Captain Cosette (16 page)

As she ate, Cosette looked around at the aging dining hall.  The entire base had the feeling of an abandoned farm, the paint peeling and the windows unwashed or broken.  In contrast, the Union space station had been clean and polished, constantly tended by unobtrusive robots.

Private Tiebout came in and another man went to take her place monitoring the skies.  She sat by Major Dyson, picked up Rasora’s untouched cup and finished it off without taking a breath.  “So,” she said.  “Four Union battleships in orbit.”  She wiped her mouth with her hand.  “I’m going to stock up the rumbler; looks like we should head coastal and go native.”

“
I’m off to the fishing village on the west side,” said Private Riling.  “It’s small, and I have a wife there.  Do I have a wife there?” he asked the short man sitting next to him, who nodded.  “Yessir,” said Riling, his white teeth flashing as he grinned.  “Looks like the fishing life for me.”

“
This little creature making noises,” said Tiebout, pointing a piece of fish at Riling, “is one of the natives of Aquataine.  Bunch of retarded inbred fisherman, but we’re hoping to rescue the breed.”

Cosette must have looked puzzled, because Riling leaned forward to explain. 
“Us natives have been living here forever, happy as a
flemni
in a bean patch, when this ship lands and out jumps this bunch of white giants who announce they’ve come to bring us civilization.  Nothing but trouble ever since.”

“
But, if you don’t mind me asking, you’re human?”

“
Oh, sure,” said Tiebout, poking her dried fish into the dip.  “Same as us.  DNA match and everything.  Fertile, too.  Some of us have gone native, so we say.”

“
But where did you come from?” Cosette asked Riling.

He shrugged. 
“Here, I guess.  We don’t know.  We were always here, from the beginning.  Nobody’s figured it out.  You, Cosette, you have blonde hair like these big people, but you’re short like us.  Your friend here, though, he’s not from these parts or your parts.”  He looked at Rasora.

“
I’m not from Sorine,” growled Rasora, “and I’m not from Old Earth either.”  His expression said that the subject was closed.

“
Say, miss,” said Riling to Cosette, “you don’t happen to be married, do you?  Maybe you know how to clean fish?”

She laughed. 
“I’m not married, and I can’t remember if I’ve ever cleaned a fish in my life.  I’m not anxious to do either.”

“
Pity,” said Riling.  He winked at the eye-rolling Tiebout.  “I could use another wife.”

“
I had a question,” said Cosette.  “Sergeant Cog…um….”

“
Sergeant Cogshank,” said Tiebout.

“
Sergeant Cogshank said there were worms and stilts outside?  What are those?”

“
Eh,” said Riling dismissively, “they’re no problem.”

“
Don’t say that,” said Tiebout.  “It was worms that killed that man with the fever that wandered off.”

“
Yeah, there was that,” said Riling.  “Look, you never heard of a stilt?”  Cosette shook her head.  “Okay, look, a stilt is a tree feeder, and it feeds on the top of the trees.  Starts out as a youngling feeding on weeds and then shrubs, it’s got four jointed legs and the body looks like an upside-down bird’s nest with a mouth on the bottom.  Every year the legs get longer and it feeds on taller bushes and then small trees.  The adults can straddle the tallest trees.”

“
They move slow,” said Tiebout, piling empty dishes.

“
Yes, but they’re quiet when they move and you might not notice them, except when they’re calling to each other.  If you don’t keep an eye out, you could be stepped on accidental-like.  But the worms, now, those monsters eat the sick stilts and the dead stilts.  Healthy stilts will just brush them off and go on feeding.  A worm is big enough, it can look you in the face.  If you see one, hurt it.  Shoot it in the body, or slice it, and it will crawl away.  We’re trying to teach them not to approach humans, but they’re dumb and if they start chewing away at you, they don’t let go.  So Cogshank was right, at least about the worms, don’t you go wandering around in the woods.”

The door banged open and a soldier rushed in. 
“Drone coming down from orbit!  Power down and into the hole!”

Cogshank jumped to his feet and issued orders.  Soldiers dashed out of the room to shut down the power, and everyone else hurried out the back door, along with Riling who had Garale by the collar and was forcing him to move.

What looked like a pile of firewood was actually a fake door that lifted to reveal stairs going down into a tunnel.  Rasora kept hold of Cosette’s arm as they descended what seemed like a hundred steps that ended in a large subterranean room with a dome-shaped metal roof.  Strips of harsh lighting circled the ceiling.

Steel rails crossed the room and extended into a large tunnel; two open cars with rows of seats rested on the rails. 
“It’s just a look-see drone,” said the soldier who sounded the alarm, and Cogshank ordered everyone to stay put.

Cogshank
consulted a wall monitor, and from his remarks, Cosette concluded that he was using a spy camera to watch the actions of the drone.

“
There she is.  Look at ‘er float.  They’re checkin’ us out.”  Everyone held still, as though by not moving they wouldn’t draw its attention, even though they were deep underground.  “It’s in the dining hall now.  Hope it can’t smell the chocolate.  Place looks abandoned, though, just like we wanted it.  Now it’s checking out the fighters.  That’s right, look them over good, you…”  He muttered a curse.  “Pieces missing on each fighter, nothing threatening.  It’s nosing right up to each one of them.”

“
That’s pretty good camouflage,” said Dyson.  “I thought you were just being sloppy on maintenance.”

“
We are,” Cogshank chuckled.  “But it’s good to have a reason for it.  Whoops.  There it goes, off towards the coast.  Maybe going to look over the fishing villages.  No problem with that.  The Union won’t trouble the natives, unless the Union’s afraid of being shot out of orbit by rifles.”

“
I don’t know,” said Riling, his dark face split with a wide grin.  “Some of our boys shoot pretty good.”

“
Everyone settle down and take it easy,” said Cogshank.  “In an hour we’ll go back up and check for activity.  Tiebout, you keep an eye on the monitor.” 

Cogshank and Dyson sat down against the wall with some other men to talk over the situation and
to catch up on each others’ history.  Cosette climbed up on a rail car and stretched out on a padded bench seat, taking the opportunity to rest.

The
Union
of
Planets
versus
the
Alliance
,
and
I’m
wearing
a
Union
uniform
,
a
soldier
in
the
Union
military
. 
Rasora
won’t
tell
me
about
my
family
until
I
remember
for
myself
,
but
maybe
my
father
fought
for
the
Union
. 
I
bet
my
father
fought
bravely
and
was
mortally
wounded
. 
As
he
died
,
he
asked
Rasora
to
protect
me
,
his
favorite
daughter
. 
Rasora
came
to
me
and
asked
me
to
marry
him
,
but
I
was
determined
to
avenge
my
father
,
and
I
turned
him
away
and
joined
the
Union
,
fighting
fiercely
until
the
accident
that
buried
my
memories
. 
He
follows
me
now
,
watching
over
me
,
hoping
my
memory
will
return
and
I
will
realize
the
futility
of
vengeance
,
hoping
that
I
will
put
my
arms
around
him
and
say
,
yes
,
yes
,
dear
Rasora
,
I
will
marry
you
…

“
Cadet Nicholas, I said get up.”

“
Huh?”  She blinked her eyes and pulled herself upright.  Riling was poking at her boots. 

“
We’re going back up.  Sorry to wake you.  You were smiling like you were having a nice dream.”

He helped her down from the rail car with his strong dark hand. 
“I was,” she said.  “Thanks for not leaving me here.”

“
You never know.”  He grinned so broadly his eyes wrinkled.  “You might change your mind about learning to clean fish.”

After climbing the long flight of stairs back to the base, she saw everything with fresh eyes.  The dilapidated appearance was deliberate, and yet the needful machinery was well tended.  It was a careful façade, meant to hide the remaining members of the Alliance.

Cosette chose a cot and put her duffel under it.  She took a hot shower in the women’s locker room, and changed into one of her ill-fitting and patched work uniforms. 

Now
I
look
dilapidated
just
like
the
buildings
.

She interrupted Major Dyson, who was in conversation with Cogshank. 
“May I go look at the fighters?” she asked.

“
Why would you want to do that?”

“
I know you need to get out of here.  Maybe one of them could be repaired.”

Dyson leaned back and considered her with his pale eyes. 
“And why would you want me to be able to leave?  You’re a Union soldier.  I think you would want to keep me here for the Union of Planets to recapture.”

“
Yes, I’m a Union soldier, but I told you I don’t remember why.  I do know the Union broke their word.  They didn’t honor the prisoner exchange.  That’s not right.”  She thought for a moment.  “They were willing to kill me and Rasora and even Garale in order to kill you.”

“
That’s true.”

“
Anyway, it’s something that I can do.  Right now we’re helpless.”

Rasora, who had been standing nearby, interrupted. 
“Can’t we just send a message to the Alliance and have them come get us?”

“
The only way to send a message that distance is to send a ship through folded space,” said Cosette.  “And if we can send a ship, Major Dyson might as well be on it.”

Rasora nodded quickly. 
“Oh, yes.  I knew that.”

“
So,” said Cosette to Dyson, “May I look at those ships?”

Dyson glanced at Cogshank. 
“We should let her try.  If she can fix up a fighter, maybe I can get back to the Alliance Headquarters.”

Cogshank furrowed his brow. 
“She could be planning on escaping to the Union and bringing them down on us, you know.”

“
I doubt it, but you’re right to be cautious. Post a man to keep an eye on her, but I want her to have a chance to work on a fighter.  We’ll see what that knowledge in her head can do.”

Cosette smiled at him. 
“Thank you, Major.”

“
You can thank me by getting a fighter operational.”

As she walked out to the fighters parked on the concrete, a soldier with a rifle took a position outside of the hangar, dividing his attention between her and some hand-held device.