The Legend of Corinair (2 page)

“Might as well tell them,” she said. “They’re going to find out soon enough.”

“Well,” Nathan began, “we have a device—we call it a ‘
jump drive
’—that allows us to instantly
jump
to another point in space. We can jump up to ten light years at once.” Nathan looked at the group, all of whose mouths hung open. “So as soon as Josh and Loki got us back on board, we simply jumped away.” There was no response. A second later, not knowing what else to say or do, Nathan made a gesture with his hands of a ship jumping from right to left.

“Bullshit,” Marcus replied after a moment of silence.

Josh had a completely different reaction. “Hot damn!” he cried, the words nearly exploding from his mouth.

“Why only
two
light days out?” Loki asked.

“Well, to be honest, we were just trying to buy some time until we figured out what to do next,” Nathan admitted. He could tell from their expressions they were not following his logic. “You see, we’re not from around here.”

“No kidding,” Josh chuckled.

Marcus eyed Nathan suspiciously. “Where exactly are you from?”

“Well, pretty far away.” Nathan took a deep breath. “Actually, we’re from the Sol system. A planet called Earth.”

Most of their expressions suddenly changed from disbelief to shock. Except for Marcus, whose still appeared suspicious. “Earth? Even if it existed, ain’t it like a hundred thousand light years away or something? You said your drive thingy could only jump ten light years at a pop. What did you do, make a thousand jumps just to get to Haven?” Marcus laughed. The whole story, jump drive and all, sounded preposterous to him.

“Well, how we got here is another story. One that I really don’t want to get into right now.”

“Captain,” one of the workers interrupted. “If you
jumped
out here, can you not simply
jump
back and let us off the ship?”

“Ain’t no way I’m going back to Haven,” Marcus announced. “You can drop me off anywhere but that rock.”

“
You
were there by
choice
,” the men sneered at Marcus, apparently no longer fearing the wrath that the surly foreman had once used to keep them in line.

“
I
was there for the
money
,” Marcus argued. “Which was damned good, by the way. But after today, who do you think the owner is gonna blame for losing a harvester and half his crew?” Marcus shook his head in defiance. “Uh-uh, I ain’t goin’ back there. Not after all this. And you’d all be smart to do the same.”

“Yes, we could jump back and let you off,” Nathan began, choosing to ignore Marcus for the moment. “But I can’t guarantee the Ta’Akar would allow you safe passage. In fact, I rather doubt they would.”

“And why is that, Captain?” Marcus challenged, standing to emphasize the urgency of his request.

Jessica straightened up from her position leaning against the wall off to the side, sensing the tension rise in the room. She took a step forward, her body language communicating to Marcus her intent to impede him should he step out of line. Just as Nathan was about to respond, Tug and Jalea entered the briefing room.

“Because of me,” Tug announced in a commanding voice.

“And who the hell are you?” Marcus asked, turning to glare at Tug and Jalea.

“I am the leader of the Karuzari.”

“The terrorists?”

“They’re not terrorists, Marcus,” Josh argued, rolling his eyes. “They’re freedom fighters.”

“I don’t care what you call them, kid. They’re still trouble. And it’s trouble that I don’t care to be associated with. And if I were you—” Marcus suddenly stopped in mid-sentence, as he started to put it all together. “Wait a minute,” he said, pointing a finger at Nathan. “Is this the ship that we heard about? The one that appeared out of nowhere and helped them
Kazahooie
escape?” Marcus looked around the room again, his mind racing. “Yeah, that would explain all the damage to your ship, wouldn’t it? And that would also explain why them Takar bastards came to Haven looking for you. Damn. On second thought, maybe it would be safer to return to Haven after all,” Marcus concluded, scratching his head.

“He might be correct, Captain,” Tug began as he and Jalea continued into the room. “It might be safer for all of them to leave the ship as soon as possible.”

“Not me,” Josh announced. “If you don’t mind, Captain, I’d just as soon stay right here. I figure you’re gonna need someone to pilot that shuttle anyhow.” Josh nudged Loki with his elbow.

“Yeah, count me in as well,” Loki added, somewhat hesitantly.

The offer surprised Nathan. The idea of adding civilians to his crew hadn’t occurred to him. But the idea, although somewhat unusual, wasn’t without merit. He was quite sure, however, that his XO would disagree. Complete with direct quotes from the regulations to support her objections. “Thank you,” he answered rather automatically, surprising even himself. “I just may take you up on that.”

It surprised Jessica as well, her expression reflecting her doubt.

“In fact,” Nathan continued, “if any of the rest of you care to help out, I’d be happy to consider your offers as well.”

“Nathan,” Jessica mumbled under her breath. “What the hell are you doing?” She could imagine Cameron’s reaction when she heard what he was proposing.

“Captain,” one of the workers began. “I’m afraid that none of us would be much assistance in the accomplishment of your goals, whatever they might be. Perhaps you might see your way fit to put us off on the next inhabited world you come to?”

Nathan was a bit surprised. “You don’t wish to return to Haven?”

“I’m afraid I’m forced to agree with our former
supervisor
, here. If indeed the Ta’Akar consider you associates of the Karuzari, then they would probably look upon us in much the same way. As you said, it is doubtful they would allow us to pass unimpeded.”

“And what about your contracts?”

“The terms of our contracts become null and void upon our deaths, or by an inability to perform our duties, in whole or in part, due to reasons beyond our control.” The worker grinned. “I believe
this
qualifies as
beyond our control
.”

“Let me guess, you were a lawyer?”

The worker nodded.

“Very well, if that’s what you all wish, then we’ll let you off at the earliest
safe
opportunity.”

“If there is anything we can do to help, in the meantime, Captain, we would more than happy to do so,” the man added.

“Captain, if I might make a suggestion,” Tug interrupted, “there is a rather large amount of molo that should be cleaned and prepared, in order to keep it safe for consumption. Perhaps these good people could assist us in that rather pressing task?”

Their overall lack of food had slipped Nathan’s mind during the commotion of the last few hours. Nathan looked at the male worker who had been speaking on their behalf, waiting for an answer to Tug’s proposal.

“Of course, Captain. We would be happy to help.”

“Thank you.” Nathan turned his attention to Marcus. Despite his having been the most vocal one of the bunch, he had yet to state his intentions.

“What?” Marcus asked when he noticed Nathan staring at him.

“And how about you, Marcus?”

“Don’t get me wrong there, Captain. I’m happy to help out and all. But about all I’m good at is drinking, yelling, and getting in fights. If you need any of that done, then I’m your man. But I’m sure as hell not a
freedom fighter
.”

“Marcus, you’re a pretty fair mechanic,” Josh insisted. “And someone’s gotta help us keep the shuttles flying. Hell, you can be my crew chief.”

“And take orders from you?” Marcus snorted. “Not likely, squirt.”

Satisfied that they had all come to an understanding of sorts, Nathan prepared to conclude the discussion. “I think I should warn you all, that just being on board this ship presents an element of risk. We’re not
looking
for trouble out here. But so far,
trouble
is about all we’ve found.”

“On a ship from a mythical world, equipped with a magical
jump
drive, and carrying the leader of the freedom fighters?” Marcus laughed. “What kinda trouble could we possibly get into?”

“What the hell are you doing?” Jessica demanded as they left the briefing room and headed down the corridor.

“Keep your voice down,” Nathan hushed.

“Cam’s gonna come unglued when she finds out,” Jessica continued in a slightly more subdued tone.

“All I did was hire a shuttle and a crew to fly her. It’s not like I asked them all to enlist in the fleet or something.”

“Nathan, you can’t just give these people the run of the ship. We don’t know anything about them. Hell, we don’t even know most of their names.”

“Need I remind you, that half those people just put their lives on the line for us?”

“They were just trying to save their own butts.”

“As I understand it,” Nathan defended as he stepped through the hatchway into the next corridor, “Josh and Loki
volunteered
to fly us outta there.”

“The teenagers in flight suits? Please, gimme a break. They were just looking for some fun.”

“Regardless, they got the job done. And they’re right, we
are
going to need that shuttle
and
someone to fly it. And
you
know it.”

Jessica could tell that she wasn’t going to be able to change his mind. Nathan was impulsive, making decisions on the spur of the moment. She liked that about him, even admired it in some ways. And thus far, his command style
had
gotten them by. But as much as she enjoyed his direct, impulsive approach, she feared he might be taking it too far this time.

“Fine, you can keep the testosterone twins,” she acquiesced. “But at least let me monitor them. I can give them all comm-sets. That way I can track their every move.”

“What?” Nathan wasn’t sure he liked the idea, as it seemed dishonest somehow.

“I can attach names to comm-set ID numbers and keep logs of their movements throughout the ship. I can even program the system to alert me if one of them ventures into a sensitive area. And I can assign them to the auxiliary channels only, so they won’t muck up the command channels.”

“I don’t know, Jess.”

“Come on, Nathan. I don’t have the manpower to keep an eye on them. And for all we know, one of them could be a Ta’Akar spy.”

Nathan stopped at the bottom of the ramp that led up to the command deck. “Yeah, I hadn’t thought of that.” He was a little embarrassed that despite all that had happened, he still wasn’t thinking in such terms.

“Of course not. That’s why you hired me, remember?”

“Very well. Pass the comm-sets out,” he agreed as he started back up the ramp.

“I’ll get right on it.”

“No, send someone else,” he insisted. “And have them inventory all of their skill sets, in case we might need them later.”

“Okay. But why not me?” she asked, a puzzled look on her face as she followed him up the ramp.

“We’ve got another meeting,” he explained as he started up the ramp, “with Cameron. And I need you there to keep her from strangling me.”

* * *

“I think we should call Doctor Chen,” Cameron said as she followed him into the ready room. “So she can declare you unfit for command due to mental disease or defect.”

“Hmm, sarcasm. I should’ve seen that coming,” Nathan said as he walked across the room to his desk. He had expected her to react poorly to the idea of using the locals to help out in a pinch. But he had hoped that she would at least object to the decision of her commanding officer in a more professional manner. But he knew it would take time, just as Vladimir had warned him that morning.

“Well, obviously you’ve lost your mind.”

“That’s what I said,” Jessica added as she plopped down on the couch.

“How could you have possibly thought it was a good idea to start using civilians—aliens no less—as crew?”

“Jesus, what is it with you two?” Nathan sat in his chair behind the captain’s desk. “I asked them to cut up some molo, and you’re both acting like I gave them the keys to the nukes!”

“It’s just that you’re
too
trusting, Nathan,” Cameron insisted.

“Look, you and I both know that there is
no way
we can run this ship effectively with what little crew we have left. We don’t even have one full shift staffed, Cam. And most of the crew has had less than a full night’s rest in nearly a week. Hell, we’re going to have to start using one-man watches in each department pretty soon or else we’re going to have people dropping from exhaustion.”

“But these people don’t have
any
training—”

“Which is why I’m
not
planning on using any of them in critical areas, Cameron. I might be impulsive, but contrary to popular opinion—amongst the women in this room—I’m
not
stupid.” Nathan looked past Cameron who was standing in front of him, making eye contact with Abby, who had come in a moment ago and was sitting on the other end of the couch from Jessica. “Present company excluded, Doctor.”

“Nathan—” Cameron tried to continue her argument, but was cut off when Nathan raised his hand.

“The decision has been made, Commander,” he warned in a more official tone.

Cameron was slightly taken aback, as was Jessica. It was uncharacteristic of Nathan to pull rank on anyone, let alone the two of them. She took a deep breath and swallowed hard, letting her breath out slowly as she composed herself.

“Now, can we start this meeting?” Nathan asked in a more unofficial tone.

Cameron took a seat in one of the two chairs facing the front of Nathan’s desk. “Yes sir.”