon and make the commander believe that we had just arrived, suggesting that they had no time to search the ship. But Logan’s display was hard to miss.” He says nodding at me, “Once they had a look around, they would not have been able to ignore the traces of energy. And what I saw in the commander’s head-” he looks down and mutters, biting a nail, “They had no intention of letting us stay. The princess’ decree was worthless. The timing of our arrival... They would have taken any excuse to take us into custody. And prison here...” He trails off.

“But the given coordinates were supposed to be for a deserted area. What were they doing out there anyway?” Tom asks, perfectly masking his irritation behind curiosity. I sigh, conflicted and hateful thoughts racing through my mind.

Luke cocks his head and says matter-of-factly, “Looking for her.”

I look away, irritated by the lightness of his tone, and the fact that no one seems to care that we came all this way for nothing and then, more out of duty than concern, I ask quietly, “Will she be okay?”

“Probably, eventually.” Luke answers, seeming to have missed the distinction and rubbing his hands over his eyes. “But she is badly banged up. I managed to clean and stitch up most of the lacerations, but the scanner picked up some internal trauma that may need repairing. She’s lost a lot of blood. I have all the tools to synthesize it, but I am lacking a few trace elements. Your physiology is a little different. As she is, surgery will kill her.” He throws his head back and sighs, “Funny thing, the worst of her injuries seem old.”

“Old?” I prompt, needing more information in order to process.

“Yes, at least a week,” he sounds surprised “Half the lacerations are partly healed. Not only that, she must have one monster of an immune system, there’s no infection or any sign of sepsis despite all that gunk she was covered in.”

“So, you’ll be able to save her?” I ask, astonished at how much I want to hear him affirm the suggestion.

“Looks like it. If I can keep her stable until we get back to civilization, get her a transfusion. She should be fine.” Tom nods and I stand up, “Hey, thanks for holding down the fort, boys. I know what this trip meant to you. I’m sorry.” Luke mutters as he takes the controls.

* * *

After twenty hours of hyperspace, I find myself embittered and in no mood for my own company. The bridge is deserted. Luke must be fussing with his new pet, or asleep, I know Tom is. I sit down at my station and bring up our navigational status.

After a few minutes, a blip appears on the screen. We will soon be passing through an inert nebula. It is a really small cloud, roughly a thousand kilometers in diameter, and a harmless spectacle at normal speed, but the computer warns that due to its peculiar composition, hyper-drive energy may cause friction and static. She automatically adjusts her settings to reduce the risk of a chain reaction between the particles. At this velocity it will take a couple hours, I see.

Looking ahead the ship is surrounded by a rainbow-colored haze, and a crazy idea enters my mind, and overthinking things is definitely not my style.

It only takes me a moment to don my space suit. Some deafening music, to take my mind off of everything, and a lever to pull as I enter the airlock, and I surrender to weightlessness and sensory deprivation.

Kicking off into the kaleidoscope of multicolored particulate, I am struck by its beauty. I grab a handful as I tumble. It is surprisingly coarse and feels gritty against the suit fabric. The light is coming from a nearby dwarf star. The crystalline dust refracts the little it catches and magnifies it until it dances all around and the cloud eddies and swirls with the ship’s passage. Nearly a minute passes before the tether pulls taught and I am towed along.

The ship is moving a good few meters per second but in the vacuum, I can hardly feel it. Intricate light patterns dancing along in our wake. It is enchanting. Time becomes inconsequential.

* * *

After a while, I become aware of a warning signal flashing on my HUD. I turn off the music and the female computer announces dispassionately: “Danger. Disconnect tethered cargo. Hyper-drive engagement in t-minus 104 seconds. Warning! Tether will automatically disconnect to prevent damage to hull.”

“Computer, engage winch to retract tether,” I instruct coolly, grabbing hold of the cable to brace for the acceleration, but nothing happens. After a few seconds, the voice replies: “Error, failed to engage winch, channel blocked by interference. Warning, disconnect tether. Hyper-drive engagement in t-minus 98 seconds.” I take a breath and say, “Computer, pause the auto-piloting program,” as the first seeds of worry start to germinate in my subconscious.

“Error. Communication failed. Channel is blocked by interference. Warning, disconnect tether, hyperdrive engagement in t-minus 90 seconds.”

“Computer, analyze interference source and filter. Cut ship thrusters and engage winch.”

“Analyzing. Magnetic interference caused by ambient particulate. Unable to communicate with the main computer. Warning, disconnect tether, hyper-drive engagement in t-minus 77 seconds.”

The germinated seeds take root and flourish. I turn and use the cable, pulling myself back, hand over hand. Trying to keep my voice steady as my arms pump, drawing myself closer to the ship meter by meter, I say “Computer, open a line to Luke! Abort piloting program immediately.” He is going to be furious.

“Error. Communication failed. Abort failed.” The computer announces. I can see the edge of the nebula, the colors ending abruptly in total darkness. It is getting close now. “Warning, disconnect tether, hyper-drive engagement in t-minus 45 seconds,” she continues. I am still nearly a hundred meters from the airlock.

“Computer, retry, filter for magnetic fields. Get me through to Luke.” There is a longer pause as the computer processes and the light surrounding me starts to dim.

“Warning, disconnect tether, hyper-drive engagement in t-minus twenty-eight-- connection successful.”

I all but shout in relief as the channel opens. “Computer, override Logan No’gard. One, oh, one, three, one, abort auto-piloting program. Shut down non-essential systems.” I hold my breath, the timer counts down, 22; 21; 20... and then “Confirmed” flashes across the HUD.

“Luke before you get mad, I know I am not supposed to be out here, but you see...”

* * *

Luke’s wrath was as bad as I had expected it to be. I am now punished, locked in the spare cabin, with naught but my tablet and an unconscious Teleran brat for company. She has a fever, Luke said it peaked at 48 degrees, Celsius, twelve hours after take-off.

He managed to get it down to 43 with cooling blankets and ice packs but it hasn’t budged since. A human would have been racked by seizures if their organs hadn’t started shutting down yet. The girl just wriggles and whimpers or moans softly now and then.

I remember Tom had a fever once. I think it was also in the fourties. We were nine and one of our friends had passed along some or other bug. Luke had no idea how to treat it and wouldn’t let me go near Tom in case I caught it too, which was hard on me since we had never been kept apart before. He was sick for days and hallucinating… Tom said he couldn’t remember any of it afterward.

Ugh! Thinking like an old woman. I’m going crazy!

* * *

It has been four hours since Luke ordered my incarceration. He and Tom have been busy this whole time, recalibrating the computer’s settings. Apparently, my immediate cessation of all non-essential processes caused some problems. The power-cells overheated and lost most of their charge, and the dwarf star that lit the nebula is too cold and far away to power them up again. The hot water has gone haywire, the machinery in the mess is shooting out food items at random and to top it off the hyperdrive is out of sync. Its navigational algorithms got scrambled. Luke says that they will have to reset everything and re-input the code from scratch, and then see where they can reroute power from to get us up and running again. That’s why the girl can’t be in stasis allowing her condition to run its course.

He sure was mad. But the look on his face when I drifted past that portal ... Classic! I chuckle to myself thinking about it. Now I have to babysit and notify Luke of any change. He really sought to torture me when he locked me in here. He disabled my tab’s wireless connectivity except for his own contact and removed all non-standard software and programs, including all my music and games except for Tetris, which one can only play through to level ten so many times.

I have to sit here and listen to the moaning and whining and have no distractions or entertainment, I could at least have helped them with the reprogramming. I pace the tiny cabin a few times and then sit down again, open the Tetris app on my tab, and then close it. The girl cries out in her delirium, again. It happens every few minutes, mostly gibberish but now and then I pick up a word or two. A few times I have heard clearly a name: Christelle. Luke said he could not pinpoint the cause, nor could he devise any way to treat it. Aside from the numerous injuries and signs of acute undernutrition, well more accurately, despite it all, she seems to be in good overall health.

Analysis of her bone structure showed she is about eight years old. I see that he has her on a drip with fluids and a mild painkiller. She kicks and wriggles the cooling blanket down to her knees. There are dozens of small white plasters all along her arms and legs, and there are bandages showing beneath her gown. I smooth the blanket back up to her shoulders. One of the plasters on her neck has come loose and a drop of bright red blood is oozing from the stitched cut underneath. I see another loose one on her right arm, tangled in her braided hair. I rearrange the thick black rope of hair and lay it beside her, it reaches right down to her ankles. Then I pull off the plasters, recognizing Luke’s stitching. It is as fine as embroidery. Won’t even scar.

Rummaging in the nearby drawer I find some fresh plasters and press them into place. She’s so tiny, I think stepping back. Her arms and legs are skinny as reeds, her eyes are sunken back into her skull and ringed by dark circles. What little skin I can see is ashen. Poor kid. And yet she was able to floor Tom?

* * *

My music volume suddenly dips and I jump dislodging the precariously hung panel with the dangling wires as Luke’s voice resonates over the intercom.

“Logan, we are approaching Sol. Should be home in about an hour. How is our guest doing?”

“No change. Thanks for the heads-up.”

“I’ve called for my resident team from the hospital, to help.”

“You mean to treat her at home then? Smart. Fewer eyes.”

“Tom and I have agreed that we will refer to her as your cousin. Found in dire straights, the sole survivor of a hyper-drive malfunction caused by your nebula. We identified her by the family crest emblazoned on their shuttle and brought her back.”

“Sounds good. at least until she wakes up and runs off.” I snark ending the connection.

I have made myself comfortable in this tiny cabin in the past few days. My tab is connected to the ship’s central computer via the door’s control panel, by means of an old radio’s wiring. It was my father that taught me how to hack, but Luke who encouraged me to experiment and practice until it became second nature. I have back my music and games as well as full access to the ship’s systems including navigation.

We are exactly 51 minutes from home. That prison of rules and restrictions, where we live in constant vigilance for the sake of the Authority and the Planetary Guard. Luke keeps us in their good books but only so long as we all keep within their expectations.

Tom and I are required to keep strict control of our energetic abilities as long as we are within range of populated areas, and Luke has to do their dirty work. We do not get many opportunities to let our hair down so to speak.

I start tidying up and packing away in prep for landing. I turn off my music and replace the panel I opened. The radio will likely never work again but everything else is back as it should be. The hyperspace slipstream disappears from outside the viewing portal and is replaced by sunlight. Luke will be busy acquiring landing vectors. I look around the cabin trying to think of what it is that seems out of place. Everything looks fine. It is very quiet, but that must be because of the lack of music...

The girl...

She’s stopped moaning. She doesn’t seem to be moving around anymore either. I put my hand on her brow, it is cool. “The fever’s broken. I have to tell Luke,” I whisper to myself, withdrawing my hand. I am about to turn around and then, her eyes flutter, and open!