Pirates of the Dark Nebula (Hearts in Orbit Book 2)

by S. C. Mitchell

  “You’re programming is genius,” Ian had said. “How did you ever think of using chromodynamics? I would never have thought to go down that path.”

  Luna smiled, thinking of her nephew. “I had the help of a one-year-old Blarmling.”

  Ian raised his eyebrows, tilting his head to the side. “Amazing.”

  The sweat running down Rik’s face in rivulets only highlighted how desperate his situation had become. Icy steam filled the air with each breath, and biting chill made his hands all but worthless. The thermal jacket couldn’t account for the intense heat he was feeling in his torso and head. Fever could.

  “Keep moving, Rik. We’re almost there.” Magda’s plea spurred him on.

  Almost where?

  He’d have asked if he’d had the strength. His head reeled, and it took all his concentration to just put one foot in front of the other.

  Through the haze, he noted the dome rising above the ridge as they crested. Xio? It’s where they would have taken Luna. He needed to get to her. He needed to get well or he wouldn’t be any use to her.

  He wasn’t supposed to feel. It got in the way of his job. But Luna’s honest innocence, the refugees’ desperate plight, had opened up a pathway inside he wasn’t sure he could close off once more. All of them, Magda, Markus, Tina, even Quatrain—no, especially Quatrain—had come to mean something to him.

  After three long years with the pirates, he’d found the emotion disconcerting at first. Now he used those emotions to keep himself moving. They needed him, and he wasn’t about to let them down.

  But, through the haze and sickness, it was the memory of Luna’s voice, Luna’s face, that drove him on. Something about her, something special, touched him in a place he’d tried hard to bury.

  Love wasn’t something he dared even think of. Love could get him killed. Worse, his love could get her killed. This mission was dangerous enough without emotion coming into play.

  Rik shook his head to clear his thoughts, then discovered they stood before a great entry door. When did we reach the city?

  Magda accessed the entry panel. As the door hissed open, she pulled on his arm, dragging him across the entrance into the warmth.

  The acrid stench that assaulted his nostrils was his first indication something was wrong. He blinked the blurriness from his eyes to take in a scene of utter devastation. Smoke rose from the hulking ruins of buildings pounded by phason fire and exploding projectiles. Craters pockmarked once gleaming streets. But through it all, Rik recognized where they were.

  “This isn’t Xio.”

  Chapter 18

  “You know the cost of defying me.”

  Luna cringed at the reminder that Carter’s life was on the line. Sighing, she handed the last component, the asteroid avoidance system, to the pirate technician standing beside Kristen. Now the pirates had working prototypes of all three devices. Luna felt helpless.

  “It’ll work.” She forced herself to look straight at Kristin. “I have your word no harm will come to Carter?”

  Kristin’s eyes narrowed. “You have my word that I’ll kill him if this doesn’t work.”

  She spun on her heel and strutted out of the chamber.

  The door slammed shut and a chill shot through her stomach. Now what? Make another . . . and another?

  A hissing sound behind her pulled her from her dark thoughts.

  “Psst. Luna.” The voice issued from the ventilation duct down at floor level.

  Luna ducked her head to find Markus hiding behind the grill. Her heart leapt at the sight of the little man. “Have you been in this building’s ductwork all this time?”

  “In and out. It’s amazing what you can pick up listening into conversations from in here.”

  Hope flared in Luna’s chest. “Carter’s alive. They have him somewhere.”

  Markus nodded. “I know. They took him up to the Umberhulk a few hours ago. I wasn’t in a position to prevent it. Where’s Captain Mazer?”

  A cold knot twisted in Luna’s heart. She couldn’t speak the words. Just closed her eyes and shook her head.

  “Have you still got your com unit?”

  Luna’s hand went to her belt, then she remembered Kristin forcing them to leave the communication devices behind at the old lab. “No.”

  Markus sighed. “Well, sit tight and be ready. I’ll contact the ship. We’ll get you out of here someway.”

  Markus disappeared into the shaft.

  Frack. If she’d known about the possibility of escape, she’d have slowed down production of the devices. As it was she’d been so worried about Carter, she’d sped through the crafting process.

  Still, the possibility of escape lifted her spirits.

  “How are you feeling?” Magda’s query brought Rik back to full consciousness.

  The dizziness was gone, as was the pounding headache. Strength was once again flowing to his limbs. He felt whole again.

  They’d discovered a working med blanket in one of the lesser damaged buildings. Magda had forced him to lie down and let the unit scan and administer medications.

  Rik hadn’t had the strength left to argue with the woman. He needed rest, and he needed to heal. The fever had been burning him up.

  The blanket must have immediately administered a sleep drug, because he had no memories past Magda covering him. Vague visions of fevered dreams haunted the back of his mind, but he could put together no solid images. Probably for the best.

  He was feeling better now, that was all that mattered. It was time to find Luna. And it was time to take down that damn bitch, Kristin, once and for all.

  “How long have I been out?”

  “Only a few hours.” Magda’s eyes were wide and intense as if she were on alert for something. “But events are in motion. The oracles have been on my butt to get you moving.”

  Rik pulled himself into a sitting position. His back was completely numb, probably from an application of synthskin over his wounds. The medical compound would take a few days to integrate into his dermal layers and nervous system.

  He took a deep breath, taking a moment to assess his status. “We’re not in Xio.” Luna was hundreds of kilometers away. Frack!

  Magda shook her head. “We’re back in Thurban, but the city has been completely destroyed. There’s no one about. No one alive, that is. Plenty of bodies.”

  Rik moved to stand. His head clear, his body on the mend, he was ready to get moving. “We have to get to Xio. Find the others.”

  Magda waved her hands at him. “No, no, no.”

  She paced, inner conflict showing in her every movement. Then she stopped, took a deep breath, and turned toward Rik. “Understand. The oracles have been with me since I turned ten. I hate them, but they’re a part of me and they refused to be ignored. Believe me.” She rolled her eyes. “I’ve tried.”

  She took another deep breath, blowing out slowly. “They led me back here. There’s something we need to do next, but they won’t tell me what. Can you think of any unfinished business here?”

  Rik racked his brain as he looked around. The city lay in ruin. This wasn’t Kristin’s doing. She didn’t operate like this. She’d have taken over the city as her own. Kept all the shiny buildings intact.

  This would have been someone with a vendetta against Nikoli Rasputon. Possibly a new coalition forming within the Pirates. Every faction had its spies. Word would have spread that Nikoli had Ian and Luna. Kristin got here first, but she wasn’t the last.

  Still, Luna and Ian were gone.

  Rik thought back over the days he’d been here. The raid on the miners, that shower with Luna, Kristin showing up and . . .

  Rik’s stomach went cold. “I know why we’re here.”

  Rik held Magda back as he surveyed the damage to t
he headquarters building where Luna and the others had been held. Steelglass windows were shattered, and the walls pockmarked with holes, but the structure appeared relatively intact, probably because whoever had attacked didn’t know if the scientists were still inside when they got here.

  Rik stopped by his old room and picked out a warm shirt to throw on.

  Magda sighed, as he fastened the magnasnaps over his bare chest. “I’m going to miss that.”

  He snorted.

  The lab was just as they’d left it. On the workbench, their three communicators and his blaster. Rik holstered the gun and opened up the com unit. “Now we can contact the ship. We’re going to need a little extra firepower if we’re going to free the others.”

  “Captain Mazer?” Tina’s voice broke as it emitted over the com. “We’d heard you were killed.”

  “Only almost,” he answered. “Bring the ship in.”

  “Already on our way, Captain.” Her voice thick with emotion, Tina was still all business. “Received a call from Mr. Stout. He’s located Doctors von Alderamin and Callista. We’re on course to the city-state of Xio.”

  “Make a detour to pick us up in Thurban. I’ll send you the coordinates.”

  “Aye, Captain.”

  Rik coded in the coordinates for the domed city-state, then closed the connection.

  “So that’s why the oracles led us back here.” Magda shook her head. “They might have told me.”

  Rik arched an eyebrow. “That and one other thing.”

  He walked over to the wall and stared down at the pile of twisted metal. He stooped over to pick up Harvey’s head. “This looks more or less intact.”

  Modeled after humans, service droids held their memory circuits in their heads. The torso only contained the battery and motor units. Everything that was uniquely Harvey was still intact.

  Rik dumped out some components from a storage bag and picked up pieces of the droid. Harvey was more than a service droid to Luna.

  Hell, he’d become more than a droid to me. He’s a member of my crew. And Rik didn’t leave teammates behind if he could help it.

  Chapter 19

  Landing The Starboard Mist would take time they didn’t have, at least according to Magda’s Oracles, so Rik had decided to fly up to meet the vessel, provided they could find a shuttle that would fly. The Thurban spaceport was a mess, with most of the ships little more than scrap metal, but a few showed some promise.

  Rik eyed the least damaged shuttle he could find. The port side thruster was mangled, but it appeared otherwise spaceworthy.

  “I think it’ll fly.” Though he’d have to position the craft using only left turns. Docking would be a tricky maneuver.

  Magda nodded. “Yes, it’ll fly. Our pathway out leads here.”

  Rik had come to trust Magda and the voices she heard in her head. Maybe a bit too much, but the Oracles hadn’t steered them wrong yet.

  But what are they steering us toward?

  Even Magda admitted the voices were usually more trouble than help. She seemed less and less assured by what they gave her. “This has the feel of major destiny stuff,” she’d said. “That usually means big changes and people dying.”

  Rik viewed the devastation of Thurban as the shuttle rose into the sky. Bodies littered the streets. People are dying. Did it matter that most were pirate thugs? There are always innocents swept up in shit like this.

  Innocents like the refugees on his ship. I have to get them out of here.

  Rik breathed a sigh of relief as his foot stepped onto the hanger deck of The Starboard Mist. The Pinder brothers, Pollix and Wasat, were there to greet them as he and Magda descended the ramp.

  “Welcome aboard, Captain.” Pollix’s stiff attitude reflected tension. His gaze shifted to Magda. Suspicion lurked in his eyes.

  “This is Magda, a friend of our Mr. Stout.”

  Pollix shifted his stance, appearing more at ease.

  “Status, Mr. Pinder? What’s going on?”

  Wasat jumped in. The younger brother, also technically Mr. Pinder, seemed eager to be recognized, probably a sibling thing. “Markus called us back from where we were hiding behind Pluton’s moon. He’s found Doctors von Alderamin and Callista.”

  Rik nodded, relieved at the news.

  Pollix shot his brother a sideways glance and a frown, irritation coloring his visage. Wasat smiled and shrugged.

  It made Rik wonder what it would be like to have a brother . . . a family. The Pinders appeared very close.

  “That Umberhulk’s in orbit but on the other side of the planet. Tina can fill you in on all the particulars, Captain,” Pollix added.

  Rik pointed toward the shuttle. “It needs a new portside thruster. See what you can do with it. I’d like it fixed if possible.”

  Pollix nodded and moved toward the shuttle to inspect the damaged thruster.

  Rik placed the packing bag with Harvey’s parts in front of Wasat. “Handle with care. If there’s any way to get Harvey working again, please make it so.”

  “Will do, Captain.”

  Rik motioned Magda to follow him as Wasat stooped to open the bag. He made his way through the ship’s hallways noting the smiles lighting on the refugees’ faces as he approached.

  One he couldn’t name tipped his head toward him. “Captain.”

  “Welcome back, Captain Mazar,” said another.

  As they entered the elevator that would take them up to the bridge, Magda touched his arm. “They are your people, whether you know it or not. There is hope in their eyes.”

  “Hope?” They didn’t know him. Know what he was capable of doing. He’d used the pirates against each other for three years to advance his own position. True, his motives were just, but he’d certainly done nothing to inspire hope in anyone close to him.

  I use people. Hell, I’m using them. Can’t they see that?

  The elevator door pulsed open and he stepped onto the bridge. Tina rose from the captain’s console. “Captain Mazer.” Again a smile, trust in her eyes.

  He sighed. How the hell did I get here?

  An hour later Rik paced the front of the assembly room in the lower level of The Starboard Mist. He awaited one more arrival before beginning the meeting. The room served as mess hall and shared living area for the crew. With the exception of Tina, Quatrain, and two others he’d left in charge of the bridge, everyone else on board was there.

  He’d directed Markus to make his way back to the ship’s original shuttle and bring it back up. With two dropships in the shuttle bay he’d have more options for the coming assault.

  And it would be an assault. Scans indicated heavy defenses around and inside the pirate compound holding Luna and Dr. von Alderamin.

  Pollix Pinder stood by the doorway, watching the hallway. “He’s coming, Captain.”

  “I’m here.” Markus thundered as he swept into the room.

  Behind him, the young boy, Donald, trailed, wide-eyed and wary.

  Rik nodded. “Report, Mr. Stout.”

  The crowd quieted.

  “Luna and Ian are back in that same room on the third floor we took Ian from originally.” Markus pounded up to Rik, but addressed the entire group. “And they’ve got Carter in there somewhere as well.”

  A murmur shot through the assemblage.

  “Carter?” Rik had already written Carter Arcturus off as a loss.

  “Yeah. He’s alive.” Markus’s eyes darkened. “They took him out yesterday, I think up to that Umberhulk craft. But he was brought back a few hours ago. He’s in rough shape, but he’s still breathing.”

  Rik’s gut burned, knowing how Kristin treated prisoners.

  “We’re getting him back too.” Rik turned to address his crew. “I need some voluntee
rs . . .”

  Every hand in the room shot up. Rik’s heart swelled with pride in these people.

  “It’ll be dangerous.”

  Not one hand came back down.

  “I need people who can shoot a blaster, with any military or policing . . . or raiding experience.”

  Now a few hands dropped.

  Rik singled out a dozen of the healthiest looking men and women. “The rest of you will be supporting us from up here. I’m putting Tina la Cross in charge. Assist her in any way you can.”

  He turned to Markus. “I’d prefer to have you at your weapons console. Is there anyone else that can fly a shuttle?”

  Thuban Pinder stepped forward. “I can.”

  Rik nodded. “You’ll be flying the second shuttle, Thuban.” He’d give the Pinder patriarch the ship’s shuttle, in case Pollix hadn’t had time to fix the other one. Rik could fly the one with the broken thruster if needed.

  Rik dismissed the others, holding back his landing party. “Find yourselves some weapons. There should be plenty on the ship. Arm up and meet me in the hanger deck in two hours.”

  Then I’m going after Luna.

  The captain’s chair felt confining and Rik itched to be on with the rescue mission. He checked the chronometer. Ten minutes and his landing party would be assembling in the shuttle bay.

  He looked around the bridge. Tina had found people to man each station. There were faces and names he had yet to learn, and some were struggling, but Tina roamed from station to station, answering questions and giving commands. She was the perfect first mate.