by Rachel Ford
“I believe the established norm is to express felicitations on your impending nuptials.”
This might have been the most clinical congratulations I’d ever heard, but I nodded all the same. “Thanks.”
“May I tell you a secret, Katherine?”
“Of course, Syd.”
“My models predicted this as the most likely outcome of your coupling, within a timeframe of one month ago to three months to come.”
“You mean…you thought we’d be engaged sometime in the next three months?”
“Indeed. I had estimated that it might have even happened sooner. I shall update my models to reflect this news, so my predictive algorithms will be that much more accurate. On what date were you engaged, Katherine? And at what time? I do not need the precise minute, so long as it is rounded to the nearest quarter hour.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Maggie was as satisfied with her heat shields as Sydney was with his organizing. “Great job,” she told the battle bot. “Everything looks perfect.”
“I would allow nothing short of perfection,” he confirmed, adding, “within a point-oh-oh-oh-one percent variance, as per the maintenance specifications.”
Once that had been confirmed, and she and Syd went over the details of his time at dock, she turned her attention back to me. “So, we’ve still got a few hours of daylight left. You want to head into the city, and take in some more sights?”
“That sounds nice,” I agreed. “But you know what sounds nicer?”
She shook her head. “What?”
“Heading back to our room.” I wrapped my arms around her neck. “And taking in the sights there.”
She grinned. “Alright. That does sound pretty nice.”
It was. It was better than nice, and I might have stayed there all night if my stomach hadn’t started growling around dinnertime.
Mags was hungry too, and we emerged to eat. Sydney cooked up a tiny feast for the two of us, and at my urging joined us for dinner. He didn’t eat, obviously, but he rolled up beside the table and peppered us with questions about Kriar and Frank’s family.
When we answered, he would respond, “fascinating,” or, “how interesting, I shall update my databanks,” or, “this coincides with my information on the topic.”
“Hey,” I said after dinner to Maggie, “you want to see a movie? We’ve got the rec hall all to ourselves.”
“And,” Sydney added, “the media collection has been freshly organized, to make choosing your selection as easy as possible.”
“Well,” Maggie declared, the ghost of a smile tugging at the corners of her lips, “with a recommendation like that, Mister Sydney, how can I say no?”
Frank did stop by the next day to see us off, and he was all smiles. I grinned at the sight of him. “Well, well. No need to ask how the date went. But – of course – I’m going to. How was it?”
He shook his head. “Good to see you too, Kay. Morning Magdalene.”
“Morning, Frank.”
“Alright, alright. Enough with the pleasantries. I want details, Frank: details,” I said. “How’d it go?”
He pulled a face, as if annoyed, but wasted no time. I suspected he was as eager to talk as I was to listen. “Strange, at first. She showed up with her brother.”
I frowned. “Oh. That’s not a good sign.”
“No. That’s what I thought too. I think it might have been his idea. She was kind of embarrassed by the whole thing.”
“Hmm,” Maggie said. “The over-protective brother. Might spell trouble.”
“Must have been awkward as hell.”
“It was, at first. He acted like he thought it was a family invitation. Made excuses for the father not being there and so on.”
“What did she say about that?”
“Not much. She was embarrassed, like I say, but I don’t think she knew what to expect either.”
“What’d you do?”
He shrugged. “Just went with it. We got dinner, talked. And after a while, things got less awkward.”
“Less awkward is good.”
“Yeah. And then, about halfway through the meal, Kor got a call. I don’t think it was a real call. He had to go.”
“She stayed?”
“Yeah.”
I smiled. “Well, you passed the test, then. They must have decided you weren’t an axe murderer, since the chaperone went home.”
He grinned. “I guess so.”
“So, do you like her? Did you hit it off? Do you have another date?”
“Yes, yes…and yes.”
I clapped and Maggie smiled. “Good job.”
“She’s not as traditional as I would have thought,” he said. “She says she wouldn’t mind seeing something of the galaxy.”
“Sweet.”
“And she was happy for F’rok, too. And F’riya.”
I shook my head. “I don’t know, Frank. Sounds like this one’s a keeper.”
He grinned sheepishly. “She’s awfully cute, too, isn’t she?”
“Damn,” Maggie said. “Frank’s in love.”
“Let’s not go overboard. We’ve been on one date. And she’s still in the middle of dealing with her mom’s death.”
“Meaning,” I declared, “she needs a strong, supportive shoulder to cry on.”
“Someone to be there for her,” Maggie added.
Frank laughed. “Alright, alright. When are you two dumbasses heading out?”
“In about an hour.”
“Well, I’ll see you in two weeks then. Don’t go getting eaten by wild animals.”
“I’ve got my best soldier on the job,” I quipped, patting Maggie’s arm.
“I would be happy to provide additional cover, Katherine,” Sydney put in, “if you are expecting hostile forces.”
Frank took his leave, and we got our final clearances from air control. And, before I knew it, the blue and green orbs of the Kudarian system were specks in the night sky behind us.
Maggie smiled at her station, watching the open space before us with an appreciation that made me smile, too. She loved her ship. She loved being underway. She loved the infinite night and endless promise of the open sky.
And I – I loved her. I loved the way her green eyes sparkled with enthusiasm. I loved the contentment that spread across her features. I loved just studying those features.
We sat for a bit in equanimous silence, each lost to our own thoughts. Then, she glanced up at me. I flushed to be caught watching her, but she smiled. “Hey,” she said.
“Hey.”
“You know what I was thinking, babe?”
I shook my head. “What?”
“I want to take your name, when we get married. I’ll keep mine, too. But I want to be Ellis Landon. If that’s okay with you?”
“Okay?” My heart soared at her words. She wanted to add my name to hers. How could I not be thrilled? “I’d love that, babe. And I’ll take yours too.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I want to. If you’re okay with it?”
She smiled again. “Of course.”
“Good. Then I’ll be Katherine Landon Ellis. And you’ll be Magdalene Ellis Landon.”
She laughed. “We’ll confuse everyone we meet.”
I grinned. “Good. That’ll make it more fun.”
“Yes it will.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
We’d been underway for about three hours when Sydney notified us of the appearance of a set of ships on the sensors.
“Well,” Maggie said, “nothing unusual about that. This is a pretty well-trafficked bit of space.”
“That is true, but they seem to be moving in line with the Black Flag.”
My ears perked up now, too. “Really? How in line?”
“Unless they change their current heading, they are on an intercept course. They will reach the ship in three-quarters of an hour.”
I whistled. “They must be moving quickly.”
�
��They are. Faster than regulations allow, in this sector.”
I frowned at that, and a hint of anxiety clawed at my stomach. It wasn’t unheard of for ships to flout the limits when no one was around to catch them. But directly on our tail? There was a fine line between speeding and chasing, and our mystery ships seemed precipitously close to crossing it.
“Can you read any identification?”
“Negative. Not at this range.”
“Change our heading, Syd,” Maggie decided. “See if they follow.”
“Copy that.” Syd pressed a few buttons, and the console beeped its acceptance of his commands. “I adjusted our heading by two degrees. I will compensate in five minutes to put us back on course.”
“Good. Let me know if they move at all.”
The seconds ticked by slowly, and as they did, I felt the ball of anxiety in my stomach easing. Whoever they were, whatever their hurry, they didn’t seem to be pursuing us after all.
Then, Syd said, “Captain, they’ve adjusted their heading to match ours.”
Shit. We were two humans and a robot, on a ship that ran lean with fifteen to twenty crewmen. If these were pirates, or some manner of hijackers or thieves, there was no way we could outmaneuver them with the tiny complement we had, much less survive a battle. “Should we match their speed?” I wondered. “Try to outrun them?”
Maggie shook her head. “We need to get to somewhere where there’s Union ships. Too bad Kudar airspace is directly behind us.”
“Still no identification?” I asked.
“That is correct.”
“Hail them, Mister Sydney. Let’s see if they pick up.”
“Copy that, Captain.” A few moments of tense silence followed, and then Sydney’s voice sounded with a note of surprise. “They are answering our hail.”
“Put them on the overhead.”
“Copy that.”
“This is Captain Landon, of the Black Flag. To whom am I speaking?”
“This is Captain L’tar ark Guryal, of the KPV-Dreadnaught.”
KPV was verbal shorthand for Kudarian Police Vessel. I frowned. What the…?
Maggie was frowning too. “What can I do for you, Captain?”
“You can drop to a holding position, and prepare to be boarded.”
“What?”
“I have an arrest warrant, Captain, for yourself and the other human onboard.”
Maggie and I exchanged horrified glances. “An arrest warrant? What the hell?”
“Captain,” L’tar said, and his tone was cold, “if you refuse to comply, we will put out a Union-wide APB on you.”
“Syd,” Maggie said, “power down the engines. Captain, we are complying. We’re powering down and waiting for the arrival of your ships. But on what charges are we being arrested?”
“You will know in due course. In the meantime, I expect you to allow my officers to board, and comply with their orders. Otherwise, we will add resisting arrest to your charges.”
The line terminated with an audible click, and Sydney confirmed, “Call terminated.”
“What the hell’s going on?” I wondered, too stunned to offer anything more practical.
“Syd, scan news reports from Kudar,” Maggie said. “See if anything comes up. See if you can pull any APB’s on us. Anything.”
“What do you think it could be?”
“I have no idea, babe.” Her forehead was pulled into a deep frown. “We didn’t break any laws. We followed the undocking procedures exactly. I have no idea at all.”
“No relevant search results, Captain. However, Kudarian-issued arrest warrants are outside of the Union systems if they are processed for internal matters.”
Maggie nodded slowly. “Okay. Look, whatever it is, I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding. We didn’t do anything, so it has to be.”
“If I may make a suggestion,” Sydney said, “perhaps we should contact the Union embassy on Kudar. Whatever the source of this misunderstanding, official representation from a Union advocate will only be to your benefit.”
“That’s a good idea.”
“Thank you. However, I must note that I am not equipped with the Via Robotics Legal Advisory license. Via Robotics makes no guarantees for the accuracy of any legal advice dispensed by a unit without proper licensing.”
Maggie blinked at him. Via Robotics was Sydney’s manufacturer, and they’d hardcoded so many disclaimers into him that he would spout off similar cautions whenever a topic for which he wasn’t licensed to speak came up. “That’s…uh…fine. Just, get the message out, will you? Send them a copy of our call with L’tar, and what we know so far.”
“Copy that, Captain.”
“In the meantime, Kay…I guess we should get ready to be arrested.”
“Let’s call Frank,” I suggested. “He might know more.”
“Good idea,” she agreed. “Sydney, can you hail him?”
After a few minutes of trying, the robot said, “I’m sorry, Magdalene. I cannot reach him. He does not seem to be answering his calls.”
“He’s probably on his date,” I realized. “Dammit.”
Since we’d powered down our own engines, the Dreadnaught and her companion, the KPV-Hammer, overtook us within fifteen minutes. The larger of the two ships, the Dreadnaught, pulled alongside us, anchoring to our gangplank hatch.
I’d given Sydney orders not to interfere. The last thing I wanted was my faithful battle bot to step in, and wind up being destroyed in the process. Whatever was going on here, these were Kudarian police officers, citizens of the Union like ourselves. They would respect our rights, and we would have due process. Any attempts at resisting arrest would only make matters that much worse for us.
So, as the outer seal opened, and a dozen grim-faced, armored Kudarians stormed onto the deck, guns at the ready, I stood calmly in place. As calmly as I could manage with a dozen screaming men pointing guns at my face, anyway. I raised my hands on their orders, and saw Maggie do the same.
My heart was hammering in my chest, and the fact was, I was scared shitless. But I reminded myself that, whatever the problem was, it was a misunderstanding. These were lawmen. It’d be cleared up soon enough. Stay calm.
A pair of giant hands seized one of my wrists, wrenching it down with a painful twist into a set of manacles. A second later, the other was clapped in beside it. “Katherine Ellis, you’re under arrest,” the owner of those hands bellowed.
“On what charges?” I asked. My pulse was racing, and despite my efforts to moderate it, my voice trembled.
“On charges of conspiracy and accessory to murder.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
We’d been slapped in irons and thrown into the Dreadnaught’s brig while a search was conducted on the Black Flag. What they expected – or hoped – to find, neither of us had the slightest idea.
Nor did we know what conspiracy or whose murder we were meant to have been a party to. And it seemed Captain Guryal was in no hurry to fill us in, either.
We remained cuffed and in custody for some time – hours, it seemed, though I could not be certain. My arms ached from the restraints, and my wrists were starting to rub raw from the constant contact.
At least, they’d put Maggie and me in the same cell. That was some comfort. I paced back and forth for a bit. When it became obvious that the Kudarian police were going to take as much time as they felt necessary, she called me over to her.
She was seated on the bare cot. “Hey. Come sit with me.”
I did, perching on the edge of the bed. “What the hell’s going on, Mags?” I could hear the anxiety in my own tone, and I was trying hard to moderate it.
She moved closer, propping her restrained form awkwardly against mine. “I have no idea, babe. But it’s going to be okay. We sent the call to the embassy, remember? Whatever they think we did, we’re innocent. We know that. They’ll figure it out sooner or later.”
“What if…well, what if they’re setting us up?” I whisper
ed. “What if we’re the fall guys for something we don’t even know about?” It was no secret that there were elements of the Kudarian hierarchy that didn’t like humans. What if they’d decided to make an example of us, to ensure no more humans showed up on their shores?
“Hey,” she said again, and her tone was low and gentle. “Don’t think like that, Kay. It’s just a mistake. We’ll figure it out, and be on our way. Maybe even in time for our camping trip.”
I leaned into her, trying to take her words to heart. “I hope you’re right, babe.”
“Me too. Are you alright, Kay?”
I let my head rest against the hollow of her shoulder, by her neck. “I’m fine.”
“Are you really?”
“Just uncomfortable. And…and scared.”
She kissed the top of my head. “Don’t be scared, babe. Whatever happens, you’ll be alright. I’ll see to that.”
I knew she meant it, and I loved her for believing it, but the fact was, Maggie’s hands were as bound as my own. We were both manacled in the brig of an alien police craft, on trumped up charges. We were both in danger, and not even Magdalene Landon could get us out of it. “I love you, Maggie,” I whispered.
“I love you too, Kay.”
The hours turned slowly; so very slowly. After a long stretch, the Dreadnaught’s engines purred to life, and we began to move.
Still, no one came to speak with us. No one came to tell us who we were meant to have killed, or what conspiracy we were supposed to be a part of.
The time dragged on.
I had almost fallen asleep, propped against the wall and Maggie’s shoulder, when I felt the rush of atmospheric descent pull at the ship. “We’re landing.”
She nodded. “Yes. Probably back at Kudar.”
“That’s good,” I decided. “Isn’t it? I mean, it means the embassy’s advocate will know where to find us. And Frank will find out what’s going on. He’ll get to the bottom of it.”
Maggie offered a noncommittal murmur of agreement, and I sat up to look at her.
“You don’t think he will?”
“I don’t know what’s going on, Kay. But…” She trailed off as my expression grew grimmer, and shook her head. “Nevermind. It’s probably crazy.”
