by Skyler Grant
Quinn looked to Nell. "I know it's a lot to place on you, but you're the closest I've got to a voice of her victims. I'd like to hear what you have to say on the matter."
"Even if I wanted her to pay for what she's done, I wouldn't make her pay like this," Nell said.
"Jinx, let’s do this. All of you follow me and we'll leave the others to their discussion," Mara said.
The group made their way from the dining table and out of the room.
"So we get to kill him. Right?" Kara asked hopefully.
"Man loves his revenge and likes to hit at people sideways. We can't leave him out there with the resources to harm us," Taki said.
"It also doesn't mean we have to cut his head off ourselves. Slavery is illegal throughout the Imperium and some part of it does lay claim to Arkstone," Tamara said.
"Get him shipped off to a prison in the Core and make him very much not our problem? I like it. Duchess Alara doesn't much like us though," Quinn said.
"A woman of refined taste, I can empathize. Let me speak with her and see what I can arrange," Tamara said.
Kara said, "Or I just kill him. I was a bounty hunter before. If you want money I'm sure we can find some rival of his to pay for it.”
Quinn didn't doubt that was true. They'd be unloading that statue on someone who wanted to send a powerful message.
"Make your calls, Tamara. We aren't going to let this problem grow. If we can't take him out of play one way, we'll explore other options," Quinn said.
3
The quarters for the family on the ground were a good bit barer than those on the Centauri Bliss. No matter how much the colonists might have come to regard Jinx as their Empress, they didn't have much to give.
Still, it was a break from the ship, and what it lacked in comforts it made up for in extra room. Also, being in a proper port made repairs go a lot faster.
As was usually the case after a mission that saw some action, Kara was insatiable, and after this and the exertions of the day it wasn't long until Quinn fell asleep.
Quinn was woken by Tamara shaking his shoulder. "Up and get dressed. There is something I want you to see."
After Quinn had dragged on some clothing he followed Tamara into the next room. She already had a pot of coffee ready.
"What was so urgent it couldn't wait?" Quinn asked.
Tamara settled down across the table from him. Despite the late hour and the exhausting previous day she was stunning, Quinn wasn't sure she was capable of anything else. Sometimes it was a delight and at others infuriating.
"More personal than urgent, although I've a few other general matters too," Tamara said, tilting her head. "We're going to make out well, by the way. While I wish we'd gotten the yacht itself, even the figurehead is going to bring us three thousand credits."
It was a solid take, more than they'd have gotten taking a cargo job even with higher risks.
"Guess you approve of our whole hunting-the-guilty plan now," Quinn said.
"You know me, husband, I'm about the long game, always. This has risks, but fits perfectly with my long-term ambitions."
Quinn really didn't want to think about that. Tamara's ambitions were larger than herself, and they included the family. They meant everyone in it becoming something bigger and grander. Jinx had already fallen prey, taking command of this colony.
"Well, on that ominous note, time to change the subject. What did you need to discuss?" Quinn asked.
"Murder," Tamara said, flicking on a holoscreen. Images began to cycle.
Crime scenes—even without Tamara's explanation he could have guessed that. The first an office looking like it had been shot to hell and with multiple bodies sprawled about. The second was a crashed aircar—no accident, given the weapons fire it had suffered. A third was a broken figure, crumpled in an alley with a blood smear upon the wall.
"Is this another job for us?" Quinn asked.
"What?" Tamara asked, seeming startled by the question. "No, these crime scenes are all from the Core and across three different systems."
"Why are you interested?"
"The victims are my sisters, or my competitors, depending on how you want to look at it. Tourmaline's other daughters," Tamara said, her tone neutral.
Quinn had heard the basics of that. Tamara was genetically modified, one of a select group of women all made equally powerful, yet all different and in competition to become the new Tourmaline—to have Tourmaline’s mind ultimately downloaded into theirs in some sort of consciousness merger and ultimately be possessed by Tourmaline.
"I'm sorry—and I don't even know if that’s the right thing to say. No, of course it’s the right thing to say," Quinn said, and he reached out take her hand.
Tamara squeezed slightly."In fairness I'm not sure either. I and the others were raised to be in conflict. Even from a young age we'd take every opportunity to score points on each other. Still, there is nobody else that really understood our lives except for each other."
"Is it one of them that did ... this? To the others?"
"No. I don't think so at least," Tamara said. "The last I knew, Topaz was third. She might have been a valid target if someone were ambitious and desperate enough to chance breaking the rules. But Tessa was seventh and Terra ninth, and neither was likely to advance."
"Too nice?" Quinn asked.
Tamara smiled faintly and there was a hint of sadness this time, the first real emotion Quinn had seen her show since the conversation began. "Terra was—of all my sisters she was the one I ... probably all of us were closest with. Never once did she do a thing to hurt any of us, it just wasn't in her."
"And you don't want us going on a bloody mission of vengeance?" Quinn asked.
"If we get the opportunity, of course I am going to go after whoever is responsible. I also wanted to talk to you about offering my sisters safety. I doubt any would accept, but I want to make the offer."
If there was going to be any safe place for them it would be on the Centauri Bliss. Even the colony wasn't safe if someone had enough of a price on their head. Quinn was keenly aware of that, because Mara and Kara had both insisted on extra precautions to keep him and Jinx safe when they were here.
Offering the sisters refuge would be an inconvenience. One Tamara was quite challenging enough, but family was family.
"Of course we'll welcome them. They can stay as long as they need," Quinn said.
"I'd not go so far myself," Tamara said, before leaning over the table to brush a kiss across his cheek. "Thank you."
"Being the very cautious and, dare I say, paranoid woman that you are, I'm sure you've thought of my next question."
"Am I a target as well? I have to think I am," Tamara said.
It wasn't that bad all told, considering the heat they already had.
"We should focus on keeping to the ship for the time being. This time on the ground is nice, but it is risky with three of us possible targets. Someone is going to get greedy," Quinn said.
"Is anywhere safe right now? For anyone? That was another matter I wanted to discuss. Empress Joline is dead."
Quinn could do little more than blink. "You'll have to remind me which one that was. The count was up to fifteen?"
"Seventeen," Tamara said with a frown. "But Joline had one of the better claims and she was one of those who gained mending abilities, like Jinx. A graduate of the naval academy, she had the real potential to rally the fleet."
"I don't know if you're glad or upset that she’s dead. I'm having that a lot," Quinn said.
"None of us profits if the Imperium tears itself apart. I want us free of the fray, but I don't want them destroyed. Joline was the best chance for the navy to unify around a leader and to bring the rest with them."
"Does this impact us?"
"It means things are probably about to get violent—more violent than they were already. So far the skirmishes have been isolated, both sides backing off from the actions almost as soon as they're committed," Tamara said.
&nbs
p; "Cannibalistic slavers, murderous monarchs, the Unshackled ... when I first set eyes on you I knew that you were going to get me into trouble. I never could have imagined how much," Quinn said.
Tamara reached across the table to take Quinn's other hand, holding both now as she met his gaze. "Regretting it, husband? If you could go back to that bar, would you say no?"
"I seem to recall I did say no," Quinn said, and shook his head. "Without the help you gave, Taki would probably be dead. You and Jinx too, by now. Me and Melody would have been trying to keep the ship in an Imperium falling apart."
"I brought you change. You needed some, but this much ... I know it must push you."
"Then it’s a good thing that I don't have to handle it alone. Our family is special, you are special, but I do worry."
"About what?" Her eyes searched his features.
"I don't like the mysticism, I don't want to buy into it. I make my own way and there is no force guiding me and choosing that path. And yet it is a mite unsettling how things keep working out. Do you believe?" Quinn asked.
"I do. I didn't always, but with Jinx I just felt myself being sucked along in her wake. So, I tried as best I could to make sure we stuck together. I told you once, the scruffy hero, the faithful companion, the outcast warrior, the metal girl with the heart of gold," Tamara said.
"We're more than a collection of archetypes."
"Of course you are. Of course we are, but yes, I believe in fate," Tamara said.
"Where does it all stop?"
"We're family now, Quinn. You, I, all of us bound together by our vows. It will never stop."
It wasn't a reassuring thought.
4
Two days later the repairs to the Centauri Bliss had come along well. With the ship on the ground Melody was able to do repairs much faster than in space.
It was during breakfast that the colony alarms began going off.
Quinn ran for the ship. If trouble was breaking out he'd be needed in the pilot’s seat anyways and they'd had time to set up access to the base sensors. As he settled behind the controls Dela moved in beside him.
"What have we got?" Quinn asked.
"Proximity alarm set up on the Runestone. Multiple arriving contacts."
Quinn opened up the family comm line so the others could listen in as Dela discovered more.
"Eighteen, twenty, ships still arriving. Nothing as large as our cruisers, but a lot of gunboats."
"The cruisers aren't going to be much good. They've still just got skeleton crews aboard," Jinx said through the comms.
"I still have access to their fire control systems. Those ships aren't useless," Mara said.
The ships weren't advancing, sticking close to the Runestone.
"If it’s an invasion they're gathering their forces first. Maybe this is another try at a blockade?" Quinn asked.
"Something different. We've got two of the signatures in our records. Sending you the data," Mara said.
They were familiar, and recent. Two of the ships now entering the system were among the corporate security vessels that responded to the heist on Sinclair’s yacht.
"Does Sinclair have the forces to mount an invasion?" Quinn asked.
"We're up to twenty-four. They're still holding position," Dela said.
"I ran his financials before we did the job against him. He keeps some ships on hand for security of his operations, but not enough to launch a war. This would be about eighty percent of his private fleet," Tamara said.
Not an invasion then. He was keeping enough forces back to defend something that he considered critical.
"That means he’s left some behind to guard something. Do we know what it is?" Quinn asked.
"It will be the Block. That yacht we took down was where he did his entertaining. The Block is where he does business. I don't know much about it except that it is massive and moves around," Tamara said.
"We've got weapon discharge," Dela said.
"They shooting at anything in particular?"
"Away from any planets, away from the Runestone. They're just letting us know they came armed. Do they even realize we have sensors?" Dela said.
Quinn wasn't feeling as critical of them for that. Shooting off their guns might be a bit unnecessary, but they were making a point.
"Comm signal incoming. It's for us. They're asking to speak to the Centauri Bliss," Dela said.
"That’s the bad thing about us very publicly stealing a whole colony. Everybody knows that it’s your hideout. Put them through," Quinn said.
The visual coming through was a man. Forties, blond, stubble with a jagged scar across one cheek. Damian Sinclair himself, Quinn recognized him from data they'd pulled.
"Damian, you came yourself. I should have known when I saw ships uselessly shooting their loads at nothing," Quinn said.
Sinclair steepled his hands. "Quinn Jade, Captain of the Centauri Bliss that was until recently the Kathryn. Word is you mourned for a dead wife until you decided to defile her memory by hooking up with a dozen women. Still, I am not here so you can lose a battle of insults."
"Came for the figurehead to your ship then? Word is that Tsanna Varell is going to put it in her garden so that at her next party all of Arkstone society knows what a tiny and ineffectual little man you are," Quinn said.
Sinclair's expression gave nothing away. "You take from me, Captain, I take from you. That is how a man builds a reputation. Time for your ultimatum. These are just my personal vessels, but then, today I'm just making a statement."
"You're one ship down. You want to lose more, I'm sure we can make that happen," Quinn said.
"Here is what you can make happen. You and ... let’s say three of your wives. I'll even let you decide which three. Turn yourselves over to me in two weeks time. I'll do very public and very terrible things to all of you and we can call this matter closed," Sinclair said.
"Does anyone ever agree to that option?"
"Find people’s weak points and hit them. Yours are all on that ship of yours, mostly, but you care about the people of that colony too. You went before Arkstone society to save them. So this is the deal, if I don't get you, I take them. Unless I have you and your wives in my collars in two weeks I come back with enough force to take this whole colony."
"You'd lose a fortune," Quinn said.
"And protect my reputation. You did this. You can also evacuate this world. I'm sure I can find some buyer for a world like this," Sinclair said.
"And destroy our reputation."
Sinclair leaned forward. "You have a few options. I'm sure you dislike all of them. Squirm as much as you'd like. One way or another you're done." The comm call terminated.
"Ships are starting to jump out, Captain," Dela said.
"Meeting at the dinner table in ten minutes. Bring what you need to discuss this," Quinn said.
The whole family had convened, sitting around the table. They'd also invited Donna aboard to represent the colonists.
"So, none of us like what we heard. How are the colonists going to handle it?" Quinn asked.
"You mean are they going to try to tie you up and hand you over?" Donna asked, fingers running through her mohawk in agitation. "Don't think so, not after what Jinx did for them. People are going to panic though, unless you and the colony leadership get a plan."
"First of all. Is his threat credible?" Quinn asked.
Tamara nodded. "Unfortunately. While he brought the bulk of his resources with him, he has the funds to hire a good-sized mercenary force."
"Good enough to overcome those cruisers?" Donna asked.
"Probably so."
"Turning ourselves over for slow and torturous deaths is absolutely a last resort. Is colony evacuation an option?" Quinn asked.
"Even if it is feasible, people won't go. Remember, they've already had love ones bleed and die for this world," Donna said.
"You were getting the word out to mercenaries to man the fleet in the next system. Can we hasten that
?"
"I could increase the size of the land grants, but that isn't going to get us a functioning navy. Not in two weeks," Jinx said.
"How about we kill Sinclair? Man is dead, the problem goes away," Kara said.
Silence greeted the suggestion and looks around the table.
"Is it possible?" Quinn asked.
Mara said, "He'll be guarded and wary. Give me time and I can take him down, but I can't guarantee it will be in two weeks."
"Can we hit him in the wallet? Take away his ability to hire mercenaries?" Quinn asked.
"We can't rob his accounts, but we've already wounded him. If we strike at his business again it might be a mortal blow," Tamara said.
"You mentioned a ship he does business out of," Quinn said.
"The Block. I still don't know anything more, but we have access to his people. If we can take it out of commission we might really force him to make the choice between salvaging anything of his business and hurting us," Tamara said.
"Would buy you time for me to get a shot at him," Mara said.
"No longer pretending you aren't an assassin?" Tamara asked.
"I'm not, but I am versatile. If we had a better solution in this case I'd be suggesting it."
"An orbital station would have more than enough firepower to fend off any assault. If you can't get a crew for the whole fleet over there, can you get a crew to retrieve just the station?" Donna asked.
"Can we?" Quinn asked.
"Not many are trained for station operations. That makes them rare and pricey, and with the Imperium headed to war the demand has gone way up. We just don't have the resources to pay fair market rate to get someone here in a hurry," Tamara said.
"Bottom of the barrel then?" Quinn asked.
"Possible, but then we still have to find them. Again we're hitting up against our time limit."
Dela cleared her throat. "I've got an idea I think would fix all our problems, but you aren't going to like it."
"I can guess what that means. You're right, I don't like it," Taki said.
"I finally got a hold of Monk. Ice and her crew are still on the run and the heat is getting bad. I think she'd listen to a deal," Dela said.
