Wreck of the Nebula Dream (11 page)

“Check the small panel under your thumb,” the Brother said, his tone disbelieving. “Does it not say
Star Dream
?”

“Are you telling me they equipped this ship with recycled emergency gear?” Mara’s eyebrows rose to her hairline, and she inhaled sharply.
 

“No time to worry about it. I’m keeping mental score for later.” Nick gave her a small smile, handing her the lamp. “Here, you hold the light for us. Khevan, give her yours, too. Let’s see what we can do about shifting some of the debris, and maybe the kids can crawl out to us then.”

“But the mother –” Mara’s voice trailed off as Nick stared at her, keeping his face blank.

Nick and Khevan managed to move some of the lightweight panels out of the way, only to be faced with a tangled pile of circuitry, luggage, clothes and, finally, when they dug far enough, the door to the bathroom, which had been blown inward and warped to block the entrance to the children’s room.

“Paolo, are you okay?” Mara called, as Nick and Khevan took a break to assess the best way to proceed.

“Yes.” There was a pause. “But Mommy’s not awake yet. Gianna’s frightened.”

“Well, she’s a very little girl,” Mara reminded the boy soothingly, exchanging glances with Nick and Khevan. “She’s lucky to have a big brother like you.”

“Did you – did you see my dad anywhere?”

Mara sighed. Taking a deep breath, she answered cheerfully, even while making a sad-faced grimace to Nick. “No, sweetheart, I didn’t find him, but I’ve got the next best thing out here – a Special Forces captain and a D’nvannae Brother. Exactly like in an adventure holo, you know? They came for you and Gianna.”

“And Mommy.” The boy’s voice wavered.

Hand to her mouth, Mara nodded. “Yes, they’re here to help your mother, too.”

Nick dusted off his hands and rolled his shoulders, wincing with pain from the earlier collision with his bed frame. “I’m going to crawl under and see if I can’t force the bedroom door to open wider. Then the kids can make their way to me or I’ll work my way back to where they are. Either way, I’ll get them out. Mara, take the first child, and head for the undamaged corridor area. Get beyond the blast door inlet, got it?” Nick made sure she acknowledged this critical safety instruction. “Don’t come back in here once you’ve gotten out. No matter what.”

Wrapping his hands in torn clothing from the mess on the cabin floor, Khevan got a firm grip on the edges of the warped bathroom door. Exerting maximum effort, the Brother was able to raise it enough for Nick to wriggle under, then worm his way through the partially open door of the second stateroom. He shoved his way into the darkness of the children’s bedroom, pushing the hand lamp in front of him, trying not to think about all the hundreds of tons of debris piled above him. Standing up as soon as he cleared the threshold, lamp in hand, Nick faced a tangled mess, hardly recognizable as a bedroom. The bulkhead flexed intermittently in an alarming fashion, accompanied by the shriek and groan of overstressed metal.

Not much time before the wall goes and we go with it.
Sweeping the pale light over the room, he found the children huddled together against one overturned bed. “Hi, remember me? I’m Nick. I was on the shuttle with you guys a few days ago.”

“You took the knife away from the lady. And you rescued Gianna when she was drowning.” Paolo nodded in the gloom. He got up and pulled his sister forward, dragging her with one chubby hand clamped around her wrist. She eyed Nick dubiously, left thumb firmly planted in her mouth, the other hand clutching the big teddy bear.

“Okay, Paolo, you seem like a pretty level-headed trooper,” Nick said, squatting to be at eye level with the boy. “We need to get out of here as fast as possible. You see the outer wall there?”

Paolo nodded. “It’s going to break, isn’t it?”

Nick tried to be reassuring. “We’ll be long gone first. Now, can you help me get your sister –”

“Her name’s Gianna.” The boy pushed his sister closer to Nick.

“Help me get Gianna to crawl out through all the mess to my friends? We’ve made a tunnel for you. She’ll have to leave her toy, though.”

The girl hugged the bear tightly and shook her head, trying to retreat from her brother and Nick. “Won’t,” she informed Nick, taking her thumb out of her mouth briefly.

“Sweetheart, we have to go. It’s going to get pretty windy and cold in here soon.”
Don’t scare her, if she retreats deeper into the wreckage, might not be able to retrieve her.
With an effort, Nick kept his voice level and calm.

“Carry me.” She raised her arms to him, the bear dangling in one grubby hand.

“Sorry, I can’t, there isn’t room,” he said with a small laugh, reaching out to tousle her hair. “We have to crawl. It’s like a game but really important. Tell her, Paolo.”

“Captain, what’s going on? Did you find them?” Khevan yelled from the other side of the debris barrier. “We’re running out of time.”

Nick ignored him, focusing on the scared children. He kept his voice reasonable. “Okay, Gianna, I tell you what, you go first and then your brother will follow. The bear and I’ll bring up the rear.”

She regarded him solemnly with huge eyes. “Promise?”

“I promise.” Hurriedly he crossed his heart.

She thrust the bear at him. “He’s not a toy. His name is Huntington the Bear.”

Good thing no one I know is here to see this.
Nick took the bear, said, “Hello, Huntington,” and tucked it under his arm. Gently clutching the girl’s shoulder with his free hand, he steered her to the small crawlspace he had come through, right outside the bedroom door. Paolo followed.

“I’m sending the girl through,” he yelled, then moved aside to let Gianna creep on her hands and knees. “See the light?” he asked, pointing down the tunnel to where Khevan’s hand lamp gleamed faintly.

Gianna nodded, her curls bobbing.

“Crawl straight to the light, and be careful not to get your clothes or your hair snagged on anything, okay? Stay low.” Patting her shoulder, Nick waited while the child wriggled down the tunnel, stopping once or twice to look back at him for encouragement.

The next seconds were an eternity to wait. No sooner had Khevan shouted he had her and she and Mara were going out into the main corridor, then Nick nodded to Paolo. “Go ahead.”

The boy blinked. “My mommy –”

Give the kid credit, he doesn’t want to leave his mother behind.
Nick squeezed Paolo’s shoulder. “I’ll check on her. You go ahead.”

“She’s dead, isn’t she?”
 

 
Too calm by half. Probably in shock
. “I don’t know,” Nick said. “If I can get her out, I will, okay?”

“Okay. Don’t forget my sister’s bear.” Paolo pointed at the plush creature.

“I won’t,” Nick assured him.

“It’s important.”

“I got it, kid.” Nick snapped him a salute with his free hand.

Nodding gravely, Paolo got down on his knees to enter the escape tunnel. Nick made sure the boy was well on his way before searching for the missing mother. The beam of the hand lamp swept across a broken, bloody figure on the deck, all the way across the room, lying partially underneath half the ceiling.

Beyond my help
. Nick crossed the cabin anyway and felt for a pulse. Finding none, he gently closed the woman’s staring eyes. At least her last sight had been of her two children, safe and unharmed beside the beds, which was some small mercy, Nick supposed. He stood up and took one final look at her. “We’ll take good care of them for you. I promise.”

The wind volume had definitely picked up as Nick crawled through to the main cabin. The weight of the debris had forced the top of the small passageway downward, and at one point he wasn’t sure he could force his way through to safety again. Taking a deep breath and shimmying as flat to the deck as he could get, Nick managed to push past the chokepoint with more damage to his shoulder. Part of the makeshift tunnel crumpled behind him as he rose to his feet in the outer room, winded.

There was no sign of Khevan or Paolo. Nick sprinted out of the suite, down the corridor, dutifully clutching the bear as promised. He had to fight the ever-increasing air pressure, as the
Nebula Dream
’s atmosphere was sucked toward a widening breach in the hull further aft. Larger pieces of debris pulled loose from the tangle, flying past him dangerously on their eventual way out into space. Even the carpet was tearing itself free in spots from the adhesive laid onto the deck to keep it secure. Nick got entangled in one large square of the heavy fabric as it sailed off, losing precious time in his escape attempt.

Tucking the bear inside his shirt as he ran, Nick tossed the nearly useless lamp away, needing both hands free to grab at whatever could be used as handholds along the corridor walls.

He heard Mara screaming at him to hurry. Raising his head, squinting against the grit and dust in the air, which was now practically at gale force, Nick realized the blast door was belatedly attempting to block off this section of the corridor. He was probably about ten yards from life or death.

He had to beat the ponderous door.

Khevan was attempting to delay the closure of the door, but powerful drive motors were inexorably shoving him aside. Still, his effort might buy Nick an extra second or two and make the difference.

“Run, Captain!” shouted the Brother, digging his feet into the carpet, back to the door, extending one hand toward Nick. “For your life!”

Working his way down the corridor as fast as he could, pulling himself along using any remaining light fixture, open door frame, or protrusion along the way, Nick determinedly gained ground. He reached out his left hand for Khevan’s grasp. There was less than a yard and a half clearance remaining before the corridor was closed off for good. The escaping air was a solid force, pulling Nick toward certain death.

Locking his grip on Nick’s wrist, Khevan pulled with a superhuman effort, yanking the captain through the portal to the other side. They fell to the deck as the blast door slammed shut and locked, inches away from their booted feet.

CHAPTER FOUR

The sudden silence was deafening. Nick’s ears rang from the changes in air pressure. Mara and the two children stared at him from an alcove where she had wedged herself, keeping them safe, leaving Khevan free to concentrate on Nick’s rescue.

Exhausted by the battle against the escaping atmosphere, Nick rolled slowly over, covering his eyes with one arm, breathing deeply.

“Are you okay?” Mara clutched Gianna closer to her.

 
“Chest hurts. From the inside out. Like when I had pneumonia as a child.” He sat up with an effort. “Give me a minute.”

Khevan got to his feet, leaning drunkenly on the wall for a moment, bent over with his hands on his thighs, shaking his head at the close call. Then he straightened, walking to Nick, hand out to help him stand.

“Truly, the Lady lent me strength at the last moment,” the Brother said, clapping Nick on the shoulder, then pulling him to his feet. “The blast door was going to lock you into your tomb. I thought you were doomed.”

“Yeah, it was a close call. Thanks for the extra effort.” Nick worked on breathing. “Feels like a knife in my chest when I inhale. Maybe a cracked rib.” Reaching into his shirt, he produced the stuffed animal.

“What in the name of space do you have there?” Mara asked.

“Meet Huntington the Bear.” Nick extended the bear to Gianna, who stepped away from Mara, took the toy without a word, and immediately resumed sucking her thumb.

“Bet you were afraid I’d lost him, weren’t you?” Nick said, smiling.

She nodded solemnly, took her thumb out of her mouth long enough to say, “Thank you,” and gave the bear a big hug, hiding her face in the soft, brown plush.

Mara pulled the girl into her arms, looking over her head at Nick. “And their mother?”

Nick locked gazes for a second with Paolo, neither saying anything. The boy was braced for whatever was coming.
This is the hardest thing I’ve ever faced, delivering this news to a child.
“I’m sorry, son, there was nothing I could do for your mother, nothing anyone could have done.”

Paolo shut his eyes and his whole body quivered for a second. Nick wanted to offer some comforting word or gesture, but was afraid of breaking the fragile hold the boy was keeping on his self-control. “I knew it,” Paolo said, half to himself.

Nick glanced at Mara and then over at Khevan. “She was under half the bulkhead,” he told them softly. “Must have been instant. Probably didn’t feel a thing.”

“Where’s my mommy?” Gianna asked. Her eyebrows drawn together suspiciously in a vee, forehead wrinkled, she stared from one adult to the next, tugging on Mara’s hand.

“She’s gone on another lifeboat, sweetie.” Mara improvised, giving Nick a fierce glare, as if daring him to contradict her.
 

Coughing to clear his lungs, Nick managed a nod.
This was not the time or place to try explaining harsh reality to a three-year-old. Watching Paolo absorb the hit of his mother’s death was hard enough. Gianna’s too young to truly grasp the concept of death, and its permanency.
 

Mara picked the toddler up, juggling the stuffed animal. “We’d better get on an LB ourselves, don’t you think?”