Pirate's Fortune

by Gun Brooke

  Focusing on the message, Madisyn took a deep breath and transmitted as much tactical information as she could. Once she was done, she could feel the chill of perspiration on her back, which startled her, as that had never happened. Madisyn had never heard of any BNSL that produced sweat. What would be the point? Was something going on with her bioneural physique? Was she evolving or self-destructing?

  “Podmer to Pimm. Report.”

  “Pimm here.” Madisyn pushed her shoulder back and gripped the armrests. “We are holding our position just inside the asteroid belt. Nothing on long-range sensors, no anomalies. All is well, sir.”

  “Good. Let the helmsman have the bridge. We need you in the cargo bay.”

  “Cargo bay, sir?” Madisyn stalled. She didn’t like the sound of this. What was going on?

  “You heard me, Pimm. Our guest requires some additional information, and you’re the one person around here who can retain all of it without a hassle. Kyakh will meet you there.”

  Relieved to hear this, and also that she’d had time to send the protector all the information, Madisyn stood. “Very well. I’ll be there in a few minutes. Pimm out.”

  After turning the bridge over to the helmsman, Madisyn headed toward the cargo bay. Something was probably amiss with the crystals. Frowning, she turned a corner and stopped just before running into Weiss.

  “What…? I was going to meet you and the others in—what are you doing?” Madisyn tried to regain her balance as Weiss pulled her in the opposite direction. “Weiss, what the hell’s going on?”

  “We don’t have much time. We have to get to the shuttle I prepared. Don’t argue. Just trust me.” Dragging Madisyn behind her, she headed toward the aft sections. “Come on. Hurry!”

  “All right.” Finally realizing the panic paired with anger she saw in Weiss was for her, Madisyn ran faster. They rounded the corner just as voices revealed that someone was approaching from the opposite direction, Weiss slammed the sensor and opened the door to the shuttle bay, then repeated the maneuver on the inside.

  “Over there. Shuttle six.” Weiss pushed Madisyn ahead of her.

  “So this is how you planned your getaway.”

  “Yes. Lucky I did.”

  “Why? Why is it lucky? What’s going on?”

  “Not now. Later.” Weiss pulled the lever and opened the hatch at the back of the shuttle. Inside, stale air rushed toward them.

  “Good, nobody’s been here.” Weiss removed a filament wire from inside the hatch. I’m going to have to shoot our way out of here if there’s a code on the door.”

  “But we can’t just leave. I had a text-only message from the SC, from Commander O’Dal. They’re on an intercept course heading here to apprehend M’Aldovar. They are using my signal as their beacon. I just sent them the latest information.” If she left the ship, the absence of her readings might confuse matters. “I don’t know why you’re panicking. Talk to me.”

  “There’s no time. Trust me, we have to get out of here now.”

  “I wish you’d tell me—”

  “Hush.” Suddenly pale, Weiss held up her hand. “Quick, adjust your sensors. Is someone heading here, toward the shuttle bay?”

  Madisyn squinted and recalibrated her sensors. “Yes. Several individuals are on the move in the corridors, plus some sort of vehicle.”

  “Damn!” Weiss hands trembled as she pressed them against her forehead. “Think, think!”

  “Y-you’re frightening me.” Madisyn wasn’t concerned about her own safety as much as Weiss’s obvious distress. “Please.”

  “We won’t make it. We don’t have time to blast out of here. I’m going to have to think of something else.” Weiss lowered her hands, suddenly looking older, her eyes nearly black in her pale face. “Madi, listen. Do you trust me?”

  Madisyn meant to say “No, why would I trust a pirate,” but something in Weiss’s demeanor, in her eyes, snuffed out any such contempt. Sensing that her life depended on her answer, she nodded slowly. “Yes. I trust you.”

  “We don’t have much time. I need you to act shocked and kick and scream when I give you the sign, all right? I can’t save you if you don’t do as I say. Please, Madi.”

  “Kick and scream?” Madisyn shivered. “I can do that.” Everything seemed as nightmarish as her worst dreams, and still here she was, awake in the cold shuttle bay with the woman she should hate, but didn’t.

  “Good. It’s going to get scary before it gets better.”

  “Hey, Weiss, I’m an operative like you—” Madisyn scowled at Weiss, at a total loss what Weiss was going on about. Only the fact Weiss looked so incredibly distraught kept her listening to the woman she’d sworn to hate and despise.

  “I know you are. You’re better at all of that than I am, but trust me, in this, I’m better than you. I won’t let him take you.”

  “Weiss?”

  “I—I really care about you, Madi. I didn’t plan to, and I didn’t want to, but I do. I have no friends, no family, but if I did, I’d swear on their life that I’ll keep you safe.” She stiffened. “They’re here. I’m so sorry, Madisyn. So very sorry.” Her hands moved swiftly, pivoting Madisyn into her. She bent and kissed Madisyn hard for long seconds.

  Madisyn’s heart beat uncontrollably, only to plummet when Weiss pushed her away and spun her around. Madisyn sensed quick, hard hands sliding restraints over her hands and onto her wrists.

  “Sir? Captain? Here she is!” Weiss bellowed while dragging the stunned Madisyn with her. “I caught the little android trying to sneak away.”

  “Weiss, what the hell are you doing? Let me go!” Madisyn stumbled out of the shuttle as Weiss unceremoniously shoved her. “Weiss, what is going on? Oh!” She stumbled and fell onto her knees.

  “So she did suspect something,” Podmer’s voice boomed above Madisyn. “Well, good thing you caught her. M’Aldovar is in the corridor, eager to lay eyes on his latest purchase.”

  Purchase? Madisyn’s head spun. “What the hell are you doing? Weiss, you’re supposed to be my friend.”

  “Friend? Me being friends with a glorified robot? I think not.” Weiss spoke with cold contempt and dragged Madisyn to her feet. “Let’s go say hello to your new master.” She looked intently at Madisyn, and at the same time, she made soft little soothing circles on Madisyn’s arms. Remembering Weiss’s words about kicking and screaming, Madisyn did just that.

  “Let go of me, you treacherous bitch!” She threw herself against Weiss, who caught her and pressed her close.

  “What a wildcat, eh, Podmer?” Weiss grinned. “Let’s go. You’re going to really like your new owner. He may be immobilized, but he’s all charm and personality.”

  *

  Ayahliss sat by the viewport in the small mess hall aboard the Noma. Unlike the Circinus, this cruiser was only sparsely equipped for comfort. The Circinus had several decks meant to host civilians, with all the amenities that went along with it. The Noma looked barren in comparison, but Ayahliss couldn’t care less where she kept her eyes on the stars streaking by as they traveled toward the pirates’ last known position.

  “May I join you?” A soft voice interrupted Ayahliss’s thoughts.

  Ayahliss looked up and saw the woman she had sworn allegiance to when she knew her only as the resistance leader Boyoda. Ayahliss didn’t even know she was a woman back then. “Ma’am. Of course.” Ayahliss had fought long to fathom that the legendary Boyoda was Andreia M’Aldovar, an Onotharian politician, born and raised on Gantharat. She was also the sister of the feared Trax M’Aldovar, whom everybody on Gantharat had a legitimate reason to hate.

  “Are you all right, Ayahliss?” Andreia sipped the warm beverage she’d brought. “Can I bring you a mug of Cormanian coffee? This stuff is truly addictive.”

  “Oh. Thank you, but I already had some.” Quite awestruck that Boyoda would offer, Ayahliss shifted to face her. “And thank you for asking. I’m fine.”

  “Good. I saw you sitting here, looking a bit lon
ely. You worry about Judge Beqq and Diplomat Jacelon. And the admiral.”

  “Yes.” Ayahliss blinked away a sudden burning sensation behind her eyelids, refusing to cry in front of her. “I do. I owe them my life.”

  “So do I.” A shadow in Andreia’s eyes reminded Ayahliss that this woman had her own sorrows to deal with.

  “Are you all right, ma’am?” Ayahliss asked carefully.

  “Please, none of that ‘ma’am’ stuff. I’m a civilian, like you. In fact, I imagine it won’t be long until you join the protectors as a full member. Call me Andreia.”

  “Thank you.” Ayahliss wasn’t so sure about qualifying for the full title as protector, but didn’t argue. “I’m sorry that our mission involves your brother.”

  “Oh, Ayahliss.” Andreia surprised her by reaching for her hand. “I said good-bye to my brother many years ago, long before we believed he was killed. This man the Onotharians apparently promoted to general is a stranger to me.”

  “Still, if you’re faced with having to fire upon him or his ship?” Ayahliss squeezed Andreia’s hand.

  “Yes, darling, that’s something I’ve thought of as well,” Roshan O’Landha’s alto voice interjected. She sat down next to Andreia and put her arm around her shoulders.

  “I’m glad you asked so we get this out of the way, once and for all.” Andreia softly kissed Roshan’s cheek. “If I’m face-to-face with my brother and I have no other option than to fire, there’s really only one thing I can see myself doing.” She turned her eyes, flat and emotionless, on Ayahliss. “Pull the trigger.”

  Chapter Twenty-five

  “We can’t tell you much more, Admiral, at this point, other than her resilience could make all the difference. Your daughter’s previous injuries, the ones she sustained on Gantharat in particular, have compromised her ability to bounce back from this one.”

  Was that Gemma Meyer? Jacelon tried to open her eyes, but found it impossible. Voices had come and gone around her for a while now, and she wondered dazedly how they could fit all those people inside the Onotharian shuttlecraft.

  “So, you’re telling me nothing more can be done?” Ewan Jacelon sounded as brusque and abrupt as Jacelon had ever heard him. Father?

  “By no means am I saying that,” Dr. Meyer stated. “While we’re doing our job keeping her alive, she has to do hers. A blood loss into her abdomen that continued for several days has weakened her. This, combined with a nasty infection that turned septic, exacerbated her old injury to her carotid artery.”

  “Why isn’t she conscious yet?”

  “We’re not keeping her sedated, sir. That said, we’re not happy with giving her any drugs to wake her up either. I think she will stay unconscious, or in a deep sleep, for as long as her body needs it.”

  “This sounds all very non-scientific to me,” Ewan muttered.

  “Far from it. We have cleared her infection. She’s no longer in sepsis. We used the derma fusers and deep-tissue fusers to heal the perforation to her bowels and skin. Please, sir, just give her some time.”

  “All right, all right.” A deep sigh followed, and Jacelon felt a large male hand take hers. The familiar touch was so gratifying, she was sure she’d be able to open her eyes and look up at her father, but her eyelids seemed glued together.

  “I can’t imagine what you went through, daughter,” Ewan said, squeezing her hand. “You saved those young men and the damn Onotharians too. If you hadn’t infused the bioneural circuitry with your own DNA, the rescue ship might’ve blown you out of the sky.” He cleared his throat. “I’m so glad they didn’t. So very grateful.”

  Jacelon felt a single tear dislodge from the corner of her right eye and run along her temple and into her hair. She needed to move, to wake up properly and tell her father she was all right. More than that, she needed to hear about Kellen—where she was, if she was all right too.

  “Dr. Meyer! She moved. She moved her fingers,” Ewan bellowed.

  “It could be a reflex, sir—”

  “No, it’s not. Look, she’s opening her eyes.”

  Jacelon blinked at the blinding light above her. “Father? Where are we?”

  “Oh, Gods, Rae.” Ewan leaned over her and blocked out the painful brightness. “Child. You scared us.”

  “I’m okay.” Rae tried to sit up, but strong hands pushed her back against the pillows. “Where are we?”

  “Not so fast, Admiral.” Dr. Meyer ran a scanner across her face, the sides of her head, and down her body. “You’re not out of the woods yet, even if being awake and alert is better than unconscious. To answer your question, you’re aboard the new flagship, the Supreme Constellations Brilliance.”

  “Brilliance?” Jacelon groaned as Dr. Meyer prodded her sore side. “Hey, no need to be a brute about it.”

  “I’m barely touching you.” Dr. Meyer smiled at Jacelon, who only now realized how haggard her chief medical officer looked.

  “Thank you, Gemma.” Jacelon turned her head to look at her father. “Kellen? Mother? Armeo?”

  “Your mother is being very successful, paving the way for an interim government on Gantharat. Armeo is thriving at his boarding school with Dorinda. Kellen is on assignment.”

  “On Gantharat?”

  “No. She’s heading an operation rendezvousing with Pimm and Kyakh to apprehend Trax M’Aldovar.” Ewan looked carefully down at her.

  “Trax—what?” Surely this was all the damn drugs talking? Jacelon squinted at her father, trying to judge if he was being facetious. “Trax M’Aldovar?”

  “Seems the news of his death was slightly exaggerated. Not even his sister knew, for heaven’s sake. He’s some sort of clandestine service general, and he’s meeting with these pirates you have undercover.”

  “So he’s the one after the davic crystals?” It all started to make sense now. “Have you briefed Pimm?”

  “I’ve talked to both Pimm and Kyakh.”

  “When is it all going down?” Jacelon shifted in bed, wincing at the soreness in every joint of her body.

  “I have been monitoring the subspace channels. Pimm and Kyakh are running a little late reporting in. Kellen’s cruiser is approximately an hour away.”

  “All right.” Jacelon had to do something. “Now, listen to me, Dad, and don’t argue. You have to get me over to your ready room. If you have to roll me in on a gurney, I don’t care. I have to know what’s going on. I know Pimm, I know Kyakh, God help me, and if I can’t fight the good fight in space, I can certainly do so in your office.”

  “Oh, Rae, I can’t—”

  “Sir. I will send my best specialist with your daughter to your ready room, if that’s all right with you.” Gemma stood next to the bed.

  “You sure, Doctor?” Ewan frowned.

  “She’s going to be a major pain here, nagging us until we give in out of sheer exhaustion.” Gemma winked at Jacelon. “I know her well, unfortunately.”

  “Thanks.” Jacelon slumped back again. “I confess, I’m too weak to hold a mug of Cormanian coffee, but I have to be there. This is my family we’re talking about. Like it or not, it’s also about the man who nearly killed me, and the people of Gantharat. I’m a protector, and I need to do my job every way possible.”

  “I’ll arrange for a hover recliner, Admiral.” Gemma stepped away, leaving them alone.

  “Rae, you make a father so proud and so fearful sometimes.”

  “Have you told her I’m alive?”

  “I haven’t had the chance. The Noma wasn’t reachable when I received news of your recovery. I will notify Kellen as soon as—”

  “No. Let me do it. If she hears my voice, it won’t be so bad.”

  “All right.” Ewan kissed her forehead before straightening, every bit the senior admiral now. “I will return to the bridge and get a subspace command post set up for you in my ready room. Report to me there ASAP.”

  “Aye, sir.” Jacelon watched him stride out of the room and closed her eyes briefly as she took the oppo
rtunity to rest before going back to work. She had no idea which day it was or what time, or exactly where she was. She turned her head and saw only stars through the viewport. “Kellen.” Just whispering her name helped gather her strength.

  When Gemma returned with more medication, she didn’t even object. An orderly lifted her over to the hover recliner and strapped her in. Normally, this would have infuriated and shocked Jacelon, but if he hadn’t done so, she would’ve slumped to the side and ended up in a most undignified heap.

  “I know you would rather pilot this yourself, Admiral, but the corridors are crammed with soldiers and different dignitaries and I don’t want any more casualties, so let Dr. Vephes handle the control, all right?”

  “No problem. I can’t exactly see where I’m going from this position. As this is the new flagship, and I’m not familiar with the specs, I don’t even know where I’m going.”

  “Good.” Gemma raised her eyebrows, clearly suspicious of Jacelon’s cooperativeness. “Dr. Vephes is in charge of your health while you’re in your father’s ready room. When it comes to your physical well-being, what he says, goes. I don’t want to hear anything else, or I’ll come up there and hover you back here myself.”

  “I hear you. I do.” Jacelon fought the urge to pout at the strict orders. “Good thing we go back a long time, Gemma, or I could’ve misconstrued that.”

  “Ha.” Gemma’s eyes softened. “Just don’t exert yourself too much, Rae. We didn’t save you from the debris field to have you kill yourself on the bridge. Kellen would never forgive either of us.”

  “I know.” And I can think of little else.

  *

  “We are less than an hour away from the coordinates in Pimm’s latest transmission. I am trying to find her inner beacon on sensors. No luck so far.” Commander Owena Grey looked up from her work console. “I suggest we enter from these coordinates,” she said, pointing at the viewscreen. “The sun will be behind us, which will make it easier to mask our trail while still cloaked.”