The Unbounded, page 23
“Yes, Council Members,” both he and Nkiroo replied instantly.
“Very well,” Pandeen said formally. Melawn reached for his tether. They were dismissed.
Melawn’s heart pounded, but he was silent all the way back to the shuttle. Inside, Nkiroo sagged and said, “They’re right about the testing. Alesta Eve could have jumped to the eighth dimension for all we know.”
“What were we thinking?”
“We weren’t,” Nkiroo shook his head, as if to clear it. “We were blindly following Thayne.”
<
Origin Date: 4-Sovereignty-1083
Sender: Pandeen
To: Luminesse Council
[Meeting with Cheetah Reps]
Met with Melawn Tahir Patarick Atikameq and Nkiroo Mele Nambu Canyon of the Cheetah. No PS Packet was delivered in person. No Harbor password was given. Authoritative documents lacked expected code mutations. We are examining the gift for possible messages. Both Melawn and Nkiroo seemed sincere but naïve. Their technology is sound, but testing non-existent. All parties defer to Captain Thayne whose ultimate authority is deeply questioned. We have allowed them to continue their testing but will meet with Captain Thayne before their test jump. -P
7-Sovereignty
Drumheller, at Redrock a-rings
Terina waited for the Captain in the rimway outside the Command Bay. The rest of the crew was already there, in various states of sleepiness. All were in uniform except Katie, who had dressed in a beautiful red satin suit with hummingbirds on it. Jarvie was juggling both Star and Rocket as he’d thought to bring them bottles, even though it was before breakfast.
“What exactly are we doing?” Terina asked, but her mom didn’t answer. It was jump day. The Drumheller was in line and they were technically on countdown. Her mom’s focus was already on Sandune.
“We are circumambulating,” her grandfather pronounced, smiling and making a grand circle with his hand.
“Why?”
“The Captain wishes to celebrate the opening of Arc 9 by circumambulating the Drumheller and saying a prayer in each section.”
“Oh.” Figures. Any other Captain would have had a party. But then Terina smiled. She had come to like the prayerful, shy Captain.
It had been a month of hectic, noisy, round-the-clock repairs. The whole crew was tired from lack of sleep. Beezan had offered to transfer them to the station, but everyone had refused. The restoration of Arc 9 had come as a last minute victory, thanks to Beezan, Kelson, and Thunder, along with Thunder’s robot team. But no bots were to be seen this morning. They were carefully secured for the jump. Terina checked her p’link, hoping they would have time for breakfast before they had to go to their jump chairs.
Just then, Sky and Beezan floated out of the kitchen to join them. Captain Beezan was entirely serene. Terina glanced over at Jarvie, who was supposed to be doing jump training. He wasn’t even pretending to be serene. Of course, with two pups, it would be futile. Rocket launched off Jarvie, pushing him into the wall, in order to intercept Sky, but Sky tucked herself under Beezan’s arm for protection. Rocket would have sailed right by if Beezan hadn’t snagged him.
“Thank you for coming,” Beezan said. Even his usually somewhat-stressed voice was calm. He handed Rocket to Terina and passed out prayer cards to them. Sky had a couple of words with the other two pups to get them with the program. The prayers were numbered, so the crew lined up in nogee.
Jarvie went first. His chanting was so beautiful that even Rocket settled down, burrowing into Terina’s jacket, with head out so he could see, of course. “O Thou forgiving God! These servants are turning to Thy kingdom and seeking Thy grace and bounty. O God! Make their hearts good and pure in order that they may become worthy of Thy love. Purify and sanctify the spirits that the light of the Sun of Reality may shine upon them. Purify and sanctify the eyes that they may perceive Thy light. Purify and sanctify the ears in order that they may hear the call of Thy kingdom.”1
One of Terina’s favorite pieces from the Mars Desert Symphony started to play. Who else on this crew, besides the Captain, would even know that piece? Jarvie led their floating procession down the rimway to the double locks at Arc 2. He was about to put his s’link in when Beezan whispered, “Lock them open.”
There were tiny gasps from the crew, but no one objected. Captain Beezan would be the last person in the universe to be careless with doors. Jarvie opened both doors and stood aside for Terina to enter first. Her turn. When they were situated, she swallowed. It suddenly seemed so serious. A historic moment for the Drumheller, of course. She didn’t need to read her prayer. It was a well-known favorite in the outer sectors. “O God! Refresh and gladden my spirit. Purify my heart. Illumine my powers. I lay all my affairs in Thy hand. Thou art my Guide and my Refuge.”2
Terina led them to Arc 3. Just as they got there, Iricana, behind her, handed up her s’link—a level 1! Of course, Terina’s s’link would not override the door safety. Her hands shook as she opened the doors, passing the s’link back to Iricana as she let the crew go by.
Iricana read with confidence and conviction, “We must purify ourselves from the mire and soil of earthly contact until our hearts become as mirrors in clearness and the light of the most great guidance reveals itself in them.”3
In Arc 4, Katie chanted, “O Lord! Render our tongues eloquent so that we may become engaged in Thy commemoration. O Lord! Sanctify and purify the hearts so that the effulgence of Thy love may shine therein.”4 The wait at each set of double doors was longer as the Drumheller double-checked the override against the standard orders.
In Arc 5, Beezan himself chanted, practically whispering, he was so overwhelmed with emotion. “This divine and ideal power has been bestowed upon man in order that he may purify himself from the imperfections of nature and uplift his soul to the realm of might and power.”5
The Arc 6 doors opened right away, surprising them. The Drumheller has figured it out! Her mom read the next prayer with all the serenity and strength of a long jump pilot, making Terina shiver. "O God, my God, and my Desire, and my Adored One, and my Master, and my Mainstay, and my utmost Hope, and my supreme Aspiration! Thou seest me turning towards Thee, holding fast unto the cord of Thy bounty, clinging to the hem of Thy generosity, acknowledging the sanctity of Thy Self and the purity of Thine Essence, and testifying to Thy unity and Thy oneness.”6
At Arc 7 Jarvie had another turn. “This is the station of searching after truth and seeking the knowledge of the real—that station wherein the sore athirst longs for the water of life and the struggling fish reaches the sea, wherein the ailing soul seeks the true physician and partakes of divine healing, wherein the lost caravan finds the path of truth and the aimless and wandering ship attains the shore of salvation.”7
Kelson read at Arc 8, “Purify me of all that is not of Thee, and strengthen me to love Thee and to fulfill Thy pleasure, that I may delight myself in the contemplation of Thy beauty, and be rid of all attachment to any of Thy creatures, and may, at every moment, proclaim: ‘Magnified be God, the Lord of the worlds!’"8
Beezan must have given the Arc 9 prayer to Thunder for his role in fixing it. There was no sign of the robot fight. It was even hard to imagine that it had happened here, that Azann had come through here in his desperate hour, or that alien geckos had ever drawn breath on the Drumheller.
Terina suddenly understood what Beezan was doing. It wasn’t about the repair; it was about purifying the Drumheller from its unhappy past. Not erasing the past, but claiming the Drumheller as their own and taking them into the future.
As he chanted his prayer nine times, Thunder’s deep voice rolled up and down the rimway, rattling their bones. Now even Rocket was having little shivers. “Purify, O my God, the hearts of Thy creatures with the power of Thy sovereignty and might, that Thy words may sink deep into them.”9
The music faded away. They proceeded to the Arc 9 double locks. The rimway where they had started was just on the other side. As they completed the circle, opening the last two doors, the pressure equalized, the usual small breeze increasing suddenly as the air circulated all the way around the ship for the first time in centuries. Arc 9 was free. The Drumheller was whole.
Beezan looked at them, tears in his eyes. “Thank you,” he whispered. “Please come to the kitchen.”
Terina was tired after the long pulling in nogee, but she pulled herself up the kitchen stairs and stopped. The table was full of treats. The pups puffed in delight, circumambulating the table. “It’s a party after all!” Terina blurted out. Everyone laughed, even Beezan. Even her mom. Good. Because in less than four hours, her mom was going to jump the new Drumheller to Sandune.
23 IRRATIONAL EXPRESSIONS
12-Sovereignty
Cheetah at Luminesse a-rings
Zahar’s heart pounded all the way from the Entry Lounge to the Observation Bay, where she found Caspia already staring out the window.
“The gravity ball is off the ship?” Caspia asked.
“Yes. Off. It should come into view soon.”
“The twins went with them?”
“Yes, off tether. Somehow they charmed Kanika into bringing them.”
Tenshi came in, quickly going to the window. Now they could see the lights of two tugs swinging around from the cargo area, towing the still-netted gravity ball between them. “Did you need me to spell you Doctor?” Zahar asked, knowing Thayne was having one of his mindstorms.
“No. I’ve seen enough. That thing is off the ship.” Tenshi spun around and was back out the door. Caspia turned to watch her go with a deepening frown.
It was a relief that the gravity ball was off the Cheetah, but Zahar was still concerned about Euro and Io.
“I don’t understand Dr. Tenshi,” Caspia admitted quietly. “She dedicates her life to finding a cure that will save the twins, yet allows them to go out there.”
“I think her dedication is to isolating the radiation resistant gene combination so we can all go out there safely,” Zahar explained.
“I’m sure she doesn’t wish them harm—and they are necessary for her work,” Caspia said.
“Well, as Dr. Tenshi reminds us, they are qualified,” Zahar added.
Caspia shook her head and Zahar felt guilty for repeating what she disagreed with herself. “Can you tell which ones are Io and Euro?” Caspia asked.
“They have the purple cuffs, but it’s hard to tell from here.” They watched as the tugs maneuvered between two of the a-ring segments, one original and one human made, and settled the gravity ball into the central position.
“This isn’t even what I’d call standard EVA work,” Caspia said, frustrated. “What did we bring Team OSRI out here for anyway?”
“I know, but what can I say?” Zahar wasn’t sure why Caspia was complaining to her.
“You’ve been with Dr. Tenshi a while. Don’t you have any influence with her?”
“None. I’m not sure anyone does. Except the Captain, of course.”
“The last person she should listen to.”
Zahar glanced over, shocked at such a statement of no confidence in their Captain, but Caspia was staring out the window. The first of six nets was floating off. It was probably the twins doing the tricky release work.
“He is the Captain,” Zahar said half-heartedly.
“That I can’t figure. Or why Tenshi hasn’t declared him unfit.”
“Well, the others take care of things during his mindstorms.”
Caspia frowned directly at her this time. “I know you don’t support him any more than I do. The crew is a mess. There’s disunity, suspicion, lying, non-compliance issues to the hilt,” she looked back out the window. “Not to mention questionable risk, and tampering with packets.”
Zahar gasped. Another net floated away to be rolled up.
“It was Lanezi that was doing the lying.” Why am I defending Thayne?
“There’s more trouble than that going on, but forgive me, it’s not your doing, and you couldn’t possibly be expected to solve these problems.”
“There’s nothing any of us can do. We swore oaths. Tenshi, Melawn, and Nkiroo were specifically charged to keep Thayne contained and help him.”
“I think they’re in over their heads.” Another net came free. They both cringed as a corner of the net with a little too much momentum came within meters of a worker.
Zahar kicked herself for being stubborn. She had been looking for an ally. Either Caspia was testing her or she was on her side. The Observation Bay was a Tee Free Zone. They could not be recorded or overheard in here. Zahar decided to take a chance. “My contract is up. As soon as we get back to Atik, I’m leaving.”
Caspia turned to look at her, general frowning changing to personal concern. “You should get off here, at Luminesse.”
“Why?” Another net floated away.
“I fear it will be a long time until we see Atik again.”
Now Zahar was getting unnerved. What did Caspia know? “Why?”
“I’ve spent the last two years living with the deluded— pilots who think they ‘know better’, who would risk multiple lives on their conviction of improbable jumps. Pilots who think they can do what others couldn’t do. Pilots that think they will be heroes.”
“And you think Thayne is one of the deluded?”
“Yes. Except he isn’t confined to a retirement center. He’s the Captain of a ship on a secret mission.”
“But he’s obviously a genius—and they did make the new segments.”
“Which just feeds his ultimate delusion,” Caspia said.
“What is his ultimate delusion?”
“To be the hero of humanity. To reconnect the sectors. We’ll go to Firelight next.”
“No! We don’t have another gravity ball.”
“He’ll get one.” Caspia grasped her arm as the fifth net came away. “Try to get off, with Kanika or if the council visits or something,” she whispered fiercely.
“Won’t you get off?”
“No. I’m in this with Evan.” Caspia’s voice faltered. “I’m in it to the end.” The last net came away, seeming to reveal nothing. It was a dark orb in a dark place.
18-Sovereignty
Melawn shook himself, chagrined to drift off while praying. It was hard to stay awake in the dim Med Bay when Thayne was quiet. The whole Med Bay had been especially quiet with the twins on EVA and Zahar closing up the OSRI cabins. Caspia would go to the observation deck when Melawn came to visit. Tenshi was busy with the rats in the radiation lab. They seemed to be disappearing faster than ever—which might explain Zahar’s mood.
Melawn wished he could go to the observation deck to watch too. He felt for Nkiroo, obviously anxious to redeem their engineering reputation after the meeting with the Council Members. So far, everything had gone perfectly. No torus flew off to embarrass them. Test objects ran and were recovered without incident. Lanezi did the shuttle test without disappearing into the cosmos. Evan was resting for the jump, day after tomorrow. The manufacturing plant and shuttles would be reloaded later today.
He glanced down at Thayne, sleeping restlessly. Thayne’s mindstorm had run longer than usual. The two Council Members were scheduled to come today, regardless of Thayne’s condition, which didn’t help his mood any.
But Melawn had confidence that the Council Members would see how hard it was for Thayne, how he sacrificed, and how brilliant he was. They would give their blessing for the jump.
“We don’t need them!”
Melawn jumped and grabbed a holdbar. Thayne was suddenly wide-awake and sweating. “Sorry, what?” Melawn asked.
“I have seen it!” Thayne reached over and gripped Melawn’s arm, turning his feverish black eyes on him. “We don’t need the tugs or the plant or Team OSRI. We can get all that at Firelight.”
As practiced as Melawn was at tamping down his reactions to some of Thayne’s wild ideas, a gasp escaped him.
“Yes, Firelight. We will reconnect the sectors. We don’t need help. We have the plans. Our test run was perfect. We will jump today.”
“You’re to meet the Council Members today.”
“I don’t need too!” Thayne’s eyes flashed angrily and Melawn instinctively pulled his arm away, but Thayne only gripped it harder. “No,” Thayne shook Melawn’s arm, unstrapping with his free hand. “I’ve had a vision. I’ve seen our future.”
Melawn shook his head ever so slightly.
“Yes! People do have visions!”
“People have dreams,” Melawn dared to whisper.
“No! This was a vision, not a mindstorm. I’ve had enough mindstorms to know.” He stared off, eyes intense now, still gripping Melawn with his right hand and gesturing with his left as if to show Melawn a faraway scene. “I saw Firelight. We will rebuild their a-rings. It will happen. But we must go today. We don’t need to wait.” Melawn gently tried to pull his arm away and this time Thayne let him go. “Melawn, we will save them.”
Melawn smoothed out his sleeve where Thayne had wrinkled it. “We thought we were saving Luminesse.”
“And we have! Now we must—must!—save Firelight, because that will save the outer sectors. It will save us all!” Melawn tried to think clearly. Thayne’s intensity and anger could be distracting. “Melawn! Don’t you believe? Don’t you trust me?”
“Of course I trust you.” His mind searched for a delay tactic. “But . . . we don’t have a gravity ball.”
Thayne drifted back, eyes darting as if reviewing his vision. “Yes. Yes, you’re right. We had one in my vision. That means we got it somewhere else—you told me! There were extra gravity balls at Harbor!”
“That doesn’t mean there are extra gravity balls everywhere!”
“Yes, of course it does, Melawn.”
What? “We can’t-can’t disturb this system by calling them.”
“No, of course not. And we can’t disturb Firelight.” Thayne reached out and gave his arm another shake “That’s why 5F has been on my mind.”
