House of Fate

by Barbara Ann Wright

  Judit leaned back in her chair and tried to think. The Damat wouldn’t be able to get close enough to Nocturna’s main transmission gate to get any intel about the ships passing through. The other was still within Nocturna territory but might be less guarded.

  “You cannot be thinking of going in there,” Noal said.

  It would be a hard fight, especially with Nocturna blaming Meridian for the bombings on its homeworld. “What gates are closest to the one two days from Nocturna Prime?” she asked. “Where could they be jumping to?”

  Roberts pulled up the gate system and sent it to her console. There were three gates closest to the targeted destination and four closest to the Nocturna main gate. And an infinite number of other gates farther away from either point. But smaller ships couldn’t go forever, especially not one that seemed smaller than Antiles’s ship. It would need to restock fuel and provisions regularly. It couldn’t hold much water. The air reclamators would need to go offline to be cleaned. There was a reason people used larger ships for longer journeys. They had redundant systems so one could be shut down for maintenance, and the ship could keep running.

  “How far could both of those ships get before they needed to stop for supplies?” she asked.

  Roberts turned in his chair. “Depends on the size of the crew. Fewer people would equal a greater distance.”

  “Not necessarily,” Beatrice said. “A smaller crew would have to go off duty more often. Someone’s got to drive the ship.”

  “Well,” Roberts said, “with automated systems—”

  Judit held up a hand. “I’m just looking for some possibilities so I can find the love of my life, if you please.”

  They both turned back to their consoles. “I can come up with some possibilities,” Roberts said. “But if we could get closer to either of the gates and collect more data about which ships went through recently and where they were going, it would help.”

  And they wouldn’t have to go into Nocturna territory to get information. They could get data from the gate network itself, but the closer they were to their target gate, the better. But first, Judit would have to pick a ship to follow. Their two suspects seemed to be headed in opposite directions.

  Judit looked at the scans again, studying each ship. Odds were good that Annika was on one, and she’d said that if she had to escape on another ship, she’d leave Nocturna territory as quickly as possible. And the one heading away from Nocturna was going slower. It would be easier to catch. “Let’s focus on the ship that left for the farther gate.”

  “You got it, Boss,” Roberts said.

  Judit went to her office to wait while Beatrice took them toward the nearest gate, and Roberts fiddled with the numbers. It was a long bit of waiting, of searching. Nocturna had become a stirred-up hornet’s nest, and Beatrice reported several times that they needed to hide from Nocturna warships. Judit didn’t want to be drawn into a firefight.

  At last, after several long, tedious hours of picking over data that had already been picked over, Judit went to the bridge again. They’d found several ships on long-range scans that fit the specs Antiles had given them. It wasn’t long before they’d narrowed that down to one that fit exactly. When Judit compared it to the shot Antiles captured, it seemed like a match.

  “They can’t have a crew over five,” Evie said. “And it’s got one cannon, but nothing to compare with the Damat.”

  “They’re not talking,” Roberts said. “And they must know we’re here.”

  And Annika would be hailing the Damat if she was in charge. “You’re sure their comm is working?”

  He shook his head.

  “Well, they’re not slowing or turning to meet us,” Beatrice said. “And they’re too small for us to dock with, even with the shuttle. If they want us to go somewhere, they’ll have to find a way to send a signal.”

  And Annika would have thought of such a thing. She’d told Judit she’d find a way to damage the engines and leave a trail.

  “Try another hail,” she said as they got closer. The crew might not even know Annika was aboard; they might be anyone going anywhere. Maybe if she got them to talk to her, she could bully them into stopping.

  “No response,” Roberts said.

  Judit waited to see if the ship would change heading or speed, but it did neither, simply continuing its original, leisurely course.

  “Bring us in closer,” Judit said.

  When the Damat loomed over the smaller ship, it kept the same course. Its speed was even more curious now, cruising along in no particular hurry. It put Judit in mind of animals who ambled through life because they were either too tough to kill, or no one could stand their taste.

  Noal joined them on the bridge, and Judit filled him in. “I’m thinking trap,” he said.

  “Of course you are. Everyone here thinks everything is a trap. If that ship was going to blow up or something, shouldn’t it have done so by now? If they wanted us to come aboard, wouldn’t they have made it easier?”

  Judit went through possible scenarios. They could disable the engines, but with a ship so small, any shot might blow it to bits. She studied the view of it on her screen. She could see the airlock door on the side, but they had no umbilical to connect to it.

  “If I got onto that hull, I could cut in through the airlock,” Judit said.

  Noal stared as if she was crazy. “If you got on the hull? How do you propose to do that?”

  “Big cutter from engineering would cut through,” Evie said. “Slice the bolts holding the door closed, then you could seal it behind you with a maglock.”

  Judit nodded. “I’ll have to jump from the shuttle. I’ll get suited up.”

  A chorus of murmurs erupted. “You can’t, Jude!” Noal said.

  “Can’t storm in to save the woman I love? Sounds like ‘have to do it’ territory to me.”

  “It’s crazy!”

  “If they’ve got Annika—”

  “Then they’ll have both of you? How is that better?”

  “Fine, come along if you want, but I’m not sending a team over there, then waiting here for news. I don’t care if it’s stupid. I can’t sit around and do nothing but think about my dead father!”

  Everyone fell silent, but Noal continued to glare. Judit turned from the bridge.

  “Wait!” Evie said.

  Judit turned back with a sigh, lining up arguments in her head.

  “I’ve got a Nocturna warship entering the system,” Evie said. “Contact in twenty minutes.”

  Judit felt the blood drain from her face. That far out, they wouldn’t be able to tell anything about the ship until it got closer, just that the signal it was putting out was all Nocturna and all business. And Judit didn’t know whether they were tracking this ship or if it was bad luck.

  “We’ll have to hurry,” Judit said.

  “Jude, no!” Noal said. “We have to get out of here.”

  At her slow pace, the smaller ship couldn’t outrun the Damat, but Judit would have to get over there and back before the Nocturna ship caught up. “Bea, you’re my pilot. Evie, cover us with the Damat’s cannon. Get Browning up here on the helm.”

  “Are you really doing this?” Beatrice asked, staring at Judit as if she was mad, but she stood anyway.

  “I’m getting aboard that ship one way or another.”

  “Not without me,” Evie said. “Slattery can cover tactical on the Damat. I’m going with you.”

  Judit was about to argue, but Evie shook her head, more serious than Judit had ever seen her, and she was serious most of the time.

  “I’m going to watch your back, Boss,” Evie said. “It’s my right.”

  Judit couldn’t argue with that. And maybe two could get the job done faster than one. She nodded and started out of the bridge, Beatrice and Evie with her.

  Noal followed on their heels. “This plan is very stupid.”

  “It’s simple. The shuttle’s going to get close to that ship. Evie and I are going to j
ettison over there in evosuits and cut our way in.”

  “It’s insane.”

  “So is love.”

  He stayed on her heels, trying to edge in front of her with a frown in place. “I can’t let you do it.”

  “Better than staying here and crying on your shoulder again.”

  “Don’t pull that shit on me. Making me feel sorry for you is not going to put me off. Let Evie go alone.”

  She glanced at Evie, who didn’t add anything. Apparently, she was happy just to be a member of the party.

  “I can go with her,” Beatrice said. “Any of us would risk our lives for you, Jude.”

  Judit gave Beatrice a proud, embarrassed smile. “Thank you, really. But I have to go. I love her, Noal. I can’t wait while someone else goes to help her.”

  He snorted. “I’m surprised she’s not in charge of that ship already. Well, I’m coming with you on the shuttle.” When she looked at him in surprise, he held his hands up. “Don’t worry. I’m not going on the wacky, suicide portion of the mission. I’m making sure you get on your way safely and land on that ship. Then I’ll be waiting with Beatrice to pick your sorry asses up.”

  She laughed. “Our sorry asses will be very happy to see you.”

  “Definitely,” Evie added.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Annika felt the ship tremble around her. It was the second rumble within moments. She supposed the ship could be going through a debris field or something, but why wouldn’t they go around it? No, it had to be weapons fire.

  She hoped it was Judit and then cursed the fact that she couldn’t do anything to help. She paced up and down her hallway, and when an alarm sounded, she pressed her ear to the sealed door. It was a shrill alarm, the kind that promoted utmost urgency. Something had breached the hull, probably a shot. Emergency doors would be coming down, but since she didn’t feel a change in air pressure, her door provided protection. Her mother wouldn’t want the prize damaged, after all.

  Annika went back to the medbay and searched it for the hundredth time. She’d already looked in every nook and cranny. She’d pried up anything she could. She’d taken the doors off cabinets and tipped the bed over. Didn’t the designers of medbays ever think the patients might have to sneak out? What if this ship was under attack, and one of the crew managed to lock herself in the medbay? She’d be trapped!

  But then, no ship was equipped with secret passages and bolt-holes. She told herself that if she ever built a ship, she’d make sure she could get out of every room. But then any prisoners could escape. Ah well, it was better to kill one’s enemies than take them prisoner anyway.

  Annika turned to the small camera she’d found while searching for secret conduits. She’d covered it already, but no one had come. Maybe if she made them think their safety door had failed? Would that make them send someone? She could start a fire by breaking open the camera and stuffing instaskin around the wires, but if no one noticed, she’d die of smoke inhalation. A mortifying thought.

  As she was about to make another trip up and down the hall, she heard a clank from near the sealed door. Someone was coming. From inside the medbay, she didn’t have time to get into an ambush position in the hall, so she crouched behind the overturned bed.

  “I don’t care what he says, I’m not dying for this,” someone said from the hall. “If you want to fight that maniac, go ahead.”

  Which maniac, Annika didn’t know, but she’d soon find out. The door made another noise, but she couldn’t tell if someone shut it or not. She heard slow footsteps. They were being cautious.

  As if that would help them.

  “Come out,” the same voice said. “We know you’re loose.”

  But Annika wasn’t going to make it easy. She stayed silent and peeked around the edge of the bed. The barrel of a pistol came into the medbay first, followed by an arm. Annika readied her bone stiletto, and as soon as she saw a head, she threw.

  The body collapsed. Annika was up and running before it hit the ground. She heard a gasp from a second person as she dove for the weapon. The deep thrum of a pistol filled the small space. Annika twisted and tried to curl away, but the edge of the blast clipped her arm, burning the curve of her bicep like acid. She cried out, the door splashing with blood as a feeling like fire rolled from her arm and across her core. She clenched the pistol she’d captured and slid toward the bandages strewn across the floor. A shadow leaned into the doorway, and she fired two shots. Someone scrambled back, cursing.

  Annika tore the bandages open with her teeth and fixed them over the shoulder, covering her clothing too as she tried to staunch the bleeding. They hadn’t left her any painkillers, but she slowed her breathing and tried to focus, picturing the pain rolling through her body and out her feet, leaving her behind.

  She could still feel her arm, could move her fingers, though it was agonizing. She didn’t think the shot had hit bone, but it had definitely sloughed off skin, maybe all the way to the muscle. She wouldn’t be using her left arm for a while, but that was all right. She was equally good with the right.

  “Come…come out,” a shaky voice said.

  “That didn’t work for the other guard, and it won’t work for you,” Annika replied, hearing a tremor in her voice and swallowing to try to get rid of it. She wondered if she had time to put on instaskin but didn’t think her new friend would leave her alone that long. “And now I have a pistol.” Her stiletto was still in the body, but she’d get it back soon enough.

  “S…so?” the voice asked.

  “So, throw your gun in here, then step into the door with your hands up, and I won’t hurt you.”

  “I hurt you already! I can see your blood on the floor.”

  “This is a medbay, friend. I’ve fixed your little love bite.”

  A few heartbeats went by, and Annika heard the clatter of feet. The woman was running for the heavy door. Annika leapt up and sped after, ignoring the throbbing in her arm and the woozy feeling trying to take over her head. The woman rapped on the door in a complicated pattern, and as the door eased open, Annika gained speed.

  The woman turned, mouth open, eyes wide as she tried to bring her pistol to bear, but Annika was on her quicker than that, pushing her through the door. Annika fired at the one face she saw when the door opened, turning it into mist. She fell on top of the woman, jarring her injured arm, but she went with the pain, turning it into useful anger that drove her head forward to crack the guard between the eyes.

  The guard grunted and went limp, her eyelids fluttering. Annika pushed up and knocked the other pistol away. The guard shook her head and blinked. She gasped at the headless body, but before she could react further, Annika pointed the pistol at her face.

  “Prove your usefulness, or you’re joining him.”

  With a grunt, the guard slumped, breathing hard, eyes unblinking. “What do you want?”

  “Is someone firing on this ship?”

  She nodded.

  “Who?”

  “I…don’t know.”

  “Like the dark you don’t.”

  “I’m just a hire! No one tells me anything.”

  “Hired to do what?”

  “Make sure you don’t get out of that hallway. They said you were dangerous.”

  And maybe she hoped to flatter or maybe not, but Annika didn’t move. “So, you aren’t useful?”

  Her eyes went wide. “I can show you to an escape pod!”

  “I’d rather see the bridge. Get me past any checkpoints, and you might stay alive.” Though Annika would have preferred to find her own way, Feric and her mother would have good security. But they might not predict that Annika would use someone to help her. Nocturnas killed whoever was in their way and sorted everything out afterward.

  The guard nodded hurriedly, and Annika stepped back so she could get up. Annika bent and retrieved the other pistol, then waved for the guard to face the wall for a quick pat down. Her arm throbbed, but Annika breathed the pain away. The guard di
dn’t resist, but Annika knew she had to be working on a plan to escape. Who wouldn’t be?

  “What’s your name?” Annika asked.

  “Melise.”

  “What house?”

  “None. I’m…none.”

  So she probably had been at one time, and she’d left. Not Blood, then, at least not that Annika could recognize. “Where is this ship going?”

  “I’m not the pilot.”

  She probably knew, but Annika didn’t have time to sort through any lies. And whoever was firing on them wouldn’t let them get there anyway. If it was Judit, the faster Annika could take the ship, the better. “Come on.”

  She marched Melise back to the medbay and made her wait while she put instaskin under the bandages. She forced herself to look at the injury and assess it. Part of her muscle had been exposed, and the instaskin kept wanting to slide off. With the bandages, Annika finally got it to stay in place, and the bleeding stopped, though the pain was still very much there.

  Melise watched her with wide eyes, her pale skin a little green.

  “What?” Annika said. “Don’t like the look of your handiwork?”

  “I’ve never seen someone put their arm back together before.”

  “It’s not as bad as it looks.” She flexed her fingers, clenching her teeth through the pain, trying to seem as if she wasn’t as wounded as she was. She couldn’t have Melise thinking her left side could be used against her.

  “Bridge,” Annika said, gesturing with the pistol. “And on the way, you can tell me about any security this boat has.”

  * * *

  Inside the Damat’s shuttle, Judit and Evie donned evosuits. Larger and bulkier than a pressure suit, the evosuits were better equipped to handle the cold of space. They included a backpack with air jets as well as a full oxygen tank. On the wide, bulky belt, Judit strapped a hand scanner and a pistol. Evie donned a pistol as well as several grenades. Judit looked crossways at the large weapons. If she punched a hole in the ship…

  Evie saw her looking and shrugged. “You never know.”