by Debra Jess
"About time they did something." Silt straightened in his chair, his ire still begging for release. "Make sure we stay out of range, but get those trackers on full broadcast."
"Is that wise, sir? Other pirate ships might pick up the signal."
Once again, he set aside his annoyance with his second. The man was always questioning his moves. Once he killed Shade, he'd search the records and see if there was anyone else on board to take this guy's place.
"Do you know where we are?" he asked the second.
"Fourteen light years from the Robsini cluster."
"How many potential targets are located in the Robsini cluster?"
"None, sir. It remains uninhabited."
"So you're questioning my order to maximize our tracking system because you think there might be pirates at coordinates so far from the nearest habitable target, a target that happens to be one of our prison planets, which has nothing to offer pirates because the most successful pirate in Calypso has already stripped it of its one valuable asset. Yet you are convinced that there are other pirate ships out here tracking broadcasts from a Manitac cruiser?"
His second looked away, unable to meet his eyes. It wasn't the first time he'd had to chastise his second in public—it also wouldn't be the last. Silt waited, keeping his second pinned under his watchful eye. The second merely nodded to the communications officer, who made the adjustments requested.
"Tracking at maximum, sir."
Still he made no eye contact. "Let me know when we have their destination calculated."
"Aye, sir."
Unable to focus, he left his seat and headed to his office, which lay close enough to the bridge that it didn't require a compressor. Once the door rematerialized, he reached for a fresh cup of Koka roast from the mountains of Harakua, but then remembered the kitchen had run out, another annoyance on top of all his other annoyances. He’d have to replace the head chef as well as the second-in-command for not stocking enough of his favorite claffien. At least he could review Shade's logs without distraction. He had no doubt that she had told them where the Majesty of the Stars was located. Why? Why the pirates? Why not him? The plan, from their early academy days, had been to seduce her, get the information he needed about the Majesty of the Stars from her, and then dump her. He’d yet to meet a woman who wasn’t completely destroyed when he was done with them, and finding the Majesty of the Stars to flaunt in her face afterward would have been sweet.
But Shade swore she remembered nothing. She started to avoid him and stopped returning his comms. Then she graduated with great distinctions as the top student in their class and stole the Silt. That was when he knew he had to kill her.
Now, bringing the Majesty of the Stars back to the Unity Homeport would fulfill a triplet of success: killing Shade, arresting Darvik Heart, and finding a long-lost ship filled with leftovers of some of Unity's wealthiest citizens. The relatives left behind would thank him for bringing home most of their inheritance.
It wouldn't be long before the board of directors promoted him to admiral.
In order for that to happen, he needed to get ahead of Shade's plans, but how could he do that when he was still chasing her?
Anger, his oldest and dearest friend, crowded out any other thoughts for a moment, but only for a moment. He didn't have time to wallow in possible failure. The only question he had to answer right now was: how did Shade intend to get the Queen of Hearts to the Majesty of the Stars' location? It wouldn't be in this system, judging from the slow pace. It would have taken her time to gain the trust of the pirate crew, maybe even seducing the captain.
Was Hart in for a disappointment.
So up until now, the slow pace meant planning. Now they had plans in place. Since they had no idea the Silt followed, their stealth ability only kept them hidden from other, less sophisticated ships. Thanks to Shade's notes, he had the algorithm she used to break the stealth code for all the pirate ships in both Calypso and Callisto.
In the end, she would be the instrument of her own destruction. Just the thought got him hard. He'd have to find a couple of ’pets to entertain him tonight. They were less enthusiastic than Shade but far more compliant.
Still, he had no chance of getting ahead of this race unless he figured out where the Queen of Hearts was headed. No help for it—he had to reread Shade's notes.
How many more times would he have to suffer through her drivel? Page after page of inconsequential nonsense stretched on; kitchen inventory audits, engineering reassignments after a decon tube failure, sick bay upgrade requests. By the Stars, these were not things that a captain needed to concern themselves with. It appeared to him that Shade was paranoid, not able to trust her crew to handle small details like increasing food distribution to the ’pets. As if the ’pets needed more food than what they already received.
Perhaps her need for control was what caused her to turn traitor? When Manitac refused to let her search for the Majesty of the Stars, she lost the drive that motivated her entire career. That must have driven her crazy. Oh, how he wished he could have seen her when she read that refusal.
He flipped through the next few entries, skimming until he saw a word that made him flip back. The Stars and Guardians favored him today. A mere comment, but it exposed a whole world of possibilities. Throughout her log, Shade had questioned how Hart managed to acquire higher quality munitions than other pirate ships. Once in the Calypso arm, stations willing to harbor arms dealers were scarce. Pirate ships either paid outrageous prices to the dealers or created their own. Either way, the quality of the product could range from military-grade to substandard.
Shade, however, put together a small science team and examined the debris left over from one of her encounters with Hart. Her note indicated that the team's analysis determined the Queen of Hearts had ammunition and ordnance on par with the Silt. Getting such high-quality munitions meant Hart had a dealer or smuggler with access to the inner workings of Manitac's navy suppliers. Chances of anyone wasting time hauling such valuable assets out to Calypso or even as far as Callisto were laughably low. Only one other word tagged the end of the note: Vaynix.
It was the only place that made sense. Getting there would require the Queen of Hearts to mask her identity, but pirates would know how to do that. It wasn't outside the realm of reasoning that they already had the name of an operator who would accept a bribe to look the other way. In a hub as crowded and busy as Vaynix, they had a better than usual chance of entering the hub, turning around and exiting without anyone the wiser.
Anyone except himself.
That was where Hart was going. All he needed was a slipstream.
"Silt, how many slipstreams are active in the Calypso arm?"
The computer-generated voice answered in less than a second. "There are four slipstreams."
"Captain," his second's tinny voice interrupted the computer's response, destroying his good mood. "We have a predicted course for the Queen of Hearts."
"Where are they headed?"
"Torensia, sir."
Silt checked the origin and destinations for each of the listed slipstreams. Torensia led to Jarvis station in the Dawn system. Shade just made her fatal mistake. Dawn was no longer under Manitac control, but she wouldn't know that, and out here in Calypso, neither would the pirates.
"Should we follow them, Captain?"
Perhaps the Queen of Hearts would survive a visit to Dawn. Then again, maybe not. If not, well, it would be a disappointment if Shade died before he could get to her, but at least his hands would be clean and he would still have the Silt.
"No. Set in a new course for Vaynix. All due speed."
"Aye, sir."
He could tell his second wanted to question his orders, but he dare not so close to his latest dressing down. Any other day, he might even enjoy baiting the man by returning to the bridge, but today, he had so many new plans to make before they reached Vaynix. So many plans…
Chapter Fifteen
Gravity acceleration worked as well as any other propulsion system so long as one had the shields to handle the stress of the artificial gravity field pulling the ship. In order to stay ahead of a company determined to crush piracy, not to mention other pirates, Hart had used his own ingenuity and money to design an improved shield system, if only in tiny increments. Any design that improved protection of a spacefaring ship was worth more than any booty a ship could carry.
Hart trusted Rusa and Johza to use their time wisely in developing his double-layered shield concept. Once Ezick came on board, he had assisted Rusa when Johza was not able to. The results allowed them to travel greater distances with less damage to the Queen of Hearts, which meant fewer hours spent in port fixing impact damage. Fewer repairs equaled more money in their pockets and less of a chance of capture. Win-win all around.
They hadn't considered flying so close to a sun's corona until now. While the theoretical models Rusa had constructed indicated the shields would hold temporarily, they really didn't know how long the outer shield would hold. Once cracked, the double shield would fail, and the Queen of Hearts wouldn't survive traveling faster than a slight drift. Even then, any sort of impact on the ship could lead to irreparable damage and more than likely death for all on board.
Despite understanding these cheery thoughts, Hart directed the Queen of Hearts forward at maximum speed. Above his head, the clock project on the holo counted down to the moment when he would order the dissolution of the gravitational field, stopping the Queen of Hearts, just on the right side of the danger zone. If he missed by a mere half second, the Queen of Hearts would drift too far. The shields would fail, and the bulkheads would melt, resulting in nothing but turning the entire ship to slag, killing all on board.
The challenge pumped through his veins, set every nerve tingling. The thrill of dancing on the edge—these moments made his life worth living. Nothing could match the sensation of mortal danger with one’s life depending on them making the right call.
From the far corner of the bridge, he could sense Shade gazing at him. He'd asked her to move out of range of the holo screen before they accelerated. If the locals initiated contact after they braked, he didn't want them to see her or any other member of his crew. The narrow field of view from the other side would keep him front and center—or rather a holo-grid of himself with an overlay of another person so he would not be recognized. If his plan went sideways, he would surrender and give everyone else a chance to escape.
It was the least he could for those who protected him, even as he protected them. They would find a small, isolated colony for Ezick and the puppets. The rest would disperse to other pirate ships after they sold Queen of Hearts at one of the underground auctions pirates used when they needed to dump their booty fast. But he had no intentions of letting it come to that.
"Counting down to brake," Rusa announced, her voice firm and steady. "In three…two…one."
"Brake." As he barked his command, Rusa brought the ship to a halt, albeit still sliding forward to avoid an abrupt tossing of everyone inside.
"Keep your eyes on the field, Mirin. Let me know if you see any ships approach."
"I got this." With a swipe of her hand, a new field view of the entire sector came onto the holo. "Sector is clear up to standard firing range. All traffic is hovering near the slipstream's mouth."
"Good. Let's not give them a reason to look this way. Bring us into orbit of the sun, standard distance for now. Let me know the second the Silt decelerates."
His gunner grunted, but she said nothing further. On the holo, he could safely look directly at the sun, blazing yellow. "Watch that flare."
"Watching." Rusa adjusted course to avoid getting too close.
An alert sounded from Johza's board. "It's Traffic from the colony."
Hart hit the grid, making sure it covered him from nose to toes. "Pull it up."
"Unidentified ship, this is Traffic. You're about to drift into the sun. Our readouts can't monitor you if you don't pull out of orbit."
"This is Captain Dess Jarrad of the Firelight. We're running cargo to Jarvis station, but one of our boosters blew a plug, knocking us off course."
"I've alerted Rescue. They'll tow you out of orbit. Shut down all engines and wait for our tow to attach."
"Negative, Traffic. That's not necessary. We'll have the plug fixed before Rescue gets here. You have enough on your hands. We'll do one orbit and be back before your shift ends."
"Are you sure, Firelight? We still can't get a fix on your exact position. Your communications are starting to break up."
"We're fine, Traffic. We'll ping you as soon as we return."
Traffic didn't respond. The minutes ticked by with everyone busy at their station. From behind him, Shade approached, her footsteps soft, delicate, as if she didn't want to startle anyone.
"I've never been this close to any star. It's beautiful."
"But deadly," he responded. Just like you. He kept that to himself, and instead asked Mirin, "Any indication that the Silt has decelerated?"
"No, sir, we're about to lose all visuals."
"Interesting. Why wouldn't they have appeared by now?"
He looked up at Shade, who placed a warm hand on his shoulder. She didn't say anything.
"What are you thinking?" he asked.
"Not now. Let's wait and orbit around. If they still haven't decelerated by the time we return, then…I'll tell you what I think."
"All right," he said, and covered her hand with his. "We wait."
Shade started to pull her hand out from under his, but he held fast. "I want you right next to me when we shift."
The look on her face was priceless, but she sat down and kept her hand in his. What she didn't realize, and he would have to explain to her later, was that even though he had his share of women over the years, his father had been faithful to his mother and vice versa. They loved each other more than they hated Unity, so their match gave them a strong bond beyond sex or politics. The same applied to Cuff's parents and most of the other family units on board the Iron Heart. His father led by example. Darvik never considered whether he should do the same, especially when he was younger, before he took command of the Queen of Hearts. Once he had his own ship, and Naz agreed to come on board, he figured it was just a matter of finding the right woman. Once he saw Shade glaring at him across the holo screen the first time she captured his ship, he knew it had to be her even if he didn't believe it at that time.
Now he believed. Johza would say it was an endorphin rush from the thrill of the mission, but deep down, this was more than just hormones.
His instincts told him she wouldn't betray him or his crew. Blind faith, the type that wasn’t earned, wasn’t something he was prone to. This was different. He could trust her with taking care of the Queen of Hearts if something happened to him, if only because when she commanded the Silt, she protected her crew. They both had their own unbreakable code of honor. That was why he could never destroy the Silt and why she never captured him. They both had limits on what they would risk to complete a mission. Sacrificing crew to achieve their goals was out of the question. Even if she turned out to be a Manitac spy, he knew his crew would at least live long enough to escape before incarceration.
Naz liked her, which put another check mark in her column. Even with the knowledge of the portside weakness, Shade knew he’d only use it if he had no other choice. He hoped he would never have to, not because he cared about the Silt one way or another now that Shade was on the Queen of Hearts, but because he knew she would care about the individuals she once commanded, even if Manitac didn’t.
"We’re out of range," Rusa announced. "Still no sign of the Silt, but our scanners are jammed as well."
Whatever Shade had to say about that, she kept it to herself, her spine ramrod straight. He couldn't blame her for her edginess. For someone who always planned twelve steps ahead, not knowing what came next was maddening. Well, she wouldn't have to wait much longer
.
"Start the shift on my mark."
Shade tightened her hand on his, so he did the same.
Rusa's voice rose again. "Counting down to shift in three…two…one…"
"Commence shift."
Not even a second later, a shudder rippled below his feet. The Queen of Hearts was waking from her slumber. Above their heads, the holo broke into eight different views. Each view showed a different section of the bulkhead. In tandem, the outer skin began to buckle as each panel of the inner frame lifted its trailing edge, allowing the frame behind it to push its leading edge underneath. Once the edge hit the halfway mark, the panel lowered into slots cut into the Queen. This allowed the outer skin to envelop the edge until it smoothed out once more.
The noise echoed throughout the ship, but the well-lubricated joints slipped easily into place. Walking around inside the Queen would be cramped until they shifted back, but it was worth it if it meant keeping Manitac off their backs.
"Shift twenty-five percent complete." Rusa's hands moved faster over her console.
"Time until visibility?"
"Two hours and thirty-six minutes," Johza announced.
"How long does it take for the shift to complete?" Shade asked.
"Two hours and twenty-two minutes," Rusa told Shade.
Pleased that Rusa answered Shade instead of ignoring her, Darvik relaxed a little. "Get ready to break orbit the second the final interlock is complete."
"No."
Darvik turned toward Shade. "Countermanding my orders?"
The look on her face made it clear she realized at that moment what she'd done. For a second, she opened her mouth, maybe to apologize, and then closed it.
"Go on." He at least wanted to hear what she had to say.
Her chest expanded as she took a deep breath, the apology erased from her lips. "The Silt isn't going to decelerate. They're not anywhere near here."
From the corner of his eye, he could see Ezick straighten up in his seat, ready to say "I told you so," but keeping his mouth shut for once.
"How do you know this?" he asked, praying to the Stars her answer would satisfy the others.