End Game

by Lindsay Buroker

  “I do not,” Abelardus said stiffly.

  “I want those shields down. Permanently.” Alisa glanced at the sensors and grimaced, both at the armada of ships waiting near the rift and at the two quickly cutting the distance between them and the Nomad. “Why couldn’t my mother have gotten a fast freighter? A nice smuggling ship, perhaps.”

  “Shields are down,” Leonidas said, firing.

  “You’re welcome,” Abelardus said.

  “Disable that ship, please,” Alisa said.

  Young-hee appeared in the hatchway, slid inside, and stood next to Abelardus. Without opening his eyes, he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her against him. She did not object, though she wore an extremely worried frown as she eyed the mining ship on the view screen.

  Leonidas fired again, thrums going through the ship and the lights flickering as the e-cannons drew power. His blasts struck the transport ship head on despite the crazy spins and gyrations Alisa was putting the Nomad through.

  A blast of orange and yellow appeared on the camera, and a beep came from the proximity alarm. Only when shrapnel pinged off the shields did Alisa realize the ship had been more than disabled. As the light of the explosion disappeared, she gaped at the wreck that remained, the entire front half blown up.

  “Is it dead?” Jelena whispered.

  It. As if there hadn’t been people aboard.

  Alisa swallowed and bit back the accusation that formed on her tongue, that she had wanted it disabled, not destroyed. Yes, these people were out here trying to overthrow the government—her government—and that made them criminals, if their mafia connections hadn’t already accomplished that, but it was hard to condemn them without knowing them. She and the Alliance had once been considered criminals too. To the empire. More practically, she had just declared war on a lot of powerful ships, and she had absolutely no backup out here.

  “Here’s the drug,” Yumi said, trotting into the room.

  “Right here.” Alisa held out her hand. If she wasn’t able to convince Tymoteusz to capture her ship—while keeping them alive—then they needed to be ready to run fast and pray hard. It might be far too late for that. Henneberry might have let them go before they had blown up one of her allies, but now?

  Alisa licked the bitter powder that Yumi poured into her hand, swallowing more of a dose than she had the last time she had used it. She hoped there weren’t any side effects that would affect her ability to think. Or that would kill her.

  Scowling at the taste, she reached for the comm controls, but she paused. “How long does it need to kick in?”

  “Not long,” Yumi said, passing doses to Leonidas, Young-hee, and Abelardus. “Give it five minutes.”

  “We don’t have five minutes,” Alisa said, glancing at the sensor display. The two new ships would be in firing range in a minute. Already, they were veering apart, moving to surround her.

  “Do I give any to Jelena?” Yumi asked.

  Jelena wrinkled her nose dubiously at the powder. Alisa hesitated. Jelena wouldn’t know her plan, most likely, but if she was determined to get Thorian back, that would be in conflict with what Alisa was going to tell Tymoteusz.

  “Remember the way he controlled the soldiers on the asteroid base,” Leonidas warned.

  “I haven’t forgotten.” Alisa nodded toward Yumi. “Give it to her. And everyone else on the ship too.”

  “I don’t want any,” Jelena said, shying away from Yumi’s extended hand.

  “You have to, sweetie.” Alisa smiled and patted her shoulder as she changed course, doing her best to continue toward the mining ship while evading the mafia vessels’ attempts at surrounding her. “It’ll help us get Thorian. Tymoteusz is too powerful for us to face without trickery. But if he knows we’re tricking him it won’t work.”

  Jelena curled her lip and made no move to take any of the powder. She might have sensed how distasteful Alisa found the stuff. Understandable that she wouldn’t want to try it, but there wasn’t time for bargaining and wheedling right now. She opened her mouth to use her stern mom-voice, but Leonidas spoke first.

  “If you lick some of that powder,” he said, “I’ll put stickers on my armor.”

  Alisa snorted, not expecting that to work—Jelena had been dubious throughout that conversation, after all. Leonidas didn’t look like he expected the offer to influence her either. He gave Alisa an I-tried shrug.

  “What kind of stickers?” Jelena asked.

  “Andromeda Android?” Leonidas suggested, even though Alisa was positive he hadn’t seen the cartoon before. He had been paying attention though. Good man.

  “Kittens,” Jelena said.

  “What?” he asked.

  “Only kittens could make you less scary. Lots of kittens.”

  Judging by the horrified expression on Leonidas’s face, he knew he had made a mistake. But he nodded and extended a gauntleted hand. “It’s a deal.”

  Jelena hesitated, but licked the powder straight out of Yumi’s hand.

  Alisa smacked her forehead. Yumi looked bemused but did not flinch away.

  Jelena grasped Leonidas’s hand. “Deal.”

  “Good,” Alisa said, bumping Jelena’s shoulder with her hand. “You can start shopping for stickers for him as soon as we rescue Thorian.”

  “On the way to ride horses,” Jelena said.

  “Seems like a reasonable time.” The closest ship fired at the Nomad, and Alisa put both hands on the controls again, launching into evasive moves. “Yumi, drugs for everyone else, please.”

  “On my way.”

  Alisa programmed the comm to raise the mining ship. The two ships trying to gang up on her might be civilian ships rather than military vessels, but as with the last one, their hulls appeared reinforced, and numerous weapons had been installed since they left the factory.

  Blazer fire pelted the back of the Nomad’s shields.

  The comm flashed, letting her know of an interior message coming through as the ship tried to contact the mining vessel.

  “Not now, Mica,” Alisa said, certain her engineer wanted to know what she had gotten them into.

  The exterior channel opened. The mining ship.

  Alisa took a deep breath, wondering if Tymoteusz would answer or if it would be one of his minions. Or one of the miners or whoever else was on that ship.

  “What are you doing here, woman?” a male voice asked, sending a shiver through Alisa. Tymoteusz. “I let you live before. Twice. Why do you continue to follow me? To attempt to interfere with my plans?”

  “I thought it was time for a family chat, Uncle,” she said, hoping vainly that the familial connection would mean something. She wasn’t sure she believed he had intentionally spared her in that asteroid collapse—she would have been crushed into a pancake if not for her armor—but he definitely had back on Arkadius.

  “Is that so,” he said, sarcasm dripping from the words.

  “With Stanislav dead, you’re my only choice,” she said, praying to the sun trinity that he couldn’t read her thoughts.

  “Stan isn’t dead, woman.” The sarcasm had shifted to derision.

  Hells, had it been foolish to think he wouldn’t know? After all, Jelena had been certain Thorian was still alive. True, that might only be wishful thinking on her part, but it could also indicate that Starseers could bond and sense each other across impossible distances.

  “He has to be,” Alisa said, putting a puzzled note in her voice. “We left him behind on Sepiron Station, fighting the Alliance. I saw the station blow up. He made time so we could escape. He sacrificed himself, because he wanted me to be able to get my daughter. Your grandniece.”

  She looked at Jelena, hating to bring her up, but she couldn’t think of anything else that might appeal to the man. This scheme filled her with sheer terror, however, and her heart was slamming against her ribcage as if she were running a marathon instead of talking. Talking and flying. The mafia ships weren’t leaving her alone for this conversation, and
she kept doing her best to evade them, as the bristling form of the mining ship grew larger and larger on the view screen.

  “If he’s not dead,” Alisa said, “that’s good, but he might as well be for my purposes, because the Alliance will have him locked up somewhere.”

  “A zhadski is not easily locked up.”

  It took her a second to remember that word, to remember that the chasadski did not call themselves pariahs—the Starseers did. Abelardus had defined zhadski as prophets and disciples of the gods. Their term for themselves.

  “What are your purposes, woman?” Tymoteusz asked.

  “Alisa,” she said firmly. “Though I’m glad my sex hasn’t escaped you.”

  Leonidas lifted his eyebrows. Right, she should be more polite to her uncle, especially since she wanted him to get these thugs off her butt and save her life.

  “I should think my purposes would be obvious,” Alisa said.

  Judging by the blank looks she was getting from everyone in NavCom, there wasn’t much obviousness going on.

  “My daughter has Starseer genes and the ability to use mental powers, as I’m sure you’re aware.” Alisa specifically remembered Tymoteusz acknowledging that when they had first met. Of course, he had denigrated her for not having the same abilities. “She’s bright and displaying great ability.” She had no idea if Jelena’s abilities were great or average, but thought Tymoteusz would be more enticed by superior talents. “Since I don’t have any power, I can’t teach her, and I’m not about to let some arrogant fools that would kidnap her for their own gain become her instructors.”

  Jelena’s forehead furrowed. “Does she mean Lady Westfall?” she whispered to Young-hee.

  Alisa held a finger to her lips, wondering if she should ask Young-hee to take Jelena to the rec room.

  “Since Stanislav is either dead or incapacitated, I naturally thought of you,” Alisa continued.

  Tymoteusz did not answer, and she looked at the comm to make sure the channel was still open. Another blazer bolt streaked toward the Nomad, biting into the shields. Alisa glared at their pursuers and manipulated the controls, taking the freighter through another series of dips and dives. She shouldn’t be trying to scheme and talk while she had to evade enemies.

  Leonidas fired, and one of their cannon blasts slammed into the nose of the closest pursuer. Unfortunately, the ship’s shields absorbed the energy.

  A tickle arose in Alisa’s mind, making every hair on her body stand on end. There was nothing friendly about the touch—it felt like some avenging spirit wanted to possess her.

  Praying the drug had kicked in, she did her best to think about nothing more than evading their enemies. If Tymoteusz or one of his people was trying to read her mind, she had to make it as difficult as possible.

  “It was unacceptable for them to kidnap your daughter,” he finally said.

  “The mining ship is moving,” Yumi said. “It’s turning toward us.”

  Alisa did not say anything, aware that Tymoteusz would hear through the open comm.

  “The ashari have never understood the true potential of our minds. If they had, they would not be cowering and hiding from the empire and now the Alliance. They would study all of their powers. They would know that it won’t take many of us to rule the entire system.”

  Alisa shivered, hearing a hint of madness in his voice.

  “Jelena needs a teacher,” Alisa said, “and it’s my job as a mother to find the best person available.”

  “I am the best,” Tymoteusz said agreeably. “Even without the staff.”

  That sensation of a rake scraping across her brain matter came again, and Alisa swallowed. Through the link, she sensed him testing her. Did he think she had come for the staff? No, Tymoteusz, she thought. I don’t give a damn about that stupid artifact. She did not know if he would hear her, but just in case, she forced herself not to add on that she would love to see it destroyed so nobody could use it for ill.

  “The mafia ships have stopped firing,” Leonidas whispered.

  “He ordered them to stop,” Abelardus said, his eyes closed.

  On the view screen, the mining ship continued to grow larger. Soon its lumpy, tool-filled hull would be all they could see.

  “You will come to me,” Tymoteusz said. “I will meet the girl and assess her.”

  The words filled Alisa with dread—and she spotted Jelena gripping the back of Leonidas’s seat and sinking down, as if to hide from the ship filling the screen—but she forced herself to say, “Good. That’s all I ask.”

  The mining ship turned slightly, and an opening in its hull came into view, the giant orifice leading into an enormous hangar bay.

  A flash of blue came from the view screen, and the Nomad jolted hard enough to throw Alisa against the control panel.

  “What was that?” Young-hee asked.

  “Grab beam,” Leonidas said.

  Alisa verified that, then powered down the engines. “He has us now.”

  She glanced at the sensors. The beam hadn’t caught Bravo Six’s shuttle. Alisa remembered his words about ramming enemies, and she hoped he didn’t get any ideas. But even as she watched, a couple of mafia ships veered after the shuttle.

  Alisa groaned and hit the comm. “Six, don’t let yourself get blown up. Fly out of here. There’s nothing you can do to help. Do you read me?”

  “I will endeavor not to be blown up, Lady Captain.”

  “Thank you.”

  As the mafia ships closed on him and opened fire, she sank back in her seat in defeat. Was there any chance he could survive? That she would ever talk to him again? She still owed him an eyeball.

  Alisa stared as the Nomad was drawn toward that hangar bay, reminding herself that this was what she had wanted. They hadn’t been destroyed. They were being taken aboard, and this would be their chance to find Thorian… if they could get away from the chasadski and their minions.

  “This is a bad idea,” Abelardus muttered, also watching the screen.

  Alisa wasn’t sure she could disagree. She looked at Jelena’s round eyes. What had she gotten them into?

  Chapter 22

  In her cabin, Alisa stared at the faceplate of her helmet, gripped with indecision. And there wasn’t time for indecision. The Nomad had been pulled into the giant mining ship’s hangar and was being lowered to the deck even now. As soon as the bay pressurized, men with weapons or chasadski with staffs—or both—would storm out. She doubted Tymoteusz would have any trouble forcing the Nomad’s hatch open and striding onto the ship, if he wished to do so. She had no idea if she had truly piqued his interest, or if he had brought her aboard for ulterior motives.

  “Alisa?” Leonidas leaned into her cabin and frowned at the helmet in her hands. “You’re not dressed.”

  “I wasn’t sure if I should put this on or not.” Alisa waved at the open armor case, the rest of the pieces still resting in their molds.

  “Of course you should put it on.” He looked at her as if she were crazy. “And then you should accessorize it with rifles.”

  “More than one?”

  “It suits me.” Leonidas stepped all the way into the cabin and hefted his own blazer rifle—a second one was strapped to his torso, and he also wore that other weapon, the launcher he and Mica must have made for the canisters hooked onto his belt. There were also grenades hooked there, and a pouch looked to hold a few more options.

  “That’s fine for you, I think. He’ll assume my security officer would be armed. But if I walk out, talking about how I want to establish family relations and have him teach my daughter, wouldn’t he find it suspicious if I was encased in armor and wielding weapons?”

  “He’s suspicious anyway. Trust me.” Leonidas reached in and pulled the chest piece out. “He’ll think it’s odd that he couldn’t read our thoughts.”

  Alisa hesitated.

  “You will put your armor on,” he said. “Or I’ll put it on for you. All the pieces might not face in the right directio
n if I do it.”

  Even though she didn’t like being told what to do, she understood and appreciated his interest in keeping her safe. She set the helmet aside for last and accepted the chest piece.

  “Most men try to undress women,” she said as she donned the armor. “Not the other way around.”

  “I haven’t had a lot of practice either way.”

  “We’ll have to amend that when we’re finished here.”

  “Absolutely.”

  “Leonidas?” Beck called from down the corridor. “Where did you put the grenade launcher?”

  “The same place I always put it,” Leonidas called back.

  “If something isn’t stored in the kitchen, I don’t pay much attention.”

  “I’ll meet you in the cargo hold,” Leonidas told Alisa, kissed her on the cheek, and jogged out. “Don’t forget a rifle,” he called back.

  Alisa felt the clank of the Nomad settling onto the deck and hurried to don the rest of her armor. She would need to check on Jelena on the way to the hold, make sure she stayed with Yumi or Young-hee. Or Mica. If Mica stayed aboard. Alisa hadn’t decided yet if she would ask her to come along. She usually had some tricks in her tool bag that could come in handy. Alisa tugged at her braid more than needed as she pulled it back into a bun so she could put on the helmet. She was irritated that she had gotten herself into such a helpless situation. This hadn’t been the plan at all. Where in all the suns’ hells was Hawk with Stanislav and the Alliance fleet?

  “Captain,” Mica said over the comm. “We have a problem.”

  “We have a lot of problems. You’ll have to be more specific.” Alisa snapped her last piece of armor on, save for the helmet.

  “Come down to engineering. I’ll show you.”

  “Be right there.” As Alisa stepped into the corridor, the lighting flashed several times, then went out. The emergency lighting embedded in the deck came on. “Beginning to get a hint of what that problem might be,” she muttered.

  She peeked into Jelena’s cabin. It was empty. At the intersection, she looked toward NavCom, where she had last seen Jelena, but both she and Yumi had left. The view screen lay dark, only the dim red emergency lights glowing up there too.