“We’ve met her before,” Jelena said, looking around, expecting to see some of the soldiers that had been protecting the doctor. There were some uniformed men on the cots, but none of them appeared hale enough to jump up and start shooting again. “She wanted to drug us,” Jelena added, as the woman’s dark-eyed gaze locked onto hers.
“Not with painkillers,” Erick said. “Unfortunately.”
“I bet a lot of people who meet you two want to drug you,” Masika said.
“Not usually before we’ve spoken,” Jelena said.
“I wouldn’t be too sure about that. I wouldn’t have minded drugging you before you ever opened your mouth.”
“That’s because we met under extenuating circumstances.”
“And because you tried to jam your big stick through my chest.”
“You were trying to kill me at the time,” Jelena murmured, aware of the doctor looking at them.
“I was just trying to mangle you a little and take you back to Stellacor.”
“I found the notion unappealing.”
The doctor wiped her hands, said something to the nurse, and strode through the aisle between the cots. She paused to answer a few of her patients’ questions, but she kept watching Jelena’s team. She watched the woman right back, making sure she didn’t pull out a comm and call for soldiers. The last thing Jelena wanted was to get into a battle in the middle of a makeshift hospital ward, but she also didn’t want to be captured, shot, or drugged.
“Kiyoko.” Hoshi skipped over and intercepted her sister, wrapping her arms around her. “I found Starseers.”
“I see that.” The doctor gave her a one-armed hug, but didn’t hold it for long. She extricated herself and walked up to Thor. Why did people always think he was in charge? Or was it that the doctor wanted to interact with someone who hadn’t been battling with her soldiers at their headquarters? Not that Jelena, Erick, and Masika had been the ones to start that.
“I’m Dr. Ogiwara.” She looked them over. “Only one of you is injured?”
“Just me,” Erick said.
Ogiwara’s lips pursed together in distaste. Did she think they should all have been shot?
“Many of our people were injured,” Ogiwara said.
“If there’s a long line, we can help ourselves, if you can part with some painkillers, antiseptic, and—” Erick looked at Jelena. “Tweezers?”
Jelena had never extricated anything larger than a sliver, nor were bullet wounds commonplace in Alliance territory, so she could only shrug, not certain if there was a specific tool for the purpose.
Ogiwara considered Erick—all of them—and Jelena didn’t have to use her senses to tell that she wanted to turn them away—or maybe turn them in. But she finally rested a hand on her chest and murmured, almost to herself, “However innumerable beings are, I vow to save them.”
“Pardon?” Erick asked.
“All are welcome in my operating room.” Ogiwara extended a hand toward the curtained alcove.
Some operating room. Erick looked dubious, but he did not hesitate for long before heading in that direction.
Erick? Jelena spoke into his mind. One of us will stay here with you, to make sure she doesn’t knock you out for nefarious purposes, but I’m going to go check on the prisoners and see what’ll be involved in extricating them.
I don’t need a babysitter.
I was thinking of leaving Masika.
Oh, I guess I could stand to be babysat a little then. Do you think she’ll hold my hand if I cry?
Maybe we could find you a stuffed animal to clutch to your chest.
Handholding sounds more appealing.
“Masika?” Jelena asked as the doctor followed Erick toward the curtains. “Will you stay with him while Thor and I…” She paused, aware of the nurse and Hoshi standing nearby. She was on the verge of finishing telepathically when her earstar beeped. She hadn’t realized it had survived the ocean and the capturing and was still in her pocket. “Check in with Austin,” she finished. And with the prisoners, she added silently.
“You want me to stay in this dreary place while you go have adventures?” Masika eyed the dark stone walls with distaste—her gaze seemed to skip over the people on the cots. “I hate hospitals.”
“Maybe you can paint a mural for the reluctant residents.”
“Somehow, I doubt art supplies were on the list of things people brought down here when they fled their homes. Besides, you’d need Rochu paint to do a cave wall any justice.”
“You speak from experience?”
“Rochu paint is good for graffiti on cement walls.”
“Graffiti? You do speak from experience.” Jelena smiled, imagining a young Masika engaged in an unsanctioned neighborhood beautification project.
“How do you think I got noticed and offered a scholarship?”
“Must have been impressive graffiti.”
“It was.” Masika strode after Erick.
Jelena turned toward the exit, nodding for Thor to lead the way. She would wait until they were alone to check the comm. It should be Austin, probably wondering when they would be back.
“Do you want to talk to the war leader?” Hoshi asked. “I can take you.”
“The war leader?” Was that the religious nut Sorel had mentioned? The one supposedly determined to spread his people’s religiosity? He sounded like someone Jelena was even less interested in meeting than the people in that headquarters building.
“The war leader commands the entire army.” Hoshi bounced on her toes. “You two could talk about how best to use your Starseer powers to stop the war. The war leader would have legions of ideas, I bet.”
Legions of troops, more likely. Troops that would be happy to shoot Jelena.
“Maybe later,” Jelena said. “We’ll be back to get Erick and Masika. We’re just going to talk with a comrade.”
She thought Hoshi might insist on going with them, or follow them if they tried to leave her, but the nurse came over, put an arm around her shoulders, and murmured something in another language.
“All right,” Hoshi said. “Let me know when you want to go. I can show you to the war leader’s tent.”
Tent? These people were definitely not living the life of luxury.
“Thank you,” Jelena said.
Thor took a couple of steps, but halted before he reached the exit.
“What is it?” Jelena murmured, letting her senses trickle into the tunnel. Two men were walking toward the makeshift hospital. Soldiers. Camouflage us? she suggested silently.
Yes. Thor stepped to the side, waving for her to join him against the wall.
The two soldiers limped in, uniforms bloody and soot-covered. A private and a corporal, Jelena guessed from their rank pins. They did not seem to notice her or Thor. They looked around the rest of the room, and the nurse started toward them, but one sucked in a quick breath and pointed toward the curtains. Erick had already disappeared inside, but Masika leaned against the wall next to the makeshift operating room, her arms folded over her chest.
“That’s one of them.” The private grabbed a revolver in a holster.
Jelena winced, thinking he might be one of the soldiers from the driveway. She should have been more specific about the “us” she needed Thor to camouflage.
The private yelped and dropped his weapon. Everyone looked over when it clattered to the floor, including Masika. She glowered at the men, a challenge in her eyes.
“What happened?” The corporal’s holster was empty, so he could only reach for a dagger, but he jerked his hand away as soon as he touched it. “It’s scalding.”
The doctor stepped out of her alcove, and Jelena glimpsed Erick sitting on a table behind the curtains, his shirt already off.
“Dr. Ogiwara,” the corporal blurted, “those are the people the Opuntians sent. The ones we were supposed to bring to you, and—you saw it, ma’am. They used witch magic and got away.”
Magic? Not exactly…
“But they’re Opuntian allies!”
“And Trinity heathens,” the private growled.
“We’re all heathens of one kind or another in here,” Ogiwara said. “Sit on one of the cots, and Deidra will get you started. I’ll come by to attend to your injuries shortly.”
We can go, Thor told Jelena, stepping out into the tunnel. The soldiers did not notice.
Jelena lifted a hand to Masika, part farewell, but also part question. Would she be all right? Jelena was having second thoughts about splitting up her team. What would happen if someone who outranked the doctor came in with an attitude similar to that of the soldiers? Soldiers who hadn’t yet sat down or stopped glowering across the room.
But Masika returned the wave, not appearing worried at the idea of being left behind.
You better go, Erick told Jelena telepathically. I don’t trust Thorian when he’s off by himself.
I’m sure your lack of faith saddens him.
Oh yes. We’ll catch him weeping into his pillow tonight.
Let me know if you have any trouble here. Though her concerns hadn’t waned, Jelena headed into the tunnel.
I haven’t been able to get Masika to hold my hand yet.
Let me know if you have any major trouble.
You’ll be the first to—er, did you know they’d be using needles in here? Not jet injectors? That nurse looks like she’s preparing to skewer me for Uncle Tommy’s grill.
Not sure she wanted ongoing updates, Jelena jogged to catch up with Thor. He glanced at her as she drew up beside him.
“Erick has concerns about the technology level of the medical equipment,” she said.
“He’s lucky nobody’s approaching him with a jar full of leeches.”
Thor turned down a tunnel different from the one Hoshi had led them through.
“Do you know a different way to the surface? Or are we going exploring?”
“I can see a map of the tunnels with my mind,” Thor said.
“An interesting factoid but not one that answered either of my questions.”
He gave her a baleful look, then pointed to her pocket. “Austin commed?”
“Oh, right.” Jelena made sure nobody was following them and draped her earstar over her helix. It beeped a poor reception indicator at her and informed her that it would take a minute for it to route the call and establish a link. “I’m guessing there’s not a fleet of satellites around this planet.”
“There used to be enough for sys-net access and communications for everyone, but the Opuntians destroyed a few of the ones that were originally put into orbit by the Chollans, and they put restrictions on their own so the other continent couldn’t use them.”
“You’ve been gathering information while roaming around?”
“Probing the minds of people I’ve passed, yes.” He looked behind them, down the empty tunnel. “I wouldn’t have minded having a discussion with the doctor or a higher-ranking soldier so I could have gotten more information about the ahridium.”
“Are you also concerned that maybe we agreed to work for the wrong side?”
“The wrong side?” His eyebrows arched. “In war, right and wrong depend on which side of the conflict you’re standing on.”
“But those looking in from the outside can form opinions on which side is more deserving of victory. Or maybe just survival.”
“Is it their place to do so?”
“I don’t know, but it’s their place to decide who they should back. Or if they want to get involved at all.”
“We’re already involved, and we’ve given our word to get those people back.” Thor pointed to the left at an intersection. “This way will take us down toward the harbor. I’d prefer to stay underground as long as possible. The bombing has stopped for the time being, but the city is still unprotected without its forcefield. These tunnels, however, are reinforced. This probably isn’t the first time Cholla has been bombed in its history.”
“If your course is set in stone, why are you wondering about the ahridium?” Jelena asked.
“Ahridium is crucial in building warships. Perun depleted its own resources long ago and is now forced to salvage and recycle. The asteroid-mining ships they’ve tried to send out to the Trajean and Kirian Belts have been harried by Alliance ships lately.” His expression grew dark and vaguely accusing. “Knowing where to find some ahridium may be important to me someday, especially if the Alliance doesn’t get ahold of whatever mines are here. That seems inevitable, though, if they’re working with the Opuntians, as it sounds like they are. It could very well be that the ahridium was what the Alliance wanted all along, and why they came in to support the Opuntians. It’s not as if there’s much else on Fourseas. Maybe there’s a deal between the two governments. The Alliance gets to add Fourseas to their roster and collect taxes on lucrative ahridium mines, and Opuntia gets help defeating age-old enemies.”
“So, you’re thinking about yourself and your revolution, and not these people at all?” Jelena asked.
“You didn’t care about these people at all, either, a week ago.”
“Because I wasn’t aware of them. That’s changed. Now…” Jelena sighed. Now, what? Because one ten-year-old girl wanted Starseers to save her people and stop a war didn’t mean it could be done. But it seemed selfish to think of only herself right now. Wasn’t it shallow to worry about getting paid in the face of all this? Thor was right. She didn’t have the heart to be a mercenary.
“They can’t win, Jelena,” Thor said quietly. “It’s better for us—for the loan that you need to repay—that we happened to make a deal with the other side. It’s only a matter of time before Cholla falls.”
“And Opuntia and the Alliance claim the whole planet. Do you want that?”
“Another planet for the Alliance? Of course not, especially since I’ve been thinking of starting the empire anew out here. The Alliance might not be so quick to send forces to the border worlds, as long as they’ve got nothing to protect out here, and it would give us a chance to gather resources, people, and build bases from which to launch an attack at the inner planets.”
It always chilled Jelena when he spoke so calmly of conquering and attacking. If anyone else had been saying such things, she’d think him a delusional megalomaniac, but with his power and his hereditary right to rule, at least in imperial eyes, was it so crazy to believe that he might affect the course of history?
Her earstar beeped, letting her know the link had been established.
“Open,” she murmured, and a holodisplay popped up, projected ahead of her eyes.
Austin’s head and hunched shoulders formed. “Captain? Can you hear me?” Static made the words hard to understand, and his image winked off and on. “We’ve got a little problem.”
“It better not be ghosts,” Jelena said.
Thor snorted.
After a pause, Austin shook his head. “Not this time. But I have a list. First off, an Alliance ship settled in right next to us, and a few of their soldiers went into the city. I thought you should know. Nobody’s commed me, but since this is supposed to be a border planet that’s not ruled by the empire or Alliance, I thought it was strange.”
“The Alliance seems to have a stake in the outcome of events unfolding here,” Jelena said.
“All right, but then there was this other ship this morning. It had a yellow—no, a gold—hull, and I didn’t recognize it. I’ve been researching it and trying to find some matches, but it looked real new, and it didn’t have any military markings, or even a name that I could see. When I tried to run a scan on its ident chip, I got a message back that said, ‘Classified,’ and that’s it.”
“What did this ship do?” Jelena hoped it had nothing to do with them, but that seemed a vain hope.
“It flew into the city, hovered over the docks, and scanned the Snapper.”
“Just the Snapper?”
“I don’t know, but I doubt it was here long enough to check many ships. Oh, and this was a fancy, high-powered scan, Captain. It registered on the sensors, and I figure they know everything about us now, including if I’ve got any diseases or infections, zits or warts.”
“Do you?”
“Zits, yes,” Austin said. “That’s it, though. Well, that thing on my toe might be a little wart. But it’s rude of strangers to look into it.”
“Yes, it is. Where is the ship now?”
“No idea. It took off over the ocean.”
“Over the ocean in our direction?” Thor asked.
“Uh, I think so, yeah,” Austin said. “There’s another problem too.”
“Nice of these things to come in threes,” Jelena murmured.
“Someone’s been bombing the city here, and the radio stations are warning people to take cover, that more attacks are expected. Do you think it’s the same enemy that fired at us when we flew over Cholla? Have you saved those people yet? The docks haven’t taken a hit, but I can’t raise the shields while we’re attached here.”
“I know.”
“Your mom commed too,” Austin said.
“Of course she did.”
“She said she’s arranged for you to pick up a cargo on Umbra and fly it to Macha, and wanted to know how soon we could get there.”
Jelena closed her eyes. Her brain needed a rest. “We’ll worry about that later.”
“The bombing is more problematic right now,” Austin agreed. “Do you want me to undock and, er, fly somewhere?”
Jelena cursed.
“Does he know how to fly?” Thor asked.
“I’m not sure. Erick can as long as he lets the autopilot do everything. Taking off wouldn’t be that hard, but landing, especially docking, takes some finesse. The Snapper isn’t the sleekest and most maneuverable ship.”
“I wouldn’t have guessed.”
“I can fly.” Austin said something else, too, but static made the words impossible to understand.
“It’s like we’re on the other side of the system instead of the other side of a planet,” Jelena grumbled. “Austin, if you can hear me, here are my instructions. If it looks like the Snapper is in an area that’s going to get targeted, yes, you can take her out of dock. And then take her…” Should she have him fly the ship up into orbit? She hated to make things complicated for an inexperienced pilot. Whatever insurance her parents had taken out on the Snapper, she doubted it would pay for damages caused by an unauthorized operator. “Fly her over to this continent, but send me a message before you get close. We’re hoping to finish up here soon.” Now she had another reason to hurry off with Thor and find those prisoners. “Maybe you can pick us up.” That would be preferable to riding three days back in that submarine, especially since they’d have to wait more than two days for it to pick them up, but—
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