“Good morning,” Galluzzi greeted, snapping out a two-fingered salute from his brow. For today he’d worn his dress uniform. It felt good, professional, to be dressed for the part. Not that there were any illusions left when it came to his crew or the scientists. Not after a decade of living in such close quarters. But today, for the first time since inverting symmetry outside of Neptune’s orbit, he’d be face-to-face with total strangers. Powerful strangers. And they would judge him.
“You ready?” Begay asked wryly. “I’m so wound up I could almost scream. Half of me wants to get up and dance, another part of me wants to throw up.”
“Hard to believe. I know,” Galluzzi replied. “But we’re still not out of the shit. We’ve got a couple of months left before we’re in Cap III orbit. And there’s no telling what’s going to happen when we finally inform the Unreconciled that we’re closing on the planet.”
“Do we have to tell them, Cap?” Second Officer Paul Smart sat at the com console and worked the photonic data.
“Might be better,” Turner said, “if we just established orbit first. Shut most of the ship down. Then, when there was nothing left to go wrong, we could let them know.”
Begay shifted uneasily. “Just leave them in the dark? Then spring it on them? Surprise! We’re here.”
Galluzzi, who’d been wrestling with the problem for days, raised a worried brow. “We’re in uncharted depths. And remember, it’s not our sole decision. There’s Supervisor Aguila to consider. She’s the Corporate authority here.”
“Captain?” Second Officer Turner called, voice tense. “Might have been our synch that’s off, but the signal’s coming in.” He bent to his projected holo data, using his hands and implants to manipulate the photonic gear and refine the signal.
Shit on a shoe. I’m not ready for this.
Galluzzi gritted his teeth, slipped into the command chair. Fought to control his trembling hand. He stared at the communications holo, dark now for a decade. The realization that he was about to face a strange superior sent an eerie chill down his spine.
The image formed up, faces magically appearing as if out of empty air. Then, under Paul Smart’s and the Vixen com officer’s competent control, the photonics linked and the projection seemed to solidify.
Galluzzi was looking at a raven-haired woman, perhaps in her thirties—though with the benefits of Corporate med, who knew? What would have been a very attractive face was lined with fine white scars. Scars? On a Corporate Supervisor? The piercing blue of her eyes had a laser-like intensity. In her form-fitting black suit, the woman exuded a sense of command, had to be Supervisor Kalico Aguila.
A small brown man sat at her side. Looked Indian, with a round face and flat-mashed nose. His unruly shock of thick black hair—graying at the sides—rose a couple of inches above his head. Curious brown eyes and an amused smile suggested an amicable nature. The biggest incongruity was the man’s dress. Like he was some peasant in a homespun brown shirt embroidered with yellow flowers, and a sort of shimmering rainbow-colored cloak hung around his shoulders.
“Do we have sound?” the blue-eyed woman asked.
“We can hear you on our side, Supervisor.” Galluzzi fought a tightness in his throat. “I’m Captain Miguel Angel Galluzzi, of The Corporation’s Ashanti. IS-C-18. Behind me is Corporate Advisor/Observer Benj Begay. Seated to his left is Scientific Director Michaela Hailwood.”
“I’m Corporate Supervisor Kalico Aguila, in charge of all Corporate property and activity on Donovan. What you probably know as Capella III. With me is Shig Mosadek, one of the administrators of the independent town of Port Authority.”
An independent town? What the hell was that?
An eyebrow lifted, rearranging the woman’s scars. “Welcome to Donovan, Captain. From what I gather, you’ve had a much longer and vexatious journey than you anticipated. I’ve reviewed your communications with Vixen. Somehow, I suspect there’s a lot more to your story.”
His hand began to jerk spastically. He stuffed it into his belt. Hoped Aguila hadn’t noticed. Forced himself to begin damage control. “We’ve had to make some difficult choices. Ashanti wouldn’t be here were it not for my crew, ma’am. No matter what, I want it on the record that they have acted with the utmost professionalism under difficult and soul-trying circumstances. We’re anxious for the day we can set foot on Donovan.”
“I suspect that you will find conditions on Donovan somewhat, shall we say, unique.”
Galluzzi felt like he was choking. Okay, get it over with. “Supervisor, we’ve got our own ‘unique’ problem. One of the reasons we’ve been looking forward to this conversation.”
Was that a lie, or what?
From behind, Begay said, “Ma’am, as the Corporation’s Advisor/Observer, I want you to know that I backed every one of Captain Galluzzi’s decisions when it came to the Unreconciled.” He paused at her blank look. “Um, the transportees, Supervisor. They also call themselves the Irredenta to signify their difference and isolation from normal human beings.”
Galluzzi quickly added, “Given circumstances, we’ve had to take some rather distasteful and unorthodox actions. While I appreciate the Advisor/Observer’s support, ultimately the responsibility is mine, and mine alone. Under no circumstances did my crew do anything but follow orders. They exhibited the most professional—”
The Supervisor cut him short with a raised a hand. “Start at the beginning, Captain.”
Like a man condemned, Galluzzi took a deep breath. “After a two-and-a-half-year transit, Ashanti popped back into our universe. For the first couple of days, we hadn’t a clue as to where we were. Just lost in the black. The reaction among the crew and transportees was dismayed to say the least.
“We didn’t have enough fuel to invert symmetry, restart the qubit computers, and run the math backwards in a bid to return to Solar System. Not only that, we were so far out in the empty black, the figures were pretty grim when it came to hydrogen/oxygen scavenging.”
“I can well imagine, Captain. Go on.”
“After Astrogation Officer Tuulikki finally established our position, it turned out that we were zero-point-six of a light-year from the Capella star system. We made the decision to run for it. Used what was left of the fuel for a burn, fully aware of how long it would take to reach Capella. But we were moving, which increased hydroxy scavenging. Had a couple of months where we weren’t sure we were going to make it. At least until we hit the break-even point.”
Call that a mild understatement.
Aguila’s expression remained inscrutable, and in association with the scars, it suggested that he was dealing with one hard and tough woman.