Wanderer - Tainted Universe

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Greenseed Station

“Incoming ship, Sir,” called out the watch officer.

Marsh jumped slightly, pulled from a near doze. He was pulling eighteen hour shifts in the command chair. There was nothing for him to do most of the time, but he wanted to be there whenever a ship approached.

The only reason he didn’t spend all his time there, sleeping upright, was that he’d noticed his officers starting to copy the example he set. While he could get by, dozing in his chair at times if necessary, they needed to be sharp all the time.

“Who is it?” Marsh asked. The call and response had almost become ritual now, the words seldom varying.

“I can’t tell yet, Sir. It’s small, though. Too small to be a freighter. I think it’s a cutter.”

“Damn.”

It was a bad sign. Everyone in the room was suddenly on edge, far more so than when the Silver Tramp had approached. Marsh felt rocks settle into his stomach. This was going to be a bad one. He could feel it.

“Comms, get me a connection to them,” Marsh snapped out. “Right now.”

“Aye, Sir.”

Within seconds a face appeared on the screen in front of Marsh. His heart sank. Staring back at him was a woman with dark circles under her eyes and greasy hair dragged up on top of her head. The camera was on a wide angle, letting Marsh see six children strapped into the seats behind her. One looked to be only a year old, the rest were a spread of ages up to five or six. A couple shared similar features, but the others didn’t look related to each other.

The woman spoke, tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

“Thank the stars! We found you! We found you!”

“I’m sorry,” Marsh said gently. “I don’t know who you think you’ve found, but it isn’t us. We can offer you food and limited supplies, but nothing more. Stop your ship immediately and we can discuss what supplies you need.”

“No. No, no, no, no, no. We’ve found you. Everyone knows about you. You’ve managed to stay safe. To keep yourselves secure. And you’re doing good too. Giving away food to keep people alive. You can do it. You can keep the children safe. You must!”

“I’m sorry.” Marsh’s voice was firmer now, though still soft. “We cannot allow you to approach. Slow down now or we will be forced to destroy you.”

“No. No you won’t. You’ll protect them. I’ll make sure you do.”

She had a crazed look in her eye now. The look of someone who had been spread too thinly for too long.

“Madam, I will not hesitate. Stop your ship immediately.”

“No. I’ll make you look after them. They can’t control the ship. Only I can. They won’t be able to stop and you’ll have to save them. I know how kind you all are. Much too kind to let a ship with only young children on be destroyed.”

She smiled then, a strangely beautiful smile. The smile of someone finally finding peace. She smiled even as she stuck the pistol under her chin. She was still smiling when she pulled the trigger.

The result was horrific. Blood and worse flew everywhere. The woman’s body collapsed. Most of the children started crying, though one was stunned into silence. Marsh stared at them, cursing the position he’d been put in.

He checked the ship’s course, unsurprised to see it would collide with the station. Not that it made any difference. Even a near miss would have forced his hand.

Feeling like his heart would burst from his chest, he killed the video feed. Tears stung his eyes as he spoke, but his voice was steady.

“We can’t let them get close, and we can’t take them in. We would have given them food and supplies. She left us with no choice. Destroy the ship.”

“Captain, we can’t just kill them. Let me go to them. I’ll take the risk. I’ll take them somewhere safe.”

Marsh looked at his deputy, Alisha Sanders. He saw she was serious, even though it would mean never returning. He couldn’t let her do it. Greenseed needed her too much. He needed her help too much. Looking into her eyes he knew those arguments wouldn’t deter her. It didn’t matter anyway. It was too late.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “No. You couldn’t reach them in time. The ship would be too close. We can’t risk it.”

“We can’t just kill those children!” she shouted.

“We have no choice,” he replied, forcing calm into his voice. “You know that. Think of all the children we have here. Think what might happen to every one of them if we let that ship get too close. There’s no other way.”

Marsh’s heart went out to Alisha as she wrestled with knowing he was right, while still desperately wanting to save the children. He couldn’t blame her. He felt the same way. If he could find any way to keep them safe, he would… but there wasn’t any.

“Oh god… what have we become?” she whispered at last.

The whisper cut to the heart of Marsh where the shouting hadn’t. What had they become? Killers of children for no reason other than fear. Marsh saw the same conflict on the faces of the others. He knew he had to counter it. Punching several controls he brought up a composite photo showing many of the children of Greenseed.

“We’ve become what we had to,” he rasped. “You know the risks we run if we don’t destroy the ship. Look at these children. They are safe right now because we do what is necessary. I won’t let them down.”

He punched several more commands in, then spoke again. This time he let the pain inside show in his voice.

“But I won’t ask any of you to do something I won’t do myself.”

He pressed one final button. The station’s weapons fired. The approaching ship disintegrated, ripped apart by weaponry designed to kill far larger ships. At least it was fast, he thought. They won’t have felt a thing.

It didn’t help. He bowed his head, tears threatening to fall. He knew the faces of those children would haunt his sleep for weeks to come. He could hear several people weeping, Alisha amongst them. He didn’t blame them.

How much longer could they stay strong? How long before people started to crack completely, or to make bad decisions? A chill settled into his heart as he realised Alisha wouldn’t have made the decision he had. She would have let the ship through, docked with the ship, brought it to a halt and then brought the children onto Greenseed.

With a sigh he realised he would have to stay in the control room twenty-four hours a day. Compassion was a noble virtue, a wonderful virtue, but it was one they simply couldn’t afford. Letting just one ship through put the entire station at risk.

Even so, just how much longer could they really survive? The station was tough, but not invincible. Ultimately they were just playing for time. Waiting for the Empire to solve the problem. If it could.

He hardly dared consider the alternative. If the Empire couldn’t solve the problem then humanity’s days were numbered. It might take years, decades even, but the end would come. Would Greenseed be one of the last outposts to survive? Or would it be destroyed long before, crushed by the forces threatening the Empire or by those desperate to find somewhere safe to escape to?

Right then, pain burning in his heart, he wasn’t sure which option was worse. Maybe a quick end would be better than having his soul torn apart one destroyed ship at a time. He really didn’t know.