by Zach Winderl
“Let’s rough plan on a week to be prepped and ready for whatever we might come up against. We each have a separate role to play in this, and a role as a group.”
“Do we have any idea of what we need to be prepping for?” Hither asked.
“Table that for a moment.” Atom lifted his eyes to the ceiling. “Kozue, could you ask Lilly to join us?”
“Just a moment,” the AI replied. “She will arrive momentarily.”
The crew exchanged glances and Atom took note of their reservations. They shared a ship, but Lilly floated in an orbit outside their own. Despite the back and forth, and the prospect of a haul to retire them, she still had not earned their trust.
Atom smiled and turned his attention to Margo.
Trotting around the narrow island, she sang to Mae. The cat humored her childish song and led her on a merry chase, stopping to look back at Margo to keep the girl interested.
“Koze, play some music for her,” said Atom as he watched the interplay.
Margo froze for a moment, then her eyes lit up with delight and she started to bounce with a rhythm that changed the mood around the table. The crew seemed to forget their dark mood and smiles broke out as Margo bobbed her head back and forth to the beat of an unheard melody.
Mae sat on her haunches and watched Margo with a placid expression that belied the underlying spirit of cat.
“However this goes, we’ll always have Go to keep us entertained.” Daisy smiled.
“We do this fer her.” Shi watched the girl, the corner of her mouth curling. “Whatever floats our way, we remember what we all owe her our lives.
“At first, I’d’ve said we’s jist crew.” Shi pulled her foot up on the bench and leaned on her knee. “But, I ain’t never been tight with a crew like I am with y’all. I rekin Margo is what sets it. Plus, I ain’t never bin saved by a wee kit ‘for. That’ll be a story to tell when she gits older.”
“Imagine telling that story at her wedding?” Hither said with a reserved laugh. “You’re marrying a girl who took out an imperial assault squad . . . as a two-year-old.”
“She’s almost three.” Atom joined her laughter.
“Because that’s the important part of the story,” Hither countered. “Anyone who marries her better stay on her good side. If she can do that when she’s almost three, what is she going to be like as a teen?”
“Didn’t I tell you, that’s why I hired you and Shi.”
“You ain’t said nothin’ about that whin you hired me,” Shi drawled. “Might’s well jump ship now.”
The whole crew joined in the laughter. The mood soared.
“And don’t forget, anyone hitchin’ ‘er will ‘ave to keep us in mind,” Byron chirped.
“They might have a rougher nuptial with us as family than any han could offer,” Daisy said as he slipped from his side of the bench with a hiss of pain. He wandered past the dancing Margo to pour himself a mug of broth. “Speaking of her future, do you think this score will set her up with a real one?”
Atom sighed and his smile slipped a touch. “I’m hoping it might be something to leave her.”
The door slid open to reveal Lilly. Margo stopped dancing and looked up at the baug. Sensing the tension fluttering beneath the surface of the room, Lilly bobbed her head as if entering a library full of studying students.
The attention turned to Lilly, and Atom gestured to the open seat next to Shi and the pile of ko sitting on the table.
“We’re moving on Nemo,” Atom said as she sat. “The Tribe paid up as soon as we completed the job and that’s your cut of the affair. Although, I’m still not certain how they knew we had completed our task.”
“They have eyes everywhere,” she said as Daisy finished heating his broth and rejoined the table. “That’s why I’ve had to be so careful.”
“Understandable.” Atom leaned forward on the table and studied his hands. “That puts us in an uncomfortable position. I’m fair certain they’re looking to back us into a corner and they know we’ve been in contact with you.”
“And they still have that mark on my head.”
“If they’ve made that public, Toks will be double gunning for all of us. I think all we can do is try to get ahead of this.”
Daisy and Shi exchanged a look.
“What?” Atom asked, glancing between the two.
Daisy cleared his throat and took the lead. “Even if we manage to get ahead of the Tribe, there’s no way we stay there. We’re racing Toks and we have no idea where she is at the moment.”
“Then we push for Nemo.” Atom shrugged.
“And what about when we reach the end of this here ride?” Shi squinted at Atom.
“We cross that void when we get to it,” Atom replied, looking to Lilly. “In the meantime, together we have enough of the puzzle to get us where we need to go. Toks has part of it, so we have to assume she knows to head to Nemo.”
“We just need to get there before she does,” Lilly said. “Otherwise, she’ll spot us on the inbound and just trail us to the treasure.”
“You’re right on that front.” Atom pushed up from the table and began pacing the mess deck from hatch to hatch. Margo watched him for one cycle and then trotted over to climb up into Daisy’s lap.
“According to Daisy, we have around a week, give or take.” Atom turned to the table with his hands tucked behind his back. “Time is not our friend. Daisy if there is any chance you shave a day or two off our inbound, that might prove the difference between finding this treasure for ourselves, and digging it up for Toks.”
Daisy nodded and rose, shifting Margo to his empty seat. “I’ll see what I can crunch. I might have to skirt safety,” he said as he left the mess deck with Mae weaving about his feet.
“Byron,” Atom said, shifting his gaze around the table. “I don’t know what we’re going to face when we get there. We have the treasure ship on record, but we don’t know where it’ll be or how we’re getting into it. I want you to put together the tech to bypass security, physical and tech side. We also need to get to the ship whether it’s in the void, some place on land, or even underwater. On top of that, we need rigs that can punch through the hatches of a warship.”
Lilly raised a hand and waited for Atom to nod at her. “Ash can help with that. I could have him interface with Byron and see if we can load him up to tackle that problem.”
“Good, that’ll help. You up for it, By?”
“Absolutely.” The little mech looked as if he wanted to scamper away to his workshop right then.
“One last thing.” Atom held up Byron with a finger. “I want you to get together with Hither and plug up the rigs to couple with the void-suits so we can function in any of those environments I just mentioned. I know they’ll be bulky, so just rig breach suits for Shi and me. I don’t think Daisy can handle that stress now and I want you and Hither nimble for tight spots.
“Lilly will be suited, but working with Ash,” Atom said to the rest of the table.
“Righto, darl.” Byron leaped up and shot for the door.
“Hold up.” Atom stopped him as the hatch hissed. “Do the same for Margo’s suit. She’ll be with me, like usual, but instead of clips, could you rig a light rack that can attach to any of the suits? She might need to jump us at a moment’s notice.”
Byron blinked several times as schematics fluttered through his mind. “I reck I could build you somefin ‘long them specs.”
“Git.” Atom grinned as the mech disappeared down the hatch like a startled rabbit.
“Shi, you good for breaking at my side?”
Shi cracked her knuckles and smirked. “Fittin’ that we’d be first in.”
“Problem?”
“Naw, it’s right where we should be.”
“But it’ll mean you might have to man a holding point.”
She didn’t look at the other women at the table, but Atom sensed her confident spirit. “You need the others to follow their assigned paths. I’
ll hold the path open for you when things go sideways inside a hostile ship.”
“That’s my thought. I want you to do an inventory of our weapons. I know we aren’t an Imperial Marine ship, but you’ve stocked us quite nicely. You know our preferences, so put together an assault package in case we have to deal with Toks climbing up our pipes.”
Shi knuckled her forehead and looked to Lilly. “Scuse me, miss. I got a list to make.”
Lilly slipped out from the booth and let Shi saunter off into the ship, mumbling and counting on her fingers as she disappeared.
The baug looked to Atom as she dropped back into her seat. “I suppose there’s some way I fit into your outfit. I just don’t want to get in the way.”
“You’ll fit.” Atom gave a thoughtful half-smile. “I just need to figure out where. I pulled this crew together because they fit, not because I was looking for anyone specifically. We work perfectly, and while you’re an extra cog, we should continue to function.
“In the meantime, I have a couple questions.” He studied Lilly from different angles as he resumed his slow pacing. “How small can you get and is your suit built to handle shifting?
Lilly laughed. “The smallest I’ve ever reduced is maybe twenty inches in height. It comes in handy for infiltration. The only problem is my mass is packed into the tiny frame. Meaning, don’t expect me to be faster or lighter, just because I’m smaller. I just have to be careful about where I’m placing that mass.
“Don’t even dream that I would fit in the palm of your hand, although, I could strap into your shoulder harness if you were prepared for the weight.
“As to the second question, I have several suits on my ship geared towards different sizes.” Lilly paused to run inventory in her head. “I have a child’s suit on hand that would drop down to that size, but I doubt I could stretch it out too much larger than a small child, so I’d be stuck at that size if wearing the suit.”
“Just be ready for whatever comes.” Atom stopped at the table and leaned on the back of his seat, looking at Margo. “You and I will see this to the end. Figure what you want to do with Ash. We’ll stay together as long it’s feasible.
“What I don’t want,” he turned his gaze back to Lilly, “is there to be any question once we get in. If we have to separate for any reason, I don’t want to have to think about who is going where or worry about whether you’ll change your mind. Those decisions need to be made before we even drop in the Nemo System.
“The way things are floating, I don’t know what kind of lead we have on Toks and even though we burned time completing the job for the Tribe, I say it bought us time with them.”
“And what if Toks beats us there?” Lilly frowned down at the table.
“Then we re-evaluate the situation.”
Hither cleared her throat and said, “It’s possible that if they beat us there, we can just drop in with the usual system traffic.”
“If they are there, they’ll be looking for us,” Atom replied with a shake of his head.
“Do we even know what kind of traffic a system that far outside the Fingers gets? It could affect what our possibilities might be when we arrive.”
Lilly looked up from the table and asked, “Would it be a good idea to pick up a cargo so we could pass as a legit merch? You know, similar to what we did with Seeonee and Kafiristan? I could probably dig and figure the best trade route for us to take.”
“No need,” Atom replied. “Kozue, can you get me trade info on Nemo?”
“They export scrap,” Kozue said. “Their imports tend along the lines of manufactured goods. They seem to produce most of their own basic needs, but don’t have the production capabilities to fill those demands. I would suggest items such as monitors, smaller farm equipment, suspensor-bikes. Any of these items would trade for scrap at a very profitable rate.”
“And where is the best place to pick up a hold?”
“Daisy is still playing with our route, but I believe I can line up a hold full of replacement monitors with very little deviance from his course. It may add six hours travel time, plus whatever it takes you to haggle a good price, but it would give us a solid cover should we find Toks awaiting us.”
“Good, pass the information on to him and have him build it into our route.”
“I’m going to talk to Byron,” Lilly said and she rose and headed for the rear hatch.
After she had left, Atom poured himself a mug of green chi and tossed a pinch of cinnamon into the steaming liquid. He closed his eyes and scented the drink before wandering back to the table.
“What am I missing?” he asked Hither as he sat down and blew a wisp of steam in her direction. “Everyone has a task to keep them busy while we wait. Most will probably be unnecessary, but it’ll keep their minds off what’s coming. We can only plan for possibilities right now. I guess we could look at that poem again and see if we can pick anything out that might help us.”
Hither slipped around from the far end of the table to sit next to Atom. With a smirk, she took the chi from his hands. “Thanks, love. Why don’t you get yourself a cup?”
Atom flipped an eyebrow and retreated to the kitchen.
Hither cupped the mug, savoring the heat seeping into her hands. “We can go over the poem,” she murmured as she stared into the mug. “I honestly haven’t thought about it since we first picked it up. Things have been chaotic.”
“Isn’t that normal?” Atom chuckled as he filled a second mug and joined her at the table.
“Depends on the season.”
“Kozue, could you throw the riddle up on the wall screen?” Atom took a steaming sip.
The poem appeared on the wall screen that dominated the far end of the table.
Inside, a man mourns long lost sheep
Walking nowhere, but continues to weep
No one descended from nowhere above
Guiding the sheep out beyond the Glove
The man takes solace turned into himself
Then buried her beside him, asleep on the shelf
Atom and Hither stared at the words.
“Where do you think this came from?” Hither asked, tilting her head to the side and leaning on her fist with a frown.
“Blonde.”
“But the story from Lilly is that each one of the navies on that pod had a single piece of the puzzle. One each for the system, planet, and location.”
“If that was the plan, then why did one of them seem to have all three of the pieces and hide them in a stupid jumble of words? I’m not saying he didn’t do a fancy job of hiding the info in there, but I’ve never been one for word puzzles.”
“You think Blonde concocted this puzzle?” Hither asked.
“Probably not, but who wrote it is irrelevant. We have to assume Lilly’s basic story is true, and that each sailor had a single piece of the information. Each of them was ordered to carry that single piece of the puzzle into the Black. Either the poem came along after, or perhaps the captain sent it along without actually telling Blonde it was important.” Atom paused to sip his own chi. “What we do know is that we have two pieces of this puzzle, and Lilly has the other. We know from Johansen that the name Shepherd is important in some dimension and that claim seems supported by the poem.”
“What if the poem is something else?”
Atom stared at Hither.
“We have the system name and Shepherd,” she continued.
“Just to rule out,” Atom interrupted. “I had Kozue reference the name Shepherd and there are seven hundred and twenty-three planets with Shepherd in their name. There are fifty-two systems with some derivative of the name. Unfortunately, none of them line up with the Nemo System in any way.
“Come at it from the other side and we are left with a Shepherd in the Nemo System.”
“Then Shepherd is the treasure ship?” Hither asked.
“It has to be.”
“Then we are on the right course?”
Atom shrugged. “There�
�s only one Nemo System. It doesn’t seem like a very popular name. Plus, Lilly said her clue was a planet, so I can’t see any other vector.”
“In the entire galaxy, only one Nemo? Not that I’m fighting it. I’ve never even heard the name before. It still seems unlikely.”
“If there are any more, they aren’t in the planetary registry.”
“So, Nemo System it is.” Hither took a breath and turned her attention to the poem. “I see shepherd referenced in there. I mean, they mention a guy with sheep, that’s pretty straight forward, but where do you get Nemo in that jumble?”
“Well, Nemo is a name meaning nobody, or no one, but I don’t know that I would have picked that out of the poem if we didn’t already have the clue.”
“Maybe the poem isn’t a clue, but more of a key.”
Atom studied the words and drained his mug without tearing his eyes from the wall-screen. “You think that means we won’t be able to pick out Lilly’s clue from the riddle?”
“I’d guess not.” Hither slipped from the booth and took Atom’s mug from the table. She dropped it, along with hers, into the recycler. “Have you asked her?”
“Nope,” Atom said with a chuckle as he joined Hither.
“Are you going to?”
“When the time is right.” Atom scowled at the riddle.
“You know she’s going to try and cut us out.”
“Yeah, but how is she going to do that if we hold all the pieces to this puzzle.”
“And you think we can bypass her clue?”
Atom shook his head in dejection. “How many habitable planets can there be in one system?”
“Who says they need to be habitable?” Hither leaned on the counter, crossed her arms, and studied the words. “Koze, how many planets are there in the Nemo System?”
“Thirteen,” said Kozue.
“That’s too many to search.” Atom pinched the bridge of his nose. “How many inhabited?”
“Seven, but only three to any degree of consequence.”
“Would you hide a treasure ship on an inhabited planet?” Hither asked.
“Probably not,” Atom agreed. “But we can’t rule them out, and we’ll need to start somewhere. Dropping into the system and immediately burning for an uninhabited planet would kick up klaxons for anyone watching. We’ll have to hit the system-hub first and then find a reason to spread our search outward.