Spark: A Sky Chasers Novel (7 page)

“What are you saying, Arthur?” Kieran barked. “That I should let Seth wander around after he tried to kill me?”

“I’m saying that if you’re going to start questioning people and throwing them in jail, you can’t be seen to be making up the law as you go along.”

“Is that what you think I’m doing?”

“No,” Arthur said, but he cast a nervous glance at Sarek, who stared stubbornly at his screen.

“I seem to remember you suggesting I get rid of Seth not too long ago.”

“That wasn’t a suggestion. That was…” Arthur fingered the padded edge of his station.

“What?”

“I wanted to see what you would say.”

“And did I pass your little test?”

“You did, like I thought you would.” Arthur leaned forward, elbows on his knees, palms pressed together, all his energy focused on Kieran. “I remember you saying you thought Seth was bluffing when he threatened to throw you out an air lock.”

“He might have been, but I’m not willing to bet my life on it.”

“It’s just that right now the crew believes in you because they think you’re a good guy.”

“Okay.”

“If you start putting people in the brig, you need a solid reason for why you have the authority to do it.”

“Arthur, are you proposing we try to run an election in the midst of all this?”

“I think it would protect you.”

“I don’t. We’re in pursuit of the New Horizon, and we’ve got a dangerous person loose on the ship.”

“If you’re elected Captain, Seth’s supporters couldn’t say you have no legal right to lead.”

Kieran wanted to scoff at this. Much had always been made about how the Empyrean was a democracy built on humanist values. But the elections had always seemed more like a formality, because Captain Jones and the same people on the Central Council had always been reelected since the mission began. People talked about democracy, but what they really liked, Kieran always thought, was consistency. Maybe this crew of kids had other ideas, though. “Is that what people are saying, Arthur?”

Arthur only looked at Kieran, mouth closed.

“I can’t handle an election right now, Arthur!”

“I could take care of it for you.”

“Not now, Arthur.” Kieran leaned back in his seat, tapped at the edge of his com screen. “We can run this investigation without accusing anyone. We won’t mention Seth at all. We’ll get a picture of where people say they were, compare stories, and see if anyone’s lying.”

“Makes sense,” Arthur said. “But I still say—”

“I know what you say,” Kieran said, irritated.

His Command officers began filing in one by one and stood in a semicircle along the curved wall of windows that looked out to the constant night sky. Matt Allbright was the de facto leader, partly by virtue of his being the oldest, having just turned fourteen, but also because he wasn’t afraid to take initiative. He had a quick glance, and he seemed to think before he spoke, and when he did speak, his words were forceful and well chosen. He even looked like an officer, with his broad shoulders and straight bearing and the way he fastidiously kept his hair cropped close to his head. Still, Kieran was never sure he could absolutely trust Matt, or any of the guards for that matter. They were in a position of power, and he knew how easily power could be abused. That’s why he’d chosen boys who, even if he couldn’t be assured of their character, were at least predictable. None of them were particularly creative thinkers. Even Matt had a plodding kind of intelligence—careful, linear, and purposeful. He seemed incapable of deceit.

“What I am about to tell you does not leave this room,” Kieran said to the officers, who all stood straight like Matt, listening. “Someone tampered with the video system the night Seth escaped. I want you to try to find out who.”

“Excuse me, sir.” Hiro Mazumoto rubbed his hand over the faint shadow of whiskers that grew on his boyish chin. “Are you saying we were sabotaged by a member of our crew?”

“By Seth Ardvale, obviously.” Kieran walked along the row of officers. They stood at attention, shoulders back, hands clasped behind their backs. Kieran liked the discipline it conveyed; it made him feel authoritative. “But we know he had help.

“What I want you to do,” he continued, “is to move out among the crew, listen to conversations, keep your ears open. Matt?”

The boy’s head snapped to attention.

“I want you to organize a detail of several teams to scour the ship for signs of Seth. Where he might be camping, what he might be planning. Finding him and his accomplices is our top priority.”

Matt nodded.

When the officers had all filed out with their new orders, Kieran noticed Arthur brooding in the corner. He knew Arthur was right about the election in principle, but practically speaking it would be a huge mess, because it wouldn’t just be about holding an election. He’d have to hold trials, too, not only for the people who released Seth but for Seth himself. There would be no way to avoid giving Seth his say in front of the entire crew, and Seth could be very persuasive. The whole thing could blow up in Kieran’s face.

“Whoa,” Sarek said from his com station. He pulled his headset off and turned, his dark eyes round with surprise. “We’re being hailed by the New Horizon.”

“What?”
Arthur said.

Kieran stood up. “Who is it? Who’s calling?”

“Anne Mather,” Sarek said in awe.

All three boys froze, staring at the flashing red light on Sarek’s com station. Kieran felt weak limbed. He’d tried to contact Anne Mather almost daily to demand the release of the prisoners, and all his hails had gone ignored. Why should she contact him now?

“Send the link to my office,” Kieran said quietly, and stalked out of Central Command, down the corridor to the Captain’s suite, where he sat at the desk and put on his headset with trembling fingers. He took several deep breaths, then flicked the switch to enable the signal.

His vid screen flickered to the image of a plump, middle-aged woman with abundant white hair swept into a bun on top of her head. She wore spectacles on the tip of her nose, and she had smooth skin, though her features were careworn. “Whom am I addressing?” she asked with clipped words.

“Kieran Alden,” he said, trying to sound authoritative.

“I’m Anne Mather,” she said with a cool smile.

“What do you want?” Kieran said, his eyes on the porthole that looked out to a thick coating of stars in a black sky. He did not like looking at her. She was too poised, too confident. And her smile disgusted him.

“There are no adults I can talk to?” she asked innocently.

“No. You slaughtered our crew.”

The glib smile fell from her face, and she bowed her head. “You’ll never believe me, but I didn’t expect so many of your crew to be in the shuttle bay. I thought loss of life would be minimal.”

“It wasn’t,” he said bitterly.

She blinked as though his glare burned her eyes. “You probably want to know why I called.”

He only stared at her, waiting.

“We saw that you veered off course last night. I’m calling to see if you need assistance.”

“How kind of you,” Kieran said, his eyes snapping to hers. “But we’re doing just peachy back here. How are you?”

“Ah, I miss that. Teenage sarcasm.” The woman chuckled. Kieran wished he could shatter her teeth for her. “I see you’ve increased your rate of acceleration to catch up to us. That’s going to have physical consequences for your crew, I hope you know.”

“We’re young.” Kieran grinned. “It’ll only make us stronger.”

“It’ll cause edema, circulation problems, and it’ll wear your joints out faster than you might imagine. And those are only the symptoms we know of.”

“I’m betting that my crew can take it longer than your crew.”

“It won’t work. You know I can’t let you catch up to us only to attack us. We need some kind of understanding before I let you near us.”

“Then put our parents on a shuttle, send them back to us, and we’ll let you go.”

“I would do that if I didn’t know a thing or two about human nature.”

“What’s to know? You’ll be on your ship and we’ll be on ours, just like before.”

“And when we get to New Earth? What then?” She raised one eyebrow.

“Pick a continent.”

“I have a responsibility to the people of this vessel and our way of life.”

“You mean attacking people and kidnapping them? That way of life?”

“That’s what I’m afraid of, Mr. Alden. Your anger. I can hear it in your voice, see it on your face, that you want to kill me and my crew for what we did.” She clucked. “That kind of vitriol can last generations. It could lead to a culture of warfare on New Earth. Remember the Middle East on Old Earth? I don’t want something like that to be my legacy.”

“You should have thought of that before you attacked us.”

“I had just cause.” Her calm veneer dropped to show a core of rage underneath. “You’re Captain now; you have access to the ship’s records. Find out for yourself how we were sabotaged and provoked. I’m sure Waverly Marshall told you—”

“I’m not going to play games with you,” he said. He felt nauseous even talking to her. “Release our parents and you won’t have to deal with a violent confrontation.”

“I can’t do that until we settle our differences. We need a treaty.”

“You want to call the shots.”

“I want assurance that my crew and our descendants will be safe once we reach New Earth.”

“Fine. You have my word. We won’t attack you.”

“Not good enough. I want the truth to come out about Captain Jones and the past. Only then will you understand why we had to do what we did.” Her tone was plaintive, friendly, even, but her expression was flat. “I want you to do some research, Mr. Alden.”

“You’re giving me
homework
?”

“When you and I can have a frank, honest discussion about the past, then we can begin to discuss the transfer of hostages.”

“Or I could simply catch up to your ship, board you, and take them by force.”

The slight smile in her eyes flickered out, replaced by hardened steel. “If you think a bunch of kids can overcome a seasoned adult crew, you’re deluding yourself.”

“It’s only to my advantage if you think I’m insane,” Kieran said, and severed the com link.

But a text message came through on this computer with a video attachment:

These are records of communications between myself and Captain Jones, from the years when both ships struggled with infertility. You can verify their authenticity by comparing them to your own files and video logs. When you’ve watched them, hail my ship, and we can resume negotiations. Until then, I’ll receive no communication from you.

Kieran stared at the file name:
Sabotage.

Lies.

He stored the files on a data-dot and put it in the bottom of his desk drawer. He would not watch them. He refused to be manipulated by that woman.

He heard a beep and picked up the walkie-talkie he kept on his belt.

“Hi, Kieran!” Philip’s little boy voice called. He sounded excited and happy. Kieran knew that this assignment had done wonders for the boy’s outlook. There was no better therapy than being useful.

“Hi, Philip, buddy. What have you turned up?”

“Waverly spent all night alone in her quarters. She didn’t even go visit Sarah this time. She looks really tired. Today she was working on a tractor engine in the cornfield. She changed a tire with some help from a couple guys. She hurt her hand with the wrench.…”

“Less detail is okay, Philip. Did she go anywhere unusual? Talk to anyone? Mention anything about Seth Ardvale maybe?”

“I can’t always hear her. Mostly she talks to other mechanics about work. The rest of the time she’s quiet and alone. She seems sad.”

Kieran’s heart hurt, and for a moment he thought of her as the old Waverly, the girl he loved.

“Okay, Philip. Keep on her. You holding up okay?”

“It’s easy.”

“And you’re sure she hasn’t seen you?”

“She doesn’t notice hardly anything. Like she’s always thinking hard about something and not looking around.”

“Okay, that’s good. You’re doing a great job. I think I’m going to promote you to deck officer when this assignment is through.”

“That would be great!” Philip squealed.

Kieran severed the link and looked at the drawer that held Mather’s data-dot. She wanted a treaty, she said. But she was holding all the cards. He might have little choice other than to play her game. But for now, he’d let her wait. He tapped his intercom link to Central Command, and Sarek answered.

“Sarek, increase our acceleration by another two percent.”

“The crew is already complaining,” Sarek said. “People are getting backaches.”

“We’ve got to catch up to that damn woman.”

“Okay,” Sarek said, tired.

Soon Kieran felt the extra pull on his body. When he stood, he had to lean against the desk, panting. The extra gravity was exhausting, but it had to be even harder on the older New Horizon crew. Maybe he could wear them down this way, make Mather see reason and let the parents go. If not, he didn’t know what else to do.

He was in his quarters undressing for bed when the intercom from Central Command buzzed. “Yes?” Kieran said, not bothering to go to his com station for the video link.

“Kieran,” Sarek said. “The New Horizon has increased their acceleration by two percent.”

Kieran leaned his forehead on the wall. “Did we gain on them?”

“No,” Sarek said. “What should I do?”

“Keep up the new speed. We’ll try to wear them down.”

“Okay,” Sarek said, and hung up.

When Kieran pressed the off button on his intercom, he noticed his hands were weirdly swollen. He squeezed the pads of his fingertips, which felt like over-full balloons. Edema, Mather had said.

Already it was happening.

He crawled between his sheets, buried his face in his pillow, and prayed. “God. Help us, please?”

But the voice in his mind—that hard-to-hear whisper in the dark that had first come to him when he was starving in the brig and had been with him ever since—only said what it always said to him:
I already am helping you.