Ascending - James Alan Gardner [56]
“She exploded in empty space,” Festina said. “I was watching the vidscreen myself.”
Uclod rolled his eyes. “We are so fucked.” He looked to Lajoolie as if waiting for her to agree, but she barely responded. The big Tye-Tye woman was attempting to hide behind foggy Nimbus, as timidly fearful as when she first met me.
Apparently, Lajoolie was poor at dealing with strangers.
“What’s wrong?” Festina asked.
I did not know if she was asking why Lajoolie was frightened or why Uclod looked dubious about Starbiter exploding on her own. Since Lajoolie would not enjoy a discussion of her cowardice, I decided to take charge of the conversation. “Your Science devices are blind,” I told Festina. “The evil stick-people can obviously deceive your machines…and if Starbiter did not completely incapacitate the villains, they may be creeping up on us even now.”
My friend called to the back window, “Still nothing on the sensors?”
The unseen lieutenant answered, “Negative, Admiral.”
“What about communications?” Uclod said. “The Shad-dill were jamming all signals in the neighborhood. Did you detect that?”
Festina’s eyes narrowed. “We are having problems—we lost contact with the Admiralty navigation grid a few minutes ago. The techies are looking into it.” She glanced at the window. “Do we have communications back, Lieutenant?”
The voice from above answered, “Not yet, Admiral. Still running diagnostics.”
“Shit.” Festina peered sidelong at Uclod and Lajoolie. “You’re saying there’s a ship our scanners can’t pick up, and your Zarett smashed into it at some outrageous speed. We don’t know how much damage the impact did…but since our communications are still being jammed, the enemy wasn’t completely annihilated. Just fucking wonderful.” She turned back to the window. “Lieutenant—my compliments to the captain, and could we get the hell out of here at maximum speed?”
“What heading, Admiral?”
Festina glanced at me. “No point in going to Melaquin now,” she said, “and it’s a long way back to New Earth.” She turned to the window. “Aim for the closest inhabited planet—doesn’t have to be human. If we end up facing an invisible ship, let’s surround ourselves with witnesses.”
A Christening
We left the receiving bay with the horde of mooks clattering behind us. Festina apologized, but said it was now official fleet policy for outsiders to be watched at all times.
“And I’m afraid,” she added, “the ship has dispatched nanotech defense clouds to keep an eye on your Zarett.” She turned toward Nimbus. “If any of your component cells go wandering, they’ll be imprisoned immediately.” She gave an apologetic shrug. “The High Council has recently developed a phobia about unsanctioned microbes aboard navy vessels.”
“I don’t intend to spread myself thin,” Nimbus assured her. “I have to concentrate on my responsibilities.”
“He has a child,” I whispered to Festina. “A baby girl.”
My friend’s eyes went wide. “An egg? A living egg?”
Nimbus rippled the mists of his belly, revealing the little ball nestled inside. “Not an egg,” he said. “A very young child.” His misty hands reached in to caress the baby. “As soon as possible, we should discuss her care. Nutrition, immunization treatments, optimal environmental conditions—it would be best if we could find an adoptive mother, but I can bring up a child on my own if necessary…”
Festina was not listening. She knelt in front of the baby, her eyes shining. The front two mooks were also gazing at the infant with dewy sentimentality, though they endeavored not to show it.
“She’s beautiful,” Festina said in a hushed voice.
“She is stringy and gooey,” I clarified. “No doubt she is an excellent Zarett, but she is most unattractive, Festina. Is there something wrong with your eyes, or have you been crazed by an uprush of hormones?”
Festina chuckled and got to her feet. “Don’t be jealous, Oar; I’m not going dizzy with maternal urges. But I like eggs—I adore eggs—and a little creature who resembles an egg, even if she’s already hatched…” Festina turned her eyes toward Nimbus’s foggy head. “What’s the