He shook. Both women knew him from a time when he could barely walk. Hephestia used to bounce him on her knee, and Aurora once nursed him back to health when he ate one of the toxic Anilonian Ivy berries. He couldn’t believe they were both treating him this way. He could imagine why they didn’t want Pasqualina here, but him? Joining the Mercantiles was Sophi’s idea anyway. All he’d done was go along with it.
“I, ah.” He glanced back at Lina. She was still by the window, arms crossed. She met his eye and nodded. “Pasqualina deserves to be here. Hasn’t she helped you in the past? Well, she helps me now. Without her I wouldn’t have been able to come here at all. Without her I wouldn’t have seen Sophi for what she is.”
Aurora snorted, turning her head to the side like she’d just smelled something foul. Hephestia, however, took a step forward.
“Oh?”
He glanced at Lina. She gave him another nod.
“Yeah, that’s right. She helped me to see that Sophi was trying to manipulate me—”
“Trying?” Aurora snapped.
He stammered and took a deep breath before continuing. “Well, okay. She was manipulating me. It’s because of Pasqualina that I am now free of that.”
Aurora snorted.
“And what did you do to free him?” Hephestia asked.
Lina looked confident, despite the edge in Hephestia’s voice.
“I asked Baron Keltan what he wanted.”
“And?” Hephestia’s eyebrows intruded into her forehead.
“And that’s all.” Lina shrugged.
A look passed between the sisters.
“Why are you here, Cylus?” Aurora asked.
This was it, the time where he had to ask for something he probably wasn’t supposed to know about. He thought about it a lot on the way over, but as usual, it didn’t prepare him for the actual moment. He didn’t expect them to be so angry with him—so hostile. He knew he screwed up by defecting with Sophi, but he thought they hadn’t had any other choice about it at the time. He hoped Aurora would have seen that by now, but it was obvious she hadn’t.
“Cylus, I am busy. I’ll be leaving for Stolchem in a few days to get an early start. Do you know why?” Aurora said.
His mouth chewed on air.
“Because you and my daughter undermined our family’s credibility. Stolchem is primarily a manufacturing colony. They saw House Cronus as the barony that cared about them until you and Sophi betrayed us to join their oppressor.”
“That’s not what happened,” he said.
“Yes, it is. You and Sophi sold us out so you could go and pretend to beat Zalor at his own game. No matter what you thought, it was all just pretending—pretending, and destroying me.” Aurora shook her head. “You didn’t have to do that. There was another way, but it’s what you chose, and now you’re here because you failed to do what you were so sure you could.”
He slumped his shoulders.
“Tell her why we’re here,” Lina said in a low, firm tone.
“Ah, we know about the ship.” He tried to swallow again.
“What ship?” Hephestia asked.
He looked at Lina and received another nod.
“The one you—ah—I mean Aurora, came here in with Yoji. I know it is still in this system.”
“What ship would that be?” The edge in Hephestia’s voice hardened.
“The one with the fast drive system.” He was beginning to feel silly, and wished he had more information to really pin them down.
Hephestia held his gaze, but her face took on a distracted sheen that told him she was deep in conversation with someone through her implant. Aurora had the same expression.
“You came here to ask us for a ship? Just buy yourself another one. You cannot have ours,” Hephestia said.
“It’s not just any ship. We need the one Aurora came to Kosfanter with. It was Yoji’s, and if Sable didn’t take it with him when he left, I—we could really use it.” Judging by the look on their faces he was getting nowhere, but he didn’t want to let Pasqualina down.
Aurora’s expression hardened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yes, you do.” The source of the voice surprised all of them. Ben stood up.
“What?” Aurora said.
“I cannot stand by and let you lie to my master. You know exactly what he is talking about. I heard you talking about the ship with your late husband.”
“You are mistaken,” Aurora said.
“I am not. I cannot be. My senses and memory are infallible,” Ben said.
Aurora shared one more look with her sister, then visibly deflated. Her eyes drifted downward.
“What do you want with the ship?” she said after a long sigh.
“It’s all right, tell her.” The message from Lina said into Cylus’ thoughts.
“We told Sophi that we were going back to Anilon, but we’re not. We need a way to slip out of the system unnoticed so we can go to—” he hesitated.
“It’s all right,” Lina messaged again.
“—So we can go to Calemni. We can’t get there by registered transportation because it’s been declared a war zone, but we have to go.”
“Why?” Hephestia’s voice altered pitch. She seemed surprised.
“We believe Zalor is hiding something there and we can’t trust anyone to go but ourselves.” He added, “And I can’t get the place out of my head. I have to go there.”
“What do you think Zalor is hiding?” For the first time since she entered the room Aurora’s voice softened.
“Something big. I have a feeling—it’s hard to explain—but I think it’s something horrible,” he said.
“We can’t afford to lose you, Cylus. Not if you’re coming back to our side.” Hephestia looked at her sister as she spoke. “That is what this is about, yes?”
“If?” He was hurt by the accusation. In his mind, he never actually left them or what they believed in—not willingly.
“If. We will cautiously trust you, since you know about the ship anyway, but don’t think I forgot about what your new lady here did years ago,” Hephestia said.
He had no idea what she was referencing.
“She means how I helped them by betraying my mother on Ganymede, and then didn’t join their cadre of liberal anti-Zalites after,” Pasqualina said.
“What?” He frowned.
“She has the self-interest of her father, just like her sister does.” Aurora glared at Pasqualina, the anger clear in her eyes. “She’ll betray you too, if it’s to her advantage.”
Cylus bit his lip. Would she? No, he told himself, they just don’t know her as I do. She’s on my side, I know it.
Hephestia looked like she ate a bug. “Yes, well, my point is that you aren’t keeping good company—even if that company has led you back our way.”
“Hephestia, please!” He gritted his teeth. He wasn’t going to stand for them insulting Pasqualina.
“Calm down.” Hephestia waved her hand in the air. He knew that look well, and it eased the tension in his chest.
He was going to Calemni.
“What we find might help with the fight against Zalor. Maybe we can bring him down before he launches his ‘Brave New Age of Instant Travel,’” Cylus said.
“We heard about the Queen Gaia, the whole planet did. He’s hired some reporter to publicize it. There’s supposed to be some big media campaign soon. Everyone expects our stock to take a major dip now that Zalor thinks he has the edge in star travel. It’s expected that this new age will mean real mobility for the common being, but we all know better.” Hephestia said.
“You’ve got something planned?” he asked.
“No one has seen our ship, or its technology yet. It’s a prototype for a new drive system—something that will really bring star travel to everyone without the leash that Zalor will put on them. You will see, Cylus. The only caveat is that you cannot tell Sophiathena,” Hephestia said.
“You won’t have t
o worry. Sophi’s never going to do what she said, I—” he inhaled, “—I know that now. I know I can’t trust her. I’m sorry I was so stupid.”
Aurora gave him a long stare before the ice melted behind her eyes. She was tearing when she spoke next. “I can’t forgive you. I hope you understand that. My career is all but through because of your folly, but I can accept your apology.”
“Thank you.” His eyes and throat stung.
“The ship is here,” Hephestia said.
“Where is it in the system? Close?” Lina asked.
“No, I mean it’s here, on the platform above.” Hephestia pointed up with her finger.
“We need an FTL ship. I thought it was an FTL ship,” Lina said.
“It is,” Hephestia responded.
“What? Like an AlCas ship? We need something faster.” Lina frowned.
“It is not an AlCas ship,” Hephestia said.
“Then how do you have a fast FTL ship parked on the landing pad above?” Lina moved towards Hephestia with slow steps that punctuated the ends of her sentences.
“I can’t tell you how it works. I didn’t invent the ship—Yoji’s research team and Daedalus did. All I can say is, it doesn’t use neutronium or antimatter like normal drive systems do. You’ll have to ask the captain about the rest,” Hephestia said.
“Is he here?” Lina looked excited.
“She is. Come, we’ll take you,” Aurora said.
The sisters led the way deep into the living quarters of the tower. They arrived in a windowless internal chamber containing a glossy black table, a few easy chairs, and a small, but well-stocked bar. The room was cylindrical, about seven meters from end to end, and had a low ceiling with an illuminator ring around its edge. A blue carpet covered the floor between two doors on opposite sides of the room at right angles to the portal by which they entered. One was marked as a lavatory, but the other was a featureless set of double doors without even a control panel projection to indicate what lay beyond.
Seated at the bar was a female sentient of a species Cylus had never seen before. She had a generally human appearance, dark-brown eyes above high cheekbones, and a narrow chin. Her face appeared human, its features seeming to originate in one of the colonies descended from what was once known as the Pan Asian Federation of Earth. Her long, pointed ears extended from hairless temples, and held back thick, wavy-black locks growing from her scalp down to her shoulders. A long tail, about as wide as three of his fingers put together, extended from the base of her spine and curved upward to its terminal end where three fat, finger-like projections held a glass of dark wine in front of her. A corner of her mouth curved upward when she noticed their entrance, and she rotated her chair to face them with a slight nod.
“Baron Keltan, this is the ship’s captain and engineer, Reika Daldon-Fukui,” Hephestia said.
“A pleasure.” He took in her appearance, trying to place her species. The Cyberweb was no help. He supposed, from her hand-like feet, that she might be some kind of sub-species of dark-skinned, tail-possessing Relaen, but then her kind would have been listed on the web. Her clothing, knee-length shorts and a black, off-the-shoulder top with only one sleeve and no midriff, revealed vast amounts of her chestnut-brown skin but gave no further clue to her species’ identity. An animated tattoo depicting horned and fanged demons fighting a pitched battle against some kind of bird-men with curved swords, raged up and down her exposed arm in a tight spiral. Cylus found himself staring at it as she spoke.
“The pleasure is mine,” she said in a familiar accent.
“Are you from Taiumikai?” he asked, looking up from her body art.
“One of its colonies, Baron Keltan,” she answered.
“Captain Daldon-Fukui is one of my son’s employees,” Aurora said. “She was hand-picked by Yoji to pilot the ship.”
Cylus gave the captain another looking over. She didn’t fit his image of someone Yoji would have selected for a top-secret FTL vessel. Was she picked from the civilian ranks? He would have thought that such a pilot would be from the Shiragawa self-defense forces. Was she picked for her skills? Her ability to keep secrets?
Lina cleared her throat, making him feel self-conscious for staring.
“I’m eager to speak with you about this miraculous ship.” She stepped forward placing herself almost in front of him.
“Are you a pilot?” Captain Fukui asked.
“Captain, this is Baron Keltan’s fiancée, Heiress Pasqualina Olivaar.” Hephestia gestured. “They need our assistance. Start getting the Fukuro ready for flight, please.”
The Captain took a drink from her wine-glass and placed it on the table before moving to her feet. With her attention on Hephestia, she bowed with a serious expression.
“Where are we going?” Her tail retracted, shrinking and thickening as it vanished behind her.
“That is up to Baron Keltan. You are going on loan to him as of this moment.” Hephestia turned to him. “The ship is highly experimental. Wherever you go, please, for the sake of Yoji, do not let anyone know its capabilities—”
“Unless you run into my son. It is his ship, after all.” Aurora’s eyes were pleading.
“Of course, I will not,” Captain Fukui said and bowed deeper.
“Wait, he’s not on Taiumikai?” Cylus was shocked. Sable always did what he said he would.
“No. Yoji’s sister won’t tell me where my son is, either. Aki is in charge on Taiumikai until Sable arrives, but she won’t say when that will be. She’s been curiously quiet since we received the last transmission. I’m not sure she knows where he is.” Aurora shook her head, looking at the carpet beneath her feet.
He couldn’t believe it—couldn’t imagine what would have side-tracked Sable from burying his father. Taiumikai custom and tradition demanded the eldest child be present for a funeral to take place. He didn’t know a more duty-bound man than his best friend. To hear this news now turned his universe upside down. How could Sable not have gone? Unless—was there an accident? Had his ship been destroyed in transit? That couldn’t be it. His aunt would say something, or would she? Why was she being so secretive? He met Mitsugawa Aki once when he visited Taiumikai with his father. He barely remembered her. To his knowledge, she never came to Kosfanter with Yoji. All he could remember about her was that she had a face like a porcelain doll that never smiled. He didn’t recall liking her very much.
“The chances that they run into Sable are remote at best. We don’t know where he went or why,” Hephestia said.
“He may be pursuing the same lead that Cylus is.” Aurora sounded hopeful.
He thought that was an interesting idea. As he had no idea where his lead came from, it was a possibility. He certainly would love to run into his friend—and if Sable were chasing a lead it was a good explanation for why the message he sent had gone unanswered. Still, Hephestia was right. The chances were worse than remote.
“We don’t know that,” Hephestia responded to her sister.
Aurora’s sigh preceded a long silence.
“Well, I’m eager to see this ship. I’ve never heard of a ship that could form an E-R bridge without neutronium,” Lina said.
Captain Fukui perked up, her ears twitched. “She is a marvel of Taiumikai science. Are you an engineer?”
“I studied at Venus University,” Lina answered.
“Very nice. It will be a pleasure to share this voyage with you, Heiress.” Captain Fukui bowed to her. “When do we leave?”
The Cronus sisters turned to Cylus.
“We need a little time to prepare.” The reality of what they were doing started to hit him. He felt a flutter in his stomach. “Tomorrow morning?”
Hephestia nodded.
“Perhaps the Heiress would like a tour of the ship before she leaves the tower today?” The captain smiled, her eyes bright like an eager child.
The sisters turned and looked at her with raised eyebrows.
“Nothing considered a trade secret can be
shown,” Hephestia said.
“Of course,” Captain Fukui bowed her head and her long ears twitched.
“I would love a tour. Care to join us, Baron?” Lina smiled.
“Sure.” Cylus shrugged.
The unmarked set of doors slid open. Beyond was a cylindrical lift with gray and blue walls.
“Please, this way.” Captain Fukui grabbed a jacket off the seat behind her and turned towards the door. Her tail was now a thick, tapered projection about eighteen-centimeters long poking through a “v” cut in the waist of her shorts at the base of her spine. Its three “fingers” were only just visible, pressed together like pie-slices at the end of the retracted appendage. He was fascinated by it, having never heard of a species with such anatomy.
“Don’t stare,” Lina transmitted into his thoughts and accompanied her words with a quick jab at his ribs.
“Sorry,” he muttered back, fascinated and vexed by the mystery of this strange captain and Yoji’s secret FTL ship as they followed her out.
“Have those sent to the Keynes.” Cylus pointed at a stack of suitcases containing his best clothes. It pained him to part with them, but if Sophi checked his ship’s cargo manifest he wanted the illusion of their departure to be as perfect as possible.
“Of course, master.” Ben loaded the luggage case by case onto a hovering platform outside of Cylus’ room.
Ben had been packing since they got back from the Intelligent Systems tower last night. Lina was like a kid with a new toy both during and after the tour of the Fukuro. She and the captain seemed to really connect, leaving Cylus to stare at the walls as they went on about the technology and science behind it. Most of it went over his head, but he had caught a few things like how the ship was powered by what amounted to something called “Hawking Radiation” from compressed space-time in its engine, and how Mitsugawa Yoji had somehow managed to make weapons using the same principles. Captain Fukui mentioned that a few test warheads were on the ship. Lina was excited, but for him it was an awkward prospect. Why did Yoji have an armed personal transport? Was this ship a military test craft? Fukui refused to answer such questions, and so he was left wondering. Feeling in the dark and ostracized from the group, he was sullen after they left the Intel-Sys tower. His mood managed to wreck Lina’s as well, and they finished the night more or less in tense silence. He didn’t see her after dinner until Ben started to pack their things this morning.
Keltan's Gambit: Chronicles of the Orion Spur Book 2 Page 42