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Deep Space: Command Deck, Blue Venture
Tessa leaned back in her gel-chair and stared out the Venture's front viewport at a starfield that, for once, contained no known threats.
"You think that's it, then?" Captain Valeria Demyanov, owner of the Venture, asked. She gestured toward the unlimited, star-flecked darkness. "We killed them?"
"From what I hear, Jordan had that honor," Tessa said. "But yes. I think HiveZ is done. Nothing could have survived a direct hit from the Eagle's canons, not even a nearly indestructible, homicidal cyber-droid."
"What about Reapers?" Tamar asked from her seat at the navigation console. "There were many, and they could be making more."
A premonitory tingle danced up the back of Tessa's neck, but she shrugged it off. "As far as we know, we got most of them on Bainar."
"Except the ones Jordan stole," Val said.
"True," Tessa said. "But Jordan may be an opportunistic pirate, but he's no mass murderer. And since he used them to take over the Revenge, I think we can safely assume he reprogrammed them."
"I am speaking of Reapers on Josan. Jordan did not reprogram those," Tamar said.
"OK. But the Josani are pretty sure they destroyed the ones there. And even if they didn't, without HiveZ to direct them, they'll probably go dormant." Again, Tessa pushed aside the flicker of unease. "Until they surface, there isn't much we can do either way. Looking for them would be like searching for a spec of stardust in the heart of the sun."
Silence greeted her statement, and after a moment, Tessa nodded to Val and left the bridge.
She knew what Tamar was getting at, but there wasn't much she could do about it at this point. And there were other things grabbing at her attention. As she headed for her cabin, Val's question so many weeks before haunted Tessa.
"What are you going to do when you don't have HiveZ to hunt anymore?"
Tessa hadn't had an answer then, and none came to her now. But it wasn't for lack of thinking about it.
A week after the last human refugee found a new home on Bainar, Tessa still wasn't sure of her next steps. Not that she was complaining, but without HiveZ, her enemy for more decades than she cared to recall, she wasn't sure what to do with herself.
For Val and her crew, the question of next steps was easy to answer. Gaia had already provided them with a number of hard-to-get permits and licenses that would help them create a profitable interstellar trade business. The subsequent trip to Lura4 with a cargo of Hifaesian port wine promised a high profit and low risk. In a word, things had become a little too safe, leaving Tessa restless and slightly bored. She knew it bordered on crazy to feel that way, but she couldn't shake it.
As she entered her quarters, an alert chimed on her mindlink.
"Tessa?" Alex, ship's communication officer and Val's significant other, sounded puzzled. "We got a ship coming up fast on the starboard side."
Spinning on her heel, Tessa was running back the way she'd come as she answered. "Pirates?"
"Sort of, but that might not be the most pertinent detail right now. They're hailing us on Gaia's private frequency. Super encrypted."
"This isn't my ship, Alex. Why are you telling me this?" Impatience colored her response. Mention of Gaia always made her tense.
"Because Captain Caravaggio is asking for you personally."
Tessa slowed to a walk. "Magnus? He got out then. That's great!"
"Yeah, I guess. Thing is, and since we're headed to Lura4 anyway, he wants us to meet him in Quoros. Says he has intel he can only give to you, and only in person."
"That's..." She trailed off, thinking it through. "Why is he being so cagey?" She whispered the question, but Alex heard anyway.
"I think it's a pirate tradition, or something."
A surprised laugh bubbled from her throat. "Yeah, probably. Our cargo is supposed to be delivered to Tang-Lia space port. Does Val have any objection to a side trip?"
"No. A stop on Quoros won't even put us behind. Besides, we can ask around for news about Jordan and the Revenge, like Gaia asked us to do."
Tessa rolled her eyes. "Is she really going to try to take the ship back? He did take out HiveZ."
"He just delivered the coup de grâce. That's your kill, Tessa."
"Dead is dead, Alex. But thanks." She cut the connection and turned back to her cabin, thinking over what she knew of Magnus Caravaggio.
The man was an acquaintance of Jordan's, which didn't do him a lot of credit, since Jordan was the very privateer who had accidentally freed HiveZ, and almost died in the process.
Still, Magnus had stepped up when enemies attacked the Venture on Josan. Without his help, they might not have caught up with the Eagle in time to save it from HiveZ.
She'd only met the man once, but he'd made a favorable impression. Best see what he knew.
Lura4: Quoros City
Atah Totepe drew the hood of her tunic closer around her face, leaving only her eyes gleaming from its camouflaging depths. Made of Miraza cloth, it blended perfectly with whatever surroundings the wearer entered, making them all but invisible.
It was one of the three most expensive fabrics in the galaxy, but it had saved her life more times than she could count. So, she figured it was worth the effort it had cost to steal two bolts of the material from the main warehouse on Tankrine.
Losing two of her suits to that pseudo-human, Tessa Graham, still made Atah grind her teeth. Getting them back would almost make killing Tessa worthwhile all on its own.
Of course, the money wouldn't hurt either.
Edging further into the shadows, Atah watched as Tessa and her Cornusian buddy, Rakan, threaded through the thinning crowd. Where the hell were they going?
Two turns and three streets later, she realized the answer and cursed silently. Gizelle's Mark might be the most popular tavern in the sector, but Atah wasn't a fan. Having the owner come close to killing you tended to have that effect.
Not to mention the fact that, if Gizelle caught Atah in her place, a second attempt was a certainty.
Atah let out a low stream of curses, startling a passerby into dropping her shopping bag on the cobblestones. The woman stared warily into the dark as she slowly gathered her purchases. "Who is there?" she asked.
"No one you want to meet," Atah said, deliberately lowering her voice to a menacing growl.
The woman shot to her feet, abandoned the half-full bag, and ran down the street. "Ghosts!" she yelped. "Demons!"
"Worse than that," Atah whispered.
People stared at the woman, but no one noticed Atah.
Just the way she liked it.
She moved through the sparse crowd like smoke on a mirror, causing more than one person to shiver as she passed by.
By the time she reached the tavern's back door, she was in much better humor.
Seeing Rakan at the bar made her frown. Watching Tessa sit down across from a handsome, all too familiar, man as Gizelle moved away from their table sent her mood plunging into the abyss.
Why the hell is she meeting with Magnus Caravaggio, of all people?
Tessa's back was to her, but she had a good view of Magnus's face. Whatever he was saying, it wasn't happy news. Tension filled his normally laconic features, and his fingers strayed frequently to the blaster on his hip. Not as if he planned to use it, more was the pity, but as if he wanted to assure himself that it was there if he needed it. After a bit more conversation, he relaxed, and a decidedly wicked gleam appeared in his eyes.
A moment later, Tessa stood and tossed something onto the table. Magnus followed her to where Rakan waited.
Certain that they were leaving, and cursing the fact that Magnus looked to be going with them, Atah backed out the rear door and sprinted around the building.
She'd planned to take Tessa out here, but she hadn't built her currently sterling reputation by taking unnecessary risks. Being outnumbered three to one, with the main target being an android with a human soul, didn't provide decent odds of success.
In fact, it would probably get her killed. So attacking now wasn't an option. She needed to get a tracker on their ship and wait for a better opportunity.
She tracked Tessa and her companions through the town to the dilapidated, minuscule excuse for a spaceport and watched as they boarded the light cruiser. "The Venture," Atah mused. "So Demyanov didn't toss her off after our little altercation. Interesting."
She waited until they cleared the brow and moved in. Keeping to the shadows, she slapped a tracker onto the fuselage. The bug-like, tiny robot pressed all six legs against the hull and emitted a faint, high-pitched whine as they bored into the metal.
Before it finished, Atah was already walking away. Several berths over, she entered the Splinter, a tiny, personal yacht she'd had upgraded for speed and weaponry.
Completely automated, the ship was perfect for a single occupant, and had the weapons capacity of a much larger vessel. She wouldn't likely win against a frigate, but it would be a close fight.
Against a light cruiser like the Blue Venture, she'd be lucky to escape in one piece, even with her modifications.
Atah flung herself into the captain's chair and scowled at the forward viewscreen as she addressed the ship’s DEVA. "Bex. Full field of view, and monitor. If anyone leaves the Venture, let me know immediately."
"As you wish, Ma'am." Bex responded, her voice smoothly mechanical. Like most digitally enhanced virtual assistants, she was embedded into the ship's control system. In effect, the Splinter was her body.
Leaning back, Atah stretched the gel chair into its flattest configuration and stared at the ceiling.
When Saracen hired her for this job, Atah hadn’t expected it to take this long, or be this challenging. If, as she suspected, Magnus had warned Tessa that someone was after her, getting the pseudo-human alone was going to be even harder. Still necessary though, if Atah didn't want a lot of uncompensated work on her hands.
"Makes sense that he'd warn her," Atah said aloud. "Given his ridiculous sense of honor."
"I'm sorry, Ma'am. Is there an instruction?" Bex asked.
"No, just thinking out loud. Disregard."
"Very well Ma'am."
"But exactly what did he warn her about? Does he know Saracen put a bounty on Graham’s head? If so, who told him?" She thought that over. "Bex? Status on Phyleda Saracen, former mayor, Humlaga, Josan."
"A brief scan of Josani news reports reveals that Mayor Saracen is deceased. Murdered by the nanocyte horde, HiveZ,” Bex replied. “She is buried on Bainar outside the human settlement, Solara."
A cold rush of panic coursed through Atah's veins. She needed that bounty, damn-it. If Saracen was dead though... "Bex, check status of job 664. Is the bounty still in play?"
"Full payment is still available for Job 664. Proof of target death required. Updated job description available in file."
"Well, that's a relief." She let out a low whistle. "But talk about vindictive. Set it up so that Graham stays a target, no matter what."
She pulled the job specs up on her airscreen and saw that the updated version bore no mention of any target other than Tessa Graham.
She grimaced. "But not vindictive enough to keep a price on anyone else's head. That's disappointing. It’s still a healthy bounty, though." Visions of deep purple waters under a lavender sky beckoned. "The sooner I collect it, the sooner I can take a long vacation. But how do I get to her?" She thought it over for several minutes and then her lips tilted up in a malicious grin.
"Got it. She fancies herself some kind of savior. Went up against HiveZ to save humankind, killed it. But what if it isn't really dead? Yeah, that'd bring her out of the dark, sure enough." Humming softly under her breath, Atah opened several commlinks and spent the next few minutes bouncing a message from one receiver to the next. "Nothing direct, and I can't be sure she wouldn't stop off somewhere. Refuel, pack on extra weaponry. If I was fighting something that hard to kill, I'd want backup. I could meet them there, but safer to follow," she mused.
Finally, she sat back, satisfied. "Bex? I'm going to take a rest. Let me know if the Venture launches."
"Acknowledged. Sleep well, Captain."
Still thinking out loud, she made her way to her cabin. "If she stops along the way, I could lose her. Ship tenders might find the tracker, or it could just get scraped off on landing. No, better to follow, just in case. Use the tracker as a backup. Wherever this goes down, it's going to take some care to keep from getting caught." Atah laid down, closed her eyes, and started planning.
