by Enid Titan
Kazim’s off duty, so Garth navigates our bumpy launch through the atmosphere before the ship hits high speeds. Everyone’s working double shifts. Garth figures if he has me keeping everyone busy, the saboteur won’t have time to act. Plus, he has a suspect and I have my orders regarding said suspect. It’s my job to accompany Jaen on all her duty shifts. When she’s off duty, it’s Kazim’s job to monitor her. His harem of hookups don’t know why Kazim’s assigned them to spend every free moment with Jaen, but making sure she’s never alone is the best idea we can come up with unless we get proof or until Garth works up the courage to confront her. I think we have plenty of proof. Garth doesn’t want her to be guilty. I can’t blame him. I don’t want her to be guilty either.
Garth steers the saucer toward the thirteenth asteroid in the Promethean system. Garth’s plan involves flagging down a Baharozian ship and trading crewmen or goods for another map. I think he’s planning to trade Jaen. I can’t blame him for that either. Even if she’s apparently guilty of sabotaging our ship, I don’t want to let her go. Even a map from one of Connie’s brothers will only get us to the general region of the salvage site without running into confederate ships on their trade routes. We must figure out the rest without navigation, which means higher casualties, fewer resources, and more trouble. This could cut into our profits by 10-15% — no paltry sum for the salvage we’re all to split.
My duty shift ends, and another begins — I’m in the dome with Jaen again. She’s at her computer with Bonbon sitting on her shoulder. I don’t want to smile at the little hedgehog poking its nose through a cloud of Jaen’s curly black tresses, but it’s hard not to. Once she looks at me, my face sours. She’s a saboteur. She’s putting us all in danger. I have to remind myself. I say nothing as we get to work. After the first hour of the shift she half-yells, “JEEZ LOUISE.”
“I don’t know a Jeez.”
“It’s a human expression.”
“Meaning what?”
“For the past few weeks, I can’t spend five minutes around you without you talking my ear off. We’re on duty again and you don’t say a single word to me. You haven’t said a single word to me in… I don’t know, three days?!”
“Hm.”
“Don’t do that! Don’t make a weird grumbling sound. Explain yourself.”
“Jaen… we have work to do.”
“No. Something weird is going on. Garth is also acting weird. And Kazim… I’ve spent more time the past three days listening to girls talk about his acrobatics in the bedroom than I ever wanted to hear in my entire life.”
I’ve spent my fair share of time disturbed by Kazim’s sexcapades, so a part of me empathizes. She’s a saboteur, I remind myself. She’s putting us all in danger for her own selfish ends. If she got us all kidnapped by confederates, we’d spend the rest of our lives as slaves. She’d condemn a ship of over a hundred people to slavery. She’s not a good person…
“You must know why everyone’s acting coldly,” I mutter.
She can’t play the innocent with me. I won’t let her.
“You’ve heard about the navigations sabotage?”
“Yes. I cannot see how that has anything to do with me.”
I snicker. Really? How can she not see how it has everything to do with her? She caused this.
“Don’t make that little laughing noise,” she snaps, “what does it have to do with me?”
“It was your access code. Your voice completely wiped the computer. You did this.”
“Stop it, Gavriel,” she snaps, “That isn’t funny.”
She’s so convincing. She’s what’s most terrifying about liars. Eventually, they believe their own lies. Bonbon makes a little squeaking sound and scuttles over to Jaen’s other shoulder. The hedgehog senses her nervousness. Perhaps her guilt too?
“I’m not being funny. You’re lucky Garth doesn’t make you walk the plank.”
Her cinnamon-colored face loses all color.
“Stop it.”
“Why? He’ll go easier on you if you confess.”
“I didn’t do anything.”
She scoops Bonbon off her shoulder and sets him on the computer screen, where he finds a warm spot and curls up instantly.
“Don’t lie to me, Jaen.”
I step closer to her. I’m prepared for her this time, so even if she has a blade tucked away, I won’t let her get the element of surprise on me.
“I’m not lying,” she says, her voice trembling.
She squeaks, “Garth doesn’t believe I did that, does he?”
“Garth discovered it.”
“No,” she shakes her head, “I swear to you, Gavriel. I didn’t. I wouldn’t! I… I used to be in love with Garth Moray. I would never do anything like this to him. How can he think that?”
I smirk. She’s getting nervous, which means if she’s done anything wrong, all I need to do is push her to confess. I act quickly. Forearm against her neck and I use my body to force her against the transparent glass in the dome. I press a blade against her stomach.
“Tell me,” I whisper, “the truth.”
She squirms, but I press the flat metal against her shirt, and she stops squirming. She can’t stop her nervous breathing, however.
“I’m telling the truth. I need this money more than anyone on this ship.”
“Right. You know, we should have suspected you from the start. A girl like you looks more like a confederate than a pirate.”
“Don’t you dare,” she snarls.
“Or what? Hm?” I whisper, “I have you against a wall and a knife to your belly. I could gut you like a little fish unless you tell me the truth.”
“I’m telling the truth!” she yells.
“You have secrets. I want to know them.”
“Everyone on this damned ship has secrets. That doesn’t make them the saboteur. The only difference is Garth knows mine. He knows I couldn’t do this.”
She sounds like she wants to cry, but I doubt Jaen has cried in years. Life in this part of space will whip the crying right out of you.
“Your secrets,” I hiss, “Tell me. Now.”
Chapter 26
Cylon-7
“I have no secrets.”
“Damn it, Jaen. Talk.”
I don’t want to have to prick skin.
“Fine. Fine, I’ll talk. But get that damned knife on me.”
“Like hell I will. What weapons do you have in your pockets?”
“Nothing.”
“Jaen…”
“A small dagger.”
I reach into her pocket and remove it, kicking it across the dome.
“Anything else?”
“No.”
“Your boots.”
“Fine. I have another knife in there.”
I reach into her boot, keeping my knife against her stomach. I toss the other knife across the room. I’m smart enough to check the other boot and locate her last weapon.
“Talk to me, Jaen.”
“You don’t trust me. No matter what I say, you’ll probably kill me. If you don’t, someone on this ship will. I understand pirates.”
“Stop deflecting.”
“What do you want to know about me?”
Jaen’s spectacles are taped together. She’s fixed her lips in an impossible scowl, and it’s still impossible for me to look at her lips without wanting to kiss them. Damn her. Damn her to hell and back.
“Where do you come from? I know you’re not from Helios.”
“I’m from the human colony Cylon-7.”
My grasp on the knife loosens.
“The Cylon-7?”
“Yes.”
“Is that where you met Garth?”
“Yes. He bought iridium crystals from my parents. He came to the colony every 90 days. He was everything I thought I wanted from life. I didn’t know how good I had it.”
“Your parents were confederates?”
“Yes. My mother owed four more years of indenture, but my
father was born free. He owned a shop.”
“What happened?”
“Everyone knows what happened to Cylon-7.”
“What happened to you? How did a girl who was born free end up here?”
“I’m not free. I owe my mother’s last year because of everything that happened.”
“But one year… it’s nothing. There are millions of Odilians who would kill to owe only one year.”
“My mother was indentured into the sexual services department. When she died, I was nineteen years old. I didn’t want that life.”
I drop the knife.
“Your parents died in the terrorist attacks?”
Jaen scoffed.
“Terrorist attacks. Sure. They weren’t terrorist attacks. The press covered it up. The colony leader ordered the bombings. They destroyed the entire colony, and the only way we could pay to have our lives back was to enter another contract. Four generations of slavery re-instituted because four years ago, 67% of our colony was free.”
“67%?!”
“It’s unheard of because they don’t let that many people out of contracts. Ever. They want to keep us locked in. They want to keep us indebted. We’re never meant to be free in this sector of space. Garth… he was supposed to come back before the last bombing. He promised me. But something out here delayed him and by the time he got there, everyone was dead — my mother, my father, my brothers, my sister. Everyone.”
“I’m sorry.”
The words sound hollow. But it’s what you say. I don’t think Jaen even hears me.
“Garth couldn’t possibly think I’d help them. They killed my family. They covered it up. I’ll kill myself before I work for them. Ever.”
“Don’t say that.”
“It’s true. I would. Wouldn’t you if you were going to condemn everyone in your living bloodline to slavery?”
“I’m sorry I doubted you.”
“You don’t owe me anything.”
“I still don’t understand. Your access codes deleted the navigation logs. How?”
“I don’t know. But it wasn’t me. I promise. I swear on my life.”
Bonbon makes a small squeaking sound and we both glance over at the hedgehog curled up on the station’s computer.
“Garth won’t listen to me unless I have proof,” I explain to her. Her shoulders sink and Jaen lets out a deep sigh.
“I know.”
I have another question for her. I direct her attention to my face. I’m scowling and serious because this is a question I truly need an answer to. I understand she’s been through hell. But that doesn’t explain one last thing…
“What about Xanth?”
“What does he have to do with any of this?”
“I’m not talking about sabotage anymore. Kazim told me about the two of you.”
She frowns.
“I’m leaving.”
“You can’t leave, your duty shift isn’t over.”
“Tell Garth he can come find me and make me walk the plank then,” she snaps.
She leaves her various weapons strewn across the ground. Jaen puts Bonbon in her pocket before hurrying off. What the hell did I do wrong? I listened to her, didn’t I? I believed her.
Chapter 27
Shift Shenanigans
Damn it, Jaen. I take her knives off the dome floor. I don’t know what to make of her confession. I understand why she doesn’t talk to anyone now. Why she understands so much about ship’s systems. Raised a free child on a confederate colony, she would have had a proper education, proper friends, proper everything. 67% free? It doesn’t even sound real. But it confirms the rumors on this end of space about Cylon-7. In the under city, we considered Cylon-7 a utopia.
We ought to have been suspicious when they blamed the bombings on rogue pirates. That part had been news to me. But if Garth knew free people on the planet and he’d known Jaen and her family, he must have at least suspected confederates staged the entire incident — six months of civilian torment so the confederates could make a point. The world would be in anarchy without them. That’s what they wanted us to think.
We all watched the terrorist executions on confederate streams. Weekly court proceedings and subsequent executions are our version of ancient sporting events. Seventeen pirates beheaded each giving a pronounced speech admitting their guilt and bleeding Confederation propaganda with their last breath.
I’d been with my siblings, who eagerly speculated how each terrorist would react to getting their head cut off. They’d grown up on this macabre entertainment. I didn’t think any of us were better off for it. And Jaen had been a victim. No, worse. She’d been a survivor. With one year of slavery left, she’d fled for freedom. If they caught her, they’d force her to restart her mother’s contract. Four generations of servitude in the sexual services department. My chest tightens to think of it. I could never allow such a horrible thing to happen to her.
I finish my shift alone. Jaen knew damn well I wouldn’t tell Garth. I’d rather work alone than give her up to him. Izzie relieves me of my shift with a message from the Captain.
“Garth wants you on second shift checking stations and running an efficiency report.”
“Aye.”
“Quartermaster?”
“Hm?”
“Can you give this to Kazim?”
She reaches into her brassiere for a tiny pink envelope that reeks of a citrus perfume. She’s scrawled Kazim’s name on it in fancy calligraphy. I awkwardly agree and stuff it into my pocket as she giggles. I’ll never understand how he has this effect on women. I intercom with Garth and he validates my orders. That means I can catch some sleep before running reports for my dear captain.
Kazim’s on duty, thankfully, and not in our quarters. I’m grateful for the time to rest. I’m up and dressed for my next duty shift. Jaen’s knives sit neatly on my nightstand. I ought to return them to her. Perhaps I’ll have a moment after reviewing the duty rosters and shift assignments. I scroll through my pad. Jaen’s on duty in the kitchens with Licker, so I hurry through there first. I check helm and the senior crew. Garth’s in his office and Kazim’s running the ship which in Kazim’s mind involves getting everyone at helm in on singing space shanties and telling them stories about pirates on Earth which sound entirely false. What would be the point of piracy on Earth’s ocean? Everyone knows their ocean is nearly 40% salt. Kazim enjoys his tall tales and insists in the ancient times the ocean was only 3.5% salt. I maintain my doubt.
Everyone’s on duty in their proper position on the lower decks, but no one’s standing guard in the hall outside the dome. Considering the number of problems we’ve had in the dome, I find it hard to believe. Who’s assigned to the dome again?
Annabel. Poke wouldn’t miss a duty shift, would she? I enter the dome and Horus isn’t on duty there either. We may have a problem. I reach for my blaster and leave the dome with my hand on my weapon. Two doors down, I hear whispering and indistinct noises. It must be the saboteur. They’ve disabled Horus and then Poke, and the saboteur is probably finishing the job and smothering them both.
I fling the door open and Poke screams. Loud. And then I scream. Because I’ve found them both. Poke’s against the wall, her tunic halfway off, and Horus grips her scarlet hips and presses his red body into hers. They’re intertwined romantically, and the scene is more disturbing than I thought it might be. Poke’s white blonde hair cascades in a mess down her back and Horus… my goodness. I could go the rest of my life without ever seeing an alien cock again.
“What the bloody hell are you two doing?!” I yell, hoping to scare them into putting clothes on.
Poke argues with me.
“We were only taking a shift break.”
“You left the dome and the hall unguarded. How the hell could either of you be so irresponsible!?”
“Gavriel, calm down!” Poke yells.
“Calm down?! I’m going straight to Captain Moray and he’ll have both of you walking the plank.”<
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Chapter 28
A New Suspect
Garth folds his arms in his office as I drag Horus and Poke to see him. Poke’s mostly dressed and Horus is too, except he can’t quell his raging erection until we’re there — a fact he seems most unbothered by for a man who couldn’t handle farting in front of someone.
“What is it, Gavriel?” Garth grumbles.
He looks like he’s barely slept, and he runs his tongue furiously over his exposed tusks.
“These two! I caught these two banging each other like horny little jack rabbits in the middle of their duty shifts.”
Poke snorts.
“I’ve never met an Odilian as Puritanical as this one.”
“Captain,” Horus intones, “I apologize. I… I will not allow my baser instincts to take over again.”
“Don’t apologize!” Poke commands him.
“Will you two shut up?” Garth snarls, “Gavriel, explain everything to me. Details.”
“Captain, surely you want me to spare the details…”
“Do what I asked. Now.”
“I found the hall off the dome empty and neither of them at their stations. To make matters worse…”
I describe everything. Garth looks too tired to react.
“What would you have me do, eh? Make them walk the plank?”
“Yes,” I say, too quickly for Poke’s liking. She elbows me hard in the stomach, right where Jaen stabbed me. I try not to cry out from the pain.
“No,” Garth mutters, “They may be idiots, but I can’t afford to lose them. You two… find time when you’re not on duty to bump uglies.”
“Bump uglies?!” Poke protests, “I’ll have you know that what I’ve got going on down there is anything but ugly.”
“It’s true,” Horus mutters.
“Quiet!” Garth snaps, “Don’t mistake this mild criticism for a lack of anger on my part. I don’t have time for more problems on this ship. Annabel, you’re my first mate. You should know better. And Horus… really? Annabel?”
