Pirate Throne

by Carysa Locke

  Ah. Reaper didn’t continue for so long, Mercy thought that was all he planned to say. But then he spoke in her mind again. The pirates who interact with Cannon regularly don’t often question or challenge his authority. Those who crew Nemesis, or are based off the ship know him well enough not to. Declan wasn’t pleased when Cannon chose his ship for this voyage. He also hasn’t bothered to try and hide his resentment. It’s bordered on insubordination several times.

  Ah. So, this was always going to happen. No chain of command could tolerate disobedience and defiance.

  Declan’s fortunate, Reaper said, his tone mild.

  How so?

  There was a time when Cannon’s response would have been far more lethal than a verbal dressing down.

  Cannon? Mercy fought not to show her shock. They were still having a private conversation in a room surrounded by others, including Cannon himself standing right next to her.

  The man in question slid a glance her way, lifting an eyebrow. She forced a smile. Of course he felt her shock. Keeping secrets from an empath wasn’t easy.

  Problem? Cannon’s mental tone was still clipped and short.

  I was just explaining to Mercy what would have happened to Declan before she came to be our Queen.

  Ah, yes. Cannon looked her directly in the eye. Once, I would have spaced him. He shrugged. “That was before you.”

  Before Mercy came to be their Queen, the pirates had spent over a decade without one. Lilith’s death had left a void, a period of time in which the pirates’ tendency to violence was amplified. Still, she had a hard time imagining Cannon spacing Declan.

  I would, Lilith’s voice whispered in her mind. That man is only going to be trouble. You’d do well to be rid of him.

  “No.”

  Both Cannon and Reaper looked at her in surprise. Even Sebastian turned around. Mercy scowled. Lilith, she said. She thinks you should space him now.

  Only a handful of people knew the former pirate Queen occupied the bracelet Mercy wore. Cannon had not been thrilled to find his grandmother still alive in any sense.

  “She doesn’t get a vote,” he said dryly.

  “No,” Mercy agreed. “She doesn’t.”

  Lilith sighed in her mind. So stubborn. You’ll see I’m right, in time.

  Mercy didn’t bother responding.

  She turned her attention back to the holo, watching the comings and goings of mercenary ships to and from Alseid Station. Most of them bristled with armored plating and weaponry.

  None of them seemed to be paying Heresy any attention. She breathed a sigh of relief. Hopefully all of their jumps would go this smoothly.

  “I’m going to get something to eat,” she said into the silence. She hadn’t had time to grab anything before this morning’s training, and staying here waiting for the next jump was going to drive her crazy.

  “Do you mind if I join you?” Sebastian asked. His look encompassed both her and Reaper. He could have easily gone to the galley without asking anyone’s input, but he liked to ensure he wasn’t intruding on their time alone together. Before they’d left Nemesis, he’d made a habit of asking before joining them, even for a casual drink.

  Mercy smiled. “Not at all.”

  She didn’t need to look to Reaper. He’d only defer to her. Sebastian was high on his list as a suitable choice for a second consort, and he’d made his opinion on that clear. If anything, Mercy was the most resistant.

  She liked Sebastian a lot. If she’d met him first, she’d definitely have been interested in pursuing something. There was a quiet kind of confidence to him, an intensity that he held leashed most of the time. Others viewed his fair-handed kindness and saw weakness, but that was their mistake. Sebastian was one of the most observant people Mercy had ever met, and when he made up his mind about something, he was not going to be moved from it. He also controlled every aspect of whatever ship he was on with his Talent. On the surface, that might not seem like the most powerful Talent, but only a fool crossed the man who could, for example, remove life support from your quarters while you slept.

  He was also gorgeous, with sharp, angular features that drew the eye, fair skin and brown eyes with a narrow shape that bespoke a mixed ancestry. His black hair, sleek and straight, fell past his waist when unbound. He usually wore it braided, but today it was tied loosely back from his face and allowed to fall over his shoulders like a stream of blue-black water.

  Quick to smile, quick to laugh, he couldn’t have been more different from Reaper. But perhaps that was a good thing. He fell into step with them as they left the command deck.

  “I’ll know immediately if anything changes,” Sebastian said, gesturing back behind them. It didn’t matter where he was on the ship, his Talent allowed him to connect to any system instantly. And a good thing, too. At any time, this entire venture could turn into a disaster. It only took one merc to decide there was something odd about their freighter, or one Navy checkpoint not on Feria’s list, or worse yet, running across any of the Alpha Queen’s people.

  Don’t borrow trouble, Mercy. Reaper brushed a hand down her arm. We’ll handle whatever happens.

  She forced a smile. Of course.

  She wished she had his confidence.

  The next two jumps were uneventful, and Mercy started to relax. They had to take a longer break after that for the jump drive to power back up, so the ship shut down everything but the most necessary systems, while everyone tried to get some sleep. This was a remote and long defunct jump point, an abandoned mining operation with little to draw ships. Without a strong power signature, their ship would be largely undetectable if anyone should happen by. It wasn’t completely out of the question; smugglers liked to use jump points like this one. But they were about as invisible as they could get, unless someone came specifically looking for them.

  Curled up against Reaper, Mercy’s sleep was fitful, snatched between unsettling dreams. Often, her sleep time was taken up by training with Lilith, but not tonight. Her mind wasn’t really resting when she trained, and Mercy had found that she struggled more with long, uninterrupted rest even when she wasn’t training. Reaper had urged her to talk to Doc about it, but the last thing Mercy wanted to do was step foot in the infirmary, much less voluntarily seek help from the irritable doctor.

  Mercy, Reaper said after the third time she’d come awake and disturbed his rest as well, why don’t you let me help you? He brushed the hair from her face, his hand gentle as he cupped her cheek.

  His blue eyes were deep with color as he studied her face, his gaze as soft as it ever managed to be. She hesitated. If she didn’t get some real rest, she’d regret it. Experience had taught her that. And they were going into ever more dangerous waters. She couldn’t afford mistakes.

  Fine, she said at last, the word grudging. She hated relying on Reaper to make her sleep. Not for lack of trust, but because it was outside her control. She slept deeply when he put her under. Sometimes it was hard to wake up and she started her day feeling groggy and out of sorts.

  His fingers stroked her arm and he pressed a kiss against her forehead. She felt a wisp of amusement from him a heartbeat before his voice whispered in her mind.

  Sleep.

  Finally, she sank fully under, dreamless and deep.

  A blaring alarm brought her to consciousness again. Mercy had no sense for how much time had passed. One minute she was completely out, and the next a screeching klaxon was blaring through the cabin, red emergency lights casting an orange glow over everything.

  “What’s going on?” She struggled out of the covers, disoriented and bleary-eyed. Reaper was already on his feet, pulling a shirt on.

  “I don’t know. Sebastian’s not responding.”

  Mercy paused in the act tugging her pants over her hips. “Not responding?” Alarmed, she reached out to Sebastian with her mind. Nothing. She could sense him, but distantly. If she didn’t know better, she’d think he wasn’t even aboard the ship anymore. Uneasy, she glanced at
Reaper. “Could he have somehow left the ship?”

  Looking grim, he shook his head. I don’t know. Maybe.

  This vessel came equipped with both a short-range shuttle and escape pods. There was also the possibility of someone docking with them, but the chances of that happening while they all slept through it were extremely small.

  Dressed, Mercy moved for the door, but Reaper stepped in her way, holding a hand up to caution her.

  I go first, you follow, he said. His hands curved at his sides, and she saw the vague outline of his blades form in them. Reaper wasn’t messing around. We have no idea what’s happened, but let’s assume the worst.

  Mercy swept the ship with her mind, a quick scan placing everyone she knew should be here. Cannon’s mind burned brightly, and she let out a small breath of relief. One by one, she felt each of the others. Most of them appeared to be sleeping.

  Through the alarm? That wasn’t normal. Even if people had privacy screening engaged, the alarm was designed to cut through those features.

  I don’t sense anyone here who shouldn’t be, she told Reaper.

  He didn’t respond, nudging the door open with telekinesis. She followed, keeping a few paces behind him. Together, they moved through the ship toward the command deck. They didn’t stop to clear any other spaces, and at first Mercy wondered why. Then she realized, with Sebastian apparently out of commission, the most important thing was to secure control of the ship.

  When they stepped onto the command deck, it was eerily empty. The lights had been dimmed, but now the alarm lighting strobed through the darkness. With most of the ship’s systems shut down, no one technically needed to be here. The alarm changed that. This should have been the first place everyone came to.

  Mercy crossed to the command console and silenced the alarm. Reaper glanced at her, but said nothing. Without a word, he vanished back through the hatch. Now, she knew, he would clear the ship. She pulled up the alarm code to see what had tripped it.

  A hull breach. What the hell? She ran a diagnostic. Had they taken damage somehow? Been fired upon or hit some kind of space junk or asteroid? No. There was no reported damage to the ship. Even if the nanographite hull had healed itself so quickly, there would still be a record of the incident.

  How did you have a hull breach without taking damage?

  Technically, Lilith said in her mind, a hull breach is any scenario by which a ship’s structure is ruptured or violated by a foreign body.

  I know, Mercy said, a little irritated. Anyone who spent time in space knew that. So?

  So, there are more ways to violate a ship’s hull than cracking it open with plasma fire.

  Mercy rolled her eyes. “I know that. Space junk, asteroids, an accident on board.”

  No, granddaughter. When docked, what do you do to secure your vessel?

  Lock it down. No one can enter or leave without the passcode.

  Yes. When a ship is moving, even drifting under basic propulsion, that lock is automatically in place. In this way an alarm will sound if, say, pirates try to board your vessel.

  I know.

  What kind of alarm is that?

  That was easy. Anyone boarding without permission would result in— a hull breach, Mercy thought slowly.

  She double checked the diagnostic. No. No one had tried to attach to the airlock seal.

  Lilith huffed an exasperated sound. It was odd, considering a disembodied spirit didn’t need to breath. Honestly, sometimes I wonder if we’re truly related. Think, child. You’re a Talented Queen. If no one docked with us, how else could someone have boarded?

  A horrible feeling tightened Mercy’s gut. “No,” she said out loud. “No, no, no, no, no.” But her fingers were already flying over the console, bringing up the passenger manifest.

  Names scrolled across the holo screen. Hers, Reaper, Cannon, Ghost, Feria, Titus, Declan, Treon, Max…she kept scrolling. Sebastian’s wasn’t there. The horrible feeling in her gut iced over.

  “What is it?” Cannon’s voice pulled her attention from the manifest. She hadn’t even heard him enter the room. She looked up as he stepped up beside her. “What’s wrong?”

  Declan stepped through the hatch, Ghost and Titus right behind him. Everyone looked groggy and barely awake.

  “Sebastian is gone,” she said, keeping her gaze on Cannon.

  “What do you mean, gone?” The sleepiness was rapidly clearing from his face. “We’re in the middle of nowhere.”

  She moved the timestamp on the manifest. “I know. Sebastian was here an hour and fifteen minutes ago. Now, he’s not.”

  “What?” Declan staggered to a console, shaking his head as though trying to clear it. “The shuttle’s still attached. So are all of the escape pods.”

  Mercy glanced at him. “He didn’t leave in any of those.”

  Ghost stiffened. “Did someone push him out the airlock?” It was clear from the growing anger overshadowing his confusion who he thought was responsible.

  Feria, entering the room behind him, snorted. “Three guesses who you think could be responsible for that,” she said.

  Ghost spun toward her. “Listen, you—”

  “No!” Mercy spoke more loudly, and more sharply, than she’d intended. It had the right effect, interrupting Ghost and drawing everyone’s attention back to her. “He didn’t leave out any airlock.”

  “Then how?” Cannon asked. Impatience made his tone sharp.

  “Someone came here, and took him.” Mercy looked around the room. “Someone teleported onboard, probably from a ship that jumped in, took Sebastian, and teleported out.”

  She didn’t say the name aloud. She didn’t need to. Teleportation was extremely rare. Mercy could count on one hand the number of teleporters she knew existed. Reaper’s brother, Dem. His daughter, Tamari. And a young woman who was forced to join the Alpha Queen’s forces during their last altercation.

  A young woman who had proven she was strong enough to teleport with another person.

  Octavia.

  Chapter Four

  Declan eased back from the command console, rubbing his hand on his thigh. Mercy didn’t know him well, but his expression looked troubled. He’d been using his Talent, touching everywhere Sebastian had been, trying to get a glimpse of what had happened. He’d been all over the ship, from Sebastian’s room to here.

  He shook his head. “Nothing.”

  Frustration gnawed at Mercy. She fought the urge to lash out at him. Touch telepaths were notoriously unpredictable. Their Talent often relied on the strength of the mental resonance left behind.

  Besides, the true source of Mercy’s emotions had nothing to do with his Talent. It wasn’t his fault Sebastian was gone. Cannon’s mind brushed hers, just a light presence as if to say I’m here with you. She took a breath, and felt herself steady.

  “Fine,” she said. “We’ll work with what we have. We think Sebastian was removed from the ship by a teleporter while we all slept. The most likely suspect is Octavia, who as far as we know was taken by the Alpha Queen’s forces and still resides with them.”

  “We can’t completely rule out the possibility of another teleporter,” Feria said. “While they are rare, Octavia isn’t the only one in the galaxy.”

  “She has the Talent,” Mercy said, “and what are the chances this teleporter, whoever they are, isn’t associated with the Alpha Queen?”

  Feria grimaced, acknowledging the point with a tilt of her head.

  “How did they find us?” Ghost asked, still sounding resentful. He wasn’t ready to let go of the idea that Feria had betrayed them. Octavia being formerly of Veritas probably didn’t help.

  “Maybe they followed us somehow,” Titus said. He was leaning against the pilot’s seat, his short white hair mussed from sleep. “Maybe they have their own Hunters.” He shrugged. “The real question is, why Sebastian? We were all asleep. She could have taken any one of us.”

  “This ship is much more vulnerable to attack without him,” Re
aper said.

  Declan looked affronted, but Reaper wasn’t wrong. Sebastian was adept at commanding a ship in battle, and his presence had only augmented their strength. Linked to the ship, his actions were much faster than a physical command. The ship could maneuver or fire with unmatched efficiency.

  “There is one other possibility,” Mercy said. “Sebastian was set to become Octavia’s protector before she was taken from us. I don’t know if he’d talked to her about it yet, but it’s possible she took him because she sees him as an ally. Or the closest thing to it.”

  Reaper looked thoughtful. “You think she’s defying her captors.”

  “Maybe. We don’t have enough information to know anything for sure. But the possibility is there.”

  “If she’s so defiant,” Declan said with a frown, “why take him at all? She could just teleport aboard our ship, tell Sebastian to get us the hell out of here, and escape.”

  “Maybe, but Octavia’s been through a lot already. Willem had her under his thumb. I think he groomed her to follow his directives and not to question authority.” Mercy sighed. “I should have seen it sooner and gotten her help while she was with us.” It was a failure Mercy would never forgive herself for. She’d made Octavia and the other Veritas personnel who survived Willem’s attempt to take control of the pirates abandon their loyalties to Veritas and turn pirate. And then she’d ignored them and let the pirates handle how that happened. She knew Sanah had helped, and she thought that was enough. Sanah was both formerly of Veritas herself, and a powerful empath.

  But given the bad blood between the two organizations, Mercy should have monitored the situation. Octavia being young, with a rare Talent, and female, had been more vulnerable than most. Add to that the fact that Mercy suspected she’s been abused by Willem in some fashion, and she’d done the girl a huge disservice.

  “Max,” she said, pinning the young man with a look. He glanced up from where he’d been sitting quiet and forgotten in one of the pilot chairs. “You spent time around Octavia. What do you think?”