Atlas (21 page)

Just a shifting of the stars.

We had been catapulted eight lightyears to the binary star system Sirius and hadn't felt a thing.

The discovery of the Slipstreams and the invention of the Gates had kicked off the era of colonial expansion, effectively short-circuiting the distance between star systems. According to the course I had taken, Slipstreams were quantum disturbances that tunneled through the fabric of the galaxy. A given Slipstream had specific entry and exit points in spacetime, usually around fifteen to twenty lightyears apart. Exit points also served as entry points, and vice versa.

Slipstreams couldn't be entered by themselves—the gravitational forces tore a starship apart. However, since Slipstreams followed a known, calculable trajectory between entry and exit points, it was possible to build special "Jump Gates" along the path of the Slipstream to stabilize those sheer forces. A spacecraft entered the Slipstream via a Gate, and would drop out again when it reached the next Gate along the Slipstream's trajectory, or the natural exit point, whichever came first. However if you came out and no Gate was there, you were SOL until the Builder Ships decided to pop through the Slipstream and built you a return Gate.

The ability to create Gates anywhere along a Slipstream's trajectory
allowed starships to enter and exit at convenient points in spacetime, such as solar systems. Funny thing was, most Slipstreams already had natural entry and exit points inside or near solar systems, which caused some people to postulate that the Slipstreams were created by Extraterrestrial life. Others, mostly the ET detractors, believed that the Slipstreams formed as a natural byproduct of massive gravity wells, such as stars.

Whatever the case, most of the explored solar systems had at least two Slipstreams passing through them. This allowed a starship to enter a system from one Gate, travel to the second Gate, and jump to the next system. In our own solar system, Sol
Gate 1 led to Sirius and was regulated by the UC, while Sol Gate 2 on the opposite side of the system belonged to the Sino-Koreans and led to their space. The SK ships weren't allowed through our Gate and our ships weren't allowed through theirs, under threat of war.

I watched the rim of the Gate quickly recede behind our ship, and I knew the
Leaping Matilda
had increased its thrust. We'd be accelerating to standard speed as soon as the three civilian ships we escorted came through.

Alejandro shook his head. "That it?" He laughed nervously. "I've been on rollercoasters that were worse than this."

"The rollercoaster ride has only just begun, bro," I said.

Sirius A was damn bright, and caused the photochromic glass portals on the starboard side to become opaque, completely blocking all direct eye viewing of the space on that side. As for Sirius B, well, the star map said it was there, and I guess I'd just have to believe it. I'd been taught all about binary systems in the astrophysics classes I took. Perhaps the most interesting fact, and about the only thing I could remember from that course, was that as binary stars orbited one another, the habitable zone in the system fluctuated. That meant Sirius I, "Albuquerque," the only terraformed planet in the system, had its seasons run the gamut from spring, summer, fall, winter, and back again over a period of weeks.

The
Leaping Matilda
secured two of the civilian ships at the spaceport above Albuquerque, where they would queue up for the next military escort. The third civilian ship stayed with us, and we also took on another vessel, a massive colony ship filled with seventy-thousand pioneers.

Thirty-five
days later saw us reach Sirius Gate II. We queued and took the jump to Gliese 581, a neutral system controlled by the Franco-Italians.

Gliese 581 was kind of a transport crossroads, and was unique in that it had six Slipstreams passing through it. Gates had been built upon all six. It was too bad the Franco-Italians had control of the area—it was a very strategically important
system. That said, the Franco-Italians had signed treaty agreements that basically handed over two of the Gates to the UC, and two others to the SKs, keeping both sides happy. FI space was considered neutral, so merchants from all three sides could trade here without violating extra-solar sanctions.

SK Privateers weren't allowed to operate here, so we cut the two civilian ships loose.

A few weeks later our battlecruiser reached a secret base just within the Gliese 581 comet belt. Once there our team shuttled over to a massive, boxlike bulk carrier. My teammates and I gathered around the portal and watched the approach to her docking bays.

The rough-hewn shape of SK design was evident
throughout that metallic hull, and the dragon-head logo of the SK manufacturer was stamped in red on one side. I saw the ship's name, written in Sino-Korean characters:
Fàn Shāngrén
. That meant Rice Merchant, according to the translator built into my Implant.

The shuttle passed right by the docking bay.

"Hey, I think the pilot missed a turn," Manic commented.

The shuttle continued onward, heading for the cargo hatch on top of the bulk carrier instead.

"Holy
madre
—" Alejandro said.

I leaned forward, following his gaze.

An entire ship was moored inside that cargo hold. The triangular hull barely fit within the confines, and though it was about the size of a frigate, the ship didn't have the sleek design of a military vessel—its boxy aft section bore more of a resemblance to a merchant craft than anything else. SK make too, I'd venture.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Lieutenant Commander Braggs announced. "Meet the
Royal Fortune
, your home for the next few months. Also known as
Róng Fù
. It's a little SK privateer we captured a while back. Really just a merchant vessel retrofitted with turrets, but that suits our needs well enough. It's been modified with a few UC enhancements of course, but I won't get into that. Crew complement is forty, with berths for an extra thirty-five mission crew."

"Looks a little stuffy," Fret said. He, like the Lieutenant Commander, had trouble just fitting inside the confines of this shuttle, and both of them had to slouch.

"I think it looks cozy, personally," Snakeoil said. "But I like my ships small."

"You would," Fret said to the short strongman. "Myself, I'm not looking forward to ducking under every hatch and bulkhead for the next two months."

"Come on, it'll be good for you," Snakeoil said. "Extra PT."

The instant we flew within the cargo hold, the bulk carrier started sealing its outer hatch.

Ahead, the
Royal Fortune
had opened her own, smaller hangar bay, and our shuttle landed inside. A ship within a ship within a ship.

When the privateer's hangar doors closed and the bay depressurized, our team stepped out.

Most of the crew of the
Fortune
had come to welcome us aboard. They stood outside the airlock in a long file and saluted as one: Eight officers, thirty-two enlisted.

Shaw was one of the enlisted.

Of all the ships to be assigned to... the universe sure had a way of messing with me.

As the Lieutenant Commander and the Captain exchanged formalities, Shaw stared straight ahead. I knew she'd seen me. I was positive. But she refused to acknowledge me.

I sent a message to her embedded Id via my Implant.
So this is the secret ship you couldn't tell me about.

We were on the same network node, so I didn't have to worry about my message reaching her or not. I knew she got it.

But she didn't answer.

I looked right at her as I walked past, but she kept her gaze focused straight ahead.

Ridiculous.

Some ensign led us through the warren of passageways and ladders to deck four, where the mission-crew berthing compartment awaited.

"Wasn't that Shaw?" Alejandro said along the way.

"Mmm? I don't know. I didn't see her." I tried to sound nonchalant, but the crack in my voice betrayed me.

"Yeahhhh, you saw her." He grinned. "A
mamacita
like that? Pretty hard to miss. She sure got hot in the past few years."

"You talking about that showpiece who was standing three down from the Captain?" Big Dog said. "Now there's a woman. Definitely Officer Bait, that's for sure." He shot a significant glance at Facehopper, who ignored the comment.

"She's not some showpiece." I was getting riled now.

Big Dog shrugged. "Relax, Rade. What, you know this chick or something?"

"Yeah. I mean, well, I used to."

Big Dog nodded thoughtfully. "Girl like that in the Navy? The way she looks? Definitely has to be strong."

"She is," I said. More than he knew.

There were six racks in the mission berthing area, stacked three high. Since Alejandro, Tahoe and I were the newest members of the team, none of us got the prime real-estate of the lower racks. Manic took the bottom bunk on my rack, and I let Alejandro take the middle one, so that left me the top. Tahoe got the top one beside us.

Manic stuffed his gear into the vertical locker beside the rack, leaving Alejandro and I the locker beneath the bottom bunk.

When I finished unloading my gear I saw the "new message" icon appear on my HUD. It was from Shaw.

I hopped onto the topmost bunk and opened the message up.

Well look who showed up
, it read.

I smiled, and sent a message right back.
Great gig you got for yourself here. Enjoying the life of a quartermaster?

I prefer the title astrogator,
she answered.
Nice beard by the way.

You've seen it before.

Yup,
came the immediate reply
. But you've grown it out.

Let's switch to vid.

I initiated a vid call. She didn't pick up. I waited, and eventually the call canceled.

There was a long pause before her next message.
Look Rade, I'm kind of seeing someone.

Suddenly my hands were shaking. She was
seeing
someone? I tried my best to keep calm. What did I care, anyway?
That's okay. We're a zillion klicks from Earth. He'll never find out.
Can we switch to vid?

No we can't. And he's on this ship.

It was my turn to pause.
Oh. Didn't know you had your own Cruise boo.

Whatever. He's kind of the jealous type, so we can't really hang out.

My vision became slightly blurry at that comment.
What, you're not allowed to have friends now? Sounds like he's more the possessive type to me.

There was no answer.

Good luck avoiding me on a ship this size,
I sent stubbornly.
Unless you plan on eating in your berth and never going to the gym.

I waited for her to say something more, but the message box didn't update.

"Rade," Alejandro was saying. "Alejandro to Rade, do you read me, over?" He waved sarcastically.

Rade, what up bro?
he transmitted.
Get out of your Implant.

"What," I said. "I'm here."

He jerked a thumb toward Tahoe, who was waiting by the door. "We're going to get some chow. Coming?"

"In a bit. Just uh, checking my mail."

Alejandro snorted. "Yeahhhh. We don't get mail anymore, remember? But I know exactly what you're checking up on, if you know what I'm saying." He winked at me, then ducked outside. The rest of the platoon had already gone.

I lay back and closed my eyes.

I thought again on the universe's twisted sense of humor. I just had to find Shaw here, didn't I?

Shaw. The girl I had a thing for.

And she refused to hang out.

Unbelievable.

I heard the knock on the door a few seconds later.

"Come in," I said. I couldn't help a smile.

She'd come.

I put my hands behind my head and didn't look down from where I lay on the upper bunk.

"Well hello there QM Shaw Chopra," I said, using the abbreviation for her quartermaster rating. I looked at my Heads-Up-Display map, double-checking that it was indeed her.

"Don't give me that QM bullcrap, PO3 Galaal."

"Hey, we
are
in the Navy, ma'am. It's only proper to be proper."

I finally glanced down at her. She had her arms crossed under her breasts and she was wearing her
worst scowl. She certainly looked mighty fine in uniform, though.

"So you don't want to be friends anymore, huh?" I lay back again.

I heard one of the mattresses below bounce and, taking a peek, I saw she was sitting on the bottom bunk of the rack opposite mine. Facehopper's. I'd have to straighten out the leading petty officer's sheets when she got up.

"
You've changed," Shaw said.

"So have you."

"You look older, more mature," she said. "And that's good, I suppose. I never really noticed while talking over vid. But here, in person, I can definitely see it. And it's not just the beard. There's something else. The way you move. The look you have in your eye. Like you know some secret no one else knows. Like you've seen things. Bad things. I suppose... I suppose it's the look of a killer."

I shook my head. "You're priceless as usual Shaw."

"Isn't that what they train you to be in spec-ops? You're all killers, aren't you?"

I sat up, and dangled my legs over the edge of the bunk. "Look, sure, I've made a few kills in the war, but I'm not a killer. You're jumping to conclusions. I'm a warrior. And there's a difference."

"Is there?" She didn't sound convinced. Not at all.

I'd have to fix that. "A killer is someone who kills the weak and the innocent. A warrior is someone who removes those killers from society. He fights for justice, and the safety of his country. He's a protector of the innocent."

"Now you're just spouting propaganda."

"It's not propaganda. It's what I believe, Shaw."

"You know how to kill someone in a hundred different ways, and the way you move shows that you're well aware of that fact. You can't tell me you're not a killer."

"Who have you been talking to? A
hundred different ways
?" I shook my head. "Sure, maybe I'm more confident now, but listen Shaw, trust me: The Rules of Engagement won't let us target innocents. We'd all go to jail if we did that. Everything that happens on a battlefield is recorded by our weapons. We have thousands of military lawyers reviewing battle footage day in and day out from multiple angles, with the help of AIs. If I shot down someone who wasn't a baddie, I wouldn't be here with you today. I'd be in jail. All right?"

She didn't have anything to say to that.

"I take it you're not a big fan of the war in Mongolia?" I said.

"No. Not a big fan of wars in general."

I sat up on the bunk. "I was a warrior when you first met me. A Dissuader. A protector of the innocent. I just wasn't trained up. Just hadn't gone to war. I've come so far since then, but you know what? I'm the same now, even after everything. Maybe a little more confident, maybe a bit rougher around the edges, but I'm the same man inside. Shaw, look at me. Look at me." She did. "I'm the same."

She couldn't hold my gaze for long.