Paladin

by Natalie Grey

  “We’ll be in touch,” Barnabas told her. He signed off and looked at Shinigami. “Where did you get off to?”

  “Researching planets.” It wasn’t a lie.

  “Any suggestions for your plan, then?”

  She dug hastily through her data banks. “Not 1027.478B. That one is pretty well known, and none of the shipping lanes go near it. He might have that as ambient knowledge. I’d suggest Waler’s Star. One of the planets there is just too inhospitable for any colonies to take root. If we make it seem like we have the technology and want to make sure no one tries to take it first…”

  “I’ll trust your judgment.” Barnabas nodded decisively. “Let’s get started, then.”

  9

  On the bridge of the Avaris, Lotar Venn frowned at the screen and punched a few keys. What he saw in the data couldn’t possibly be correct…could it? And it might be nothing, anyway. He had to be very, very sure of what he suspected before he brought anything to the admiral—and to Mr. Yennai.

  Lotar gulped. Koel Yennai was a legend. People said that when they made reports to him his face never changed. That it was impossible to know what he thought until you stopped talking and he began to ask questions.

  And if you didn’t have answers…

  That was a fast track to ruining your entire career. When Lotar had first been brought onboard the Avaris, everyone had hastened to assure him that he shouldn’t worry that he’d be executed for something like that. No, not for something like that.

  He’d found that to be the opposite of reassuring.

  “What did happen?” he had asked them finally, and they all looked at one another meaningfully. Your career was definitely finished if you wasted Mr. Yennai’s time. You got shuffled off…somewhere; no one knew exactly where. It wasn’t anywhere you wanted to go, though. One or two of them shared stories about bunkmates who’d committed that grave offense and managers and company officers who had failed to do their due diligence.

  Anyway, you had to be sure, they said. That was the point. Just be sure, if you were going to bring information to Mr. Yennai, that your research was unassailable and you’d drawn sound conclusions.

  Lotar had consequently spent the past six months absolutely terrified of finding anything that would mean he had to present a report. Now that he had, his palms were clammy, and he wondered if he could just pass the report to his managers and let them handle it.

  He’d do the research first, though. In his heart, Lotar was an academic. He loved to put together puzzles and draw pictures from scraps of information. He’d proven adept at all the tests they’d given him when he was interviewed to join the corporation—finding trade opportunities, noting market manipulation, and suggesting avenues for data collection.

  Now, this was live data, and he was doing everything in real time, and he was grinning as he punched the keys.

  Yes, someone had definitely manipulated data. They had tried to be clever, but he’d caught them. He added images and facts to the report. Which facts had been changed on which date? What other source might there be?

  Once or twice he made emphatic points, only to go back and revise them. If he wasn’t sure of something, he withheld it. He took comfort, as he always did, in the data. The patterns were there. Data, unlike people, didn’t lie. The data points were what they were.

  By the time he’d finished his report, he was finally feeling relaxed and happy. He flexed his fingers, smiled to himself, and spun in his chair—

  To see Koel Yennai watching him.

  The bottom dropped out of Lotar’s stomach. He froze, staring at the Torcellan patriarch in absolute terror.

  Then Koel smiled. “I watched you build the report,” he admitted. His voice was melodious. No one had ever mentioned that about him. “It’s a good one. You’ve drawn very reasonable conclusions, with a good balance between unfounded speculation, and over-caution. What is your name?”

  Lotar managed to close his mouth, but his mind was still a complete blank.

  What was his name? He only just managed to avoid looking at the nameplate on his desk.

  “Lotar Venn, Mr. Yennai.”

  “Lotar Venn.” Koel smiled, which transformed his face. For a moment, Lotar felt like he was the only person in the universe. “I am pleased to have you as one of my employees. Forward that report directly to me.”

  “But it’s not… I mean, of course, sir.” Lotar swallowed. “But I don’t have a final conclusion yet. I mean, I don’t know who’s doing this. It’s someone who has the technology to terraform a planet that no one else has been able to, and I have no idea who’s made an advance like that recently.”

  Koel smiled again, and this time the smile was chilling. “I believe I know just who is doing this. They’ve been spreading like a virus through many systems.”

  Lotar’s eyes were wide. “Who are they? The Jotuns?”

  “They’re part of it.” There was a distant rage in Koel’s eyes. “But the main instigators are a race called ‘humans.’ And now that we know where one of their colonies is...” He gave another cold smile. “We can make sure they understand the consequences of taking what is not theirs.”

  He swept away, and Lotar stared after him. With shaking fingers, he sent the report.

  He no longer wanted to, but he had to. What was about to happen to this colony was the inevitable result of angering Koel Yennai.

  Lotar wasn’t brave enough to risk that himself.

  Zinqued was whistling as he headed for the airlock. The Julentai had just docked at Virtue Station, and he was certain that he’d find more talent for his crew here.

  Then he stopped in the door of the airlock, frowning.

  Tik’ta was slumped against one wall, her shoulders hunched. She looked like she was trying not to throw up. When the automated alert let them know that docking was nearly complete, the look of nausea on her face only got more intense.

  “Are you all right?” Zinqued asked her cautiously.

  “I…will be.”

  “Are you sick?” He hung back. If she were sick, he’d have Chofal take care of her. In a crew with multiple species, it was best to make sure that diseases didn’t have a good vector.

  She gave a tired smile. “No, not like that. It’s just, now that we’re here… I remember what happened the last time I was here.”

  Zinqued realized what she must mean. “You never came back after the first time you encountered the Shinigami?”

  “No.” She shook her head. “Why would we? Nothing legitimate goes on here, and he told us we had to be doing legitimate things, and…” She closed her eyes. “Klafk’tin was an ass. Why do I care that he got killed? He deserved it.”

  Zinqued remembered the sea of dead bodies he’d seen in the Yennai Corporation headquarters. “I know what you mean, though. This guy is dangerous.” He smiled at Tik’ta as he stepped into the airlock and let it close behind him. “So’s the Yennai Corporation. That’s why we’re letting them battle to the death while we come in and pick up the stuff they leave behind.”

  She looked a little brighter at that. “That’s a good point. It’s a smart plan. We don’t have to pick a side, we just have to swoop in and get all the things they won’t be using anymore once they’re dead.”

  “Exactly,” Zinqued agreed.

  The alert announced that decontamination was complete, and the airlock opened into Virtue Station’s docking bay.

  “Should I keep the ship warmed up?” Chofal asked over the channel.

  “There shouldn’t be any need,” Zinqued told her. “Just stay put and be ready to run background checks on any names I give you. I’ll want to hire them immediately if I can.”

  “I’ll be ready.”

  Zinqued and Tik’ta forged their way into the docking bay. To Zinqued’s surprise, it was incredibly busy—and most of the people seemed to have suitcases and packing crates.

  “What the hell is going on?” he asked Tik’ta in an undertone.

  “I don�
�t know.”

  “They’re leaving,” Chofal reported. “The transports out are booked for the next week, and more transports are being called in. There are whispers that the Yennai Corporation is about to fall apart, and since they basically run this place…”

  Zinqued whistled and shook his head.

  People could be so stupid sometimes. After all, when something like the Yennai Corporation failed, there was chaos and a power vacuum—and that was the best time to turn a profit.

  He shouldn’t complain, though. The more people who decided to run, the fewer people he’d be competing with to find new employees.

  And now that he knew there was a panic, he was prepared to be bolder.

  “Let’s go to the main level.”

  “Us?” She looked down at her coveralls. “They’ll never let us into any of the banks.”

  “We don’t need to go in,” Zinqued said. “Not exactly. You’ll see when we get there.”

  Koel Yennai sat back in his desk chair and smiled. The new employee had done well. Koel had seen him a few times and had been told that he was expected to do good work, but in the chaos of the past few months, there hadn’t been much time for business as usual.

  It turned out they’d been correct about him, though. Lotar Venn had found something very impressive indeed.

  A small planet in orbit around Waler’s Star was being adapted for human settlement. There wasn’t much in the way of direct detail, just rumors and whispers. Lotar had successfully seen through all of it, though.

  Koel was reminded of himself when he was younger. He’d always been able to see patterns no one else could.

  And now he would put that skill to use, as he had so many times before, to stop his enemies in their tracks. When the humans saw the wreckage of their colony and thousands of their civilians dead…

  They would break and run.

  He opened a channel to the bridge. “Admiral Frist.”

  “Yes, Mr. Yennai?”

  “I’m sending you coordinates,” Koel told him. “Begin moving the fleet immediately.”

  The Brakalon at the door of the main bank was one of the biggest aliens Zinqued had ever seen. His skin was a deep bluish-green, and his eyes never stopped moving. He looked endlessly suspicious, not relaxing his vigilance even for the rich clients who swept past him in their jewels and expensive clothes. He seemed to hate them.

  He was perfect.

  Zinqued approached him, catching his eye and nodding decisively.

  “What do you want?” the Brakalon called, not sounding friendly in the least.

  “To offer you a job.” Zinqued stopped a few feet away. “You have time to talk?”

  “I’m on the job.” The Brakalon scoffed. But he looked inside the bank, where the rich clients were all shrieking that they needed their money at once, and his lip curled. He headed over to Zinqued a moment later. “Fucking idiots, the lot of them.”

  “There’s going to be a lot up for grabs if the Yennai Corporation falls apart,” Zinqued observed. “A lot of rich people abandoning a lot of property. A lot of places where anything we want could be ours. Of course, we’d need some good talent in case other people had the same idea.”

  The Brakalon started to smile. He nodded.

  “Yeah. You would. You’d need someone who could fight.” He looked at Tik’ta. “Doesn’t look like she can.”

  “Damned good pilot, though,” Zinqued replied equably. “And the best engineer I’ve seen. You’d be the fourth—you and anyone else you’d recommend.”

  The Brakalon thought this over, then smiled. “Yeah, I think I know some people. I’d get a cut for bringing them on, right?”

  “Of course.” Zinqued shook his hand and tried not to wince at the Brakalon’s bone-crushing grip. “Meet us at Bay 27. One hour.”

  “Will do.” The guard stepped back, talking into his communications unit in a low voice, and Zinqued turned to Tik’ta with a smile.

  “And we have some fighters.”

  She grinned at him. “Good. Because he’s right, I’m not one for the front lines.”

  “And I’d guess he can’t fly the ship,” Zinqued added with a laugh. “Doubt he could fit in the cockpit. We’re getting a good team together. We have a good shot at this.”

  10

  Lotar Venn had just about managed to recover from his last meeting with Koel Yennai when he was summoned to the patriarch’s staterooms.

  “I don’t think I can go,” he told Era, his closest friend on the ship.

  “You want to get thrown out an airlock?” She gave him a look, then rolled her eyes at his expression. “I’m kidding. God, you’d think you’d never been part of an organization with a trigger-happy megalomaniac at the helm.”

  Lotar looked around nervously to see if anyone else was listening.

  No one seemed to care.

  “It makes me nervous when you talk like that.”

  “Everything makes you nervous.” She flipped over a tile in her game and rolled her eyes again. “Go away, Venn. He’s moving the fleet, nothing’s stopped. He probably wants to promote you.”

  “That—”

  “Makes you nervous. Yes. We all know. Go away before someone punches you.”

  Lotar left and considered it a win that she’d said it instead of just punching him without giving a heads up first.

  Koel waited by a window that took up one whole wall of the apartment. It was so clear that Lotar had a feeling of vertigo. Staring into the black, it wasn’t like there were references that would show how big it was.

  But you knew. You knew when you looked at it.

  He gulped, said a quick prayer, and walked over to where Koel stood with his hands linked behind his back, staring at the fleet.

  “Mr. Yennai.” Lotar ducked his head as far as he could without making it a bow. He didn’t want to be a kiss-ass, but he didn’t want to piss Koel off either.

  Koel’s pale, cold features were arranged in a smile. He seemed deeply pleased with the state of things.

  “What do you think of the fleet?” he asked.

  “It’s a very nice fleet,” Lotar said automatically. Then his brain caught up with him, and he flushed. “I mean, ah, it’s nicely balanced. And these ships are the most advanced of any out there.”

  Koel gave a wry smile. “Perhaps.”

  “It could defeat any other fleet,” Lotar insisted.

  “I hope it will never have to,” Koel told him. He went to one of the couches and sat, gesturing for Lotar to join him. “Do you know, I have read the great philosophers and military strategists of every species, and they all say the same thing. To defeat an enemy on the field of battle means you have already failed. It is better to have your enemy surrender to you before your armies ever meet.”

  Lotar had never thought of that before. He perched on the edge of a couch and tried not to look too out of place.

  “But if you never use your army…” His voice trailed off, and he flushed. “My apologies, sir. I am clearly not a military strategist.”

  “Not yet,” Koel agreed. He picked up a tablet from the table beside him. “This tablet has the books I mentioned. I want you to read them, and then I want to discuss them with you.”

  Lotar took the tablet with wide eyes. “I… With me? Why?”

  “I see much of myself in you,” he declared finally as he surveyed the fleet. “The Yennai Corporation needs a future, Mr. Venn. Perhaps you will be that future. Who can say?”

  Lotar could not speak, he was so shocked. He hugged the tablet to his chest and ducked his head. “Thank you, Mr. Yennai.”

  “Now, come with me to see the pride of my fleet.” Koel stood and gestured for Lotar to follow him to the window.

  He pointed to a strange, almost hollow-looking ship. “You see her? She is one of my greatest achievements.”

  Lotar studied the ship. “Where are its weapons?”

  “You mean missiles, but it has none.” Koel smiled confidently. “Nonetheless,
that ship will be our victory, Mr. Venn. The schematics are also in your tablet, as is an inventory of the ship’s contents. Return tomorrow to tell me what you think.”

  “Yes, Mr. Yennai.”

  “The Yennai fleet is moving,” Shinigami reported. She had watched the communications of the fleet for days before the order had been sent. “Should I relay word to the Jotun high command?”

  Barnabas looked up from his book. “Use the personal channel Commander Jeqwar gave,” he instructed. “We’re still not sure where Koel has bugs in the Jotuns’ systems—unless they’ve gotten back to you on that.”

  “Not yet.” Shinigami’s avatar flickered into being. She sat at the pilot’s chair and positioned her hands over the controls, moving them as the ship began to turn.

  “A good illusion.” Barnabas smiled. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were flying the ship with those gestures, not from inside the computers.”

  “I could do it, too, if you would give me a body.”

  “For one thing, you’d need to pick a look and stick with it,” Barnabas said, amused. “For another…no. You don’t get a robotic body. That’s just asking for trouble.”

  “ADAM is getting one!”

  “Not yet. And I think it will be a mistake if he does. For one thing, you’d be pestering me to come on combat missions if you got a body.”

  Shinigami had to work hard not to smile. She didn’t want to let Barnabas see her satisfaction, because that would put him on his guard. But the fact was, in a few short weeks, she’d gotten him from a simple “no” to debating the idea on its own merits.

  And she really, really wanted her own body. She got to walk around the ship, but that was nothing compared to seeing all the places Barnabas went.

  When she looked through his eyes, it just wasn’t the same.

  She was determined to get him to agree to it. For now, she dropped the subject with a smile and went back to Koel. They could bond over how much they hated him.