Lost Galaxy: The Complete Series (Books 1-6) (Complete Series Box Sets), page 45
Onaeki went back to gazing into the distance. Could it be that Pterans and humans weren’t so different after all? “I have reviewed the records that unit took from the Reflex. There seem to be a great many planets in the Long Lane that the Pterans would not use. They are too dry and barren…like this one. The Reflex came from a planet known as Novis Outpost in your records. It is one of these.”
“Is it really necessary for the Pteran Fleet to completely eliminate humans? Is the Pterans’ desire for revenge so deep-seated that there’s no room for compromise?”
“Yes. It is. The Pterans will never compromise. The collective has committed itself to ending the human species. The Republic betrayed the Pterans’ trust. For that, the Republic deserves to be destroyed.”
Bowman made a face and turned away. “Well, they won’t be doing it today. Come inside. We can discuss the details later.”
This time, she followed him all the way inside. She halted on the threshold and took in the whole scene. Bowman could just imagine what she thought about the house. It couldn’t be more different from a Pteran destroyer.
Sweeney went to the counter and rummaged in the cupboards under it. “Don’t these people have any food? What’s the point of staying here if we’re going to starve?”
“Check under the sink,” Bowman told him.
Sweeney opened the cupboard under the sink and strained his eyes to peer into a cavern plunging out of sight. “What the hell is that—their underground dungeon?”
Bowman laughed. “It’s the cellar, dope. That’s where they store their food. They don’t have power, so they preserve their food underground.”
“Let me take a look.” Akin came over, knelt down on the floor, and craned her head into the hole. “I can’t see anything.”
“Come with me.” Bowman lifted a huge cleaver from the knife rack next to the sink. “I’ll show you how it’s done.”
He sat down on the floor and hung his legs over the side into the hole. He slid off and lowered his feet onto a block under the floor. From here, he stepped down into the pitch-black cellar.
Akin did the same thing and bumped into him when she lowered herself to his side. “Is this where they hide the bodies?”
“Something like that.”
Sweeney and Phelps both dropped down, too. Bowman crossed the cellar and pushed open a trap door above his head. It opened a few inches at ground level just beneath the house floor.
A shaft of sunlight pierced the dark to reveal five skinned, gutted, and dressed beef carcasses hanging from the ceiling.
Sweeney screeched and sprang to Akin’s side. He huddled for cover against her bulk and tried to hide from the carcasses.
“Don’t worry, sonny,” Bowman sneered. “They’re already dead. They can’t hurt you.”
He approached the carcass nearest to the opening. Part of the rear left leg had already been carved off. He hacked at the meat with his cleaver and hewed off a chunk the size of his own head.
He passed it to Phelps and started cutting off another piece. “Go over to those bins, Akin. Put as many potatoes and turnips in the basket as you can and take it upstairs. Sweeney…”
Sweeney squeaked in terror like Bowman just tried to attack him or something. He cringed close to Akin and made her stumble on her way to the potato bins.
“Here.” Bowman shoved the second hunk of meat into Sweeney’s hands. “Don’t drop it if you want to eat tonight.”
Bowman slid the cleaver back onto the kitchen floor and went over to the shelves next to the bins. Hundreds of jars lined the shelves. They contained different colored liquids and combinations of different foods.
He selected a dark purple-black one and a fire-engine red one. He returned to the opening under the sink. Phelps stood there staring at the bloody chunk of meat in her hands. “Tell me you don’t want me to put this on the floor to get out of here.”
“No. Stay here and I’ll take it.”
She blinked at him in confusion. She spent years slumming it on the Novis Outpost, but none of these people ever lived as primitively as this.
Bowman put his jars on the kitchen floor and climbed out first. He took the meat from Phelps and Sweeney. He pulled them up and then took Akin’s basket.
When they all reassembled in the main room, his three friends stood around staring at him in stupid confusion. They didn’t know what to do with themselves.
Bowman put the meat in the sink. “Which one of you wants to light the fire?”
No one answered him. No one even moved except to keep blinking like he was speaking another language.
Bowman chuckled to himself. This was going to be a cultural adventure for them all. He left the meat there and sat down on the hearth. The other three gathered around and observed him in fascinated horror while he shaved sticks into tinder and laid the firewood in the fireplace.
“Onaeki still has her service laser,” Phelps suggested. “You could use that to light it.”
“The welding torch from the tool kit would work, too,” Akin remarked.
Bowman didn’t turn around. He pulled a loose stone from the fireplace and took out a black rod and an old broken knife blade. He pointed the rod at the tinder, placed the knife blade against it, and pulled back on the rod.
Sparks rained on the tinder and it ignited. Heat flashed against Bowman’s cheeks as the flames licked up. He hadn’t forgotten how to do it.
“Whoa!” Akin breathed. “How did you do that?”
Bowman replaced the rod and knife behind the loose brick. “You learn a few things living out in the sticks like this.” He handed her a bucket. “Go out to the barn and get some water. You can handle that, can’t you?”
She actually backed away in terror and refused to touch the bucket. Sweeney hid behind her like the bucket might explode in his face. Phelps looked up at the ceiling and pretended not to see it at all.
“You people are straight worthless, you know that? It’s a miracle any of you is still alive.”
Bowman strode out of the house. Doing all these primitive tasks brought back so many memories. He really loved this place.
He entered the barn and started down the line of stalls. Horses stuck their heads over their half-doors and whinnied at him. He would have liked to stop and greet each one in turn, but the crew would starve to death if he didn’t baby them along.
He turned the corner to the hand pump…and stopped when he saw Jusha standing by one of the stalls.
A beautiful appaloosa mare lowered her nose for Jusha to pet. She swiveled her ears toward Bowman when he burst in on their private moment.
Bowman didn’t know this horse. He’d been gone too long, but he could see at a glance that she was Nathan’s horse. He always selected the gentlest, friendliest, most kind-hearted horses.
Alden liked strong, hard-working horses who could keep going for weeks on the range without losing energy. Maverick preferred speed-demons who liked to tear around in a whirlwind. Cameron favored wild horses he could break and train by hand.
This mare had Nathan written all over her. She nuzzled Jusha and sniffed at him. She didn’t even flinch when he played with her ears.
Bowman took a tentative step forward. “You okay, Jusha? I thought you were helping Maro.”
Jusha didn’t turn around. His voice dropped to a husky whisper and he quavered slightly. “I never…I never saw anything like this before.”
“You could stay here, you know. Zhima Station is open to colonization. Anyone who wants to can come here and stake out a homestead. Anyone with the stones to make their living here is always welcome. It isn’t easy, but it’s a beautiful place and you won’t find any nicer people anywhere.”
Jusha raised his head and his eyes glistened when he looked up at Bowman. “You mean…I could have…one of these…for my own?”
“You could have several. There are wild herds running around the planes. All you have to do is catch one and train it. My brother does it all the time. Some he keeps and some he sells at the yards. You can make good money working with horses. The other colonists are always looking for good horses.”
Jusha turned back to the mare. “I could never stay here. It’s too nice for me.”
“Don’t sell yourself short. You left Ludu legally. I bet my brothers would take you on as a worker until you learn enough to start your own homestead.”
“Really? They would do that?”
Bowman crossed to the pump and put the bucket under it. “We’ll ask them when they come back. You can stay here when the crew and I leave. You deserve to be happy as much as anybody.”
Jusha stroked the mare’s nose and his voice dropped so low that Bowman almost didn’t hear him. “I’ll go with the crew.”
“It’s up to you.” Bowman picked up the bucket. “I’m making dinner up at the house. Come on up when you get hungry.”
CHAPTER
TWELVE
Bowman shut the front door and stopped again. He found himself stopping every few minutes just to look around and take in all the sights, sounds, and smells. Every moment, every sensation flooded him with emotion.
He stepped out from under the eaves and looked up at the stars. He spent his childhood craving travel beyond Zhima Station. He ached to go out there, fly around among the stars, fight the Pterans, and prove himself on the forward strike front.
Those stars meant something so different to him, now that he knew what awaited him out there.
He’d accomplished everything he ever dreamed of when he was a boy. He joined the Republican Guard. He flew fighter craft through the stars. He fought the Pterans. He sent countless criminals to prison as a constable.
Did he really want to go back to that? Did he really want to leave all this peace and quiet? Did he want to put himself out there to get shot at and hunted down?
He could stay here. His brothers would be thrilled to welcome him back. He could stake a homestead of his own the way he encouraged Jusha to stay.
Bowman had all the skills. He could build a very comfortable, beautiful, happy life here. He could do it easily. Was he ready to give up on his dream of going out into space?
Looking up at those stars almost made him forget why he came out here tonight. He left his crew laughing, relaxing, and digesting a huge meal in his parents’ living room. The fire glowed on the earthen walls and the timber ceiling. All the rugs, blankets, and dishes held memories for Bowman.
He couldn’t forget completely, though. The Republic would probably leave him and his crew alone if they stayed here on Zhima Station. The Guard wouldn’t come hunting them down to send Akin, Sweeney, Phelps, and Maro back to the Cedes Colony. The Republic might never find out that Onaeki was even here.
That was all a pipe dream. Onaeki would never be happy here…if Pterans even had a concept like happiness. She belonged with her own people even if Bowman couldn’t conceive how to get her there.
She might be willing to stay here. It was her only option at the moment, but it wasn’t Bowman’s only option.
He could see himself settling down to a quiet rancher’s life on Zhima Station. He could see himself herding cattle and starting fires with a sparking rod for the rest of his days. He could even give up the hope of ever flying through space ever again. He could grow old here and be happy.
He could NOT see himself walking away from the accusations against him. He couldn’t turn his back on the Republic and let them get away with ruining his life. Jack Bowman didn’t do that. That wasn’t him.
No matter what he did, he had to find out what was going on and who was doing this to him. He couldn’t let them turn him into a criminal.
If he retired to Zhima Station and never went into space again, he had to do it as a free man. He had to clear his name and, above all else, he had to retire on his own terms. He damn well wouldn’t do it because someone drove him out.
In the last analysis, he had to go back for ZAK. He never left a crewmate behind and he wasn’t about to start with her. She might be a Pteran and a robot, but she was still his responsibility.
She was his friend and she’d done too much for him to abandon her, especially in Custody of the Republican Guard. That was not about to happen as long as he could do anything about it.
He didn’t know what he could do about it, but he had to do something. He strode across the yard to the Reflex. He opened the hatch and entered the cabin. “Wake up, Lucky. I need to send a message.”
“Is it Communications Station 87-LXQ again?”
“No. Contact General Theodore Van Dyke on Alleria.”
Lucky hesitated for a moment. The instruments on the console whirred. “I’m sorry, Jack. There’s no answer. His communications channel is inactive.”
Bowman frowned. “Is he away from his desk or something?” He already knew the answer.
“His system should forward the message to wherever he is.” Lucky paused and the weight of eons hung on that silence. “He’s…he’s been arrested, Jack.”
Bowman stiffened, but he sensed this when he first told Lucky to contact the general. In a way, Bowman had been expecting this for a long time. “Where is he?”
“That’s the weird thing, Jack. There’s no record on the system of where he’s being held. His son Luke has been taken into custody, too.”
Bowman shot out of his seat in a heartbeat. “They have to be on the system somewhere.”
“I’m searching all the records. There’s no trace of them anywhere in the whole Republic. If they were arrested at their home on Alleria, they should be held on Alleria, but they’re nowhere. They aren’t in any other jail anywhere. They’ve just…vanished.”
“That’s impossible.” Bowman scrambled over the console, but he couldn’t find anything that Lucky hadn’t already found. The records showed General and Constable Van Dyke both being arrested by the Republican Guard. After that, they disappeared from the records entirely.
Bowman’s heart raced. He couldn’t let this happen. He couldn’t let Van Dyke and his father go down. Their only crime was trying to help him and his crew.
“Locate Brigadier Falkner.”
Lucky hesitated for the third time, but not because he was searching the records. “I’m…I hate to tell you this, Jack, but he’s vanished, too.”
Bowman froze. He stared at the Reflex’s controls, but he didn’t see anything.
“The whole lab has been cleared out,” Lucky went out. “The technicians have all been reassigned to the far ends of the Republic. The lab equipment has been shipped out to different destinations and…”
“ZAK!” Bowman croaked.
“She’s gone. She isn’t on Alleria…at least, there’s no record of where she is.”
Bowman staggered away from the console. This couldn’t be happening. His life crumbled before his eyes. All his hopes and fondest prayers went up in smoke.
The next minute, he lunged for the controls. He scrolled through the records while his mind spun with a thousand tiny details. Somewhere, sometime in the last two months, someone must have said something. Someone must have done something to leave some clue to this mystery.
Then he had it. He attacked the controls and pored over the records until he found it. “Brigadier Stuart Layton.”
“What about him, Jack?” Lucky asked.
“Where is he now? Where was he assigned after Falkner took over the lab?”
“He’s Superintendent the Provincial Hub at Ugawa. He’s in charge of…”
“Fire up your engines, Lucky. We’re going for a ride.”
“You want to…fly somewhere? Don’t you want to tell the others where you’re going?”
“Definitely not. Get your engines running. I’ll be right back.”
He stormed out of the Reflex and back to the house. Akin sprawled full length on the couch. Phelps draped one leg over the arm of her chair. Jusha crouched in front of the fire with his bent legs drawn up to his chest. Onaeki stood in the corner without moving.
Phelps looked up. “What’s going on? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“You people make yourselves comfortable here. I’m going for a little adventure in the Reflex. I’ll be back soon.”
Phelps sat up and Akin propped herself on her elbow. “You’re leaving? Where are you going?”
“Never mind.”
Phelps got to her feet. “I’m going with you.”
“Me, too.” Akin swung upright.
“No,” Bowman told them. “Stay here. I don’t know what I’ll find out there, but…it might be bad.’
“Then you need us with you,” Phelps pointed out. “You can’t go alone.”
“I can and I am. Van Dyke and his father…” He stopped. He shouldn’t tell them. They would only worry.
He saw in a flash that telling them or not telling them wouldn’t make any difference. All the color drained from Phelps’s cheeks. “What about them? Did something happen?”
“They’ve been arrested, but I can’t find out where they are. Duke Falkner has also disappeared and…” He had to stop and steady himself before he said it. “ZAK is gone.”
“To hell with that.” Akin got up. “I’m going with you.”
“Me, too.” Phelps started across the room.
“No!” Bowman countered. “If you go out there, you could be sent to Crystal Towers Prison if you got caught. You went to Ludu on contract with the Legionnaires and I brought you here…” He thought fast. “We can say I brought you here to escape the Pteran presence on the planet. Sorry, Onaeki.”
She only examined him with her head on the side and didn’t answer.
“Just stay here,” he went on. “It’s the safest place for you, and if the shit’s going down out there, then you’ll be free to get me out of it.”
Akin snorted and flopped down on the couch. “You have a genuine death wish, man.”
“Maybe, but I have to find out what’s going on. Stay here. I need to know you’re safe.”
“Who wants to be safe when the shit’s going down out there?” Akin returned.
“I’ll be back soon…or not. Stay put.”
“We’ll have no choice,” Phelps added. “You’re taking our only transportation off the planet.”
“Is it really necessary for the Pteran Fleet to completely eliminate humans? Is the Pterans’ desire for revenge so deep-seated that there’s no room for compromise?”
“Yes. It is. The Pterans will never compromise. The collective has committed itself to ending the human species. The Republic betrayed the Pterans’ trust. For that, the Republic deserves to be destroyed.”
Bowman made a face and turned away. “Well, they won’t be doing it today. Come inside. We can discuss the details later.”
This time, she followed him all the way inside. She halted on the threshold and took in the whole scene. Bowman could just imagine what she thought about the house. It couldn’t be more different from a Pteran destroyer.
Sweeney went to the counter and rummaged in the cupboards under it. “Don’t these people have any food? What’s the point of staying here if we’re going to starve?”
“Check under the sink,” Bowman told him.
Sweeney opened the cupboard under the sink and strained his eyes to peer into a cavern plunging out of sight. “What the hell is that—their underground dungeon?”
Bowman laughed. “It’s the cellar, dope. That’s where they store their food. They don’t have power, so they preserve their food underground.”
“Let me take a look.” Akin came over, knelt down on the floor, and craned her head into the hole. “I can’t see anything.”
“Come with me.” Bowman lifted a huge cleaver from the knife rack next to the sink. “I’ll show you how it’s done.”
He sat down on the floor and hung his legs over the side into the hole. He slid off and lowered his feet onto a block under the floor. From here, he stepped down into the pitch-black cellar.
Akin did the same thing and bumped into him when she lowered herself to his side. “Is this where they hide the bodies?”
“Something like that.”
Sweeney and Phelps both dropped down, too. Bowman crossed the cellar and pushed open a trap door above his head. It opened a few inches at ground level just beneath the house floor.
A shaft of sunlight pierced the dark to reveal five skinned, gutted, and dressed beef carcasses hanging from the ceiling.
Sweeney screeched and sprang to Akin’s side. He huddled for cover against her bulk and tried to hide from the carcasses.
“Don’t worry, sonny,” Bowman sneered. “They’re already dead. They can’t hurt you.”
He approached the carcass nearest to the opening. Part of the rear left leg had already been carved off. He hacked at the meat with his cleaver and hewed off a chunk the size of his own head.
He passed it to Phelps and started cutting off another piece. “Go over to those bins, Akin. Put as many potatoes and turnips in the basket as you can and take it upstairs. Sweeney…”
Sweeney squeaked in terror like Bowman just tried to attack him or something. He cringed close to Akin and made her stumble on her way to the potato bins.
“Here.” Bowman shoved the second hunk of meat into Sweeney’s hands. “Don’t drop it if you want to eat tonight.”
Bowman slid the cleaver back onto the kitchen floor and went over to the shelves next to the bins. Hundreds of jars lined the shelves. They contained different colored liquids and combinations of different foods.
He selected a dark purple-black one and a fire-engine red one. He returned to the opening under the sink. Phelps stood there staring at the bloody chunk of meat in her hands. “Tell me you don’t want me to put this on the floor to get out of here.”
“No. Stay here and I’ll take it.”
She blinked at him in confusion. She spent years slumming it on the Novis Outpost, but none of these people ever lived as primitively as this.
Bowman put his jars on the kitchen floor and climbed out first. He took the meat from Phelps and Sweeney. He pulled them up and then took Akin’s basket.
When they all reassembled in the main room, his three friends stood around staring at him in stupid confusion. They didn’t know what to do with themselves.
Bowman put the meat in the sink. “Which one of you wants to light the fire?”
No one answered him. No one even moved except to keep blinking like he was speaking another language.
Bowman chuckled to himself. This was going to be a cultural adventure for them all. He left the meat there and sat down on the hearth. The other three gathered around and observed him in fascinated horror while he shaved sticks into tinder and laid the firewood in the fireplace.
“Onaeki still has her service laser,” Phelps suggested. “You could use that to light it.”
“The welding torch from the tool kit would work, too,” Akin remarked.
Bowman didn’t turn around. He pulled a loose stone from the fireplace and took out a black rod and an old broken knife blade. He pointed the rod at the tinder, placed the knife blade against it, and pulled back on the rod.
Sparks rained on the tinder and it ignited. Heat flashed against Bowman’s cheeks as the flames licked up. He hadn’t forgotten how to do it.
“Whoa!” Akin breathed. “How did you do that?”
Bowman replaced the rod and knife behind the loose brick. “You learn a few things living out in the sticks like this.” He handed her a bucket. “Go out to the barn and get some water. You can handle that, can’t you?”
She actually backed away in terror and refused to touch the bucket. Sweeney hid behind her like the bucket might explode in his face. Phelps looked up at the ceiling and pretended not to see it at all.
“You people are straight worthless, you know that? It’s a miracle any of you is still alive.”
Bowman strode out of the house. Doing all these primitive tasks brought back so many memories. He really loved this place.
He entered the barn and started down the line of stalls. Horses stuck their heads over their half-doors and whinnied at him. He would have liked to stop and greet each one in turn, but the crew would starve to death if he didn’t baby them along.
He turned the corner to the hand pump…and stopped when he saw Jusha standing by one of the stalls.
A beautiful appaloosa mare lowered her nose for Jusha to pet. She swiveled her ears toward Bowman when he burst in on their private moment.
Bowman didn’t know this horse. He’d been gone too long, but he could see at a glance that she was Nathan’s horse. He always selected the gentlest, friendliest, most kind-hearted horses.
Alden liked strong, hard-working horses who could keep going for weeks on the range without losing energy. Maverick preferred speed-demons who liked to tear around in a whirlwind. Cameron favored wild horses he could break and train by hand.
This mare had Nathan written all over her. She nuzzled Jusha and sniffed at him. She didn’t even flinch when he played with her ears.
Bowman took a tentative step forward. “You okay, Jusha? I thought you were helping Maro.”
Jusha didn’t turn around. His voice dropped to a husky whisper and he quavered slightly. “I never…I never saw anything like this before.”
“You could stay here, you know. Zhima Station is open to colonization. Anyone who wants to can come here and stake out a homestead. Anyone with the stones to make their living here is always welcome. It isn’t easy, but it’s a beautiful place and you won’t find any nicer people anywhere.”
Jusha raised his head and his eyes glistened when he looked up at Bowman. “You mean…I could have…one of these…for my own?”
“You could have several. There are wild herds running around the planes. All you have to do is catch one and train it. My brother does it all the time. Some he keeps and some he sells at the yards. You can make good money working with horses. The other colonists are always looking for good horses.”
Jusha turned back to the mare. “I could never stay here. It’s too nice for me.”
“Don’t sell yourself short. You left Ludu legally. I bet my brothers would take you on as a worker until you learn enough to start your own homestead.”
“Really? They would do that?”
Bowman crossed to the pump and put the bucket under it. “We’ll ask them when they come back. You can stay here when the crew and I leave. You deserve to be happy as much as anybody.”
Jusha stroked the mare’s nose and his voice dropped so low that Bowman almost didn’t hear him. “I’ll go with the crew.”
“It’s up to you.” Bowman picked up the bucket. “I’m making dinner up at the house. Come on up when you get hungry.”
CHAPTER
TWELVE
Bowman shut the front door and stopped again. He found himself stopping every few minutes just to look around and take in all the sights, sounds, and smells. Every moment, every sensation flooded him with emotion.
He stepped out from under the eaves and looked up at the stars. He spent his childhood craving travel beyond Zhima Station. He ached to go out there, fly around among the stars, fight the Pterans, and prove himself on the forward strike front.
Those stars meant something so different to him, now that he knew what awaited him out there.
He’d accomplished everything he ever dreamed of when he was a boy. He joined the Republican Guard. He flew fighter craft through the stars. He fought the Pterans. He sent countless criminals to prison as a constable.
Did he really want to go back to that? Did he really want to leave all this peace and quiet? Did he want to put himself out there to get shot at and hunted down?
He could stay here. His brothers would be thrilled to welcome him back. He could stake a homestead of his own the way he encouraged Jusha to stay.
Bowman had all the skills. He could build a very comfortable, beautiful, happy life here. He could do it easily. Was he ready to give up on his dream of going out into space?
Looking up at those stars almost made him forget why he came out here tonight. He left his crew laughing, relaxing, and digesting a huge meal in his parents’ living room. The fire glowed on the earthen walls and the timber ceiling. All the rugs, blankets, and dishes held memories for Bowman.
He couldn’t forget completely, though. The Republic would probably leave him and his crew alone if they stayed here on Zhima Station. The Guard wouldn’t come hunting them down to send Akin, Sweeney, Phelps, and Maro back to the Cedes Colony. The Republic might never find out that Onaeki was even here.
That was all a pipe dream. Onaeki would never be happy here…if Pterans even had a concept like happiness. She belonged with her own people even if Bowman couldn’t conceive how to get her there.
She might be willing to stay here. It was her only option at the moment, but it wasn’t Bowman’s only option.
He could see himself settling down to a quiet rancher’s life on Zhima Station. He could see himself herding cattle and starting fires with a sparking rod for the rest of his days. He could even give up the hope of ever flying through space ever again. He could grow old here and be happy.
He could NOT see himself walking away from the accusations against him. He couldn’t turn his back on the Republic and let them get away with ruining his life. Jack Bowman didn’t do that. That wasn’t him.
No matter what he did, he had to find out what was going on and who was doing this to him. He couldn’t let them turn him into a criminal.
If he retired to Zhima Station and never went into space again, he had to do it as a free man. He had to clear his name and, above all else, he had to retire on his own terms. He damn well wouldn’t do it because someone drove him out.
In the last analysis, he had to go back for ZAK. He never left a crewmate behind and he wasn’t about to start with her. She might be a Pteran and a robot, but she was still his responsibility.
She was his friend and she’d done too much for him to abandon her, especially in Custody of the Republican Guard. That was not about to happen as long as he could do anything about it.
He didn’t know what he could do about it, but he had to do something. He strode across the yard to the Reflex. He opened the hatch and entered the cabin. “Wake up, Lucky. I need to send a message.”
“Is it Communications Station 87-LXQ again?”
“No. Contact General Theodore Van Dyke on Alleria.”
Lucky hesitated for a moment. The instruments on the console whirred. “I’m sorry, Jack. There’s no answer. His communications channel is inactive.”
Bowman frowned. “Is he away from his desk or something?” He already knew the answer.
“His system should forward the message to wherever he is.” Lucky paused and the weight of eons hung on that silence. “He’s…he’s been arrested, Jack.”
Bowman stiffened, but he sensed this when he first told Lucky to contact the general. In a way, Bowman had been expecting this for a long time. “Where is he?”
“That’s the weird thing, Jack. There’s no record on the system of where he’s being held. His son Luke has been taken into custody, too.”
Bowman shot out of his seat in a heartbeat. “They have to be on the system somewhere.”
“I’m searching all the records. There’s no trace of them anywhere in the whole Republic. If they were arrested at their home on Alleria, they should be held on Alleria, but they’re nowhere. They aren’t in any other jail anywhere. They’ve just…vanished.”
“That’s impossible.” Bowman scrambled over the console, but he couldn’t find anything that Lucky hadn’t already found. The records showed General and Constable Van Dyke both being arrested by the Republican Guard. After that, they disappeared from the records entirely.
Bowman’s heart raced. He couldn’t let this happen. He couldn’t let Van Dyke and his father go down. Their only crime was trying to help him and his crew.
“Locate Brigadier Falkner.”
Lucky hesitated for the third time, but not because he was searching the records. “I’m…I hate to tell you this, Jack, but he’s vanished, too.”
Bowman froze. He stared at the Reflex’s controls, but he didn’t see anything.
“The whole lab has been cleared out,” Lucky went out. “The technicians have all been reassigned to the far ends of the Republic. The lab equipment has been shipped out to different destinations and…”
“ZAK!” Bowman croaked.
“She’s gone. She isn’t on Alleria…at least, there’s no record of where she is.”
Bowman staggered away from the console. This couldn’t be happening. His life crumbled before his eyes. All his hopes and fondest prayers went up in smoke.
The next minute, he lunged for the controls. He scrolled through the records while his mind spun with a thousand tiny details. Somewhere, sometime in the last two months, someone must have said something. Someone must have done something to leave some clue to this mystery.
Then he had it. He attacked the controls and pored over the records until he found it. “Brigadier Stuart Layton.”
“What about him, Jack?” Lucky asked.
“Where is he now? Where was he assigned after Falkner took over the lab?”
“He’s Superintendent the Provincial Hub at Ugawa. He’s in charge of…”
“Fire up your engines, Lucky. We’re going for a ride.”
“You want to…fly somewhere? Don’t you want to tell the others where you’re going?”
“Definitely not. Get your engines running. I’ll be right back.”
He stormed out of the Reflex and back to the house. Akin sprawled full length on the couch. Phelps draped one leg over the arm of her chair. Jusha crouched in front of the fire with his bent legs drawn up to his chest. Onaeki stood in the corner without moving.
Phelps looked up. “What’s going on? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“You people make yourselves comfortable here. I’m going for a little adventure in the Reflex. I’ll be back soon.”
Phelps sat up and Akin propped herself on her elbow. “You’re leaving? Where are you going?”
“Never mind.”
Phelps got to her feet. “I’m going with you.”
“Me, too.” Akin swung upright.
“No,” Bowman told them. “Stay here. I don’t know what I’ll find out there, but…it might be bad.’
“Then you need us with you,” Phelps pointed out. “You can’t go alone.”
“I can and I am. Van Dyke and his father…” He stopped. He shouldn’t tell them. They would only worry.
He saw in a flash that telling them or not telling them wouldn’t make any difference. All the color drained from Phelps’s cheeks. “What about them? Did something happen?”
“They’ve been arrested, but I can’t find out where they are. Duke Falkner has also disappeared and…” He had to stop and steady himself before he said it. “ZAK is gone.”
“To hell with that.” Akin got up. “I’m going with you.”
“Me, too.” Phelps started across the room.
“No!” Bowman countered. “If you go out there, you could be sent to Crystal Towers Prison if you got caught. You went to Ludu on contract with the Legionnaires and I brought you here…” He thought fast. “We can say I brought you here to escape the Pteran presence on the planet. Sorry, Onaeki.”
She only examined him with her head on the side and didn’t answer.
“Just stay here,” he went on. “It’s the safest place for you, and if the shit’s going down out there, then you’ll be free to get me out of it.”
Akin snorted and flopped down on the couch. “You have a genuine death wish, man.”
“Maybe, but I have to find out what’s going on. Stay here. I need to know you’re safe.”
“Who wants to be safe when the shit’s going down out there?” Akin returned.
“I’ll be back soon…or not. Stay put.”
“We’ll have no choice,” Phelps added. “You’re taking our only transportation off the planet.”
