by Ben Wolf
He strode over to them and read yet another “Employees Only” notice emblazoned on the doors in bold red paint. Keontae was already in the system, working his magic, and the doors opened upon Justin’s approach.
The inside of the room was dark except for the faint green glow of a screen on a console near a viewing window. Justin stole over to it, crouched down, and pressed his metal hand against it.
Keontae dashed back into his fingers. The screen reverted to a bluish color and displayed a diagram of the science ship that had just entered, which was apparently named the Persimmon.
[Take a look at that, JB,] Keontae said.
Justin rose a bit higher to get a better view.
The diagram showed significant damage to the rear portion of the ship, which made sense if pirates had been chasing them. But the extent of the damage surprised Justin. Parts of the ship were seared black from something scorching its hull, and chunks of it were missing entirely.
Either they’d gotten lucky, or the ship really was as beastly as Keontae had described. Whatever they’d survived had certainly tried to take them down but failed.
Justin reached up to try to make the image zoom in, but as he did, Keontae loosed a warning in Justin’s mind.
[JB, behind you!]
A hand clamped over Justin’s mouth from behind, and another jammed something hard into his lower back—possibly a plasma repeater.
Then a voice hissed into his ear, “Don’t move a muscle.”
Justin froze.
8
Even though the command came at him as a harsh whisper, it felt familiar. Something about the cadence of the speech, the way the guy enunciated the words… he knew that voice.
“I’m not gonna hurt you,” the voice said in hushed tones, “unless you scream or yell, so stay quiet. Crystal?”
Justin gave a slight nod.
When the hand finally loosed from around Justin’s mouth, he slowly turned back. From out of the shadows of the room emerged Arlie Bush, first officer of the Viridian.
But it wasn’t her voice Justin had heard. He peered into the darkness some more until Captain Marlowe showed himself as well.
[Not cool,] Keontae said. [Thought you were about to get shivved by an Ikari.]
Justin ignored Keontae’s comment. “What are you two doing here?”
“Could ask you the same thing,” Arlie countered.
“I was curious about the ship,” Justin said.
“Which one?” Captain Marlowe asked.
Justin blinked at him. “Huh?
“The rig, the Nidus, or the science vessel?”
“Oh. The science vessel. And the rig, too, I guess. And also the Nidus is pretty interesting, so all three.”
Arlie was still pointing her plasma repeater at him.
“Uh… you mind putting that away?”
Her voice flat, Arlie responded, “Yes.”
“A little corporate espionage, then?” Captain Marlowe suggested.
“What? No,” Justin asserted. “Why does everyone always think I’m spying on stuff? I don’t know anything about that.”
“Figured you might still be on ACM’s payroll after all,” Captain Marlowe said. “Sent here to look into what Farcoast has going on with the Coalition and their joint venture.”
“No. No chance.” Justin shook his head.
[Man, stop answerin’ him,] Keontae warned. [His lady’s got a gun on you. Say the wrong thing and you’re just a red stain in this office.]
“You just admitted you were interested in the Nidus,” Captain Marlowe countered.
“Yeah, but not like that,” Justin said.
“Then what is it like?”
“Well, I just wanted to be friends, not go steady with the ship or anything.”
Neither Captain Marlowe nor Arlie gave so much as a chuckle.
[Further proof that your jokes aren’t funny, my dude,] Keontae said.
Justin wanted to tell him to shut up but restrained himself. Instead, he said, “Just curious. I’m good with computers. Wanted to see what their security is like.”
“And now we know why you got in trouble back at ACM’s mine.”
“No. Not the same thing,” Justin said.
[Ehhhhh… it kinda is, though, JB.]
“Definitely different. Way different,” Justin added to address both Captain Marlowe and Keontae.
“And what about the rig?” Arlie asked.
“Was gonna see if any of the repairs got started.”
“In the early hours of the morning?” Captain Marlowe challenged.
“Well, no. I saw the science vessel coming in for a landing. That’s what drew me here,” Justin admitted.
Captain Marlowe looked at Arlie, and she looked at him. Without saying a word or even so much as blinking, they somehow communicated with each other and both faced Justin again at the same time. Then Arlie’s plasma repeater lowered.
“We saw it, too,” Captain Marlowe said. “Saw it was damaged. Good thing it came in when it did. Now the Nidus can keep it quiet.”
“Why would they want to do that?” Justin asked.
“Because the damage on that ship didn’t come from pirates,” Captain Marlowe replied.
“You know about the pirates, too?” Justin asked.
“Yes, except like I said, there were no pirates.” Captain Marlowe folded his strong arms across his chest, and Justin caught a glint of the chrome ring tattooed on his ring finger, just like Arlie’s. He’d never noticed it before. “That damage is from an antimatter weapon. Probably a missile. Pirates don’t have that kind of weaponry—at least, I’ve never heard of any that do.”
“If it wasn’t pirates, who was it?”
“Only ships that carry antimatter missiles are warships—actual, bona fide warships—and they’re technically not supposed to have ’em either.”
Justin’s eyes widened. “Really?”
“Think about it, kid.” Captain Marlowe numbered his points on his fingers. “If pirates wanted the ship for the ship’s sake, they’d try to board it and capture it instead of shooting it down. Even if they were after something aboard the ship, they wouldn’t risk blowing it up for fear of losing the treasure.”
“But a warship would?”
“Warships have better tech than most pirate vessels. They can calculate their attacks better, they hit their targets more frequently and more accurately, and they generally deliver all sorts of precision ass-kicking that a pirate ship cobbled together from spare parts couldn’t even dream of.”
“I see,” Justin said. And ACM and the other huge mining companies had countless warships spread across the galaxy, all of them ready for all-out war at a moment’s notice. It was a miracle the human race still existed at all.
“Point being,” Captain Marlowe stopped counting his fingers, “whoever or whatever was after them is bad news, and if it tracks them here, we could all be in a world of hurt really soon.”
Justin decided then not to mention his run-ins with the Ikari. That probably wouldn’t bode well for him or the rest of the rig-runners, and Captain Marlowe and Arlie didn’t need to know about it. It wasn’t any of their business anyway, and Justin had already handled it, so what did it matter?
“It’s clear they wanted something, but I dunno what it is,” Captain Marlowe continued. “Or, at least, I won’t know until I get on the science vessel and find out.”
Justin’s eyebrows rose. Captain Marlowe intended to board the ship? And, what? Just have a casual look around with Arlie like a couple searching for a new apartment to rent?
“How’re you gonna get there?” Justin asked.
“Miracle of the good Lord above,” Captain Marlowe said. “Or magicking of days long since passed. Take your pick.”
“We were going to borrow employee uniforms and sneak aboard,” Arlie said.
Captain Marlowe said nothing else, but his face ever so slightly betrayed that she’d ruined his fun.
“What are you hopi
ng to find?” Justin asked.
“Having good intel is crucial to winning the battle, at best, or at the worst, surviving,” Captain Marlowe said. “The point is, if I can figure out who or what is coming for them and why, I can position us to get out of here, perhaps with a little bit of profit, too, if it all lines up nicely.”
“As in, you’d steal whatever’s aboard the ship?” Justin shook his head. “Don’t you think whoever’s following them could turn around and find us and the rig, too?”
“Don’t get too far ahead,” Arlie said. “We don’t even know there is anything of value on the science vessel.”
“Hence the need to do more research.” Captain Marlowe nodded toward the window. “But now that you’re here, the mission’s compromised, and we’ll have to abort, regroup, and try again later.”
Justin looked through the window and saw a hovercraft full of people drifting toward them, and he ducked out of reflex.
“Easy, kid,” Captain Marlowe said. “It’s mirrored glass on the outside. They can’t see in here.”
“Oh. Right.” Justin straightened up again. “Well, since they’re leaving, can’t you get over to the ship now?”
Arlie shook her head. “Cameras. The patch we dropped into the system won’t last long enough. We could get in okay, but we’d be seen getting out.”
“Oh, well… I can figure out—”
[Careful, JB,] Keontae’s voice interrupted. [Better if I stay unknown, right?]
“—why that would frustrate you,” Justin finished. Keontae was still a secret, as were his powers to shut off the cameras.
They both eyed him, particularly Captain Marlowe, but neither of them said anything.
“I still think it’s worth the risk of being seen,” Arlie said. “If something wicked this way comes, we don’t want to be anywhere near the Nidus when it arrives.”
“Then you go and do it.” Captain Marlowe turned to her.
Arlie’s stare could’ve torn a space station in half. Through gritted teeth, she said, “Fine. I will.”
With that, she tucked her repeater in the back of her waistband and stood.
“You’re serious?” Captain Marlowe looked down at her.
Justin peered through the window again, unsure if the hovercraft had passed them by yet or not.
“What are they gonna do if they catch me?” Arlie challenged. “I’ll say I’m checking on our ship if anyone finds me.”
“That’s a good way to get shot out of an airlock.” Captain Marlowe shook his head and stood. “I think we should abort.”
“No,” Arlie said, resolute. “You told me to go. Practically gave me an order. So I’m going.”
“I was being—”
“I know what you were being, Enix.”
Captain Marlowe’s mouth clamped shut, and he and Arlie stared at each other for a long time in stone-cold silence.
[This is awkward,] Keontae muttered.
“Should I… go?” Justin asked.
[You should definitely go,] Keontae said.
“No,” both Captain Marlowe and Arlie said in unison, but neither of them turned toward Justin.
“Oh… kay,” he said quietly, and the silence persisted another moment.
[Didn’t she say the cameras would only be out for so long?] Keontae asked.
Good point, but Justin wasn’t about to bring it up.
“We’re both going,” Captain Marlowe finally said. “We need you to stay here as a lookout.”
With his eyes still locked on Arlie, he pulled something out of one of his pockets and tossed it to Justin, who caught it.
It looked like a flesh-toned bean, but it was solid and not otherwise bean-like at all. “Uh…”
“It’s an earpiece. Two-way, single-channel comms on an isolated frequency.” Now Captain Marlowe broke his staring contest with Arlie and looked down at Justin. “Left or right ear. Doesn’t matter. Talk normally. It’ll pick up your voice specifically once it’s calibrated.”
“Okay… what if I want it to pick up other voices?” Justin asked. “Like if I’m overhearing something?”
Now Arlie looked at him, too. “Like what?”
Justin shrugged. “Maybe a classical aria, or some spoken word poetry?”
They stared at him with the same intensity they’d just been staring at each other.
“I mean, I could also keep those types of things to myself.”
“If you feel inclined to share, tap the earpiece while it’s in your ear and it’ll pick up more. You’ll have to tap it again to recalibrate it to your voice again,” Captain Marlowe said. “So share wisely. Last thing I want to hear is spoken word poetry.”
“Keep watch,” Arlie said. “Let us know if someone’s coming.”
Justin stood up and pressed the earpiece into his ear. “Sure.”
Captain Marlowe clapped him on his shoulder. “We know we can trust you. Otherwise we wouldn’t have made you rig chief. And I’m not regretting that decision. Probably not, anyway. I guess we’ll see.”
In light of all that had happened in the last day, Justin had completely forgotten about his promotion. It hadn’t mattered as much to him when he was dueling Quan, or jumping across the rooftops trying to escape the Ikari’s wrath, or sending a dozen of them cascading off the edge of a seven-story building.
“I won’t let you down,” Justin said with more confidence than he felt. But when he considered it again, they weren’t asking him to do much—just to let them know if anyone came in and headed toward the ship. “I can definitely handle this.”
“Wouldn’t be much good if you couldn’t,” Arlie mumbled.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Justin said.
“Tap your earpiece,” Captain Marlowe said. “Make sure it works.”
Justin tapped it. “Can you hear me?”
A faint voice in his ear said, “Vocal calibration complete.”
“Try again,” Captain Marlowe said.
“Can you hear me now?”
“Yes. Alright. We’re going. It’s terrible timing, but we’re going.” Captain Marlowe locked eyes with Arlie again, and then the two of them headed for the door.
Once it closed and Justin could see them going, he headed over to the console and pointed to it with the index finger of his robotic hand.
[You want me in there?] Keontae asked.
Justin nodded. He didn’t want to get caught talking to Keontae over the earpiece.
[I’m guessin’ you want me to see about the cameras?]
Justin nodded again. He touched the console with his metal hand, and Keontae vibrated into it.
Captain Marlowe’s and Arlie’s forms shrank smaller and smaller as they ventured farther and farther away. Their dynamic weirded Justin out. He never knew if they were going to throw down for a fight or throw off their clothes for a f—
A series of images appeared around the perimeter of the window in front of him, which he then realized was also a screen. All of them glowed green around the edges—probably Keontae’s way of showing Justin he had control of the camera feeds.
Most of them showed Captain Marlowe and Arlie progressing toward the science vessel, but two others showed the entrance to the docking bay, both the exterior of the doors and those same doors from the interior.
“I got the screens in here working,” Justin said in a hushed tone. “I’m watching the camera feeds.”
“You can talk at a normal volume, Justin,” Captain Marlowe said. “I told him that, right? I definitely said that to him.”
“Sorry,” Justin said, still in that same hushed tone. Then he repeated it, but louder. “Sorry.”
And that’s when he saw her onscreen—a young blonde woman approaching the exterior door with one of the Farcoast soldiers aboard a smaller hovercraft—some sort of hoverbike. He dismounted and approached the control panel.
“Enix!” Justin yelped.
“I told you to talk at a normal volume, kid,” Captain Marlowe growled.
“Someone’s about to open the docking bay doors!” Justin said it with as much energy but far less volume.
“Shit. Give me details.”
“One soldier and one woman. She looks like she might be from the science vessel,” Justin said.
“The science vessel is sealed. Can’t get in quick enough,” Captain Marlowe said. “We’re taking cover in the rig. Let us know when we’re clear.” Then he added, “I knew we should’ve aborted.”
Justin could barely see that far with his naked eyes, but the camera feeds showed them creeping aboard the rig via the boarding ramp. He glanced to another screen and saw the docking bay doors opening at the same time.
The soldier remounted the hoverbike and urged it into the docking bay. Their trip to the science vessel took less than a quarter of the time it had taken Captain Marlowe and Arlie to reach the pair of ships.
When they got there, the woman dismounted the hoverbike and lowered the science vessel’s boarding ramp while the soldier stayed put. Then she went inside.
She returned a few minutes later carrying a knapsack of some sort. Just some forgotten piece of luggage. The soldier nodded, and the woman, whose face Justin had finally gotten a good look at, climbed onto the hoverbike again.
Justin liked what he saw. She was pretty—like, really pretty, especially for a scientist—with blonde hair and light-colored eyes, either blue or green. She wore brown trousers and a baggy dark-blue sweater made of some sort of heathered fabric. Her clothes didn’t look new, but they weren’t old grubby work clothes like what Justin was accustomed to seeing aboard the rig every day, either. It all looked good on her.
The hoverbike looped around and headed back toward the docking bay doors, but Justin realized she’d left the science vessel’s boarding ramp down—wide open for Captain Marlowe and Arlie. It was perfect.
“Good news, guys,” Justin said. “They’re leaving, and they left the ramp down. You can just walk right in.”
“When they’re out of the bay and the doors are shut, let me know,” Captain Marlowe said.
A moment later, the docking bay doors shut behind the hoverbike. “All clear.”
Captain Marlowe and Arlie trickled out of the rig, dashed across to the science vessel, and clambered inside.
