Then I saw the alert on my panel.
Oh God! ‘Incoming!’ I shouted.
Our ship lurched to starboard to avoid an incoming Mazon blast. There was less than one hundred metres between the detonation of the blast and us. Much too close. But Aidan had made sure it wasn’t a direct hit.
An alert sounded around the ship which Aidan immediately quashed.
‘Get ready. Zandari ion storm coming up on my mark.’ Pause. ‘Three, two, one, mark,’ Aidan announced.
I activated my program to get my own mark for optimal timing, then turned the ship through one hundred and eighty degrees as directed whilst Aidan did his part. The instruments were already going nuts. The ion storm was bending and distorting signals. I was getting echoes and false and phantom readings, but luckily I had already compensated for that. I let the ship’s momentum swing us around for the final thirty-three degrees, hoping fervently that my calculations were correct and I hadn’t screwed up.
In about an hour’s time we’d know one way or another.
41
An hour and seventeen minutes had passed and we were still wihin the ion storm. If Aidan and Nathan had done their jobs properly it shouldn’t take too much longer to emerge from it. I looked up past the transparent dome of the bridge. All around us, forks of energy like white lightning flashed in all directions throughout the red-purple mist which currently engulfed us. A quick glance around the bridge revealed that no one was looking at anyone else, never mind speaking. The tension on the bridge had wrapped around each of us like a shroud. Our engine capacity was at zero and we were drifting. It was impossible to tell if we were drifting out of the storm or further into it but I had confidence in Nathan. His knowledge of this ship and its capabilities was matched only by mine and Aidan’s.
But just in case, I needed to formulate a plan B. Devising a plan C wouldn’t hurt either. The only trouble was, no plan in the universe could get us out of this storm if we were drifting the wrong way, and without our instruments working properly it was impossible to tell.
‘Catherine, you should never have left our fate in the hands of that girl,’ Darren argued. ‘Your judgement since Barros 5 has been lacking to say the least.’
‘Darren, enough,’ the commander snapped.
But Darren wasn’t listening. ‘Sam, you agree with me don’t you? Those two women are going to get us killed, if they haven’t already.’
Ignoring Darren’s misogyny, I turned to Sam, curious to hear his response.
Sam looked from Darren to me and back again. ‘Darren, why don’t you sit down and shut the hell up if you can’t find something more constructive to do.’
Casting an explosive look at Sam, Darren at last did as he was told. I had no time for Darren and his histrionics at that moment. I had other priorities.
‘Aidan, if we were to fire just one plasma burst behind us to give us some momentum, how much would that deplete our energy reserves,’ I asked quietly.
‘Our energy reserves would drop by eighty-two per cent,’ said Aidan. ‘Plus we have no way of knowing if we’re heading in the right direction. A plasma burst could send us even deeper into the ion storm. Such a burst could allow the Mazon to locate our position. They may not be able to fire at us if their energy is depleted, but they could try to ram us, which would have the same effect.’
‘OK. And how long before the location buoy activates?’
‘Another forty-three minutes.’
‘The location buoy . . .’ The commander turned to look at me. Was that new-found admiration in her eyes? ‘That’s your backup plan in case we’re not out of the storm by then.’
‘Yeah. It’ll start pinging in forty-three minutes to give us something to move towards on what little power we may have left. The only trouble is, the Mazon will hear it too and it’ll give them something to aim at as well. Still, I seriously doubt we’ll need it.’ I smiled reassuringly at Nathan who was watching me. He turned away.
My smile faded. Was he mad at me for having a backup plan? Did he think that meant I didn’t trust him to get it right? Nothing could be further from the truth. I wanted to tell him that, but this was neither the time nor the place.
There was nothing else to do now but play the waiting game.
42
We had now been in the storm for over ninety minutes. That, and the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach, told me that somehow I must’ve messed up. Big time. Since we’d entered the storm, I’d checked and re-checked my calculations at least ten times. I still couldn’t see where I’d gone wrong, but what other explanation was there?
‘Catherine, this is all your fault. This is what happens when you leave our fate in the hands of a still wet behind the ears kid.’ Darren was off again. ‘Thanks to Vee and her idiotic ideas, we’re now stuck here to wonder which of us will die first when the air runs out.’
‘Darren, that’s not helping,’ said Mum.
I turned in my chair to glare at him. ‘Why take it out on Vee? I was the one who was supposed to execute the manoeuvre that would get us out of here. If you’re going to blame anyone, blame me.’
‘You were only following that girl’s orders,’ Darren dismissed. ‘I can’t understand why you all defer to her like she has a clue. If we ever get out of this, I won’t be taking any more orders from her, that’s for damned sure.’
‘How long, Aidan?’ asked Vee from behind me.
‘On my mark,’ Aidan replied.
What were the two of them up to? Tense, silent moments ticked by. What was going on?
‘Five . . . four . . . three . . . two . . . one . . . mark!’ said Aidan.
We emerged from the ion storm to find ourselves alone with not a Mazon ship in sight.
‘What happened?’ Darren asked.
‘The engine capacity increased by two per cent a second before we entered the ion storm, giving us a speed boost,’ said Vee. ‘Therefore we travelled further into it than originally anticipated, which meant it took longer to get out of it. Nathan’s calculations were spot on though.’ Vee smiled at me. ‘Otherwise we’d still be drifting in there.’
‘Why didn’t you say so?’ Darren raged.
Vee turned to Darren, the smile dropping off her face. ‘You didn’t ask me. And we’re not out of trouble yet, so it’d be lovely if you could shut up until we restart the engine and are on our way.’
Darren scowled at her, but didn’t say another word. I knew him and that expression on his face.
This wasn’t over.
‘Aidan, do we have enough power to deactivate the buoy?’
Aidan nodded. ‘Already done. It’s dead.’
Vee walked over to Aidan and Mum and they had a quiet conversation about how to lose the other Mazon ships that were still on our trail. Scrambling our engine signature at random intervals was no longer going to be enough but I didn’t pick up much more than that.
I turned to look at Anjuli, wondering what on Callisto she’d been thinking to get us into this mess in the first place. If I knew Vee – and I did – Anjuli was about to get her arse handed to her.
43
The engine was back online and we’d been underway for a good fifteen minutes now with nothing following us. We weren’t exactly safe, but safer would do. I finally allowed myself to relax, but only for a moment. I had a task to do that I wasn’t looking forward to but as someone Scottish once said: “If it were done when ’tis done, then t’were well it were done quickly.”
‘Anjuli, I’d like a word.’ I stood up and turned to face her. The look of dread on her face told me she had a good idea what was coming.
‘Anjuli, I like you, I really do,’ I began, already hating myself. ‘But I don’t want you on the bridge any more. Commander Linedecker will see to it that you’re assigned other duties elsewhere.’
Anjuli’s mouth dropped open, her eyes wide with dismay. I felt so mean but what choice did I have?
‘Vee, please. I’m so sorry. I was just trying to help,’ Anjul
i pleaded.
‘I understand that you were acting for the best of reasons, Anjuli, but the fact remains that your negligence put all our lives at risk.’ It felt like I was trying to find a way to ever so gently knock her out. ‘Whether this ship has a crew of two or two hundred, it only functions if everyone works as part of a team. And if we don’t work as a team, then we don’t work at all. That means that if you have a risky idea, you pass it by me or Commander Linedecker first so we can properly assess it before you run with it. You do not sit there doing your own thing just so you can flash your initiative hoping to make yourself look good. That doesn’t fly, not on this bridge.’
‘I get it. And I promise, it won’t happen again . . .’ Anjuli’s eyes pleaded with me for a second chance and in any other circumstance I would’ve given it to her – in a heartbeat. But I just couldn’t take that risk.
‘I’m sorry Anjuli, but no. You need to leave this bridge.’
Anjuli’s eyes glistened with unshed tears. Head lowered, her steps slow, Anjuli did as I ordered and left the bridge. I felt like a complete and utter bitch, but that didn’t make me wrong. I took a deep breath and then turned to Darren. ‘And that goes for you too, Darren. I welcome positive debate and opinions but you try to undermine me at every opportunity. The Mazon were breathing down our necks and I had to waste time arguing with you when I should’ve been concentrating on getting us out of danger. I’m not going through that again. So you will leave this bridge and not come back. I’m sure the commander will find you another assignment until we get to Mendela Prime.’
Darren stood up, his face slowly turning a vivid shade of puce. ‘I don’t have to take that from a snot-nosed little brat like you. Just who the hell d’you think you’re talking to?’
Stay calm, Vee. Stay calm.
‘Darren, I’m in command according to Article T.O.T.V-1957-Sigma-80, Section C-4 of the Earth Vessel Code which states that a crew member may assume command of a vessel in the event of incapacity, illness or death. We had all three on board this ship, and I was the last one left standing so that’s what I did, and it’s logged on the ship’s computer and in the first sub-space report I sent back to Earth. So I’m telling you to get the hell off my damned bridge and don’t return unless and until instructed.’
I didn’t mean to quote regulations at the guy but I admit it, he’d stomped on my last nerve and I wanted him gone. But I’d barely got the last word out when the next thing I knew, Darren was barrelling towards me. A blur moved between us and then two bodies were flailing around on the floor. What the—? It took a moment or two for me to realize that the person who had intercepted Darren was Nathan. The next moment they were on their feet and Nathan stood before me, his back to me. I sidestepped to get a better view, unwilling to lose sight of Darren even for a second. If he was coming in for the kill, I’d rather see it coming.
‘Darren! Enough!’ the commander ordered.
But Darren only had eyes for me.
‘Get out of the way, Nathan!’ Darren roared. ‘This isn’t your fight.’
‘Fuck you, Darren. You lay one finger on my wife and I’ll break it off,’ Nathan told him furiously.
The air whooshed out of my lungs as if I’d just been gut-punched. Everyone on the bridge froze in stunned silence. You could’ve heard a feather drop.
‘Your wife?’ Darren repeated.
‘Yeah, that’s right – my wife. So back the hell up.’
‘Your wife?’ Darren repeated again. His level of shock hadn’t dwindled any.
‘We went through the official joining ceremony and it was logged and legal. Doctor Sheen and Mike were our witnesses. So I warn you now, harm Vee and I will end you.’
I’d never seen Nathan like that before, so furiously angry, but his anger burned not hot but ice-cold. The expression on his face was chilling. He didn’t shout or yell, but then he didn’t have to. His softly spoken words were full of quiet menace.
‘Nathan, it’s OK,’ I said quietly. I placed a hand on his shoulder which was so tense it might have been carved from stone.
As I watched, Darren’s fists slowly unclenched.
‘Nathan, you got married and you didn’t tell me?’ said the commander – only she wasn’t his commander in that moment but his mum.
‘You would’ve tried to stop us,’ said Nathan, his eyes still on Darren.
‘Of course I would’ve tried to stop you,’ said the commander, scandalized. ‘For God’s sake, you two have known each other for five minutes. What the hell were you thinking?’
‘I fell for Vee from the moment I saw her and luckily for me she felt the same,’ said Nathan. ‘I’m not going to apologize for that.’
I sighed softly. So much for keeping it a secret until we were at least out of Mazon territory. Nathan gave me a quick, apologetic look before turning back to Darren. He didn’t trust Darren any more than I did. Here was a man neither of us was in a hurry to turn our backs on.
‘I believe Vee gave you a direct order,’ said Nathan.
‘Catherine, are you going to let them talk to me like that?’ Darren asked.
The commander looked from me and Nathan to Darren. ‘Vee has the perfect right to call you on your bullshit, Darren,’ she told him. ‘It’s her ship and she’s the captain and I have no intention of asking her to put up with something I myself wouldn’t stand for. I suggest you leave the bridge and go and make yourself useful in the engine room until further notice.’
With a look of pure venom that literally took my breath away, Darren turned and strode out of the room.
‘Vee, you’re not to go anywhere near that man unless I’m with you,’ Nathan said quietly. ‘D’you understand?’
I fought to keep the smile from my face but failed spectacularly. Bless! He was worried about me. How lovely to have someone actually worry about me whilst I concerned myself with everyone else on board.
‘Olivia, it’s not funny,’ Nathan said when he saw the expression on my face.
My smile faded. ‘No, you’re right. It’s not.’
A come-at-me-from-the-front attack I could defend myself against. But Darren was the kind of guy who’d sneak up on me from behind and garrotte me faster than I could blink.
I needed to be on my guard. When it came to Darren, one careless mistake could be my last.
44
I think Vee was finally beginning to realize just how dangerous Darren really was. He was a big guy with a short fuse and a long memory. And now that Mum had shown her support for Vee rather than him, he’d be even more hostile. It was only now that Darren had left the bridge that I allowed myself to relax. All I wanted was to grab hold of Vee and put her in a bear hug but if I did that in front of everyone on the bridge, she wouldn’t thank me for it. In fact, she was already probably going to kick my arse. Our joining was meant to be a secret.
‘Is it true? Did you go through the joining ceremony with Nathan?’ Aidan’s voice was strangely monotone, his eyes staring a hole straight through Vee.
‘Yes Aidan, it is,’ she replied. Vee’s gaze was equally intense and watchful.
‘It’s not on the ship’s computer,’ said Aidan.
‘It was recorded as part of my personal log,’ Vee replied. ‘That’s why you didn’t know.’
Why would Aidan be following his sister’s activities on the ship’s computer? That was all kinds of weird but Vee not only spoke like it wasn’t a big deal but like it was normal. There was something going on here, some undercurrent between Vee and her brother from which the rest of us were excluded. From the way Mum was looking at them, I knew I wasn’t the only one who thought so. If I didn’t know any better, I’d have said that Aidan wasn’t just peeved but actually incensed. His expression was carefully neutral, but there was something in his artificially even tone, and in the way he held himself, that had me on my guard.
‘You didn’t want me to know?’ Aidan asked his sister.
‘It wasn’t that,’ Vee denied. ‘It was a spur-of-th
e-moment thing.’
‘Why did you do it?’
Vee looked around the bridge, then at me, embarrassed. ‘Because I wanted to, Aidan.’
Aidan tilted his head slightly as he continued to scrutinize his sister. He hadn’t looked at me once. ‘Do you regret it?’
What the hell?
Vee cast me a swift, intimate smile. ‘Not even a little bit.’
‘You will,’ Aidan replied, before turning back to his control panel.
Two words but they managed to annoy the crap out of me. ‘Now wait just a damned minute . . .’ I took a step forward, only to find Vee’s hand on my arm holding me back.
Vee shook her head. ‘It’s OK,’ she said softly. ‘He just needs to get used to the idea.’
‘He’d better get used to it fast then,’ I replied tersely, before heading back to my workstation next to him. And still he wouldn’t look at me.
Fine! If he wanted to be childish, that was his business. I glanced at Mum. She was looking at me. I smiled, but she immediately turned away. I sighed inwardly. Yes, I got that she was hurt. That was probably Aidan’s problem too. I had promised Vee that I’d respect her wishes to wait a while before telling anyone on board about us, but Darren had provoked me!
He’d actually launched himself at my wife. Well, screw that!
My wife.
I never got tired of thinking that. How many times since our joining ceremony had I looked at Vee and thought, My wife! Sometimes I wanted to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t back on Callisto having one of the most intense, vivid, amazing dreams of my life. I still had trouble believing that Vee had gone with her gut instinct and agreed to join with me after such a very short time together. But sometimes, you just knew – at least, that’s the way it’d been for me. Within an hour of our meeting, I knew I wanted to spend more time with her. Within a day of meeting Vee, I knew I wanted to share the rest of my life with her – whether that was an hour, a day or a century. My time on Callisto had taught me that life was short and I should never let fear hold me back. The thing of it was, even though I knew that Vee was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, I still felt responsible for her. And more than that, for the first time in my life, I felt truly vulnerable. That bit I wasn’t so keen on.