Nearspace Trilogy

by Sherry D. Ramsey

  He seemed to consider the possibility. “I'm doubtful, but I'll keep it in mind. One more thing—I think I can help you make your case against PrimeCorp look even better.”

  “Well, I want it to look as damning as possible,” I said. “They're more likely to cut a deal if they're worried.”

  Lanar pursed his lips. “Yuskeya sent me a coded message not long after you left Sol system. About a certain . . . item that had gone missing.”

  At first I drew a blank, but then I realized what he meant. “The body from the cargo crate? You have it?”

  He nodded. “Picked it up and put it into storage, just in case we might need it someday. And because we didn't want PrimeCorp getting its hands on it. I guess it was a good idea.”

  I turned to Yuskeya. “Why'd you bother letting us go hunting for it?”

  She shrugged. “I was under orders not to reveal my identity—unless it was a life-or-death situation. And I wasn't sure if it had been picked up, anyway. So I had to just go along.”

  “Well, I'm glad someone has it, anyway,” I admitted, and got up to pace. I'd been sitting too long, with too much new information coming at me. I turned to Yuskeya. “So, does this mean you know where my mother is? Was all that knocked-unconscious thing just a cover to help her get away?”

  Yuskeya actually looked uncomfortable and touched the place on her head where the lump had been. She glanced an unspoken question at the screen, and Lanar nodded. “Yes, and no. The lump and the bruise—they were all too real,” she said with a grimace. “I was under orders, if we ever found your mother and she seemed to be in danger, to get her to a Protectorate safe area as quickly as possible. That's why I volunteered to go with her. So I could contact one of our agents on Kiando and get her safe.”

  “She could have been safe with us!” I protested.

  Yuskeya shook her head. “With the PrimeCorp ship on the way, I couldn't be certain of that. I thought it was best to get her into Protectorate hands as quickly as possible.”

  “So you do know where she is.”

  “No.” Yuskeya bit her lip. “Your mother is a very—strong-willed person. She said she'd take my advice and not go back to the Tane Ikai, but she wouldn't let me get her to our agent. She had her own . . . contingency plan, she said.”

  I almost smiled at the image of my mother telling Yuskeya that she could take her protection and stuff it. But I didn't. I was hurt. “Why didn't you just tell me all this?”

  She pulled a deep breath. “I'm sorry about that, Luta, I really am. But I knew that you'd be able to think clearer—and not have to lie—if you really didn't know where she was.”

  “So you let yourself get hit on the head to convince me that you didn't know what had happened to her. Were you really unconscious at all?”

  She smiled a little and put hand to her forehead again. “Your mother apparently has a black belt in Warrior Chi. But she gave me a shot so that I wouldn't have to 'fake' being unconscious.”

  I shook my head. “Nice little conspiracy,” I said with a certain amount of bitterness. “I wouldn't have thought I was that easy to fool. Or so untrustworthy.”

  “She did want me to make sure you got the bag, and the messages on the chip. Maybe it wasn't the right decision. But we had to act fast.” She grinned. “And you have to admit, the Tane Ikai taking off like it did made a good distraction. We got the Trident away from Kiando, which might have made it easier for her to get off the planet.”

  “But,” I said, “you don't know where she is?”

  Yuskeya shook her head, her grin fading. “She wouldn't tell me her plan. Just that she had confidence in it.” She looked up at me, and her eyes were dark and sincere. “And she told me to tell you, when I could, that she'd be in touch as soon as possible.”

  I wasn't sure what to say to that, but as it turned out, I didn't have to say anything. Because that's when PrimeCorp caught up with us.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  The Company of Enemies

  “Sorry to interrupt, Captain, but we've got company,” Baden said over the ship's comm.

  “Who is it?”

  “Our new acquaintance the Trident just showed up on our sensors—and it looks like they brought some friends. I count four runners, all with PrimeCorp sigs.”

  “How far away?”

  He hesitated. “That's the strange thing. Closer than they should be for our sensors to just be picking them up now. I can't explain it. Viss says maybe they have some new stealth technology or something. But they're here.”

  I swallowed. Even with three planets in the K/G system and Nellera in sight, we were far out of the local traffic lanes, and there were no known wormholes out here. This sector of K/G was pretty lonely, the equivalent of being ambushed in a dark alley. Even if I was, so to speak, on the phone with the Protectorate.

  “I'll comm them, Luta,” Lanar said.

  I was happy to let him try, but I doubted it would do any good. Dores Amadoro was unlikely to care about a Protectorate ship in another system.

  I opened the ship's comm so everyone could hear me; I wasn't sure where everyone else was. “Everyone take a seat somewhere and buckle down,” I ordered. “I don't know what these oncoming ships have in mind, so we might have to get out of here fast, and when I say fast, I mean fast enough to take the pseudo-gravs offline.”

  “Aye, Captain,” Viss said from Engineering.

  “Dr. Ndasa and I are in the galley,” Maja said over the comm. “What's going on?”

  “With luck, not much, but I wouldn't count on it,” I said. “It's PrimeCorp.”

  “They're not answering my pings,” Lanar said.

  “They don't know about the pinhole; they probably think it's some kind of trick I'm trying to pull,” I said. “They can't see a Protectorate ship, so if they haven't noticed the pinhole, how could one be pinging them?”

  “I'm going to see who else is in the vicinity. If there's another Protectorate ship anywhere close, I'll send them to you.”

  “Thanks, Lanar,” I said. “Signing off now. With luck, I'll call you back in a few minutes. Don't go anywhere.”

  With Yuskeya at my heels I hurried to the bridge, and switched the bridge view to all the ship's screens. That way everybody could follow along with the rest of us.

  When they hailed us a few moments later, the angular face of Dores Amadoro did nothing to improve my mood. I'd thought, with the summons to Vele, at least I wouldn't have to see her again until I got there.

  “Captain Paixon,” Amadoro said in her coldest voice. “Here we are again. I'm still looking to execute this warrant for the arrest of Emmage Mahane. I'll have to ask that you prepare for boarding so that my agents can carry out their duties.”

  “I'm afraid that won't be possible.” I did my best to look perfectly relaxed. “This ship is en route to a hearing before the NWAC on Vele, where, frankly, I expected you would be headed as well. I hear the Council is pretty testy when it comes to Primary Statute crimes. I don't think they'll be happy at this delay.”

  “Primary Statute crimes? Which ones?” she asked nastily. “The one in which your mother violated the terms of her employment contract and stole PrimeCorp property, or the one in which you helped her escape apprehension knowing full well we had a warrant for her?”

  I crossed my arms casually. “Neither. My mother is still not on board my ship, and those are only Planetary Statute crimes in any case. I'm concerned with more serious matters here. For instance, the development and manufacture of illegal tech as defined under Nearspace Authority law.”

  Tiny wrinkles appeared at the corners of Amadoro's eyes as she took that in, but she was still belligerent. “PrimeCorp is not involved in the production of any technology classed as illegal,” she said flatly.

  “No? But strangely, it seems that one of its subcorps is. I'm sure you personally have no knowledge of such a thing,” I said sweetly. “If you don't like that one, how about the one where someone—whose identity I think you already kn
ow—sent a stripped op onto my ship to steal DNA samples directly from my person?”

  Amadoro allowed a slight frown to crease the skin of her forehead. “I don't understand what any purported invasion of your ship has to do with me, Captain.”

  “Oh, spare me the crap, Ms. Amadoro. I don't like dancing with you out here, any better than I do with your boss Earthside. It may not have to do with you directly, but it certainly involves PrimeCorp. Now, the Council is expecting us to arrive with this evidence very soon, and they know where to look for answers if we don't.”

  “What sort of evidence?”

  Her voice was smooth, but her body language was telegraphing all sorts of things. She was trying to rattle me, catch me in a lie, but she really was interested in what I had. “That's confidential.”

  “Because there is no evidence,” she rejoined, “and PrimeCorp has committed no crimes. To get back to my warrant—”

  “Well, what if I told you I know that PrimeCorp has been engaged for years in a comprehensive campaign of industrial espionage, focused particularly on anti-aging research, at several other corporations' research facilities? And that PrimeCorp has systematically stolen, compromised, and otherwise interfered with research, data, and experiments owned by those other corporations.”

  She stared at me, and then threw back her head and laughed with ostentatious merriment. “Oh, Captain Paixon, you are amusing. This whole thing is intriguing, but it's fabrication from beginning to end. Now,” she said, her smile disappearing as if someone had wiped it off, “if you're quite finished, we're coming aboard.”

  I shook my head firmly. “No, you are not. You're completely welcome to accompany us to Vele, but you are not boarding my ship. There's a Protectorate officer on board with me, by the way. No doubt she'll be happy to give evidence of what's happening here.” I saw the puzzled look that passed between Baden and Rei and remembered that no-one else knew about Yuskeya yet. Well, this wasn't the time. “Tell your people to stand down and let us pass, because if you don't I'm going to start blasting a pathway through you.”

  “Oh, really? I'd heard that you didn't believe in carrying weapons on a far trader,” Amadoro said with a smirk.

  “Well, times change. Would you like me to prove it? I'm formally giving you notice that my ship is going to begin moving away and you are not to interfere. I'm certain I can justify my decision if I'm forced to take defensive measures.”

  Of course that was the bluff; despite my mental vow to start carrying torpedoes again after our run-in with the pirates, there simply hadn't been an opportunity to get it done. I hoped Amadoro wouldn't take the chance. I'd always done my best to set myself up as a don't-care, kickass mercenary to PrimeCorp, so the bluff could work.

  Amadoro pursed her lips, considering. I hoped I'd made her nervous, but not nervous enough to start taking the Tane Ikai apart.

  Viss, from the engineering station, said over the ship's comm, so Amadoro could hear it, “Forward torpedo bays on standby, Captain. Ready to fire on your command.”

  It was a brilliant bit of backup that I hadn't even asked for, but Dores Amadoro wasn't buying it.

  “I don't think so, Captain Paixon. I have the law on my side. Stand by to be boarded. Resistance will be met with force.”

  One of the PrimeCorp runners began to move forward, presumably making ready to hook up to one of our airlocks.

  Damne, damne! I couldn't think of a single thing to do. I'd tried my best bluff and it hadn't worked. Lanar, this would be a good time to have one of your Protectorate buddies show up.

  “Captain?” Viss interrupted her. “Shall I fire a warning shot across their bow?”

  What was he doing? The bluff was over. Maybe he'd rigged up something that might look like a torp?

  “Go ahead,” I said with more conviction than I felt.

  A single torpedo burst out of one of the forward bays and toward the PrimeCorp runner that had moved toward us. It hurtled silently through the space between us trailing blue-tinged exhaust, and damne me if it wasn't real. I watched the sensors track it all the way until it skimmed the runner's nose and kept going harmlessly past.

  It wasn't easy to keep my voice steady, shocked as I was, but somehow it came out okay. “Well, Ms. Amadoro, are you going to move aside? The next one will not be merely a warning. I'm certain if you follow us to Vele, the Council will look at everything and make a fair decision.”

  She hesitated only a fraction longer. “I don't get paid to take that kind of chance,” she said, and the connection went dead. I suddenly realized that maybe taunting her about all the evidence I had on board hadn't been the smartest move. Now we were more of a threat than ever.

  “Viss, where the hell did you get a torpedo?”

  “Yeah,” said Baden, “and do we have any more?”

  “Trident and runners are readying weapons systems,” Yuskeya said in a voice that seemed preternaturally calm.

  “Evasives, Rei,” I ordered. “Hang on, everyone.”

  It was fortunate that I'd told everyone to sit down earlier, because Rei hit the thrusters almost as the words were coming out of my mouth. The Tane Ikai bucked and jumped up and away from the PrimeCorp ships. An auto-alarm blared, triggered by the sudden acceleration. I hoped the others had heeded me and been prepared.

  Damne, I thought. I should have had everyone in EVA suits before we made the skip. If the PrimeCorp ships fired on us and made enough of a hole in the outer plating to compromise life support, we wouldn't survive long.

  “Ready to fire on your word, Captain,” Viss said over the comm.

  “Not unless they fire first, Viss,” I said. “We still might get out of this without anybody getting hurt. But I want a full weapons report immediately.”

  Hirin surprised me by answering. “I bought the torpedoes, Captain, and I had Viss bring them aboard when we were at Ando City. Thought they might be needed. I just got him to load them into the bays in case they were needed. We have a full complement, everything the Tane Ikai was built to carry.”

  “Torpedo away from the Trident,” Yuskeya said. “Heading straight for us. No warning shots here. Runners seem to be equipped with wasp missiles and—”

  A flare of orange light burst from the front of a runner that had managed to get close on our tail.

  “—particle beams,” she finished, as the flash from the superheated dust and gas particles the beam had encountered in its path faded. “Very narrow, reasonably weak, and fortunately for us, badly targeted that time. A lucky hit will poke a hole in us, though.”

  “Fire rear bay torpedoes, Viss,” I ordered. I hadn't wanted this fight, but they were obviously willing to kill us. I had no trouble defending my ship and crew. “Hirin, take the front guns. Both of you, fire at will. Rei, try your best to get us the hell out of here.”

  The Tane Ikai shuddered as Viss released two torpedoes toward the runner, and groaned as Rei veered sharply downward. Something hit the floor and smashed in First Aid, and I wondered how many other things weren't secured for this kind of flying. Another alarm klaxon blared, echoing down the corridor behind the bridge. The Tane Ikai wasn't an agile fighter or an armoured battle cruiser. I wasn't sure how much fighting action she could take.

  A rhythmic, metallic clanging echoed from the main corridor behind me and I turned in my chair thinking something had shaken loose. Instead I saw two EVA-suited figures, their arms heaped with more suits, making their way toward the bridge with heavy steps, the magnetized boots allowing them to stay swayingly upright.

  “We thought these would be a good idea,” Maja said, her voice emerging hollowly over the ship's comm from inside her helmet. She handed me a suit and crossed to set one down beside Rei, who was obviously unable to stop and put it on. The third was for Baden. Dr. Ndasa took one each to Hirin and Yuskeya.

  The ship jolted again and Rei whooped as the rear screen lit up in a flare of white light.

  “Torpedo hit on that bastardo behind us,” Yuskeya said.

>   “Shock wave do any damage?”

  “We're okay so far,” Baden said. Now that communications had broken down, he was monitoring the ship's systems.

  “Trident is using their burst drive to try and get close,” Yuskeya said.

  “Can we get in position for me to get a shot with the forward torps?” Hirin asked Rei. “I don't need more than a few seconds to get a target lock.”

  “See what I can do,” Rei said, and the ship rolled sharply to starwise and shot forward.

  I was trying to struggle into my EVA suit from a sitting position, not an easy task especially at these speeds and erratic flying. Once I had my feet and legs in, though, I could trigger the magnetics and stand to finish the job. My helmet tried to roll off my lap and I grabbed it, ramming it over my head even though I couldn't connect it to my suit yet. At least it would stay put.

  I stamped my foot and the mags triggered, the electromagnetic force gripping the metal decking. I stood up then, just as the ship juddered and the lights flickered. I would have fallen over without the mags.

  “Report!”

  “Looks like a wasp went through Cargo Pod Two,” Baden said. “Losing pressure in there.”

  “Is the access hatchway sealed?”

  “Showing green, Captain,” he reported.

  “Viss,” I said over the comm, “can you get to an EVA suit?”

  “Little busy, Captain,” he said. “But the bulkhead between Engineering and the access hatches is sealed. I'm fine down here.”

  Unless the next missile goes through Engineering. “Maja, can you try and get down to Engineering, get a suit to Viss?” It wouldn't be easy to climb down the ladder in a suit, but he was completely vulnerable without one.

  “Aye, Captain,” she said, sounding just like one of the crew. I heard her clomping off down the corridor as fast as the mags would let her.

  “Torps away from the Trident and two runners,” Yuskeya reported.

  “Hang on, folks,” Rei said, and the ship veered up and rolled to dock. I hoped Maja had stayed on her feet. Struts creaked over my head and the floor beneath my mag boots trembled against the metal decking.