Cortez gazed around, looking for Falconer. He wasn’t among the snoozing men. Baxtor, the cyborg he’d served with for years and contacted several weeks ago, was among the snoozing men. He didn’t appear wounded. None of them did.
Cortez’s wristcomp beeped. “Cortez, here.”
“Got an update for you, Captain,” Jerick drawled. “But I didn’t want to get in the way of your stealthy incursion. Is it safe to talk?”
Cortez turned a slow three-sixty, eyeing the unmoving bridge crew. “Go ahead.”
“I got away from my would-be jailers. Found the vent controls in the environmental control room—oh, and can I take this moment to say that it was extremely handy that you arranged for our old ship to be the one to be sent on this mission? So that I actually knew where the EC room was? Anyway, I found the vents and dumped in some of Skylar's goo. Didn’t think there’d be enough to affect the whole ship, so I sent it winging away to the bridge level. You might want to avoid going up there for a bit.”
Cortez gripped one of the seat backs, though he didn’t feel as weak now. He hoped he’d only caught the tail end as the stuff had dissipated. “Thanks for the warning. Do you know where she is?”
“No idea. She wasn’t in the brig.”
“I’ll check the conference room and my—the captain’s office.”
Cortez grunted at himself. Strange how easily it still was to think of it as his office. As if he belonged here, not back grading papers at the university.
But this wasn’t his ship anymore, at least not rightfully. If it became his, it would be through piracy and through the help of people who should have known better than to assist him. He patted Baxtor’s shoulder as he headed for the doors, knowing he’d been the one to convince Falconer to volunteer for this assignment. The sleeping lieutenant wouldn’t remember it.
“Pip, tie these folks up, all save Baxtor, and deliver them to the brig. Make sure to leave a couple of men on the bridge, so we can keep control of it.”
“Yes, sir, but we have a problem coming.” Pip pointed at the holographic displays in the air over the sensor station.
Cortez frowned. The three warships showed in the display. He hadn’t forgotten about that, of course, but he glanced at his wristcomp for the time. “Are they closer than they’re supposed to be?”
“Yes, sir. They boosted their speed, and they’re taking a more reckless path through the asteroids instead of flying outside the meat of the belt.”
“Meaning they know something is wrong.” Cortez looked at the sleeping officers—had one of them realized what was happening and gotten off a warning before falling unconscious?
“We technically have control of the ship now.” Pip waved at the helm controls. “Especially if Tek Tek has secured engineering. But…”
“We don’t have a pilot that’s awake.”
The man slumped in the pilot’s seat had drool dribbling down the side of his face. He didn’t look like he would wake up any time soon. Was there a counteragent to Skylar's drug? A stimulant?
It occurred to him that wherever Skylar was, her pilot friend likely was too. Did Keiko have experience flying something as large as a warship?
Cortez had wanted to drop off all the fleet soldiers at the prison and pick up the remaining cyborgs he hadn’t yet freed, before leaving in the Black Star, but he feared he wouldn’t get that time. He could always find a space station on the way out of Earth Colonial space and drop off any… prisoners. “Say it like it is,” he whispered to himself.
Pip frowned over at him.
“I’m going to find us a pilot. And a doctor. Keep me apprised on the situation.” Cortez waved at the warships as he jogged for the exit.
“What if one of their captains comms us?”
“Don’t answer. Just get all these people off the bridge and into the brig.”
He would have to send teams out to scour the rest of the ship too. Sooner or later, the soldiers on the other levels would realize something had happened.
“Just when I thought things were going well,” he whispered.
18
Skylar tapped a finger to her chin and pretended not to watch the guards out of the corner of her eye. She could feel the insulated padding she had wrapped around her four vials before tucking them into her bra. Since Falconer hadn’t thought to search her—or had assumed hostages wouldn’t have weapons of any kind—they were still there. She was waiting for an opportunity to stick her hand down her shirt and into her bra when the guards weren’t watching.
Belatedly, she realized it would have been easier if she had slipped the vials, or at least half of them, into her pocket. Then, she could have used the table to hide her movement as she extracted them. But she’d assumed she would be searched eventually. And she’d hoped the fleet searchers would prove less diligent than Jerick, who would have cheerfully turned her pat down into a strip search.
She would have minded then. Now, less so. Would Cortez allow a mock strip search later? She remembered him watching Jerick to make sure he didn’t do anything inappropriate. It amused her that he considered Jerick a friend but also seemed to play the role of Jerick’s keeper. No, that wasn’t fair. His commander. That was what Cortez was. And somehow, Skylar felt certain that as long as Cortez was a part of their relationship, she never needed to fear Jerick losing his temper or losing control, despite his past. He didn’t seem that quick to anger, but he had clearly lost his control at least once, or he wouldn’t have ended up in that asteroid.
Keiko looked at her.
They hadn’t spoken yet, though Skylar sensed that Keiko had questions aplenty. Skylar felt bad about keeping her in the dark and wished Keiko could be a trusted ally rather than a potential antagonist.
While she was watching, Skylar yawned, dragged her finger from her chin to her chest, tapped her shirt once, then brought her hand back up to her chin. The guards watched with bland uninterested expressions, but they did watch. Keiko’s chair was closer to them. If she arranged herself differently, she would block their view. But would she catch on?
Keiko dropped an elbow on the table and leaned her head against her hand, turning her back to the guards—and providing a screen. “If I’d known this flight would end up like this, I would have charged my buddy a fee when I agreed to take over his route.”
“Can you retroactively charge him?”
“I’m sure as hell going to try,” Keiko said.
Skylar scrunched down in her chair and dipped her hand down her shirt. She suspected the guards would find their movements suspicious, so she hurried, clasping one of the wrapped vials and drawing it out. She eased her hands under the table, resting them in her lap to slowly and quietly unwrap the package. It was a good thing there hadn’t been any tape in the armory. It was hard to unwrap the vials without making noise as it was.
One of the guards shifted farther along the wall so Skylar would be in his view. Keiko leaned back in her seat now that the item was under the table.
“So, are we prisoners, or what?” she asked, turning toward the guards.
The men looked at each other, then back at her.
“You’re not allowed to answer?” Keiko leaned her elbow on the table again, this time, facing them. “We’re innocent civilians here. All United Earth Colonies citizens. Not enemies.”
“Captain said to hold you here. That’s all I know.”
“What about you?” Keiko asked the quieter one. “You know any more?”
He shook his head.
Keiko rolled her eyes. “Ever feel like they kicked some of the best people out of the fleet and kept the morons in?”
That drew scowls from the guards, as well as some shuffling and glances at each other, as if they were asking each other permission to beat her into silence. Just a little.
“Hold your breath,” Skylar whispered, then ducked low to hide taking a huge breath of her own.
She tossed the glass vial under the table toward the men’s boots, throwing it hard enoug
h that she hoped it would break on the metal deck. If it didn’t, she planned to throw down the rest of the vials and jump up and down on them while the men were distracted.
Her makeshift projectile smashed against the table leg, never reaching the guards. Hell.
Had it broken? She leaned back in her chair to look.
The guard jerked his rifle toward her. “What was that?”
“There.” The other guard started forward. “She broke something. Shit, get out.” He jumped for the corridor, the door sliding open to let him escape.
The second guard hesitated, his rifle still trained on Skylar. She couldn’t speak without letting out her air, but she lifted her hands and attempted to appear innocent.
Already, her lungs demanded a breath. If the soldier didn’t leave soon—or pass out soon—she would end up inhaling the gas from her own concoction.
His eyes turned glassy. Skylar eased up from her chair, her hands still in the air. His rifle didn’t move to track her. He shook his head, took a step forward, then toppled sideways to the deck.
Keiko sprinted for the doorway. Her lungs had to be burning too.
Skylar longed to escape and take a giant breath, but she paused at the fallen guard and reached for his rifle. No, she didn’t want anything that deadly. He had a stunner on his belt so she snatched that off instead.
She leaped through the door as it automatically slid open for her, and she almost tripped over the other guard. He lay face-down less than a step away. Keiko stood at an intersection a dozen meters away, bent over and inhaling. She had also liberated a stunner.
Though Skylar wanted to gasp in air, too, she made herself run to the intersection first. She’d made the formula potent, and in the ideal scenario, that single vial could have knocked out everyone within fifty meters, but she’d heard the door whoosh shut and hoped not much gas had escaped the conference room.
“We all right here?” Keiko asked.
Voices came from the direction of the lift at the end of the corridor.
“No,” Skylar whispered, then sprinted down one of the side corridors.
The voices trailed after them, at least two men heading for that intersection. The corridor bent, following the outer curve of the ship, then stopped ahead of them at a dead end. A fire suppression emergency kit was mounted on the wall.
Cursing, Skylar backtracked and waved at the last door in the corridor. Keiko was right behind her. If those men turned this way, Skylar had more vials she could throw, but they would need to be unwrapped first.
Fortunately, the door opened. Without looking at the plaque, she lunged inside, hoping for some closet or empty crew cabin.
A man in uniform stood at a desk, speaking to the holographic image of another man. He turned as soon as Skylar burst in.
She fired the stunner a split second before he reached for a similar weapon on his belt. She didn’t recognize him until he was pitching forward, his eyes rolling back in his head.
“Uh,” Keiko said from the doorway. “Is that Captain Falconer?”
“Falconer?” the man in the holograph said. “What the hell happened? Are you all right?”
Skylar stayed where she was—it didn’t seem like the man on the other end of the comm call could see her from there. He also wore a uniform, and she thought she made out admiral’s rank braided into his collar lapels. It was probably whoever was leading this overall mission, someone comming from one of the other warships.
“Nice decorating,” Keiko muttered, stepping in far enough for the door to slide closed behind her.
Skylar realized this was the captain’s personal cabin, not some office. The walls were done in green, brown, and tan camouflage colors and covered in ancient weapons ranging from axes and swords to pre-Colonization Earth firearms. A massive Dragora bear head hung mounted over a bed that was covered by a comforter sporting a desert camouflage with a variety of whites and tans.
“Falconer?” the admiral repeated. “Shit.”
The transmission ended.
Keiko slumped against the wall. “If your plan was to get us both sent out to Antioch Asteroid once the government has reestablished its authority there, I believe you’ve succeeded.”
“He’s just stunned.”
“Oh, I’m sure that makes it fine. What do we do now? Wait for him to wake up so we can apologize?”
Skylar looked bleakly at the unconscious captain. “I don’t know. But… this is what Cortez and the others planned. Better he be stunned than hurt. I know Cortez didn’t want bloodshed.”
“He just wanted to steal a warship?”
“Technically, I think he wanted to trade us for a warship, but it seems the government or the fleet wasn’t amenable.”
“How do you know so much about what he wants?” Keiko asked.
Skylar hesitated. Keiko would find out sooner or later. Did it matter if it was sooner? Probably not, but they needed to find Cortez and let him know Falconer was out of the picture.
She turned for the door, waving for Keiko to lead the way out.
But Keiko crossed her arms and glared. She stood so that she blocked the way. “They didn’t make you create that sedative, did they?”
“I’ll explain later.”
“You’ll explain now,” a male voice came from behind her.
Skylar whirled with the stunner, but a hand clamped onto hers and tore it from her grip. Falconer stood before her, his hair mussed and his eyes flaming, and very conscious.
Keiko jumped around Skylar, lifting her own stunner, but Falconer whipped his hand up first, pointing a far deadlier weapon. An old revolver that matched one of the ones on the wall. The trigger was cocked, the weapon loaded, and he aimed it between Keiko’s eyes.
“Drop it,” he growled.
Skylar was skeptical that he would kill them, but Keiko was the one looking down the barrel of the gun. She dropped her stunner.
Falconer kicked it across the deck, and it disappeared into an open closet. Skylar hadn’t seen where hers went.
“I knew you were working with them,” Falconer growled. “Our surveillance footage caught you walking at that half-naked brute’s side.”
“I wasn’t working with them,” Keiko said.
“It’s true,” Skylar said, speaking in the hope of exonerating Keiko so she wouldn’t be blamed for any of this, and also to buy time so she could think of something to do. How could she convince Falconer to look away for a couple of seconds so she could dig out another of her vials? And how had he shaken off the stunner blast so easily? She’d hit him square in the chest. Maybe he had some kind of stunner-deflecting armor under his uniform. Had he only faked being affected? “Keiko didn’t know anything about it. I wasn’t working with them, either, not in the beginning. I was just sympathetic to what they’ve gone through.”
“They’re criminals, not victims. They chose to break the law. And damn Cortez is the worst. What he’s doing is nothing less than treason.”
Skylar didn’t think Cortez’s crime was as great as that, but Falconer’s revolver swung back toward her, and like Keiko, she read the grim determination in his face. If he were to shoot them in here, there wouldn’t be any witnesses. He could say he’d been defending himself and his ship. And in his eyes, that was exactly what he was doing.
Skylar lifted her hands. “I’m not arguing that what he’s doing is right, just that I can see why he was motivated to do it.”
The captain’s glower deepened. Expressing further sympathy for the cyborgs wasn’t going to get her anywhere.
“Do you need to comm your admiral back?” Skylar asked, figuring he would look away for a few seconds if he did so. “We didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“Sure you didn’t. Did he send you in here because he didn’t think I’d shoot girls? I never thought Cortez was that much of a coward.” Falconer twitched the revolver. “Turn around. I’m searching you, and then we’ll see if he’ll make an appearance to come get his pretty little helper. I assume he’
s aboard the ship, no matter what my cyborg engineer told me.”
Falconer growled deep in his throat, and Skylar sensed that he wanted to shoot someone and that he didn’t care much who it was right now.
With little choice but to obey, she turned to face the door. Keiko did the same thing, sending her a dirty look as she did.
Falconer pressed the muzzle of the revolver to the back of Skylar's head, keeping it still while he used his other hand to pat her down. Would he find the vials?
“You screw him while you were over there?” Falconer asked.
Skylar sucked in a startled breath. She hadn’t expected him to ask that and didn’t have a quick response. Beside her, Keiko’s eyebrows twitched, but she didn’t say anything.
“Just wondering how much of a bargaining chip I have in you two,” Falconer added. “That silence is interestingly telling.”
Pure dread crept into Skylar. She had already been alarmed at having that gun pressed to her skull, but the idea of Falconer using her as bait to lure Cortez into some snare… She didn’t want to be his downfall. But she could easily envision Falconer keeping that revolver pressed to her skull and forcing Cortez to surrender. Then Cortez, Jerick, and all the cyborgs who’d helped him would end up back in Antioch. Or worse.
Skylar closed her eyes, defeat shackling her heart.
19
Jerick ran through the ship’s corridors, a rifle in hand and blood spattered on his chest. It wasn’t his. He’d run into a soldier outside of the environmental control room, and the man hadn’t been amenable to a prisoner stepping inside.
Keeping Cortez’s wishes in mind, Jerick had avoided shooting the man, instead knocking him senseless with a rifle butt to the face. His nose broke, blood flying everywhere. Jerick resolved to find a stunner as soon as he could. That was a far more humane way to render someone unconscious.
When they had communicated, Cortez hadn’t told him to come help him search for the women—for Skylar—but Jerick hadn’t needed any urging. He flung himself into the first lift and ordered it to the bridge, barely noticing the man unconscious on the deck inside. He wasn’t sure that was his doing—he’d only sent the sedative to the top level of the ship. Maybe Cortez was knocking people out too. Or maybe Skylar was.
Unchained_ A science fiction romance adventure Page 21