Gav powered down the ship and breathed a sigh of relief. “We made it.”
“Everything seems safe and secure, sir. For now. You should get some sleep. It’s a long drive into Bei.”
Gav exited the bridge. “We don't have time for that.”
“Sir, you need to stay sharp.”
“I’ll have a snack and a short nap before we leave.”
Octavian met him in the main corridor. The cog beeped expectantly.
“I have quite a lot for you to do, Octavian. First, make sure every system on the ship is in tip-top shape. Engines and shields first, then the sensors and weapons.”
The cog unleashed a series of tones.
“Silky…”
“He says he lacks the supplies to make everything tip-top, sir.”
“Do the best you can with what we have. Our lives will depend on this ship being in working order. Once you are finished with the ship, load all my valuables into the cargo bays—every artifact, bauble, or credit chip you can find within this facility. And if you’ve done all that and we still haven’t returned, then perform maintenance within the facility. We may need it again someday.”
“Sir, I suggest transferring the Ancient capsule to the ship’s detention cell.”
“Good idea.”
With help from Octavian, Gav moved the capsule from Cargo Bay 1 to the detention cell. He could feel the Ancient woman’s psychic pulse and could almost hear her voice again. He did everything he could to block her out. He didn’t have the time or energy to deal with any new visions.
While Gav had never used the ship's detention cell to hold anyone before, he often kept valuables in there in case he was boarded, since it was almost impossible to break into or out of. He enabled the internal force field and closed the door, locking it using his DNA signature and a five-digit code. The force field remained in sleep mode, so that it wouldn’t draw power from the ship. But if a prisoner were to touch the door or if the wrong passcode were entered, the force field would power up to full strength.
The Ancient’s psychic influence faded immediately, and continued to do so as Gav walked further away.
After a ration pack and a fitful, two-hour nap within one of the tiny apartments inside the hangar, Gav rode the elevator up to the garage where he kept an old skimmer bike. This time Gav was prepared for danger. He replaced the power packs in his sensor array and force shield, then checked his battlesuit. The suit had already self-repaired the damage Tal’s blaster pistol had caused. Given the dust in the region, he triggered the lightweight environmental helmet, which deployed out from the back collar of the suit.
Then he strapped an antigrav unit around his waist. Essentially a belt with a small pack on the back containing the battery, it was a standard device for soldiers, explorers, and pilots. The charge lasted only a few minutes at best, and the devices were notoriously finicky, but it would allow a man to land safely from most low-altitude falls. That would be more than enough, though, since the battlesuit had a stronger, built-in antigrav unit.
And this time he brought both his neural disruptor and the rapid-fire blaster carbine. Both weapons were illegal for civilians, but his sensor pack could hide them from standard detection systems. And technically, the Benevolence had granted him the use of the carbine.
As long as he kept the weapons out of sight, his battlesuit and antigrav unit looked enough like the protective gear worn by the more prudent skimmer bike riders to pass anything but close scrutiny. A quick double-check over himself reassured Gav that nothing about his appearance should arouse the suspicions of the average person, or even the average police person. Then he climbed aboard the skimmer and drove it outside. The door rolled down and locked behind him.
“Well, Silky, here goes.”
“If something should happen to you, sir…”
Gav revved the engines. “Then protect Siv. Do whatever you can for him.”
“Of course, sir.”
“And broadcast the information we’ve learned onto the galactic net, along with the details of the Ancient ship and the attack against me—all of it.”
“Are you sure, sir? I certainly doubt that even I know half the truth of what’s going on. Releasing the information now might cause more harm than good.”
“Maybe you’re right.” Gav sighed. “Keep the information locked away unless…unless a time comes when you see fit to release it onto the world.”
“You want to put the fate of humanity in the cyber-hands of a chippy, sir?”
“Why not? I haven’t a clue what’s best, and you know more about what’s going on than anyone else. Besides, who am I to decide such a thing?”
“I’m honored, sir. Though I think you're selling yourself short. You're a good man.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“You won’t win a father of the year award, sir. But you always have good intentions.”
Gav shrugged. “I'd never have won husband of the year, either.”
“I can’t say, sir, having never met the missus.”
“You would’ve liked her.” He smiled. “And she definitely would not have approved of you.”
“What would she have advised you to do given the situation, sir?”
“Detective Shira would have told me to turn myself in to the authorities.”
“Despite the questions our discoveries have raised about the Benevolence? Despite its agents trying to kill you?”
“She would have said that I must be mistaken, that all of this couldn’t mean what it seems to. Shira was a great detective, one of the best, but she was also a believer. Every morning when she woke and every night before bed, she said a prayer to the universal power that she believed had created the Benevolence in order to save humanity from itself. I’m certain she prayed to it right before…right before the end.”
Gav shook his head. That was enough dark thoughts for now. He had a son to rescue. And Silky, for once, didn’t have anything to say.
The journey across the wastes, even pushing the bike as hard as it could go, took seven hours, three canteens of water, and five caffeine pills. He followed an old tunnel through the mountains for another three hours, and when he erupted into the shanty town on the other side, he could barely keep his head up. Weaving his way through the tents and haphazard shelters at truly reckless speeds kept him alert for a while longer. But as he neared the small city of Wasa and could no longer ignore traffic laws without drawing unwanted attention, exhaustion finally took its toll. Using untraceable hard credits, he purchased a hot meal from a food cart and rented a coffin-like sleep tube at a micro-hotel for a few hours rest. The sky held the barest hints of dawn when he climbed, groaning, back onto the speeder bike and headed for the freeway.
It took four hours to reach the outskirts of Bei, and by the time he took the exit for the Upper District where C-Block and his home were located, the roads were full of morning traffic.
“Do you think Siv is in school?”
“It’s Saturday, sir. He should be home.”
“Oh, right. Of course.”
Normally, C-Block brought a smile to his face. Sunlight glistened on the lake in the park and on the golden Founders statue, where he had proposed to Shira. People strolling in the streets chatted and laughed on their way to pleasurable Saturday activities. The warm, intoxicating scents from food vendor carts wafted through the air. The University of Bei, where he still had a cramped closet of an office, buzzed with life.
The sights, the scents, the very feel of the place all conveyed one overwhelming message to him: He was home.
Gav had been born and raised here. Seven generations of his family had lived and died here, their ashes scattered across the nature preserve outside the city. He had studied and graduated and then taught at the University of Bei. Whenever he wasn’t on an expedition, he was here, at home.
But today…today he felt apart from it all. Everything he had learned, and everything else that he suspected, about the Benevolence h
ung like a pall over the city he loved, changing it. It was no longer the safe haven he dreamed of during long, miserable nights on strange, distant worlds. It had been transformed into a trap and every smiling citizen was a threat. He had to get Siv out as quickly as possible. Speed was their only ally now.
His home was in a cylindrical, upperclass building. For the first seventy floors, the space was divided into eight small apartments. He and Shira together had been able to afford one of the larger apartments which took up a full quarter of their floor. It wasn't much compared to the luxury homes on the top levels. They commanded breathtaking panoramic views and half or more of their floors.
Gav parked the bike in the underground garage and checked the readings in his HUD. Everything in the building above appeared normal.
“Silky?”
“The level five scan isn’t picking up anything unusual, sir.”
Gav stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the seventy-sixth floor.
“Keep scanning.”
A minute later, the elevator dinged and the door opened.
Gav swiped his hand across the lock and entered his six-digit access code. The door slid open, and he stepped into an immaculate home decorated with artifacts from a dozen planets and three civilizations. It was the kind of place you could afford after selling a few rare artifacts to museums and collectors, and earning income as a top police detective. Of course, without the death benefits from the Bei Police Department, he would’ve had to downgrade. Archeological expeditions tied up a lot of money.
Severa, the nanny cog, swept out of the kitchen to greet him. She had a humanoid shape but her features were highly stylized. No one would ever mistake her for being a person. Sadly, she was Siv’s de facto parent on a day-to-day basis.
“Welcome home, master.”
“Thank you, Severa. Is Siv—”
“Dad! Dad!”
Siv tore around the corner and raced toward him, beaming. Gav’s heart lurched at the sight of his son's dark hair and wide smile.
Silky noticed the resulting spike in his vitals. “Sir?”
“I'm fine.” He swept the boy up in a hug. “It's just he looks so much like Shira.”
“I understand, sir. Loss is a powerful force. It changes people. Even chippies, in my experience.”
Gav hugged Siv tight for a minute, then tousled the ten-year-old’s hair.
“You didn’t tell me you were coming,” Siv said.
“It was a sudden, last-minute thing.”
Gav knelt and took Siv’s hands in his and looked into the child’s deep orange eyes. His mother had chosen the color. It was the only genetic alteration they had been able to afford after purchasing the standard health and athleticism boosts. Not that they had really wanted anything else for him. Intelligence boosts were iffy at best and, with the genes from both of their families to draw from, they’d had faith in him being born clever.
“Siv, we’re going to go on a trip. I need you to pack up your things, just the essentials and a few outfits. Quickly and quietly, okay?”
“Where are we going?”
“I’ll explain everything later. Now go.”
Siv frowned, then rushed to his bedroom.
“Severa, when we’re gone, order some boxes and pack up all the items in the house—carefully. Then go into low power mode and await further instructions.”
“Yes, master.”
“Silky? Update?”
“Sir, I swear that I will let you know the moment I detect anything.”
Gav went to his bedroom to grab a few keepsakes Shira had owned and a small painting she had made of him. He removed the painting from the frame, rolled it up, and placed it in the pack along with the other items. As he zipped the bag closed, he gazed out the window, looking down onto the park. He could see the Founders Statue and the lake from here. Shira had loved this view, and the one from the balcony where they had shared many fine mornings and evenings.
“Sir, I strongly advise avoiding windows.”
Gav sighed and pressed a button. Storm shutters and blinds slammed down over the window. It hurt, knowing he would probably never see that view again.
“Sir, I’m detecting—”
The window behind Gav exploded. Fragments of glass knifed through the room, followed by two plasma bolts.
Chapter Eight
Siv Gendin
Siv quickly grabbed the c|slate from his nightstand and exited his favorite game, Krixis Conquest. Pinching it at opposite corners, he shrank the device down from an eight-inch, landscape tablet to an ultra-thin, one-inch square. He touched the c|slate to his wrist, and it locked onto an embedded magnet and sensor-suite.
Siv opened his closet and rooted around for his duffle bag. He had no idea what his dad was freaked out about, and he knew he should be worried. But he wasn’t scared at all. He was excited. He was going to run off with his dad on an adventure!
Yeah, it looked like they’d have to outsmart some bad guys first, probably thieves after an important artifact his dad had discovered. But his dad had bested loads of bad guys before, and the Outworld Ranger could outrun anything. Maybe they’d escape to the far fringes of the galaxy, and while they were out there, maybe his dad would stop to excavate an alien temple on some exotic world. And then maybe if Siv did a good job his dad would at last realize he didn’t need to attend a normal school, that he’d be better off taking lessons from Severa along the way.
With a loud burst, glass shattered in his parents’ bedroom, accompanied by the sizzling crackle of two plasma bursts. Something heavy thumped against the floor.
“Dad?!” he called out. “What was that?”
A red warning light blinked in Siv’s HUD.
He heard then three sharp, whistling pops, followed by a pained grunt.
“Gunfire detected, master. I am contacting the authorities. Please take cover in a safe place and remain there until help arrives.”
Siv dropped to his knees and threw his hands over his head. He had no idea what was going on, and the overly calm, impersonal voice of his chippy only added to his confusion.
Everything went quiet. Too quiet. And his dad hadn’t responded. Siv climbed shakily to his feet, ignoring his chippy’s protests, and rushed out of his room.
And that's when he saw him.
“Dad?!”
Siv raced down the hall towards his dad. Gav didn't leap to his feet like Siv expected. He didn't scoop Siv up and rush him to safety. He just kept lying there, crumpled awkwardly against the wall across from the bedroom door, just out of sight from the window. Siv stumbled to a stop, horrified. Two black holes, punched through his body armor, dripped gore down Gav's right shoulder and chest, adding to the puddle of blood spreading across the floor.
“Please go to a safe place immediately. The authorities have been contacted. The police are on the way. An ambulance is en route. Please go to a safe place immediately.”
Ignoring the chippy, Siv dropped to his knees and reached out.
“Dad?”
Gav’s eyes were glazed with pain, but they locked onto Siv’s, and a small smile turned up the corners of his mouth in spite of it. “So like her…”
“Don't worry, Dad.” Siv tried to sound brave and confident, but tears blurred his vision and left him sniffling. “My…my chippy sent out an emergency call. Help will be here soon.”
Gav shook his head. “Too late…for me.”
With a grimace, he reached into his shirt and pulled out a strange, ceramic amulet attached to a cord. Siv had to help him get it off over his head. As soon as it was free, Gav pressed it into Siv’s hands.
“Keep it…safe…hide it away…tell no one.”
Unable to speak, Siv nodded. Ignoring all the alien glyphs on the amulet, Siv looped the cord around his neck and tucked it out of sight in his shirt, just like Gav had worn it. His skin tingled a bit where the alien artifact rested against it, but the feeling faded quickly.
“Good…and...you need…�
�� A convulsion cut him off. He coughed up blood and sagged farther down the wall.
“Hold on, Dad! An ambulance is coming.”
Where was Severa? His nanny bot had first aid programming. Why hadn’t she helped?
Gav gestured at the special 9G-x chippy embedded in his left temple.
“No, Dad. You need Silky to tell the EMTs what happened, so they can fix you up.”
Gav shook his head and fumbled at his temple weakly, trying to remove the chippy unit himself. When that failed, he tried to talk again, but he only coughed up more blood.
Squeezing his eyes shut, Siv waited until his dad stopped convulsing, then he reached for the chippy. He hesitated, hands shaking, a finger hovering at the release switch. Gav moaned, whether from pain or impatience Siv didn't know. Biting his lip, Siv popped the device free from its socket.
Cradling Silky in the palm of his hand, Siv held it out for his dad to see. Gav looked at the chippy and sighed deeply. Then he jerked his head toward Siv and batted a hand upward. Understanding, Siv ejected his own 4G chippy, cutting its parroted warnings off mid-sentence, and plugged Silky in its place.
Gav half-nodded his approval. “My…legacy…”
Another fit of coughing seized him, and the convulsions slid him the rest of the way onto the floor. Siv hovered over him, desperate and helpless. Gav’s eyes drooped, his breathing slowed. The pool of blood expanded.
“Dad! Stay with me. Don’t go. Please…”
Gav reached up and stroked Siv's cheek. His hand left behind bright, bloody streaks. Siv’s tears cut across them.
Gav tried to smile. “My boy…”
The light faded from Gav’s eyes.
He was gone.
Siv dropped his head onto his dad’s chest, sobbing.
Some distant part of Siv’s brain expected a team of EMTs or cops to burst in at any moment and take charge of the situation. But no one did, not even Severa. He was left there alone…helpless…terrified.
The triple ding of Silky's booting sequence finishing and the chippy’s urgent voice in his head came as a shock.
Rogue Starship: The Benevolency Universe (Outworld Ranger Book 1) Page 6