CHAPTER 27

Nat couldn’t remember the last time she’d set foot on Caledonia. A school trip, maybe, before the war? It had been hot and dusty, decidedly unlike the climate-controlled domes on her homeworld of Centauri, but at the time there had been something decidedly thrilling about being out there, exposed to the elements.

Her first impression, as they crossed the tarmac to the security and customs lines, was that it hadn’t changed much in the intervening years. She shaded her eyes against the harsh sun, watching the heat rise in waves from the permacrete. There hadn’t been many reasons to come back; despite the planet’s internal conflicts, its strategic position in the Imperium had been moderate at best, though NICOM had paid close attention to activity at the Illyrican shipyards in orbit. There was a Commonwealth intelligence presence based out of the capital Raleigh City, though last she’d heard the station-chief post had been vacant for more than a year. Since then CID had been running its Caledonian operations out of Earth, a wormhole jump away.

So at least the chances of getting spotted by Commonwealth personnel in Stranraer seemed low – all they had to worry about was the Illyricans.

And the murderous crime boss at their heels.

Despite Nat’s concerns, they all sailed through customs without a second look, their fresh identities raising no flags, and in no time found themselves in the cool air of a hovercar that Xi had summoned. Tapper prodded the cushy faux leather seats and nodded approvingly, while Addy contented herself with glowering in silence at their captor turned partner.

Nat had more practical concerns. She’d spent the trip studying what information she could get off the nets, including schematics for the gravtrain model used and the scant reports about the Coire Ansic that she still had access to. In a perfect world, she’d have more time to vet the plan before executing it, but time was limited. “We’ll need some place to stage this operation.”

“I’ve arranged for a property within the city,” said the syndicate leader. “The train departs first thing tomorrow morning, so that’s your timeline for any preparation you need to make.”

“And our local contact?”

Xi’s fingers danced across the armrest. She hadn’t exactly been thrilled by Tapper’s request for them to bring in outside help, but even she had grudgingly admitted that it would have its utility. She’d carefully vetted the sergeant’s message, which had been short, but to the point:

Job on. Flight inbound, next day. Entrance location in Stranraer.

“No response to your communique,” said Xi, “but it was delivered. Tell me more about this contact.”

“Caledonian born and bred,” said Tapper. “Mostly works as a fixer these days – making connections, locating people the things they need. Used to be with a local group that… fell apart a couple years back.”

Xi’s carefully sculpted eyebrows rose. “The Black Watch?”

The Black Watch had been a terrorist organization – though they’d dubbed themselves freedom fighters – of native-born Caledonians who had decided to take the fight to their Illyrican oppressors. They’d done some damage over the course of the Imperium’s occupation – even once bombed an Illyrican dreadnought being retrofitted in orbit – but almost two years ago they had collapsed into disarray after the death of their leader.

Right around the time Kovalic and the SPT had been on Caledonia, Nat had noted, though those files were classified and she knew better than to pry.

“Neither confirm nor deny,” said the sergeant with an insouciant shrug. “You know how it goes.”

“What if told my men to drag you along behind this car? Would that loosen your tongue?”

Tapper grinned. “Don’t threaten me with a good time.”

The split-second silence had Nat holding her breath, and she could see out of the corner of her eye Addy tensing, but then Xi let out a melodious chuckle. “I do appreciate a man who knows what he’s about.”

Nat barely managed to restrain herself from shaking her head in disbelief. It sometimes felt like you could toss Tapper into a lion’s den only to come back later and find them all enjoying a nice game of poker. “What about resources?”

Xi’s glance in her direction was decidedly cooler. “We’ll pull together what we can, major, but you’ll have to make do.”

She couldn’t deny the twinge every time Xi referenced her assumed rank; it made her wonder how Simon was faring back on Nova. By now, she assumed that he and the general had been transferred to some sort of secure facility – an aboveboard one, if they were lucky, though she would have placed her bet on a CID black site. Her mind had already started spinning through what it would take to break them out, but she forced herself to put it aside and concentrate on the task at hand. Rescuing them from a government installation would just solidify their status as fugitives; what she needed was the evidence to clear their names.

To that end, Nat badly wanted to see the rest of the surveillance footage that Xi had collected of the princess’s compound. The identity of the director of Imperial Intelligence had been a well-kept secret and Nat had to concede that Isabella had never even made it onto the list of suspects.

The princess’s name had, of course, been bandied about in intelligence reports forever, but every single assessment Nat had ever seen had deemed the woman a minor player in the Imperium’s future – her father’s least favorite child, a figurehead used by the palace for pomp and circumstance with no power base of her own.

All of which Nat had now hastily swept into the dustbin. If Isabella truly was running IIS, then this job wasn’t just in Xi’s interest – it was in the Commonwealth’s. And, potentially, theirs: as Tapper had pointed out, Simon and the general’s current predicament certainly felt like it owed something to the Illyricans.

Now they were just feet away from several days of raw surveillance footage of the princess and everybody she’d met with during that time. Who knew what information they might be able to uncover? Nothing made Nat itchy like data that needed analyzing. She just needed to find a way to get her hands on it. Wriggling out of this job had already seemed a tall order, what with Brody being Xi’s hostage; now the question was whether they could afford not to see it through.

And if that meant going along with Xi’s demands, so be it. At least for the moment.

After a fifteen-minute drive, the car pulled up to a low-rise block on an otherwise sleepy street. A reinforced shutter door that looked like it could hold off a tank slid upwards and the car drove into an unlit garage on the first level. They climbed a flight of metal stairs, against which their steps rang like church bells, and walked through a security door at the top.

Nat hadn’t expected much, but when the door opened onto a luxurious apartment with wraparound windows looking out over the city, she chided herself. Ofeibia Xi wasn’t about to hole up in some ratty den, eating ready-made rations. Though Nat did wonder how she’d found the place – was there some sort of service that catered to wealthy crime lords on the move? She had little doubt that the windows, expansive as they were, would turn back anything short of aerial bombardment, and that garage door had clearly not been just for show.

“Make yourselves at home,” said Xi, waving a hand. “I’ve taken the liberty of providing some fresh clothes, and there is what I’m told is a particularly comfortable shower. Food and drink has been provided, but I’ll ask you to refrain from alcohol, since we are here on business.”

Tapper, who’d let out a low whistle as he turned to survey the place, wrinkled his nose at the last. “How am I supposed to get anything done without a proper pint?”

Sayers, meanwhile, was looking decidedly uncomfortable with both their surroundings and their host. Nat didn’t know all the details of what had passed between the two on the Queen Amina, but she could read between the lines enough to know that there was more tension there than a steel cable. It’d be best to keep them separated – and, most importantly, not leave them alone together.

“Why don’t we get settled in and then regroup?” she suggested.

Scrubbed up in the refresher unit’s sink – under the watchful eyes of Xi’s goons, naturally – and dressed in the new attire, they made their way back downstairs to join the syndicate boss around the large dining table in one corner of the apartment’s main floor. A small spread of cheese, fruit, and crackers had been laid out, and much as Nat didn’t want to admit it, her stomach rumbled at the sight; the trip on the Cavalier had left her a little sick of ship food.

“Please, help yourselves,” said Xi, waving a hand. “Never let it be said that I don’t offer the finest in hospitality.”

Sayers’s mouth set in a flat line, but the sergeant wasn’t one to pass up food when it was on offer, and he dug in with gusto.

Nat helped herself to some water and a handful of fruit. Taking a seat, she drummed her fingers atop the table. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to discuss the matter of my pilot.” Brody’s absence had gnawed a hole in her gut, a constant reminder that he was her responsibility. And, much as she hated to admit it, she’d missed the buoyancy his carefree attitude had brought to the team.

“I gave you my word that he would be unharmed, and he has been,” said Xi.

“And I appreciate that,” said Nat, trying to keep her tone cool and matter of fact. “But I’m going to need him for this job.”

Xi sniffed. “What for? My people are perfectly capable of providing any needed air support.”

Nat shook her head. “No. You wanted my team; he’s part of it. This job is going to be hard enough as it is – I’m not doing it with one hand tied behind my back. I don’t know what we might run into, but I know I need the best pilot I can get. And that’s ours.”

Steel flashed in Xi’s expression; leaders of crime empires weren’t exactly known for letting others dictate terms. The kind of people who didn’t understand that were usually the same ones who found themselves on the wrong side of an airlock.

But the expected explosion never came. Xi merely gave a curt nod in return. “Very well. I’ll have him returned to your ship. But he’ll be there to advise, nothing more.”

For her part, Nat tried not to make her relief obvious. She could feel the tension radiating off Sayers from the other side of the room, but there was no point in pressing for more – even getting Xi to give up that much felt like a win. At least she’d insured Brody’s safety for a little while longer. “That’s acceptable.”

“Good,” said Xi. Raising her bangled wrist, she tapped out a message and sent it with a flick of her wrist. “With that settled, let us get down to brass tacks. I’d like to know –”

The larger of Xi’s bodyguards, Stack, appeared suddenly, holding a tablet, and bent over to whisper something into his boss’s ear. Xi’s comfortable expression melted away as he spoke, and she glanced down at whatever he was showing her on the screen. Presently, she waved him away, and turned her attention to the rest of them.

“It seems we have company,” she said, her voice hard. Flicking on the tablet, a screen appeared floating over the holotable, showing what appeared to be a live video feed of the building’s exterior; Nat recognized the street that they’d turned down to enter the garage.

Standing outside the door next to the garage was a single figure, arms crossed, staring up at the camera with an impatient look on her face. Red, curly hair was pulled back into a ponytail at the nape of her neck, and even through the video feed, her brown eyes burned intently.

“This was supposed to be a secure location,” said Xi, irritation creeping into her voice. But she quickly smoothed it out. “The timeline is too short to move the operation, so we’ll have to question this interloper and then… deal with them appropriately.” As if to punctuate her sentiment, Stack appeared in the video feed, seizing the woman by her arm and pulling her inside.

Nat tensed. It was one thing for them to help Xi take down another criminal organization, but random civilian casualties? Not acceptable. Could they talk Xi into just holding the woman prisoner? Maybe, but Nat wasn’t prepared to bet the stranger’s life on it. Her eyes slid to Sayers and the younger woman gave her an almost imperceptible duck of the head, signaling her readiness. Tapper, for his part, was eyeing the screen with a mildly amused expression.

A loud voice echoed up from below. “ – your hands off me, before you’re one mitt short.”

Up the stairs came the pair, Stack behind the woman with one hand still on her shoulder. He was fully a foot taller than her, which made it look a little like he was dealing with a recalcitrant child. Suddenly spotting the rest of them, she fell silent.

In her head, Nat was already executing the move: she’d take down Stack, dropping him with a punch to the neck. That ought to be enough cue for Tapper to make his move to keep the crime boss’s other two goons busy while Sayers went for Xi herself. It was long odds, seeing as they were outnumbered and outgunned, but if the alternative was an innocent person’s death on her conscience, then it was no choice at all.

Xi stood and stalked over to the redhead, her slim height towering over the other woman. “I’m only prepared to ask this once: who are you and what are you doing here?”

“I was bleeding invited.” She shrugged off the heavy hand on her shoulder, shooting a glare behind her. “This isn’t exactly the hospitality I was expecting.”

“Invited? By whom?”

Tapper cleared his throat. “Oh sorry, did I forget to mention? That’s our local contact that your man’s pawing.”

Nat swore she could hear the muscles in Xi’s neck twanging like taut bowstrings as the syndicate leader slowly turned to regard the sergeant, who was leaning back in his chair with a grin on his face. Well, if Xi was going to force them into helping her, then at least she was definitely getting the full Tapper experience.

“Oh, is it,” said Xi, her voice dripping. “And how exactly did she come by our location? Your message didn’t specify.”

The redhead huffed, crossing her hands over her chest. “You hired me for my local expertise. How good would I be if I couldn’t find a bunch of out-of-towners dropping hefty cash on secure transport and lodgings in my own backyard?”

Xi’s glittering nails rustled against the light fabric of her trousers. Finally she seemed to reel in a sneer and replace it with a tight smile. “Of course. Welcome, Ms…?”

“Collins. Gwen Collins, at your service,” she said, giving a mock bow. “Now, are we here to chitchat or shall we get to work?”