by R S Penney
She turned around to find two others flanking Ben, the woman in the gray dress she had seen in the shuttle, and another young man. This one couldn't have been much older than seventeen, and by the haunted expression on his face, she suspected he had spent most of his young life as the subject of cruel experiments.
The woman came forward with her arms crossed, her face perfectly serene, without a hint of emotion. “Two-Soul,” she said with a nod. “You have my thanks. But we should depart this station immediately.”
“Agreed.”
Jack stood at her side with his forearm lifted up in front of his face, tapping away at his multi-tool. “You still up there, Jen?” he inquired. “We're at the SlipGate and ready for immediate extraction.”
“'Bout time. I hope the trip was worth it.”
Anna grinned, bowing her head to the other woman. “That's our boss…” she said with a shrug. “A little abrupt, I know, but she's a good woman once you get past her surly disposition.”
“Love you too, Lenai,” Jena shot back.
Before she could say another word, her multi-tool chirped, and so did Jack's. By the startled look on his face, she could see that Ben had also received an alert. Checking the screen revealed the cause of his trepidation.
Her tool was reporting that the air vents in this room were nonfunctional. Someone had disabled the life support system, and that meant a hasty retreat from the station was very much in order. Only… Her stomach twisted in knots when she considered what that would entail. She had left several guards stunned and incapacitated in the mess hall, and it was a good bet that Jack and Ben had done the same. If they left now, they would be condemning those people to die.
“All right, people, time to go,” Ben said.
“We can't.”
He turned his head to glare at her, squinting in confusion. “You wanna stay and get high on hypoxia?” he asked. “Life support is down, An. The way I see it, if you survive one suicide mission, it's best not to tempt fate by going on another.”
With her mouth agape, Anna shut her eyes tight. “There are people still alive on this station,” she said. “People who we left stunned and stranded.”
Ben shook his head. “And that's really unfortunate,” he said, striding toward her. “But the fact remains that we stunned them when we could have just killed them. They attacked us.”
“After we raided their base.”
“We don't have time for this.”
No. This was not happening. She would not be responsible for the deaths of maybe a dozen people, not like this. Her chat with Jena had forced her to admit that there were times when you had to pull the trigger, but she would not kill in cold blood! She would not leave men and women to die senseless deaths.
Ben rounded on Jack, turning his back on her. “Tell her,” he said. “You're usually the one who can get past her stubborn idealism. Work your mojo, and get her to play nice with the other kids.”
To her relief, Jack backed away from the man with arms folded, scowling down at the floor. “What would it take to get the life support systems back online?” he asked. “If we could just reactivate them, it would-”
Ben tossed his head back, pressing a palm to his brow. “Companion have mercy! The two of you are going to be the death of me!” He let out a few curses before finally deciding to answer. “It would be impossible! We do not have the access codes to their computer, and I know I can't hack it.”
He rounded on Anna, his face as red as a roaring flame. For a brief moment, she half thought he was going to seize her shirt and snarl at her. “The way I see it, we have maybe an hour of air left, and that's a generous estimate. An hour is not enough time to learn their systems and fix the problem.”
“But we can't just-”
“Yes. We. Can.” The urge to argue was difficult to resist, but she forced her mouth shut and listened. Ben, on the other hand, had more to say. “Anna, even if we could fix those systems, the guards we stunned will be up and about any minute now. Some of them are probably already up and about. Do you really think they're going to just sit and let us tamper with their computers?”
Her heart sank when she realized that he was correct. Much as she hated to admit it, trying to rescue the stunned Antaurans would result in a very low probability of success and a very high probability of someone getting killed. Jena was right; sometimes, there were no good solutions. “Power up the SlipGate,” she said. “We're leaving.”
In the shuttle window, she saw the surface of Ganymede some two thousand metres beneath her, stretching on to the horizon beneath a field of stars. Each one of those tiny lights was dimmed by the very thin atmosphere.
Jena sat in the pilot's seat, sliding her hands over the control console. “Come on,” she said, shaking her head. “Hurry up, guys. I can't evade these nasty little bastards forever.”
Her instruments shrieked.
Three fighters behind her, coming in at a steep vector. Given their velocity, they'd be in weapons range in under ten seconds. She was running out of tricks, and running out of stamina.
Jena pulled back on the flight-stick and watched the ground drop away beneath her. She executed a full 180-degree pitch and gunned the engines so that the shuttle was now flying backwards, upside down.
The ground was now a horizontal plane at the top of her window, the stars an open expanse beneath her. Three wireframes appeared on the smartglass, coming in fast. If she could get a shot off before they established a lock…
They beat her to the punch.
She rolled to the left, and then thin white tracers were streaking by underneath her shuttle. Those wireframes were getting larger, coming closer. One changed his angle to get better aim.
Her shields flashed as EMP rounds phased right through them and struck the nose of her ship. The electric charge each slug carried disrupted her systems, and the cockpit lights dimmed for a moment.
She pulled up, out of his line of fire.
Now she was flying sideways with the ground a vertical plane on her right. The shuttle's artificial gravity meant she could do this for hours without feeling any kind of physical strain. “Warning,” the computer said. “Enemy has established missile lock.”
“Set course 270-mark-0,” she said. “Full throttle.”
The shuttle yawed to the left, and now she was pointed away from the moon, racing toward the stars. For the moment, she had evaded the target lock, but her instruments all said the bad guys were coming about.
“Jena,” Jack's voice came through the comm system. “Unlock the SlipGate. We're coming aboard. Authorization gamma-echo-charlie.”
With her left hand, she brought up the window that controlled the SlipGate and set it to receive incoming travelers. Those fighters would have a missile lock any moment now; she had to reach escape velocity. “Ready countermeasures,” Jena ordered.
The alarms started blaring.
On her screens, she saw an incoming missile, one that would impact in just under fifteen seconds. She slammed a hand down on the flashing red button, deploying one of her countermeasures. Hopefully that would-
The missile veered off course.
“We're here,” Jack said over the intercom.
The stars grew sharper and brighter as she cleared the atmosphere, each one shining like a tiny pinprick in a back-lit canopy. Her instruments registered more fighters coming in on her right; they weren't willing to let her escape with the telepath. She would have to see if they were willing to chase her all the way to a Leyrian space station; somehow, she doubted it. “Computer,” Jena ordered. “Set course for Earth and jump to warp as soon as we are capable.”
Her instruments displayed five fighters – three coming up from the moon's surface, two closing in from high orbit – and they would enter weapon's range in just a few short seconds. At moments like this, moments when there was nothing to do but wait, she was intimately aware of her own pounding heartbeat. The ships were closing.
Her shuttle registered a targ
et lock.
“Come on, come on, come-”
The stars in her window flew together to form a single point of light in the distance, a patch of radiance at the end of an infinitely-long tunnel. It was all she could do not to squeal with joy; she had gone to warp, and the Antaurans weren't chasing her.
Several ships were traveling at high-warp toward the edge of the solar system; she had seen them on her scanners while trying to avoid being blasted to death. Those must be the Antaurans who had fled the base.
Closing her eyes, Jena heaved out a deep breath. “Thank the Companion,” she said, sinking into her chair. “Once again, Jena Morane is snatched away from the jaws of death by pure, dumb luck.”
She got up.
Jena mopped a hand over her face, brushing sweat-slick hair off her brow. “If this keeps up, gamblers are going to want to rub up against me for good luck.” She couldn't suppress a burst of laughter. “Some of them might even be cute.”
As she made her way to the back of the cockpit, she took a moment to collect her thoughts and filter out anything she didn't want to broadcast. When you stepped into the presence of a mindreader, it was best not to recall any of your deep dark secrets. There were ways to resist a telepath, of course, but few people knew them. In all the galaxy, only the Antaurans had developed this strange mutation.
The double doors slid open to reveal a set of steps that led down to a room where five people sat at a table. Five, not four. The two newcomers were a dark woman who glared daggers at Jena the instant she stepped through the door, and a pale young man who couldn't bring himself to look at anyone.
“Well…” she said. “I guess we have a lot to discuss.”
Chapter 14
The elevator ride from the shuttle bay on Station Twelve to the concourse level was a little disorienting, the slow increase of gravity causing a few flutters in Anna's stomach. All six of them were pressed together in this cramped space, and no one was talking. She supposed no one knew what to say.
Young Raynar stood with his arms folded, frowning down at the floor. A sheen of sweat glistened on his forehead. The poor boy likely doesn't know what to make of this? Bleakness, he probably thinks we'll experiment on him.
Jena stood in front of her with hands clasped behind her back, fixated on the door as if she expected to find a dozen hissing vipers on the other side. No doubt she was less than thrilled by the prospect filing a report on her unauthorized raid on the Ganymede space station. Sometimes Anna thought her boss embraced that old adage “It's better to beg forgiveness than ask permission.”
Not that she disapproved, at least not in this case. This was one of those times when a Keeper was compelled to take matters into her own hands. No one with even a shred of decency would allow the telepaths to suffer like this.
The elevator doors slid apart, revealing a large, open corridor where many small restaurants lined the walls. People scurried about in all directions, some of them in the uniforms of station technicians, others in plain clothes. She recognized a few Keepers.
Larani Tal was waiting for them.
The woman wore a pair of blue pants and a sleeveless white shirt, her black hair done up in a bun. “Well then,” she said, nodding to Jena. “Now that you're back, maybe you can discuss this latest-”
“Where's Slade?” Jena cut in.
Larani bent forward, touching the tips of two fingers to her brow. “Not this again, Jena,” she muttered. “We've been over this. You don't have one speck of evidence to say-”
“I do now.”
That got everyone's attention.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jack standing with his eyes downcast, a small smile on his face. Her best friend had never much cared for the head of their organization. No doubt he was pleased by this.
Anna wasn't sure what she felt. When she stripped away all the formality, she had to admit that she didn't much care for Slade. He was cold, distant and far too unconcerned with the well-being of bystanders. Her first impression of the man pegged him as an ends-justify-the-means type of leader. Not an ideal Keeper in her estimation. But a good Justice Keeper followed the rules of due process, and until today, she had nothing substantive to say against Slade.
Larani appraised the other woman with skepticism on her face. “Do you now?” she said, raising a dark eyebrow. “Well, perhaps we should have this conversation somewhere a little more private. I would like to see this evidence.”
Oh, trust me, Anna thought. You're not going to like it.
The quarters they had assigned her were so large that Keli initially thought there must have been some mistake. Surely these accommodations should have been reserved for a head of state or a high-ranking diplomat.
The doors opened into a living room where a couch sat under a large window that looked out on the planet below. A glass coffee table supported a vase full of bright pink flowers – she couldn't identify them by sight – and there were works of art on the walls.
Keli strode into the room with hands pressed to her thighs, keeping her head down. “What is to be done with me?” she asked, stopping in front of the table. “Will you require my services?”
She turned.
Anna stood out in the hallway with hands in her pockets, still dressed all in black. Her hair was a mess with thin strands falling over her face. “Your services?” she asked. “You mean, will you have to read minds?”
“Yes?”
The Two-Soul strode through the door, then looked up to fix a steely gaze on Keli. Oddly, only half of her was angry. The young woman felt disgust at such a notion, but the other…the alien…It felt only pity. “No,” Anna insisted. “You won't have to read minds or do anything against your will.”
Keli forced a smile, unable to keep the chagrin off her face. “Thank you,” she said, nodding once. “It is most unpleasant to seek Communion with someone who is unwilling. I would prefer to avoid it.”
“You have rights, Keli,” Anna insisted. She paced through the living room with her arms folded, pausing to inspect every piece of furniture. It was almost as if she wanted to be sure she had provided adequate lodgings for an honoured guest. “You can't just be ordered to read minds against your will. And other people have a right to privacy.”
Images flashed in Keli's mind: faces she didn't recognize, places she had never been to – the things Anna would prefer to keep hidden. This happened so often whenever she was in the presence of someone who was unaccustomed to Communion. They inevitably thought of the things they did not want to share.
Fortunately, it was all such a tangled mess Keli could not make sense of it anyway. Thoughts were rarely organized into something coherent. She could probe and fill in the missing details but…no. The Two-Soul had liberated her. She would respect their privacy. For now. “Yes, I have heard of such notions.”
Anna froze in place with her back turned, shivering as though someone had slipped an icicle down her shirt. “I take it you disagree?” she asked, whirling around. “You think you can just rummage through other people's thoughts?”
A frown tugged at the corners of Keli's mouth, and she bowed her head to appear demure. “It is a difficult thing to consider,” she answered. “On my world, those like me are used to protect the peace.”
“By violating civil liberties.”
“It is a matter of perspective.”
Lifting her chin, Anna studied her with fierce blue eyes. The unkempt hair made her look like a feral child who might attack at any moment. “On this station,” she began, “you will respect the rights of everyone you meet. You will ask their permission before seeking Communion.”
“As you say.”
The other woman turned, making her way back to the door which remained open. “I'll let you get some rest,” she said, pausing there. “The comm panel is over there, by your desk. Call me if you need anything.”
“Thank you.”
When she was gone, Keli breathed out a sigh of relief. Alone at last. The presence
of physical obstructions like walls tended to mute other people's thoughts to little more than a soft buzz. She could push through the interference, of course, but there were times when she preferred the solitude of her own thoughts.
Most telepaths could choose to silence the other minds – most could decide not to read other people's thoughts – but not Keli. She was in constant contact with everyone around her, and had been from a very young age. That made her abilities more powerful but also more difficult to control. Even now, she felt the life on the station, the presence of thousands of souls. It was a lucky thing that Anna was a Two-Soul. She would have never sensed the other woman's presence if not for the alien she carried. That made her different from all the other humans on Ganymede.
As she sat down on the couch and took in the sight of her quarters, she paused to reconsider her plan. She had expected another cell or at least a room where she was kept under guard, but it seemed these Leyrians were just aching for any chance to trust a total stranger. Perhaps she should stay. Life here might actually be pleasant. She entertained the idea for a few brief moments, then dismissed it.
At the earliest opportunity, she would escape.
The hologram of the man in the blue uniform flickered and rippled as it hovered over Jena's desk. “Your visit is most unexpected, Lord Slade,” he said. “Please transmit your authorization code.”
Through the transparent image, she saw Larani standing in front of her desk with arms folded. “Lord Slade,” the woman said, doubling over as if someone had struck her across the head. “I cannot believe it.”
At first, Jena considered pressing the point, making it clear that she had been right all along, but she decided against it. The best approach would be to let the sad news sink in without any mention of an “I told you so.” In a way, she almost felt sad for Larani. It couldn't be easy to realize that the institution you believed in was infested with traitors. First Breslan, and now this.
Jena waved a hand.
The hologram vanished, leaving her face to face with a haunted Larani who stared at her like a sentry who had just spotted an invading army. “So what do we do now?” the woman asked. “He won't come quietly.”
