June 14, 2361 AIA

The Golondrina

Vas’s grip on the control wheel turned his knuckles white. Reyer had already witnessed one or two intense moments with the captain, and as he worked to keep the ship level and hovering, his face had the same look of ferocious concentration. She sat in the copilot’s seat, feeling useless and trying not to inadvertently touch any buttons or switches. Jane and Ciro were sitting across from the open ramp.

From the com in Ciro’s hand, Lynx said, “I have filled up the container, leaving only ten centimeters of air in the top. Is that adequate?”

“Yes! More than adequate!” Ciro didn’t mean to yell, but his nervous excitement made it inevitable. “Please make sure the lid is on as tight as possible without breaking it.”

“Understood, sir.” A moment later: “I am ready to be raised back up.”

Reyer stood up and put her hand on Adan’s shoulder. “This’ll be the hard part. Are you ready?”

He wouldn’t even nod. He could only spare her a brief, “Yes.”

Reyer went down to the main cabin. She instructed Jane to tie herself down and handed Ciro the scanner before going over to the winch she’d rigged up with his help. As they began to raise Lynx and the new cargo, Vas allowed the ship to roll so the open ramp was looking down at the silver-white lake. Dr. Jane braced her arms against the edge of the bench and stared down with wide eyes.

Reyer had one leg on the deck and one on the bulkhead by the opening. She pulled out her e-pistol and nodded to Ciro.

As Lynx rose toward them, Ciro scanned.

“There’s trace amounts of something over here,” he said.

“Lynx, can you twist toward me?”

“Yes, Miss Reyer.”

She shot him several times at the place on his shoulder Ciro had indicated.

As the bot slowly rotated back around, Ciro scanned again. “It’s clear now.”

They repeated this process until the scanner came up with nothing for two full scans. Only then was Lynx allowed on board. He reached up to the bulkhead and pulled himself in. His entrance brought him so close to Reyer, she stumbled. The bot reached out and grabbed her before she fell onto the bench.

“Are you all right, Miss Reyer?”

“Yes. I just hope we got everything.”

“Dr. Jane’s assertions about the nature of the xenos makes it statistically impossible for them to survive a blast from an e-weapon. The math does not support the idea you should bother worrying.”

“If you say so.”

The robot crawled around her, moving with slow deliberation so his weight wouldn’t throw off the ship’s unusual positioning.

“All right, Ciro,” Reyer said, tossing him Adan’s e-pistol. “Let’s douse the thing. And please don’t miss. I would hate to get shot on accident.”

The large metal water container was still suspended by a wire and hanging outside the ship. They were careful to hit every last centimeter of it with at least one blast. When they were done with that, Reyer blasted the ramp’s edge in case anything had dripped. Ciro scanned the outside of the container for any signs of life.

“I don’t think a single bacterium could have survived a barrage like that,” Dr. Jane said.

“That’s what we’re hoping,” Reyer said.

“It looks clean,” Ciro shouted up to Vas. “You can level us out now.”

Reyer couldn’t move fast enough. Her knees and wrists hit the deck. She hadn’t finished swearing before Lynx was beside her.

“Miss Reyer?” Adan called.

“Eyes on the sky, Captain,” she yelled.

The bot helped her to her feet and over to her bench as Ciro scanned everything one last time. When he called Lynx over, Alix was left alone with Dr. Jane. She was still strapped in where Vas usually sat to play chess. Alix could feel Jane watching her.

“Are you all right?”

“It’s an old injury,” Reyer said.

“That still hurts?”

“Yes.” Reyer laughed as the pain in her back abated and she could relax. “I used to be able to jump and wall climb before launching myself into a fifteen-foot drop.”

“The good old days?”

“The less painful days.” Reyer wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. “Most days have something good in them.”

“That sounds awfully cheerful for something a soldier would say.”

“Does it? How is a soldier supposed to sound, Doctor?”

“Gritty. Tough. Horribly disillusioned and cynical.”

Reyer smiled. “No, thank you. I think I’ll choose to keep my more philosophical outlook, if you don’t mind.”

Jane grunted. “I didn’t think philosophers went in for war.”

Reyer forced herself to stand. “A good friend of mine once told me that everyone needed to be a philosopher, but soldiers more than most people.”

“Why?”

“You’d rather we go around killing people without thinking about it?”

Jane didn’t have a ready response for that. Reyer walked over to the cockpit and pulled herself up the stairs before collapsing into the copilot’s seat. Ciro had finished his task and instructed Lynx to secure the container, then he walked up the stairs to stand behind her and the captain.

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“You can take us out of atmosphere,” Ciro said. “If there’s anything that’s going to get us, it gets the element of surprise and full marks for undetectability.”

Adan nodded and pull the ship’s nose toward the sky. When they were back among the stars, Jane got up to join them.

Vas rarely felt so relieved flicking over to autopilot. He turned his chair so he was looking at all of them. “We got it?”

“We got it,” Ciro assured him. “And no one is any more monstrous than before we got here.”

Vas looked back to where Lynx was sitting with the container. “I’ve carried bombs that have made me less nervous.” He said to Ciro, “Get into your nest of tech and find us someplace to go.”

Ciro went to the back of the ship, stepped over his barrier of machines, and sat down in the mess.

Dr. Jane said, “We’ll need a good class M planet that either has a decent working alien-biology lab or enough shops we could make our own.”

“So something more established?” Ciro said.

“Yes.”

“Something close by, Ciro,” Adan called out. “I don’t like being without reserve water, and I don’t relish the idea of drinking what’s in that container.”

“That would be highly inadvisable, sir.”

“Yes, thank you, Lynx.”

“Anything else?” Ciro asked.

“We need a free-plane,” Reyer said.

“Wait! No!” Dr. Jane turned between the cockpit and where Ciro had paused his searching. “I can’t go to a free-plane! If the Supremacy knew I’d been to one, they’d seize and search all my files, looking for any connection…between…” She saw both Vas and Reyer watching at her and huffed out a profoundly irritated sigh. “…between me and the Rising.”

“It’s too dangerous for us to go to a Supremacy planet right now,” Alix said, “especially if you need time to do your work. We tend to have to leave quickly when we stop at Supremacy planets.”

“And we have to go somewhere,” Vas said. “You can only live on a ship this small for so long.”

Behind them, Ciro raised his hand and offered in a cheery voice, “I haven’t had a real shower in over a week.”

“That’s disgusting,” Jane said.

“I’m sorry, Doctor,” Reyer said, “but it’ll have to be a free-plane.”

“Dammit. Fine!”

Ciro made a noise that was something between a laugh and a coo. “I think we have a winner, Captain.”

“Do I know it?” Adan asked.

“P67.”

The captain smiled. “That’ll do nicely. How far out?”

“Only three hours in velox.”

“Get Lynx the coordinates.”

Reyer stood up to clear the seat for the real copilot. When she made it down the stairs to the main deck, she saw Jane looking back at the container, her arms folded and her face troubled. She reached out at put a hand on the biologist’s arm.

Jane looked up at the touch. “You know, I had a life before you people.”

“Yes, you did,” Reyer said. “You’ll have a life after us. You have a life right now too.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“You meant it’s different from what you had planned and labeled ‘your life?’”

“Yeah.” Jane’s voice was both defensive and defiant.

“So you want to go back to it?”

Jane gazed at the container again. Then she noticed that Ciro was watching her. Grateful for a way to avoid the question at hand, she snapped, “What are you looking at, Wonder Boy?”

“Your lovely face, Dr. Jane,” he said with a grin. “I enjoy watching the struggle.”

He must have really enjoyed the next few seconds as Jane tried to decide between yelling at him, throwing something, or discounting his entire existence.

[https://i.imgur.com/6iM8gcI.png]

Vas was looking forward to reaching P67. Aside from being a stunning planet, there’d be no Supremacy officials and no particularly dangerous assignment they had to complete. He allowed himself to entertain the idea that he might get the chance to relax. But when they reached the planet known to the locals as Gaoyun, he encountered an unpleasant surprise from an unexpected quarter.

“What!” He realized that his outburst had probably caught the attention of Ciro and Dr. Jane, so he lowered his voice to hiss at Reyer, “What do you mean we should stay here?”

“Vas—”

“This is the first time in how many days we’ve been able to walk off the ship without having to lie about who we are—”

“Vas—”

“I’m glad you like my ship, Miss Reyer, I really am, but I, for one, could stand to see a sky with a sun—”

“Adan.”

When he heard her tone, he shut his mouth.

She was once again sitting on the top step, between him and Lynx. They had gone to one of the many free-ports the planet had and were waiting for a place to land. They would be down in less than five minutes.

“I have to admit, getting out of this ship sounds like heaven right about now,” Reyer said, “but just because it’s a free-plane doesn’t mean it’s safe for us. The Supremacy has spies and informants, and they may be looking for us.”

“I don’t like sitting around doing nothing!”

“You think I do?”

He saw the frustration on her face and watched as she carefully lifted and adjusted her body to be more comfortable. He felt a stab of guilt. “I’m sorry, Reyer.”

She shook her head to dismiss his apology. “If we want as much time on this planet as we can get, it’s better if we stay out of the way as much as possible.”

“But there’s things that we have to get! Starting with a place to sleep that has an actual mattress—”

“Why can’t Ciro and Jane get them?”

Vas turned to look back at Ciro and Jane. They appeared to be bickering.

“Them?” he said.

“Yes, them.”

“Not exactly trained, are they, Miss Reyer?”

“They’re not going out to lead a surprise assault in hostile territory, Captain. They’re going shopping.”

Vas rubbed his chin.

“You don’t trust them?” Reyer asked.

“Let’s see—one is the kid brother I grew up with, so I know what he gets up to, and the other is a biologist we were forced to kidnap, who’s made it clear that she’s not on our side. Call me paranoid, but I may feel a slight twinge of concern.”

Lynx leaned over so he could do his mechanical version of whispering. “There is a high probability that was sarcasm, Miss Reyer.”

“Thank you, Lynx.” She said to Vas, “Dr. Jane may not be a member of the Rising, but she was willing to give up a lot to come with us. She wants to research those xenos. And if she tries something now, she’ll get herself in trouble as well as us. Ciro may be a handful, but I’m pretty sure he learned it from you.”

Vas pushed his back into his chair. “You sound like General Jordan. And my mother.”

“Well, they still let you out on missions alone. Maybe you can give Ciro a chance. Everything we do is risky. We have to pick our risk. Do we risk showing our faces and having to leave before our work is done? Or do we decide to trust Ciro and Jane long enough to let them do some shopping without us holding their hands, based on the crazy idea that they’re both capable adults?”

“Have you met my brother? Jane may decide to shoot him, and I don’t know if I would blame her!”

Reyer didn’t answer. Vas tried hard not to squirm under her relentless gaze. “Would you really trust Dr. Jane that much?” he asked.

“I’m inclined to, but with the understanding that I don’t actually know anything about her, I would recommend sending Lynx to keep an eye on her.”

“Lynx is supposed to help protect you and keeping an eye on that container of horrors.”

“Then why don’t you protect me, and I’ll keep an eye on the container?”

Vas looked up. “Lynx? What do you think?”

“That question is not specific enough for me to—”

“Run the probabilities for risk regarding Miss Reyer’s proposal and any of the other associated options.”

The constant soft noise that followed Lynx grew temporarily louder.

“There are too many unknown variables for precise calculations,” Lynx said.

“Do your best with what you have,” Reyer said.

“I don’t have enough information to guess how successful Dr. Jane or Master Ciro would be on achieving their goals, but reason says it would not be unduly difficult or dangerous. While the chances of you and Miss Reyer accidentally running into Supremacy agents while on this planet are low, they are considerably higher than the risk of Master Ciro or Dr. Jane being recognized. So long as I am within a three-meter radius of her at all times, it’s highly probable that I’ll be able to manage any trouble that may arise if Dr. Jane decides to try to escape or seek help. The chance of the untransformed xenos posing any danger to those who might remain here is extremely small, as long as the container remains untouched and unopened. However, that is only based on anecdotal evidence gathered from our experience since securing them. My conclusion is that Miss Reyer would be safer staying on the ship rather than going out on the planet at this time.”

The ship’s com blipped open. A voice announced that they were ready to descend.

Vas took the control wheel and pulled the ship down into the free port. When they had landed, he said to Reyer, “You give Lynx his orders. I’ll go talk to Ciro and Dr. Jane.”