“Bees? I read about them in school, but I thought breeding them would be easy once they had enough.”
“They still have to generate most of them, as they have been for a few hundred years. I'm no antimologist though, so I can't tell you all the details.”
“I'm a botanist on the Dawn Chaser, so you could understand I'm a little interested.”
“Ah, well, as you probably already know I wasn't allowed to bring any recordings or samples back. Even my belongings were particle scrubbed so no one could study anything that might have come back with me.”
“I know, they're so cloistered there.”
“There's a movement pushing to get out into the galaxy more, to mix with more distant humans, but I don't think we'll hear anything about it for another twenty years.”
The screens on the back of everyone's seats flashed the hyperspace emergence warning and instructions to buckle themselves in. A slight shift in the artificial gravity told Liam they had just finished decelerating.
Seconds later the blue, white and yellow distortion out the window cleared to reveal normal space. Through the porthole at Liam's side he could see the distant yellow sun. The starliner moved towards the planet Seneschal quickly, and Lawrence was silent as he watched the defence platform, a semicircular station with cannons bristling over top landing and launch bays go by.
It was safe to unbuckle and the boy was standing on his seat. Liam looked at Shelly as he picked the youngster up to sit him on his knee. Shelly nodded her approval. “My dad works on the coreward platform.” Lawrence told him quietly. “They have really big guns, but dad says no one wants to use 'em.”
“Peace should always be our goal.”
One of the massive rail cannons fired, its projectile leaving a long, bright blue trace of light behind.
“Then why do they use 'em?”
“Sometimes people let what they want get in the way of peace and we don't have a choice but to protect ourselves when they come to take what we can't afford to give.”
Shelly's hand stroked her son's back, she moved to the middle seat, closer to her son and the window.
“What do they want?” Asked the boy.
Liam was astonished at how well the young fellow understood and thought on the answer for a moment, glancing to Shelly. She didn't seem to mind the topic of conversation, but he also didn't want to give the child nightmares, especially if his father worked on a defensive platform. “I don't know what they want from your people, but usually it's a lot like two of your friends fighting over the same toy. One has it, the other wants it but doesn't want to go through the trouble of getting their own or trading fairly for it so they try to take it by fighting or stealing. It can get more complicated, but that's all it comes down to most of the time.”
Flashes of light appeared in the distance, and seconds later the jagged, squared shapes of fighting vessels became visible. Liam took a deep breath, they were decelerating out of faster than light travel very close to Seneschal. “That's an Eden Fleet!” Exclaimed a panicked passenger behind them.
“It's Eve's children! They're about to cleanse us!” Screeched someone sitting in a forward seat.
Liam looked closer, calmly examining the distant shapes. They were ships from the Eden Fleet, there was no mistaking their angular construction, their perfectly sealed, heavily armoured hulls.
Shelly took Lawrence into her lap and looked to Liam, who nodded at her. “We have to get him into the overhead baggage compartment. It's the safest place in this cabin,” he whispered.
“Is it really?”
“Yes, I spotted at least two drone carriers. We don't have much time.”
Panic was starting to make its way through the passengers and the first to notice were the children; “Mom?” Lawrence asked nervously.
“We're going to play a game, honey. You're going to hide behind this little hatch right here, and you're not going to come out until mommy comes and gets you, okay?”
Lawrence nodded, his eyes were locked with his mothers, fear just beginning to encroach on him.
Liam had the carry on compartment hatch open and his tools out of it in seconds, moving quickly but smoothly, not looking panicked or rushed. Lawrence, who was quite small for his age, fit inside with a little room to spare and Liam put a small half oval shaped air recycler inside while Shelly gave her son a little holographic entertainment computer. “We'll see you after a few movies okay honey?” She asked as she watched Liam add a small materializer that could dispense food and water.
“If you're hungry, press this button once, and if you're thirsty, press this button, okay?” Liam instructed.
Lawrence looked and nodded. “'How many movies Mom?”
She looked to Liam then to her son. “Two or three.”
“Kay,” he glanced around at the cabin beyond his mother then back to her. “I'm scared.”
“We'll be back for you soon, be brave for mommy, okay?”
“'Kay.”
She pressed two fingers to her lips, kissed them, then pressed them to her son's. “Love you,” she said quietly.
“Love you too Mom.”
Liam checked the seals on the hatch and closed the overhead compartment. “He's safer than us. If we depressurize in here, he'll be fine. That recycler I put in there will keep the air warm, and he'll have enough food to last more than three days.”
“Thank you,” Shelly said, squeezing Liam's arm briefly.
“My daughter will fit,” said one man, gesturing to a young girl a little larger than Lawrence. “Get her in there.”
Liam knew that the compartment would become terribly cramped, the air wouldn't last half as long and it would be a massive risk. “I'm sorry, if you have any emergency equipment with you, you can put your daughter in another compartment, but this one's taken.”
“You're not serious! There's plenty of room for her!” He shouted, moving towards the overhead compartment.
Liam stopped the man from opening it, deflecting his hand and pushing him out into the aisle. “Please, find another compartment. I can give you an air recycler.”
“Just because you're from Earth you think you can make all the decisions for us?” The younger man said, taking his light blue suit jacket off. His daughter was weeping behind him, sitting in her seat watching her father.
“Here, it's a recycler, it'll give her several days worth of breathable air and keep her warm,” Liam offered.
“Let him put his daughter in!” Called a woman from behind.
“Why does he get to choose?” Questioned another.
Fortified by the crowd, the younger man stepped across the aisle again. “She has just as much right to safety.”
“Stop! He's doing everything he can,” Shelly said, stepping in the man's way.
“For your son, right? Get out of my way!” He pushed Shelly back into her seat and reached for the hatch again.
Liam took the man by the arm, spun him around and held him fast. His head was directed straight at his crying daughter. “Look, she needs you to be with her, to make good choices, not to fight for her. Take the air recycler, I'm sure other passengers will have water you can put inside with her and I even have an entertainment puck you can give her. Don't make this about you, or your pride, make it about her.”
Everyone in the cabin was staring. Liam had the man in a firm grasp but wasn't inflicting any pain. His daughter was staring at her father, tears streaming down her face, she was terrified.
Liam let the man go with a gentle nudge forward. “Go. Take care of her,” He insisted quietly.
The passenger stepped across the aisle and took his daughter into his arms. She gripped his neck tightly, burying her face against him.
When Liam offered him an air recycler and an old holographic projector the width of his palm it was turned down with a shake of his head. “I don't want anything from you.”
“Everyone, please buckle yourselves into your seats. We'll be initiating emergency docking procedures shortly,” said one of the stewards as he made his way up the aisle.