Pirate's Fortune

by Gun Brooke

  “Yes. Just think about it, Ayahliss. I care so deeply for you. For so long, I have devoted my life to my work—it’s been my passion. This is such a fantastic change. I think of you all the time, and though I’ll probably always be career-oriented, my center of gravity has changed.”

  “Because of me?” Ayahliss didn’t know where she found the courage to ask.

  “Certainly because of you. I tried to tell you I’m too old for you, but you ignored that. I thought perhaps I could be your mentor, a guide to the Supreme Constellations society, and yes, I have dipped into both of these roles, but I’ve just scratched the surface.”

  “It took me a long time to understand why I was so nervous and unsure around you.” Ayahliss wanted her to understand that she wasn’t the only one harboring doubts and fears. “You seemed unattainable, out of my league, but I’ve tried to change my point of view. We are humanoids, age be damned, and status too, right?”

  Reena laughed, a breathless sound, and Ayahliss thought she could find a trace of surprise beneath it.

  “You’re so right, sweet soul,” Reena said, her eyes glittering now. They seemed to have lost most of their tired, forlorn expression, and Ayahliss mapped every feature despite already knowing every square millimeter of her. “Promise me again that you’ll be safe.”

  “I do. I promise. I won’t take foolhardy risks. You and I have a lot to talk about, and I can’t wait to—to hold you again.” Ayahliss fiddled with the computer console, restless and desperately needing to latch onto something since Reena was so far away. “You must promise the same thing,” she added, suddenly acutely aware that no part of space in this sector was especially safe.

  “I give you my word. Dahlia and I have to go planetside to Gantharat before you return. I think Kellen made Dahlia give her word on that one, since this wasn’t our original plan.”

  “Good idea. She needs to stay focused on the mission as well. If Kellen had to worry about Dahlia—again—she might be less able to concentrate.”

  “Yes.” Reena sat silent for a moment, gazing at Ayahliss’s face. “I can’t look at you enough. I know how you taste and smell, which drives me crazy when I can’t reach out and hold you.”

  “I feel just like that!”

  “Isn’t that fortunate?” Tenderly, Reena slid her fingertips along the screen. Since every pixel of the screen contained the imagizer, Reena’s gentle movement seemed to be a reflection in a mirror. Instead she was the amazing, stunning woman who insisted Ayahliss resided in her heart.

  Ayahliss had to let Reena know just how important she was. She swallowed repeatedly, thinking about the words that would convey the truth without actually going too far. To speak of love like this, via an impersonal computer screen, felt wrong. Reena spoke of affection and attraction, but neither of them had openly voiced the words of love. Still, this had to be what scorched her heart and singed her soul. Reena called her “sweet soul,” a term of endearment Ayahliss had never heard her use toward anyone else.

  “I’ll talk with you soon, Reena,” Ayahliss finally managed to say. “In the meantime, remember that you’re so very important to me. Without you, my heart will be like a desert.”

  “I understand. I really do.” Reena caressed the screen again. “When you get back and we’re together again, I’ll show you just how much.”

  Ayahliss loved how Reena’s voice deepened and her eyes darkened. “I look forward to it.”

  *

  “Ayahliss, you’re with me in shuttle one with the first team. Owena, you’re heading up the second team in shuttle two. Roshan, Andreia, you’re in charge of team three. Leanne, you have the bridge here on the Noma.” Kellen relayed orders in a short, clipped voice. “We will take up the rear of the squadron of assault craft. When I give the order, we will board the Onotharian ship. Any questions?”

  A chorus of “no, ma’am” echoed through the shuttle bay.

  “Excellent.” Kellen looked at her senior crew. “I expect you all to use caution and, also, to leave M’Aldovar to me.”

  Again, the response was affirmative.

  “All right.” Kellen relaxed marginally. “Remember, we might have two agents in there. You know what they look like. May the stars bless us with success.”

  She entered the shuttle, her senses heightened. She was able to reach this level through meditation, but when facing battle, it seemed to happen by itself. Her skin tingled, her vision sharpened, and she heard things a normal humanoid couldn’t possibly hear.

  Ayahliss took her seat next to Kellen, her young face stark and with the same focus. Kellen knew that Ayahliss had talked at great length with Judge Beqq and then meditated. She now stared straight ahead, her eyes a pale blue.

  As the shuttle departed, Kellen rose and pulled up the blueprint of the stealth-scans she’d performed of the Onotharian ship. It wasn’t as accurate as an open scan, but enough to give them an idea of the vessel’s layout. Connecting to the other shuttles, Kellen used a secure subspace signal to communicate her voice and the blueprint.

  “Kellen O’Dal to shuttles two and three. These are the latest scans of the Onotharian ship. Familiarize yourself with the closest route to your objective. We have the element of surprise, but that won’t last. Once they know we’re aboard, we cannot waver. All plasma-pulse weapons set to heavy stun. If you find yourself in a perilous situation, use deadly force. I repeat what I stressed earlier: Trax M’Aldovar is mine. Do not engage him. Any questions?”

  “Everything crystal clear, Protector,” Roshan O’Landha said over the comm link.

  “No questions, ma’am,” Owena said smartly.

  “Very well. We have three minutes before we reach their position. So far, they are busy defending themselves against our assault craft, which will continue to attack when we go inside to keep as many of them as possible busy. Do not decloak until you are inside their shuttle bay. Once I learn their shields are failing, I will give the order.”

  Another set of “yes, ma’am” came through the speaker system.

  “Good hunting, everybody. Be safe. Kellen O’Dal out.”

  Kellen moved back to her seat and pulled her helmet on. She strapped back in and gripped her weapon. The Ruby Red suit protected her against any piercing objects, but not plasma-pulse discharges. She had relented, thinking of Rae, and wore a protective vest on top of it. Not how her revered ancestors carried out their assignment, but things had changed.

  Looking up, she saw the Onotharian ship through the viewport in the front of the shuttle. It wasn’t the biggest in the Onotharian armada, but it was big enough. According to scans, approximately a hundred and twenty-some crewmembers were aboard. It could have been worse. Some Onotharian ships carried more than five thousand.

  “Thirty seconds to touchdown, ma’am,” the pilot said.

  “Affirmative.” Not about to waste time, Kellen stood, holding on to one of the straps dangling from the ceiling, meant for that purpose. “Kellen O’Dal to shuttles two and three. Fifteen seconds to go. Onotharian shields are failing. Ten seconds. Five.”

  Shuttle one skidded in through the opening that led to the shuttle bay. Kellen watched the monitors and saw the other two shuttles follow. As they halted at the far end of the shuttle bay, Kellen pressed the sensor to open the back hatch. The marines accompanying her team moved out, securing the area outside. Kellen followed with Ayahliss next to her.

  To her left, marines fired and she swung, her rifle tucked hard against her shoulder. Three Onotharians ran toward them, moving fast and zigzagging. She fired on the first one, sending him flying. Her rifle, set on heavy stun, then found the second one, and before she could fire again, Ayahliss’s weapon found the third.

  “We need to start a floor-to-floor sweep,” Kellen called out when it seemed they had cleared the shuttle bay. “Remember, look for our agents, Kyakh and Pimm, as well as M’Aldovar.”

  The marines divided themselves up into teams of three, heading for the door leading to the main corridor. Th
ey were at the very bottom of the ship and needed to move up deck by deck very quickly or they might be cut off from the rest of it.

  “Ayahliss, as they perform the sweep, you and I need to advance faster. We can’t risk the Onotharians barricading themselves and jumping to distortion drive.”

  “I’m right with you.” Ayahliss hefted her rifle, her eyes feral. She glanced at her scanner, which was attached to her sleeve. “No life signs from the corridor other than our marines.”

  “Good. Let’s go.” Kellen signaled to the other team leaders that she and Ayahliss were heading out. Roshan returned the wave and motioned for Andreia to follow her toward the aft of the ship. The cargo bays were of special interest for the Gantharians, since they often held medical technology as well as weapons.

  The corridor was dimly lit, the bulkhead and deck plating made of a dark gray alloy that seemed to swallow much of the light. Kellen moved past the marines who were conscientiously doing their door-to-door search.

  At the end of the corridor, a narrow ladder led up through a tube. Kellen wasn’t about to get stuck in a lift, so the ladder seemed the smart way to go. She peered up, weapon raised, but the tube looked empty as far as she could see.

  “Let’s go. This is our best bet,” she said to Ayahliss. “Make sure nobody sneaks up behind us.”

  “Will do.”

  Kellen placed her rifle in the holder on her back and pulled out her wristband sidearm instead. Attaching it to her right wrist, she merely had to flex her muscles in a certain pattern to fire a round of heavy stun plasma-pulse charges. She climbed the ladder, her strong legs moving like pistons as she counted each deck she passed.

  The Onotharian ship consisted of twenty-four decks, with the shuttle bay located on deck six. The bridge, as customary on most spaceships, took up most of deck one, together with ready rooms, conference rooms, and something that looked like a private mess hall on the blueprints. Probably for the captain and distinguished passengers.

  At deck twelve, Kellen stopped again to scan, as did Ayahliss. She saw movement by approximately twenty-five crewmembers, but no indication that any one of them used a hover chair. Instead, they seemed to be scurrying in all directions. The marines’ sporadic, unsynchronized attacks clearly had them panicking. Caught with your trousers around your ankles, aren’t you? Kellen felt a joyless smile curve her lips.

  “Let’s keep going. So far, no sign of M’Aldovar.”

  One good thing about climbing the agonizing ladder was that they were out of the worst of the alarm klaxons. Blaring alarms drove Kellen insane within seconds.

  Three more decks up, she stared at her scanner. “Ayahliss, please tell me you see the same thing I do.”

  Ayahliss moved her scanner in small circles. “One male Onotharian, in a hover chair of some sort.” Ayahliss smiled broadly, her white teeth glimmering in the muted light. “And what do you know, Protector, doesn’t it look like he’s all alone, the poor thing.”

  “It sure does.” Kellen had to smile at Ayahliss’s gleeful tone. “The corridor isn’t as crowded as some of the ones we’ve passed, which might explain why they’re panicking. They haven’t found him yet.” She squinted at the scanner. “What is that room? So many force fields…Ayahliss, it has to be the brig.”

  “And what would someone like him be doing in the brig?” Ayahliss sucked her lower lip in. “My first guess would be—to gloat. My second—to interrogate.”

  “I imagine both.” Kellen let her sidearm stay on her wrist as she pulled her rifle from the harness. She raised it as she opened the door to the corridor. At first it seemed abandoned, but then she heard rapid footfalls. She aimed and sent the first two crewmen flying with her heavy stun charge. Soon, she and Ayahliss had a pile of downed Onotharians.

  “Come on, I think that’s it for now,” Kellen called, and ran toward the other end of the corridor. “Brig is this way.”

  In only seconds they reached the big double door leading into the brig. Just as Kellen was about to hit the sensor that opened it, Ayahliss yanked at her arm.

  “What’s up?” Kellen snapped her head toward Ayahliss.

  “Something’s weird.”

  “Weird?”

  “In there. Something’s not right, and I can’t make out what it is…oh. Oh, Gods.”

  “What’s wrong?” Alarmed, Kellen stepped closer to Ayahliss and gazed down at her scanner. “What the hell?” Kellen rarely cursed, but being around Rae had shown her when it was appropriate to use colorful words, and this was one of them. “Is he weightless?”

  “I believe he is.” The glee was back in Ayahliss’s expression. “For some reason, they’ve managed to contain the loss of inertial dampeners to the brig, and somehow I don’t think they realize that he’s in there. My scanner is suggesting two unconscious individuals floating at the far wall. I don’t understand what happened in there, but if we open the door without erecting a force field or reinstalling artificial gravity, we’ll have a problem.”

  “Yes, I agree.” Kellen wasn’t sure of the exact nature of such a problem, but she’d heard stories about small, but deadly vortices forming, as well as bulkheads being ripped to shreds. She wasn’t about to risk any possible danger when so many of her crew were aboard this ship. “Let’s find out where the controls are. We need to fix this and get him out and back to the shuttle.”

  “So far we don’t have any unwelcome company heading our way. This must be an unpopular deck, with the brig and everything.”

  “Good.” Kellen began to remove plating from the bulkhead, exposing wiring, pipes, and hidden technology. “This reminds me of one more reason why I hate Onotharian ships. So many components, it’s ridiculous.” She plucked her technical scanner from her belt and ran it along the vast circuit board. “Here. This should be it. Short-circuited. I think we’re responsible.”

  “Breaks my heart.” Ayahliss grinned. “Can you bypass it?”

  “I believe so. Isn’t it useful to be a former resistance fighter?”

  “Yes. All the little habits and skills you pick up.” Ayahliss passed tools to Kellen and frequently scanned the corridor.

  “Perhaps I managed—”

  A large thud from the brig interrupted Kellen. She turned to Ayahliss, surprised. “Guess that takes the guessing out of the game.”

  “I’d say.” Ayahliss raised her rifle.

  “Careful.” Kellen mimicked Ayahliss’s movements and directed her aim at the door. She pressed the sensor to open it but nothing happened.

  Kellen tried again, this time holding the sensor down longer.

  Slowly, agonizingly so, the door slid open. A tremor under their feet proved the assault craft was still doing its job creating diversions. Kellen peered inside. Everything not attached to the bulkhead or deck was scattered all over the large space. Obviously this was the brig, with six holding cells within sight, and, Kellen estimated, another six behind those. In the center of the brig lay a bulky item. A hover chair. Gripping her weapon tighter, Kellen squinted through the dusty debris. Where was M’Aldovar?

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  The cargo bay was dark, with only a greenish light coming from the far end. Life support must have failed at some point; the bulkhead was damp with condensation and the temperature low.

  Weiss disregarded the stabbing pain in her joints and midsection. She had been tossed around several times on her way back here, when the Protector’s ships were firing against M’Aldovar. Limping, she made her way over to the area where she had left Madisyn.

  The glass cylinder was half full with the green oxygenized plasma fluid. Inside, hovering due to some insidious Onotharian technology, Madisyn hung suspended, unconscious. Her head bent back at nearly an impossible angle, she seemed already dead, as the greenish light illuminated her from underneath.

  “Madi.” Weiss looked at all the controls. She had no idea which one opened the cylinder. What if Madisyn died because she did it the wrong way? Her heart beating so fast she feared it migh
t dislodge, Weiss climbed up on the dais of the cylinder, grabbing the bar casing with one hand and touching the glass with the other. It was oddly warm, probably because of the disgusting green goo. It rose around Madisyn’s hovering body, and Weiss didn’t have long to think of a way to open the cylinder. She hit the glass with her palm, over and over. “Madi! Madisyn! Can you hear me?”

  Weiss saw no indication that Madisyn was conscious, only a faint sheen on her biosynthetic skin, which had to be condensation. Surely Madi wasn’t able to perspire? Weiss tried not to think about what kind of pain or agony it would take to make an android sweat.

  Jumping off the dais, Weiss headed over to the massive computer console. Next to it stood a sinister-looking examination table, white non-woven sheets haphazardly thrown across it. Gods, she hoped they hadn’t strapped her to that thing. Madi!

  The Onotharian computer was fortunately not as hard to decipher as she had assumed. The symbols were close enough to Gantharian and Revosian for Weiss to interpret them. This was, however, not the same as knowing which cycle or command to use. She let her finger travel down the scrolling list of features, frowning at some, her anger rising at Onotharians in general and M’Aldovar in particular.

  A ping from the cylinder startled her. Looking up, she saw the oxygenized plasma fluid begin to bubble, and in a moment of terror, Weiss imagined it actually boiling Madisyn. The green fluid now reached Madi’s lower chest. Turning back to the console, Weiss punched in a few diagnostic commands. The computer obediently ran them and promptly told her everything was running at peak performance. Relieved, Weiss dared to use a few of the simpler commands. At first nothing happened, and she added a generic command for empty or vacate. She glanced over at Madisyn. The green fluid had stopped bubbling, which was a promising sign.

  Another set of commands initiated a gurgling sound from the glass cylinder. Weiss clenched her hands and kept them ready to use the abort code if this didn’t go well. The green fluid wasn’t bubbling anymore, but instead seemed to shift a little, back and forth. Suddenly a low rumble quickly turned into a veritable roar.