The second was Garmman, but he wore a white uniform with a blue collar, and looked more groomed and polished than Tak or any of the crew.
The sight of him had an immediate effect on Tak.
He stumbled to his feet, bowing and talking as fast as he could. “Councilor Vilk, this man——” He pointed at Hal. “This man has taken over my ship! And taken charge of one of my crew.”
He darted a quick look at Fiona, then away, and Fee wondered if he hoped she didn't understand what he was saying.
She'd had the sense since the beginning he thought her stupid or unable to comprehend Garmman. And it was interesting that he called her part of his crew. If Tak was unwilling to identify her as a slave or prisoner, then chances were that what he was doing was considered illegal in this strange new world she'd landed in.
The Grih had agreed to rescue her, too. Had protected her from Hury earlier.
She thought of Gerwa and his crew and actually wanted to give them each a quick kiss on the cheek, blow to the head and all. They'd brought the Grih, and they'd changed her fortunes.
What was a little concussion compared to that?
“Councilor Vilk, thank you for coming across from the Illium.” Captain Vakeri bowed slightly to the councilor, a formal, quick incline of his big body. “Kwo.” He spared a nod for the strange being in Grih uniform. “Please be seated and let's get going. I have Krik to run to ground.”
“Commander Chel didn't explain why you thought I would be needed here,” the councilor said, and then he caught sight of Fee. “Oh.” He let the exclamation out on a whoosh.
He stared at her for a long beat, until Fee fought an urge to fidget. Then he cut away, turned to look at Captain Tak, and Fee did not think he looked happy.
A tiny bubble of vengeful happiness floated up inside her.
Pop.
“I see you understand.” The captain's voice was grim. “Fiona, this is United Councilor Vilk and United Council Liaison Officer Kwo.” As he made the introductions, Fee turned to him, saw he'd taken off his helmet.
She gaped.
He looked like a warrior elf about to take a last stand against the Dark Lord. Shockgun strapped to his thigh, pointy ears, dark brown hair tipped with copper which stood up like an all-over mohawk—-he was the most formidable sight she'd ever seen.
And he was on her side.
Or, at least, he wasn't against her.
That was the most she could say about anyone she'd met since she'd been abducted.
She tried to school her face to neutrality, but all she could think was how happy she was that he and his crew were here.
“She helped the Krik escape.” Tak suddenly stood, the look on his face an ugly combination of fear and rage, finger pointing right at her. “My emergency pod was completely hidden and they've taken it. They could only have known it was there because she told them.”
Hal Vakeri inclined his head. “Yes. She's already told me how they escaped.”
That seemed to floor him. His mouth opened and closed, and then he sucked in a breath. “Well, unless I'm mistaken, helping known criminals to escape is a crime.”
“That's true.” Vakeri looked across at her, and Fee went still. “Except in the case of coercion, or did you not see the severe blow to her head? And then, of course, you also have to prove the person knew the people she was helping were criminals and did it anyway. And I would guess that would prove impossible.”
“How could she not know? The Illium has been broadcasting comms about this particular group and what they're accused of almost hourly.” The councilor looked uncomfortable speaking out, but Fee saw Tak gave a satisfied nod.
“Fiona Russell would have had to have access to comms to see them.” Vakeri motioned to her. “Did you see any such comms?”
Fiona looked across at Tak. “No. I am confined to a cell when I'm not working in the launch bay. Those are the only two places I've ever been on this ship, and neither has comms screens.”
Kwo sucked in a breath. “Are you saying you are a prisoner here?” His voice seemed to vibrate as he spoke.
“I am.”
Tak jumped up. “She lies! She lies! She's a worker. A fractious worker who had to be contained for her own good.”
“And whereabouts did you find this worker?” Vakeri's voice was low and steady, a stark contrast to Tak's.
Tak went quiet. Looked down.
He hadn't thought that far, and he was digging himself a deep, deep hole.
It was sweet ambrosia to Fee. She gave a slow, satisfied smile. Felt another vengeful bubble rise.
“You think this is a joke?” The councilor raised a brow.
“No.” She sent him a cool look. “I don't think it's a joke. But to say I'm happy about this situation is really putting it mildly.”
Tak hunched his shoulders, his bulging forehead gleaming with sweat as he looked away.
“You're happy that the Krik were able to board a Garmma trading spacecraft while we were in pursuit and then, with your help, use one of the Garmman's emergency pods to escape?” Kwo's big eyes were narrowed, the vibrations of his voice almost a hiss.
They must have really wanted to get their hands on those Krik.
She shook her head. “I don't know who the Krik are. I don't know who you are, or the Garmman either, for that matter. I couldn't care less about your disputes. What I do care about is getting myself free of Captain Tak and his ship. The people who abducted me handed me over to him and he's held me prisoner for nearly three months. I've been subjected to starvation, beatings and general abuse. The Krik boarding this ship, with you chasing right after them, would seem to have brought me to the notice of a wider variety of . . . species . . . and I can only think that puts me one step closer to my goal of getting away from Captain Tak and his merry band of thugs. Unless slavery and abduction are perfectly okay in your part of the universe?” It was her turn to raise a brow.
Kwo made a strange clicking sound, and the look he sent Vakeri held a kind of sick dread.
There was movement at the door, and everyone turned as one of the Grih soldiers came in. Her helmet glass was retracted, and she held the hood Fiona had hidden in the launch bay.
“Officer Favri?” Vakeri cocked his head.
“As you directed, we questioned the crew. They say someone was brought on board and kept in the cell for six weeks, maybe a little more; although only the guards, the captain, and two of the senior officers saw her. Then suddenly, a month ago, they were told she wasn't a prisoner, she was a worker who'd been in quarantine, something they knew was a lie. And they saw her being moved from her cell to the launch bay to work and back. She wasn't allowed in the canteen or any of the recreational areas on the ship——they were told at her own insistence. She wore this at all times.” Favri lifted the hood. “Or, I should say was made to wear it. Twice she tried to remove it, and three crew saw her being beaten for it.”
There was silence in the room.
Fee looked at the hood with loathing. She still didn't know the reason for it, but maybe at last she'd have some answers.
“You tried to make her look like a Drivian?” Lieutenant Rial's question was incredulous. “The ears, well, maybe you could have fooled people looking on from a distance, but what about the mouth?”
“The hood covered my mouth,” Fiona said. She used her hands, putting her index fingers and thumbs together and framing her face from just above her eyebrows to below her nose to show them. “Only this part of my face was visible.”
There was silence again.
“A month ago?” Hal Vakeri said, quietly. “A funny thing happened a month ago.”
The councilor looked up at him, and his face was paler than it had been. “This was not Garmman sanctioned, Captain. We've already proved Fu-tama was working alone.”
“Well,” Vakeri waved a hand over to Tak and his officers. “Not totally alone, obviously.”
Things were being said that were going straight over her head, bu
t Fiona suddenly had the sense this was a lot bigger than just a woman abducted and badly treated.
She looked over at Tak with all the enmity she felt.
“Do you want to explain this, Captain Tak?” The councilor edged his seat just a little away from Tak as he spoke.
Tak said nothing.
“I can tell you what I think, if you'd like.” Every eye in the room turned to her.
“No——” Tak obviously had a change of mind, but the man in white pointed to him, and he fell silent.
“Go ahead.”
“I was taken from my planet. I was passed off from the spaceship that took me to Captain Tak's vessel. I got the idea there was some plan in mind for me, that I was a commission of some sort, but something happened just over a month ago. You seem to know more about that than I do. Ever since then, they've been agonizing over what to do with me, not sure whether to keep me alive or not. And now Tak is regretting his indecision. Aren't you?”
Tak made a sound, half-snarl, half-moan.
It was the sound of sweet revenge.
“We will take her back to where we found her.” Tak's voice was breathless.
“You don't even know where I was taken from, because you weren't in on the original abduction. I remember that much. I'm not going anywhere with you, ever again.” Fee did not hide the scorn in her voice.
“Who did you get her from?” Vakeri's voice was sharp.
Tak wiped some sweat off his forehead. “Just some passing traders.”
There were murmurs around the room and Tak hunched his shoulders.
“They didn't say much about her, even though we asked them. They wanted to get rid of her, so we took her. We thought she'd be safer with us.”
“If they didn't say much about her, your promise to take her back home a minute ago was another lie.” Vilk was dangerously calm. “And instead of alerting the United Council to the incident, you actively hid her from us, to the point of trying to deceive your own United Council representative.”
“I have no good excuse.” Tak looked down.
Fee stared at him with loathing. “You thought I'd be safer with you?” She shook where she stood. The Grih captain put out a hand to her, but she shied away from it, and he dropped his arm. “What about the beatings and the starvation?”
“An extremely good question.” Vakeri took a step toward Tak and the Garmman flinched.
“She wouldn't cooperate. And we didn't know what to feed her.” Tak must have heard how weak that excuse sounded. “It was an embarrassment to us that we had her in the first place. And she was unremittingly hostile.”
“You were hoping I'd just die, weren't you? Then you could have shot me out into space and heaved a sigh of relief. You wanted me dead, without actually having the blood on your hands of ordering me killed.”
“I wish now I had shot you when I had the chance.” Tak glared at her.
Vakeri moved, suddenly standing right in front of the Garmman trader. “Captain Tak, you are under arrest for gross violation of the Sentient Beings Agreement. I'm sure there will be other charges brought, but that will do for now.” He nodded to the guards at the door, and two of them pulled a struggling Tak from his chair and escorted him from the room.
“What about everyone else who helped him?” Fee looked over at Tak's second-in-command. Lon Sang had hit her more than once. Why should he get away with it? “Hury here did his fair share, too.” Fee pointed to Tak's aide. “If they haven't doctored them or wiped them, it should all be on the lens feed.” She was trembling, realized she was shaking with fury now that she had the freedom to demand justice.
“You'll probably have to arrest half the ship, and the other half is guilty of doing nothing, if not actively getting their hands dirty themselves.”
The Garmman councilor wiped a blunt-fingered hand over his bulging forehead. “I will call for an independent team from UC headquarters to watch the lens feed. Arrest everyone involved.”
“It was under orders,” Hury said.
Fee crossed her arms over her chest. Even if that was a valid excuse, which she did not think it was . . .
“I bet it wasn't.” Fee watched him squirm with fierce satisfaction. “Tak really didn't want to get his hands dirty, or he'd have ordered someone to shoot me or beat me to death ages ago, not draw it out. No, I guess he implied, but I don't think he ordered.”
“You . . .” Hury pointed a finger at her. “Just shut up. You won't shut up.”
“Can't handle a little backchat, Hury? You'd rather kick me when I'm down.” She rubbed her hip, where Hury had in fact kicked her just yesterday when she was lying under a new transport cart, screwing on bolts.
Hury leapt at her from his seat, hands outstretched, murder in his eyes. Before he'd taken two steps, the Grih captain smoothly pulled the really big shockgun from its holster and fired at him. Hury gave a satisfying sound of pain and collapsed.
Fee looked across at Vakeri. “That was cathartic. Thanks.”
The Grihan captain was staring at her.
She hadn't moved when Hury had gone for her. She'd been waiting for him to get closer so she could kick him in the balls, guessing she'd be able to without any consequences for once, but she supposed it might have made her look super cool. Or maybe suicidal.
Sometimes, over the last two months, she had been.
4
Fiona Russell was an enigma.
She'd shown fear and distress in the launch bay, but in the conference room she'd confronted Tak and his crew with a sharp edge of vengeance, and when Hury had come at her, she'd faced him with her arms still crossed over her chest.
She hadn't even flinched.
Hal hadn't wanted to risk her being hurt, so he'd taken the sniveling little shit down, but he'd really wanted to see what she planned to do.
That she had something up her sleeve, he didn't doubt for a moment.
There was a lot going on behind those intense, dark eyes.
She walked beside him now, back to the launch bay, and he had to adjust his stride to accommodate her own. She was limping a little and she'd rubbed her hip when she'd accused the Garmman crewman of kicking her when she was down, so he guessed the injury was recent and that she'd received no medical attention for it.
He wished now he'd set his shockgun to a higher charge before he'd brought Hury to the floor.
“Captain Vakeri.”
Hal stopped and turned as Councilor Vilk hailed him, and beside him, he sensed Fiona Russell tense up.
“Councilor?”
“You're going to report to Battle Center.” It was a statement, and it was quite correct, so Hal simply nodded.
The councilor blew out a breath. “I know this looks bad for the Garmman. First the scandal around Councilor Fu-tama, and now this.” Vilk waved his hand in Fiona Russell's direction, and Hal had the sense she became even stiffer.
“I would like you to tell Grih Battle Center I categorically deny any knowledge of what was happening on this ship. This was not sanctioned by the Garmman government or our military. In order for complete transparency, and to clear the Garmman government's name, we need a full member United Council team to investigate the matter.”
Hal bowed. “I planned on suggesting the same, so we are in accord.”
Vilk didn't seem to know whether to be relieved they had a point of agreement or insulted Hal didn't trust the Garmman to conduct an objective investigation of their own.
He could see the councilor waiver between a smile and a frown, until he eventually went with a grunt that could have been agreement or annoyance.
“I think it's best I return to the Illium immediately, and report to my own government and UC Headquarters myself. Are you going back now?”
“I'm taking Fiona across. She's in need of medical treatment. The runner that transported you is available whenever you're ready.” If the tension coming off Fiona Russell was any indication, she wasn't inclined to sit in close quarters with a member of the Garmman ra
ce right now, and Hal was not in the mood for any more of Vilk's protestations of innocence, anyway.
Hal gave another bow, turned and walked away. Fiona got back in step with him.
She said nothing as they skirted the Krik's wreck and walked up the ramp into the fighter.
Only two of his crew were inside. The rest would stay behind to deal with the Garmman trader crew and he now had to decide whether to wait for the UC team to arrive, or leave some of his crew here and continue with his mission.
He'd already had to leave three members of his crew at the mining station the Krik had attacked, and he didn't like the idea of leaving yet more teammates behind.
He looked sideways at Fiona. The choice would most likely not be his to make. It would depend on what Battle Center had to say about his new find.
She looked small in the seat that was designed for a much larger Grih, and he realized she was in the kind of rough work overall that mechanics wore to keep their uniforms from being damaged when they did heavy work, the sleeves and legs folded up multiple times.
“Do you have anything on the ship that you'd like brought over?” he asked. “Clothing? Personal belongings?”
She hesitated. “Only the handheld I've had from the start. It has five languages on it.” She shot him a quick look. “It's in my cell. I think it came from my original abductors, but I've had it long enough now, I consider it mine.”
Hal nodded and left her clipping herself into her seat. He joined Rial back at the bottom of the ramp.
“You're in charge. I'll send another team over so you can set a constant guard to watch the Garmman. Do a thorough search, and keep your eye out for any information concerning Fiona. She says she has a handheld which was given to her by her original abductors. It's in her cell. But it comes to me first. I want engineering to look it over before we give it back to her.”
Rial saluted, and as Hal walked back up the ramp, the pilot started the engines.
He secured himself into the seat opposite Fiona and found her watching him steadily.
Dark Deeds (Class 5 Series Book 2) Page 3