Afterburn

by S. L. Viehl

  The gunner’s section had been specially retrofitted to accommodate his bulk, so Liana had no trouble slipping into his harness. Now what?

  He adjusted her harness securely before moving into the pilot’s position at the helm and strapping into his own. Now we go for a ride, Lady.

  Burn sent a quick signal to the Ylydii ship’s captain and the second-in-command of his detachment, informing them that he was taking the IceBlade out for a practice run. The thrusters engaged smoothly and the docking portal retracted, allowing the strafer to drop down into flight position.

  I did not give you permission to launch this ship, Liana said, her tone severe.

  I didn’t ask for it, Burn told her as he spun away from the big Ylydii vessel and engaged the stardrive. He didn’t laugh when he heard the startled sound she made, but he took pleasure in the lengthy and imaginative way she cursed him after.

  Are you giving me a ride, ’Zangian, she demanded when she ran out of vile words, or trying to frighten the wits out of me?

  It would take more than a little razzle-dazzle drive-jump to steal your wit, Lady. He altered their speed and course and entered a safe region of the system where the views of the stars were spectacular. Do you ever look up and see them reflecting on the surface at night?

  Yes. Sometimes, when I was little, I would swim up and try to eat them. One of my grandmothers tried to tell me that they were the eyes of the goddess looking down upon me, but I didn’t believe her. I already knew that there was no goddess, and nothing could have so many beautiful eyes.

  You do not believe in a higher power?

  No.

  Burn found that a little alarming. His people had worshipped Duo, the nameless twins represented by the two suns that warmed his homeworld, since anyone could remember. Why not?

  I watched my father die. He was kind and gentle and made me laugh. He wasn’t afraid of my mother, and he didn’t suck onto her hide like other males did. He only wanted to play, all day long. Her tone changed to one of bleak bitterness. My father died slowly and in great pain, and if there is a higher power that might have answered my prayers and saved him, then she or he or it ignored me.

  Burn had never known his father, who had been killed by a ’shrike attack when he was a newborn. It was not the same as watching a parent die before your eyes. There are no words to ease your pain, but I am sorry, Lady.

  Burn, will you take me away from here? she asked suddenly. Just keep flying until we reach a world where they can’t find us. No one will ever know I went willingly.

  I would take you wherever you wished to go, he said, but then you would have to watch me die. ’Zangians cannot be parted from our homeworld waters for more than two rotations of our planet. Being away from it kills us.

  How can this be? Liana asked. You are not like the Ylydii. You can breathe air, like the land-dwellers.

  Not indefinitely. SEALs like me can stay away longer, but eventually we have to go home. He turned the strafer back toward the diplomatic vessel. As you must, Lady.

  Yes. Now she sounded dull and defeated. As I must.

  Going with Burn in the strafer had been a wanton taste of freedom for Liana, until he had spoken of obligation, and home. She had never felt more ashamed of herself than in that moment.

  With the work she had to do now, however, she might surpass it.

  The two delegates are alone, my lady, Graleba told Liana. They appear to be finished with their feeding, although it is hard to tell. She made a face. Did you know that everything they eat is already dead?

  Yes, I did. Thank you, Graleba. Liana finished sluicing off her hide under the sonic port and moved out of its tight, soothing waves. How do I look?

  Beautifully clean. The attendant’s eyes widened as she watch Liana extend all but one of her veils, revealing most of the intricate, blazing pattern the green stripes among the individually colored segments formed. My lady, I had no idea you were . . .

  Liana furled her veils. Afflicted? Does no one gossip about me anymore?

  Graleba looked uncomfortable. Some of the other attendants who have served you before . . . but my lady, you are under tremendous strain. It is no wonder you have not been like yourself since leaving the homeworld.

  Liana did not want the older female to fear her. I have never used my affliction purposely against another, she told her. She could not promise Graleba that she never would.

  The attendant finned acceptance, and then gave her a curiously sympathetic look. Is it as terrible as they say?

  No. I hardly notice it anymore. That was how well Carada had neutered her. I will go and speak to the delegates. If the ambassador summons me, you will tell her that I am with Fokrej.

  Yes, my lady.

  The land-dwelling delegates were quartered in the hub of the ship, where there were compartments kept permanently dry for their use. Running through the hub was a water-filled transparent passage so that the aquatics on board could visit their passengers and friends easily. It was through this passage that Liana made her way to the galley, where the Skartesh and Ninrana delegates were having a meal together.

  The two had become allies over the last week, and Liana had observed them going off to talk privately together several times. It was clear that they had settled the differences between them and were working cooperatively toward peace.

  Which was the last thing she would allow them to do.

  Gentlemen. Liana was pleased to find them alone. Witnesses to what she had planned would only interfere, and if Carada discovered what she was doing . . . no, she couldn’t think about that. She had to do this, and quickly, before she was detected. I was hoping to speak with you.

  “Indeed.” Bataran rose politely and bowed. “Has your mother sent a message for us to reconvene? The ’Zangian ambassador has returned to the surface to replenish himself.”

  No, I came of my own accord. Liana watched Urloy-ka, who had not risen or shown her any deference. That she could use. Bataran, I have done as was requested and found a suitable moon of Ylyd for your new colony, but it is rather small and airless, of course. I wish you would reconsider taking over the governorship of Ninra instead.

  Urloy-ka jumped to his feet. “What is this? The Skartesh will never govern Ninra. My people will never accept them.”

  “There must be some mistake, Lady Liana,” the Skartesh said carefully. “I have not requested such, nor agreed to such.”

  Oh. Liana pretended confusion. I thought you were the one to meet privately with my mother. It must have been one of your aides.

  “So this is how you conduct a friendship, Skartesh,” the Ninrana said, his dark face scowling. “All for show in the front, and with a knife poised at the back.”

  Bataran turned on him. “I never agreed to a governorship, nor would any of my people. It would be good to have someone in authority over your people, however. Your religion was barbaric, and your tempers are far too volatile. As you demonstrate now by leaping to a false conclusion.”

  Liana backed away. I should not have spoken about it here. I apologize, I am only the messenger—She halted as she bumped into a much larger form. A glance over her shoulder revealed an unhappy-looking Burn hovering just behind her.

  Aquatics were told to stay in their areas when the talks were not being conducted, he reminded her, and you are not authorized to conduct any negotiations here. He looked past her to where the two delegates were shouting at each other. Or did you provoke this for your own personal amusement?

  I am not amused, she flared. She would have said more, but Urloy-ka’s aide appeared and pulled a white, dagger-shaped object from his robe. He used it to stab Bataran in the shoulder.

  Neither am I. Burn shot into a transition lock and sealed it, draining it of water.

  Liana had never seen him leave the water before, and it terrified her until she saw him stand erect and take a breath before lunging at the Ninrana delegate’s aide and disarming him.

  Enough. Burn caught the crazed aide under one
arm and held him. To Urloy-ka, he said, Summon the medics.

  Frustration filled her as she watched Burn restrain the aide and help the medics treat Bataran for his shoulder wound. The ’Zangian also pulled Urloy-ka to one side and spoke with him at length. She couldn’t hear what the two males discussed, but the Ninrana soon lost his ferocious expression and left the deck. Bataran was carried off by the medics, and the aide was taken by two security officers. That left her alone with Burn, who had ruined everything.

  The ’Zangian reentered the transition lock and came back into the water with her. Tell me why you did this, Lady.

  You should not have interfered in this, ’Zangian, Liana told him. It was none of your concern.

  Burn wouldn’t let her swim off. He blocked her against one of the retaining walls and held her there. You know the Ninrana are desperate, and yet you tell lies to provoke a fight? Why? Bataran could have been killed.

  She finned indifference. I was bored.

  If you try a stunt like this again, I don’t care who your mother is. I’ll throw you in a detainment tank and keep you locked up until the summit is over.

  You will do nothing to my lady.

  Liana smothered a groan as Fokrej swam in behind her.

  Lady Liana is the future ruler of Ylyd, and you are not fit to eat her waste, the outraged valet told Burn.

  If I kill him, will he be missed? Burn asked Liana.

  Fokrej bared his tiny barbs. You were told to keep your distance, ’Zangian. This, and your death threat against me, will be reported. Just what do you think you were doing, handling my lady so?

  Liana closed her eyes. Burn was going to tell Fokrej what she had been doing, and that would be the end of everything.

  I can’t help myself, Burn said, staring hard at Liana. Whenever I see her, her beauty pulls at me like a hook.

  Liana’s relief was so great that she nearly wept. Instead, she went along with the ruse. Do not let it happen again, Sublieutenant. She turned to Fokrej. Would you escort me back to my chamber?

  With pleasure, my lady, the valet said, and slapped one of his barbed fins across her back.

  Burn watched them go, and the last sight Liana had of his face was to see it darken to a furious shade of black.

  CHAPTER 12

  “What have you found out?” Norash asked when Shon entered his office.

  “I know it’s not a ’Zangian.” Shon handed over copies of the scans he had performed. “DNA samples on every SEAL in the pilots’ pod, except one.”

  “How did you obtain them so quickly?”

  “I’ve been swimming with them every day for the last week.” Shon showed him one of the palm slides he had used. “It’s easy enough to make casual contact underwater and scrape off a few cells without making anyone suspicious.”

  “Who’s left?”

  “The wing leader, Saree.”

  Shon had done his best, but somehow Saree had evaded every attempt he’d made at physical contact. It bothered him that she had treated him underwater as she might a floating corpse, until he saw it was how she treated everyone. He had obtained a sample of her DNA from a few tissue cells she had left on the flight-control console of the Sandpearl, but that was not enough to clear her. Cells could be planted; DNA had to be taken directly from the body.

  “You’ll have to clear her another time.” Norash copied the scans and handed Shon a new set of orders. “Quadrant wants you to replace Bataran as the Skartesh delegate at the summit.”

  “The other delegates won’t accept me speaking on behalf of the Skartesh,” Shon warned him. “They’ll know I’m a plant.”

  “Not when you have the blessing of the Skartesh people. They have always wanted you as their chosen leader, and they’ve been very vocal about having you replace Bataran.”

  “Intel wouldn’t put me in merely to have eyes and ears at the negotiation table,” Shon guessed. “Am I going in to scrape cells?”

  “This information is not to be repeated and released to anyone,” Norash warned him as he switched on a wall screen. The image of a humanoid in a critical-care medical berth came into view. “This is Lep Falsma, one of the mercenaries who attacked the Ylydii ship. He was found hiding in one of the derelicts.”

  Shon frowned. “I thought they were all dead of poison.”

  “They were. Lep, it seems, didn’t like shipboard fare and brought his own food and water stores with him when he signed on. He’s the only one who didn’t get poisoned, although he was badly injured in the battle.” Norash enabled the vid to play.

  “We were hired to attack the delegate’s ship, and two others,” Lep told the security officer standing by his berth. “We don’t take many jobs like this—too much exposure—but someone musta waved a lot of credits under the captain’s nose. He ferried out five other jobs to do this one.”

  “Who paid you to carry out the attack?” the security officer asked.

  “Unknown. He used Bartermen intermediates to buy us, but word went around. Captain wouldn’t say which delegate ship we weren’t supposed to touch, but everybody said that was the backer, ’cause he’d be the only one left alive after we were through.”

  Norash paused the playback. “Bataran and the Skartesh have been cleared, as the cult’s assets were seized after the invasion of Ninra. That leaves you three suspects.”

  “You mean two.”

  “Carada survived the attack when she should have been the first person killed on that vessel. Until you can clear her, I’m going to consider her a suspect.”

  “What about the daughter? She’s known to be in opposition to her mother, and she’s going to be the ruler of that world once the present Matriarch dies. Maybe killing Carada would remove one more obstacle to the throne.”

  “Check out the particulars and, if she has a motive, add her to the list.” Norash thought for a moment. “You’ll need someone to carry secured messages back and forth to the planet; I’m not trusting any space-to-ground communications until this is over. Draft one of the pilots to work with you.”

  “Saree,” Shon suggested. “She flies alone, so no one will question her going off by herself.”

  “You don’t have clean DNA on her. She can’t be trusted.”

  Shon thought of what the ’Zangian had said to him about serving the greater good. “I’ll get the DNA sample.”

  Dair left the FreeClinic and went immediately to the coast with Onkar. A week in the immersion tank was enough to drive anyone sand-belly, but she was more concerned about the breakup of her father’s relationship with Teresa.

  Nearly every member of the coastal pod was waiting for them at the seamount ridge. Dair’s first hour underwater was spent exchanging greetings and assuring the pod that she was well, until she came face-to-face with Burn’s dam.

  Znora looked her over. So you’ve cheated death again, Jadaira. I begin to think nothing can kill you.

  The older female had never in Dair’s memory addressed her by name. Onkar made an aggressive move forward, but Dair caught his fin.

  Has Burn returned from the summit ship? she asked Znora.

  Only long enough to rejuvenate himself, and then he goes right back. Znora swam a little closer. He listens to you. Tell him to come home before one of those mouth-breathers harms him.

  So that was why Znora was being polite. Burn is a grown male now, Znora. He has to make his own choices.

  I have watched a sister and a mate die, Znora told her. I will not lose my only child.

  Dair understood how Znora felt. She had spent the last week in silent terror, waiting to feel any sign of cramping or pain that Teresa had warned her would herald the loss of her own child. Burn is smart and strong. Whatever happens up there, he will come out of it alive.

  He is not like you, Znora said bitterly. You are not there to protect him. He will do something foolish, and die, and it will be your fault. She suddenly turned and swam away as if she couldn’t bear looking at Dair another second.

  Dair watched h
er go. Onkar, I need to find my father. Dairatha had not been present to greet them, and that was also something that had never happened in Dair’s memory.

  I think I know where he is, Onkar said, and led her away from the reef.

  The coastal pod’s feeding grounds were extensive, stretching along a twenty-kim region of the reef, and were rich with all manner of life. Onkar led Dair into the strong boundary current that took them past the grounds and into one of the older areas, where ancient volcanoes had formed a lattice of rock and sunken caves.

  No one comes out here, Dair said as they swam over the dark rock formations.

  Your father does, her mate assured her, and cruised to a stop to taste the water before pointing to a run through the rock. He’s down there.

  Dair peered and saw the faint outline of a large ’Zangian male resting under a natural arc in the stone. Or was he hiding? Surely Dairatha had heard her pulse when she’d returned to the water. You’d better let me talk to him by myself.

  Onkar finned his agreement. I’ll wait here. Jadaira, if he does not wish to speak with you, leave him be.

  He will speak to me.

  Dair approached her father slowly, and released a pulse of greeting so that he would know it was her. His eyes moved up as he caught the sound, but he didn’t look very welcoming.

  She stopped beyond the arc and looked in at her father. Have you decided that I am no longer your daughter, too?

  Dairatha slowly emerged from the rock niche. I am glad to see you are well, Jadaira. Now go back to the home waters and leave me alone.

  I spent a week in the hospital, and all you have to say is that? Dair finned her disgust. Some father you are.

  I am upset and angry. It is best no one is around me now. Dairatha eyed her belly. You still have my grandchild in there?

  The pup kicks often. Like now. Dair rolled to show him her undulating belly.

  He came over and rested a fin against the moving bulge. It will be a male. Or did that Terran idiot female confirm the gender?

  My stepmother, Teresa, who saved my life in the event that you’ve forgotten, wanted to tell me. I wouldn’t let her. Dair flipped so she could be on eye level with her father. Why are you doing this to each other? You love Teresa. She adores you. If you went at each other with your teeth until the water turned scarlet, it would not hurt this much.