House of Fate

by Barbara Ann Wright

  In the distance, Nocturna Prime glittered like a blue and gold jewel. Annika could barely make out the winking light that was Luna station, suspended above the capital city of Presidio, where great space elevators moved large amounts of people and freight.

  “How shall I introduce you?” Antiles asked as Caligo guided them to one of the docking stations. “My assistant? My new partner?” He winked. “A young person wishing to make some extra creds by selling her time?”

  She avoided rolling her eyes, wondering if he’d ever actually sold anyone’s…time. “Assistant will do, if you must. I don’t want to attract attention.”

  “Of course not.” He hadn’t batted an eye when she’d disguised herself with Noal’s cosmetics, changing the planes of her face and dying her hair a vibrant purple. She liked brightly colored dyes. They made people look at her hair rather than her face.

  After their ship landed, a platform slid it sideways to rest with other ships behind an airlock-sealed wall. As darkness closed around them, Annika let out a slow breath. She didn’t let herself think about getting caught. Best to focus on the job. When that was over, she could think about everything else, but from this point forward, she had to put even Judit out of her mind.

  Difficult as that was.

  When she and Antiles walked out of the darkened docking area and onto one of Caligo’s busy thoroughfares, she relaxed. The atmosphere wasn’t chaotic like the Xerxes. Lighting on shops and restaurants was tasteful and not too bright. The ambient light was provided by old-fashioned streetlights, and the occasional glimpse of starlight far above gave the place a feeling of perpetual evening. People hustled to and fro, but no one pushed or shouted, and the hubbub of conversation never climbed above comfortable levels.

  “There’s a bar I know,” Antiles said. “Always my first stop.”

  She nodded and followed. She’d only been on Caligo once, and she remembered the general layout, but she needed a moment to formulate a plan. She still had a long way to go. His favorite bar was a cheerful affair: A striped awning hung out front, and illumination designed to look like warm candlelight shone from within. The ceiling was decorated with murals of fantastical creatures frolicking in a garden, and the gentle light passing over it gave the illusion of movement.

  They sat in a quiet corner and ordered drinks. Annika tried to wrap her mind around the momentous task in front of her. She’d been so confident during the journey, but something about being lowered into Caligo’s shadowy depths had sapped her self-assurance. Even though she was close to home, she felt as lost as when she’d first stepped aboard the Xerxes. She wished she had Judit beside her or even Noal, or both. Then they could lean on one another.

  Ama would have sneered at her. Her training had taught her to depend on herself. How quickly she’d forgotten it.

  “Well,” Antiles said. “May I ask what your plan is now?”

  She tried to get her mind in order. Start at the beginning. She needed information, so she needed access to a computer. “Maybe I can break into one of the computers here,” she said, looking around. “If not, I’m going to have to find a way onto Prime.”

  “Risky, but I bet the rewards are great. Anything more I can do?”

  She would have been suspicious of his offer of help, but the more information she got, the more for him, too. “Cover for me. You came here with an assistant, so people are going to expect you to have one.”

  He stroked his beard. “I’m sure I could find a reasonable facsimile to play your part. And if not, I’ll invent a story about how you’re laid up with a nasty illness. Only the finest, of course.”

  She chuckled and decided she might miss him when this was over. He was delightfully unmoved by position. She thought Noal would have gotten on well with him given time. Judit would have killed him by now.

  Annika threaded through the bar, listening for gossip. Many Nocturna allies had come to Caligo in an attempt to keep safe from the chaos in the galaxy. She spotted an increase in the number of guards, too, both in uniform and without.

  She left the bar and began wandering the thoroughfares, trying to look like a visitor passing time until her business was concluded. Areas of the station reserved for Blood were unmarked, but easily spotted because of nearby guards, all with hand scanners.

  The scanners would read her DNA, but she wasn’t sure that passing into restricted sections was the way to go. She’d be watched too closely. Her people remained forever suspicious. Judit would probably be able to whisk her father away without any trouble, but it was going to be near impossible to get near the command center on Caligo.

  She could request an audience with whoever was in charge, talk her way into the command center. No, that would draw too much attention, and they might want more than a DNA scan. As silly as it sounded, she began to think her chances of finding a computer on Prime might be easier.

  She headed toward one of the shuttle bays that ferried people to the station, the other moons, and Prime itself. She added her false name to the list of Blood who wanted a seat, but there were many, all of whom she’d have to stay away from. She wondered if Ama had begun calling the family home. Maybe she was passing out new assignments, or maybe she wanted to make her house into fewer targets. Either way, Annika couldn’t push in, not with her disguise. There were some high-ranking members on the list, far above her fake name.

  Antiles got rooms at a modest hotel and began to conduct business as usual. Annika wondered if she should go with him but decided it was better to be cautious and stay in their room. His clients included Blood, and she didn’t want to take the chance of being recognized. No, better for him to make excuses and for her to lie low, waiting for the shuttle.

  Even with her status, it took three days, and she wondered if she could get the names of anyone she’d been bumped for. Maybe she could pay them a visit when she was on Prime, but she couldn’t afford the luxury of even small vengeance. She imagined Judit being appalled at the dark thought, but it wasn’t as if she’d kill anyone. She just wanted to scare them a little.

  When the summons came, she took her bag and headed for the shuttle bay. Her fake name was at the top of the restricted list, but she spotted several high-ranking names below hers. She paused, waiting for the screen to change. If those names had just been entered, it might take a moment for the list to reset, but it stayed the same and then blinked, and where she expected to see the names reappear above hers, they were gone.

  She took a deep breath and forced her heart to still. A glitch? Possibly but unlikely. A mistake? Equally unlikely. Those chosen to serve the Blood rarely made such mistakes. A change of plans from the higher-ranking Bloods? But why had their names been below hers in the first place?

  Only one explanation made sense: Someone wanted to make certain she was here, now, so she’d gone to the top of the list. And the rest of the Blood were being kept away in case a fight broke out.

  Were there more guards than before? A few had scanners. Looking for her? Or was she being as paranoid as Noal accused her of being?

  She backed up slowly. There were reasons to be paranoid. Her family was one of them. She looked toward the vids and holos, trying to seem nonchalant as she edged toward the exit. She’d go to the restaurant where Antiles said he’d be, and they’d make their way to the ship as quickly as possible. He’d tell everyone her illness had gotten worse, and he needed to get her to a treatment facility.

  Her heart began to pound so she could hear it in her ears. She forced herself to look calm but purposeful, as if returning to her room for something she’d forgotten. As she rounded a corner along the promenade, she slowed. A group of people lingered outside the entrance of the restaurant. They didn’t seem as if they were waiting for a table, just talking, but their gazes darted through the crowd, and she didn’t like the way they stood. She saw past their airs of nonchalance to the way their muscles gathered like coiled springs.

  Annika paused, looking in a shop window. After a heartbeat, she turne
d down another street. Back to the hotel? Try to sneak aboard Antiles’s ship? Leave him if she had to? She took the personal comm out of her pocket. If whoever was waiting for her had Antiles, they might have his comm as well. There might be a way they could track her. And if they didn’t have him, if they weren’t sure he was connected to her, signaling might give him away.

  She put the comm back in her pocket, trying to think of something else. Maybe the guards knew her name was fake, but they didn’t quite know who she was. Maybe she’d managed to fool the cameras, but station personnel were on the lookout for whoever claimed the name she’d used.

  Or maybe they knew that Annika Nocturna was aboard the station, but they weren’t sure where. Even now, facial recognition programs might be trying to find her but were thrown off by her disguise. If some secret scanner had given her a deep scan without her realizing, they could know who she was. It wouldn’t even take a drop of blood. Maybe she’d lost a hair, and it had gotten whisked into some vacuum and into a scanner.

  Why in the dark would her people do such things? Why couldn’t they be lax like the rest of the galaxy? Why were they all so darking paranoid?

  Then she reminded herself that she was running from a kiosk with a glitch and a bunch of loiterers outside of a restaurant. If that was the case, she should be able to get to Antiles’s ship with no problems. Then she’d know for certain. Then she could laugh at herself in peace.

  She tried to walk calmly but quickly, thinking of what she could do when she got to the ship if she had to leave in a hurry. But there was no leaving in a hurry. She’d known that from the start. And now everyone she saw began to look suspicious. All conversations seemed false. Everyone looking at a vid also seemed to be looking over their shoulders. She saw one man turn, look at her, then look away.

  She didn’t slow her stride, didn’t even glance at him as she passed, but when she was about to round a corner, she peeked and saw him putting a hand into his pocket and drawing out something that might be a small comm.

  She went faster, wondering if she dared risk a run. A man at another vid turned and took a step toward her, his hand raised. She launched a fist into his windpipe, cutting off his air, his eyes bulging. She kicked his knee and sent him toppling then continued her course. She could lose herself among the ships. She could sneak onto one that had clearance to depart, even if she had to cram herself in beside the landing strut. She had to get out of these halls, she had to—

  The disembarking lounge was full of people, all of them watching the hall. No one waited in the seats or stared at the board for their clearance to depart. The elevator doors were shut. These were guards, waiting for her, not even bothering to pretend. She felt more of them come down the hall behind her, cutting off her retreat. She almost expected Ama to thread her way through them, but of course, Ama would never come herself.

  Annika dropped her bag at her feet. At least she’d been right. “Well, who wants to be first?”

  “Please, cousin.” Ricardo, one of her more annoying cousins, stepped forward. She’d only spoken to him a few times. She felt a little insulted they hadn’t brought someone she liked better. Well, at least she wouldn’t hesitate to punch this one. “Your grandmother requests your presence down on the planet.”

  “Requests, does she?” Annika asked, tickled by the thought. “Please, tell her no on my behalf. Oh, and throw in some flowers to soften her disappointment.”

  They didn’t laugh, but she didn’t expect them to. Ricardo smiled and stepped aside, one hand out. He’d dressed all in black, and she wondered if he thought it made him more intimidating. “If you will, my private shuttle awaits.”

  How hard should she make it for them? There were enough that they’d eventually bring her down, but should she make them earn it? How close would they come to killing her? A few had shock sticks, and she had the one Judit had given her in her pocket. Since weapons were some of the things traded on Caligo, they couldn’t forbid them, though anyone who wished to carry them usually had a license.

  But was now the time to use it? Did she want to be carried to Prime unconscious? Did she want to wake up in a medbay bound to a bed?

  She picked her bag up and walked toward the elevator. Several guards turned to go with her and Ricardo, but they couldn’t all fit on a shuttle. There would be opportunities.

  Ricardo held up a hand. “If you wouldn’t mind a small search, cousin?”

  She lifted an eyebrow. “How could I refuse?”

  They searched her bag and her person, finding the shock stick and the comm and taking both. They scanned her and pronounced her clean, giving her back the bag with the clothing. She supposed if all else failed, she could strangle her cousin with a shirt, but with her bone stiletto, she wouldn’t need to. She wondered how long Ama would spend wondering what in the dark she could have stabbed Ricardo with.

  It was a small shuttle, and Ricardo was the only one to follow her aboard. She couldn’t hit him yet, had to wait until they’d cleared Caligo, then she could pummel him, take the ship, and do as she pleased; whoever was monitoring them wouldn’t know she’d taken over until it was too late. Something about the way he moved told her it wouldn’t be that easy, though. If he hadn’t gotten her exact training, he might have gotten something close.

  “She knows what you’re up to,” he said as he took the pilot’s seat.

  “Who?” It was a standard Nocturna shuttle, and she had no doubt she could fly it.

  “Our grandmother, who do you think?”

  She eyed him again, trying to remember anything significant about him and coming up empty. “She’s your grandmother, too? I didn’t know we were that closely related.”

  He gave her a wan smile. “No one ever knows everything, but you should know that. You went off on that Meridian ship. By all the rumors, Grandmother knows you’re trying to get to the bottom of the little…rebellion. If that’s what the lesser houses and the unaffiliated are calling it.”

  “It’s not so little out there. If you’d seen any of it, you’d say the same.”

  “Well, she approves of what you’re doing.”

  Annika couldn’t speak. Ama…approved of her disobedience? “She ordered me home.”

  “She would have to say that, and she thought you might come here looking for information, so she’s going to give it to you.”

  Annika sat back in her seat, floored. “She’s going to tell me what she knows?”

  “Yes, and then you’re going to go back to the Meridians, use the information however you can to bring them under our power, and by the time the dust settles, the new plan for our joined house can go ahead as scheduled.”

  Just like that? They thought she could so easily go back to being Noal’s monitor, his soon-to-be assassin? If they were hoping for everything to be as they’d planned, they obviously didn’t know that Judit was the real chosen one. She saw no reason to correct them. But did her grandmother hope she would implant the worm in Noal before the wedding?

  Well, they could forget it. She didn’t even have to think hard about it. She cared for Judit and Noal too much to betray them now. But part of her wanted to hear Ama out, to take whatever information they fed her and do as she pleased. But would Ama let her go again without the means to control her? One look at Annika’s face would tell her grandmother that she’d fallen from the fold. There was no tricking that woman. Maybe she had a worm with Annika’s name on it, too.

  Annika lashed out a fist, but Ricardo blocked her. His eyes widened, but if he was more than a little surprised, he didn’t show it. He turned sideways in his chair as she came for him again, but he’d received training similar to her own. When he brought a hidden stunner out from underneath the console, she pinched her arm, making her bone stiletto slide free. He seemed shocked. She didn’t know why he was so surprised. No one got to know everything, as he’d said.

  She slashed his arm, and the stunner thumped to the deck. He backed off, holding his wound closed. She feinted forward, and
he slammed into the console. She dropped, grabbing the stunner in one hand and his leg in the other. Already off balance, he was easy to yank forward. He slid down the console between the seats, kicking with his free leg, but it did nothing but make him fall faster. That was good. When she stunned him, he didn’t have far to drop.

  She went to the controls. He’d already programmed the shuttle to land at one of Presidio’s government buildings, but she suspended that, trying to see how good the link was to the Nocturna net. Cursory, as she half expected. No, if she wanted information, she’d have to land. Problem was, her grandmother was expecting her, and she’d have quite the welcome party waiting.

  Annika could run, take the shuttle and meet Judit at the rendezvous. Maybe Judit’s plans had gone better, and this whole trip wouldn’t be a waste. She clenched a hand, hating that thought. Her grandmother had anticipated her, but she couldn’t do so forever. And Annika had proven she could fool the facial recognition scanners, at least for a little while. The whole of Nocturna Prime stretched out below her, and there were plenty of places where she might access the net and find what she was looking for. And she had to move quickly. As soon as her grandmother suspected she was on the planet, she’d lock everything down tighter than it already was. Outlying areas would complain when they couldn’t access the net, but her grandmother would listen to their complaints for days if it meant trapping her granddaughter.

  Maybe that was the answer. She could go to Presidio, to the heart of information, but make her grandmother think she was somewhere else entirely. Annika programmed the shuttle to enter low orbit so it would be harder to spot. Then she took it in at an angle, heading for the outskirts of the capital city. She programmed it to set down in one of the remote landing strips on the planet, up north near the pole. Hopefully, that would give her time.

  She moved behind the seats, searching the area around the small airlock. A standard Nocturna shuttle had the standard emergency gear. Before she could think too hard about it, Annika took the low-altitude emergency chute, suit, and helmet and slipped them on, clipping her traveling bag around her waist. The shuttle would be going on without her.