by Jaleta Clegg
"You aren't going to let them just charge us with piracy? Now you have to add fraud." But he was grinning. "You want me to ask for new memory modules as well? The banks in this unit are full."
"Don't push it," I said. "Dump the old information if you have to."
"Probably not too wise," he said. "At least until we know what's in the files. There's room enough for the library request. Barely." He sat back while the line hummed and data fed into the computer's memory.
The alarm beeped, warning me we were about to hit atmosphere and the autopilot was shutting off. I hit buttons and took control back. Mart moved away, sitting at the table. My shoulder was suddenly cold where his hand had been.
We were on a priority approach, a straight vector in to the landing field. Other traffic held, staying out of our way. I wondered why, but not enough to ask control. We were the ones flying in, we should know what status our ship had.
Talisen was a planet like a thousand others in the Empire. It was within normal limits on size, density and climate. The landing field was broken up into several dozen smaller fields, each owned by a different company. That was different. Most worlds had one central field. The shipping companies and others leased space or just paid by the day. Talisen had one very small field that was open, the others were corporate territory. Probably why I'd never been to Talisen. An independent didn't stand a chance against the huge corporate shipping companies. There would have been no cargo and no place for me to land.
We landed in berth seven of the Louvelloas Shipping field. I shut the ship down. The rumble of the engines died away to nothing.
"Now what?" Beryn muttered.
"Now we find out why Myriassima sent us here. We won't have to wait long." I pointed at the viewscreen.
A groundcar hurried across the field towards us, followed by the refueling cranes.
The com crackled. I answered it.
"Mui Shannon?" a voice with a clipped accent inquired.
"Yes," I answered.
"You made good time," the person said. I couldn't tell from the pitch or accent if it was male or female. "Your passenger is on her way. We'll arrange priority liftoff for two hours."
"That's barely time for the engines to cool," I said.
"Sorry. Priority business. It's what you're paid for." The clipped voice cut the connection.
"Less time to get caught," Beryn said.
"Who's our passenger?" I asked, watching the groundcar move closer. It maneuvered around and through the refueling derrick and other maintenance equipment starting to poke at our ship. Talisen was very automated. I doubted we'd even have to step outside the ship.
The ground car slid closer, purring to a stop next to the boarding ramp we hadn't extended yet. Mart moved to correct that, opening the hatch and extending the steep stairway to the plascrete before I could say anything to stop him. The driver of the car got out and opened the rear door. He handed out a woman covered with a gossamer veil that obscured her face and hair. The rest of her dress was long and drifting, layers upon layers of soft gray silk that danced on the breeze.
The woman walked stiffly, leaning heavily on her driver. The steps up to the ship were narrow. The woman let go of the driver and grabbed onto the railing and pulled herself up, one slow step at a time. Beryn and I stood behind Mart, in the open hatch, watching. Her hands caught my eye. They were square, too smooth to belong to an ancient woman. The nails were clipped short.
She pulled herself into the ship, tottering inside and standing, waiting. Her driver carried up two large bags and deposited them behind her. He saluted us and left. The ground car purred away.
Mart shut the hatch.
"You have a lot of questions to answer, Lowell," I said.
Chapter 21
Beryn made choking noises behind me. Mart just looked confused, staring at the back of the woman's head.
The hands raised the veil, revealing a face I was very familiar with. Not old, but not young either. And silver eyes just like Ti'uro and Myriassima. He lifted the veil all the way off, carefully setting it on the bunk in a puddle of gray silk.
"And I thought that was one of my better disguises," he said ruefully. "How did you know?"
"Your hands gave you away."
He lifted his hands, studying them back and front. "Gloves next time." He looked back up at me. "No 'how are you, Grant?' No greetings? I guess I shouldn't have expected them from you." He glanced over his shoulder. "You must be Martin. But you," he said to Beryn, "there were only supposed to be two. You are?"
"Beryn Norris," I said. "Caid's grandson."
"Ah," Lowell said, his face crinkling in a smile. "How is Caid doing?"
"Not very well, last I saw him," Beryn said.
"Lady Rina died," I said flatly. I ignored the pained look on Mart's face.
"I'm sorry to hear that," Lowell said. He sounded sincerely sad. "I respected her. And liked her."
I turned away, back to the cockpit. If we were supposed to be lifting off again in less than two hours, I had a lot to do. I sat in the pilot's seat and stared blankly at the controls. I heard Beryn telling Lowell about Lady Rina. I felt Mart's confusion. I scrubbed my hands over my face, trying to push his emotions away so I could focus.
The maintenance cranes surrounded the ship, dwarfing it. I heard muffled clanking as they attached and detached, draining fluids and refilling the tanks. I watched the indicators shifting, reflecting the changing status of the ship.
Lowell slid into the seat next to me. He sat, watching me fiddle with controls, his own hands motionless in his lap. He still wore the fluttery dress and the old woman shoes, clunky and square on his feet.
"Did you get my package?" he asked after several minutes of strained silence.
"You sent us right into a trap."
He frowned. "Where's the Phoenix?"
"Hopefully on its way to Ophir." I hit the accept button for the fuel line, authorizing the crane to automatically change out the fuel rods. "Labeled as pirates or worse, most likely. I doubt Shamustel let them leave quietly."
"Tell me," he said, his voice quiet and full of authority. It was easy to forget his rank in the Patrol, especially when he was wearing a ridiculous dress. The tone of his voice reminded me. He was a High Commander, answerable directly to the Emperor.
"Later," I said, sighing. "We don't have time right now."
"I'm glad to see Ha'zhria Myriassima kept her word to me," he said. "She promised to help if you ever showed up at her door."
"That was a fluke," I said. More communications needed my attention. I pushed buttons for a minute. Lowell waited, his presence as unignorable as Mart's. "I wrote a file." I leaned over him and pulled up my personal log. I spoke the password and the text scrolled onto the screen. It was very personal, many of my thoughts were uncensored. I hadn't planned on anyone but me reading it. Lowell knew me better than anyone else at this point, even better than Jasyn did. There was nothing in there that would surprise him about me.
I was wrong.
"Mart?" he asked, eyebrows rising. "And you?"
"You want to explain what they did to us?" I asked him.
"We stowed the bags," Beryn said. "Anything else we can help with?"
"No," I said at the same time Lowell said, "Yes."
"Which is it?" Beryn asked, folding his arms and leaning on a storage locker.
I turned my attention back to the ship. Lowell leaned back in his chair.
"Tell me how you got involved," Lowell invited. His hand slid casually across the keypad. My notes vanished, where Beryn wouldn't be able to retrieve them.
"Lady Rina ordered us," Beryn said.
"Us?" Lowell questioned. He stood. "Tell me the whole story while I change out of this dress. I don't know how women do it. One hour and I'm itching head to toe." He squeezed past Beryn and headed for the bathroom.
Beryn cocked his head. "You trust him?"
"You'd be surprised," I answered. "I expected more from him, though. Maybe he'
ll surprise us still. What's Mart doing?"
"Sitting at the table, staring at nothing."
"Lowell better have a good explanation for Mart," I muttered. No one should have to suffer having their mind half-wiped. Or even all the way wiped. A person's thoughts and memories should be sacred, untouchable. My viewpoint wouldn't stand up to a determined telepath. I didn't know what to think anymore, except that Mart had been wronged.
"I'll keep him busy for a while," Beryn said. "What questions do you want answered?"
"Where we're supposed to be going first," I said. "I can hear everything. Just get him talking. He'll only tell you what he wants to, though."
"I heard that," Lowell said from the cabin. I glanced over my shoulder. He wore a plain blue tunic and leggings, just like the rest of us. The same logo decorated his tunic. "Four is going to crowd this ship. I hope you all like each other."
"This is going to be a long trip," I muttered. The maintenance cranes were starting to move away. "Where are we going, Lowell? And why?"
"The where is easy," Lowell said, moving behind me and taking the copilot's seat. "Drometheus." He produced a disk and slid it into the nav computer. "The why is going to take a bit more time."
"Then it will have to wait." I pulled on the headset. Our two hours were almost over. The last crane was finishing. "Talisen control," I spoke into the com, "Mui Shannon requesting clearance for takeoff."
"Clearance granted in fifteen minutes," control answered. "Priority vector nine."
I started warming the ship up, running the checks I could. Lowell tried to make himself useful. He pushed what I told him to. He didn't talk to me while I worked.
We got final clearance and lifted the ship away from Talisen. I got the ship settled on course and flipped on the autopilot. We had maybe ten minutes before reaching jump point.
"Let's start with an easy question," I said to Lowell. "Why the priority clearance? How did you rig that up?"
"Standing orders with Louvelloas Shipping," he said as he wiggled a finger in his ear.
I glanced at the others. Mart had his back to us, playing cards at the table with Beryn. I knew he was listening. I could feel his interest feeding my own. Beryn stared suspiciously at the back of Lowell's head.
"And?" I prodded.
Lowell pulled his finger out of his ear and studied the end.
"You want to get out and walk?"
"Still as prickly," he murmured and wiped his finger on his pants.
"I've got help pushing you out if you don't start talking. Straight answers, please."
He laughed, a bright happy sound. It wasn't the kind of laugh you'd expect from someone like Lowell. "I see Myriassima was as obtuse as usual. How much did she tell you?"
"Precious little that made any sense." I glanced at the controls. We were nearing jump point.
"This is going to get complicated in a hurry, then," Lowell said. "You got priority mainly because of the beacon you chose. Mui Shannon is code for immediate clearance and assistance from Louvelloas."
"So if I'd picked a different beacon," I began.
"You still would have gotten priority from Louvelloas. Maybe not as quick, but still within ten hours you would have been landed and back on your way. If you'd left the original beacon in, you'd be in Patrol custody now. The original beacon is flagged."
"I expected as much. We left Shamustel without permission. The port was in lockdown." The autopilot beeped and shut off. I took over, sending us through the jump point. We slid into hyperspace, the tiny ship rattling and shaking until we were clear of turbulence. I shut down the sublights. The lights were all still green.
"We're clear," Lowell said. "Talk, Dace."
"Let's make a deal, Lowell. I'll answer one question for every one you answer for me."
"You want the full explanation? I don't need to play games with you. I need your help. More than ever now."
I made the mistake of looking at him. His face was open, his need plain to read. He wasn't lying, he wasn't playing his usual charades. He was begging.
"Tell me what happened, from the time you met Mart," he said quietly. "And before you ask, I didn't plan it. I only realized what was happening when I got the incident report. Yes, I have your name flagged. Any Patrol file mentioning your name or your ship gets forwarded to me. I was hoping you'd stay clear of this mess, at least until you had my package."
"What package, Lowell?"
"Tell me what happened." He turned to look at the viewscreen, watching the rippling colors that only showed when traveling through hyperspace.
"Read the file. I summarized everything that happened and everything I know. Then I added every guess I could think of as well as the questions I haven't been able to answer."
He typed the command to retrieve the file. "Password?"
"First, tell me how Tayvis is doing. I haven't heard from him in months."
"He's been on assignment. Out of contact. I'm sorry, Dace. I haven't heard from him for six weeks now. I know he's alive and well. That's all I can tell you."
It wasn't what I wanted to hear. I wanted Lowell to hand me notes that he'd been keeping for me. I wanted Tayvis on the ship. I wasn't going to get what I wanted. Again. I spoke the password and let Lowell read the file.
"Are you going to tell me what's going on?" Beryn asked when I left the cockpit.
Mart looked up from the game. I felt him watch me, felt his eyes follow my every move as I swung up to the top bunk. I lay back and closed my eyes.
"You know what's going on, Beryn, as much as I do. Ask Mart how I met him if you haven't heard the story yet."
"I heard it. None of it makes sense. If Lowell's Patrol, why are we still running? How does he know about the beacons?"
"He's four feet away and he can hear everything you say," I said.
"I heard that," Lowell said, just to prove me right.
I rubbed my eyes with one hand. "As far as I know, his actual rank is High Commander. He doesn't normally let things like morals or laws get in the way of what he wants. He keeps trying to get me to work for him, I keep saying no, and he gets what he wants anyway."
"Jasyn said you hated him," Beryn said. "Why are we helping him now?"
"Because she is desperately in love with me," Lowell said. "She can't resist."
"I'll tell Tayvis you said that," I threatened. "Your rank won't stop him."
"He'll just laugh," Lowell said. The trouble was I liked Lowell as a person, I hated his job. I hated the way he kept tangling me in situations that forced me to become what I loathed.
I felt Mart withdraw emotionally. He knew Lowell potentially had the answers to who he was and where he came from and why his memories had been destroyed. He didn't know if he wanted the answers. Or maybe Mart was reacting to my mixed feelings about Lowell. Even when I tried, I wasn't certain which feelings originated with me and which were Mart's.
The cabin grew quiet. The only sounds were the deep vibrations of the engine and the sighing of the air vents. A card snapped occasionally as Beryn played solitaire while Mart watched. Lowell read the file, deep in thought. I lay still, practicing breathing relaxation techniques. They didn't help.
Lowell finished the file and leaned back in the chair, tilting his head as if the answers he sought were written on the ceiling panels.
"Why Drometheus?" Beryn asked.
"It's the only place I can get the information I need," Lowell said without turning around. "Since going back to Shamustel is out of the question. Too dangerous. The package there only contained part of what I need."
"Part of what you need for what?" I asked, rolling over to lean up on one elbow.
"Evidence," Lowell said. "I think there's more going on than I thought."
"You read the file," I said. "Fair play. Tell us what's going on, Lowell."
He swiveled the chair around. "I can't tell you everything, because I don't know everything. I only have guesses and hunches. What we find on Drometheus will either confirm those
hunches or not."
"So tell us, before I beat it out of you," I said, lying down on my belly.
"I'll do something worse," Beryn said, "I'll make you eat her cooking."
"A truly horrendous thought." Lowell slid out of the chair and stretched before sauntering the three steps necessary to join us. He settled on the bottom bunk. "What do you remember, Mart? From before you ran into Dace."
"Snatches, mostly," Mart said. "A stone wall, a meadow, children." I could feel his agitation rising as he talked. "Something terrible happened. I was running. They were after me. I can't remember who they are. I can't remember what happened."
"Can't or won't?" Lowell asked, his voice growing an edge.
"I can't," Mart said brokenly. "I've tried. I've torn myself up trying to remember. It isn't there anymore. Someone ripped holes in my mind."
"You did, Martin," Lowell said very softly.
He should have shot Mart, it would have hurt him less. It would have hurt me less.
"Why would I do that?" Mart said, pushing himself to his feet.
"Because you didn't want to face what you'd done," Lowell said.
"What did I do?" Mart demanded, biting off each word and leaning closer over Lowell.
"They say you were the one that betrayed Jericho. You gave someone the key to finding Jericho. You led them there and stood by while they attacked. The survivors, those who could, fled to a new location."
Mart froze, confused and hurt and beginning to remember. The walls in his mind broke apart. He gave a strangled sob and ran for the bathroom. I found myself on my feet, following him. I made an aborted gesture at the locked door. He didn't want me in there, he wanted privacy. I backed away, giving him as much as I could. I didn't know how to cut off the flow of emotion between us. I felt his pain as guilt swept through him.
"Very interesting," Lowell said behind me.
I turned slowly, my hands tightening into fists. Lowell stood at my shoulder, inches away. He watched me impassively, a spark of curiosity the only emotion I could read in his eyes.
"What did you do?" I hated him at that moment.
"Reminded him of the truth. He built the walls in his mind. The Hruissia'noru have been hunting him for three months. Interesting that Myriassima would still take you in and help you. When did you form the bond with him?"