by J. N. Chaney
“Sounds about right. Vega told me about a power shot Farah had in the medbay, so I grabbed one for you. Hope that’s alright.”
I knew exactly what she was talking about. Farah had concocted a mixed with adrenaline, protein enzymes, and gods knew what else to keep us going on long stakeouts. They worked, giving the system a nice little jolt that I despised.
Not a fan of drug cocktails, I made a face. “I suppose the situation calls for it. Just get it over with quick, okay?”
Calliope shrugged and jabbed me in the arm without preamble, depressing the shot and pulling it out.
“Ouch,” I growled.
“You did say quick,” Vega reminded me.
With only a little help from Calliope, I was on my feet again. Wobbly and still in need of assistance, but at least she wasn’t half carrying dead weight anymore.
The girl didn’t show much interest in the cavern or remains of the mining colony, which I took as a good sign. I was ready to admit that my initial distrust of her had been misplaced.
With no prompting or incentive, she’d saved me. For better or worse, it seemed I had decided to trust her. I owed her that much.
“Captain, now that you are no longer indisposed, would you like the results of the tests you asked me to run?” Vega asked.
Back aboard the Genesis, I took my seat on the bridge after a quick dressing change. The bandage had leaked from all the moving around and Calliope worried that the clot spray had broken open. She was right; the wound needed another treatment.
“Sure,” I said, happy to be working my harness alone. The arm was more or less usable now after putting one of the splints on it.
“Oral or text report?”
I glanced at Calliope out of the corner of my eye. “Go ahead with the audio,” I decided.
“It is as you suspected,” the AI replied. “N02-99 is a main component and the design is one commonly used by the Sarkonian government.”
Calliope slated a look at me. “What is she talking about?”
“Just a hunch I’m working on.”
“Okay,” she said, drawing out the word.
Another thirty minutes of impressive flying later, we were on our way to Neblinar. No sooner did we exit the debris field than a slew of messages arrived, mostly from Farah.
“Why didn’t we get these down there?” Calliope asked.
“The ring cuts off all communication,” I explained, cycling through them all. The last was from Angela Dunham.
“Cortez, I’m getting reports of a conflict on Tulkin. If you’re still alive, get back to me.”
Calliope and I shared a knowing glance. That call would be less than fun.
“I should bring her up to speed first, what with her being the Initiative leader and all that,” I mused. “Fuck it, I’m calling Farah.”
Vega put the transmission in, and my friend answered immediately, anxiety thick in her eyes. “Alyss, thank gods. What the hell happened?”
“Good news or bad news first? Okay, okay,” I said, seeing she wasn’t laughing. “We found the ingot on Tulkin. It was just very well guarded.”
Farah studied my face from her end. “I assume that’s why you look half dead?”
“The Void,” Calliope supplied helpfully.
“Not Jax,” I said quickly, seeing the question on her face. “They were packing armor piercing rounds. I took one in the arm.”
One of Farah’s eyebrows shot up. “No way one arm wound has you looking like that.”
“Ouch. That hurts my feelings.” I pretended to wipe away a few tears.
“Don’t make me ask Vega,” she threatened. “You know she’ll tell me.”
“Happily,” the AI declared.
“V, you and I are going to have a long discussion about privacy,” I promised.
The computer didn’t respond.
“They blew up one of the quads,” I told Farah. “So, I had to ride behind Cal to get away. One of them tagged me in the side.”
I explained the rest in as much detail as I could remember, with Calliope filling in the rest.
“Good thing Cal was with you,” Farah said, inclining her head at the other girl.
“Yeah, good thing. What about your mission?” I asked.
A smile lit Farah’s face. “Perfect. We got him back, though now his cover is blown.”
“He’s safe,” I said. “That’s all that matters. Where are you now?”
“Mack and I are on a transport back to Neblinar,” she replied.
Relief flowed through me hearing that. I hadn’t realized how afraid I was that she might stay with the rebellion until that moment. “Us too.” I hesitated before continuing.
Farah being Farah, she noticed something was up. “Is there more I need to know?”
“Yeah,” I said, “but not here. I’ll fill you in once we’re all on Neblinar. Both of you. Where is Mack, by the way?”
My friend grinned. “Off doing something with a computer, I imagine. I’ll let her know you said hi.”
We signed off just in time for another communication from Dunham to come in.
Resigning myself to the conversation, I answered.
“Cortez,” the woman barked. “I’ve been trying to reach you for hours. What the fuck happened on Tulkin?”
Given my suspicions, I had to rein in my attitude. This used to be something second nature to me from years of living with General-Delgado and serving in the military.
Then, freedom happened. The funny thing about freedom is that once it gets its hooks into you, it’s hard to give up. Even when it was pretend.
“Sorry ma’am.” I schooled my features into grave lines. “We ran into a little trouble on Tulkin and I required immediate medical attention. Miss Walker saw to it while we were in a slip tunnel, hence the lack of communication. A full report is forthcoming.”
Instead of relaxing and backing off as I’d hoped, Dunham’s dark eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Slip tunnel? Are you headed back?”
Thankfully, I had a ready answer. “Not yet. We’re running low on a few things. Neblinar is the closest friendly planet, so we’ll stop there.”
Dunham nodded, taking my words at face value. “Alright. Contact me as soon as you’re ready. Oh, and Cortez?”
“Yes, ma’am?”
“Get some decent medical care. You look like shit,” she said before cutting the line.
Thanks, I thought, bristling inside.
“What a bitch,” Calliope murmured.
I swung my gaze around to stare at the younger girl.
“Sorry,” she said, flushing.
“Don’t worry yourself, Cal. I happen to agree. Have you ever been to Neblinar?” I asked as the tear began to open in front of us.
“No,” she replied, a spark of excitement showing in her eyes.
I grinned. “Well, you’re in for a treat.”
12
When we landed on Neblinar, I didn’t hide my relief and sighed deeply.
“Must feel good to be home,” Calliope commented.
I thought she sounded a little wistful and looked at her sympathetically.
Though she had to know we’d done a check of her personal information, it seemed wrong to call attention to it by bringing up her orphan status. I decided it was best to stay vague and let her volunteer what she wanted. “Do you miss home?”
Calliope shrugged. “Sometimes. It was quiet there. My parents ran a farm there. At least they did until… Until after I joined the military. Now they’re both gone.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, meaning it. “My parents are gone too.”
Dead, or they might as well be. Ripped away forever by the Sarkon Empire.
“Oh, I didn’t realize.” Calliope looked startled and her eyes went soft with pity.
“It doesn’t matter. They’re not coming back, so all I can do is keep living.” My voice threatened to crack with emotion, so I expended some of the energy by unsnapping my harness with more force than necessary.
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This in turn pulled at my still healing wound and I grunted at the stab of pain.
“You okay?” Calliope asked, concerned.
“Fine,” I said, gruffer than I meant to.
“The co-captain and Miss Woods are approaching the Second Genesis,” Vega announced, saving me from further conversation.
“That’s great,” I said, a little to brightly.
“Captain Cortez, might I suggest you meet Miss Shahi in the medical bay?”
“Huh? What’s that now?” I asked, confused.
“There’s a high probability that she will want to look you over and verify your injuries are healing properly,” the AI advised.
“No, I will not,” I said hotly. “Who’s in charge of this boat anyhow?”
Calliope snickered into her hand.
“You are, Captain Cortez,” Vega answered mildly. “Without a doubt.”
“Oh, mute your circuits already,” I griped.
Now Calliope laughed out loud. The gall.
I couldn’t help it. I started laughing with her and sucked in a breath when my side started to ache again.
“You guys okay in here?” Farah asked from the door.
She had a hand on one hip and watched us with a cocked eyebrow as though we’d lost our minds. Mack stood just behind her, a cheesy grin lighting up her features.
“At least they’re in good spirits,” the hacker quipped.
“We’re fine,” I assured them, wiping a tear from my eye.
Farah held up the case she carried and walked to the command center. “Still, I think it’s a good idea to check you out in the medbay before anything else. Brought some—what did I say?” she asked Mack when Calliope and I devolved into another fit of laughter.
“Sorry,” I said, holding up my good hand while taking a calming breath. “We’re good, really. Just don’t bring up the medbay again.”
“Okay,” she said slowly. “Then why don’t you tell me what you didn’t want to say over that transmission?”
That sobered me up. Playtime was over. I joined her and Mack, along with Calliope, on my own this time. A little slower than usual, but under my own strength.
“V, bring up the report on the bombs,” I instructed.
Farah shot me a questioning glance. “Bombs?”
I nodded grimly and gestured at the holo. Two sets of schematics were on display.
Mack leaned forward to study them. “They’re the same,” she noted. “What are these?”
“This one”—I indicated the schematic on the left—“we removed from the train. The other I got from the armory on Cerberus.”
My statement was met with silence as that sunk in.
“What are you saying?” Farah’s eyes flashed to mine.
“I got a weird vibe from Dunham when I tried to talk to her about Solaris.” I described her troubling response to the death of so many people, explained how it bothered me. “She offered to let me take a few things from the armory. While I was in there, I saw explosives just like the ones we took from the train.”
“You wanted to compare them,” Calliope guessed.
“Yes.” I paused, unsure how my next words would go over. “I don’t think Vice-Admiral-Kaska was behind the Solaris attack.”
All eyes in the room turned on me.
Farah blanched. “You think the Initiative was behind it?”
“It makes sense. In a sick way,” Mack murmured.
“You even said how insane it was since the attack had just happened when the bulletin came out,” I reminded her.
“How sure are you?” Farah asked, tone tight.
I half lifted a shoulder. “Vega calculated it in the high nineties. Nothing else we’ve recovered so far looks like this. Kaska tends to use Union designed or stolen tech for his attacks. This is Sarkonian, through and through.”
A pregnant pause filled the room.
The implications of my discovery put all of us in a bad place. If the Initiative was behind the bombing as the evidence suggested, they were no better than Kaska. Killing innocent people to further their political agenda in the name of protecting said innocent people was actually worse.
“What do we do about this?” Calliope asked, breaking the silence.
“I don’t know,” I replied honestly. “One thing is for certain: we can’t let on that we’re aware.”
“This is seriously fucked,” Mack said, crossing her arms. “Now we have to not only worry about Kaska and the Union, but our own damn people?”
“I say we don’t even go back,” Farah declared hotly.
I shook my head. “Then Dunham will figure out we know and send someone else after us. Jax may not be the only Void operative up her sleeve,” I pointed out.
“So, what, we just become double agents?” She ran a frustrated hand through her hair.
“At least for the time being. First, we need to replenish the Genesis. She’s running low on just about everything.” I turned to Mack. “If there’s any updates, upgrades, upanything, let’s get that done. If something happens to us, the last thing we want is for Dunham to get her dirty little hands on Vega and this ship.”
“I would prefer that not happen as well,” the AI announced.
The hacker bobbed her head vigorously. “I’m on it.”
As she got to work, I focused on Farah and Calliope. “Right. We can get the supplies.”
The side of Farah’s mouth quirked up into a smirk. “Hold on a second. You still look like you’re about to fall over. Don’t get too worked up, but I really do need to see you in the medbay.”
I grinned back. “No promises.”
“Impressive, isn’t it?” I said, smiling at Calliope, who stood on the promenade with wide eyes.
Despite the lateness of the hour, the dock buzzed with activity. Savory aromas wafted over from food carts and mingled with another vendor’s offerings of sweet treats, making my stomach growl.
Though located on a Sarkonian claimed planet, Neblinar used to be a waystation for travelers, similar to Taurus. Supposedly, according to a Sarkonian news source, half the planet just up and left. Mercenaries and their ilk descended on it before the military could do anything about it.
It still served as a place to fuel up and resupply, it just catered to people like us.
“I forgot to tell you,” Mack’s voice came over the comm. “There’s a new arms dealer in town. He’s running some deals to drum up business. I’ll send you the info.”
“Thanks,” I replied. “Might be worth a try.”
“I added a list of stuff for me, if that’s okay,” she added.
“No problem,” I told her.
We ended the call and arrowed toward one of the food vendors. Farah had looked over my injuries, and though she assured Calliope that her work was good, proceeded to slather on some new healing gel she’d gotten her hands on.
After another one of the booster shots, the pain was barely a throb and I felt almost back to my old self. Smelling the food reminded me that I hadn’t eaten in a while, and boy was I starving.
“Glad to see you have an appetite,” Farah remarked as we walked, taking a dainty bite out of her soy wrap.
“Mmm, ‘t’s good,” I said, scarfing down the last of my mystery meat on a stick and wishing I had more.
On my other side, Calliope was finishing up the same, her eyes half closed and a contented smile on her face.
“Clearly. We’re here, by the way.” My friend smirked and pointed to the store I was about to pass.
I stopped midstride and reached for the door, then stepped through in a fluid motion. Farah and Calliope followed suit and I paused to let my vision adjust to the dim lighting.
“Well, well, well. Look who it is.” A booming voice came from the other side of the room and I tensed.
A burly bald man stepped around the clerk’s counter and came toward us, a wide grin on his face.
“Clint!” I relaxed at the sight of the familiar shop owner whom Farah
and I knew from Leah station. “You came to Neblinar after all.”
I’d told him when we left the sweaty asshole of universe behind that we wouldn’t be coming back, and he should look us up if he ever ended up in our neck of the system.
“Sure did,” he said. “Couldn’t stay on Leah any longer. It’s… well, you know. The clientele was getting rough, even for me. Everyone with half a brain was talking about Neblinar, so I decided to come see what all the fuss was about.”
“Glad you did,” Farah replied. “I just hope you didn’t bring anything with you.”
Clint chuckled. “And who’s this?” he asked, looking at Calliope.
“This is Cal,” I said. “The newest member of our team.”
She held out a hand. “Nice to meet you, Clint.”
Her small hand was dwarfed by his big one, but he didn’t comment. “Gimme just a second. I’ll clear this place out so you can look in peace.”
“Wow, you guys rate top star treatment,” Calliope murmured, watching as he ushered the other two customers out.
“He’s good people,” I told her with a shrug.
Her left eyebrow shot up. “A black-market arms dealer?”
“And we’re terrorists,” I reminded her, gesturing to myself and Farah.
“I suppose you have a point there,” she said grudgingly.
The store’s security shutters rattled down to cover the windows and the girl visibly started.
“It’s so no one steals anything while we try things out,” Farah explained.
Calliope just nodded.
The lights brightened, giving us a full look at the shop.
“Wow,” Farah said under her breath. “Looks like Clint upgraded.”
“You can say that again.” I was aware my response came out in an almost reverent tone.
Farah was on the money. Far from the dirty little space with sticky floors, the new shop fairly sparkled. Every make and model of firearm imaginable made up one side of the large room, while everything from tac gear, to MREs and exosuits filled the other.
Clint advanced on us with arms wide open. “What can I get for you ladies?”
I walked out of Clint’s shop with a moon sized smile and feeling like I had a jump rig at my back. It didn’t even matter that we’d spent a ridiculous amount of credits—we were well stocked enough to start a rebellion of our own.
