Perilous Hunt

by Lindsay Buroker

  “Who, me?”

  Young-hee turned her frown on Abelardus. She had admitted to finding Abelardus handsome before, but she did not appear overly starstruck by his handsomeness now. “You should punch any Starseers who intrude on your thoughts. It’s not acceptable except when dealing with those who have proven themselves your enemies.”

  “I thought I should be punching Abelardus,” Alisa said. “I just wasn’t positive.”

  “I was,” Leonidas said.

  “Really,” Abelardus murmured.

  “Their ship is definitely docking,” Leonidas said. “It may be a coincidence, but it’s the closest open berth to our own spot.”

  “That makes me want to leave,” Alisa said.

  “It may be wisest for now. A space station full of innocent civilians wouldn’t be my preferred place for battling him over that staff.”

  “Do you have a preferred place for that?”

  “An empty moon or asteroid where others won’t be in danger,” Leonidas said without hesitation, and Alisa wondered if he had been fantasizing about the scenario.

  She would much prefer to find some sneaky way to steal the staff back that didn’t involve battles at all. Even if Leonidas was willing to fight Tymoteusz, that didn’t mean it would be wise to do so.

  Young-hee sighed.

  “I’ve promised Abelardus that we’ll go after the staff after we get my daughter,” Alisa told her. “If that’s what you’re here to do, then feel free to continue riding along. I would, however, appreciate it if you people—people who can presumably keep their thoughts from being read by rogue Starseers—would come up with a clever and sneaky way to deal with him. I doubt an open confrontation will be healthy for any of us.”

  There, a perfectly reasonable argument. She waited for Young-hee to nod in agreement.

  Instead, she turned to Yumi. “Is it possible she’d be more amenable to setting traps if she smoked the purple grass?”

  Leonidas’s eyebrows twitched.

  “The cyborg too,” Young-hee said.

  “It likely would make them amenable,” Yumi said, “but sadly, neither has shown an interest in sampling my creations yet. It’s too bad, because they’re both tense people. They need to relax. I have many concoctions that could help them.”

  “Maybe we could set a little incense burner on the console over here, and they wouldn’t realize they were being drugged.”

  “They know they’re speaking aloud, don’t they?” Alisa whispered to Leonidas.

  He was watching the sensors and only shook his head.

  “I’m not being any less subtle than you were when you drugged my mother,” Young-hee informed her.

  “I’d like to indignantly argue about that,” Alisa said, “but I don’t suppose I can.”

  “No,” Young-hee agreed.

  “Captain?” came Mica’s voice over the comm. “Everything is installed. We should arrange for some test firing, but I’m coming in for now.”

  “Can we leave as soon as you’re in?” Alisa hurried to ask before Young-hee suggested that they “test fire” at Tymoteusz’s ship.

  “As long as Beck is done unpacking his groceries.”

  Alisa switched to the Station Control channel. “Star Nomad requesting permission to depart.”

  “Your scheduled departure hour is not for another ten hours, Star Nomad,” a computer voice responded.

  “We finished our errands early.”

  “There are no refunds for unused hours in port.”

  “I understand.” Alisa hadn’t expected anything else. She had chosen this station because it was on the way to the Kir Asteroid Belt, but also because it was run by a money-loving conglomerate instead of the Alliance. She didn’t need any more tangles with the military.

  “Perhaps your crew would like to take pleasure in using our amenities. The newly renovated spa is open on Deck Three, and High Stakes Slots hour is about to begin in the casino.”

  “We just want to leave,” Alisa said, frowning at the comm. That definitely sounded like a robot and not a person, but was it possible someone had told it to delay her ship?

  “The chasadski ship is lined up and sliding into a docking spot,” Leonidas said quietly.

  “The Solarium is also open to those who purchase alcoholic beverages,” the robot added, “in the event that your crew would enjoy experiencing nature before you depart. Further, we have rooms available with our pleasure humans and androids. The hourly rates are extremely fair.”

  “I bet,” Alisa said. “Listen, we’re busy, and we can’t afford delays. Are you going to clear us for departure, or do we have to rip free of your docking clamps?”

  “Damage to docking clamps would result in a fine.”

  Alisa was about to send Leonidas out in his combat armor to damage them anyway, when the robot spoke again, his computerized voice sounding slightly petulant.

  “Permission to leave granted. You are third in the queue and may depart after the yacht the Stellar Glider.”

  “Thank you,” Alisa said and closed the comm. “Tymoteusz wouldn’t use a robot to delay us, would he? If he wants to talk, we’re right here. He could comm.”

  “If you’re right and he wants to avenge himself on you,” Abelardus said, “he may prefer to do that in person.”

  “Too bad. I prefer remote avenging.”

  “I’m inside,” Mica said over the comm. “The ship is sealed up and ready for departure.”

  “Thank you, Mica.”

  Alisa drummed her fingers on the console, impatiently waiting for their turn. If she had known there would be delays, she would have commed Station Control before Mica finished outside.

  “Tymoteusz’s ship has fully docked,” Leonidas reported.

  “How long would it take him to walk over here?” Alisa tried to remember how large the station was. Not very. A lift could take a person from one end to the other in seconds, and Leonidas said Tymoteusz had chosen a close dock.

  “Not long,” Abelardus said.

  “I can sense them,” Young-hee said. “And the staff.”

  “How many people are there?” Alisa asked.

  “Six, I believe. Tymoteusz is among them.” Young-hee’s voice grew chill. “I recognize his aura. Malevolent ass.”

  Alisa wondered what exactly Tymoteusz had done to Young-hee and the others when he had been kicking most of the Starseers off the temple and putting those control headbands on the remaining ones.

  “Perhaps you should send the incense burner over to his ship, Yumi,” Alisa said.

  Yumi snorted softly, her expression troubled as she watched her sister’s face. “Perhaps.”

  Young-hee’s fingers curled into fists. Alisa hoped she wasn’t starting a mental battle that she couldn’t win. All she wanted was to get out of here right now.

  Impatient, Alisa drummed her fingers harder. An irritated bleep came from the console.

  “Strength,” Leonidas said mildly.

  Alisa grunted in disgust and tugged off her gauntlets.

  “The yacht that Station Control mentioned is departing,” Leonidas said.

  “Meaning we should be free to leave any time, right?” Alisa scowled at the light on the console informing her that the docking clamps were still attached.

  “In theory.”

  “Alisa?” Stanislav asked, poking his head into NavCom. There wasn’t room for anyone else to come inside.

  “You come to tell me what your brother is doing?”

  “I do not know what he’s doing, as he did not answer me when I inquired, but I have some talent with mechanical contraptions.”

  Alisa remembered the mind control headbands he had admitted to having built and shivered.

  “So you could cause a corridor to collapse on his head?” Young-hee asked hopefully.

  Stanislav’s brow creased. “That would cause damage to the station and possibly injury to others.”

  “It would be worth it if it incapacitated him long enough for us t
o grab the staff,” Abelardus said.

  “It’s unlikely that it would,” Stanislav said. “His defenses will be extremely strong right now.”

  “What did you come to propose?” Alisa asked. “Can you talk to that robot?” She waved toward the comm console.

  “It is a computer AI rather than a robot.”

  “I don’t care if it’s a dancing monkey, just that it’s crabby that we don’t want to use its casino and sex-droids and doesn’t want to let us go.”

  “It’s been programmed to delay you by someone who…” Stanislav tilted his head, his eyes glassy as they stared upward. “Yes, someone who is being manipulated. I will not fight over that person’s mind. I shall attempt to manipulate the AI.”

  Alisa met Leonidas’s eyes, wondering if he found the things these Starseers said and did creepy.

  His expression was bleak, but she didn’t know if it was because of creepiness or the situation in general.

  We’re not all creepy, Abelardus informed her silently. I’m affable and personable.

  Who told you that?

  Handsome too. I’m perplexed as to why you don’t fantasize about my chest more often.

  I don’t fantasize about it at all. Why don’t you help Stan?

  Manipulating machines is not my specialty. Few Starseers have that knack.

  The alarm light went out on the panel.

  “The docking clamps are releasing,” Stanislav said. “You may wish to depart immediately. Tymoteusz is turning into the corridor that leads to our dock.”

  “Are you sure?” Young-hee asked. “I don’t sense any of them out there. In fact… I can’t sense him at all now.”

  “He’s shrouding himself.”

  Alisa didn’t care if he was flying around the station on a broomstick. Her hands were gliding over the controls, ordering the Nomad to leave dock. But as she reached for the final button, another alarm light went on.

  “What the—”

  “What is it?” Leonidas looked over her shoulder.

  “Someone just opened the cargo hatch. I can’t leave until everything’s locked up.”

  He jumped from his seat, nearly bowling over Young-hee and Stanislav as he raced out of NavCom.

  “Can you override it?” Yumi asked.

  “Yes,” Alisa said, her hands already skipping across the console. She didn’t know if someone had opened it manually from the cargo hold or if Tymoteusz was fiddling with her controls, and she didn’t care right now. So long as she could close the hatch. She had no intention of inviting rogue Starseers into her ship, especially avenging ones.

  A boom sounded in the distance, the noise rolling through the ship and to NavCom.

  Alisa reached for the comm, but it came on first, with Leonidas speaking. “The hatch is closing. Go.”

  The alarm winked out.

  Alisa ignited the maneuvering thrusters and took them out of their docking slot. She would ask for the details later. Relief washed through her as they sailed away from the station, but she tamped it down. Just because they’d left before someone could stroll into the ship didn’t mean they were safe. The chasadski ship was faster than the Nomad. Everything was. If Tymoteusz truly wanted to catch them, he could.

  “He almost made it to us,” Stanislav said quietly.

  “How come you could sense him when I couldn’t?” Young-hee asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

  “As I said, he was shrouding himself.”

  “Shrouding?” Alisa asked.

  “Dampening one’s aura and essentially disappearing from another Starseer’s senses.”

  “But you could sense him?” Yumi asked.

  Stanislav hesitated. “I know him well.”

  “Can you shroud yourself?” Alisa asked. “Or things?” Things like spaceships…

  He hesitated again. Abelardus’s eyes narrowed.

  “Perhaps,” Stanislav said.

  What kind of wishy-washy answer was that?

  Don’t you find it funny that he knows their terminology and all about the things they can do? Abelardus asked her silently.

  I don’t find much funny right now. “Any chance you could shroud the entire ship so they can’t tell where we’re going?” Alisa asked Stanislav. “I assume they followed us here somehow. By our auras or whatever.”

  “He may have simply stopped to resupply at the same station for the same reason you chose it,” Stanislav said. “Since he’s been threatening the Alliance, he may not have wanted to deal with them. And then he lucked upon us.”

  Lucked wasn’t the word Alisa would use.

  “You sure he wasn’t following us?” she asked. “And won’t continue to do so?” Alisa did not want to show up at Sepiron Station and lead someone who wanted to kill Thorian right to the place Durant said he’d been taken. “He could be reading my thoughts right now, couldn’t he?” The notion caused a queasy lurch in her gut. Damn, she’d just thought of Sepiron Station.

  Alisa eyed the receding station in the rear camera display. She had been told the Starseers had limited range when it came to telepathy, but did that still apply to someone who had a super staff?

  “It’s possible he’s reading your thoughts, yes,” Stanislav said, “and I’m not positive he wasn’t following us. Normally, he wouldn’t be able to track us out here in space, where distances are on an astronomical scale, but… the staff will enhance his powers, yes. I will attempt to shroud the ship. I honestly do not know if that can be done, especially without help.”

  Stanislav looked at Abelardus.

  Abelardus drew back, curling a lip. “I don’t want to learn any of your chasadski powers. They’re forbidden. Using our talents against our own people is forbidden too.”

  “Just do what you can to keep Staff Boy from following our ship, please,” Alisa said.

  “Yes, Captain,” Stanislav said, sounding bemused.

  At acceding to his daughter’s wishes? Well, it was her ship.

  Young-hee and Yumi walked out, murmuring to each other. Not planning to drug Alisa, she hoped.

  She was about to turn back to flying when Leonidas appeared in the corridor. He strode into NavCom carrying Mica in his arms.

  “What happened?” Alisa blurted.

  Mica was scowling at him rather than writhing in pain. “You can put me down now,” she said, prodding him in the armored shoulder.

  He looked toward Alisa. “She’s the one who opened the hatch.”

  “I already told you I don’t have any memory of doing that. And you weren’t there, so how do you know?”

  “You were standing by the controls, looking out toward the station, as if you were waiting for someone.”

  “Well, I wasn’t. And I didn’t.” Mica continued to scowl, but a troubled expression lurked under it. A hint of uncertainty.

  “We could check the camera footage,” Leonidas said.

  “He did it,” Abelardus said. “He was controlling her.”

  “What?” Mica asked, as Alisa asked, “Tymoteusz?”

  “Yes.” He looked toward Stanislav. For confirmation?

  Stanislav nodded. “To control an untrained mind for a short time is not difficult.”

  “Abelardus once told me it was,” Alisa said, “to get someone to go against their nature.”

  “I’m sure the chasadski have spent more time mastering such skills,” Abelardus muttered.

  “It’s true,” Stanislav said quietly. “They have few compunctions against using people.”

  Alisa looked down at the controls, again thinking that her mind might have been read. Abelardus hadn’t yet given her the exact coordinates for Sepiron Station—she had programmed in the asteroid belt as their destination—and she was now glad for that. Presumably, he could protect his thoughts from nosy intruders. But what if Tymoteusz already knew where the station was located? Stanislav hadn’t implied that it was a secret among his people, just that they didn’t publicize its existence.

  As Alisa flew them away from the Caravan Cir
cle Station, she pushed the thrusters, giving the Nomad its best possible speed. She hoped it would be enough to ensure they arrived at the belt first.

  Chapter 3

  Three days later, Alisa woke from a doze in her seat in NavCom, her back and neck protesting the unorthodox sleeping position. She checked the sensors. As usual, nothing was on them. They hadn’t seen the chasadski ship since leaving Caravan Circle, since Stanislav had started “shrouding” the Nomad.

  “Guess I can risk sleeping on a mattress,” Alisa muttered, glancing at the stuffed spider hanging over the co-pilot’s seat. The ship was a couple of hours into the night cycle, and it was the only other thing in NavCom with her. She checked the autopilot, then tapped the spider for luck as she rose to her feet. She wondered if Leonidas was in his cabin and would mind company. He was probably sleeping, and she shouldn’t interrupt him. It wasn’t as if they could sleep together, anyway. Not unless she donned her armor. She had practiced a few more times with it for sparring, but she couldn’t yet say that she found it so comfortable that she wanted to sleep in it. It wasn’t as if she would feel Leonidas cuddling with her while she wore it. All she would be cuddled by was that insistent AI that kept offering to hook up the waste elimination system.

  Saddened by the thought of never finding a way to share a bed with Leonidas, she trudged back toward the sleeping cabins. The murmur of voices coming from the mess hall made her pause in the intersection. With so many people aboard the ship now, many sleeping on the deck in the cargo hold, it wasn’t surprising that someone would be up. She almost turned toward her cabin without waiting to see what the people were talking about, but she glimpsed familiar tousled black hair as someone sat at the table.

  “You look like a comet hit you, Colonel.” That sounded like Admiral Tiang.

  “That’s not quite how the dream went,” Leonidas said. His voice was dry, but it sounded tired too.

  Sympathy welled within Alisa. Had he woken from one of his nightmares? He hadn’t mentioned them in a while, but she also hadn’t been wandering past his cabin at night, where she would hear thumps—evidence of those nightmares—coming from inside. She’d dozed off in NavCom the last couple of nights, worried about pursuers.