by Jaleta Clegg
"Your duty to Lowell? I think you've betrayed him enough."
"My duty to the Patrol. I have orders from High Command to arrest him. I'm trying to do it without getting him killed. Where is he?"
I shook my head.
"I don't want to choose between you and my duty." He shifted his grip to his weapon. His glance flickered over Mart. His lip twitched, as if he stopped himself from speaking.
"You're going to have to, Tayvis." I didn't want to say it, I had to. I couldn't betray Lowell, it would mean betraying everyone else. And it wouldn't guarantee that I didn't end up rotting in a jail along with Lowell. I was the one with the lockpicks. I drew on Mart's steady support.
Tayvis raised his hand to sound the alarm. I moved faster. I shot him before he could complete the call. The stunner was powerful, he crumpled to the carpet without a sound. I wanted to shoot myself, it would have hurt less.
I hurried across the room to him. He was motionless, paralyzed except for his breathing and his eyes. They followed my every move, accusing and hurt and betrayed. I knelt down beside him.
"I'm sorry," I whispered, blinking back tears I didn't have time for. "Trust me. And forgive me, please." I bent over him and brushed my lips over his.
"We have to hurry," Mart said behind me.
I sat back, wanting the angry look in Tayvis' eyes to change to something else. He closed them, shutting me out.
"Trust me, Tayvis," I whispered again.
And then I was on my feet, following Mart back through the mansion, pretending to collect dirty dishes. Pretending my heart wasn't breaking. Pretending I didn't hate Lowell and everything he forced me to give up for him. I wanted to believe Tayvis, I wanted to believe Lowell was delusional and had pulled everyone else into his paranoid vision, but too many other people and facts wouldn't let me believe it.
We left the dishes in the kitchen and slipped back to the van.
Beryn and Lowell were busy with the equipment in the back. Lowell looked up when Mart opened the door. Mart nodded.
Beryn abandoned his equipment and climbed into the driver's seat as we got in. Mart shut the door and we were in motion, heading for the port. I sat, heavy as stone and wishing I were as impervious to pain.
Mart touched my hand, the one with my father's ring. He knew who Tayvis was, he felt every emotion I had. His touch conveyed sympathy and a thousand more subtle emotions.
Lowell watched us, studying me with growing concern. I was glad the inside of the van was so dim. It helped hide my face.
The van lurched through the gate onto the landing field. The sounds of the port filtered dimly through the sides. The van lurched to a stop. The door was pulled open. Paltronis waved us urgently out. Mart squeezed my fingers and got out. I heard Beryn get out. I couldn't make myself move.
"Dace?" Lowell asked, questioning.
"Tayvis was there," I said, my voice so brittle it would shatter like thin glass. "I shot him."
The words landed harsh and bitter.
Lowell froze, crouched next to me. "I didn't expect him. We have to move, Dace."
He wasn't cold, I told myself as he prodded me out the door. He saw the big picture. What he did was for the greater good. He couldn't concern himself with a single person. I was becoming like him and I hated it. I'd shot Tayvis. With a stunner, but I'd shot him.
I stumbled my way into a ship. It was only slightly larger than the courier. Paltronis pushed me into a chair, then slapped me across the face.
"I deserved that," I said, closing my eyes and welcoming the pain.
"Snap out of it, Dace," she said, her voice sympathetic. "You have to fly. You're the only pilot on board."
She was right. Whatever private pain I had, there were bigger issues at stake. I pressed my hands into my eyes. I had to focus. I could fall apart later.
And then I felt Mart's hand on my shoulder, a gentle warmth that eased the pain. I lowered my hands from my eyes to the controls. I could get over the pain, I had to.
"I shot him, Paltronis," I said.
She sat next to me, running the scan boards. "I heard," she said, her own voice tight.
"You said you'd kill me if I ever broke his heart." It was like poking a sleeping sand cat. I wanted her to yell at me, slap me around, make me hurt so bad physically that I wouldn't be able to feel the pain inside.
"I misjudged you," she said roughly. "We have clearance to lift."
My hands moved automatically, sending the ship up off the planet. It wasn't my smoothest flying. I found no joy this time. There was only pain.
I made it through the jump point before I broke down.
Chapter 27
The brown dwarf didn't give off any visible light. They could have been floating in interstellar space to judge from what they saw out the viewscreen. A field of stars, diamond bright, none close enough to be more than a pinprick of light in the unvarying blackness. They'd been there four days, waiting.
Scholar spent hours at the table, fishing through his colored strings of light. His temper was short, he wasn't finding what he wanted. He rarely ate and barely slept. Jasyn watched him as she sat in the cockpit, pretending to be on watch. The others, including his four followers, were sleeping. She had tossed restlessly for an hour before giving up and letting Clark sleep in peace. Ghost sprawled across her lap, purring and twitching her tail.
Scholar sat back, rubbing his eyes. The blob of colored light was a dirty gray.
"You ought to get some sleep," Jasyn said.
He shot an amused and irritated look at her. "So should you."
"I've been doing little but sleeping for four days," she answered, unoffended by his manner. "Are you sure we can't help?"
"I can't break his password," Scholar said. "Lowell has files loaded in here that would help if I could get them open. The information isn't in the rest of it. Nothing about Babylon or Jericho or anything else that might connect." He swung his hand through the colored light. It broke in swirling waves of color. "The password has to be genetically encoded. I've tried everything else."
Jasyn shooed Ghost out of her lap, setting her on the floor. The cat meowed and licked her tail to show Jasyn she didn't care about the fickle human who wouldn't pet her.
"There was something," Jasyn said crossing the room. She pulled open a storage locker and retrieved the small box of things Dace had left behind. A copy of the scrap of paper with numbers and the word rowan scribbled on it and a blood red butterfly necklace. She lifted the creature, watching it flutter on the slow air currents. "None of the others were this color."
Scholar held out his hand. She let it drift into his hold. His fingers caught the delicate gold strands. He watched it catch the light, fluttering as if it were alive.
"What's your real name?" Jasyn asked Scholar. It was a mystery that had bothered her since she met him. "What's your story?"
He flicked an amused glance at her before turning his attention back to the necklace. The silence in the ship was almost complete. She heard the air vents huffing softly and the deep vibration of the sublight engines, rumbling in a slow idle.
"Henrius Grey," Scholar said, breaking the silence. "My family moved to a farm on Ophir when I was little."
She sat at the table, watching Scholar as he talked.
"Not much to say, really," he said. "I wasn't much use on the farm, too sickly. They scraped together enough money to buy me a computer, a good one. I built my own datanet before I was ten. They died in a flood when I was fifteen. They were trying to save our tractor. A stupid piece of equipment that never ran right. It was the only thing left on that useless bit of land that was worth anything. I ran away that night, after I found them both drowned, pinned next to the barn. I went to the port city and built my own family, much like you have. It was better than being fostered out. Any farm that took me in would expect me to work." He lapsed into silence for a moment. "I had breathing problems due to agricultural chemicals. I'm allergic to farming. Ironic, the only child of a couple th
at loved farming became deathly ill from it."
"Sad," Jasyn said. "Isn't there anyone with a happy story?"
Scholar's eyes flicked over her again. "What's yours?"
"My parents were disowned by Gypsies before I was born. So we wandered space, working wherever. They were killed in an accident with an ore freighter when I was nineteen. I got my navigator's license and then spent six years working bars instead. Until I met Dace. She talked me into believing I could own my own ship."
"What's her story? Why is Lowell so interested in her? His file on her is so protected I can't dig up more than her name. Is he her father?"
Jasyn shook her head, her long hair flowing loose. "Her father is Patrol, but last I heard, he was an officer on the Avenger. I don't know how Lowell met her, Dace never told me. It had something to do with a case of his she got mixed up in. It's where she met Tayvis."
"Ah, Commander Tayvis," Scholar said. He flipped one finger casually through the ball of discolored light. The ball changed to an image of Tayvis. Jasyn leaned closer and studied him. He looked like a poster boy for the Enforcers, big chin, handsome features, dark hair, and a solemn look that could freeze any liquid known. "There's pages of information on him in here. Lowell thinks highly of him. I don't understand what Dace sees in him, though. He's good enough in a fight, I guess. He was rather obnoxious when he was on Ophir."
"He's hard to get to know."
"Understatement of the year," Scholar said with a grin.
"We've gossiped about my friends, now let's gossip about yours."
"Them?" Scholar flicked a hand at the cabin where Doggo and the other two boys slept. The one girl, Senshi, was in Dace's cabin with Larella. "Orphans who were left out on the street. I gave them a place to call home and saw they were fed. And the others? They wanted a place to feel they belonged. I gave them that. They gave me loyalty and information."
"You want to grow up to be Lowell? You're well on your way."
"Naw, I still have a heart." He cocked his head to one side. "He cares about Dace more than he'll admit. I wonder why."
The necklace fluttered in a breath of air. Their attention was captured by the play of light over the dark red wings. Scholar's grin faded. He caught the necklace, trapping the delicate wings between his fingers.
"Where, exactly, did Dace get this?"
"Lowell left it for her," Jasyn answered.
"Hot bam," Scholar said quietly. He pressed one of the wings on a patch on his computer pad. The ball of light blinked bright yellow and faded into a mess of static. Scholar twisted fingers through and pulled loose a thread of green light. His fingers twitched it to one side. The static cleared. Data flowed across the floating screen in sheets. Scholar smiled. "Hot bam," he said reverently.
Jasyn watched as he played with the data. Scholar grew so absorbed he forgot she was there, forgot the ship and everything else. Jasyn finally gave up and went back to bed.
He was still at it when she woke up. Fitch and Reeco, the two boys, worked with him. Six hands played with data strings, twisting the different colored light into complex patterns that made no sense to Jasyn. Larella and Senshi sat on the steps up to the cargo bay, their heads close together. Doggo sat spraddle-legged on the floor with tools and spare parts spread in front of him.
Jerimon sat on the floor near Doggo. Probably coaching him, Jasyn thought, except Jerimon's attention was fixed on Larella who seemed utterly oblivious of the effect she had on him.
Clark came out of the cockpit and slid his arms around her waist. She leaned back against him.
"I saved you breakfast," he murmured in her ear.
"Thanks," she murmured back. "What are they doing now?"
"The necklace was coded. They're deep in Lowell's files but I haven't understood a word for the last two hours. Scholar will tell us when he's got it figured out."
"We can't stay here much longer," she said. The fuel reserves were down to half. If they stayed more than a couple of days longer, they'd be here permanently.
"He said he'd have it figured by lunch."
"Which wire was it?" Doggo asked. He nudged Jerimon. "You're not much help. Why don't you just talk to her instead of sitting here drooling?"
"What?" Jerimon dragged his attention away from Larella.
"You like her and she likes you, so do something about it."
"It isn't that easy," Jerimon said.
"It is," Doggo said, giving Jerimon a look that said Jerimon was a total idiot. "You go over there and say, Larella, I like you so let's hook up. Then maybe you can think straight again."
Jasyn had a hard time smothering laughter. Jerimon's face was bright red. The ship wasn't that big, Larella had heard every word. She was blushing, with a smile tugging at her mouth. Senshi whispered something to her and Larella laughed.
"Got it!" Scholar whooped and slapped hands with Fitch. Reeco sat back, shaking his fingers in the air. Victory or cramps, Jasyn didn't know.
"What?" Clark asked. His breath tickled her cheek.
"Jericho," Scholar said. "You want the coordinates? Right here." He plucked a yellow string of light.
"We can leave? Finally?" Doggo asked. "That's diego." He scooped up the parts and tools and dumped them indiscriminately into a locker.
Clark let go of her. Jasyn stepped reluctantly away from him.
"Later," he whispered and kissed her cheek.
She got the coordinates from Scholar while Clark and Jerimon powered up the engines. She typed them into the nav comp.
"No surprise," she said. "These aren't in the data bank. This may take a while."
She pulled up the best map they had and pinpointed the coordinates. It was beyond the fringes of the frontier worlds. She traced it back to their present location.
"We'll have to stop for fuel," she said. "It's too far to make in one jump. The port closest to our route is Tivor."
"Closed to outside influences," Scholar said behind her. "No one lands without permission." He leaned across her and typed on the computer. "I could fix that. It's illegal, though."
"So is just about everything else we've done lately." Jasyn sighed.
"I'll need the com as soon as we downshift to normal space again," Scholar said.
"Then let's do it," Clark said. "What vector?"
"I can fix an account for you," Scholar offered.
"Money isn't an issue," Jasyn said.
"It might be on Tivor. They have their own currency."
Jasyn gave Clark a vector that sent them the right direction. She started on the course to Tivor. She had to do it manually, they didn't have current data for that sector. She gave it her best guess, leaving a good safety margin.
The Phoenix pulled away from the brown dwarf, turning on the new course. They reached the jump point and slid through into hyperspace. Once the ship was settled, the hyperdrive purring smoothly, they gathered in the lounge.
"Tell us what else you found," Jasyn said to Scholar.
He took his seat in front of his pad and manipulated the ball of light. It cleared and shifted, looking like a normal screen interface.
"Lowell's private files," Scholar said. "Jericho is a secret colony beyond the Empire. He doesn't explain why it's secret, I could probably figure it out from the data if it's important. Jericho was raided not too long ago. Something bad happened."
"Why are we going there if it was raided?" Jasyn asked.
"Because that's the key to Babylon," Scholar said. "We go to Jericho and it leads us to Babylon."
"What's Babylon?" Clark asked. "Another colony?"
Scholar shook his head. "Lab of some kind. Lowell doesn't say much, apparently he just found out about it. I've never heard of it before." He plucked his bottom lip. "There's a lot of information in here that doesn't seem to relate. Lists of businesses, names, dates. Lowell's private shorthand. He must have thought it was important."
"What about the paper?" Jasyn asked. The scrap of paper with numbers and rowan was still on the table.
"I don't know how that fits in," Scholar said. "Rowan doesn't show up anywhere in the files."
"Maybe we should have Larella read her cards," Jerimon suggested. "It wouldn't hurt."
"It isn't likely to help, either," Jasyn said.
"No, Jerimon's right," Larella said, defensive in the face of their skepticism. "Sometimes the cards can show connections between things. Not just the future but the now. I'm not as good as Lady Rina at telling a person's future, but I'm better at connections."
"Let's try it," Clark said. "We've got time."
"You have to believe or it won't work," Larella said. "The negative energies interfere."
Scholar looked lost, a foreign expression for him. "Cards?"
"A Gypsy tradition," Jasyn said.
"More than that," Larella answered.
"Go get your cards," Jasyn said. "Maybe you can make sense of this. How does Jericho and Mart fit in with us being framed for treason? And why? That's what I don't understand. Why us?"
"Because you're connected to Lowell," Larella said. "He sent Dace his message. You're connected to Dace. It's obvious."
"I'm curious what you'll say with your cards," Scholar said.
"I don't need the cards to read connections, but I do have to prepare," Larella said. "The aura on this ship is disturbing."
"Spiky and purple?" Jasyn asked. She was skeptical of the whole idea. Lady Rina had been believable. Jasyn wasn't sure Larella was.
"Dirty brown. Too much disbelief and sarcasm," Larella said.
"What do you want us to do?" Scholar asked.
"Sit around the table and join hands," Larella said.
"You want the lights dimmed?" Jasyn offered. "You don't need your crystals?"
Larella stepped close to Jasyn. She was a lot shorter. Her eyes were fierce. "You have the Gift, Jasyn, if you'd just open your eyes and believe." She whirled away.
"Sit down," Clark said, tugging at her hand. "We're worried, too. There's little we can do, though, so we might as well try anything that might help."
"Thank you for the vote of confidence," Larella snipped.
