When she returned she found Whitby out for the count with a med-patch on his neck and Stone still messing with the comp. She turned to Paul and stumbled to a halt. His glacier blue eyes were open and glaring at her. She didn’t need to guess whether he recognised her. It was obvious he did and he wasn’t happy to see her. She swallowed back her first words, and tried to see it from his point of view. Here he was, doing some business, probably the deal of a lifetime, and his sister arrives to mess it up. She would be pissed too.
“Hey, long time no see, baby brother,” she said. “You’re looking... different. Good, but different.”
His glare faded a little. “Ten years is a long time.”
He sounded exactly as she remembered. If she closed her eyes, she could fool herself into believing nothing had changed, but a lot more than time separated them now. Did he know what she was? If he did, how would he feel about it?
“Closer to twelve.”
“What are you doing here?”
She hooked a thumb toward Stone. “Obvious isn’t it?”
His eyes flicked to the comp and back to her. “That data is my ticket, Kate. Don’t screw me over, please.”
“It was your ticket, now it’s ours,” Stone said joining Kate to stare down at Paul. “Your sister has been searching for you for more than ten years, but you don’t care about that, do you?”
“Stone don’t,” she said.
Paul glared but kept silent.
“No, Kate, it needs to be said. He knew you were looking for him. Didn’t you?”
“I knew.”
“You knew?” she said feeling her stomach sink. “Why didn’t you contact me?”
“Because he didn’t care; it’s been all about him and what he wants the entire time. He never gave a second thought about going off the grid and leaving you wondering.”
“Shut up,” she said, but Stone was on a roll.
“He never cared about you or your father. You remember the data I gave you on Luna? I looked into his disappearance when I researched you. That thing he pulled that killed his friends and started your crusade?”
She nodded numbly.
“It smelled. It was a setup from the very beginning. He’s a user, he—”
“Shut up!” she screamed at him.
“Ask him,” Stone said and finally shut his mouth.
She turned back to Paul. “Tell him he’s wrong. Tell him it wasn’t like that. Tell him!”
“It wasn’t like that,” he said, not meeting her eyes, and she groaned. He was lying; she knew he was. “It wasn’t!”
“Tell me how it was then. Tell me how you didn’t know I was searching for you. Tell me how you didn’t know I was doing The Ten’s dirty work for favours so I could find you.”
He looked away.
“Bastard,” she hissed between her teeth.
He glared. “Don’t pretend you wouldn’t have done the same in my place. I know what you’ve done, you soulless freak! You’re not really my sister! You’re just a computer in her body!”
Stone snorted. “Bethanite propaganda never changes. Only the gullible believe it. Most of Bethany’s population qualify unfortunately.”
Stone’s words gave her time to rally from the shock. “You don’t believe in that crap, Paul. You were never one to follow the populist line.”
“I didn’t before, but I do now. You think I don’t know what you’ve been doing all these years? I kept up. You’re a fucking assassin, nothing more than a murderer for hire. You look down at me, well fuck you! I’ve never killed anyone for money.”
It hurt. It hurt deep down, but she didn’t show it. He was just lashing out. She told herself he didn’t mean it. He was just frustrated at losing his sweet deal. He had to realise his expedition wasn’t going to happen now. If he were stupid enough to continue with it, he would arrive to find the navy already there.
“Oh really?” Stone drawled. “How many died at Helios? You weren’t crew on that raider I suppose. Just visiting the bridge the day you killed your captain were you? I don’t think so. How many ships did you jack, how many murdered crews are in your past? We’ve seen the inventory of the cargo found aboard. Don’t try to tell me you’re innocent. You haven’t been that since you led your friends to their deaths. Oh, and why did you do that I wonder? For cover. You had to disappear, so you made it look like you died with them, just so you could climb into bed with Whitby Corp. Paid well, didn’t they? I bet you didn’t give a second thought to your sister. She never entered your head as somebody worth thinking about, did she?”
“My sister is dead.”
“I’m not dead,” she said, still reeling from the loathing she heard in his voice. She’d known it might happen. Considering how vipers were viewed on Bethany, it had seemed likely he would detest her, but somehow she had fooled herself into thinking it wouldn’t happen. Stupid to have hoped their reunion would be a good one. “I’m here to make sure you don’t get that way. You’re coming with us.”
“Fuck you, I’m going nowhere with cyborgs.”
“You’re assuming I’m giving you a choice,” she said coldly.
“Kate,” Stone said and moved away. “A word?”
She left Paul glaring hatefully and joined Stone at the computer. He made an adjustment, grunted something under his breath, and input more commands in a blur of fingers that flashed windows onto the screen full of code.
Stone kept his attention on the comp and kept his voice low. “We can’t take him out of here unwilling; it would attract too much attention. Assuming you avoid that, how will you get him up to the station? I said I would help him leave if he wanted to do that. He doesn’t.”
“I’m not leaving him here. He might hate me, but he’s still my brother. He goes with us.”
“How?”
“Ummm,” she looked around the room for inspiration and her eyes fell upon the trolley. She smiled. “Got any more of those patches?”
He tossed the pack to her, and she caught it. “How long to get what we need out of that thing?”
Stone leaned over the comp. “Could be minutes or hours. There’s no way to be certain, but whatever happens we have to be out of here by morning.”
“Agreed.”
She went back to Paul and sat opposite. “I promised Dad I would look after you, but that wasn’t why I did it. You’ll always be my brother no matter what you think of me, and I’ll go on loving you no matter what you’ve done.” He sneered making her want to smack him, but no, she was calm calm calm now. “I’m going to take you with me. Before you start bitching, you should think about it. Whitby will drop you the moment he wakes; he won’t protect you now that there’s nothing in it for him. Your expedition is scrubbed. If you doubt that, you better be prepared for a naval task force to be waiting when you leave foldspace.”
“Don’t be a fool! This deal is worth billions. I’ll talk to Whitby and cut you in.”
“I would sooner bed down with a snake than deal with a Whitby. I don’t know how you can ignore what they are.”
“They are power.”
“Powerful liars. They use our people how they please, and destroy their lives on a whim. The Baxters ruined our family, and Gerald Whitby holds their leash. How can you stand to be near them knowing what they did?”
“Dad was a fool—”
Her palm landed upon his cheek before she knew what she was doing. He was lucky she hadn’t put any real force into it. “Don’t you dare. He loved you. Bitch at me all you want; hate me even, but don’t you dare blame him for anything. He loved you. He did everything for us.”
He raised his bound hands and rubbed at his cheek. The shape of her palm was emblazoned there. “He always loved you best.”
“That’s a lie!”
“He did. When you joined up, he was all about how proud he was of what you were doing. Showing pictures of you in your uniform to everyone who stopped by, but would he listen to me when the Baxters made their offer? No. He never listened to me
. It was all Kate this and Kate that. I told him what would happen if he didn’t go along, but he wouldn’t listen to me. He treated me like a damn stranger, not someone who had an interest in the family business.”
She shook her head sadly. How could he be so blind? “The Baxters killed him. They didn’t shoot him, but they might as well have when they ruined us. He gave up when they took his pride from him; that’s the truth, and for you to ignore that and work for them in any way disgusts me.”
“And you disgust me. I meant what I said earlier. My sister is dead. I won’t go with you.”
“Oh you’ll go.”
“No.”
“Yes,” she said and held up the med-patches. “When you wake, you’ll be far from here.”
“You can’t keep me a prisoner forever.”
“I don’t plan to. I’ll get you off Northcliff and then we’ll talk about your next step. The money you need for a new face won’t be coming now.” He started and narrowed his eyes at her. “Don’t look so surprised. It was an easy guess to make. You can’t walk around as you are for long despite Danny Cole taking your place. Someone who knows your face will recognise you, and then where will you be? You need a new face and then there’s your simcode. It will give you away on any Alliance world.”
“Whitby is going to fix that,” he said coldly.
“Really,” she drawled. “You really think they’ll follow through now that their billion credit deal is a bust?”
His lips thinned but he kept silent.
She sighed. “I’ll get you away from here. As long as you stick to border worlds you’ll be fine.”
“You’ve ruined everything,” he snarled. “Whitby was paying me five percent.”
“I heard.”
“Fifty million credits, shot; at least that much. It could have been a lot more!”
She smiled. “What’s out there that’s worth that much?”
He clammed up and refused to answer.
She shrugged. “We’ll know soon enough. Now take your medicine baby brother,” she said and opened one of the sealed packets she held. “It’s time to go night-night.”
“Stay away from—”
She tagged him on one cheek with the med-patch before he could move.
“You... bitch...” he slurred and his head slumped to one side.
“Sleep well,” she said and patted his knee. He was already out and didn’t see the misery on her face. She rejoined Stone.
He looked beyond her to Paul and then captured her eyes with his as she approached. “Your plan?”
“We’ll take him down in the trolley’s storage compartment. He should fit.”
Stone sighed. “I didn’t mean that. Where will you take him?”
She shrugged. “Any border world will do. The closest is Tigris. There’s nothing much there to worry him.”
“Harbinger can get him there in less than two weeks, but what then?”
“I’ll give him some cash. He’ll need it.”
“And that’s it? We drop him on Tigris and say goodbye?”
She nodded.
“Can you?”
He was staring into her eyes intently, and she shrugged unhappily, but what else could she do? Paul hated her. She couldn’t take him with her to Helios; he’d be recognised by security there if by no one else, and even if she could go to Snakeholme, he wouldn’t be happy there. Besides, Stone wouldn’t let her do that. They still had a mission to complete on Helios, and going home before that would have the General stomping all over her arse. She sighed again. No, Tigris was the best option, but the thought of never seeing her brother again hurt. At least she knew he was alive and well. Him alive and hating her was better than him dead or mind-wiped. At least she would have that to remember in the years to come.
“It’s all there is.”
Stone nodded slowly. The computer took that moment to signal for attention. At the beep, he turned to look down at it. “Well, well, we seem to have a winner.” He frowned.
“What’s up?”
“I don’t recognise the coordinates.”
“Should you? I mean, do you know every colony world’s coordinates?” Stone raised an eyebrow. “Okay fine, silly question.” His database must be absolutely crammed with crap. “And you don’t know this one?”
“No. It doesn’t matter though. We have what we need and Harbinger will know where it is. Let’s tidy up and flit.”
She nodded. While Stone dealt with the comp, she went to strip out the shelves from the trolley’s storage compartment and stuff her brother into it. She was right; he did fit, but just barely. By the time she was ready, Stone had the comp smashed to pieces and his gear back in his possession. He stowed it on her brother’s lap, and they exited the penthouse.
Kate jammed the door shut, twisting the latch into a pretzel before pressing the do not disturb button. The light lit and they were off.
* * *
Part V
24 ~ Questions
Helios Station, Helios System, Border Zone.
Gina shifted her attention to James for a moment before focusing upon the telltale above the lock again. It read Harbinger inbound, as it had for the last few hours since this slip had been assigned. She hadn’t been waiting all that time of course. That would have been stupid.
Oh, and standing here for twenty minutes isn’t?
She grimaced. It was stupid to wait here, she knew that, but she just had to see her friends safely returned. She could have stayed with James and all the others aboard Jean de Vienne; she’d been living there since Stone left. It wasn’t as if she couldn’t tap into station comms and talk to them. She could have learned what had gone down at Northcliff hours ago if she’d been willing to ignore the time lag. The lag would be way down at this point, but she kept her silence. She wanted to look into their eyes and know, just know that things were... what? Fixed maybe, or better at least. She couldn’t get the look Stone had given her out of her head when he told her he was going to fix it. Fix Kate he had meant, and he’d said it in such a way that left no doubt how he planned to do that.
Well, Stone hadn’t terminated her friend for the good of the regiment, or for any other reason for that matter, but that didn’t mean everything was fixed. All she knew at this point was that there were two very quiet vipers aboard Harbinger. The ship was close enough to the station now that her sensors had picked up two active viper IFF beacons. Those beacons validated her cowardice in not contacting the ship, proving to her she need not mourn another friend. Yet. If Stone took this higher... she didn’t think he would, but if he did, Gina couldn’t see any way for the general to react other than badly. She had to trust that her friends had worked it out on the trip back and that it was fixed.
Please God, let it be fixed.
She didn’t feel the ship arrive; its mass was tiny in comparison to that of the station. Any vibration from the docking clamps and umbilicals engaging was lost, but the telltale above the lock changed to indicate arrival. Harbinger it said, and the station’s pressure doors separated to reveal the outer hatch of the ship as the ramp slid into place.
“Should we?” James nodded up the ramp.
She shook her head. “They’re coming out.”
She had two viper icons on sensors approaching. She braced to confront Kate, readying herself to say what she had said to her friend many times in her head since the day she left.
Harbinger’s hatch shot open and there they were. Kate was a step ahead of Stone as they came down the ramp. Both were in uniform and wearing their berets and V2 sidearms. She sighed. Surely if Stone meant to take things further he wouldn’t have allowed Kate to go armed. Gina looked beyond the pair expecting to find Kate’s brother, but the airlock and ramp remained empty. Kate stopped in front of her but didn’t say anything. Stone glanced aside at them as he walked by, but kept quiet. He stepped onto the docks and joined James who had kept his distance.
Perceptive man.
“He’s not here,” Kate
said finally, reading the question on Gina’s face and sounding miserable.
“But safe?”
“Yeah, he’s safe now.”
Gina nodded and then the anger was suddenly there. Her punch landed before either of them knew it was coming. Kate’s head snapped back and she toppled to the ramp looking startled. Her hand came away from her mouth red with fresh blood, but she didn’t say anything; she just stared up at her.
“That was for leaving me behind,” she said hotly. “And... and for scaring me half to death. Yeah, and for that stunt on the ramp too!”
“Thorry,” Kate lisped through the fingers of her hand. Her pulped lips were swelling and still bleeding.
Gina offered a hand and pulled Kate to her feet. She hugged her friend hard and whispered. “Your brother... are you okay?”
Kate’s breath hitched and she hugged Gina back. “He hates me, now. I knew it might happen. I mean the way my people feel about all of us, I thought I was prepared for it. Seeing him again made me remember how we used to be together, but he’s not that boy anymore. He shot Stone, and I know he would kill me now if he could.”
“Nah...”
“You had to be there, Gina. I saw it in his eyes. We took him to Tigris and gave him some money to start over. He said I’m dead to him, and if he sees me again he’ll make me dead to everyone else too. I believe him.”
“That won’t ever happen,” she said firmly. “But I’m sorry he hurt you.”
Kate stepped back and shrugged unhappily. She glanced at Stone and James and took the handkerchief James offered to dab at her bloody mouth.
“Here gimme,” Gina said and took the handkerchief. Some spittle and gentle rubbing removed all traces of their disagreement. The misery in Kate’s eyes remained. “Done.”
“Thanks,” Kate said stuffing the hanky in a pocket.
“Where,” Stone said patiently. “Is the bloody navy?”
“They pulled out not long after you left,” Gina said.
James nodded. “They had this thing.”
Stone glared. “What thing?”
James shrugged.
“It was all hush-hush and need to know, but I sniffed around a bit.”
Merkiaari Wars: 04 - Operation Breakout Page 30