Sol (The Silver Ships Book 5) (44 page)

“We won,” Willard said, “and we don’t have a commemoration of what went on here.”

“Yeah, my wife was telling me about how people used to commemorate big events in the old times, and I told Willard and Stremski here that it was sad that we didn’t do anything,” Lister explained. “I mean handing the high judges their heads has to be one of the greatest days across the system, and we stopped their admiral right here at Idona.”

“So, are you saying you want to make this crystal into a commemoration, a memorial, for the events of that day?” Patrice asked.

“That’s it, Lieutenant … I mean Patrice,” Stremski exclaimed. “A pad sapphire this big, this clear, is unique in all the system, and that’s what we are out here … unique.” The three miners puffed up, displaying pride in their faces and stances.

“You sure you don’t want to sell it?” Nikki asked. “That’s an enormous gift you’re talking about … an incredible gift.”

“It’s what our commemoration deserves,” Lister said.

“Besides, Nikki, we had a pretty good run out there,” Willard added and the three miners shared grins. They had a really good run. Inside the collector and nestled with the huge pad were numerous smaller specimens, each of which would fetch tremendous prices from collectors. After decades of just getting by on the rim, the miners had struck it rich.

“Okay, men,” Nikki said. “Patrice, please take possession of this crystal and take note of these men’s names. I want credit given for their gift. We have a memorial to design.”

As the three miners exited the office, Nikki looked at Patrice and said, “Did that just happen?”

“You mean did three loopy miners walk in here, dump a priceless and rare gemstone on your desk, and call it a memorial stone to our independence day. Yeah, I think so. And you know what, Nikki, I’m proud to have been here when it happened.

Two days before the last Harakens were due to leave Idona, an unveiling ceremony took place in the central rotunda located in the main corridor just outside the station’s administration offices.

Present were the miners, surrounded by their wives and children, Nikki Fowler, Reiko Shimada, the Harakens, and over 1,000 stationers and visitors. The station’s media department was broadcasting the event to the rim, and Z was transferring the signal to the probes across the system. Nikki would have been a great deal more nervous if she knew billions of people were watching the commemoration.

“I’m not an eloquent speaker … having not had much practice while hiding in Idona’s inner ring my entire life,” Nikki began. “But today, as Idona’s station manager, I’m truly proud to be present at this event. These three miners,” Nikki said, gesturing to the beaming men at her side, “reminded me that something momentous happened at Idona almost a year ago, and we did nothing to help us and our children remember those days. They convinced me that we needed a memorial, and they donated something so rare, so unique that it will command the attention of anyone who passes by this memorial for as long as this station or its next iteration occupies this space.”

Nikki nodded to Patrice who pulled off the covering of the memorial, and a gasp went through the crowd. A designer of mineral displays, the one whose works Reiko had admired, was commissioned to craft the memorial. He used a dark, embossed, black metal hexagon base to lift the gem into the air and then wrapped a deep, copper-colored band around the top of the base on which to inscribe the dedication. The beautiful sapphire crystal column stood on its own base at the top. It was encased in display glass, which passed light from inside the base and into the gemstone from all directions. The pad sapphire shone, its delicate pink and orange colors mixing as if the light came from within it.

“This memorial commemorates the extraordinary period during which Idona Station changed, beginning the moment the Harakens arrived,” Nikki continued. “We’ve heard some people call the Harakens aliens, and some refer to them as our distant human cousins. On Idona, we will always call them our friends. Our miners, Stremski, Willard, and Lister, said it best. This crystal is unique in all the system, and that’s what this memorial called for, because that’s what we are out here … unique.”

Nikki stepped back and the media department’s cam drone closed in on the gem for a better view. Then it dropped to the engraving, which circled the base, and slowly followed the words to allow the people of Sol to read it too. The inscription read: “In the year 837 UE, 253 men and women of Sol sacrificed their lives to preserve the dignity, opportunity, and freedom humans should grant one another as a matter of course. They did so because seven alien humans gave their lives to show us we should. Idona Station extends its deepest gratitude to our friends, the Harakens.”

Two days later, the last Harakens on Idona Station packed up and said farewell to their hosts, leaving the system of Sol much better off than when they found it — a valued tenet of the best of visitors.

Haraken

Alain de Long – Director of security, twin and crèche-mate to Alain, partner to Tatia Tachenko

Alex Racine – President of Haraken, partner to Renée de Guirnon, Star Hunter First (Swei Swee name)

Assembly – Haraken government representatives

Cedric Broussard – Z’s New Terran avatar

Central Exchange – Haraken central bank, directed by the SADEs

Cordelia – SADE, Julien’s partner

Darius Gaumata – Fighter/traveler captain and pilot

Darrin Hesterly –
No Retreat
chief medical officer

Deirdre Canaan – Wing commander

Edouard Manet –
Last Stand
captain, partner to Miko Tanaka

Ellie Thompson – Wing commander

Espero – Haraken city

Étienne de Long – Director of Security, twin and crèche-mate to Alain, partner to Ellie Thompson

First – Leader of the alien Swei Swee hives

Founding Day – Celebration of the founding of Haraken

Franz Cohen – Wing commander

GEN – Machine designed by Julien to help New Terran technology

Hive Singer – Mutter, SADE, who sings to the Swei Swee in their language

José Cordova –
Rêveur
captain

Julien – SADE, Cordelia’s partner

Libran-X – Powerful explosive discovered and made by the Librans

Lucia Bellardo – Wing commander

Michael “Mickey” Brandon – Senior engineer, partner to Pia Sabine

Miko Tanaka –
No Retreat
captain, partner to Edouard Manet

Miranda Leyton – Z’s femme fatale avatar

Mutter – SADE, Hive Singer to the Swei Swee

Nua’ll – Aliens who imprisoned the Swei Swee before they became Harakens

People – Manner in which the Swei Swee refer to their collective

Pia Sabine – Assembly member, partner to Michael “Mickey” Brandon

Renée de Guirnon – First lady of Haraken, partner to Alex Racine

Robert Dorian – Assembly member, commander of military pilot training school

SADE – Self-aware digital entity, artificial intelligence being

Sanders – Traveler copilot to Darius Gaumata

Sean McCrery – Deceased fighter/traveler captain, friend of Darius Gaumata

Sheila Reynard – Fighter commodore

Star Hunter First – Swei Swee name for Alex Racine

Swei Swee – Six-legged friendly alien

Tatia Tachenko – Admiral
,
partner to Alain de Long

Terese Lechaux – Medical expert

Z – SADE

Méridien

Con-Fed – Méridien language

Confederation – Collection of Méridien worlds

Independents – Confederation outcasts, originally exiled to Libre, rescued by Alex Racine

New Terra

Clayton Downing – Former president of New Terra, convicted and imprisoned

Maria Gonzalez – New Terra president

Sol-NAC – Language of the New Terrans

Tara – Computer on board Alex Racine’s
Outward Bound
explorer-tug

United Earth (UE) and Earthers

Alicante – Captain of the
Lazy Pleasure
yacht

Antonio García –
Reunion
mission commander, UE speaker

Berko – Militia major on moon base

Borden – Captain of the
Vigilance

Boris Gorenko – UE scientist, medical background, immigrated to Haraken

Charnoose – Pro-naval captain, later acting commodore

Dahlia Braxton – Pro-naval commodore

Darwoo – Captain, pro-naval

Desmond Lambros – Sleepover owner aboard Idona Station

Diaz – Militia sergeant aboard Idona Station

Dimitri Agaloo – Privateer

Edmas – Teenage rebel boy aboard Idona Station

Edward – UE scientist, lead physicist, mathematician, immigrated to Haraken

Enclave – Fifteen-member group of high judges who elect the three Supreme Tribunal members

Faring – Militia major aboard
Vigilance

Fliklight – Luminescent tags for the tunnel rats aboard Idona Station

Francis Lumley –
Reunion
captain

Gardia – Lieutenant undercover against the judiciary enclave

Ginny – Deaf child aboard Idona Station

Giuseppe Lucchesi – Supreme Tribunal member, judiciary

Guide – Generic name for the controlling computer on UE ships

Hanford – Militia sergeant aboard Idona Station

Hawkins – Lieutenant in Missile Command on the
Guardian

Heywood – Judicial force destroyer captain

Ian Brennan – Supreme Tribunal member, corporate

Irving – Pro-naval captain promoted to acting commodore

Jason – Burn-scarred child aboard Idona Station

Jorre – Tug captain of the
Homeward Bound

Jodlyne – Teenage rebel girl aboard Idona Station

Kwan Woo – Supreme Tribunal member, military

Li Chong – Space admiral, supreme leader of the UE naval forces

Lindling – Militia major in command aboard Idona Station

Lister – Miner out of Idona who donated Idona Station’s memorial

Liston – Freighter captain of the
Treasure Chest

Livingsworth – Militia lieutenant masquerading as wealthy traveler

Lydia Yelstein – Shuttle pilot at moon base

Marlene Elliot – Militia noncom at moon base

Needler – UE personal weapon fires high-speed poisonous darts

Nema – UE scientist, immigrated to Haraken

Nicolette “Nikki” Fowler – Rebel commander and granddaughter of Idona Station director

Olawale Wombo –
Reunion
lead UE science administrator, immigrated to Haraken

Patrice Morris – Militia lieutenant aboard Idona Station

Patricio Bunaldi –
Hand of Justice
mission commander, UE high judge, killed at New Terra

Pauline – Idona Station horticulturist and friend of Jorre

Priita Ranta – UE scientist, immigrated to Haraken

Provo – Militia lieutenant in league with Weevil’s plan

Reiko Shimada – Captain of the UE destroyer
Conquest

Sendra Deveening – UE commerce head

Shelley – Captain of the UE battleship
Guardian

Stremski – Miner out of Idona who donated Idona Station’s memorial

Stunstik – Militia weapon that stuns with darts

Supreme Tribunal – UE highest political system

Tankerling – Captain of the UE destroyer
Dauntless

Tarek – Notorious hauler-tug captain

Terrine – Captain, pro-naval

Theodore Portland – UE judiciary admiral aboard battleship
Guardian

Theostin – UE Admiral aboard the
Hand of Justice,
killed at New Terra

Torres – Ensign in
Guardian
Engineering

Tribune – Member of the Supreme Tribunal

Ullman – Admiral in command of last judiciary force in inner zone

Vic Lambert – Rebel second-in-command at Idona Station

Weevil – Sixteen-year-old dying boy who steals an ore grubber

Willard – Miner out of Idona who donated Idona Station’s memorial

Yoram Penzig – UE scientist, philosopher, immigrated to Haraken

Yun – Militia captain aboard Idona Station

Planets, Colonies, Moons, and Stars

Callisto – Moon at Sol’s Jupiter

Ganymede – Moon at Sol’s Jupiter

Haraken – Home of the Harakens in the Hellébore system

Hellébore – Star of the planet Haraken

Libre – Independents’ ex-colony in Arno system, now home to the remaining Swei Swee hives

Méridien – Home world of Confederation

New Terra – Home world of New Terrans, fourth planet outward of Oistos

Niomedes – New Terra fifth planet outward

Oistos – Star of the planet New Terra, Alex Racine’s home world

Sol – Star of solar system where Earth is located

Tethys – Moon at Sol’s Saturn

Ships and Stations

Bon Vivant
– Luxury yacht pirated by Dimitri Agaloo

Ceres Station – Site of a rebel launch, resulting in docking arm destroyed by judicial forces

Challenge –
UE destroyer, Captain Irving in command

Conquest
– UE destroyer, Captain Shimada’s first command

Daedalus
– UE cruiser, Commodore Shimada’s new command

Dauntless
– UE destroyer

Guardian
– UE battleship under Admiral Portland

Hand of Justice
– UE battleship under High Judge Bunaldi, destroyed at New Terra

Homeward Bound
– Reclamation tug captained by Jorre

Idona Station – Crossroads station located near Sol’s Neptune

Last Stand
– Haraken carrier

Lazy Pleasure
– Hijacked UE pleasure yacht, captained by Alicante

No Retreat –
Haraken carrier

Outward Bound
– New Terra explorer-tug, originally captained by Alex Racine

Reunion
– UE explorer ship

Rêveur
– Haraken passenger liner