Andromeda's Pirate

by Debra Jess

  A yellow light flashed from the corner of her scope. No, not from her scope, but from the emergency compression gate located at the far end of the bay. It only activated when a ship prepared to land. If a shuttle crashed, the emergency window would allow anyone near the bay shields to escape. Alternatively, it would also transport emergency medical teams closer to the craft without having to run the length of the bay.

  The yellow light meant a ship was incoming.

  Like a swift kick to the head, she could see Darvik's plan. He would meet with his supplier here, and someone, probably Mirin, would fly the Manitac shuttle they'd stolen from Ruintalos to the bay to pick up their supplies.

  He hadn't counted on a territorial fight between her own supplier and his. If Mirin landed the shuttle, she wouldn't know Darvik and Johza had been captured until it was too late. Even if she'd brought a Manitac uniform with her, she would be captured too because she would have no reason to be here.

  Squad three drew closer. No time left, she had to make a decision: stay and fight, or run and hope Darvik could find a way out of this mess.

  Or find a third option. The yellow light blinked faster, making sure everyone could see the window. It would dump any evacuees somewhere safe, even if the bay suffered catastrophic decompression.

  Swinging her feet off the crate, her adrenaline hit an all-time high as she jumped back up to the catwalk, hauled herself over the ledge, and ran back into the main ring, bringing her arsenal with her.

  The only safe places on board a space station were the sick bays. Unity long ago mandated one bay for every two rings. They would be the first spaces built on any station because they also acted like escape pods. In the event of a catastrophic accident, the medical bays would detach from the station with enough propulsion to keep clear of any debris resulting from complete destruction.

  There had to be one on this level. Ignoring her body's signal to slow down, she raced back the way she had come. Once she was within spitting distance of the regular compression gate, she stopped. Had she passed it by accident? Anger poured through every vein. She didn’t have time for…

  By the Stars, a crowd of construction workers gathered around the shaft she’d dumped their friend into. Of course, they were working on construction of the actual medical bay.

  Did they know about the trouble just on the other side of the ring? There was no sense of urgency as two of them carried their colleague back into their work area.

  How could she clear the room and not have her victim identify her?

  Would this madness ever end? Reaching into her back belt clip, she grabbed her second cluster disperser and set it for nonlethal, and then she dropped her mask so he wouldn’t recognize her.

  As she slipped into the room, no one noticed her, their attention on their wounded man who was lying supine on a bio-bed. Heads snapped in her direction at the swish of the cluster disperser, but before any of them could demand an explanation, they dropped to the floor.

  The nonlethal setting gave her only a minute, maybe two, to save Darvik and the Queen’s crew. She grabbed some medical glue from a drawer and smeared it across three of her energy packs before smacking them together and stacking each one on top of another. Activating the emergency compression gate gave her an instant, but only partial, view of the bay. She could only see Manitac gray, which was good. The lack of reaction meant they were facing away from the window. In the background, she could hear the bay's shield drop as the shuttle began docking procedures. She had one chance to get this right and warn Mirin and everyone else on the shuttle.

  Tossing her last cluster disperser—also set to nonlethal—through the window did the trick, knocking out five of the nearest squad. Before their bodies hit the ground, she flattened herself on the floor. She had one chance to get this right.

  While the other half of the squad pulled their unconscious members out of the way so they could jump through the window, she shoved the glued-together power packs through, tracking it as it slid across the floor between the bodies and stumbling feet.

  Heart pounding, she counted down as the packs continued to slide while she watched through the rifle scope. When she saw boots heading toward her, she knew she couldn't wait any longer and fired.

  The packs exploded, sending the squad spinning into a state of confusion as the men behind them closest to the shuttle dropped, covered in blood.

  If any of her crew from the Silt died…

  She didn't let that thought finish before she leaped up to shut down the window and fire at the controls, disabling it. If her plan worked, Mirin would have at least seen the explosion. She could only hope Darvik was still where she'd last seen him and nowhere near the compression gate.

  Fighting every instinct to race back to the bay, she reactivated her mask and walked as fast as she could back to the window that would take her to her shuttle.

  Luck stayed with her. She made it to the shuttle and was able to launch before any shutdown order was issued. The openness of starlit space eased the tension from her exhausted body and allowed her to relax. Unfortunately, it also gave her time to think about Hart and Johza, about all the people who might have been hurt. But if she hadn’t acted, things might have been much worse. She couldn’t fault herself for her actions, no matter how she tried. Before too long, she was on Station Five, ring four, section twelve, returning Darvik's energy packs to where they belonged and burying her Z-nips in one of her clothing bags.

  All she could do now was wait and pray to the Stars and the Guardians that he got off that station with their supplies and back to the Queen of Hearts on Station Four.

  She played a game with herself, counting up and down the minutes to every possible scenario that would bring Darvik to her on Station Five. Listening to the 'cast net, she heard nothing about any sort of attack on Station Seven. No one reported an explosion or an assault and battery on the construction workers. Maybe Silt's squad pressured the hub's director to keep everything quiet until they captured her, perhaps hoping that the lack of news would lure her into thinking it was safe to leave.

  Instead of driving herself mad with worry, she stripped off her clothes and showered. It wasn't as much fun without Darvik there. After drying off, she checked the cooler for leftover food and billibloom juice to keep the gnawing ache in her stomach from overwhelming her.

  Four hours, twenty-five minutes, and six seconds later, Darvik finally dissolved the door and crossed the threshold. Dropping his mask didn't change the nightmare on his face. He knew. Despite everything she'd done to keep him from knowing she was there, he knew she was involved. So, she remained seated, her fluffy robe wrapped around her, with damp hair scattered across her shoulders.

  To stall the inevitable, she had to ask, "What went wrong?"

  He stared at her, as if wondering what her game was. Instead of answering right away, he too availed himself of the leftover food, piling his plate high and grabbing a bottle of something a lot stronger than billibloom juice.

  "Either our supplier or one of his gang betrayed us, sold us out to Silt."

  She had suspected as much. "Do you know which one?"

  "Not yet."

  "Where's your supplier now?"

  Darvik swallowed his drink in one gulp. "Unconscious and packed in a crate."

  "Well, that's…creative." He started to pace, so she kept still, watching him without moving. The last thing she wanted to do was provoke him.

  "It was the only way to secure him and his crew after Silt retreated. We'll interrogate them until we know which one of them, or if all of them, betrayed us."

  If he expected her to protest, he would be disappointed. Betrayal had consequences. They both knew that. Otherwise, he wouldn't continue to withhold the names of the contacts who tattled about her. He didn't want to lose them if she found out who they were. Well, all of them except Silt.

  "At least you and Johza weren't captured."

  He said nothing, downing a second shot. Another minute passed. "Wha
t were you doing there?"

  "Watching your back."

  He slammed the shot glass down on the bar. "Why would you think I needed to have my back watched?"

  "I had concerns."

  "Why?"

  All she could offer was a shrug.

  "You've seen us operate," he said, not hiding his exasperation. "You've studied our tactics, and you know how experienced we are. By the Stars, why would you think I needed you to follow me?"

  He needed the truth, and she wanted to give it, so he gave him a partial truth of why she stayed instead of running away. "I wanted to be there. I needed to make sure you were okay."

  "I do not need a babysitter."

  "I know that."

  "If you'd bothered to look, you would have seen Rusa on the walkway. She had us covered."

  "Darvik, I was on the walkway. No one else was up there from the Queen of Hearts."

  That stopped him cold.

  "Has Rusa checked in yet?" she asked. Maybe Darvik hadn't gone back to the Queen of Hearts after escaping? Maybe he came straight here, which either meant he came to her because he needed to see her or because he wanted to kill her for getting involved.

  Instead of answering her, he reached up and touched his ear jack. "Ezick, has Rusa returned?"

  The pause lasted longer than it should have. "No. I thought we were returning at intervals, no more than two at a time."

  Kelra bit her lip in hope. Rusa, of all the pirates, seemed the type to obey orders despite any trouble.

  "Has anyone returned?"

  "Yes, Johza. He's not feeling well and went to his quarters." Ezick named four others who weren't a part of the bridge crew.

  Darvik wouldn't look at her. "Let me know the second Rusa or anyone assigned to her returns."

  "Yes, sir."

  For the first time since he returned, Kelra stood up so she could stroke Darvik's arm. "There are a lot of reasons why they wouldn't have returned yet. How did they get to the station?"

  "I don't know. The point of keeping a low profile and staying off the 'cast net is to not leave a trail of evidence should any of us be captured."

  Of course. So they would wait as long as they could before leaving Vaynix hub in hopes that the missing pirates would return. If they didn't…would Darvik go after them? It wouldn't be the pirate thing to do, or even a captain with a mission to complete, but it was what a good man would do to protect his family. Kelra had a feeling she knew the answer.

  He looked down at her hand on his arm. "I'm…grateful you were there to protect Johza. I tried to talk him out of joining me, but…he doesn't have a lot of time left. He needs to believe he's still valued, that his life as a pirate means something other than being erased as a common thief."

  "No one will ever believe he was just a common thief." Even to her ears, her reassurance sounded hollow.

  "Because no one will ever know." Darvik's exasperation followed another shot of liquor. "He has no family outside the Queen of Hearts, and even there…some of the crew joined for the life, some joined to escape Unity justice, and others joined to chase wealth. It's not the same as the Iron Heart."

  It sounded as if the Queen's crew wasn't all she'd thought it was, not if someone like Johza found it lacking. "But you were born into it, you and Nazaniel. You two didn't have much of a choice."

  "Oh, we did. I could have done what Naz did and moved to Unity and gone to college if I had wanted to."

  "Really?" That was a bluff if she ever heard one. "You wouldn't have thought of yourself as a betrayer to your family? Don't tell me Naz's parents didn't whisper about their disappointment in their son's behavior."

  She'd hit her mark judging by the look on Darvik's face. "Only when they thought I wasn't listening."

  It made sense. If the Cuffs cared about Darvik as much as they had their own son, why wouldn't they express their feelings in private? Another thought occurred to her. "Is this why you're so determined to find Majesty of the Stars? There are so many other targets you could have chosen. Yet you fell into my scheme as if you wanted to prove your life is worth more than just the wealth you can steal. Are you sure it's the Majesty of the Stars you really want?"

  His hesitation spoke more words. Then he uttered. "I don't know."

  His uncertainty spoke volumes. Maybe, just maybe, she wouldn't have to betray him after all. If he allowed her to board the Majesty of the Stars ahead of him…then it would be worth all the fear of the past day.

  She stood up on her toes to kiss his cheek. "Let's get back to the ship and wait for Rusa there. We still need to disembark without Silt noticing."

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Silt read the brief his chief surgeon transmitted after he'd finished patching up the personnel wounded in the operation. None of them had died, but they'd wish they had by the time he was done with them. How many replacements did he have to request before he found a competent crew? Leaving them behind at Vaynix hub before Manitac provided more would create more headaches for him.

  Once he made admiral, all these problems would go away. His word would be law, and the board of directors would learn what happened when they crossed him.

  His rattus feeder of a second finally saw fit to report to the bridge. For someone who wasn't involved in the operation, he appeared to take the fiasco personally, even going so far as to request permission to leave the bridge to check on the wounded.

  Silt only granted it because he needed to know if the operation was successful. He'd thrown the policy book out the garbage chute when he personally led the squads into the launch bay. Success demanded he oversee the operation. Some would claim it was only luck that kept him alive, but he didn't believe in luck. His lightning-fast reflexes had him through the nearest force-entry window before the explosion touched him.

  Accountability also required a deft touch, the one thing he did not have and didn't care to learn. So he granted his second his request to interrogate the wounded and find out what in the name of the Guardians went wrong.

  "Well?" In his attempt to keep their interaction as short of possible, he didn't feel the need to elaborate.

  "They managed to plant a tracker on one of the smugglers on the walkway above, but not on any of the prisoners in the launch pad."

  One. Only one tracker planted, damn the Guardians. "Was this individual wearing a mask?"

  "Yes, sir. They reported a woman with a military-grade mask. The deep probe scan imaged her per your orders. Since the station is under construction, they tore off paneling from the wall to make it look as if debris had fallen from the ceiling and knocked her out."

  At least the idiots got one thing right, but it wasn't enough. "The purpose of the operation was to tag all the suspects so we could follow them."

  "Aye, sir."

  "You do realize that anyone of them might have been a crew member of the Queen of Hearts? Perhaps even Darvik Hart himself?"

  "Aye, sir."

  "And if the one woman you injected the tracker into is not part of Hart's crew, we might not find the Queen of Hearts of Harts, or be able to follow them?"

  "Aye, sir."

  As much as Silt wanted to punch his second until the man screamed through the blood pouring out of his nose, he refrained. He'd save his energy for the security squads who had failed him.

  "What went wrong?"

  "According to all three squad leaders, one of the smugglers retreated to the medical wing and tossed three chargers through the emergency compression gate. When they fired on the chargers, the explosion knocked everyone near the window on their backsides. The prisoners managed to take advantage of the situation and grabbed a few of our weapons. The squads initiated their own brute force compression gates to retreat or there might have been lives lost."

  "Losing their lives is part of their job if it means completing a mission."

  The second hesitated, but then said, "Aye, sir."

  "Did any of them see the smuggler on the other side of the window?"

  "On
e did. He said it was a woman. Tall, long dark hair, wearing a black combat…"

  "Shade. It was Kelra Shade."

  The second appeared startled at hearing his former captain's name. "It does sound like something she would do, sir."

  Of course, it was exactly what she would do. No doubt she angled the charges so that she wouldn't kill any of her former underlings, a sentiment that would make it harder for him to replace the security squads. If they all died, his request would have been expedited.

  There was too much paperwork involved to start his request now. Once he had Shade, then he'd file his request.

  "What are your orders, sir?"

  "I want the identity of the person tagged on my desk before evening. Send a runabout to start manually checking the slips and landing bays for the Queen of Hearts. She has to be here somewhere. In the meantime, I'll start interrogating all Traffic personnel. One of them had to have interacted with the Queen of Hearts and received a bribe to erase the record of a destroyer docking using a fake identification code."

  "And if the woman we tag boards a ship to leave?"

  "Check to make sure it's not a destroyer. We're only interested in the Queen of Hearts."

  "Aye, sir."

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Darvik couldn't stop thinking about Kelra's words as they both sat on the bridge and waited. All the others had returned over the past hour, but Rusa remained silent, even after he'd risked a comm signal.

  The compression gate opened, and Johza stepped through. Judging by the haggard look on his face, Darvik guessed the older man had hoped Rusa would have contacted them while he rested in his quarters. Without saying a word to anyone, Johza gave Kelra a respectful nod before limping over to his station and sitting down, long legs stretched out in front of him, arms across his chest.

  From behind him, Kelra sat as she had before this operation began, keeping her peace with only a slight return nod to acknowledge Johza's thanks for saving them. Before the end of the day-cycle, every pirate on board the Queen of Hearts would know what Kelra did. Even if impressing his crew hadn’t been her endgame when she sent those explosives through the compression gate, the fact was Kelra’s status among his crew had risen by quite a few notches.