Arriving at dock twenty-six, Joel went in ahead, gun sweeping the area in front of them checking for any risks. The others hung back, flanked by Maya and Sean, both of whom were still carrying the rifles they had taken from their captors.
“We’re clear,” Joel called back. Maya and Sean ushered their charges through and over to the open hanger door on the far side of the Empress.
Molly brought up the rear, spotting Max and Jayne watching them leave from several yards away.
Max called across from a sitting up position now. “Count yourselves lucky this time,” he snarled. “Next time I see you, it will be your end. So,” he said menacingly, “make sure we don’t cross paths again.”
Molly wandered over calmly. Serenely. She bent down and moved close to his face. Jayne had shuffled back in fear, leaving Max, half paralyzed to fend for himself against the approaching wrath.
“I think,” Molly said quietly, “it should be you hoping we never cross paths again.”
Pike froze in fear of her presence. Her tone carried no venom, and little emotion. It made her eerily dangerous.
Max shriveled from her, averting his eyes in surrender. Jayne, crouching a few feet back, watched the exchange, her face fixed in shock at what she was witnessing.
Molly quietly stood up, turned and walked away, her gun still holstered as if she felt no threat from him.
The ship powered up, and she disappeared into it before it gently undocked, reversed out, and then disappeared into the abyss of space beyond.
Aboard the Flutningsaðili, Hangar Deck, Level 1
Several more minutes had passed and there was finally a click in Brock’s ear piece. “Okay man, you’re going to have to get out of there,” Pieter told him. “Leave the girl.”
Brock hesitated. “Since when do we leave people behind?”
Pieter struggled to find his words. “We’re going to have to. She could be anywhere. We still haven’t got a trace on her. For all we know she isn’t even on her way.” His voice was full of remorse having to relay the order.
Brock racked his brains. “What if I were to just stay, and you guys go on ahead. I’ve got a vessel. I can catch up.”
Oz clicked on this time. “Molly says she’s not leaving you. So unless you want to put Molly in danger while she comes to — and I quote — drag your ass back to the Empress, I’d get going.”
Brock huffed in frustration, his hands up on his face as he could no longer resist the urge to pace.
Just then there was a rattling, and a thumping from above. He looked up, and there was something moving behind the air vent. “Anne?” he called, in as loud a whisper as he dared.
“Yes?” came a girl’s voice.
“Pieter, Oz. I’ve got her,” he announced.
There was a sigh of relief on the line from Pieter. “Okay, great. Now get moving,” he told him firmly.
Brock looked up, craning his neck, trying to see into the vent. “Can you get it open?” he asked quietly.
“I think so,” Anne replied. “It hurts my fingers. I’ve had a few of these to do along the way, else I’d have been here sooner.”
Brock stepped back, thinking. “It’s okay. I’m right here. We’ve got a ship waiting. Just as soon as you get it open, you can drop down and I’ll catch you.”
Anne struggled some more with the grating and soon it dropped down, and two feet appeared. “Ready?” she asked.
Brock got underneath her. “Yeah, ready. Drop.”
She wriggled forward and then dropped. Brock caught her, staggered back a few paces and then found his balance and put her down. “Wow, that went a lot better than I thought it would,” he remarked.
Anne smiled. “Thank you,” she said shyly.
“My pleasure,” he responded. “I’m Brock, I’ll be your escape buddy today.” He held out his hand not to shake, but for her to take. She put her hand in his and allowed him to lead her off through the double doors to the hangar deck.
“Okay, now stay close,” he told her quietly. “There are some engineer types around. We just need to act casual and if anyone asks, you’re an intern, doing some work experience with me, right?”
Anne nodded, and continued to follow him back around the perimeter on the same route he’d originally taken.
They got nearly all the way round to where they needed to be, and Brock started leading her off the walkway and onto the deck.
“Hey. You there!” A voice called out across the deck.
Brock spun round to see one of the engineers. “Don’t suppose you saw a tool kit on the railings out here, have you?”
Brock looked around where he was pointing. “Uh, no. Not just now, but there was one there earlier,” he relayed.
The engineer nodded. “Yeah. Just left it there while I took a break and some bugger has nicked it.”
Brock frowned. “Some people just need a good beating,” he said, matching the guys tone of annoyance.
“Yeah,” the engineer agreed. “You’re telling me!” He scratched his head and continued looking around.
Brock pushed Anne on, and they hurried onto the ship. Brock went straight to the cockpit and started running the final checks. The tailgate closed and Anne came up to the cockpit to join him.
“Grab a seat,” he told her. “And strap in, this may be a bit bumpy.”
Anne did as she was told.
Brock hit the bead in his arm. “Okay Oz, an exit would be great right about now.”
Oz’s voice came through his implant again. “Okay, you’re cleared for takeoff. Lift off when you’re ready. I’m sending the shortest flight path out of here to your holo. You’ll want to be going no faster than 20kph to clear their shield though. Any faster and it will think you’re a rock or something and burn you up.”
“Thanks for the tip,” Brock responded humorously while focusing on the lift off.
Within moments they were up and out and then away through the opening hangar door.
Brock grinned to himself. “Okay Oz, we’re clear,” he announced, glancing down at Anne. “Heading in the direction back towards Estaria to rendezvous with the Empress.”
“Great stuff,” Oz acknowledged. “We’ll be picking you up any minute.”
Flutningsaðili, Floor 25, Dock 26
From the shadows Max and Jayne watched the Empress pull away.
Max was still unable to move and had been propped up against a wall by Jayne for comfort. She had called for help but it was going to take several minutes for someone useful to arrive. Plus, it was a matter that they wanted hushed up, so Max had insisted on everything going through Pascal to coordinate.
They sat waiting in the shadows of the now-empty dock. Jayne looked out absently. “I knew there was something off about that Marissa girl,” she mused, thinking back to all the conversations they had had and kicking herself that she hadn’t known.
She glanced down at Max. “So, what exactly are we transporting that is causing all this fuss? And who were those other people? I didn’t see them at takeoff.”
Max grunted, and then winced in pain, trying to shift his position slightly. “It doesn’t matter anymore. We’re fucked. When we show up without the personnel, the client is going to well and truly fuck us over.”
Jayne looked at him. “You mean, we’re transporting people? Not just equipment?”
Max avoided her eyes. “The less you know …”
Aboard the Empress, heading back to Gaitune
Molly watched the screen as the little vessel Brock had escaped in gently touched down inside the Empress cargo bay.
“Okay, she’s in,” Crash announced. “Doors closing.”
Molly got up and headed out into the lounge area. “Sean, Joel,” she called. The two looked up at her awaiting their instructions. “Brock has just docked with us. He has the girl with him. She’ll be in need of treatment. Could you go help him get her down to the med bay?”
They nodded
and headed off to the back of the ship. Jack had already taken the two scientists down to get them checked out and treated.
She turned her attention to Paige and Pieter. “You two okay?” she checked. They both nodded.
She looked over at Maya, who was settling in to relax with her eyes closed. “Maya,” she called. “Get ye down to the med bay and let Emma take a look at that hand,” she instructed. “Paige, you can help her. And hop in a med dock for a diagnosis yourself while you’re there.”
Paige nodded and silently got up and led Maya down the aisle back towards the corridor between the cockpit and the lounge.
Oz, can you get Emma to look Paige over? She might need some down time in a med dock. I think that was quite a shock for her back there.
Sure.
…
…
And for the record, it was quite a shock for all of us. Myself included.
Why?
Because you dodged a bullet. Somehow. Emma and I calculated the trajectory and you were in the path of that bullet. And then you weren’t.
Uh huh. And your point?
My point is, that was not normal.
Good job for us, eh?
I’ll say. But—
Yeah, we should talk about it. But later, okay?
Okay.
* * *
Sean carried Anne into the med bay, where Emma already had both Paige and Maya in the med docks. “Well Emma, this is looking like old times,” he remarked as he stepped inside and opened the nearest dock for Anne.
He placed her gently inside. “It’s all okay. We’re just going to let Emma take a look at you. Make sure you’re okay.”
He smiled at her reassuringly. She stared back at him, her eyes wide but expressionless, as if half out of it and half fearful. She nodded, and weakly tried to return his smile.
“Good girl,” he told her, as Emma started the scan.
A pink gas started to fill the chamber, and a force field came over the open top to keep it in. Emma spoke to the girl softly through the audio in the dock. “I’m just going to give you a mild sedative to relax you a little. Breathe deeply. It’s good for you.”
The girl glanced at Sean. He nodded. “Go ahead. It’s all okay. Emma is going to take good care of you.”
Within minutes the girl was asleep.
Emma’s voice came over Sean’s implant for privacy. “She’s okay for the most part. She has a mild head injury, which I’ve started treating. Severe dehydration and moderate malnutrition. Also suffering the effects of bad artificial gravity. My guess is she had been on that ship long before it picked up the other two scientists. I’ll have Oz cross-reference its passage prior to our team boarding. Might give you something useful to work with.”
Sean’s shoulder noticeably relaxed and dropped a little. “Great, thanks Emma.”
“Sure thing,” the ship’s EI responded.
He folded his arms, hugging himself. “How are the others?” he asked, glancing over at Maya and Paige.
Emma pulled up some charts on a nearby holo for him to look at. “Maya’s hand is a little bruised, but healing nicely,” she told him. “She’ll be fine in half an hour. Paige is in shock. I’ll need to treat her for a few hours. You can leave her on board when we land at Gaitune and Oz will give you a nudge when she’s awake again. Might be good for her to have a friendly organic around when she comes around.”
Sean smiled, making a mental note to be around. “Okay. Sure thing. Thanks Emma. What happened to traumatize her though?”
Emma responded matter-of-factly. “Oh, well... from what we can gather she saw Molly get shot, and dodged the bullet.”
Sean’s mouth dropped open. “Shit. You’re kidding?”
“I’m not.”
Sean frowned as he wandered along the row of med docks, checking on the girls. “Is this part of the realm jumping super powers?”
“I think it might be,” Emma responded, still in his implant.
* * *
Back upstairs, Molly headed to the cockpit again.
“Okay Crash, let’s get these scientists home,” she said brightly. “If you might avoid gating for the moment, I’d like to see if we can figure out who Anne is and what her story is before we turn her over to the authorities. I’m assuming she was also taken against her will, but she hasn’t said much to anyone so we’re just guessing.”
Crash rolled his head to look at her while he was steering the ship around some space debris. “Sure thing. I’ll let you know when we’re twenty minutes out so you can decide what to do. We’ve got a couple of pods on board for dropping people to the surface.”
Molly patted his shoulder. “Thanks, Crash. And also,” she turned back to him. “Thanks for having my back earlier. I appreciate it. A lot.”
Crash looked up at her. “You’re welcome,” he told her. Their eyes locked in an understanding only comrades in arms have, and then he turned his eyes back to the flying, as if the moment had never happened.
Molly patted him once more before removing her hand from his shoulder and heading out into the lounge.
Chapter 19
Aboard the Empress, Lounge
Molly sat back in her seat, trying to rest her body while they figured things out. “Is she awake?” she asked.
Sean shook his head. “Not at the moment. Emma needs another half hour with her.”
Molly rested her head back, closing her eyes. “Did she say anything to you while you were in holding?”
“Not much,” Sean confessed. “Only that she had been kidnapped from her room in Estaria. Some kind of religious boarding school.”
Molly shook her head gently from its tilted back position. “But what would Pike want with her?” she mused.
Sean shook his head.
She lifted her head and looked at Sean. “Do you think she knows?” she asked.
Sean raised his eyebrows and then sat back himself. “I think she knows more than she’s saying, but I think she’s having problems trusting anyone.” He crossed one ankle over his other knee.
Molly sighed. “What’s the best call? I mean, is she a minor? I didn’t get a good look at her.”
Sean frowned. “No, she’s technically an adult. I think she’s just a little... strange. She told me she was nineteen.”
Molly frowned. “She looks much younger. Maybe she’s just small. Let’s see if Oz and Emma can get an ID on her and any background.”
Emma is grabbing her prints and DNA right now.
Great. Thanks Oz. Let me know when you find anything.
An hour later, Anne was brought up to the lounge to sit with Molly and Sean and come clean about what she knew.
She looked down at the mocha Molly had made for her. “It all started when my abilities started accelerating beyond the norm. And beyond what they could reasonably expect us to achieve,” she explained. Sean was mesmerized that the mostly mute girl he’d known up until this point was suddenly so coherent and eloquent.
He made a mental note to find out what Emma had done to her to make her suddenly so... chatty.
Anne continued her story. “The teachers at the academy notified the elders, and they suddenly decided that I was a danger. But they said I was in danger, and should be locked away for my own protection. They’re very powerful. I always thought that they wanted us all to learn to ascend, but now that I suddenly might be able to I don’t think that is the case. I’m scared. And I don’t want to go back.”
Molly had been listening with rapt attention. “Is there anything else you can tell us? Anything that might help us find out who might be after you?”
She shook her head.
Molly sighed. “But you think it is someone other than the elders?”
Anne nodded. She had wrapped her hands around her mocha, and now she had stopped speaking she took a slurp, carefully so as not to burn her lips.
Molly stood up. “Okay, give us a minute,” she said to
Anne. “I’ll be back shortly.”
She tilted her head for Sean and Joel to follow her out to the cargo area, leaving Anne sitting in the lounge.
The two guys stood around her, waiting for her decision. Molly shook her head, taking a deep breath. “I think there is something she’s holding back,” she shared.
Joel nodded his head. “I agree. But we can’t blame her. I think she needs time.”
Molly shrugged, pulling her shoulders almost to her ears before relaxing them. “So what do we do?” she pressed.
Sean folded his arms. “Anything from Oz.”
Molly shook her head. “Only the usual stuff, and confirming what she told us about being enrolled in the academy.”
Sean frowned, shifting his weight as the three huddled conspiratorially. “We should probably let her come with us. It’s what she was asking earlier.”
Molly bobbed her head. “We’d have to clear it with the General.”
Joel cocked his head a little and turned to watch the girl through the door again. “There’s something about her that I can’t put my finger on,” he confessed. He glanced at Molly. “Don’t you get a sense of that, too.”
She nodded. “I do. But I can’t put it into words. And right now, my brain is foggy from everything that is happening.”
She folded her arms and looked down at the insulated floor. “If we can get the okay, I think we bring her back to base, and that will at least give us time to figure something out.”
Sean nodded. “I concur. There is nothing to suggest she’s a threat to us.”
Joel nodded. “Great. Well, keep me posted, in case I have to add one more into my training exercises.” He winked at Molly as he headed back into the lounge.
They all chuckled, and Molly and Sean headed back in.
Oz, can you get agreement from the General via ADAM for us?
Sure thing. Gimme a few. He’s been a bit slow responding the last few times I’ve tried him.
Molly chuckled to herself. Maybe he’s just behind on his holos, she thought, remembering what it was like back in the day of being a part of an institution with demands that weren’t mission urgent.
The Ascension Myth Box Set Page 149