by Cary Caffrey
Sigrid nodded.
"All right—I saw three of them. They came by after you were gone…I remembered the one because he had this thing…" Honey pointed to the top of her head.
"He was bald—and there was this mole," Cherry added. Honey glared at her. "Sorry—you tell it."
"Karl met with them several times. I could always tell…these were not fun meetings…"
"Who were they?" Sigrid asked, frustration setting in. "Did you get their names?"
Honey shook her head.
Cherry sat up. "Ooo! There was one. Karl used to talk about him a lot."
"Who?"
"I don't think he liked him very much. He always got quite angry when he talked about him."
"Who!"
"Sorry—ah, I think he called him Sven, or something."
Honey swatted her on the arm. "It was Smith. That's who he was always bitching about."
Selene and Sigrid looked to each other.
"Smith, are you sure? Did you see him?" Selene asked.
Honey shook her head. "Sorry. But I'm sure that's who Karl said they worked for."
Cherry nodded agreement. "Definitely."
Sigrid looked at them intently. "Do you know where they took him?"
"They were asking questions. I told them I didn't tell you anything. Karl…he only hung out there. He liked to talk—he tipped well."
"Really well," Cherry added.
"Where?" Sigrid asked, more urgently. "Honey, please. It's very important. You have to tell us where they took Major Tarsus."
"I don't know! I told them the same thing, but they didn't believe me. They were waiting outside our apartment. I think they followed us here."
Cherry's eyes went wide. "They're going to kill us."
Sigrid's pistol was in her hand, and she moved quickly toward the door.
Selene stood up, gathering her few things. "We should get out of here quickly."
Sigrid nodded. "You guys get to the ship. I'll be there shortly."
Karen gasped. "Us? What about you?"
Sigrid studied Honey for a second. "We're about the same size, don't you think?"
* * *
Honey wasn't that much bigger than Sigrid, but she still had to keep tugging up on the girl's skirt to keep it from slipping down over her waist. The jacket and shirt were a bit baggy, but anyone spying from a distance shouldn't notice, especially with Honey's wig and dark glasses. Karen had done a masterful job making her up in such short order. Unless someone got up close, they should think Sigrid was Honey Dew—she hoped.
Sigrid made her way back toward the habitat section of the Port Complex, all the while scanning the streets for the men that had followed Cherry and Honey. She'd picked them up almost instantly as she left the hotel, much to her relief. Odd to feel relieved about being stalked, Sigrid thought, stifling a laugh. The men kept their distance, spread out behind her and across the street. They weren't doing much to conceal themselves, causing a moment of doubt, perhaps she wasn't being followed. Could they really be this obvious? She changed her course several times, crossing the street and cutting through a narrow lane, but the men stayed with her. She was definitely being tailed.
She was almost outside Honey and Cherry's apartment, wondering when the men would make their move, if at all, when the man in the lead picked up his pace, getting closer. His two companions remained further back about 25 meters away. Sigrid frowned; it would be simple enough to take them all out, but the plan wasn't to kill them. She needed them alive enough to answer questions, and that would be difficult with them all spread out. Honey's apartment presented the answer. It was just across the transit lane and Sigrid picked up her pace, not quite running across the street, but stepping lively in Honey's high-heeled boots.
The man behind her ran to keep up, crossing behind Sigrid just as she slipped through the doors to the apartment complex. She hurried up the stairs to the second level and let herself into the girls' room. The place was a royal mess, with clothing strewn and hung everywhere, some looking more like decorations than outfits. Sigrid spent a moment taking a quick look around, but apart from a selection of rather daring undergarments and empty food wrappers, Sigrid found nothing.
Now it was up to her pursuers. Sigrid flipped off the lights and lay down on the lone bed, pulling the blankets around her. Minutes went by and she decided she might have miscalculated. She'd been expecting the men to follow her up to the unit, but they seemed to be waiting. If they doubled-back, then this ruse had all been for naught. Sigrid cursed. She should have tried to take them in the street. She started to get up when she sensed the movement outside; her thermal optics picked up the shapes of the three men moving toward the door. Sigrid heard one of them working the hacking device in the lock. She lay her head back down, leaving her eyes open barely a slit.
The door opened and she listened, breathless, as they crept toward the bed. Sigrid saw the gloved hand reach down to cover her mouth. She screamed and struggled against the arms that reached out to restrain her—not too hard she hoped, just enough to be convincing.
"Keep her quiet!" one of the men whispered urgently.
"I'm trying…"
Sigrid eased her struggles, staring at the three men with what she hoped was the right amount of fear in her eyes, all the while studying them, ascertaining their intent.
What she saw surprised her immensely. In her years at the Academy, and in her short time as Mercenary with Kimura, Sigrid had been a little awed by the professionalism and training of her instructors and the men and women who served in the Kimura forces. But these men looked about as frightened as she was pretending to be.
"We're not going to hurt you," the first man said. "We just need to know who those people are, the ones you were with. You tell us—we go."
Sigrid shook her head frantically, letting the tears flow from her eyes.
"You're still holding her mouth, idiot. How's she supposed to answer?" the one in the back said; Sigrid decided to label him Target Three.
"If I let her go, she'll scream."
Target Two thrust his hands into his pockets. "This is ridiculous. Why the fuck did they leave us here for this? I told them I wasn't going to hurt anyone."
Target Three punched him in the shoulder. "Don't tell her that, you numnut."
"Will you two shut up!" Target One hissed through gritted teeth.
Sigrid saw Two's eyes narrow, looking at her more closely. "Hey…are you sure we got the right girl?"
"What the…?" Target One mouthed as he looked more closely at Sigrid.
Sigrid knew her disguise wasn't sufficient to stand up to close scrutiny; it had worked so far because they'd kept the lights off. It didn't matter. She'd heard enough.
As they leaned closer to her, Sigrid pulled her hand out of her pocket and thumbed the little gas grenade she held between her fingers.
* * *
Sigrid and Karen stared at the three new prisoners in the Morrigan's brig. They painted a miserable picture, sitting there in their boxer-briefs as they continued to scowl at Sigrid. But Sigrid wanted more information, and it was time to find out where they'd taken Tarsus, who had taken Suko, and why.
"We've answered your questions," One said. "Now will you give us our clothes back, or what?"
"Not quite," Sigrid said. "These men, the ones who left you on Gliese—"
"We told you. We never met them before."
"And yet, you followed their orders?" Sigrid asked, skeptically.
"Nicola—Kirk…she told us to," Two pleaded.
"And this woman, Kirk, she's your leader?"
"Nicola's a great woman," Two said. Sigrid could see him begin to unravel. "This is crap. This whole thing's out of hand. This was supposed to be a nonviolent movement. It's not her fault. Everything was fine until he came."
Three glared at his companions. "Will you stop talking! Don't say anything else. They're nothing but a bunch of Federation stooges."
Sigrid raised an eyebrow. "Federati
on? You think we're with the CTF?"
"If you're not, then you're working for them," Three said.
"We could say the same of you," Karen said, wagging her finger at them.
Three laughed. "You Feds are all the same, nothing but a bunch of butchers."
"We're not with the CTF…or anyone," Sigrid assured them. "I'm just trying to find my friends."
Three eyed her warily. "You're one of them, aren't you. He warned us about you."
Karen poked her head out from behind Sigrid, scowling hard. "You tell us who you're working with…or…or we'll throw you out the airlock!"
Sigrid smiled. "That's not a bad idea."
Karen looked surprised. "Really?"
Sigrid drew one of her pistols, motioning the three of them to exit. "Come on. All of you."
Karen opened her mouth and raised a correcting finger. "But, we're still—"
Sigrid elbowed her in the side.
Karen grunted, but she seemed to get Sigrid's meaning. She did her best to look menacing and pointed toward the lower airlock. "Come on, you…you."
Two shook visibly and had a wild glaze in his eyes. "You can't be serious."
Sigrid shoved him down the corridor, putting her boot to the others.
Three gave her a defiant look. "I told you. You're all butchers." He looked to his companions as Sigrid opened the inner door to the airlock and shoved him inside. "Don't tell her anything!"
"This is your last chance," Sigrid said. "Tell me where they took my friends and I let you go."
Three spat defiantly. "The Federation is doomed. You're fucked. You won't get away with this!"
Sigrid cycled the lock, sealing him in. There was a frantic pounding on the door until Sigrid opened the outer door. One fainted and slithered to the floor in a heap.
Two stood blinking at Sigrid, completely terrified. "Scorpii! They're on Scorpii. I don't know much more, but that's where the base is. I don't even know if that's where they took Tarsus. You have to believe me!"
Sigrid grabbed him by the collar, moving him toward the lock. "Who are they? Why did they take them?"
He shook his head. "I don't know. This was a peaceful movement but the Federation…the embargoes are killing us. Then they came—"
"Who?"
"I thought they were Mercs, but I don't know. They had ships, weapons; the technology…" He shook his head. "I've never seen anything like it."
"How many ships?"
"I don't know! They don't tell us anything anymore. I told Nicola she was making a mistake. There's a man—I don't know his name—he came to us a few years ago. He's the one you want."
Sigrid knew he was telling the truth. He was scared witless and he'd wet himself. She felt a fleeting pang of guilt for what she'd done, but she had the information she needed. She keyed her comlink. "It's Scorpii, Selene. I want to be underway as soon as possible."
The airlock opened and Christian came through holding a very angry-looking Three by the arm. "I found this guy outside. Who the hell let him out?"
Two gaped at his companion. "You…you're alive!"
"We're still on the ground, idiot."
Karen covered her mouth with her hand but couldn't hold back her laughter.
Once Two, whose real name turned out to be Gene Wehr, started talking, he didn't seem to know how to stop. Sigrid let him clean himself up and gave him his clothes back, before taking him to the Mess for some food and coffee. He'd met the woman, Nicola Kirk, five years ago on his home planet of Hekate. As a student growing up on the impoverished world, he'd been frustrated by the Federation's treatment of his home planet. He'd met Nicola and eagerly joined her movement. But what had once been a peaceful protest movement had grown exponentially into what was quickly becoming a full-scale rebellion.
"And the bombings?" Sigrid asked; she remembered the terrorist attack she'd witnessed on Earth, and the ones that were so much in the news.
Gene scoffed. "Terrorists! We're not terrorists. Ask the Council about the so-called terrorist attacks."
"What do you mean?"
"It's an old tactic, Miss…"
"Sigrid."
"It's an old tactic, Sigrid. They bomb their own people, blame us and garner sympathy. We're not killers."
Sigrid wasn't impressed. "I saw the bodies on Alcyone. You might want to tell them that."
Gene frowned. "This is all so out of hand."
"And you are kidnappers."
"I don't know anything about that. I'm not exactly in the 'loop' anymore. That's why they stuck me on Gliese. I—we—were just supposed to watch for anyone snooping around and report."
Sigrid rose, putting her mug back in the recycler.
"If you're really not with the CTF, then what will you do with us?"
Sigrid hadn't thought that part through. "I suppose we'll let you go. As soon as we make port somewhere."
"Let us go? Just like that?"
Sigrid didn't answer.
"We could be allies in this. If you're telling the truth, if you're really not with the CTF."
"I only care about my friends, Mr. Wehr."
Sigrid left him there and headed toward the bridge. She was shocked to find the Lady Hitomi working her chair onto the airlock lift; she had a small suitcase balanced on her lap.
"Mistress?"
"Ah, Sigrid—I was going to send for you."
"Where are you going?"
"I'm afraid I have some urgent business to attend to."
"Here? We're not leaving you on Gliese."
"I'll be quite all right—and I'm not staying here. I've arranged for transport."
"Where?"
Hitomi gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't you worry about that. There is little I can do for you on Scorpii. You'll be fine. I'll be of far more use to you where I am headed. There are still the other girls to think of."
"I can't let you go off on your own!"
Hitomi chuckled. "I'll be quite all right, dear."
"But—" Sigrid found herself dreading the idea of Hitomi leaving her.
"Go to Scorpii, Sigrid. Save our girls. Save your sisters. They need you. I need you to do that."
Sigrid swallowed and nodded. "Of course, Hitomi-san."
"When you get them, I need you to take them here." Hitomi handed her a pad, detailing the coordinates she wanted Sigrid to jump to. "It's very important. No matter what happens, whether you succeed or not. You must travel to these coordinates."
"Of course, Mistress."
"And Sigrid, if you can, as a personal favor to me—please find Dr. Garrett. She's…Lisa…she's very dear to me."
"I'll do everything I can, Hitomi-san."
"That's all I can ask. Good luck, Sigrid. And whatever happens, I just want you to know how proud I am of you, and how glad I am that we met."
Sigrid wasn't sure how to respond so she remained silent as she watched Hitomi exit the airlock and lower herself on the lift to the tarmac. And then she was gone. Sigrid was still considering Hitomi's words as she sealed the lock and keyed her comlink to the bridge. "Take us up, Ms. Tseng."
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Scorpii
Nicola Kirk stood in the monitoring station of the abandoned mining facility. She was surrounded by a strange mix of soldiers in their mechanized armor and some very non-military-looking types, manning the assemblage of consoles.
One large monitor had been mounted on a stand in one of the corners. Nicola stared at it now, worrying a well-chewed thumbnail. She couldn't take her eyes off the task force of four CTF Naval ships that were marked and moving across the screen.
"I don't think they've seen us," the young woman seated before her at her station said.
The task force had just entered the system and was headed toward Scorpii IV; it would take them the better part of four days to reach the planet. The once-habitable world had been stripped clean of all things valuable by overeager corporations long ago. The planet had been bled-dry and then laid to waste during the first of th
e Corporate Wars as the giant multinationals had fought to seize control of the planet's riches. That had been decades ago, before the Federation and the Council had decided to extend their reach to planets further afield. They'd used 'peace' as an excuse, but Nicola knew it was all a question of control, of commerce, of power and profit.
Scorpii was a fitting location for her movement, she thought.
The CTF forces would find their old facilities on Scorpii, but she'd anticipated that and moved virtually everything out to one of the larger asteroids that orbited between Scorpii V and VI months ago.
"Let me know if their status changes," she told the young woman.
A major in full combat gear approached her, helmet clutched under his arm. "All our ships are in position. Say the word and we'll move in. They won't know what hit them."
Nicola winced; these military-types were always so eager for a scrap. There was a good chance the CTF ships would simply leave after finding their old base abandoned. The task force would most likely turn around and leave without the need to fire a shot. On the other hand, she had twelve ships at her disposal, and a mercenary force that was spoiling for some action. Should she order them to attack? Nicola laughed to herself. Farrington had said she was a closet-general. Perhaps he was right.
"Very well, Major. You may engage them. Just…we can't let even a single pod escape. I don't want anyone reporting on our position."
The major nodded and smiled broadly, eager for the chance to engage the enemy. "Yes, ma'am. We'll take care of them."
* * *
From the bridge of the Morrigan, Sigrid looked out at the giant Warp Relay before them; they were still decelerating hard, the distance closing quickly. Selene transmitted the navigational codes to the Relay Monitor. Sigrid watched quietly as the giant construct aligned itself.
"We're clear to jump once the transaction is complete," Selene said.
No one could travel through the Relay without first paying the huge tolls charged by Daedalus. Sigrid leaned forward to key in her account access; it would take a sizable portion of the money Lady Hitomi had transferred to her.