"I already know what Marny wants and Ada only likes cheese. I'll send an order over to Geordies," Nick said, still chuckling. "Pizza should get to the resort about the time we do."
I registered with a temporary docking yard located two kilometers from Sam Chen's current apartment and navigated through the thick, night-time traffic that clogged the skies over Puskar Stellar.
"Ada's already at the yard," Tabby announced as I dropped out of the high-speed lane and into the slower, local traffic of the suburb.
"I told her we'd grab a cab and pick her up," I said.
"Sounds like Sam's in a mood," Tabby said. "He doesn't want her to leave again and says he's got a pilot position lined up for her with a local hauler. I guess things got pretty heated at dinner."
I settled Hotspur into our assigned berth between two smaller freighters. I remembered a few heated conversations Sam Chen and I’d had. "He's got a temper. I hate that she's leaving things unresolved, though."
Before I'd even shut the engines down, Tabby was out of her seat and headed aft. I chuckled. She and Ada had become closer than sisters after our last adventure and Ada's angst would weigh heavily on her.
"Sam's not wrong," Nick said. "One of these days a mission is going to go sideways and one of us will end up dead."
I felt a flash of anger. Nick was only pointing out the obvious. We'd seen more than our share of heroic deaths; people who’d done nothing other than to sign up as part of our crew. That our original team was still intact was nothing short of luck.
"I can't believe that arrogant asshat!" Ada's voice floated up from the mess deck, both anger and grief in her delivery. "I'm never talking to him again!"
"Frak," I said under my breath.
Before I reached the gravity lift. Ada popped through and landed gracefully. Her face was screwed up tight and angry tears stained her cheeks. "Don't! And yes, I'm in. Don't frakking ask me again," she said, not making eye contact. "Which is my bunk?"
"Right there." I gestured to the smaller portside quarters.
"Good." She stomped over to the hatch and palmed her way inside.
Tabby popped up through the gravity lift, following her friend. "I've got this. Just head to the resort."
I nodded agreement as Tabby disappeared into Ada's room.
It took more time to rejoin the high-speed traffic lanes at eight thousand meters than it did for us to fly to the resort and land on the private strip behind the mansion Anino had rented for us while on Mars.
Once again, I was surprised by an unannounced change in plans as I put Hotspur down. Marny and little Pete, along with a pile of crates, awaited our arrival. "What's this all about?" I asked, looking at Nick.
"Security breach at the resort," Marny answered over tactical comms.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"Security is good here," she answered. "But I'm not taking risks with Peter."
With the systems in warm standby, I joined Nick who'd already made it back to the cargo hold and taken control of little Pete's armored bassinette. "Did they get close?" I asked Marny, this time in person.
"Made it to the fence-line around the mansion," she said, accepting a quick hug from me. "We're fine. The ship is just a safer environment. Looks like the old girl got some upgrades."
"I think you'll be impressed."
"I don't like getting pushed into things," she said. "Especially by someone as clever as Thomas Anino."
"As well you should not," Jonathan said, appearing at the bottom of the ramp. "It has not been our experience that Thomas Philippe Anino's words adequately describe his intent or actions. We advise caution."
The statement shocked me as it was the first time I'd heard Jonathan voice disagreement with Anino. "You think he's trying to harm us?"
"We do not," Jonathan said. "Master Anino is most sincere in his desire to set right the damage caused by the Belirand missions. He has also consistently placed high value on the well-being of you and your crew."
"Are you serious?" I asked, moving luggage into the cargo bay as we spoke. "One thing I'd never accuse Anino of is being concerned for my wellbeing."
"And yet, you have indeed survived and are well," Jonathan answered.
"Because …" I sputtered, trying to form a coherent sentence. "Well, frak, I'm not sure why we make it. I just know that Anino doesn't make it any easier."
"In this we agree," Jonathan said. "The stress of our current predicament is mostly manufactured by Master Anino. He has arranged circumstances so that your only reasonable option is to do exactly as he wishes."
"Do you think he's behind the threats to my life?" I asked, palming the loading ramp panel to cause it to retract.
"Not directly," Marny cut in. "I'll bet anything he fed that question about you seeking the High Council seat to Kelly Jangles."
"Such action does seem consistent," Jonathan said.
Marny crouched next to the stack of luggage she'd brought aboard and extracted four pizza packages. The smell of garlic must have clung to the packaging because I got a large dose of it and my mouth watered.
"That's distracting," I said.
"Nick just pinged me. They're waiting in the galley," she said.
"I think Ada locked herself in her room," I said, following Marny through the pressure barrier and into the lower deck living area.
Laughter came from the galley and I caught sight of Ada seated at the table. We'd only been in the cargo hold for a few minutes, so I found it surprising that she was there.
"Guess who brought dinner?" I asked, as the three of us joined Nick, Tabby and Ada, who was holding Little Pete and making funny faces at him.
"I say we make tracks for the Small Magellanic Cloud tonight," Ada said, still making silly faces at the very happy infant.
"You don't want to talk about the trip any more than that?" I slid in next to her and gave her a friendly side hug.
"We’ve all been listening to the whole conversation," she answered. "Anino is as much an ass-hat as my dad. They both mean well in their twisted little ways. House of the Bold needs those frigates and that shipyard. There's no real decision here."
I accepted a piece of pizza from Marny. Nothing I hated more than being manipulated. I bit into what should have been a fantastic delight. Unfortunately, thanks to Anino, the pizza had lost all taste.
Chapter 3
Betrayal
"I do not know if this action is wise," Jonathan said, smiling gently at Ada. Jonathan's actions looked right, but they weren’t quite human. Something as simple as a smile was completely manufactured by calculated facial movements. Knowing that had always bothered me. It wasn't that I didn't trust Jonathan. Quite the opposite. I trusted them with my life and the lives of my crew.
"What's bothering you?" I asked. Something bothered me, but I was currently chalking those feelings up to Anino’s hard press.
"We have only limited access to the faster-than-light engines," he said. "We are unable to simulate their responses to various conditions nor are we capable of diagnosing errors if they occur."
"Tell Anino we're not going anywhere without full access," I said, pushing my pizza away and grabbing the beer.
Jonathan lifted his shirt and pulled back a small flap of skin just above his waistline. Beneath the skin was an empty receptacle, about the size of the end of my thumb. "Master Anino provided this new host body but neglected to replace our quantum communication crystal. It appears he no longer desires to have direct communication access."
"Welcome to crew status," Marny chortled. "You know you can use normal radios just like the rest of us, right?"
"We do." Jonathan nodded, still with a polite smile. "Master Anino has not responded to our queries beyond indicating that once we arrive at our first destination within the Small Magellanic Cloud, he'll fully turn over schematics to all of Hotspur's intellectual property."
"Can you confirm that?" I asked.
"That is correct, Captain," Jonathan answered. "We are able to
verify that the blocks on information will be lifted once we are within forty AUs of the first crystal's location."
"I don't like it either, Liam," Nick said. "Anino has gone to great lengths to send us to the SMC. It is as if he needs us out of the picture."
"He did say Mars government officials are worried about how we might sway public opinion," Tabby said.
"Like he cares what Mars Protectorate thinks," Marny said.
"The Loose Nuts crew has a significant reputation on Mars as well as Earth," Jonathan said. "We have analyzed public sentiment and believe it reasonable that each member of the crew has the capacity to influence great population groups. This is also true to a smaller extent within the Confederation of Planets, although we have not performed recent analysis given the limits of our current physical separation from the Dwingeloo galaxy and the communication networks available there."
I chuckled dryly. "When's the last time you analyzed Earth and Mar's sentiments?" I asked.
"Our analysis is ongoing," Jonathan said. "Your popularity continues to grow, especially on Earth as the citizens look for solutions to problems caused by the Kroerak invasion."
"That's ridiculous," I said. "We don't know how to rebuild after an invasion. At least, no more than anyone else."
"Doesn't matter," Nick said. "Our reputation has grown way past our capacity to add value."
"Peter Principle," Tabby said.
"I've never understood what that meant," I added.
Tabby grinned. "Of course not, darling," she said with a patronizing tone. "We'd never let you get that far."
"Peter Principle says that a person in management will rise to their highest level of incompetence," Marny said. "It's a real thing. People assume that because you're good at one thing, you'll be good at everything. Hence, a person is continually elevated to responsibilities they are ill-prepared to handle."
"And because of this Anino wants us to leave town?" I asked.
"Is that so hard to believe?" Nick asked.
"What are we going to do about Jonathan's concerns?" I asked.
"Jonathan, do you have any reason to believe the FTL engines present danger to the ship or crew?" Marny asked.
"We are not sure which principles the engines operate under. Master Anino is brilliant and we have not observed him purposefully placing those who trust him into more danger than he believes they are capable of handling," Jonathan said. "Further, he takes significant pride in his inventions. We do not believe he would want it known that he injured historical figures such as yourselves."
"You, my friend, should consider a career in politics," Ada said, handing Little Pete back to Marny. "That was a marvelous stream of doublespeak."
"We do not understand," Jonathan said, tipping his head to the side.
"Do you trust Anino's FTL engines to not harm the crew or ship?" I asked. "It's a simple yes/no answer."
"I see," Jonathan said. "We attempted to answer the question as succinctly as possible. There are many variables. Reducing to a single word answer is very difficult. Perhaps a numeric value would be useful."
"Good," I said. "You've put it to a vote. On a scale between one and a hundred, how dangerous do you believe those FTL engines are? One is not dangerous at all. One hundred is crazy dangerous."
"Twenty-three point four-five," Jonathan answered immediately.
"No fair," Tabby laughed. "Using the decimal point is cheating."
"We do this only because we all agree to it," I said. "If anyone wants out, then we go back to the Mhina system and settle in. There’s no reason to believe we need Anino's help at home. Could we use it? Sure. But when isn't that the case with anything?"
My AI projected a proposed poll onto my HUD. Each participant: Marny, Nick, Jonathan, Tabby, Ada, and I had an option of agreeing to go or not.
"Before we vote." Ada interrupted. "We've talked about how we don't trust Anino and I think we all know he's up to something. That doesn't change the fact that each time he’s sent us out, we've found people who really needed our help."
"Thanks. Anyone else have something to add?" I asked. After several seconds of silence, I pinched the virtual poll and flicked it to the group as if I were sowing seeds onto a field.
Tabby and Ada responded immediately with Marny shortly behind them. All positive. A moment later, Jonathan responded, although they'd modified the poll to show a percentage of affirmative votes instead of a yes/no response. Jonathan was at eighty-two percent. I'd never completely understood how I should treat the fourteen-hundred odd sentients. It was unfair to treat them as one, but just as unfair to allow them to own all votes.
"What are you thinking, buddy?" I asked, looking at Nick.
"I just can't get past the feeling that Anino isn't being square with us," he said. "He's put so much effort into making this happen. He's up to something."
"Then we pull the plug," I said and gestured grandly to the space around us. "This is just a ship. Not one of our lives is worth trading for it."
"It's not that," Nick said. "I don't think Anino would overly endanger us. It's more that I can't see to the bottom. I don't like the mystery."
I caught Marny's eye. We'd talked about this exact perception on numerous occasions. What Nick was describing was how most of us went through life every day. We never knew everything we needed to about anything and had grown comfortable with that reality.
"So, we punt," I said. "If it's a good idea now, it'll be a good idea in a year."
"Yeah, I think that's right," Nick said. "You guys okay with that?"
"We're musketeers!" Ada said, raising an arm with a flourish. "All for one …" and when no one answered, she continued, "… and one for all!"
I'd gotten used to Ada's puffy sleeves, ruffled shirts, tight britches and general story-book-pirate look. Her antics, however, sometimes made me question if there might be more going on in that pretty little head of hers than just changes in personal style.
"Are we decided?" I asked. The virtual poll switched to negative for everyone with the exception of Jonathan, whose numbers shifted from eight-two to thirty-six percent.
"Captain?" Jonathan said, his head turning to the side in a quick spasm of movement.
"Jonathan? Are you okay?" I asked, noticing that his head had stopped moving, just shy of making eye contact with me.
Nick’s eyes shot up in alarm. "I just lost contact with the ship."
"We're moving. Something's spooling up in the engine room." Tabby jumped up and ran aft to the engineering access hatch faster than I could track her.
I’d previously ordered our auto-pilot to place us into orbit over the city of Coolidge. My HUD showed that we'd broken that orbit and were accelerating away from Mars.
"Nick, Ada, get to the bridge and find out what's happening," I ordered, then clambered over the table to grab Jonathan whose android body appeared to have seized up. If I could provide a physical connection, his entities could transfer to ship systems quite effectively. "Marny, help Tabby. We need access to the engineering bay."
Wordlessly, the crew leapt into action and I was alone at the table with Jonathan. I looped my hands beneath his armpits and pulled. His body was heavier than I expected, and I had to allow his legs to trail behind as I dragged him over to the grav lift. Once I felt the zero-G field, I pushed off and guided us up to the bridge deck.
"Set gravity on bridge to 0.2g," I ordered.
"Command is unauthorized." The ship's AI spoke in a calm feminine voice. "Occupants are advised to return to their cabins for transition to FTL in three minutes."
"Jupiter piss," I said, dragging Jonathan forward. My goal was to get Jonathan's hand to connect with an engineering station. "Nick, what's going on?"
"We're completely locked out," he said.
"Sticks are dead, Liam," Ada said.
My HUD filled with warnings about FTL travel and the need for us to be immersed in the gravity gel tanks located beneath each of the ship's beds. Apparently, the g's would be too
much for us to survive.
"Please comply with instructions. You have two minutes before transition to FTL. This ship is not capable of shutting down FTL sequence once started," the ship's AI intoned.
"We're through the hatch but we have a new problem," Tabby announced. "The workstations are all covered by armor glass panels. We have to cut through them. I'm headed to the cargo bay for a torch."
"Copy," I answered. I hated being on a timer.
I pulled Jonathan's hand up and placed it on the engineering console near one of the data ports we used to load external data. I stumbled backwards as Hotspur leapt to life, shooting forward at a hard-core combat burn. I couldn't help but be impressed with the speed of her transition.
"Someone else is controlling the ship, that's not me," Ada answered my unasked question.
"Please locate and engage inertial suspension tanks. Exposure to fatal g-force will occur in ninety seconds," the ship's AI warned. A throbbing red light glowed in the ceiling and lights in the floor strobed in sequence, leading back to the sleeping quarters.
"I'm still locked out," Nick said. He was on the deck with his body half submerged in the bulkhead beneath his workstation. A panel sat on his chair. "Maybe I can bypass the lockout if I can just …"
"Ada, report to your quarters," I said. "Marny, get you and Peter into the inertial suspension fluids."
"Cap. Shite." She wanted to argue but Little Pete was her responsibility and she knew it.
I lifted Jonathan's body into the chair and clipped him into the restraints. With Jonathan secure, I slid in next to Nick. "How's it going in here?"
"We're screwed," he said, waving a sensor over a bundle of wires. "There's nothing powered under here. It's like Anino anticipated I'd try this."
"Okay," I said. "Looks like we're going for a little ride then. Get back to your cabin and strap in. Tabbs, I need you to get up to the cabin."
The ship continued to accelerate and the inertial systems fought to redirect backward force downward. My HUD showed the internal downforce was 3g.
"There's a little problem with that," she said. "Aft hatch closed and it's jammed. I'm stuck in the hold."
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