Jewel

by Veronica Tower

  “Whew,” Jester breathed before wiping the sweat off his forehead. “That’s the last of them this trip?”

  “That’s right,” Jewel told him. “You’d better get these back to Snója. We’ll see you in a few hours.”

  Jester waved good-naturedly and spun Huninn about. Fortunately, he didn’t make another joke about Erik.

  Falco looked around, her mouth twisting like she was about to start complaining.

  Jewel moved to preempt that as well. “You really did a good job out there, Meg. I’m very impressed at how you’re handling all of this responsibility. I want you to know that I’m going to talk with Erik and Ana about this, and we’re going to recommend that Captain Kiara promote you.”

  Falco’s mouth opened and closed reflexively before she said, “Really? You really mean it?”

  “Of course, I do,” Jewel assured her. “And if I have my way about it—”

  Luxora, Spy whispered in her brain. We have a problem.

  Just a moment, Jewel told it.

  “And if I have my way about it,” she continued to Falco, “we’ll get that promotion in during this voyage so you get the benefit of it on this armenium salvage.”

  A grin split Falco’s face from ear to ear. “You mean it?” The smile faltered. “The captain’s not going to want to do anything that hurts her profit.”

  Luxora, Spy whispered.

  Jewel ignored it. “This won’t affect the captain’s profits one way or the other, so you don’t have to worry about that. Trust me. It’s not going to be hard to get Ana onboard, and together I’m sure we can convince Erik.”

  The smile returned. “Thanks, Aurora, you’re all right.”

  Jewel grinned at her. “You deserve it, Meg. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some work to get back to in the cabin.”

  She turned away from Falco as Spy spoke in her head again. Jewel, we have a problem.

  You mean we have another problem, Jewel corrected her. Then the form of her bioware’s address filtered into her active consciousness. What’s wrong, Spy? You never call me Jewel.

  I have found the information you requested locked in the secured files of the Chief Engineer on Brynhild Station, Spy reported. It is highly dangerous. I would not report it to you if you had not given me explicit instructions to do so.

  This really didn’t sound good, but Jewel didn’t have the sort of personality that allowed her to hide from bad news. How bad?

  Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Falco looking at her, a peculiar expression on her face. Jewel realized she had stopped walking and that Falco had noticed. She was an observant woman who, despite her attitude problems, had never been lazy. She’d picked up on a lot of the moments when Jewel was talking to Spy and she, together with Ana Yang of all people, had expressed concern that she kept spacing out. Ana thought Jewel was sick, but Falco—Jewel didn’t know what Falco was thinking.

  Jewel hurried along to the cabin both to get out of the weather and to escape Falco’s gaze while Spy continued its report. If this news were leaked to the general populace, it has the potential to break the armenite monopoly on armenium production.

  “Wow!” Jewel gasped.

  The comfortable helmsman’s chair pivoted around, revealing Ana Yang, who’d evidently been reading off the slate in her hands.

  Embarrassed, and still wanting to cover Spy’s existence, Jewel filled in a few unrelated words that were still believable considering the wintry weather. “It is really cold out there.”

  “It sure is,” Ana agreed in more or less friendly tones. “I was just looking at the weather forecasts, now that we can access Brynhild Station’s satellite network. It looks like we’ve got a blizzard coming three or four days out at best.”

  “And I thought that’s what we called the wind and snow we’ve been having,” Jewel joked.

  “No,” Ana informed her. The expression on her face was frighteningly serious. “We’ve been experiencing relatively minor storms. This will be like a hurricane by comparison.”

  “Oh, that’s just great,” Jewel complained.

  She slipped out of her gloves and coat, careful of her injured hands, and sat down on the far side of the little cabin. At least her palms weren’t bleeding, but the wounds in her flesh hadn’t healed cleanly and antibiotics didn’t seem to be counteracting the infection. But that wasn’t important now. She needed to learn what Spy had to say. She picked up her slate so she could pretend to study it and sank back in her chair. Go ahead, Spy.

  It gets worse, the bioware informed her. It was an interesting statement because Jewel was in no way convinced that breaking the Armenite monopoly on FTL fuel would be a bad thing for the galaxy—at least if they could do it without starting a war.

  If you or a member of your family were identified as the source of this leaked information, it would certainly lead to a total severing of all ties between your family and the Armenite House of Delling—and quite possibly war between the Armenite Hegemony and the Cartel Worlds.

  That was actually tempting to Jewel on some levels—a way to potentially keep her parents in check if they should ever catch her again. Of course, it wouldn’t be that simple. If it came to that sort of threat, the most likely response from her parents would be to kidnap her and stick her in an insane asylum to keep her quiet. What she said was, Does this mean the Ymirians did come here searching for armenium and you have discovered the factors that led them to this system?

  Affirmative.

  How did they do it? she asked Spy.

  I have a request to make of you first, Spy answered.

  This was very unusual, and it made Jewel uneasy. A request?

  I would like you to tell me clearly how much time passed between my deactivation and my reboot on the Euripides.

  Void! That was not good. Spy was really on to her.

  I’m waiting, Spy reminded her.

  Jewel didn’t know what to say. She had to think of something that was both truthful and that wouldn’t alert Spy to the full reality of her situation. I’m not certain. It was a significant amount of time. Truth to tell, I enjoyed not having you looking over my shoulder every moment.

  You purposely did not immediately reactivate me after I was shut down?

  It was very important to Jewel’s future that she keep Spy from asking certain questions. She couldn’t successfully lie to the bioware, so she needed to misdirect it. That’s correct. Are you really surprised?

  Spy chose another, even more dangerous line of questioning. Jewel suspected that the system’s programmers had never really imagined someone would purposely shut down the system. It was simply too useful and shutting it down was very dangerous. But Spy was smart for a computer and it appeared to be coming close to recognizing what had happened. Precisely what were your parents’ instructions?

  Ana was looking at Jewel peculiarly, but she couldn’t deal with the engineer now. I don’t know, she told Spy, I’ve already told you that they didn’t give me the instructions directly.

  No, you implied that you were getting your instructions from me. I have not, however, been able to devise a scenario in which it is reasonable to assume that your parents would send you into the Fringe on a tramp freighter without chaperones.

  Jewel could feel the last vestiges of her control over the bioware slipping away. She had never intended to leave it up and running this long. She hadn’t anticipated being off the Euripides and away from her cabin for several weeks. On some level she was surprised that it had taken Spy this long to begin asking these questions.

  She made one more effort to salvage matters. Spy, do you really think that uncovering a non-Armenite source of armenium is not important enough to require the personal attention of a member of the Khaba Cartel?

  Spy was not deterred. The personal attention of a credible member of the Cartel, perhaps, but of a minor member whose marriage is critical to continuing the supply of legitimate aremenium—that seems most unlikely. What did I tell you about your pare
nts’ instructions?

  Jewel hesitated. How could she answer that question without lying? What could she say to convince Spy this was a legitimate activity?

  Your hesitations confirm my suspicions, Spy reported. I must proceed on the assumption that you are not stationed on the Euripides with the knowledge and approval of your parents. I must proceed on the assumption that you are voluntarily engaged in activities that could sever your cartel’s relationship with the Armenite House of Delling.

  Jewel knew that she had blown it with Spy, but there was nothing left to do but play out her hand. If she could keep the bioware talking, perhaps she could still work her way out of this problem. If not, she would have to grit it out until she could get back on the Euripides and use the lamp in her cabin to electrocute herself and shut down the chip. Run a self-diagnostic, Jewel ordered the bioware. Your programming may have been damaged when your operations were disrupted. Can you even calculate a way in which I could have come to be on this ship without the active help of you and my parents?

  She waited for several seconds, but the bioware didn’t answer.

  Ana continued to stare at her, adding to Jewel’s unease.

  Spy? she asked. Are you there?

  The bioware continued to greet her queries with silence—something it had never done before.

  Jewel sank deeper into her chair. The only thing that could make this day worse was for Erik to arrive and propose marriage, setting both Ana and Spy even more firmly against her.

  Chapter Eleven

  Two days later, the sea rumbled and groaned beneath the Tanngrisnir, standing the boat up on its end before dropping it down hard again.

  “What in the Void?” Ana screamed as she slid off her feet and slammed into the port side gunnel.

  The pyramid of ore-filled packing crates creaked, groaned and toppled over onto the center of the deck with several of the containers bouncing over the side of the Tanngrisnir and into the sea.

  Jewel saw it all happen from inside the cabin and ran out onto the deck amid the crazily sliding cases. “Ana!” she shouted. “Ana!”

  Dazed, Ana tried to get to her feet as a cargo unit slid up against her, crushing her against the gunnel.

  The engineer screamed in pain.

  Jewel grabbed the cargo unit by the straps on its side and hauled back against it despite the pain from the poorly healing cuts in her hands. Adrenaline, Spy, I need adrenaline!

  Spy didn’t answer her—Jewel hadn’t heard a peep from the bioware for two days—but the cargo unit slid away from Ana so perhaps the program was doing its job despite giving her the silent treatment.

  As the unit slid backward, Ana collapsed limply onto the deck. Jewel stepped in, scooped her up despite the risk of internal injury and started to hurry with her back to the relative safety of the cabin.

  Out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of another human shape hanging over the rear of the boat, dangling in the sea. “Oh Stars…” she whispered.

  “Ohhh,” Ana moaned.

  Jewel began to panic. Running as fast as her legs could carry her with an adult woman in her arms, she darted back into the cabin and spilled the engineer unceremoniously into a chair.

  Ana screamed but Jewel had no time to spare for her.

  She sprinted back out onto the deck, dodged another sliding cargo case and clambered up onto a second as she struggled toward the back of the boat. It was dark and the heavy snowfall further obstructed her vision but she thought Falco was struggling to hold on to the gunnel. There was no sign at all of Arico.

  Jewel leapt off the cargo container and sprinted to Falco’s side. She dangled over the edge, her feet knocked about by waves in the rolling seas. Jewel grabbed her by the coat around the shoulders and struggled to haul her back on board while five-hundred-pound cargo containers continued to shift chaotically back and forth on the deck behind her.

  Help me, Spy! She pleaded, but the bioware remained silent in her head.

  She tried again. Please, help me. When that didn’t work she added a concession she had never made before. Sapphire, please!

  Using the program’s preferred name also failed to provoke a response. Jewel was on her own.

  Another of the loose cargo containers slid up beside Jewel and crashed against the rear gunnel, breaking the low wall and spilling over into the sea. Matters were quickly progressing from tragic accident territory into utter disaster as Jewel again tried to haul Falco up onto the deck. The wind raced past her ears and the waves crashed like thunder against the side of the boat, but Jewel could still hear Falco screaming that she didn’t want to die.

  Her com unit began to beep but she couldn’t spare any attention for it right now. Falco was shivering too much to help Jewel get her back onto the Tanngrisner and Jewel was afraid she was going to lose her to the sea. She gritted her teeth, braced her feet and hauled up and back, wrenching Falco toward her with all of her strength. Falco’s coat caught on the gunnel for a moment, then both women were falling backward onto the deck in a sprawling tangle of arms and legs.

  The boat lifted and dropped again—not like the first near vertical splat—but sufficiently to send more cargo containers sprawling in their direction. Jewel rolled with Falco, trying to pull them out of the way. She was only partially successful, and one of the units clipped her hip hard, making her cry out in pain.

  Falco was still worse than useless, shivering uncontrollably in a ball, probably suffering from hypothermia from her dip in the freezing waters. Jewel had to get her to safety, then had to do something about all of these cargo containers.

  Her com continued to signal for her attention.

  She laboriously got to her feet despite the scream of protest in her hip and hauled Falco up beside her. It wasn’t easy steering the other woman to the cabin, but Jewel got her inside the door where the air was warmer. Ana Yang had pulled herself together. Cradling her right arm against her chest as if it were broken, she held her com unit in her left hand and shouted to be heard over the storm. “No, I can’t get them on the com! Lost contact means I’ve lost contact!”

  Jewel dropped Falco into the other chair and turned the heat in the cabin up full blast. Then she started helping Falco out of her wet coat. “What are you talking about, Ana?”

  Outside, the loose cargo units slammed against the cabin wall, making the whole structure shudder.

  “We’ve lost all contact with Jörmungadr II down below,” Yang told her. “And we’ve rained at least three dozen cargo units down on their heads which will probably start hitting them any moment now.”

  “And who are you talking to?” Jewel asked.

  “It’s Erik,” Yang said. “Here, let me switch this to conference.”

  “Are you all right, Jewel?” Erik asked. “Ana said you were out among the shifting cargo crates.”

  “I’m fine,” Jewel assured him. “I pulled Falco out of the water, but I’ve got to get out there again. I saw no sign of Arico.”

  “I’m afraid we may have an even more serious problem,” Erik said. “We just got word from the Euripides. They’ve detected a slide-translation about twelve light hours out from this moon. Captain Kiara is still refining her data, but it looks like three ships—a light cruiser and two destroyers. With our luck, they’re going to be Armenite.”

  He paused for a moment to let the bad news penetrate, then shot them with the other pulsar barrel. “The captain has already decided to make a run for it. We’re on our own.”

  Shock threatened to overwhelm Jewel. If the Armenites were here, they would catch her and expose her role in recovering this raw armenium. The future of her parents’ cartel was in jeopardy. For a terrible moment, the reality of the numerous bad choices Jewel had made to get herself into these circumstances came crashing down upon her. I really blew it! Maybe Mother and Father were right. I’ve messed up everything.

  Then a very strange thing happened deep inside her. She saw every terrible possibility that her short-sighted selfis
hness threatened to bring about, yet she found the strength to act anyway. “All right then, so that’s the bad news,” she told Erik and Ana. “Now what are we going to do about it?”

  Ana turned on her as if she thought that Jewel had lost her mind. “Do about it? We’re stranded here! Euripides is running! And even if she weren’t, we’re just a tramp freighter. We aren’t equipped to handle the Armenites! No one is. We’re done!”

  “We aren’t done if we use our heads,” Jewel told her. “Those ships are still twelve light hours out and they’re going to waste time going after Euripides. We have a small window of opportunity, people. So let’s use it.”

  Erik stepped up and supported her. “What do you have in mind, Jewel?”

  “Here are our priorities,” Jewel told them as she started ticking them off on her fingers. “First you get Jester up to the Genesis with orders to prep that ship for flight.”

  “Jester?” Erik asked. Despite his clear intention to be supportive, he could not keep the sound of incredulity out of his voice.

  “Yes, Jester!” Jewel affirmed. “He’s the one who has schematics on his slate for just about every colonizer and support ship ever built. He’s the one who recognized the Meteorite and turned out to know how to drive the boats down here. And he’s the one who spent his whole childhood dreaming of taking colonizers to the stars. Are you really telling me you don’t think he knows enough to get that ship warmed up now that we have access to their computers?”

  “She’s right, Exec. I can do this,” Jester’s voice cut into the com. He seemed more excited at the opportunity than worried about the Armenites. “Those colonizers were built to last forever. And we didn’t take a tenth of the stores left on that ship for the Euripides. It will take a few years, but we can reach another system. It doesn’t have to be Arch.”