Bringing Stella Home

Bringing Stella
Home

by Joe Vasicek

Copyright
© 2011
Joseph
Vasicek

All rights reserved

Editing by Josh Leavitt.

Cover art by Lorenz Hideyoshi
Ruwwe.

This is a work of fiction. Names,
characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s
imagination or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to actual
persons, organizations, or events is purely
coincidental.

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Table of Contents

Copyright Page

Table of Contents

Part I: James

1
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2
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3
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4
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5
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6
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7

Part II: Ben

8
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9
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10
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11
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12
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13
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14
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15
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16
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17
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18

Part III: Stella

19
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20
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21
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22
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23
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24
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25
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26
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27

Author’s Note
|
Acknowledgments

WAR TAKES ALL FROM SOME PEOPLE. OTHERS
GIVE ALL TO SAVE THE ONES THEY LOVE.

The war has arrived at home. James
McCoy, the youngest son of a starfaring merchanter family, never
thought he would face an invasion. But when an undefeated enemy
slags his homeworld and carries off his brother and sister, nothing
in the universe will stop him from getting them back.

Not all wars are fought on the
battlefield. Hard times show the greatness in men, and those who
give all are changed forever.

Part I: James

Chapter 1

James switched off the
screen on the holovid table and nervously paced the small lounge of
the
Llewellyn.
As
interesting as the newscast was, he didn’t have time to catch up on
the latest war developments in the New Pleiades. Someone had to
stay behind to help Father unload the ship, and he didn’t want it
to be him—again.

The door hissed open, and his sister
Stella entered the room, wearing a light-blue skirt and a
short-sleeved blouse in anticipation of her planetside leave. A
blue headband kept her short brown hair out of her eyes. She gave
him a warm smile as she came in, but James only frowned at her—he
knew what she was after.

“
Hi, James,” said Stella,
sitting down on the couch that ran along the wall of the circular
room. “You excited to go planetside?”

“
Yeah,” he said, sitting
down across from her. “You?” With Stella in the room and the
holovid table still up, it felt a little too cramped. James flipped
a switch on the side of the table, and it retracted into the
floor.

“
Of course!” said Stella,
crossing her legs. “I’ve been gone for over a year—what do you
think?”

I’ll bet you’ve seen a lot
more exciting planets than Kardunash IV,
James thought to himself a little gloomily.
What is this place to you? Just another port of
call?
Ever since she’d left home for her
astrogation apprenticeship, nothing had been the same.

The door hissed open again, and Ben
strode into the room. James tensed and sat up a little straighter;
even though his older brother had returned from a six-month voyage
with Challis & Sons nearly three weeks ago, James still felt
intimidated around him. He wore an authentic black leather jacket
and a tight gray muscle shirt. His dark red hair was cut short,
making him look like a soldier in the Kardunasian Defense
Force.

“
Hello, Ben,” said Stella,
sliding over to make room for him. He nodded at them both before
taking a seat next to her.

“
I think we all know why
we’re here,” said James, cutting to the chase. “We—”

“
Because you don’t think
it’s fair that you have to stay behind and help out with the
unloading,” said Ben, “even though it’s only a four-hour job.” He
leaned forward and narrowed his eyes, readying himself for
battle.

“
But the next ferry doesn’t
come for another six hours,” said James, blood rising to his cheeks
as he remembered their last argument. “Besides, when was the last
time either of you helped out around home? Since you both left,
I’ve flown almost a dozen freight runs with Dad—and I unloaded
every time.”

Ben shook his head in disgust.
“Yeah—and I’ve been working twice as hard for the last six months.”
He turned and glanced at Stella.

“
What?” she said, acting
shocked. “I haven’t been home for over a year. Besides, how many
times did I get stuck with dock duty when we were growing up?” She
turned to James with large, innocent eyes. “James?” she pleaded in
a sweet, musical voice.

James folded his arms and
rolled his eyes.
And they call
me
the baby of the
family,
he thought angrily to
himself.
Just because I’m not sixteen yet
doesn’t mean they can boss me around.

“
Why are you looking at
me?” he shouted. “I always get stuck with dock duty. Have you
forgotten that I’m still living at home? While you guys are gone,
I’m stuck here, making all the local runs with Dad. I bet I’ve
unloaded this ship more times than both of you put
together.”

“
Oh, for all the stars,”
said Ben, shooting him a venomous look. “Don’t start this
again.”

“
Please, James?” Stella
begged. “I’ll love you forever.”

James groaned and folded his arms. He
glanced out the narrow window just below the ceiling, into the
blackness of the sky above their current orbit. He wished that he
were anywhere but here, stuck in this little room.

“
Come on,” said Stella, the
pleading expression on her face quickly turning into melodramatic
desperation. “The ferry leaves in less than half an hour, and like
you said, the next shuttle after that doesn’t leave for another
six. Lars is down there, and I haven’t seen him in
for
ever
.
Please, James—
ple-e-ase?
”

“
Why are you being so
selfish?” said Ben, scowling at him. “How many times do you get to
see
Kardunash IV
?
Can’t you cut her a little slack just this once?”

James folded his arms and
glared at them both, suppressing the urge to scream. “How am
I
the selfish one?” he
cried. “How is all of this
my
fault? It’s not just me. You’re being selfish,
too!”

“
Shut up and stop
whining.”

“
You shut up!”

“
Maybe we could draw
straws?” said Stella, trying to make peace.

“
Fine by me,” said Ben,
“but James has to agree to it—even if he loses.”

“
Of course,” James said
petulantly. “I’m not a cheater.”

“
Only when you
lose.”

“
Ben!” shouted Stella,
cutting their fight short. James almost snapped back with a snide
remark, but thought better of it. As infuriating as his older
brother could be, he didn’t want to upset Stella.

Ben got down on his knees and rummaged
through one of the storage lockers below the couch. A few moments
later, he rose to his feet and held out his fist. Three cut wires
jutted out from his grip.

“
Pick one,” he said,
walking over to James. “Shortest one gets dock duty.”

James carefully picked the one
dangling furthest from him. He hesitated for a moment before
pulling it out, as if afraid of ruining his luck. Ben opened his
mouth to protest, but James pulled it out before he could say
anything. He no sooner saw it than a sigh of relief escaped his
lips—it was long.

“
All right,” said Ben.
“Stella, you’re next.”

“
Please, James?” said
Stella, turning pathetically to him. “Can you please let me go
down? Please?”

James groaned. “You’re
hopeless.”

“
Please?
Just this once?”

“
Go on,” said Ben, pushing
the last two wires at her. “Fair is fair. Take one.”

James rolled his eyes and scowled,
trying not to let on that her pleas were working. Unlike Ben, she’d
always been good to him growing up, helping him out with chores
around the house and listening to him when he needed someone to
talk to. She’d been crushing on Lars since before her
apprenticeship, and she deserved to meet up with him while he was
still in port. If she missed her chance to see him because she was
stuck with unloading duty, James would feel horrible.

If only there was some way
to make sure Ben stayed behind, that would be sweet.
He
certainly deserved
it.

James drew in a deep breath. “Oh, all
right,” he said. “You can go.”

Stella’s face immediately lit up with
glee. “Thank you thank you thank you thank you!” she shouted,
running up and giving him a big hug.

“
You owe me. Remember
that.”

She smiled and nodded, barely able to
contain her excitement as she left the room to gather her
things.

“
Your turn again,” said Ben
as the door hissed shut. “Pick one.”

James eyed the two
remaining wires very carefully. He had only a fifty-fifty chance
now. The wrong one would mean four hours of the most mind-numbingly
tedious work and then two more hours doing whatever odd jobs his
father could find.
Six
hours wasted in orbit when
I
could be having fun on the surface.

“
Come on, choose
already.”

James put his thumb and forefinger on
the wire closest to him and carefully pulled it out. It was
short.

“
No!” he cried.

“
You drew it, fair and
square,” said Ben, a grin widening across his face.

“
Come on!”

“
Don’t be a
crybaby.”

James’s cheeks flushed red
with anger. “I am
not
a crybaby!”

“
Yes you are.”

“
No I’m not!”

“
Yes you are. Listen to
yourself.”

“
I am not. Shut
up!”

Ben keyed the access panel on the
wall; the door hissed open, revealing the corridor beyond. He
turned back to James.

“
Honestly, when are you
going to grow up? It’s been three years since I left home, and
you’re still the same pathetic, whiny little kid you’ve always
been.”

“
Shut up,” James screamed.
“I hate you!” He stormed out of the room, running past Ben before
he could say anything else.