“You’re what?” I can’t believe what I’m hearing. If he worked to spin a story while he was away doing Verse knows what on the spaceport, he should have at least made it believable.
“With the Rising.”
“And I’m a faein from The Moons of Ellysi. Now tell us the truth.” My hands turn into fists.
“As much as I want to make a joke about wings and wishes, mate, I’m not making this up. How d’you think I knew where to go to find the Monarch on Meloran? My contacts told me where he would be and assured me we’d be saved. Just not all of us.” He sends a mournful look to Dot’s head, the bundle he carried all over Meloran after the explosion.
“Save the theatrics, Debray—or whatever your name is. There’s no way you’re with the Rising. It’s too convenient. You’re a Rimmer from Bolarius. We saw your cave of stuff.”
“You saw what you needed to.” Leef’s shoulders stiffen in steely resolve, and I want to punch him.
Jas is all but breathing down my neck, and I just know it’s because of Leef. It’s the only thing that makes sense.
“Then explain how Jas found us.”
He sends a look out the front view screen. “You said you were scanned at Navara, and it’s not like we’ve left a quiet trail in our wake.”
His words have the ring of truth. If Jas made it to Navara, it would be as simple as checking the logs of ships leaving. We may be unsignatured, but there would still be a record. Not to mention he’s got the weight of the corrupt council behind him.
“Listen. We don’t have a lot of time, but here’s the truth.” Leef meets my gaze with no hint of deception. “My real name is Leef Verus, and while I am a smuggler and go by many names, I’m not a true Rimmer. I’m hired to take information from one place to another, among other things. I help keep intelligence flowing to and from the Rising bases scattered across Xerus to avoid vital information being intercepted.”
Talie has gone still, and I wonder what she’s thinking. The Rising’s interference in intergalactic politics has resulted in many deaths and violence, and yet from what I know from Lè Fayrin, their end goal is not domination—it’s democracy. You can disagree with the means to an end, but if you agree on the end, does that change things?
“Are you here for Talie?” My words grind out past gritted teeth, and the sharp ache in my side reminds me to relax the muscles I’ve clenched in anticipation of punching Leef in the nose.
“Hold on, mate. I’m not after anyone.” He holds up both hands then rubs the bridge of his nose. “Remember what I told you? I’m out of the game. Or I was.”
“What does that mean?” I demand.
“I didn’t even know who she was. At first.” He looks to Talie, though she remains silent. “Your shielded chip is good but not quite good enough. I saw through to who you were, and…”
“And?” I prod.
“And I caved, okay?” He looks at Dot’s head again. “Dot’s very good at knowing what I need to get me out of a funk, and I’ll admit, this has been fun.”
“Right up until the part where we were almost captured.” I grab his shoulder. “Tell me again how none of this is on you? The way I see it, you’re running some sort of scam, and now that you’ve got our creds, you’re cashing in on our warrant money too.”
Leef takes in a deliberately slow breath. His jaw clenches before he turns back to his console, taps a few things, and then returns his hardened gaze to me.
“We’ve T-minus ten minutes before your friend is here. We need a plan. Or do you want to keep going on about how conniving I am? I get it—you don’t trust Rimmers or the Rising, but trust this.” He jabs a finger at my chest. “Your little princess’ll be locked up in the brig of that prick’s ship before you can call on the stars. I’m your best hope of getting clear of this. Trust me or not, at least help me come up with a plan, and argue with me later.”
“I need to know you’re not going to betray us into the hands of my government so you can get away.” I’m not going to let him strong-arm me into a corner.
“I’m an operative, mate. A spook. I can’t be caught, but that doesn’t mean I’ll sacrifice you to get away. The designation of spy does not equal ‘no morals.’”
“Right.” I’ve known too many spies.
“Do you think so little of me, mate? Do you know what I’ve done for you?” Leef jabs a finger at Dot’s severed head. “I’ve got a galaxy of things to worry about, and now there’s a psycho chasing the people I rescued.”
“You didn’t rescue—”
“Guys!” Talie shoves a finger at the view screen.
We look at the same time to see a company of ships amassing in a line in front of us, powerful and menacing. Where did they all come from? Leef’s estimation on how long we had was grossly off and now there have to be ten ships in total. My guess is that Jas is in the biggest ship at the center. The others look like two-man fighter craft with weapons capabilities sent as his backup.
“Lieutenant Car-Tai, you are clearly outnumbered. Do you surrender?”
“Stars.” There’s no way around this. No alternative.
Realization as black as a starless night rushes through me. I know what has to happen here. I have to turn myself over to the psycho, as Leef so accurately put it, if I’m going to save Talie.
“Car-Tai, you have five standard minutes to make a decision, or we will blow your ship to the black.”
An image takes over my vision. A flash of brilliant fire erupting into the vacuum of space before the lack of oxygen kills the flames. Talie disintegrating into dust like dead stars. The girl I love destroyed in front of me.
Love.
The word lodges in my chest like a force-wave on full blast. I don’t want it to be true because it would mean the only girl I’ve ever loved can never be mine…but it’s not something I can ignore. It’s a choice, and I choose her.
“Turn me in.” My voice holds no hint of emotion, just the simple solution.
“No!” Talie turns to me.
“When the alternative is your death, I’m going to choose turning myself in. Every. Time.”
“You don’t know that they’ll kill me.” She’s transfixed now, focused on the view screen like it’s a black hole sucking her in, and she can’t look away. “I’m Gravless after all. They’ll need me to rule.”
She’s left out a large part, like the fact she’ll be nothing more than a pawn in their games. Nothing more than someone to be manipulated, which is almost as bad as death.
“No. Comm him. I’ll barter information for him to let you go. Leef, tell him I surrender.”
“I don’t know, mate.”
Talie turns to me. “What was the plan?”
“What plan?” I ask.
“Your plan.” Her eyes are bright, and her cheeks are flushed, but she looks at me like I hung the stars.
I can’t bear to disappoint her, but I have to.
“I—I don’t have one.” The words are torture.
“What about my plan?” Leef looks between us.
I round on him. “You’ve had a plan this whole time?”
He puts his hands up to stay my anger. “We hyper-jump out on the drive I procured at the spaceport.”
“Hyper—is that even safe?”
Leef shoots me a look. “Safer than, oh I don’t know, surrendering to a psycho.”
He’s got me there.
“What do you have to do?” Talie asks, trying to keep us on track.
“If it works—”
“If?” I interrupt, but Leef ignores me.
“We’ll jump to a location near Rinara.”
“Why there?”
This time Leef doesn’t ignore me. He turns and leans in until we’re mere centimeters apart. “Look here, mate, you either trust me, or you don’t, but if you’re keen on getting away from that lot,” he tilts his head toward Jas’s ships, “then shut it and listen up.”
I press my lips together.
“I have a safe house on Rinara where you can hide. It’s the best chance we’ve got. But I needed time to connect the drive—time we’re wasting with all this chatter.”
“How long do you need to make it work?” Talie asks.
“A few minutes?”
She looks at the fleet taking up most of the screen and sucks in a breath. “I’m going to give you time, but I can’t guarantee much.” She closes her eyes, and her body goes rigid.
“Talie, what are you doing?” I step to her side, but she shakes her head once.
“I need…concentration.”
“Why?”
“Times up, Car-Tai.”
And that’s when the missiles fire from the ships. Small sparks in the dark. Silent killers hurtling through space.
Heading right at us.