Shadow of a Burning Star: Book One, The Burning Star Series

  “When do you introduce me?” Jupe asked him.

  “How’s that?”

  TC had come to check the monitors for himself. Jupe wondered if he doubted his ability, or perhaps if he was trying to sabotage the ship; not that Jupe hadn’t contemplated doing that, to alert the UDE patrols to his plight. But he knew that if they were caught then he would be classed as part of the crew, and just as much a criminal as his father. Jupe also wondered, given TC’s shameless use of his fame, if he might then convince the patrol that he was the great hero Johnny Beggs and he should go free. He also considered that TC would not care if they then dragged his son away to some remote prison base.

  “When do I meet the passengers?” Jupe pressed, seeing TC was in no mood for the conversation; as if he ever was.

  “You don’t.”

  “You can’t keep me here … ”

  “That’s exactly what I’m going to do. They don’t know about you and that’s just the way it’s going to stay. I can’t have you wandering into their cabins, telling them how you were forced to fly.”

  “I won’t—”

  “It’ll upset them, and I don’t want my people upset, no more than is expected. I want them content and purring, and not the slightest bit curious. To see something unexpected, like crew they didn’t know about, will make them jittery. I don’t like jittery passengers.”

  “So you’re just keeping me on the flight deck?”

  “No, you can’t see that either now. Just stay here. Keep the room clean. You can contact us through the com if you have to, but try to keep that to a minimum. I’ve never liked using the coms.”

  “Why can’t I see the flight deck? You said I was going to have access.”

  “Nothing to see up there, so forget it.”

  “Isn’t that why you forced me along? Teach me about this space travel business? Wasn’t that how it went?”

  “You know all you need, for your age. Probably too much. You know more than I did at your age. No, it’s best you stay here. We can loosen it all up after we get the passengers out. Then you can see the flight deck, and if your mood is better, I’ll let you fly for a while. Going home is always more fun.”

  “Fun? What do you know about fun?”

  “I know you don’t think much of me. And I know I probably haven’t helped much, if you’re ever going to change that view. Fact is, what you have, and where you are, millions of people back on Earth would kill for the chance. You’re in a spaceship. People only dream about such a thing, to travel out into deep space.”

  “They dream about it because they don’t know the reality of it.”

  Jenna came looking for TC and was startled when she saw Jupe, and then could not hide her embarrassment. Jupe looked at her and realised that she was uncomfortable with him there.

  “Sorry to interrupt,” she said.

  “Jenna, I was just telling my boy about how well versed he is at this space travel game. If I had his knowledge when I was his age, I can’t imagine what I would have done. A ship like the Burning Star? The whole galaxy to fly it in? Back then there was no Ancia, and no hype to rush to colonise it.”

  “You know he’s keeping me prisoner here?” Jupe said to her, more to get a reaction from TC.

  “We are all a prisoner to space,” TC said with an odd haunting tone, “that vast empty void, cold that kills, heat that kills. Everything in space kills.” Then he rocked out a loud laugh. “And humans are the worst. Any aliens out there, they should run if they see us coming.”

  “We’ve broken the bad news about the cleaning,” Jenna reported, having heard enough of TC’s rants. She knew that next he would go from mocking UDE’s alien search to despising Baxter Gammond. It would leave him bitter and angry. TC could be very predictable.

  “It’s cleaning time,” he said, delighted at the news. “And they took that how?”

  “As you’d expect.”

  “Who took it worst?”

  “Morgan Calp.”

  “Yeah, as I expected. I made no mention before we left. But now, what’s he going to do? If he doesn’t do the work, the others will turn on him. But if he does, he feels bad. Probably start to hand out money for others to do his work, and that’s when I’ll give him a big shout. They’re all equal on my ship. All lowly cabin-hands. Jupe, see what you’re missing? Rich man’s whining. Rich man not getting his way. So sad for the rich man.”

  “You know I don’t know who Morgan Calp is,” Jupe said, agitated that he was powerless to help the passengers, when someone like Jenna was allowed to mix with them. Jupe had little time for Jenna, since he knew that she was one of Cuthbert’s girlfriends, and everyone knew he usually became bored with his women. Jupe would quickly tell the passengers that TC was having fun with them, and he would do it just to annoy TC.

  “Unfortunately, I know all about him,” said TC.

  “You’re doing the cleaning joke?” Jupe asked him. “Why’re you playing with them?”

  “Standard fare for passengers on long haul voyages. Give them something to do, make them feel useful. Nothing worse than having bored people in your way. They end up causing nothing but trouble. If there’s anything you can’t have aboard a long-haul flight, it’s people getting their noses into what they shouldn’t.”

  “Even the kids?”

  “Brushes and all. Hard to keep a straight face. That’s why I get the Wilsons to do it. I swear, if I looked them in the eye and saw their horror, I wouldn’t be able to hold back, and laugh right in their faces.”

  TC saw that Jupe was not amused, and he was disappointed with him. He had planned to encourage him on his good work, but instead he left without another word, thinking that he might just leave him in there for the entire voyage.

  * * * *

  TC was in his pilot seat, with every monitor switched to something different. He wanted to give the impression that he was very busy, and this meeting was a sign of his openness and generosity. If anything did come up of the screens, of an object that might collide with the ship, the warning alarm would sound, and that would be sure to scare anyone. Regardless of how much danger they were in, they would still have at least ten hours to react, since they were so far away from anything at all, and the ship’s scopes were so good at tracking such things.

  “Yes, captain, I have a complaint,” Morgan said, a little overwhelmed at the sight of the bridge, with all its lights flashing. He never felt at ease in foreign environments anyway. “It appears your crew have requested the passengers clean the ship, myself and my family included. Since nothing was said of this pre-flight, I find it most irregular and absurd. What do you have to say about that?”

  “Complaint?” TC asked with a startled look. He then acted as polite as he could without laughing. “You want to lodge a complaint? Would that be a formal complaint?”

  “If that is what it takes.”

  “Then a formal complaint shall be lodged.”

  “Thank you for that.” Morgan waited for something else from TC, and then realised that he should leave.

  “But I hope you do realise the importance of keeping a clean ship,” TC said when Morgan was almost through the door. He bit his tongue to keep back a smile.

  “I am sure the reasons are valid.”

  “Bacteria grows so much faster out here in the deep. It is a common problem.”

  “This is the thing. We are not arguing against the validity of ship cleanliness.”

  “Then what are you up here asking me?”

  “It is that since we are paying passengers …”

  “I see …”

  “And not part of the crew …”

  “I understand that. You know I do. But you do realise, doing the cleaning work, not only stops us being overrun with bugs, it also is a very good way to pass the time.”

  “Pass the time? You are not serious?”

  “You think I’m not serious? Do you not see all these controls behind me? Do you know what any of them do? Would you like to sit here
and have a go? If you think I might be incapable of flying this ship, then perhaps I should be relieved of my duty? Or, perhaps I might know a little more than you about how to run a ship in the deep? How about you return to the passenger area and do as you have been asked, and I’ll stay here and get us safely to our destination?”

  Morgan saw that he was in no position to argue. TC let him leave, and as soon as he did TC shut off all the unnecessary monitors and rushed to the Wilson’s room, where they had been playing cards. Raucous laughed followed as TC recounted the conversation. But even then, he still didn’t spend much time with them.

  * * * *

  Some parts were small and a struggle to fit through, but that made Dorrington all the more determined. He was small for his age, but stronger than usual, and he looked to every problem like it was a challenge that he must conquer. Anything that caused him to be told off by his parents, only increased his determination. When he found that he could fit inside the walls of the ship, it was his ambition to go as far as he could, exploring every bit of it. He paid no thought to the fact that some walls were close to the outer hull, and if there was a slight breach he could die. Such thoughts belonged to negative people like his brother and sister, and his parents. He was always the only one who saw the adventure in day-to-day life, and it was no different when being on board the Burning Star.

  When he was first told that they were going to Ancia, he jumped and hooted, and yelled and screamed, and told everyone he knew, and Westminster hit him for it. His father then instructed him to keep the plan quiet, as it needed to be a secret. Their attitude made him cry. It was his sister Maddison who helped him by showing him videos of the planet they would soon call their home. He wanted to climb every tree he saw, and swim in all the rivers and lakes, and run through the grassy fields. No one, he was certain, would tell him he couldn’t. Not on the new world. There were no Earth laws on the new world.

  The tangle of wires could sometimes became like a net around him, or vines in a jungle, and that was how he imagined it. A few times he thought he was caught for good, and he might need to yell out for help, but he just calmed down and waited until he figured out the best way out. He would amaze himself each time he succeeded, and that gave him more confidence. It was like he was moving through the innards of a living creature, discovering how the ship worked by getting closer to it than anyone else could. He also imagined himself fixing the ship, and that he was a vital member of the crew.

  When the passengers were told to clean and keep away the bugs, Dorrington wanted to show that he was the best, and go into the ship’s inner workings to get them. He took with him a can of Terro bug repellent, but the tangle of crawling through wires caused him to lose it. No matter, he thought to himself, I’ll just squish bugs with my feet.

  This time he had gone further, and he no idea where he was. His foot hit a loose panel, and seeing light underneath, he decided to see what the room was. Then someone ripped the panel off, and Dorrington had to grip at a bunch of wires to stop himself from falling into the room.

  “Where did you come from?” Jupe asked him, holding the panel. He was more shocked than angry.

  “Are you a passenger?” the boy asked, trying to understand who this person was.

  “I’m one of the crew. I’m Jupe.”

  “Dorrington Calp.”

  “Hello, Dorrington. Nice name.”

  “How come I haven’t seen you?”

  “You wouldn’t have seen me. I’m restricted from the passengers."

  “Why? Do you have a disease or something?”

  “It’s a long story, but no, it’s not a matter of disease. Are you with Morgan Calp?” Jupe knew that Morgan had children with him, but they all looked the same to him.

  “My father.”

  Jupe dropped the panel and helped Dorrington down into the room. The boy looked at him with a big satisfied grin, like he had achieved the impossible.

  “You were not meant to be up in there, were you. I didn’t know anyone could actually get in there. I can’t believe you did that. I’m not sure TC’d think much of that. How far have you crawled?”

  “You think I would have done that, and be here now, if they told me to do it?”

  Jupe looked at him for a moment and then nodded his approval.

  “I have to go back,” Dorrington said as he began to climb up into the hole. “They might be missing me. But I’ll be back to see you again, okay?”

  “Bring some food next time, would you?” Jupe asked, not entirely kidding.

  Dorrington looked back and said he would, and was sad at the thought of Jupe not having food.

  “You know, you’re braver than me,” Jupe said seriously. “I didn’t want to go on this flight, but here you are, a boy, not scared of leaving everything behind and going off into the unknown.”

  “It wasn’t my idea,” he replied, and then gave a frightened look, like Jupe’s words struck him, before disappearing back the way he had come.

  Jupe laughed to himself and thought that he never tried getting behind the walls when he was the boy’s age. He looked at the walls and wondered if it was because he didn’t know it was all open inside there, or if he was not that brave.

  “What are you doing, Jupe?” he asked himself. “That kid is braver than you ever were, and all you’re doing is sitting around moping, feeling sorry for yourself?”

  At that moment he decided that he needed to treat his circumstances as both a learning opportunity and the adventure that it surely was. No matter what his father thought.

  * * * *

  As the youngest of the family, Dorrington was never taken seriously, like he was still the baby and always will be. He was determined to show everyone how far he was prepared to go to make them see him as an adult. His discovery of Jupe made him convinced that he would be seen for whom he was, possibly the most important member of the family. He rushed back the way he had come, this time marvelling at how fast he made it through the cramped and dark places.

  After checking that no one was there, he crawled out from the wall next to his bunk and replaced the panel. He then ran to find his parents. They were not far, cleaning the secondary showers and arguing about it.

  “There is a man with his own room,” he blurted to them. “Trapped in there. Not a passenger. I talked to him. He’s real nice.”

  “Who’s trapped?” Morgan asked remotely as he mopped the floor near the door. He was not sure of the exact right way to use the mop, and felt stupid for it.

  “A man in a room, all secret.”

  “What man? Where was this?”

  “His name was Jupe.”

  “Was it one of the Wilsons?” Taylor-Marie asked as she removed her gloves and put them on the floor, like the conversation required her to stop her work.

  “No, it’s one we haven’t seen,” said Dorrington.

  “Have you been going into the walls again?” Morgan asked, now realising that his son had been up to mischief.

  “It was a different person, a man they hiding from us,” said Dorrington. “He has his own room.”

  “Is this the truth, Dorrington?” asked Taylor-Marie.

  “I saw him,” he said, becoming impatient with them.

  “That makes me nervous, Morgan,” Taylor-Marie said as she put her arms around Dorrington, “and you know I hate to get nervous. They shouldn’t have people we haven’t met. We should know who is aboard and who is not.”

  “Dorrington, answer me now,” said Morgan. “Did you go back into the ship’s walls? And did you find a room we don’t know about? And this room has a man we have not yet seen? Is that what you are telling us?”

  “Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes and yes,” the boy said.

  Morgan leaned on his mop and nodded, agreeing with her and trying to not show his fear in front of his youngest son.

  * * * *

  TC’s mood had changed since he last agreed to see Morgan. This time he did not bother to pretend that he was watching the ship
’s monitors. What Morgan thought now, he didn’t care. Since laughing with the Wilsons, the pain of realisation about the flight hit home. He went back to his cabin and started a new bottle of vodka. Every now and then he cursed Gammond for finding Ancia and causing him to be relegated to flights such as this one. Suffering people like Morgan Calp. He despised such people, who thought themselves privileged because they had money. The fact that such people had helped him begin his space career, he did not care to remember. All that he cared about was that they were in space and he was the captain. It was his ship, and his decision where they would go and what they would do. If one of the passengers wanted to constantly complain, the voyage would become all the longer. To TC, the passengers were just freight; all high-maintenance and fragile, but still freight and nothing more.

  “I can’t believe you have not been truthful with us,” Morgan started, not noticing TC’s glare. “You’re taking us all the way out here, deep space, and you are not telling us everything about your ship. I want answers. I want to know the full story.”

  “What are you talking about?” TC asked, agitated, his drunken state not really noticeable aside from his on-edge temper. “What haven’t I told you?”

  “There is other crew.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He slurred slightly but Morgan missed it.

  “I know there’s other crew. Show him to me.”

  “Or what?”

  “What?”

  “Show him or what will you do?”

  “So you admit there is other crew?”

  TC shook his head and wondered why he was being forced into this conversation.

  “Have you been drinking?”

  “Got to drink to survive. And eat.” TC then sniggered at his own joke.

  “I will go and tell the others,” Morgan said, meaning both news of the extra crew, and TC’s state.

  “Tell them what, that you’re crazy? That you’re seeing crew who aren’t there? You’ll be at your Ancia soon enough, sooner than you think, and then you can leave me and my crew—real or imagined, in peace.”

  Morgan saw that TC wasn’t going to admit to it, so he played the trump card he had been withholding. “His name’s Jupe.”