The Space Between the Stars - Softcover

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Anne Corlett is a criminal lawyer by profession and has recently completed an M.A. in creative writing at Bath Spa University. Her work has been published in magazines and anthologies, and her short fiction has won, placed, or been short-listed in national and international awards. The Space Between the Stars is her first novel.

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***This excerpt is from an advance uncorrected copy proof***

Copyright © 2017 Anne Corlett

Chapter Six

When Jamie woke the next morning, the cabin was growing gradually lighter. The previous occupant must have set the lighting to simulate a natural dawn, although on board a ship like this, day and night were nothing more than a consensus.

She washed as best she could in the sink before pulling on a blue T-shirt and the long denim skirt she used to wear on warm evenings back on Calgarth. There was a tiny mirror above the cabinet, and she brushed her hair and fastened it back. There were still shadows beneath her eyes, but her reflection didn&;t look quite so drawn as the one she&;d glimpsed in that bar window back on Soltaire.

There was no one else down in the hold. She was conscious of an out-of-place feeling, like being a guest in someone&;s home with no understanding of the unspoken rules.

She made herself a coffee and stood at the counter to eat a bowl of cereal and rehydrated milk. She&;d almost finished when footsteps clanged on the stairs. A few seconds later, Gracie stepped through the gap in the crates.

She gave Jamie a cool nod. &;Morning.&; She paused, as though scratching around for how this sort of exchange should go. &;Sleep all right?&;

&;Fine, thanks.&;

Gracie opened the fridge, apparently satisfied that she&;d met her conversational obligations. As Jamie hurried down the last few mouthfuls, not inclined to linger in awkward silence, there was a sharp crackle of sound, and Callan&;s voice echoed through the hold, distorted by the comm.

&;Engineer to bridge immediately, please.&;

The message snapped off. Gracie didn&;t show any reaction to the peremptory summons, throwing a hasty cup of coffee together and heading back to the stairs. There was a brief collision of voices as she reached the top, and after a few seconds Lowry appeared.

&;Good night&;s sleep?&; he said.

She nodded. &;You?&;

He smiled. &;Not too bad. The engines take a bit of getting used to. Have you traveled much?&;

&;Not that much. I went from Earth to Alegria when I was twenty-two, then Soltaire a few weeks ago. I did a couple of short trips when I was living on Alegria, but that&;s about it.&;

&;Not back to Earth at all?&;

&;Just once.&;

&;Do you have still have family there? I mean, did you have . . .&; Lowry rubbed his brow. &;Sorry. There&;s no right way to talk about it, is there?&;

&;It&;s okay,&; Jamie said. &;My father died a few years ago, but my stepmother was still in Belsley. I&;m not sure where my half sisters were living. We didn&;t really keep in touch.&;

&;And your mother?&;

&;She died when I was fourteen.&;

&;That must have been hard.&;

Jamie looked away. Twenty-four years ago and millions of miles away, and people still always wanted to know what had happened and how she&;d felt about it. It was as though you weren&;t allowed to leave anything behind.

The clank of a door provided a welcome distraction, and she looked up to see Callan walking through the gap. He nodded at the pair of them before shoving his tin mug under the hot-water tap and tipping a large spoonful of instant coffee into it.

&;Morning,&; Lowry said. &;Everything all right?&;

Callan nodded. &;We may be making another stop. We&;ve picked up a signal.&;

Jamie&;s heart gave a hopeful leap. More survivors. More proof that the statistics were wrong.

&;From where?&; Lowry asked.

&;Mining colony on Pangaea.&;

&;I haven&;t heard of it,&; Lowry said.

&;It&;s in the Gemmel cluster,&; Callan said. &;Fairly wealthy, if I remember rightly. Small-scale platinum mining. Gracie&;s trying to raise someone.&;

&;Do we know who it is?&; Jamie asked.

&;No,&; Callan said. &;It&;s your basic distress beacon. Date-stamped a couple of days ago.&;

&;So we&;ll be landing,&; Lowry said.

Callan gave a noncommittal shrug. &;Let&;s see if Gracie gets any response. Then we&;ll make a decision.&;

&;What do you mean?&; Jamie felt a sharp surge of adrenaline. &;We can&;t just leave someone down there.&;

Callan tipped powdered milk into his coffee and swirled it around. &;Well, we can. If we can&;t raise anyone, I&;m not inclined to land on spec. We won&;t know the fuel situation.&;

The memories were shoving for space inside Jamie&;s head. Her cold stone floor, gritty and unyielding. Her arms wrapped tight around her body as she tried not to break into pieces, alone. And running through her mind, that relentless fugue&;zero point zero zero zero . . .

&;No.&; She wrenched her thoughts back.

Callan&;s eyebrows went up. &;No?&;

&;I didn&;t mean . . .&; She shook her head, trying to clear it. &;I just . . . whoever&;s down there, they may think they&;re the only one.&;

Callan was still looking at her, and she felt a flash of resentment. He&;d never had to face that possibility. None of them had.

&;Like I said.&; His tone was level. &;If Gracie can raise someone, then we&;ll see.&;

&;What if they can&;t get to the comm in time?&; Jamie could hear her voice rising. &;What if they&;re injured?&;

&;That&;s a lot of what ifs.&; Callan tapped his fingers on the scratched surface of the kitchen unit. &;How about I add one? What if there&;s no fuel?&;

&;You stocked up on Soltaire,&; Lowry put in, his tone neutral. &;Do we have enough to take off again?&;

&;Yes,&; Callan said. &;But it would mean another stop somewhere. That&;s an unnecessary complication.&;

&;Unnecessary?&; Jamie gave a harsh laugh. &;Saving someone&;s life?&;

&;It&;s an established settlement,&; Callan said. &;It&;s not like we&;d be abandoning them on some backwater to chase their dinner with a homemade bow and arrow.&;

&;But they&;d be alone.&; Jamie could feel a tremor trying to break through her. If she started shaking, she might not stop. &;You don&;t know . . .&; She broke off. The memory of those first hours was too close, too personal. But she had to make them understand. They couldn&;t just sail off into the void, never looking back. &;I was alone,&; she managed. &;I thought I was alone.&;

Callan sipped his coffee, studying her over the rim of the mug. &;You must have known you weren&;t. The infomercials said . . .&;

&;It doesn&;t matter.&; There was a panicked edge to her voice. &;When you wake up and there&;s no one . . .&; She drew a deep breath. &;If we just fly on, and leave whoever&;s down there, we might as well have murdered them.&;

&;There&;ll be survivors all over the place,&; Callan said. &;We&;re not responsible for every one of them.&;

&;But we&;re responsible for this one.&;

&;How do you figure that?&; Callan said. &;If we&;d never picked the signal up we&;d never have known there was anyone there.&;

&;But we do know,&; Jamie said. &;We can&;t stop knowing it just...