Alisa gasped in pain and fear as she tumbled through the dark air, spinning end over end. A dream. No, she realized in confusion. She was awake. She was—
She struck something hard—a wall. Her wrist crunched, something snapping as it was crushed between her and the wall. She cried out as agony sprang from the injured spot. Then she landed on the floor, crumpling at the base of the wall. She gasped again, cradling her wrist as stabs of pain coursed through her.
“Lights,” someone said—Leonidas. Then, as they came up, he leaped from the bed and dropped to her side. “Alisa!”
“Yeah,” she croaked, wincing and realizing what must have happened.
He realized too. She could tell by the horror dawning in his eyes.
“Three suns, I’m sorry,” he whispered hoarsely. “I hit you, didn’t I?” He cringed.
“No,” she said, even though she knew he must have sent her flying in his sleep. She didn’t want him to blame himself. She was the idiot who had been too lazy to walk back to her cabin. “I just fell out of bed.”
A statement that might have been plausible if she hadn’t been on the other side of the cabin. He looked at the distance. He didn’t have to be an engineer to do the math, but she recalled that he had studied it.
He looked down, saw her cradling her wrist and rose to his feet. “I’ll get the doctor.”
“No,” she blurted, not wanting to explain this to Alejandro or anyone else. He would judge Leonidas—judge both of them. But she inadvertently reached for him with the injured wrist, and the movement sent a fresh burst of pain through her, making her gasp again. “Damn it.”
The pain wasn’t lessening. She must have broken it.
“I’ll be right back,” he said, his face contorted with anguish as he raced out.
Alisa let her head thunk back against the wall, blinking and struggling to keep tears from tumbling down her cheeks. She could deal with the pain in her wrist. It was Leonidas’s pain that distressed her. Why hadn’t she gone back to her cabin? It wasn’t as if she didn’t know about his nightmares—and the dents in the walls.
“Because you thought you were some kind of cure—that’s why,” she grumbled to herself. Had she truly believed that because she had been cuddling with him, he wouldn’t have nightmares? Such arrogance.
Though it hurt, she levered herself to her feet with one hand and walked over to the bed. She intended to say she had fallen out and landed on her wrist. She didn’t want anyone thinking Leonidas had hit her. It hadn’t been his fault.
Leonidas returned with Alejandro in tow. He had tugged on his gray monastic robe and carried his medical kit, but he was barefoot, his gray and brown hair sticking up in tufts.
“Thanks for the house call, Doc,” Alisa said. “Sorry to wake you in the middle of the night.”
He grunted, set down his kit, and examined her wrist, which was already swelling impressively. Maybe he wouldn’t say anything. Maybe he would simply treat her and keep his judgments to himself.
“Broken,” he said, and withdrew his auto injector and a painkiller to load into it.
Leonidas closed his eyes at this pronouncement, his face bleaker than death.
After the shot, Alejandro tugged out a medical netdisc and programmed a batch of nanobots for repairs. He gave her a second shot, this one burning as the microscopic critters charged into her bloodstream. She braced herself for the itching that would follow. At least the painkiller was having a pleasantly numbing effect.
Alejandro dug into his kit again, retrieving an auto-molding bandage. He wrapped it around her wrist and sealed it, the cool material turning into a semi-rigid brace.
“You’ll need to wear that for a couple of days while the nanobots work,” he said, straightening.
“At least it’s my left hand.” Alisa had no intention of delaying her journey out to find that Starseer outpost. She glanced at the clock built into the wall. It was only an hour until dawn, so she might as well stay up and get ready.
Alejandro grunted again and grabbed his kit.
Alisa thought he might leave without any comments, but on his way past Leonidas, he shook his head and muttered, “Maybe this is why the empire neuters its cyborgs.”
Leonidas clenched his jaw, anger hardening his eyes, and for a moment, she worried he might strike Alejandro. But he didn’t move, not even a twitch, as Alejandro brushed past him and out of the cabin. He merely glared at the wall, the anger solely for himself.
“Leonidas,” Alisa said, pushing herself to her feet. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have—”
“Who’s ready to go looking for civilized people?” a cheerful voice called from the corridor. Abelardus. “And by that I mean Starseers, of course. Beck?” Abelardus banged on a hatch. “You making grub for our trip? Who’s coming?”
Down in the cargo hold, the chickens squawked, protesting the banging.
Alisa sighed. Yes, she might as well get ready. She ought to be the one out there rounding everyone up. This was her mission, and anyone she could talk into coming along would be doing so to help her.
“We’ll talk later,” she said and patted Leonidas on the stomach as she headed for the hatchway. He was still standing, stiff as a board—a very angry board.
“Alisa,” he said quietly.
She paused, looking back.
“There is nothing for you to be sorry about. That was my fault. And unforgivable.”
“No, it wasn’t. It’s my fault that my massage was so amazing that it made you fall asleep.” She smiled at him, because smiles were better than tears or anger. Besides, something worse than a broken wrist could have happened. She’d gotten off easy.
“Alisa,” he said, drawing out the syllables, his tone anguished.
“I knew I should have left, and I didn’t,” she said, more serious. He wouldn’t appreciate flippancy now. “My fault. It won’t happen again.”
The words did nothing to alleviate the anguish on his face, and she realized what she was saying, that she would never fall asleep next to him again. Was that what she wanted to say? No, there had to be a solution. They would find something. Maybe that admiral that he wanted to kidnap would know about nightmares as well as cyborg penises. They would figure something out. She had to believe that.
She started to walk out, but a black-robed chest got in her way as Abelardus leaned into the cabin. “Cyborg, are you—”
He stopped, frowning down at Alisa in surprise. He must not have expected to find her in here. At least she knew he had been sleeping or getting ready and hadn’t been spying on her last night with his Starseer skills. Of course, he would probably poke into her head quickly now and find out what had happened. She didn’t want comments from him, any more than she did from Alejandro.
Hoping to forestall that, she pushed past him, saying, “I’ll dress and be ready shortly.”
Abelardus did not stop her, but his gaze did lock onto the brace around her wrist. “What—” He must have read the rest of what happened in her mind, or perhaps in Leonidas’s, because he whirled into the cabin. “Did you hit her?”
“No, he didn’t,” Alisa said, and grabbed the back of his robe.
Not surprisingly, Abelardus tried to go inside. Alisa imagined Leonidas letting Abelardus hit him—or whatever Abelardus had in mind—because he thought he deserved it. That was not going to happen.
“Get out,” she said, “or I’ll pull this robe down around your ankles, and we’ll find out if you have hairier legs than Alejandro or not.”
It wasn’t her words—or one-handed tugging—that made Abelardus step back. Leonidas shoved him out of the cabin before he could do whatever Starseer mental assault he had in mind. The hatch slammed shut in his face.
Good.
Abelardus spun toward her, still frowning. He looked at her wrist and the frown turned ferocious. “You better stay away from him. He’s too damned unstable to be alone with. I warned you. He’s dangerous.”
Alisa propped her good fist on her hip, annoyed because she knew Leonidas would hear every word, and because Abelardus seemed more affronted on her behalf than concerned that she had been hurt. Not that she wanted either feeling from him. Why couldn’t everyone keep their comments to themselves?
“The wrist does hurt,” she said, “but it’s already feeling better. Thanks for asking.”
His brow wrinkled with puzzlement. Why did she puzzle all of the men on this ship?
“Uhm, Captain?” Beck asked, poking his head out of his cabin. He glanced at her wrist brace.
“What?” she asked, the word coming out more exasperated than she intended.
“Just wanted to know if you need me to come along with you today, or if you want me to get that cargo? I talked with the chef’s representative yesterday, and he’s going to let me into the warehouse today to see if we can fit everything in his refrigerators into our hold. There’s one other fellow bidding for the mushrooms, but I think if I present myself well, and play up my interest in the culinary arts, we can get the job.”
Alisa lowered her arms, chagrined with herself for snapping at him. “Yes, you should go to the warehouse. I’ll be fine out there with Abelardus and Leonidas.” And wouldn’t it be fun going on a trek with them, right now? “You didn’t run into any trouble, did you? You seemed to be gone a while.”
“No… Nothing serious.”
She lifted her eyebrows. “Something unserious?”
“Thought someone was following me for a while, but it might have been my imagination. Either way, I took a creative route and shook him before arriving at the meeting. Shouldn’t be any trouble. This isn’t the White Dragon city, after all, right?”
“Right,” she murmured, though she wasn’t convinced that these mafia people didn’t have connections and share intelligence with each other. That Solstice woman probably had her fingers in all kinds of sauce pots. “Be careful when you go out again, please. We’d hate to lose you.”
“I’d hate to be lost.” He winked.
“Also, thank you for taking the initiative yesterday. I’ll pretend it’s because you’re eager to help your captain and not because you want to schmooze with this fancy chef.”
“I’m always eager to help my captain,” Beck said. “Also, I haven’t been looking under any of their dresses—” he waved to Abelardus’s robe, “—but nobody can possibly have hairier legs than the doc.”
“Dresses?” Abelardus's eyebrows flew up.
Alisa smiled, tempted to hug Beck for making jokes. It was too early for so much seriousness around here.
“Yes,” Alisa said, waving at his hem, “but I’ll let you know for sure once I’ve seen Abelardus on a hover bike in his robe. I imagine there’s quite a draft once those vehicles get going.”
“Really, Alisa,” Abelardus said, “if you want to see me naked so you can examine every inch, that’s not a problem.”
“Not necessary.” She headed for her cabin, pausing in front of Beck to pat him on the arm. “Thanks.”
“For what, Captain?”
Everything.
“I enjoyed your muffins last night.”
“Glad to hear it.” He saluted her before ducking back into his cabin.
• • • • •
Alisa had more company than she anticipated on the journey. She had expected Abelardus and Leonidas to come along, but Yumi and Mica had also shown up in the cargo hold, grabbing breathing masks and tossing bags on the backs of hover bikes. Yumi was understandable, since she wanted an excuse to check out fungi and it wasn’t safe to leave the city alone—possibly not at all. With Leonidas in his combat armor, a rifle slung across his back and grenades in a bandolier, they ought to be well protected on this excursion. Alisa couldn’t guess why Mica was coming along.
“Did you think you would get lonely without our company?” she asked Mica as they floated their bikes down the streets of Terra Jhero, heading toward a ground-level dome exit designed for pedestrians and road vehicles.
Abelardus and Leonidas were riding ahead of them, exchanging frequent glares with each other. Yumi puttered along behind, looking with curious eyes at every building, fountain, and spy box they passed.
“I’m avoiding the doctor,” Mica said.
“Something I enjoy doing frequently.” When she could. Alisa was leaning her left forearm on the handlebar of the bike instead of trying to grip with her hand on that side. So far, it had not affected her ability to steer overmuch, but she hoped they did not run into any dinosaurs they had to flee from at high speeds. “Has he been pestering you for some reason?”
“Yesterday, just as I was finally getting caught up with repairs and looking forward to taking my first day off in ages, he came in and asked if I could build a secret vault under the deck plating somewhere for his staff and then arm it with a security system that would shoot laser darts into the heart of anyone who tried to open it.”
“You didn’t jump at the opportunity? From the way you like making rust bangs and grenades, I would think booby traps would warm your heart.”
“It was my day off,” Mica said as they took a turn, the draft stirring their hair as they entered a wide boulevard with a guard post and an arch at the end. A forcefield glinted in the space between columns supporting the arch. “I don’t make booby traps on my day off. I told him as much.” Mica sneered. “He knocked on my hatch first thing this morning, asking if it was still my day off. Apparently, he had a medical emergency to deal with and was up early.” Mica eyed Alisa’s wrist.
“He’s worried about that staff and doesn’t appreciate that I wouldn’t cry that much if it was stolen,” Alisa said, ignoring the unspoken inquiry about her injury.
“It could get stolen by someone more loathsome than he, someone who could do more than use it for a nightlight on a dark night.”
“True. Maybe you should build him a security system. But if someone comes along who can use it, that person probably wouldn’t have trouble avoiding your booby traps.”
“Please, my booby traps are excellent.”
Leonidas and Abelardus slowed down as the bikes drew even with the guard post, and a man clad in the same pseudo military uniform that Solstice’s androids had worn stepped out.
“The city gates aren’t open for another hour,” he announced.
“We’d like to go out now,” Abelardus said.
The guard looked at him, looked at the gate, then walked back into his booth.
“Are we being ignored or is Abelardus using his brain powers?” Mica asked.
Abelardus smiled back at her and raised a finger to his lips. Next, he grabbed his mask and pulled it up over his face, tightening the straps carefully. A canister on the side would filter out the harmful compounds in the air.
Alisa and Mica did the same. Leonidas’s helmet would filter out the poor air for him. Yumi puttered up behind them and pulled out hers. The bikes settled to the ground as they idled.
“Captain,” Mica said, lowering her voice and leaning toward Alisa, “it might not be a bad idea to drop that staff into one of those swamps. It crossed my mind yesterday when everyone who was strong enough to stop me was out. But then I saw the local news feed where someone was being eaten by a dinosaur.”
“I think someone like Abelardus could find it if it was dropped off somewhere,” Alisa whispered back.
“I don’t want Emperor Markus’s kid wielding it. He’s probably bitter and jaded after losing his entire family.”
“Probably.”
The gate went from translucent to clear as the forcefield dropped. Abelardus waved for the group to follow him as he led the way between the columns. A distant screech greeted them, floating across the dim gray land from the direction of the fungal forest a mile outside the city. Marshes and mud stretched ahead of them, and the road seemed a tiny thread of civilization as it wound between the dark, still pools. It was raised up several feet and shored on either side, but a grenade would easily destroy a section of it. The hover bikes could cross the water, but finding safe landing spots would be hard once one left the road. Alisa remembered the warnings of quick-mud.
“How far to the coordinates, Abelardus?” Alisa asked.
He had paused and was looking back toward the dome, waiting for them.
“About ten miles,” he said, his gaze past her shoulder.
Three spherical gray auto-cameras floated through the gate after them, and they bobbed along cheerfully, shining lights at their group and toward the surrounding landscape as they collected footage. One of them flew past Alisa so close that she had to duck. It got close to Leonidas, circling his helmeted head, inherently knowing a cyborg ought to be good for ratings. Or maybe there was a human in a control room somewhere, telling the cameras what to do.
Leonidas parked his bike and stepped off. The next time the camera came close enough, he snatched it from the air, his hands moving too quickly for it to evade him—though it did try heroically to dart away. It continued trying to escape once he held it, but he smashed it between his armored hands, crushing it as if it were made of the thinnest aluminum. He ground his hands together, doing more than necessary to disable it. Only tiny pieces remained when he was done, littering the ground at his boots like confetti.
“Is our cyborg in a bad mood today?” Mica muttered.
“Yes,” Alisa said, not surprised when Leonidas pulled his rifle off his shoulder and blasted the other two cameras out of the sky. They exploded, pieces scattering into the mud on either side of the road.
Leonidas glared defiantly in the direction of the city gate.
“Think they’ll let us back in later?” Mica asked.
“I don’t know, but we couldn’t let those cameras follow us. I’m sure Abelardus's Starseer buddies don’t want us leading the mafia to their hideout.” Alisa waved toward the road ahead, hoping to escape sight of the city before more cameras were sent out, possibly with security androids to guard them this time.
“Lead the way,” Leonidas told Abelardus, then waved for all of them to go ahead of him. “I’ll take up the rear.”
Alisa looked at him as she floated past on her bike, but his face was unreadable behind his faceplate. He didn’t even meet her eyes, his focus back toward the gate. He was in professional soldier mode again.
She sighed, missing Leonidas-with-the-mask-down, and once again regretted her carelessness the night before. But she had something else to focus on now. She firmed her jaw and hurried to catch up with Abelardus. It was time to finally find Jelena and show her that she still had a home, that she still had a mother who loved her.