“What do you know?” spat the woman. “You'd have dropped us off? With no money, no belongings, nothing. We'd have been beggars. Charity cases.”
“You'd have been alive. Alive and free. Trust me, those two things are priceless. With those you can achieve anything. And judging by the guns and the drugs you used on us you were hardly innocent travellers.”
Not wanting to hear any more from her he used the ships fields to push them all into an area near the airlock, well away from the weapons, and made the field soundproof. With a heavy heart he made his way to Sal's room. How was he going to explain this to her when she recovered? And just what had happened to her whilst she had been drugged?
Chapter Six
Having already cured Jess the ship was able to generate a counter agent for Sal and Ali that quickly reversed the effects of the drugs. Once Jess had revived Sal and explained the situation she was ready to flush the visitors out of the airlock. After a few minutes arguing she agreed to Jess's plan to hand them over to the authorities somewhere. There was still a dangerous glint in her eye though. Jess added a confirmation subroutine to the outer airlock controls, to give him the chance to counter any orders to open them. Just in case.
Jess then uncomfortably tried to ask if she thought Robby had, well, taken advantage of her. She shook her head fiercely. She was certain he hadn't. She made it clear that if he had then no matter what Jess said Robby would be breathing vacuum with his balls cut off. Jess was certain she meant it.
They turned to the problem of Ali. Sal insisted on taking care of the girl, from giving her the counter agent to explaining what had happened. She said that as Jess was the one Ali was fixated on it wouldn't be fair for him to do it. Jess happily agreed, he had no idea how to tackle Ali.
Jess sat on the bridge. A check on Matt had confirmed everything was going well, though Matt was still asleep. He'd have a lot of catching up to do when he finally awoke. With nothing else to do while Sal helped Ali, Jess was thinking over everything that had happened since they captured the ship. He was so deep in his thoughts he didn't hear anyone approach, the hand gently laid on his shoulder nearly made him jump clean out of the chair.
He spun round to find Ali standing behind him, trying to hide a smile at his reaction. Jess felt flustered, could feel the blood rushing to his face. Despite everything that had happened, he really did find her very attractive.
“Sorry. I didn't mean to startle you.” she said. “I wanted to apologise for what happened. I don't really remember it very well but, well, I'm sorry anyway.”
Jess smiled awkwardly. “It's OK. I forgive you. That is... I mean... it wasn't your fault, I don't blame you. How did you get mixed up with those people though? You aren't related are you?”
“God no! No. Nothing like that.” Her face clouded over. “I grew up on a small station orbiting a gas giant, Kershel V. There were a couple of hundred people on the station, mostly families. Mum and Dad died in an accident two years ago. I got by. People looked after me. Then a couple of months ago those... people... turned up in their freighter. They seemed honest enough, turned up with a variety of goods and started trading. A few hours later an imperial warship arrived and started broadcasting a warning, claimed we had illegal goods and they were there to destroy the station. They wouldn't listen to reason, wouldn't accept our surrender. Wouldn't even allow us to evacuate the children. They gave us twenty minutes to make our peace, then the station would be destroyed.
There was nothing we could do. The station was peaceful, it had a few lasers for dealing with stray asteroids but nothing that could even dent a warships shields. Then our saviours came forwards. The freighter crew said their ship had a special jump drive, that they could escape and avoid detection – make a clean getaway. Their ship was too small to take us all, but they could take the children and a few adults. They offered to do it out of the kindness of their hearts, wouldn't accept any payment.
How could we refuse? In the end there were thirty-one children and six adults, one parent of each of the youngest five children and me. Since my parents died I'd spent a lot of time working in the nursery and the school. The children knew me well. With only a few minutes till the deadline we left the station, accelerated heavily away from the warship, ignoring the dire threats from it, and jumped. A few minutes later they dropped back to real space and jumped in another direction, then again a few minutes later. To make sure they weren't being followed they said.
About half a day later and they docked with another station, a strong independent station they said. One that could cope with the influx of children. One that had defences. As the rest of the refugees left the ship Robby asked me to help him, said some toys had been left and he'd hate for the children to miss them.
He dropped slightly behind me as we walked back from the airlock, I didn't think anything of it. Then he grabbed me, shoved a foul-smelling cloth over my face and everything went black. When I woke up they had me chained by the leg to a bulkhead. The only times I was released were to use the bathroom, even then I was watched.
I was scared. Terrified. I kept expecting them to be chased down by a ship when my friends realised I was missing. Until I heard the crew talking about my friends. It wasn't a station they'd been taken to, it was an orbital farm. They were the next batch of slave labour. Children last longer and can get into smaller spaces so they're worth more. It got even worse though – the whole attack on my station had been staged. The warship wasn't from the Empire, it was a pirate ship. The station was never in any danger. Once we had left they told the station our evacuation was a set-up and demanded everything valuable the station had to get us back. Once they had their payment they would have vanished, would never have kept the deal. That's how they got their payment for helping with the scam.”
She stopped, eyes sparkling with tears she tried to hold in. Jess sat quietly, not knowing what to say. After a few moments she took a deep breath and carried on.
“When the kidnappers dropped into real space almost on top of several real imperial navy ships... well... it was almost funny. They tried to put on the innocent traders routine, but their ship was known. The first shot destroyed their jump drive, the second their real space thrusters. Then the ship was slowly carved up. I was torn between being terrified of dying and being pleased that they'd be killed, that justice would be done. Something must have come up because two of the ships suddenly jumped out, and the navy went from trying to pick us apart to telling us to make our peace. That made me laugh, hearing the kidnappers own terms used against them. They didn't see the funny side.
Then you turned up and destroyed the one navy ship that hadn't already jumped. Robby grabbed me and injected something, everything gets very hazy after that. I remember them telling me how heroic our rescuer was. How attractive he must be. How I must be so grateful. How I must make sure he knows. How I must love him for saving me. Everything they told me I believed, it felt as if it must be the truth. Then when the airlock opened and I saw you... well... I couldn't help myself. I just had to hold you. I had to be with you. You know what it's like, they got you with the same drugs. In fact I think they probably used me to drug you, but I really can't remember clearly.
Everything is pretty blurry then until Sal gave me the counter agent and I started thinking clearly again. Sal explained what had happened, what those criminals had done. I cried. I got upset. I got really angry with you.”
“With me? Why?”
“Because of the feelings I'd been made to have. I'd been made to adore you, love you. I hated that. Hated you for that. Sal helped me, talked it through with me. She suggested I come and talk to you, to help both of us. It has helped.”
She stood, holding a hand up as Jess went to speak.
“Please. I needed to talk to you, to get it all out. We can talk properly later but I need to leave it there for the moment.”
She turned, walked to the door then looked back over her shoulder grinning.
“Despite everyt
hing, you are cute you know.”
With that she was gone, leaving Jess sitting in stunned silence. He was still sitting thinking things over a few minutes later when Sal entered the bridge.
“How are you feeling?” she asked softly.
Jess twisted round to talk to her.
“Wishing this chair swivelled for a start!” he said, thinking how much easier that would make talking to people behind him. The chair suddenly twisted, spinning round and leaving him sprawled half in the chair and half on the floor. Sal sank into one of the other seats laughing so hard she couldn't get a word out. Jess tried to push himself back onto the chair, upset and embarrassed. He almost made it before his side slipped and he ended up laid on the floor with one leg still caught in the chair, head pointing towards the door. Ali came rushing in to see what the noise was, stopped and stared at Jess for a moment before cracking up.
Jess stared at the two of them, upside down from his point of view, as they laughed, trying to hold onto his anger over their reaction. It didn't work. The laughs were infectious. He tried to free his leg from the chair, only managing to turn the chair backwards and forwards, and found himself laughing too. Eventually Sal got herself under control enough to help Jess free his leg and to get up. He sat down on the chair so carefully it set Sal off all over again.
Once they had finally laughed themselves out Jess felt as if a weight had been lifted. Their shared laughter had cleared a tension between Ali and he, he felt more comfortable in her presence now, if still very aware of her. Both Sal and Ali looked more relaxed too. He decided the laughter must have helped clear some of the impact of their recent drugged experiences. He glanced at Sal, then turned to Ali.
“Ali...” He pitched his voice low, soft. “I've been thinking about what happened to you, what happened to the others from your station. I'd like to help. This ship is pretty powerful... well, I think it is. I want to help you get them back. I need to check it with Sal and Matt though. Sal? What do you think?” Jess shot her a pleading glance.
“I agree. We'll need to be careful, and we need to find out just where they are, but yes. We'll help if we can.”
Ali looked puzzled. “That's... that's wonderful.” she said. “But... who's Matt?”
“Ah... I'll let Sal explain that one.” Jess said, standing. “I want to go check on our passengers.”
He headed back to the Living quarters. As soon as he entered he felt the glares from the prisoners, almost as if they were physical blows. All four adults glared at him with hatred in their eyes. Jess felt bad for the baby and child, but couldn't bring himself to try to separate them from their mother. And right now he had other concerns.
He walked over to the food unit and started using it to create a meal. Soup, soft bread and beer in china mugs for the adults. The same but with squash for the boy and a bottle for the baby. Nothing that needed knives. No glass to be smashed. The soup was warm but not hot.
The unit still fascinated him, the way it created not just the food or drink but even the containers. He wondered if they would have to start throwing mugs and plates out the airlock when they had too many. Another thought gently nudged in from the ship, letting him know the unit could dispose of leftovers and the containers, would recycle them for future use. This reminded him uncomfortably of just how closely he and the ship were linked, even when he hadn't reached out for its mind. Answers to questions he wasn't even aware of asking just turned up. The ship adapted itself to his thoughts and wishes. The pilot's chair gaining a swivel being the most recent example – and the most embarrassing.
He finished carrying the food to the table, set it out and stepped back. Reaching for the ship's mind he adjusted the containing field to include the table, so the prisoners could eat. He changed it to allow sound to pass again, wanting to know what they were thinking. The made their way to the table. The middle-aged man choosing a seat near to where Jess stood. He pulled the chair out, then suddenly whipped around swinging it for Jess's head. It clanged off the containment field a few inches from Jess's face, jarring the man's arm. Despite the field Jess thought it was going to hit, he took a step back and threw his arms up. The man grinned at him, clearly deciding he'd won that encounter, before replacing the chair and sitting to eat.
Heartbeat still raised Jess took a few more steps backwards, before turning and heading for the bridge. Mocking laughter followed him.
On the bridge he found Sal and Ali sitting looking at a screen showing Matt, who was still sleeping. Sal looked up grinning.
“See? I'm starting to get the hang of this ship too. Of course I have to do everything by hand, not just by thinking like somebody I could mention.”
Jess ignored her attempt to get a reaction, and tried to ignore the way Ali studied him at this comment.
“He's not looking too bad.” Jess said. “I think he should start waking in the next couple of hours. We're going to have quite a story for him.”
Sal chuckled. “You're turn to do the explaining, I've just been telling Ali how we got the ship and about Matt.”
Jess groaned. “OK, OK. I just hope he's in a good mood.”
“How are our friends back there?”
“Pretty unpleasant, so no change. Not yet anyway.”
“Fat chance of that!” said Ali. “They're poisonous scum. Always will be.”
“I... er... I think that might change for a while... maybe...” said Jess.
Sal looked at him sharply. “What do you mean?”
“Well... I was thinking about what you said. That we needed to get more information on where Ali's friends were taken. And I realised that our guests know everything we need to know. And that they wouldn't tell us any of it, or even if they did we wouldn't know if we could believe it. So I... I don't think you're going to like this.”
Ali reached out, placed her hand gently on the back of his where it gripped the edge of the console tightly.
“You've done something to them? What?” she asked gently.
“It won't hurt them!” Jess said quickly. “I put something in their meal. Just in the beer, it won't affect the children. I used the same drugs they used on us. I had the food unit add the chemicals to their drinks. I feel really bad for doing it, even to them, but I couldn't think what else to do. In about twenty minutes they should be desperate to please us, to help us.”
Ali sat back, tears in her eyes and stifling a sob.
“I'm sorry.” said Jess. “I'm so sorry. I know I shouldn't have done it. I didn't mean to upset you. I know how horrible it is, but I just couldn't think what else...”
The rest was lost as Ali threw herself forward grabbing him in a tight hug.
“Oh you... silly... what am I going to do with you? I'm crying because I can't believe how much you're helping me, helping my friends. Thank you. Thank you so much. And don't worry about that bunch. They deserve this and far, far worse.”
Jess awkwardly put his arms around Ali, greatly enjoying having her pressed so close but more than a little embarrassed, especially once he caught Sal's eye.
“Not to put a downer on things...” Sal said. “But doesn't there have to be some sort of focus? Couldn't they just end up falling for each other?”
“I thought of that. As they start showing signs of the drugs kicking in the ship will start playing suggestions to them, getting them to focus those feelings on me. Then I guess I'll have to try to interrogate them.”
“No. Make it me.” Sal said firmly.
“What?”
“Change the message. Make them focus on me. You're doing so well Jess, but don't take too much on. And I'm older. I've dealt with more unpleasant situations than you have. Please, for your sake, let me do it.”
Jess thought for a minute, not an easy task with Ali still hugging him tightly, before nodding.
“If you're sure? Really sure?”
Sal smiled sadly. “Yes. Really. We need to work as a team. You look shattered already. In fact, you should go get some rest. Alone ideally
.” She arched her eyebrows.
Jess spluttered and felt himself turn bright red. Ali pulled away from him, also blushing furiously, as Sal burst out laughing.
Chapter Seven
Jess woke with a start, feeling sure he'd slept much longer than he had planned to. A tickle in his mind from the Wanderer helpfully told him it had been eleven hours and nine minutes. He'd woken facing the wall so turned as he sat up. The sight of someone sitting on the end of the bed froze him for a moment before he realised it was Sal.
“You look a lot younger when you sleep.” she said softly. “I'd forgotten how young you are, you've handled yourself so well. I'm proud of you.”
“Umm... thanks...” Jess shrugged awkwardly.
“Remember that we're here for you though, Matt and I. Lean on us when you need to.”
Jess smiled, nodded. Her words could have sounded condescending, but somehow they didn't. They sounded caring. It was a long time since anyone had truly cared for Jess. It brought a lump to his throat and tears to his eyes. Embarrassed he busied himself shoving the sheet back and twisting so he sat on the bed next to Sal. Thankfully he'd fallen asleep in his clothes. He glanced at Sal, then looked more carefully.
“Sal, you look shattered!”
“Thanks. You know how to make a girl feel good.” she replied with a smile.
“Sorry. But you really do look wiped out. Have you slept?”
“No. I wanted to keep an eye on our guests, and on Ali too. I think she's on the level but I wanted to be sure. She's asleep in Matt's room now and I've got the ship to lock the door. It needs you, me or Matt to authorise any attempt to open it.”
Jess was shocked. He opened his mouth to argue then closed it again, thinking of all that had happened. He nodded slowly.
“I guess that is for the best. How did questioning our guests go?”
Sal pulled a sour face. “It wasn't pleasant. They answered all the questions, almost fell over themselves to give me the information. I have the coordinates of the orbital farm, it's called Iona, and several ports that the pirate ship is likely to put in at. I got a lot of background from them too, this isn't something new. They've been pulling scams like this all their lives. Always at small, out of the way, places that won't have heard of them and that won't have a fleet to chase them, or links to anywhere that has a fleet. They've ruined the lives of thousands, tens of thousands of people. And they don't care. Not even now, dosed up to please me. None of them showed the slightest remorse.”
Wanderer's Escape Page 5
