Galaxy's Way

by E. R. Paskey

“Look,” she said with a sigh, “I am tired of being kidnapped, drugged, tied up, and carted around the galaxy. I’d like to go home. The faster we do this, the faster we can all get back to our lives.”

  His wrinkled face split in a genuine smile. “I’ll drink to that, dearie.” He produced a comlink from somewhere‌—‌thin air, Anna suspected‌—‌and handed it to her in a courtly gesture that, for a split-second, made her wonder what he’d been like as a young man. I think I’d like to meet his wife.

  As she turned the comlink on, she raised her eyes to the old man’s. “What would you like me to tell him?”

  “I’m sure the two of you have a collection of code phrases, yes?” Lobai paused to raise an eyebrow at her. At Anna’s nod, he continued, “Tell your brother you managed to escape Thabati and you need him to come get you.”

  He gave her the login details for the vmail account she was to use, and then the comm codes for the Hand of Fate. Anna tapped out a brief message and looked up again. “Got it. Anything else?”

  “Nothing for now.”

  “Done. Now what?”

  Lobai’s grip tightened on the head of his cane. “Now we wait for him to respond. No sense risking anything else until he gets here, dearie.”

  “We’re just going to sit at the spaceport?”

  “Aye.”

  “Aren’t you — ” Anna stopped and cleared her throat, “aren’t you concerned about whoever hired Thabati finding us at the spaceport?”

  Lobai turned that wicked smile on her again. “They won’t know which one, dearie.” He tightened his grip on the head of his cane. “Can’t keep an eye on them all, y’see.”

  Anna bit the inside of her cheek, considering him dubiously. “Are you sure about that?” She fluttered a hand in the air. “They seem to have done a pretty bang-up job so far.”

  “Too many spaceports. Especially here, where people tend to keep an eye on the people keeping an eye on comings and goings.”

  Anna glanced out the window again. She shouldn’t have been surprised, and yet she was. “You’re using rich people’s paranoia to hide behind.”

  “You bet your boots I am.” His voice was soft and menacing, but very matter-of-fact. It was a strange juxtaposition; it reinforced Anna’s certainty that she never, ever wanted this man coming after her.

  Her fingers curled around the comlink in her hand. “This could delay our departure, depending on where Vik and the others land.”

  “Oh, no worries, dearie.” His eyes actually twinkled at her. “I’ve no doubt we’ll be hearing from your brother and Captain Dupree long before they’re actually close enough to land.”

  Chapter 36

  LOBAI, ANNA WAS FORCED TO admit several hours later, was not wrong.

  They had driven for another two hours, switching vehicles twice in the process, before they pulled into the parking lot of a non-distinct, comfortably middle-class hotel.

  “We’ll stay here until they arrive.” Lobai reached for the door handle, but paused when he realized Anna was staring at the building, nonplussed. “What?”

  “I’m already married.” It popped out before she could stop herself.

  “What?” Lobai repeated, amusement curling around the word.

  Anna turned wide eyes on him. “I meant, I’m not signing any more registries as anybody’s wife. Once was more than enough.”

  He was laughing at her now. Shaking his head slightly, the old man said, “Only on Plimus,” and opened his door. “For the purposes of our visit, dearie, consider yourself my daughter.”

  She raised an eyebrow at him. “You really don’t think anybody’s going to blink an eye?”

  “Look around. Think about where we are. Besides,” his sharp-toothed smile flashed at her over his shoulder, “let’s just say you take after your mother.”

  They had no issues checking in. Anna had no doubts Lobai’s identcard was forged, but his money was good, and even here that seemed to be enough. Still, she couldn’t shake an itchy feeling as his driver bolted the hotel room door behind them and took up a guard position.

  Lobai had introduced her‌—‌by first name only‌—‌but had failed to mention his driver’s name.

  This didn’t bother Anna any more than it would have usually; lack of information was in some cases less dangerous than the alternative.

  She sank down onto the edge of one of the double beds. It felt firm and springy beneath her body‌—‌quite unlike that rickety bed in Plimus. Colin flashed across her mind again, but she resolutely shoved him aside. “Why here?”

  “As opposed to where?” Lobai sank into a comfortable chair by the window and propped his bad leg up. “Some seedy little hole in the wall?”

  “Well, that or some high-class, swanky expensive place.”

  He laughed shortly. “Pardon the observation, Miss Anna, but you’re hardly dressed for the latter and I’m hardly dressed for the former.” He waved a beringed hand. “Besides, given my reputation, this isn’t exactly what anyone would expect.”

  He has me there. Anna started to open her mouth, but her borrowed comlink vibrated just then with an incoming vmail. Her heart leaped into her throat; her fingers trembled just a bit as she hastened to read it.

  On our way. Found Dupree.

  Equal parts relief and anticipation washed over her. They’re coming. They found him. She briefly shut her eyes.

  “Well?” Lobai’s voice‌—‌just this side of impatient‌—‌interrupted her reverie.

  “They’re on their way.”

  He held out a hand for the comlink; after only a second’s hesitation, she tossed it to him. The old man scanned the message before returning the device. “I’m glad they’re not bringing the Iliana.”

  Me too. Aloud, Anna said, “Indinara’s ship is supposed to be clean.” A frown creased her forehead. “Although, Thabati knew it was one of the two possible ships we had to sneak in.”

  “I wouldn’t worry about Thabati.”

  Something in the casual, self-satisfied way Lobai spoke sent chills down Anna’s spine. She wanted to ask‌—‌she recalled very clearly that he had said he was leaving Thabati and his first mate for their employers to deal with‌—‌but an innate sense of self-preservation told her she’d be much, much better off not knowing. She swallowed. “Should I tell them to message me again when they’re close?”

  “Aye.”

  The response came quickly‌—‌the Hand of Fate had stopped at a comm relay only a few hours away and Viktor would respond again when they were in-system and could access Ydris’s communications network. Anna relayed this to Lobai and then dropped the comlink onto the comforter beside her. The adrenaline rush from the events of the past few hours‌—‌or the past few minutes, actually getting a response from Vik and learning he had indeed rescued Colin, which was a huge weight off her mind‌—‌faded way, leaving her drained and fatigued.

  I’d love a nap, she thought wistfully. Just for a few minutes. Just to take the edge off so she wouldn’t be running on nothing but adrenaline later. Who knew what would happen? The sensible side of her knew it was highly impractical.

  As though reading her thoughts, Lobai said, “You’ve time for a nap, dearie.”

  Startled, Anna looked at him with wide eyes.

  His wrinkled features softened for a second. “You’ve got that same look about you my wife gets when she needs a little rest.” He flapped his fingers at her. “I’ve no use for you if you’re going to be cranky and intractable later on.”

  Well, that’s rich, coming from him, Anna thought with a flash of irritation, but it died as suddenly as it had arisen. She studied him, then dropped her eyes to the floor, acutely aware of the driver’s presence at the door. Did she dare go to sleep with both of them in the room?

  Slag it, she decided abruptly. If Lobai intended her harm, he could have done that when she was passed out from the knock-out gas. Without bothering to remove her boots‌—‌indeed, in these kinds of situation, it was always be
st to remain as fully dressed as possible in case one had to run‌—‌Anna sank back onto the bed and made herself comfortable.

  It took a little more work than usual, but she eventually managed to nod off.

  The comlink vibrating the bed jolted her to wakefulness some time later. She cracked both eyes open, automatically reaching for the device. Rubbing sleep from her eyes, she glanced at the readout. Then she looked up to find Lobai watching her. “They’ve just dropped in-system.”

  “Tell them to land in Lysa.”

  By the door, the driver stirred in his chair. In a deep, gravelly voice, he said, “That’s cutting it a little close, boss.”

  “We’ll make it.”

  Anna raised an eyebrow at Lobai. “Lysa?”

  “An hour from here, approximately.” He waved a hand. “Can’t take too many chances, y’see.”

  “No, I understand.” Her throat felt dry. “They’ll look too suspicious flying all over the place.” She jerked her chin toward the nameless driver. “He coming aboard too? Vik will want to know.”

  Lobai glanced at his driver. “Yes. He’s coming too.”

  He eyed Anna as though he expected her to kick up a fuss, but she only shrugged and sent one last message to her brother, before sitting up and sliding the comlink into her pocket. “I guess we’d better get going.”

  ~oOo~

  All the way to the Lysa Spaceport, Anna alternated between breathless anticipation and gut-wrenching apprehension. Anticipation because it meant she’d be reunited with Vik and Colin‌…‌and apprehension because she didn’t know how Colin was going to react to her basically abandoning him in an escape pod. For all she knew, that was the tipping point that would effectively snap him out of whatever crush he’d had on her lately.

  She wasn’t naive enough to think he hadn’t had a crush on her‌—‌no, she was pretty sure he did. The problem was she was afraid it didn’t run any deeper than that.

  They reached the Lysa Spaceport, and just before he opened the door, Lobai handed her a satchel. Her satchel, which she’d thought had been lost in the shuffle of being knocked out and transported to the warehouse. His dark, glittering eyes bored into hers. “Take good care of this, dearie,” he said lightly, his voice just barely audible. “I’ll be wanting it back once we’re aboard. My wife is depending on it.”

  Confusion washed over Anna‌—‌and then she felt the weight of the satchel in her hands and she understood. Her breath caught in her throat. He’s giving the bomb to me. Whatever he had in the back of the hovercar was a diversion‌—‌the real device lay tucked inside her brown leather satchel.

  Realizing Lobai was still waiting on a response, she nodded. She didn’t trust herself to speak. Instead, she looped the satchel’s strap around her neck, just as she had done a thousand and one times before, and stepped out of the car. The driver followed, after he pulled a large, heavy bag containing what Anna had thought was the device from the trunk.

  Together, the three of them made their way into the spaceport, which was virtually indistinguishable from the Zenca Spaceport where Thabati had landed. Which is simultaneously comforting and disturbing, Anna thought wryly. Comforting because it’s familiar, and disturbing because how in the galaxy are you supposed to figure out where you are if you never get a chance to actually read the signs?

  Her pocket vibrated with another incoming vmail; she pulled it out and scanned the readout. “They’ve landed. Berth DHF-664.”

  Lobai extended her the crook of his elbow, his other hand clasping his cane. “Let’s not keep them waiting, dearie.”

  They worked their way through the spaceport, a casual knot of travelers just like any other of the myriad groups of people coming and going. The back of Anna’s neck continued to prickle uncomfortably, however. The weight of the bomb felt massive against her side.

  She fought the urge to laugh hysterically. I’ve got a bomb that could take out half a planet in my satchel. Unbelievable.

  Lobai did an amazing job maintaining the charade as they trekked through the spaceport. Letting go of Anna, he took the ‘bomb’ from the driver and proceeded to wheel the suitcase himself. His driver protested‌—‌once‌—‌but Lobai hushed him with a look and indicated he should keep an eye on their surroundings.

  Which means, Anna surmised shrewdly, glancing sideways at the old man, you trust him, but not that much.

  Not as much as he trusts you, apparently, observed a dry voice in the back of her mind.

  Oh, yes, and didn’t that just send chills down her spine? Anna swallowed reflexively and curled the fingers of her flesh-and-blood hand a little tighter around the comlink. The fingers of her prosthetic hand were clamped securely around the satchel’s strap‌—‌a thief would have to take her hand off to pry it away from her.

  The comlink buzzed. She glanced at the readout and leaned closer to Lobai. “They’ve officially landed and they’re keeping an eye out for us.” She bit her lip, unsure if she should voice the question now thrumming loudly in her mind, but decided to go with it. If there was ever a time to ask, it’s now. “You never did tell me how we’re getting this thing through Customs.”

  One corner of his mouth quirked. “No, I did not.”

  “I know it’s covered in an alloy that will keep it from registering on scanners, but surely it can’t be that easy.”

  “We shall see, won’t we?”

  Anna waited a few seconds, but when it became clear Lobai had no intentions of elaborating further, she impatiently flicked the tail of her braid over her shoulder. Fine. Be that way. It was hard to keep her expression pleasant when she was suddenly mad enough to chew nails, but she managed. If I end up in prison because of this, I’ll kick your ass, old man.

  As it turned out, Customs, at least as far as the commercial freighter section was concerned, was almost the biggest joke she’d ever seen. They strolled through the huge doors leading into the berthing section quite at their ease and nobody even batted an eye. Anna wondered if Lobai somehow had leverage on a good number of people here, or if they really were just that laid-back about the possibility of somebody breezing through with, oh, say, a bomb in their satchel.

  “There’s our berth,” Lobai murmured, without moving his lips.

  Anna’s gaze skipped past him down the line of ships until she saw the numbers emblazoned on the cement floor. She didn’t recognize the Hand of Fate on sight‌—‌she didn’t know Indinara and his crew well enough for that‌—‌but it was the correct freighter class. Her heart skipped a beat and then resumed pounding in double-time.

  Any second now, she was going to see Colin again. See her brother again. Explain she had a bomb in her satchel, courtesy of Lobai, and that he wasn’t behind their problems in the way they thought he was.

  But mostly, she was going to see Colin again for the first time since he’d been stuffed into that escape pod.

  I hope he can forgive me.

  With fumbling fingers, she tapped out another message on the comlink. We’re here.

  As they approached the freighter, she saw that the landing ramp was down, but no one was standing guard. Apprehension threaded through the anticipation coursing through her. Shouldn’t somebody be there?

  Her comlink buzzed. Come in.

  Anna walked a little closer to Lobai, just long enough to say quietly, “We’re supposed to go right in.”

  “You’ll forgive me if I send you in first, dearie.”

  They locked eyes‌—‌and Anna realized for the first time just how desperate Lobai really was. He had to send her in just in case one of the Indinara’s crew had an itchy trigger finger‌…‌and she was carrying the bomb because nobody would expect it. She certainly hadn’t.

  Anna tried to convey she understood with her expression before she gave an airy shrug. “Understandable.”

  Breaking away from him, she marched toward the landing ramp with all the assurance of someone who actually belonged aboard it. Her brisk, confident stride belied the way her
heart was pounding in her chest. As she set foot on the metal landing ramp, she flashed a smile over her shoulder at Lobai and the driver. Just to make sure they were still following her.

  The cargo hold was dark compared to the bright, unforgiving lights of the spaceport outside‌—‌deliberately so. Anna felt the presence of other human beings before she saw them‌…‌or heard them. “Hi,” she said brightly, taking care to keep her hands where they could see them. “Thanks for coming.”

  Somebody made a strangled sound and then she heard footsteps pound across the deck toward her. By now, her eyes had adjusted to the dim light; she had just enough time to brace herself before Viktor pulled into a bear hug.

  It was all too brief; he immediately held her by the shoulders. “Where’s Lobai?”

  Anna tilted her head over her shoulder. She felt eyes burning into her, wanted to look around for Colin, wanted to scan the hold until she found him, but she forced herself to focus. Besides, she was more terrified, she realized suddenly, that he wasn’t there. “Waiting for me to give him the all-clear.” She raised an eyebrow at her brother. “I can give him the all-clear, right?”

  “By all means,” said a familiar voice, as Captain Indinara stepped up beside Viktor.

  “Good.” Still keeping her prosthetic fingers curled around her satchel’s strap, Anna stepped back over to the landing ramp and discreetly motioned for Lobai and his driver to join them.

  While she waited for them to make their way over to the ship and up the landing ramp, Anna casually glanced around the cargo hold, scanning faces. She saw several faces she knew and several she didn’t ‌…‌ but not the one she wanted most to set eyes on. Her heart sank all the way to her toes; a lump formed in her throat. He’s not here.

  Colin didn’t want to see her.

  Her heart felt like somebody had just unceremoniously scooped it out; she fought the urge to flatten a hand against her chest. The tension cording her muscles, the anticipation humming in her veins at the thought of being near him again ‌…‌ he apparently didn’t feel the same. Not anymore.

  Her eyes burned, but she stubbornly set her jaw. Galaxies, leave a man behind to save his life and he’ll never forgive you.