by Kathryn Hoff
The sampling probe forgotten, I turned to Rachel. “A beacon—Sage technology. It’s true, then. It must be true. We found Nakana.”
The sacred texts that had guided Gavoran culture since the Sages had first brought our ancestors out of Earth were coming to life before my eyes.
Beloved friends! Peace and joy await.
Rachel laid a hand on my shoulder. “A few random energy pulses. Nothing to get excited about.”
Random? Nothing to get excited about? Rachel was either lying or being deliberately obtuse. The jump gates, the beacons, terraforming tech—everything that made interstellar colonization possible, we owed to the Sages. And here, hidden in the Gloom, was the origin of it all.
Danto called from the stateroom. “Dr. Fiori, that beacon pulse was unmistakably Sage technology. You can no longer deny us—we must go to the planet to investigate.”
In the background, Mya moaned, “The Sages call to us. We must respond!”
Rachel announced into the com, “Calm down, friends. You’re jumping to conclusions. The energy pulses could be natural, the result of geothermal action or seismic movement. Whatever it is, further investigation will need to wait for a better-equipped expedition. Once we gather in the last drone, we’ll leave. It’s time to go home.”
Home. Peace and joy.
I shot a look at her. Why was Rachel denying the obvious?
“But Suriel!” Mya cried. “Suriel must be taken to Nakana.”
“The relic has brought us here,” Rachel said. “Suriel has succeeded. You should all be very proud. We’ve done our job and completed the preliminary survey despite considerable adversity. Now it’s time for us to leave and let the Settlement Authority take control.”
The com buzzed with Danto’s demands and Mya’s hysteria. Kojo cut in with, “I’m going to have to tranq them both. Grim, cover me.”
I turned on Rachel, angry at her attempts to hide the truth. “That wasn’t just a random energy pulse or an earthquake. That was a beacon.”
“Missy?” Hiram called from the wheelhouse. “What are you doing? The third drone is coming into range.”
“Right, Hiram, I see it. Just a little excitement about that pulse.”
“Well, pay attention.”
I returned to the drone console, forcing myself to concentrate on steering the drone closer. “The third survey drone is coming into position. Rachel, Danto has a point. Finding a beacon out here…”
“Carry on, Patch,” Rachel said. “We’ll be on our way home soon.”
Home!
With a rattle of the lock, the cargo hold door opened. Kojo walked in.
Blood dripped from his scalp.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “Danto…”
Danto stepped into the doorway, holding Jamila in front of him, a stun pistol pointed at her neck.
CHAPTER 28
Command and control
Jamila whimpered. She stood in the doorway, Danto’s stunner pointed directly at the point where her spine joined her skull.
I froze. A stunner blast from point-blank range would leave her paralyzed—or dead.
Danto said, “I will destroy Professor Patil if you do not do exactly as I say. Stand away from the consoles and keep your hands in sight.”
Kojo held his hands high. “He cold-cocked me when I went in with tranqs. Grim tried to fight, but Danto almost killed him. Better do what he says.”
Kojo hurt? Danto back in control? That changed everything.
Mya stepped in from behind Danto. “Do not resist. I have Kojo’s pistol.”
She waved it, pointing it vaguely toward me and Rachel.
Mya looked terrible. Thin, eyes red, she trembled noticeably.
“Your weapons,” Danto said. “Place them on the floor and kick them to me. Carefully.”
Kojo nodded to me. “Do it.”
“Of course.” Opening my jacket so Danto could see what I was doing, I lifted the stunner from my belt and placed it on the deck. Rachel did the same.
I booted the stunner across the deck. “You don’t have to hurt anyone, Danto. I’ll do whatever you want.”
“That’s right,” Rachel said. “There’s no reason for more violence.”
Mya gazed at the vault with longing. “Now, give me the relic. We must take it to Nakana.”
“There’s no need to go to the surface,” Rachel soothed. “We can put the relic in a drone and send it there. We’ll do it now, if you want.”
Kojo caught my eye and lowered one hand long enough to rub his nose—be ready. He sidestepped, closer to the vault.
My stomach dropped. Kojo was going to try some razzle-dazzle.
He inched into position—close enough to make a play for Mya’s pistol when she went to the vault. In her weakened condition, he might succeed. All he needed was a few moments’ diversion.
I knew exactly what to do.
“Kojo, stop,” I shouted. “Get away from the vault.” His eyes widened in surprise.
I turned to Mya. “Rachel’s lying. She won’t let the relic go. That’s the protocol—nothing left behind. She’ll take Suriel away from Nakana, to be lonely forever.”
Rachel cried, “Patch, don’t.”
Hiram squawked on the com that the drone was drifting out of range and what the Zub was I doing?
I was doing what I had to do.
Home.
Mya and Danto turned toward me, but Jamila moaned and sagged, dragging Danto’s arm downward.
Kojo leaped for Mya.
He wasn’t close enough. With a sickening zing, Mya shot her stunner straight into Kojo’s chest.
Kojo spun and slammed to the deck, face-first.
I cried out and took a step toward him, but Danto threw Jamila at me. We fell together in a tangle of limbs.
With an animal scream, Mya rushed at Rachel, pummeling her to the deck. “Give it to me!” she shouted. “Give me the relic.”
I shoved Jamila off me and again tried to get to Kojo.
Danto’s stunner blast slammed me back into the bulkhead. My head bounced into the wall.
I fell into darkness deeper than the Gloom.
Home. Peace and joy.
When my head began to clear, Rachel was curled on the deck while Mya kicked at her. Jamila tried to pull Mya away, but Mya shoved her down with a disgusted grunt.
Kojo lay motionless near the vault.
I pushed myself up to lean against the chair—too fast. My vision grayed again.
“Stop, Mya!” Jamila tried again to drag Mya away from Rachel.
Cramps doubled me over—the stun shot had hit me full-on. I clutched my belly and concentrated on slow, deep breaths.
As I tried to focus, Danto picked up the loose stun pistols and shoved them into his belt. It was a fine collection and they’d done us no good at all.
“Mya, stop that,” Danto said.
Mya kicked once more. “Why? She wants to take Suriel away.”
“We will need her,” Danto said, “to set the captain’s arm.”
Kojo stirred but was too dazed to get up. Danto stood over him. “Captain Babatunji, you are relieved of command. On medical grounds.”
He lifted Kojo’s left arm. With a well-placed kick to the elbow, Danto shattered the bone.
Kojo’s yell of pain faded quickly as he lost consciousness.
Tears ran down my face.
Danto walked over to me and looked down. “Patch, you lying bastard slave, you will do everything I say, without question, or I will hurt Kojo. I will break his bones until you comply.”
“Yes,” I promised. “Absolutely. I’ll do everything you say. Please don’t hurt him any more.”
Danto smiled nastily. “Good. Now inform the crew that I am in command.”
Shaking and holding my aching middle, I managed to get to my console seat and hit the com. “Hiram, Archer?”
“What’s going on, missy? I’ll need to make another pass at that drone.”
“Forget the drone. Dan
to is in command.”
“What do you mean, in command?” Archer called.
“Kojo is hurt and Danto will hurt him worse if we don’t do as he says.”
“Why, the mutinous son of a sea slug…”
“Patch!” Archer cried. “Are you all right?”
“Quiet,” Danto ordered. “You will take the ship to the surface, near the woodland city.”
Rachel struggled to sit up. Blood dripped from her nose and cuts on her forehead. “You can’t go to the surface. You don’t know…”
Mya cut her off. “We know what Suriel orders us to do.”
“Patch?” Hiram asked.
“You heard Danto,” I said. “Follow his orders. Take us down. I’ll send the city’s coordinates. Find a landing spot nearby.”
“All right, missy.”
“But, Patch,” Archer began.
“Archer, just do what Danto says. It’ll be all right.”
I turned to Rachel. She’d managed to sit up and was holding her battered head.
“Rachel? How bad are you hurt? Can you help Kojo?”
“Superficial only. Danto, please let me tend to the injuries.”
“Do so. Professor Patil will assist you.”
Jamila took the med kit from the locker and helped Rachel go to Kojo. Danto left Mya to hold a stunner on us.
None of us were much of a threat.
After a minute, Danto returned, dragging a moaning, bloody-headed Grimbold.
Mya turned to me. “Now, open the vault and bring me the bloodstone.”
Supporting myself on crates, I staggered to the vault. Rachel recited the combination.
Home! Peace and joy await!
Mya panted with anticipation. “Bring it to me. Bring it to me.”
I laid the case on the table and worked the combination. The relic, nestled in the padding, looked brighter and shinier than before. It was beautiful.
Before I could reach for the relic, Mya snatched it up and hugged it. “A knife,” she ordered. “Bring me a knife.”
Jamila brought a huge scalpel from the med kit. She must have taken the largest she could find and didn’t bother to sterilize it.
Mya didn’t care. She laid the relic on the table and made a long cut in her arm.
Blood welled out. The smell of it made me dizzy.
Danto stood beside Mya, his hand on her shoulder. It would have been a touching scene except for the stunner in his hand.
Despair brought tears to my eyes. My brother. My ship. The relic. I was in danger of losing them all.
As her blood flowed into the relic’s channels, Mya closed her eyes, moaning softly. She pulled Danto’s hand down to the relic and cut into the flesh at the base of his thumb. As his blood mingled with hers, he gasped and stiffened, letting the stunner dip.
I moved forward, just a little.
The stunner snapped up. “Step back,” Danto snarled.
“Let me go to Kojo, please.”
“Go.”
Bent and leaning on whatever consoles and crates were in reach, I stepped over Grim and knelt next to Kojo.
He was very pale. His eyes fluttered as Jamila cut away his shirt to expose his left arm and chest. His arm, already swelling, had a bend where no bend should be.
Rachel joined us. Her face was bruised and an eye was beginning to blacken. “We need to set the bone now, before the swelling gets worse.”
Rachel injected Kojo with something from the med kit. “Patch, stand behind me. Jamila, kneel beside him and brace his body against the wall. Have the splint ready.”
Rachel sat on the deck and placed the sole of her left foot against Kojo’s armpit. She gently worked the splint under his arm and slipped her bent right leg underneath, so that the arm, supported by the splint, was angled toward me.
“Now pull,” Rachel said.
I pulled his wrist. Kojo cried out, his face contorted in pain.
Long seconds ticked by while Rachel pushed the bits into place and strapped the splint into position.
Kojo stopped yelling. Eyes closed, face covered in sweat, his breath came in ragged gasps.
“Stop. Lay it down gently. Good, good.” Rachel applied cold compresses. “That’s all I can do for now. When the swelling goes down, I’ll use the imagers to adjust the splint better.”
I wiped dirt and tears from my cheeks. How had everything changed so quickly?
“How’s Grimbold?” Jamila asked. He’d begun to stir and moan.
“Concussion. Help me move the imager over so I can see how bad it is.”
I turned, only to find Danto right behind me, holding his stunner aimed at Kojo.
Danto’s hand still dripped blood. “The magazine. Remove all the weapons and place them in the vault.”
Our arms collection was not extensive. I carried the stun pistols and rifles into the vault and laid them on top of the fine brandy. Ancestors! It was a long time since we’d loaded those crates in Santerro.
When I was done, Danto kept two stunners in his belt and laid the rest inside. He ordered me to stand away while he changed the combination. “You will all remain here until I send for you,” he said.
I nodded, still feeling dazed from the stun shot.
Jamila looked pleadingly at Danto. “Danto—Sergeant. You’re a respected officer of the Corridor Patrol. Remember your oaths. Remember your mission. You can’t really mean to abandon your duty like this.”
“I follow a higher duty, a duty to the Sages,” he said.
“Even if it means harming us?”
“Yes.” Danto nodded toward Rachel. “Ask Dr. Fiori. She knows the lengths to which I’ll go.”
He went to Mya, still sitting with the relic. At his touch, she rose, cradling the relic like a child, and followed him out.
Jamila looked at Rachel. “What does he mean?”
Rachel slumped, her face bloody and eye swollen. “I believe Danto killed Lyden.”
Jamila gasped. “Killed her? He couldn’t have. You said Lyden was alone.”
Rachel placed more cold compresses on Kojo’s arm. “That’s what I thought, at first. But when I took a second look, Danto’s readings for that night were off—and they were identical to Mya’s. Mya must have worn both sets of sensors to make it seem like they were together in the salon.”
Poor Lyden. Betrayed by the one closest to her. I closed my eyes and leaned against the bulkhead, utterly drained.
Jamila covered her face with her hands. “You could have told us. Now we’re trapped here with a killer.”
Rachel shook her head. “I wasn’t sure, though I took the precaution of arming Kojo and Patch. I still don’t have any evidence. Lyden fell and her heart stopped. It would be impossible to prove he caused it.”
“Patch?” Archer stood tentatively at the door. I crossed the room to him, still clutching my aching middle.
“You shouldn’t be here,” I whispered. He grabbed me and gave me a hug.
“Ow! Not so hard.”
“Oh, sorry. I just wanted to see if you were all right.” He looked with dismay at the casualties. “And Kojo, too.”
“We’ll be fine,” I said. “As soon as we get to Nakana.”
“What do you want me to do?” he whispered. “If we work together, maybe I can overpower him.”
The idea of slight, jumpy Archer taking on a hulking Corridor Patrol officer was almost funny.
I shook my head. “Please, don’t try anything. Go back to the engines and help with the landing. Just do as Danto says. Everything will be fine.”
“All right.” He looked at me worriedly. “If you’re sure.”
“I’m sure. Go on now,” I said.
Kojo roused enough to sit up, and Jamila tended him gently.
“The splint helps,” he said with a grimace. “And whatever Rachel shot me up with. What does that bastard Danto think he’s doing?”
“Standard military strategy,” Rachel said. “Disable your biggest threat first. He needs you alive, to
help pilot the ship on the way home, but now you won’t be able to fight him, and he knows Patch will obey him if he threatens you.”
Kojo scowled at me. “Why the Zub didn’t you do something? I could have grabbed Mya’s pistol if you’d helped.”
“We need to take the relic to the surface,” I said.
“We should just drop the burzing thing out an airlock.”
“No,” I said. “We shouldn’t be fighting Danto and Mya. We should be helping them. They’re right. This is what we should be doing, going down to the surface.”
“What?” Kojo said. “Why?”
“That’s what we’re supposed to do, take the relic home. They’ll be waiting for us there.”
“Waiting? Who?”
I shook my head. The answer was obvious. “The Sages, of course. Who do think activated that beacon?”
Kojo just stared, his face paling to dusky gray.
“You should rest,” I said. “I’m sorry you’re so hurt. But everything will be fine, once we land on Nakana.”
Come! Come, beloved friends! Peace and joy await.
CHAPTER 29
Peace and joy
Sparrowhawk descended slowly into the atmosphere. Soon, we’d be able to see for ourselves the lush grasslands and beautiful beasts. I could hardly wait. Nakana waited for us, a place of peace and joy, the home of welcoming friends.
“The Sages? What are you talking about?” Kojo stared at me as if I’d lost my mind. Rachel went to check the monitors.
It had become very clear to me, since receiving the first energy pulse. This was Nakana. This was home. “Can’t you feel them calling us?” I asked.
Poor Kojo. Never to hear the beautiful voices.
Rachel laid a hand on my shoulder. “I understand.”
Something pricked my neck.
I fell to the deck, my legs suddenly limp.
Jamila cried, “Patch? What’s wrong?”
“Don’t worry,” Rachel said. “I gave her a temporary paralytic. It’ll wear off.” She began tying my hands and feet.
“What are you doing? Kojo! Tell her to stop!” I wanted to resist, but I couldn’t move.
Kojo looked ready to cry. “Rachel?”
“I’m sorry, Patch,” Rachel said. “Your sensors show you’re being profoundly influenced telepathically.”