by A. B. Keuser
Dani felt the tingling numbness wash over her as she realized what she’d done—what Vôner had said he’d make her do one day.
Staggering back against the bulkhead, she sank to the floor, throwing the gun away. It sounded a hollow thud on the opposite bulkhead as she heard Si giving a harsh command to the ship.
If her bullet hadn’t killed Lyz, Oath Breaker no doubt had as soon as the lift door closed… suffocation? or gas? Which was the perverse machine more likely to use? Which would she use on Dani in the end?
Si crouched in front of her, his hand pressed tightly against his shoulder. He said words that made no sense and she stared back at him uncomprehending—uncaring. Breath found a way into her in the gaps between her sobs.
Her head knocked against the bulkhead behind as he shook her, but she couldn’t find the will to be bothered. His brow wrinkled in what she’d assume was disappointment—or maybe concern—before he stood, turning from her and stepped into the lift.
He disappeared with the soft whoosh of doors closing. She watched the doors, her mind replaying the last moments over again in her head. She’d traded one for the other… and had no idea if she’d made the right choice.
A bulkhead scrubber slowed to a stop next to her, chirping out its normal acknowledgment. Dani watched it, disinterested as it pulled up an arm, loaded with a hypo, and stuck her. Her eyes traced the orange liquid as it emptied into her leg and then trailed after the med bot as it scurried away.
She let herself hope Obie had sent her a deadly cocktail or one that would make her forget who she was, what she’d lost.
*
Dani had no idea how much time had passed when she realized she’d been staring at the same speck on the bulkhead for long enough her vision had blurred.
Gill’s gurney sat in the middle of the corridor, waiting for the lift… and someone to wheel him down to the morgue. A morgue with no more room. Danielle shivered at the sudden cold in the corridor.
“Obie, where’s Si?”
“Captain Osiris is in the infirmary. He has seen to his shoulder wound and has stabilized Elyzabeth.”
“She survived?” her words came out flat, and for a moment, Dani wondered if she’d even said them at all.
“The flak jacket took most of the impact. She’ll have bruises on her chest and she sustained a mild concussion when the force of the bullet sent her backward. Her skull impacted with the lift hand rail. She suffered no fractures.”
“I thought I’d killed her. And if I hadn’t, I thought you had.”
“Osiris made it very clear I was not to harm her, even after she shot him.”
Dani didn’t know if it was possible for a computer to sound irritated, or if she was simply transferring the emotion onto the ship’s AI. “I’m starting to wonder if this wouldn’t all be easier if you’d killed the rest of us.”
“DANIELLE.”
The ship paused, and Dani found herself wondering if machines—even ones with as complicated AI as hers—could experience trepidation.
“Sometimes, I think of you like those metal mites. You are a very real threat to me… to the Abolitionists. But venting you would mean we lose Osiris, too. I have to take the chance that letting you live isn’t going to mean the downfall of us all.”
“That’s a comfort. And here I thought you were beginning to like me.” She moved to the gurney, rechecking the straps.
“I see your value.”
“It’s a start.” She pushed Gill’s body into the lift. “Deck ten, please, Obie.” The lift sank through the ship. With no room left in the morgue, she’d have to figure out a way to modify the cryonic chambers or she’d be going against her crew’s wishes, and she didn’t want that. Not after all that had happened.
As Dani wheeled Gill out, she realized what the med bot had shot her with—why she no longer felt irrevocably saddened by the fact she’d shot Lyz.
“You dosed me.” She said it out loud simply for confirmation, and perhaps an explanation, though she didn’t really care.
“I couldn’t risk you suffering a mental breakdown. If you are compromised, it will affect the rest of the mission.”
“I guess I just moved up to priority two?”
“In reality, you are presently priority three hundred and forty-five. However, if you isolate only human priorities… then yes, you are second.”
“You know how to make a girl feel needed.” Her words fell flat as she pushed the gurney up the steps.
“In your current state, can you feel needed?”
“I suppose not. Right now, I’m more like you than Si.”
Danielle hefted Gill’s body into the cryo pod furthest down the line and strapped him in place. The steel girder that supported him under the arms was meant for incapacitated passengers, not corpses, but Dani was going to make do with what she had. Gill didn’t need the fluid lines that would have pumped him full of the pre-cryo fluids, so she tossed the wires aside and made sure his limbs were arranged. She did not want to close the capsules on an errant arm.
Staring at the scrolling commands on the screen, Dani wished Lyz was stable enough—both mentally and physically—to come down and help her. She’d have to make do with what she had. “You’d know these capsules better than I would, Obie. Is there anything else I need to do to make sure Gill sees his way to a peaceful burial?”
“Adjust coolant ratio up forty-two percent. There is no risk of killing him. You might as well make sure he is fully preserved.”
“Good to know there’s a margin of error on these things… just in case.”
Danielle punched in the code and pressed the seal button as a concussive force rocked the ship, tipping her backward. She hit the scaffolding, sending a brief, but sharp, pain from her hip straight up her spine.
“What the hell was that?” Dani righted herself and made her way off the scaffolding as a second blast rocked the ship, catching herself as the turbulence knocked her off her feet.
“We are being fired on.”
She pulled herself upright and moved across the hold. “I figured that much… that or whoever killed Gill decided to blow a hole in you.”
“That would be an ill-advised course of action.”
“In retrospect, everything I’ve done since I took on finding you feels like an ill-advised course of action. Are we taking evasive actions?” She ran to the ladderway—there wasn’t a chance in Hell she was going to get herself stranded in the lift.
“Yes, though I expect things will get easier once Osiris is in the pilot’s chair.”
Pausing, Dani looked up the ten decks above her. “Is he really that good?”
“I was made for him.”
“Funny, for a while, I thought maybe he was made for me.”
“what happened?”
“You made me and everyone else think he was dead. Fifteen years gives you a lot of perspective.”
“I do not regret that decision, it was for the greater good. In an unforeseeable turn of events, this galaxy needs Osiris more now than they did during the Absolution Conflicts… perhaps now they’ll even appreciate what he does.”
“You only say that because you love him.”
“I am a ship. I was not designed to love.”
“And that’s what makes you all the more special.” She pulled herself onto the deck five hatch ring and sat. “Does he need me Obie? I mean, really. I survived his death… or at least his first one—the political one. He’s stronger than I am. Maybe losing me is one of the few ways that he can be fully invested in this conflict.”
“You are wrong… but if I killed you, or if someone outside the Pääom was responsible I do not believe it would solidify his beliefs. And it is not a risk I am willing to take, one way or another.”
“If Vôner had killed me… if someone else had found you and you’d thought they were friendly enough to let him out…” If she went willingly to the Mandall’s slaughterhouse.
“Speculation will do you no good at this poi
nt.”
“Fair enough.” Another impact shook the ship, and Dani resumed her climb.
SEVENTEEN
Osiris tightened down the straps over Lyz’ wrists. She looked at him with a strange serenity.
“They’re not hurting you?” he asked.
“No.” She let her head roll to the side to look at the unconscious pilot, his heart monitor’s steady blip assuring them he was alive.
“I can’t deal with whoever’s shooting at us and worry about you coming after me again.” He stabbed himself with another anesthetic hypo, and gritted his teeth as he yanked the needle out again. “Obie won’t let anyone in here without Yella’s or my permission, and if either of us wanted to kill you… I think you’d know by now.”
Lyz looked at him with puffy, red eyes. “Osiris. I’m sorry.”
He left as another hit to the shield shook the ship. “Are you talking to me yet, Obie?”
Nothing.
The ship had gone silent after he’d gotten Lyz to the med bay and it looked like he wasn’t going to get anything out of her. At least until they dealt with whoever was firing on them.
He pushed into the lift and manually coded it for the bridge.
“Osiris.”
“It’s about time. Where have you been and who’s firing on us?”
“I have been with Danielle. I calculated making sure she didn’t do something rash was more important than seeing to the well-being of the woman who shot you. You clearly didn’t need my help.”
“Are you being petulant, Obie? It’s not a good look for you.”
“I am simply stating fact. When the pursuing ship attacked, all of my primary resources went to evasive maneuvers and automated defenses. What reserves I have were spent finishing with Danielle and now, I’m here to find out what you needed.”
“I need a status report. You may have had me asleep for a very long time, but I don’t think SOP has changed. Tell me what I need to know before I sit in that chair.” He was going to have to consider a full personality overhaul if he could find someone who’d do it—and could, without Obie killing them as they tried.
“I have no information at this time, other than we are being pursued. They are firing on us. No hails, no discernable communication, nothing.”
Osiris was beginning to catch hints of Yella’s speech pattern. The AI was adopting some of her tone. “Is Yella okay?”
“She’s as ‘okay’ as I could make her in the brief time I had.”
“What does that mean?” He stepped out of the lift and hurried down the corridor to the bridge.
Yella stood in front of the comm console, her hands flying over the controls as she stared impassively at the screen. “They’ve got a scrambler running. I can’t get a good read on who they are, but it’s not for lack of trying. I can tell you they’ve been following our ion trail for the last few days, slowly catching up to us.” Her words lacked emotion. “Can we get anymore power?”
“Are you alright?”
She looked up at him, startled, as though she hadn’t known he was there. It was then that he saw the pen-comm in her hand and realized she wasn’t talking to him.
“I’ll survive… as long as we don’t get fragged by these guys.”
“And we don’t have a clue who they are?”
“We know who they aren’t.” She said, her voice flat as pristine deck plating. “I’ve gotten two visuals, so I can tell you they are not a Pääom military vessel—unless their standards have dropped immeasurably in the last two weeks—and it’s not the Mandalls. I know every bucket they have that’s space worthy.”
“This could be new.” Si slid into the pilot’s chair and adjusted everything around. Mopeña may have been a big man… but Si still felt cramped with the other pilot’s settings.
“No,” she waved her hand at him, as though to bat away the suggestion, “Nial would have told me. He likes to think it impresses me. This is someone else.”
“So, pirates? I mean, who else randomly attacks a ship these days?”
“Not pirates. The scrappers I stole Obie from. Just got a positive read on their ship code, it was only a blip, but Obie caught it. Amazing. Traced back to the scrap yard owners.”
“So we’re dealing with repo-men. Lovely.” He took over full manual controls as Kiori stepped onto the bridge, her face was resolute beneath Gill’s favorite hat as she stepped to the weapon’s console and strapped in.
“Right now, I’m really glad you’re on our side.” He said to himself, certain she wouldn’t hear it. “Obie, connect me to the engine room. I need Adilyn on at all times, in case this gets tricky. No offense to Stugg, but I don’t have time to explain what I want right now.”
“I’m sure he’ll be deeply offended, but he’ll suck it up if he knows what’s good for him.” Yella strapped herself into her chair.
Si shook his head as he prepped the station. “No one at that age knows what’s good for them.”
“I like to think I did.” Yella’s tone was still flat, and he suddenly knew what Obie had done to make her “okay.”
Si couldn’t focus on the hollowness in her voice as he keyed in an evasive strategy he’d come up with during the war. His first pilot had hated him for it—as had everyone else on the bridge, but he always figured it was better to be space-sick than dead.
“Strap down if you’re not already.” He knew Adi would be in her harness, but he couldn’t be sure about Stugg. “Adi, I need us running as hot as we can.”
“Are you seriously going to put us through a circus monkey?”
“I refuse to call it that.”
“Saying yes would have been quicker. Power output optimum. I hope this works again.”
He bit his tongue and finished keying in the sequence. Taking hold of the manual controls, he tabbed on the fore, port and starboard thrusters, something Obie only had for maneuvering in heavy atmo. “This could get hairy, kids, so keep what you care about locked down. Miss Tengu, I will need you to keep a light trigger. We’re going to be a bit more agile than they anticipate and I don’t want one of our own lasers doing damage to our hull.”
“On it.”
“That’s all I need to hear.” He put Obie into a wide bank, “Let’s test out the full maneuverability of their ship. Don’t want them to outdo us.”
Yella snorted from behind him. “We’re in a forty-two ton barge… they’re in an old hunter-class. I think they can outdo us just from those specs alone.”
“Have faith. Obie is far more than meets the eye. You should know that by now.”
She nodded, conceding his point. “Any signs they’ve upgraded their engine specs, Obie?”
“None that I can see. If they were at full tilt coming after us, I’d say no.”
“Well, better safe than sorry. We won’t be able to outrun them at any rate.” He twisted the ship in a downward barrel role and watched as the hunter followed.
Reaction time was slow, and they banked after him, lasers still flaring.
Kiori kept pace, she and the ship’s automated defenses kept most of the other ship’s volleys a bay, but he knew that wouldn’t last forever. Three of every four shots Kiori took were deflection, the fourth hit unerringly. He would have liked to have had her on his ship in a real battle, but she would have been lost as well.
He hit the port thrusters sending them directly sideways as the hunter ship flew past in an altered trajectory, trying to turn. Kiori strafed the side of the hunter ship as they came about, but Si was ready for them.
He angled the ship up, pulling her into a long, arcing glide as she twisted overhead, Obie back flipped as the hunter shot beneath them and he came down behind. Kiori loosed an ion disruptor charge and the ship shuddered as its propulsion died.
Osiris flicked on the fore thrusters and brought them to a dead stop, watching the ship sliding through space, with no inertia to stop it and no propulsion to guide it… he could only hope they ended up colliding with a star before they managed to ge
t things back on line.
“Enemy ship disabled by disruption and subsequent damage, estimated time for repairs forty-three hours with nominal conditions and required parts. Suggested course of action: termination.”
“Not this time. We won’t kill them, but I’ll be damned if I’ll do anything to help them.”
“I can bring down the engines now, right, Sir?”Adi asked. “I’d hate to get to Kosz and not be able to get back off.”
“Yeah, we should be good for a while… unless there’s anything else out there?”
“Clear skies and smooth sailing as far as I can see.” Yella said. “Unless the scrappers are miracle workers—and no one else dies—we shouldn’t have any more excitement. I’m going to go pass out if no one objects.”
Osiris watched her stand and duck through the bridge hatch. He objected, but not for any reason he could give to make her stay.
“Obie, set us back on course and let me know the second anyone else shows up on our long range.”
He didn’t need an acknowledgment so he didn’t wait for one, unstrapping, he stood and turned to find Kiori blocking the bridge hatch. Shit.
“I hope you’re not going to shoot at me, too. I don’t know what happened to Gill, but I didn’t have anything to do with it.”
“I know.”
He paused. If she knew, why was she standing there?
“Be careful.” She turned on her heel and left.
Days ago he might have taken that as a threat, now, he wasn’t sure what she meant. He ignored it as he went to the lift and dropped down to the med bay’s level, stopping to check in on their four patients.
Willy was awake and he met Osiris with a broad smile and a deep laugh. “Sorry my girl shot you… but you can let her out of the manacles. She’s never been one for bondage… and now that she’s got her head straight, I’ll make sure she’s not a threat.”
