This argument did not sway Ginn Raynor, but Seth knew that it would affect Caitlin, Lance, and Leah. There was a reason they joined him on the Fenghuang. Despite being born and raised on different planets, in different cultures, they had one thing in common: they were not ready to abandon the stars.
“We don’t want another NewPasTur,” Leah said. “That’s all we ask. Don’t put us in a situation where we have to pray to survive… at least not until we know we can fix this bucket of bolts if we take a missile.”
“Yeah, I’d really like someone on the crew who knows how to repair a Heilmann Drive,” Lance added. “Let’s face it, living the rest of my life on the planet of my choosing is far better than ending my life on the first planet that can stick an artillery round in our engine.”
Seth furrowed his brow. This wouldn’t be easy. Schematics of the Heilmann Drive were heavily guarded by the People’s Interstellar Republic prior to the Fall. Now anyone who knew how to build a Heilmann Drive or even patch one up was on Earth, likely under surveillance. Seth recruited Leah because she was a brilliant scientist and he’d hoped she could reverse engineer the technology. It was impossible. The architecture was too strange, too unlike anything else.
The design of the Heilmann Drive had not changed for almost two thousand years and its inventor, Alena Heilmann, created nothing else. There was no analog. Its secrets were closely guarded, passed down by Republic scientists and engineers to maintain their absolute control over the only method of interstellar travel. In the scientific community there were those who knew how it worked, and they were few; there were those who did not know how it worked, and they were legion. Leah was among the latter group and there was no crossing over.
“If we want an engineer who understands the Heilmann Drive, we have to go to Earth,” Seth said. “They are all there. But we cannot go to Earth. This ship is wanted, I am wanted, and we do not have the element of surprise or deception.” Suddenly, Seth looked up. He was smiling for the first time since their escape from NewPasTur. “However, I have another idea.”
“You are happy,” Caitlin pointed out. “But we are questioning your leadership. What is going on? I am sorry, but this feels like a sort of overdeveloped irony that comes with all of these… gadgets.”
“I know where we can find an engineer. I know where we search for allies next. I just needed a little push.”
Chapter 2
It began with the headaches. The inhabitants of the Orion, a research station located along the trade route between Earth and Gammaron, began experiencing severe migraines. The outpost was in deep space, far from any planet or star, so there was no possible source of radiation poisoning or vector for disease. Internal tests revealed nothing was wrong with the researchers. They were in perfect health.
Other symptoms started to show within the next few weeks. Distorted vision, confusion, forgetfulness… One of the security officers went berserk and opened fire with a pulse rifle in one of the labs, injuring two of the crew. The People’s Interstellar Republic sent an independent team to examine the situation. To these outsiders, the problem was obvious.
Light curved as if passed across a fun-house mirror. Sound echoed off of nothingness. The report of the head PIR scientist summed up the problem succinctly: “There are no more straight lines aboard the Orion.” The change happened so slowly that the crew aboard the research outpost didn’t even notice it, even as it chipped away at their sanity.
The trade route between Earth and Gammaron was the most traveled leap in the galaxy. Scientists quickly connected the dots and came to the conclusion that the distortion was caused by the repeated compression and dilation of the same stretch of space. The Heilmann Drive was changing the very fabric of reality.
No one knew how this would affect the universe beyond the trade routes. But they did know that the risks were high. The question posed to the people was this: If space was acting like a rubber band that had been stretched too many times, what would happen when it broke? Their answer was this: We can’t let that happen.
In 4191, the People’s Interstellar Republic passed the Spatial Preservation Act, which provided for the immediate suspension of the major trade routes, a six month period of relocation for anyone wishing to move, and then a moratorium on the use of the Heilmann Drive across the galaxy. The PIR promised that the Fall would only last until their scientists found a safer method of interstellar travel. But rumors swirled that they were destroying the starships and detaining engineers who knew how to build and even operate them. As the Fall began, most people knew that it would not be a temporary inconvenience.
One year later, the last starship in the galaxy was scheduled to be demolished. But then it mysteriously disappeared…
*
Caitlin stepped off the shuttle and looked up at the soft green skies of Linaria. This was only her second visit to another planet, and the first time she’d ever seen an emerald world. It took her breath away—in more ways than one. Almost as soon as she adjusted to the surreal color of the sky, she felt a sharp sting in her throat. The atmosphere on Linaria was, as Seth put it, imperfect. It was more than capable of supporting human and other homeworld life, but to those who were not born on the planet, it could be quite unpleasant.
Seth and Lance were the next off of the shuttle. Leah remained on the Fenghuang, high in orbit above the planet. This time they had not been attacked. In fact, they were welcomed with open arms. The first, and only, person to contact them once they leapt into orbit was the High Counsel of Linaria himself. And he was thrilled to see the starship. He invited them to land at his palace, and to speak with him directly rather than through a military liaison. It was a far better result than any of them expected.
A young man in a black, form-fitting military jacket was waiting for them as they exited the shuttle. He was stone-faced, neither smiling nor frowning. Seth approached him.
“Greetings, soldier,” Seth said. “I apologize, I do not know your traditions. Do you shake or do you bow?”
“What?”
Seth grinned. “I see. Neither.” He turned around to face Caitlin and Lance. “They don’t do either.” He couldn’t hide how nervous he was. He was even more scared than when he was staring down the NewPasTur fighter drones.
“Right this way,” the emotionless soldier said. He spun on his heel and started walking away from the landing zone. Seth followed him, and the others followed Seth.
“What the hell is wrong with him?” Lance asked Caitlin, struggling to keep his voice quiet.
“That man? He seems quite dedicated to his job. I see nothing wrong with that.”
“Not the Linarian. Captain Garland. Why is he so anxious?”
Caitlin shrugged. “Maybe he is not so fond of face-to-face meetings. On Airlann, I greatly preferred communicating with letters. It allowed me to think about my words. Maybe he needs to think about his words.”
“You seriously wrote letters?”
Caitlin didn’t answer him. She was quickly adjusting to the rest of the galaxy, even if they were not adjusting to her.
The Grand Palace of Linaria was a massive stone structure patterned after an ancient temple. Columns of white Alban rock, common on emerald worlds, surrounded monolithic walls. On top of the palace, a massive fresco displayed the figure of a woman in a flowing cloak. She held fire in her hand and she was offering it to a clamoring, desperate crowd.
A similar Alban statute stood in front of the palace, almost as tall as the building itself. It displayed a woman with wavy hair and a strong chin. She was holding her right hand open. An open flame, presumably fueled from within the statute itself, burst from her palm. In her left hand was a massive orb carved from lavender rock.
Caitlin was intrigued. She tapped Seth on the shoulder and he fell back to speak with his crew.
“Who is that woman?” Caitlin asked. “Is that some sort of goddess? Is she like Airlanni?” Airlanni was the planet-deity of Airlann, and Caitlin was momentarily relieved to
find that her culture was not so out of touch with the rest of the galaxy. Her companions were generally quite agnostic, and tended to look down upon her devotion to Airlanni.
“You could… You could say that it is a goddess. But is nothing like Airlanni. I’m sorry.” “What is her name?”
Seth grimaced. “That woman is Alena Heilmann.” Lance stopped walking. He stared at Seth.
“Heilmann as in Heilmann Drive?”
“That’s right,” Seth said. “They worship Alena Heilmann.”
“Why would they worship a real person?” Caitlin asked. “I mean… Airlanni is real. That is what my people believe, at least. But she is not real as in there are not photographs and videos of her. There are pictures of Alena Heilmann. Even I have seen them.”
“This is why I thought they would have some ideas about how to take care of our engine,” Seth said under his breath, mindful of the Linarian soldier just meters ahead. “They have gathered everything they can that belonged to Heilmann. Hopefully somewhere in one of their shrines is a schematic or diagram that the Republic didn’t confiscate.”
Lance looked at him incredulously. “So of course these people want to help us! The Fall is blasphemy to them. Why didn’t we come here first?”
Seth stepped even further away from the soldier leading them. He grabbed Lance’s arm, pulling them both back. Then he leaned in, whispering in his navigator’s ear.
“We didn’t come here because on Linaria, the theft of a starship is punishable by death.”
*
The High Counsel of Linaria, Adom Ironson, was a thin, bespectacled man in long, faded purple robes. He leaned over the heavy wooden table in his office, staring at Seth and his crew.
“The Heilmann Drive is more than an engine,” he said. “It can take a man from one edge of the galaxy to the other. That is true. But it is more. Plot a leap through planet and you destroy that planet. Plot a leap through a star and you can create a black hole. Plot a leap outside of the galactic rim and… ” He spread his arms wide. “Who knows? Perhaps you find yourselves among the gears of heaven itself.” He pointed up at the ceiling. “What you have up there is not just a starship. It is the finger of God. And you have saved the only one still in existence.”
The old man’s smile did not set Seth or his companions at ease. It was only a matter of time before he started asking questions. It wouldn’t be long before he realized that the Fenghuang was not rightfully given to a fugitive of the People’s Interstellar Republic. “That is why I came to you, sir,” Seth said. “Because I know just how important the Heilmann Drive is to you. All I want of you is one thing, one simple—”
The younger man to the Counsel’s left stood up and cut off Seth with a wave of his hand. This was Prime Minister Ibid il Hydrian. Ironson was the spiritual and symbolic leader of the Linarians, while Hydrian was their head of state. “We will do whatever is in our capability, Captain Garland. It is of no concern. However, we first ask something of you.”
The word “captain” had a very specific meaning in Linarian religion that transcended the traditional galactic usage. Prime Minister Hydrian’s decision to refer to Seth as a captain should have put him at ease. However, he knew that the Linarian courts were entirely controlled by the clergy. Hydrian could acknowledge Seth as the rightful captain of the Fenghuang and it would not be enough to save him if Ironson and the church were unconvinced.
“Of course,” Seth said. “As the only faster-than-light ship in the galaxy, we are in a unique position of being able to offer you transport, supplies, information… Being our friends puts you in quite a position of power, even on other planets.”
Ironson glared at Seth. “We do not want anything so material. I am sure you could convince many other governments to shower you with gifts for a single shipment of steel or circuit boards or whatever the blasted soil they weren’t prepared to create themselves. But we are not so backwards. We ask something different of you.”
Seth could sense a desperation in him. That, more than colloquial religious terms, calmed his nerves. He could tell that Ironson and Hydrian needed something. They needed it more than anything else in the galaxy, and he was the only one who could provide it.
“I can deal with different,” Seth said. He looked at Caitlin and Lance. “We can deal with different, right?”
Caitlin smiled. “This is all different to me.” Seth bit his tongue. He’d told her not to speak. Because they rejected technology and space travel, the Airlannians were apostate on Linaria and the last thing he wanted was anyone discovering her identity. Then again, it was his own fault. He’d asked her the question in the first place.
Prime Minister Hydrian pulled out a small piece of paper and an inkspray pen. It was primitive technology for the Linarians, but perfectly suited for a clandestine transaction. Hydrian scrawled something on the paper and passed it to Seth. Seth picked up the slip and glanced at it. The only things written were a set of galactic coordinates and a date.
“That’s… That’s it?” he asked. “You just want us to leap here in two days? And do what, exactly?”
Ironson furrowed his brow. “You’ll understand.”
Seth looked at the coordinates written on the paper. He played with them in his head, thought them over, and suddenly he felt his heart speed up. “Wait,” he said. “This is within sublight space of Earth. I can’t go there.”
Lance groaned aloud. “Don’t… . Don’t say that, Captain… ”
Hydrian arched an eyebrow. “Why can’t you go near Earth?”
Seth was quiet for a second while he tried to formulate a response. There was no plausible lie to explain why a legitimate starship captain would be unable to travel near Earth. Every starship was commissioned by Earth, every legitimate captain approved by the People’s Interstellar Republic. If he could not go to Earth, he could not be legitimate. He could only be a thief.
A dreadful lull fell over the meeting as the inevitable truth bubbled to the surface. Seth Garland was not a starship captain, at least not officially. If there had been any doubt, it was dispelled by his silence and the sweat springing up across his brow.
Lance wondered if he could sprint for the door and, if he made it out, could blend in amongst Linarian society. Caitlin worried that she would never be buried on Airlann. Seth… Seth still could not even think of anything but how quickly he’d destroyed everything he worked for.
First Counsel Ironson motioned to Seth. “If I may, I would like to speak with you alone.”
“Of course!” Lance immediately volunteered and headed for the exit, grabbing Caitlin’s wrist on the way out. Prime Minister Hydrian just bowed his head and left the office.
Suddenly everyone was gone. Ironson stared at Seth and Seth averted his eyes. He knew that the older man held his life in the palm of his hand. The horrible silence continued as the First Counsel paced around the room. Finally, after a few laps, he was ready to strike.
“What is wrong with you, you backwards coward?” Ironson roared. Seth sat straight up in his chair. He dug his fingernails into his palms and waited to be arrested. “Do you really think we don’t know how you got that ship?”
Suddenly the words began to pour from Seth’s mouth—he was going to give every justification and excuse he could think of. “They were going to destroy it. I had to do it. I couldn’t let it end. I couldn’t let us all be stuck here. By the rim, I just wanted to keep the spirit of Alena Heilmann alive. I had to do it.”
“Of course you had to!” Ironson exclaimed.
Seth stopped the torrent of excuses. He looked up to see that the First Counsel was smiling again. “… What?”
“It is a shame. I hoped that you would be different, but like all the other offworlders, you do not understand us. You hear the stories, that we execute mutineers and starship thieves, and you take them literally. You cannot see the galaxy through the stars.”
“You’re not going to kill me because I stole the Fenghuang?”
“W
hy would we do that?” Ironson asked. “You saved the last piece of God in this soil-bound galaxy. You are not the thief. They were the thieves, and I sincerely hope that someday we will have the chance to judge them.”
For the first time since landing on Linaria, Seth breathed easy. He wiped the sweat from his brow and he leaned back in his chair. Now that the truth was out there, now that it was accepted, he just had to explain the details. The details were far less offensive than the basics.
“Now… Now you understand why I cannot go to Earthspace. I am wanted there, this ship is wanted, and we both cannot risk the loss of the ship.”
Ironson slowly walked over to Seth and placed his hands on the young man’s shoulders. “But we have to, because this is more important than you can ever know.”
“More important than the Fenghuang?”
“It is very possible.”
“And if I do this, I can have access to all of your records concerning the development of the Heilmann Drive?”