Davey laughed and Matthew slid a tablet across the table. “Here’s the charter. We can talk through it.”
ABIGAIL CLIMBED OUT onto the top of the Sparrow. The half-dock struck her as slightly dangerous. The indentation that they were nestled into was filled with air held in by a shield, but she could see stars off to the side. It would be quite possible to walk off the edge of the Sparrow and fall out into space, depending on how strong that shield was. A ramp had been lowered down to their hull from an airlock into the Queen of Sheba. An armed guard stood at attention at the door. That was more formal than she was expecting, but this was a lot bigger operation than she was used to.
Grace’s head popped out of the hatch. “Whoa. This is kind of scary.”
“Be careful,” Abigail said.
“Gee, thanks.” Grace pulled herself out onto the hull. “I don’t have exhaust for brains. I’ve done more low gee and vacuum than you have.”
“Sorry.” Abigail stepped over to the hatch and knelt down by the opening as Yvonne appeared. She offered the woman an armored hand.
Yvonne looked at it like she was offended by the idea.
“We all know the ladders aren’t kind to your knees,” Abigail said. “I’m not trying to be insulting.”
Yvonne pursed her lips. “Neither am I, and yet I’m the one behaving like a child.” She took the hand, and Abigail gently helped her out of the hatch.
“Watch your step.” She said as she led the way to the guard. “Abigail Sharon, here to see Gebre’elwa.” Her tongue stumbled over the unfamiliar name, and she chastised herself. Mispronouncing the host’s name was a faux pas she couldn’t afford today.
“Yes, Ms. Sharon. Please follow me.”
The guard thankfully didn’t seem offended and led them through the airlock. They were led through a pair of halls and up two flights of stairs. They passed at least a dozen crewmen. Abigail wondered just how many called the Queen their home. At last, they reached the main corridor.
“Check that view,” Grace said, pointing behind them.
The corridor stretched unchanging down the entire spine of the ship. Hundreds of meters away, it ended somewhere in the aft structure. “I bet it’s not always open like that,” Yvonne said. “There are probably dozens of bulkheads along that length that close at the slightest sign of danger.”
The guard directed them toward the bow. After a short distance, it opened into a spacious bridge. Ten or more crew could comfortably run the various stations, a far cry from the Sparrow’s cockpit that got crowded all too quickly. Alone in the center of the room stood a command chair facing the viewing window. The guard approached it. “Ma’am, your guests, Abigail Sharon and crew.”
The chair rotated to reveal a black woman a good ten years older than Yvonne. She wore an airy looking white dress. Brilliant patterns of color ran in a wide stripe from the neckline to the hem at her ankles. “Welcome aboard the Queen of Sheba,” she said, rising to her feet.
Abigail nodded her head respectfully. “Gebre’elwa, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” She was ninety percent confident she had it right that time.
The captain chuckled, reading her mind. “Close, but not quite. English speakers tend to struggle with my name. Gebre’elwa is the feminine Amharic take on Gabriel. But I won’t be offended if you shorten it to ‘Elwa as my crew does.”
“‘Elwa it is then,” Abigail said.
’Elwa looked past her to Yvonne and Grace. “The Shield Maiden I know from her reputation.” Abigail felt a stir of pride that one of the oldest and most powerful freelancers knew of her. “Who else stands before me? Is the Sparrow crewed by one man, a priest at that, and a cohort of capable women?”
Grace snorted. “There’s also my brother, but we outnumber the men.” She inclined her head. “Grace Anderson.”
“And what do you do aboard the Sparrow, Grace?”
“Whatever they need. Sometimes that’s cooking dinner. Sometimes that’s beating up thugs.”
’Elwa’s eyes narrowed and her head tilted a fraction to the side. “I see. And you?”
“Yvonne Naude. Doctor by trade.”
“And that’s selling it short,” Abigail added. “She’s also a pilot, a mechanic, keeps the books, and anything else needed.” She ignored the glare that she knew Yvonne was giving her. “I hope you’re not upset that Matthew Cole was unable to make it today.”
“Only a little disappointed. For all the stir he’s caused, I do look forward to meeting him in person. But some other day, perhaps. Enough of the greetings. We have business to attend to. The answer is yes. I want in on your little guild.”
Grace snorted. “That was easy.”
’Elwa smiled. “Emperor Dominic and I have quite a history. And Matthew Cole is a new and rising star. A chance to partner with two such men for the greater good isn’t an opportunity I’m going to pass up on. I’m old enough to have known the solar system when it was tamer.” Her eyes twinkled as she stepped past them. “I’m also savvy enough a businesswoman to smell profit. The Queen of Sheba is famous on her own, but the additional prestige and publicity of the Guild of Lanterns will only increase that.”
She motioned for them to follow, and the four women left the bridge together. Abigail had a feeling she was going to like the captain of the Queen of Sheba. At the very least, the guild wasn’t going to be a hard sale.
“WELL, I’M CONVINCED,” Ewan said, “but I’ll have to talk over the charter with the rest of the crew. They’ll get their vote, but I expect them to go along with it as well.”
Matthew smiled, quietly relieved. He hadn’t really had many doubts that the Red Dragon would join up, but then the whole idea was completely untested, and he could have been way off in his assumptions. “You can send me the signed agreements when you’re ready.”
“And with that, I think I’ll take my leave of you gentlemen. My crew is unloading across town, and, well, I don’t trust them enough to stay away for long.” He winked. “I’m sure you understand what I’m getting at.”
If they were half as good at getting into trouble as Grace and Davey were, Matthew was pretty sure he did. “You have no idea—”
The ground shook, and the floor rumbled as the thump of a distant explosion rolled through the pub. Ewan immediately grabbed his comm and called for his crew. Davey jumped to his feet and ran to the pub’s exit.
Matthew was right behind Davey. A distant cloud of smoke rose over the rooftops and into the sky. “That’s in the direction of the factory,” he muttered. Nobody was mad enough to hit the grav plate factories. The colonies depended on them. He shook the thought from his head. That wasn’t true. He knew just who was mad enough to go after something that critical. “Maybe there was an industrial accident.”
Davey gave him a look that said he didn’t believe it. People were crowding into the streets from the nearby businesses. Ewan ran out the door. “The Ddraig Goch is inside the factory’s secure zone. We brought in a shipment of rare earth elements. Rhydian says a fuel tanker just blew up for no reason, and now they’re hearing gunfire in the facility.”
Davey swore quietly. “Abrogationists.”
“I’m going to guess you don’t have clearance to get you inside the secure zone,” Ewan said.
Matthew stared at the smoke cloud. A second explosion rocked the city. He shook his head. “You offering to get me in there?”
He nodded. “If my crew is in a warzone, they need their captain.”
“Davey. Go get the bike. Ewan, we’ll be right behind you.” He grabbed his comm and sent a message to Abigail. Callisto was too far away for real-time communication, but at least the message would get there in seconds rather than minutes.
GEBRE’ELWA’S PARLOR was as comfortable a room as Yvonne had ever seen on a spaceship. Thick carpet, luxurious furnishings, and soft light made it an enjoyable place to spend an afternoon with friends. And Gebre’elwa seemed absolutely determined to become just that.
“And then I told the Pri
me Minister that he could keep his seven hundred tons of synthwool and find someone else to do his dirty work.”
Yvonne smiled and took a sip from her tea. “My husband and I actually lived on Tethys during his administration. Needless to say, we weren’t fans, but then Tomas never trusted any politician with the airlock controls.”
Eventually, he’d grown so disillusioned with authority that he’d even stopped following local politics. That had been a waste of time anyway, given how often they’d moved from one colony to the next. No sooner had they begun to put down roots than a new opportunity would arise and they would move on.
“Has he been gone long?”
Yvonne’s attention snapped back to the other woman. “Umm. It’s been three years now. Syndicate violence on Ceres.”
Gebre’elwa smiled weakly at her. “My condolences. My first husband was killed over twenty years ago by a rival. It took over a decade for the world to settle enough for me to remarry. I chose my accountant, something I haven’t regretted for even a single moment.”
From across the room where he and Abigail were going over the guild’s charter, her husband, Mateo, laughed. “I love you ‘El, but that’s quite a lie. I have made you regret it on many occasions.”
“They’re short-lived moments and far enough apart that they are hardly worth speaking of. Unless I need you to do a favor, of course. Is everything forward-facing in the paperwork?”
“For the most part, though I have a couple of questions about arbitration between brokers when both are trying to secure the same job. It’s my understanding that you don’t mean members to compete with one another.”
“We’ll have to take another look at that part of the charter,” Abigail admitted. “We had lawyers on hand when we wrote it, but no brokers. We missed that detail.”
“I work with several,” Gebre’elwa said. “Perhaps we can pool resources to decide on a solution.”
“We gotta talk to Benny anyway,” Grace said. She’d been sitting at the table with Mateo and Abigail, looking utterly bored the whole time. This wasn’t exactly the girl’s day she had been hoping for. “From what Matthew said, he’s foaming at the mouth that we did all this without consulting him.”
Gebre’elwa looked at Yvonne in question. Yvonne shrugged. “They have a somewhat adversarial relationship. Trust me when I say that Matthew Cole and his broker are a perfect match for each other. We’ll tap his advice when we hit Mars in a few days.”
Mateo stood from his chair. “I’ll have no objections once the amendments are made.”
“In which case, I’ll have none either,” Gebre’elwa said. “You can tell Matthew that the Queen of Sheba would be honored to join the Guild of Lanterns. We may even be able to provide administrative support if need be. Mateo knows his way around numbers.”
Yvonne nodded as she downed the rest of her tea. “I’ll put you in touch with Julia. In the meantime—” Her comm chimed. She glanced at it. “It’s Matthew. Probably checking in after his meeting.” She stepped to the side of the room and answered it. “I’m here.”
She had to wait for her message to get to Ganymede and then for his reply. “We’ve got an emergency. I need you to return right now.”
She sucked in a breath of air. The comm was loud enough that the rest of the room probably heard that. “What kind of emergency are we talking about? There are others present if this is a private matter.”
“This is as public as it gets,” he said after the delay. “The Gilgamesh grav plate factory is under attack. Explosions and gunfire in the secure zone. Ewan’s ship is in there, and he’s going to try to get us in under his security clearance. I need the Sparrow nearby in case air support is needed.”
“We’re on our way. Keep us updated.”
For a single frozen moment, no one in the room moved as the implications sank in. Horror. Denial. Who was crazy enough to go after the grav plates? Alexander Logan. And the fact that it happened while Matthew was in the area couldn’t be a coincidence.
Gebre’elwa snapped out of shock first. She already had her comm out, broadcasting to the whole ship via the intercom. “All hands-on deck. Prepare for emergency departure. Pilots to your interceptors. I want the Queen ready to break orbit when I hit the bridge.” She stood and marched from the room, white dress flowing behind her. “Sparrow crew, I’m going to Ganymede. You’re welcome to join me.” And with that, she was gone.
Yvonne made her decision. “Grace, you’re with me in the Sparrow. I want it ready to fly when the Queen enters Ganymede orbit. Abigail, stay with Gebre’elwa for now. We may need to coordinate with her.”
“I’ll take you back to your ship,” Mateo said. “Come with me.”
Yvonne and Grace followed behind him. Yvonne tried to push down the rising tide of fear. This was an existential threat to every man, woman, and child. If that factory burned, the colonies’ doom would come far sooner than forecast. A single generation was all they would have left.
The Abrogationists would have won.
IT TOOK ONLY A FEW lies and one argument for Ewan to smuggle Matthew and Davey into the secure zone. Davey wondered if the deception pricked Matthew’s conscience. There were days when he was still surprised when the Gaucho took objections to a particular course of action. But today he stayed silent, probably because the stakes were so high.
The guards finally let them through with warning to return straight to the Red Dragon. They actually did that, though Davey knew they had no intention of doing just that.
The secure zone was the entire inner ring of the colony of Gilgamesh. After the tall outer wall, there was a wide-open yard, filled with scattered vehicles and ships. Nearly a kilometer further in stood the imposing factory. It had to be the biggest building he’d ever seen, maybe the biggest anyone had ever seen. He was yanked out of his gaping by the distinct popping of distant gunfire. It was sporadic, as if it wasn’t a single battle, but several small firefights.
Matthew banked the bike to follow Ewan around a convoy of fuel trucks. Ahead of them sat the Red Dragon, ramp down. Ewan pulled up to a stop and leaped off his bike as two of his own crew ran to meet him. An armed guard stood nearby and eyed the whole group warily. Matthew dismounted and went straight to the nervous man.
“What’s the situation, officer?”
The man crossed his arms. “The current security situation is under control.”
“That’s not what it sounds like to me,” Davey muttered.
Matthew frowned at him. “Is there anything we can do to help? We’re willing to aid your security teams in any way we can.”
“I said we have it under control.”
Ewan approached with three of his men. All armed. Ewan gestured at Matthew. “Do you have any idea who this man is?”
“Do you think I care?”
“You should. That’s Matthew Cole. Captain of the Sparrow. The man who saved Ceres. I’m sure you’ve heard of him. He’s got more experience in combat than the entire Gilgamesh Colonial Security Force combined.”
It was probably true, but Matthew took a step back looking more than a little uncomfortable at the praise. Davey watched as the guard’s eyes first narrowed and then widened in shock. “You’re that Matthew Cole?” He went from nervous looking to downright upset. “I’ll check with my boss. Maybe we could use a hand after all.” He grabbed his comm and turned his back on the group.
Ewan introduced his men. The tallest was his older brother Rhydian. The other two were distant cousins, Lloyd and Jacob Hughes. “These are my best men in a fight. We try to keep our feet off the ground, but if it comes to it, we can handle our own.”
The guard returned. “Come with me. Garrison Commander Mavros wants to see you.”
WHEN THE BRIDGE OF the Queen of Sheba went into action, it was a sight to behold. Abigail stood to the back, doing her best to stay out of the way and not gawk at things. They were a well-oiled machine as crewmen went about their duties, ensuring all drop shuttles and cargo were secured, in
terceptor pilots were at their stations, gunners in their turrets, and more. Gebre’elwa stood in the middle of it all, issuing orders, a pillar in white.
“Prepare to frameshift,” she said calmly. “Percy, proceed.”
The stars beyond the viewport blurred out of focus for a brief moment as they transitioned to a fraction of the speed of light. Half a minute passed, and they dropped out of frameshift.
“Bring us around toward Ganymede.”
The stars outside began to slowly wheel. The Queen was a massive ship and certainly couldn’t turn as fast as the Sparrow could. It would take several minutes at this rate.
Gebre’elwa turned and motioned for Abigail to join her. Feeling more than a little out of place, Abigail crossed the bridge to stand beside the woman. “Yvonne and Grace have the Sparrow warmed and ready to go.”
“Very good. I doubt the Queen herself will be of any assistance, but I have Shotel Squadron ready to launch. Have you had any updates from Matthew Cole?”
“Only that they have made it into the secure zone and are in contact with security trying to ascertain what exactly is going on.”
“Hopefully, they will know by the time we get there.” She turned back to the window. “If the need is dire, I can spare a shuttle and perhaps a half dozen men for the ground. But we have little experience in that regard. The Queen keeps to the space lanes.” Ahead of them, a distant Jupiter was slowly coming into view. “I wonder how the Abrogationists went from impotent academics screaming about the evils of mankind to an actual threat.”
“New leadership,” Abigail said simply.
“Yes, Alexander Logan. I’ve read of his purported accomplishments. He shall not be allowed another victory. Not today. Humanity may be doomed, but I intend it to last long enough for my own children to die of old age.”
“We’re ready to frameshift, ma’am.”
After Moses: Wormwood Page 7
