NOVEL WEB 35. Fanning the Embers
Going through a slipspace gate was an experience that could be difficult to describe to those that had never done it before. The light of the gate became all that you could see, entirely washing out whatever was around on the side you entered. Once you were across the event horizon though, all of that light seemed to almost form a tunnel of sorts with semi translucent boundaries. Ghostly images of planets, stars, nebulas and all manner of other stellar bodies whipped past so fast you couldn’t be sure if you had even seen them. Outside of the ship you were riding in, direction seemed to lose all meaning. It really was mind-bending.
But then it was over. After what felt like ages and yet no time at all, the Hrafn and its passengers exited an entirely different gateway into a very different star system. The single star of Telemachus was replaced by the binary system of Centaurus α and ß and the gate on this side looked much newer than the one we had come through before.
Most significant of all, for me at least, was the almost total lack of the debris fields I was so accustomed to. This system had never been abandoned as Telemachus was and didn’t suffer under the last war either. Centaurus was much closer in to the bubble that encompassed the core of human civilized space and was significantly more populated than my former home system was. While Telemachus had a total population of only five hundred million or so people, Centaurus was home to more than four billion, mostly on the planet of Centaurus Prime.
Another FTL jump brought us into the vicinity of C. Prime. It was Earth-like in composition and habitability factors and of slightly smaller size than the cradle of humanity, but with a higher percentage of water coverage. Overall, it made for a very blue planet with large masses of clouds throughout the atmosphere. It was a beautiful sight. It wasn’t our destination though.
“Welcome to Illume Station, Adresta.” Echo’s voice was gentle, with a hint of pride.
I couldn’t argue with that pride, either. The station coming into view was a huge marvel of engineering in orbit of the planet below (relatively). While it was designed on a similar wheel and spindle concept as D’Reth, it was vastly different in execution.
For one, Illume possessed not one, but three separate rings, two of which were a full kilometer across and the third being a massive two kilometers. The larger ring had several large starships docked to it, including the Ratatosk, though the smaller rings looked to lack any gantries for docking. At one end of the spindle was an obvious engineering section with a reactor, but at the opposite side, a massive bulbous space dock allowed for internal docking of smaller vessels. The entire station was well maintained-looking and what must have been a hundred ships were either docked externally or floating around it.
D’Reth might have been one of the biggest ports in the outer rim, but this was a core world.
After receiving clearance (the controller notably saying ‘Welcome home, Captain Erickson’) Marcus expertly flew the Hrafn around to the space dock and brought us in. The interior was spacious as could be expected, with not only hangers lining the sides, but areas of landing pads for larger vessels as well. Containment fields maintained pressure within the gargantuan space, allowing workers to actually perform their duties without the need for EVA suits.
Back in one corner of the dock, situated around a large warehouse was a group of hangars and pads separate from the others that Rachel informed me were reserved for Erickson Enterprise ships and their visitors. One of the smaller hangars in the area opened as we approached and the captain settled his ship down easily within. Unlike my own, this hangar was quite clean. There weren’t any tools or miscellaneous clutter littered about. A second bay door led out the back of the hangar, however, and opened up into the much larger warehouse. Upon deboarding the ship though, we did not walk through said warehouse. A smaller door led to a hallway that we made our way through.
We quickly found ourselves into the office complex for Erickson Enterprises. They weren’t incredibly fancy, but they felt relaxed. The captain, arms laden with his luggage, stepped to one side and dropped it all onto the floor.
“I’ll be right back,” he said. The man disappeared back to the hanger but came back less than a minute later. “Just asking some of the boys to unload the ship. They’ll take good care of your stuff Miss Matson, we have a container set aside for you and I gave specific instructions to run a power line for the computer core.”
“Thanks, Captain.”
He then looked back at Echo. “Starlight, why don’t you take Adresta and track down Casey. Your mother and I can head to our quarters to unpack. If they say yes, you can leave in the morning.”
She nodded. “Alright Dad.” A hand patted my shoulder. “Come on, Addy. Let’s head to the lounge. I’ll give Casey a call from there.”
I responded affirmatively and we all said some quick goodbyes. Then we split up, with Echo and I going one way and the elder Ericksons going another.
Apparently the lounge that Echo had mentioned was one that was especially for the office and was therefore pretty close by. It was a nice room with a few media screens and a number of comfortable looking chairs and couches. Having brought my own, I decided not to sit down in one of them.
Echo meanwhile flopped down in one of the chairs and began making gestures at an interface I couldn’t see. “Okay, Casey should be here soon. Feel free to relax until then, this lounge is private for our employees.
“Are you sure I can be here then? I’m not really an employee at this point.” I shifted in my chair and winced as a bit of pain lanced through my hip.
Her hand waved at me dismissively. “You will be soon enough, you’ve already signed the contract. Besides, you are with me and no one is going to tell me that I can’t have a guest here except for Daddy, and he likes you too much to kick you out.”
Her familial bond with her father warmed my heart but also brought forth memories of my lonely childhood. I would have given anything to have parents that loved me like that.
We spent the next few minutes in companionable relative silence. It was nice to simply relax for those blissful minutes. Suffice to say, my last few weeks had been exciting in some of the best ways but also the absolutely worst.
The enby I met before back on the Ratatosk walked into the lounge. It was slightly different to see them in casual clothes rather than the business-like crew uniform of Erickson Enterprises.
“Hey Echo, got the message, what’s-” Casey stopped short upon seeing me. A phrase I recognized as a rather obscene curse in Russian. “Adresta, stars, is that you? I heard the news but… wow. Don’t take this badly, but you’ve looked better.”
I chuckled dryly. “I’m not real pretty right now, am I? That’s kinda why we called you though.”
Their eyebrow rose and Echo picked up the conversation. “Yeah, we need a pilot and I was hoping you could take the job. Dad can’t pay you for it, but I can.” I blinked at her. I hadn’t known that little tidbit. It just made me feel all the better about Echo and her kindness.
The other eyebrow joined the first. “Where ya goin’? And what about the boss? I doubt we are going to be in port for long.”
“I already talked to Dad about it. Yasmin needs some more hours at the helm to keep her certification up. It’s a pretty simple run to the Celeste Institute for Adresta here. I already have permission to take the family shuttle. Once the taxi ride is over, you can return here and help around the yard, if that’s okay. Otherwise, you are free to take some time off until we are ready to come back. Please note, Casey, that this is only a request. You can refuse if you want.”
Casey sat down and took a few moments to think about the request. “Oh, that fancy place you went to to get the change up?" They shrugged. "Yeah, I guess I can do that. Adresta seems like a good sort and you got done dirty. I can handle doing dockside work if it means doing a good deed. Besides, you know I can’t resist the chance to fly the Hrafn. That’s a hot little ship.”
We all chuckled at that. I gave them a soft smile. “Thanks, Casey. I appreciate it.”
“Alright then, when do we leave?”
“In the morning, if you don’t mind,” said the captain’s daughter. “The sooner we get Addy there the faster we can get her back.”
Casey nodded. “Don’t worry about it, Miss Matson. We’ll get you there in one er… Sorry, bad phrasing. We’ll get you there safely, how about that?”
Through half lidded eyes, I accepted. The constant reminders of my condition were uncomfortable, but I bore it with as much grace as I could muster.
Our now confirmed pilot grimaced but soldiered on. “So, meet here around eight hundred station time? I’ll make sure the shuttle is prepped.”
“Thank you, Casey. It should be a pretty easy run for you. I’ll try to keep out of the way.” A deep sigh escaped my throat.
The enby left after that. With gentle hands, Echo guided me to her personal suite and set me up in a spare bedroom. Unfortunately, my condition made it difficult to be on my own so I was appreciative. I tried to hide my blush at sleeping in her quarters, but she teased me with it anyway much to my embarrassment. Thankfully, it turned into a peaceful night with the girl I was crushing hard on joining me in a marathon of the last season of the Estoylan Chronicles on the massive viewer she had.
I was still in pain throughout it all, despite the medications I was taking to help with it. Every movement was another reminder of what had happened. But there was something that kept me going.
As I lay in bed that night, the embers of anger kept my heart warm. Once again, the forces of the universe and the pettiness of another person had brought pain and ruin in my life. When I was young and beginning to understand that my parents had abandoned me, I swore that I would survive despite them. When I realized that I was trans and began seeing the bigotry and hatred around me, I swore I would live in spite of them. When all of my hopes and dreams were opposed by the monster of capitalism, I swore that I would thrive in spite of it. And now that Harvey Kruger had tried to kill me? I was going to rise above the fates again.
It was my mantra in life, after all. Taken from an old Earth document written in Latin of all things.
ego volo volare- I will fly.
Ego adsurgere- I will soar.
Ego liber erit- I will be free.
And not even near death would stop me.