"You know the rules, Tia. The station can't afford welfare. Given your drives, you're stuck here anyway until some repairs are made. You won't be making many more jumps with holes in your ship."
"We'll have to make do, then," Henry said. "Focus on the jump drive and minimal structural repair. When we run out of money, well, we'll cross that bridge when we get there."
Linh bit her lip. It was clear she sympathized with their plight. "Listen, let me make a call. I know you're a couple hands short for your engineering staff, and I've got someone who can help with repairs who's not formally on our crews, so you don't need my full team. I can give you a cheaper labor cost that way."
Tia gave her friend a worried look. "How will the dockworker guild take it?"
Linh answered initially with a sardonic look before speaking. "I'm not talking about sneaking you a scab, Tia. I've got an up-and-coming fetch tech who knows her stuff—I mean, she really knows it. She’s more interested in becoming a spacer than working the docks."
Henry could see where this was going. Fetch techs were the station's children who were interested enough in spaceships that the dock repair teams and engineers, ever in need of more hands, hired them on to help in small ways. They weren't paid in money or food, usually, but rather in knowledge, as they got to observe the actual repair teams do their jobs and learn them for themselves. Typically, the fetch techs were no older than seventeen and as young as ten, and some wound up in the dockworker guild in some capacity as a result of what they learned. "Well, as you said, we've got openings for engineer's mates," he said, showing his recognition of Linh's thinking. "If you think she'll work—"
"She will. Enthusiastically. Hartzog may have to pry her away from the fusion drives. She worked on my last installation, so she knows them a bit."
"Send her to me. Pieter and I will talk with her," Henry said.
"I will, after you come with me and we recalculate these figures," Linh answered.
"Yeah, I figured it was going to come to that." Henry grinned and followed Linh toward her office, leaving Tia to observe the examination crew as they continued to check the Shadow Wolf's wounds.
* * *
With the crew of the Shadow Wolf taking a break from repair work and letting the dock crew do their jobs, they found the time to see to their needs for sustenance or rest. Miri watched most of them in the galley, sharing a meal and talking amongst themselves. Only Felix and the ship's Boer engineer were missing from the gathering.
Impressive bunch, especially for independents. From what she'd overheard, the core group had remained unchanged for two or so years, with the two Leaguers and Felix Rothbard being the newest members of the crew. They showed the cohesiveness Miri heard was common for independent crews, especially those who were used to relying on each other and scrambling to cover for everything. They were perpetually understaffed and alone without a corporate support network, just the business and trade contacts they enjoyed at legitimate and not-so-legitimate ports across the neutral systems. There was something viscerally exciting about it even without the pirates.
At the same time, she was unsettled. Yes, Miri was confident that the ambush and this station being their destination in the escape were not preplanned, but the latter had the side effect of limiting her options. That left a part of her wondering if malintent lurked under the surface somewhere. They had to have known that as a corporate-employed spacer, she had nobody to trust on Trinidad Station and no means to ensure safe passage—the ISU was many things, but they were not a charter service. She’d remained reliant on the Shadow Wolf crew for her transport, and they still intended to take her to Lusitania, not New Cornwall.
The thought made her think about making a dash anyway. Trinidad Station reportedly had over a quarter of a million residents. She could slip into their numbers, go to ground, use the skills she'd learned to find a way to communicate her situation to P&Y, and see what she could do.
They won't send someone for you, Miri. As things stand, Okon is already suspicious of Karla Lupa. If you reveal you're suddenly on a pirate station, she's not going to believe your story about being attacked. She'll immediately presume this is a trap of some sort. You'll confirm you're a pirate, and your testimony will be ignored.
Miri clenched her fist. She owed it to her fellow crew on the Kensington Star to try to help them in some way. Whatever she disliked about them didn't matter anymore—they were fellow human beings, fellow spacers, going through the hell of a League socialization camp. If the League got away with whatever they wanted her old ship for, their suffering would be for nothing.
"I really wouldn't recommend making a run for it."
The male voice prompted Miri to turn. Felix Rothbard was standing outside the galley entry, staring at her with a quiet expression.
She returned it with a neutral expression. "What makes you think I am?"
"I was CDF, Gaon. I had occasion to work with CIS agents in my career," Felix replied, "enough to know how you think. Right now, you're considering how to get yourself extracted from this situation. You still want to get to the Astra Mater or P&Y HQ."
Miri kept her expression blank. "If you say so," she said quietly.
A small, wry smile formed on his lips, "Oh, I more than say so," he answered. "I know so. Understand, I don't blame you. I want the League stopped too. But we're your smart play."
"Are you?" Miri folded her arms and didn't hide her skepticism. "Mister Rothbard, how do you think my employers will take it when they find out Karla Lupa disappeared from Harron? Or when Patricia Okon of corporate security investigates my legend enough to prove Karla Lupa isn't real?"
Felix tilted his head to one side. "Before the latter, they won't know what to think. Your disappearance indicates either guilt or that the attackers found you first. Now for this Okon lady, yeah, I can see her deciding you were a pirate agent."
"And then my testimony is useless. The League goes right on attacking ships until they're ready for whatever they're up to."
"That's what gets me." Felix crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Just what're they doing, hunting down ships in neutral space? Especially since they're talking about making peace now. Something doesn't add up."
"The most obvious answer is that they have a large operation in mind for those ships. They captured Kensington Star," Miri pointed out. "They didn't destroy her. They want those vessels for something."
"Right. And that, well, that's pretty downright scary, if you ask me." Felix's face twisted into a frown. "Just what the hell do you do with that many civilian trading ships? No way in hell you make a combat fleet out of them. Even a single-system space navy with hundred-year-old Coalition ships are going to have a fair chance of kicking their asses up between their ears. The bigger targets like Lusitania or New Cornwall have modern fleets that would pulverize them."
"The League would not risk discovery and turning the neutral worlds against them on a foolish mission," Miri insisted. "They have a plan, and if my testimony does not reveal their involvement, they’ll have a chance to implement it." She watched Felix's expression. She could see he agreed, but only to a point. "Of course, you are not an objective observer here, from what I've heard."
"Yeah. My brother's life is on the line too." A pensive expression came to Felix's face. "Jewish, right?"
"Yes."
"Orthodox? Reform?"
"Orthodox. Once." As Miri spoke, she considered all the ways she'd violated the rules of her people in her life. Her rabbi uncle, Shlomo, would be horrified by how much pork and other unkosher foods she'd had, even if he would understand the circumstances. "Honestly, I don’t observe anymore. I know He is out there, but—"
Miri saw how the pensive look turned sympathetic and knew she'd met a kindred spirit. "You did things that God says you shouldn't," he said. "You have, but you had good reasons. Reasons that any preacher or rabbi would tell you were justified. But it gnaws anyway. Makes you feel unworthy."
Miri nodded. "Yes."
"I kno
w that, God knows I do," Felix said, "assuming He's listening."
"He is."
"Jim says otherwise, whenever we talk about it. My brother, though? He believes. He knows in his heart that God's with him, that he's doing Christ's work, and he'll walk to a Lusitanian gallows with a smile if it comes to it."
Miri couldn't stop herself from wincing at the word "gallows." Visions of Lowery, the camp, Christopher Tobay, and Annette Zens filled her. She remembered their slow, horrible deaths and teared up as raw guilt crashed through her heavy heart.
"I'm sorry," Felix said. "Looks like I touched a nerve there." He swallowed. "Saw someone hung, didn't you?"
"Yes," she answered hoarsely. "Two courageous, kind people who trusted a fellow sufferer with their plans for freedom."
"And?"
"They died slowly for their mistake."
Felix's mouth hung open. "Christ Almighty," he said. "You were playing for high stakes, weren't you?"
It was for the mission. For years, she'd repeated those five words over and over. When the League fled Lowery after their horrible defeat at New Arabia, the loss she enabled, it'd seemed to justify everything. That feeling lasted only a short time, though. Then the nightmares began, where the specters of those she'd condemned to death or deportation haunted her, reminding her of the suffering she'd caused them.
"I was. And I prevailed. But success… success does not cleanse the soul of guilt," Miri replied. She turned away.
"I've been there," Felix called out. "You're not the only one. I've killed too."
"In battle. What I did… what I did was much worse." She spoke those words then continued to the room she'd been given, suddenly feeling very, very tired.
* * *
Linh's work crew didn't disappoint Tia. They moved with practiced thoroughness, cataloging all of the damage from the Tash'vakal attack while she looked on.
As enjoyable a sight as it was, Tia couldn't stop her frustrated, irritated feelings over the situation. Henry, damn him, was right about the stakes. Getting Gaon to Lusitania was their best bet. But Tia felt like he wasn't as objective about it as he should have been, not with Jules Rothbard's fate on the line, and not with Gaon identifying the League as behind the attacks. Becoming an independent trader, even entering League space on contracts, had not diminished the traditional enmity he felt for them. She worried that the chance to save a childhood friend and stick it to the League was clouding his judgment.
The worst thing, the absolute worst thing, is that he's right, and I know he's right. The League's after us now because of Miri Gaon, and they won't accept "we dropped her off at Trinidad and hightailed it" if we run into them. Not if they want to silence her.
Thinking of the League made Tia's fists clench. They had a lot to answer for with her people. They’d engineered their revolution then warned the megacorps about it, crushing the hopes of her abused, suffering people. The only thing good about it was that it'd opened Tia's eyes to the nature of the powerful. They cared only for themselves. The League, for all its rhetoric, was no different and was maybe even worse, given the scope of their lies. We should have known better. The oligarchs lied to us too.
"Someone's moody today." Linh's voice prompted Tia to turn her head. "Henry and I have made arrangements," Linh said. "And he's off to hire that fetch tech for your crew. He'll make her day."
"You think she'll be worth it, given what we can afford?"
"She's one of the good ones," Linh assured her. "Want to get a drink tonight? I've got a box of Thanh we took off a ruined transport, proper salvage."
"Maybe. If anything, it'll remind me that not all of my old comrades are dead or surrendering to our oppressors."
Linh shook her head fervently and lifted her right arm. "They took my arm and my pride, Tia. I'd have died if you hadn't gotten the tourniquet on in time, and they'd have taken me if you hadn't carried me to the extraction point. I know how much you wanted to stay and fight…"
Again, the furious sounds of a vicious urban battle filled Tia's head, brought up by her dear comrade's words. "I didn't get you all the way there," she said. "The mortar blast..."
Linh nodded. "You're lucky you still have all of your meaty bits, Comrade." She thumped her organic left fist against her metal right arm.
"As I recall, I'm lucky to be alive."
"The sad thing is, you know who pulled us to the extraction point?"
"Felipe." Tia swallowed and nodded. "To think even he's surrendering now and going over to the League, when he damn well knows they're the reason we failed. Justifying their betrayal, even."
"I threw him out before he tried that," Linh said. "I almost want to ask how…"
"Something about the League having to beat the Coalition and make the workers' revolution possible beyond Hestia." Tia snarled. "Even though they're worse than the Coalition. They oppress workers even more viciously than they are on Hestia. I've seen it."
Linh shook her head and let out a sigh. "Maybe we need to work through that Thanh to drown the memories. But right now, I'd better see to—"
"Chief!" The voice was not human nor entirely natural. Linh's Matrinad crew member approached. Through the faceplate of his atmosphere helmet, Tia could see the dark-pink and red scales of his skin and his almost entirely black eyes, like those of a dolphin mixed with a human. He was gripping something in his right hand.
"Crenan, what is it?" Linh asked.
The Matrinad opened the hand. Inside was a stubby piece of metal. "I found it attached in the stern of the ship, near the engines," he said through his helmet vocoder, which made the English sound tinny and stilted. Tia figured the vocoder was translating from the Matrinad's speech. "It doesn't look like any shrapnel I’ve seen before."
"No, it doesn't." Linh took the object and looked it over.
Tia noticed her expression darken. "What is it? What's wrong?"
"This is a micro-QET," she said, pronouncing "QET" as "kwet." "That is a quantum entanglement transceiver. Anyone with the right quantum signature and their own QET can read the location of this thing."
"A tracker," Tia said. "This is how the Tash'vakal found us."
"Oh, I'd bet my month's salary on it, Tia." Linh gave her a dark look. "Now, whoever did it knows you're here, on Trinidad."
"And they'll be coming," Tia said with a sigh. Things were definitely not going to get better.
26
After Jastavi's image disappeared from his desk's computer screen, Chantavit Li scowled and contemplated the unfairness of the universe.
They were on the cusp of a success that would shake the galaxy. Victory over the reactionaries, the throwbacks, and the superstitious fools was at hand. The petty nations ruling over the rich worlds would be on track to absorb into Society, which would see to the proper use of the wealth they’d squandered. So far, their foes were utterly clueless about their plans.
And yet, and yet, Miri Gaon and the impetuous anti-Social miscreants might ruin it all. Li took in a breath and imposed control on himself. He was letting his frustrations get away with him.
As for Gaon and the Shadow Wolf… Li's onworld contact was already working to bring Gaon to him. But he didn’t know if he could risk that the crew wouldn't decide to run, Gaon in tow, for the farthest star sector. That might diminish the risk to the operation, but letting the former operative get away would anger Admiral Hartford and impact Li's position.
More to the point, Li didn't want to risk her getting away, not after finding out she was the Traitor of Lowery. He wanted to see the two-faced religious zealot face justice for her crimes against Society.
For the time being, though, he had another matter to deal with, something that needed to be cleaned up. He knew full well his next call would not be pleasant. He forced a neutral expression to his face and placed the call anyway.
Allan Kepper appeared on the screen. A small, knowing smile came to the man's face. "They got away from your ambush, didn't they?"
"They did," Li said. "Yo
u didn't tell me their ship was so heavily modified."
"You didn't ask."
You individualist scum. You knew, and you hid it. You hid it due to your pride. However did our species survive such foolishness before the Society was created? "Well, I am through underestimating Captain Henry and his crew. How soon can you find them?"
"I know from the tracker they're at Trinidad Station. Say the word, and I'll have a ship out of Sektatsh by the end of the hour. I'll add it to the contract costs."
Li bristled at that. "The contract didn't have..."
"That was when I was taking one spacer from Sektatsh. Now I'm chasing an independent trader across several star systems to Trinidad Station and points beyond. You changed the job, now pay the extra costs." Kepper folded his arms. "Or I'm done."
"You didn't finish the job!"
"I gave you the means to track them offworld, following a complication you didn't adequately warn me of," Kepper shot back. "So, what'll it be, Li? You paying for the extra work, or is this call over?"
Li went silent for several seconds, as if making his choice. "I'll pay," he finally said. "For you and you alone, Kepper. This job has to be quick and clean to avoid more suspicions cropping up. We have a wider operation riding on Gaon not being able to testify about what she saw."
"Fine. I'll contract a ride to Trinidad immediately. I'm not very familiar with the station, so do you have anyone on-site to give me intel?" His grin was all business. "It'll save you money in the long run."
Typical individualist scum. He thinks I care about his scraps of paper and pointless bits of data. "We have intel on Trinidad. I'll have someone hand it over before you leave Harron."
"Fine. I'll wait for their call. Kepper out."
Once Kepper's face disappeared from the screen, Li sat back and considered his options. Harron—and Trinidad Station, for that matter—were technically in the operating area of the League External Security office in the League Embassy on New Kerala, but he had seniority over Captain Ruslov and the more pressing need. With that in mind, he keyed the QET for the embassy and called up the embassy to the Keralans. Ruslov, a man of pale complexion with Siberian features, appeared. "Commander Li," he said with respect in his Russian-accented English. "What might I do for you?"
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