THE LOST COLONY Page 16

  “I do believe you. I don't know how this BSS official learned, but the agreement was for one hundred novonid men and ten women -- the usual ratio. I learned this days before you arrived on Varada.”

  “How did you contrive to be assigned as our house-keeper?”

  “That was just luck. At first I thought you were part of the plot. It's the real reason I was cool to you that day. Then I learned you were meeting with Prefect Ogan and I realized you were all right.”

  “Ogan is on the level?”

  “Ogan has gone on the record denying any intent to trade us for Floran technology. The BSS regard him as a fool -- an idiot; but an honest one. He couldn't swindle someone if his life depended on it.”

  “So someone on Gamma contracted to receive one hundred field workers from Varada.”

  “And, ten fertile females. But -- you were double-crossed.”

  “How so?” Nyk asked.

  “Most of the novonids are feral -- rounded up from the woods and fields around the pomma farms and sunstarved into submission. They're very wild -- some lack language skills. They'd be of no use in the fields -- dangerous even.”

  “And the rest?”

  “Street thugs and trouble-makers from the ghetto... I think I'm feeling well enough to stand... ”

  “And, what was the quid-pro-quo?”

  “The what?”

  “What did Varada receive in exchange?”

  “Why -- that comm relay station -- state of the art communications.” Nyk put his hand over his mouth and laughed. “What's funny?”

  “Varada was cheated, too. That relay station is an old clunker. It'll be out of commission within a year.”

  Laida began laughing. “We swindled each other!”

  “Yes -- this is a great way to launch an interplanetary friendship, isn't it?”

  “I still think Varada got the better deal,” Laida replied. “You see, with the termination act, they can't just put down troublesome novonids, unless they're proven a menace; and then only after a hearing. These aren't menaces, just ... more independent.”

  “Like yourself?”

  “Yes -- but impatient, and not willing to work within the system. And with ferals going under the termination act umbrella...”

  “Since they can't kill them, why not just quietly ship them offworld?” Nyk mused. “No bodies to dispose of. How did you...”

  “It was Alvo.”

  “Alvo was brokering the deal?”

  “He was in on it, to procure some of us. He must've overheard me talking with my BSS contact. He probably feared I'd tell you and you'd tell Ogan.”

  “I wish you had,” Nyk replied.

  “I was planning to -- that evening. He called me into his office and a pair of thugs abducted me and locked me in a dark room.”

  “Oh, Laida,” Andra exclaimed, “it must've been terrifying for you.”

  “I tried to preserve my strength ... but, when they came for me I could barely move.”

  “Tomyka's dithering on the language... It WAS a stalling tactic -- to buy time to sunstarve you.”

  “We have to do something to stop this,” Andra said. “The captain and some crew must be in on this.”

  “Yes, but what?”

  “Let's take inventory,” Laida said. “Do you have more of that sweet water?”

  “I have more syrup.”

  “Come on...”

  Nyk toured the barracks with Andra and Laida.

  “They're all feral,” Laida said of the first barracks. “We can't revive any lacking registry numbers. I hate to say this about fellow novonids, but best to leave them torpid. They'll be dangerous otherwise.”

  They looked into the next barracks. “That's Mos,” she pointed to one of the men. “He's a friend -- a hothead, but I can manage him. We should revive him.”

  Nyk mixed syrup with water. Laida approached the man. “Mos ... Mos, wake up.” She lifted his head.

  “Laida?” he mumbled.

  “Drink this -- it'll hurt in your stomach but it will cure the sun-hunger.”

  Mos sipped the drink, coughed and blew some out his nose. “Try again,” Laida said. “Go slow...” She looked at Nyk. “He was sunstarved longer than me -- he's in worse shape.”

  “Andra -- stay with him. Laida and I will see if there are more to revive.”

  Nyk examined the barracks with her and returned to Andra. Mos was sitting, doubled over on the bunk, his arms folded across his abdomen. “How's he doing?”

  “All right,” she replied.

  “Laida fingered three more to revive -- two men and a woman. The rest are feral and dangerous -- or, untrustworthy. I gave her the syrup. She'll revive one tonight and the other two tomorrow.” Nyk placed his hand on Mos's back. “Mos -- how are you feeling?” He nodded. “Mos -- you must pretend to be torpid. We'll return tomorrow night to figure out our next move. Understand?”

  He nodded. “Yes...”

  “We had better get back to our cabin.” He gestured to Andra and they rode the lift to the cabin deck.

  * * *

  “This is Ala,” Laida said. Nyk looked into vacant orange eyes. “She's had conditioning.”

  “I understand Ramina's abhorrence of that practice.”

  “Nykkyo -- Ala's responses have been dulled, but her mind is just as sharp. My mother is the same way.”

  “That makes the practice even more immoral.”

  “Is the glucose syrup working?” Andra asked.

  “It works for a while, then the sun-hunger returns.”

  “I've given you all I dare,” Nyk replied. “The cook is going to miss it otherwise.”

  “How many of them are there?” Mos asked.

  “Thirteen.”

  “There are seven of us,” Laida replied, “or will be once I revive the other two.”

  “Are the other two as big as Mos?”

  “Yes -- but it's still only seven against thirteen.”

  “They're spread around the ship. During the watch there are six on the bridge, three in engineering and the cook. Engineering is the only section manned during both watches, so there are three in their bunks, too. The bridge and quarters are two decks up; engineering is two decks down.”

  “What should we do?” Andra asked.

  “I can only guess where this ship is headed. No doubt first stop would be Floran to drop off Andra and me. I doubt they'd unload their ... cargo at Floran. More likely next stop would be Gamma-5.”

  “More likely,” said Andra, “they would stop at Gamma-5 first, maybe during second watch. We have surface shuttles big enough to carry all of you in a single trip.”

  “Good point,” Nyk added. “And, that bay is large enough for one to land there. By the time we'd be out of our bunks, our cargo would be long gone.”

  “Why Gamma-5?” Laida asked.

  “It's the breadbasket of the hegemony, with large industrial farms.”

  “Do you think they wish to introduce pomma there?”

  “I sure hope not,” Andra replied.

  “No,” Nyk said. “They grow wheat, but their profits have been hurt by other colonies using cheaper labor.”

  “And, we think they'd try a colony of novonids there.” Andra added. “How could they get away with it?”

  “It's my best guess. There are large tracts of sparsely populated land there. They could land the transport shuttle relatively unobserved.”

  “But -- the HL Secretary has stated such would not be tolerated.”

  “The HL would have to find out about it, first. I'm sure the Gammans have plans for dealing with that aspect. It's an awfully big planet.”

  “Nyk,” Andra said, “you're familiar with ExoService operations. What do you think this crew would do?”

  “I wouldn't say I'm familiar... I must assume the captain and first officer are in on this. I'm not sure the whole crew is.”

  “Can we recruit from them?”

  “I wouldn't bet on it,” Nyk replied. “Their first l
oyalty will be to their officers. I think the captain is taking a calculated risk. He's been trying to engage us on the bridge -- to keep us from wandering the ship.”

  “I'm surprised he hasn't posted guards,” Laida observed.

  “He probably doesn't see the need. This level was locked out of the lift program. Andra and I found our ways here via another way. You're supposed to be torpid -- they think you need sunlight to revive.”

  “That's right,” Laida agreed, “they probably don't know about the syrup.”

  “Their risk would be one of us discovering you and blowing the whistle. Our course is taking us through deep space -- far from the comm net. We can't file a report until we reach Floran space. By then you'd be deposited on Gamma-5, and it becomes a colonial internal issue.”

  “And, that's only worst-case,” Andra added, “from their point of view.”

  “What should we do?” Laida asked.

  “Yes, what?” asked Mos.

  “I think our best plan would be to wait until we're within range of the Floran comm net. Then we can detain the crew. I can send a report and put out a distress signal. That makes it an ExoService affair, and we have friends there. Can you hold out 'til then?”

  “I think so,” Laida replied.

  “Here.” Nyk handed her a handheld vidisplay. “I swiped this from the equipment store.” He pulled his own handheld from his sash. “We can communicate thus...” He touched his screen and the one Laida held warbled. “You can't activate it without a Floran wrist chip -- but that signal can be your alert.”

  She nodded. “Understood. If I hear that...”

  “We'll come running,” Mos added.

  “We've shown you how to operate the lift; and remember -- bridge is two levels up, and engineering is two levels down. They can operate the ship from engineering...”

  Mos nodded. “We'll send two of us down and the rest to the bridge.”

  “Andra and I should be getting back to our cabin. First I want to take pictures of you ... of our cargo. I want to back up my report with images.” He snapped photoimages of the barracks cabins.

  “Laida,” he said returning to her barracks. “We'll meet again next off-watch for a status update.” She nodded. “Come on, Andra...”

  She accompanied him to the lift.

  13 -- Mutiny

  Nyk awakened to the bonging of the warp jump alert. He strapped himself into a jumpseat and awaited the jolt of the jump. “Let's take a stroll to the bridge,” he said. “We'll join our captain for our morning tea.”

  He approached the door to the captain's cabin and pressed the chime. “Come.” He walked in. “Good morning, Nykkyo ... Andra. Have a seat.”

  Nyk filled a cup with tea from a carafe, picked up a breakfast cake and sat at the captain's table. “How goes the plotting?” Nyk asked.

  “We're working our way through it.”

  “Those samples we brought onboard at Varada,” Andra asked. “Are any of them perishable?”

  “We have them on ice,” the captain replied. “They'll last to planetfall.”

  “Are we offloading at Floran?”

  “No -- next destination.” The captain eyed them. “Our current position is near the Magellanic Clouds.”

  “Are we that far outside the galaxy?”

  “Yes -- it's the furthest out I've ever been in my career. There's a great view from the observation lounge.”

  “We'll check it out.”

  * * *

  “You have to admit -- this IS a great view,” Andra said as she stood with Nyk and looked out the observation dome.

  “I didn't think it was a good idea to express such interest in our cargo,” Nyk said.

  “I don't think we should blithely ignore it, either. Protesting too little can be as suspicious as protesting too much.”

  “I'm afraid you've aroused his suspicions. Maybe we should hang close to the bridge.”

  All right,” she replied and followed him to the lift.

  “You are right, Captain. It is a great view.”

  “I'm pleased you enjoyed it while you could. We're about to make another jump.”

  Nyk sat on a bench along the rear bulkhead and fastened his restraints. Andra sat beside him.

  The jump thudded through the ship. Nyk unhooked his restraints and pulled his vidisplay from his sash. “Still no comm,” he whispered to Andra.

  “I have our fix,” the navigator announced.

  Nyk strolled to the navigation station and looked at a display of the plan of the galaxy. A flashing green dot identified their position.

  The intra-ship comm signaled. “Bridge -- engineering. Our primary reactor went off- line.”

  “Status?” the captain asked.

  “Coolant,” the engineer replied. “We'll need to radiate heat before we can bring it back on line.”

  “Acknowledged. Begin auto reset sequence.”

  “Yes, Captain.”

  The captain pressed a key for the intra-ship hail. “All crew stand down -- at ease for two segments.” He stood and headed toward his cabin.

  Zane approached them. “Don't worry -- this is normal.”

  “Normal?” Nyk asked.

  “Normal for this ship. Our reactor is a bit under-sized.”

  “Ah-ha,” Nyk replied. “She COULD benefit from a two-stage reactor.”

  “When she was built, two-stagers were cantankerous and dangerous -- not like the ones they install today.”

  “Why not upgrade her, then?”

  “They will,” Zane said, “once the next colony planet is discovered. Until then, we put up with it. This happens whenever we need to charge the coil above eighty percent. We have some time to kill. Shall we go to the lounge?”

  “I think we'll go to our cabin,” Nyk replied.

  “Suit yourselves...”

  Nyk headed down the corridor toward the cabin. He patted his xarpa. “My vidisplay -- I think I left it on the bridge...”

  “We'd better go get it,” Andra replied.

  He turned, headed onto the bridge and approached the navigator's post. “Looking for something?” the captain asked.

  “My vidisplay.”

  “I have it here.” The captain held the display in his left hand and a stun wand in his right. He turned the screen so Nyk could see the images of the barracks. “I'm afraid I'll have to hold onto this. You two are confined to your quarters.” He signaled his first officer, who approached with a stunner. “Take them to their cabin. Then, prepare to jettison our cargo.” He tossed Nyk's handheld to his officer. “Jettison this along with them.”

  “Yes, Captain. Come along, you two...”

  Nyk glanced toward Andra. She pulled her vidisplay from her sash and pressed the touchscreen.

  “That won't do you any good,” the captain said. “We're too far from the comm net.”

  Nyk heard the lift and footfalls. Three green figures darkened the doorway to the bridge.

  The crew drew stunners and advanced on them. One crew member pressed a key to sound general quarters. A klaxon echoed throughout the ship.

  Mos grabbed the first officer's arm, wrenched the stunner from his grip and tossed it to Nyk. He dodged a stunner thrust and connected with a yeoman, who went down. The captain charged toward Andra. He touched her abdomen with his stunner. She screeched and fell to the deck.

  Mos looked at Andra and glowered at the captain. He charged the officer, who jabbed the fieldworker with his stunner. Mos kept coming. The captain jabbed again -- and again. The stunner's only effect was to enrage him more.

  Mos grabbed the captain by the throat and lifted him off his feet. He pressed both thumbs into his windpipe; then dropped the limp body to the deck. Mos then tackled the astral navigator, wrenched the stunner from his hand and threw the man against a bulkhead. He slid to the deck, bleeding from his ears.

  “The stunners have no effect on them!” the first officer shouted. Nyk picked up the stun wands and tossed them to the other novonids. Mos was
chasing Zane around the bridge.

  “Stop, Mos!” Laida shouted. “MOS! STOP!”

  “They killed the white one!” Mos shouted.

  “No, Mos,” Nyk said. “She's only stunned.”

  Mos stopped and stood, breathing heavily. Nyk and the others rounded up the crew at stunner-point. “Watch them, Mos. I'll find some rope.”

  He returned with lengths of polymer fiber cord and began binding their wrists.

  Laida knelt and held Andra. “How is she?” Nyk asked.

  “Coming around, I think.”

  “Andra -- are you all right?”

  “No more pomma beer,” she said and held her head. “Please.”

  “Take them to the barracks deck,” Nyk said. “We'll tie them up and you can guard them, Mos.” Mos nodded.

  * * *

  Nyk looked over the crew. “Now we have a real problem,” he said. “The captain is dead and the navigator is so badly injured I had to put him into stasis. We're who-knows-where in space, and out of range of the comm net. We have to figure out how to fly this bucket.”

  “Force one of them to fly it,” Mos suggested.

  “Do any of us have the knowledge to know if they're flying it where we want to go? Someone is expecting an illegal shipment of fieldworkers. If they fly us there, we're sunk.”

  “It's a chance we'll have to take,” Laida said.

  “No -- unless we can monitor our position, we can't risk it. I don't trust any of them.”

  “I'll help you,” came a voice.

  “Who said that?” Nyk replied.

  “I did,” said Zane. “Andra and I are bonded. She is my Academy sister. Brothers and sisters come to each other's aid.”

  “Do you trust him?” Nyk asked Andra.

  She looked into Zane's pale blue eyes. “Yes -- I do.”

  “Untie him,” Nyk said to Mos, using Varadan. “He'll help us fly this ship.”

  “Why should we trust him?” Mos asked.

  “He and Andra are bonded. Would you trust another of your own kind?”

  “Not necessarily,” Mos replied.