A sharp beep from the computer screen yanked their attention from each other. Zig growled as he keyed in the code to see the status failure that had set off the alarm. Tracker’s disabled. How in all the black holes...
Yva glanced over his shoulder. Maybe the wirehead freak has gotten smarter. You hid it, yes?
Zig glared at her. "I didn’t hide it. She’d never let me get close enough. I had...a confederate on the ship do it for me." A movement on the screen caught his eye. Was the Astra moving faster, increasing the distance between them? Are they running? We’ve got to catch up! He elbowed Yva away from the controls and began keying in the command for the acceleration, his fingers frantic. Their ship shot forward in response.
Yva snarled. You always were dense as a dwarf star where she was concerned! If they see us, they’ll run and hide and then we’ll get nothing, not without the tracker. She shoved him back into his seat and hit the controls to slow them down again.
Had the Astra seen them? A moment later, the other ship jumped for a nearby system at full speed. There was a blur as they were left behind. No question about whether or not they knew they were being pursued now.
They both froze, stunned. But Yva recovered first, grabbing the controls. I’m taking command, she spat. Enough of this.
Zig seethed and reached for his own blaster, only to draw back his hand. Much as he hated to admit it, her reflexes were a fraction better than his. She would get them caught up to the Astra again, if anyone could. They were heading for Gathwaite from their last coordinates. Electra had to be there, somewhere.
Once they got to Electra, Yva would become expendable. He knew far more about nanotech than she did. If he could land on the asteroid, the techs would talk to him and he would get what he needed. Selling what tech he could steal or bargain for might even be worth more in the long term than the mere coordinates.
And Yva, well, Yva would get what was coming to her then. He let his imagination run away with him while she plotted a new course in the Astra’s wake.
Chapter 14
TiCara pulled out her handheld the moment the door to Sherin’s room whooshed closed behind her. She raced for the nearest ladder that would get her back up to the Astra’s Bridge fast enough to deal whatever was going on. What is it?
Erol’s voice boomed in her ears. Ji-min just spotted a corp ship behind us. It keeps slowing down, then getting close again. Like it’s chasing us and doesn’t care if we know it’s there.
TiCara’s breath hissed through her teeth. Had the same corp planted the tracker on the ship? But if they had, why follow them? Her medusas lay suspiciously quiet against her ears and neck. She already knew the answer then, or suspected it and they had no need to sooth or calm. Tracking and following them, assuming it was the same culprit, suggested a personal interest.
Her stomach turned as the memory of Zig as she had seen him last filled her head. Zig and Elia. He must be following them now, following them on Elia’s tell. That had to be it. Why he was following them instead of relying on the tracker didn’t matter, at least not as much as getting away.
Erol slid out of the pilot’s chair when she swung up onto the Bridge. He backed away as she darted into the chair and sent her medusas into the computer’s plugins with a single coordinated motion. He moved over into the gunner’s chair that they almost never used. The Astra had more firepower than it had carried on previous trips, but TiCara knew that it wouldn’t be enough to do more than startle a corp ship, maybe damage it a little.
But they might be able to get away if the other ship’s pilot was surprised enough to back out of range while they jumped. Erol opened the navigational computer above his chair and began prepping the pulse cannon. He caught TiCara’s eye and she could tell that they were both thinking the same thing: too many shots and they’d be out of power and dead in space, nothing left to jump with.
It would be better to jump now, if they could. She checked to see if they had enough fuel to jump at all and confirmed that they did. The Astra’s navigational computation was slightly more reassuring; they could make it to the Gathwaite System on a jump, but they’d have to find a place to refuel before they left, or sooner, depending on what was waiting for them. Now to hope that Electra wasn’t a myth and that Vahn’s connections were good enough to ensure them a warm welcome. It was a lot of shaky intel to hang a job on.
TiCara winced at the direction that her thoughts were taking. At least the Astra had something that the corp ship chasing them probably didn’t: her. She sucked in a deep, shuddering breath and centered her thoughts on the coordinates that she had gotten from Vahn. Then she kicked the ship’s acceleration up, all the way to top speed, just under jump trajectory.
Belatedly, she remembered their passengers a few moments before taking them to full speed into the jump. A vision of Vahn and Sherin flattened to the floor of their respective quarters shot across her mind. She briefly forced herself out of the ship and nudged Erol, who was fastening the webbing on his chair to prepare for the ship’s acceleration. His eyes were closed but they flew open at TiCara’s touch. Passengers, she muttered.
He nodded guiltily as if he had forgotten them too and tapped the comm. TiCara sank back into the ship. The rush of circuitry flowed over and through her like a wave. The electrical connections sparked as her synapses touched them, adjusting them here, redirecting them there. The Astra sang at her touch, fluid and responsive as it always was when she and the ship were one.
She thought about the ship following them and an instant later had a view from the Astra’s tail. Their pursuer dwindled into the distance, caught by surprise, or so she hoped. TiCara grinned at the sight. But it wasn’t going to be enough. Any corp ship that was space-worthy had more power at its command than her shadow-trade engines. They could catch up eventually, if they had some idea of where the Astra was headed. And if it was indeed Zig, he had a very good idea.
Now to hope that it wasn’t Zig and that the other pilot knew nothing about their destination. TiCara let her consciousness merge with the navigational system, comparing coordinates and nearby systems as fast as she could think. She could see the Gathwaite System, as well the Aeon planets and their surroundings, spread out in front of her mind’s eyes against the splendor of the starfields.
Part of her couldn’t help but pause to admire them and the galaxy around them. Plugging into the ship was the ultimate in sensory overload, visual and sensual. A comet licked the edge of her consciousness, its distant tail blazing bright against the velvet black of the space between the stars.
She turned the ship toward it, hoping to use its wake to hide in until they could jump to the Gathwaite asteroid belts. Let the corp pilot behind her try to find them then. All she needed was space to maneuver and they could outfly almost any of the corp crews. Even Zig. She laughed silently, feeling the vibration spread out through her implants.
Practice enabled her to spare a few thoughts for the status of the crew and her passengers and she dipped into the ship’s sensors to check their status. Vahn and his bondarmin were in Vahn’s quarters, presumably already in their slings, from their readings. It would take some time for the Astra’s gravitation spin field to reestablish itself when they got to the other end of the jump so hopefully they would remember to stay put until then.
She kept looking. Sherin was in her room, right where TiCara had left her. Just looking at her readings, she felt a jangle of mixed emotions. If things were different...if the rep could plug in, she could share the ship with her while the two of them merged their minds. Adrift from their fears and anger, she and Sherin could explore each other’s minds without limits or boundaries, get to know each other without lies.
Wait, why was she fantasizing about Sherin having medusas? Why would…a wave of sensation from the Astra swept over her and she lost track of her thoughts and what she’d been imagining. But she couldn’t stop herself from wondering what Sherin was doing now and whether or not she regretted her betrayal. Or if she was s
till planning on trying to contact Elia or Zig.
TiCara’s medusas sent a quick chiming alarm to her synapses at her sudden rage at that thought and she pulled her thoughts away. It was a bad idea to get this emotional while she was plugged in. She knew that, knew what happened when pilots got distracted. It was generally ended in a wrecked ship and a dead crew.
TiCara thought something like an apology at her ship and checked on the crew next. She found exactly what she expected: Ji-min and Vijay were in the slings just outside the Astra’s tiny greenbay, waiting for the jump and ship’s gravity to return. Probably napping, judging from their quiet readings.
Erol was right next to her, of course, and she started to move past him without checking his vitals. But something made her pause. His readings were odd, off in a way she didn’t expect. He was using more air than he should be and seemed agitated. TiCara wondered if he was sick, but surely Vijay’s medical sensors would have picked up on that. He ran them every time they slept, dealing with the more mundane and milder illnesses during their down time with a med feed. She made a mental note to have Erol report to their tiny medical computer once they had shaken off their pursuers.
Another check on the aft monitors and sensors to check on the corp ship again, now far behind them. But still too close. She located the comet and with a thought, she aimed the Astra for the far side of its tail. Then she sealed the view screens and sent a warning pinging through the ship, telling everyone on board to stay slinged while they jumped.
Debris blew against the Astra’s hull, showering and pitting its wings and shell with particles. Part of TiCara winced, thinking about the damage to her ship, while the rest of her reveled in dancing them away from pursuit. For the next few moments, she focused on moving them to the far side of the comet and plotting a path that would keep it between them and their pursuers. With enough of Erol’s good fortune, the comet would travel close enough to the asteroid belts that TiCara could take them from one hiding place to another with a short jump that would save fuel.
She smiled at the Astra’s nav board and concentrated on keeping up with the comet.
Chapter 15
Some time after the Astra’s jump, Vahn began to recover, at least enough to wonder what had happened to prompt the ship’s sudden acceleration. Were they running from something or towards something? The Astra Second’s communication that they were avoiding debris was reasonable, unless one considered their destination.
And the hidden tracker that was no longer hidden. Were there others, not yet discovered? It was not a concern to be dismissed lightly.
Vahn suspected that they were being pursued as well, but by whom? The possibilities were legion: business rivals, corp associates, his own clan. He sighed wearily; to have lived long enough to have acquired so many enemies was a heavy burden. Would they were all as honorable in their dealings as he.
He stretched a little and let his breathing settle, centering himself.
His enemies would rue their actions once he reached Electra. The technicians there would correct his wretched body’s reaction to Eternayouth. He had their assurances of that, and he trusted that he had gotten tru tell from them, once enough credits exchanged accounts. An image of himself before he began to age rose in his mind and he longed for it, as he might a lover.
But they weren’t near Electra yet and there were dangers in plenty to face. The first priority was the matter of the tracker. Once he knew who had planted it, he would know better which foe might be close enough to him to pose a genuine threat. All he needed to investigate further was ship’s gravity restored and his stomach to cease trying to crawl up his throat.
He spared a glance at his bondarmin. The man sat still in his chair, eyes closed and breathing careful. He appeared to be meditating rather than sleeping. It was a sensible choice and Vahn spared him an approving thought.
He had not hired the man from anyone connected to his corp or his clan. Each of those was too close to him in their own ways, too likely to betray him, and he wanted this trip kept secret. He would lose all credibility if the techs could do nothing and he had to crawl back to Kyrin the same old and broken man who had left. Better to die off planet than to go through that again.
Instead, he had hired a bondarmin from a subcontractor he was not connected to by blood or commerce to protect and nurse him, and a shadow trade pilot who owed him no loyalty beyond the credits he could pay her to transport them. Once this job was done, she would find another contract and move on, forgetting this trip in the ones that followed. He trusted to her pragmatism even more than to her greed. He spent a few moments contemplating what he knew of each, his bondarmin and the woman piloting her ship through the systems, weighing each vice and virtue against each other.
Sammo, the bondarmin, was cold and calculating. He was also looking for a way to return to his distant home. There had been an incident involving two dead men in a portside dock that had caused him to seek employment elsewhere. But there had been a crèche and a group marriage on that planet as well, and a longing to return that was nearly palpable when Vahn met him.
Vahn had promised him that he would settle matters with the authorities on his homeworld, that he could go back home once his job was complete. Nothing in Vahn’s experience suggested that this kind of promise would not buy absolute loyalty from such a man.
The pilot was less easy to read, apart from her need for credits. He hired her for several jobs before he thought he had taken her measure. In the end, it had been TiCara’s clear desire to be free of the corps and the Ears that decided him. To her, creds were freedom, and that freedom was nearly everything. Her loyalty could be bought as long as that sale brought with it the possibility of such a future and required nothing outside of her rather limited moral code.
As for his own corporate rep, he had thought that he knew what motivated her as well. The problem was that he didn’t hold the key to that motivation and he wasn’t sure who did. Bringing her on this journey had been a calculated risk, not merely an opportunity to have a pretty face at his side. He was honest enough to admit that might have been enough for him once, before his health began to fail. But he had seen the way that she and the pilot looked at each other, so he thought that perhaps TiCara’s presence would be enough to ensure Sherin’s loyalty.
But now it seemed that he had been wrong. Maybe it was time that he and Sammo spoke to his rep about trackers and Ears.
He wasn’t certain that she was responsible for this betrayal, but he needed to find out. Already, the idea that it was Sherin gnawed at him, disturbing his thoughts. He cleared his throat to capture Sammo’s attention. I think that we need to visit our esteemed rep, when next this tub rights itself. I have questions for her and I would like you to accompany me.
Sammo opened his eyes halfway and nodded, as if speaking while the ship was still accelerating was too much for him. Perhaps it was. Vahn noticed that the man’s face had a greenish tinge that did not bode well for subsequent jumps. He made a grimace of sympathy before he closed his eyes to wait.
It wasn’t long. The Astra’s walls shuddered around them as the ship slowed down and its internally rotating engines kicked back on. Vahn made himself a silent promise that after this trip, he would travel on starships big and luxurious enough to maintain consistent gravity at full speed. After this trip, he would do many things the way that he preferred to do them.
He let Sammo help him up and tried to ignore the creaks and pops of his joints. There would be no forgiveness for anyone who tried to sabotage this trip. Nothing was going to keep him in this failing shell of a body. That thought was enough to keep him moving with grim determination.
Fortunately, it wasn’t far to Sherin’s quarters. Sammo raised questioning eyebrows when they reached her door, then hit the door buzzer when he saw his employer’s head jerk of affirmation. Vahn let his face slide into a bland corp expression, pleasant and unchallenging. In contrast, when Sherin opened the door, she looked panicked and there were
drying tears left unheeded tracks down her cheeks.
She scrubbed at her face as she asked, What is it, Ser? You could have commed me and I would have come to you. Sherin looked from Vahn to Sammo, then back again. Something that she saw there was enough to make her close up, make her posture stiffen and her expression turn blank.
Vahn smiled, letting a tinge of reassurance warm his face. I needed to speak to you and did not want to wait. At least no longer than it took for the esteemed Pilot-Captain slow down enough to restore the gravity after our unexpected jump. Do you know why she decided that jump was necessary?
At the mention of TiCara, Sherin looked away and gestured them inside her tiny room. Vahn took the only chair and she sat on the bed, while Sammo was left standing behind their employer. Were it not for the tension in the room, Vahn thought, it would have made for a most relaxed tableau.
I have not spoken to her...for some time. Our tell was interrupted by an urgent comm and she left. She did not tell me why. Sherin’s face was still devoid of expression, but her shoulders were now hunched, as if to avoid a blow, and her hands rested rigidly on her knees.
That suggests unexpected bad news. Perhaps engine malfunction. Or an external threat. Sammo found a tracker in one of the bays and we believe it to have placed at the behest of one of my rivals.
Sherin flinched slightly, a shadow crossing her face for the flicker of a breath, before it vanished and she raised one eyebrow. Tilting her head, she gave her employer a concerned look. Was there any indication of who might have placed it, Ser?
It was exactly the question he would have expected from his trusted rep, when she had occupied that role. But he had seen that flinch as well. Guilt or previous accusation? Sammo had left the disabled tracker in the bay, after all. Any of the crew or the captain could have found it. But why accuse his rep instead of his bondarmin? Or each other?
Guilt, then, was the obvious answer. Whoever her accusers were, they must have seen something he had not. A cold rage boiled up in Vahn. How dare she do this to him, after he had hired her, despite her damaged state? He had paid her very well and treated her with honor, entrusting her with his daily affairs, his arrangements, even with hiding the decline of his health. He had given her purpose when she had none. What had they offered her that could outweigh what he had given her?
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