“What if they don’t work on Rykkans?” I ask Pedro.
His face is grim when he looks at me. “Then she’ll die anyway. In this situation, my guess is she’s no different to a human: first we must stem the blood loss.”
“And second?” I ask, hearing the weakness in my voice.
Danielli replies. “We get the hell out of here and find emergency help. The nearest friendly planet, preferably.”
Aktip convulses, and it shakes me into sharp focus. I draw myself up and punch the commPanel. “Captain to helmroom.”
“Helmroom. Zhang at the helm.”
“Zhang. We have a medical emergency. Find the nearest friendly planet one hyperDrive hop away. Criteria: known to possess fully-equipped and advanced medical facilities. Don’t wait for my order, as soon as you find it, take us there.”
“Affirmative, Ma’am.”
I tap the commPanel off and place my hand on Aktip’s leathery brow. “Stay with us, my friend. Your debt is not ready to be extinguished.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Zhang proves to be another gem in Danielli’s squad. In just over ten minutes we are requesting permission to descend to NewSwiss12. An Arctic planet with a near-earth-level gravity, NewSwiss12 has an enviable reputation for putting officers back together after battle. I’d never heard of it before, but Danielli tells me Zhang chose wisely. Though not cheaply.
We touch down at NS12’s spaceport to find a medivac team awaiting us. The leader steps forward, holding a datapad. “Chief Surgeon Meredith Vysl, head of admissions. We need credit transfer authorization before we proceed.”
She extends the datapad out and I place my hand across it. The doctor pulls the pad back once it flashes green, examines it briefly before shooting me an odd look. “I understand you have an injured crew member?”
I jab my thumb back behind me where Plexi and Herg are carrying Aktip on the medbay’s gurney. “Female Rykkan. Age unknown. Significant laserRifle injury to right-side hip area. Unconscious since the injury with what looks like major blood loss.”
The doctor eyes me. “Treatment to date?”
I shrug. “Medpatches only.”
The doctor nods and motions her team to take over from Plexi and Herg. She looks at me. “We don’t have Rykkan biomapping. I’ll have to request an emergency hyper-relay transfer from Rykkamon.” She holds my gaze. “If we’re to save her.”
I feel my shoulders tighten. “Can it be done anonymously?”
The doctor holds out the datapad again. “Additional credit transfers can make anything anonymous.”
I place my hand on the pad. “Do whatever it takes to save her. Just don’t ID anyone.”
The doctor just looks at me. “No problem with the latter. But the former? I can’t guarantee it. We’re already reducing our chances given the time it will take to obtain the mapping.” She turns around and hurries after the rest of her team into the nearby green-glass clad building, stark against the snow backdrop.
Plexi takes my hand. “Ma’am? We should head in there too.”
“We should. Bring Pedro and Danielli. Things are heating up.”
I comm the ship and tell Zhang and Ortiz to ready for a fast exit, and walk off to the building, leaving Plexi behind me. Aktip’s injury had kept me from my thoughts waiting in the wings, but now they flood in. Why did Papa help Errikson? What’s in the Constellation’s drive that is more valuable to the Jovians than the Constellation itself? And now Errikson wants Mitch in place of me? I shake my head. This isn’t what I signed up for.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
I sit in a waiting area around a table with Danielli, Plexi, Herg and Pedro.
Danielli gives me an empathic look. I hope my actions in Pedro’s club haven’t given him the wrong idea, no matter how pleasant it was. But I underestimate him. “Ma’am, I’m sure you feel bad. As it was we were lucky to get out of there with as little damage as we did.”
I look over at Plexi. “How did you manage to deflect their firepower? They barely hit anything.” Except Errikson.
Plexi picks at her nails. “When I blew the hangar lock doors, I threw in a little bonus. Literally.”
I raise one eyebrow at her.
“It’s a thing we, uh ... liberated in a previous mission. A small weapons interference grenade. Long name for a simple thing. It deliberately interferes with any electronic weaponry and creates a distortion path in the telemetry. We only had one, and I didn’t know if it would actually work.”
“I guess it did.”
“Almost.” Plexi gestures to the corridor where Aktip was taken. “I’m sorry, Ma’am.”
I heave a sigh. “Let’s hope she pulls through. In the meantime, there’s plenty we can focus on to distract us.” I look at Pedro. “Tell me what you know.”
Pedro sits back in his chair. “This might be a hyperleap too far, but I’m betting that you already knew Errikson had the drive of the long-lost Constellation. Why you came to Ganymede I don’t know, but my guess is that you want to relieve Errikson of his new booty.” He leans forward and places both hands on the table. “Tell me straight. Have you found the Constellation?”
I stay silent for a while. The less people know about it, the better. But Pedro is my father’s old friend and my mentor. The others say nothing and wait for my lead. I might have gained this crew by accident, thanks to Sloper, but so far, they are my guys. And girl. I decide to play it safe.
“Hypothetically, if I had, what would you advise?”
He claps his hands together and smiles. “I’d advise you to tell no one. But hypothetically, let’s look at the situation—”
I hold my hand up. “Wait. Let me outline where we’re at.” I want my team to follow my lead, not Pedro’s. “Sloper took Mitch hostage. He sent me to find the Constellation. He clearly knew something I didn’t.”
“Your father’s involvement.”
“Yes. What we managed to piece together—and the less who know how we know this, the better—is that Errikson had removed the Constellation’s drive, and we presumed he was bringing it to Ganymede.”
Pedro rubs his chin. “You were right about that. But Errikson and the Jovians? What’s going on there?”
I look around at all of them. “My guess is that the Jovians know something about the technology used. Somehow they’ve found out that I might be able to access it, and they’ve paid Errikson to secure the drive.”
Danielli looks confused. “But Errikson says he had help from your father?”
“Papa is dead,” I say abruptly.
Pedro shrugs. “Then he used information he got from your father when he was alive. Doesn’t matter. What matters is—”
“What matters is that I rescue Mitch. Errikson is the Jovians’ hired hand, and he seems to think my brother will also grant him access to the drive. But Sloper won’t want to give him up, and he’s waiting to rendezvous with me. Unless I give Sloper what he’s after, he’ll kill Mitch.”
The room falls silent. Then the parts floating in my head come together.
I take a deep inhale and look around at the others. “Here’s what we do: We steal the drive from Errikson. We find out why Papa helped him remove the drive. We refit the Constellation”—I glare at Pedro to make sure he knows the sensitivity of the information I’ve just confirmed—“then we persuade the Jovians to rescue my brother.”
Herg splutters. “Anything else, Ma’am? Sounds like quite some plan you have.” Plexi just stares at me. Danielli wears the beginnings of a smile.
I look at Herg. “Yes. I’m glad you asked. From what I hear, Oberon and the Circle of Seven are showing signs of being active again. It’s time this Sector put aside its differences and combined forces. If it’s true, we need to be ready.”
I don’t really know where all this has come from, except that just maybe, discovering I’m the Constellation’s Captain unlocked a deep desire to free myself from my spacepirate’s existence. Or perhaps it’s just that I feel the weight of
Papa’s hand from the grave on my shoulder. Exactly what he’s asking me to do, I have no idea.
“And?” Danielli says. “You want us to be some part of that?”
I smile. “I can’t think of a better crew for it.”
“I’m confused,” Pedro says.
“Then let me spell it out for you. We’re going to force the Jovians and the Scorpion to combine forces, and we’re going to make sure the Blood Empire comes out second best in any discussions about who runs this Sector.”
Pedro sucks in a noisy breath, but Herg and Plexi exchange worried looks.
Danielli looks over at me. “You should know that the previous mission Plexi referred to was against the Scorpion. I wouldn’t exactly say we’ll be welcomed with open arms.”
Pedro ignores them. “What makes you think you’re in any position to bring this about?”
I give him a cool look. “Because I’ll be in command of the only battlecruiser ever to take down Oberon’s forces.”
His eyes almost pop out of his head, but before we get any chance to continue our conversation, the door opens, and the doctor looks around for me. She looks me in the eye. “I think you’d better come with me.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
She leads me into a white and sterile recovery room, where Aktip, now clad in a medirobe, is lying on a bed. My heart leaps—she is awake. Her head swivels to me and she smiles. “You have worry, Madam Captain.”
I stand next to her. “Thank you, Aktip. You’ve more than fulfilled any obligation to me. Let me get you back home as soon as I can arrange it.”
“Actually she’ll need to, if she’s to survive.” The doctor looks over at me. “We did the best we could. But even with the Rykkamon biomapping, there are treatments your colleague needs that are only available on Rykkamon. There’s some bone and nerve damage, and Rykkamon has the specialized equipment for that. More to the point, she’s lost a lot of blood. Blood that we don’t stock. I’ve already told her this, but I estimate if she is not able to have a blood top up in the next two or three days ...” She shrugs.
I feel myself deflate, and try to smile at Aktip. “Then I guess we’d better get moving. I’ll inform the crew.”
***
Aktip is not capable of walking, but she assures me she is in no pain. I do not believe her. She is wheeled back on board, but insists on being in the helmroom with us. “You need my sensing, Madam Captain,” she says.
“Really?” I smile at her. “You think after what we’ve all been through, anyone here is going to be anything less than honest?”
Aktip swivels to me. “Not here. For your negotiations.”
Crap. She knows I’m planning to leave her on Rykkamon.
“How long will it take for your treatment?”
She regards me with troubled eyes. “I do not know. Less than one Rykkan week. But I am not specialist.”
“You know I have to find my brother. I can’t afford to lose any time.” I almost said “any more time.”
Aktip nods, but her eyes are bright. “This time, I have plan.”
Everyone in the helmroom turns to look at Aktip.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Aktip’s plan is audacious. It could work.
We spend some time refining and filling in the holes she didn’t see. Pedro volunteers to find his way back to Ganymede, suggesting that his underground network can keep their ears to the ground for more information about Errikson’s movements. He says he’ll be able to stay out of Errikson’s sight by calling in some favors. I make it plain to him that the information he is now privy to is a matter of life and death.
Pedro nods. “Your father and I went back a long way, divine one. I trusted him with my life. You can trust me with yours.”
I hug Pedro, and he heads back onto NewSwiss12’s surface.
“Divine one?” Danielli raises an eyebrow.
“If only it were true. But it's a long story. For when we are out the other side of this.” I look over at our pilot. “Zhang, do you have an estimate of hyperDrive time to Rykkamon?”
“We should be able to make it under two days, Captain,” the young man says, then continues. “But I already have the course plotted. Ready to commence at your order, Ma’am.”
More and more, Danielli’s team impresses me. I make a note to ask Danielli how they came together and what motivates them to be just mercenaries for hire, when they could be a valuable part of any organization.
“A few minutes, Zhang.” I turn to Danielli. “Will the crew be ready?”
“I’ll make it so, Ma’am.” He leaves to prep everyone, and I focus on my next task: construct a new hyper-relay message to Jordi. We need new coordinates and a convincing story. I ask Zhang to find some options for coordinates that will suit the plan, and I concentrate on my words to Jordi.
It takes me almost twenty minutes before I am ready to send. Danielli is back and we are ready. I hand him my pad. “I value your input, Danielli. What is your response?”
He reads the message quickly then looks up with a smile. “Yes, Ma’am. That will do the trick, no doubt about it. Knowing Sloper’s reputation.”
I take back the pad and hit send. I open the shipwide comms. “This is the Captain. Our destination is Rykkamon, estimated time of travel”—I look down at the helmpad—“44 hours, 36 minutes. Sergeant Danielli has already given orders for our arrival.” I pause. “Make sure you are well-rested.”
Plexi gives me a strange look and I shrug. “Based on recent experience, we need all the rest we can get. I hear it’s a soldier’s best weapon.”
She grins.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
We arrive in Rykkamon’s outer orbit after an uneventful series of hops. Now we are at risk. If the Rykkan authorities pierce the thin disguise I’d managed to hack into our ship’s ident, then we’ll need to escape fast. But I have to find where Mitch is being held, meaning any mistake will come at a high cost.
Aktip cannot walk, so we are forced to dock at an orbit-station where one of us will wheel her to the shuttle. My hair is still jet-black, but my crew convinces me that my height, build and general “attitude,” as they put it, might be too risky to expose to any Rykkan official. After all, there is a price on my head.
So we send Danielli to be the Captain of our purported exploration vessel. I’m hooked into his comms system in case any questions are asked that he needs help with. Based on what I’ve seen of Danielli so far during both our training sessions with Aktip, he won’t need my help. But I watch from his suitcam anyway.
He enters the port pushing Aktip. The official stops them both and I hear Danielli request the shuttle as soon as possible, due to the serious injury sustained by a Rykkan native on our research ship. From the cam view I see the official enter notes into his pad. It’s hard to see when a Rykkan is suspicious, so I hold my breath that Aktip’s first step in her plan will work.
I see the official look hard at Danielli for a few moments, then wave them both through to the shuttle station. I exhale and look at Plexi, who has just done the same. “Genius,” she whispers. I nod.
Danielli returns to our ship, and Aktip is now on her own, accompanied by the advance medivac team we have ordered for her. I feel responsible for the poor alien’s plight. My impetuous actions earlier with the Rykkan gang may have saved her life, but the price she has paid has been excessive.
We disengage from the spaceport and after a short impulse drive flight, we exit Rykkamon’s strong gravitational pull.
I order Zhang to punch us into free space using the fDrive. Once there, I tell him to cut the drive and bring the ship to a halt within comms range of the planet, but outside of their authority.
I call a meeting in the helmroom.
Danielli and Plexi take the chairs, Zhang remains in the pilot’s seat, and Ortiz is asleep, on an off-shift. Herg is secured to a bulkhead and busy disassembling some part of my ship’s maneuvering system on a temporary worktable. I frown at him, but he doesn’t l
ook up.
“Don’t worry about Herg, Ma’am,” Plexi says. “He don’t miss a trick. Just prefers playing with his hands.”
I smile. “In the same way you like playing with weapons?”
Plexi’s face reddens.
I look around at my crew. “Let’s assume that Sloper’s spies have worked out that we briefly entered Rykkamon. My hyper-relay message should have him distracted for at least a day.” If Jordi was able to do his work, as promised. “We have to work out how to get the data we need for the Constellation’s drive. Does anyone here think it can be refitted?”
Danielli breaks the silence. “Logic says no, Ma’am. But there has to be a reason why it was so painstakingly removed.” He lifts a shoulder. “Those cuts would have taken weeks. If whoever took it only wanted to disable the ship, there are faster ways.”
I tighten my lips and tap my hands on the small helm table. “Which means that someone knows the plan for refitting it. But who?” I look around the ship’s small bridge. Danielli, Plexi, Zhang and Herg look back at me blankly.
“Wouldn’t Errikson?” Danielli asks.
“I’m not so sure. I think he’s just been paid to get the Jovians access to what is in the drive. Maybe neither of them care about a refit.”
“Is that why he wants your brother?” Plexi says.
Mitch. He is my main priority now that we have taken care of Aktip. Plexi is right: Errikson wants Mitch. Or me. There’s some reason why Mitch is also the key. “I’m guessing that’s the case. As far as our plan goes, that’s our next step anyway. We have to rescue Mitch from Sloper before Errikson either buys him or finds out where he is.”
“So we wait.” Danielli is calm.
I nod. “We wait. As terrible as it feels to me, we have to allow Aktip to do her work, and for my message to Jordi to reach Sloper.”
Constellation (Blood Empire Book 1) Page 12