by Chris Reher
She ignored the tray of food he placed in front of her. “So what are you saying? That we were stolen from our parents? That they were killed so the Arawaj would have more spanners at some future time?”
“Pretty much.”
She got up from her chair to pace across the cabin where she leaned against the bulkhead, arms crossed. “Ridiculous! The people who raised us were kind. They taught us everything we know. They protected us.” Her voice shook as if on the edge of tears. “They would not lie to us!”
“I think they would,” he said gently. “Your cause, to some of them, is more important than anything. Even if that means stealing children.” A crime, he reminded himself, which had no equal among Delphians, whose birthrate had crashed long ago. “If your parents refused to cooperate they would not want to keep them around. So they raised you as their own and taught you what they thought you needed to know.”
“They murdered them?” she said. “They lied to us? All these years?”
He raised his hands. “I’m saying it’s possible. I just can’t believe that a whole clan of Delphians just decided to go and join the Arawaj in the Badlands.”
She shrugged, jutting her chin in stubborn denial of what she was hearing. “Maybe they had a reason.”
“You said there were seven children?”
“Yes. Us four on Velen Phar’s ships and three more girls working with Hariah’s outfit. That crew just got back from a long tour so they’re spending a summer on Tadonna.” She scowled at him. “At least they were there when we left a few weeks ago. Unless Hariah gets them off-planet, too, they’ll be captured by your Air Command friends.”
Seth came around the galley counter and gestured to her to join him in the cockpit. “Sit over there.”
She complied after a moment, sitting down by the com console. Seth prepared a long-range message packet while she watched. “That’s going to Magra? Who are you sending that to?”
“A friend. He’s going to help us get more information about you.”
Her eyes narrowed. “There is nothing your Union pals can say to convince me.”
“He’s not Union,” Seth said and activated an overhead camera. “He’s Delphian.”
“I thought Delphians didn’t like offworlders.”
“You just have to know how to talk to them politely.” He sat down beside her when the message began to record. “Hello, Caelyn. Yes, I know, I haven’t been around and only come knocking when I need something. I need something. Meet Ciela.” Seth looked at her expectantly.
She frowned briefly but then faced the camera. “Um, hello.”
“She’s having a bad day,” Seth explained. “She’s had a bit of a make-over but I’m sure by now you can tell she’s one of yours. I’m sending her profile. Take a look, will you, maybe ask some questions. There are six more like her but their names were probably changed. They are about to get traded to the Shri-Lan in exchange for fame and riches. I don’t know where or how, but at least I have this one. Air Command is tracking down the others. I’ll be in the area in a few weeks. Let me know if you’re around and I’ll drop by.” He completed the message packet by adding the Dutchman’s interpretation of Ciela’s DNA and then sent it on its journey through the jumpsite and then to Magra.
Ciela watched him for a while. “What’s this supposed to accomplish? What difference does it make how I got here? When your Air Command gets their hands on me I’ll end up having to work for them or rot in some jail until I agree.”
“That is likely.”
“Well, thanks for not lying to me.” She looked up at the inactive screens. Her skin seemed almost translucent and he saw dark shadows below her eyes.
“You’re exhausted. We’ll shove off and then you should get some sleep. This whole day has been terrible for you.”
She appeared not to have heard his advice. “What are you doing now?”
“Setting a course.” Seth signaled the station’s control tower and was given clearance to move into the flight lane above the moon. Although he directed the ship mostly through his neural interface, the displays before them charted their progress.
“That’s not the jumpsite.”
He nodded. “We’re not going that way.” The Dutchman separated with a shudder and drifted away from the docks.
“What do you mean?”
“You’re Delphian. That changes everything. In a very big way, in fact. We’re going to the keyhole. You will jump us to Delphi. I’m taking you home.”
She blinked, speechless for a few moments before replying. “Delphi’s not my home. They’ll want nothing to do with me.”
“Would you rather rot in some jail?” Seth leaned toward her and took both of her hands in his. She resisted only briefly. “Look, I haven’t known you very long but I have the feeling that not even Air Command can make you do anything you don’t want to do. You belong on Delphi or you should at least have a chance to see it. And to find out how you ended up on Tadonna. That won’t happen if I give you to Air Command. You’ll just disappear and your people, your real people, will never know I found you.”
She looked down at his hands. “So if being Delphian makes me so special, your Union people would still keep me? That’d be no better than rebels doing that.”
“Perhaps not keep you, but they’d want to, ah, deprogram you. Rehabilitation, they’d call it. Decompression. They’re very efficient and by the time they’re done you’re on someone’s crew on the other side of Trans-Targon. But they don’t understand Delphians. Nobody really does. Give your people a chance to meet you, first.”
She smiled sadly. “Not many choices before me, are there?”
“Not really. We have hours before we reach the keyhole. We’ll both try to get some sleep and you’ll spend some time learning about Delphi. I have lots of material in my database. You might actually like to… to visit there. Air Command has no influence on that planet. They have a small air field that they aren’t even allowed to leave it without Council’s permission. I can’t think of a safer place for you than Delphi.”
“Even though I’m Arawaj.”
“That has no meaning for them. You will find that out. All I’m asking is that you at least give it a look. I can send you to jail later if you don’t like it.”
She pulled her hands out of his grasp. “You’re right. I need some sleep. You can lock me up now or tie me up in the cargo bay or whatever you had in mind.” She stood up and wearily slouched into the main cabin. “I’ll read your stuff. Then we’ll see.”
* * *
Seth slept far longer than he meant to and when he finally crawled out of his bunk and checked their bearings he found the Dutchman already slowing its approach to the keyhole. A small convoy of freighters also headed this way but they were hours behind them. He yawned hugely and scrubbed his fingers through his hair on his way to Ciela’s cabin.
“You awake?” he said softly as he unlocked the door.
“Yes,” she replied from within, sounding not at all sleepy.
She sprawled comfortably on the bunk, holding a reading tablet in her hands. He noticed that she had made some attempt at cleaning the room by folding a chair out from the wall and piling things onto it.
He leaned against the door frame. “Find out anything good about those Delphians?”
She waved the data sheet in the air. “This is interesting stuff. Peculiar people. Why do they hate outsiders so much? And what’s with the hair?”
“A source of pride for them. They only have hair on their heads and down the spine, so they grow it as long as possible. At least the men do. And they don’t hate outsiders. They just don’t consider them worth interacting with.”
“Sounds kinda snooty.”
“Yep. But they have ways of training their minds that you really need to expose yourself to. Some of that takes years to learn and a lot of that you won’t find in that database. They don’t advertise their abilities.”
“Hmm, yeah. Some sort of telepathy. I kno
w that. We came across that when we were little. Miko and I can do it a bit. But it’s hard.”
“Not if you learn how to do it properly. It’s called a khamal. A state of mind. Actually they have quite a few very distinct states of mind. Amazing brains. Delphians aren’t hugely smarter than anyone else, but they have a gift for logical thinking. Incredible memories, too. There is a reason why you’re so good at hacking into places you shouldn’t. Don’t think I didn’t notice you playing with that lock.”
She stuck her tongue out at him.
“Imagine what you could do with that head of yours if you had a proper teacher. So have you decided to return to Delphi or are we jumping to Targon? You still have that option.”
“Not much of a choice! Either I end up enslaved by the damn Union or I get stuck in some backwater that doesn’t even need more navigators.”
He shrugged. “Maybe a long break to learn something new will do you some good.”
“Oh, you think they’ll cure me of my rebel ways?”
“Yes.” He turned to leave the room. “We’re almost at the keyhole. Time to get jumping.”
She joined him in the cockpit not long later, looking rested and, he realized not for the first time, quite pretty in that not-blue Delphian way. She had replaced that stubborn demeanor of yesterday with an expression of quiet confidence that he found much more appealing. It was also a little worrisome. Was she up to something?
He studied her curiously. “How’d they change your coloring? Can’t be permanent.”
She tapped a spot just below her ribs. “Got a patch that controls our pigmentation. I left everything I own on the Othani. I guess once this one wears out I’ll start sprouting blue hair again.”
“You’ll like it,” he said. “The hair on Delphian women is almost silvery. Very fetching.”
She shrugged. “I’m not here to be fetching.”
“Just making conversation, Ciela. So, are we going to Delphi?”
She nodded. “Yes. You are right. It’s stupid not to want to know more about my people. And it looks like Delphi is very beautiful. I’d like to see it.”
“It is. You may never want to set foot on another freighter again.” He gestured for her to attach a headset to her interface node. “Time to meet the Dutchman.” He entered the code to allow her access to the ship’s system, engaging only the navigational controls to let her reach for the keyhole. All command functions, com, and security systems remained locked to her and he grinned when she rolled her eyes at him.
“You don’t trust me?”
“Of course not.”
“But you’ll let me jump?”
“You don’t seem the suicidal sort.”
She grinned and turned her attention to the controls. He kept his eyes on the indicators, watching as she engaged the processors and outlined her intentions to reach the Ud Mrak sub-sector, the first leg of their journey to Delphi. “Easy jump,” she said. “This is a fine machine. It feels like it’s anticipating me. Impressive.” She closed her eyes. “Let’s go.”
He accelerated toward the keyhole coordinates and sent the ship’s energy stream to the aperture. It opened before them, soon large enough to allow entry.
“There it is,” she said after only a brief search. The Dutchman confirmed an exit not far from Mrak Four. From there a three day real-space journey would take them to the next keyhole to Magra and from there to Delphi.
Seth steeled himself, taking a deep breath for no particular reason as she guided the Dutchman into the breach, her mind now the only thing connecting this point in space with her chosen exit. The processors churned through their calculations, relying on her in the absence of pre-programmed charts. A fleeting sense of panic threatened to overwhelm him as their physical reality disappeared, leaving only their thoughts untethered in the vast nothing of subspace.
He gasped when only seconds later they emerged again, struggling to clear his mind to take over flight controls and steady the ship. He scanned the diagnostics panel for any alarms needing his attention and saw none. Once sure that the Dutchman was firmly back in his control, he tapped Ciela’s arm. “Hey, we’re here.”
She lay limply in her couch, slow to regain her senses. Even the most talented spanners paid the price of taking uncharted jumps and she would need rest to recover from this one. She waved a hand in a weak gesture to show that she heard him.
Seth turned back to the displays to set their course to the next keyhole. “What the…?” None of what he saw looked correct. He rubbed his eyes, thinking the jump had left him a little befuddled. He conferred with the navigator and then checked their bearings again. “Ciela, we’re not anywhere near Mrak!”
She did not open her eyes but her lips curled in a smile. “Oops,” she said.
Chapter Eight
“What the hell did you do?” Seth checked the Dutchman’s charts again, knowing perfectly well that the Mrak system wasn’t about to materialize anywhere within range.
“Jumped us to Tadonna.”
“Tadonna? How? This keyhole doesn’t have an exit to Tadonna.”
“None you know of.”
Indeed, his sensors reported Tadonna a few hours ahead of them now, part of a binary star system in a far-flung region of the Badlands. A remote, sparsely populated planet without even a jumpsite to make it accessible. “Why? What are we doing here?”
“This is my home. I’ve already lost three of my friends. I need to know what happened to the others. I don’t care about Delphi. These are my people and I can’t leave them. I won’t.”
“So you decide to just kidnap me?”
She smiled tiredly. “That’s what you did, isn’t it?”
Seth stared at his displays in disbelief. The Dutchman had absolutely reported a heading for Ud Mrak. Somehow she had reworked the entire set of calculations at the very last minute, when he was no longer able to monitor the change. He had flown with a good number of Delphians and none had ever displayed this talent. “You’re unbelievable.”
She pointed at herself. “Arawaj, remember? You don’t have any place to be right now, anyway. With any luck we’ll find Hariah’s crew and you’ll have three more spanners to arrest.”
He looked from her to the console and back again. As outrageous as this was, the whole things struck him as oddly amusing. She had neatly tricked him once again and, he had to admit, she was right. He had decided to trust a rebel and she took full advantage of it. He smiled ruefully. Without a stable jumpsite in this sub-sector he had no way back without her help, leaving him no choice but to head for Tadonna. “You’ve planned this all along?”
“Since you said you’ll let me jump, yeah.” She finally opened her eyes and sat up on her bench with some effort. “I need to lie down for a bit.” She came to her feet but did not immediately leave the cockpit. “I had to do this, Seth. These people are all I have. Miko is a brother to me. And he’s gone now. Maybe the others are also sold to the Shri-Lan by now but I have to know. I think you’re probably a decent man. I think you understand this.”
He watched her leave. “Ciela?”
“Hmm?” She peered back into the cockpit.
“You could have just asked.”
A long, peculiar moment seemed to spin out between them as she held his gaze until a small smile lit her face. She nodded and left to find sleep.
* * *
The silent hours drifted past Seth as unnoticed as the empty space between them and their destination. Time like this always meant either raucous music and hard exercise for him or a deep immersion in whatever studies currently held his interest. Today was a day for learning something about Tadonna and this peculiar band of rebels.
Seth loaded all available files about the sub-sector onto his screens and the holo display and dug through more recent updates about the planet’s politics. He had volumes of fairly new stuff that he hadn’t perused yet – he was sure he had seen something about Tadonna on the index. The only thing he knew until now was that it was hab
itable and not easily accessible.
The Union news archives held the most interesting bits. Indeed, the small local population, begun by settlers over three hundred years ago and since invaded by explorers, speculators and rebels, sought to make a deal with the Commonwealth in exchange for trade agreements and protection. Eventually, it would mean turning the keyhole he just travelled through into a stable and charted jumpsite to ease traffic in the area. Inclusion in the Commonwealth meant giving up complete control to Air Command in all matters concerning rebels or other enemies of the Union.
Seth stared at the slowly rotating hologram of the planet, lost in thought. Fleeing Tadonna ahead of Air Command’s arrival made sense. A small rebel hideout would be routed like a rat’s nest in a ballroom on this remote world. Rebels thrived far more easily on crowded, high-traffic planets, often right under the garrisons’ radar. But Velen Phar’s attempt to keep his spanners out of Shri-Lan hands seemed to have little to do with the imminent annexation of Tadonna into the Union.
Seth dug into his archives for Velen Phar and found nothing that he didn’t already know. Smuggler, wanted by Air Command for gunrunning, operating a crew that seemed to come and go very quickly to do their work. Working for his dinner, like so many Arawaj rebels, without any direct ties to terrorism or major calamities. And when faced with seeing his navigators go to the Shri-Lan, he had preferred to give them up to the Union. The Great Enemy.
Why not just set up shop elsewhere? Trans-Targon had a thousand corners where a good shipping company stood to make profit, legally or not. But someone had taken notice. Someone, Ivor Sebasta specifically, deemed these four a worthwhile trade for an alliance with the Shri-Lan rebel faction. But how could this possibly be worthwhile? Any allegiance was bound to splinter the Arawaj along bitter lines of ideology. Four, now three, spanners, even talented ones like Ciela, seemed a poor trade for more strife and confusion among the Union’s opposition.
Perhaps it was time for Ciela to hand over a few facts and figures. There had to be a way to get through her distrust for all things having to do with the Commonwealth which, of course, included him. He spent enough of his time among rebels, especially the Arawaj, to understand their views and to know that many objected to the inevitable violence carried out in the name of their cause. Velen Phar and his crew seemed to be among those or he would have shifted them to one of the Arawaj’s few battleships long ago.