Lara pivoted back to the console and tore open the cap covering the controls. Her fingerprint opened the last lock. She plunged her hand into the now open cylinder, grabbed the handle and twisted. Metal creaked and snapped. The moorings scraped and the pod wrenched free. They all tilted sideways almost ninety degrees, now more at the mercy of the huge waves. Spray drenched her as she slid forward, but the railing held both of them on board.
The guard’s commlink chimed. He moaned and Lara took that as her exit cue. She slid past him on the narrow catwalk. Using the inertia of the pod’s sway, the man plunged himself toward her and tackled her around the waist. Lara managed a few more steps, her thigh muscles burning with his added weight.
Time ticked down. At any moment the Calypso would take off with the Interlace humans in tow, along with Mitch and her mother. They couldn’t wait for her. Had ten minutes passed? Mitch would risk missing the shuttle too if it meant not leaving her behind. As the distance between the two pods lengthened, Lara heard the shuttle powering up just a few hundred feet away.
She dropped to the decking and the guard latched on to one ankle. Getting to her knees, Lara kicked her free foot into his shoulder and his grasp lapsed. She broke free.
And ran until her lungs burned and the sound of the Calypso’s engines powering up overtook the clamor of sea and wind.
She made it twenty feet to the shuttle before the militia caught up to her. Chandra already had the Trans-D potentials fired up. The engines revving, the kid must have overridden the plasma fail-safes in order to keep the gangway open for them. Up ahead, Cam shuffled the last of the Terrans into the cargo hold.
Mitch and Sabine ran full out onto the other end of the tarmac. A plasma arc smoked at Lara’s feet. She fired at its origin and then chased after them up the ramp.
Once in the shuttle cockpit and her mother safely seated in the back with the Terrans, Lara connected to the Gryphon’s cloudbase. She tabbed through the launch logs as Chandra folded up the gangway and sealed the shuttle. Mitch sat beside her and she slapped on a new wrist-sync.
Lara opened her commlink. “XO, spin up the Trans-D engines and initiate horizon potentials.”
“Already done, Captain. Coordinates are set for Alpha Haven. Just waiting for you to come aboard.”
“Understood.”
In preparation for the jump, Lara adjusted the frequency on their wrist-syncs as Chandra took the shuttle into high orbit and beelined it for the Gryphon’s landing bay.
Cam hadn’t been kidding about having the Gryphon ready to jump. The phase anchors de-synced as the Calypso touched down.
Cam’s voice came over their commlinks. “Synchronize wrist-sync on my mark.”
With no time for them to reach the bridge before jump, the three of them remained in the shuttle. Mitch tabbed through the launch screens. “Thorne-Sagan shell is holding.”
Lara nodded. The ship pulled forward, its momentum pushing them all against their seats. The air buzzed when the negative matter shell armored around them.
She’d escaped again. This time Lara brought with her not only the Terrans who maltreated the Chimerans, but the man she never expected would see the Havens.
Once they landed on Alpha, Lara would have no secrets from Mitch anymore. And he could hurt her all over again.
Chandra exited the Calypso, but Lara had other plans.
Mitch watched the younger man leave and quirked an eyebrow at her. “You’re not going?”
Lara glanced at the clock counting down until they emerged in Terran space. “Any minute now I should hear from Rafael. I’d rather not be en route to the bridge when that happens. Go on up if you want. I’ll fill you in afterwards.”
Mitch shook his head. “No way. Every time Rafe has attempted communication, you’ve practically passed out. Thanks to that Chimeran from the Bayne, I have some idea what it’s like. I’m not leaving you alone.”
Lara shrugged. “Suit yourself.”
He narrowed his brown eyes at her. “You wouldn’t.”
“Wouldn’t what?” Lara tried to keep her pulse steady and made a show of tabbing through the launch logs. He couldn’t possibly know anything.
“You’re going to take the Calypso into the wormhole and follow the Revenant’s negative matter trail.” Mitch re-strapped his restraints. “I know you better than to try to talk you out of it, but I can’t believe you didn’t tell me about this.”
“That trail can lead me to the Interlace and Rafael. I can’t pass up this opportunity. I didn’t know how you would react.”
“You still don’t trust me. Fine. Rossa is in on this, right? If not, it’ll be suicide trying to get back on board before she takes the Gryphon back into normal space.”
Lara sighed. “Rossa knows.”
The woman in question pinged them over the commlink. “Captain, is the commodore there with you? He never reported to the bridge.”
“Yes, Commodore Yoshida is on the Calypso with me. He’s joining the mission.”
“Very good, ma’am. I’m picking up the trace of Revenant negative matter and am sending the data to you now.”
“Received. Ready to launch when you are.”
“As soon as the launch bay is open, you can depart at your discretion.”
“Acknowledged, XO. Thanks.”
“Be careful, Captain.”
“As always.”
Lara activated the yoke at her station and shifted the engines off standby.
Mitch tabbed up the data from external sensors. “We’ve got a dispersal pattern. Charting a course to follow.”
“Prepare for launch, Commodore.”
Lara eased the shuttle smoothly out of its gate, through the launch bay and out into wormhole space. They couldn’t go far, limited as they were to the Gryphon’s protective shell holding the wormhole throat open. Rafael told Lara to follow the trail, though, so she would do it. Hopefully soon she would understand the reason.
Very soon, if the explosion of voices around her were any indication. Banshee shrieks wailed and bounced off the walls of the cockpit as if in an echo chamber. The wormhole’s blue ionic waves wrapped around the ship, but inside, white clouds streaked across Lara’s vision. The pain seemed lesser this time. A sensation of heaviness in the joints instead of an all-out rending of sinew.
Lara glanced over her shoulder. Sure enough, Rafael stood in the middle of the cockpit, his skin pale and clothing muted as if all color had been washed out of him.
“Mitch, take the controls.”
“He’s here.”
Lara nodded. She stood and stepped toward her brother. An alabaster hand wrapped around Rafael’s neck and caressed along his cheekbone. The form of a willowy woman rose up behind him, her long white hair whirling in curls and tails around them both. Her fine bones were visible beneath the diaphanous ivory shift she wore.
The banshee’s eyes were dark, though. Pits of ink, like the deepest, coldest part of space, hovering above gaunt cheeks.
The creature draped herself over Rafael’s shoulders. “A pleasure to finally meet you, Lara Soto, sister of Rafael.” The utterance came out a hiss, a chafing sound instead of a voice.
Mitch flew the ship but kept glancing at her. He couldn’t see either of them, but his tight shoulders betrayed his worry.
Lara glanced at her brother for some indication of his state of mind. “Who is she?”
Rafael smiled and clasped his hand through the creature’s thin, wispy one. “This is Calendra. She speaks for the Revenant.”
Lara clenched her jaw and tried to smooth her expression. Didn’t manage it. “What do you want?”
“I want what all of you have.” Calendra glided forward between them, but her hand trailed behind her, still connected to Rafael. “I want my freedom. From what I know of you, this is something you should particularly understand.”
Lara nodded. Rafael’s expression could only be called rapt. He gazed at Calendra, bewitched, enthralled. Enchanted.
“Sen
d Rafael back with me. Together we can surely find a solution.”
Calendra frowned and returned to Rafael, caressed his cheek. “Oh no. Your brother and the rest of the Chimerans from the Interlace are staying with us until you find a way to free us all. Rafael claims you can do this.”
“Why hold them for such a ransom?”
“We are imprisoned here. Those like you and your brother we can talk to. It has been a very long time.” The creature gazed at Rafael and for second seemed mutually spellbound.
An alert beeped from behind Lara.
Mitch glanced at her over his shoulder. “We’re de-syncing with the Gryphon. We can’t stay out here any longer. Sit down and strap in.”
Lara turned back to her brother, who faded by degrees. “Wait!”
Calendra stood behind Rafael again. With arms wrapped around his shoulders, she pulled him toward the back of the shuttle, floating above the floor.
Rafael smiled. “You have the tools, Lara.”
Both of them dissipated into vapor.
Mitch’s arm snaked around Lara’s waist and pulled her back to the seat. He cradled her face in his hands. The world spun around and her insides twisted.
“Can you hear me?”
“Ca-Calendra. I’ve seen her. She’s holding them all prisoner until we find a way to free the Revenant too.”
Mitch snapped up her restraints. “I know.”
“We have to get him—what do you mean you know?”
He spun back to the controls, which were now switched to his station. Without another word, he guided the shuttle through the ionic rapids and landed safely in the Gryphon’s shuttle bay. Her stomach plummeted and nausea churned. His silence was a galaxy-wide gulf between them.
Mitch locked down the station and continued staring out the viewport. “I know because I saw them, Lara. That’s how I survived the night on Creed.” He unlatched the wrist-sync and held it out to her. “I’m in tune with their phase frequency.”
Lara ripped off the restraints and seized his hand. “You knew that frequency all along and didn’t tell me?”
He nodded and then met her gaze. “It isn’t safe, Lara. I had no choice but to try it.”
“You asked me to trust you, but how can I now?”
He clutched her hand in return. “Because I’m going to tell you everything. Every bit of information I know. And we’re going to get Rafe back.”
Lara let go of his hand and nodded. A moment ago that gulf between them seemed to crop up from nowhere, but it had been there all along. What a fool she’d been to think Mitch had changed.
Chapter Twelve
“A thousand welcomes to Alpha Haven, sir. What can I get for you?”
Mitch leaned against the timberplas bar and fiddled with the data crystal in his pocket. “What are they having?”
The bartender looked down the length of the seven-foot counter to where Lara stood with Rossa, a shot full of emerald liquid in front of each of them. Various Gryphon crew members gathered around as well as several Alpha residents Mitch didn’t know.
“That would be brine whiskey, sir. It’s pretty potent to a Terran. Are you sure that’s what you want?”
Mitch nodded. Surely one would do no harm. While the bartender poured his shot, the two women downed their drinks and laughed. Barely five steps off the Calypso’s gangway, Lara and Rossa had headed straight for Artie’s, the only bar in the small colony.
“It’s a tradition.” Lara had crinkled her nose when she explained. She might be laughing right now, but Mitch noticed the tension in her body. The smiles never reached her eyes. No one else noticed the strain. Rafe’s fate and his own secrets had to still be at the forefront of her mind, even if she hid it well. Mitch drank the shot and immediately fought off a cough. His eyes watered, but otherwise he maintained a firm face.
“Remind me never to play poker with you, Commodore,” a voice behind him said.
Mitch turned around and immediately saluted. “Admiral Soto, sir.”
Javier Soto stood, legs wide and hands clasped behind his back, still the stout man Mitch had admired at the Academy, just a little older. “Please stand down, Yoshida. I’m retired now.”
Relax? No chance. “I didn’t expect to see you here, sir.”
“She didn’t tell you?” Soto smirked. “So like her mother, that child. I live here most of the year. I’m the only Terran in residence.”
Mitch nodded toward the two wrist-syncs the Admiral held in his hands. “Going on a trip, sir?”
Soto’s shoulders sagged. “Afraid not. My trips to Creed are over. If I want to continue living in one piece, that is.” He dropped the wrist-syncs on the counter. “No, I’ve been working on a way to network the wrist-syncs as a backup if one fails. This way a wrist-sync can cover more than one person.”
Mitch picked one up and noticed that the design seemed newer than the one he was wearing. “Have you ever tried using one to stave off disintegration?” He held up his other wrist and displayed his blackened patch. “It bought me some time just a day ago. Maybe they can be overhauled to assist someone in your situation?”
“Really? I’ll have to research the possibilities.”
Mitch glanced down the bar. Rossa waved to Lara and departed. As Lara turned, she noticed the two of them and approached.
“You’re not giving away any Chimeran secrets, are you, Dad?”
Soto hugged his daughter. “Of course I am, Firecracker. Mitch and I were trading secrets. Actually, he tells me the wrist-sync helped him a great deal.”
Lara’s lips pursed. “Yes, it was close. Mother is not happy with me at the moment.”
“I’m sure I’ll receive a message from her soon. We’ll sort it out on your next trip.”
“Actually, you can tell her yourself.” Lara nodded toward the bar’s entrance.
Sabine glanced around until her eyes landed on them. Specifically on Lara’s father.
Javier’s shoulders tensed and then fell as he relaxed. “How is this possible?”
“We’ve recalibrated the wrist-syncs.”
“Does she know about Rafael?”
Lara nodded. “Yes, but Cam will have some new data from the Gryphon’s buoy. Hopefully a new lead.”
Soto frowned. “We will find him. I can help Rossa sort through the information.”
“You better move fast. I just sent Cam to arrange housing for the Interlace Terrans.”
“I’ll catch up with her later. Right now, I’d better go.” Soto hugged his daughter one last time. “Take a look at the wrist-syncs. I think I’ve figured out how to network them just as we talked about.”
Neither Lara nor Mitch said a word as Javier embraced his estranged wife.
Finally Mitch cleared his throat. “I saw Rafe in the pilot’s station, Lara. With some wraith of a woman. We have to get him out of there[0][0].” Before she could berate him for not believing her earlier, he held out his hand. The data crystal gleamed like a jewel in his palm. “I promised you this.”
Lara bit her bottom lip. “The Interlace comm logs?
Mitch nodded. “I downloaded them from the pods before we left Creed. It took me a while to obtain the proper security codes.”
There really was no good way for Mitch to tell Lara what she would find in those logs, but a promise was a promise. Revealing it all to her here in a bar was not a good idea, though.
“You’re actually going to tell me classified information?”
Mitch nodded. “Not here. Can we talk somewhere private? There are a few things I need to tell you about those logs.”
“Have you seen your quarters yet?”
Mitch pushed aside his shot glass. “Not yet.”
Lara quirked an eyebrow at him but said nothing. They exited Artie’s into a breezy summer night. The street busy with foot traffic after the excitement of the Gryphon’s return, Alpha Haven was a small settlement of maybe two hundred civilians. Around them were scattered two- and three-story buildings—a general store fo
r necessities, a tailor, a butcher. All the necessities of a small, thriving community. As they walked through town center, he noticed empty stalls that would be full on market day. Silhouettes of farms dotted the outskirts.
“I still can’t believe you accomplished all of this in eleven years.”
She shrugged. “We grew most of the buildings with nano-calcite bacteria. We were lucky to have a few Creed architecture students.” She walked backward and nodded toward the hangar. “We built the hangar bay first. For two years most of us lived there.”
As Lara turned around front-facing, Mitch clasped her hand. “I never understood how angry you were with the Union.”
“Honestly, neither did I at first. I admit, my anger gave me purpose in the beginning. But then the Chimerans I’d rallied desired a place of their own to live and picked me to find it. I couldn’t let them down.”
Mitch nodded and they continued walking in silence. At the end of the street they came upon a collection of bungalows tucked off the main road.
Lara pointed at the closest building. “Your quarters are there. The door is open and the accommodations have been prepped for you. My quarters are next door.”
“Before you review those comm logs, I need to fill you in on the Interlace’s orders.”
“Fine, then. Join me for another whiskey and tell me all about it.”
Lara let Mitch into her bungalow and hoped she would still be speaking to him at the end of the night. Chances were, whatever he had to tell her would not be good.
She needed to hear it, though, for Rafael’s sake.
When last she departed Alpha Haven, Lara hadn’t been expecting visitors to her tiny cottage, so the place showed its usual range of clutter from the pile of holotablets on the main table to her closet full of dirty uniforms. At least a cleaning crew had been through the place and filled the cooling unit before she left.
She emptied the contents of her pockets on the main table along with the wrist-syncs. The old photo of her, Mitch and Rafael gave Lara pause, but she would get her brother back soon. “You sure you want another whiskey? I think I have some Terran brandy in the pantry.”
The Spiral Path Page 9
