He was starting to realize that returning home, although appearing to be the coward’s road from the Tigan woman’s point of view, was going to be no unalloyed joy.
The tone sounded again, and that strange dropping sensation told him they had fallen back into real space.
“What the hell is that?” Justin’s tone, excitement and fear mixed, was not lost despite being muffled by the deck plates between them. It sent a chill down his spine, and despite his resolution to avoid them all until they reached Earth, Marcus found himself climbing up into the cool light of the common area.
“It’s a ship.” Angara’s voice was calm, distracted; clearly she was busy piloting the ship.
“That’s no ordinary ship.” Sihn Ve’Yan spoke in a low voice, as if afraid of being overheard.
“We’ve got plenty to worry about. It’s nothing. It’s just a ship.” Angara’s distracted voice was only slightly hotter than normal. When she was concentrating on her ship, she rarely had attention to spare.
“It’s a warship.” A manic, chipper voice responded. “Haven’t seen one of those in a long time.”
“Not in a few days, anyway.” Justin muttered darkly.
Marcus moved warily forward, toward the command deck. Angara was controlling the ship from a sitting position, so clearly she did not believe they were in immediate danger of attack. Justin, Sihn Ve’Yan, and Khet Nhan were all gathered around the viewing fields that swept around the forward arch of the chamber, staring out at the mysterious ship.
He was a little sheepish moving forward, but decided that there was no real reason he should be ashamed to take an interest in whatever was happening. He straightened his shoulders and eased past Angara, tossing what he hoped was a casual nod of his head before moving on. He was careful not to look too closely at her, however. He didn’t want to be shamed back into his hole before at least checking out what was going on outside the windows.
The others turned at his approach and shifted to make a little room for him in the cramped confines of the ship’s nose. Justin was the only one who seemed genuinely happy to see him, however. Ve’Yan looked like she had bitten into something foul, and the little master’s soft face was shifting from angry to sad and back again as he watched. He kept his face bland and moved in to take the place they had made for him.
They were approaching what appeared to be a blasted asteroid, half of which had been carved into a fantastical stone building floating in space. Tubes, pipes, poles, and metal lattice stuck out in all directions, and a series of well-lit openings were clearly entranceways for smaller craft like the Yud’ahm Na’uka. Objects that must have been smaller ships were set down upon the wide flat space before the openings, with pipes and tubes connected to them from various bunkers and terminals studding the stonework surface.
But keeping station over the entire compound, nearly as long as the asteroid itself, was a sleek, swept-back shape that had to be a spacecraft of some kind. Aside from the ancient relics of Penumbra, it was the first large ship he had ever seen, and yet something about it seemed eerily familiar.
“What is it?” He tried to ask, but his throat was rusty from lack of use. He coughed and tried again. “What is it?”
“It’s nothing.” Angara muttered, but when he turned around it was her that would not meet his eyes. “It won’t be a problem.”
Marcus turned back to look at the others. There was no help from the two Thien’ha, but Justin seemed troubled, and would not meet his eyes.
“Justin, what the hell is going on?”
His friend shrugged. “Angara’s right. It’s probably nothing. I’m sure there won’t be any problems.”
But it was clear by the way that his eyes lingered on that long, shark-like shape, that he wasn’t nearly as sure as he was trying to appear.
*****
With some quick words and a hefty credit transfer, she was able to secure them one of the few private berths along the row of docks. They were directed to the far right entrance, and Angara brought the Yud’ahm Na’uka in flawlessly, settling it into a wide cradle that immediately began to adjust to the small ship’s dimensions. She communicated with the control center through her nanite implants, showing no overt signs as she rose from the flight chair and indulged in a long, slow stretch.
She pretended not to notice Justin’s stare, but could not help a little smile from sketching its own way across her lips.
“We will need to negotiate for fuel.” She turned to the ship’s ventral ramp. “I won’t be long. You should all stay onboard while I take care of this.”
Marcus raised his hands and moved out of her way, not meeting her eyes. The mystics stepped back, making way for her to move through the common room. Ve’Yan dipped her head as Angara passed, while the little master, his paws rubbing together, smiled at her with wide, wild eyes. She shook her head. Plenty of time to puzzle out what was wrong with the little creature after they were away from the station.
The ship hovering overhead loomed heavily in her thoughts.
“I’m coming.” Justin hurried past the lowering command chair and the others, skipping up to her as she activated the ramp. “No reason you should be alone.”
She turned, looked him up and down, noting his dark color, his shaven head, and nodded. “You’ll need your lenses, though.”
Justin hesitated for a moment and then disappeared into his cubicle. He emerged with a pair of dark welding goggles and slipped them over his head with an apologetic shrug. “I don’t know that I really want to use those anymore.”
She stared at him, then shook her head, turning back down the ramp. As they crossed the docking bay, she could feel the others watching them from the command deck. As nonchalantly as she could, she turned her body to keep her back to the ship as she leaned nearer to Justin.
“You recognized the ship.”
He nodded with a sharp jerk of his chin. “I did a little digging after our run in at the fighting pits. I recognized it.”
They walked to one of the supply terminals set against the private dock’s rear bulkhead. She kept her pace casual. There was no telling what Marcus might do if he understood their current situation.
“It has always been assumed he still had the fleet. But there has never been a sighting of a capital ship since he fled his system. He’s never been seen with one, and anyone who tried to follow him back to the mysterious fleet disappeared without a trace.” At the terminal she began to outline her resupply request. The process would be mostly automated, and only in the last stages would she have to face a living being for the final negotiations. “He might not be up there. And even if he is, there’s no reason for him to seek us out. He can’t know who we are, or that either of you are on my ship. We should be fine if we can just get the fuel, the other supplies we will require for the run, and leave.”
Justin nodded, a smile firmly planted on his dark face, and pivoted on one heel, surveying the chamber from behind the thick, opaque lenses. It was fairly large, but the Na’uka loomed behind them, filling the room with its menacing bulk. “You don’t think he’ll recognize the ship? Not many independent Tigan swift ships flying about, are there?”
She whirled on him, her eyes flaring. “How—”
He shrugged, his smile a shade more genuine, if a bit sheepish. “I dig. I told you.”
She had considered the likelihood of her ship escaping notice, and did not entirely like their chances, but by the time she had seen the big warship it had been too late.
“There is still a chance they will leave us alone. There is no reason for him to assume you are with me. When he left Penumbra, everything was still running as smoothly as it ever did. He might not be suspicious, even if he recognizes my ship.”
Justin looked skeptical, but nodded and pivoted again, resting his shoulders against the wall.
“He’s a good man.” His chin was tucked against his chest, his arms folded, and his eyes fixed on the deck plating. “He’s a good man, and I’m not sure
it’s fair to expect him to rush back into that meat grinder. He’s not a fighter. Hasn’t been for a long time. And until we met you, neither of us had ever seen any real violence up close.”
He seemed sad as he said it, and she looked at him, waiting for the next response from the terminal’s automated systems. It would have been easier if the pirate station had updated interface programs that would have allowed her to perform these mundane functions from the ship. But those who owned and ran such ventures undoubtedly saw little value in spending hard credits on systems that would make it easier for customers to hide their identity from the station. This way, they were under constant surveillance, their scans were in the station’s memory banks, and there would be no doubting who to seek retribution from should something be traced back to them at a later date.
Justin sighed and turned on one shoulder to look at her. “Let’s be honest: it’s not like we have a plan.”
All of the anger she had suppressed since slapping Marcus Wells in his cabin came roaring back. How could these Humans be so obtuse? “With his control of the city’s systems, there would be almost no way they could counter us! We would be able to gather resistance, and—”
He reached out, a sad smile on his face, and took her shoulder in a reassuring grip. “There wasn’t any resistance, Angara. I understand your desire to go back and save the city. I really do. But just the five of us? And I don’t think you’re being honest about how that fleet changes the equation, either.”
He shook his head and settled back against the wall. “Hell, at least two of those ships were even bigger than the one hanging over our heads!” He jerked a thumb at the ceiling.
Her anger sputtered. She wanted to rant and scream, but something about his touch had defused much of her fury, and his words had done a great deal to douse the rest.
“He was doing it, you know.” She bent closer to the terminal, the easier to avoid meeting his hidden eyes. “Marcus was transforming the city into something most of us had never even dreamed of. It might not have been happening quickly, but it was happening. And we saw it.”
She closed her eyes, the admission hurting. “And I was taking it away from him.”
Justin moved around her, taking her by the shoulders and turning her to look at him. “Angara, this was happening with or without us. Taurani’s schemes were in play no matter what we were doing. He wasn’t planning to oust Marcus because the city was coming around, he was planning on taking over long before we ever even knew you all existed.” He shrugged, looking over at the sleek ship sitting in the cradle. “Hell, if it weren’t for us, and you, he might have moved even sooner.”
She did not want to believe, but she sensed more truth in his words than she wished she did.
The terminal beeped to life and a shrouded figure appeared on the screen. The negotiation was quick and cursory. She was not requesting anything particularly exotic, and thus prices were more or less fixed. Until word began to spread of the Council’s move against Penumbra, anyway. This entire sector of space would be far less hospitable if they maintained their hold.
Automated systems trundled hoses and pipes out to the Yud’ahm Na’uka, and lights flashed as the fuel transfer began. Small doors opened in the surrounding bulkheads and materials began to emerge on the backs of low, squat automatons, stacked neatly by the ramp.
She brooded on their situation as she watched the stack of supplies build. Occasionally, she cast a glance back at the shining, opaque surface of the command bridge, wondering if Marcus Wells was watching them. Her anger was still there, simmering beneath the surface, but there was a guilt there now as well, and she could no longer avoid it, thanks to Justin.
Her sullen reverie was broken when a harsh buzz announced an entry request at the main bay doors, just a few paces to her left.
Angara and Justin exchanged looks, his blank stare unnerving. She was surprised how quickly she had become used to his dark, Human eyes.
“It’s them.” His voice was flat. His head pivoted from the blast door, to the ship behind them, and back again.
“It isn’t.” She tried to remain calm, to settle his nerves while hiding her own. Nevertheless, she looked over her shoulder, noted the height of the piled supplies, and then turned to cancel the remaining order. They would still lose the credit, but there would be time to worry about that later.
She moved to the door, her pace reluctant.
“What are you doing? You can’t let him in here!” Justin grabbed her by one shoulder and she let him pull her about. “We need to get out of here, now, before he knows for sure we’re here!” He gestured with a thumb to his own chest and then to the ship.
“We won’t have enough fuel to make Earth, Justin.” She was quite proud of her tone. She was having a hard time thinking clearly. “If we leave here, we’re just going to have to stop at another pirate station. The terminal here will have a full readout of our current load.” She tilted her head at the door. “They will know how far we can go, and so they will be able to follow us. We will have no choice but to meet them again before we can return you to your home.” She shrugged, her smile feeling almost genuine. “Better to do so now, when he is hardly certain of our situation, no?”
She didn’t wait for his reply, but turned again to head for the door. “I have no intention of letting anyone in. We’ll speak through the door comms, and I’ll send them away.”
She was grateful he did not follow her. The closer she got to the door, the less success she was having schooling her features to stillness.
*****
“What are they doing?” Marcus stood by the viewing fields, looking out at the bay to where his friend and the purple-skinned warrior woman stood by a console, apparently lost in a casual conversation while automated systems refueled and resupplied the ship.
“It would appear they are preparing for your return home, Marcus Wells.” The high pitched voice caught him by surprise. He hadn’t noticed the little mystic approaching him, and had spoken aloud without thinking. “Why, what is it you think you see?”
He gave the creature a quick glance and then looked back out. Ever since they had fled from Penumbra, Khet Nhan had been acting unstable. His knowing little smile had been replaced with a wide, rictus-like grin, his twinkling eyes now shone as if he were in the grip of some terrible fever. His movements, once graceful and flowing, were jerky and uncoordinated. And he rubbed his agile little hands together constantly, as if eager for some anticipated event.
“Nothing, I guess.” Marcus murmured after a moment’s uncomfortable silence. The last thing he wanted to do was have a conversation with the little alien now.
Outside, Angara and Justin had moved, and were now standing a few paces from a large blast door that must lead further into the station. A flashing light was pulsing by the door, and he thought he could hear a buzzing sound in the distance.
Khet Nhan stopped his fidgeting. The stillness was more alarming than the ceaseless motion had been.
Marcus jerked around to look at the mystic. “What?”
Nhan shook his head roughly back and forth, the pale grin fur of his fringe beard waving wildly. “It’s nothing. Probably nothing. I’m sure it’s nothing.”
Sihn Ve’Yan came over from her position of meditation in the common area. “What is it?” She seemed to have sensed her master’s concern, and spared a look for neither of them as she moved over to the field and gazed out. “Someone wants in.”
Angara was moving toward the door, leaving Justin standing still behind her, one hand half raised as if he had thought to stop her, and then decided better of it.
Something about the way Ve’Yan and Nhan were acting had set him more on edge than he had been, and Marcus stepped away from the viewing field. “Who could it be? What would someone want, coming to a bay like this?”
They looked at each other, and then back out without turning around. “Could be almost anything.” Ve’Yan spoke as if each word caused her discomfort. “Could be
merchants, could be people requesting passage. Could be station administration, looking for a bribe.”
Marcus knew that Angara had paid for their docking bay with her dwindling personal credit, but he hadn’t thought of it as a bribe.
A sound like a distant gong rang out through the docking bay outside, and he hurried to join the other two at the field. As always, he felt as if he was looking through a window with no glass, a clear view of everything outside laid out before him.
Justin moved toward Angara, while the woman was gesticulating wildly to a small screen set in the grimy wall beside it. Another impact echoed across the bay. Someone was banging on the other side of the door. Someone was beating on the other side of the door, and they were either very big, or very angry, or both.
“Of course, it might be something else entirely.” Ve’Yan finished lamely. Her smile was wan, her eyes flat.
“One way or another, this is about to get very interesting.” Master Khet Nhan rubbed his hands together, his sharp little teeth gleaming.
Marcus was trying to decide how troubled he should be by the disturbing little display when a deep-throated shout, buzzing with feedback, burst through the stillness outside.
Angara was arguing with Justin now, her movements sending her fine white hair flying. But his friend was unmoved, nodding slowly in that infuriating way he had when he knew he was right. Marcus felt a moment’s compassion for the woman. There was nothing so frustrating as trying to shake Justin’s faith in himself when he was that certain.
His friend reached one hand out to press against a sensor in the wall, and the door shot up and out of sight.
Marcus wanted to vomit.
Standing on the other side of the door, his huge frame draped in red robes over bulky armor, stood the demon-faced monster they called K’hzan Modath, the red king. His black horns were shining, his rigid, twisted face furious, and he stared down at Justin with opaque, black eyes.
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