Starhold Vesta

Chapter 5.3

 John looms, hunching over the entrance of the Foot like a flakey gargoyle. He descends to follow us in as we enter and shut the hatch behind him. As soon as he's settled in his usual spot nestled in the myriad of tangled wires above our heads, I send us shooting toward the open field of stars.

I need to break the spell the news has over my thoughts. I don't want to sit alone with them anymore. "How are we going to tell Teeno and Nuna what we discovered?"

"Why do they need to know?"

His point is clear. None of this happened. We have the information, and now we have the option to do nothing with it.

This would be a fine option for me if it wasn't for one major detail. "I can't do anything now that I know what's happening."

"Isn't this the crux of the problem—that we don't know what the fuck is going on?"

"My dad is alive, Moon. He's alive and I know where he is." The tracker I put in Moyra clicks online. Her coordinates appear in my scanner as a yellow dot moving farther away. It leaps to a new location a few blips later. "I can't sit on that information without doing something. I need to get him back."

"I thought your father was the crotchety Black man."

"Knuckles? No. That's just a friend."

"You voluntarily initiate a video call with someone weekly who is not a parent?"

"If I could call Simon on my tab, I would. Unfortunately, he's being held hostage on a ship that's baking new grown-ass humans like goddamn loaves of bread." My emphasis on the last sentiment makes me grip the Foot's controls so tight, my fingers crack.

We travel in silence until the HMS Valediction appears in my view. The ship is bright, glossy, and gargantuan, just as I left it. The approach always brings a light smile and a flutter of relief at returning home. I initiate our docking sequences.

"Gunner, you are not cleared for entry," the dock worker squeaks over the comms.

"Excuse me?"

"You...uh. You are not cleared for entry."

"I have Captain Moon with me. We have to be cleared for entry. It's his ship."

"Captain Moon is cleared to return. Please use guest docking at the aft."

Moon smirks. "That's too bad for you."

I punch his arm and return my attention to the voice box at my console. "Okay. So Captain Moon is free to dock. If he drives my ship in, can we enter?"

There's quiet static where I expect an answer. The operator returns and, if possible, is more timid. "No, Gunner."

I slam my fist on the console. "Who is releasing these orders."

"These are the First Mate's orders," says a very familiar, very angry voice.

"Nuna?"

Moon's grin becomes a scowl. "To reprise our earlier conversation, this is why you should never try to be anything more with someone you work with."

I drop my head into my hands. "Nuna, you can't keep me out. I have to come home."

The static jumps. "You promised," she says, the hurt obvious in her icy tone.

We came back. We didn't go for too long. I get she's upset I left, but I didn't disappear without a trace. "I'm so sorry. I should have made sure to tell you myself where I was going."