Interstellar Mission

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Cherry lowered herself into the narrow, two-seater capsule, steadying herself against the bobbing of the waves by grabbing the side with her right—and only—hand. The vessel was barely large enough to accommodate both her and Ethan, and she was forced to squeeze up close to her old friend as she sat down.

The sea breeze was chilly and made colder by the spray it blew from the ocean. The sun was halfway to the horizon in a gray, cloudy sky.

“How long will this take?” Cherry asked, eyeing the surface of the water. Somewhere beneath those snowy peaks and deep blue troughs thread creatures lay, waiting to transport the humans to the vast underwater metropolis Ethan had described.

Her stomach muscles tightened, and it wasn’t only due to the waves’ motion.

“Three or four hours,” Ethan replied. “At least, that’s how long it took last time. I’m assuming the threads have something similar in store for you as they did with me.”

“I guess it’s too late to change my mind?” Cherry asked hopefully.

Ethan glanced at her from the corners of his eyes. “Yeah, pretty much. I need a second in command, and I picked you. The Joining Ceremony with the threads is only a formality you have to go through.”

In need of a distraction, Cherry asked, “Aren’t there any controls in this thing?” as she scanned the featureless interior. All that lay ahead of her within the capsule was the lid to the vehicle, opened at an angle, the well where they put their feet, and the smooth, opaque lower hull.

Cherry didn’t know how the threads manufactured equipment like this submarine capsule while living under water. The process had to be remarkably different from the way humans did things in a gaseous environment. The enigma made her curious. But on the other hand, the less she knew about the threads the better.

“No,” Ethan replied. “No controls, and even if there were, we wouldn’t know how to drive it.”

“Pilot it,” said Cherry. “If a vehicle goes on water, or in the air, or in space, you pilot it.”

“Drive it or pilot it,” Ethan said, “we’re doing neither, in this case. Relax. It’s an interesting trip. You might even enjoy it.”

“So we let the threads take us wherever they want?”

“That’s right. That’s what happened last time, and I was totally safe.”

“Why are you telling me it’s safe?” asked Cherry. “Do you think I’m scared?”

Ethan didn’t reply. He only smirked in a maddening manner.

“Huh!” Cherry squirmed in her seat. “I’m not scared. I’m...uncomfortable. I mean, I’m grateful to them. They’ve done so much to help us and we couldn’t have survived without them, but, stars, I don’t like those things.” The waves were growing stronger, the capsule was bobbing higher, and she was beginning to feel sick. “I wish we could—”

A hiss cut through her words as the lid of the vessel suddenly lowered. It had been activated by unseen hands, or rather, tentacles. The lid met the hull and soundlessly closed. They were sealed in, and wouldn’t be able to get out again until the threads allowed them. The capsule lifted and eased forward until it was fully on the surface of the water. A particularly large wave smashed into it, causing the front of the vessel to rear up, rise over the wave’s crest, and go nose down the other side.

Ethan gave Cherry a half smile. “I don’t really think you’re scared. No one who ran out to face certain death by the cuts of thousands of Scythian spiders could be scared of some friendly thread creatures.”

“I thought you were going to say single-handedly,” said Cherry, also smiling. But then the death of her ex-lover, Garwin, sprang to her mind and her expression fell.

“If anyone can make amputee jokes, it’s you and me,” Ethan said, lifting his artificial foot.

The threads’ vessel was moving steadily forward. As it reached deeper water the bobbing became less pronounced but more regular. Suddenly, the sun blazed through a gap in the clouds, instantly warming the capsule’s cool interior. Then the nose suddenly dipped. Cherry gripped her armrest.

“Here we go,” said Ethan as the vessel slid under the waves.

Green water rose up the capsule’s sides and over the transparent lid. Cherry felt the pull of a force dragging them along and downward. Sunbeams glittered through the waves above, dappling them in shifting spots of light. But the sun’s rays quickly faded and the darkness of deep water encroached.

The light from above had almost entirely disappeared when the rim of the vessel burst into light, illuminating the interior and the water around them.

“Ugh,” Cherry exclaimed, spotting, at the edge of the circle of light, long, thin, tentacles writhing. Some thread creatures had come along as escorts.

“Oh yeah,” said Ethan. “They do that. They’ll stay with us all the way down.”

“No kidding. Isn’t that great?”

“Why don’t you like the threads?” asked Ethan.

“Is it surprising? They tried to kill me once, remember?”

“They weren’t trying to kill you. They were only trying to capture you, like they did with me. They wanted to find out about us.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Cherry replied. “They were only trying to capture me, put me in a little box, and experiment on me. Like they did with you that time you nearly died.”

Cherry folded her arm across her chest. The action still felt weird now she only had one arm to fold.

Ethan began to chuckle.

“Something funny?” Cherry asked.

“Fila cherryensia. I love the fact the Woken named the threads after you.” Ethan said, laughing.

“Isn’t that joke getting a bit old?” In truth, Cherry enjoyed bantering with her old friend, even though her dislike of the threads was no joke. Their back-and-forth also helped her to momentarily forget the gravity of the colony’s situation.

She stole a glance at Ethan’s profile. They had been through so much together. Their closeness in the small capsule almost made her want to reach out and take his hand.

“How are Cariad and the baby doing?” she asked. “Meredith is such a pretty name.”

“It is, isn’t it? We named her after someone I used to know. They’re fine. Absolutely fine. She’s a sweetheart. Hardly ever cries. Always smiling.”

“You’re talking about the baby, not Cariad?”

“Well, both of them really.”

“Cariad is a sweetheart too. I realized that once I got to know her.” Cherry paused. “She isn’t a typical Woken. I guess she must have told you what a b***h I was toward her.”

“Huh? No. She never told me that.”

“Well, I was, though maybe I was justified in the circumstances. Anyway, I don’t hate the Woken any longer. It doesn’t make any sense anymore. We’re all on the same level now.”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

The divisions that had existed in the early days of the colony were a thing of the past. If it weren’t for the Gens’ uniform coloring, with their olive skin and dark brown eyes and hair, Cherry wouldn’t have been able to tell her kind apart from the Woken: the scientists who had left Earth aboard the colony ship, Nova Fortuna, nearly two hundred years previously. They were all kinds of colors, from Kes’ chalky white, freckled skin and ginger hair to Cariad’s deep brown skin and black, frizzy hair.

The two attacks by the Scythians had been a great equalizer between the two groups. The original settlement, planned and built so carefully from materials brought from Earth, had been razed. And the underground hideout, created from the remaining materials the colonists had scavenged from the wreck of the Nova Fortuna, had only just survived the second attack. It had taken weeks to clear the passages of the deactivated spider-like search-and-destroy devices. Their claws sliced like razors at the slightest touch, and now that the colony’s medical supplies were severely limited, avoiding cuts and infections was vital.

Cherry’s stump ached with the memory of the s***h that had severed her left arm.

“Thinking about what’s coming up?” Ethan asked, drawing her from her reverie.

“No, actually,” she replied.

“Okay. We’re about halfway now.”

The capsule’s beams only illuminated the surrounding threads’ tentacles, which had become streamlined with speed as the capsule traveled along. Everything else was impenetrable darkness. Cherry was reminded of her time aboard the colony ship, when the Nova’s hull had been the only thing between her and deep space.

“I’m flattered that you want me as your second in command,” said Cherry, “but I’m not clear on exactly what you want me to do.”

“I’m not sure myself,” said Ethan. “I only know we have a long, difficult time ahead of us, and I’m going to need all the help I can get if the colony is to survive. There’s the organization of our defense, for one thing. I have enough to do just keeping us all fed, and I’m no military strategist. You seemed the obvious choice after you helped coordinate the response to the second attack. Unless you think I should have asked Aubriot?”

“Stars, no,” Cherry exclaimed. The thought of Aubriot in charge of defending the colony filled her with unease. He had some good ideas, but his number one priority was himself. Given the choice of sacrificing everyone else in order to save his own life, he probably wouldn’t think twice about it.

“See? You’re the best person, Cherry. I know you’ll do a great job.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“You’ll be fine. And after you’ve been through the Joining Ceremony, we can talk to the Fila about the Scythian threat. Maybe they can give us some advice on how to prepare ourselves for when they return.”

“When they come back to collect their tribute?” Cherry gave a shudder. She hoped the day the Scythians demanded human sacrifices in return for sparing the colony was a long, long time away.

“Yes,” said Ethan. “We need a plan, and so far I have nothing.”