by Tammy Salyer
“Wait a minute,” Rob cuts in. “Are you talking about János Rajcik? The arms smuggler?”
The urgency in his tone derails our argument and we both turn to him. His usual warm tan has gone the color of off milk and his brown eyes are wide. “Do either of you realize what kind of trouble working with him can get you into? The Admin has dedicated patrols looking for him system-wide—he’s basically considered the antichrist.”
“Which is why we need to get out of here.”
“No, listen, both of you. Aly, just shut up for a minute.” The hard set of David’s jaw tells me what I know all too well; he’s past the point of arguing. Pinning me to the spot with eyes as ferocious as a pouncing lion’s, he forces me to listen to his explanation. “Rajcik came to Vitruzzi a couple of weeks after the Fortress. He was injured in the explosion and the Temptation was damaged, and they made a deal. He’d leave the Beach alone if she gave him the aid he needed.”
“And you believed him—” I start to interrupt, but he doesn’t let me get far.
“Vitruzzi didn’t just say yes without thinking it through. She had us strip the Temptation of its weapons and most of its fuel and strand Rajcik out here on R’Kadia.”
“Why? Why not just kill him? After what he did to us—”
“There’s more. He’s been helping get some of the stuff the Beach needs through his old contacts—Chisolm, Howard, the Spectre Triad. And this is the part you need to pay attention to. Rajcik had something to barter with, something we thought we might need. We assumed we could use it to keep the Admin and the Corps off our backs if they ever pieced together what happened at the Fortress.”
I fall into a chair, still angry, but also intrigued enough to hold my tongue for a few minutes. Rob remains standing resolutely beside me, his sinewy frame tensed in anticipation of where David’s story will lead.
“What is it, David?” he asks.
“It better be good,” I add.
He tries to wither me with an exasperated look and continues, “He recorded all of the communications he had with T’Kai. And Aly, this is going to be hard to hear, but their deal was never even about stealing the Nova. T’Kai hired Rajcik to detonate it and destroy the Fortress. That’s what the payoff was for. Rajcik lied to us. He made up the story about blackmailing the Admin so we’d help him get the Nova for himself.”
“Are you saying that you two were involved with that space station? That Rajcik is your old boss?” The look on Rob’s face is perfect incredulity. “I can’t believe what I’m hearing.”
My brain is reeling, too much unexpected news all at once, too many surprises. Plotting. Scheming. It’s like being in the Corps again. I thought I’d left that world behind, thought I was in a place where I could trust the people I was with, believe in what they stood for. I should know better by now.
David’s eyes feel heavy on my face as he examines it, preparing for what I might do. For the time being, I’m frozen to my seat, unable to react. He turns to Rob to explain, “There wasn’t much time for planning. Neither of us was prepared for life outside the Corps. We just fell in with Rajcik by chance.”
“Do you have any idea how many deaths he’s responsible for?”
There’s a subtle change in Rob’s tone, no longer simple disbelief but moving toward something closer to anger. The hair on my arms stirs and I glance toward David, seeing the same apprehension settling over him.
“Rob, you know we wouldn’t be part of something like that.” David faces Rob, toe-to-toe, only taller by one or two centimeters. “But if you knew what the Admin was doing on that space station, you may not think it was such a bad thing that Rajcik blew it up. You see what they did to my fucking eyes. And what they did to Bodie. This shit needs to stop. It has to stop.”
Rob turns around and moves toward the pilot’s console, putting it between him and David. David and I look at each other, sharing a sudden realization that we may have underestimated his loyalty to the Admin. We’re allies again, at least for the moment, and wondering what the hell we’re going to do if that’s the case. Rob leans forward on his hands, staring absently at the screen, keeping his thoughts to himself.
I should say something. “Look, Rob. This isn’t your fight.”
He takes a long breath before answering. “No, forget it. As hard as it is to believe what you’re telling me, I guess I do.”
“Then you’ll still take me to Kai Lum?”
“Aly—” David starts to protest, but Rob cuts him off.
“It’s not that simple anymore.”
The wills of two soldiers start fighting inside me, one trying to tell me to just shoot Rob and stop him from making the mistake I’m afraid he’s about to, the other not wanting to jump to conclusions. “What do you mean?”
“János Rajcik is worth a lot of money.”
“Wait a minute, Rob. You can’t turn him in. We need him.”
I whirl on David. “Why?”
“He’s the only person we know with information about Keum Libre. He can help us get to the Beachers, maybe get them out of there.”
“He’ll never help us.”
“He doesn’t have a choice.”
“He’ll never help us, David, and if I see him again, I swear to God I’ll kill him.”
“Just try to be rational, Aly. You’ve got friends that are being held in prison for no other reason than that they were trying to live their lives. You have to start caring about more than yourself.” He hovers over me, trying to intimidate me, but we’ve been siblings too long and it doesn’t work anymore. Despite the impatience growing in his own eyes, I don’t drop mine, letting the fury there speak for itself. He stares back for a moment, then turns around and walks a few steps away, running his hand through his overly long hair in distress. “Did you really think what we had at the Beach was going to last? You were so caught up with the idea of things being normal, you and Karl living some fantasy happily-ever-after story, you forgot what was really going on. We’re deserters, little sis. As far as the Admin is concerned, we’re their number one problem, and they’re not going to forget about us.”
My eyes jerk guiltily toward Rob at the mention of Karl, but his face is stern, lines of agitation forming deep furrows around his mouth and narrowed eyes. David is studying my face with increasing intensity, but I say nothing. What else can I say? It’s the truth. I wanted to forget about the control the Admin has over us, over our lives. I’d let creature comforts and a façade of freedom take the place of the more practical side of me, the side that’s always ready for trouble and always running from it.
Taking my silence for agreement, David turns to Rob. “Look, I understand the dilemma this creates for you. You didn’t expect to get caught up with something like this when you brought us those parts for the transceiver, and you couldn’t have known what we were involved in. But”—he sighs exasperatedly, glancing back at me—“I’d almost be willing to drop the Nova on the Admin myself for what they did to Bodie. If getting justice for him means working with Rajcik, at least I’ll be able to sleep at night. I don’t care about anything else.”
Rob says, “I understand. I do. But if I just walk away and forget that I know Rajcik is here, I stand to lose a lot more than my ship.”
Neither of us respond. Finally David says, “It’s not too late, Rob. If you left now, no one would ever know.”
He sighs. “I need a little while. I have to think this through.” Looking at me, eyebrows arched in worry and uncertainty, he says, “I’m sorry, Aly.”
“There isn’t much time, Rob,” David warns.
“I know that,” he answers sharply. Then continues more calmly, “Just give me a couple of hours.” His eyes shift toward the flight deck hatch in a request that we leave.
I hesitate, wanting to press Rob into a decision, but stop myself. He has to decide this on his own.
Following my brother off the flight deck, we only get a few steps down the corridor before he grabs my arm above the elbow, pulli
ng me to a stop. “Look, Aly, I’m sorry. I didn’t know how to tell you.”
I want to accuse him, yell at him, continue the battle until he’s bruised and beaten, but what good would it do? The fight has finally gone out of me. Rob was my only chance of getting out of here and he has his own agenda. Where would I go anyway? The realization that I’m involved in circumstances I’m powerless to control holds me in check. If I killed Rajcik now, who would benefit and who would lose? The answer to that is not as clear as I’d imagined it would be before today. The settlers have given me more than I can ever repay. If Rajcik can help us free them, don’t I owe them that? David and the crew betrayed me, yet I have no other choice than to come to terms with it.
“You know we have to watch him every second,” I finally say, giving in completely. “He’ll tell us what we want to hear, but you can bet your life that he has plans of his own. Oh right—you already have bet your life, our lives.” My last statement wilts as soon as it hits the air, resignation making it toneless.
He looks me over, relieved that I’m dropping it. “You know Vitruzzi won’t leave anything to chance. Rajcik is bugged, just like the rest of us are. We can keep tabs on him.”
“That’ll be a huge comfort when he does something like turn us over to the Admin.”
His head bows and his chest expands in a deep sigh. “We owe it to Bodie.”
For the first time, I realize how much he’s suffering over what has happened. I’ve been too self-absorbed to realize I’m not the only one. Bodie meant a lot to all of us. I reach out to put a hand on his shoulder and he grabs me, drawing me into a hug. With my face pressed against his chest, I whisper, “We’re all going to miss him.” Tears are close, but I smother them with a promise—Bodie’s death will be avenged.
We embrace for a minute, then David drops his arms. “The crew is waiting for us. And there’s one more thing, Aly. I promise you, no more surprises. But you should know…Thompson is still with Rajcik.”
Fuller Thompson. Rajcik’s sadistic shadow. A man who hates me almost as much as I hate him.
“Jesus, what have we gotten into?”
FIFTEEN
“Right now we have two imperatives: get our people off Keum Libre, and do whatever it takes to stop T’Kai.” Brady stands next to the Sphynx’s galley doorway, addressing the crew and Rajcik. “We all agree that the Admin is dangerous and forces its rule too far, but it’s T’Kai, and others like him, that are pushing the buttons. We’ll never get any peace until he’s brought down. And we have what we need to do it.”
“You’re talking about blackmail,” David states. He looks around at the rest of the crew, then continues, “We were only building the transceiver in case the Admin got too close. If we change the plan and go after T’Kai, I mean actively, that will push things a lot further. Maybe too far.”
Venus stands near the cabinets next to La Mer. She holds a tube of food in one hand and methodically squeezes the contents from one end to the other. The pressure she exerts is just enough to make the end of the tube bulge with each squeeze, barely short of popping it and spraying orange goo all over the room. I have to force myself not to take it away from her as she speaks. “But why does he have to know about us at all? Won’t the Ministry of S&E come after us if we threaten T’Kai? We can’t fight the whole Corps.”
Rajcik makes a disgusted sound, and Venus, looking shaken, glances around the room, hoping to see some sign of agreement from any of us. But the crew’s certainty that we’re on a collision course with the director of the Ministry of Science and Engineering, and the Admin in general, is unanimous. No one will meet her eyes except La Mer, who gives her a small reassuring smile. Whatever happens in the days ahead, they’ll still have each other. But for how long? The thought nearly makes me shudder.
“I don’t need to tell anyone how dire the situation is,” Vitruzzi says. “We need to agree just how far we’re willing to go, how much we’re willing to risk, to get justice for Bodie and get our people safe.”
“What I want to know is why the Admin did this? Did they know about the transceiver? How did they find out?” La Mer is spooked. Not being able to identify how, or even if, his programming was detected tears at the core of his confidence, but no one has an answer for him.
“Even if we can rescue the settlers, we can’t go back to the Beach,” Brady states. Hearing it said aloud brings it home. To all of us. Our lives aren’t just changed, they’ve been turned upside down, ruined. What difference does it even make if we can rescue the settlers? Where can any of us go now and not be hunted as fugitives? Just like that, the Admin completely destroyed the tenuous peace we’d managed to carve out of nothing.
Looking around, I see the same fear on everyone’s faces. Everyone except Rajcik. Like an animal, he has learned the law of the jungle. Hunt or be hunted. Kill or be killed. He’s not afraid of losing anything, because he has nothing to lose. Just another non-cit lowlife scum with a life story that was written before he was born, and he plays the role with perfect, even serene, ease.
“We can’t leave them there,” says Mason, his voice thick.
“No. We’re not going to,” Vitruzzi answers.
“Then we do whatever it takes.” His nutmeg eyes gaze fiercely into everyone’s faces, and the heavy wrinkles spanning his forehead add to his serious, not-to-be-fucked-with gravitas. Mason, as a rule, is usually quiet and brooding, and when he does have something to say, everyone listens.
“All right, so what’s the plan?” David’s tone is all practicality.
No one has said a word to me about earlier. When I look at Vitruzzi, she meets my eyes with stoic resoluteness, not a shred of guilt or apology about having hidden Rajcik’s whereabouts from me. It’s exactly the kind of reaction I’d expect from her. If Vitruzzi has any weakness, it remains as invisible to me as the day we’d met.
Rajcik sits across the galley opposite me, near the exit. His presence alone makes my stomach churn, but knowing it’s my choice to be here—and let him live—ignites bile in a rancid torrent. Every time his black eyes slide toward me, I want to gag and go for my gun. Reminding myself of the reasons to let him live only makes it worse. If this is what pure hate feels like, it must only be one step short of total madness.
Brady leans against the wall near me with his arms folded. “With the data we took from the Fortress and Rajcik’s recordings, we have enough leverage to make T’Kai pay attention. If it gets out to the public and the right people in the Directorate, he’ll never be able to refute it. It may be enough of a bargaining chip for him to let the settlers go, maybe even leave the Beach alone for good.”
I wrap my hands around the back of a chair and lean toward Vitruzzi and Brady. “But the transceiver’s not fixed and the Corps has the Beach secured, probably even under surveillance. We don’t have a way to wavecast it. T’Kai will know that. And there’s no way we can just send a copy to the Directorate and hope they’ll do something about it—except silence us. It’s their job to protect the Admin’s image and maintain control.” My words may sound harsh and unproductive, but they are the truth.
Without raising his eyes from where he stares at the floor, La Mer responds, “Well, the transceiver’s just a device. It’s the programming I did that makes it useful. The security worm hijacks the TDRSs and allows us to boost their waves.”
This grabs Vitruzzi’s attention, “You mean you could send from any transceiver, as long as it was powerful enough to transmit to a satellite?”
“Basically, yeah.”
Brady says, “So we could get the message to T’Kai—the Beachers go free or we bring him down—and find a transceiver that can carry out our threat if he doesn’t.”
“What’s our insurance?” Desto asks. “Even if he releases them, it won’t be long until he decides to shut us up for good.”
It’s Rajcik who responds, “So we bring T’Kai down anyway.” He rises from his seat and regards the crew with wicked earnestness. My hand immediately reac
hes for my ’Bad, but the warning does nothing to deter him. “You all know that it’s only a matter of time before he completely obliterates your little settlement and every person who can tie him to the Fortress. You’re already living on borrowed time. Your choices are either to go all the way, or go cower in your hole and wait for him to find you.” His speech elicits frowns from everyone, but no arguments. Scowling, he finishes, “Captain Vitruzzi, your friends don’t have long. I suggest you make a decision soon. You know where to find me.”
“Where do you think you’re going?” The sound of my pistol being drawn stops him.
Instead of answering, he turns, raising an eyebrow as he looks toward Vitruzzi. “Let him go, Aly,” she commands.
Arguing is pointless. It’s like they’ve all lost their memories. Do they really believe he’s not planning to double cross us again while we stand here and argue about plans for our own funeral?
“So what do we do?” Karl picks up the thread.
Vitruzzi responds, “We should consider Venus’s suggestion. If there’s any way to get the Beachers off of Keum Libre without drawing the Admin’s eye, our chances will be much better.”
“Assuming everyone is still alive, that’s 125 people.” Several of us wince at Brady’s statement. “The Sphynx can carry them, but it might be better to separate, use two ships.”
“What about the Temptation?” David asks.
“We shouldn’t consider anything of Rajcik’s an asset,” I comment, glaring at David. “He’s a tool with limited usefulness.”
“We can’t use the Temptation anyway; it’s compromised,” Vitruzzi continues. “Anyone flying on it is a target, and we can’t put the Beachers in that kind of jeopardy.”
“Can we buy another ship?” Karl asks.