Grand Cross

by Merethe Walther

  “Ha!” said Kita, pointing at her artificial limb. “‘Handy.’ I see what you did there.”

  “No, I didn’t mean―”

  “We shouldn’t even be agreeing to help Taav now,” Riordan said, continuing on unperturbed. “Let him handle this. It’s his investigation, and Proctor and Caden are his problem. We did our due diligence for him and his lackeys.”

  “What’s your malfunction, man?” Aralyn snapped. “Caden is a prisoner. And we have no idea what the hell that spray could do. Mesmerize a room full of people? What about if they spray it through the circulated air on a station? Send it out over a city somewhere? Do you not understand how bad this whole thing could really be? We found cases of that shit. That means Eladia doesn’t just have a good recipe; she’s reproducing it. Fast.”

  “This is all Apollo’s fault, anyway,” Riordan grumbled. “If he’d just let you shoot her, two-thirds of us wouldn’t be sitting here in pieces.”

  At the mention of the traitor’s name, the cab grew quiet. Aralyn reined in her fury, determined not to say anything to further inflame the situation. If she ever saw Apollo again… She didn’t finish the thought. Her heartbeat pounded in rage.

  “Rio, you’re being a dick,” Kita told him. To Aralyn she said only, “Don’t worry. We’ll get Caden back. And get to that bitch in time to give her a lovely new set of prison-jewelry.” She held her wrists together as if they’d been cuffed. “We’ve actually got a chance this time, you know? Calvary might be slow, but they’re catching up.”

  Aralyn went back to staring out the window, wishing she could hold onto that small hope before it withered away, too.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The cab ride was quicker than the trams by far, but only because of the hovercraft’s ability to lift itself over the traffic and smoothly communicate with all of the other hover vehicles doing the same as it navigated the space above the city.

  “Hard to believe your grandfather built all this stuff,” Kita said, touching the cab as she closed the door.

  The outskirts of Aliena had been filled with visitors when they’d first arrived, and although those people had been sent elsewhere, the docking zone was still buzzing like a hive as the UDA agents went back and forth. At the center of the maelstrom was Taav, purveying several screens that some of the more junior agents were thrusting in front of him, concerned eyes darting as they awaited orders.

  “Over here, Solari,” called Taav, using their arrival to break away from the throng of people vying for his attention. “You’re just in time for a serious problem.”

  “How did you know that’s my favorite kind?” Aralyn asked, focusing hard on moving her legs forward. She tried to approach but tripped, nearly sprawling to the ground before Taav caught her. Sheepishly, she thanked him and righted herself.

  “I know you were injured pretty badly,” Taav said, real worry in his remaining eye as he looked between her and Kita. His eyes rested briefly on the black plastic prosthetic, but he didn’t address it. “Damn. Just how bad was this?”

  In response, Aralyn lifted the side of her new tank top with the words Torgvald Industries printed across the front, seeing as hers had been destroyed by bullet shrapnel and blood. She revealed what had once been a devastated area of her back and spine, which even now had mostly been smoothed over with lab-cultivated skin grafts. It covered about a third of her back and side in slightly pink, off-white flesh that still had the grafting marks.

  “Apart from Kita’s arm being missing, presumed destroyed, and some prosthetic smart bones communicating with my brain in what remains of my spine and severed nerves, not so bad.” Aralyn lowered her shirt. “I can kind of walk, for now, at least. It’s supposed to get better.”

  “Plus, robot arm!” Kita exclaimed, pumping her left fist into the air. “When the androids inevitably rise up against humanity, at least I know they won’t kill me since we’ll be partially related.”

  Taav’s mechanical eye whirred and a begrudging smile played at the corners of his mouth. “I see that’s something we’ll all have in common, then.” He turned to Aralyn, worry in the crease of his brow. “Are you up to this?”

  “Well, you haven’t exactly said what ‘it’ is yet,” Aralyn reminded him.

  The Spector frowned. “Several of our Spectors didn’t do their check-ins at 0400 Terra this morning. This normally wouldn’t be such a cause for alarm, but these are at least ten of our alarmingly high-ranking members… several of which I know answer to Proctor himself.”

  “Not good,” Kita agreed. “Do you think they’re trying to get Eladia off this rock?”

  “Most likely,” Taav said, holding up the tablet he’d been working off of, “since ten ships just simultaneously launched from their stations.”

  “Shit,” Aralyn said, watching the trajectories as UDA agents adjusted their orbital courses for interception. One of the stolen ship’s paths was completely unimpeded, and she pointed to it. “You don’t have enough ships to stop them all.”

  Taav nodded curtly. “Our targeting system destroyed two, but the others got out of range before the guns could reload. My men are in orbit, but we can’t get them all. And if we search the seven ships we can actually get to and she isn’t on it…”

  “Then she’s in the one that got away,” Aralyn finished. “You want us to get ready to go after the remainder.”

  “Can’t you… I don’t know. Commandeer some of these ships?” Kita asked, gesturing around at the filled lot.

  “None of these ships are capable of boarding or fighting. There are no defenses against the UDA vessels that were stolen and they’d be torn apart in minutes,” Taav said. “And apart from that, with the head start these agents got, now only the Phantom is fast enough to catch the one that’s getting away.”

  “You guys couldn’t have just taken it?” Aralyn asked. “We’re not exactly in our primes, here.”

  Taav chewed his lip in irritation. “Those that are already after the other ships are my personal detachment; trusted men I know will make the right call. Those running around like lunatics under a full moon on the ground are the ones fresh out of the academy stationed in Aliena, still getting their dicks hard at the thought of ‘real’ action. To be frank, I can’t risk losing more people.”

  “So it’s up to we proud, we few, we criminals to sacrifice ourselves for the greater good,” Kita snapped. “Why am I not surprised.”

  Aralyn shook her head. “We’re half-crippled―quite literal term there―and you’d rather bet on a group of mangled runners instead of your hale and healthy greenhorns?”

  “This was your call, Solari,” Taav reminded her. “I’m following through, but you promised me Galven. I expect you to deliver.”

  Aralyn bit her tongue to keep the scathing remarks under control. “Who’s involved?” she asked instead.

  “Officers. These men are good. They knew how to overwhelm our orbital skiffs, and they launched this plot all at the same time, which means they’re working together. This was an orchestrated attempt. It has to be her doing.”

  The first point of intercept beeped on the screen and Taav held it up so they could see as one of Taav’s men came within sight of the stolen ship. The Spector was wearing a body cam that recorded him boarding the vessel, doing a perfunctory search, and apprehending the UDA officer who’d launched the ship to begin with. On his knees, the traitorous Spector didn’t plead or beg for his life. Instead, he stared smugly into the camera as if trying to taunt them from afar. It was clear that he felt untouchable… and the coldness in his eyes suggested confidence. Someone had promised him something big. Taav’s hand tightened on the tablet until it let out a tiny crink noise in protest.

  “Sir, target one is subdued. Do you copy?” asked the agent holding a gun to the rogue Spector’s head. “Do you want him in custody?”

  The rogue Spector laughed. “The UDA is nothing but a bunch of politicians all trying to outmaneuver each other. We all know the board will never agr
ee to sentencing one of their own to death,” he said. “So just put me in a cell and get it over with.”

  Taav stared down long and hard, silent to the point where his agent had to jostle him by asking, “Sir? Orders?”

  He nodded to himself, straightened to his enormous height, and said clearly, “It’s a shame you were forced to shoot him when he drew a weapon on you. Tractor his vehicle and try to cycle back around to get into range of the remaining ship.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  The rogue Spector barely had time to look surprised before his head sprayed against the metal walls of the stolen ship. Aralyn and Kita eyed each other but said nothing even as Taav gave the order to an additional five agents. Each of the rogues appeared completely stricken as they died, like they’d just learned that the tooth fairy wasn’t real for the very first time. Their confidence in their actions shook Aralyn to the core. What in Helios could Eladia have possibly promised to assure their blind loyalty like that?

  The seventh and final of the ships that had been in range to capture also turned up with no Eladia, but strangely, the Spector there, a woman with cropped brown hair, seemed decidedly less compliant. She didn’t respond when they boarded, didn’t raise her hands in protest, just waited.

  Taav’s man had to force her to her knees and practically tug her arms behind her back to attach the magnetic cuffs. He circled around to the front, raised the barrel to her temple, and asked, “Orders?”

  She didn’t even so much as blink, but instead stared distantly past him as though she hadn’t heard a word.

  Taav frowned, his voice pained as he spoke. “Celestino. I must admit, I’m surprised they got you embroiled in this cluster fuck. How long?”

  Celestino said nothing. She refused to meet anyone’s eyes. But something about it was tugging at Aralyn’s gut.

  “This brings me no small amount of pain, Karen.” Taav sighed, defeated. “Take t―”

  “Wait, don’t!” Aralyn shouted. At the Spector’s confused glare, she pointed to the screen. “Look at her. She’s practically a statue; not even flinching when there’s a gun to her freaking head. She’s not acting like the others. Doesn’t this strike you as odd?”

  Taav leaned forward, examining the woman. “Yes. Celestino has been one of mine. Planted in Proctor’s camp for over five years now, never missed a check-in. Intel was always solid.”

  “Wouldn’t she at least beg, plead, say they made her do it?” Aralyn asked. “Look at her. It’s like she’s a zombie.”

  “She’s totally under the influence,” Kita added. “Look at her eyes. Glassy. Far away. She’s not a traitor, she’s following orders, all right―just not yours right now.”

  “Bring her back,” Taav said to his agent. “Alive and unharmed.” He put the tablet down. “We’ve still got a ship left and I don’t even have time to cover all of the questions I have about someone under orachal being able to pilot a ship on her own.”

  “Talk to my grandfather,” Aralyn said. “We left a couple vials of the new stuff for him to study, so he’ll probably have some thoughts on it soon. If you put him in touch with the scientists who took the crate of it from us on Makemake, I’m sure you guys can come up with something.” She clapped him on the arm. “Wish us luck.”

  He sighed and pressed a hand against his temple, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a small computer chip card and held it out to Aralyn. “Hopefully, you’ll get all the good luck you need and more, but this contains the launch codes to get out of here without becoming an auto target.” I’ve got my men putting a couple of guns on your ship and some other necessities in case it takes longer than expected. No matter what”―he leaned forward and lowered his voice―“bring that bitch back alive. I can’t do anything against Proctor without her testimony.”

  Aralyn squeezed her hand tightly against the card in her palm, recalling how Kragg had died in her arms as Eladia grinned and fled. The blood. The pain. Caden…

  No way in Helios. That bitch is mine.

  She nodded, looking away. “Of course.”

  “Oh, and Aralyn?” Taav said as they began to walk away. “I’m sorry about Caden. And your father.”

  Aralyn bit back the urge to ugly-cry and just kept walking. She forced all thoughts of them from her mind. Now wasn’t the time to get weepy; she needed to focus.

  Stars, if I only still had some stimulants.

  Kita, Aralyn, and Rio made their way through the waves of UDA agents, and when they arrived at the Phantom, the ramp was open as Taav had suggested, and a couple men in blue uniforms were coming out, chatting nervously about the dead Spectors in Eladia’s plan.

  One worker paused by them, his cap pulled low over his brow.

  “One more box and you’re good to go,” he said, touching his fingers to his cap in greeting. “Back in a moment.”

  Aralyn ignored him and moved inside, Kita and Rio following on her heels. Once they got to the map room and cockpit, Riordan dragged himself over to the couch and sat as Kita turned to the computer.

  “We’ve gotta make sure these assholes didn’t fuck with our stuff,” Kita said, clicking a few keys on the holographic keypad. “I can have it done before they get back, I think. And give me the codes. I’ll input them while I’m at it.”

  “Considering there are still tracking chips in our arms,” Aralyn reminded her, “I don’t know if our privacy is really an issue anymore. But check anyway. I’ll handle the codes.” She made her way across the cabin and took up the pilot’s seat, feeling strangely devoid now that Caden wasn’t next to her, and inserted the chip that would give them the green light to leave Ganymede in their rearview without becoming fireworks in the process.

  The UDA worker returned, carrying another unmarked box, which he placed on the floor and turned to wait.

  “Can I help you?” Aralyn asked, barely glancing up at him.

  “If you don’t intend to come with us into almost certain death,” Kita said, “you might want to go on back out there, now.”

  The agent lifted his hat as Aralyn turned. Once she saw his face, she practically flew out of her seat, arm outstretched in front of her like a spear. Aralyn slammed her hand against Apollo’s throat, tripping over her own feet as she did so, and pushed him back until he stumbled into the wall. His eyes rattled in his head, and she pulled her new gun and pushed it up against his temple.

  “Ari!” Kita exclaimed. “What the hell… oh!”

  “Asshole,” Aralyn spat. “You sold us out, you bastard!”

  Apollo’s eyes grew wide, but he wisely kept his hands up where she could see them. When he didn’t answer quickly enough, Aralyn pressed the trigger just enough to make the gun give off a slight whirr. Apollo shook his head, fear sweat beading on his brow.

  “No, no, jameela, I swear it,” he said, trembling. “It was not me. It was not me.”

  “You really think I’m going to buy that shit?” Aralyn asked.

  “It is the truth, I swear,” Apollo insisted. “I have been avoiding Taav’s men, but I―”

  “Stopped me from killing Eladia,” Aralyn interrupted. “Let her kill Kragg. Let her shoot off Kita’s arm and dose Caden with orachal so he could nearly kill me.”

  Vaguely, she wondered where the shotgun had ended up and then chided herself. Yes, it was Kragg’s, but she also understood why it was illegal. Her desire to use the gun as anything but a relic and an intimidation tactic had considerably shrunken since she’d had her spine blown to bits.

  “No, I promise you, I promise there is reason.” Apollo shook like a leaf. “Listen to me, please. You know of my hand-to-hand skills. I’m not using them on you now, yes? I want to talk. I need you to listen.”

  Aralyn stepped back, extended her arm, and pushed the gun back to his forehead. “Explain yourself. Now. You wanted to get to safe house Eurydice here. Why?”

  “Don’t listen to him,” Riordan spat. “Shoot the bastard!”

  Apollo closed his eyes as though in pain. When he o
pened them again, Aralyn could see a clear decision in his gaze.

  “The truth is,” he began, “it was no accident that Taav knew I could help you get those datasticks on the auction ship; I told him about it. I told him to send you to me in exchange for freedom. From him―his hold on me, which has almost gotten me killed more than I care to think about. I wanted to get in contact with you because your Spector is just about the only man in the universe with knowledge about the safe house here on Ganymede who might have been willing to work with a criminal. And no, I wasn’t totally truthful with you. I knew the location of this place, of course, because I’ve been here with Eladia before… many times. I needed help to get back in… to get back to her.”

  Without moving the gun, Aralyn sneered, “So you did set us up.”

  “No,” Apollo said, voice stern. “I swear I did not do this. Eladia has more than one ‘safe house’ she uses. The one I was after is… not what you’d expect. She keeps it with her at all times, and I needed to get access to it. At first, yes, I just wanted to get the door code information from Caden and disappear, but then I realized that you and your group might actually be my only option for getting to her, so I stayed. I figured I would slip away and… break in. I wasn’t expecting her to be so… forward.”

  “What the hell were you trying to get to?” Aralyn demanded. “And don’t even deny that you were using us like pawns.”

  “You walked us into a trap,” Kita spat from the computer.

  Frustrated, Apollo opened his mouth to speak, got hung up on his words, and tried to take a calming breath. “I am so sorry you were hurt. Truly, you and Kita both… And even the Spect―Caden,” he amended at the stricken look on Aralyn’s face. “But the information Eladia has in her safe house… that is worth more than all of us combined, jameela. I swear to you, I wouldn’t have risked it if I didn’t think it was worth it.”

  “Is that worth it?” Aralyn erupted, pointing with her free hand toward Kita. “Is this?” She pulled the side of her shirt up to show the white scar tissue and skin grafts over her back and side. “Is Caden being a fucking orachal slave worth it? Is Kragg being―” She choked on the words, recalling the slight weight of the box in her bag that held the remains of the only father she’d ever really known.