“How many times do I have to say it?” Tarrin said to the man occupying the gatehouse at the mining base’s main gate. “My name is Tarrin Rhivana. Special Agent Tarrin Rhivana, like it says on the ID. I’m a Federation citizen, I’m a native, and I’m already in your system. Do a retina scan, and you’ll have all the confirmation you need. Or if that’s too difficult for you, go find Officer Bryce Coleman. He’ll vouch for me.”
Miko stood quietly by Tarrin’s side, waiting while the man conferred with someone else inside the small building. A few moments later, a young man dressed in the black fatigues worn by Tri-Mech’s Security Services left at a run. The gate guard turned back to Tarrin. “We’ll have Lieutenant Coleman here shortly.”
“You can’t just call him?” Tarrin asked. “Is the power out?”
“The power and everything else,” the man said, shaking his head. “That earthquake last week glitched every system on the base. Nothing’s working. Not communications, not records, not even the mining equipment. We’ve got limited power, but it’s all going to keep the heat and the lights on in the gym.”
Tarrin glanced at Miko, frowning. <Is that because of us?>
<I can’t think of anything else that would take down every system on the base. The disturbance we created in the mythe was huge. I wonder what kind of spin they’re putting on it?>
Tarrin flashed him a faint grin before turning back to the guard. “I see. But how could an earthquake affect the computer systems?”
“Beats me. The engineers are still scratching their heads over it, but everything went down when the tremors started. Every piece of equipment containing any kind of data core is about as useful as a brick right now.”
Tarrin let out a low whistle. “That’s got to make things difficult.”
“You have no idea. We can’t even operate the kitchen equipment. We’re down to a skeleton crew surviving on meal-paks. We sent all non-essential personnel and their families up to the station. Word is they had to set up temporary living quarters in the cargo holds of one of the freighters. The mines are at a standstill, and every minute we’re down, Tri-Mech’s losing money.”
“That’s rough. My father was a mining engineer, so I’ve seen the Operations Center. Pretty much every piece of equipment they’ve got in those mines is computer-controlled.”
“Yeah. Somebody’s head’s gonna roll. Wouldn’t want to be in management right about now. I don’t think those guys have had any sleep since this thing started. Ah, here comes the lieutenant.”
Miko followed the guard’s gaze to see a man dressed in jeans and a dirty T-shirt approaching at a fast walk. He had tousled red hair a few shades lighter than Damon’s and pale blue eyes with dark circles under them.
The two men in the gatehouse saluted him, despite his lack of uniform. He exchanged a few words with them, raised his eyebrows at Tarrin’s ID, and moments later, the gate was unlocked and they were ushered inside.
“Thanks, Bryce,” Tarrin said as everyone filed through the gate. “We’ve got a couple of prisoners in the wagon. We’ll need secure accommodations for them while we sort things out.” He tugged on the slim, metal stun collar still locked around his neck. “We could use a pair of bolt cutters, too.”
Bryce’s eyebrows shot up, but he said only, “Yeah, we can work that out.” He led them to the building behind the gatehouse and into a tiny room that contained a conference table and a dozen chairs. “Sorry about the hassle. The security staff were just following orders, and with all the computers down, there’s no way to verify IDs. What else do you need?”
“A ride up to the station for the five of us and the two prisoners,” Tarrin said, indicating the others with a wave of his hand. The air of authority Tarrin assumed made Miko smile. Tarrin was so strong and so confident, no matter what the situation. He would make a good liaison between the Ajhani and the Federation, Miko thought, and it wouldn’t be a moment too soon.
The mining operations were already dangerously close to the Rhivana clan’s territory, and the failure of the computer equipment would only halt the mining temporarily. There was too much shaalinite here for them to leave. As soon as they could replace their damaged equipment, Tri-Mech Industries would be back in business on Aion.
“I know this looks a little crazy,” Tarrin continued, handing Bryce his FedSec ID once again. “And I know you can’t verify anything right now, but that FedSec ID is the real deal. The FedSec office on Lyra Station can verify it for you. I do have the authority to request transport to the station, but our mission here is classified, so I can’t give you any details. Sorry.”
“I trust you.” Bryce gave him a wry grin. “Though I can’t imagine how you ended up working for FedSec.”
“That’s a damn long story.” Tarrin returned the grin, and Miko sensed a slight lessening of his tension. “I’d love to tell it to you over coffee sometime, but right now, you and I both have more urgent matters to deal with.”
“Isn’t that the truth. Damn earthquake crippled us. Nothing works. We had to send men out on foot to get new comm equipment out to the mines. It’s a fucking mess.” Bryce ran his fingers through his hair.
“Sounds like,” Tarrin said. “Congratulations on the promotion, by the way. Lieutenant Coleman, eh? When did that happen?”
“About a month ago. Big shake-up in the ranks. Some scandal or other, followed by the inevitable witch hunt: seek out the guilty, frame the innocent, and promote anyone with the sense to steer clear of the fallout. The pay raise is nice, but I’m starting to wonder if it’s worth the extra responsibility.” He gave Tarrin a smile that looked more like a grimace. “Especially right now.”
“The lament of every manager I’ve ever known,” Tarrin said with a grin.
While the two men talked, Miko wandered over to the window and stared out over the base. The Pattern was still in flux, but some of the darkness — though not all — had started to clear. The threat of wildfire psi had been averted, but now there was a rift in the Pattern that Miko couldn’t read at all.
An ending or a beginning?
Either way, something big was coming.
And it looked like Miko’s thread was right in the middle of it.
Again.
* * *
FedSec’s Lyra Station office insisted on sending their own shuttle down to the surface, along with a security squad to take charge of the two prisoners. Luka only hoped they wouldn’t be questioning everyone. Tarrin had warned them all to keep their mouths shut and let him do the talking. The mission was classified, and as the agents in charge, he and Miko would be the ones dealing with FedSec.
Damon stuck to Luka like glue, nerves stretched so taut Luka could practically feel him vibrating.
“What if they want to pump me full of Veritane again?” he asked as they were waiting to board the shuttle. “When I went through Processing, my memories of Riga were all locked up. I couldn’t tell what I didn’t remember. But now, I’d spill it all. All those things I did for the Vipers… all that work for the Guild…”
Luka wished he could reassure him that he was under the Institute’s protection, but he wasn’t entirely sure that protection extended to crimes that didn’t involve psi.
And Shiv was guilty of plenty of those.
He put an arm around Damon. “They got no reason to give you Veritane. And anyway, Tarrin said the only FedSec official we have to talk to is on Aurora. His name’s Pat Cottrell, and you got nothing to fear from him. He’s on our side. Hell, he’s been shacked up with Kyn for nearly four years, so how scary can he be?”
The ride up to the station was mostly silent, none of them wanting to say too much in front of the FedSec squad that accompanied them. Luka’s tension only mounted as they drew closer to the station. When he walked into the shuttle bay and found Kyn waiting for them along with Pat, all those fears melted away.
He squeezed Damon’s hand. “It’s Kyn. And Pat. It’ll be okay,” he whispered.
The look of relief on Kyn’s face as he came forward and engulfed Luka in a big hug was unmistakable. “Jesus, Luka, I’ve been so worried about you.” He pulled away from Luka and looked at Damon. “Both of you. Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” Luka said, catching Damon’s hand in his own once more. “We are now. It’s a long story, and I guess we’ll be telling it to Pat soon enough. We’re both fine.” He didn’t mention the nightmares that still haunted him. Time enough for that when the official business was over and they could talk as brothers rather than colleagues. “What the hell are you guys doing here? Did… did Cam get Miko’s message?” Miko had told Luka that he’d asked Draven to contact Cam, but there had been no indication in the base’s logs that Draven had ever made it that far.
“He hadn’t when we left Aurora,” Kyn said. “Pat was contacted by FedSec Lyra regarding Drake Logan. Apparently Logan was rescued when a private research ship in orbit around Lyra had a critical reactor failure and had to be evacuated. They got everyone off safely, and Station Security took Logan into custody as soon as his retina scan tripped the alarms. Pat came out to collect him. We got here yesterday. I was hoping we might learn where you and Damon had been taken, but I wasn’t expecting to actually find you here.”
“We been here all along,” Luka said. “They wanted us to—” At a warning look from Pat, Luka snapped his mouth shut.
“Not here,” Pat said. “The case is still classified, so I’m going to be asking you not to discuss it unless you’re talking to me. If you want to follow me, we’ll head to the hotel. I’ve got a suite reserved. We’ll be conducting the official interviews there. You people have been through enough, and the FedSec offices here on Lyra Station aren’t particularly comfortable.”
When they reached the hotel suite, Pat made sure everyone was fed and assigned a room. Then the questioning began. Miko went first, and since they had no voice synth for him to use, Pat asked Luka to translate for him.
Miko told Pat the whole story, which Luka translated dutifully. He didn’t learn anything new until Miko finished up by dropping a bombshell: I’ve got a name for you. When you question Logan under Veritane, ask him about Sergei Romani.
Luka stared at Miko. Even a street-rat like him had heard of Sergei Romani. “Miko says you should ask Logan about Sergei Romani.”
Pat’s dark eyes went wide. “The Sergei Romani?”
Romani Industries, Miko signed. Tri-Mech Industries. Chem-Gen-Tech. That Sergei Romani.
Luka translated, and Pat said to Miko, “Where the hell did you get that from?”
Miko hesitated, then signed, It was a gift. From Draven to Cameron.
Pat leaned forward eagerly. “Do you have proof? Anything we can use?”
Not yet, Miko signed. But once I get back to the Institute, I’ll see what I can find. It might be easier, now that I know what I’m looking for. Miko glanced at Luka then, and added, You probably don’t even need to question Damon or Luka. I had more contact with Draven than anyone.
After Luka had translated that, Pat regarded him with a sober expression. “Is that right, Luka? Do you have anything to add?”
“Not really… unless you want to hear what it’s like to be buried under a mountain of rock. Miko’s already given you way more than I could.” He couldn’t help the shudder that rippled through him. “Miko and Tarrin were on the Kamarra a lot longer than Damon and I were. I only saw Draven for the testing and then again at the end when he took us down to the surface. And I didn’t hear nothing about Romani.”
Pat nodded thoughtfully. “Then all I really need from you and Damon is anything you can remember about the people who grabbed you.”
“I got nothing for you on that. I never even saw the bastards, and I don’t think Damon did, either. They were waiting for us to get off the elevator at the parking facility. Stunned us before we could even get a look at ’em.”
“All right,” Pat said, making a note on his slate. “I’m putting you, Damon, and Raine in protective custody, so please don’t leave the suite.”
Luka scowled, but it made sense that Pat would want to protect them. “Can we order room service? I’m dying to eat something that ain’t a meal-pak or Ajhani travel rations.”
Pat laughed. “Room service is on FedSec. Make yourself sick. If I have any further questions after I’ve spoken to the others, I’ll let you know.”
Damon was waiting for him, pacing the main room of the suite. His head jerked up when the door opened, and the color drained from his face as Luka and Miko stepped out of the room.
“He’s ready for you, Tarrin,” Luka said.
“How long until he wants me?” Damon’s voice was barely a whisper.
“He don’t,” Luka said. “Miko told him we don’t have anything useful for him. He might have a few questions later, about the guys who grabbed us in Iral, but he’s not going to grill you now, and he’s sure as hell not going to put you under Veritane. So relax.”
The tension drained out of Damon’s shoulders, and he wrapped his arms around Luka and squeezed him hard.
“Pat says room service is on FedSec,” Luka told him when they finally separated. “So I say we order up three or four of the most expensive things on the menu to fortify ourselves, lock ourselves in our room, and spend the entire night fucking each other senseless.”
“I had no idea you were such a romantic,” Kyn said from his seat on the couch.
Luka showed Kyn his middle finger. “You wouldn’t know romance if it bit you on the ass, big brother.”
“If it bit me on the ass, I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t be romance,” Kyn retorted.
Luka shot him a grin and grabbed Damon’s hand. “Come on. We got a date.”
Damon raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t know you were into biting.”
“There’s a lot you don’t know,” Luka said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. “And we got all the time in the world for you to find out.” With that, he dragged Damon off to the bedroom.