Captives in Obscurity: Sons of the Starfarers, Book V Read online

  But what? What are you trying to get at?

  “You have great potential,” Gulchina continued. “If only you had had the ambition to match it.”

  “What makes you think I ever wanted any of this?” Reva cried, her heart pounding. “That I wanted to be your—your protégé?” Now that her plot with Isaac had been exposed, she had nothing left to lose. It terrified and invigorated her at the same time to speak so openly.

  “Because you are alone in this universe, Reva. You are a stranger, a vagabond. Your people are extinct, their culture and language forgotten. Without me, you are lost.”

  “And how can you change any of that?”

  Gulchina smiled. “By making you the mother of a great nation.”

  She retrieved her tablet from the table and stepped back towards the wall. A holographic projector descended from the ceiling and displayed a three-dimensional starmap in the center of the room, glowing in various shades of blue.

  “These are the Coreward Stars,” Gulchina explained, indicating the blue points of light. “Every habitable-zone planet in these systems is somewhere in the process of terraforming. All but a few now belong to the Gaian Empire.”

  Her fingers flew over her tablet, and the image zoomed out to reveal several new systems, each of them colored in red. They formed a shell that completely enveloped the Coreward Stars, and outnumbered them by at least ten to one.

  “These are the Outworlds,” Gulchina continued. “Some of these stars have been explored, others have not. Some have been settled, others have not. A handful of terraforming projects have been attempted, but few have been successful. Traffic between stars is intermittent, and the only notable alliance is the Outworld Confederacy in the New Pleiades.”

  “Why are you showing me this?” Reva asked.

  “Because a great shift is about to occur, Reva—the beginning of a new era that will change the fate of humanity forever. The only reason the Outworlds exist is because of the current limitations of jump drive technology. Are you familiar with these limitations?”

  “Not really.”

  “A jump drive works by transporting a starship instantaneously between two points. However, the exact position of the exit point is impossible to predict with any degree of certainty. We can increase our accuracy by expending more energy, but these energy requirements increase exponentially with the mass of the ship.

  “This is why the Outworlds are dominated by single-man starships,” Gulchina explained. “Light freighters are a far more efficient means of long-distance transport than bulk cargo haulers. For the same reason, Outworld settlements tend to be small and widely scattered.”

  “Is this where the star wandering tradition comes from?” Reva asked, thinking of Isaac.

  “Precisely. Outworld settlements need a regular influx of new blood in order to keep from becoming inbred. Therefore, when the oldest son of each family comes of age, he takes his father’s starship and becomes an itinerant merchant, or star wanderer. Eventually, he settles down and starts a family, and the cycle begins again.”

  “But that didn’t happen back home,” Reva mused. “We went for years without a star wanderer coming through, sometimes even decades.”

  “And that is why your people perished. Without a connection to the outside, you had nowhere to turn when disaster struck. And because your people were isolated for so long, you developed a language and culture that was alien to most other people.”

  Reva tugged at her shirt and nodded. That would explain why everyone thought her lack of a nudity taboo was so strange.

  “All of these traditions are about to come to an end,” Gulchina continued. “Within your lifetime, the Outworlds as we know them will cease to exist. The people of the New Pleiades have developed new FTL technology that completely eliminates the advantages of smaller starships, opening the way for a new age of empires.”

  Reva frowned. “How?”

  “Through the use of jump beacons. These devices create a field that pulls any ship out of jumpspace within a significant fraction of a light-year. By establishing waypoints between stars, a starship of any size can complete the voyage in the same time as a smaller one, without expending excessive amounts of energy.”

  “But how will that destroy the Outworlds?”

  “Because Outworld culture is merely an outgrowth of the limitations of current technology,” Gulchina explained. “The proliferation of jump beacons will have as much of a civilizing impact as the railroads had on the ancient American frontier. Even if the Confederacy somehow manages to defeat the Gaians, they will have to become an empire to do so. Either way, the Outworlds will cease to exist.”

  Reva frowned. “What does that have to do with us?”

  “I’m glad you asked that question, Reva. Let me show you exactly what it means.”

  Her fingers flew over the tablet, and the holographic projection zoomed out until the stars began to form clouds. The red and blue points shrank until they were tiny, barely more than a blob the size of a fist. As the image zoomed out, the stars and nebulae began to form a structure that Reva recognized as one of the galactic arms.

  “These are all the nearby stars that are uninhabited and unexplored. They lie in the outer reaches, beyond settled space. With the past limitations of FTL technology, they were previously inaccessible, but now they lie within our grasp.”

  “Our birthright,” Reva whispered.

  “Precisely. It has always been the nature of our species to expand, to explore, to conquer new ground. Civilization makes us docile and tame—only then can we be made slaves to tyrants and emperors. But out there, in the outer reaches of space, there are no empires or slaves. Only sheer strength of will.”

  Gulchina’s eyes were wilder than Reva had ever seen them. A terrible fire burned within them, like the inferno at the heart of a star.

  “How will we get there?” Reva asked.

  “There is a star beyond the Outworlds that will serve as our staging ground. It appears in neither the Gaian Imperial Catalog nor the Starfarer Index, but it is rich in the resources we will need. Ensign Matsuda journeyed to this star in an outrider that was small enough to make the voyage alone. Along the way, he set up jump beacons and kept track of their coordinates.”

  “Is that why you killed him?”

  “I released him from his debt of honor by allowing him to kill himself,” Gulchina answered. “But yes, that was why I selected him for this mission. With his death, I alone know the way to this star.”

  “There’s no other way in or out, then?”

  Gulchina shook her head. “The voyage would take far too long for most conventional starships, including the most ambitious colony expeditions. But this is only the beginning. From there, we will establish other outposts, other secret starlanes extending to other unexplored star systems, far beyond the bounds of settled space.”

  “How do I figure into all of this?” Reva asked, her voice trembling. “What do you want from me?”

  Gulchina looked her squarely in the eye. “I want you to take us there, Reva. I want you to be a mother to my men. To them, I may well be a god, but I am not immortal. And my dream will take generations to be realized.”

  “Your dream?”

  “To found a new nation: a people who live beyond the settled stars. With me as their god and you as their mother, we will raise up a free nation beyond the reach of any empire.”

  Reva didn’t know what to say. Her hands still trembled, even though her fear now seemed unfounded. She’d known for a long time that Gulchina had been grooming her for something, but to become the mother of a nation? It sounded insane.

  Or was it? Gulchina was right about one thing at least: Reva was a stranger and a vagabond. Ever since she had stepped out of that cryotank, she had struggled to find a place for herself in this strange, lonely universe. To become the mother of a nation—it sounded crazy, but if there was even a chance…

  “You are an orphan child of the Outworlds,” said Gulch
ina, breaking the pensive silence. “You have absolutely nothing to lose.”

  “What difference does that make?”

  “Because it frees you to pursue that which you truly desire. Tell me, is there anything you want more than a new family and a home? A place where you fully belong?”

  She’s right, Reva realized. I want that more than anything.

  “I don’t know,” she said. “The things I’ve seen you do, I… I don’t know if I could do that.”

  Gulchina tapped her tablet and returned to her chair. The holographic projector switched off, and the lights faded back on.

  “We have been over this before, Reva. Corporal Sarnai’s execution was unfortunate, but necessary.”

  “But making it into a spectacle—don’t you think that was a little excessive?”

  “Nations can only be born in blood, Reva. And if I am cruel, it because the stars themselves are cruel. On a starship such as ours, every duty is of critical importance. A failure at any point could lead to catastrophe, and in the outer reaches of space, there is no one who will come to our rescue. And so I must maintain discipline at all costs.”

  “But still—”

  “Do you think I took pleasure in his death?” Gulchina asked. “Do you think I enjoyed watching his corpse drift out into the empty void? There may have been an element of spectacle to the execution, but I assure you, Reva, my tears were real.”

  “They were?”

  Gulchina leaned forward and put a hand on Reva’s knee. At her touch, Reva’s legs went weak, and her hands stopped trembling.

  “Yes, Reva. I love my men—all of them. That is why I push them so hard. I want them to become something greater than any of them could be apart.”

  “And what about me?” Reva asked, her voice barely louder than a whisper.

  “I believe that you are capable of far more than you realize. When I first took you onto this ship, I could see it in your eyes. You may not fully believe in yourself, Reva, but I do. And I am ready to share all that I have with you.”

  She means it, Reva realized. She really does.

  “You’re not going to punish me for plotting to escape?”

  “What would that accomplish? Would it serve to unite the men? No. I hold the power of life and death on this ship, and if I see fit to show you mercy, that is what I shall do.”

  Reva took a deep breath. “You really think I can do all this?”

  “Yes, I do. The only obstacle in your way is your own self-doubt and fear.”

  There’s no turning back, Reva realized. If I say yes, she’ll hold me to it on pain of death. But the things she was offering: A chance to start over. A chance to be great.

  A chance to belong.

  Reva didn’t know if she was really capable of becoming all that Gulchina expected of her, but she knew that Gulchina wouldn’t punish her for failure if she gave it all that she could.

  “What about Isaac?” she asked.

  Gulchina shrugged. “My men know nothing about your plot to escape. If you can convince him to stay, then I see no need to punish him.”

  “And what will become of him?”

  “When you have risen to command of the Temujin, you may do with him as you will.”

  Reva’s heart leaped. That was more than she had dared to hope for.

  “Thank you, Gulchina. I won’t disappoint you.”

  Gulchina smiled. “In time, Reva, I believe you will exceed all of my expectations—and your own, as well.”

  They rose to their feet and clasped arms. Through the bulkheads, the ship’s jump drive began to hum.

  * * * * *

  Where is she? Isaac wondered as he waited in the darkened maintenance closet. She should have been here by now. Did they catch her? If they had, he didn’t know what he’d do.

  Three days had passed—three miserable, soul-sucking days of hard labor. The only thing that had kept him going was the hope that soon, he and Reva would be able to make their escape. Without that, he would have given up long ago.

  His stomach still churned from the last jump. They happened at regular intervals now: three times a double dayshift, or once every eight hours. Each jump took them farther and farther from safety. If they didn’t leave soon, they might be too far to make it back, even if they did manage to escape.

  Footsteps sounded on the floor—Reva’s footsteps. Isaac’s heart skipped a beat. They paused just outside, then the light turned on and the door swung open.

  Isaac caught the briefest glimpse of Reva’s face, glancing over her shoulder. The tattoos on her cheek curled into fractal patterns that enhanced her feminine grace. She stepped quickly inside, and the light shut out, leaving them both in darkness.

  He took her by the waist and angled his chin to kiss her, but his lips pressed against her bangs, not her mouth. Her body was pressed against his, but she made no move to embrace him.

  “Reva?”

  She took a deep breath and put a hand on his chest, as if telling him to keep his distance. Isaac’s stomach fell. Was this about his attempt to force himself on her?

  “How are you, Isaac?” she asked softly.

  “Not well,” he admitted. “I need—I need to get out of here.”

  “Gulchina’s men aren’t treating you well?”

  “They’re killing me.”

  Reva paused. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  Where is she going with this? he wondered. She was acting strangely, and he didn’t know why.

  “Yeah, well, in just a couple hours we’ll be out of here,” he said, pulling the wrist console out of his back pocket. “I managed to sync this with one of the outriders, and—”

  “I’m so sorry, Isaac. So, so sorry.”

  Isaac frowned in the darkness. A deeply uneasy feeling began to grow in his gut.

  “Why do you say that, Reva?”

  “Because I can’t go through with this. And for your sake, I can’t let you go either.”

  Isaac’s blood turned to ice. His stomach felt weak, and for a moment, he felt as if he were about to throw up.

  “But Reva—”

  “Gulchina’s on to us,” Reva blurted. “She knows everything—our secret meetings, our plans to escape—everything. She pulled me into her quarters and made me confess. And Isaac, if we don’t abandon our plans, she’s going to kill us.”

  The news hit Isaac like a blow to the face. He leaned back against the wall and tried in vain to process what he’d just heard.

  “But Isaac, I have good news, too. Gulchina is grooming me to be her successor and wants me to take over command of the Temujin. When I do, I can order the men to treat you better. I can—”

  “You’re not even going to try?”

  “I can’t,” she said. “It—it would be suicide. Besides, if we hold out just a little while longer, Gulchina is going to give us so much more.”

  “Us? Or just you?”

  “Us, me—what difference does it make? Just a little longer, Isaac. Can you do that for me?”

  You’re one of them now, Isaac realized. Tears came to his eyes—bitter tears.

  “I saved you, Reva,” he said, his voice trembling. “When my brother and I found you in that cryotank—”

  “Shh, someone’s coming!”

  Without warning, she pulled him down and pressed her lips against his. The kiss was so unexpected it practically made him gag. Anger and hatred seized him, but the burning sensation of arousal was inevitable and unstoppable. Her lips gravitated to his neck, and she held him in an embrace until the footsteps passed away.

  “Gulchina is the only one who knows,” she explained. “For the others, we have to keep up the ruse.”

  “Get off of me,” he said, pushing her back. She struck the door a little harder than he had expected and made a loud noise.

  “Ow!” she said, clearly hurt.

  Panic cut through him as sharp as a knife, followed by the stinging throb of shame. “Sorry,” he muttered, then stopped himself. Why am I apol
ogizing to her when she’s the one who betrayed me?

  “It’s all right,” she said. “I’m fine.”

  “What about me?” he said, his voice tinged with desperation. “What am I supposed to do? I need to get out of here, Reva, and not just for myself. My brother—”

  “I’m sorry, Isaac, but this is the best I can do.”

  His jaw trembled, and his legs went weak. His anger passed out of him, leaving him deflated. With his back against the compartment wall, he slowly slid to his knees.

  The light in the maintenance closet switched on, blinding him. He squinted in pain, tears spilling out of his eyes, and Reva slipped out as suddenly as she’d come.

  Why? he wanted to scream. Why? It was the only thought he had left. All his hopes had betrayed him.

  Star’s End

  Reva took a deep breath and palmed the access panel for the bridge of the Temujin. As the door slid open, she stood up straight and adopted an impassive expression, much like Captain Gulchina.

  I’m not betraying you, Isaac, she told herself. I’ll make it all up to you—I promise.

  Gulchina sat in the command chair at the center of the bridge, with most of her senior officers assembled at their stations. Wolf stood by her side, and glanced at Reva as she entered. His eyes narrowed, and the edges of his mouth turned up in the beginnings of a sneer.

  “Captain,” he said, “Reva is here.”

  “Excellent,” said Gulchina, motioning for her to come forward. Reva took her place on the opposite side of the command chair from Wolf, trying very hard not to acknowledge him. She could feel his angry glare, though.

  He knows.

  “Captain,” said the ship’s pilot, “our jump drive is fully primed, and the target coordinates for our final destination have been set. We await your orders, sir.”