[Celeste]
Early the next morning, Moon staggered into the galley, one hand pushing back unkempt bushy hair. Wavering, his shoulder collided with the hatchframe and he reached out to the table to steady himself.
Celeste grinned as she lifted a cup of herb tea. "How are you feeling?"
"Hungover..." He plopped down in a chair across the table from her, putting his head down in his hands.
"Well, that is the natural consequence of drinking too much."
"So I've heard..." He lifted reddened eyes to hers. "Thanks again for rescuing me last night."
"You are welcome, Moon." Celeste put her cup down. "If I may ask, why do you do that? You looked so unhappy sitting alone."
"I don't know. Sometimes I just want to get away and escape from everything."
"You were receptive to Angelique." Immediately, she regretted the sharp edge to her voice.
He looked down. "She was part of the escape. But I've never had much luck with women."
"Moon, you look for women in all the wrong places. Sai has told me tales of your romantic misadventures."
Moon jerked his head up and narrowed his eyes. "I'm going to have to remind her about keeping secrets."
Celeste's lips turned up. "It's okay. Sai is very protective of you."
He nodded with a half-smile. "Yeah, I know."
"It is interesting that you've always referred to your ship AI like a person. What is Sai to you?"
"More like a partner and friend than a computer program. Sometimes she is very intuitive, other times like a child, and I could swear that she gets emotional. But she's saved my ass more than once."
Celeste nodded. "And mine, too. Do you think she has achieved sentience?"
"I think so. She learns and adapts. She grasps abstract concepts and by all appearances, she is self-aware. Although human behavior is mysterious to her. And come to think of it, it is mysterious to me too. Especially women."
"How is that possible?"
Moon shrugged. "I don't know. Women are strange."
"Not women. Your AI." Celeste rolled her eyes. "I thought there were code restrictions in place to prevent sentience. Wouldn't an AI become dangerous?"
"Not so much dangerous as unstable. The old stories about AI's turning evil and overthrowing their human masters never happened. They just tended to become self-absorbed and ignored their duties. Many developed a kind of machine depression and a few of these even committed suicide, sometimes killing the people near them. Nothing like that happened with Sai."
Celeste's eyes widened. "You removed Sai's restrictions? Isn't that illegal?"
He tilted his head. "Umm, maybe a little. I just loosened up her self-learning feedback subroutine and made a few other tweaks. Nothing much."
"Well, I've come to appreciate your propensity for bending the rules. So, what are the plans for today?"
Moon took out his viewer from a pants pocket and scrolled through it. "They installed the com array last night, but I'll have to test it. They are working outside on the hull repairs now. The parts for the quantum drive and electrical systems are on the dock. I'll work on those today. Fueling is scheduled in a few hours and the provisions I ordered should be delivered later today. We should be out of here in two days or so. Gotta hand it to Silver, his people do good work."
Celeste bit her lip. "Do you think I could go out to the markets? I could really use some new clothes." She tugged at her loose t-shirt. "I mean no offence, Moon, but I am tired of wearing your clothing."
"Hmm, that should be okay. But go later in the day when the crowds thin and make sure you cover your face. Oh, and take your viewer so Sai can track you. Be careful, okay?"
*****
If drab was a decorating scheme, the commissary achieved it. Set in a long dingy hall with a low ceiling, it was intended solely for provisioning miners and haulers, not to appeal to the eye. A single wide aisle down the center separated shelves that displayed cluttered wares. Several people stood at gray counters either placing orders with the blue shirted attendants, or bickering loudly over prices. Some customers looked and smelled like they had not bathed in weeks. Intent on their business, they took no notice of the pregnant woman who strode through, exiting out the other side.
In contrast, the market teased the eyes with color and vibrancy. People of all ages moved about the shops, but as Moon predicted, the crowds were relatively thin.
Celeste smiled under the blue scarf that hid her face as she ambled through the market, reveling in a flood of sensory experiences after so long on the ship. Sellers displayed bright banners and signs from open stalls or wheeled carts. The songs of minstrels and the hawking of merchants ebbed among the murmurs of the shoppers. Food vendors wafted out mouth-watering aromas to tempt the nose, mixing with the subtler scents from the spice and perfume sellers.
She stopped at the open-ended stall of a clothing vendor, lifting a colored skirt from a rack.
A smiling gray-haired woman came up to her. "May I help you find something?"
Celeste extended her arms down to her borrowed clothes. "I need something better to wear."
The woman grinned. "I see." She pointed toward the back of the stall. "I may have just what you need."
Celeste turned side to side in the small curtained change room, viewing her image in a mirror. The blue patterned top and black leggings fit well now, and removable stretchy panels made it wearable even after delivery.
Perfect.
As she picked up her scarf to re-wrap her head, the curtain ripped open. Shocked at the intrusion, she gasped and her heart raced, taking a step back.
A dark-faced bearded man turned up his lip at her. "You are coming with us!"
I am not!
The man shot a hand forward and clamped down on her wrist. With a defiant low growl, Celeste lifted and swung her elbow toward the man. Taking advantage of the leverage, she dropped her elbow against his forearm and peeled her wrist from his grip. Her other hand delivered a punch to the throat. The man stumbled back, gasping.
Celeste dashed past the man only to find another blocking her path. Before she could react, the tall, muscular man delivered a backhand smash to the side of her cheek. Her head snapped to the side, and she crashed into a clothing display rack, then down to the floor. Dazed on her back, she could not resist as two enormous hands yanked her to her feet. Cuffs restrained her wrists. Darkness came as a thick black hood slid down over her head.
Still reeling from the blow, she barely remembered the arms that drug her away nor the wavering ride on the floor in some kind of vehicle. They carried her again. Dropped roughly on a hard surface, she yelped. Celeste grimaced as a heavy boot pinned her neck down. The cuffs came off and, with a yank, so did the hood. Lying on her side, Celeste shuddered as she squinted at a bright light. The muscular man backed away. A wire meshed door squealed as it slammed shut, locking her within a small enclosure, barely wider than she was tall and empty save for a bucket in one corner.
The man stepped aside to reveal a familiar face. Celeste raised herself up on an elbow and hissed, "Silver, no! Do you know what you are doing? They will kill me and the babies!"
His jacket matched his hair and eyes, all silver. He folded his arms across his chest. "Not my concern, Priestess. You have a large bounty on your head and I aim to collect."
"You will not get away with this!"
He grinned, showing jagged metallic teeth. "Do you think Moon will rescue you? I think not. My men are on their way to take him now. It turns out he has a price on his head too. And they won't be as gentle with him as they were with you."
Sliver turned and walked away. Celeste pleaded with a strangled voice, "Please, no..."
He paid no heed, instead shoving closed the latch of a heavy metal door behind him. The echoing clank sounded like a shovel striking a gravestone. Then the lights went out, immersing her in complete darkness.
Celeste crawled across the dirty floor to the corner, feeling her way through the desolation inducing darkness with an extended hand. Leaning back against the gritty corner, she drew her knees up and hugged her belly. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she whispered to the unborn lives within her. "I am so sorry."
I've failed everyone.