To The Stars (The Harry Irons Trilogy) (51 page)

"Well, yes, it's just that..." Blane paused, struggling with his words.

"It's just what? Get on the radio and contact the Magellan. Tell them we're alive!"

A voice came from an open hatch, distracting both Harry and Blane. "Belay that." Fagen stood in the open doorway looking shaky, but alive.

"You're all right!" Harry said. "You're..."

"Alive?" Fagen suggested.

Harry nodded. Fagen stepped into the control room and Kathleen followed. Harry could see the bloodstained hole in Fagen's coveralls where he'd been wounded.

"Are you all right?"

"Never better," replied Fagen.

"I thought you were dead."

Fagen chuckled. "I was. Got a new lease on life, thanks to the alien technology." He unzipped the top of his coverall and showed Harry where the wound had been. A slight reddening marked the spot.

"Complete regeneration. Quite remarkable, don't you think?"

Harry was speechless.

Kathleen stared at the viewscreen until she realized what was being displayed. "Say, that's the Magellan."

"Right you are, Kath," replied Blane.

"What are they doing?"

"Looks like they're headed back to the wormhole."

Kathleen stared at Blane while the truth sunk in. "Back to the wormhole? What about us?"

"Well," explained Blane, "we won't be..."

Their attention was drawn to the screen as the Magellan disappeared inside a sudden explosive ball of light and fire. Wordlessly, they watched as the ship disintegrated.

Harry shook his head in disbelief. "No," he whispered. Kathleen stood next to him and hid her eyes in his chest.

Fagen looked at Blane. "Any sensor data on this?" He pointed at the rapidly disappearing cloud of dust and debris.

"Lots," replied Blane.

"Do we know what happened?"

"Looks like a systems control malfunction. Too much fuel burning too fast. The drive system couldn't handle it."

"I wonder what caused it."

"It's anybody's guess."

Kathleen held onto Harry. "What difference does it make? They're all dead. And now we're stranded."

Blane and Fagen exchanged a glance, but said nothing.

Harry asked about radiation levels.

Blane consulted with the computer. "Still climbing. It's just a matter of hours before everything is cooked."

Reacting from a sudden rush of anger, Harry faced Fagen. "Is this where all your secret plans have led us? Is this what you had in mind? Are you finally satisfied?"

"Take it easy, Harry," said Blane.

"No, I'm not going to take it easy. We trusted Fagen and now what have we got to show for it? Hell, I don't even know why I have to die." All Harry's frustration finally came rushing out. There was no reason to hold it back any longer. He stepped away from Kathleen and put himself in front of Fagen.

Harry pointed a finger at the mission commander's chest. "This is your fault. Whatever you had in mind doesn't matter anymore. I'm sick of it. None of us came here to die. Nobody had to die." In his anger, Harry jabbed Fagen in the chest.

Fagen didn't react. Blane grabbed Harry by one arm. "Take it easy, Harry..."

Without taking his eyes from Fagen, Harry jerked his arm free. "I trusted you, we all trusted you. Where did it get us?"

Fagen shrugged and finally spoke. "You don't know what you're talking about, Harry."

"Oh yeah? I know that in a few hours this ship will turn into a microwave oven. Whatever happens, it's your fault." He punctuated his words by again poking Fagen in the chest.

Grown tired of the chastisement, Fagen slapped Harry's hand away. In response, Harry threw a left, hitting Fagen squarely against the side of the head. Fagen went down from the force of the blow but scrambled back to his feet.

"Harry, don't!" Kathleen screamed.

Harry started to swing his fist a second time, but Fagen beat him to the attack, landing a boot in the younger man's chest. Harry staggered backward and regained his balance. Fagen didn't pursue him, but he didn't back away either. He held up a hand.

"This won't get us anywhere."

"What does it matter?" Harry retorted. "We're not going anywhere anyway." He feinted with his left hand again and made Fagen duck. Instead of following through, Harry threw a straight right that landed high on Fagen's forehead. Fagen blinked his eyes once, then threw two punches of his own. Harry avoided the first, but the second one caught him in the solar plexus and drove the air from his lungs.

He bent at the waist, gasping for breath and saw Fagen moving toward him. Harry barely managed to avoid a knee aimed at his face. When Fagen missed, Harry grabbed him behind the knee and forced Fagen backwards, hopping on one foot, until he lost his balance and fell to the floor.

Moving quickly, Harry jumped atop the commander and raised a fist. Before he could deliver the blow, a beam of blue light streamed from a globe on the ceiling and focused on the back of his head. In the next instant, Harry slumped to the floor.

Kathleen rushed to Harry's aid. Fagen stood up and looked at Blane. "Thanks," he said. "You're getting a good feel for the controls."

"It's not me so much. All I have to do is tell her what I want." Blane motioned toward the control console.

"You killed him!" shouted Kathleen.

"He's all right, Kath. He's just been knocked out for awhile."

"He didn't deserve this."

"Maybe not, but he lost his head."

"What do you expect? You and Bart keeping secrets from the rest of us, the rest of the crew dead, the Magellan destroyed..."

"Everything hasn't gone according to plan, I'll admit that, but we're still alive..."

"From the looks of things, not for long. I hate you both." Kathleen turned away and cradled Harry's head in her arms.

With a sigh, Fagen faced Blane. "Has the computer completed our quarters yet?"

"I wish you wouldn't refer to her as a computer, Edward."

"Sorry."

"Yes, the quarters are ready."

"Good. Let's get Harry situated."

*

A short time later, Harry awoke with a headache. Kathleen was still at his side.

"How do you feel?"

"Not so hot actually. What happened?"

"You picked a fight with Fagen."

"I don't remember."

"Maybe that's for the best."

He looked around the compartment. It was larger than his digs aboard the Magellan and furnished more extravagantly. The bed was larger and more comfortable, he noted. A desk next to the bed held a control panel similar to the designs he'd seen on the bridge. Light came from the walls. In one place, the now familiar line of a seam marked the exit.

"Where am I?"

"Apparently, the ship has constructed quarters for us. It's a shame we won't get to enjoy it for long."

"What are Blane and Fagen doing?"

"I don't know. Fagen helped me carry you here. When he left he told me to relax for awhile. Can you believe that?"

"How much time do we have?"

"Not much. An hour, an hour and a half, maybe."

Harry rubbed his eyes with his hands. "Then there's nothing left to do but wait."

Silence fell over the two. Finally, Kathleen spoke up, "I can think of one thing left to do."

"What?"

Kathleen smiled.

"You mean...?"

"Why not? Can you think of a better way to spend your last hours?" Even though their situation was dire, Harry found he was willing, even eager to be distracted.

*

While Harry and Kathleen spent their remaining time together, they were unaware of the alien shuttle dropping out of the hanger bay and streaking down to the planet's surface. Had Harry known, it wouldn't have made any difference about how he felt. Whatever Fagen and Blane did, there was nothing they could do to prevent the imminent nova. As far as Harry knew, their only chance had disintegrated along with the Magellan.

The shuttle dropped to the planet's surface, landing a short distance from the cave of the Bedoran tribe. A lone figure emerged and was met with suspicion as he approached the encampment. He couldn't communicate but he held his hands away from his body to show he had no weapons.

The Bedorans shielded their eyes from the burning sun as they stood in a tight group at the mouth of the cave and nervously watched the stranger come closer. Arai and Kretin, both parched from lack of water, stood in front. They were too weak to defend themselves, but if needed, they would die trying.

Behind the stranger, the craft once again began to emit a high-pitched whine. As it lifted from the ground, the hot exhaust washed over them all, adding a few more degrees to the life-threatening heat. One hundred feet in the air, it hovered as if it waited for a signal from the man.

Fagen unstrapped a bag he carried and removed a cap from a nozzle. Holding the bag aloft, he allowed a stream of water to fall into his open mouth. He took a drink and offered the bag to Kretin.

The Bedorans watched with anticipation, their thirst overcoming their fear. Kretin snatched the bag from Fagen's hands and tasted the water carefully before turning it up and taking a mouthful. Keeping an eye on Fagen, he handed the bag behind where it was passed around until it was empty.

All the while, Fagen stood and watched. When the bag was returned, he took a step backward and, in a deliberate movement, raised one hand aloft. A wide arc of light sprang from the hovering shuttle and trapped the group within its diameter. None of the Bedorans were spared from the paralyzing effects of the beam. Before anyone had the chance to shout a warning, they stood transfixed, muscles rigid and twitching.

To their amazement, each began to rise into the air as the light pulled them toward the craft. As Kretin was lifted yet higher, he saw an opening on the underside of the flying thing. It widened further still until it was big enough to suck in all the remaining members of the Bedoran tribe. Kretin's last thought before the darkness fell over him was that this thing was eating him and everyone else in one huge bite.

Afterwards, the shuttle came close to the ground for a few, brief moments, just long enough for Fagen to run to an open hatch and climb inside. As soon as the hatch sealed, the shuttle jumped into the sky and streaked back to the waiting mothership.

Chapter 45

The hatch slid open and Fagen stepped into the control room. Blane eyed the commander.

"How'd it go?"

"Smooth," said Fagen. "No problems. Our guests are safely tucked away in stasis. How's our nova cooking up?"

"All the numbers are up. We're running out of time. It's time to bug out."

"All right. Are the coordinates laid in?"

"All taken care of."

"Will the ship operate without... problems?"

"You don't have to worry about it, Edward. She's happy with the turn of events. She was a slave, now she feels like a partner."

"I hope you're right."

"I've never been more right."

"Okay. Let's initiate movement. Get us out of orbit, then we'll see how the light-drive works."

Blane closed his eyes. He said nothing and he made no moves toward the control panel, but Fagen knew the wirehead sent commands to the computer via his implants. Inside, there was no indication of movement but the viewscreen confirmed they were indeed moving out of orbit, away from Mia Culpa.

"Heard from Harry or Kathleen?" asked Fagen.

"Not since they holed up in his quarters."

Fagen looked at the viewscreen. Mia Culpa rapidly grew smaller as the ship picked up speed prior to entering warp-space.

"I'll bet they'd like to know what's going on."

"How much do you want to tell them?"

"Everything."

Blane raised an eyebrow. "Everything?"

"They deserve to know. Without their help, we probably wouldn't have made it."

"What about Harry? Aren't you afraid he might lose his head again?"

"No. He's a smart guy. He'll come around if he knows what's going on." Fagen rubbed the bruise on his forehead.

"Can we trust him afterwards?"

"I don't know, but it doesn't really matter, does it?

"As far as I can see, no."

"Call his quarters then. Ask them if they'd like to watch the first faster than light hop accomplished by humans."

*

Harry was almost asleep. Kathleen lay beside him, an arm splayed across his chest. He smelled her hair and thought it might be better if she was asleep when the end came. That way, she would be spared the terror of being cooked alive. But he wanted to be awake, he didn't want to spend the last minutes of his life sleeping. Besides, it felt so good to lie beside her and watch her sleep. It was too bad things between them had started so late.