While the others procured liquid sustenance, Mykah settled into a quiet table at the back of the cantina. He commed Ariel and told her about the message from the new dockmaster. “What do I do?”
“If it were me,” she said, “I’d pursue the suit and damn the cost. But you have a chance to get your home back. It won’t cost you another credit and you won’t have to stay in the boarding house any longer. Which way do you find yourself leaning? I’ll support whichever choice you make.”
“I want the Veracity back.”
“Then take her back. Have they put any conditions on you?”
“Like what?”
“A gag order? Are they forbidding you to discuss the impoundment?”
“They haven’t mentioned it.”
“They know—or they should know—that you’re a journalist, Mykah. They will try to silence you. Tell them you’ve already been in discussions with Mellix about this matter.”
“I have been,” he said, surprised that she would guess that.
“Perfect. If the torpedo’s already in the tube, so much the better. Let them know that anything they say to you is on the record. If they try to gag you, tell them their threats are being recorded and you will proceed with your suit.”
Haoun handed Mykah a glass of xyshin and sat down beside him.
Mykah nodded his thanks, then asked Ariel, “You think they’ll cave?”
“They’ll cave,” she promised. “They’re already regretting that they started this debacle. Now they just want us out of here as soon as possible, so they can begin the damage control.”
“Thanks, Ariel. I appreciate your advice.”
She laughed. “Always glad to help.”
The first round of drinks was the most celebratory by far of their homecoming on Kai.
CHAPTER 10
Once the night got good and dark, Eilif and Jim transferred to the Veracity. They settled into the spare cabins. Gisela came too, to continue to guard them. Haoun decided he’d stay at the boarding house, rather than live so close to the Thallians. Ariel planned to continue on in her hotel near the Hall of Justice, but she came to say goodbye to Kavanaugh and Vezali.
While Mykah pulled out a range of weapons, Vezali looked the Veracity over to make sure it hadn’t been tampered with, that it was still space-worthy. Mykah was sorry to see her go, but admired her bravery for volunteering to explore Drusingyi with Kavanaugh.
The Thallians had been used to fishing and fending off predators in their home ocean, so they had a number of weapons designed or modified to fire underwater. Mykah spread them out in the lounge for Ariel’s inspection. She seemed impressed by the variety of antique weaponry.
“They had all this onboard when you took over the ship?” she asked.
“And more,” Mykah said. “Raena’s been teaching me what it all can do.”
“It looks like everything is in excellent shape.”
“We only had what Father brought with him on the Arbiter,” Jim said. “We had to take care of things, because nothing could be replaced.”
No one had an answer for that, so Ariel changed the subject. “If we were dreaming here, I’d send Vezali with the new 728 pulse rifle. That would stop a leviathan dead, guaranteed.”
“No place on Kai to buy one,” Kavanaugh pointed out.
“I could order one for you to pick up en route.”
“No,” Kavanaugh said. “Let’s just get this done. There’s plenty here to choose from.”
Ariel nodded. She picked out a couple of guns and had Vezali hold them, get the feel of them. “It’s a shame you can’t actually test-fire anything,” Ariel said. “That would give you a sense of how hard it’s going to kick. You can’t tell much about a gun just by picking it up.”
“I don’t want to carry much,” Vezali said. “It will be awkward to swim if I’m weighted down.”
“How many tentacles do you need for swimming?”
“I’m used to using them all, but I can adapt. I’m concerned about the drag as I swim with something in my arms.”
“I should be able to rig up a carrying case,” Jim offered, “something smooth-sided enough to be hydrodynamic.”
Vezali nodded her eyestalk. “That would be great, Jim. Thank you.”
*
Kavanaugh insisted that he and Vezali walk Ariel back to her hotel. “I’d feel better if you’d stay on the Veracity with the kids,” he confided.
“I’ll be okay,” she promised. “Now that we’ve seen the Templar fire, I’m much less worried about things coming off of Drusingyi after me.”
“I’m worried about things on Kai coming after you,” Kavanaugh argued. “If you were armed, I wouldn’t worry at all, but how many days of trial is it going to take before they decide that Raena isn’t the only threat to them?”
Ariel smiled. “They won’t give me that much credit.”
“They’ve got to know who’s paying Corvas.”
She shrugged. “That’s obvious, I suppose. But they didn’t put much thought into this mess before they stirred it up. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have chosen the Veracity. I mean, come on. The faintest bit of research would uncover all the mysteries the Veracity has revealed to the galaxy. Why would you attack someone who is going to expose you?”
Kavanaugh didn’t have an answer for that, but Ariel figured it out on her own. “This goes deeper than the Business Council of Kai,” she said.
“Somebody put them up to this, that’s for damn sure,” Kavanaugh agreed. “The question is: is this only about keeping Raena off the street? Or are they distracting you from something?”
Ariel stopped in front of her hotel and looked around. The travel ban had obviously affected Kai badly. Six months ago, when she and Sloane had hidden Raena here, the city had bustled with life at all hours. Now there was almost no one on the street, even though it wasn’t much past midnight.
She shook that thought away. The silence stretched awkwardly, then Kavanaugh stepped over to kiss her goodbye. Ariel wrapped her arms around his shoulders and held him close.
“Be careful,” she ordered.
“We will,” Vezali promised.
*
The following morning, Raena had an unexpected visitor. Ariel looked nervously inward before she stepped into the cell.
“I’m surprised to see you here, Ms. Shaad.” Raena got off her bench to give Ariel a deep, hard kiss. “I can’t offer you much hospitality, but come sit down.”
“Thanks,” Ariel said shakily. “They only let one of us come each day and Haoun has been pretty determined he’d be that one.”
Raena smiled. “He’s really a pussycat.”
“You just like it when he growls,” Ariel teased.
“Among other things.”
Ariel grinned.
“It’s good to see you,” Raena said. “Been a while since you’ve been in jail?”
“Actually, I was in this one last time we were on Kai—right after you left. Planetary Security gassed everyone who didn’t run from the souk and dragged the survivors here. One of Thallian’s men is still here.”
“Oh? Corvas said Kai didn’t hold prisoners long-term.”
“This guy is a special case. They’re hoping he’ll become sane enough for trial. No prison will take him until he’s been found guilty in court—and no one is offering to transport him to a psychiatric hospital on charity. Kai won’t pay to get rid of him, so here he sits.”
“Does Corvas know about him?”
“Yes. Kai is going to press more charges today, so our friend may become involved in your defense.”
“Keep away from him,” Raena ordered. “Seeing me is going to spark his conditioning. Everyone in the courtroom will be in danger.”
“You think he’s been brainwashed?”
“Of course. Jonan would never have let him off the planet unless he was absolutely confident in his loyalty.”
“There’s more good news,” Ariel threatened. “If the Business Council decid
es to blame you for bringing the Thallians to Kai, Corvas wants to get into why they were after you. He wants to trace it back to your ‘mother.’ Kai knows some of the story already, since Gavin used RespirAll on our friend, but of course the story got all garbled. Anyway, the first Raena may come up in court today. I wanted you to know in advance.”
Raena took a deep breath, understanding exactly what Ariel meant by that. Corvas wanted to connect Raena Zacari, the Imperial assassin, to the Thallians. There was no ‘first Raena,’ only Raena herself, pretending to be her own daughter. She hoped like hell the identity Coni had created for her would stand up in court.
Ariel offered her hand and Raena clasped it, her fingers naturally finding their places between Ariel’s. They sat silently, shoulder to shoulder. Eventually, Raena said, “Thank you for warning me.”
“Not something I wanted sprung on you in public.” Then Ariel collected herself and handed Raena another transparent shopping bag. “I brought your costume for the day.”
Raena turned the bag upside down. Out tumbled a silver catsuit, supple and reflective as mercury. She smiled, truly pleased. “The crew got the ship back.”
“Last night.”
Raena peeled off her dress and skinned into the catsuit. “This makes me feel more like myself than I have in weeks,” she said. “Thank you, Ariel.”
“I know what you like, little sister.”
Raena grinned at her. “You do, don’t you?”
*
As everyone settled into the courtroom for the second day of Raena’s trial, Mykah watched the Mistress of Ceremonies preparing to face the cameras. Her dress was even tighter today, her heels even higher, as if her appearance had to compete with the subject matter of the trial.
The Mistress of Ceremonies spoke into camera number one. “Yesterday was an explosive day of testimony, wasn’t it? We learned that one of the terrifying Thallian clan had been killed on Kai. You’ll be relieved to know that the dockmaster who allowed Revan Thallian onto the planet has been arrested by the Business Council. I’ll bet his replacement does a much more thorough job of screening visitors to Kai.”
“Meanwhile,” she continued, turning to the second camera, “the Imperial-era Veracity—impounded by Kai City Spaceport on our sister pleasure planet Lautan—has been released from custody. Apparently, there is no evidence to prove it was the same ship as the Raptor, which has now been linked to the Thallians. The Raptor itself seems to have completely disappeared. Let’s hope the new dockmaster can whip the spaceport into shape.
“The Veracity has been returned to Captain Mykah Chen and his crew, who were the first to pick up the distress call from the survivors of the Arbiter on the Thallian homeworld. Let’s chat with him now. Captain Chen, do you have a moment?”
“Of course,” Mykah said. He smiled at the feline MC, seeing echoes of Coni in her face.
“Yesterday,” she said, “you asked the court if Kai was in the habit of impounding ships. Do you have any reason to think the Veracity was singled out?”
“There’s no reason—that I know of—that it should have been.” Mykah stared into the camera, thinking, “Even humans have rights.”
The MC prodded a little more. “Do you have any evidence that other ships have been impounded unjustly?”
“The judges said yesterday in court that they would look into it. That satisfies me for now.”
And really, that was all he was prepared to say on the subject, until Raena was out of Kai’s clutches. Both Ariel and Corvas had cautioned him not to put her into any more danger. He intended to be careful.
*
Haoun didn’t actually hate Kai as much as Mykah did. His own job here had been fairly cushy. He’d shuttled tourists out into the desert to explore the Templar ghost towns. Mostly Haoun waited in the temperature-controlled buses, playing video games, while the tourists exhausted themselves in the heat. If the tourist parties featured any human females, he invited them for revivifying drinks afterward. He’d met a lot of people, collected a satisfying amount of tips, and dated some very nice warm girls.
He hadn’t realized he was bored until Mykah offered him a job piloting the Veracity.
Haoun looked down at Raena, who was once again chained to the defendant’s chair. Today she wore a skin-tight outfit that shimmered in the bright courtroom lights. The reflective catsuit wouldn’t leave any of her body to the imagination, except that you couldn’t look straight at her with the glare it gave off. He wondered how it registered to the cameras.
He also wondered if anyone else understood the social critique she offered without saying a word.
The three judges took their places in the courtroom.
The Shtrell court reporter said, “The prisoner here before us has been charged by the Business Council of Kai with kidnapping a young human male who has not yet been identified. Raena Zacari has requested that the charge go to trial.”
The court recorder replayed the video of Jain Thallian jumping off his jet bike and running toward the lock on the ship now recognized as the Veracity. Haoun had to admit, he was impressed with the job Coni and Mykah had done altering the metadata on the recording to make it appear that this was a different docking bay than the Raptor had landed in. He didn’t know how they’d managed to change the record under Kai’s nose. It was scary that they had that kind of power. He hoped that would continue to use it for good.
*
When the video of Jain’s capture finished, Raena looked up at Corvas. He smoothed an invisible wrinkle out of his blue and aquamarine caftan and said, “I call the next witness.”
Preceded by an oversized blue-furred Haru bailiff, a slim boy came out of the waiting room. He wore an expensive sleeveless green brocade pullover with a high silk collar. It looked to Raena as if it hid body armor. Muscles striped his bare arms. His posture was perfectly straight, shoulders back, chin up, and yet he didn’t look haughty as much as frightened. He held himself too taut, as if he might crumble.
He had the bluish black hair, the silver eyes, the long straight nose and pointed chin, but this was not Jain Thallian. Raena had respected Jain, even felt comradeship for him, damaged as he was. She’d known Jain was just as proud as she was of what they’d survived at his father’s hands. She guessed this must be Jimi, Jain’s younger brother, the sole surviving Thallian clone.
The boy’s eyes flicked to Raena’s face. She gave him a nod that didn’t begin to encompass her gratitude. Raena hadn’t known Jimi well enough to feel any affection for him, but she understood exactly what it cost him to appear in public.
“State your name for the court,” Corvas said.
“I traveled to Kai under the name Jim Zacari,” Jimi said, “but my given name is Jain Thallian. My father was Jonan Thallian, the man who carried out the Templar genocide.”
The audience in the courtroom exploded. Jimi flinched away from the furor. The Haru bailiff came to stand protectively over him, arms crossed on his too-broad chest. The boy shrank from him as well, uncertain if the blue-furred guard was for his protection or not.
The judges howled for silence, but the crowd struggled toward the half wall that separated them from the courtroom set. The cameras turned toward the mob, recording their anger in all its spectrum of details.
Shackled as she was, Raena remained seated in the defendant’s box. She scanned the area around her, but saw nothing that could be used as a weapon. If anyone came over the railing within her reach, she would have to kill them barehanded, before they could touch Jimi. Undoubtedly, that would play well around the galaxy: the ultimate proof that humans were violent and dangerous. Raena wondered if she had been set up.
A forcefield shimmered into place just inside the half wall, isolating the courtroom from the audience. The forcefield flickered several times until the old circuitry stabilized.
“It’s been a while since we needed that,” the gray judge said.
“Glad it still works,” the insect answered. “I thought we were goi
ng to have a full-scale riot.”
“We may yet.” The rock judge nodded toward the audience, who still shouted and gesticulated behind the wall of silence. To the bailiff, he said, “Will you pass along an order to clear the galleries and close the court? We’ll proceed without all that foolishness.”
Corvas came over to talk to the Thallian boy. “You all right, son?”
“Yes, sir. That’s the reason I work and travel under an assumed name.”
“Very understandable.”
The judges looked past Raena to check on the audience, but the evacuation seemed to be underway at last.
“When can we resume?” the stick insect asked.
“Whenever the court is ready,” Corvas said.
“Let’s give them another moment,” the gray judge suggested.
Raena spent the time breathing deeply, gazing at the floor between her feet. She felt sick, amazed at herself, ready to die to protect a Thallian.
“All right,” the female judge said at last. “They’ve gone.”
“Jim,” Corvas said, “tell us your story.”
So the boy spun out a tale of how he and his uncle Revan and a handful of soldiers from the Arbiter had come to Kai to capture Raena Zacari. How they had trailed her to the souk in Kai City and how they attacked her party there.
“Did you know Raena Zacari before the attack?” Corvas asked.
“Yes,” the boy said. “I had been in contact with her over the grid.”
“Why?”
“I needed help to escape my family.”
“Why was that?”
A camera zoomed closer to get a tight shot of the boy’s face. He glanced at it, glanced back to Ariel seated calmly in the gallery, then focused on Raena. “Because my father was a murderer of epic scale,” the boy said. “My brothers and I were prisoners on Drusingyi, because of the crimes our elders committed before we were born. My father’s generation weren’t the glorious heroes they wanted to believe they were. What they’d done disgusted me.”
It had been one thing for Jimi to tell Raena how he felt on the cusp of his escape, right before she wiped his family out. Now, with the galaxy listening in, he revealed the depths of his loathing. It was obvious from the fury trembling in his voice that he did not lie when he proclaimed how much he hated his family.
No More Heroes: In the Wake of the Templars Book Three Page 17
