Outcasts of Gideon

The Spirit-Spout

Lieutenant Ulkos opened his eyes. Had he been asleep? Was he still dreaming? The ship didn't seem familiar. The faces certainly weren't.

A woman appeared too close, causing him to press his head into the pillow. This was a face he'd seen before. "Welcome back," she said.

He wasn't prepared to speak. His mind was racing through the faces he'd known. The voice was almost familiar as well. Surely he knew this person.

"I've never been through stasis myself. I hear it's disorienting. Is it?"

Stasis. Why was he in stasis?

He felt hands on his arms. They were helping him up. These were strange uniforms. Nothing like his. They were less functional, less practical. The Patrol wouldn't wear uniforms like this. Of course, the Patrol had changed.

"Lieutenant Ulkos, do you know where you are?"

He turned his head. She had a pleasant smile. "I'm Alexa Demberel. Do you remember me?"

The fog began to lift. "From the Faustus?"

"That's right. The Faustus. You've just come out of stasis."

He glanced around at the room. There were fewer people now. The others had gone. Only Miss Demberel and one other remained. She sat too close. Behind her was another woman, more official looking. An officer?

"The Faustus."

"Yes, we are a corporate vessel from Mars."

"Mars?"

"That's right. Heading to Mars, in fact."

"But we have to go to Earth."

Miss Demberel frowned. She turned and looked at the woman behind her. Looking back to Lieutenant Ulkos, she smiled. "I have Captain Burglind here. She can help you sort that out."

"Lieutenant Ulkus. It is my pleasure to help someone from the Saturn Patrol." Captain Burglind extended her hand. It was smaller than he expected. He shook it gently. "Euphemia has enjoyed a long and mutually fruitful relationship with the Patrol."

Things were still seeping into his mind. It had been so long since he'd been in stasis. He didn't recall what that last time was like. This experience left him wondering if he'd ever do it again.

He let go of the Captain's hand and attempted to stand. Miss Demberel reached to his shoulder, holding him down. "You might want to wait before you get up, Lieutenant."

She was right. His head began to swim. Standing wasn't an option.

"Lieutenant, I accepted you onboard without knowing much about your needs. If they go beyond Mars, we can arrange for you to be transferred to a ship traveling where you need to go."

He shook his head from side to side. The dizziness didn't afford him much more of a response. He tried to form words, but they didn't come easily. He looked up at the Captain, his mind a muddle. "Uki Gakuto." He said the words slowly, like he was learning to speak again.

"Uki Gakuto?"

He closed his eyes. The image of a ship appeared in his mind. Was that the name of the ship? He nodded to her. "Uki Gakuto." This time, the words flowed better.

"Uki Gakuto? Is that a person?"

"A ship."

"A ship. You were pursuing this ship?"

He nodded.

She lifted her comm device and spoke into it. Before her appeared a hologram catalog. He couldn't make out what it included, but he assumed she had access to transit schedules. "The Uki Gakuto was a late addition to the system queue on the other side of the bubble. They were headed to Earth."

"That's where I need to go. How soon can we start our burn?"

"Lieutenant, I'm sure you understand that I have a schedule to follow myself. I can't simply break off and travel to Earth. I would need to get authorization. Additionally, we started our burn to Mars while you were still in stasis. You are enjoying the gravity from that burn as we speak."

He hadn't thought of that. He was sitting up. There was pressure pushing him down. He thought it was about one G. Maybe more. That explained the dizziness.

What had he told them to get onboard? A dangerous criminal? He wasn't certain. That was most likely. "I can appreciate your position, Captain. Can you at least confirm that the Uki Gakuto went to Earth? I was pursuing a violent criminal."

Captain Burglind addressed her comm again. She flipped through a number of screens. Her finger traced along the holographic image. "Actually, the ship was rerouted. They are heading to Luna. Under quarantine."

Quarantine? What would have caused that? He wasn't actually chasing an aggressive criminal. In reality, he still didn't know who he was pursuing. What he did know didn't indicate contamination. "Captain, what authorization would you need to turn this ship toward Luna?"

* * *

He was taking a big risk. Perhaps the biggest of his career. Of course, crossing through the empty had already been enough to end that career. Here he was on the flight deck of the Faustus presenting himself as a representative of the Patrol. One call to Titan and this ruse would explode in his face.

He'd gotten the Captain to contact her superiors. He stood as erect as he was able in zero G. Floating didn't lend itself to an imposing presence, but he tried his best.

"Lieutenant, I would rather you secured yourself below. I can inform you of our corporate office's decision."

"Captain, I am here to help resolve this issue as quickly as possible. Every minute we delay means danger for the people of Luna."

The Captain motioned to someone seated nearby. "Mister Wandile, please give your seat to the Lieutenant. I will call for you when a decision is reached."

Lieutenant Ulkos shifted aside as the young man abandoned his seat. The crewman went below while the Lieutenant buckled himself in.

"Lieutenant, do you have any idea why that ship was quarantined?"

"My guess is that something happened on it. The person I'm pursuing is very unpredictable. I hope I'm able to get there before anyone is hurt."

The Captain nodded. She turned toward her monitor and switched to an external view. She typed in a command and the external camera shifted. Lieutenant Ulkos could see Earth in the corner of the screen. At this distance, Luna was too small to be clearly visible. Despite this, it was easy to pick out from where he sat due to an intense point of light on the moon's surface. "What the heck is that?"

"I have no idea." The Captain activated the comm again. "Central, this is the Faustus. We are seeing something anomalous on Luna. Can you confirm?"

"Faustus, this is Central. Can you define anomalous?"

"Something bright. So bright we can see it from over two hundred million klicks out."

"Confirming." The comm went silent for several seconds. "Faustus, this is Central. We confirm an anomaly on Luna. We're three hundred out and we can see it."

"Thank you, Central." She terminated the connection. "Well, that might influence their thinking."