by David Liss
“I didn’t leap. There was a platform that rose up. It happened pretty quickly, so you might have missed it.”
He narrowed his eye at me. “Do I look stupid to you, son?”
“I’m not lying to you. I can’t jump fifteen feet. There was a platform. Oh, and no, you don’t look stupid. I wouldn’t want you to think I was diplomatically avoiding answering the question. Scary and impatient, sure, but not stupid.”
He shook his head. “We’re all in this together. If you’ve got a line on some alien tech we could use, you need to come clean. The lives of your friends, and the lives of the folks back home, are depending on it.”
“I’m not holding anything back,” I told him, hoping I sounded earnest.
The colonel did not look satisfied, however. He just shook his head like I’d profoundly disappointed him.
• • •
Inside Junup’s office, we sat in front of his desk while he leaned over toward us, glaring. He had at least been kind enough to tell the peace officers to remove our restraints. Now he hoped to intimidate us with his angry glare. The thing is, he’d tried to have us killed at least twice, and we all knew it, so an angry look from his shaggy face wasn’t going to ratchet things up very much.
“I asked you to do one simple thing,” he said, “and you couldn’t do it.”
“And then you were going to remove us with a tragic shuttle accident,” Colonel Rage said, “so forgive us if we don’t feel too bad.”
“Of course I regret the excess of enthusiasm in some who follow the Movement for Peace,” he said. “I assure you, I condemn the use of violence to advance important goals, and I shall make sure the beings involved understand the seriousness of their transgression.”
“Don’t you think that’s a little harsh?” I asked. “I mean, after all, we’re only talking about attempted multiple murders. Making them understand seems pretty excessive.”
“I would not expect a primitive being like you to comprehend,” Junup said. “Ours is a society in transition, and there will always be minor growing pains.”
Included among those minor growing pains, apparently, were all of us being marked for death in a fiery explosion.
“I don’t want to get into a debate with you,” Colonel Rage said. “You’re in the driver’s seat, and there’s not a thing we can do about it, but the longer we’re around, the greater the potential for chaos. You want us to stop making trouble? Then let’s go back to the stolen-ship plan.”
Junup snorted and muttered something under his breath. “Unfortunately, I must agree. Tomorrow afternoon between 1300 and 1500 will be the window. Please take it, and never let me see any of you again.”
Villainic rose. “While I appreciate your supplying us with one ship for our purposes, I wonder if a second ship might be made available—”
Junup cut him off. “You are the half-wit who ruined the meeting with the chief justice.” One of his goat fingers jabbed out menacingly in his direction. “Even Zeke Reynolds wasn’t stupid enough to pull a stunt like that. You don’t get to ask me anything. Now sit down and be quiet before I think of a reason to have you arrested on espionage charges.”
Once Villainic was seated, Junup took a few more minutes to glare at us. “Tomorrow. Make sure there are no more mistakes. Now get out of here.” He waved his hand in dismissal.
Colonel Rage stood along with the rest of us, but he met Junup’s eye. “What is going to happen to Ardov?”
“What do you mean?” Junup was already busying himself with some holographic texts and acted like he was only half listening.
“He tried to kill us. In our primitive culture, that would result in criminal charges being filed.”
“I already told you. I intend to talk to him. Now get out of my office.”
“Talk to him,” Colonel Rage muttered when we got outside.
“It’s not our problem,” Mi Sun said. “We’re leaving tomorrow.”
Charles sighed and looked back at Junup’s office, an expression of worry on his face. “Provided we live that long.”
• • •
We were halfway across the compound when Ardov stepped into our path. To no one’s surprise, he looked angry.
“See here, son,” the colonel began. “We’ve all had a long day, and we’re not interested in more trouble. How about you go see your boss and find out what he wants from you before you find yourself in hot water?”
Ardov swiped an arm at Colonel Rage, sending him flying into the air. He landed a good twenty feet away from us, landing on the grass and skidding the length of his body before coming to a rest. I glanced over to see him getting up. He looked a little stunned but okay. Mi Sun ran over to make sure he wasn’t hurt, so I quickly looked back at Ardov. I didn’t want to risk his making any moves while I was distracted.
“I know what the director has in mind for you pathetic group of savages,” he said through clenched teeth. “And I agree. The sooner you are all gone, the better. But you,” he said, pointing at me, “are not leaving. You are finished. Right now.”
I chanced another quick glance at my surroundings. Whatever peace officers had been lurking around before Ardov’s attack had now, by pure coincidence, made themselves scarce. The various other citizens were in the process of clearing the grounds, running indoors. It was like when two gunslingers would face off on the main street in the Old West. I was sure those scurrying beings would head to safety somewhere and then press their faces, or whatever they had, against the glass and peer out while Ardov did whatever he planned to do.
Villainic stepped forward. “Before you do something you might regret, please know that I have invoked the right of brotherhood with this being. He is now, legally, my caste-brother, and so any actions taken against him—”
“I’m done with primitive Rarel laws,” Ardov said, his voice dripping with contempt. “Do you want to stand between me and that alien?”
Villainic demonstrated the value of his caste-brotherhood by slinking away.
Ardov took another step toward me. “Let’s go, Zeke. You and me. Let’s finally finish this. We’ll see what you can do when you’re not hiding behind tricks or PPB pistols.”
Steve and Alice were stepping forward to put themselves between me and Ardov. it was a nice thought, especially for Alice, who had no chance against him, but I wasn’t going to let anyone fight my battles for me.
“I’ve got this,” I said, though I had no idea how I was going to avoid fighting Ardov or, alternatively, getting pounded by him.
I don’t recommend that you fight this thing, Smelly chimed in, ever helpful.
“Your skill tree has been maxed out,” I said, stalling for time—though I hardly knew what more time would get me. “That doesn’t seem fair.”
“Too bad for you,” he said, advancing on me.
I took a step back and held up my hands. “Hold on one second. Ardov, you and I have had our differences. At times it’s seemed like we’ve been on different sides. But you know, the way I see it, we’ve always been on the same side. We’ve always been fighting for the same thing. Don’t you get it? We’re on the same side.”
He looked at me, puzzled and annoyed that I would dare suggest that he and I had anything in common. “What exactly are you talking about?”
Then he fell, face-first, onto the purple grass. He was screaming in pain, clutching at his leg. It was Alice. My little speech about us being on the same side had been a way to keep him distracted as she’d shifted behind him, raised her foot, and planted a powerful kick to the back of his knee. I was no doctor, but the way he was writhing around suggested she must have broken something. With his augmented health, he would likely be up and about again in a few minutes at most, but we’d be gone by then. I had to hope that the humiliation would be enough to get him to keep his distance before we disappeared tomorrow.
Almost everyone had gathered around Alice, who was wiping a mass of white hair from her eyes. She looked shaken and relieved. I knew t
he feeling all too well—when you walk away from something where you might just have easily been killed.
“That was pretty good,” Mi Sun said. “Have you studied any martial arts?”
“I used to take karate,” Alice said.
The colonel, a little grass-stained but no worse for wear, was patting her on the back. Charles and Steve were chatting excitedly with her. Even Villainic seemed impressed. Only Tamret stood lightly apart, and she was glaring angrily at Alice.
Uh-oh, Smelly said.
I swallowed hard. Uh-oh was right. It looked like we now had bigger problems than Ardov getting back on his feet.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
* * *
Somehow we made it through the night without any further antics or assassination attempts or thwarted explosions. Tamret never spoke much when Villainic was around, but her silence seemed even more purposeful than usual at dinner. Several times I noticed her glaring at Alice, who seemed completely oblivious. For her part, Alice didn’t want to make too much of having toppled Ardov, but she did want to recount our escape from the shuttle disaster over and over again. I understood how that was. You get through something you think is going to end you, there’s a need to turn it into a good story.
After dinner I went down to the sim suites with Steve and Charles and Colonel Rage. The colonel had learned a lot about starship operations in the little time we’d been here. I thought that was good, though his attitude still scared me.
“We’re not going to be done with these people,” he told me when we were finished and heading back to our rooms. “Earth’s going to have to face them sooner or later, and we’re going to have to beat them at their own game.”
I hated how the colonel kept envisioning Earth being at odds with the Confederation. Based on what he’d seen, I supposed I couldn’t really blame him. Still, it made me sad to think that the adult who was going to be considered the expert on the Confederation saw this society as dangerous and unreliable. I had loved Confederation Central: the beings I’d met here, the incredible potential and opportunity it represented. I refused to believe that a being like Junup could corrupt all of that.
What chance was there to save the Confederation, though, if no one stood up to him? Dr. Roop had told me what we needed to do, and we were all too selfish to do it. We were ready to steal a ship and run away for home. We were prepared to let Junup turn the Confederation into something ugly and horrible.
I felt about as torn as I ever had, caught between my two choices, both of which were right, between two obligations equally strong. No matter how things went, I was going to feel miserable.
• • •
The next morning’s breakfast also went off without disaster or near-death experiences. We were on a roll. Tamret still looked angry or suspicious or something, but I couldn’t worry about that now. Everyone was tense. This was the big day. Given how we’d almost been killed on our last excursion, I thought there was a certain amount of justifiable nervousness about today’s trip. Nevertheless, things had gone pretty horribly since leaving home, and the prospect of being done with this place had everyone a little animated.
I wanted to make one last plea for Dr. Roop’s Hidden Fortress scheme, but I sensed that it was the wrong time—not that there was ever going to be a right time. If we got on the shuttle later that day, and if we managed to get out of the Confederation Central system, then it would be too late. Maybe once we were on the shuttle and could go anywhere. There had to be an opportunity to convince everyone that it was worthwhile to fight for what was best about the Confederation. I promised myself that I would make the case again before we left.
We had just finished eating when my bracelet chimed with a message. Same place as before. Right now. Qapla’! The Klingon word was obviously meant as a kind of code. Besides me—and now, maybe, Charles—the only person on Confederation Central who would even know about Klingon was Dr. Roop, which was kind of crazy, because I’d just been thinking of him that moment. Maybe he would have something to say to help me convince the others, I thought. Even better, maybe he would tell me he no longer needed me to go to the Forbidden Zone. It would be nice, I thought, to be off the hook for once.
I blurted out a lame and rambling excuse and hurried off to the Peripheral Tower. I was through security and on the elevator about ten minutes after getting the message, and Dr. Roop was waiting for me, crouched in the shadows behind one of the walls. I could barely see his stubby antlers sticking out.
“Don’t come any closer,” he said, as soon as I stepped out onto the roof. “I think they may have surveillance drones watching me. If you stay there, they won’t see you, so they won’t know who I’m meeting with.”
“Why did you risk coming here?” I asked, sounding a little hysterical. The last thing I wanted was to see Dr. Roop arrested. “You can’t put yourself in danger like this.”
“I’m afraid what I have to say is too important to wait. I have contacts within the government, and I know about the offer Junup made you. I know what you think is going to happen today.”
“You’re going to tell me not to go,” I said. “I tried to sell the others on finding the skill tree, but they wouldn’t go for it. They want to go home. I really want to help you, Dr. Roop—I want to help the Confederation—but I can’t force the others to go along with me.”
“I understand that,” he said, “but if you board that vessel, you won’t go anywhere. Junup plans to have fully armed ships waiting for you as soon as you are out of visual range of the station. He’s not going to risk your popping up again. He means to kill all of you, and this time he won’t let anything go wrong.”
I swallowed hard. “We were actually planning on using the ship he’s selected as a decoy and taking another ship.”
“That’s clever, but it won’t work. He knows about your plan, and he’ll be watching all departures closely. He’ll figure out which ship is yours without any difficulty.”
I tried to process what Dr. Roop was telling me. If Junup knew about our plan, that meant that somehow he had been able to listen in on our conversations, or that, worse, we had a spy in our midst.
“You must trust me,” Dr. Roop said. “If you try to leave on his terms, you’ll die.”
“We’ll just have to leave on different terms, then.”
Dr. Roop shook his head. “If you don’t go during the time he’s arranged, he’ll know you are onto him, and he’ll have no choice but to deal with you internally. You and your friends are resourceful, and you’ve been lucky so far, but sooner or later Junup is going to win, and in the end you will either be in prison or dead. You know what I think is the right thing, but you also know I would not lie to you. In my estimation, you have but one option.”
“You want me to take the ship and, instead of escaping from the station, go in search of the skill tree.”
“It’s your only chance,” he said. “Once you enter the Forbidden Zone, Junup’s forces will be unable to pursue you.”
That was the upside. The downside was that the reason they couldn’t pursue us would be because the zone in which we’d be hiding would be of the forbidden variety. They usually don’t forbid zones because they’re full of gummy worms and video games.
“And then what?” I asked. “Let’s say we enter the Forbidden Zone and find the skill tree. What do we do with it?”
“My research suggests that there are several ancient ship docks in the Forbidden Zone, including one under the station’s surface. That is to say, if you find the Hidden Fortress, you will find both the skill tree and a means of escape. The ships there should be operational. I’ve arranged for one of my associates to provide you with coordinates to a safe haven, a planet where the resistance has established a command post. Get the software to them, and they will make sure it gets into proper hands within the Confederation. But dress warmly. This planet is extremely cold.”
“The rebel base is on an ice planet?” I asked, thinking this was a little too close to
The Empire Strikes Back.
“Yes. I find wearing multiple layers to be most effective.”
“I’m going to have to convince the others to go along with this,” I said. “They’re all pretty much sold on going home.”
“They can’t,” he said, the sadness evident in his voice. “Not right away. Junup won’t let that happen. He will not let you live, because he thinks that, no matter what, you will rebel against his authority. Ironically, in order to survive, you must do just that.”
“And how do I convince everyone that they need to become rebels?”
“Most of them know me. The former delegates know I would not deceive any of you.”
“Colonel Rage will never go for it. He’ll say that you’re manipulating us into doing what you wanted us to do all along.”
“I understand how a cynic might suspect that,” he said. “I hope that, among the rest, my past actions will give you cause to trust me one last time.”
To be sure, it was good enough for me. If Dr. Roop said that Junup planned to kill us, there was no way I was going to try to escape the station on Junup’s terms.
Dr. Roop’s bracelet chimed. He glanced at a message, then looked up. His eyes were wide and startled. “They’ve found me. You need to go right now.”
“I can’t just leave you.”
“I’m afraid you must,” he said. “You can’t help me here, and everything is depending on you now. Run, Zeke!”
I hated to abandon him, but I didn’t see that I had a choice. I had to get the information about Junup’s plan to the others, or Dr. Roop would have put himself at risk for nothing. On the elevator down, I told myself that maybe he was mistaken. Maybe he hadn’t really been discovered.
As soon as I got outside, I backed up far enough so I could see the roof, and there he was, a distant image, surrounded by peace officers on either side. They closed in on him. I could barely discern Dr. Roop dodging between them, zigzagging like a football player desperate to avoid a tackle. He faked his way through a trio of advancing peace officers in a mad dash, but I couldn’t figure out his plan. Where did he hope to go? How was he going to get away?
