Waypoint Magellan Page 9

  “Wait. You knew North was going to propose something?”

  “Of course I knew,” Kora said.

  “And you didn’t tell me?”

  “I didn’t know know. North never said anything to me. But anyone with eyes knows. For someone who is supposed to be so smart, Amberly —”

  “Don’t start with me,” Amberly said as she stepped into the shower.

  “Oh. Did you guys have a lovers’ quarrel?” Kora teased.

  “We ARE NOT LOVERS. We will never be lovers. North and I are just friends. And I don’t know if I want to even be friends anymore after what he pulled today.”

  Kora dropped her teasing attitude and grew concerned for her sister. “I’m sorry Amberly. I didn’t expect — this is about Dek, isn’t it?”

  “No, Kora, it’s not like that,” Amberly called out from the shower.

  “You don’t even know that transient. And I would be careful about accepting expensive gifts from people you don’t even know.”

  Kora listened for a reply from Amberly, but all she heard was the running water.

  “Did you ever report your mysterious stalker?” Kora asked.

  “No,” Amberly said. “Not yet.”

  Amberly wasn’t finished with her shower, but she turned off the water, partially opened the door, and stuck her head out and looked at her sister.

  “What expensive gift?”

  “While you were gone, your new boyfriend brought you a present. I thought it was kind of morbid actually, but I have no idea how he got one. I left it on your bed.”

  “Ugh… he’s not my boyfriend,” Amberly said grabbed a towel and wrapped it around herself and stepped into her bedroom. There, lying on top of her neatly made bed, was a beautiful pearly-pink conch shell, exactly like the one her mother used to have.

  As Amberly examined the shell, Kora continued. “I mean, why is this guy so interested in our dead mother? What kind of freak is that? And this shell must have cost him thousands of credits. He kept asking me questions about where you were and who you were with. I didn’t trust him, so I lied to him and told him you were making out with Skip at the movies, like you did every Tuesday. I don’t think he believed me. He wanted to leave you a message. I told him to send a voicemail to Verne, but he wanted to leave a written message! On paper! I guess the guy has money to airlock. Is that why you like him more than North? No, of course not, but — are you listening to me?” Kora asked as she stepped into Amberly’s bedroom.

  Amberly was shaking. “Kora, this isn’t a conch shell just like mother’s. I think it’s the same shell. Let me see that note.”

  “Mom’s shell? How is that possible? She took it with her. You must be mistaken,” Kora said, as she handed the note over. The folded paper bore a wax seal.

  “You’re probably right.” Amberly had seen old vids where paper notes were sealed with melted wax to ensure privacy, but she had never seen a wax seal in person before. Finding wax products at a waypoint marketplace was unheard of. This far out in space, even a birthday candle was hard to come by. With a little hesitation, Amberly broke the seal and then read the note to herself:

  Dear Amberly: I am returning this shell to you because I wanted you to think about your mother. She loved you very much, and she always wanted you to be a part of Chasm. She was loyal to Chasm, and she gave her life for Chasm. More than anything, we know she would have wanted you join Chasm, and continue her important work. Join me tomorrow morning for breakfast in the Hotel Commons at 06:30, and you will learn the truth about your mother, and I believe, about your own destiny. – With respect and admiration, Dek.

  Postscript: Please don’t share this with anyone.

  “What did the note say?” Kora asked as she stepped into the living area. “Did he say where he got the shell?”

  “Just an invitation to a date, that’s all.” Amberly said, trying to quickly process how much she should keep from her sister. She didn’t trust Dek, but she thought she should honor Dek’s request to not tell anyone. Kora might tell the police or North if she knew, and then maybe she would be prevented from finding out this secret about her mother.

  Mom, what were you up to? Amberly thought. She never thought she would have an opportunity to have some real closure, but now, the possibilities seemed immense.

  “You’re not going to actually go, are you?” Kora asked. “North would be crushed.”

  “Oh, you too. First off, North is nothing to me. Not like that anyway.”

  “Nothing? He’s been a friend for more tha —”

  Amberly interrupted her sister. “You know what I mean. There is no reason to get our good friend North worked up over this … date. He doesn’t have to know.”

  “I don’t know … that sounds awfully deceptive. But if you have a thing for this Dek — ”

  “I don’t have a thing for Dek! Argh! You can be so frustrating sometimes,” Amberly felt like pulling her hair out. “I’m going to bed.”

  She crawled into bed, but she could not sleep. What in the world was Chasm? Did Dek really know Kimberly Macready? How could he even have known her mother? But he did have her shell. All questions, no answers.

  Amberly would find out in the morning.

  The Herbert Hoover Temporary Housing Center Commons in the President’s Quarter was one of the larger open spaces on the waypoint. The room was a quarter circle arc filled with stainless steel cafeteria-style tables and benches. When deep-space ships were not in port, the Hoover Commons served as a multipurpose room and was used for a wide variety of functions, from political party caucuses, to large private parties, to training sessions and even for academic testing. The Commons uncomfortably seated 500. Because of the extra transients from the American Spirit, most of the seats were taken.

  The room was warm with crowds as many were taking advantage of eating someplace else besides the limited galley of the American Spirit. At both ends of the commons were kitchens, which offered buffet service. Lines of those waiting to eat snaked about the room.

  The chatter was loud and frenetic. Amberly normally disliked chaotic noise, but the tone of the conversation sprung with overtones of excitement, relief and joy, so she didn’t mind it so much. Besides those from American Spirit, many of Magellan’s permanent residents showed up for breakfast as well — mostly for the free meal. Because the primary purpose of Magellan was to service those ships making the long trip to and from Arara, all hospitality and basic survival supplies were provided to the travelers with no charge.

  Because it was so crowded, a few Magellan natives stayed clear of the Hotel Commons, preferring to visit their usual eating places, even if they had to pay. For some of the less affluent Magellan residents, and some cheapskates as well, free food was worth the wait. Others came because the Hotel Commons represented a great (and sometimes, the only) opportunity to meet new people and perhaps start a new life adventure.

  Often during layovers, deep space ships would pick up new passengers and crew from waypoint natives. Some were people who dreamed of going planet side and were willing to sacrifice years of their life in confinement on a deep space ship to find it. Others were just down-on-their-luck locals who needed to try something different. Signing up for service or even as a passenger aboard a deep space ship presented plenty of risks and rewards. Some found deep space life satisfying and adventurous compared to life on the waypoint. Others grew disenchanted and depressed before they even reached the next waypoint.

  Amberly scanned the room looking for Dek. She couldn’t see over the heads of the hundreds of people milling about looking for a place to sit. Amberly thought about standing on a chair to get a better vantage point, but before she could execute her plan, a firm hand landed on her shoulder and spun her around.

  She let out a surprised “Whoa!” and then let her mouth melt into a smart smile when her eyes fell on Dek’s messy brown hair and grey-blue eyes. Something about his face was growing on her. He looked young, but not immature. There was a quiet dignity i
n how his brows framed those eyes that seemed to muffle noise around them.

  “I am elated to see you. This way…” Dek gently pulled at Amberly’s elbow and led her out of the Hotel commons and into a crowded corridor that led into the banks of guest rooms. “Let’s go someplace we can talk in private.”

  “Elated? Did you think I wouldn’t come?” Amberly asked.

  “I didn’t know. I was worried that the shell may have freaked you out once you realized what it was.”

  “Who says I am not freaked out?”

  “You do not have the countenance of a woman under pressure or stress,” Dek said. “In fact, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re happy to see me. I’m certainly happy to once again lay eyes on your … crimson locks.”

  They entered an elevator. The doors slid shut, and they were alone. Dek entered his room’s floor and number on the door pad.

  “Don’t be too presumptuous,” Amberly said in a flirtatious manner. “Maybe I just wanted to get the free food.”

  “Oh, breakfast,” Dek shrugged. “We’ll have to get that later.”

  After traveling several floors, the door to the elevator opened again.

  “What is this Chasm, anyway?”

  “Not here, Amberly.” Dek led Amberly a few paces down the hallway into the interior of the Hotel, which was lined with doors on either side, about two meters apart. Between some of the doors, prints of impressionistic paintings had been affixed to otherwise unmarred steel walls, giving the hall a bit of warmth. Dek stopped at one of the doors, next to a replica of Monet’s Japanese Footbridge, and punched in his key code giving the pair access to his temporary home on Magellan.

  “Inside here.”

  The two escaped into the room, and Dek closed the door behind them. The Hotel room was commonplace in appearance and configuration, about two-by-three meters in size. The bed rolled up into a seating unit next to the wall. The opposite wall had a pull-down table. Across from the hallway door they just entered from were basic restroom facilities: sink, shower and vacuum toilet. A curtain could be drawn for privacy, and it was drawn when they entered the room.

  “I had really hoped your mom had left you some sort of coded message about Operation Chasm. That would have made this all a lot easier. I hope you’ll still help us.”

  “Help you with what?” said Amberly.

  “Help us complete your mom’s mission.”

  “Whoa. Slow down. Start from the beginning. What is this Operation Chasm? What does my mom have to do with it?”

  Dek took Amberly’s hand and gently pulled her down onto the bed-roll couch, so they were sitting beside each other.

  “It’s a long story,” Dek said, “Let me explain. About 60 years ago, a group of influential patriots suspected what we now know to be true: The colony planets are meant to be, in a sense, slaves to mother Earth. This group of separatists believed that Earth’s leadership would always hold back on key technology and human advances to ensure that Earth would be the dominant planet in the relationship between Earth and Arara.”

  Why does it always have to be politics with men, Amberly thought? “Yes, I’ve heard this theory before, and all the windbag politicians on both sides go on and on about it,” Amberly sighed, almost disappointed with the direction the conversation was going. This was not the mystery she had hoped for.

  “Yes, yes, but the difference here, my dear Amberly, was that this group of Arara loyalists decided to do something about it. They had seen the decades of talk and theories just like you, and were no longer interested in a political solution. They wanted to take action. That is why I am here today. Your mother, another true patriot of Arara, wanted to do something and be part of the solution, too, and that is why she joined Operation Chasm.”

  “Mom? I don’t understand,” Amberly rubbed her head. “Why wouldn’t mom have mentioned this to us? And what exactly did she decide to … um … do about it?”

  “I suspect your mother was just trying to protect you,” Dek shrugged as he made the suggestion. “While the group had many plans to boost Arara, the only one that had any traction was code-named Chasm. Eventually, Chasm was the whole effort. We’ve spent 30 years planning Chasm, and another three decades putting the pieces together.”

  Amberly was trying to get her head around what Dek was saying.

  “So mom was a part of this how? Did you know her?”

  “I don’t know — didn’t know — Kimberly personally, of course,” Dek said, picking up his data pad and absentmindedly flipping through some random photos that were on display. “I was just a little older than you are now when I joined Chasm. I was still working on my stellar physics major at the North Plate when I was recruited. It was Xander who recruited me — I mean Professor Alpine. He was also part of Chasm, of course. He was a great mentor and a friend.”

  “The professor is part of Chasm, too? Popular bunch.”

  “Not really. As you have seen, Chasm is a … clandestine operation. With his role in the university, he could recruit the best minds easily without drawing attention to him. I believe Xander recruited your mother as well.”

  “Really? Professor Alpine knew my mom?” The whole story was on the verge of unbelievable, and if it weren’t for the fact that Dek had produced his mother’s conch shell, she certainly wouldn’t have given any credence to his tale.

  “Yes. It was he who got me my first Chasm assignment. I was lucky to be the support agent for your mother. I exchanged correspondence with your mom before she disappeared. I logged her reports. Chasm provided me with my first real gainful employment, besides when I worked as a harvester on the farm.”

  “What? You worked on a farm? In the dirt? Get out.” Amberly was truly impressed. Manual labor jobs in an open world were highly romanticized by waypoint natives.

  “All males on Arara are required to work on the farm at some point. It’s not as glamorous as some say. But you wanted to know about your mother.”

  “Yes … to the point.”

  “I worked in the secret communications office for Chasm. I was responsible for decoding messages from our … agents … and then working with the senior … officers … to compose and send back appropriate messages with instructions, updates and sometimes to just offer encouragement. You see, for those who loved Arara so much, like your mother, it was hard to leave for the stars.”

  “This all makes sense,” Amberly thought aloud. “This is why she was so stubborn about staying on Magellan even when she hated it so much and even when dad offered to take us all back to Arara. She had a mission to complete.”

  “Yes. There was a lot of correspondence from your mother to HQ about your father. The Chairman was furious when she married your dad. But I suppose that’s the advantage of being several light years away from your boss. Not much she could do about it.”

  “And a good thing, too!” Amberly half-joked, but also allowing a bit of impatience to surface in her voice. “Otherwise I wouldn’t be here. What was mom doing?”

  “That, indeed, would be tragic if you did not come into being. Sometimes the randomness of the universe produces a rare gem,” Dek said, with enough sincerity that Amberly did not feel the comment to be as cheesy as it sounded.

  Every detail Dek teased left Amberly hungry with new questions. “Who or what is the Chairman? What was mom’s mission? What were you guys trying to accomplish here on Magellan? Quit stalling.” Amberly wasn’t interested in Dek’s slow, expositional story telling. She wanted a concise version of the truth. Of what happened to her mother, whom she loved dearly, and lost suddenly.

  She wanted so much what she believed was in Dek’s head. She had a growing desire — an unfamiliar one — to kiss Dek, caught up in his mysterious game and infatuated with his adventurous tale, and then alternately to beat the answers out of him, so frustrated with his slow play. Her heart started racing, and she became quite flush.

  “So many questions, young one,” Dek said, reaching over and slowly intertwining his
olive-toned fingers into Amberly’s hair just above her left ear, then resting his palm on her cheek. Amberly didn’t know how to react to Dek’s touch. “You must be patient.”

  “You said…” Amberly struggled to say, somehow losing her voice as Dek stared intently into her eyes, “you said that you would tell me about mom.”

  “Amberly, I want to tell you everything,” Dek spoke softly as he slowly ran his fingers back though her hair. “But we have to know if we can trust you. Sixty years of preparations are riding on what happens on Magellan before the American Spirit leaves for the next waypoint. And there are people who would do anything to stop the good thing we are trying to do.”

  “You can trust me,” Amberly asserted, reaching her hand to grasp Dek’s and hold it still. “I don’t care about the politics of Earth and Arara. I just must know about my mother. Who was she, really?”

  “I believe you Amberly. Moreover, I believe that you are on our side, and when the time comes you will be an ally to the cause. But some of the others aren’t so sure. They are great patriots, but they are dangerous. They would airlock someone before they would let them jeopardize Operation Chasm.”

  Airlock. Just the uttering of the word made the warmth between Amberly and Dek’s clasped hands cool. When capitol punishment was required, or when someone wanted to cleanly murder someone (both cases rare in the history of waypoints) forcing a person out an airlock into the endlessly cold oblivion of space was the prime method. Every child that grew up on a waypoint was made to fear the method of disposing of the unwanted.

  “Don’t you see, Amberly, that if I tell you too much and I am wrong, and you do not take our side in this… epic … conflict, this historic struggle, then they will make sure you cannot stand against us. And I have come to care about you, too much to risk your invisible death. Ever since I first learned about you, the daughter of Kimberly Macready, I’ve always known somehow we’d have a connection.”

  Amberly gently pulled Dek’s hand off her face. “I am really flattered that you care about me, and I genuinely don’t even know what to think about that,” Amberly spoke resolutely, “but what you need to know is that I would do almost anything to learn about what happened to my mother. What do I need to do to prove to your … friends that I am not a threat to their operation?”