It didn’t take long for everyone to notice that the space thrusters were not running smoothly, but instead surging and sputtering almost constantly.
“Manessa,” Ilika asked, still standing beside Boro, “how old is this fuel?”
“Two hundred and seventy-four years.”
“Wow. And how did it come to be on supply line fifteen?”
“My engineer at the time, a very capable insectoid named Trrist’ku, put it there not long before she died. She said I might need it someday. I have not needed it . . . until today.”
“Do you have any other secrets?” the captain prodded.
“By definition, if I told you, they wouldn’t be secrets, so of course not.”
The entire crew burst into laughter.
Kibi wagged a finger at her lover. “Us girls have to keep a few things to ourselves!”
After more laughter rolled around the bridge and finally died down, Manessa spoke again. “But Kibi, I’m not a girl.”
Kibi grinned. “I know, Manessa, but you’re one of us anyway.”
“Thank you, Kibi.”
“If anyone cares,” a voice came from the pilot’s station, “we are free of Sonmatia Seven’s gravity, but I have no idea where we’re going next.”
Ilika didn’t request a flight plan. He just made sure they were pointed into deep space, and asked Kibi to take first watch.
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She arranged the necessary visuals and graphs on her display and lowered the table while everyone else came up from the bridge. Boro and Sata stepped into the galley.
Mati lowered herself into a seat with a deep sigh. “It looks like . . . we’re gonna live . . . .right?”
“We’ll die someday, somewhere, Mati,” Ilika replied with a grin, “but not on Sonmatia Seven today.”
Boro laughed deeply from the galley. “The last time we had a meal together, we thought we were done! ”
Rini laughed nervously and looked at Mati beside him. She couldn’t help but grin. When all the laughter faded, they continued to look into each other’s eyes.
“Now . . .” she began, “I can get my knee fixed . . . and ask you again from my knees.”
Everyone else remained silent.
“You don’t have to ask again,” Rini said softly with smiling eyes. “But you can if you want, just for fun.”
Mati smiled, and continued looking into Rini’s eyes. “Ilika, is a star station a good place for a wedding?”
“It’s a great place. Satamia is small, with only a few thousand people, and most of them will come to your wedding if you want.”
Mati’s eyes grew large. “Even though they don’t know us?”
“If you’re in the Nebador Services, they know you’ve been through . . .
experiences like we just went through. That’s all they need to know.”
Sata and Boro quickly made sweet tea to warm nervous stomachs, then Boro got flour for biscuits while Sata started a pot of soup.
The three at the table, and Kibi at her station, chatted about everything that had happened in the last few hours. Boro and Sata jumped in whenever they remembered an important moment. With warm tea in hand and friendly eyes all around, they soon began to feel alive and safe again.
“Are we heading for Satamia Star Station now?” Kibi asked after looking over her console display.
Her question was answered by a long moment of silence.
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“Um . . . we don’t have to rush . . .” Mati began, peeking over her cup with courage in her eyes, “. . . if there are other things we should do first.”
Ilika looked at her with surprise.
“I’ve made my peace with . . . the universe,” she explained. “I’m ready to die whenever my time comes. I found the courage to ask Rini, and I have his answer. I can’t think of any reason to rush. I want to savor every moment of my life, however long or short it is.”
Ilika nodded. “There are two more gas giants . . .”
“Ilika!” Boro cut in after sliding biscuits into the oven. “We don’t dare go anywhere near a gas giant with only a couple of liters of old space thruster fuel . . . unless we’re gonna use anti-mass . . .”
“True,” the captain said. “And they aren’t much different from the ones we’ve seen up close — different colors because of different trace elements, but the same basic structure.”
“And Manessa has oodles of pictures of them,” Rini added from where he sat holding hands with Mati.
“There’s also a small, rocky world far out in the solar system,” Ilika went on. “The twelfth planet has no air, no sentient life, just crystals that grow slowly over millions of years.”
Mati smiled with curiosity. “Much gravity?”
Ilika pulled a knowledge pad from the middle of the table and tapped at the keys. “More than fragment five-three-three, but I think you could walk there, maybe with a friend at your side.”
The pilot grinned as the aroma of biscuits in the oven started to make their mouths water.
After eating, the captain worked with Sata and Boro to see if they could get onto and off of Sonmatia Twelve without using the anti-mass drive.
Kibi listened from her station as she kept an eye on the ship, currently streaking farther and farther away from the Sonmatia sun. She noticed some surprised looks from both Boro and Sata as they huddled with Ilika to discuss the landing and take-off.
Eventually Sata turned around and announced that it could be done.
Kibi smiled, remembered the glow of happiness and wisdom on
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Melorania’s face, and realized how much she wanted to be like that . . . maybe
. . . a little bit . . . someday.
Many hours later, Sata was alone on the bridge, sitting in the command chair with her knees up. Views of the stars, several graphs, and all the important status displays were arranged on the large screen in front of her.
“Manessa, please put my butterfly pictures around the edge of the main bridge display.”
A dozen different creatures with delicate wings appeared.
Sata smiled. “Thanks. Now put out all the other lights.”
The bridge and passenger area lights faded.
Sata’s eyes became large as she gazed at the shimmering colors of the little creatures’ wings. After a minute, her eyes were drawn to the visual displays of the stars. The forward view contained only stars, but the sun, much smaller than before, still glowed in the aft view.
For just a second, she thought she saw something in the stars she’d never noticed. She squinted and blinked, but all the bright graphs and butterflies made it hard to find whatever had caught her attention.
“Manessa, remove the butterflies, please.”
They disappeared, but too many other distractions remained.
“Manessa, remove the radiation graphs and status displays, but tell me if anything happens that I should know about.”
The other bright displays vanished.
Sata’s mouth opened as she began to see colors and textures.
“Manessa, remove the aft view.”
Suddenly the one remaining display, the forward visual of the stars, seemed to come alive and jump out at her. Reds, blues, and every color in between looked back at her from countless far-away stars, nebulas, and galaxies. The space in between was no longer empty, but revealed many different textures. In places it seemed thick with glowing mists. Elsewhere, it rippled and folded like a mysterious fabric. Sometimes it became thin, hinting at openings and passageways to . . . whatever might lie beyond.
“I never thought I’d see you sitting in the dark,” Kibi’s voice came from behind.
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“Come see, Kibi! It’s so . . . I don’t know what to call it! I’ve missed so much by . . . always having lights on.”
“Wow,” Kibi breathed as she came down the steps and stood beside the command chair. “I never imagined . . .”
“Me
neither!”
“Too bad Boro’s not here to see this.”
“He tried to stay up, but was yawning so much, I poked him until he went to bed.”
Kibi chuckled. “And the darkness isn’t bothering you?”
“I’m almost afraid to say it, but . . . not yet! I mean, I still like butterflies
. . .”
Kibi smiled as she continued gazing at the textures and colors in the star field before her.
“What about you?” Sata asked. “Are the walls and ceilings closing in again?”
Kibi nodded. “Yeah, but it’s okay now. They no longer have any power over me. After spending two weeks in the core of Sonmatia Seven . . .”
Sata began snickering, Kibi joined her, and they both turned to gaze once more at the mysterious universe into which they were flying as fast as their little ship could go.
Deep Learning Notes
When Manessa said she had no more secrets, was her logic correct?
Living through difficult experiences together is one way that people form bonds. Knowing that someone lived through difficult experiences, even though you were not together, is another, although the bonds may not be as strong. What other ways of forming bonds can you think of?
What change do we see in Mati after getting away from Sonmatia Seven?
Why would Kibi have mixed feeling about her desire to be like Melorania?
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Most of us have never seen the night sky without the “light pollution” of a nearby town or city. A clear sky, thick with stars, is a glorious sight when seen from deep in the wilderness. The view Sata and Kibi had was probably far better.
Why was it necessary for Sata to turn off other lights in order to see the stars well? Hint: what happens when you are in a dark room, or outside at night, and someone shines a flashlight in your eyes?
Talking about the walls and ceiling, Kibi says, “They no longer have any power over me.” How is this like Sata’s journey to “stand on her own two feet”?
How is it different?