Lost Alliance (Dragonfire Station Books 1-3): A Galactic Empire series

by Zen DiPietro

  “Yeah. Well. I figured if I had enough drinks, it might activate my brain.”

  He laughed. “I’m pretty sure alcohol works the opposite way, but even if it didn’t, why start now?”

  She elbowed him. “In other news, our new friend confirmed that our old friend, who is no longer our friend, is definitely not our friend.”

  “I think I actually understood that. Which means I’m ordering two more whiskies.”

  A good-looking guy walked past their table a little too slowly with his eyes fastened on Hawk. She recognized him as an entry-level maintenance worker. Some message passed between him and Hawk, and his pace increased once he passed the table.

  “New pal?” she asked.

  “You know me. A regular social butterfly.”

  “Right. You’re a people person.” She smirked.

  Normally, they would have continued on with the witty repartee, insulting each other until one of them issued a challenge of some kind. Hawk pursed his lips thoughtfully. “What’s bothering you? I’m guessing you didn’t invite me here just to shoot the shit.”

  She sighed, frowning into her cup. He was right. She needed to confide in someone, and he was the one she leaned on in such situations. “I did a semi-reckless thing and so far it hasn’t done shit for me. I kind of thought I’d have some big holo-vid moment that would have me solving everything, so we could get back out there where we belong—zooming through the stars, blowing shit up, and winning one for the good guys.”

  He squinted at her empty glass. “How many have you had?”

  “Not enough.” She punched an order for another into her menuboard.

  “So what did you do?” he asked. “I have a feeling this is going to be a good one.”

  She thought for a long moment before speaking. He watched her, patiently waiting.

  “Do you remember that time on the Verthain moon?” she asked. “We were tracking that woman but her trail went cold. You headed to the bar, got entirely piss drunk, and when I came to find you, we both almost got turned into hamburger?”

  He closed one eye, peering at her. “What’s your point?”

  “I saved our asses and promised never to tell anyone about it. Remember?”

  “Ya. I remember.”

  “I’m cashing that one in.”

  “Oh Prelin’s ass, what have you done now?” He grimaced.

  “Well, it’s possible that I might have had Brak put something in my head so I can find our missing friend.” She wasn’t about to mention Krazinski’s name in public.

  “Are you kidding me?”

  “No.”

  Instead of cursing a stream of inventive filth, he laughed. “You are so screwed. Raptor and Peregrine are going to be pissed.”

  “Not if I can come up with the break we need. Success comes with a lot of forgiveness.”

  “And how’s that working for you?”

  “I’ve got nothing,” she admitted. “I don’t even know how to activate it.”

  He laughed again. “Yep. Screwed.”

  She sighed. “You could stop being delighted and try to help me find a solution.”

  “Count your blessings. I’d be livid right now if you hadn’t cashed in your Verthain chip and I didn’t have three whiskies in me.”

  “Four,” she corrected.

  “Whatever.”

  She scowled at him.

  “Look,” he said. “First, I’d need to actually know exactly what you’re talking about. And since I’m no tech wizard, I probably can’t help anyway. Unless you need me to break your brain out of jail or something.”

  “Maybe I do. It hasn’t been doing anything helpful.”

  “All right.” He finished his drink. “Let’s go.”

  “Where?”

  “Your quarters.”

  “Why?” She’d never known Hawk to leave a bar this early.

  “So you can tell me what we’re talking about, and we can try to figure it out so you don’t get your ass kicked by Peregrine and Raptor.”

  “Fine.” She slid off her bar stool.

  “You have drinks at your place, right?”

  It didn’t take long to get Hawk up to speed.

  He jiggled his nearly empty glass, causing ice to clink against the sides. Frowning, he watched the cubes tumble around. “Like you said, we have to assume you’re supposed to be able to use the network. It’s designed for two-way traffic, right?”

  “Yeah. And believe me, I’ve tried everything I can think of. Closing my eyes and imagining my brain, picturing the thing working, and all that. I might have strained my face a little just trying.”

  “We need the password for the drawbridge.”

  “The what?” Fallon decided she’d water down Hawk’s next drink. He was no good to her if he got all-out drunk and started talking nonsense.

  “It’s a joke based on an old fairy tale. Not important. We just need to find the trigger.”

  “Believe me, I’ve tried. I’ve been tempted to bang my head on the wall to see if that would work.”

  “I could always punch you in the head, if that would help,” he offered.

  She fixed him with a glare. “It’s amazing how many times in recent months my teammates have cheerfully offered to brain me.”

  He grinned at her. “Outside of that, I dunno. Brak didn’t think she could activate the thing mechanically? Maybe some type of electronic pulse?”

  “She tried numerous things before implanting it. She said it required actual brain waves.”

  “Okay.” He tried taking another swig of his drink, only to remember it was already empty when an ice cube bonked him in the nose. He set the glass aside. “So how about ways you can use your brain that you usually don’t?”

  “What, like doing theoretical physics or something? It can’t be anything too obscure. Krazinski expects us to figure it out.”

  Hawk rubbed his beard as he thought. He was due for a trim, so he mussed his facial hair in a way that made him look like a deranged badger. “Okay. When your memory was missing, I did a lot of reading. I read about a thing called brain wave entrainment. It’s the electrical response in the brain caused by some rhythmic stimulus, like sound or light or touch. What if there’s a stimulus that can create the specific brain wave needed to activate the network implant?”

  Fallon stared at him in surprise. She’d wanted him to help her brainstorm, but hadn’t expected him to say anything so on point.

  “What? I’m too dumb to have learned stuff?” He rolled his eyes comically.

  “No, I just hadn’t realized you’d researched that stuff. The entrainment thing makes sense.” She bit her top lip, thinking. “What type of stimulus would it be? Something Krazinski would expect us to associate with communication.”

  A thought occurred to her and gelled into an idea. Answering her own question, she said, “A hail. A hailing frequency.”

  Hawk’s gaze locked onto hers. “Yeah. Yeah!”

  “So…how do I experience a hailing frequency in some sensory way?”

  He pushed the voicecom display toward her. “I bet Brak knows.”

  She leaned close to him and raked her fingers through his beard, so he no longer looked like a disheveled woolly mammoth.

  “What?” he asked. “Did I have food caught in there again?”

  “Gross. No, I was just fixing your face. It was all mussed up.”

  “Oh, okay. Now call your friend so we can go fix your brain.”

  “That’s an intriguing idea,” Brak said. “And easy to implement. I can create an audio representation of a hailing frequency. After you’ve heard it, simply remembering it should be all you need. I would not have thought of using entrainment in this way. What made you think of it?” Brak gazed at Hawk as if seeing him for the first time.

  Hawk shrugged. “I’d like to pretend I’m a man of many hidden depths, with genius being among them. But the truth is, it’s one of the few things that stuck with me after reading all that brain stuff.�
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  “Given the specificity of a hailing frequency, it would be nearly impossible to accidentally experience that sensory sequence. It’s quite clever.”

  “If it works,” Fallon put in.

  “If it works,” Brak agreed.

  “It’ll work,” Hawk insisted. When they both looked at him, he shrugged. “I’m trying on optimism, as a change of pace.”

  “When can we try the frequency?” Fallon asked.

  “Tomorrow afternoon, right after Lim’s surgery,” Brak said.

  “You won’t need time to rest?”

  “Are you kidding? It’s going to be like a hatch-day celebration, but better.”

  Fallon had to smile. “You’re the only person I know who likes her work as much as we do.” She glanced at Hawk and thought of Peregrine. “Well, as much as we usually do. Recent events notwithstanding.”

  “There’s a lot to be said for doing what you love,” Brak agreed. “Now you two need to let me sleep so my mind will be fresh tomorrow.”

  Out in the corridor, Hawk looked down at Fallon. “You’d better hope she makes that thing work. Otherwise you’re going to have to tell Raptor, Peregrine, and Nevitt what you did, and not have a thing to show for it.”

  Fallon grimaced. She just had to hope tomorrow proved to be a successful day.

  Fallon stood with Brak and Jerin in the private room of the infirmary. She watched Lim’s young, guileless face as he slept, vividly remembering her own surgeries. In a way, he was more like her than anyone, and she wanted more for him than just a successful surgery. She hoped she’d someday get to help him discover his past, and forge a future too. But first she had to sort out the present.

  Brak remained at the techbed controls, watching the readouts. Finally, she nodded to Jerin.

  Jerin touched his hand. “Lim? Lim, can you hear me?”

  His head turned. “Yeah. I’m here.” He sounded slightly groggy, but aware. His eyes opened and focused on them.

  “Everything went well,” Jerin explained. “More successfully than I’d anticipated, actually. I was able to regenerate ninety percent of the brain tissue that had been removed.”

  “Ninety percent of the man I used to be. Not too bad.” Lim’s smile was crooked.

  “The anesthetic is lingering a little,” Brak reported. “I’m going to wait it out. Given the tissue regeneration, I don’t want to give him a stimulant.”

  “Agreed.” Jerin returned her attention to Lim. “How are you feeling?”

  His eyes became more focused. “Fine, I guess. Maybe a little nauseated?”

  “We’ll give you something for that.” Jerin nodded to Brak. “Otherwise? Any headache?”

  “Not exactly. The light’s bothering me a little.”

  “That’s normal, and will pass in a day or two. I recommend you spend the time resting in your quarters. You’ll be tired. You might have some balance issues in the short term but your brain will figure itself out remarkably quickly.” Jerin smiled at him encouragingly.

  “So it went well?” He seemed unaware that he was repeating what had already been said.

  “Yes. Very well, Lim. Why don’t you rest while we tidy up?”

  “Okay.” He closed his eyes and went silent.

  Fallon moved closer to Jerin. “Why is he so out of it?”

  “Some people are slower to come around after brain surgery. Some take longer to recover from anesthetic. Perfectly normal. Don’t worry.”

  Jerin joined Brak at the techbed controls and they murmured to each other in what sounded to Fallon like satisfied tones. She had nothing to do here but sit and watch Lim doze.

  A half hour later, he was still dozing.

  “He may sleep for another hour or so,” Brak said to her. “If you want to go, we can contact you when he’s awake.”

  “No. He asked me to be here. I don’t want him to wake up and think I’ve abandoned him. I’ll wait.”

  Fifty minutes later, he roused. He still looked tired, but he’d lost his air of confusion. Jerin and Brak explained the situation to him again as he became more and more alert.

  “Great,” he said. “Thanks.”

  “You can stay here as long as you like,” Jerin told him.

  “No. I’m good. I think I’d like to go back to my quarters and rest. Maybe watch a holo-vid.”

  “Perfect,” Brak said. “We want you to take it very easy for the next few days. You won’t be able to tell, but your brain is going to be very busy. Let it do its thing.”

  “Sure,” he agreed.

  “I’ll help you to your quarters,” Fallon said, moving to assist him when he sat up.

  “That’s nice of you,” he said. “Thank you.”

  “It’s nothing.” She moved close as he stood, but he stayed steady under his own power. He just seemed terribly tired.

  “When should I come back for my turn?” she asked Jerin and Brak before leaving.

  “Two hours will give us time to get some lunch and rest a little.” Jerin smiled at her.

  “Two hours, then.”

  She saw Lim to his quarters, kept him company for a little while, then left him under Hawk’s supervision.

  “You’ll let me know as soon as you leave the infirmary?” Hawk asked.

  “I’ll come straight back here. You’ll be the first to know, after Jerin and Brak.”

  “And you,” he added.

  “Right. And if we’re lucky, Krazinski will know very soon too.”

  “Are you ready?” Brak peered down at Fallon.

  “I couldn’t be more ready.”

  “Okay. I’ve programmed the techbed with a repeating audio frequency, as well as a physical pulse, just to be sure. Have you prepared the message you intend to send?”

  “Yes.” Fallon would keep the message short. She only needed to let Krazinski know that she was listening.

  “Lie back and relax. I’m going to lower the lights so that you can focus more completely on the audio and sensory input. Tell me when you’re ready to start.”

  Fallon glanced at Jerin, who smiled encouragingly, before closing her eyes. “Now.”

  She heard an electronic buzzing and felt a corresponding vibration beneath her. She focused on it as it repeated. She imagined herself aligning with the pattern, becoming part of it.

  She felt something odd, and opened her eyes. It was like someone taking her outstretched hand in theirs. But it was in her mind. She must have made the connection. There was nothing left to do but send her message.

  “I’m here,” she thought.

  “That’s it.” Fallon sat up. “It’s sent.” She focused on letting go of the connection, and after a moment the feeling went away.

  Jerin nodded, and Brak said, “I’ll discontinue the stimulus.”

  “Do you feel okay?” Jerin asked.

  “Fine. It’s interesting, actually. Like there’s a tunnel inside my head.”

  “Can you open and close it at will?” Jerin asked.

  “Yes.” Fallon imagined the sound of the frequency and felt the sensation of connection again, then let go of it. “I just turned it on and off again. Kind of neat. Like flexing a muscle.”

  “I suggest you turn it off to sleep,” Brak advised.

  “Yeah. Good plan. Otherwise, I plan to keep it open as much as possible, so I’ll know as soon as Krazinski replies.” She looked to Brak. “Unless there’s some reason I shouldn’t?”

  Brak gave a slight shake of the head. “Not that I’m aware of. You can receive messages, but the device can only be activated by your own brain. How long do you think it will take to get a reply?”

  “Depends on how far away they are. My message will have to travel to them, then their response will have to cover the same distance. Since there won’t be any relays along the way to boost the signal, I’d guess a couple days or more, if they’re relatively nearby.”

  “That’s a long time to wait,” Jerin said.

  “It’s a far cry from the datastream,” Fallon a
greed. “This is a pretty old-school means of communication.”

  “When are you going to tell your team about this?” Jerin asked.

  “Hawk already knows. But I’ll tell the rest of them tonight. I want them to be prepared to act as soon as I get a response.”

  Fallon sat next to Hawk in her quarters when she told the rest of their team, including Hesta and Ross. Afterward, she watched them intently as they thought it over.

  After a long silence, Hesta said, “Okay, then. What next?”

  The tedium of yet more meetings and discussions was tempered by her surprise at their lack of passionate response. She’d expected a verbal beatdown, and in its absence, a strategy meeting was downright tolerable. “We need to find Colb. Or get him to come to us.”

  “Colb doesn’t know what we know and what we don’t,” Hesta pointed out. “Could we just pretend we know where the people of PAC command are hiding out?”

  “A bluff.” Fallon liked the idea. “It’s a great play, but if he doesn’t fall for it, we’ve given away the fact that we know he’s watching.”

  “So we’d have to make sure the bait was too good for him to resist.” Peregrine chewed on the pad of her thumb.

  “I’m not sure what that would be,” Fallon admitted. “That’s why I’ve been focused on getting to Krazinski so we can use his resources and intel.”

  No one responded, so it seemed no one else knew a surefire way to lure Colb out, either.

  “We can think about it,” Ross said.

  But Hesta’s suggestion had gotten her thinking, and an idea struck Fallon. “Wait. I might have a way. Or know someone who will. Let me see what I can find out tomorrow and I’ll let you know.”

  Hawk nudged her leg with his. “That’s it? You can’t give us any details?”

  “No. Not yet. I might be chasing starshine and I want to be sure.”

  “Okay,” said Peregrine. “Then I think we’re done here. At least, I am.”

  Relief washed over Fallon. They weren’t going to make a big deal about her decision to have the networking device added to her implant.

  “Don’t think you’re off the hook.” Peregrine smiled at her sweetly while stretching her back. On Peregrine, an expression like that was downright terrifying. “You have two people who will be distinctly unhappy with your decision. I’m certain they’ll do a far better job at raking you over the coals than I will. That means I can save myself the trouble.” She ran a hand down her ponytail.