“I wanted to find out what you did to Finn,” Edie said. It was tough making up an excuse when she had no idea yet what had happened to Finn, the children, or Valari and her ship and crew. But this was the best she’d come up with. “He told me he was rendered unconscious during his medical exam. That’s not usual. I came here looking for his records.”
Natesa paced the doctor’s office, regal in her green dress. She’d been seething with anger when she’d first been called to the room. Now she seemed taken aback by Edie’s explanation, as if it was the last thing she’d expected to hear.
“You could have asked me or Dr Sternhagen, if you had any concerns.”
“Okay, I’m asking you.”
“To my knowledge his exam was entirely routine. What makes you think I’d take any interest at all in some meckie’s medical exam?”
“He’s not some meckie. He’s the man you’ve threatened to kill if I don’t behave.”
“I’ve done no such thing. This is ridiculous, and beside the point. You were supposed to be wooing my guests. You’re going dirtside early in the morning. You have serious work to do. Instead, you’re using someone else’s crew key to sneak about the ship.” Natesa glared at the milit who flanked Edie. He’d been the one to find her in the office a few minutes earlier. “Have you arrested the worker to whom that key belongs?”
“Yes, ma’am,” the milit replied. “He’s a utility tech who recently transferred to the project. His use of the key outside his shift hours alerted Security.”
“But I stole the key from him,” Edie said. “He didn’t do anything wrong.”
Natesa was unmoved. “He’s still at fault for being careless. Now, is there anything else you want to tell me? I don’t like surprises, least of all from you. If not, I’d like to get back to my guests—”
Her commlink beeped with an incoming call. She extracted the device from under her sleeve and jabbed the switch.
“What is it?”
“Administrator, there’s a report of a disturbance in the hangar.”
“Why are you bothering me with this?”
“It’s the children, ma’am. We found the children in an access tube leading to the loading dock, and they seem to think they’re supposed to board that merchant ship, the one that docked for repairs.”
Natesa’s glare snapped to Edie, her face hardening with suspicion. Edie maintained a neutral expression but found it hard to breathe. Their entire escape plan was in ruins. And where was Finn?
“Impound that ship. Detain the crew. And take the children back to their dorm. I’ll meet you there.” Natesa eyed Edie a moment longer, as if unable to decide what to do with her. “If you’re not going to make yourself useful at the function, return to your quarters and get some sleep. You leave at oh-seven-hundred.” She walked toward the door, then pulled up beside Edie, standing a little too close for comfort. “If I find out this has anything to do with you…” She let the statement hang in the air, apparently unable to think of a suitably dire way to finish it. Then she stalked out.
Edie was given an unwelcome escort to Deck D. Once back in her room, she debated whether to try and contact Finn. She had, with luck, saved Corinth from serious charges. But if Finn had been caught near the hangar, there was no story convincing enough to save him. If he’d got away, and if Cat on board the Molly Mei could successfully play innocent, maybe the damage could be confined to Valari alone. If the children kept their mouths shut, no one would associate Finn with Valari or with the children’s odd excursion.
One thing was certain—if Edie and Finn were going to escape, they’d have to start from scratch with a new plan.
An hour later, Edie could stand it no more. She had to find out what was going on. She took the lift down one deck and wandered through the meckies’ quarters, hoping to find Finn. Many of the doors were open and the party seemed to have spread to this deck. It wasn’t often that the Crib doled out free alcohol, and the workers were making the most of it. Conflicting music blared from two different sources. The deck swarmed with people in various stages of inebriation. A few of them were playing a raucous game of handball down the length of one narrow corridor.
Edie asked a series of random people where she could find Finn. Eventually she was told he shared a room with someone called Slake. Someone else told her Slake’s room number, and she buzzed the door.
Finn snapped open the hatch. He looked relieved to see her—neither of them had been caught…yet. He moved aside to let her enter the room. The first thing she noticed was a semiconscious man on one of the bunks. He had apparently dressed for the party, with lime-green boots, a lopsided velvet top hat, and a matching jacket that lay open to reveal a bare chest carved with a variety of tattoos.
“Hey, Slake,” Finn said. “Give us some privacy, will you?”
Slake moaned, his limbs twitching, but showed no other signs of life.
Finn prodded his leg. “We had a deal, buddy.”
One bleary eye opened to give Edie the once-over. Then he rolled off the bunk and staggered around for a while, hiccupping violently, before finally finding the door. Finn snapped it shut behind him. He sat on the other bunk and ran his hands through his hair. Edie took a quick look around at the mess, the piles of dirty clothes and scattered belongings. It really didn’t seem fair that Finn had been sent down here, but he was probably used to far worse.
“They found the children,” Edie said. “What happened?”
“I sent a service tom into Galeon’s room with a message to take the kids to the loading dock. I could’ve snuck them on board from there, into the cargo hold, without being seen from the hangar. By the time I got down there, the dockmaster was getting suspicious of the Molly Mei’s delaying tactics. Then Corinth told us the two of you weren’t going to make it.”
“I told him to tell you to leave anyway, without the children.”
He gave her a sideways look. “You mean, to leave without you?”
“That was your chance, Finn. That ship was the safest place for you.”
“Doesn’t matter anyway. The ship never left.”
Edie bit her lip. “I know. I was with Natesa when she ordered it impounded.” She couldn’t shake the thought that Valari and Finn might have made it out if Valari hadn’t waited for the children and for her and Corinth.
“So—what’s the damage? Corinth is in the brig, that’s all he told me.” His voice was oddly flat. It wasn’t like Finn to be discouraged. The soldier in him always had a contingency plan.
“I don’t think he’s in too much trouble. There’s no reason for them to link me or Corinth to any of this. What about Galeon?”
“He knows I sent that tom, but the other kids don’t. I don’t think he’ll tell.”
“How can we find out what happened to Valari?”
Finn hesitated, taking in a deep breath, exhaling slowly. “Her chip winked out a few minutes ago. Corinth can’t reach her, either.”
“What does that mean? Is she dead?”
“Not necessarily. If they’ve arrested her, she’d have switched it off to prevent them from tapping into it.”
The hatch snapped open suddenly, and Slake stumbled inside with a stupid grin on his face. In the corridor beyond, people were shouting with excitement.
“Hey, there’s been a fuckin’ shootout in the hangar,” Slake said. “C’mon, man, let’s check it out!”
Edie started to rise, but Finn touched her arm.
“There’s nothing we can do about it,” he murmured.
Their lack of enthusiasm couldn’t diminish Slake’s, and he loped outside again to find out what was going on.
“You should get back,” Finn said. “If they do connect me with this…if they come for me, I don’t want you here.”
“What about Valari and Cat?”
“We’ll find out soon enough. Don’t ask about it. Just stay out of it. I guess we’ll be going dirtside, right? Maybe this will all blow over while we’re on the surface.”
Edie hoped it was true. She got up to leave. “I meant what I said about the children—I know you tried because of me, but it’s too risky. Next time your chance comes, just take it.” He opened his mouth and she knew what he was about to say, and preempted him. “I trust you to come back for me, Finn. Bring the cavalry if you want to—but first, you need to get safely away where Natesa can’t follow you.”
He looked like he was restraining himself from arguing with her. Instead, he stood and reached out to run his fingers down her bare arm. She shivered, wishing she could lock the door and go to him, even in this god-awful hovel. He kissed her—once, lightly, a quick brush of warm lips, as if sealing a promise—and she left.