Starmind Chapter 16 (Patreon)

Even after Bekeri’s spell had run out, and the Bad Guys gave up on their pursuit, I kept burning for a while, leaving the Crew at two effective gravities. I didn’t even think about it; I just wanted to get farther from them and their guns, faster. I kept it up until Bekeri mentioned that it would be easier to work at a normal gravity, and I finally realized what I was doing. At that point I made sure that our orbit was stable then cut the thrust completely.

By the time Varlanda finally woke up, it was practically evening. She groaned, tried to stretch, realized that she was strapped to her acceleration couch, and then seemed to have a very confused moment where she couldn’t figure out how to undo the straps.

“Varlanda, are you okay?” I asked.

“Mmm… hungover. Goddamn… never think of the hangovers when you’re Accelerated. You’d think sleeping for… how long have I been asleep, Star?”

“About fourteen hours!”

“Damn. Yeah. You’d think that would clear it, but, nope.”

“You need food and drink!” I decided. “You should get to the rec room and get something in you!”

“Should get to the head and get something out,” she muttered as she stood. Then she saw Harvin in his couch and colored a little. “Hey, Harv. Didn’t see you there.”

He waved a hand at her. “Everybody pees, Vee. Captain’s with your brother in the hold. She’ll want to talk to you after you take care of business.”

“Right,” she said, still embarrassed — which was so weird to me! Harvin was right: they all excreted. They all knew that. Why was that embarrassing to acknowledge?

It must be a Crew thing.

“Listen, Star,” Varlanda said as she was eating after I’d filled her in on the situation. “I’m not sleeping tonight. Not happening. Best thing to do is to just pull an all-nighter and then go to sleep normally tomorrow. We’re still doing the Development Matrix, right?”

“There’s stuff we need the Manufacturing Matrix for,” I said. It felt like I was admitting something I’d rather keep secret, which made it even more important to tell her. “There’s a field generator that should help us if we get shot at again. And Bekeri hopes that he might be able to fix some of the thrusters, if the Matrix lets us make some parts he’s missing and can’t take from the broken ones.”

“Sure,” Varlanda said, pausing to eat a spoonful of paste. “But you want the Development Matrix, right? And we’re safe now. That was the deal, wasn’t it? Once we’re safe we stop asking you for things and make the Development Matrix?”

“Well, yes, but Bekeri—”

“Star,” she interrupted me gently. “Bekeri talks a lot. Did he actually ask you if we could make the Manufacturing Matrix first?”

“No…”

“Is it possible that he was just telling you his thoughts, so you’d have all the information later?”

“I mean, it’s possible…”

“Star, not everything is a demand, or even a request. If Bekeri or I or even the captain tells you, ‘This would be nice to have’, that doesn’t mean we have to drop everything and push it to the front of the queue. We put off making your Development Matrix because that was the most efficient thing to do in the moment; it let us get away without leaving too much behind. But we’re safe now. We don’t need those broken thrusters fixed right away, and we’re not going to get shot at for the next few days… probably.”

“But what if—” I started. I really didn’t like that “probably.” Avara was a huge gas giant, and our orbit was many millions of miles long, but we were going pretty fast! What if the Bad Guys sent out another ship going the other way around? We could meet them in only a few hours!

But Varlanda interrupted my protest. “Star. I’m working on your Development Matrix. That’s final. Then we’re making you a Manufacturing Matrix, and then we can do the Mana Battery. Okay?”

“Okay.” What else was I supposed to say? She was right: I wanted the Development Matrix, Temeri had promised that we’d get it done once everyone was safe, and Bekeri hadn’t actually asked if we could do the Manufacturing Matrix first.

I still asked Bekeri, just to be on the safe side, “Hey, Bekeri? I’d really like to get the Development Matrix done first. Do you mind if we put off making the Manufacturing Matrix?”

“Hmm?” he said, putting down the… whatever it was that he was working on — some kind of thruster component. “No, not at all! That was the plan, wasn’t it?”

“Okay, great! Just checking. Thank you!”

Back in the rec room I told Varlanda, “Yeah, you’re right.” Then I added. “Thank you.”

“Yeah.” She finished up her paste, then asked, “Is Bekeri in the artifice bay?”

“He is!”

“Alright. Come on, then. Let’s see the captain and then get started!”

“I’m already everywhere, Varlanda.”

“Of course you are. How could I ever forget?” Varlanda said with a little laugh.

  *

Temeri only wanted Simeon to confirm that his sister was fit to return to duty, which he did. While Varlanda talked to them, Bekeri did most of the job installing the housing and the blank for the new Matrix. Once Varlanda helped him finish, he went back to repairing or dismantling parts from the damaged machinery.

Varlanda got to work on the Development Matrix and kept at it all night. She barely even stopped for breaks unless I reminded her, and when she took one, it was a quick dash to the rec room, five minutes at most, and then back to work.

I would have been worried if she wasn’t so obviously enjoying her work. Every so often she’d mutter to herself, or gasp, or even laugh. “This is brilliant!” she said at one point. “I never would have thought of this! But now that I’ve seen it, I can think of so many applications! I could use this on existing matrices!”

“What would that do?” I asked, trying to match her excitement even though I had no idea what she was talking about.

“Effectiveness or efficiency or both, I think. I’m not entirely sure yet.” She laughed, then said, “I just know that it would work! Isn’t that odd?”

“A little! Do you think it’s your new skill helping you?”

“Now that I am entirely sure of! Yes, absolutely! Now, if it would only help me understand…”

  *

Harvin, Simeon, and Bekeri all had watches that night. Temeri wouldn’t budge on that, even though Varlanda was awake. The captain said that she’d be too busy working on the Matrix to “keep an eye on things.”

I still thought the whole idea was silly, since I was always watching, and I told her so. She thanked me for the reminder but didn’t change her mind. I promised myself that one day, I’d convince her, but it didn’t need to be today.

I really shouldn’t complain, though. For all that I wanted the Crew to get enough sleep, I also liked having someone to talk to, and Varlanda really was too busy for me to bother her. Instead I got to bother Harvin, which was fun!

“So, Harvin? Did you figure out what that skill does?” I asked him once he’d settled in at his console. I’d been curious ever since our talk that morning.

“Afraid not, Star. I tried to use it every so often throughout the day, but it feels like I’m missing something. Or like something’s missing, perhaps. But I’ve been busy trying to get a feel for that ship and the station, or base, or whatever at Erebus, and listening for any kind of message from Mundus.”

“Do you expect one?”

“More like ‘hope for’. I’ve been sending status reports a few times every day, hoping someone will pick them up. Leaving out any details about you, of course.”

“What do you mean, ‘of course’?”

“Star…” Harvin said, sighing sadly. “I can’t exactly target these sendings. Anyone could hear, if they even reach Mundus. And there are a lot of people out there, some in my own government, who’d be very interested in you.”

“But that—!” I started excitedly, but Harvin cut me off.

“In a bad way, Star. They’d hurt you just to figure out what makes you tick. To see if they can control you or make more of you. I don’t want that.”

“Because you think I’m a tiny goddess?”

“Because I know that you’re a thinking, feeling being who’s been nothing but well meaning and helpful. I’d hate to be the one to put you in danger by letting the wrong people know about you.”

“That is so sweet, Harvin! I’d hate to put you in danger, too!”

“I know, Star. I know,” Harvin said. Then he became silent and a little distant, and when he came back and spoke again, it was with a voice full of wonder. “I think I feel that, Star!”

“Feel what, Harvin?”

“Your… warmth. That’s the best way I can describe it. There’s this warm feeling from all around. From you, right?” He relaxed back even further in his couch and gave off a contented little sigh. “It’s quite nice.”

“Really? Is that normal?” I asked, trying to keep the giddiness out of my voice. If he could really feel just how much I cared for them all, that would be beyond wonderful!

“Not at all. Not unless I’m actively trying to pick up on it, and even then it’s more like reading about an emotion than feeling it. Some people can get some emotional bleed with people they’re really close to, but I’ve never been there. And it’s usually… not to disappoint you or anything, but while I like you, usually emotional bonds like that are between people with much stronger feelings than just friendship.”

“Not disappointed at all!” I said happily. That just made it even more special! “Do you think it’s thanks to the skill?”

“Could be. That or the Crew level. If it is the skill, I can’t imagine that’s all it does. Name doesn’t fit, and nice as it is, it's a little anemic for a skill.”

“Well, I’m very happy already! But if there’s more to it, I’m sure you’ll figure it out soon.”

“Appreciate the confidence. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to see if I can pick up anything from that gunship.”

“Okay,” I said reluctantly. “But you’ll let me know if you need anything, right?”

“Of course,” he said, relaxing into his couch and closing his eyes.

Simeon spent most of his watch reading on his slate, which was nice for him but boring for me. He went to visit Varlanda for a moment, too, but she was too focused to talk. But when Simeon’s watch was over, Bekeri got up, and his watch was a lot of fun! He asked me to keep an eye on the sensors — like I could ever not do that — then started looking at schematics. But the fun thing was that he wanted to talk about it with me! He’d found all kinds of strange things in the schematics for the new Matrices, and he’d simply replicated them. He’d found even more in the schematics for the field generator, and now he wanted to try to reason out what they actually did.

I didn’t know anything about artificing, but that didn’t bother him at all. Mostly he wanted to reason out loud, explaining what he was trying to figure out and how he was approaching it. And since I had instant access to all his reference texts, he used me as a kind of talking library, asking me to bring things up from his references. He asked me all kinds of questions that I couldn’t really answer, so I had to ask him a lot of basic questions back. He really liked that — apparently it helped a lot!

By 0600 hours, everyone was awake again except for Temeri. Nobody had breakfast, though. They talked about it, and even went to check on Varlanda, who was still working, but they decided to wait for the captain. It took almost three hours before she came out of her cabin, looking much healthier than she had in the last few days, and only then did they all sit down together in the rec room for a shared first meal of the day.

“You all really didn’t need to wait for me,” Temeri said once they all had their paste, “but thank you. Really. And Star, thank you for convincing me to have a full night’s sleep. I may have needed that.”

“And thank you for recognizing that!” I said. “Of course you needed it. Not getting enough sleep makes your brain sick! Right, Simeon?”

“Well…” he said. “A few nights of not enough sleep isn’t going to do any permanent harm. It’s when you make a habit of it that it becomes a problem.”

I might have imagined it, but I thought he looked very meaningfully at Temeri when he said that.

“Point taken, Simeon,” Temeri said. “I’ll try to get an extra hour per night, situation allowing.”

They took their time with their meal, and like usual, they didn’t talk about anything terribly serious. Instead Harvin talked about a commune he’d lived in for a little while, and that led to Varlanda talking about the boarding house she’d lived in when she attended the academy where she’d learned all about Matrices and crystal enchanting. Apparently that was some kind of commune as well, just without any farming.

“I’ve never quite understood how that works,” Bekeri said at one point. “Everyone sharing everything, things need doing but there’s no one in charge — what if someone’s lazy or greedy?”

“Well, that’s the thing,” Varlanda said. “It only works as long as everyone participates honestly. Anyone who doesn’t, well… we didn’t have anyone like that while I lived there, but I imagine they would have gotten a talking to from the others and would have been kicked out if they didn’t shape up.”

“But how do you go from that to the navy?”

“Oh, that was easy. It’s not all that different, really, except that the captain’s—”

“Temeri while we’re eating. Please,” the captain said.

Varlanda nodded and continued, “Except that Temeri’s in charge. Everybody’s got things that they’re best at, but we all make sure, together, that everything important gets done, right? The commune was the same, only we voted instead of someone calling the shots.”

“Still sounds strange to me,” Bekeri said, shaking his head.

Once everyone had finished eating, Temeri gave them a few minutes to finish their conversation and clean up. Then she said, “All right, crew, back on duty. What’s the situation? Healer Tell. Report!”

“Not much to say, Captain. We’re in good physical condition. Food stores are low, but we also have access to functionally infinite nutrient paste. And the cargo hold is full of mechanical components, stores, and personal effects from the captured ship, which I’ve catalogued the best I could.”

“Thank you, Healer. Artificer Bekeri?”

“I hope to be able to repair two of the destroyed thrusters using parts I’ve scavenged from the others and filling in what I’m missing once Star has her Manufacturing Matrix. Also, most of the damaged systems have turned out to be redundant. Star can just do what they were supposed to be doing without them.”

Temeri just looked at him for a moment before saying, “Thank you, Artificer,” and moving on. “Enchantress Tell?”

“I’ve made excellent progress on the new Matrix, but it’ll be a few hours yet. Other than that, all systems are in good working order.”

“Excellent. Diviner Alder?”

“Still no communication with Mundus. I keep sending every few hours, but the range is extreme to a degree beyond anything I’ve ever even considered before. Other than that, I’ve got a fair estimate of the station at Erebus. I’ve only detected one, on the order of five hundred to a thousand minds. There are a number of concentrations of mental activity on the surface, though, as well as on and around several other moons.”

“Thank you, Alder. And, finally, Star. Do you have anything to report?”

“Everyone is alive and rested, and no one is shooting at us!” I said. I was very happy about both of those facts. “The Bad Guys have given up on catching us and are on a trajectory back to Erebus, and we’re in a stable orbit about a million miles above Avara.”

“Great, Star. Anything else? How are your systems?”

“Redundant, mostly! Like Bekeri said, there are a bunch of things that I’ve got machines and devices and stuff for, but some of them got broken and everything’s still working fine. Like the gravity! I can just do that! And I tried turning off the temperature regulation, and I can do that, too! Not the air, though.”

Temeri tapped the table a couple of times then said, “Could you please explain about the air?”

“Sure! I turned off the Scrubbers and the Air Recyclers for a bit, but I couldn’t make the air sweet without them. I think I can only do things that are basically fields. Like, maybe it’s connected to my Field Manipulation skill? I got to level 2 in it after I started doing all the gravity and heat without the machines!”

She took a deep breath then said, “Yeah. Maybe. Star?”

“Yes, Temeri?”

“Please don’t turn off the air recycling systems again. Even if it is just to test.”

I thought about it, and in hindsight I could see how that might make the Crew uncomfortable. But it wasn’t like I would have let the air go bad! It made me a little defensive, and I said, “There wasn’t any risk of you running out. There’s a lot of air inside me!”

“I know, Star,” she said. “And I know that you wouldn’t deliberately let that happen. I’d just be a lot more comfortable if you left the systems most essential for our survival running at all times.”

“But—!” I started, but Temeri immediately looked like she was getting a headache, so I stopped and said, “Yeah, okay.” It wasn’t like it was a problem; I already knew what I needed to. I just didn’t like that she still didn’t fully trust me.

“Thank you. All right, everyone, back to work! Late lunch at 1300 hours, then dinner at 1900. Hop to it!”

There was a chorus of “Aye, Captain” from the other Crew, and they all went off to do their respective things. Temeri stayed, though. She looked nervous but determined, and when she was alone she said, “Star, in my cabin, please. You have my full consent to look and listen in there until I say otherwise. I’d like to have a conversation.”