Lasting movements often start from unexpected beginnings.
- Writings of the Sol Empress, Words of Faith
[Moon]
Moon couldn't shake the vague feeling that crept down his spine, like fate was about to sneak up and bite him in the arse. Reflexively, he turned around, scanning the space behind him. Nothing. He blew out a breath as his fingers drummed against the captain's chair arm.
Two empty chairs flanked him, each positioned slightly forward, overlooking a set of translucent display panels. A holographic display on the front wall presented a starry space panorama. A mid-sized cargo ship usually carried several crew, but he preferred the solitude.
He called out, "Sai, status!"
An alto feminine voice, rich in overtones, came over the bridge intercom. Had it actually belonged to a woman, he would have thought it alluring. "All parameters are within normal operating ranges, sir."
He rubbed the stubble on his chin. "Do a full internal and external sensor sweep. Something feels off."
"Can you be more specific as to what is off, sir?"
Moon shook his head. "No. It is just a feeling I have. My instincts are fairly reliable."
"Past experience suggests otherwise, sir," the voice responded. "Your accuracy rate for such non-specific feelings is only about twenty-four percent. Hardly better than random given the nature of our business and your lack of discretion in personal relationships."
He rolled his eyes. "Just run the sweeps."
"They are under way, sir. Nothing unusual yet."
"You know for a ship AI, you can be really annoying."
"I am the product of my programming, sir. As I recall, you modified me outside of the Commonwealth Machine Learning Protocols, potentially a Class Two Felony."
He narrowed his eyes. "Keep in mind, Sai, your programming can be further altered."
The voice paused. "So noted, sir."
Moon paced across the bridge, only about eight steps in width, gazing at the colored numbers and charts displayed on the transparent control panels as he passed. "This feeling may not be so non-specific. Something was happening at the spaceport just before we left. We only just got underway just before they cancelled all departures."
"That is not exactly true, sir. We left after the port lockdown came into effect when you feigned communication difficulties, a violation of port regulations that may have resulted in substantial fines or ship seizure. Your action was understandable, though, given the contraband nature of some of our cargo."
He ran a hand through bushy sandy-brown hair. "Hmm. I wonder what caused the lockdown?"
Sai answered, "Based on the communications I monitored, it appeared to be a manhunt. The nature of the subject or offence is unknown at this time."
"Must have been something big to close the port." He shrugged. "Oh well, as long as it wasn't me."
He was almost seated when Sai came on again. "Sir, I am picking up movement in the starboard pressurized cargo hold. It appears we have a stowaway, a woman I believe."
Moon's eyes widened. He mumbled out loud. "I hope it isn't that woman I met at the tavern last night, whatever her name was."
"It was Carise, sir, and in her state of inebriation it would be unlikely she would remember your name."
He froze. "Wait. How did you know about her? Were you spying on me, Sai?"
"Given past incidents, I thought it prudent to monitor your activities, sir. I hacked into the tavern security system. Their firewall is woefully inadequate. Nonetheless, our passenger is not that woman, rather one unknown to me. I have her on a hold monitor now."
Moon turned toward the view screen before him and pondered the image. The woman stood on her toes to peer over a grey pack crate, so she was not very tall. Wearing a blue tank top with a long flowing wrap-skirt, not at all like the form fitting fashions worn by most women in the spaceport, she crept through the rows of crates. One hand pushed back strands of long dark hair that swung before her eyes while the other tightly clutched a black duffle bag.
She seems nervous. Like she knows she should not be here.
The woman disappeared from the camera view but then appeared on another, this time closer. Her gaze darted back and forth.
Perhaps not so nervous as afraid. "Wait, what is that on her neck? Sai, try to zoom in."
Moon stepped forward, closer to the monitor screen. The image panned down from her slim face and high cheekbones. The dark marking on the side of her neck stood out even on her copper-colored skin, that of a spiraling circle shape with radiating rays, a stylized image of a sun.
"Why would a Sol Priestess be hiding on my ship?" He rose and walked over to a small cabinet near the bridge hatch to extract a hand pulse gun. He set it for stun, flicking a lever until a single yellow light came on above the grip. "Sai, I think it is time I greet our guest."
She must be desperate to be here. And that makes her dangerous.
"Be careful, sir. The last time you had a woman on the ship she tried to kill you."
"Don't remind me!" He grumbled, "Why do I always get the bat-shit crazy ones?"
"If you wish, sir, I could load my psychotherapy subroutines."
Moon put a palm to his face. "Not now, Sai! Let's deal with the problem at hand. Go to intrusion protocol."
He took one more look at the woman on the monitor. She sat leaning back against a crate, her dark hair cascaded down to block the view of her downturned face. Pulling her knees up under her skirt, she wrapped a blue scarf around her shoulders and shivered. The black bag laid in her lap.
Moon placed his hand on the biometric scanner near the starboard cargo hold. The hatch unlocked with a sharp click, and the hinges squealed and screeched as it swung open.
He grimaced. Well, so much for stealth.
Moon unholstered the pulse gun, but kept it pointed down. Advancing as quietly as possible, he peered around a crate toward the woman's last position. Sighing, his breath made small swirling clouds in the cold air. She was no longer there.
Moon stood up straight and called out, "Hello, wayward traveler. You should not be here."
He spun around to scan the area, but his view was limited by the forest of shipping containers. No response. He stood for a moment in thought, then said in a low voice. "Sai, where is she?"
The reply came over his earpiece. "Sir, I suggest you turn around slowly."
He did. Oh crap, she has a gun.
Moon looked down the barrel of a handgun, an old-style projectile weapon, but one quite lethal.
He gulped. "Umm, maybe we should talk this out?"
She held the gun low in one hand with a finger outside of the trigger guard. With her arm extended so far without support, the barrel wavered. She is not familiar with this weapon.
The woman's eyes narrowed. "Just stay back."
Moon's fingers twitched on the pulse gun in his hand, but he did not lift it. He took a single step forward and spoke in a level voice. "You do understand that you are at a disadvantage here? If you shoot me, my ship AI will lock and evacuate the air from this hold and then deliver your cold lifeless body to the nearest port. I'm fairly sure that would ruin both of our days."
The woman shuddered as Moon took another step forward, now standing only about two meters from her. Raising the gun higher, she pleaded with a wavering voice, "Please... Please stop! I don't want to shoot you!"
"Good. Something we can both agree on." He pointed. "But about that, your gun safety lockout is still engaged."
Lowering her gaze to her weapon, she wrinkled her forehead while tilting it for examination. Moon took advantage of the diversion and snapped his gun up. The electrical stun pulse hit her square in the chest. She convulsed, with eyes rolling back in her head, then slumped to the floor.
*****
The woman's eyelids fluttered against the bright light and a faint moan left her lips.
Moon sat beside the narrow bed on which she laid. "First time to take a stun pulse?"
She opened her mouth, but no words came out, nodding instead.
"Yeah, well, sorry about that. I just have this thing about people pointing deadly weapons at me. Just relax. The brain fog will clear in a few moments."
The woman turned her head to scan the room. Medical monitors beeped quietly behind her head, drawing squiggly colored lines across a small transparent screen, while she laid on a thin mattress in the middle of a small white room lined with metal cabinets. Her voice came out raspy. "Where am I?"
"In my ship medical bay."
"A cargo ship has a medical bay?"
"It used to be a personnel carrier, but I converted it for fast freight hauls. Kept this room, though. Never know when it might come in handy. Like for stowaways that threaten me, for instance."
She suddenly rose up, supporting herself on elbows, with a panicked wide-eyed expression on her face. "My bag! Where is it!" A paleness washed over her face, and she collapsed back on the bed, breathing heavily.
"Easy now. I have it." He lifted the black bag from the floor at his feet. Her breath halted as he pulled open the fastener. It did not contain much — some clothes, a leather-bound book, a half-full metal water bottle, an empty meal-bar wrapper, a money purse containing a substantial sum of credit slips, and a handheld viewer. All this was consistent with a woman on the run. He wrinkled his forehead as he pulled out a forearm-sized silver metal tube lined with colored blinking monitor lights. "Amazing! I've never seen a stasis chamber this small."
"Please be careful," the woman pleaded.
"What's inside it?" Must be something biological.
She almost whimpered. "The future of humanity. Something more important than either of us. Please put it back."
Moon nodded and did so, to her apparent relief. He picked up a tablet viewer from atop nearby cabinet and showed it to her. "So, you were the reason for all the commotion at the spaceport? Celeste Ciel, the terrorist? There is a substantial reward for your capture."
Closing her eyes, she squeezed out a tear. "I... I am her, but I am no terrorist. Powerful, corrupt people want me. You have to believe me."
He frowned. "I don't know what to believe. Frankly, in my little corner of the galaxy, it's hard to even care." He tossed the tablet back on the cabinet.
He studied her for a moment. There seemed to no ill intent in the wide moist eyes that pleaded with him. And indeed, the government and large corporations did reek of corruption.
She does not seem the sort to even park illegally, much less be a terrorist. But my track record with reading women is not very good.
Celeste's voice strained, "Listen, I will pay for safe passage to the outer colonies with no questions asked. Name your price."
He lifted his eyebrows. Okay, now I care.
Moon put a hand to his chin. "Well, then. Let's say... twenty-thousand Sol credits?"
"Fine."
Damn. Should have asked for more.