Free Space Junque by L. K. Rigel Page B

spine. She pulled a strand of her hair in front of her eyes. It was the bright red color of blood when it first hits the light, before it mixes with air and darkens. The same color as the girl Durga's. The same as the goddess's.
    Durga hugged Char again. "Asherah told me I would have many sisters, and I would know them by her mark."

DOGs Don't Need No Stinkin' Data Links
     
    "DOGs don't need no stinkin' data links." Jake mimicked a classic holofilm. "They'll breach the hull and salvage what they can. We have to get off the annex."
    No argument against that. Char had already seen it happen. "And go where?"
    "Corcovado," Mike said.
    "Not Corcovado." Rani had murder in her voice.
    Char didn't blame her. Corcovado meant Reynaldo and Geraldo. After the one meeting in the Blue Marble, Char would be happy if she never saw them again. Unfortunately, the goddess had other ideas.
    "I can't stand the 'aldos myself," Jake said. "But outside of their presence, I hear the air is breathable in Corcovado."
    Mike dropped the subject and the administrator in him took over. "Char, can you and Rani deal with the crops?" He turned to Durga. "Run and get the others to come help. They can sleep later."
    "Not the matriarch," Durga said.
    "Not the matriarch," Mike agreed.
    Durga ran to the back of the   Junque , barking out orders before she was half way up the loading ramp.
    "I should discharge the electric blankets so the DOGs can't have them," Mike said. "Jake, the energy drive in the com center pulls from the photovoltaic net. We can use it to recharge the   Junque   while we're in orbit."
    "Good thinking. I'll get it."
    It   was   good thinking. Mike was useful in a crisis, and he cared more deeply about his friends than Char had believed. She still wished she hadn't kissed him.
    When Durga returned with the other girls, they all headed into the corridor leaving Mike to deal with the blankets. At the first Ppod, Char set the compad for the pallet rooms.
    "The crops are on this side of the annex." She handed the compad to Rani. "This will show you the way. The rafts and buckets are on rolling plats, all automated and designed to move easily to the cargo bay. I'll join you after I take Jake to the com center."
    Rani set off following the wall lights with the girls trailing behind. Char gasped when she counted the girls and stopped Durga. "Are there any more of you on the shuttle?"
    "No, my sister," Durga smiled. "This is everybody."
    "I see. Go on, then."
    They will be as holy chalices, and you will shepherd nine from the stars.
    In the Ppod, Char and Jake grabbed the rails. Her hair floated in the weightlessness, and as they both stared at the shocking color their eyes met. He looked away and said, "So what happened?"
    There was a wall between them now. He must believe she was with Mike. Jake liked her. But he had no passion for her, she could see that.
    "What do you mean?" She suddenly felt incredibly lonely.
    "How did your hair change?"
    "Oh, that." They entered the com center. "I haven't looked in a mirror since yesterday."   When we took a shower together.   "I didn't even know about it."
    The annex had gone to nightside and was over land. There was no light on the surface that wasn't made by fire. Geraldo had said Corcovado was clean and safe. Why did the gods favor the 'aldos, as Jake called them?
    Jake wasn't finished. "Durga insists she's been talking with the goddess of life and fertility. It's starting to not sound completely insane."
    "I don't know what happened, Jake. It was as real as my talking to you right here, but I know how insane it sounds. Earlier today, I was inspecting the strawberries. A strange woman with red and silver hair appeared from nowhere."
    Char decided to leave out the Empani for now.
    "She said she is a goddess. Her name is Asherah, and she gave me a revelation which I am to share with the world. And then she was gone."
    "Let me guess. We're all going to die unless we submit to the gods."
    Of course it