| |
Lura4: Quoros Spaceport
Val stood in the Venture's cargo hold, checking off the crates of Hifaestian Port as they were off-loaded. Gaia's gift of a special permit to sell the light, fruity wine had been a welcome reward for their help taking out HiveZ. The market for the highly prized beverage was expensive to get into, but worth every penny once you did.
Finding a buyer had been easy, even after Tessa said she needed to go to Quoros to meet Magnus. The client agreed to meet Val there without protest.
Watching the stevedores guide their cargo-levs to the transports, she shook her head. In her academy days, becoming an interstellar merchant hadn't figured into her life plan at all. Yet, here she was, and happy to have no one shooting at her for once.
She looked over as Alex came out of the OPT. "Hello, love. Did Irina go down for her nap?"
He grinned at her. "Three readings of Space Spider Bee later, yeah." The grin faded. "Val, I just received a message from Fleet."
At the same moment, Tamar turned to her from speaking with the dock foreman. "That is last of exports, Captain," she said.
"Thanks. Anything from Tessa?" Val asked.
"She and Rakan are on their way back," Tamar replied.
"Good." Val swiped her airscreen away and went to join Alex. "Get ready for launch. I have a feeling this message is going to change our plans."
"Of course." Tamar moved quickly, securing the cargo bay.
Val and Alex entered the OPT together. "What does Fleet want this time? Are they tired of the new-and-improved Jason already?" she asked, referring to the android doppelganger they'd replaced the corrupt Fleet president with a few weeks before.
"No. He and Belinda are working to hold new elections, all according to plan. This is..." He trailed off, giving her a worried look.
"What, Alex? Just spit it out."
"There's been a message about a fleet."
"You just said that. What is the message?"
"No, I mean, Belinda has reason to believe another fleet might still be out there. The British Royal Space Colony."
On the point of leaving the OPT, Val stopped and faced him. "No one has heard from the BRSC in hundreds of years."
He shrugged. "You could say the same about the Russians until we found them. Neither have we, really, if you think about it. The U.S. Fleet hasn't had contact with any other humans since the Earth evacuation almost a thousand years ago. They probably thought we were all dead, too."
They moved up the corridor together. "Ok, so what do they want?"
"Well, that's just it. The intel isn't direct from the Brits."
She stared at him. "Maybe you better start from the beginning."
"OK, so about a week ago, about the same time Jordan was blowing HiveZ across the cosmos, Belinda arrived back at Fleet."
"Jason invited her."
"As planned, right? So, a few days later, they get a merchant ship in with a cargo of Drum Pasties, among other things."
"What are those?"
"Apparently a frozen meat pie. "
"A pie made of meat?" Val shivered in revulsion. "Sounds disgusting."
"They're actually pretty tasty, according to Belinda's source. Made from an ancient recipe from someplace called Cornwall in the old U.K. on Earth."
Val looked at him. He was practically drooling. "You didn't seriously come down to the cargo bay in person to tell me the Fleet has rediscovered British meat pies, did you?"
"No, but that's part of it. It wasn't just pasties they brought in. The shipment contained a variety of goods, from electronics to top grade pharmaceuticals. But here's the kicker. Every container was marked with an emblem showing three lions under a rose above the words 'For Wisdom and Knowledge.'"
"Which is... what?"
He rolled his eyes. "Don't you remember anything from Ms. Zimmerman's history class? That's the badge of the BRSC."
"Like our eagle, and E Pluribus Unum."
"Which is on the hull of every Fleet ship ever built, yes."
"So, Belinda thinks this cargo came from the British Space Colony?"
"She thinks it's a possibility. She talked to the ship's captain, and he gave her the coordinates to the planet where he got his cargo."
"Uh-huh." They reached their quarters and went inside. Val ordered a beverage from the nourichef, opened it and took a long drink before speaking. "So, I'm betting that Belinda wants us to go check this out."
"That was my impression, yes." He accepted a bottle from her and sat down at the table.
"Because that worked out so well with the Russians."
"Actually, from Fleet's perspective, it did. They got two new domes and a free HOSH in the bargain."
"Tell that to the people who died because we unleash HiveZ on them."
"That had nothing... well, almost nothing, to do with the Russian fleet. And even if it did, it isn't on us, Val. You know that."
"I know that if we hadn't found the RF, we wouldn't have found the coordinates that led us to Earth." Val's eyes glazed over, the memory replaying itself in her mind. "Without us, HiveZ would never have known there were other humans out here."
Alex's fingers tightened around the bottle until his knuckles showed white. "And we were supposed to know that, how?"
Her eyes refocused, and she sighed. "We weren't. There was no way for us to know. You're right. Not our burden. I just can't help wishing..."
"Sure. But we have to live with what is." He set his empty bottle on the table and pulled her into his arms. "What do we do with Belinda's request, then?"
Her comm-link chimed. Val gave Alex an apologetic smile and stepped away to open the link. "Tamar? What's up?"
"Tessa and Rakan are back," the navigator informed her. "And they are bringing guest with them."
Val met Alex's gaze. "Oh, yeah?" she asked. "Who's coming aboard?"
"Magnus Caravaggio."
"Why am I not surprised?" Alex said.
Val shushed him. "All right, Tamar. We're on our way to the conference room. Have them meet us there."
"As you say, Captain."
"You don't think she's going to want to bring him with us, do you?" Alex asked.
"It's a possibility."
"You don't think that might be a problem?"
Her eyes widened. "Why would Tessa having a new boyfriend bother me?" She walked out without giving him time to answer.
Alex's cheeks lost two shades of color. "He's not – You don't know that he's – Val, you aren't going to meddle, right? Val!"
She was whistling, and he was still several paces behind when they entered the conference room. Tessa stood near the table, handing Magnus a plate of food.
"Hey, Val. Alex." Magnus smiled and took a bite.
"How would you guys feel about Magnus coming with us wherever we go next?" Tessa asked.
Val's lips curved into a wide grin as she gave Alex an I-told-you-so look over her shoulder. "No problem here. Anything we should know about you two?"
Tessa's head jerked up, her eyebrows contracting. "Know? About us?"
Magnus stifled a laugh. "Sure, you know darlin'. About our new relationship?"
"What relationship?" Tessa asked. "You're coming with us to help me keep Atah Totepe from killing anyone."
"Bodyguard is a relationship," Magnus said.
"You aren't my bodyguard," Tessa said. "Just an extra gun."
Val wasn't smiling anymore. "What is he talking about, Tessa? How is Atah involved in your love life?"
Tessa's mouth dropped open. "My love life? I don't have–" She caught herself, regrouped. "So, you've heard of her?" When Val nodded, Tessa went on. "Apparently, Saracen wanted me dead bad enough to hire her, and to make sure she'd have an incentive to carry on the hunt, even if Saracen herself was no longer around."
"That's ridiculous," Alex said. "And probably illegal
"I'm guessing she didn't think so. And, given that she hired an assassin in the first place, which breaks several interstellar laws, legality probably wasn't a consideration either," Magnus said.
He briefly went over everything he'd told Tessa in the bar. "So, if it's all right with you, I'll be hanging out for a bit. Just until we can either track Atah down or eliminate her financial incentive."
"You didn't mention that possibility at Gizelle's," Tessa said. "How does that work?"
"Queller says there's precedent against using an inheritance to incite murder. He's working on the legal aspects now. But the courts are slow moving, so it'll take a while."
"If it can be done at all," Alex said. "Estate law is a complicated beast, no matter what planet you're on."
Val poured a cup of coffee from the nourichef and sat down opposite Tessa. "Magnus is welcome to join us, but we've had some news ourselves."
Tessa looked from Val to Alex and back again. "Let me guess. You're going to have another baby?"
Val pulled back. "What? No. At least..." She glanced at Alex as he sat down next to her. "Not yet. No, this is something else."
"We just got word from Belinda," Alex said. "There's good evidence that another fleet survived. It looks like they settled on a planet called Garlina in the Hesai system."
Tessa's eyes rounded and Magnus leaned in. "Which fleet?" he asked.
"The symbols on the crates that turned up at Mega-One suggest the British Royal Space Colony," Alex said.
"How is that possible?" Tessa asked.
Alex shrugged. "Not all that hard, really. Granted, all the Earth fleets started out from the same place..." He waved his hand in a vague circle. "Even a degree difference in their initial trajectories would result in widely divergent paths for each of the fleets."
"He's right. And the universe is, as far as we know, limitless," Val said. "Once separated, finding the other fleets was like trying to locate specific, individual grains of sand on a massive beach."
"But now we've turned up two in the space of a year?" Tessa asked. "You don't think that's a little suspicious?"
"Maybe, but given how few humans remain, we need to check it out," Alex said.
"You don't have to go with us, Tessa," Val said. I'd understand if you wanted some time off."
"No, I'll stick. I just–" Her mindlink chimed and Tessa frowned. "It's Gaia." She adjusted the reception and a fifteen-centimeter holographic image of the Simoi queen appeared in the center of the table, right next to Magnus' empty plate. "Gaia, I'm here with Val and Alex. This is Magnus Caravaggio, my new... friend," Tessa said. "Is everything all right?"
Gaia arched an eyebrow at Magnus but didn't comment. "Good. That saves time. We've had a distress call from New Manhattan on Laefa2."
"Isn't that one of the human colonies in Raven's database?" Tessa asked.
"It is, yes. We contacted them right after... Before the attacks on Josan. There have been attacks on humans there."
The room went silent. Finally, Tessa cleared her throat. "What kind of attacks?"
"From the images they sent... We think it might be HiveZ."
Tessa loosed a string of curses so dark that even Magnus looked impressed. "I knew it! I knew it couldn't be as simple as blowing them out of the cosmos. How many dead?"
"None so far, thank the stars. If this is HiveZ, it appears they are badly damaged. The victims fought them off and escaped, but we are concerned that the death toll will rise."
"Are you sure it's HiveZ?" Magnus asked.
"Not entirely, but the method is similar. A single wound, and some nanocytes harvested." Gaia's holographic image turned to face Tessa directly. "I will understand if you choose to leave this to my people. But I felt I owed you the choice."
"You don't think she's done enough?" Val asked. "That damn thing nearly killed her several times over. Send someone else."
"No. I'll go," Tessa said. "I need to finish this."
"Tessa, you don't have to," Alex said. Val's right. Let someone else take care of the mop up. With Atah on your ass, you don't need another complication."
"Atah? Why would an assassin be after Tessa?" Gaia asked.
Magnus relayed the details briefly, ending with, "So, whatever she decides, I'll be tagging along with Tessa."
Tessa gave Val a crooked smile. "At the very least, splitting up will take you out of the line of fire." When Val folded her arms over her chest with a mutinous expression, Tessa tried again. "Irina will be safer without me on board."
"We beat Atah before," Val said.
"And now she knows more about us. We won't take her by surprise again," Tessa replied. Turning her attention to Gaia, Tessa worked hard to ignore the conflicted look Alex and Val shared. "How do I get there?" she asked.
"I gave the Arrow to you. Lending it to Sirius didn't change the ownership."
Tessa stiffened at the mention of Sirius' name, and Magnus gave her a curious look. "Who is–"
"I don't want it. Especially not if –" Tessa stopped herself. No need to go through all that again.
"We can use my ship," Magnus said. "The Oracle is fueled and ready. Just say the word."
"As you wish." Gaia's agreement was smooth, unruffled. "But the Arrow will be waiting when and if you ever need her."
"Val?" Tessa looked at her friend. "I'm guessing you'll be checking out the BRSC. When do you leave?"
"Yeah. I think that's for the best. We'll head out as soon as refueling is complete." Val scooped the plates off the table and dumped them into the sanitizer. One broke, and she watched as the unit's mechanical arm automatically plucked the shards from the pile before she moved toward the door. When it opened, she stopped. "Just remember, you always have a place with us."
Alex followed her out, leaving Tessa and Magnus alone with Gaia.
"She's right, Tessa. You have done your part in this fight," Gaia said. "You don't owe anyone anything."
"I don't like leaving loose ends. Magnus? You didn't sign on to fight the hive, if that's what I end up doing. You can bow out now, no hard feelings."
He studied her for a moment and then lifted his glass in her direction. "Leave? Just when this is getting interesting?" He emptied the cup. "No. I think I'll stick."
