by J. N. Chaney
"It’s all right," he said brightly. "Now I have all the money I promised you. It turns out I did know who to bet on.”
"You think we’re going to trust you after this?" Elise snapped, not stopping her bandaging efforts.
"You don't have to trust me, but your mentor’s limited AI will need me to turn off the failsafe that shuts them down in less than two months," Henshaw explained. "And I'm more than willing to pay the cash and credits as well. You don't know what it was like to be under that man’s control."
That man. If Henshaw’s story was true, I thought I knew the true identity of Nightmare.
"Let's get to your laboratory and fix X," I said. “Everything after that is negotiable."
13
After Henshaw finished tuning X-37 and my cybernetic eye, I took Elise and Path back to the Jellybird. Tom remained on the Lady Faith with Henshaw. I needed someone to keep the ocular engineer and pathological gambler honest. I’d trust him about the time credit chips started shooting out of his butt. Leaving Tom with him hadn’t been an easy decision but the next phase of our mission was important. Henshaw and his ship might be critical to success. I was still working some of it out in my head. If Tom’s research could be corroborated, we had a date with an uncharted slip tunnel. At the end of it, I was going to find some answers.
I activated the ship comms. “Cain for Tom, do you copy?”
“Loud and clear, Cain,” Tom replied.
“Has Henshaw given you any trouble?” I said, aware that the man I was talking about was undoubtedly present for the conversation, just a little off camera if my guess was correct.
“From the dinner menu he sent to my terminal, I’m going to get fat,” Tom said. “Probably more than a little drunk too. Tough gig, but I’ll manage.”
“Good,” I said. “Keep this channel open until we are away from Roxo.”
“Understood.” His response sounded confident, which made me feel better about my decision to leave him on Henshaw’s yacht. “I’m glad you made it back to your ship. News reports aren’t saying good things about the future of Roxo III.”
Elise and Path, having gone briefly to their own quarters on the Jellybird, now joined me in the small, cockpit-like bridge.
“I can’t get rid of this guy,” Elise said, hooking a thumb toward Path.
“He could come in useful,” I muttered, not really caring. Each time I looked at the man and his crazy hair, piercings, and sword, I thought of my battle against Uriah. It had been a near-death thing. I should probably have died. On reflection, that described most situations in my adult life.
“We have a problem,” Jelly said.
“Let me guess. Roxo port control isn’t releasing the ship,” I said.
“Correct, Captain. It is a system-wide restriction. No ships are being allowed other than the single Union vessel I believe belonged to the man calling himself Nightmare,” Jelly said. “It headed for a slip tunnel moments after the incident on the Lady Faith.”
She had barely finished the words when something changed.
“What’s happening, Jelly?” I asked, psyching myself up for another fight.
Her voice sounded as happy as an AI personality matrix allowed, like she would smile if she could. “I’ve been contacted by an old friend, Captain Jedidiah Summers. He’s pulling some strings with the Starport Authority.”
“Interesting,” I said. “Was he one of your previous captains?”
“I ruined his career,” Jelly said. “The Union accused him of losing control of my behavior and then surrendering me to Renegades.”
“How did you not know this, X?” I asked.
“That is a far different accounting of events than is in Union records. However, I no longer have the access I once did,” X-37 said, then beeped me privately. “That was what I attempted to explain to you earlier. Jelly’s AI was marked for Union destruction for reasons unknown, possibly cascading decision matrixes.”
I rubbed my thumb and forefinger together, indicating for him to tell me the rest and maintain the private channel.
“In layman’s terms, her personality matrix glitched on several occasions, sometimes implementing orders in novel ways,” X-37 warned.
My blood went cold, but I decided I didn’t care. Whatever happened with the ship, it would be interesting.
“He was an excellent captain and very protective of his crew,” Jelly said.
“What does Summers want in return?” I asked, glad we were slipping away from the tube world with the Lady Faith close behind us.
“He wanted to know what kind of person you are,” Jelly said.
“What did you tell him?”
“I said you were dangerous,” she answered.
Elise rolled her eyes. “Now he’ll have an even bigger head.”
“Let’s just take advantage of this while we can,” I said. “See if he can get Henshaw’s yacht clearance.”
“He’s working on it,” Jelly said.
I sat back in my captain’s chair, hands behind my head, thinking through all that had happened while I watched the screens before me. Our troubles weren’t done. That was certain. “Monitor all communications to and from this system. I don’t want to get surprised by Union commandos. Those goons working for Nightmare made me nervous.”
“Monitoring both secured and unsecured communications networks. Some will take a bit of hacking,” Jelly said. “X-37 has been teaching me interesting new skills.”
“That should probably scare the shit out of me,” I said, pleased with the development.
X-37 and Jelly flew the ship and hacked comms as I looked back at Roxo III without any fond memories. My second visit hadn’t been any better than the first. The place looked different somehow, bent with age and corrosion despite the gleaming solar panels on much of its exterior.
“We have decoded a transmission being sent from Roxo III,” Jelly said. “It seems the governor is appealing to the Union for help. I’m moving on to crack more difficult transmissions if possible.”
Beside me, Elise shook her head in disgust. “You’ve really fallen on hard times when the Union looks like a good idea. I get it. There are a lot of innocent people on that thing. But still.”
I suspected she was thinking of the children who had fled the yacht after my death match on the main deck.
I felt the ship accelerate.
“Give me an update,” I ordered.
“We are now safely away from Roxo III,” Jelly said.
“Excellent,” I said, feeling better about our prospects. “What about the Lady Faith?”
“She’s following us,” Jelly advised.
“Put her on screen,” I said. Seconds later, an image of the yacht arcing away from Roxo III came into focus. The ship looked sleek and modern.
I clapped my hands together, coming forward to the edge of my seat. “That’s how it’s done. We came, we saw, we left in one piece with everything we came for and an extra ship.”
“You’re like an overgrown boy when you win,” Elise said. “I feel like the mature person in this partnership. Look at Path, he’s not gloating.”
“He doesn’t know how to gloat,” I fired back.
Path had been remarkably silent afterward. I’d expected him to say more about one of his brothers meeting such an ignoble end. Something had changed in the way he acted after I won the death match against a master of his order. He watched me with cautious fascination, and I knew he would follow me for a time—maybe just long enough to understand how I had managed to win, or maybe long enough to challenge me and reclaim the honor of his order.
He’d flinched when I removed the mask but said nothing. I didn’t really like that part either, especially since the mask had basically self-destructed when he died. I put it in a locker anyway.
“Tom for Cain,” my friend said, “Do you copy?”
I relaxed in my chair. “I’m here, Tom. Any problems?”
“None, Hal. I believe the coordinates we discussed ar
e accurate.” He hesitated, nervous to continue. “Henshaw has agreed to assist us.”
“He doesn’t have a choice,” I said. “I’ll come over there for some attitude adjusting if he needs it.”
“It’s still my ship,” Henshaw said smugly, waving for Tom to back away from the controls. “Lady would obey me without question if I told her to deny your mechanic access to anything more than the toilet. I’ve no doubt you’re good with extra vehicle activity gear, but moving ship to ship is dangerous. Your threats mean nothing now.”
“I told him not to say that,” Tom muttered apologetically.
“No worries, Tom. His mistakes are not your fault. You tried,” I said, watching the color drain from Henshaw’s face. Apparently, his courage was already slipping despite being on a separate ship.
“We talked about this, Henshaw. What would happen if you tried to pull another fast one?” I asked.
“You would track me to the end of the galaxy and do whatever it is Reapers do to people who betray them,” he answered.
“I’m certain Reaper Cain was more specific,” X-37 said. “Shall I pull up the threats and profanity data?”
“Maybe later,” I said. “Listen, Henshaw. You told me I had to find a Reaper facility to complete my repairs and to ensure the health of my LAI. Tom’s research points to an uncharted slip tunnel I think leads to such a place.”
“He’s an amateur,” Henshaw snorted.
“Did you tell me I had to find a facility to save my LAI?” I asked, standing and stepping closer to the communication terminal.
“I did,” he admitted. “But you can’t possibly believe that your self-taught mechanic found something I’ve been searching for since I broke with the Union.”
“You don’t know Tom very well, do you?” I asked.
Henshaw made a sour, disgusted face. “I’m a man of science. Rumors of abandoned laboratories always fascinate me. But that is all they are, an interesting hobby. Something to discuss over good food and better alcohol with friends. Speaking of which, look at the time. Tom, did you select the first course of our meal? Lady needs to start the kitchen.”
“Tom’s smarter than you are, and he is on your ship to kick your ass if you step out of line. You’re not off the hook with me,” I said.
Tom looked incredibly uncomfortable at my assertion, but he stood and popped his knuckles like a brawler getting ready to duke it out with someone.
“He’s a mechanic, not a cold-blooded killer or a bully like you,” Henshaw said, pointedly ignoring Tom.
“You would be surprised what I’m willing to do to protect Elise,” Tom said. “And Hal.”
Henshaw looked over his shoulder, studying the man in silence for a moment. “No, your dedication to the young woman is obvious. And you look like you can handle yourself.”
“You’re all a bunch of testosterone-filled men,” she said, like that was a bad thing. “I’m going for a run.”
She left the bridge.
I wanted to join her, but I had a lot on my mind.
I had my reasons for holding the ocular engineering scientist hostage. I wanted to learn the truth about Nightmare and his Union soldiers. Henshaw knew more than he would tell me straight out. We had to play this game where we outsmarted each other and made threats.
Time passed as we sped away from the Roxo III tube world.
I thought about the mask and what it had shown me. There were a lot of reasons to continue, but what was drawing me inexorably toward this uncharted slip tunnel were the ghostlike images I still saw from the mask. In this latest version, a woman had moved through that facility, stopping at corners and doorways to look back at me. She was a blur but familiar. I kept waiting for her to wave at me to follow, but she never did.
Someone had sent a message. Was it for me? That seemed unlikely but inevitable. Who else would go to such extreme lengths to direct my course? There was only one person who had the motivation to send the mask, but I couldn’t figure out how she could martial those kinds of resources. She’d been kidnapped along with my sister and had nothing to do with the Union military so far as I knew.
“You know what would’ve been really helpful, X?” I asked. “Having Byron Thane II alive to interrogate.”
“You seem to have answered your own question,” X-37 said snidely.
“If I may interject,” Jelly said. “What are your orders, Captain?”
“Head for the slip tunnel coordinates Tom sent you. We don’t have to make a final decision for three more jumps and then it will be time to see if Tom’s research actually located an uncharted slip tunnel,” I said.
“Right away, Captain,” Jelly said. “I am in communication with the Lady Faith and she is coming with us. James Henshaw wishes to have a private conversation now that he is alone on his bridge you are alone on yours.”
“Cain for Henshaw, do you read me?” I asked.
He appeared on the screen. “I can hear you.”
“What’s on your mind?” I asked, crossing my arms.
“I’ve been over the coordinates dozens of times with Tom. He provided citations for all the articles that led him to infer the locations of the slip tunnels needed to arrive at the final, uncharted slip tunnel. You are right about one thing, he is extremely intelligent.”
“The man likes to read,” I said, more than a little proud of my mechanic friend.
“That doesn’t hurt,” Henshaw said. “This is going to be dangerous.”
“Agreed,” I said. “Which is why I have some questions you need to answer.”
I spent most of the next hour questioning Henshaw about Nightmare and didn’t learn much. He was holding back, but I didn’t have the leverage to make him tell the truth. That was something better done face-to-face.
Behind Henshaw, the door to the Lady Faith’s bridge opened. Tom walked in looking like he’d eaten his fill of something wonderful. “Thanks for putting me on this ship, Hal. There are fringe benefits.”
“Ready for whisky and cigar time?” I asked with a smile.
He laughed good naturedly. “It will be different this way, but why not. What kind of booze do you have, Henshaw? I know you have the best cigars I’ve ever seen.”
“Well, since you asked with such class, why not,” Henshaw said.
I poured my own drink and nursed my own cigar to life while they extolled the amazing qualities of their selection.
Tom kept the conversation reasonably civil, often bringing up topics both he and Henshaw were interested in. The ocular engineer had advanced Union training and multiple degrees he’d earned after his time with the Union. He frequently called Tom “the mechanic,” but they were obviously building a friendship of sorts.
When neither of them were ready for it, I dropped a hard question on Henshaw. “Why sell me out to Nightmare, then warn me about the perception magnifiers of Uriah’s mask? Why not just let the man kill me and take the safe bet?”
Henshaw laughed nervously. “I knew you could beat Uriah.”
“Bullshit,” I said. “You could have turned me and Elise over to him and settled any debt you owed the man.”
“Hal, that’s a bit unfair,” Tom said, leaning back in his chair on the Lady Faith’s bridge.
“No, he’s right. That offer was made to me. In fact, he demanded I do exactly that,” Henshaw admitted.
“Why the change of heart, Henshaw? How can I trust you?” I asked.
“I suppose you can’t,” he said.
I blew a cloud of smoke toward the ceiling. “I’m so glad we understand each other.”
It was wishful thinking, but I had hoped he would tell me he wanted to fight back against the Union. Maybe he was a rogue scientist. Maybe I could use him to keep my friend alive. Or maybe he was just a snake that needed to be spaced.
I would never trust him, not without proof of his intentions. Yet facts were facts. He could have sold us out but didn’t. Every mission had an element of risk. I’d worked with dozens of men and women I kn
ew I couldn’t trust. Sometimes a Reaper had to do what a Reaper had to do.
I closed the link to the Lady Faith’s bridge and enjoyed some quiet contemplation. There may have been an extra glass of whisky and the rest of my best cigars involved.
I thought about the ghost images of the woman drawing me ever deeper into uncharted space on the pretense there were Reaper facilities I might use to get answers and repair my LAI. Was I doing the right thing? Would she be there to welcome me?
These decisions were easier when it was just me and my dark conscience. Reckless courage didn't mean much when you thought you had nothing to lose. But now there was Elise and Tom and even Path and Henshaw to consider.
But most of all, there was X-37, who wasn't even a person. A psychoanalyst would probably explain the voice in my head was just a crutch no matter how many times it had saved my life.
"How are you doing, X? All your updates from Roxo III still working?" I asked.
“You’re behaving as though something is going to happen to me,” X-37 said. “Must I remind you that I’m safely tucked into your nerve-ware?”
“How could I forget? It's just that Henshaw fixed you up after I won the death match in his sick little gladiator ring,” I said.
“Did he?” X-37 asked, genuinely interested. “I don’t feel any different.”
“Just an update. Nothing for you to worry about,” I assured the LAI.
14
I worked on my own calculations for several hours, half drunk and hungry. I hadn’t eaten like Tom and Henshaw had. Everyone else on the Jellybird was asleep, like I probably should have been. But I stayed at the bridge and wrestled with the decision of whether to smoke or not. Something was bothering me. Thoughts of the Reaper mask had knocked me out of my routine and made me not want to sleep. After several minutes of staring at the place Elise normally sat, I kicked back in my captain’s chair and just held the cigar in my right hand.
Every Reaper had an identification number that only he or she knew, as well as his or her LAI of course. It rolled through my exhausted thoughts. HC37X-03. In my mind, it was stamped into metal. It wasn’t the first time I’d thought about the image and wondered if my hardware was marked with it. Every Reaper knew his or her base code and could use it to access secret facilities. To share it was to admit it was time to die, because no Reaper trusted another with the information.