Cold Revenge

by Jaleta Clegg

  "Too close," she said.

  Jerimon and I lowered the ship as slowly as we could. We couldn’t see the lights anymore. We trusted to luck and Clark’s distance measurements. At two feet, Jerimon cut the thrusters. We fell slowly on just the maglev field. The ship settled, level and solid. We started shutting down the engines.

  "No! Not yet, Habim!" The shout echoed in the ship. Ginni sounded desperate.

  "What now?" Clark muttered. He shifted out of his seat and headed back into the lounge.

  "We have to do something about him," Jerimon said, "while we still have a ship."

  "I doubt there are any authorities here who care," Jasyn said.

  "Then why don’t we just leave him?" Jerimon said. "Frontier worlds are always looking for people. He could fix things for them. Everyone leaves happy."

  "Only if Ginni agrees," I said. "We’re still fairly close to the Sidyatha."

  "You’re helping them escape," Jerimon said.

  "Very observant," I said.

  "Dace," he started.

  "Don’t say it, Jerimon," I said, powering down the engine. "If the Sidyatha no longer acknowledges the Empire, then their rules don’t apply to me."

  "Nobody’s rules apply to you, if you decide you don’t like them."

  "Don’t the two of you ever get tired of fighting?" Jasyn complained. "I’m sick of listening to it." With that, she left the cockpit.

  "Dace, you have to face facts sometime," Jerimon said.

  "I don’t have to face anything. What are you? My conscience?"

  "I’m only trying to help."

  "I don’t want your help. If I choose to get into trouble, it’s my choice. Choosing not to get into trouble hasn’t worked yet. So if I deliberately go looking for trouble, maybe I’ll miss it."

  "That is the most twisted thing I’ve ever heard." Jerimon flipped the last set of switches.

  I got up and went to see what Onipas was like. And to look for payment on our cargo. It had nothing to do with Jerimon’s comment. At least I tried to convince myself it didn’t.

  Habim scowled at Ginni. He had her backed up to the table, towering over her. She glared right back up at him.

  "It has to cool down first," she said.

  "But she promised," he said, stabbing a finger at me.

  "Ginni’s right," I said. "Let the engine cool before you take it apart and fix it."

  "How long?" He squinted suspiciously.

  "Two hours." That should give the overworked thrusters plenty of time to cool.

  He sniffed. "I’m hungry."

  I left Ginni and Jasyn to deal with that. Clark beat me to the hatch by only seconds. He hit the controls and the door slid open.

  The morning air was crisp. A cool breeze swept into the ship washing out the stale air inside. It smelled fresh, the clean smell of growing things. And just a hint of scorched rocks. We walked down the ramp and into the morning sunshine.

  We were in a flat meadow on top of a small rise. Behind us, the rise continued up a steep slope covered with big rocks and short treelike plants. In front of us, the hill swept down a short drop to a wide plain. A single dirt track led away to a cluster of prefab buildings set in the middle of a complex of fields. Beyond them was only the planet, stretching for miles. Underfoot was a mixture of grasses, long blades of leaves and not much else.

  Half a dozen people climbed the path up to the flat where our ship rested. They looked rough, with worn coveralls and shaggy hair. I stiffened at the sight of the last man. He wore a long robe in what would have once been bright colors. Was Onipas part of the Sidyatha after all?

  Clark walked a few steps in front of me and stopped, looking relaxed and casual. It was false, I could read the tension in his shoulders. He was expecting trouble. But, so was I.

  They came over the crest of the hill and we got a good look at our welcoming committee. Four men, including the one in the robe, and two women who looked as rough as the men. But they were smiling, looking excited to see us. A change for me. I wondered if they’d be just as happy when we left.

  "Welcome to Onipas," the man in the lead said. He shook Clark’s hand vigorously. "What brings you way out here?"

  "We’ve got a cargo for you from Brugundhi," I said. With women in their group, I suspected the strict laws of the Sidyathari didn’t hold here.

  The man in the robe perked up. "My brother Rugish has fulfilled his promise. It was he, was it not?"

  Clark pulled his hand free from the first man’s grip. "Rugish Nomaya? He was the one." He surreptitiously rubbed his hand.

  "May the Sidya bless him," the man in the robe said loudly.

  "Don’t mind Gus here," the leader said to me. "He’s a bit religious. Surprising, considering they kicked him out for daring to question them."

  I tried to hide my relief. We were out of the Sidyatha. I must not have been too successful. The leader laughed and slapped my shoulder.

  "Let’s see this cargo," he said. "Name’s Omar, Omar Smith."

  "Dace," I answered. "And that’s Clark."

  He held out his hand, offering to shake. I shook. And realized why Clark was rubbing his hand. Omar had an iron grip. I pulled my hand free and hoped my fingers would still work.

  I stuck my head back through the hatch. Habim sat in front of a huge pile of sandwiches, devouring them with both hands. Ginni nibbled at another, watching Habim. Jasyn stood by the cockpit, chewing Jerimon out about something to judge by the sour look on his face. I went in and picked up a flat of seedlings.

  "They want the cargo now?" Jerimon asked me, obviously looking for an excuse to get away from Jasyn.

  "They’re waiting to see what we brought." I took the tray of plants outside.

  "Live plants? You know how hard it is to get anyone to haul those?" Omar grinned, wide enough to almost split his head open. "Whatever the cost, we’re good for it. Well, within a reasonable amount." He took the plants from me, examining them carefully. One of the women and a man we hadn’t been introduced to took the tray from Omar and started their own examination.

  Jerimon staggered out of the ship carrying one of the big potted trees. It was heavy, I’d tried to shift it once. That brought another rush of excitement. The citizens of Onipas were worse than kids with an unlimited amount to spend at the candy store. Not that I’d ever had that opportunity, I’d only imagined what it must be like.

  One of the men headed for the cluster of buildings below, calling something about a transport wagon over his shoulder as he went. I walked a few steps away and watched him run down the rough trail. Behind me, the rest of them hauled plants out of the ship as fast as they could. Each one brought a new round of exclamations. The town below was showing signs of increasing activity. People were gathering and staring up at the ship. The man reached them and the milling crowd moved with more purpose. Within moments they were on their way back up the trail, pulling an assortment of hand wagons.

  "This is absolutely incredible," Omar said as he came up behind me. He slapped me on the shoulder again as we watched the stream of people climbing towards us. About a fourth of them wore the traditional garb of the Sidyatha, I noted. I wondered if they were more who’d questioned the dictates of the Sidyathari.

  "We’ve been waiting for a shipment like this for years," Omar said, interrupting my thoughts.

  "I can’t say it was exactly pleasant hauling them," I said. "They were in the way. But our cargo bays aren’t pressurized. We’ve got a shipment of seeds and equipment back there."

  "This just gets better," Omar said brightly. His face darkened. "How much is it going to cost us?"

  "I haven’t figured the final bill yet. You don’t have any enriched coolant or high grade oil, do you?" Those were the critical fluids. We could make our own, given enough time and a halfway decent planet to work with, but I didn’t really want to spend a month here if I could avoid it. The other fluids would only take a few days to find and purify.

  "We’ve got some down at the depot," Omar
said. "Technically it belongs to the shipping company. Mostly. How much do you need?"

  "A few gallons of both would do it," I said. "I’d credit the usual fee for it on your bill."

  "Which is?"

  "Say about a hundred credits, if we get some help with the maintenance work on the ship. That would put your total bill for the whole shipment at around twenty seven hundred credits."

  His mouth worked over the number. It must have seemed high to him.

  "Let me get you the shipping manifest." I headed back to the ship.

  Clark met me halfway there with the manifest in hand. "I assume you’re looking for this. I’ll go open the cargo bay for them." He handed me the list and headed for the tail of the ship.

  I glanced over the list before I handed it to Omar. "We ought to check it off before anyone hauls anything away. Just to be sure we’re giving you fair value."

  "Let’s do that," Omar agreed.

  I spent the morning standing in knee high grass next to a dirt track checking inventory marks against the manifest on a neverending stream of hand-pulled wagons. Omar inspected each plant with me, making sure it was exactly what the mark said it should be. By noon, we had finished the live plants from the ship and were well started on the seeds and equipment from the hold.

  I wanted to stop for a while. Omar didn’t even seem to notice the sun was high overhead. The day had gone from pleasantly cool to sweaty and hot, especially in the glare of the sun. Omar kept working, so I kept working. I envied Clark and Jerimon, they were in the hold where at least it was out of the sun.

  Jasyn came out, carrying a forgotten tray of plants. She handed them to Omar, letting him check them off his list. "I hope you weren’t planning on going anywhere for a while. Habim’s got the engine half stripped."

  "We need to get the filters set up anyway," I said. "If everything goes well, we can be gone in four days."

  "Moving on so soon?" Omar said as the tray of plants was carted away. "Granted we don’t have much in the way of entertainment but we find ways to amuse ourselves."

  I shifted my feet in the trampled grass. I didn’t like to be tied down anyplace. A few weeks at the most and I was ready to move on to somewhere new.

  "We can stay for a while," Jasyn said.

  "But not too long," Omar said, checking off several bags of seed. "You’ve got schedules to keep, cargoes to move, I understand."

  "We don’t have much of a cargo left," I said. "You have anything that needs shipped?"

  "Possibly." Omar checked off another load.

  Clark and Jerimon came out of the ship. We’d finally reached the end of the cargo.

  Omar checked the last of the equipment and seeds and handed the list back to me. "All accounted for and in good shape. How would you and your crew like to sample what we have to offer tonight?"

  I hesitated, unsure what Omar was implying.

  "We don’t get many visitors out here," he said. "Whether you come or not, there’s going to be a big party in town tonight. You’d be guests of honor."

  "We’d love to come," Jasyn said. And gave him a smile that would have made any male within three light years melt.

  Omar’s ears turned pink and he cleared his throat. "There’s just that matter of the oil and coolant."

  "And payment," I said.

  "Twenty seven hundred? Fair price for what we’ve got," Omar conceded. "Take me a few days to gather up that much cash though."

  "Fine, payment before we lift," I said, willing to give him time.

  There was a loud thump from the ship. I flinched, then turned to the ship where Habim was dismantling the engines.

  "I’ll go see what he’s doing," I said and headed back to the ship.

  "Habim, not that!" Ginni shouted.

  I broke into a run.

  Chapter 11

  Habim took the entire engine apart, except for the sealed hyperdrive units. He dismantled everything. He had parts laid out everywhere in the engine room and up the stairs to the lounge. No one was allowed to touch any of them. Habim calmly wiped each one clean and placed it back in its row. At the rate he was working, which was phenomenal, it was still going to take him at least five days to put it all back, seven if he took time to sleep, which he wasn’t.

  Watching Habim dismantle the engines I’d sweated rebuilding for a month when we bought the ship made me squirm. My hands itched to put it all back together, but he wouldn't let me touch anything.

  I finally retreated outside, into the cool night air. Once I’d made it clear to Habim and Ginni what he was allowed to take apart they were both scrupulously careful not to touch the areas I’d told them to leave alone. Which wasn’t much, mostly the sealed units that even I wouldn’t have tried to fix.

  I found a spot to sit overlooking the valley below. I heard the occasional thump from the engine compartment behind me. I twitched every time. I moved lower down the slope, out of earshot of all but the loudest bangs. Ghost came out of the shadows near the ship and followed me down the hill. She amused herself playing with the grass at my feet when I perched on a rock, pouncing and batting the stalks.

  All of the lights were on in every building below me. They glowed like a star cluster caught in the night. The breeze ruffled my hair and brought the occasional burst of distant laughter and music. I didn’t want to be down there with Jasyn and Clark and Jerimon, I wanted time and space to myself. But a small part of me wanted the music, the laughter, wanted to belong somewhere. I pulled my knees up and wrapped my arms around them.

  If I’d gone to the party, I’d be wanting to leave by now. Even though Onipas couldn’t have more than a few thousand people, it would have been too many.

  I rested my chin on my arms. The breeze smelled of growing things, not oil and plascrete. I looked up at the swirl of stars overhead. Onipas had plenty of space and solitude, but it was the twinkling of the stars overhead that drew me.

  We could settle on Onipas. It was far enough away from everything that none of my troubles should follow me here. I could fix machinery, tractors and farm equipment were child’s play after fixing starship engines. There was plenty of room and Omar had seemed relaxed when it came to rules. I could be happy here, I told myself. I looked back up at the stars. That was what I really wanted. No, I couldn’t be happy stuck on one planet. The stars were freedom.

  I heard footsteps behind me. Ginni came over the crest of the hill and stopped near me.

  "Am I disturbing you?" she asked.

  "No. What’s Habim up to?"

  "He fell asleep." She scuffed the plants with one foot. "What are you going to do with us? Are you going to turn us in?"

  "Not here. Who would I turn you in to? Besides, I don’t think Omar much cares about things like that. You and Habim could just stay here. Omar won’t ask questions."

  "And spend my life grubbing in the dirt?"

  Her comment was too close to what I’d been thinking myself.

  "What do you want, Ginni? If you could have anything, what would you want?"

  She sat down on my rock and stared up at the stars. "I want my own ship. I want freedom." She shot a sideways glance at me. "Like you."

  Jasyn had accused me of being too sympathetic to Ginni because she was so much like me. Jasyn had been closer to the truth than I think she realized.

  "Habim didn’t murder that Sidyama," Ginni said. "He was just trying to protect me. It’s just sometimes he doesn’t know how big he is. He’s like a child."

  "I know."

  "Are you going to go back to Brugundhi? I heard Clark saying something about it to Jerimon."

  "I don’t want to go anywhere near the Sidyatha."

  "Clark said you could make a lot of money ferrying plants between here and there."

  "There’s a lot more to life than money."

  Ghost pounced out of the grass, wrestling with my foot. I nudged her away. She rolled onto her back and mrowed.

  "Will the Sidyathari still be after you if you’re far away from them
?" I asked Ginni.

  Ghost licked her belly fur. Ginni reached out and stroked the cat’s head. Ghost rolled over again and began purring.

  "I don’t know," Ginni admitted in a small voice.

  I studied her hunched shape in the dark night. She and Habim deserved better. "I know some people. They owe me a few favors. I’ll see what they can do for you." If anyone could get Habim and Ginni out from under the Sidyathari, Lowell could.

  "Why?" Ginni asked. "Why stick your neck out for us? Farther than you already have."

  "Because I was in a similar position, once. Have you ever heard of Tivor?"

  Ginni shook her head. "I’ve never had any school learning."

  "You could have fooled me."

  "What’s Tivor?"

  I tried to explain my home world to her. We sat on the hillside, teasing the cat and talking for at least an hour. Ginni was sharp, smarter than I was. I told her what it was like growing up as an orphan on Tivor. We were deep into a discussion of governments when Clark, Jasyn, and Jerimon returned. They were laughing. The party had obviously been a lot of fun. I wasn’t sorry I’d missed it, though.

  "I like this place," Jasyn said as they climbed the path up the hill to us.

  Ginni slipped back to the ship.

  "Waiting up for us?" Jerimon asked as they reached my perch on the rock.

  "Watching the cat," I said.

  Ghost had lived up to her namesake, she was nowhere to be seen. Jerimon stopped in front of my rock, looking around pointedly. Clark and Jasyn kept going, up to the ship. The light from the open hatch spilled over the hill. I had my back to it and could see Jerimon’s face as he studied me. His look was hard and calculating.

  "What game are you playing with us?" I asked him quietly.

  "I don’t know what you mean." His voice was flat, his face expressionless in the faint reflected light.

  "You’ve been deliberately stirring up trouble. You’re up to something and I don’t like it." Nagging little things about his behavior added up. Pieces started to fall into place.

  "Are you going to accuse me of working for Lowell?" He sounded and looked amused but his eyes still held a hard glint.