Chapter Eighteen
Tulyans call it the “Visitor’s Center,” a large facility that can accommodate more than thirteen hundred guests at once. And yet, they have used an odd singularity in the title for it, as if the place was only capable of taking one person at a time. They claim to have merely named it that way to make the place seem more personal for each visitor. We suspect that the facility may, in fact, have been built for only one person, and a very important one. Tulyans dismiss our questions about it. On the surface it seems a trivial matter, but we have an idea that it may be one of their secrets.
—Merchant Prince Diplomatic File #T16544
Though Dux had initially enjoyed the luxuries of the Visitor’s Center and Acey had steadfastly resisted them, now both of them loathed the place. Acey had begun calling it a “velvet-lined prison,” and Dux could not help agreeing.
Worst of all, the teenagers had thought that Eshaz would take them under his wing, but now the big, enigmatic Tulyan had gone off on a mission far across the galaxy. The waitress they’d befriended told them he had gone on a “timeseeing assignment”—whatever that meant—with the leader of the Parvii race. The boys had no idea who Parviis were, and at this point neither of them cared. They just wanted to leave the posh orbiter by any means possible.
The pair would prefer to go to Canopa or another Human-controlled world to volunteer for military service, but could not reach any of them by podship, and all other means of space travel were too slow to be practical. As a result, when added to the bad news about planetary-scale losses, Acey and Dux were no longer their usual outgoing and fun-loving selves. They had, at very young ages, become quite serious.
The Human race was in trouble.
Each day, the boys gazed longingly out at the nearby pod station, a rough gray globular structure that kept pace with the Visitor’s Center, orbiting over the starcloud. The two orbital facilities were only a few kilometers apart.
“Too bad we can’t get back and help Noah,” Acey said.
“Maybe that’s not meant for us,” Dux said. He brushed his long blond hair out of his eyes. “Gio Nehr is on Canopa, and could cause us a lot of trouble. We’d probably have to kill him, or vice versa. As for me, I’m not sure I want to go that far, not even with him.”
“The first step is to get away from here. Agreed?”
“No question about that,” Dux said. “But how do we get on the shuttle to reach the pod station?”
A grin split Acey’s wide face. “We don’t. I found what looks like an emergency evacuation system. A series of passenger launchers—individual, man-sized capsules that shoot into orbital space.”
“Show me.”
Acey led the way through a narrow servant’s passageway. He had timed it perfectly, having watched for the schedules of the employees. The teenagers slipped into a small chamber, and closed a heavy door behind them.
“This is one of the emergency-escape launch rooms,” Acey said. “There are hundreds of them around the structure.”
Dux surveyed the room and saw a number of clearplex tubes, each capable of holding a large person, stacked on racks. It didn’t take him long to figure out how the system worked, and he saw what appeared to be cannon barrels on the outside wall. “This looks like a circus trick,” he said.
“More sophisticated than that, but you’re not far off.”
Dux felt hesitant. “It looks dangerous.”
“Well, if you’d rather stay here and loll around on vacation, that’s fine by me. But I have things to do and places to see. All right?”
Again wiping hair out of his eyes, Dux said, “We promised to stay together.”
“Exactly my point. You have to go with me, don’t you see?”
Shaking his head, Dux stepped toward one of the tubes, and moved it. The container was light. He carried it over to the launcher and slipped it inside, then opened a hatch on one end of the tube and crawled inside. “Now what?” he asked.
He no sooner had the words out when the launcher shot him into space. Dux felt surprise, but more exhilaration. It was like a super ride an amusement park. In a few moments, he experienced a floating sensation.
Seconds later, Acey followed him out. Then Dux heard Acey’s voice over a comlink. “Grab the joystick,” he said. “The handle activates directional jets when you move it, taking you in the direction you want to go.”
Acey roared past him, heading for the pod station.
But Dux had trouble with the controls, and veered off course. He heard Acey shouting at him over the comline. Finally he figured out the pressure pads and toggles, and made his way toward the pod station.
As the pair arrived and stepped through an airlock onto a platform, they saw no podship present, and no other vessels docked there. Looking back through a viewport, they saw a shuttle take off from the Visitor’s Center.
“Not a good sign,” Dux said.
“I timed this for the arrival of a podship,” Acey said. “While you were swimming and getting massages, I was watching schedules. I thought one would be here now.”
“What a time for them to change their schedule.”
“Look!” Acey pointed, and jumped up and down with excitement.
Dux felt a surge of hope as he saw the telltale green flash of a podship arriving from deep space.
“Come on! Come on!” Acey said. “Faster!” Looking back, he saw the shuttle enter the pod station first, and make its way toward them.
Unexpectedly, the podship turned and departed without ever going into the pod station. Apparently, something had startled the creature.
The boys didn’t even try to get away. Furious, they just waited to be taken into custody.
***