Chapter One

Maelstrom

The Maelstrom never looked so beautiful. So beautiful and so terrifying.

“We gotta’ turn back,” E.V. said, eyes never straying from the swirling, melding clouds of red, yellow, and orange dust.

Tank’s laugh came as a rumble next to her. “Nervous, rook?”

Warm fingers crept up E.V.’s neck as she glared at the big jumper. “That’s not—Look at the red!” E.V. pointed at the window. “Look!”

Tank dismissed her worries with a grunt, but Adda glanced back from the carapace’s cockpit, colorful clouds swelling behind her head. “E.V.’s right, Tank. Red’s burning hot right now. Sulfur wave rolling in. Full charge.”

E.V. stuck out her tongue at Tank. “See! I told you, you fat snail!”

Sixteen-orbits-old with only twelve notches on the shoulder of her shell, E.V. was the rookie of Dove Squad, but even Adda, a thirty-jump vet and their leader, admitted that she was right. Seams into the Maelstrom were as slender as they were fleeting, and this one had come and gone. E.V. stared at the looming veil of rust-colored dust. Deeper in the nebula, slices of greens, purples, and blues flashed with violet light, the deadly soul of the storm… To call the clouds colossal would be a giant understatement; they were the largest things E.V. had seen in her life, and it wasn’t even close. As far as she could tell, most of space was endless black nothingness, but not here. Here, in the Pillars of Creation, space was alive with more colors than E.V. could ever dream to name.

E.V. released a breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding. “There’s always next jump, Adda.”

“No, E.V.,” Adda said, glowering at the Maelstrom, flecks of faraway, violet light glinting in her eyes. “We’re still jumping.”

“But… but you just said—”

“We’re jumping.”

E.V. gaped at her leader, but Adda was in no mood to argue. Tank flashed a dumb smile at E.V., while Neon, sitting beside him, snorted a laugh, the lotus tattooed on her cheek changing from yellow to blue, glowing softly in the gloom.

“Nano off, Doves,” Adda said. She flipped a switch on the carapace’s control board, and E.V. felt the familiar warmth inside her fade as her nano powered down. Despite the zero-g, the weight of E.V.’s shell seemed to grow heavier, and deeper in the storm, the flares dimmed, her eyes no longer seeing their ultraviolet shadows, but both sensations paled compared to the pain in E.V.’s stomach, a pain so sharp she wanted to throw up.

A red light flashed above her, bathing the hull in a rubescent glow. “Radiation up to seven,” Hourglass said. Sure enough, behind a pane of glass on the control board, the radiometer’s tiny vanes fluttered faster… E.V. heard a faint clicking deep in her ears and Neon’s tattoo glowed a brighter hue of blue.

Radiation growing stronger…

“Find us a fresh cut, Glass,” Adda said.

With a flick of the stick, Hourglass altered the carapace’s course as he manually hunted for a seam into the Maelstrom. E.V. marveled at Dove Squad’s pilot. She had no idea how anyone could fly a spacecraft without comps, but then again, they all had to make do without comps in the storm, and E.V.’s role took her beyond the protection of the carapace’s three-foot-thick lead shields.

A carapace appeared ahead of them, a vivid yellow star spraypainted on the dark rectangular spacecraft.

Nova Squad… E.V. chewed her lip at the sight of their rivals. Maybe Adda’s right to jump…

Neon pointed at the other transport darting into a slice in the red clouds. “Hurry up, Glass! Nova’s gettin’ a head start!”

“Hold onto your shells,” the pilot said, shoving the stick forward with a madcap grin. The carapace trembled as they soared into the swirling dust of the storm’s edge. The world outside turned red, gory tendrils caressing the window, fragments of rock and ice pelting the spacecraft. E.V.’s armor chattered on her chair. Hourglass navigated the ruddy haze, snapping the stick left and right to avoid the asteroids hurtling out of the thick dust. The radiometer’s vanes fluttered faster, and E.V.’s ears clicked louder. The carapace burst through the red dust to a thinner yellow layer, and E.V. glimpsed the asteroid field stretching ahead, thousands and thousands of dark rocks freckling a face of blue clouds. She swallowed, palms clammy inside her gauntlets. They made it into the Maelstrom.

Now, the real danger begins…

“Spread those wings, Doves,” Adda said.

Hourglass shouted back over his shoulder. “Timer starts now.” He flicked a switch, starting the mechanical clock on the control board. Fifteen minutes. “Don’t leave me worryin’ like last time!”

The jumpers pushed up from their seats and floated to the back of the hull. Adda sealed the airlock, leaving Hourglass alone in the cockpit. While Neon strapped the drill kit onto Tank’s back, Adda grasped E.V.’s hand. Her fingers made a dull thump upon contact, and despite the thick lead separating them, E.V. felt the squeeze from her squad leader’s hand. Adda gave her a smile that warmed E.V. as though her nano was still on.

“I don’t get it,” E.V. said softly. “The red. You said I was right, Adda.”

“You were, but… it’s different now… This is everything... If we go back empty-handed, if we don’t jump—” Adda glanced at Tank and Neon, and then fell silent.

“What? If we don’t jump, what?”

“Not here, E.V. Not now. This is the jump… We do this and we can go home.” Adda’s face grew serious. “All of us can go home.”

Home. The word sounded star-far away.

Adda stared at E.V. “Will you jump? For me?”

E.V. nodded. Adda released her hand. E.V. pulled her visor down and locked it into place, shielding her face in lead and reducing her field of vision to a slender glass slit. The only sound she could hear was her warm breath echoing inside her helmet. Adda locked her visor too. The time for words was over; from now on, their hands would be their voices.

Adda and E.V. joined Tank and Neon. Armored in hulking suits of lead with crude-looking birds sketched in chalk on their chest plates, the four jumpers waited side by side in silence. The hatch hissed open. Wisps of green dust slithered into the hull as their air escaped. Nothing separated the Doves from the Maelstrom. E.V. inched the toe of her dark grey boot to the precipice of the carapace, asteroids swarming beneath the spacecraft. A single bead of sweat tickled her cheek. She wished she could scratch under her helmet. The clicking in E.V.’s ears grew louder, but she hardly heard the white noise over her hammering heart. E.V. turned and faced her squad, staring at Adda’s dark visor, her own dark visor reflecting in the glass. Adda gave E.V. a subtle signal with her hands. Right behind you.

And with a deep breath, E.V. jumped.

She soared through space, watching as one by one the other Doves leapt from the back of the carapace, dark silhouettes against the green dust. Neon opened a minor valve on her air tank, releasing oxygen to propel her into a rapid barrel roll. Adda always hated when she bled oxygen, but Neon argued she didn’t bleed enough to run out. E.V. never risked it.

An asteroid bigger than three carapaces combined passed beneath her. Taking aim with her right arm, E.V. punched a mechanical release on her shell, firing a grappling hook on the end of a high-strength rope that snared the rock. Retracting back into her shell, the rope snapped E.V. to the speeding ‘roid. She landed with a thud, kicked in her toe-spikes, and rode it through a green cloud. Tank and Neon flew beside her, astride an asteroid three times as big as hers. Despite the insane danger, E.V. smiled and craned her neck back, searching the clouds for their leader. After a heartbeat, an asteroid smaller than a bed shot out from the dust, Adda mounted on top. Adda flew over E.V.’s head, overtaking her and Tank and Neon, and vanished into the dust. E.V. soared through thick clouds, her world turning green before she burst into a stretch of orange, the light from a faraway star glinting on the glass of her visor. Dark blue clouds loomed ahead, a monstrosity with tentacles of seething gas flashing with chaotic flares. E.V.’s ears clicked louder.

Here we go…

E.V. studied the passing asteroids, searching for a faint green glow. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Neon gesturing sharply with her hands.

Cat five, Neon signaled.

Tank gave a signal too. Seven on the way…

Flying ahead but keeping a close watch on her lagging squad, Adda slashed her hand across her chest. Not good enough…

E.V. furrowed her brow. Since when is a seven not good enough? she thought. E.V.’s eyes lit up as she spotted an asteroid alight with vivid green roots. She signaled to the others. Nine! Cat nine on me!

Tank gestured back. No chance, rook.

Cat nine, E.V. signaled in harsh signs. Trust me!

A glare glinted across Adda’s visor as she stared at E.V. After a few heartbeats, Adda raised her fist and gave the signal. Follow E.V.! Jump Doves!

Mind racing, legs flexing, E.V. watched as the category nine asteroid came closer. She jumped. Weightless, E.V. soared through space, speeding toward her prize asteroid. Little farther, E.V. thought, but she misjudged the rock’s velocity. As it rocketed past, she stretched her arm as far as her armor allowed and hooked her fingers into a fissure. E.V. slammed into the ‘roid. The jolting force tore on her shoulder. She screamed. No one heard. She took a grating breath. Blood coated her tongue. E.V. scrambled to reposition herself and came nose to nose with a glowing green root. Despite her pain, E.V. laughed. Lifting her good arm, she signaled to her squad. Get over here!

Tank and Neon hopped from ‘roid to ‘roid toward her, closing the gap. The faint thwack of grappling hooks came as the pair of Doves landed next to her. Green roots shining in the glass of his visor, Tank gestured in astonishment. Rook’s right. We got a nine…

A short distance ahead, Adda jumped off her rock, anticipating the approaching asteroid holding her squad. She landed next to E.V. with perfect balance. Adda made jumping look easier than walking. Adda placed her hand on E.V.’s shoulder plate, and although she gave no signal and her dark visor hid her expression, E.V. could feel her squad leader’s approval through her lead shell.

E.V. pointed to a spot where a dozen glowing roots converged. Core node… She twisted her good arm, giving the signal to the others. Drill!

Copyright © 2022 by J. D. Speir