“It’s amazing that something so small could do so much damage,” Bragan said into the silence, gesturing toward the explosives.
“There’s enough here to destroy this entire asteroid, and quite a few around it,” Seth replied. “Hell, this is more than enough to destroy Discovery station. I wonder what they were planning to do with it.”
“Overthrow the Saurellian occupation,” Bragan said. “We both know how they feel about you guys. One of their core teachings is that ‘humans shall not be governed by non-humans.’ Words of the Celestial Pilgrim himself, if I remember correctly.”
Seth grunted in response, then they both sat in silence.
“I don’t see too many options here,” Seth said. “Not good options, anyway. If we really want to stop them, perhaps the best thing would be to detonate the Jansenite. At least that way they couldn’t use it against anyone.”
“There’s another option,” Bragan said quietly. “You could steal one of their ships.
That way you could contact your people and warn them about how dangerous these Pilgrims really are.”
“You can’t leave the asteroid, your implant won’t let you,” Seth said harshly. “And I’m not going to leave without you.”
“You sure as hell can leave without me,” Bragan said, his voice firm with conviction.
“You can steal a ship and go for help. I’ll stay hidden. You can come rescue me once you’ve found help. It’s our best hope.”
“That could take weeks,” Seth replied. “Do you really think you can last that long?
They’ll find you sooner or later, we both know it.”
“If they find me, I’ll blow the Jansenite,” Bragan said. “I’ve been living on borrowed time for years now. At least this way I’ll get to choose when and how I die. Very few people are that fortunate. I kind of like the idea of taking some of those bastards with me...”
“I don’t like it,” Seth replied. “Saurellians don’t leave each other behind. We’re brothers, we live together and we die together.”
“Well I’m not a Saurellian,” Bragan said harshly. “I’m an escaped slave, and I’m going to die on this rock. I’ve known that for five years. Do you know I’m not even a man any more? They castrated me for looking at one of their women. Give me this, Seth.
Give me the chance to fight back, like a man. I don’t want you to stay with me.
“I want you to warn your people,” he continued. Seth could see the man’s face was twisted with emotion, despite the helmets they both wore. “Don’t fool yourself, Seth, it’s not out of any love for you. I don’t want these bastards to ever buy another slave. I don’t want them to ever hurt another woman. You saw what Calvin did to Sarai. There are thousands of women out there just like her. Take this chance to escape, to save them. It isn’t about leaving a comrade behind, it’s about saving people’s lives. If you refuse to do that out of some misguided sense of honor, you’re as much a criminal as they are. And an idiot, to boot,” Bragan added, disgust in his voice.
Bragan was right, Seth realized. Leaving him behind went against everything he believed in, but saving his people was more important. In fact, saving his people was really all he had to live for. It wasn’t as if there was anything waiting for him if he survived. Calla was gone. From the time he’d realized he would never have a life partner, Seth had lived only to fight. It was time to continue that battle.
“All right, I’ll do it,” Seth said. “But I want you to wait until the last possible moment to detonate the Jansenite. I’ll do everything in my power to rescue you.”
“I know you will,” Bragan said quietly. “Seth, I want you to make me a promise.”
“What?”
“I want you to try and understand why Calla did what she did,” the man said, staring fixedly at the Jansenite. “I think the two of you should give each other another chance.”
“It’s impossible,” Seth said tightly. “Even if I found her, she isn’t my life mate. Our relationship could never grow into anything real or permanent.”
“At least answer this,” Bragan replied. “Do you hate her for what she did to you?”
“No,” Seth said softly after several minutes of silence. “No, I don’t hate her at all.”
“Remember that,” Bragan whispered. “We don’t all get a chance to be happy in this life. Don’t be afraid to take whatever joy you can find, regardless of whether or not you understand it.”
“We need to get ready,” Seth said tightly, refusing to look at the man he’d once thought crazy. “If I’m going to steal a ship, I should do it as soon as possible. The longer we wait, the more likely it is they’ll find us.”
Bragan just laughed, which confused Seth.
“I’ll pack you some supplies,” the doctor finally said. “You’ll need them to get back to your people.”
Darkness came over the asteroid suddenly. Seth, his carryall strapped to his back, crept silently toward the waiting ships. They were all in poor condition, but the smallest one looked slightly better than the others, and had the added advantage of being parked on the edge of the field. Seth was willing to bet it was faster, too. Realizing that his life might depend on his ability to outrun any pursuers, he decided it would be his target.
He had been watching the Pilgrims for hours, ever since he and Bragan had parted ways. Bragan had packed enough food and water to last Seth a week, more than enough time to make his way to a friendly station, assuming he made it off the asteroid at all.
Making his way carefully, Seth moved quickly. The darkness would only last a few hours, as the asteroid’s cycle of day and night was extremely short. Fortunately, the Pilgrims had been working long enough to warrant taking a break. Most of them were probably asleep.
Seth skirted the landing field until his target ship was directly before him. No one seemed to be around. The Pilgrims had set guards in front of the two larger ships, but apparently this one wasn’t considered important enough. Using a small tool from his suit’s all-purpose set, Seth quickly removed the service access panel by the ship’s door.
Positioning himself so his body was between the panel and the other ships, Seth shined a tiny light on the controls. The ship was locked, of course, but he could override a simple palm-activated locking device like this one easily enough. As long as no one caught him in the act, that was; anyone seeing his light would know something was up.
Fortunately, none of the Pilgrims seemed to be paying attention to the smallest of their ships. Connecting two of the circuits manually, Seth shorted out the locking system and the hatch slid open. He was relatively certain the ship was empty–no one had entered it the entire time he’d been watching. Moving quickly, he climbed though the opening and closed it behind him. The ship was so small there was only the cockpit and one small hold for cargo. Seth checked the hold, confirming he was alone, then settled himself in the pilot’s seat.
He breathed a sigh of relief as he realized the controls were standard; he’d piloted a thousand other shuttles just like this one. He saw that whoever had piloted the ship had left it on standby. At least he would not have to wait for the engines to come online from a cold start. He wouldn’t have time for a pre-flight check, either, so hopefully everything was still operational. Whoever owned the ship should be shot, he thought wryly, because it clearly hadn’t been properly serviced in years. Whispering a prayer to the Goddess, he strapped himself in and toggled the starter.
The ship came to life with a whine and he slammed the control rudder forward. He was airborne before he could even check to see how much fuel she had. The roar of the engine would alert the Pilgrims; they would be after him within minutes. Not pausing to pull up a navigation chart, Seth pushed the tiny ship to its maximum speed. Dodging debris, he zigzagged sharply through the cloud of asteroids surrounding Bethesda.