Draekon Pirate

by Lee Savino

  As will I. Right now, I only have a suspicion to go on. I need proof. As soon as Soren tells me who is responsible for this, I will act.

  We’re both turning in the direction of Thel’s chamber when the lights on the Mahala dim. Soren’s keypad starts to smoke. “Bast, bast, kashrn,” he says frantically, trying to save as much data as he can. “It’s eating itself. I can’t stop it.”

  At the same time, Neiptiun KZP-71 explodes.

  Soren yelps. A few other crew members cry out. Detritus floats all around us, and Parani has to enable our shields and do some hasty maneuvering to prevent the colony ship’s debris from hitting us.

  A curse hisses out of me. Screw waiting for proof. “I know who did this.”

  Fourth programmed his information into my comm. I punch it, and he tears into existence in the middle of the deck. He must have just showered because he’s bare-chested, and his hair is damp and tousled. His lip is cut, and his body looks like someone’s been using him for a punching bag. His right side is covered with sealant.

  I suck in a breath. Both at the effect the half-naked man has on me, and at the damage he’s taken.

  Thankfully, he doesn’t notice my reaction. He gives me a cheerful smile. “Hello, spitfire.”

  That smile snaps me back to reality. He’s smirking at me? No doubt he thinks this is all very funny. Asshole. “Are you responsible for this?” I grit out through clenched teeth. “Did you steal Docarro’s money?”

  He tilts his head to one side. “You’re angry,” he says. “I thought you might be. Sorry about this, spitfire. It’s not personal. The money was sorely needed.”

  “By you? Not only did you steal our haul, but you also tried to kill us. And you wrecked Soren’s computer.”

  He frowns. “Tried to kill you? That’s not fair, Diana. I waited until you were safely back to the Mahala before I blew up Neiptiun.” He gives me a full-fledged smile. “Poor Docarro,” he murmurs. “All their money is gone. A very expensive colony ship has been badly damaged. I don’t see how they’re going to survive.” His lips tilt up. “Also, I left you a peace offering.”

  God, wounded or not, he’s so beautiful. Pity he’s a jerk. “Go to hell, Fourth,” I bite out. I stab my comm, and he vanishes.

  Everyone on deck is watching me, waiting for my reaction. Thel is the only one brave enough to speak. “He left you almost a billion credits. That’s one hell of a peace offering.” His smirk widens. “Diana, I must say, I’m really beginning to like this man.”

  I take a deep breath and bottle my fury. “Pity about that,” I reply blandly. “I’m going to kill him the next time I see him.” I tuck my hand in my mentor’s elbow. “Let’s go find Lisa’s Vabrian. I need a drink.”

  5

  Mirak

  It takes a few hours to transfer Docarro’s fortune to Kadir. I comm him when I’m done. “Congratulations,” I tell him. “You’re a very wealthy man.”

  Kadir’s projection frowns. “You look awful,” he says, and then my words sink in. “What do you mean, I’m a very wealthy man? You didn’t actually rob Docarro, did you? Didn’t they have guards protecting their money? Did you kill them?”

  “No, I didn’t kill them. I loaded them on a shuttle, disabled their comms, and sent them on a long trip. They’ll reach the Calis star system in a month. And of course I robbed Docarro.” I raise an eyebrow. “We had a conversation a couple of weeks ago about this, didn’t we? You told me the Rebellion was broke. I discovered that Docarro stashed its money in Neiptiun KZP-71. I told you I’d take care of it. Any of this sounding familiar?”

  Kadir looks deeply exasperated. “Yes, Fourth, I remember our conversation. I also remember telling you not to do it.”

  I grin. “No, you didn’t. You said it sounded reckless, like something Ruhan would do.” My smile fades. “Speaking of which, have you heard from him?”

  “Not directly, no. But I got a package from him. A stasis unit, with Amanda Pascale in it. Ruhan put her in stasis and sent her in a cargo pod, along with a note. The other human, Lani Dennison, has been captured by Okaki pirates, and it appears he’s gone after her.”

  Relief shudders through me, taking me by surprise. I hadn’t realized how worried I’d been. In the back of my mind, I’d been terrified that he’d been captured by First. Or worse.

  “Okaki pirates. That’s not good.” Most Okaki have evolved with the times, and they realize that higher-order sentients are not food. But the pirates are throwbacks, giving in to the worst of their impulses. The Okaki pirates won’t pose a danger to Ruhan, but the human woman is unlikely to still be alive.

  Kadir’s mind is running along the same lines. “Ruhan hasn’t communicated with us though, which means he’s still looking for the woman. She might not be dead. Hopefully.” He looks up at me. “Back to the money.”

  He’s not going to let this go. “Look, you told me the Rebellion was broke. I don’t particularly like Tarish, and I don’t agree with everything he does. Even so, the Rebellion is a force for good, and Caeron knows, the Empire needs it.”

  Our culture is stagnating. Scientists today are less powerful than they were in our time. A thousand years ago, the High Empire was at war with the Adrashian Federation. They’re still fighting that battle. Still clinging to their notions of blood purity. Draekon genes have spread among the general populace, and the Ruling Elite of the High Empire have decided to suppress that truth, all so that they can remain dominant.

  It’s time for a change.

  Kadir looks down at his tablet, and he makes a strangled noise. “Fourth, there are billions of credits here.”

  “Seventeen billion, give or take.” Diana’s face flashes in my memory. She’d immediately guessed that I was responsible for the theft. Even radiating rage, her expression had a hint of admiration. And she’d definitely glanced at my bare chest a second too long.

  I clear my throat and focus on Kadir. “Don’t tell people where the money came from, if you can help it. I don’t want a scene.”

  “You don’t want to be thanked, you mean. How hard was the fight?”

  I consider the short battle. I had given the mercenaries a choice. Evacuate or die. Most of them had picked the escape pods, but about three dozen of them had resisted. They had been well trained, and they’d fought with genuine skill. I really hadn’t wanted to kill them; it had felt like such a waste. In the end, I’d saved some of them, killed a few, and had a hole blown in my right wing. Shifting’s going to hurt for the next few days.

  “Nothing I couldn’t handle.”

  Alice, Kadir’s mate, comes into view. “Fourth,” she exclaims, her voice laced with shock. “What the hell happened to you?”

  I wince at the expression of worry on her face. “It’s just a scratch or two,” I murmur. “I’ll heal.”

  She rolls her eyes. “Let me guess. You were in a gunfight, thousands of people opened fire, you almost bled to death, and you think a night’s sleep will fix all your problems, because you’re Draekon and you heal faster?”

  Kadir starts to grin. “Oh, this is going to be fun.”

  I glare at him and then transfer my attention to Alice. “Two nights of sleep,” I tell her. “And maybe an hour in a healing tank.”

  “You’re actually admitting you need a healing tank? That’s really not good. Where are you? Are you on Bestea? Have you seen a healer? If you haven’t, get yourself to a competent one right now. You’re a Draekon. You’re not invulnerable.”

  “Just do as she says,” Kadir advises cheerfully. “It’s easier that way.”

  Alice laughs. “Damn right it is,” she says. “Anyway. Sorry to barge into your conversation, Fourth. Kadir, I’m going to have a drink with Dor and Olivia, so I’ll be late.” She stands up on tiptoe and kisses his cheek, and then waves to me. “See you later. Don’t forget to go to a healer.”

  Diana’s image pops into my mind. Go to hell, Fourth, she’d said, her eyes sparkling with fury. When she’d first caught sight of me, she�
�d sucked in a breath. Was it the wounds, or did she like what she saw? In a different time, in a different place, would she have leaned toward me and brushed her lips across mine, the way Alice just did with Kadir?

  Alice is waiting for me to respond. It takes me a moment to remember what we were talking about. Oh right, going to a healer. “I will,” I tell her. “I promise.”

  Kadir waits for his mate to leave, and then turns to me. “Are you okay?”

  “I will be. Stop worrying; you’re turning into your mate.”

  He makes a rude gesture in my direction. “Tarish is going to want to know where the money came from. I’ll keep the fussing to a minimum.” He fixes me with another look. “The last time we talked, I asked you what you were going to do with yourself.”

  Yes, he had. And it ended up with me robbing a bank.

  “You have something in mind for me, don’t you? Kadir, if you tell me to join you on Bestea to train soldiers, I will stab myself in the eye with a rusty knife.”

  “That’s very dramatic,” he comments dryly. “No, it’s something else. Hang on, let me patch in Zunix and Dariux.”

  Kashrn. Zunix and Dariux are part of Tarish’s leadership team. I think I know where this is going, and I don’t like it. I’m not sure I care enough about the Rebellion to get sucked into their problems.

  My brother sees the expression on my face. “You don’t have to agree to anything,” he reassures me. “Just hear them out.”

  “Okay,” I say warily. Kadir, I trust. The rest of them? Not yet.

  Zunix and Dariux materialize into existence. “Fourth,” Zunix nods in greeting. He takes in my face, notices the injuries, but doesn’t ask me about them. “I don’t want to waste your time, so I’ll get right to the point. Tarish doesn’t know we’re talking to you. He probably wouldn’t approve of us asking for your help.”

  “Why not?”

  “Isn’t it obvious?” Dariux asks. “Tarish feels guilty about what he did to the Crimson Force. He feels like he’s done enough damage. As much as he needs your assistance, he won’t ask for it.”

  “You, on the other hand, clearly feel no such compunction,” I comment. “What’s the mission?”

  “We need information,” he says bluntly. “Zunix and I, we used to be the Spymaster’s apprentices. If we have a spy network in place, we can sift through the pieces of information, we can find patterns, and we can act. But a network takes both time and money to build, and we have neither.”

  Kadir clears his throat. “The money might not be an issue much longer.” Dariux turns to him with a raised eyebrow, and he deflects it. “I’ll explain later.”

  Zunix frowns in puzzlement but doesn’t press the issue. “Time isn’t on our side either,” he says. “We were completely unprepared for Blood Heart’s ascendancy. First is a serious threat. The Draekons in the scientists’ laboratories are in real danger, and we can’t find them fast enough. We have no eyes and no ears into Blood Heart.”

  “That’s not exactly true,” Kadir points out. “What about Tarish’s mysterious source? Whoever it was, he or she was right about Kerenis.”

  “Kerenis?”

  “Two weeks ago, we got an anonymous tip about a laboratory on Kerenis,” Dariux explains. “We sent in a team to check it out, and they were right. We were able to rescue forty-seven Draekons.”

  “But we don’t know who our informant is,” Kadir says. “We don’t understand their motives. Whoever it is, they can’t be our only source.” He turns to me. “Things are moving quickly, Fourth, and we’re two steps behind. It’s frustrating.”

  We, he’s saying. Not the Rebellion. This is Kadir’s fight now. And when my brother asks for my help, I don’t say no.

  “You want me to be a spy?”

  “Caeron, no,” Dariux says immediately. “You’d be dreadful at it. The best spies blend into the background.”

  I’m not sure if I’ve been complimented or insulted.

  “We’ve been piecing bits and pieces together,” he continues. “Most Ekton pirates aren’t rich; that’s why they steal. But Theldre ab Beni is immensely wealthy. He doesn’t need to be a pirate. Not anymore.”

  “Maybe he enjoys it,” I comment.

  Dariux ignores my interruption. “Theldre wasn’t born rich. There are many reasons for his success, but one, in particular, stands out. Over the course of his career, Theldre has built an enviable spy network.”

  Ah, the mission becomes clear. “You want me to recruit Theldre and his spy network for the Rebellion.” I think about the pirate captain, and Diana’s face immediately pops in my head. Again.

  Surprise flashes across Dariux’s face. I refrain from pointing out that I’m not a complete idiot. “Yes.”

  “Why me?”

  “You got on his ship,” Zunix says. “People can’t usually do that.”

  Ektons have an almost instinctive connection with the wormholes. Across the galaxy, people use them as pilots, as navigators, and as cartographers. Sixth believes that the reason I can do the same thing is because I have Ekton DNA embedded in my genes.

  I turn to Kadir. “I stole seventeen billion credits from Theldre,” I point out. “You think he’s going to welcome me with open arms?”

  Dariux’s eyes widen. Zunix’s head jerks up. “You did what?” he splutters.

  “Long story,” Kadir cuts in. “I’ll tell you later. Fourth, you never know. Theldre is Ekton. Deeds of daring and deep stupidity tend to impress them, and they also have a peculiar sense of humor. Theldre might think it’s funny that you beat him. It’s worth a shot. But only if you’re interested.”

  Oh, I’m interested. First tried to kill Kadir. He needs to be stopped, and I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure that happens.

  And then there’s Diana. Recruiting Theldre would involve spending time with the pirate. And the human woman is his second-in-command.

  I don’t know why she fascinates me so, but ever since I met Diana, I can’t stop thinking about her. I want to see her again, and this mission is the perfect opportunity.

  “I’m in.”

  6

  Diana

  Eight days into our journey to Besep 3, Soren knocks on my door one evening. “I’m sorry to disturb you, Chief Officer,” he says apologetically. “Ganni said I should bring this to one of you, but the Captain is in his healing tank.”

  I wave away his apology and step aside so he can enter my quarters. “What’s going on?”

  “I have a tracker on Fourth’s ship.”

  “An active one?” Fourth might have taken all of us by surprise when he boarded the Mahala, but Thel’s crew is well-trained. Soren had bugged Fourth’s ship while it was on our flight deck. Or rather, he’d tried to. One by one, Fourth had found our trackers and disabled them, which had been frustrating yet predictable. If the man is skilled enough to disable the Mahala’s engines, he’s smart enough to detect our attempts to spy on him.

  “Yes.” Before I can open my mouth and ask him how that’s possible, he holds up a hand. “May I explain?”

  I’m completely inept when it comes to technology, but Soren’s never made me feel foolish about it. He’s a good guy. “Please.”

  “A tracker that can be picked up in a sweep is of no use to us, and any competent adversary will run a sweep as a matter of course. I’ve been experimenting on how to make them undetectable. One of the ways is by embedding a dormant tracker in an organic life form.”

  “I don’t understand any of that.”

  “Glossing over the details, I planted a tracker in an egg. When the egg hatched, the electricity from the host insect brought the tracker to life.”

  “A bug within a bug.”

  Soren doesn’t understand why I think that’s funny. He gives me a blank look. Rather than explaining that a bug is a slang term in English for a tracker, I focus on his achievement. “Soren, this is brilliant. You’re a genius. Do we have eyes on Fourth?”

  “Eyes and ears, Chief Officer. If I may
take over your screen?”

  I nod. Soren fiddles with my settings. A monitor drops from the ceiling, and an image of an empty room dominated by a king-size bed fills the screen.

  Soren clears his throat. “This is a prototype,” he explains. “The signal is one-directional. We can’t transmit instructions to the carrier, so we see what it sees.”

  Right now, the bug is in Fourth’s bedroom. Can’t really blame it. Sadly for me, there’s no sign of Fourth.

  “Can we locate him from these transmissions?”

  “Yes. The Isad—that’s his cloakship—is currently traveling through an unmapped wormhole.”

  I frown. “An unmapped wormhole? Are you sure about that?”

  Fourth looks Zorahn. He can’t know if a wormhole is stable. Why would he take the risk? That doesn’t make sense.

  “Yes, I’m sure of his location, Chief Officer. The prototype will self-destruct if it detects an attempt to tamper with it.”

  “Can you ask Parani to map the wormhole? I want to know where he’s going.”

  “Of course. I’m recording the feed, so if something shows up of interest, we’ll know about it.”

  “Perfect.” Thel’s hacker has shown great initiative, and because of his skill, we’re on the verge of our first breakthrough. “Very nice work, Soren. You’ve done well.”

  The small Venan colors in pleasure, his face turning orange. “Thank you, Chief Officer.”

  Soren leaves. I cross the suite and pour myself a drink, and then stare at the screen, my nerves prickling with anticipation. We have you now, Fourth. I’m finally going to get some answers to my questions.

  Starting with the most important one. Who are you?

  An hour later, Fourth saunters into view. He stretches lazily and then takes off his shirt and tosses it on the bed.

  I forget to breathe.

  The last time I saw Fourth, right after he stole our haul on Neiptiun KZP-71, he’d been hurt. His face and body had been battered and bruised. Not any longer. His wounds have healed. He’s shaved, but there’s a hint of stubble covering his jaw. Thel had called Fourth a good-looking specimen. That doesn’t even begin to cover it. Shirtless, Fourth is male perfection brought to life.