Pirates, one of the Black Crow ships. Kylie sighed and gazed down at Lana’s face. “I don’t know if I have the will to get up.”
“The Silstrand cruiser will destroy us to keep this nano from falling into enemy hands,” Grayson said. “If we can’t shake them and the Barbaric Queen…”
In other words, Kylie didn’t have any other choice. She stood, even though her legs felt like they were rubber. “Get her to the medbay. Put her on the bed. We can at least do something nice for her for…for the time being.”
Grayson nodded, leaving so much unsaid. He picked Lana’s body up and Kylie ran toward the bridge.
Her hands were still covered in Lana’s blood, and she looked at them, feeling nauseated. They tingled slightly, and she wiped them on her pants as the ship rocked, jinking to avoid enemy beamfire. She stumbled onto the bridge as the ship jinked again.
“Nice to see someone. If you could man the guns,” Rogers said from the pilot’s seat. It pivoted back and forth as he did his best to avoid both ships.
Kylie slipped into Nadine’s seat and brought up weapons. “Shields aren’t going to hold much longer.”
Rogers didn’t respond, but tension on the bridge rose.
She powered up the weapons and reviewed scan. The Silstrand cruiser, listed as the Hanover on her screen, was close, just twenty thousand kilometers on their port side. The Barbaric Queen was further aft, just under fifty thousand kilometers—within effective beam range.
The Hanover was firing at both ships with lasers and particle beams, though the Barbaric Queen was only shooting at the Silstrand ship—for the moment.
“Coming up on Einindart,” Rogers said as the Dauntless approached the massive gas giant in Gedri’s outer reaches. Einindart was surrounded by dozens of major moons, a ring of dust and debris, and more flotsam and jetsam than scan could keep up with.
“I’ll try to find some cover. We’re close to Dredge—there’re a few stations and shipyards there. Maybe they won’t shoot if they think they’ll hit civilians,” Rogers said.
“We can hope,” Kylie muttered as she adjusted the ship’s shields to protect the engines from the Hanover’s weapons fire. They weren’t making kill shots, which was a small blessing, but Kylie was certain that if her ship were disabled, they would all wish they’d died in a fiery explosion.
“Communication coming in from the Barbaric Queen,” Kylie said and pumped it through the speakers.
Kylie was always one for witty exchanges but she wasn’t feeling quite in the mood. She jammed his transmission. “Can we make an FTL jump or not?”
“Shit, Captain, really? This close to Einindart? No way! I’ll need to slingshot around the planet and get on an outsystem vector first.”
“Send me the coordinates,” Rogers grunted as he boosted past a small space station at a thousand kilometers per second, drawing fire from its defensive turrets.
“Shit! That’s tiny! I have to shed all this v or we’ll get smushed in there.”
“You say that like it’s going to be easy,” Rogers grunted.
Marge offered.
“No!” Kylie and Rogers yelled in unison.
“I got it,” Rogers added.
Scan threw out an alert and Kylie saw a dozen missiles closing on them. The weapons weren’t moving at relativistic speeds, but they traveled erratically, jinking fast enough that the Dauntless’s targeting systems couldn’t get a lock on them.
Kylie shot down three missiles, then two more, then another four. She bit her lip, trying to get a targeting lock on the last three as a proton beam lanced out from the Hanover and hit the Dauntless.
“Oh fuck, they took out our shields,” Kylie swore.
“They want those missiles to destroy you. If they can’t have Lana, they’re not going to let anyone get her,” Grayson said as he strode onto the bridge.
Kylie tasted blood as she got a lock on the three remaining missiles and fired. Two blew, but one shot missed.
“Max burn!” Rogers warned and a klaxon blared that the internal grav compensators wouldn’t be able to fully protect them from the force. Kylie grasped the chair as the ship shuddered, and saw Grayson fly across the bridge and hit a bulkhead.
“Dumping to the DL in five, four,” Rogers began his count as Kylie watched the final missile fly past the ship and arc around. The ship had slowed, and the missile had picked up more v. It jinked wildly, and Kylie fired every shot that looked even remotely close. They all missed.
“…two, one,” Rogers completed his count half a second before the missile hit.
Alarms wailed as the starscape and the looming orb of Einindart disappeared. They were in the dark layer, and the ship was still intact.
Kylie looked at the automated damage reports scrolling across the console. Correction, mostly intact.
Rogers turned in his seat and cast Kylie an incredulous look. “We made it. I can’t believe it. We actually did it.”
“Good work, Rogers.” Kylie’s breath came in ragged gasps and realized her hands were shaking.
“How’d we do? How’s Lana? Is she still…” Rogers asked as he rose up off the floor. He used the edge of a console to stand, but otherwise appeared okay.
Kylie sunk in her seat and felt the nausea return. “I’m afraid…”
“The SSF took her?”
“It’s worse than that, I’m afraid. A lot worse.”
LAYING LOW
STELLAR DATE: 08.47.8947 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Salvage ship Dauntless, dark layer, near Einindart
REGION: Gedri System, Silstrand Alliance
Several hours later, the ship was still tucked safely in the small, clear pocket in the dark layer. Repairs, such as their external bots could manage in the DL, were still underway, but no other ships had transitioned into the dark layer near them.
Kylie worried that they would need to wait a lot longer before they exited. The SSF probably had backup by now and had chased off the Black Crow ships, but either way, the word would be out. Everyone in the system would know they had Lana, and what she was capable of.
Kylie suspected that in a better facility, Lana’s injuries would not have been fatal. But the Dauntless had no cryopods to hold her in stasis, and there was nothing they could do for such trauma. By the time they had returned to the medbay to view the young woman, her body was cold, the life long gone from it.
They placed Lana in one of the small holds, and lowered the temperature so the body would be preserved. Kylie couldn’t bring herself to space Lana, though the dark layer may be the best place for the tech her lifeless flesh held.
She mattered. People mattered. Kylie wasn’t ready to flush that all away.
Rogers stood next to her with his hands in his pockets. Whatever was going to happen next, neither of them knew, but it was far from over. Nadine was still gone and Kylie had so many broken promises that she had to keep.
So many.
“She deserved better,” Rogers said. “I didn’t know her but still…I know you worked hard to save her.”
Everything he said was true, but Kylie didn’t have the heart to respond. She was too important to dump, but they couldn’t give her a proper funeral, either. So, what were they going to do? Keep her on ice forever? Or trade her body to Jason? Just the idea of something so distasteful…
She left Rogers without speaking and wa
lked down the passageway to where Grayson stood outside the airlock, a large bruise evident on his forehead from when he hit the bulkhead. Within, Winter paced and raged.
“Let me out of here, Kylie.” He slammed his palms on the glass. “You know I can’t take these small spaces. Let me out!”
He should’ve thought about that before he betrayed them. She stood beside Grayson, and they leaned against each other, listening to Winter’s maniacal raving.
“I was just doing what I thought was best for the crew. C’mon, Kylie. You know me better than this!”
She did. Which was why she wondered how Winter’s actions had caught her so off-guard.
“Should we space him now?” Grayson asked.
“I wouldn’t even enjoy it,” Kylie said. She didn’t know what to do with Winter, but dumping him into the dark layer wasn’t what she had on her mind. He deserved to be punished for what he did, but what that punishment would ultimately be?
Kylie had other plans.
“A pot of bad coffee, then?” Grayson asked.
“Sure,” Kylie walked away with Grayson while rubbing her hand on her arm. It was weird, her skin was tingling again, almost like her arm was asleep, and the feeling was spreading from her arms, down to her legs. She wrote it off as a reaction to the stress of the battle, but was aware of how taught the fabric was against her skin. Every sensation felt like a pinprick, Kylie was suddenly aware of everything.
She forced it from her mind, as they sat at the table in the galley and stared at each other over their cups.
“You know, everything you did…” Kylie said. “Your career with the SA…”
Grayson kept his head down when he answered. “I’m hoping Jerrod can help make them understand why I did why I did. How they left me with no choice.”
Kylie hoped that was true. Funny, years ago, all she wanted was for him to pick her over the SA, but now that he effectively had, it left a bitter taste in his mouth. Now what would they do? Was Grayson just going to become a member of her crew? If that happened, where did they leave them? Kylie didn’t voice her questions because she needed more time to think.
“Will Jerrod talk with the SA soon?”
Grayson nodded. “He slipped a drone out of the DL. It will boost a ways away before it sends its message. Don’t worry, he won’t disclose our location. His neck is on the line, same as mine.”
Kylie hoped that was true. “With Winter under lock and key, I’m going to need someone to help fix my girl and bring shields back online.”
Grayson nodded. “Leave it to Jerrod and I. We’ll have it handled.”
“Great,” Kylie said with audible calm, hiding the unease she felt. Could Jerrod, an AI in the service of the SSF, really be trusted if Grayson was no longer part of the military? How could she ask him about it when the AI was always there, always listening?
Grayson rose, placed his cup in the sink—the man never washed his own dishes—and left the galley. Kylie stared after him, wondering what their next move could possibly be.
Kylie immediately headed toward the bridge.
Of course, and here they were without shields, Kylie needed a miracle to get out of this one.
Kylie thought about that.
She sprinted down the passageway when an intense pain tore into her brain. She cringed and found herself unable to convince her leg to take another a step forward. Grabbing her head, she groaned. Her vision split and Kylie saw colors—purple, black, and gold charging toward her. She could see the metal in the ship unlike any way she had seen it before.
Like it was a breathing, organic thing. The molecules moved like an independent machine. What the hell?
“Grayson—”
There was an unusual look on his face, an expression of deep concentration that was abnormal, even for him. When she said his name, he wouldn’t even look at her and his movements were stilted, almost mechanical—like he wasn’t in full control of his limbs.
What was wrong with him?
“Gray? Can you hear me?”
He swung his arm wide and she felt her body move—lighting fast—barely avoiding the swing aimed at her head.
“Grayson! What’s gotten into you?” Kylie’s tried to move, but her legs wouldn’t respond, then they gave out all together and she fell to the deck plate and crawled to the other side of the passageway.
She pulled herself to her feet just as he turned and charged at her, going for her neck. Kylie pushed him away, but it was like trying to move an elephant. He was strong and more than that, his eyes were vacant and detached, almost like he felt nothing for him at all.
Grayson? “Jerrod?” Kylie asked in horror.
His eyes flashed with recognition. Grayson wasn’t in charge anymore. Jerrod was. Was there any wonder why she hadn’t wanted a military AI? The control they could exert over Grayson or anyone dumb enough to have a government AI in their heads?
Kylie tried to duck again, but her body felt like it was stuck in mud—like the messages weren’t getting to her nerves in time. Grayson grabbed her by the throat and slammed her up against the wall. Kylie gasped for breath as her body trembled and shook from the transformation it was undergoing.
Things were changing. Things were changing fast.
There was no answer. Instead, Grayson let her go. He let her go so he could kick her down the passageway like a football.
Kylie’s body flew past the airlock. Things seemed to slow down and it occurred to her how comical it must look to Winter as he banged on the window. “Kylie!”
If she could get to the airlock in time, maybe Winter could stop Grayson. She was crawling toward the access panel when something tugged at her pant leg. Glancing back, she saw Grayson and his unemotional eyes staring back at her.
Kylie screamed as he pulled her back toward the cargo bay, and everything went black.
EPILOGUE: THE HAND
STELLAR DATE: 08.47.8947 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: TSS Armored Night, departing Chiras
REGION: Outer Gedri System, Silstrand Alliance
In the ship’s small galley, Jason poured two blue drinks and set them on a metal tray as a transmission came in from his handler at the agency. He triggered it to display as a full holoprojection.
“There was a problem with the SSF,” Petra Cushing said. She leaned forward and folded her hands. Her beautiful green eyes sparkled and her sleek black hair seemed to shine extra bright. “They tried to take the girl but failed. Now it’s going to be up to you.”
“I have what they want,” Jason sipped his drink. “They’ll give me the girl.”
“They better. This tech can’t get in the hands of Silstrand, the GFF, or anyone else. It’ll disrupt everything. It must be contained.”
“I have it handled, that’s why you brought me in on this. Are you sure the Dauntless still has the gir
l?”
“As far as we can tell, yes. Arrange that transfer soon. If you can’t bring me the girl, she must be destroyed in a way that the nano will not survive.”
Jason nodded. “Whatever you wish.”
“Good,” Petra replied. “Sera Tomlinson is following this operation personally. It won’t go well for any of us if we screw it up.”
Jason nodded. “Understood.”
“Good.” Petra ended the transmission and Jason topped off his drink to neutralize his nerves. Petra was a beautiful and cunning woman, one that was distracting in a lot of ways—on purpose, he suspected.
But Sera Tomlinson, she was another thing all together. To be under the eye of the President’s daughter added its own stresses to the job. That girl must have something very important to have the Director of The Hand giving it her personal attention.
He picked up the tray and walked down the passageway to his ship’s aft longue. Within, sofas and love seats were arranged to take in the view though the broad window. The planet of Chiras filled dominated space outside the plas, its planets and stations glinting in the light of Gedri’s two stars.
Nadine sat on a pearl white sofa. She wore a green dress and her hair was pinned at the nape of her neck. As usual, she was a sight to behold.
“Every bit as beautiful as the royalty you are,” Jason said and set the tray on the glass table in front of her.
He watched her pick up her drink and take a dainty sip. Everything she did was executed with measured purpose. Even the way she licked those lovely, plump lips. Jason ached to taste them. Still, as far as babysitting jobs went, this was one of the more pleasant.
“Are they coming for me?” Nadine asked, a cloud of doubt passing over her aquiline features.
Jason nodded. “Soon. They ran into some trouble, but they’re coming now. I’ll be ready for them.”
Nadine sighed and set her glass down before turning to peer out the window. “It wasn’t supposed to be this hard. I wasn’t supposed to…” She twisted the soft fabric of her dress into a knot.
Jason touched her face and pulled it over to face him. “You did what The Hand ordered, just as we all do. This time, it just led you places you didn’t expect.”
Close Proximity - An Aeon14 Space Opera Adventure (Perilous Alliance) Page 30