by Zen DiPietro
“See?” Nagali said brightly. “This worked out great.”
Cabot laughed.
2
Getting their supplies up to the Kiramoto cruiser was tedious but simple. It also used up nearly all of their remaining time. Cabot barely had time to contact his friend Arlen Stinth to ask her to see that the cruiser made its way back to Dragonfire Station. He’d have to pay docking fees for the cruiser until she got to it, but he knew he could trust her with the ship and the cargo.
He had only a minute or so to mentally prepare for his reunion with Ditnya Caine.
Meeting Ditnya always felt like a major event, no matter how many times he met her.
Now she’d be his partner. Technically, he’d be her second in command of the Bona Fide, but since he had the critical relationship with the PAC government that was going to make all this work, they would be locked into a power struggle from beginning to end.
This would be a test of his character, his wits, and his patience. Whatever he did with the rest of his life, it probably wouldn’t measure up to this task.
He wouldn’t let that intimidate him, though. He strode onto the ship like he owned it. He took a moment to safely deposit his luggage in his assigned quarters, then made his way to the bridge.
“I half expected you not to make it.” She eyed him from the command chair. A power play, without a doubt. She wanted to be sure he had to come to her, and see her sitting on what amounted to a throne.
Screw that. He was no supplicant. He shooed the ship’s first officer out of the seat next to her.
This would be the first test of his authority on the ship.
The officer, a man in his mid-thirties named Kelvin, was human and gave Cabot a long look before glancing at Ditnya.
Ditnya nodded once.
Kelvin rose and moved back to the tactical station, as if there was critical work to be done there and he had intended to do that anyway.
Cabot sat and adopted a casual posture. “We made a contract, did we not? I intend to live up to it.”
“We did,” she agreed. “I take it Omar and Nagali are aboard as well?”
“Of course. We’ve become something of a team.”
“Just keep that woman off my bridge and out of my way.” Ditnya’s voice was hard and no-nonsense. “If she causes any trouble on my ship, I’ll shoot her out the nearest airlock.”
Cabot smiled benignly. “She has been known to shake things up a bit, but I think Omar would be sad to see his sister tumbling through space.”
Ditnya had an inexplicable fondness for Omar. She folded her hands together in her lap. “Probably so. Is there anything else, or should we continue the pissing contest?”
“I’ll dispense with it if you will,” he said. “Even though I haven’t yet had a chance to remind you of my strong personal ties to PAC intelligence. But truth be told, we’ll be better off if we work on establishing some sort of working rapport. Since we have things to do.”
She smiled. A real smile. “Indeed. I think we understand each other. We’ll be departing from the space station in an hour. Why don’t you and your friends take that time to settle in? Once we’re underway, we can all meet and discuss our destination and strategy.”
He wondered what would happen during that hour. A simple delivery of supplies, or something more interesting? “Sounds good. Shall we join you in the meeting room?”
“Yes. I’ll bring a couple of my senior staff, so you can begin getting acquainted.”
Cabot wasn’t looking forward to working among people he’d stepped over in the hierarchy, but there was no avoiding it. “Perfect. One hour, then.”
She inclined her head and shifted her attention to the small viewscreen just in front of the left of her armrest, effectively dismissing him.
She was so good with casual disdain.
Humming an old space shanty, he went back to his quarters to unpack.
“Hello, darling.” Pigie leaned up against the doorway of Omar’s room.
Cabot decided to ignore the fact that she knew his relative whereabouts and his destination when he hadn’t even seen her yet. He also ignored the “darling” bit. “Hello, Pigie. I hope you’ve been well.”
The Trallian let out a small sigh. “Could be worse, but we’ve had a lot of hustling going on, thanks to you and the PAC.”
Only Pigie would take the breakout of a war personally, because it inconvenienced her.
Nonetheless, he played along. “Apologies for that.”
She edged closer, gazing up at him soulfully. “You can make it up to me later.”
He hadn’t yet decided whether her fixation indicated an actual interest in him or if it was a manipulation tactic. Or heck, maybe she just got a kick out of it. But he elected to err on the side of caution.
He’d act as if he took her interest seriously. Also, he’d pretend that the concept of it wasn’t frightening. “Of course. To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?”
She beamed at him. “You old flatterer. You know I can’t stay mad at you. I wanted to let you know I’ll be at the meeting, and that you should watch out for Kelvin. He’s ambitious, and all he cares about is being Ditnya’s right-hand man. Which, of course, he can’t be, because I’m her right-hand person, and a person can’t have two right hands, can they? Not even the Briveen.” She laughed at her joke, which wasn’t really funny. “But whatever. He’s pissed that you’ve showed up and outranked him, and he’ll be watching for ways to cut you down or cause you problems.”
“Are you and he friends?”
“That guy’s only friends with his mirror and his bank account, if you know what I mean. He doesn’t like me, either, but he knows better than to cross me on anything important.” She scowled, doing her best to look fierce.
Trallians had a hard time looking fierce. Given their short stature, thick build, huge dark eyes, and thick skin, they had a hard time looking anything but adorable.
Cabot carefully reacted with the proper amount of dismay. “Is there anything you recommend in dealing with him? Some way of getting on his good side or putting him in my debt?”
“Just watch what you say. He’ll twist your words. Actually, say as little as possible to him. Never give him information he doesn’t have to have. One thing he has going for him is his ability to sniff out answers and undercut people.”
“A valuable skill,” Cabot said thoughtfully.
“And a bad one for a foe to have.”
“Oh, dear.” Cabot shook his head sadly. “I’ve only just gotten here, and I have a foe already?”
Pigie giggled. “You sure do. So you be sure to hold hands with Pigie, and I’ll help keep you safe. Got it?”
She meant figuratively, but she said it so suggestively that he suspected she really did want to hold hands.
Or she just wanted him to think she did.
He tried to imagine Nagali’s reaction to such a thing, and the mental image was almost enough for him to give it a try.
Almost.
“Got it,” he agreed. “I appreciate any help you can give me in maneuvering within the hierarchy of the Bona Fide.”
He bowed to her. The gesture was far too formal for the environs and made her laugh. Good. For all of her hijinks, she was highly intelligent and capable. He wanted her on his side.
“Oh, you! I love how you butter me up.” Pigie’s eyes twinkled.
“Who’s buttering what?” Nagali’s deep, husky voice came from behind Cabot and made him wince.
If anything could get in the way of him having a good relationship with Pigie, it was Nagali. Actually, Nagali posed a threat to pretty much all of his operations on this ship.
And, possibly, in life.
She sidled up and leaned into Cabot’s side.
Pigie’s eyes widened, then narrowed. “I’d heard the witch was coming, too. I’d hoped something would prevent it, though.”
“Like what?” Nagali asked, amused.
“Oh, you know.” Pigie
smiled sweetly. “Scheduling conflict. Your grisly death. That kind of thing.”
Nagali laughed a posh, high-society, witty-banter sort of laugh. The sort of thing that sounds pleasant and happy, but most assuredly is nothing of the kind. More likely, it indicated a gloves-off approach to some truly devastating words.
A chill wind blew through Cabot.
“You’re far from the first to want to see me dead,” Nagali said, smiling. “But here I am, still here. And look whose arm is around me.”
She snuggled closer to Cabot.
“Oh, yes,” Pigie agreed. “Here you are, right where nobody wants you. We’ll see how long it lasts.”
Then she laughed as if someone had said something incredibly clever. “I need to take care of a few things, so you’ll have to excuse me. See you at the meeting!”
She waggled her fingers and sashayed away.
Cabot looked at Nagali. “Did you really have to bait her like that? We need her on our side.”
Nagali pouted. “She’s just so irritating with her big, cute eyes and her little, obnoxious voice. I couldn’t help it.” Then she added, “She started it.”
“Not good enough. I need you to not antagonize Pigie. I mean it.”
“I’ll try. She doesn’t make it easy.”
He pushed the chime for Omar’s door. “No, I’m sure she won’t. But we aren’t here because it’s supposed to be easy. We’re here because we need to get rid of the Barony Coalition.”
“Fine. You’re right. I’ll try to just stay away from her whenever I can.”
“It’s a start.” He wondered what was taking Omar so long.
The door opened. Omar had a pillow crease on his cheek.
“You sleep too much,” Cabot told him as they entered.
“I don’t,” Omar denied. “I just sleep at different times than some people do. I figure we’re in space, and I don’t have a work shift to handle, so what’s the point of sticking to a schedule of days and nights that isn’t even natural to me?”
“We can talk about existential philosophy in space later.” Cabot sat on a plush, surprisingly comfortable chair. “Right now, we need to talk about strategy, what we do and don’t want to say to Ditnya and her crew, and how we’re going to handle being here.”
Omar wiped his hand across his face. “I’m going to need some snacks if we’ll be doing some serious strategizing.”
“Fine,” Nagali said. “Let’s get snacks and figure out how to beat these guys, and then beat Barony.”
Cabot smiled. Only these two people were crazy enough to do this with him.
He was glad they were there.
Cabot sat next to Ditnya, listening to her outline to her staff things that she had no doubt already told them. This retelling was for his benefit, and contained nothing that interested him.
He used the time to observe the others. Nagali and Omar had themselves in check, quietly sitting while Ditnya explained that Nagali would not have access to any sensitive areas, such as the bridge or engineering.
Nagali twitched but said nothing.
Pigie behaved nothing like she had in the corridor outside Omar’s room earlier. Now, she was sharp, serious, and entirely businesslike. Moments like these made Cabot certain that she was only messing with him by putting on her smitten routine with him.
Or maybe she was crazy. That was always a possibility.
Kelvin sat ramrod straight, his face stony. He must be good at something, or Ditnya wouldn’t keep him around. He lacked the deference that most of her people had. Cabot wondered what his specialty was, other than the deductive reasoning Pigie had suggested.
Or maybe that was it. The guy just sat around, saying nothing, observing and figuring things out.
Cabot hoped not.
On the opposite side of the table from Cabot, Ditnya’s other top officer sat. Astrid was about thirty years old and appeared to have ancestry from multiple planets. Cabot saw Atalan lips, Bennite bone structure and coloring, and something about her eyes appeared human.
Astrid interested him. She had a hard exterior, but she seemed to take in every detail. Maybe both of those qualities made sense, given her role as head of tactical and security. Cabot saw intelligence and distrust in her gaze. Whether she’d be an ally or an antagonist, he couldn’t guess.
He hoped for an ally.
“Bottom line,” Ditnya concluded, “as far as ship’s operations go, most things will be as usual. Your daily routine shouldn’t change much. However, for the duration of this joint endeavor, Cabot will have authority over everyone here but me.”
“And those two?” Astrid indicated Nagali and Omar with a lift of her chin.
“No official authority. Though Omar’s a friend of mine, and I expect him to be treated well. The woman…” Ditnya paused to level a warning look at Nagali, “should be monitored.”
Any words about treating Nagali well went pointedly unspoken.
Astrid and Kelvin nodded. Pigie sent Nagali a look of spiteful delight.
Under the table, Cabot put his hand on Nagali’s knee to remind her not to react to Pigie and Ditnya baiting her.
Nagali smiled, captured his hand in both of hers, and began quietly humming an old Rescan tune.
All eyes went to her and a tense moment ensued, with everyone waiting for her to do something.
When she didn’t, Ditnya continued. “We are now en route to the Zankarti system. Barony has destroyed five PAC outposts in that region, along with strategic strips of communications relays, to give them the opportunity to operate in Zankarti space. We’re going to go there and find out why the people of that system are allowing this. The PAC, as an official government, couldn’t do this, as Zankarti would refuse to speak to them. But as an entrepreneur with no governmental allegiance, I might just be able to get a meeting.”
“That sounds exciting,” Nagali said. “I like it.”
Ditnya glanced at her. “That’s too bad, but we’ll do it anyway.
Omar snorted. When Cabot looked at him, he covered it with a cough. “Excuse me.”
“It will take us a little more than two weeks to get there,” Kelvin said. “Is there anything we should be doing in the meantime?”
“Over two weeks?” Omar interrupted. “That seems a little long, in this ship.”
“I’m reserving some time for a stop or two,” Ditnya said. “Just in case.”
“That sounds vague.” Cabot didn’t like the feel of that. “Are you unsure, or are you keeping the details to yourself?”
“I’m not being shady,” Ditnya answered. “I have some feelers out and am waiting to hear back from my contacts. There may or may not be opportunities for us along the way. If things line up, I’ll be forthcoming with all the necessary details. However, if they don’t, I’m hardly going to reveal my sources without just cause.”
“Reasonable,” Cabot conceded. “Are you angling for supplies or information?”
“Both. Either. Whatever we can come up with,” Ditnya said. “I want you working your contacts, too. Anyone you know who travels through that region, who might have something we can use. The PAC is checking their end too, for anything that might be useful.”
That rubbed Cabot the wrong way. “You talked to them about strategy without me? Aren’t I supposed to be the liaison?”
“You weren’t here,” Ditnya said. “In the interest of time, I contacted Admiral Erickson myself and suggested that they see what they had in the region that could be helpful.”
“I see. Using time to our advantage is reasonable, but since I’m here now, I expect to be the waypoint for all communications with the PAC.”
“Your ego need not be bruised,” Ditnya said dryly. “Naturally, since your job is to act as the liaison, that’s what you’ll be doing.”
“It’s not about ego. Let’s be very, very clear about that.” Cabot rested his hands on the edge of the table. “I’m not here for my ego. Or bragging rights. Or even money. I’m here to help the Planetary A
lliance Cooperative and its government and to act as their agent here. I’m here because the PAC government can’t allow people to realize that they’re working with you on this. It would cause chaos. You shouldn’t be contacting them.”
Ditnya’s mouth tightened. “They said the same thing, more or less. That’s why I’ve allowed you to be here.”
Cabot didn’t like the way she made that sound like she was doing him a favor. “I just want to be completely clear that stopping Barony’s attack on the alliance is the only thing that matters here. Not your pride, not mine, and certainly not any petty power struggles.”
Ditnya eyed him warily. “Agreed. Restoring the PAC is the priority. All other concerns are secondary.”
He felt like she was agreeing with him, but also telling him not to overvalue himself.
Astrid now paid him particular attention, as if his words had alerted her to something. But what? Did she suspect he would cause trouble here? Or betray them in the pursuit of the goal?
Distrust was healthy. Cabot didn’t mind it.
“Does anyone have any questions?” Ditnya asked.
Cabot gently squeezed Nagali’s hands. He sensed she had something obnoxious bubbling up within her, threatening to come out. A question about Ditnya’s fashion choices, perhaps, or how it felt to be old and unloved.
Something.
Nagali smiled sweetly at him. She knew that he knew she was thinking something wicked. All he could be certain of was that, whatever she was thinking, it would make his life a lot harder if she said it out loud.
“All right then,” Ditnya said authoritatively. “This cooperative endeavor will take a little getting used to, but I’m confident we can make this work in the interest of our shared goal.”
She rose, and her two officers stood as well. Pigie remained seated, tapping something into her infoboard.
The room felt a lot bigger when they left. Pigie continued to ignore them until Cabot got up to follow Nagali and Omar out.
“Be careful,” Pigie warned, her expression deadly serious. “Don’t trust anyone. Not me, not anyone. Life in Ditnya’s sphere is different than anything else, and this ship is like a tiny world of her making.”
