“I don't think I love you. I know it.” His fingers danced across her cheek and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear.
When she raised her head, she found his eyes were almost painful to look at they were so intense.
Someone knocked on the door, and Leo sighed, then dropped his arms to grab his pants.
Sofie kissed his shoulder and then went into the bathroom, diving through the shower and then coming down to the kitchen.
Dee stood at the counter, glaring at Leo's back while he made two cups of jah. “I don't like it,” she said.
“I don't like it either, but now that Sofie's brought up the prospect of a similar trap laid at Felicitos, we can't ignore it.” Leo turned, saw her, and gave her a slow smile as he handed her her cup.
Dee shifted, thrusting out a hip in irritation. “Carver and I dragged the hover out of the debris last night, and while it can be repaired, it'll take at least a day. But we have a spare, so that's fine.”
“We need to go as soon as we can pack up.” Sofie could feel the urgency, the panic, rising up in her at just the thought of what might happen to Tether Town if what her father had tried to do there what he'd done here. It burned away whatever comfort just being around Leo gave her.
“You really think Felicitos is coming down?” Zyr's voice startled her, and she almost spilled her jah as she turned to look at him.
He'd kept away from the weigh station yesterday, and so had Kallia. It wouldn't do for them to be recognized by the Cores guards or execs so far from Felicitos.
A pair of maintenance techs from the TWS had no reason to be in Phansi.
But now, after a day's rest and the use of the medical kit Leo kept at his offices, her friend looked himself again.
Sofie nodded. “I don't know how, but there was no way to cancel the explosion here. He'd made up his mind it was going to blow, and he made no provision for a change of heart. I've had time to think about it, and I realized he set twenty-one charges, the same number as the smuggler ships who took hostages from Halatia. He intended it to be payback for the Cores doing nothing to hand the smugglers over the the Verdant String. If that was his intention here, why would it be different for Felicitos?”
“Because he was more invested in Felicitos than here?” Fallia said. “It'll be much harder to destroy, as well. Your father knew how to build for the long term.”
“True.” She set down her cup. “I hope I'm wrong, but I can't shake the feeling there's a nasty surprise waiting. If it hasn't happened already.”
“I'd prefer to stay here another day. The comms signal will be fixed in four, maybe five hours, and then we can contact Finkle, find out what's happening in T-Town. Carver and I also need the sleep.” Dee rubbed at her shoulder, but her stance had softened, and Sofie could see she'd been persuaded.
“Fallia and I can each take a hover,” Zyr said. “You and Carver can be our passengers. Rest a bit.”
Carver nodded, and after a moment, so did Dee.
“Anyway, no chance the Cores won't be listening in to whatever we say over the comm signal, especially not after the last few days. We might as well not contact Finkle for all we could say to each other.” Leo pushed away from the wall he'd been leaning against.
“Don't forget Sam is stuck up in the Under Deck, too. He can't get out without me.” Sofie had dreamt disturbing dreams of him wandering the tunnels, trying the doors. He weighed on her mind.
“He'll find a way if he really needs to,” Dee said, completely sure of herself.
But Sofie didn't think so.
Like whatever her father had planned for Felicitos, she had a horrible feeling she was the only key to the problem.
It was long past midnight the following day when Felicitos came into sight, looking like the towering shaft of light it was, the beacon of high tech achievement and advancement the Cores wanted to portray to the world.
It had been five days since they'd ridden their hovers away from T-Town, and seeing it up ahead again filled Leo with a strange mixture of pride and anger.
The solution to getting rid of the Cores still seemed so unclear, if he wanted Felicitos and Tether Town left standing at the end of it.
Ronald Fadal had obviously not seen a way either, his solution to simply destroy the Cores' assets, with only minimal consideration to the innocent victims that could be caught up in it, like the bomb-proof lounge.
But at least Felicitos was still upright, lit up and glowing against the night.
Leo could tell Sofie was relieved as well. She relaxed her hold on him a little.
He made his first call to Finkle before they even reached the city outskirts, and his lieutenant answered straight away.
“Where are you?” He sounded nervous, like he was expecting Leo to say he was still in Phansi.
“Just under an hour out.”
Finkle was silent a moment. “Good. That's good. Sam's been collecting a treasure trove, but I think he's ready for someone to relieve him.”
“Anything urgent?”
“Plenty.” Finkle hesitated again. “I think it's best we talk when you get in. It's clear.”
Which meant there were no Cores operatives watching the house at the moment. Something Leo took as a good sign. Although Servos would have passed on the message he'd seen Leo in Phansi. And as far as the Cores knew, he was still there.
They rode directly to Leo's.
Zyr lifted his helmet, meeting Leo's gaze in silent question, and Leo gestured him into the big garage.
There could be no secrets any more. That time was over.
Too much was happening. From the Cores playing dangerous games with Caruso, allying with them, to the near miss they'd just had in Phansi.
It was time to make a move.
They weren't as organized as Leo would like them to be, but the moment had arrived.
There was no denying it.
Finkle was waiting for them, closing the big doors as they rode through them, and reengaging the locks.
He was so tired of living like this. Worried for his life, worried for the lives of his people.
He watched as Sofie lifted off her helmet, her attention on something Fallia was saying, and felt a wave of fierce protectiveness rush over him.
He wanted a family with her. He wanted them all to be able to live without looking over their shoulders, or having a group of bodyguards wherever they went.
And the time had come to do something about it.
Sofie stored her helmet, then turned to him, and something of what he was feeling must have been visible on his face, because she held his gaze for a beat, and some of the rage in him settled.
“You're probably hungry,” Finkle said. “I've got a meal ready.”
They all followed him in, and everyone sat around the big staff table and spooned up stew.
“I see the comm signal is back up.” Finkle leaned back, the only one without a bowl in front of him. “The plant shut down, then there was a strange gas explosion, but all the problems are now resolved.”
Leo frowned at him. “Since when do we have that sort of intelligence?”
“Since we have Sam more or less sitting in on the Cores board meetings.” Finkle smiled, a modest, small smile, that said volumes.
Leo grinned. “Of course.”
“Why was there a gas explosion?” Finkle asked.
“There wasn't.” Dee shoved her empty bowl away from her. “Ronald Fadal had set the weigh station to be wiped off the planet. We found all the explosives except one.”
Finkle looked like he wanted to ask more, but he glanced at Zyr and kept his mouth shut.
“The main thing is the weigh station is back to running exactly as it was before.” Leo touched Sofie's hand. “But the explosives raise another issue.”
“What?” Finkle's gaze rested on their hands for a moment.
“I worry he organized a similar fate for Felicitos.” Sofie hadn't finished her stew, but she pushed it away anyway.
“
Surely . . . not.” Finkle looked at Leo as if he could somehow have the definitive word on it.
Leo shrugged. “I hope not. But it's not an impossible idea. There were twenty-one explosives set at the weigh station and no way to switch off the trigger. Sofie had to shut down the whole place and we searched for the explosives with sniffers one by one.”
Finkle blew out a breath. “So what's the plan.”
Sofie shrugged. “I'll have to start looking for some clue to what might be coming. As soon as I get a little sleep, I'll get on it.”
Leo curled his fingers around her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. He knew it was weighing on her, far more heavily than anyone else. “Speaking of Sam, what's been happening up there, other than interesting board meetings?”
Finkle rubbed a hand over his ultra-short hair. “The Caruso are weighing that warship down with every weapon they can fit on it, and adding all kinds of other tech.” He sighed. “But the main issue Sam picked up was that the Garmen Cores and the Caruso plan to annex Lassa, on a 50/50 deal. The Caruso get half the mineral rights, Garmen gets the other half.”
There was a long moment of silence.
“How can the Cores think that the Caruso won't turn on them afterward?” Dee shoved out of her chair and began to pace.
“Some of the execs brought that up in a very heated exchange in the boardroom that Sam witnessed. There seems to be two groups; one lot obviously only have their eyes on the profits from half of Lassa's income, with no investment in mines or infrastructure necessary because they're already there, and the other group is less trusting of the Caruso. They're worried they're looking to expand their influence.”
Leo tapped his fingers on the table. “Which group is winning?”
Finkle shrugged. “Not sure either has come out a clear winner, but no one wants to lose the opportunity to take Lassa, so they're going along with it, with a decision to watch their backs and be ready to turn on the Caruso at the first sign of a double-cross.”
Leo's laugh was bitter. “It's almost like they've imposed a interplanetary comms ban on themselves. Don't they follow what the Caruso have been doing for the last ten years?”
Finkle shook his head. “They believe what they want to believe, because it's going to make them money.”
“We need to get word to Lassa.” Dee stopped her pacing and spun to face them. “Specifically, Ruanne.” She met Leo's gaze when she spoke the name of the woman who was running a similar operation to Leo's on Lassa.
Leo nodded slowly in agreement. “Ruanne usually manages to get me a message when one of her ships stops off at the Deck to pick up ore. Eunice has the schedule a few weeks in advance in case I have a message for her. We'll put something together.”
“What if it's intercepted?” Zyr asked.
“I always check out the ship and make sure the person receiving it is someone Ruanne's vouched for.” Dee walked back to her seat. “I'm officially Leo's inventory manager. It gives me access to the Deck.”
Zyr played with his spoon. “There's a resistance movement in Lassa. I got a message a few months after Veld disappeared. Not sure what he did with the ones that came in before, but as they were still coming, I assume he hadn't told the Cores about it.”
“Maybe he did,” Sofie said, bitter. “And the Garmen Cores were only too happy to hear that Lassa had a resistance that was hopefully undermining the Cores there.”
Zyr paused, looked at her, and gave a nod. “Fair point. But now, they need to be warned, as well. And if the Cores here do know about them, they'll waste no time trying to find them if they do take Lassa with the Caruso.”
“If you give me the message and who it should go to, I can ask Ruanne to help,” Dee offered.
Zyr shook his head. “I need to use my own channels. It's taken me months to set them up, and they won't trust anything coming from somewhere else. But I'll need to check the schedule, see if I can get a message out as soon as possible. When are they planning the attack?”
Finkle rubbed at his face. “Don't know. Not immediately, given the work they're doing on their warship, but not months from now, either. Weeks, I'd say. A month at most.”
“So no time at all.” Leo tapped his fingers again. “I need to reach out to that contact from Arkhor who sent that message when I searched for information about Veld.”
Zyr looked over at him, head cocked meaningfully. “What's this?”
“It happened . . .” Leo looked down at the date on his comm set . . . “six days ago. Sofie was on her way to tell you about it when she was kidnapped, then you were beaten up, we all raced to Phansi, saved the weigh station, and raced back. I didn't have time to share the information.”
“You're sure it is someone from Arkhor?” Fallia asked.
Leo lifted one shoulder. “As sure as I can be.”
“He's tried to make contact every day since you've been gone,” Finkle said.
Leo nodded. “I'll leave him a message now.” He stood up. “Everyone, get some sleep. We're going to need it.”
Chapter 32
Leo woke her again, only this time, they weren't naked in bed, and there were no kisses involved.
Well, only one. To her forehead.
“I have to go out.” His voice was soft in the darkness.
Sofie forced herself out of sleepy half-consciousness, and Leo's hands went to her shoulders to push her back down on the pillows as she tried to sit up.
“Go back to sleep, I just wanted to let you know I was going somewhere with Finkle.”
She shook her head, swung her legs over the side. “Where are you going?” Her voice was a croak.
He hesitated. “The Arkhoran contact wants to meet me at a spot outside T-Town.”
His words forced her to her feet, where she swayed a little as she got her balance. “What?”
“Shh.” He pulled her close. “If the Cores see him come in, because my guess is he's piloting in from nearspace, then the situation could turn nasty, so I'd be happier if you stayed home.”
Home.
She tilted her face to look up at him. Leo's house wasn't home yet, but something in her warmed that he saw it that way. “Leo, I'm coming. Who's saved that very nice ass of yours the last few times you went into a dangerous situation?”
“Finkle and another of my team will be there--”
She moved away from him, pulling on her trousers, reaching for a shirt.
She heard him sigh.
“When do you need to leave?” She pulled on her boots.
“Now.” He sounded a little guilty, and she guessed he'd waited until the last minute to let her know, so she wouldn't come.
“Nice try, Leo.” She knew the hurt in her voice was obvious, and when she stood again, he pulled her into his arms one more time.
“Sorry. I just want you safe.”
It was her turn to sigh. “Sure, I want the same for you, but none of this last-minute bullshit.”
He nodded.
She took his hand as they walked out the door, and she saw Finkle, waiting in the hallway, frown at the sight of her.
She gritted her teeth, but said nothing.
There was no cure for Fink's suspicions but time.
They moved in silence, going to the garage, climbing onto the hovers, and then navigating the streets slowly to keep the sound down and with no lights.
They reached the road out to Phansi, and then turned right, curving back in a wide arc that took them west and then north of the city, along the shores of Lake Felicitos.
Leo must have been looking at a screen with coordinates, because he made a signal and then cut off the engine, and Fink did the same.
The other guard riding with Fink hadn't been introduced to her, but she'd heard Leo call her Partia when he'd greeted her quietly in the garage.
She jumped down from Fink's hover and moved silently to a spot a little away from them, hiding between the bushes and then going very still, until she almost completely disappeared.
&n
bsp; Fink stood beside Leo in an obvious stance of protection, and Sofie stood beside him, fiddling with her bracelet.
Fink gave her a dirty look when the crystals tinkled and chimed as she played with them, but she ignored him, and looked out over the lake.
She hadn't been here in years.
The stink and the decay were too depressing to endure.
It wasn't as bad as she remembered it.
She'd heard rumors someone was cleaning it up, that it was getting better, but she'd dismissed them.
“Are you the one cleaning up the lake?” She turned to Leo as the thought struck her.
Before he could answer, she heard the strangest sound. It was difficult to tell its direction, but Fink and Leo were looking up, so she did, too.
Something was coming down, an engine of some kind, with a frame below it.
In what little light they had, what looked like some kind of nightmarish monster sat in the frame, on a basic seat.
The contraption landed, and four struts automatically shot out, stabilizing the whole thing, and the monster stood up, and touched the side of its head.
The glistening black of its face retracted, and in the faint glow from the light Fink was pointing at the ground, Sofie looked into gray eyes in a bronze face.
The monstrous shape slowly resolved into a soldier in a bulky suit, probably designed to withstand space to ground maneuvers, and when he stepped a little closer, she saw he was more or less the same height as Leo.
“Leo Gaudier?” The man's Arkhoran accent was clear.
“Yes. And you are?” Leo kept a wary stance.
“Captain Mak Carep, Arkhor Special Forces.” The captain gave an Arkhoran salute.
“There's an Arkhoran Special Forces warship nearby?” Sofie didn't know what to think of that. Her mother had been Arkhoran, and her stories of her home planet had made both Rach and Sofie long to go there. But Arkhor had left so many of its people to rot here. They hadn't acted, and she couldn't believe they didn't have spies in T-Town. They had to know what was going on.
After all, it seemed easy enough for Captain Mak Carep to come and go as he pleased.
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