Moire got up and extended her hand, and it was enveloped in a quick, powerful grip. “I’ll make the arrangements. I hope we can do business, Mr. Kostas.”
“Yeah, me too.” He shook his head ruefully. “Guess we’re both a little desperate, eh?”
Moire froze. “What do you mean?”
Kostas gave an offhand shrug. “You know we don’t got a lot a work coming in. And you,” he said with a bland face. “I hear you had a little trouble leaving Jessack. Didn’t wait for the release, took some of the dock with you when you left.”
I am never playing poker with this guy. I could lose a kidney. Kostas had a gleeful light in his eyes, watching her face.
“I don’t like people tossing explosives at my hatch. Scratches the paint,” she said, feeling reckless. Of course he knew. She should have thought of that. He would know everything that had happened there, including the chase and the shootout. No wonder he’d wanted to check her out. He knew he would be heading into trouble if he took the job on, but he still came. Very desperate, and willing to take a risk. Maybe this would work.
Kostas let loose a loud, sudden laugh, tilting his head back to enjoy it fully. “So it does. So it does,” he said, wiping his eyes and still chuckling. “Though it makes me wonder what you want us to build for you, Captain.”
“I think you’ll figure it out when you get there,” Moire said, escaping before he could ask her anything more.
¤ ¤ ¤
Ennis could tell something had happened when Moire returned to the bridge. Menehune and Kilberton stopped their low–voiced argument to glance at her, and the tension in their faces relaxed when she nodded without saying anything. Alan looked up from the circular that he’d been trying without much success to understand. Ennis just hoped Alan wouldn’t start asking for explanations, especially about what was going on in the titleplate.
Moire folded her arms and raised an eyebrow at them. “OK, now what?”
Ennis took the textsheet from Alan and handed it to her. “Somebody’s been busy. I’m not going to be able to buy a ticket back and survive the trip.”
“Damnation.” She skimmed the textsheet, shaking her head, then handed it back to him. “Yep, that’s Toren all right. Who else in the Fringe would have that kind of money? Or delicately insinuate that killing you would be a good thing?”
“What are we gonna do now?” Yolanda wanted to know. Moire collapsed in the realspace pilot’s chair, hands steepled in front of her face.
“Got too many things going on at once. How the hell are we going to get you back to Fleet without getting either or both of us shot?” she asked, slanting a glance at him. “I’m running out of ideas.”
“I think I may have one,” Ennis said slowly, looking at the circular. The articles all had bylines. If he couldn’t go himself he had to send a message. It would have to be carried by someone trusted, someone who could make sure it got to Pol Namur and Umbra without Toren hearing about it. Someone who wasn’t Fleet, but who had access to the heart of Fleet Intelligence. “If we can find Neville Harrington, he can tell them what’s going on.”
“The reporter?” Moire raised her eyebrows. “Why would they listen to him?”
“Fleet itself might not, but he knows someone in Fleet who will. Someone very, very interested in anything to do with the crabs.” And you, he didn’t add.
Moire frowned. “We still have the problem of finding him, also without getting shot. Do you know where he is?”
Ennis shook his head. “It’s a gamble, but that’s the only thing I can think of.” He hoped he was right about Harrington and Namur. It would be awkward otherwise.
“What’s this about crabs?” Yolanda said, straightening up and looking worried.
Moire sighed, closing her eyes. “We found a crab ship here. Oh yeah, and a crab survivor. Commander Ennis wants to get them both back to Fleet, for obvious reasons, and I said we’d help.”
Yolanda and Kilberton were staring at her in horror. “Alive? Is it…restrained?” Kilberton asked faintly.
“Crab ship? What crab ship?” Yolanda said, hands on her hips. “When did that show up?” She glared at Moire.
Moire gave her a weak, unconvincing smile. “It was already here when Ayesha got pulled in. Hasn’t moved since, so I thought it was dead like all the rest of the ships.”
Yolanda’s eyes narrowed. “Huh. Don’t you think we’d want to know about a whole shipload of crabs in the area?”
“There’s only one,” Ennis said, and Yolanda Menehune’s fierce gaze turned to him. “Something happened to the rest of the crew. We’ve been inside that ship. It’s empty. Even the crab doesn’t live in it.”
“Where does it live, then?” Kilberton asked, eyes darting about nervously as if the crab would show up at any moment.
“In Perwaty’s ship. Other survivor,” Ennis added, seeing their confusion. “Human. According to Perwaty, the crab has been helping him. They have also figured out a way to communicate.”
“I see.” Kilberton swallowed hard. “That is very important. We must find a way for you to bring this information to Fleet.”
“Is your comp scrambled?” Yolanda asked him, her voice shifting higher with emotion. “You forget about that?” She pointed at the textsheet on the console next to Moire.
“I have not forgotten,” Kilberton said quietly. Yolanda subsided, her forehead starting to crinkle with worry as she looked at him. “We must find a way.”
Moire stood up. “I suppose now is the time to tell the rest of the crew about it. We’re going to need to split up three ways. Gren and his team have to figure out how we can tow the crab ship. One ship has to go take Kost…our guest to Sequoyah, and another needs to start looking for this reporter. Dunkirk has a dropship, right?”
Kilberton nodded, looking stunned.
“OK. Dock to Raven. We’re going to have to figure out all the details. I just hope the crew doesn’t have a fit about the crab.”
“I’m going with you,” Alan announced, reaching for the circular again. Moire sighed, and nodded.
Kilberton took his place at the realspace controls, a determined look in his eyes. Moire went over to the far end of the bridge, tilting her head at Ennis to follow. He noted with apprehension the bemused expression he’d seen when she came on the bridge had changed to a look similar to the one she’d had on the crab ship. Potential trouble.
“So. What makes you think finding this reporter will be worth it?”
“After the…incident on Kulvar,” Ennis said, suddenly unable to meet her gaze. “When I reported in to Pol Namur in Intelligence, he already knew most of what had happened there. The only other person who knew, besides you, was Harrington. I don’t know how he got that information to Namur, but he did. More importantly, I suspect this line of communication is not known by the rest of Fleet.” Umbra was just enough outside Fleet hierarchy, and he knew Pol Namur was suspicious of Toren. It was the safest place they could send the information.
Moire rubbed her chin. “Hmm. We won’t be able to search for him ourselves—too dangerous. If we dock anywhere to send a message, somebody will be looking for you or me, and then there’s the chance of the message being intercepted. I suppose there’s Redline, but…” Her eyes brightened. “Hey. I know someplace we can show up and nobody will know. Bone!”
“No detection systems to speak of, and we can land on the surface.” Ennis nodded.
“It might be a bit slow, but it’ll be safer than anything else. We can ask Lorai for help.”
He smiled, remembering how suspicious the shuttle pilot had been when he and Harrington had been looking for Moire. “She’ll help you, anyway. Do you think she would go herself? She’d recognize Harrington; he was with me there.”
“I doubt it. She’s pretty busy flying freight. She could tell us who we could send, though.”
It was a good idea, and it would take time. He shouldn’t be so glad.
“This Namur guy. He’s the on
e who sent you to that outpost, isn’t he? Because of me?” She was looking at him with a trace of sadness. “Hope he appreciates what you’re doing now.” She put one hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry it worked out like this.”
He put his own over it, holding it even when she started to move away. “I’m not.” He turned her hand over, tracing her palm, remembering the blood. How terrified he had been. He must have been in love with her even then and just hadn’t known it
“No scars. You did a good job,” Moire said softly. Her fingers curled about his.
“We are docked, Captain,” Kilberton announced, and Moire turned away.
¤ ¤ ¤
At first Lorai thought the sound she heard was the comm, and she drowsily waited for the automessager to come on. Then the insistent, shrill noise cut through her foggy mind. That’s not the comm, Lorai realized, and woke up a little more. Now she could hear something pounding on a wall. Was somebody at the door?
It sounded like it was coming from the outside entrance. She was going to have to get up, then. Leaving people to freeze just wasn’t done on Bone. Muttering curses, she shoved open the bed door, swearing with energy when the cold air hit her face. “I’m gonna charge 'em for this. Waking people up at this hour ain’t kind or decent,” she said to herself sourly.
She pulled her work coat over her sleep gear and shuffled out of the office area to the hanger. The knocking was louder. “I’m coming, I’m coming!” she said under her breath. They weren’t in immediate danger of dying if they had enough energy to pound like that. “Don’t knock the place down.”
An unsuspected strut intercepted her shin, and she swore. She should turn the lights on, but then she’d see the stripped shell of the Beast lying there like a skeleton, and it was too damn depressing. Why didn’t these idiots use the comm in the doorway to call for help?
She frowned. Now that she thought about it, wasn’t that the broken comm she hadn’t bothered to fix because nobody ever used it?
Light shone through the viewpanel of the door. She peered through blearily, just to be on the safe side. She didn’t have much to steal now, but it would be real annoying to get shot.
There were two people in the space between the inside and outside doors. When they saw her, one of them pulled off her hood.
“Ohmygosh. Ren Roberts!”
Lorai fumbled with the door lock and latch, yanking it open.
“Come in already! Geez, give me a little warning next time, huh? How are ya, Alan?”
“I’m not Alan,” the man said, and pulled off his hood. Lorai stopped reaching for him and blinked. It was the guy who’d been looking for Ren last, the one who’d tricked the Toren ship into leaving.
“Looks like you found her,” Lorai observed, suddenly unsure what was going on and playing for time. Where had she put her gun?
He shook his head. “She found me.”
Roberts gripped her shoulder. “I’m sorry to wake you up like this, but we need your help. Hope you don’t have an early flight tomorrow.”
If only… “Nope, it’s all good. Come in and tell me all about it. How’d you get here? MagneTech ship?” Lorai asked, closing the door.
Ren tilted her head. “Got my own. Outside. We don’t want anybody to know we’re on Bone, which is why we waited until the middle of the night to knock on your door.” She smiled, but it was a tired smile.
“I think this calls for the good booze,” Lorai said cheerily, waving them into the office and slapping the heat sensor until it clicked on. Something wasn’t right. Ren looked stretched tight, strain in her eyes. But the guy…what was his name again? He didn’t look much happier.
She retrieved the good booze—what was left of it—from the data cabinet drawer it was hidden in and found three reasonably clean containers to drink it from. She shoved the pile of old textsheets, oily parts, and food wrappers on her desk unceremoniously to the floor. She could sort it out later—right now she had guests.
“So where is Alan, then?” she asked, pouring out.
Ren jerked her thumb upward. “In orbit. He wasn’t happy about being left; wanted to say hello.” She took a sip from her mug and coughed. “How is everybody?” she wheezed, eyes watering.
Lorai leaned her elbows on the desk, looking down at her own drink. So much for a nice happy chat. “Not so good. Guess you might not know about MagneTech coming in, huh? They found some big deposits near the Crystal Maze about a year ago—just after you left, in fact. Big enough MagneTech was interested, and once they got here they started taking in everything. Hardly any of the independent operations left any more. It’s not even like they’re trying to wipe us out; decent folks most of 'em. But they got their own shuttles, see? They run ships pretty regular to pick up the processed ore, and they ship what they need that way. Ayesha was the only ship that came regular before, and now…folks can order through them, too. Mammachandra ain’t selling much these days, at least not from the store. Some of the freelance miners already left Bone, or joined MagneTech. Hell, even old Gip Farouz can’t get much work. Got their own techs for that.”
Ren was looking miserable. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think, when Ayesha got wrecked. You guys depended on that, and I….”
“Ah, hell. We all knew that piece of crap was going to blow up some day and not come back. Nobody’s fault. MagneTech is the big change. If they weren’t here some other ship would’ve picked up the route, and we’d be fine.” Lorai took a gulp, almost draining her cup, and let the alcohol warm her brain. Damn, but this was a depressing story. “Nobody’s fault, but we’re still in trouble. If I hadn’t gotten some makework with the researchers in the Belt I would have gone out of business weeks ago.”
Ren looked up, suddenly intent. “Ever think about working off Bone?” she asked.
Lorai snorted. “Been thinking about nothing else, but if I did I’d be starting over from zero. All my money’s in those shuttles. Beast don’t even fly anymore. Can’t afford to fix it—in fact, been taking parts to fix the other one.”
“This would be temporary. You could come back if you want to, but I have another idea that might work. We need your help, Lorai.”
We? “Yeah, right. What can I do you can’t?”
“Find someone without being noticed,” the man said promptly.
“Ennis needs to get a message out,” Ren said, indicating him. “Toren’s hunting him too, now. Neither of us can go looking for this guy without attracting a lot of the wrong kind of attention.”
Lorai snorted, trying to disguise her sudden spurt of interest. “I ain’t a special agent. Who’d I be looking for? And how’d he know me from a used gasket?”
“You’ve met him,” Ennis said, with a quick, flashing grin. “He was with me.”
“What, that scruffy Englishman? The one with the nose?”
Ennis choked, covering his mouth with one hand. “His name is Neville Harrington, and he’s a wireservice reporter,” he said, when he could talk again. “I see you remember what he looks like. All you have to do is find him and give him a message.” He reached into an inside pocket and pulled out a datatab folder. “He’ll take care of the rest.”
It wasn’t like she had any other good choices, and now she was all curious. How could she resist? “Sounds like fun. I suppose you want him found soonest.”
“As soon as you can without detection.” Ennis hesitated. “This isn’t without risk, you understand. Toren has spread the report I’m a rampaging murderer, so don’t mention my name where people can hear.”
Lorai widened her eyes. He didn’t look like a rampaging murderer, and she didn’t think Ren would have him around if he was. “Don’t mean to be nosy, but where’d that come from?”
“I killed one of their agents,” Ennis said, looking grim. “The agent was planning to kill me, so I don’t have any regrets. That’s when she found me,” he said, pointing to Ren.
They had warned her, but it was still a shock. What was going on wor
th killing about? “What happens after I find this guy?” Lorai asked.
Ren smiled mysteriously. “I just happen to be in need of a shuttle pilot, especially one with her own shuttles. Of course, we’re pretty much guaranteed to be in the middle of a shooting war sometime soon, so you may not want the job.” She got up, fishing out a handful of credit chips and putting them on the desk.
Lorai picked one up and sucked in a deep breath. It was enough to fix the Beast and keep her fed and warm for over a month. Ennis handed her the folder and another, separate datatab.
“That has all the information I could think of that might help you find Harrington. Don’t let anybody get that folder.” He followed Ren out of the office.
“So where’s this war gonna take place?” Lorai asked, all innocent.
Ren looked amused. “That’s what the war’s about. I’ll tell you this much. You won’t have to change the name,” she said, tilting her head at the shuttle. “If you can, get out of Waylands without letting anybody know you’re leaving Bone.”
“How’m I gonna tell you I found Harrington?” Lorai asked when they reached the door.
Ren hesitated. “He’ll tell us. I’ll come back in a month or two and see if you still want the job.” She looked at Lorai and smiled. “I hope you do. It’s good to see you again.”
Lorai saw them out into the bitter cold outside and watched them run out to the shadow just visible in the darkness. She looked back at her shuttle and the lettering on the side that said “All–Planet Delivery.” The lettering she wouldn’t have to change. She was starting to get an idea what all the fuss was about.
Now there was a patch of light in the darkness. She went to the outside door viewport and scrubbed at the frost on the surface. There they were, in the cockpit of their ship. She could see their faces. Ennis was saying something to Ren. Ren leaned over him, smiling, and he tilted his head up to meet her kiss.
Lorai took a deep breath and backed away from the door. I dunno what was going on before, but looks like they got an understanding now. She grinned. “Glory hallelujah. All this and a war too. I can’t wait.”
Raven's Children Page 20