Section Twenty-two: Gyllian Thinks About the Mission
I’ve always found it easier to write in the first person. That has worked well for Captain Star Runner’s adventures though I did try another point of view in Library of the Mind early on. I abandoned it quickly. However, in this novel, something will be lost if the reader does not know what is happening elsewhere. Everything needs to come together at or near the end.
Gyllian put down her coffee mug on the table in the Lounge. How many cups did this make today? If she really wanted to know the answer to her question, she could ask Christabel, Captain Star Runner’s AI. Christabel would be able to provide this information. Gyllian did not want to know the numbers of cups of coffee she had drunk. Her question reflected her anxiety over her mission.
Captain Star Runner was also concerned. Gyllian might have said he was nervous as a cat, but Captain Star Runner would not have appreciated a reference to him as a cat nor would he be particularly pleased with her thinking of him as a he. Star maintained his identification with it as he was an ungendered Pantheran. Because Ronnie Camberwell was a lesbian, she insisted on calling him she.
Thinking about Star was also a distraction from thinking about the mission. Gyllian knew Star continually paced the length of the spaceship. Christabel kept trying to balance his metabolism. Gyllian knew the outward signs of that. Christabel was no doubt trying to balance Star’s need to calm down with the need to have Star alert and able to run the ship. Star could not do that if he was drugged into a stupor. Nor could Star search for and identify insert ion and extraction points. That took a clear mind and a quiet one. Star had once described the process as opening his mind and sensing. He did not so much look as get a feeling. Gyllian did not think even the Pantherans really understood the process. Star claimed to be the best at it. Gyllian had no reason to question this assertion, but then on the other hand, Star, like any other Pantheran Gyllian had ever met, was arrogant and how could she know if the Pantheran military had created star runners with as good or better sensing capabilities as Star.
She had not heard any more from Emily Dickinson and that worried her, too. Eberhard was erratic. He had been a rising star in the Solar League’s military intelligence when she, too, worked there. His drinking and tendency to shoot off his mouth proved to be his undoing. Eberhard had bounced around for a while and then moved to Hypatia,, outside the Coalition borders, where he had first become a hired assassin and then later became the comic Emily Dickinson. Star had met Eberhard there and they had had a brief affair. His exploits before coming to Hypatia were murky but did involve being a hired gun and trouble, lots of trouble. Trouble seemed to always follow Eberhard wherever he went. Gyllian would not have involved him in this mission except that he and Josh Levins were the only two people she knew who could do the things she needed done to complete her own work. Josh had a good working relationship with the Fungusian Network and Gyllian had never mastered that. Josh was linked to Ronnie and Ronnie was linked to Star and that formed Josh’s connection. Gyllian was not sure why her connection to Star had not created the same access for her. Perhaps it was her position in the Ministry of Defense for the Alliance of Planets. Perhaps it was her lack of real understanding of networks. In either case, Gyllian needed Josh to make those connections. Eberhard could do things that were illegal. He could disappear for a while, go beyond the Alliance’s jurisdiction. Gyllian could not. She needed to keep her hands as clean as possible.
Lots here to clarify: Emily Dickinson’s background, scattered through many of Star’s adventures. More info about Star’s relationship to Emily Dickinson and the back story between Eberhard and Gyllian. They were, too, lovers at one point and Emily Dickinson’s whereabouts at any given time in the story arc is confused. A good project for after Nanowrimo will be doing a profile of all the characters, especially the subordinant ones, to get their stories straight. I wonder how I will make a time line.
Section Twenty-Five: Star’s Revelation
Star padded into the lounge.
“Anything?” Gyllian asked.
“Something quite unusual,” Star said. His voice
always sounded like he was about to meow. For such a large animal, his voice sounded high.
“What is quite unusual,” Gyllian prompted. She wanted to snap at him but Star would tell her in his own time. He wanted to impress her with what he had discovered.
“There’s an insertion point quite near to Marathon,” Star announced. “I have never encountered one so close to a planet before.”
So this circumstance was unusual.
“Why is that?” Gyllian asked.
Star gave one of his elaborate shrugs which involved both his shoulders and his hindquarters.
“I am not engineered for the scientific explanations of things,” he said. His tone was dismissive. “You asked me to locate insertion and extraction points. I am doing that.”
“And is an extraction point so close to a planet usable?” Gyllian asked. “Can you use it? Can the Pantheran military use it?”
Star paced around the table, clearing thinking. When Star thought, it was a dialog between himself and the AI Christabel.
Star said, “I could probably use it as an insertion point. Knowing that the planet is quite nearby, I could probably use it as an extraction point. This is a fairly small ride with a much smaller mass than a military vehicle. If military vehicles used this as an extraction point, two things are likely to be true. 1. They will not know how close to the planet they are. 2. They will be traveling very fast in Mother Space. This could result in having an affect on their trajectories and thus affecting their performance.”
“In what way?”
Star said, “If they came through the extraction point prepared to shoot, guns ablazing I think you would say, they might end up shooting each other or being pushed around by the planet’s gravity. Christabel does not have any data of this and I have no experience of this.”"""
And you don’t know the capabilities of Pantheran military vehicles built since your time as a star runner, Gyllian thought. She made a note to have Star updated with any military intelligence the Alliance had on that matter. Perhaps she should also ask Star to have the Fungusians update his database as well.
Disarray sounded like a good idea, but having Pantheran military vessels bursting out of hyperspace so near Marathon frightened her.
“Is this extraction point hard to find?” she asked.
“Very,” Star said, pride evident in his manner. “How can I explain it to you?” he asked aloud, beginning to pace again. “It is as if the point comes and goes, as if it is visible and then it disappears. It took me some time to focus on it as if its signal is very weak. I do not want to explore this point, Captain Gyllian Romeres Lujo. Opening it and going into hyperspace could make it more visible to others.”
Gyllian wondered what Star meant so she asked him to explain.
“My teacher at the Institute of Genetic Design described insert and extraction points as weaknesses in the fabric of Mother Space. Some of these weaknesses are true holes. You just go through them. Any star runner can find these holes and they can be mapped. Most of your Terry jump gates use these holes. The gate does not open and close them exactly. It more or less shapes them for you and holds them wide open so your vehicles can go through. The holes do not totally close when you are through. This point is a small weakness rather than a hole. If I go through it, it may become a hole or the fabric of Mother Space will become weaker. That means another star runner, who does not have my abilities, would be more likely to find it.”
Gyllian said, “So we could use it as an escape route, right?”
Star continued his pacing. His tail began to twitch. This was not a good sign. He was agitated. Gyllian could not see why. A hidden insertion point sounded like an ace in the hole should the Pantheran military burst out of hyperspace.
Star said, “If we inserted ourselves into Mother Space using that insertion point, it would open it up. The military could pursue us. They are faster than this ride and could either destroy us or capture us. If anyone goes through this point, it will affect the revolution of Marathon around its sun. If we go through, the affect will be very small. It could leash tsunamis, cause earthquakes or volcanic eruptions. If a squadron of military vehicles goes through the point, it will intensify this reaction and either destroy the planet or cause its revolution around its sun to change. This revolution could be closer to the sun than it is currently at some points and farther away at other points or the revolution could be closer to its sun or farther away from its sun. In any of these scenarios, it will cause catastrophic loss of life.
Gyllian felt ill. What Captain Star Runner described was a cataclysm beyond her experience. She said, So to preserve Marathon,no one should ever use that point either into or out of hyperspace.”
“That is correct,” Star Runner said. “The proper thing to do is to mark that area of Mother Space so anyone finding that point will know not to use it.”
“And will the Pantheran military respect such a sign?”
Gyllian could not imagine how a hyperspace sign worked, but Star seemed to accept such a phenominon as normal.
“This is not a Coalition star system,” Star said. “It is populated by Terries who resisted The Race and ran away and hid during that war long ago. In our history, your Second Expansion War is labeled as a rebellion. These Terries are the descendants of rebels and not just rebels, but deserters. As deserters, they can be destroyed without penalty.”
Gyllian was horrified.
“So the Pantherans are trying to find these people to destroy them?”
Captain Star Runner had not mentioned this before. All her intelligence had not mentioned this before.
“I do not know what their intentions are. However, it would be legal to do so,” Star said. “As Private Investigator Ronnie Camberwell is on Marathon, I will do anything I can to preserve her life.”
And that was Star’s bottom line, Gyllian thought. Star did not much care what happen to the people who lived here. Star might or might not care what happened to The Czarina and Captain Kidd. For that matter, Star might not even care what happened to her, but Ronnie was a different matter altogether.
Gyllian did not hope to understand their relationship. She knew perfectly well someone’s desire for Captain Star Runner as a lover. Although she herself was now in a long-term relationship with a man, her love making with Star was still the most amazing experience she had ever had. Being in this ride with him week after week made her reconsider her promise to be monogamous on a regular basis. Star would move heaven and earth for Ronnie Camberwell. She rather suspected Ronnie would do the same for Star yet they were a very unlikely couple. They always seemed on the verge of getting together or breaking up. In fact, they had dissolved their union. Currently they were not in an official union. Yet here it was, Star’s insistence he save Ronnie no matter what happened.
“Is there anything we can do?” Gyllian finally asked.
“Pick up Private Investigator Ronnie Camberwell, The Czarina and Captain William Kidd and leave this area of space.” Captain Star Runner was definite. No hesitation. No wavering. Star, Gyllian realized, thought they ought to leave the this region of space.
“And what about the people living here?” Gyllian asked.
“What about them?” Star asked.
“We would have led the Pantherans to them so we would be responsible for their deaths.” Gyllian said. This situation was deteriorating rapidly. Star controlled the ship. Star would act if he felt he or Ronnie were at risk.
Again Star shrugged. Gyllian watched his muscles move under his luxuriant fuchsia-colored coat. She remembered how that coat felt against her skin and how she had buried her hands and her face into his soft and shiny fur. Watching him move almost distracted her from the gravity of the conversation.
Star said, “You wanted to solve a mystery. Coming here solved that mystery. You said it was in your government’s interest to solve the mystery. You will be able to confirm any activity in this area of space which you believe is objectionable after the destruction of these planets. You can bring your grievance to the Coalition Council through The Solar League if you wish. Otherwise, you can simply let it be known what happened.”
Gyllian met Star’s declaration with outrage.
“Don’t you care that millions of people will be killed?”
This time Star did not shrug but turned to face her across the table. He had to put his paws on a chair to do that.
“No, I do not,” Star said. “You may have forgotten, but these people you are so worried about saving,” and here Star emphasized the word, “refused to have anything to do with me because I am a member of The Race. They would have no difficulty destroying me. They have no difficulty preparing to destroy Private Investigator Ronnie Camberwell. They have no difficulty wasting my time looking for insertion and extraction points that some rumored military force may or may not use. It would be far more profitable for me to engage in trade. It would be far more enjoyable for me to spend time with Private Investigator Ronnie Camberwell. It would be far more preferable that Private Investigator Ronnie Camberwell be safe and working somewhere else.”
And there it was, Gyllian thought, Star’s concern for Ronnie and Star’s displeasure at wasting time in this region of space on this mission. The fate of humanity in the Coalition and outside of it was no real concern to him. Gyllian suspected that if Star thought Tamara was at risk, he would collect Ronnie and go immediately to rescue her. As for the rest of them, they were secondary.
To be fair to Star, if he thought any of them, Emily Dickinson, The Czarina, Captain Kidd or even Josh Levins were in trouble, he would probably do his best to rescue them. Star had proven that before. Star had a conscience of sorts. Star tried to understand human feelings. Star tried to be a friend. These bigger concepts of loyalty and right and wrong were, it seemed, beyond his ability to grasp. Gyllian knew this was his training and conditioning at the Institute of Genetic Design. Star Runner was a tool of Pantheran society. He was never intended to be a full member of that society with the ability or education to sort through all the different permutations of right and wrong imposed on a member of society. When his usefulness to that society ended, Star had been expected to voluntarily come forward for termination. Star had not done that. That Star could operate independently as he had was a testimony to his tenaciousness and his intelligence. He had exceeded his design parameters. And not, Gyllian thought, in no small measure to his contact with these same human beings.
Gyllian thought, I must remember Captain Star Runner is not human. Captain Star Runner is an alien. More to the point, Captain Star Runner is a complicated, highly sophisticated tool of the Pantheran Empire. The tool is not under the direct control of that empire. In a very real sense, this tool of theirs had malfunctioned. Star was standing here in front of her for two reasons:
- The Pantherans had an almost superstitious regard for fuchsia-colored Pantherans. They were extremely rare. The last fuchsia-colored Pantheran had started the Institution of Genetic Design. Gyllian did not know the details of why the fuchsia-colored Pantheran did this.
- Gyllian herself had been instrumental in preventing Star’s most recent avoidance of termination. The Pantherans had been willing to overlook Star’s presence during their last two incursions into the Pharaoh Star System. It was unclear if they would overlook Star’s presence here. In all honesty, Gyllian could not disagree with Star’s desire to be somewhere else.
But she had to complete this mission successfully. She had to save these people from the Pantherans should they be looking for them.
Scene Twenty-Three: A Message From Emily Dickinson Arrives
Christabel spoke through Gillian’s wet wiring. They had agreed that Gyllian would allow Christabel to do so. It relieved Star of having Christabel speak in his mind and over the ship’s intercom at the same time. It was not precisely the same time. That was he problem. The amplified synthetic speech overlapped the internal mono log. Star found it confusing and irritating.
“What is it?” Gyllian asked. She had insisted her private messages be kept private. She doubted they were. Curiosity and voyeurism were part of Star’s nature.
Eberhard said, “Sorry, Gyllie. This has taken longer than I expected. My sources were reluctant to be found much less talk. The cats are on the move. They’ve beefed up their border patrols. There have been rumors of incursions into frontier space, both southern and northern. There are several squadrons missing from their usual deployment patterns. Rumors are running rampant. I would share them with you, but they really don’t amount to much. There’s talk of opening up new worlds for colonization. Mazo Manie, the new top cat, is promoting this as positive for the Coalition. Let me know what else you want me to do. I’ll keep my ear to the ground, but I have rung my sources pretty dry and I may have burned a few bridges in the process if you know what I mean.”
Gyllian did know what he meant. All this information was extremely worrisome. She said aloud, “What do you think of Emily Dickinson’s report?”
Section Twenty-Four: Christabel’s Input
Into the mental silence which followed Eberhard’s report, Christabel said, “The Fungusian Network can confirm Emily Dickinson’s report. Two (unpronounceable Pantheran word) squadrons have been detached from their usual assignments. Their trajectories indicate they are not proceeding jointly but may be on two separate missions.”
Strange, Gyllian thought, that Christabel would use the Pantheran word for themselves but use Star’s references for the Fungusian Network and Eberhard. She could just as easily translated the Pantheran to Members of the Race. No, that was not correct. In this context it would be simply Ourselves. A squadron of the Members of the Race or an Ourselves squadron? A silly distraction. She must be quite unnerved by Eberhard’s report and the Fungusian confirmation.
When Gyllian focused on the room around her, Star was no longer in the Lounge.
“Star Runner?”
There was no immediate response but the sound of the ship had changed.
“Where are we going?” Gyllian asked.
Star’s voice came over the ship’s speakers. “It is easier to pick up The Czarina and Captain William Kidd first. Then we will find Private Investigator Ronnie Camberwell. Then we will leave this region of space. We will need to confirm the safety of Security Analyst Josh Levins as well.”
Gyllian wanted to protest, that she was in charge of this mission, that Captain Star Runner’s unilateral decision to abort the mission was premature and uncalled for. He was a contractor and therefore would void his contract if he failed to complete all mission requirements. But Gyllian knew that it would be a waste of time to discuss this with the fuchsia-colored Pantheran. Star himself wanted no part of a face-to-face encounter with part of the Pantheran Fleet nor did he want any of his friends put at risk. And for what, he had already argued, a band of renegade[D[D[D[D[C[C[C[C human beings in whom he had no interest whatsoever?
The question was, Gyllian thought, once Star had gotten everyone together, where would they go and how? What would the Pantherans do when they arrived in the star system if indeed they were coming here. Were they coming here? Would all her work to establish a toe hold with the Royal Province of Debussy on La Mer be for naught or could she continue that fragile relationship after her removal from the star system? Captain Star Runner could be so infuriating but his abilities far out ranked his behavior most of the time.
Retrieving The Czarina and Captain Kidd proved to be a straight forward exercise. They were surprised they had been pulled out so abruptly.
“I will really miss going to the masquerade ball,” The Czarina said, “but I certainly don’t want to be obliterated by the Pantherans.”
“Don’t worry, my dear,” Captain Kidd comforted her, “you will have an opportunity to wear your outfit at another time.”
“But I will not be able to write about it,” The Czarina said.
“Just make something up,” Captain Kidd said. “No one will know anyway.”
With this, The Czarina cheered up and began working on yet another blog post she would publish later. Gyllian had impressed upon her the necessity of silence until the mission was behind them and Gyllian judged it would have little consequence if The Czarina once again told her vast audience of her daring adventures in a far corner of the galaxy.