PYRA AND THE TEKTITES

by Rebecca Melanie Sunquist

Part 14: Shepherd Moons

...in the previous episode, Pyra and Flanagan and Doctor Mairead O'Rourke of the Historical Institute have departed Europa. Once on board, they discover that Taggart has also snuck onto the Ventussa and has demanded that Flanagan alter course and make for the Leeward Shepherd Moons of Jupiter.

O'Rourke glowered at Flanagan briefly before returning her gaze to the remote points of light in the Videx. "Thanks a lot! You might have warned me of an abrupt departure. I wouldn't have fought you. I'd've let you go."

"Pyra had a remarkable telepathic experience," replied Flanagan. "It's worth academic study. But she is not a resource to be exploited. She's a child."

"Who happens to be the Pres---"

"A child!" yelled Flanagan, before O'Rourke could betray Pyra's identity to Taggart. "Besides, you might as well study me. I had some telepathic communications, too."

"What are you two blathering about?" sneered Taggart.

"There's intelligent life in the seas under Europa," said Flanagan.

"It's true!" added Pyra. She was sitting on the deck, leaning against the bulkhead, legs outstretched. She thought that if Taggart passed close by, she might trip him. But for that maneuver to be effective, Flanagan had to unstrap himself from the captain's chair. And that might not happen until they reached Pirate's Cay.

Pirate's Cay! Pyra had heard whispers of it. Smugglers and other criminals lurked there, just like the Tektites and Mark the Shark at Kublukan. She seemed to be traveling from one danger to another. But it was better than math class.

"What's a shepherd moon?" she asked.

"Prepare for subspace Track," said Flanagan. "Pyra, you'll feel a momentary disorientation, so stay seated there until your head clears. Taggart, it won't do anyone any good if that Sizzler goes off while we Track."

"You mind your job," growled Taggart. "My weapon never fires unless I want it to."

"Five seconds," said Flanagan. "O'Rourke?"

"Do it."

Pyra felt a bam! that filled her mind with bright lights. These faded, and for a moment her head ached. Then that, too, passed. In the Videx the distant points of light had not changed...or had they?

"Where---?" she tried, but her throat was dry and her voice trembled. She swallowed, and tried again. "Where are we, Flanagan?"

For answer, he pointed. In the Videx Pyra could make out a cluster of sparks, reflections of sunlight. Some of the asteroids had higher albedos than the others, and these stood out more. She tried to count them, and stopped at thirty.

"The cluster is about a million miles across," Flanagan told her. "It's not nearly as densely packed as you might think. We'll have some difficulty maneuvering as we draw closer, though."

"Are those the shepherd moons?"

"The Leewards," explained Flanagan. "They follow in the orbit of Jupiter. They're also called the Trojans. The Windwards lead Jupiter. They're also called the Greeks. And since your schooling is going to continue, Pyra, you can research them and tell me more about them, and what a mathematician named LaGrange has to do with all this." Flanagan paused, and glanced over his shoulder at Taggart. "I've heard of Pirate's Cay, but never been there. You'll have to direct me.

Pyra was groaning. "Oh, no, not more math."

Taggart said, "Set course for Troilus. It's on the far side, between there and Anchises. When we're within range, I'll get you clearance and you can home in on the laser beacon. Oh, and...Flanagan---"

"I know, I know. No false moves."

Pyra's heart sank. Flanagan was not going to do anything about Taggart! And once they reached Pirate's Cay, who knew what would happen to them? Worse, she had eaten ice cream and drunk water, and sooner or later...

"Excuse me?" Pyra raised her hand, as if she were in class. "I have to go to the...the...you know..."

"Just stay where you are," ordered Taggart.

Pyra made a face at him. "You don't understand. We're in zero gravity. Do you really want that stuff floating around in here? Little raindrops splashing all over everything? Is that what you want?"

"Is she always like this?" Taggart asked Flanagan.

"She ran away from home because she flunked math," said Flanagan. "Life is hard."

Taggart waggled the Sizzler. "All right, go on, then."

Carefully Pyra edged her way back to the stateroom, ducked inside, and closed the hatch, before drifting toward the hygiene alcove. She had nothing particulary urgent to do there--she'd lied to Taggart--but she thought something inside might prove useful, either as a weapon or as a distraction. In that, she was disappointed. Aside from a detergent cloth and a towel, the alcove was empty.

If Flanagan had contrived to get some unsupervised time in the stateroom, he would know what to do. Pyra tried to think like him as she scanned the room for anything that might help her neutralize Taggart so that Flanagan could retake control of the Ventussa. Her gaze swept past the outsuits piled on the deck, and returned to them. Might there be tools in the pockets? She rummaged through them, but found only a few lengths of nylon, and lots of Europa dust. Millions of years of pounding by meteorites had covered much of the moon in a fine powder. In the zero gravity, small clouds of it drifted upward as she searched the outsuits. Her nose began to itch, and her eyes began to water.

In O'Rourke's outsuit Pyra found a small package of chewing gum, and a small keypad for recording notes, and a velcro strip for repairing interior seals. None of the items appeared helpful.

She was just about to return to the bridge when she sneezed, and a plan formed in her mind. After another five minutes to refine her "idea," she opened the stateroom hatch and drifted clumsily forward, whimpering, her cupped hands over her face. Water leaked from her eyes, and she knew they were red.

"Flanagan," she whined.

"Took you long enough," said Taggart. "Come here, I want to pat you down, see if you 'found' anything while you were gone."

"Leave her be," said Flanagan. "She's just a kid."

"My node," Pyra mumbled, as she approached Taggart. "Id hurds."

Taggart stared at her. "What?"

"Oh, no," moaned Pyra. "Nod again..."

"What?"

"Ah-ah-ah-agg."

By now Taggart had turned his full attention on her. "Get over here! And stop that sniveling."

"I gan't helb id." And she took a deep breath and added, "Ah-choo!"

And she threw two handfuls of Europa dust into Taggart's face and yelled, "Flanagan!"

But it was Mairead O'Rourke who came to her rescue, popping loose the straps that held her in the chair. In zero gravity she hopped and drove a foot into Taggart's stomach, knocking him across the deck and into the aft bulkhead. The Sizzler fired. The kick also drove O'Rourke backwards, back toward the bridge. The back of Taggart's head struck the bulkhead, and a low gong resonated through the Ventussa. Recovering, O'Rourke hop-shuffled to Taggart and wrested the weapon from his hand. Slowly he slumped to the deck, his artificial metal nose askew now.

"Flanagan?" cried Pyra.

He was still in the captain's chair, leaning over the instrumentation console. Blood was welling from a burn across the back of his head.

"Slap this on the wound," O'Rourke instructed, "while I secure Taggart. Just tape it there, and keep some pressure on it."

"But he's bleeding!"

O'Rourke bent over Taggart, and used a few short lengths of nylon to bind his wrists and ankles. "And you're going to stop it, Pyra. Go on, hurry, before we really have a mess in here."

Pyra did not want to touch Flanagan for fear of hurting him. Besides, the wound looked gross. She closed her eyes and slapped the bandage over the wound and wrapped the gauze strips around his head and tied them together in back.

Only then did she look out the Videx. "Um...Doctor O'Rourke?"

"What is it?"

"Can you pilot the Ventussa?"

"No, I'm not a pilot. Why?"

In the Videx, the Leeward Shepherd Moons, also called the Trojans, drew nearer and ever nearer, inviting the Ventussa to become another shipwreck in space.

Don’t Miss PYRA AND THE TEKTITES, PART 15: 'SHIPWRECKED' appearing on this site on 15 August 2003.

PYRA AND THE TEKTITES appears EXCLUSIVELY in KISSES FOR KIDS courtesy of prize-winning writer Rebecca Melanie Sunquist.