Free Bringing Stella Home by Joe Vasicek Page B

group was effectively taking
over the bill—cutting James out in the process. The only way he
could stop them was to organize a draft committee—in just six
hours.
    Once again, he went to his friends.
Once again, they questioned the lack of oversight. Once again, he
argued that it wasn’t necessary, only to have them express their
regret and turn him down.
    Red-eyed and trembling from
exhaustion, he stared in disbelief at the computer screen. Only the
low hum of the ventilation system broke the silence as the last few
minutes ticked away . He had failed. It was
over.
    Footsteps sounded behind him as his
father stepped onto the bridge. “What’s the matter,
Son?”
    James didn’t answer. His father peered
over his shoulder at the screen.
    “ Ah,” he said. “I’m so
sorry.” His tone of voice, however, betrayed his relief.
    James said nothing.
    “ I remember how I felt when
I lost my first bill,” his father continued. “You win some, you
lose some—in a perfect democracy like ours, it’s only natural. It’s
all for the best.”
    James felt his blood rise to his
cheeks. His father put a hand on his shoulder, but he immediately
shrugged it off.
    “ We’ll be home soon,” his
father continued, choosing to ignore James’s angry gesture. “It’ll
be all right. Your mother is safe, and we’ll all be together
soon.”
    “ Dad,” said James, “how
many ships does our family own?”
    “ What do you
mean?”
    “ How many ships? And how
much in financial assets?”
    “ Well, our branch of the
family owns five ships, two of which are in port at the Colony. In
terms of net financial assets, we have about fifteen million Gaian
credits.”
    Good, James thought to himself. That should
be enough.
    His father frowned. “Why do you
ask?”
    “ I need to take out my
inheritance.”

Chapter 5
     
    Stella stood up straight and faced the
airlock door as it slid open. Another pair of soldiers in fearsome
black armor stepped forward. She cringed, expecting them to take
her forcibly by the arms and march her off like the others.
Instead, they moved aside, letting a short man dressed all in white
step through.
    She frowned. What is this?
    The man gave her one look and clucked
his tongue. “Too young,” he said in an almost incomprehensible
accent. “Too young.”
    “ What?” said Stella. She
glanced up at the soldiers, but their faces were
unreadable.
    The little man stepped forward and
pinched her arm. “Ow!” she said, drawing back. He clucked again and
put his hands on his hips.
    “ You stay still. Yes?
Good.”
    Stella stood awkwardly in the middle
of the chilly airlock while he examined her, poking her stomach and
feeling her hands and arms. His round head was balding on the top,
with thick tufts of blackish-gray hair around his ears. He had a
long scowl on his face, which from the deep creases in his skin
appeared to be a permanent feature. Unlike the soldiers, he wore a
crisp white button-up shirt that stretched nearly to his knees,
like a formal smock. His loose fitting trousers were also
white.
    “ Not good, not good,” he
said, shaking his head. “Need bath.”
    Stella glanced to the
soldiers on either side of the doorway. I
don’t suppose I have a choice, she thought
to herself. For now, she’d play the Hameji at their game—with time,
an opportunity for escape would present itself.
Hopefully.
    “ You follow me,” the man
said. “Understand?”
    “ Uh, yeah.”
    The man looked her in the eye and
scowled. Even though he stood nearly a full head shorter than her,
she still felt intimidated by his gaze.
    “ Come.”
    Despite his short stature, the man
took off at a brisk pace and quickly disappeared around a corner.
Stella found it difficult to keep up; fortunately, the soldiers
didn’t force-march her. She supposed that was a sign that she’d
moved up in the Hameji world.
    The main corridor was only
twenty yards long—too short for the ship to be anything but a
shuttle. So they’re