by Debra Jess
The shuttle broke through the last layer of puffy white cloud cover and gave Tamarja her first unfiltered view of Dawn's Landing. Cobalt ocean extended far and wide, occasionally interrupted by a white breaker. Beyond the breaker, she caught a glimpse of a waterspout, followed by dual dorsal fins and the flick of a heavy tail.
Is that a walhoon breaching the surface?
A niggle of excitement chased away her dread. Bregarlos had nothing so vast that wasn't covered with platforms and machinery. There was no mystery about Bregarlos. All its secrets had been observed, tagged, classified, and harvested. What couldn't be used was discarded to make room for something else.
The dramatic rise of the continental shelf tugged her thoughts away from marine life. The pure cobalt lightened to aquamarine and just as suddenly turned to pale blue before the shuttle cast its shadow over the sandy beach.
Tamarja squinted. Only a few structures dotted the shoreline. Adjusting the view pane angle and filter, Tamarja brought the distant view into perspective. Rolling green foothills gave way to waves of gray granite mountains. The shuttle continued its descent, dodging an air scrubber. As it pulled away from the mountains, the view shifted again, and with another adjustment, Tamarja saw more buildings tucked in a golden valley with a brackish river that opened into a wide lake. Another beach stretched along half the lake, which was filled with swimmers enjoying a lazy day.
Beyond the lake, air markers crisscrossed habitat clusters to direct the low-level floaters traveling shorter distances. Larger commuter craft easily outpaced the individual floaters but were not able to achieve the altitude of the shuttle.
Finally the spaceport came into view, the graceful structure rising like one of the surrounding foothills, gently blending in with the environment. Their shuttle circled, giving Tamarja a view of the shuttle carrying the ‘pets as it settled into its dock, tethers snaking from underground to secure the craft. As her shuttle banked for landing, she adjusted the view pane angle again, trying to keep an eye on the ‘pets shuttle but lost her line of sight during the descent.
Now she regretted sitting in the aft section. If she hurried, she might see that odd ‘pet as he disembarked. Of course, if she did that, then she also risked attracting the attention of Daeven Blayde, which she didn't need. Yohzad had promised he was the only person who knew she was a ‘pet—or a partial ‘pet, as it turned out. Whatever Blayde knew, or thought he knew about her, could only bring her trouble.
The shuttle hovered for a full minute before it descended to meet the dock. The quiet slink-chick of the tethers indicated the shuttle had hit its mark and the doors would dissolve soon.
Tamarja snagged her satchel from the overhead bin and secured it over her shoulder. She owned nothing except what Yohzad had provided for her: an extra set of clothes, an upgraded ear jack preprogrammed with the local channels and guides, an identification chip, and a stylus. He also gave her a credit chip that carried an amount that should take care of her basic needs until she earned her first wages.
The odd half smile on Yohzad's face when he’d given her the chip made her think that the amount of credits was either more than the usual or not supposed to be there at all. Either way, she didn't question his generosity. He'd already done so much for her.
Don't get mushy, Chase. After all, what is he to you but a distraction? Keep your eyes focused on what's in front of you.
The passengers ahead of her surged forward. After the last passenger in the row in front of her stood, Tamarja took her place in line while activating her ear jack so it would be ready when she entered the port.
She paused before exiting as she tried to interpret the signage that flashed from her head-up display.
"‘Scuse me…"
Tamarja realized that she was blocking a woman dressed in the same black uniform as Blayde from entering the shuttle. Behind her, a work crew of female ‘pets continued to walk forward until the woman signaled them to stop.
"I'm sorry, I…um…" Tamarja fumbled with her stylus while stepping aside.
"Never been here before?" the woman in black asked, surprisingly sympathetic.
“No. I need to find transportation to, ummm, Habitat Prime?"
The guard signaled the ‘pets again, and they all sat on the ground in unison. The guard then jacked into the same signal carrier that Tamarja had used to pull up her itinerary. She scanned the data that scrolled in front of her.
"Okay, Habitat Prime. You shouldn't have any problems finding transportation…wait, let me check one thing." The guard used her own stylus to open a footnote at the end of her itinerary. "It looks like transportation has already been arranged. By floater, security escort." The guard raised an eyebrow at Tamarja, clearly interested as to why she required a security escort, which Tamarja ignored. "Go to the end of this corridor. There should be a security guard there, dressed like me with this designation"—she tapped the gold circles on her shoulder—"waiting for you."
Tamarja thanked her and walked past the ‘pets as the officer signaled them to stand. She strode into the terminal, determined not to appear lost or confused again. The other passengers had already dispersed, leaving the gateway nearly empty.
She glanced around, looking for another security officer, but she could only see civilians waiting for the next shuttle to the station.
Maybe around the corner and down the next corridor? That leads to baggage claim. Maybe he or she thinks I'm going there first?
She hitched her satchel higher on her shoulder and headed for the intersection. She rounded the corner just as she spied another black uniform on the opposite side of the corridor. She turned her head and didn't see the second officer at her side until she damn near smacked her nose into Daeven Blayde again.
"We have to stop meeting like this." Stars and Guardians, did I just say that? Cryo had done nothing to improve her humor or her bad sense of timing.
Her humor was also wasted on Daeven Blayde. His glare on Jarvis Station was nothing compared to the murderous look on his face now. His eyes were like sapphire knives: cold, impenetrable, and sharp enough to kill.
"I'm your escort to Facility Prime." Each word sounded like old-fashioned cannon fire. He reached out and took her arm, none too gently.
Her satchel slipped off her shoulder and smacked her leg as it hit the floor. "I'm supposed to have an escort to Habitat Prime, not Facility Prime." She yanked her arm, but it was mostly for show. She didn't have the strength to take on this guy, and even if she did, it would only get her into trouble. Trouble she had to avoid at all costs.
"They're right next to each other," he said. "You can't get to the Habitat without going through the Facility first. Security purposes."
"I didn't know that." Lower your eyes. Say you're sorry if you know what's good for you. Of course she didn't follow her own advice. "I've never been here before. And what are you so angry about anyway?"
As suddenly as he had grabbed her, he let her go. His eyes gave her a harsh once-over. "I'm sorry. You're not who I thought you were."
He certainly didn't sound sorry, and he still stared at her. She absently rubbed her arm and hoped she didn't bruise easily. Mistaken identity? It sounded too pat, too easy. Yohzad was wrong. He did know her, but from where? If he knew she was a prisoner, would he tell others? If he knew about her past, maybe he would be more forthcoming with answers than Yohzad.
His expression still resembled repressed thunder. If he did know her, he didn't appear to like what he knew. Maybe her crimes were worse than anything she had imagined? Murder? Theft? Had she hurt someone he knew? Was she actually capable of hurting someone?
If she'd learned to do one thing well on Bregarlos, it was to play stupid. Antagonizing security was never a good idea. Make one of them your enemy, and you make all of security your enemy. She bent to pick up her satchel and slipped it back over her shoulder.
"Is that all your baggage?" He tilted his blond head, indicating her satchel.
Evidently you know more a
bout my baggage than I do. "Yes, that's all of it."
"Welcome to Dawn's Landing," he said, but he clearly didn't mean it.
She fell into step next to him as he walked away, but not without another quick glance around the terminal. Still no sign of the ‘pets. Oh, well.
"Thank you." She double-timed her stride to keep up with him and hoped they didn't have far to go. Already her heart pounded. "How long will it take to get to Habitat Prime?"
He sidestepped a grav-resister speeding in the opposite direction. "Not long by floater. You arrived at a good time. Spring on Dawn's Landing lasts forever, and we just began the season."
"The view from the air was outstanding." The view from back here isn't bad either. Too bad his ass looks better than his attitude.
They reached a construction zone, and Tamarja did her best to follow Blayde's footsteps. "Expanding the port?" The more she learned now, the fewer surprises she'd have to face later.
"Had to. Manitac leaves us alone for the most part, but every once in a while, they'll send one of their inspection teams. We need to expand the port to accommodate their war—I mean their cruisers."
No, you mean their warships. Her isolation on Bregarlos didn't allow for direct outside contact, but occasionally her ear jack, programmed for her lessons, would hijack a streaming news channel. She'd never reported the malfunction and thus had learned Manitac had a growing fleet of armed ships. They said such an armada was necessary to protect their interests from pirates and Shadows as the company pushed beyond the territory protected by the Unity government.
Blayde led her to one of the exits and dissolved the door. "Shortcut to security transportation. Yohzad must think a lot of you to arrange for an escort."
Yohzad, not Cyrek. First name familiarity. Her opinion of Blayde flip-flopped one more time, not for the better. "He's known me for some time. I guess this is sort of a favor."
If Blayde thought otherwise, he didn't say. Waving her through, he followed but quickly overtook her again, his stride moving them at breakneck speed through empty corridors. Thoroughly lost, Tamarja sighed with relief when he led her outdoors.
Above her, red and yellow aves swooped and chirped, their wings catching the breeze from the building’s air vents. Container gardens with blue and orange blooms decorated the railing that lined the transportation lot. Ivy with white petals crawled up the outside walls, as if determined to get inside.
Along the lot, a row of perfectly parked two- and four-person floaters waited for them, all security black with the gold circle insignia emblazoned on the hoods.
"We're not using a compressor?" Manitac had left enough of her memory intact to remember why compressors couldn't be used in the vacuum of space and complications created in the upper atmosphere, but ground-level in human tolerable gravity? There shouldn't have been any reason not to use them.
"Nope." Blayde dissolved the doors to the first floater in the row, allowing Tamarja to slide inside. "The director has plans for this world beyond exporting goods. She can't show off her creation to Manitac inspectors if they're compressing from inside one building to another. Restricting compressors to a handful of individual buildings, she can force them to see the planet as a whole, not just the pieces and parts they want to exploit."
Daeven manipulated the interior controls like an expert. The thing had warning systems, motion trackers, identity scans, heavy shielding—it all looked like state-of-the-art security equipment. Even the clear composite dome that stretched over them looked thick enough to withstand a high-powered laser blast. The planet made her feel wild and free, but the interior of the floater reminded her of Bregarlos. Yet Yohzad had made Dawn's Landing sound peaceable, almost to the point of boredom.
"Fancy." She ran her fingers along the multitude of displays as Blayde engaged the safety belts. "I wouldn't think you'd need all this stuff out here on the far edge of the territory."
"We don't, really. At least not yet." Blayde keyed the pad to discharge the umbilical and float them up a few feet. “Once Manitac stabilized the atmosphere and gravity for human habitation, the director started populating the planet with compatible wildlife. It’s taken her years to make the outdoors look this good. We have a negligible crime rate, but no colony is perfect. This far out, we're vulnerable. Even Manitac can't keep an eye on us all the time. We risk attracting pirates and other opportunists who would exploit our isolation. The director wants us prepared for anything, so we get the most advanced equipment available."
The floater slipped forward, gaining height and speed as they left the parking lot. She would finally get to see Dawn's Landing up close, even if it still was through a view pane. The spaceport retreated into the background, but Tamarja's gaze was firmly planted on what was ahead. The view opened up to breezy grassland, mottled by what appeared to be small burrows, untouched by buildings or even a rest stop. Dawn, the sun, rose high overhead.
Dangerous wildlife or not, it wouldn’t be a terrible place to start a new life—even if under the yoke of servitude. Considering all the harsh planets out there, she could have done much worse. Sunlight poured through a scattering of gauzy clouds, streaking the almost-purple sky with lavender.
Yes, indeed, she could have done much worse. Relaxing for the first time since she’d received her assignment, she sighed. "Beautiful."
Chapter Five
Blayde made the mistake of taking his eyes off the head-up display to look over at Chase. All he needed was a glimpse to know what she’d been through. Manitac’s gray uniform did her no favors. Her frame was too thin from a starvation diet, her skin dull from years in cryo, her eyes dark and haunted. If not for the wild curls of her hair, he would have to question whether this was the real Tamarja Chase. “Yes, it is."
Fool. She doesn't remember you. He broke eye contact and forced himself to focus on the floater's controls. I knew better than to hope. I should be glad she can't remember. Remembering would only put my plans into jeopardy.
She can't be allowed to remember me. If she does, I'll have to stop her from accessing those memories any way I have to.
All too soon Tamarja saw two mid-rise buildings with a connection bridge in between. Each building shone in the sunlight with a kaleidoscope of color reflecting off the suite-size view panes and accented with hanging gardens. Blayde hadn't relaxed at all during the trip, but he did answer her questions about Dawn's Landing, which she had tried to keep simple.
"Was that really a walhoon I saw in the ocean? I couldn't tell how big it was, but I did see a picture of a sea creature that used to be native to Bregarlos. It went extinct once the population exploded during Manitac's first expansion."
Blayde's eyes never strayed off the plotted course. "No. These walhoons don't swim in pods, and they have two heads, one located under the jaw of the larger one."
"Are they dangerous?"
"Only if you're stupid enough to poke one with a stick."
"I'll make sure not to do that."
This time he did take his eyes off the course, giving her a strange look.
"You actually think I would do that, don’t you?“ she said. “You think I'm going to spend my free time baiting sea life?"
He huffed. "I think if anyone can find trouble, it would be you."
He did know her! But how could she ask when she wasn't sure if he knew of her prisoner status? "Well, some of us just have a talent for these things, I suppose."
"You suppose? I read your file. You're a menace. I don't have high hopes that the director will keep you here for long."
Damn. All he did was read her file, so there was no personal connection between them. Yohzad had warned her. Still, she couldn't let the insult pass. "Is that a challenge?"
Before he could jab back, a brown mass slammed into the floater from above. Tamarja yelped when she banged her head against the side view pane as the entire floater jolted under the weight.
"By the Stars, what the…" She grabbed onto her seat so she wouldn't go flying again.
/>
"Hang on." Daeven yanked his stylus out from his breast pocket. "Damn aves."
Since Blayde wasn't panicking over the attack, Tamarja figured they were mostly safe. She opened her eyes so she could see what kind of ave had the strength to knock around a floater, but all she could see were suckers—hundreds of them—squished against the view panes, undulating in an arrhythmic motion.
Blayde jammed the stylus at the dashboard. A small zap emitted from the floater. A thunderous squawk rocked the floater again, and the ave let go. Through the now sticky view pane, Tamarja watched a bulbous brown creature flap its four wings and fly away, its tentacles flowing out behind it.
"You didn't hurt it, did you?"
Blayde didn't respond. Instead, he stared off into the distance.
"Well, did you hurt it or not?"
"Why do you care?"
"Why wouldn't I? It was magnificent. I’ve never seen anything like it. Where in the stars did the director find an ave like that? Why would she bring it here?“
He still wouldn't look at her. "No, I didn't hurt it. The zap just vibrated the external shell of the floater to shake the suckers loose and remind the ave that it can't get food from inorganic materials. As for the director, I don’t tell her what aves to import, and she doesn’t tell me how to secure her personnel.“
Why would he think she wouldn't care about a poor ave looking for food? Why would he believe she'd want to hunt a simple walhoon? Her headache returned, along with a memory fog, forcing her to close her eyes.
"I wouldn't hurt anyone.“ Why was it so important he believe her? He was only her driver, a security escort. More than likely, she’d never see him again once he dropped her off at Facility Prime. “Not deliberately. I'll leave Dawn's Landing myself before I'd injure anyone here."
He shot her a warning look. "Don't make me have to find you. You were hired to do a job, and you will do it. If you harm the director or anyone else on Dawn's Landing and try to run, you're not going to enjoy the consequences."