Titan Encounter (11 page)

Surfeit swung
starboard and Justin, aiming toward the captain’s chair, slid, stumbled,
then
plopped back into it. The arc of a planet now filled
the left side of the screen. “Is the debris thinning?”

Naomi veered to
avoid a section of hull. “Yes…less now.” Seconds later, she fired thrusters and
leveled off over the world. She turned away from the helm, breathing like a
runner crossing a finish line. Her skin glistened with sweat, “That wreckage,
what…where did it come from?”

Justin stood. “I
don’t know, but I’ve got to check Mara.”

“What do you want me
to do?”

As he quickly exited
the bridge he said over his shoulder. “Listen for communications from the
planet. Try to contact someone.” From the passageway he shouted, “If you can’t
reach anyone, start sensor sweeps.”

As he entered his
sister’s room his eyes locked on an empty bed with sheets half on the floor.
“Sis, where are you?”

In the corner, a
hand peeked above the bed.

He ran to her. 

Ghastly white, Mara
sat on the floor against the wall. “What happened?”

He lifted her onto
the bed and briefly explained about the orbiting wreckage and damage it did to
the ship.

“Seen Titans?”

He shook his head.
“No, not yet anyway.”

“Leave now,” she
took a ragged breath, “before they come.”

“We can’t Sis. We’re
on emergency power.  In a few hours we’ll be coasting in a powerless ship
and after that…well….” He let the sentence die.

*              
*              
*

No transmission came
from the planet, so for the next hour he and Naomi examined sensor logs and new
information gathered as they orbited.

“Look here.” Justin
pointed to the holographic display. “This is the view looking aft just after we
exited the gate.”

Naomi moved close
beside him.

“The
display is paused now, but look
what happens when I run it
forward. See, there’s
Ferren
and…”

“He jumped away.”
Her face had been somber since they cleared the debris field, but now she gave
a weak smile.

“I guess he didn’t
want to stick around and risk a collision with the rubble but,” Justin cleared
the display, “I’m sure he’ll be back.”

“What is all the
wreckage?”

“Apparently, it’s
the remains of a major naval battle.  The debris is in a decaying
elliptical orbit around the planet. I can identify at least eight Earth Empire
ships but, judging from the amount of rubble, I’m certain there were more.”

“Were they fighting Titans?”

“I can’t be sure,
but since Dr. Galen sent you here and the sentinel ship and hologram
were
Titan, I’d guess that they were involved.” She shook
her head and mumbled. “Did he really believe Titans would help me?”

Justin knew her
question was rhetorical, but he shrugged in response. 

Regaining her focus,
Naomi scooted her face close to the screen. “What is this distorted patch of
space?”

Justin checked. “The
sensors don’t show anything, so it’s probably just an echo.”
But it did seem
to move with us.

“Your speculation
about Titan involvement coincides with what I have found.” She called up a
display of the planet. “There were six cities on this world. All sustained
significant damage from large-scale nuclear explosions. Radiation levels on the
surface vary, but average approximately 200 to 300
rems
per year.”

“Is that deadly?”

She nodded.
“Over time.
  Also, fallout and dust in the atmosphere
appears to have cooled the planet.” She pointed to areas in the north and south
of the world.  “There are glaciers halfway to the equator.”

“If Titans lived
here they are either dead or gone.”  He watched her while she stared at
the planet below.

She gazed at the
displays for a moment.  “The Titans are dead and so are we.” Slowly her
head tilted up and their eyes met. “I’m sorry I led you down this path. You
deserve better.”

“I have no regrets.”
It was true, he had no misgivings about meeting her, but he did wish that they
were both norms and could have lived a comfortable, ordinary life back in the
CFS.

She plopped into a
chair. “What should we do?”

“Tell Mara. She
deserves to know.”

*              
*              
*

Sitting together in
her room, they explained the situation. “So, it appears there are no Titans
here, and the ship is out of fuel and will soon be out of power.  I’m
sorry Sis. I’ve run out of ideas.”

With a slight nod of
her head she whispered, “Skiff.”

Justin turned to
Naomi. “Can we use it to land on the planet?”

“Yes, there appears
to be an intact runway, but as inhospitable as the planet appears it…”

“Is
better than here.
How long could we live there?”

“The radiation would
probably kill us in a month, if the cold does not kill us first.”

“One month on the
planet looking for a solution or two hours up here. I’ll take the former.” He
kissed his sister on the forehead and hurried from the room. 

As they packed what
supplies they had into the small craft, Naomi said, “Death up here would be
quicker and more peaceful.”

“Up here the only
possibility is death.” He looked out the cockpit window at the world below.
“Down there we have options.”

“Down there is a
one-way trip. We can land, but without fuel we will never take off.”

He nodded. “Even if
we did take off where would we go?”

“So we are buying
only a little time.” She stacked the supplies she brought.

“Time
to come up with another plan.”

“That is the last of
the supplies. I’ll finish here, you go get Mara.” 

Justin carried his
sister to the skiff and, with Naomi’s help, gently laid her on a mat. Using
cargo straps, they secured her as best they could. 

“Stay here with her.
I’ll fly us down.” Naomi moved to the cockpit.

He strapped himself
into a nearby seat. “Hang in there Sis.” Reaching out, he took her hand.

She squeezed it as
the docking clamps released.

Looking forward,
through the cockpit window, the world below seemed soft and white. For several
minutes, the ship fell in a quick, but smooth, glide. He watched as the sky
slowly turned from black to dark blue. Increasingly the air buffeted the craft
until the flames of re-entry engulfed the ship in a fireball falling ever
deeper into the atmosphere. A lighter shade of blue greeted them when the fire
died away. The craft shot through wispy clouds.  Soon the billowy
whiteness engulfed the ship. With each moment the air became thicker and more
turbulent. Lightning crackled. The tiny skiff shook like a frightened child.

Naomi called over
her shoulder, “Did I mention it might be bumpy?” 

“No.”
This is
almost as bad as FTL travel.
He looked down at his sister. Her deathly
white skin unnerved him, but her eyes fluttered, assuring him she lived.  

Looking forward,
white clouds merged seamlessly with the snow-covered ground. The descent smoothed
and gradually individual mountains and hills emerged from the whiteness. A
fuzzy gray smudge came into view that slowly resolved into a hair-like line.
“Is that the runway?”

“Yes.”

Seems
narrow.
Moments
later, he felt a bump and the screech of the tires.  Much to his relief
they rolled down the icy smooth landing strip and stopped. The sun was already
low on the horizon.

After checking on
Mara he joined Naomi in the cockpit. He stared out at the frozen vista. 
How
does the runway stay clear while snow and ice cover everything else?

To his right were,
in the loosest sense of the word, ten or more buildings.  Blackened by
fire, windows broken and roofs collapsed, they showed little promise of
shelter. He sighed deeply and wondered if landing on the planet had been the
right decision.
All I need is one intact hanger.
 “How much power
do we have?”

“About eight hours.”

“Here is my plan.
I’m going to go out and….”

She shook her head.
“No. Don’t you see?” She gestured toward the window then glanced down at the
console. “We don’t have winter gear and it is -36 degrees.”

“It’s best I find
shelter before nightfall.” He stood and moved toward the back.

She followed. “Have
you ever been in real cold?”

“Not like this, not
freezing cold. Have you?” 

She nodded. “We need
to find coats, gloves, blankets so you do not kill yourself.”

There were no coats,
but together they found blankets, wrapped them around his legs, torso and arms,
and taped them in place. Justin found a worker’s cap that pulled over his
ears.  

“You look silly, but
now you at least you have a chance.” She handed him one last blanket. “Hold
this over your head and shoulders.” Looking him up and down she said, “I wish
we had found gloves.”

“I’ll return as
quick
as possible, but I’ve got to find a place, a hanger
maybe, where we can move the ship, find shelter and maybe power.” He stepped
into the airlock.

“
Here.
”
She handed him a light and
commlink
then reached out
and took his hand. “I tried to say something to you on the Titan ship, but…
well,
I need to say this—just in case.” She paused and her
countenance filled with determination. “I have loved you since the first time
we met.”

He smiled at the
words he had longed to hear. Stepping close to her, he grasped both her hands
and grinned. “The first time we met?”

“Yes.”

“That would have
been when you swung that steel bar at my head?”

She smiled. “Well,
maybe not the very first moment, but not long afterwards.”

“I guess you know
because of that mind probe thing that I love you too.”

Her face flushed as she
smiled coyly.  

Slowly he moved
closer as her eyes fluttered and closed. He wrapped his arms about her and
together they stumbled against the control panel.

Raging wind and snow
buffeted the two as the outer door slid open. Justin raised his arm against the
torrent outside.

Naomi pressed the
button to close the door. Brushing snow off, she asked, “Are you sure about
this? The storm is awful.” Looking out the portal she shivered. “Perhaps it
will be better in the morning.”

He walked to the
portal. The blizzard and the low sun limited visibility.
This may be a nice
day on this world.
“By daybreak the skiff will be out of power. We need to
find shelter.”

He opened the door
and stepped out into blowing snow. The feeble light cast a blue hue over the
snowy landscape, but he had only an instant to take in the view. Immediately
every centimeter of exposed skin numbed. Even his eyes ached as cold wind hit
them.

He ran across the
runway to a large group of buildings. 
The first
structure had been bombed or burned or both.
  When he touched the
metal wall, cold seemed to scorch his fingers. Coming to an intact building he
tried the door. Finding it locked he kicked it in and held up his light, but
found a collapsed roof and snow and
ice .

In the fading
sunlight, he saw a line of hangers ahead, but all were in varying degrees of
ruin.  Snow swirled out from between the buildings and piled into
corners.   

One reasonably
intact building—that’s all I need.

Shadows stirred at
the edge of his vision. He wondered if animals or people could be lurking
amongst the buildings, but dismissed it all as an illusion of the cold and
wind.
I’m probably the only living thing in a thousand kilometers.
The
thought numbed him as much as the cold that soaked deep into him.

Unable to move his
fingers he turned back toward the ship hoping to warm up and try again. The sun
was but a bright spot low in a dark sky.  It gave no useful light and
would soon drop below the hills. Then the darkness would be total. Intently he
looked through the falling snow for the skiff, but could not see it. He walked
on, unsure of his direction then stopped as the full realization hit him—he was
lost. He reached for the
commlink
in his pocket, but
could hardly hold it in his numb fingers, much less use it. He stumbled,
then
fell, losing the device in the snow.

His light glowed,
just out of reach, through the billowy whiteness. He tried to stand, but the
angry wind threw him down. His frozen fingers lost their grip and the blanket
flew away. Silent shadows darted at the edge of his light. He crawled for
several feet, then stood, stumbled and fell again.