Because you’re extraordinary?
Yes, and because a tutor showed me how.
Why would those Starseers have wanted to set up a base way out here? Jelena asked.
To keep an eye on the rest of the system from a distant vantage point? From out here, an observatory could see every planet, moon, and sun except for the brief periods when bodies traveled behind each other.
Jelena supposed that could be true. And the Kirians of that time period might have been worried about the humans on other planets, especially considering they’d been about to make an attempt to take over the system.
As to what killed those Starseers, Thor continued, it could have been something as simple as mechanical failure. As Ostberg would be quick to point out, his talents are the only things keeping us from suffering a similar fate right now.
Yes, he’s certain this ship would never fly anywhere at all if not for him.
Listen, Jelena. There’s another reason I think it would be a good idea to explore. Brody. You must also sense that he’s hiding something.
I sense that he’s hiding a lot. Jelena considered all the glares that Brody had given Zhou. Now was her chance to ask about that. “Zhou? Has Brody been talking to you telepathically?”
“Threatening me is the correct term,” Zhou said, studying the sensor display.
“I’ve noticed he doesn’t seem interested in anything but finding the wreck. More than that, he almost seems to be hiding something. Or covering something up. Do you know what?”
Zhou turned from the display and met her eyes. “He hasn’t told me anything about his mission. He just says to shut up and not speculate on things unless it’s about the things that matter to him. He thinks everything else is a waste of time.”
“You don’t have to listen to him.”
“I don’t want to, but—” His gaze slid sideways, avoiding hers. “He sort of bullied me, and he… I don’t know. What’s the Starseer equivalent of punching someone in the nose?”
“He hurt you?” Jelena bristled, imagining some mental attack. How was Zhou supposed to defend himself against something like that? She thought of Abelardus and brain aneurysms.
“Not… a lot. But he made it clear he would do more if I crossed him.”
“What an ass.” Jelena rubbed the back of her neck. Thor?
Yes?
Let’s go out and get Zhou some samples of the interesting dirt out there.
I want to grab my weapons. Thor headed for his cabin. I’ll meet you in the cargo hold.
Weapons? What did he think there would be to shoot at out there?
I’ll see if Masika will come too, Jelena said. I don’t want to leave her on the ship with Brody in case he decides to while away his time by harassing her.
Actually, it might not be a bad idea to have her distract him while we go out. Brody may object to us investigating the asteroid up close.
Too bad. I’m not sacrificing her for our convenience.
It was hard to think of their brawny, genetically engineered security woman as a potential sacrifice, but if Brody was as powerful as Thor said, Masika’s muscles might not be enough to help her against him. Especially if she lost her temper and attacked first, giving him a justification to attack back.
Very well, but be prepared for interference from him.
We’re just going to take a look at some glowing rocks, right?
Thor hesitated. We’ll see what there is out there to see.
Jelena scowled at the view screen. What did that mean? Was Brody not the only one hiding things from her?
“Jelena?” Zhou prompted, glancing at her face.
“Get your equipment, please, then meet me in the cargo hold. I’ll have Dr. Ogiwara do a quick brain check on us, and then we’ll see if we can find you a suit that fits.”
“Oh, that’s excellent.”
Jelena gave him a bleak look. She doubted it.
Chapter 11
“I’d prefer combat armor,” Masika grumbled, stuffing a foot into the boot of a spacesuit.
Alfie sniffed at the boot and growled suspiciously. It probably had a funky smell. The suits hadn’t been used in a while, and Jelena didn’t think their fastidious doctor had made her way to the spacesuit storage cabinet in the cargo hold yet.
Zhou was leaning against a bulkhead while he also worked on his boots. Already wearing the rest of a bulky suit, he’d strapped several containers of equipment around his torso, and he looked like he could tip over at any moment. No doubt, he would welcome the weak gravity outside.
“Combat armor?” Zhou asked. “There shouldn’t be anybody out there to fight.” He glanced at Thor, who’d brought his blazer pistol and telescoping sword to the cargo hold.
Thor was scraping a fingernail against the chest of his suit and didn’t notice the glance. “There’s dirt or silica or something stuck to this one.”
“That’s glitter.” Jelena flashed him a devilish smile.
“You glittered the spacesuits?”
“Just yours.” Jelena had already donned everything except her helmet, and she poked at the readout for the oxygen tank, making sure it was full, but she watched Thor out of the corner of her eye, grinning at his expression of distaste.
Masika thumped his chest with the back of her gloved hand. “It looks good on you.”
“I know you don’t believe that.”
No, Masika’s tastes ran more toward subdued and elegant. The rainbow of green, gold, and purple glitter wasn’t elegant.
“You’re right,” Masika said. “I was trying to head off sulking.”
“I don’t sulk.”
“No? What’s it called when you lock yourself in your cabin for days and don’t talk to anyone?”
“Contemplating.”
“Now you can contemplate glitter.”
Jelena pulled her helmet over her head. Alfie trotted over and tilted her head, considering the strange headwear. She seemed on the verge of barking at it, so Jelena distracted her by promising vat-grown ham cubes when she returned.
So far, Brody hadn’t made an appearance in the cargo hold or commed her, which she hoped meant he didn’t care what they were doing, but she figured it would be easiest to get out of the ship before he stumbled across them and decided to object.
“Testing,” Jelena said, grabbing her staff from where it leaned against the wall. “Can you all hear me?”
“Yes,” Masika, Zhou, and Thor said at the same time.
She switched channels. “Erick, you’ll be in charge of the ship while we’re gone. Can you hear me?”
A clang-thump drifted out the open hatch to engineering, followed by a grunt. “Yes, but I’d appreciate it if you didn’t pester me. I have a dozen problems demanding my attention, and you took all my tool-holding people.”
“I’ll only pester you if we need a heroic rescue.”
“Thor can’t handle the heroics?”
“I’m not sure. It’s possible he feels emasculated by my glitter.”
Thor glared at her.
Jelena smiled. That was what he got for hiding things from her.
I’ll tell you everything once we’re farther from the ship and I’m sure Brody won’t be surfing in your mind for information.
Her smile faltered. As far as I know, you’re the only one who gets through my barrier and into my mind.
I wouldn’t count on him not knowing the same tricks I do.
But your back-door trick, that’s a chasadski tactic, right? Brody wouldn’t be chasadski. He was working with Young-hee and the Dacia Temple archaeologists for a year from what Abelardus said. Jelena was, however, still waiting for a message back from Young-hee.
What was he doing the prior forty years of his life? Thor asked.
He didn’t tell me.
He didn’t tell me, either.
“We waiting for something?” Masika asked over the spacesuit comm channel. She and Zhou had both donned their helmets and checked each other’s equipment.
>
“For Thor and me to have a telepathic conversation with each other,” Jelena said, waving for Thor to turn so she could check his tank as Masika came over to do the same for her.
“Does it involve sulking?”
In case Brody was monitoring them, Jelena decided not to mention him or their concerns. “We’re arguing over glitter colors. He prefers pinks and silvers to what I chose.”
“Pinks?” Zhou asked.
“Manly pinks,” Thor said, heading to the airlock.
“Is there such a thing?” Zhou asked Masika.
“No.”
Thor opened the hatch to the airlock and led the way inside, clearly done dawdling. After suggesting to Alfie that she should guard the ship while they were gone, Jelena picked up the bag she had packed. It held emergency gear in case the explorations ended up taking longer than she expected, but she was surprised at how heavy it was. She started to open the fastener and glimpsed the top of a spare oxygen tank, but Thor spoke into her mind, and she paused.
I added a few supplies. In case we’re out longer than expected.
All right. Jelena refastened the bag and hooked it to the eyelets built into the suit’s utility belt. I’m going to hold you to that comment about explaining more later.
Good.
As Jelena stepped into the airlock behind the others, squeezing to fit herself and her bulky suit into the confined space, Alfie woofed from the hatchway to engineering. At first, Jelena thought she was barking at something Erick and Austin were doing, but she was looking toward the other end of the cargo hold.
Brody stood in the corridor, staring at Jelena and her team. How long had he been there?
“We’ll be back in a few,” Jelena called. “Just getting some samples of that glowing stuff outside.”
“How much longer will repairs take?” Brody asked.
“You’d have to ask Erick, but judging by how disgruntled he sounded, maybe all day.”
Brody’s eyes narrowed, and she thought he would accuse her of stretching out the repair estimate to make more time for exploring. As if she was the one who wanted to roam around out there. She was only going along so she could keep an eye on Thor and Zhou. She could easily imagine Zhou, intrigued by some scientific find, wandering off and getting stuck somewhere.
“You should be helping him,” Brody said coolly. “To speed up the process.”
“If you want speed, she should absolutely not be helping,” Erick called from the open engineering hatch. “She’s not even good at holding tools.”
“That main pirate ship is coming,” Brody said, not looking toward engineering. He stared straight into Jelena’s faceplate, his eyes locking with hers. “They have at least one Starseer with them. They all think they’re going to beat us to the ship.”
“They blew open the entrance?” Jelena should have known that rockfall wouldn’t be sufficient to hide her ship’s passage. And with the Snapper out of commission until repairs were finished, someone else would have time to catch up and pass them. But was that so awful? If the Starseer government representatives got to the ship and the artifact before Brody? Maybe that would keep Jelena and Erick and Thor from being declared kill-on-sight criminals.
“They will attack us if they see your ship sitting here,” Brody said. “You’ve killed five of their people.”
“Me? That was you.” Jelena pointed a gloved finger at him. Technically, Thor had helped with that last one, but that had been self-defense. And she certainly hadn’t killed anyone.
“They believe it was you. That’s all that matters.”
“I don’t suppose you’d like to send a telepathic message and take the rightful blame.”
His cold gaze never wavered. “Forget your side trip, and save your repairs for later. Getting this bucket in the air now is our only chance of beating the others to the artifact.”
The words struck Jelena as oddly compelling. It was a good point, wasn’t it? The Snapper needed repairs, yes, but they could probably continue that last hour on battery power and make the repairs later. And if they had the artifact, maybe they could barter it back to the Starseer government in exchange for exoneration.
A hand came to rest on her shoulder. Thor had stepped up to stand beside her.
He’s trying to manipulate you, he said silently, staring across the hold at Brody.
Jelena’s cheeks heated as she realized it was true. How could she have failed to see it?
Because he’s strong. “You have the only map, correct, Brody?” Thor asked aloud.
“Yes.”
“We’ve taken several turns since we came in, and there were numerous options back at the entrance. There’s a maze of tunnels between us and them, and even if a Starseer on the ship can sense us or the artifact, they’ll struggle to find the right way through.”
“They won’t struggle for long. I’d have no trouble finding a ship full of people in here.”
“Then hope they’re more inept than you,” Thor said.
Brody opened his mouth to reply, but Jelena was tired of hearing from him.
“Go hold Erick’s tool if you want to hurry up repairs,” she interrupted, stepping back into the airlock and gesturing for Thor to do the same. “We won’t be gone long.”
She slapped the control panel, and the hatch clanged shut. The hiss of depressurization sounded as the lock cycled.
“I really don’t want him holding anything of mine, Jelena,” Erick grumbled over her helmet comm.
“Lock down engineering so he can’t get in to pester you, then. And lock down NavCom, too, will you?” For all she knew, Brody might be a pilot. “And you and Austin might want to see if you can come up with a way to camouflage the Snapper from the prying mind’s eyes of Starseers.”
“Is that all? Why don’t I make dinner and do laundry while I’m at it?”
Jelena snorted. “As if you know how to do laundry.”
“I do laundry all the time.”
“The clothes on the deck in your cabin suggest otherwise.”
“Those are clean. I just don’t like folding.”
The light over the door flashed, signaling that the airlock was depressurized and they could leave the ship. Jelena activated the magnetic soles of her boots by habit, though she doubted the rock ledge would have anything to hold them down.
Thor opened the exterior hatch. The green glowing circle remained, illuminating the ledge under the ship and a couple of dozen meters all around it.
He hopped out first, dropping slowly to the ground in the low gravity. He didn’t bother avoiding the circle, and Jelena waited to see if flames would leap out of it before following him. The light level fluctuated under his weight, but nothing more significant happened.
Jelena jumped outward as well as down and sailed beyond the edge of the circle, landing on what she expected to be normal rock. As soon as her boots touched down, two glowing ovals appeared underneath them, the green light gleaming against the metal fasteners.
“Oh,” she muttered. In hindsight, she supposed it made sense that anything that touched the ground would elicit the reaction. “Close the hatch after you come out, Masika.”
There was a control in NavCom to close the exterior hatches, but in case the Snapper needed to leave in a hurry, Jelena didn’t want Austin to have to worry about it. It was bad enough she’d only given him three flying lessons since Fourseas.
“Are we sure it’s safe to leave that nut back on the ship?” Masika asked, closing the hatch and hopping down.
Zhou was already kneeling, peering at the circle through a magnifying lens. Thor, showing little interest in the green ground, strode directly to the tunnel.
“I’m not sure, no,” Jelena said. “But it shouldn’t take long to take some samples, right, Zhou?”
Jelena walked to the front of the ship, her steps turning into bounds in the low gravity, so she could scrape off some of the webbing for him.
“Not long at all.” Zhou had already produced tweezers
and a sample tube.
“Does he know that?” Masika asked, pointing toward the tunnel.
Thor had disappeared into it, the glow of his helmet lamp the only thing showing his passage.
“See something interesting, Thor?” Jelena asked.
“Come explore with me while Zhou collects his samples,” Thor said.
“Is that an order or a request?” It always miffed her when he got imperial and started commanding her around.
“An invitation.”
“Really.” Jelena looked at Masika.
“I can keep an eye on our scientist,” Masika said, waving at the kneeling Zhou, “if you can’t resist running off into a dark nook with the broody prince.”
“I can resist.” Jelena watched the light fading in the tunnel as Thor moved farther away. He wasn’t going to stop if she didn’t come, was he? She thought of the extra oxygen tank he’d packed for her. Presumably, he had one for himself too. Just where was he planning to go? And for what? Brody had the map to the artifact.
Despite her words, she found herself walking toward the tunnel, curiosity getting the best of her. Besides, Zhou wasn’t the only one she could imagine wandering off and getting stuck somewhere. Who knew what further oddities this asteroid held?
“Good job, Captain,” Masika said. “You resisted for an entire two seconds.”
“I don’t want him to get into trouble.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ve seen him with his shirt off. I know what you want.”
“What?” Zhou asked, sounding startled.
“Nothing,” Jelena said firmly, not sure who she wanted to smack more, Masika or Thor.
She strode down the tunnel, torn cobwebs the only evidence of Thor’s passing. He’d gone around a bend, and she couldn’t see his light anymore.
“Nothing good is going to come out of this,” she grumbled.
Chapter 12
The cobwebs thickened as Jelena continued down the dark tunnel. Though ripped and torn, and swaying slightly from Thor’s passage, they effectively obscured the view ahead.
She pulled off some of the material and rubbed it between her fingers, but the gloves ruined any tactile hints she might have received. It broke easily, disintegrating and joining dust on the ground. Was there supposed to be dust in asteroids? Leftover debris from whatever mining operation had hollowed out that chamber?
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