by Debra Jess
"So I told you about Ezick. Now you get to tell me all about your side of Cordova Station."
"Are you sure you really want to know? It could put you to sleep."
"I doubt that."
"Really? You started the whole thing by…"
A sharp ping cut through her stalling. Darvik glared at his comm, all humor lost, before grabbing it off the counter. Instead of hooking it over his ear, he clicked on broadcast so she could hear. "What is it?"
Rusa's voice rose from the device, quiet but intense.
"Hyeph Silt has left the Silt with three security squads. He knows we're here."
Chapter Twenty-Two
She could almost see the plots and plans churning on Darvik's face. We both knew this was a possibility. She pushed that thought away so she could listen to Darvik's conversation with Rusa.
"Is this an assumption, or do we know for sure?" he asked.
"Confirmed," Rusa replied. "The station master met him at the ramp. I saw the holo Silt showed him. It's Shade."
Darvik glanced up at her, but all she could do was shrug, not surprised the Silt captain had a wanted holo of her.
"All right. Put a discreet message to the Queen's crew. They are to avoid our ship for the next twenty-four hours. They are not to remove their masks, not even when sleeping. Once we get our supplies, we'll stagger our return to the Queen of Hearts, no more than two at a time—"
A low curse from Rusa interrupted her boss. "They have deep probe scanners. It looks like they want to see below everyone's mask. Not just the commercial ones."
Darvik said nothing for a moment. Then, "My orders stand. We'll avoid them as best we can, but they don't know who you are. I'm the only recognizable member of this crew. If we make a break for it now, they'll chase us, and we can't afford that."
"I'll let the others know. Rusa out."
Darvik tossed the comm back on the counter.
"I have a better appreciation for your lack of personnel records," she said.
"It'll save them, not me, but that's the way it should be." He paused. "You'll stay here until after we have our supplies stowed. I'll contact you when it's safe for you to return."
"Safer, you mean. What happens if they start searching room to room?"
"Even with three squads, it'll take days for them to search all seven stations. They would also have to shut down any incoming and outgoing traffic. We should be long gone before then."
Darvik leaned forward for a warm, soft kiss that curled her toes. After he broke it off, he pulled a nearby long-stemmed flower with red petals, blue stigma, and yellow anthers. "I need to speak to someone about speeding along our delivery."
He stood up, heading for the bedroom, presumably to get dressed. Before he could reach the door, however, he swooped in for another kiss that seared both her lips and her soul.
"We'll find the Majesty of the Stars, Kelra. I swear it."
All she could do was smile, but deep down wondered if she would make it after all. As soon as the door reformed, her smile disappeared, and she sank her head into her hands.
Her pity party lasted for exactly six seconds, before she stood up and gathered together her mask, her ear jack, bank chip, sidearm, combat knife, and two plasma packs that Darvik had kindly left behind and maybe wouldn't miss.
Don't be stupid. He'll know you took them.
Nothing to be done about it now. If she didn't have to use the knife, then she'd put them back where she found them, and Darvik would be none the wiser. If she did have to use it, well, she'd think of something.
For a moment, she considered the ear jack Darvik had supplied her and grabbed it to stow with her other equipment. No point in tempting fate by leaving it behind.
She spent more precious credits to bribe the same pilot into letting her fly back to Station Seven. On the way, she had time to think through what she needed to do. She could only hope that the dealer already had the Z-nips on hand and ready for pickup even though she would be several hours early.
Nothing had changed from her first visit. Noise still boomed, drowning out most of the public announcements. This time, though, when she exited the compression gate on the third level of the top ring, she slipped down the corridor, heading away from the bay where she was supposed to meet her contact. Reaching a point about halfway around the ring, she found exactly what she needed: an open duct the construction workers used to climb in between rings without the need to backtrack to the compressor window.
"Are you lost?"
The stranger's voice froze her in place.
"I said, are you lost?"
A construction worker squinted at her from his perch behind one of the supporting pylons where he'd been eating. He wasn't very tall, but he had a chest wider than the pylon he leaned against.
"I'm looking for someone." Under her shirt, she grabbed the hilt of her knife.
"I'm someone." He advanced, not quite menacing, but promising trouble if she didn't answer. "Maybe you're looking for me?"
"No, Keir Ruthtos. He's one of your foremen, working on the power systems for the landing bay. I didn't see him back there"—she pointed the way she'd come—"so I wandered down here to find him."
"Never heard of him. Who are you?"
"Sussie Ruthtos." Thinking fast, she straightened her shoulders, putting some pride into her voice. "His mother. He keeps promising me a tour of this station. I'm so pleased he finally got a job here. After everything he's been through, his father disappearing, his sister dying then, well, he had a little problem with Z-nips…you know how that goes, but he's gotten his life together, and I just want to make sure that he's all right. You know, I worry, especially when he keeps putting off allowing me to see him—"
"All right. All right." Whoever this guy was, he'd had enough of her yammering…or rather enough of the frumpy woman he thought he saw. Thank the Guardians he couldn't see through her mask. "You took a wrong turn. If you'd turned right, you'd have seen it. You can either backtrack this way or keep moving forward. Either way you'll get there."
"Oh, you are so right, young man." Risking a touch, she reached up to give him a quick cheek pinch. "I believe he mentioned that, but I forgot. That's been happening a lot lately…"
The guy jerked his head back. "Okay, just don't get lost again."
"Thank you so much, dearie."
He started to walk past her, hoping for a quick exit, but instead found her arm around his neck. She couldn’t risk him contacting security to keep an eye out for a confused older woman or ask them to go looking for her nonexistent son until after she was off the station. With his head stuck in the crook of her arm, she pushed his head forward, shutting off the flow of blood to his brain. Before he had a chance to react to what was happening, he was out like a light.
She only had seconds before he woke up, so she pulled the body toward the open duct. With a flop, she pushed his body down the open shaft, listening for him to hit the next level. It wasn't too far, so he should live and would be found eventually.
Dizziness overwhelmed her for a moment. All the energy she'd spent with Darvik, and now with this guy, had left her with very little reserves. In the few days since her rescue, she could feel her body coming alive again, but she still had a long way to go before she was in top shape.
Grabbing the nearest rung of the duct's inner ladder, she rested her head against one of the steps, gathering her strength. After her breathing evened out, she pulled herself up. If the guy she knocked out did wake up sooner rather than later and managed to call for help, it would be best to stay out of sight as much as possible. Darkness enveloped her, but she dared not activate the lights, if they even worked. Reaching the top level of this ring, she found the exit sealed but not locked, thank the Guardians again.
This level of ring three was as dark and dingy as the level below, which served her well. She jogged in the opposite direction, trying not to huff too much. At the fifth juncture, she squeezed through another hatch onto a walkway overl
ooking the entire bay.
The mess down below appeared even more chaotic from above. From this angle, the office of her supplier would be below her. She needed to find out if he, in fact, had the Z-nips first and then figure out a diplomatic way of getting the stuff early.
She checked her time. Cutting it close. The return shuttle was leaving in one hour, and there was no bribe she could offer that would convince a pilot to delay in a sector this busy.
Down below, a large compression gate opened, disgorging four grav-resisters pallets loaded down with crates stacked three high. Behind the pallet, four people followed, one of them remote-driving the pallets. From the opposite end of the bay, a recognizable shadow emerged from the same walkway where she stood and watched just as she did before heading in her direction. He would reach her position within seconds. It was the guy who'd tried to tail her yesterday.
Flattening herself against the walkway and shoving against the wall was the best she could do, hoping he wouldn't notice.
With her heart pounding louder and harder with every lumbering step he took, it took every bit of control she had to stop her reflexes from jerking under the pressure. She dared not breath, either. Any movement would scrape against the metal walkway and alert her tail and the newcomers below that she was here.
Her tail stopped directly in front of her. Sweat poured down her face, into her eyes, but she wouldn't allow herself to blink. In a split second, the guy leaped over the railing. For such an awkward-moving man, he made no sound when landing on the ground level.
With him gone, she let her body relax, but she still didn't stand. Crawling over to the railing, she could see the man enter the dealer's office. Voices rose and fell from across the bay, as the newcomers brought the pallets to a halt. A minute later, the dealer exited, storming across the bay with his long, skinny legs nearly running next to the lumbering man. Three others followed them out of the office.
It didn't take a genius to figure out trouble was brewing, so if she played her cards right, she could mimic the lumbering man and jump to ground level without being seen. Getting into the office to see if the Z-nips were there should easy after that. As long as the two groups were fighting, no one would notice.
Yeah, yeah, a long shot, but she had thirty-seven minutes to make this deal happen, with or without the dealer. She took another risk, rising to a crouch, moving awkwardly toward the railing.
A shout froze her in place. The dealer was yelling at someone named Sorinestro about keeping out of their territory. If a fight broke out, she'd could only hope this Sorinestro would handle the dealer and his friends so they wouldn't return to the office.
Looking over the ledge, she could see why the lumbering man hadn't made a sound when he landed. Directly beneath, an open crate offered what looked like soft packing filler for his landing. She could do the same. Her last chance to back out of this crazy plan passed. Slipping one leg over the edge of the walkway, she let herself drop.
Her knees still couldn't handle the pressure, even on filler, and they collapsed beneath her. Flattening herself one more time, she lifted her head just enough over the crate's edge to see if anyone noticed her.
The rattus eaters were still posturing for dominance. Slowly, she slid her foot over the side of the crate, but a familiar voice boomed from right behind her, stopping her.
"Sorinestro, what's going on here?"
Oh, Stars and Guardians, it was Darvik. Never mind the mask he wore, she'd know his voice anywhere. Johza was with him, keeping back, evaluating the situation. She recognized the mask the man wore. Why here? Why this bay? Why not some other station?
Likely it was for the same reason she was here: to pick up her stash. For the sake of the sun, she should have figured that Darvik would plan to pick up his supplies on a half-finished space station, just as she had.
Now what? There was still time to turn back without the Z-nips and rely on hope that Darvik would let her onto the Majesty of the Stars first. If he didn't though, and the alien was still there, waiting for her, he and whoever joined him would die, and she'd lose her chance to kill it. She couldn’t let the crew members of the Queen to get hurt, or worse. They didn’t deserve that since she was the one pulling them into an unknown danger.
Failure at this point was not an option.
Darvik continued to advance on the two groups who shouted at each other. From this distance, she couldn't understand their words, but Johza took a look around the bay, checking for anyone who might approach from behind.
She stilled, thankful for the low light. Johza's scan never paused, not at her, not anywhere else, and he turned his focus back to Darvik, who appeared to be mediating between the two warring sides.
One last leap to get to ground level and…she made it. Her knees would hate her when she returned to the Queen of Hearts, if she got there alive, that was.
Ducking into the dealer's office, she did a quick scan for any remaining guards. Finding none, she began searching for the brick of Z-nips. Nothing sat on his desk or the cramped office shelves behind it. Spinning around, she searched the shelving stuffed with tools.
Picking up every other piece of paraphernalia on the shelves didn't reveal any secret safes or other devices. A shout from outside the door startled her. Had they started fighting yet? She didn't doubt for a moment that Darvik could handle himself, but Johza wouldn't be able to. Could Darvik protect himself and his friend against so many?
No, of course not. He needed backup, and she was the only one who could provide it.
Wasting one more precious second, she yanked open the lowest drawer on the dealer’s desk. A pack lay inside. A quick check showed twenty-five bricks of Z-nips.
Drug dealers knew the risks of their business, so she didn't feel guilty about stealing the stuff. Shoving it into her pocket, she rushed to the doorway in time to see someone, not Darvik or Johza, throw a punch.
Temptation to run over and dive into the fray poked at her, but her joints said no. She wouldn't last a full minute. Her sidearm would require her to get in close, which was her last-resort tactic, and would mean Darvik would see her. Turning back into the office, she had to guess the dealer had weapons, more than he or his friend could carry on them if they knew there would be trouble.
She searched the office again, this time shoving everything off the shelves and onto the floor, evidence of her theft be damned. Darvik needed her and needed her now. Nothing lay in the outer office. She noticed a sizzle of plasma from the far back corner.
The dealer had left in such a hurry, he hadn't closed the door to his storeroom. A quick look inside showed a mess of even more illegal items covering every surface, including a rifle with extra plasma chargers.
Oh, Guardians, thank you!
Without even looking at the weapon, she inserted as many chargers as it could hold into their slots. Running back to the outer door, she stopped to make sure there was no one heading her way before she stepped over the threshold, entering the bay.
Alarms blared and a cacophony of gunfire mixed with shouting. From forced-entry compression gates, Manitac security poured into the bay. Even from a distance, she recognized the Silt identifiers attached to each uniform.
Hyeph Silt and Silt security had found them.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Her crew. These squads were her crew, not Silt's, but they were attacking Darvik, and she needed to protect Darvik at all costs.
All costs?
Yes, ALL COSTS.
She knew their names, strengths, and weaknesses. But they wouldn’t welcome her back. They weren’t a family unit like Hart’s crew. They were dedicated employees of a life-sucking corporation, one that was about to take down the only man who had brought her any comfort since her parents’ deaths. Rifle in hand, she found a nearby crate with a closed lid. Relying on adrenaline alone, she managed to scale the side of the crate and take up a sniper's position on top.
Where was Darvik? Aligning her ear jack with the weapon's scope, s
he scanned the crowed looking for his mask. Instead, she got her first close up look at Silt, who hung back behind his squads. She could see his rank easily enough. He possessed an oblong face, hooded eyes, thin lips, round cheekbones, and, for the moment, a pinched expression.
Nothing pinged her memory. If she did sleep with him, he must have had great humor or a witty personality. Why was he here, though? A captain would never follow a security squad into an operation. Doing so broke every regulation in the books.
Silt backed up farther against a wall as his squads burrowed closer to her. He watched the action, but kept himself far enough away to activate a forced-entry window to retreat.
And she still didn't recognize him. He might be wearing a mask too, but again, why? People wore commercial masks to improve their looks superficially, which showed a lack of confidence in themselves. An officer wouldn't have that problem, and from his smug look, this Silt most definitely didn't have a confidence problem. Not to mention a military-mask, like what she wore, had no use unless it was for an undercover operation.
She had to believe this was Silt's real face.
Unlike their captain, the squads followed procedure, lining their captives on their knees facing empty space through the wide bay shields.
If she combined her sharpshooting skills along with a cluster disperser, she might take one entire Silt squad before the other two turned on her. That would create chaos, but it still wouldn't be enough to give Darvik an edge. One squad would split its men, half to watch the prisoners, and half to search for her, which wouldn't help.
What else could she do?
Nothing from this angle. Darvik, Johza, and their suppliers faced one squad, and her dealer and his men were lined up opposite Darvik, facing the second squad. The third squad broke from the ranks and started searching the bay, prying open crates, cracking open office doors, leaving no opening for her to fire without putting Darvik and Johza in jeopardy. When she’d been a captain, she'd made sure she got the best personnel Manitac had to offer and trained them well. They would not forget to search the top of any crate.