by DC Bastien
"Okay. So he..."
"Left the Ur under his own steam. Left before... before anything could be brought against him. And I'd believed in him, so when it happened I..." Blue eyes locked with his. "I felt betrayed."
"Will you tell me what he did?"
"No. I don't think I can talk about it... fully."
"Okay."
"And then he vanished. Literally vanished. I spent quite some time trying to co-ordinate a search for him, off-book, but because he'd worked with the Ur for so long... he knew how to hide."
"Maybe he should teach me," Vadim joked. When Avery shot him a look, he offered a light smile. "Oh, come on."
"It's not a laughing matter, Kip. I'm sorry. I think you're going to have to – I think this is something you need to talk to Peters about. I'm not sure how much use I will be."
"But why do you think he name-dropped now? I mean, if he's been off the radar for so long, why slip up like this? Why now?"
"I suspect he's been trying to attract my attention for a while and got bored of me not putting two and two together." Ithon shrugged, his eyes sliding up towards the ceiling. "Which I should have done. I probably knew, on some level. I just didn't want to admit it."
"Can we... can we stop him?" He felt foolish asking that, but Ithon had to know him better than anyone else. He should have said something like 'We will stop him', a bold statement of intent. Leaving room for doubt – inviting it – was not helpful. But the words were out now, and no amount of wishing otherwise would pull them back behind his teeth.
"I don't know. I honestly... I don't know, Kip."
Wow. Okay. Not what he was expecting at all. Kip just watched dumbly as the other man shrugged him off again, carrying on walking away. He radiated leave me alone, and Vadim couldn't bring himself to push any more.
Great.
***
[Sianor: Oh my GOD could you WARN ME?]
[Ashroe: Nope. The heartache had to be concurrent.]
[Sianor: I hate you with a fiery, burning passion.]
[Ashroe: I'd get that checked out by a doctor, sweetie.]
[Sianor: In my HEART not my lady-bits!]
[Sianor: Hi, Doc, my space-boyfriends made me have feelings.]
[Sianor: Can you imagine what they'd do to me if I said that?]
[Ashroe: Either lock you up or ask you which space-boyfriends.]
[Sianor: Fandom doctors. Like... when there's a hiatus or a terrible cliffhanger you can go for counselling.]
[Ashroe: Well, losing a show to cancellation or having your favourite character killed can be a serious bereavement. I don't care what anyone says: if you care about them, then... it hurts. Real or not.]
[Sianor: Also I bet you don't know what Baudeline did.]
[Sianor: Or what's in the boxes.]
[Ashroe: Sorry darling, I know both.]
[Sianor: Is Baudeline in the boxes?]
[Ashroe: Uhm, no.]
[Sianor: Are you sure?]
[Ashroe: I am absolutely certain the Big Bad isn't in the boxes.]
[Sianor: Are you bluffing?]
[Ashroe: If I was bluffing, do you think asking me if I was bluffing would stop me... bluffing?]
[Sianor: Point.]
[Ashroe: Okay shall we do some suspenders?]
[Sianor: What?]
[Ashroe: Susp... oh, wait. You call them something else, don't you? Garters.]
[Ashroe: So that joke kind of falls flat.]
[Sianor: I am so confused right now.]
[Ashroe: I meant suspense. Anyway... let's put the whole Baudeline thing on pause.]
[Sianor: I am going to find you. And then I am going to kill you.]
[Ashroe: Watch it, boo. I have the con tickets.]
[Sianor: Note to self: commit murder after con tickets.]
[Ashroe: And now there's proof it's premeditated. You are going down for a long stretch. I hope you're a good prison bitch.]
[Sianor: I hate you so much right now.]
[Ashroe: I do not think that word means what you think it means, darling. Oh love of my life. Oh shining star... hey, stop writing without me!]
***
Saidhe followed Biann to the private docking bay, all too happy to get away from the dour faces. She jumped into the tiny hopper containing Mes, which was sitting inside of Messenger. At least time there was no evil virus threatening to kill them all, so that was one positive, right?
Biann was already connecting all the cables up for the transfer, and Saidhe knew from experience not to get in the way. She was reasonably technically-minded, but Biann was very particular about her working space. She'd tolerate people in it as long as they were never accidentally in the way of her hands or tools. Even then, she'd smile at them as politely as she could, but she was internally complaining very, very gently. Best not to prompt that.
"You really left the Captain to follow Biann and Kre?" Saidhe asked, bemused. "After you hid from the Ardeshir?"
"I did not necessarily 'hide' from the Ardeshir. I simply did not reveal myself. But yes, I did pursue Biann and Kre with the intention of helping them. I believed they needed my assistance more than the Captain did."
"You're really something, Mes."
"Thank you, Saidhe."
Biann had her tablet out, her fingers blurring over the surface to run through diagnostics and readings. Saidhe knew Mes had jumped into the hopper pretty much without any prep time, so Biann would be nervous about an ad-hoc jump back. Which was likely sensible.
"My Mes, always looking after me," Biann said, blowing an air kiss to the hopper's main sensor bank.
"Of course, Biann. I am simply returning the favour for all the times you have saved me."
Saidhe fidgeted, trying to get comfortable in a chair that wasn't hers. She'd feel better when she was back behind the helm, not just inside Messenger's hull. How long had it been? Too long, that was how long. She wanted to feel the throttle, the buzz, the... a sudden flash of weightlessness as someone else flew a ship in the dark and—
"You... okay?" Biann asked.
"Uh. Yes. Sorry. I think I kind of spaced out there."
Her sister smiled weakly, bumping a hip against Saidhe's knee as she carried on her fastidious triple-checking. Although by now it might even be quadruple checking.
"Biann, I am perfectly ready to transfer."
"I'm the judge of that. Engineer, remember? Me. Not you."
"I can see all the results you are generating in your reports."
"And I'm still the engineer." She wasn't going to budge, and Saidhe recognised the tone all too well.
Time to distract the ship, then, if Biann was set in her ways. "So," Saidhe cut in before they could argue any more. "Mes. Is it affecting you, all this jumping back and forth between ships?"
"I am unsure. My entire personality moves when I am transferred. The smaller craft is capable of holding me completely. It is possible that there are transcription errors – minor ones – involved in the process. I am unable to detect any significant difference. As I am a heuristic and constantly-evolving system, I cannot compare a set of parameters from before and after."
"That's because you're thinking, even when you move." Saidhe thought about that for a moment. "So you are changing, but you're always changing, anyway."
"Indeed. And had I not experienced the things I did whilst on this smaller craft, I would be different. However, that would be the same for organic minds as well."
"Do you... like it?"
There was a long pause. "Do you mean do I enjoy being in the smaller craft? Or the act of moving?"
Biann paused, clearly interested in the answer as well.
"Both?"
"Moving is not... painful. I do not experience pain or discomfort. It is... I feel some... anxiety is the incorrect word. I am apprehensive about potential issues. I am also more aware of my vessel's weaknesses when in the smaller craft. It is much more open to destruction. However, I sacrifice security in order to gain mobility and..."
"I feel..."
The AI clearly wasn't sure whether she should continue or not, but Saidhe and Biann simply waited her out.
"I feel as if I truly am part of the crew. When I can come to assist on my own. I am not simply assisting by giving information to you, or responding to commands. I can... make my own decisions."
"And you like that?" Saidhe pushed.
"Yes. I do."
"And I'm super grateful you came to help us," Biann said, stroking over the hopper's hull. "But if you keep doing that and leaving the Cap'n, he's gonna get a complex, you know. You're kind of supposed to be his ship, remember?"
Saidhe bit her lip to keep the laugh in. Trust Biann to think of protocol in a situation like this – protocol that would hurt feelings, anyway.
"I... will. It was a calculated risk. I knew the Captain and the Enforcer's situation and their links to the Judge. I did not know how you and Kre were faring." Mes still sounded contrite, though. It was amazing how a ship could sound like she was examining her fingernails, but Mes could.
"No problem, sweetie. I know you thought it through. And... if you're sure you're ready for me to start the transfer?"
"I am," Mes said. "Please."
"Okay. Punch it, Sai!"
***
[Ashroe: Now they will get war flashbacks.]
[Sianor: I know. Poor Saidhe hasn't had much in the way of real peril. Not the grimy-hurty-restrainy kind.]
[Ashroe: Kip tends to be the whump-nugget most of the time. Or Kre. And occasionally Loap.]
[Sianor: Saidhe is normally too smart to get all captured and cuffed.]
[Ashroe: Hah, did your inner Kip just have a fit at being called dumb?]
[Sianor: Comparatively dumb. And I think he likes the peril. He runs his mouth all the time on purpose.]
[Ashroe: He does like to barge in with both feet.]
[Ashroe: Ithon says if he has a thing for restraints, he could just ask.]
[Sianor: Purr. Although maybe not in this story.]
[Ashroe: Yeah, it might be a bit mood-whiplash. And in this story, Kip would probably go down the self-flagellation line instead of the kinky, fluffy fun line.]
[Sianor: You – whoa. You need to write it for me, though.]
[Ashroe: Oh, do I?]
[Sianor: Because you love me. You should write Ithon giving him what for.]
[Sianor: And by 'what for' I mean 'sticks and stones may break my bones, but whips and chains excite me'.]
[Ashroe: Hmm. Well. If nothing else, I have a long Transatlantic flight coming up. And extra leg room. Mostly so I can fit my laptop in comfortably on the stupid tray table.]
[Sianor: Airplane!Porn!]
[Sianor: Does that count as joining the mile high club?]
[Ashroe: Uh... I'm... not sure?]
[Sianor: I'm going to say yes. And then I get to join it by proxy.]
[Ashroe: Pervert.]
[Sianor: Writing me porn on your laptop is nine million times more sanitary than doing it in a tiny bathroom.]
[Ashroe: Also true.]
[Ashroe: But when I have my private jet, we will so be doing it in a giant bathroom. Wait. No. A giant bedroom.]
[Sianor: When you have your private jet, I will expect to be flown to new and exciting places. Where we can get our laptops out. And write porn.]
[Ashroe: Ahahaha.]
[Sianor: I'm not joking. You think you're getting out of writing with me just because we're going to be humping like bunnies?]
[Ashroe: Nope. Not at all.]
[Sianor: Good. Now... don't you need to...?]
[Ashroe: Bugger, yes. Okay, catch you tomorrow.]
[Ashroe: Send me pictures tomorrow. Of anything. I'm going to the doctors and I'll be sitting in the waiting room bored witless.]
[Sianor: I shall indeed picspam you. What time?]
[Ashroe: Four, my time.]
[Sianor: Consider my alarm set :) ]
[Ashroe: <3 ]
***
Chapter Eleven – Mission: Restoration
"Your warrant has been annulled, thanks to Eru," Peters told him.
Vadim let his lips curl into a loveless smile. "Great. Considering I didn't actually do anything illegal, I should hope so. Any progress tracking down who interfered in the first place to flag my cargo as dubious?"
"None yet. They hid their tracks very well."
"Baudeline?"
"Very possibly. They had to have significant resources and intelligence to do this."
The Judge nodded to the other small couch, and Vadim took the offered seat, adjusting the crease down the front of his smart slacks. They'd been given temporary quarters on Raboros until they were ready to leave, which was nice of Eru. But probably the least she could do, considering they saved an inter-species genocide. Or... whatever not-Cil had been planning.
Kip bit his lower lip, shuffling as he tried to work out how to—
"You want to ask me what I know of Baudeline." Statement, not question.
He nodded. "I do. But I'm also afraid to find out what it is. If he's got this kind of pull, enough to assassinate one Za and nearly replace him? And as like to be behind the fake-people thing? And we only know his name because he told us?"
"It is rather worrying, yes," Peters agreed. "But now we have a name we cannot simply ignore it. Although we must also consider if it is a red herring."
"Way Ith reacted, I don't think so, somehow. He said he was a Judge. Back in Sol."
"I suspected as much. I did some research since the name was mentioned, and the Ur have a record of one Judge Baudeline DeGattio. I never crossed paths with him whilst he served the Ur, though that's hardly surprising. He left around a decade ago."
"No inkling why?"
The older man shook his head. "Simply handed in his notice and left. There's no official sanctions against him, no indication that his end of service was anything other than routine."
"No... no... strangeness in his record?" He was aware that asking about another man's Ur-record as a civilian was crossing quite a lot of boundaries, but the Judge was technically dead and either hacking or misusing Ur-credentials anyway. So on the balance of things, the question wasn't really that probing.
"Nothing apparent. He seemed to be a model employee until he retired. Although he then vanished completely."
"Vanished."
"No trace. None. He never surfaced in transportation documents again. His bank accounts were summarily drained. His home sold. He... vanished," Simeon repeated. "If he's still out there, he's living under an assumed identity. Or entirely off-book."
"So we're going to track him... how?"
"Unless he's left a trail for you to follow, I suspect you're going to need to do a lot of ground-work with the one person we know has any information on him."
"Yeah, I'm not so sure he's willing to talk to me."
"If not you, then who?"
***
Kre stood outside of Loap's door for rather longer than she liked to admit. They hadn't really had time to talk since they'd rescued him and Saidhe, and she knew it must be hard for him here on Raboros. Quite aside from the gravity and oxygen levels (which had been somewhat tempered within the palace when Eru found out they were having company for at least the short term), it couldn't be easy for him to be surrounded by Sianar architecture, culture and bodies.
"Would you like me to request entry?" the door's AI asked, eventually. "The occupant – Hale Loap – is awake and present."
"I—" Her rear claws scraped at the floor underneath her. Would he even want her company? "Yes. Please."
There was a moment's silence as the AI requested permission internally, then the doors shushed open. The room was even more oxygen-saturated in here and it hit her like a wave making her somewhat giddy. She entered quickly so the door could reseal behind her.
"Kre," the Roq said, looking up from his tablet. "Can I help you?"
"I came to speak with you. Not – not t
o ask anything. But to offer company." Behind her, her fluffy tail rubbed the back of one calf in self-comfort. "Unless you are busy?"
"No... I was simply reading." He gestured to the other seat for her. "I would be glad of some company. It is difficult for me to leave this room comfortably."
The chaplain took the seat gratefully, curling her tail around her lap. Aside from a few minor injuries both Loap and Saidhe had appeared fine upon their rescue, which she was grateful for. Of course... not all injuries were visible.
"I am sorry for what happened to you. And I wished to offer my ear, should you ever want someone to talk to about it. Though if you would also prefer I never mention it again..."
"Kre, you do realise it was not your fault in any way?"
A flutter of whiskers and she started to groom her tail obsessively. "I did not... kidnap you, no. Nor was there anything I failed to do to protect you, but the fact remains if I had not taken up a position aboard your ship—"