Zach Hughes: Closed System

Corinne's eyes were unbelievably wide. Shelooked at Pat. One hand was up, two fingers pressedagainst her upper lip. She screamed once, and alook of agony was there as she ran to the com­municator.

"Brenden, Brenden," she cried, her voice strained."Brendennnnnn," she wailed, and fell limply into the chair.

"Admiral," said a young, tense voice on thecommunicator.

Pat stood across the console from Corinne. Shedidn't look up at him.

"Admiral Bluntz here, Gorben. You may report."

"I have taken the ship, Holiness."

"Very well," Pat said.

"Brenden," Corinne whispered.

"And the Brenden?" Pat asked.

"He is here, Holiness."

"Let him speak," Pat said. He handed the com­municator to Corinne. "Brenden?" she whispered. "I'm here, Cory." The voice was not the ebul­lient one of old. "Oh, Brenden," Corrinne sobbed. "Yes, you can sure pick'em, little sister," Brendensaid. "Pat, you there?" "I'm here," Pat said. "What now?" the Brenden asked. "I want Gorben off your ship," Pat said. "Then me, huh?" Brenden said, his meaning clear. "Then you're free to go," Pat said. "Go? Go where?" "Back to Taratwo," Pat said. "And what about you, little sister?" Brendenasked. "Were you with him?" "No, no," Corinne sobbed. "Does she go with me?" Brenden asked. "That's up to her," Pat said. He looked at her.He felt a great sense of loss, for her eyes blazedwith hate. Her sobs ceased. "You—you—do you actuallythink . . ." "I can only hope," Pat said. "But I guess love isn't that powerful, is it?" Before she could answer, Werner was back, asmile on his face. "The crew is neutralized, Holi­ness," he

said proudly, snapping into a salute. It was in that position that he died. He died with alaser beam cutting

a hole directly into the bridgeof his nose and into his brain. He died swiftly. Corinne turned the weapon on Pat so quicklythat he had no time to reach for his own. Indeed,he had no

desire to reach for a weapon to be usedagainst Corinne. He stood facing her, sadnesswelling up in him

for Werner, and for all the thou­sands of Werner's counterparts who had died onthe other ships, and for

the loss of the womanwhose emerald eyes blazed fire at him down thebarrel of a handbeam.

"I'm sorry," Pat said. "I am truly sorry, honey."

Her head began to move back and forth, and asound of agony came from her lips. He saw herfingers

tighten, her hand go white on the weapon.And then she stopped trembling.

"I can't kill you," she whispered. "I can't." "Thank you," Pat said. "But why, Pat?" she asked. "Why?" He shrugged. "I don't think you could under­stand if I told you, honey. Look. It's over. I wishyou'd

come with me, but I suspect you can't. Whydon't you get into gear and we'll transfer you overto the other ship. The two of you can handle her totake her back to Taratwo." "To wait for the forces of the UP to come andpunish us?" she asked.

"I'm afraid they'll at least want to be sure thereare no disrupters on the planet," Pat said. A tear grew and rolled down her cheek. "We had it all, Pat," she whispered. "We had it all and you threw it away."

"Admiral," came Gorben's voice. "Yes, Gorben," Pat said. "I have, in compliance with your orders, totallydestroyed the disrupter aboard this ship, and I amready

to join you, Holiness." "Very well, Gorben," Pat said. "Carry on." Corinne had holstered her weapon. He helpedher get into space gear. She was grimly silent. Andthen,

just before he lifted the helmet onto herhead, she said, "Kiss me, Pat." He kissed her lightly, and for a moment hopecame to him. Maybe, someday— Gorben and Corinne passed in space, and thenGorben was aboard Pat's ship and Pat had watchedthe

hatch close on Brenden's ship. Gorben lookedat Werner's body without emotion. "I'm sorry about Werner," Pat said. "He has gone to Zede, to his glory," Gorbensaid. "I envy him. I regret only, Holiness, that I am not with

the others." "In time," Pat said sadly, for it happened to allin time, and to some too soon. He sat down in the command chair. The thrusters on Brenden's shipwere beginning to glow. Nothing to do now but go back

and get the good old Skimmer and gohome. "Your orders, Admiral?" Gorben asked, stand­ing tall. "We'll go back to Dorchlunt in a few minutes,Gorben," Pat said. "I'm going to leave you in chargethere

until I come back, with others." "And then to Zede?"

"Or better," Pat said, wondering what X&A and the eggheads would make of Dorchlunt, and what

they'd do to integrate the remaining Dorchlunters into the UP. "It's all going to work out, Gorben.Trust me."

"Of course, Holiness," Gorben said.

Brenden's ship was moving. Pat felt a tightnessin his throat. He would gladly have traded thegalaxy and all its treasures for one small, curvy,auburn-haired girl.

Brenden's ship was moving across his bow, com­ing broadside.

"Holiness," Gorben said, "he is going to passdangerously near."

"It's all right, Gorben," Pat said.

He couldn't take his eyes off the ship, for tworeasons, the most painful being that she was on it.He held his finger poised over a certain button. He glanced over his shoulder. Gorben was gone. Hereached for the communicator button to tell Gorbenthat everything was under control, but his finger never reached it, for at that moment all the weap­ons on Brenden's ship, obviously under central control, opened up. A swarm of missiles shot out,and the projectile weapons fired intelligent shells, and the deadly beams reached for Pat's ship, siz­ zling the shield even as he reversed the movement of his hand and his finger shot toward the buttonwhich would take the ship away from the missiles,projectiles, beams on a blink which he'd pro­grammed into the navigation computer for justthis eventuality.

The screen went with an electrical distortionwhich caused his hair to stand up, and then hewas screaming as his finger hit the button and theship slid into that nowhere which is a blink, for inthat last instant before there was empty, clearspace in front of his screens as he reemerged hehad seen Brenden's ship glow.

He had screamed, "No, Gorben, no!"

Within minutes he was back, blinking his shipto within half a mile of the pride of the Taratwofleet, the Brenden's flagship. The ship was as dead,as empty of any mechanical, electronic, or life-form impulse, as was the ancient colony ship whichcircled Dorchlunt. Gorben had been trained toowell. In those few seconds he'd reached the disrupter,and in that split second between the firing ofBrenden's weapons and the blink, his superb reac­tiontime had allowed the beam of his disrupter tostrike Brenden's flagship amidships.

FOURTEEN

The ways of the gods, Gorben thought, are verystrange. They are not, however, to be questioned,even when a god does something as odd as intertwo human bodies encased in boxes in the earth. He had the honor of being on the detail whichhelped the God Fleet Admiral Torga Bluntz re­move the bodies of the red-headed ones from thedead ship, encase them in metal boxes fabricatedin the shops from valuable, ancient material, andthen bury them under six feet of the red earth ofDorchlunt.

Nor did Gorben question or doubt when the god used the weapons of his own little ship to destroy the last surviving Taratwo cruiser, with the last ofthe disrupters aboard.

"Admiral Bluntz," Gorben said, for, as the godhad said, now everyone could speak the sacredname openly, much to the chagrin of the priest­hood, "if I may be so bold, sir, will you return, inmy own lifetime, or is your return, with thoseothers of whom you speak, to be a matter of pa­tience and generations as was the period of yourfirst return?"

"In your lifetime, Gorben. A matter of weeks, atmost. Greet those who come with friendship,Gorben. They will bring odd and wonderful things,and the life-style of the Dorchlunters will be al­tered forever."