The Dark Between The Stars

ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTEEN
GARRISON REEVES

The shadow cloud swelled near the Iswander ekti-extraction complex like smoke ripping through the fabric of space. Utterly silent, the black nebula reached toward the cluster of bloaters.

Lee Iswander’s face was markedly pale when he turned to Garrison. “I didn’t listen to your warnings at Sheol—I hesitated too long before I evacuated. I won’t make that mistake again.” He turned to the frightened-looking techs at the admin stations. “Signal our operations to evacuate immediately. All ships out of there! Follow emergency procedures.”

Elisa was angry. “We can’t give up without a fight, sir. You banked everything on this. It is your chance—”

“No, Elisa. We’ll pick up the pieces later.” He raised his voice, transmitted over the open channel, “All work crews, find the nearest escape vessel and get away from that cloud.”

The intercom echoed with distress calls, confused shouts. Evacuation alarms rattled through the connected modules. Ships at docking hatches and in landing bays were quickly crowded with people and launched out into the open, heading away from the bloater-extraction fields in every direction.

Alec Pannebaker called from the industrial yards, “But, Chief, this ekti hauler is fully loaded. I’m taking it up and out of here. That way, we’ll salvage something at least.”

“Only if you can do it safely. The facilities can be replaced—and we know there are other bloater clusters.” He turned to his wife and son. “I will not lose personnel again. Fifteen forty-three… that was enough.”

Garrison was relieved. “Thank you, sir. Seth, come with me to the ship. We’ll get as many aboard as possible. Mr. Iswander, we have room for your wife and son. Elisa, are you coming?”

Elisa placed herself at the doorway. “You’re not taking Seth away from me again.”

“I’m not taking him away from you. There’s no time for your nonsense. We’re getting out of here. You’re welcome to come with us.”

Iswander surprised him by interjecting in a firm, commanding tone, “Elisa, I need you to cooperate. Go with Mr. Reeves and your son, see that my family gets to safety.”

She blinked, taken aback that he would side against her. She rallied visibly, then turned to Iswander. “Yes, sir. You need to leave, too.”

He shook his head. “No. I’m staying here to wrap up. I can get away in my own cruiser, but I don’t want to worry about you. Mr. Reeves, thank you for your offer to take a few extra passengers. I am indebted to you.”

Arden said, “No. You have to come with us!”

Iswander frowned. “I have other responsibilities first, and your duty is to do as you’re told.”

Nodding to the industrialist, Garrison put a hand on his son’s shoulder and said, “Come on, everyone, let’s go!”

Elisa hesitated. Iswander said to her, “Leave! That is an order.”

The huge refinery vessels were gathering momentum, lumbering away from the bloater cluster. One panicked cargo ship accelerated blindly, slammed into a group of deflated bloater sacks, and exploded.

Around the extraction field, ships flew about like enraged insects from a stirred-up hive. Another evacuating ekti hauler had raced off without securing its cargo, and the heavy tanks of stardrive fuel tumbled out, spoiling the vessel’s weight distribution and sending it into a spin, which ejected even more ekti canisters. They spread out like unaimed projectiles, and one struck a small ship flying away from an extraction station that was still connected to a flaccid bloater. The tank exploded, ripping open the fleeing ship.

As he ran into the landing bay where the Prodigal Son waited, Garrison saw the explosion and expected the shock wave to ignite the bloater, which would cause another chain-reaction explosion… but they got lucky. The deflated sack did not catch fire.

Elisa grabbed Seth’s hand and hurried him into the Prodigal Son. When Londa and Arden were also safely aboard, Garrison headed for the cockpit while the others strapped in. In less than a minute, he had primed the engines and launched from the bay into the dubious safety of open space.