Jericho Falling

by Jaleta Clegg

  Darus left the group of Patrol and came over to me. "What are you doing this time, Dace?"

  "Getting into trouble," I answered. "How have you been?"

  "Doing all right." He draped his arm over my shoulder and hugged me. "It's not the same without Tayvis to boss around, though."

  I laughed, trying to hide the hurt.

  "Introduce me to your friends," Darus said. "Did you lose your ship again? I don't recognize any of them."

  "You should know Paltronis. This is Beryn, Caid's grandson. Lydia and Marshal own the yacht. And this is Mart." I didn't know how to explain him so I didn't.

  Darus removed his arm from my shoulder and struck up a conversation with Beryn. They discussed engines. My father's first love was engineering. They headed off to the engines of the yacht, deep in conversation about ways to improve the fuel economy of the ship without losing power. Marshal and Lydia trailed after them, adding their own comments.

  "You want me to do what?" Querran said.

  Lowell leaned in closer, talking low. His hands waved as he tried to persuade her to help us. I fingered the sleeping cat necklace I wore. I wondered if Darus would still like me if he'd been the one I'd shot instead of Tayvis.

  Mart stood close to me. "I like your father."

  "I like him, too, although he gets a bit much sometimes."

  "Should we offer them anything?" Mart said, looking over at the Patrol people bunched around their shuttle.

  "They're probably debating whether to arrest us or not." I sat on the boarding ramp, pulling my knees up.

  Mart sat next to me. "I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I still meant it."

  "Can we not talk about it? Not until I have a chance to sort out what I really feel. I'm sorry for what I said. I meant it, too."

  "Fair enough," Mart said.

  We sat in silence, trying to ignore the other's innermost feelings and failing. The bond was too strong.

  "This isn't going to work," I muttered.

  Mart laughed. I had to join in.

  "We're a pretty sorry pair, aren't we?"

  "Pathetic," I agreed.

  It felt good to laugh with him. It felt good to push aside the bad and just accept the moment. We got a few strange looks from the Patrol people. They looked pretty grim. Things must have been bad.

  Lowell finished his discussion with Querran. Both of them walked over to the boarding ramp where Mart and I sat. Querran eyed the two of us.

  "How sure are you about this, Grant?" she asked Lowell.

  "Sure enough to stake my life and reputation on it." He picked at his ear. "I'm not the only one with my neck in the noose, though."

  Querran frowned down at me. "Do me a favor, Dace. Don't ever come through my sector again."

  "Yes, ma'am." I could understand why she felt that way. I didn't care much for the Cygnus Sector anymore either. Too many bad memories and bad experiences that weren't my fault or hers.

  "Did you have to get my grandchildren involved?" Querran complained, turning back to Lowell.

  "They volunteered, Suella. They're quite wonderful people. You should be proud of them."

  "Save it for the people who don't know you yet." She sighed, looking tired. "Things are really going down the drain."

  "Will you help?" Lowell asked.

  "I'm three months away from retirement. I could lose my whole life's work on your gamble."

  "It isn't a gamble, Suella. If I lose, if I'm wrong, then your retirement won't matter."

  "I'll be long dead before he can move on the outer sectors, it won't affect me."

  "Then help me because you know I'm right."

  "Are you certain it's Roderick?" She searched Lowell's face.

  "Absolutely. I'll give you a copy of everything, all the data I've got." Lowell was completely sincere, and more serious than I'd ever seen him. "Someone should have a copy in case I don't make it through this."

  "You're that worried? It's not like you."

  "I'm cut off from all my usual channels. Which is why I need your help. A dozen of us aren't going to be able to stop him."

  "I'll authorize what I think I can slip past the auditors. They're checking on our loyalties and finding out what we do with our budget." She sounded outraged.

  "Roderick is finding out who he can buy," Lowell said. "Tell them you're staging a ground assault training program."

  "It might work. Depending on which world."

  My ears perked up. Had Lowell found out where Babylon was? And why a ground assault?

  "It's on Calloway. I'll get you the coordinates."

  "Calloway?" She frowned in thought. "It sounds familiar."

  "It's in your sector. A miserable jungle world. The equatorial regions are too hot to settle. The poles alternate between deep freeze and tropical. No minerals or other reasons to have anyone living there. As far as I can tell, there is some trade in exotic spices and furs but nothing else worth anything. Except Babylon."

  "Roderick's secret genetics lab, if I believe what you're telling me."

  "So stage the training exercise. If it's not there, you still have a good cover story."

  "And if it is there, I can always claim it wasn't on any map and wasn't an authorized settlement."

  "So you're covered either way. Suella, I need your support."

  "Will your people be there?" She eyed me and Mart. I wasn't sure if she was happy with the thought or not. Probably not.

  "We'll meet you there in ten days. I've got one more stop to make."

  "Why the press release, Lowell? I'm supposed to admit you were here and send the Enforcers on your tail? That sounds stupid, even for you."

  "Two reasons." He held up a finger. "It gives you a good alibi in case anyone questions your friendship with me. You were doing your duty, hunting me down. And second, it lets the rest of them know where to find me. Be sure you tell them you found data cubes from my personal stash on Typoll. I do have an office there you can even raid if you want to add more substance to your story."

  "And that's supposed to do what?"

  I watched Lowell's face, wondering myself what his answer was going to be.

  "It lets my datanet expert know where to meet me. As long as he sees the news report, he'll know where to contact me."

  "I still don't understand, Grant."

  "You don't want to know more than that. I tell you more about my methods and I'll either have to shoot you or hire you."

  She laughed, a grandmotherly chuckle that seemed out of place on that dead world. "I'll promote Commander Venn, have him head up the ground assault. Does that satisfy you?"

  "Completely. Thank you."

  "One division of ground troops, no more. I can't send more than that without higher authorization." She turned away.

  "One more thing," Lowell said. "Can you delay decoding the data you find on Typoll? A week or so, say the code is difficult to break, whatever lies you need to tell. Because when that information gets out, things are going to get very dicey."

  "What information, Lowell?"

  "I think you'll understand. There are six data cubes in my office safe on Typoll. It will cause a major scandal. I don't want Roderick to bolt before we can corner him."

  "Or before he realizes you know about his lab?"

  "He knows. I'm counting on that keeping him busy."

  "You like to live on the edge, don't you?"

  "It keeps me young." Lowell smiled in a way that made him look completely imbecilic.

  Querran laughed again. "Don't get Lydia and Marshal hurt. Or you'll have to deal with me."

  "I'll keep them safe. Cross my heart."

  "You'd better." She looked us over one last time then went back to her shuttle. Darus hurried away from the engine exhaust ports. He waved as he boarded the shuttle with the others. The Patrol shuttle lifted. Dust and grit blew on a brief wind stirred by their engines.

  "That is one tough lady," Mart said.

  "You don't know the half of it," Lowell said. And sighed
. "We have work to do. We have to lift tonight and find somewhere else to hide for a few days."

  "Where is Calloway?" I asked.

  "Farther out," Lowell answered. "Why?"

  "Have you ever been to Onipas?"

  Lowell cocked his head, waiting for me to explain myself. Onipas was frontier and no one there much cared about the law, except on their own planet. It was a perfect place to hide.

  "It might work, if it isn't too far from Calloway. It's frontier."

  "You've been there? And they're still happy to see you?" Lowell's eyebrow lifted.

  "Yes, as a matter of fact." Lowell knew how many worlds I'd left in chaos. He knew how many I'd been personally banned from.

  "I'll take that as a good sign," Lowell said. "Let me talk this over with Beryn and Marshal. It just might work."

  "Lowell," I said.

  He stopped and turned back to me.

  "I thought you said Darus works for you now."

  Lowell smiled. "He does."

  He left me gaping after him, frustrated at the questions he hadn't let me ask.

  Chapter 31

  Jericho was green, a jewel of a world, rich with life. Jasyn paused at the top of a hill and looked away, to the far horizon. There were neatly fenced fields in the meadows near the river. The water ran clear and bright through the gentle valley. If she didn't look too closely, she didn't see the neglect in the weeds that crept into the fields. If it weren't for the shattered walls behind her, Jericho would be a paradise. She turned back around.

  The Phoenix sat on a wide apron of plascrete that was still solid, still unfettered with weeds though they crept close on the sides. The valley below her was filled with shattered homes, a deserted testament to violence and death. The few people they'd found were skeletons, mute white bones left where they fell. She had helped bury them, everyone working quietly to give them what peace they could. She saw Larella across the valley, wearing a flowing robe of soft blue, standing over the grave site. She had her hands raised to the sky. The breeze tugged her robe, sending streamers of the filmy fabric floating around her.

  The others searched the ruins, looking for anything that might tell them what had happened here. They knew it was Jericho, the name was etched on a granite block that used to cap a gate into the settlement.

  Jasyn hadn't found anything useful behind her, down in the untended fields. She picked her way across the slope and into the shattered town. The wilderness of Jericho was reclaiming it, green tendrils of plants felt their way through broken windows and tumbled walls. In another ten years, nothing would remain but mounds under the plants.

  The violence wasn't recent. Rains had come and gone, washing away evidence. Jasyn walked between the broken houses towards the largest building, the one most likely to hold the records they were looking for.

  They'd landed two days ago, the ship's reserves depleted after the long jump. The distillers and collectors were spread around the ship, gathering what they needed to fly again. At least Jericho had the raw ingredients in abundance. And it was a pleasant world. Except for the crumbling buildings. She wouldn't be surprised if ghosts haunted the ruins.

  That thought led to another. Could Larella see ghosts? Or talk to them? If she could, that would neatly solve their dilemma. Get the ghosts to tell them what happened and where they needed to go next. It was idle curiosity, she doubted there were any such thing as ghosts. But there was so much that surprised her about Larella, like the synergistic energy field she had somehow created from their individual auras that cracked the codes in Lowell's messages. That was strange, not something she'd ever heard about.

  Why couldn't she just take it in stride, like Clark? Why did she have to find an explanation she could accept? Why did she have such a burning knot in her stomach? She was worried, afraid for them and for Dace.

  All the way to the Emperor, Scholar had said. She never thought she would ever visit any of the Inner Worlds. She never expected to have anything to do with any of the royal court, or even the Council of Worlds. It was so far beyond her experience drifting around the fringe worlds of the Empire. But they'd spent the last few months on the Inner Planets, delivering cargo as if it were perfectly normal for a beat up, tramp trader to be working that close to the heart of luxury and civilization.

  A glint of light caught her eye. She stepped across a broken wall and reached down through a tangled pile of leaves. She held up her find. A tiny crystal heart, a child's pendant, dangled from a broken chain. The sunlight caught the trinket and it blazed with light.

  Something in her mind opened. She felt the child's laughter and joy in the pretty necklace. She heard the echo of the child's screams as it was torn from her neck. She could almost see Jericho, blooming with life and then, in an instant, blazing in fire. She could almost hear the ghosts screaming. She wept with their pain.

  She blinked tears away. She was crouched over the leaves, clutching the crystal heart so hard it cut into her palm. The sting of the tiny cut brought her back to her senses. Yes, Jericho was haunted. And she hadn't needed Larella to tell her. She'd felt it herself. She opened her fist. The crystal heart sparkled in the sun. Did she have the Gypsy gift? Not very strong, she thought to herself, or Lady Rina would have said something.

  She climbed back out of the ruined house. She could feel the presence of the dead. They weren't angry, most felt lost and bewildered. The raid must have been fast, they died without knowing why.

  She came to the main hall, the only structure with an intact roof. She heard the others inside, talking. She felt a presence behind her and whirled around.

  Larella walked closer, her filmy robe drifting around her. She looked like a ghost herself, a benevolent one. She watched the ground, stepping carefully around the tumbled walls. She stopped suddenly and looked up at Jasyn.

  "You felt it," Larella said in a low voice.

  "I felt something," Jasyn said, still not quite willing to accept what had happened.

  "I don't want to stay here any longer," Larella said. "It's too sad."

  "We have to stay another two days. It will take that long for the distiller to finish. It was a long jump here."

  "I don't have the strength to lay all of the ghosts. They want peace, they want closure. Burying the remains helped, but there are too many echoes of violence."

  "Then don't," Jasyn said. "Go shut yourself in the ship."

  "I'd still hear them. I have to do what I can." She cupped a pale blue crystal in her hands and breathed on it. She wandered away again, back into the ruins.

  "What's she up to this time?" Clark asked. He stepped out of the entrance to the hall, joining her outside.

  "Giving peace and closure to ghosts," Jasyn answered.

  "Think they'll tell her where we're supposed to go next? There aren't any records left of any kind. Whoever raided here burned everything they didn't take." Clark took her hand. "Did you find anything?"

  "Only this," she said, holding up the crystal heart. "What does Scholar want to do now?" She slipped the heart into a pocket.

  "He's going to work with the files more, see if Lowell left any hints for us. Do you want to go see what's over the hill the other direction?" He smiled, the way he only smiled for her.

  She had to smile back. "Let's take some lunch and a blanket. How long has it been since we've had time alone?"

  "Much too long," Clark answered.

  They stopped by the ship long enough to gather supplies. Clark tucked a com in his pocket and left a note for the others. They walked the other way from the ship, away from the settlement and into the tangled wilderness on the far side of the hill.

  It was peaceful with meadows and flowers and bright birds that sang in liquid notes. They stayed on the hillside, lying in the grassy meadow until the sun set and the stars came out. Clark finally stirred, shifting her on his arm and kissing her head.

  "They look so much different through an atmosphere," Jasyn said. "Warmer and closer."

  "Speaking of warm
er, it's getting chilly out here. We should start back."

  She sat and pulled her boots on without comment. Clark slid his arms around her waist and pulled her back against him. "You worry too much. We'll solve this somehow. We have before."

  "No one should have to do what we've done."

  "But think of the stories we have to tell." He kissed her cheek.

  "I'd rather not have any to tell."

  "And once everything is solved, you'll get bored again." He stood and pulled her to her feet.

  "Not this time." Jasyn sighed. "I want to be through with Dace's adventures. I want to settle down, Trevyn. Have you thought about starting a family?"

  He went still. She didn't know if that was bad or good. The night was very dark. Jericho had no moon showing in the sky overhead.

  "Yes," he answered after a very long moment of silence.

  "I don't want children if I'm going to spend my life running and being shot and never knowing where I'm going next. There are times I miss Nevira. At least I knew exactly what each day was going to bring there." She'd spent several years there, working at a bar. It was boring, true, but it was predictable and safe. Unlike her life lately.

  "You want to sell the Phoenix to Dace?" he asked. "You want to settle on a planet somewhere?"

  "No, I don't know what I want, Trevyn. I just know I don't want to wake up with my stomach in knots worrying anymore. We can raise children on the Phoenix. Others do it all the time."

  "Space brats," he said and she heard the grin in his voice. "My mother will die of shame."

  "Half Gypsy space brats," Jasyn added. "How many do you want?"

  He took her hand and pulled her close. "A dozen?"

  "How about one to start."

  "When?" he asked, his voice husky.

  "Not now," she answered. "I want a regular route first."

  He kissed her. "You're a tease, Jasyn."

  She kissed him back. "No, I'm not. I deliver on my promises."

  "Later?" he whispered in her ear.

  "Next time we can get privacy," she whispered back.

  They strolled to the ship, holding hands. Worry knotted her stomach tighter the closer they came to the ship. Clark stopped her near the boarding ramp. He took her shoulders and pulled her around to face him.