Whispers of Earth: Pirates of Clew Book Two (The Pirates of Clew 2)

by Taylor Smith

  Saundi glared at him from across the table, her arms crossed as she leaned back. “I just lost my Father,” she said bluntly. “You just lost your Father for the second time. Life may not go on just yet, but I think we both deserve a little distraction.”

  Cade put his food back on his plate and leaned back. He rubbed his eyes and said, “Maybe. She’s my subordinate now, though. I don’t think that getting involved –“.

  “What’s wrong with you?” she interrupted. “This isn’t a stuck-up Alliance boat. We don’t follow many rules here, if you haven’t noticed. Criss is your age, and cute. Plus she likes you, which is kind of a miracle.”

  Cade shook his head. He noticed her dig at him, which was normal between them, and at any other time he might enjoy the banter. Today he simply wasn’t in the mood. “It’s just not the right time.”

  “Geez, Cade.” Saundi replied. “It’s been two years since Haley died, and you two weren’t even a thing. You kissed her once. Move on.”

  His temper flared. Cade knew that Saundi was brash, but she’d crossed a line. He knew that even Saundi had taken Haley’s death badly, so to blame him for being overly upset was not only offensive, but hypocritical. “We’re done here,” he said, and stood to leave.

  Saundi held her hands up and winced. “I didn’t mean it. I’m sorry,” she said and pointed at his chair. “Please…”

  Cade watched her for a moment and sat back down. He didn’t really want to leave, anyway. Wards was watching the bridge, and Andy was in his quarters where he’d stayed for most of the trip. He’d left to get a quick bite to eat and then try and get some sleep before the trip down to the surface, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to rest.

  Saundi leaned forward and said, “I’m an ass sometimes, I know.”

  Cade finally broke a smile. “Yeah, you are. But you’re right. I like her,” he finally admitted. “She’s smart, funny, and we work really well together. I don’t know, maybe…” he trailed off in thought.

  “Criss is good for ya,” she said suddenly with a mischievous smile.

  “Yeah, she is,” he replied. “Maybe after things settle down, I’ll ask her to dinner.”

  “You should do that,” Saundi said, then quickly grabbed her tray and walked away.

  Surprised and confused by her sudden departure, Cade watched her leave. As he turned, he caught sight of Criss standing behind him with a tray sporting an expression of mixed surprise and hesitation.

  He closed his eyes and let a single breath of humorless laugh to escape. “Well, how much of that did you hear?” he asked.

  Criss put her tray down and sat next to him with a shrug. “Enough to know that your sister can be kind of evil.”

  “Yes, she can,” he said and shook his head.

  “She’s rooting for us, in her own odd way,” she replied and looked back the way Saundi had departed. “She keeps grilling me about us sleeping together.”

  Cade nearly choked on his soda. “What?”

  Criss laughed and shook her head. “In the same room,” she said with a dismissive wave. “She’s convinced we were,” she paused thoughtfully for the right words, “less than platonic.”

  “Well she can dig for false truths all she wants. Nothing happened.” He said matter-of-factly.

  “I was there, remember?” Criss was quiet for a moment before seeming to make a decision. “I miss you, though,” she said, her voice seemed uncomfortable. “It’s weird.”

  He turned to meet her gaze and found that she wouldn’t meet his. “What do you mean?”

  Criss kept her eyes on her salad and produced a miniscule shrug. “I never really got close to anyone before. I was always pretty focused on learning comms to be part of a crew. The Torj mission was the first time I’ve ever really spent time with someone in close-quarters. I got used to it, I guess.” She shook her head and took a bite of her salad. “I’ve never been lonely. It’s stupid.”

  Cade studied her for a long moment. Saundi, no matter how terribly she presented things, was right. He’d mourned Haley for far too long. “Sleep over, then?” he said with a smile.

  She stopped her fork halfway from her plate and looked at him quizzically.

  “When we get back home,” he said. “It’ll be crazy, with all the repairs and I have some ideas about how to move the station now that the Leviathan can’t. I can grab some cookware and make dinner.” He shrugged. “It’ll be like our stint on Torj Station, if you want, that is.”

  “I’d like that,” she said with a wide smile, then nudged his shoulder with hers. “About time.”

  ***

  Cade eased the shuttle through the planet’s atmosphere. Entry hadn’t been too bad, with only a few knocks of turbulence that the small craft handled easily. He was thankful that his head wasn’t in the painful state that it was during the last landing he’d performed.

  As they streaked across the sky toward their destination, night turned to day and Cade began noticing Bonnell Four’s landscape for the first time. Deep reds and browns painted plains and towering mesas, forcing a startling contrast to the cloudless sky. Small patches of green separated by vast plains of brown were linked only by rivers and streams of dark blue water that glittered in the sunlight as they flew overhead.

  Again Cade felt saddened by the lack of people on the planet. It seemed such a waste. Habitable planets were rare, and none were wasted such as Bonnell was. The more he thought about it, the more he realized he didn’t know exactly how many worlds humanity had colonized. It had always seemed trivial to him, but seeing this abandoned gem made him wonder. He promised himself that he would look the data up once they were back aboard the Reaper. Now wasn’t the time to take his thoughts off of navigating the shuttle, and definitely not the time to bring the subject up with his friends.

  Criss sat beside him in the co-pilot’s seat, while Andy and Saundi sat behind them in the second row. A large black coffin, emblazoned with the red Jolly Roger was secured to the flooring behind them all.

  Not a single word had been spoken since loading the coffin into the shuttle.

  Cade found that they were nearing their destination, so he gently slowed and banked the shuttle to get a good look. Below them, just coming into view were the three-century old remains of the Bonnell Colony: The birthplace of Clew. All that was left of the once thriving community was the faint outlines of foundations where buildings once stood. Seeing the ruins from above, it was easy for Cade to imagine the layout of the town. Larger foundations of community and government buildings were thrust up against a towering Cliffside. The further from the cliff, the smaller the foundations became, and they were all separated by a long thoroughfare that ran straight away from the plateau.

  He double checked his location as he slowly circled the old colony, then banked southward toward the Neese family crypt. It was a short jaunt to their final destination, and Cade gently set the shuttle down only fifty yards from the entrance. The constant thrums of the shuttle’s engine went silent as Cade shut the craft’s systems down.

  At once, they were plunged into complete silence. No one seemed ready to speak or move for several seconds. Finally, Andy unbuckled himself, which everyone else took as the sign that they were ready to go. Cade moved to the rear of the shuttle and helped free Mallian’s casket from its moorings, and activated the aft cargo hatch. The seal broke with a slight hiss, and Cade felt the dry heat of Bonnell invade the cool atmosphere of the shuttle.

  Saundi joined them and activated a control on the side of the casket. A faint hum of electronics signaled its activation, and the black coffin rose a foot into the air on its own power. The three led it down the shuttle’s ramp and onto the dusty surface in quiet respect of its contents.

  Cade looked over his shoulder to see Criss standing quietly at the top of the ramp. The Neese family crypt was just that: for family. Cade had questioned his welcome into the Crypt before they left Clew, and was met with exasperation from Andy and a less-than-playful slap on the shou
lder by Saundi.

  The sound of the closing hatch echoed behind them as they walked Mallian toward the entrance to the tomb, accompanied only by the crunch of dirt beneath their boots. After guiding their burden the short distance, Andy strode several steps ahead of them.

  The entrance to the crypt was nondescript, and made of the same weather worn rock found all over the planet, which made it blend extremely well with its surroundings. If Cade hadn’t been following the course Andy had laid out, he would never have found it, even if he were idly walking by.

  Andy placed his hand near the large entry and closed his eyes. Cade knew at once that he was connected to a device nearby via his implant. A low grumbling protest of rock and dirt signaled the entrance was opening, and Andy stepped back to rejoin Cade and Saundi.

  They started forward again, entered the crypt and Cade wrinkled his nose against the stale and musty air of the place. They didn’t travel but several yards into the tomb when the floor began to arc downward considerably. Dim overhead lights activated automatically as they made their way down the long hallway so they could see, and Cade finally realized that the masonry of the entrance hall had given way to metal. Even the soft crunch of dirt and dust beneath his feet had changed in pitch to indicate they were traveling over a more metallic construction.

  Finally, the floor leveled out and Cade found himself in a massive chamber. The lighting slowly rose to a respectable level, and he glanced about curiously. This was not a building; they were inside a ship, buried beneath the surface of the planet. The tell-tale framing of a starship was evident, like a great steel-ribbed beast. He imagined they must be in a cargo hold, or perhaps even a large docking bay.

  His observations were cut short, however, when Andy and Saundi started forward again. Cade looked to the side of the bay to find row after row of similar caskets, all marked with the red skull and crossbones that indicated a member of the Neese family lay quietly inside. Each bore a small silver plaque, and to his surprise, he noticed that each coffin was spotless. He wondered if there was a caretaker for the family crypt, or if there were service bots that maintained the place.

  They guided Mallian to the end of a row beside a lighter gray casket, and Saundi worked the console on its side again. It slowly lowered itself to the ground and deactivated to once again plunge them into an unnerving quiet. Cade, Andy and Saundi stood silent around Mallian’s final resting place for several minutes.

  It hit him all at once. Mallian had adopted him into the Neese family after Cade’s own parents had perished aboard the Grim Shoals. He’d been there for him, just as Andy had been, and even treated Cade as his true son. Andy had told him later that he thought they both helped each other. Mallian had lost his eldest son and daughter some time ago, and he suspected Cade had healed some of that hurt just as Mallian had healed some of Cade’s.

  He felt the trickle of an escaping tear run down his cheek and wiped it away. Saundi turned to him, with tears in her eyes as well and leaned her head on Cade’s shoulder.

  Andy nodded, also without a dry face and moved to a long table adorned with tools and other equipment, and retrieved a silver plaque similar to the others. He stood still for a moment and simply held the plaque, reading the words, then placed it on his father’s casket.

  As Andy took a step back, Cade read the words: “Here lies Mallian, a better pirate than you.”

  Cade took a few moments and read it again. Slowly, and quietly at first, he laughed. Then as Andy let slip a light laugh, he couldn’t help but laugh louder. Laughter feeds on laughter, and soon the bay echoed with their reactions to the last words of Mallian Neese.

  As they calmed, the air seemed a bit brighter and Cade wondered if that was the mission that his adoptive father was trying to accomplish. He wiped his eyes dry and smiled.

  “He always had a weird sense of humor,” Andy finally said.

  Thankful for the silence to be broken, Cade replied, “I liked him.”

  Saundi looked to Cade and smiled. “Me too.”

  Cade took a deep breath and moved to the casket next to Mallian’s. It was lighter in color, but still bore the red mark of the Neese family. “Elsy?”

  “Dad’s wife,” Andy answered.

  “But I thought…” Cade stopped, confused. “So –“.

  “Elissia Neese was Jeremy and Kathrine’s mother,” Andy explained, “my older brother and sister who were killed aboard the Night’s Pride.”

  “Elsy passed away when they were young,” Saundi added. “Before they died, and before Andy and I were born.”

  Cade nodded, thankful for the explanation, but he was still curious about something else. “What about your mother?” he asked carefully.

  Saundi glanced to Andy, who was still transfixed on his father’s coffin. “You still haven’t told him?” she asked her older brother, then turned back to Cade with a slight frown. “It’s not easy to explain, Dorian.”

  “Can you please try?” he asked in almost a whisper. He hated pushing anyone for answers, and considering their current location and reason for being here, it was probably improper, but damn it they were killing him with their secrecy.

  Andy finally turned to face Cade. “Her name is Adrianna Nyest,” he said with a hint of sadness. “I can’t tell you everything just yet, but I’ll tell you what I can.”

  Cade crossed his arms and very nearly exploded. He tamped his temper down out of respect for the dead and took a deep breath. He nodded for Andy to continue.

  Andy looked at Saundi, who gazed back dispassionately. He sighed and said, “Our mother made a deal with my father twenty-five years ago. We provide them intel on, well, everything, and they provide us with ship hulls and bits of technology here and there.”

  Cade’s eyes narrowed. “Is she Alliance?” he dared to ask.

  Saundi’s eyes widened. “Hell no!” she shouted, her echo reverberating through the bay.

  Andy shook his head and grinned. “Actually, a little of the opposite. That’s really all I can say for right now, Cade.”

  Cade shook his head and turned his back to them. He hated not knowing. There were times when that was called for, and he understood that he didn’t need to know everything, but this was a subject that sat very poorly with him because it was a family issue. Even being in the Neese family crypt, he didn’t truly feel part of their lives. “I don’t know why I bother,” he said with a finality that he truly felt. “I understand that I’m not truly a Neese. I get that. I just thought since…” his voice trailed away as his gaze flitted across the rows of caskets. He turned back to them and said, “I get it.”

  Andy shook his head and smiled at his brother. “No, Dorian, you don’t.” He pointed at the first coffin.

  Cade followed Andy’s indication and walked to the casket. It was black, like Mallian’s but worn from time. The plaque simply read: “Here lies Julian.”

  “Julian Neese,” he whispered.

  “Do you know how many people have seen this?” Andy asked. Before Cade could answer, he chuckled and shook his head. “Not many. Follow me.” He then walked across the bay toward the long table against the far wall. He gestured to several items scattered across its surface.

  Cade eyed Andy, then looked to find more of the silver plaques. Several were blank, but a few were filled out. He found Andy’s and Saundi’s, but another caught his eye. It read: “Here lies Dorian.” The simple piece of metal sent shockwaves through his entire system.

  “Dad had it made a year ago. When he told me about it, he said,” Andy scrunched his face up and continued with a gravelly voice and drawn out accent: “Ya show that scoundrel son of mine! If he still be thinkin’ he’s not part of the family, hit ‘em with that, and it’ll swat em’ straight!”

  Cade couldn’t help but allow a small laugh to escape at Andy’s impersonation. “Damn,” he whispered.

  “He loved you, Cade,” Andy said a little softer, and gestured to Saundi. “We just think you’re ok,” he added with a grin.

/>   Cade laughed. “Thanks,” he said sarcastically. “So why all the secrets about your mother? I’m not asking you to tell me again, I’m just asking why.”

  “Because that bitch isn’t our mother,” Saundi exclaimed. “She’s our biological gestation chamber with a birthing upgrade, that’s it. It was all part of the deal. When –“.

  “Saundi!” Andy said suddenly to cut her off. “Cade,” he said rounding back to his brother, “The answer to your question: Because Adriana Nyest has nothing to do with our family. That’s the truth. Where she fits in, only has to do with the history, and,” he closed his eyes as if finding distaste in his own words. “And possibly the future of Clew Station.” He held his hands out, palms down for emphasis. “Complete separation, as far as we’re concerned.”

  Cade crossed his arms and wished Andy hadn’t cut Saundi off. He knew in that moment, all he had to do was get Saundi alone, piss her off, then ask her about it and she’d spill everything. He wasn’t sure if he was willing to abuse that knowledge or not, though. Not knowing how it would hurt Andy, and even Saundi afterward.

  “All right,” he said with a shake of his head. “I understand. Completely separate.”

  Andy visibly relaxed. “Thank you. Besides,” he said with a grin. “You won’t have to wait that long for a full explanation anyway.”

  Their duty complete, the three siblings paid their final respects to Mallian, and made their way back to the surface. Cade was lost in thought as they crossed the threshold of the crypt and reentered the heat of Bonnell Four. The sun was high, and he had to squint hard as his eyes had adjusted to the gloom of the underground tomb.