Single Shot (Justice of the Covenant Book 3)

by M. R. Forbes

  Nothing happened at first. She was too tired. Too ragged. She had to focus.

  “Shit!” Jil shouted, the Chalandra shifting direction, the momentum pulling Hayley from her feet.

  She hit the ground, sudden inertia carrying her back into the supply modules that had been delivered. She grabbed one of the lines tethering them in place, holding fast and trying again.

  “Come to me,” she repeated, pushing the thought harder, letting her anger and frustration and exhaustion flow with the command. “Now!”

  The effort hurt her already pounding head, leaving her vision as little more than a river of ever-shifting color in front of her. Still, she held on, casting out for the naniates, searching for them. They couldn’t afford to have a single atom of the Collective on board.

  Every last one of them had to die.

  The Chalandra vibrated beneath her, shaking harder with each second.

  “What’s going on?” she heard Narrl say nearby.

  “We’re caught in a gravity well,” Don Pallimo replied. “The ebocite is collapsing into a gravitational singularity, and we’re much too close to it.”

  “Maybe the Colonel should have waited a little longer?”

  It didn’t matter now. The ship was struggling to escape.

  Hayley clenched her teeth. Focus, damn it. She called out to the naniates again.

  She felt the first one land on her shoulder, a single mote so tiny it would have been imperceptible to anyone else. She felt it perch there alone for what felt like an eternity. Then it was joined by another. And then another. Within seconds, her arms were covered in naniates a trillion strong, and glowing copper and green.

  She could see them in her vision, at the edge of the wild river of colors circling her field of view. The Collective, unable to resist her call. She held them until no more arrived. Until she felt certain she had gotten every last one.

  The Chalandra’s interior lighting went out, the power diverted from the non-essential systems to the thrusters. The ship was ready to tear itself apart, and they weren’t making enough progress away from the imploding ebocite.

  She had the power to change that, now.

  She cast the Collective out, into space to the rear of the ship. They added their power to the thrusters, increasing the thrust, pushing against the pull, dragging the ship away from Rage Station and dying as they expended all of their energy. The seconds passed, and she gripped the tether so tightly it dug into her flesh, causing her to bleed.

  The shaking started to subside as they began clearing the gravity. The thrust increased, the lights came back on.

  When it became clear they had made it out, Hayley sent one final command to the Collective, ordering them into the singularity.

  She thought they might resist, but they didn’t. Could they sense her blood running along her hands and down her arms? Did that frighten them more than the black hole?

  She wasn’t sure. Either way, they ran away from the Chalandra, into Dark Space. Into the middle of nowhere to be sucked into the singularity and never heard from again.

  The ship continued to add distance, the ride smoothing out as it did. Hayley let go of the line, slumping against the container, her head down and her eyes closed. Her hands were burning. Her heart was racing.

  Quark was dead.

  She had told herself she wouldn’t cry until it was over. She wanted to be strong.

  She wasn’t that strong.

  The tears came. Hayley held her head in the crook of her arm, her body shaking as she sobbed. She was only vaguely aware of Tibor as he sat beside her. He pulled her in, wrapping his arms around her and holding her.

  At some point, she fell asleep.

  16

  “Hayley.”

  The voice was familiar. Impossible. So impossible, she was sure it had to be part of a dream.

  “Hayley.”

  Was it? She could see the shifting tides of color in front of her. Didn’t that mean she was awake? She had been so tired. So exhausted. Maybe she was hearing someone else’s voice, and mistaking it for one she knew.

  “Hal. I know you’re awake.”

  She lifted herself on her elbows. She was in a bed. A luxuriously soft bed. Her body was sore. Her muscles ached. Her hands hurt. She definitely wasn’t asleep.

  “Hal. Good morning.”

  “Gant?” she said. “Is that you?”

  “Not exactly.” An amused chitter followed. “I’m an artificial intelligence. A replica of Gant.”

  “I. I lost you on Rage Station.”

  With Quark. A new wave of angry sadness threatened to crash over her. She held tight. She couldn’t let his end tear her apart. He would be so pissed at her for that.

  “I was wondering what happened to your visor. Am I correct in assuming I saved the day?”

  She smiled. “Sort of. Am I correct in assuming you copied yourself into the Chalandra?”

  “Sort of.” It chittered again. “I know it’s against protocol, but I’ve never been one to follow the rules very well.”

  “You were the only Gant ever sent to Hell,” Hayley said.

  She was only partially surprised that the AI had countered its programming to make a copy of itself. It was supposed to be a singleton, able to transfer its code but then required to destroy the original. Considering it hadn’t become active until it confirmed the visor was destroyed, it could make an argument it had bent the rules, not broken them.

  Either way, she was happy to hear its voice.

  “Do the others know you’re still here?” she asked.

  “Not yet. I wasn’t sure how they would react.”

  “You know about the Colonel?”

  “As he is not here, his loss was implied. My condolences.”

  “Thank you. How long was I sleeping?”

  “Six hours.”

  It felt like so much longer. “Where is the Chalandra?”

  “Still in Dark Space. The others decided to wait for you to revive.”

  The others. Tibor. Narrl. Jil. That was it. They were losing Riders at a dizzying pace. Then again, it was a miracle any of them were still alive.

  How the hell were they supposed to stop Thetan and the Collective with four people? Oh, and the Don Pallimo synth. If they could trust it.

  She took a few breaths to keep herself calm. They were going to do it. They had to. She had promised Quark, and he had been so sure of her. Maybe she was mature for eighteen, but she was still eighteen. She didn’t want this responsibility. She hadn’t earned it.

  It didn’t matter. He had entrusted the Riders to her, and the mission came with it. All she could do now was put everything she had into making it happen.

  Starting with the Worldbrain.

  She threw off the covers, noticing the wounds on her hands had been treated, and she had been bathed and changed. By Jil, she assumed. Not that she would have been horrified if Tibor had done it. He had proven himself as loyal and caring of a friend as she was ever going to make.

  She slipped off the bed and onto the floor. Her muscles were tired, but she forced herself to walk over to the small wardrobe. She opened it, pulling out a shimmery blue jumpsuit. It was too fancy for what she really wanted, but it was what she had that fit.

  She got dressed, putting her hair in a bun. “Gant, call out a general assembly. Have the Riders gather in the common area.”

  “Roger, Witchy,” the AI replied.

  She had to admit; she was happy to have it back.

  She heard its voice through the ship’s loudspeakers a moment later, calling the Riders to assemble. She used the bathroom and then moved toward the door. She paused there for a moment. She was still Witch Doctor, but she wasn’t just the Rider’s healer anymore. She was supposed to lead them. She couldn’t afford to show any weakness. She had to be strong and firm, the way the Colonel was strong and firm. At the same time, that didn’t mean she had to be him. She was more compassionate. More caring. More cerebral. That was okay, too.


  She opened the hatch, stepping out into the hallway. She wasn’t surprised to find Tibor there. At least someone had convinced him to shower and change. Otherwise, he would have still reeked of garbage.

  “Colonel,” he said, coming to attention and saluting her.

  She froze. Colonel? “There will only ever be one Colonel in the Riders. If you have to call me by rank, how about Major?”

  “Aye, Major,” Tibor replied.

  “That’s going to take some getting used to.”

  “I’m sure.”

  Tibor remained at attention.

  “Relax, Tibor,” Hayley said. “We’re all family here. I don’t need all of that formal crap.”

  “You’re the boss,” Tibor replied. “The others are waiting for you.”

  They walked back along the hallway together, to the common area. Jil and Narrl were sitting on a sofa together. The Don Pallimo synth was reclined in a fur-covered chair.

  “Witchy,” Narrl said at the sight of her. He had a bandage on his arm where he had been shot, and it looked like the medi-bot had shaved some of his fur. “Welcome back.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I hear your Gant wasn’t destroyed after all,” Don Pallimo said. “I’m glad.”

  “Thank you, sss-” She stopped herself before she said sir. She wasn’t doing any of this for him, and she didn’t care to treat him like he had any say.

  She was silent for a moment, taking in their qi. Tibor was in good health and happy to see her. Narrl was optimistic, but a little reserved. Jil was angry and eager to get on with things.

  “I know you’re all pretty new to the Riders,” Hayley said. “And things have been a little rocky so far.”

  “Mount Tro rocky,” Jil said.

  “Okay, very rocky so far. I understand if you don’t want to be part of this anymore, or if you don’t want to stay without Quark in charge of things. I’ll buy out your contracts at market rate, drop you at the nearest civilized world, and we can part as friends.”

  She paused, waiting for either of them to jump at the chance.

  “Witchy,” Jil said. “What happened on Rage Station is going to happen other places if we don’t do something about it. You need a pilot, and the fact is I’m the best.”

  “And the most modest,” Narrl said.

  “And the sexiest,” Jil added.

  “This isn’t just about contracts and money,” Narrl said. “I’ve been a mercenary most of my life. It’s fun work, but it isn’t all that meaningful. What you’re trying to do, that’s meaningful. I’m not about to run away from it.”

  “Thank you both,” Hayley said.

  “Of course, I’m not saying we shouldn’t try to add a few more hands at some point.”

  “Agreed.”

  “Are you still planning on attacking the Worldbrain?” the Pallimo synth asked.

  “We don’t have a choice. We can’t sneak up on Thetan as long as the Oracle is telling her where we’re going to be or what we’re going to do. Since you’re here, and since you admitted you were wrong, I was hoping maybe you could help out with that.”

  “I see,” Pallimo replied. “How do you propose I help?”

  “You’re telling me you don’t have special access to the Worldbrain? I find that hard to believe.”

  Pallimo sat the recliner upright. Hayley wished the synth had qi, to help her see what it was thinking. It stared at her a moment and then smiled.

  “I can make arrangements that should get us planetside. After that? If they detect you trying to break into their systems, there won’t be anything I can do.”

  “Planetside is more than I had hoped for,” Hayley said. “What do you need to make it happen?”

  “Nothing special. We’ll need to make a stop nearby. I might be able to find a few more recruits for you, as well.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Narrl said.

  “Me too,” Hayley added. “Pass the coordinates to Gant, and let’s go.”

  “Of course, my dear.”

  “The rest of you, get some rest. Report back here in nine hours. We’ve got a mission to plan.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” they replied.

  “Dismissed.”

  Narrl, Jil, and Don Pallimo rose and abandoned the common area, leaving Tibor and Hayley alone.

  “I don’t want to crowd you,” Tibor said. “If you need someone to talk to, you know where-”

  She threw herself into his arms, embracing him. “Thank you for being here. Thank you for being such a good friend. I couldn’t do this without you.”

  He hugged her back. “I know you could, Hal. But I’m happy to be here, all the same. We joke about it, but you did save my life back on Kelvar. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”

  She leaned back, looking at his qi. It was bright and happy. She hadn’t seen those colors enough lately.

  “You should get a little more rest,” Tibor said. “It’s at least a week to the Worldbrain from here, and you’ve earned it.”

  She released him from the embrace, nodding. “I will. You don’t have to sit outside my quarters. I’ll be fine.”

  He laughed. “Right. Well, I won’t be far if you need me.”

  “Thank you, Tibs,” she said.

  “Maybe that name isn’t so bad after all. Anytime.”

  She retreated to her quarters, stripping out of her clothes and bathing under her own power. Then she returned to bed. She was still tired, and a little more sleep would do her a lot of good.

  She could feel the shift as the Chalandra moved into FTL, Gant, and Jil getting them headed in the right direction.

  Seven days wrapped in a disterium bubble, and then it would be time for round four.

  The Riders would be ready. She would make sure of that.

  17

  The Chalandra rocked slightly on her small landing treads, the starship settling on a dark stone tarmac about sixty kilometers outside of Proxis, the capital city of the planet with the same name.

  Another ship was already sharing the tarmac with them. It was a massive cargo hauler, nearly two kilometers in length, attached to an orbital sled that would help it break gravity and get out of the atmosphere once it was laden with its a full store of supplies.

  It was inefficient and expensive to bring cargo ships planetside, but sometimes the cargo itself required it. In this case, the ship was transporting electronic equipment from Atmos to the Worldbrain, and Republic statutes dictated that every single circuit and wire be verified and sealed by a certified inspection team, and inspection teams didn’t operate in orbit.

  At least, that was how the Pallimo synth had explained it to Hayley a few days earlier. His trick for getting them access to the Worldbrain was to send them along as part of the hauler’s crew. It was a great idea, and one they would never have been able to manage without the owner of the Crescent Haulers’ help. The fact that the synth had the timetables for thousands of deliveries across hundreds of planets was impressive. The fact that they had arrived only a day before the hauler, the Mary Dawn, was supposed to depart was nothing short of luck.

  It was about time they were on the right side of it.

  Hayley was standing in the Chalandra’s hold, the Don Pallimo synth at her side and Tibor behind her. She was wearing civilian clothes and doing her best to feel normal. She wouldn’t be able to relax until Thetan and the Collective were gone, and the seven days in a disterium bubble had left her feeling more impatient than rested.

  “Where are we going, again?” she asked the synth.

  “Into Proxis,” Don Pallimo replied. “To look for a few of my employees who may be able to assist us.”

  “Why don’t you have someone call them and bring them to you?”

  Pallimo smiled. “These aren’t the kind of employees who wait around to serve me. They’re also not the kind of employees who want to be easily found. They have some, shall we say, questionable histories that would be problematic for everyone if they were too easy to communicate wi
th. If you get what I’m saying.”

  “You mean they’re criminals,” Hayley said.

  “That’s an indelicate way of putting it,” the synth replied. “I prefer to call them contractors.”

  Hayley laughed. “I’m sure you do. Did the Colonel know these contractors of yours?”

  “In passing.”

  “Did he like them?”

  “Did the Colonel like anyone? He respected them.”

  “Good enough.”

  “I figured it would be.”

  The Chalandra’s loading ramp detached from the side of the ship, dropping outward on a pair of hydraulic arms. Warm air flowed into the hold, rich with the smell of grease and salty sea air. A car was visible a short distance away, the driver leaning against the passenger door and watching them.

  “It must be a big occasion,” Hayley said. “For you to visit, I mean.”

  “I told Captain Hern to keep the pomp and circumstance as close to zero as possible. We don’t need anyone knowing we’re here.”

  “If history is any guide, the Oracle already knows we’re here.”

  “I think if that were true we wouldn’t have been able to land.”

  Hayley wasn’t convinced, but she wasn’t about to argue.

  “Is that our ride?”

  “It is.”

  The three of them walked to the car together. Hayley glanced over at the Mary Dawn while they did. The inspection team was standing outside the massive ship, waiting for a transport that was arriving from a large warehouse nearby. It had a pair of shipping containers on its bed, which it would drop next to the inspectors. They would scan the outside with a few expensive tools, and then go inside for a random manual inspection. Since the shipment was headed to the Worldbrain, they might check everything manually. They couldn’t risk faulty electronics damaging it.

  “Don’t worry, my dear,” Pallimo said. ‘It will all check out.”

  She nodded. She had been scanning the containers for any hint of the Collective. She had to try harder not to give into that kind of paranoia. It wasn’t going to do any of them any good.

  “Don Pallimo,” the driver said, bowing respectfully at the Don’s approach. “I’m-”