8 Eamis 1117: Jumpspace
Nothing much happened today.
Saahna and I finally made up last night. She was willing to put aside our disagreements from the past few days, and we finally had some time together. So I was in a much better mood when I left our cabin and headed for the bridge.
I had a couple of requests. Varan had made several, but I was ignoring him for now. I also had a few from Ms. Ceana and the Lemmis. I groaned, dropped out of the seat, and went upstairs.
The Passenger Lounge was surprisingly empty. Shelly was there, hovering near the console, and Doctor Korvusar was in her usual place near the forward viewscreen. I walked over to Shelly.
“How is it going?”
She turned away. “I’m… Everyone is being taken care of.”
“Varan is leaving at Mupikaa. He isn’t welcome here anymore.”
“Sure he is.”
“I’m serious.”
“Oh, this time?” She spun to face me. “So he’s been bothering me for weeks, and I’ve been telling you for weeks, but it isn’t until he bothered you that you actually did something?”
I looked away. “Yeah, you’re right. I…”
“I am. And you are wrong.”
There was silence.
“Look,” I said, turning back to face her. “Yeah, I made some mistakes. A lot of them. But… I’ve finally learned my lesson.”
“Good for you.”
I took a deep breath. “I need you.”
She grimaced at that. “Yeah. Sure you do.”
“No. Not that way. I need your netcasts. We’re going to be trying to help as many systems as we can, and that will annoy any number of people. I need your netcasts to show what we are doing.”
She let out a strained laugh. “Seriously? You ignore my concerns until they become yours, then you suddenly need my help? You didn’t help me, so why should I help you? I mean, really?”
I closed my eyes, sighed, then turned away. “We’re having a crew meeting tomorrow around 1400. Whether or not you stay with us, you should probably show up. Mupikaa is an odd system, and you need to know what is happening.”
“Fine.”
“You sure?”
“I said fine!”
I nodded, then went to the other side of the lounge.
“I’d appreciate it if you were there too,” I said to the Doctor.
She snapped her comp shut and looked up at me. “Oh, Captain Kodai! So good to speak with you again.”
“I need you at the crew meeting tomorrow. 1400.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re officially our medic now. That’s what you originally approached me for, remember?”
“Oh? I appreciate the offer and will be happy to join what is left of your crew. Is that what has caused your sudden change in opinion? Running out of people who will support you?”
“Hey! This whole ‘Chosen One’ thing was your idea, not mine!” I paused. “And I defy anyone to tell me what I have done wrong over the past few months!”
“I didn’t say that, Captain. I was simply stating the obvious.”
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. After a few seconds, I opened them again.
“OK, fine. You’re right. I’ve messed up. I’m not the Captain that Captain Martin was. But… the Grayswandir is mine now. And… I’m going to try to use that for… something.”
She smiled, one of the few times I had seen her do that. “Then I am happy to join your crew, Captain. Or should I say, Count Kodai? I’m sure your father would approve.
I tensed for a moment. “Yeah, it took me a while to finally realize what he was trying to say.” I was suddenly back in the kitchen on that last night. I pulled myself back to the present.
“But my mother is still Countess. At least, the last time I looked. And my sister is older than me anyway, so she is next in line.”
“When was the last time you talked to either of them?”
That took me a bit aback, mainly because it brought a wave of guilt. “I sent a message to them after I joined the Alabaster. I was pretty clear that I was cutting all contact.”
“What did they say?”
I shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other as I glanced back at the iris. “I really need to get back to the bridge.”
“What did they say?” She obviously saw my discomfort and was digging in.
I wanted to just leave, but I couldn’t. “I don’t know!” I snapped more sharply than I intended. Shelly, who had been pointedly ignoring me, even looked in my direction.
“They sent me several messages. My mother, my sister, my younger brother, and any number of ‘friends’ that I had left on Keystone. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing. I had time to pack one bag, and that was it. I didn’t send the message until I was a parsec away. And… I didn’t want to hear anything that might make me doubt my decision.”
I looked down. “I never read them. Just deleted them as they came in. After a few months, they stopped trying to contact me. At least, the messages stopped coming anyway.”
“And you were fine with that?”
I shrugged. “Yeah.” The conversation was getting awkward, so I started walking toward the iris. “1400 tomorrow.”
“Contact them.”
“What?” I looked back as I reached the ladder and the iris opened.
“Just… message them. Let them know where you are and what you are doing. I’m sure they will all be glad to know that you are still alive and now the Captain of your own ship.”
“Yeah, right.” I slid down the ladder instead of climbing, landing with a thud. I waited to move until the iris closed above me.
I looked around. Saahna and Jami were in the lounge and playing whatever game they had been involved with lately. Surprisingly, Do’rex was also there, reading something on his own comp. All of them looked up as I descended.
I ignored them, went to the dispenser, and pulled a pair of beers. I saw the expression on Saahna’s face change, but she didn’t say anything. Nor did anyone else.
Beers in hand, I saw that everyone was still looking at me.
“Meeting tomorrow at 1400. Here. I’ll… go over everything then. Until then… just… relax?” I knew it wasn’t my most inspiring speech and quickly left for the bridge.
I climbed into the seat and pulled up our status. All systems were nominal, of course.
I thought someone might follow me in, but no one did.
I had finished the first beer and was starting on the second when I finally opened my out-system comms and started recording.
“Hi, Mom. Yeah, it’s been a while. More than a while. But… I just needed to let you know where I am…”