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    Kumadai Run
    Kumadai Run
    Kumadai Run
    Ebook380 pages5 hours

    Kumadai Run

    By Jaleta Clegg

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    About this ebook

    If you ever find yourself as crew on a ship with newlyweds, don't go.
    Dace wishes she'd taken her own advice. But the route looked safe enough, until they spring a trap five hundred years old and end up trapped on a planet teetering on the brink of destruction.
    Book 4 of the Fall of the Altairan Empire

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJaleta Clegg
    Release dateDec 14, 2013
    ISBN9781310484841
    Kumadai Run
    Author

    Jaleta Clegg

    I love telling stories ranging from epic space opera to silly horror to anything in between. I've had numerous stories published in anthologies and magazines. Find all the details of my space opera series at http://www.altairanempire.comFor the latest updates on my stories, check out my webpage at http://www.jaletac.comMy current day job involves teaching kids to play the piano. I also love piecing quilts together, crocheting tiny animals, and watching lots of bad 80s movies.

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      Book preview

      Kumadai Run - Jaleta Clegg

      Chapter 1

      If you ever find yourself as crew on a small ship with newlyweds, don’t go.

      I winced as another thud sounded against the wall. Jasyn and Clark had been married a little over a month. The first couple of weeks were peaceful, for me, because they were off on their honeymoon. I had the ship to myself.

      Things had gone pretty well the week after that. We were headed out of the Cygnus sector and into a part of the Empire where I’d never been. Hopefully, the Targon Syndicate didn’t reach that far. I still had a price on my head.

      Another thud sounded against the wall, along with some muffled shouting. I swiveled the pilot’s chair and leaned back to close the door of the cockpit.

      I heard more muffled shouting. I didn’t want to know what it was about. I’d made the mistake of getting involved in their first fight, something about socks. I refused to even listen to either of them now. It was their fight, they should resolve it.

      Things got ominously quiet. I stared at the streaks of light on the viewscreen and wished we were a lot closer to our destination. We still had at least five days of hyperspace travel.

      We were hauling a load of medical equipment and supplies that needed to get to Parrus as soon as possible. The shortest route there, the Kumadai Run, was the trickiest, passing through two active nebulaes and skirting at least one black hole. Most people didn’t even attempt it. We were promised a huge bonus if we could deliver the supplies in less than ten days. Jasyn, the navigator and co-owner, said it wasn’t a problem. I signed the contract.

      We were over halfway there and so far the only problems had been between Clark and Jasyn. The ship flew smoothly and the route hadn’t given us problems. Five more days and I could find some excuse to get away from them for a while.

      The door slid open. Clark dropped into the copilots seat. I snuck a look at him. His green eyes, normally full of mischief, were angry.

      She locked herself in the cabin again, he said. I don’t understand her.

      I stared at my controls and wished he would go away. I didn’t want to be dragged into their fight. I didn’t want them to insist I take sides. He didn’t get my subliminal message.

      Dace, help me. You know her. You tell me why—

      I don’t know what to tell you to do.

      He sighed heavily and lounged back in his chair. She’s so unreasonable about things.

      I would have got up and left but there really wasn’t anywhere else to go. He was going to make me part of the argument whether I wanted to be or not.

      She asked me how she looked in that new dress she bought. So I told her and she started throwing things at me.

      I sighed and put my head in my hands.

      I told her she was gorgeous and she accused me of being shallow, of only looking on the surface. She told me I was just like all the other men she’d ever met. Except for the sainted Tayvis who can do no wrong.

      Don’t you dare bring him into this, I said.

      Sorry, I forgot, you’re just as bad about him. Clark folded his arms and looked offended. I could hate him. If he weren’t so easy to like.

      Why are you and Jasyn fighting over Tayvis? Are you jealous of him?

      Who wouldn’t be?

      But you’re the one who married Jasyn.

      Because when you’re there, Tayvis can’t see anyone else. He studied me a moment, head cocked to the side. And you’re just as bad.

      I felt the blush burning up my cheeks. And just what does that have to do with your fight with Jasyn?

      He grinned, watching my face turn red. I glared.

      His smile faded. He gave me a rueful look. I thought I knew her, Dace, but she won’t talk to me. She pushes me away. What am I doing wrong?

      I thought marriage was supposed to make you happy. I saw the hurt look on his face and immediately regretted saying it.

      Now I’m in here fighting with you.

      Just talk to her.

      That’s your advice? What do you think I’ve been trying to do? Jasyn won’t listen to me. You talk to her for me, please?

      It won’t do any good. I don’t want to get in the middle of your fight, Clark. You have to work it out.

      I don’t know how. She shuts me out any time I try. He sighed. I don’t understand her. My sisters aren’t like that.

      She isn’t your sisters. Or your mother.

      That’s obvious.

      Just go talk to her, Clark. She married you because she thought you were different from all the other men she’d ever met. Because you took the time to actually talk to her, not just drool over her. That’s what she told me. Have you ever asked her why she gave up navigating?

      I wasn’t aware that she had.

      She did, until she met me.

      What does that have to do with me?

      Clark, just go talk to her. It can’t hurt.

      It does, especially when she finds something heavy to throw. He rubbed his elbow. Dace, talk to her for me. Please. She’ll keep me shut out for days. She trusts you.

      She trusted you enough to marry you. You talk to her. I don’t want to be in the middle.

      Hiding won’t help me, Dace.

      It isn’t my problem, Clark. It’s yours and hers. I fingered a switch on the control board. I don’t know what to say or how to help. And don’t ask me to talk to her, because she’ll tell me everything you’ve ever done wrong. And I don’t want to hear it.

      Then tell me why she’s this way, Dace. You know her. You’ve been her friend for years.

      Months, Clark.

      He looked startled. I thought—

      You assumed. Maybe that’s why she’s mad at you. You keep assuming things. Try talking to her and actually listening.

      But she doesn’t listen to me.

      So?

      That stopped him. He stared at me for a long minute and then grinned. Thanks, Dace.

      You’re welcome, I think.

      He didn’t hear me, he was gone. I heard him knocking on their cabin door. Whatever he said was too soft for me to hear, but Jasyn opened the door. I heard it close again. The ship got very quiet. There was the quiet hum of the ventilation system and the low vibration of the engines. But no shouting, no objects hitting the walls.

      I wasn’t under any illusion that it would last. I’m the last person to ask for advice. I don’t know anything about relationships. I grew up in an orphanage, the bottom of the pecking order. No, make that beyond the bottom of the pecking order. Tivor wasn’t a nice planet when your parents weren’t outcasts. It was worse when they were. I was glad to be free of it.

      I relaxed in my chair, enjoying the momentary peace. I fell asleep, lulled by the quiet monotony of a ship that was actually running well.

      I was awakened by an insistent beeping. I reluctantly opened my eyes. It wasn’t an alarm. The ship still showed green lights. Everything was running as it should. The beeping was an alert from the com system. We’d picked up a distress signal.

      I swiveled my chair to face the com and punched in the key to call up the message. It was the signal from an automatic emergency beacon. I twitched a few controls to bring the signal in clearer.

      I was hesitant to answer it. The Phoenix was a fairly small ship. We weren’t equipped to do rescue work. On the other hand, we might be the only ship to pass along the Kumadai run for quite some time. The beacon was still fairly strong, which meant whatever had happened had happened recently. If we ignored the beacon and someone later found out about it, we’d be questioned about our decision by the Patrol. And possibly fined for not at least checking it out. But it could also be a decoy used by pirates to lure ships into a trap. It wasn’t a decision I could make by myself. I hated to interrupt Jasyn and Clark. I didn’t see I had much choice. I buzzed their cabin.

      What? Jasyn answered. She didn’t sound happy.

      We picked up an emergency beacon, I said.

      Be right there. She switched off.

      I worked on pinpointing the signal while I waited. Doppler shift indicated it was fairly close and we were coming up on it quickly.

      What is it? Jasyn asked when she came into the cockpit. She was dressed in her shipsuit, without shoes or makeup though.

      Clark came in behind her, looking a bit rumpled. He gave me a wink and put his hand on her shoulder. She leaned into him. Whatever the fight had been about, it seemed to be over for now.

      Emergency beacon, I said. It’s not far away. We’ll be up on it in about ten minutes. It’s only about half a light year off our course.

      We’ve got time, Clark said.

      But, I was going to list all the reasons I hesitated.

      The com crackled to life. The signal was very broken, full of static.

      Hesiphos calling. Engines are out. Damage is extensive to the cargo bays. The signal fuzzed into static. I flicked the dial and got the signal back. —casualties. Many more hurt. The signal crackled out again. I couldn’t get it back.

      They’re still alive, Jasyn said. We have to go.

      It could be faked, I said.

      She gave me a flat look. My parents would have survived if someone had answered their call. Three ships passed by them.

      I’d never heard details of how her parents had died, only that it involved an ore freighter accident. She’d been barely nineteen at the time.

      Then we’ll stop, I said.

      Chapter 2

      Clark slid into his seat as I turned back to the engines. Jasyn started on the scans while we ran through an emergency course change. We’d been cruising normal space through this section because the area was extremely difficult to traverse at hyperspeeds. Four more hours and we would have been clear and jumped back to hyperspace. We would have missed the beacon entirely. Clark dumped speed and brought us to a relative stop.

      Jasyn called out numbers, the heading for the beacon. Clark turned the ship and boosted speed again. I kept the engine balanced while he poured on the power. The Phoenix had a lot more speed than she should have, thanks to the engine pods Lowell, the Patrol commander, had installed when he'd commandeered my ship. If I’d decided to become a smuggler, I would have been very hard to catch.

      Jasyn had opened the panel hiding the more sophisticated scanning equipment Lowell had also left behind. I glanced over my shoulder. Jasyn frowned and flipped a few switches.

      What? I asked. I still didn’t quite trust the beacon. It was too convenient and we were in a very deserted stretch of space.

      Radiation is a bit high, she said. The beacon is coming in clear, though.

      Where? Clark asked.

      I glanced through the viewscreen. We headed straight for a red dwarf star.

      I’m working on it, Jasyn said.

      Clark dropped speed. I twisted my seat to reach the com board. I set it for an automatic scan sequence and listened. All I got were static bursts and the steady beeping of the emergency beacon.

      I can’t find any ships, Jasyn said. There are traces of something, but they’re old, years if not decades.

      The beacon is still there, I said.

      Clark slowed us further. I watched over Jasyn’s shoulder. She worked her way around the signal, narrowing down the field of search, focusing on the steady beating of the beacon. This area was crossed by a lot of debris trails and radiation echoes. With the nebulae and the nearby black hole, it was not unexpected but it wreaked havoc on the sensors. Jasyn worked quickly, eliminating the stray ghosts from the sensors readout.

      She narrowed in on the beacon, following its steady blip. And then it quit. It didn’t fade, it was there one second and gone the next. Jasyn stared blankly at the screen for a moment. Her hands flew over the controls, searching.

      I lost it, she said.

      I scanned through all the emergency frequencies ships normally used and quite a few they didn’t. The signal was gone.

      Clark started the ship moving again, cruising slowly into the system of junk around the star. Jasyn kept working, her hands slowing as she scanned more carefully.

      What was the ship name? I asked. Hespi-something? I pulled up the library comp and typed in a search. I got back four hundred and thirty seven possible ships.

      I got a reading on a planet, Jasyn said. Small, but it does have an atmosphere.

      Clark nudged the ship onto a course for the planet. The star grew larger in the viewscreen, a virulent red that looked far from stable. I turned on the radiation shielding.

      There was a loud ping on the ship hull. We all jumped. A series of smaller pings followed.

      Did I mention there’s a lot of junk in the system? Jasyn said.

      I flipped on the more substantial shielding. The shields would stop just about anything larger than a dust speck. Anything big enough to get through the shields was big enough we should be able to see it in time to avoid it.

      Clark slowed us to a crawl. Asteroids showed up all over the screens. They were dark, blasted by radiation into cinders. They were also big enough to smash our ship. I wondered why anyone would have risked their ship going into the system in the first place. There was nothing here except trouble. We picked our way carefully towards the planet. The shields ate power at an enormous rate as they deflected the smaller rocks away from us.

      Got it, Jasyn announced. They’re definitely down on the planet. That’s weird.

      What? Clark and I both demanded at the same time when she went quiet.

      There’s a huge gash in the surface. The atmosphere there is more than adequate. The rest of the planet surface is barely habitable. The signal is next to the edge. Wait. It’s gone.

      We were approaching an orbiting pattern.

      How about we just stay up here and check it out, Clark suggested. It doesn’t feel right to me.

      Jasyn shook her head. What if they’re still alive?

      Give me coordinates for the beacon and I’ll land, Clark said.

      Let’s stay up here for now, I said. Our shields are going to need recharged in about an hour. We can land then.

      The ship lurched to the side and started sliding towards the planet. Clark muttered under his breath as he checked the ship. I turned back to my own boards. The engines whined as they tried to hold us to the course Clark had set. Something was pulling us down to the planet. Clark pushed the engines to maximum, fighting whatever it was.

      Something in the controls gave with a bang and flash of light. Sparks flew across the controls. The smell of burned components filled the cockpit. The scanning screens flashed pure white, then went dark. Completely. She tried to reboot them, but the systems were dead.

      Where are we going? Clark asked over the growing sound of the engine rumble. He fought his controls, trying to keep us steady.

      Your guess is as good as mine, Jasyn answered.

      It was my turn to swear. I’d made several blind landings, the worst in a defective emergency pod. I hated not knowing where I was going. I hated not being in control.

      We’re going down, Clark said, unnecessarily. All of us could hear the sound of thin atmosphere tearing past the hull.

      He throttled back on the engines, no longer trying to fight whatever was pulling us in. Both of us worked to just bring the ship down in one piece. Without scans, it was going to be dicey.

      Air screamed over the hull. The temperature in the ship rose. Clark feathered the thrusters, trying to push us sideways. Each pulse of power yanked us farther towards the unknown planet. The hull creaked. I smelled burning fluid from the engine.

      Jasyn paused long enough to strap herself in before working on the scan equipment again.

      How thick was the atmosphere? Clark asked.

      Barely breathable, Jasyn answered.

      Clark cocked his head. Another burst of power dragged us lower. My stomach lurched. Clark hit the throttles. The ship tumbled sideways. I fell out of my chair, smacking my face against the edge of the control board. Clark pulled the ship around, goosing the engines. He counted as he pushed the controls. I scrambled back into my seat and belted in.

      Got it! A single glowing screen lit Jasyn's face. You’ve got two seconds.

      Another pulse grabbed us. Clark shoved the throttles wide open. The ship dropped and slammed into the ground. We bounced into the air. I fought the stabilizer controls, trying to keep us right side up. Clark goosed the throttles. We scraped along something hard, the ship slewing to the right. I hit the reverse thrusters. The ship slid to a bumpy stop. Clark slammed the controls for an emergency shutdown. The whole ship filled with greasy smoke.

      I pulled the release on my belt. It jammed. I yanked until it finally popped open. By then the smoke had started to clear. The ship was on emergency power, only a few lights glowed, mostly the ones in the cockpit. All of the boards that weren’t dead blinked with red lights.

      Not my best landing, Clark said. But we’re still in one piece.

      The ship isn’t, I said. Just once I’d like to actually fly a working ship for more than two weeks before something goes wrong.

      Most of the damage should be superficial, Clark said. I’m doing a complete shutdown.

      All of the lights, except one irritatingly dim red one, turned off. The ship sat silent except for the tick of cooling metal. Even the life support systems shut off. The silence grated on my nerves.

      Now what? Jasyn asked.

      We let everything cool down and then start it back up again and hope it works. I’d had classes at the Academy that dealt with this kind of situation. I’d also thought at the time that I would never have to use the knowledge. Flying a trader wasn’t supposed to involve crashing onto unsettled worlds. Or any of half a dozen other things I’d found myself doing over the last year.

      I reached under my board, fumbling for the emergency stash. My hand closed over the comforting bulk of an emergency light. I pulled it out and hoped the batteries still worked.

      The light stabbed out when I pushed the button. I stood and took one step past Jasyn. The whole ship tilted to the side with an awful grinding noise. I dropped the light as I grabbed for the empty chair. It rolled under the boards, its beam of light bouncing and flickering as the whole ship slid sideways.

      The ship ground to a halt, tilted to one side. We all froze, waiting. We could be sitting on the top of a cliff, ready to slide over at any second.

      Nothing more happened for a long moment. I slowly let out my breath.

      What did you say the planet looked like? Clark asked.

      Pretty flat, Jasyn answered. She didn’t bother to add that at the distance she’d done the scanning, flat meant less than a thousand feet difference. A thousand feet on the ground was an awfully long way to fall.

      And the air?

      It looked thin but breathable, Jasyn said. Which was also an estimate. There hadn’t been time to do decent studies.

      Do we take our chances? Clark asked.

      Do we have a choice? I pried my fingers from the back of the empty chair.

      The ship settled with another loud groan, the tilt leveling out. Almost. The light bumped against my foot. I picked it up.

      Now or never, Jasyn said. She walked into the main lounge of the ship.

      The ship was a small one but well designed. The cockpit was far forward. Most of the living area was a large lounge area with the galley tucked in the back corner. Four cabins opened off it on the other side. Access to the engine and the cargo bays lay at the back of the lounge, opposite the cockpit. The airlock was to the side, across from the cabins.

      Jasyn walked up to it and palmed the controls. Nothing happened.

      You need power to work it, Clark said.

      Her hands balled into fists.

      Then let’s get the power back on, I said.

      I ducked down the short stairway to the engine hatch. I pushed the manual overrides. The door opened slowly, with me pushing and swearing under my breath.

      A cloud of smoke billowed out, smelling of scorched insulation and tubing. I coughed and waved the smoke away from my face as I took a step into the room. The engine still radiated a lot of heat. I ran the light over it, checking the critical hoses and wiring.

      The damage wasn’t nearly as bad as I feared. A handful of pipes that needed replaced, along with some wiring and a few minor components. We had the parts and the tools to do all of it.

      I wormed my way out of the engine compartment, careful to avoid the hot parts. Clark waited in the lounge, leaning against the storage compartments just outside the cockpit. Jasyn still faced the airlock.

      Well? Clark asked.

      I walked right up to him. If I were you, I’d apologize to her, I said quietly. You and I have had the training to deal with this. She hasn’t. I’d been to the Academy and he’d flown for the Patrol for several years before joining us. Jasyn had learned it all on her own.

      She’ll hit me.

      And you deserve it. I pushed past him into the cockpit.

      I heard him cross the room. He said something quiet to Jasyn. She answered him sharply. I rolled my eyes as I sat in front of the controls. Being in space while they fought was bearable because I knew I’d have a chance to escape as soon as we reached our destination. Being stranded in the middle of nowhere with them promised to be miserable. For all of us.

      I hit the reset buttons on the boards and brought up the power.

      The ventilation system rattled then settled into its normal purr. The lights came on, low and yellowish. We would have to watch how much power we used. Reserve power should last a week, if we were careful.

      I turned to the scanners. From what I could see, most of them were hopelessly burned out by the energy pulse that had hit us. Only the sturdiest ones with the best shielding even pretended to work. I set up a few scans to run as calibration tests.

      I went back to the lounge. Jasyn and Clark still argued, quietly but fiercely, in front of the airlock. I butted between them. They glared at each other, but they shut up. I hit the door controls. The airlock hissed and complained as it slowly opened.

      I glanced at both of them. Are you coming?

      I’ll stay here, Jasyn said, looking down at her bare feet. Her toenails were painted an eye-burning orange.

      Let’s go, Clark said.

      Only for a few minutes, I said.

      The two of us crowded into the airlock. The door closed behind us. The stale ship air filtered out, replaced by a thin, cold air that carried the astrigent smell of crushed plants. The outer door slid open.

      Chapter 3

      Mats of vegetation covered the low swells of ground. A long gash plowed through it where the ship had come down. The crushed plants gave off a pungent, acrid smell. The plants to my right grew taller, rising to the height of small trees. Where we had landed the plants were knee high. Off to the left they dwindled, hugging the ground. A thin breeze blew from our right, rustling the plants. The sun was a swollen orange ball on the horizon.

      Sunrise or sunset? I asked.

      Judging by the angle we came in, I’d guess sunset.

      Then let’s not go very far.

      The boarding ramp refused to extend, jammed by the crash. I dropped the three feet to the ground. The bushes crunched under my feet, snapping with sharp brittle pops. The smell grew stronger.

      Clark pulled out his com. Jasyn?

      The com buzzed with static. He frowned as he twiddled the controls. The static wouldn't clear. He shrugged and tucked it back away.

      Gravity was only about half normal. I walked a few steps away from the ship. We were in a shallow hollow of ground. I walked a little farther, until I could see beyond the ship. Clark crunched behind me.

      I stopped at the top of the low rise and slowly turned, taking in the whole view. The land fell away in rippled sheets, the plants growing lower and sparser in the distance. To the west, the direction we’d slid when we landed, the plants grew taller and more diverse. The breeze that had been blowing steadily faded as the sun set. A thin purple glow rose beyond the trees. Stars began to show in the dusky sky overhead.

      What do you think that is? Clark asked, pointing to the west and the glow drifting through the trees.

      I don’t want to look in the dark.

      Scared?

      Trying to be smart about this. Something isn't right on this planet. I headed back to the ship. Each breath came harder. The cool air dropped quickly beyond freezing.

      I don’t think I like it either, Clark said as we reached the ship, his breath coming in thin puffs.

      I jumped into the airlock, easy to do under the lower gravity. Clark followed me in.

      I still had the creeps even after we’d gone through the airlock and locked it behind us. Jasyn had managed to bring the power back up, at least to normal planetside levels. She was busy in the galley, the smell of cooking made my stomach growl.

      What’s it like out there? she asked, without turning around.

      Weird, Clark said.

      Livable, if we need to, I answered.

      We lost most of the scanning equipment, she said. The memory circuits are scrambled. We do have the basic equipment still running, though. The scans didn’t make sense. She turned around to put a pot on the table.

      What did you pick up? Clark asked her.

      She ignored him, making it very clear that she was still upset with him. She looked at me instead.

      I’ll run the scans myself, I said. You finish your fight so we can move on and find a way out of here. I went into the cockpit and shut the door.

      I turned on the scanning equipment and set it for diagnostic runs, hoping that might clear some of the systems. The only functional unit was the basic one that had come with the ship. I set it for a full sweep.

      I leaned back in the chair while I waited for the results. In the vids and the books I’d read, marriage was supposed to make you happy. The vids always ended with the hero and the heroine riding off into a blissful sunset. Or something to that effect. In real life, I’d never had any close friends, until Jasyn. I’d never been on a date. I’d watched my roommates in the Academy dress up and go out, but I’d never been asked.

      Clark was asking my advice. As if I knew what he should do. Watching them fight tore me apart inside. It hurt to see Jasyn unhappy. It hurt even more to know that Clark was causing it. I liked him, in spite of everything. I wanted them to be happy, like in the vids. They’d both seemed so happy at their wedding. Was marriage only supposed to make you happy for a week or two? Was it supposed to make people miserable? Love was supposed to make everything better. It only seemed to cause pain.

      My own life wasn’t much better. Tayvis had told me he loved me. I admitted, at least to myself, that I loved him. He made me feel safe.

      The scanner beeped, finished with the first set of parameters. I pulled up the data and scrolled through it. It didn’t match what Jasyn had seen earlier. I found her data, what wasn’t scrambled, and compared the two. The air had grown much thinner since sunset. The temperature had taken a nose dive. I searched through the scans for the terrain map we'd grabbed on our way in.

      A huge gash marred the planet, running south to north for over three hundred miles, quite a span considering the planet was on the small side. When I matched that up with the scans for temperature and atmosphere, the areas of higher pressure and temperature matched exactly with the canyon.

      I typed in another instruction set for the scanners and set them to work again. My stomach growled, reminding me that I’d left dinner behind. I didn’t hear any sounds from behind the closed door but didn’t want to interrupt Jasyn and Clark. I dug through the emergency bin and found

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