Galileo (Battle of the Species) (44 page)

“What’s this?” the Zeanup asked.

“Those coordinates would drop a portal onto the bridge and open in the cave, sir,” the Omite replied.

“That would give the commander access to the Quintessence!” the Zeanup replied.

Adam grabbed the Zeanup’s uniform and yelled, “Get me into that room!”

“Hollen would never compromise the Quintessence. Not even for an heir,
Lieutenant
,” the Zeanup replied, unmoving.

Adam gasped for breath as he watched three teenage boys fight for their lives, with nothing he could do to help. He stared at his son and squinted while he watched Renn sit there while Desh fired blasts. “Why isn’t he firing? Send one of the bots over to Renn to see what’s wrong with his hands.”

One of the screens inched closer and closer to Renn, while a centipede made its way towards his hands. Another screen flashed with information as the centipede fed the data to the Quintessence.

“Is he hurt?” Adam asked.

“No, sir. His palms are covered in E.S.T.-39,” the Janiun replied.

“My gawd. Do we have something to dissolve it?” Adam asked.

“Yes, sir,” the Janiun replied.

“Send in a medic-bot with the solution,” Adam replied, pacing.

“Any medic-bot will draw attention,” the Janiun replied.

“Well, what else do we have?” Adam asked.

“Ined,” the Zeanup called out. “Run to the garden room and get one of the feeder-bots. Have Hanick fill it with the solution.”

“Yes, sir,” a human male said, racing out the door. A few minutes passed, when the human returned with a dark brown moth.

Adam gave the coordinates, creating a small square behind Renn, small enough to allow the moth to go through unnoticed. The moth flew into the cave before the portal disappeared. It fluttered around Renn, landing on his hands and began dissolving the explosive.

***

As Hollen impaled the last Aranea near her, she looked around at the fallen bodies. She raised her vicom to her mouth. “Control, tell me that you have them,” she said.

“They’re in one of the caves with the commander,” the female voice replied. “Soldiers are on their way.”

“Get the medic-bots out here.”

“Yes, Captain.”

Hollen took off running towards the caves, finding the ident-seekers at the entrance, leading her down the passageway.
 

***

Renn felt lethargic and slumped over, straining to breathe, while Desh and Kia continued fighting. He could see Meta’s android sitting next to him as if it were there only to taunt him for losing her.

The moth on his hands took flight when his palms separated and Renn allowed his grief to return. The image of Lux seeing Meta lying in the drawer of her bed with her face covered in plastic filled his mind.

He looked across the room to the commander, damning him for taking the one girl who had meant more to him during the past year than all the girls he had ever met. He let out a tormented sob and released his last bit of energy, sending another sword flying through the air. The last sight he saw was the commander’s head rolling to his feet.

***

Renn groaned and forced his eyes open to see that he was lying in a large medical bay he had never seen before. The Galileo’s medical bay walls were white, as if they had been painted in hope. This medical bay, however, was framed with a no-nonsense metal and painted in a dark shade of get-over-it gray. An IV line draped over his arm as beeping could be heard behind him, announcing a steadying heartbeat.

He felt a hand give a light squeeze to his arm and he looked over into the distraught eyes of his father.

“Hey, Buddy,” Adam said.

“Where are we?” Renn asked, rubbing his eyes.

“We’re onboard the Quintessence.”                                          

“Dad!” Renn said, trying to pull himself up from his bed when he remembered the cave. “Where’s Desh? Is Mom…”

“Shhh. They’re okay, just calm down,” Adam said, glancing behind Renn to the heart monitor that pulsed faster and faster. “It’s over, all right? Just lay back.”

Renn took a deep breath and settled back into the bed.

“You know, you scared the hell out of us today,” Adam said.

“I’m sorry, but Meta…” Renn felt a sickness in his stomach when he said her name and took a moment to pull himself together. “Is she really dead?”

“Yeah, I’m sorry.”

“Who did it?” Renn asked.

“Micah.”

“Why didn’t Ava stop him?” Renn asked.

“Renn, the Galileo isn’t a regular ship. It’s controlled by the Quintessence. Micah had full access to Ava. He was the one who put burlia in the food to kill the Mindeerians aboard the ship,” Adam explained.

Renn shook his head, thinking about his great uncle, Tabit, Pyxis, and Vela. “Where’s Desh?” he asked.

“He’s down the hall, talking with your mom. Just get some rest.”

Renn nodded, laying his head back on the pillow, and focused on the sound of thoughts colliding in a heated exchanged down the hall. He listened as tension began to rise and tempers started to flare.

I’m sorry I let you down
, Desh projected.

Desh, do you have any idea how much I’ve sacrificed to keep you boys safe? You two have to stay on board the ship! I need to be able to trust that you won’t go running off — I don’t care what type of bait they set before you two…

Mom, just because you didn’t go after Dad when he was caught…

Desh!
Hollen stopped him.
Let’s get one thing clear. I didn’t go after your father because I was eight months pregnant with you. I lost a lot of men that day and I almost lost Schepp and Adam trying to get your father back…

So you would have gone after him if you hadn’t been pregnant?

Yes!

Then how can you be so mad at Renn?

Wha…that’s not fair. You can’t compare the two,
Hollen replied.

Love is love, Mom. Please don’t tell me that our love for someone means less than yours. Renn had a choice and he chose to put someone else before himself. Isn’t that the kind of son you want us to be? Selfless?

There was a long pause before Hollen finally answered with a sigh.
Desh, he’s just still so young.

Mom, I know
you’re angry right now, but he really is a good guy. And he’s learning really fast,
Desh projected.
I want you to know that if Renn takes over the Quintessence, I’m okay with it.

I’m sorry, what?
Hollen asked.

If Renn takes over the Quintessence when you die,
Desh replied
. It’s okay, Mom. I already know and I’ve made my peace with it. I mean, I still think you should have told me yourself…

Wait a second. Why would Renn take over the Quintessence after me?
Hollen asked, baffled.
Are you dying or something?

No…it’s just that Schepp said…
Desh stammered until he got fed up and projected Kia’s memory of Schepp.

Yeah, if you die
, Hollen projected when the memory was over.
You’re the first-born and once I’m gone, you’re next in line. If you should die before providing an heir, then Renn would by succession inherit the ship and the position of captain. That’s all Schepp meant.

“Renn, what are you doing?” Adam asked Renn.

“What?” Renn sparked, having forgotten that someone else was in the room. He closed his mouth, realizing it had been open during the dialogue he shouldn’t have been listening to. “Nothing, nothing.”

Adam clenched his jaw with his patience wearing thin. “Please tell me you’re not eavesdropping.”

“No, I was just…yeah, okay, I’ll stop,” he replied, wanting so badly to keep listening. Sometimes telepathy was like having answers handed to him without having to ask, but the answers weren’t gifts, he reminded himself. They were stolen moments and invasions of privacy.

He lay there for a while, wondering how much he had misjudged Desh, but the sickening feeling in his stomach rose and the image of Meta came back to eat at him.
She’s dead
resounded in his head over and over until his body ached from the inside out.

CHAPTER 21

And Then There Was Light

The boys returned to the Galileo carrying Meta’s android to Principal Lockrin. Lockrin’s long blue fingers brushed a lock of hair out of the girl’s face when he looked down at the lifeless body. “I’ll take care of her,” he said in a somber voice and took Meta into his arms.

Desh, Kia, and Renn continued staring at Lockrin, waiting for the scolding they were sure was waiting for them.

“Was there something else?” the principal asked.

“Uh…can we go?” Desh asked.

Lockrin nodded. “The Quintessence has already been in contact with me, stating that you three had clearance to leave. In the future though, I do expect to be notified of your departure, clearance or not.”

“Yes, sir,” they said.

“I’m glad you boys are all right,” Lockrin said. He turned, then hesitated, glancing at Renn, but Renn walked out the door, refusing to acknowledge Meta’s metal doppelganger or the pain that it caused.

They walked into the hall and stood there for a moment, looking at each other as if lost.

“Um…are you hungry…or…?” Desh asked Renn.

“No, I just want to go back to the dorm. I’m still kind of tired,” Renn said.

They walked Renn back to his dorm room, through the whispers and stares of their peers, finding the room empty. Renn took off his shoes and crawled into bed.

“Do you want us to stay with you for a while?” Kia asked.

“No, I just want to be alone,” he said.

Desh and Kia headed for the door.

“Guys?” Renn said.

“Yeah?” Desh replied, turning around.

“Thank you. For everything,” Renn said. “I’m sorry I was such a fool.”

“It’s okay, Brother,” Desh replied. “Just get some rest.”

Once Renn’s door slid shut, the gossips feigned sympathy and rushed Desh and Kia with questions. They walked away, taking refuge in the observation deck and took a deep breath, finding peace in the empty space.

You’re more pensive than usual.
Do you want to talk about it?
Kia thought.

I don’t know, it was something Micah said,
Desh replied.

Show me
, Kia thought.

Desh projected Micah talking about the De-An, until the arrow pierced his back.

Kia sat there staring at Desh, wide-eyed.

Say something
, Desh projected.

Kia shrugged. “Well…it came from Micah. He wasn’t exactly a reliable source. Do you think it’s true?”

“I don’t know what to believe, but I think Micah believed it.”

Kia thought about it. “It would explain why the Quintessence is the only ship in the Federation that can drop portals without frames and why the position of captain is inherited instead of appointed like the rest of them.”

“If you asked your dad, would he tell you?”

“Only if Hollen ordered it,” Kia replied.

“No, she’d tell me first.”

“Why didn’t you ask her?”

“I was more worried about Renn at the time,” Desh replied.

“Are you going to tell him?” Kia asked.

“Not until I know for sure. Besides, I think he’s been through enough.”

***

Renn woke up in his bed, as if waking up from a long dream. The room was full of his roommates and friends, but the talking was kept at a whisper, like they had been there for hours, waiting for him. He looked around before anyone had realized he had opened his eyes and wondered how long he had slept.

Renn watched Desh, Kia, and Etienne discuss who was going to replace Micah now that they had lost yet another professor. The Galileo would only hire someone from the Quintessence, Kia argued. Desh, however, had to disagree considering Micah was from the Quintessence and it proved hiring a federal agent still didn’t guarantee loyalty. They agreed not to trust anyone until the war was over.

“Then it’s not over?” Renn asked.

Upgrade barked and ran up to lick his face.

“It’s okay. Down, boy,” Renn said. He looked back at Desh. “I thought I killed the commander.”

“You did,” Desh replied. “But we won the battle, not the war. There are sixteen commanders and three sons to go. I’m sorry; they’re just going to keep coming back. We have to be careful and stay on the ship.”

“Wow,” Renn said, understanding what his father had meant. Why he had wanted Renn to be a fisherman on Earth, living a quiet life without so much pain and violence. There was no way he could go back to that life now though, leaving the people he loved to fight on their own. He was still young and had a lot to learn, but he would give his life for the people fighting the war.

“We’ll figure it out, Brother,” Renn said to Desh.

“Yes, we will,” Desh replied.

They all sat around talking, until their sleep regulators chirped, warning them to end their socializing in order to avoid being drugged. Renn was grateful when everyone left and the lights went out so he could grieve over Meta in peace.

They continued on with their classes, not having a choice in the matter, though announcements were made during the first lesson the next day that Meta had passed away. Renn hated that they continued to say she had “passed away,” using a term stamped with “Politically Correct,” to avoid offense. “She was murdered,” he would say through gritted teeth. “Say it like it is.”

Renn tried to stop listening to all the thoughts of the students when he walked down the halls, but Renn seemed to remind everyone of her and their thoughts were driving him crazy.

Awww, there’s Meta’s boyfriend, poor thing
.

I wonder if he saw Meta’s body
.

Meta was such a nice girl
.

Meta
…

Meta
…