“I think I counted about eight per bird,” Hawkins said.
Sara tapped into the ship’s surveillance for this bay. All the men were crouched around the craft, as if they’d been ordered to hold them at all costs.
“Your bird is closer.” And he had his gear on. “If you can get inside, you can cover me. There’s another one of these things a couple of yards from here, to the left. Fire while you run. These gomers confuse real easy.”
He got ready.
Sara crouched, ready to pop out. “Now.” She rose up just enough to clear the cabinet and fired repeatedly as Hawkins took off toward the next one. She kept firing until he was back under cover.
Then he popped up and fired, giving her time to join him. Sara ran for it, shooting as she went. Felt a few blasts sizzle past her. Had time to note they’d taken about half the Gadi guards out of the equation.
Odds were getting better.
“I count ten down,” Hawkins said, when she was beside him. “Probably more on the way.”
“Yeah.” Sara had shut down all the lifts, but he wouldn’t know that. “They’ll expect us to do the same thing again.”
She tapped into the video again. They were still trying to cover the birds, but now they’d formed a single line along the only access. She just stuck her hand out and fired about five times. Dropped a couple and scattered them. She pulled her arm in as a couple of them opened up on their position.
Even without the lifts, more of them would get here soon.
Sara looked at Hawkins. “What do you think? They’re going to flank us if we get pinned down here for much longer.”
“Let’s go for it,” Hawkins said. “Are we there yet?”
For a minute she didn’t know what he was talking about—
“Oh, right. No, this still isn’t the worst yet.” She wasn’t dead.
“Okay, on the count of three—”
He did the count and Sara jumped up, firing and running and dodging. She heard Hawkins curse and dived behind some kind of almost barrel looking thing. He was holding his leg, but he’d found cover. At least he wasn’t out cold.
Sara jumped up again and fired deliberately, making sure to hit each of the remaining guards in the chest. She ran back to Hawkins and helped him up. The bay doors tried to close, but Sara stopped them. On sensors, she could see the fighters turning back. Gaedon must have figured out she was messing with his head and recalled them.
“Can’t feel my damn leg.”
They reached his bird. She helped him get up and inside. Sara could tell they didn’t have long.
“Get the hell out of here,” she said. “I’ll be right behind you.”
She ran to her bird and scrambled into her zoombag in record time. Hawkins was already lifting off. She gave him a thumbs up, and he shot out into space.
Sara dropped into her seat, latching her harness, her hatch closing and her bird rising, even as she struggled to get her gear in order. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw men flooding into the bay.
She got her shields up. She didn’t want to fire on them unless she had to. Gaedon was being Delta Sierra—a dumb shit, but she didn’t want to kill anyone. She turned and targeted a spot in front of them, the barrel thing. It exploded, forcing the gomers to fall back. Sara turned around and floored it. Her bird shot out the hatch, and she made a hard right. On her HUD she could see Hawkins and the incoming Gadi ships.
They were racing to cut her off. It was clear they had no interest in Hawkins.
It was going to be a squeaker.
Her bird was faster, but they were closer.
“Make your hop, xray,” Sara ordered.
“I’ll hop when you do.”
They were going to cut her off—
Suddenly her HUD lit up with…friendly dots. Lots of little ones and a big one that her sniffer said was the Doolittle.
“Bravo Zulu! Perfect timing, home plate.” Sara did some victory bat turns from sheer relief.
“Hooyah!” Hawkins shouted.
The Gadi ships hit their space brakes and Sara was able to zip through the fighter screen, do another bat turn and take her place in the screen.
She mentally toggled the scrambler on the Doolittle, so the Gadi couldn’t monitor their communications.
“You two all right?” Halliwell asked.
“We’re both Sierra Hotel,” Sara said. “Sir, there’s a chance the situation isn’t completely gooned. If you want to try talking to them, the head gomer is Commander Gaedon of the Gadi Federation. He’s not a total Delta Sierra. And they can’t fire on you. All their systems are down. That should make them…reasonable.”
She was already working to restore those systems she’d gooned up—though their weapon systems could wait until Elvis had left the building.
There was a pause, as if Halliwell was thinking.
“Okay.” Another pause.
Sara undid the scramble just in time.
“Commander Gaedon, this is Colonel Steven Halliwell of the Earth ship, Doolittle. You appear to have had a…misunderstanding with my people. Would you care to discuss it before we start bumping heads?”
Sara could almost follow Gaedon’s thought processes. If he didn’t accept the olive branch, he had no chance of getting close to Sara. Or of finding out more about them.
On the other hand, he was a proud man, who had just been out witted by a girl. Would he climb down or would pride win?
“Colonel Halliwell, this is Commander Gaedon of the Gadi Federation.” His voice was calm, but Sara thought she heard a sigh in it.
So he was smart. Good to know.
Twelve
The fighter screen didn’t return to mom until she was back in position above Kikk. The Gadi would be sending a small delegation—in a small ship—to confer with them, in a few days. When they withdrew from Gadi space, Sara’s last act was to restore all the Gadi weapons systems.
She and Hawkins got to be first in the hawk circle, so she was already out of her bird and out of her zoombag when she saw Fyn clamber out of one of the ships.
Her heart leapt, then steadied. Just because he was back on the ship didn’t mean he was back in her life. He still had a wife down on Kikk. And Colonel Halliwell was waiting to debrief them. She only had time to meet his gaze, before she had to follow the Old Man out of the bay.
Outside his wardroom, Sara stopped, flushing a bit. “Can I hit the head first, sir?” She was way over due for a pee.
He looked amused, but nodded permission, signaling for Hawkins to go in with him. When Sara joined them, Hawkins was almost at the end of his report. Sara waited quietly and when he finished, Halliwell said, “Glad you made it back. Colonel Emerson wants you back on board the Patton a-sap.”
He saluted, giving Sara a look of regret before going out. Sara was glad to be alone with the Colonel. No way she could give her report in front of anyone.
“Have a seat, Donovan.” He looked at her for a long moment. “Bad luck the Gadi happened to be in the way of your hop.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Did they ever say what they were doing there?”
“No, sir.”
“I’m guessing he…made the same connections that the Dusan did?”
“That would be when it went south.”
“Who knew you’d have the face that would launch a thousand ships.”
Sara grinned a bit wryly. “I’m not getting delusions of prettiness, sir.”
His eyes widened a bit, he hesitated. “When I was picking crew for this expedition, I almost pulled you from the list.”
Sara didn’t know what to say. She had the most hours in a Dauntless. “Why, sir?”
“I knew we’d be gone a long time. No one likes to talk about it, but on a trip like this, in such close quarters, stuff happens. You’re not pretty, Donovan, you’ve got something…more.”
Sara jerked in surprise and arched her brows in disbelief.
“I watched you interact with your squadron and de
cided it would be all right. You’d found a way to fade into the background. But I remember thinking, if anyone ever noticed you, things could get interesting. I’m not thrilled to be right.”
“I don’t…know what to say. I—”
“You really didn’t know, did you? I thought you knew and just kept it down, but you didn’t know.”
She still didn’t know. She kind of shrugged.
He looked almost impatient. “Think about it. Miri started a war in this galaxy and you look like her.”
Now Sara knew what to say. “Who a person is, it isn’t just about how they look. It’s what inside them, sir. Maybe she was so special they didn’t notice she was homely.”
Sara knew she’d been a scientist, a smart one. The only skill Sara had, that she was sure was hers alone, was flying. All the other stuff came from the nanites.
He looked at her like he wanted to say more, but he just shook his head. “Let’s get to your report. You had some…lucky breaks after things went south. Their systems suddenly going down. Their weapons not working.”
Sara sighed. “It…wasn’t luck, sir.”
He blinked a few times. “I’d like to say I’m surprised, but some pretty weird ass things have happened around you recently.”
Sara flushed. “Yes, sir.”
“Was it the AI?”
“No, sir.”
He frowned. “Park it and explain it to me. Please.”
Sara parked it. “There are…things…about me...”
“Things?”
“Weird things.” Sara rubbed between her brows. “Like…I can heal, sir.”
“We all heal, Captain.”
She pulled up her sleeves and held out her unscarred wrists. “Not like I can heal.”
He grabbed one arm, then the other. Even with the weird things, he was looking at her like she was nuts.
“How is that possible?”
“My parents died before they could explain it to me.”
“Do you get sick? Colds?”
Sara shook her head. He looked almost annoyed by that.
“Sorry, sir.”
“Not even the flu?”
“No…I did die twice. And I do feel pain. If that helps…”
He kind of gave himself a shake. “Right. Okay. Let’s see…you grew up in foster care, didn’t you?”
Sara nodded. “It was…easy to hide it. I got…real good at it.”
“Is that all you had to hide?”
She shook her head again. “I also realized that I learned fast, really fast. When you’re already different, and hiding it, well, I learned to hide that, too. I got real good at staying in the middle of the curve. Getting enough wrong answers to not stand out.”
It wasn’t just about standing out, though. It felt wrong to get ahead on knowledge she didn’t earn. It felt like a cheat. The only time she’d used it was to get into the Air Force, to get through college faster, and then with great care. There was that big microscope she was always trying to avoid.
She looked down, realized her hands were tightly clenched and stretched the fingers out. Her chest hurt and her throat felt tight and dry.
“It wasn’t until I was in high school and had access to computers that I realized I could…interface with them.”
“Interface? I don’t understand…”
“I can connect to them, just by thinking, like I’m a wireless network or something.”
“You never told anyone and no one noticed?” He sounded winded and still a bit disbelieving.
“Evie, my last foster mother, she noticed the healing. But I never told her about the other thing.”
“Why not?”
Sara looked at him then. “I watched the Sci-fi channel. I saw what happened to people who didn’t fit in. I just wanted to be normal.” She looked down for a moment, then back up. “Foster care is a kind of…prison. I felt…powerless, out of control. Joining the Air Force helped me get my power back.”
“But you still…hid.”
She looked down again. “Yes, sir. By that time, it was as natural to me as breathing. This is the first time in my life I’ve told anyone what I can do.”
“That include Fyn?”
“I didn’t tell him anything. He did…notice that I healed. I hit my head pretty badly when I crashed. And I think he noticed I respond to alerts fast, but we’ve never talked about it. And he was with me when I fixed the shields during Adin’s attack with the Gadi ship.”
The Old Man’s eyes widened. “You did that?”
“I’m afraid so.”
“And you have no clue why you’re like this?”
“I didn’t.” She took a deep breath. “When I was exploring the city, just before, well, before the outpost…incident…I found this lab in that same building. From what I could tell, it was a nanite research lab. Microscopic computers. I think…that’s what’s in my blood. I think they heal me and help me do things.”
“You’re under the influence of these nanites?” His gaze narrowed sharply.
“No, sir. I control them. When I…killed myself, I stopped them from healing me. They just…extend my reach. And they give me information. Enhance my own abilities, I think.”
“So you are, somehow, connected to this Miri?”
“That was her lab, down in the city. And…I’ve learned more about her. I’ve been…connected to the city, but I couldn’t understand what it was trying to tell me.”
“And now you do?” He still looked a bit winded.
“I don’t know everything, but I do know that there was someone she…loved. She was pregnant. And I know she left because she didn’t love the Gadi man who wanted to marry her.”
“Left. How?”
“Through that portal. Something about folding or warping space. I don’t understand it. Even with the nanites, I’m no geek. I just…know that’s how she left. She came to Earth.”
“And the baby is your…what?”
Sara hesitated. “It’s me, sir.”
He jerked back. “That’s not possible.”
“If the Garradians could bend space, why couldn’t they have mastered time travel? Think about it. Could she leave this and go live in a past without any technology? Particularly if she had a baby on the way? And what better place to hide than in the future? She just didn’t plan on dying in a car accident.”
And she probably never figured on Sara wandering into her old galaxy.
“I can seriously say my mind is…boggled, Donovan.”
“I know, sir. I’m sorry.” She sighed again. “There’s more.”
“More?”
“My arrival here has…triggered something. Miri was the keeper of the key the Dusan and the Gadi both want.”
“So you have the key?”
“I am the key.”
“You’re the…key?”
She nodded. “The city has been…contacting me. It keeps asking me to turn the key.”
He blinked a few times. “And how are you supposed to do that?”
“I wish I knew. Ruby’s a bit cryptic.”
“Ruby?”
“That’s what I call it, the AI or whatever it is that contacts me.”
“The AI that defended this ship?”
Sara nodded. “It was Ruby who hijacked me that first time. And… helped me when I was on the outpost.”
“Did Ruby trigger the self-destruct?”
“No, sir. That was me. I did it before I died. Ruby must have modified it to a fake self-destruct. Since I was…dead.”
His eye looked like it twitched. Sara thought one of her eyes did, too. It was pretty weird.
He looked at her, his expression sober and worried.
She rubbed her face again. “There is a feeling of…urgency about it that worries me. I was talking to Hawkins last night and something he said made me wonder if turning the key wouldn’t…widen our view. If you look at the map of the outposts, they are woven into the entire galaxy. Maybe there is something out there that we nee
d to see.”
“You haven’t tried to turn the key?”
Sara shook her head. “No, sir. Not without talking to you about it. My first loyalty is to this ship and to you.”
“If I didn’t already know that, you’d be in the brig, Captain.” His voice was stern, but his eyes were worried. “You’ve had a lot to deal with.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I need…time to think about all this, Captain. And I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to ground you again.”
She bit her lip, but nodded. “I understand.”
“I don’t think you do. You were captured by the Gadi, who may have a better idea of how useful you could be than we do. You’re a damn fine pilot and I hate to lose you right now, but your value at the moment doesn’t lie in the cockpit of a Dauntless.”
Sara struggled for control. She had to bite her lips hard to keep them from trembling. If she couldn’t fly, she might as well die.
“I understand, sir,” Sara said, her voice wooden. “I’m a…useful freak.” She couldn’t look at him.
“Donovan.” The tone of his voice commanded her attention. “You trusted me enough to tell me this. Trust me to figure out the best thing to do about it.”
The knot in her chest eased some. “Yes, sir.”
“Don’t tell anyone, and I mean anyone, what you told me.”
She managed a wry smile. “That won’t be a problem sir.”
She started to leave.
“Donovan, what did you do to the Gadi systems?”
She grinned. “Just gooned them up a bit. I owed ‘em for shooting me with that freaking stun gun. Most of them are already back online. I did blow up their security system in their holding cells.”
He grinned. “You impressed the hell out of Hawkins.”
“It wasn’t all me, sir. He pulled his weight and then some.”
He nodded. “Write a report, leaving out the FM parts, and send it to me. Dismissed.”
“Thank you, sir.” With a lighter heart, Sara snapped off a salute, turned and left.
It was scary, but also a bit of relief. A burden shared and all that.
The Key Page 26