“Ipsos.” Olan was thoughtful. “What a pity. He's had a good career.”
Cam opened his mouth to respond, and then a giant picked them up and flung them, tumbling the explorer end over end.
Cam braced his legs against the control panel as they spun, face pressed up against the screen, and saw Paxe had exploded.
He waited for another turn, saw the Levron on either side of Paxe take damage, waited another turn, saw the hostage vessels blown toward the Grihan line.
How far had the hostages got from the path of the explosion? The suits could withstand extreme temperatures, so as long as they weren't ripped by debris, they would be okay.
Had he forced them out of their ships, only to get them killed five minutes later?
“What is happening? Cam? Cam!” Olan's shouts finally registered.
“The Class 5 on the Tecran side has exploded.” They turned again, but slower this time. There was something tumbling lazily near the explorer. Something that looked intact, rather than a piece of debris.
Cam touched the control panel and moved the lens, zooming in. It was a maintenance pod of some sort, the claws and clamps tucked neatly into its sides.
The transparent lid turned his way, and he stared.
Imogen. Limp and bleeding.
He wanted to get out, to somehow reach her, but that wasn't possible in either of their small ships.
He touched the comms. Who cared now if the Tecran could track where he was? “Oris.”
There was a long pause. “Captain.”
“Why can I see Imogen?” He tried to swallow, and had to clear his throat. “Why can I see Imogen in a maintenance pod?”
“He got her out in time?” Oris's voice was a shout in the tiny explorer.
“She's hurt. Badly.” The explorer had stopped spinning, and he couldn't see her anymore. He started moving the lens, trying to find her again.
“I see her, now you've told me. Paxe set the pod to return to me. You'll probably arrive at the same time.”
Half an hour, by his estimation.
“Come to us, then.”
“Already coming,” Oris said.
“What's happening with the Tecran?” Cam had to shuffle aside as Olan pulled himself into the small control area.
“Both Levron are damaged. I don't think either can light-jump. One of the smaller battleships was right behind Paxe and it's gone completely. The other two are still there, but I think have taken damage, too.”
The lens caught glimpses of the debris left by Paxe, of the Levron, even the traders and the fast cruiser, but no maintenance pod. Cam slammed his fist into the side of the control. “Where is she, relative to my explorer?”
Oris gave the coordinates, and Olan edged him aside and with steady hands, swung the lens.
The pod came into view, and he zoomed right in.
“Imogen Peters is in there?”
“Yes.” Again, his throat closed, tight as if someone had turned a lever.
“What about the Tecran? Is it likely they'll engage despite their damage?” Olan was asking all the questions he should be, but Cam couldn't think of anything but the tiny pod just outside.
“Who is that?” Oris asked.
“Olan. One of my team. He chose to come with me in the explorer, rather than use the space survivors.” Cam narrowed his eyes, because a solid wall of black was suddenly behind Imogen.
“Is that you, Oris?”
“It's me.”
The maintenance pod was suddenly gone, sucked in to the maintenance bay.
Cam realized Olan had taken over the controls, and was guiding them toward the gel wall of the launch bay.
“The Tecran must be a little nervous to see you moving toward them,” Olan commented.
“Even though they're damaged, one of the Levron shot at the Illium, and one of the smaller ships shot at the hostages.”
Cam tried to come up with the correct response. “Is everyone all right?”
“I shielded the Illium, and because Sazo and I thought they would react that way, he was quick enough to get in place to shield the hostages.”
The explorer hit the gel wall, slid through.
Cam was out as soon as it touched down. “Where?” he asked.
Oris called the directions to him, and he ran. “What was she doing on Paxe?” It was a question he hadn't even come to yet. “What was she doing?”
“What do you think, Captain?” Oris's voice was soft now. Dangerous.
Cam didn't care.
“She's not a soldier, and you sent her onto a Class 5 full of Tecran?” He didn't hold back his fury.
“On the left,” Oris said in response, and Cam saw an open door and the maintenance pod.
The lid was open.
Imogen pushed herself up awkwardly with one hand, and smiled at him.
It was the sweetest smile he'd ever seen.
He carefully slid his arms under her, braced himself and lifted her out, looking for injuries. She kept her right hand curled against her chest and she had struck her head on something. Blood dripped from the cut at her hairline into her light hair.
The surprise of her weight hit him again. And it calmed him. She may look delicate, but she was strong.
“So, you went off to save Paxe?” He tried to keep his voice even. He'd seen a med chamber on his way here, and he started walking toward it.
“Tried to.” Her voice came out rougher than he'd ever heard it. “They had dismantled so many of his systems, when I got him free, he was helpless.”
“What happened?” Oris asked.
“The one thing they'd reactivated, rather than dismantled, was the self-destruct.”
“He blew himself up.” Oris said it slowly.
“Just before they caged him again.” Imogen's voice was thick with tears.
“You could have died.” Cam tightened his grip on her, walking even faster than he had been.
“So could you,” she whispered against his chest. “That's what we do for our friends, isn't it?”
Chapter 40
The air of Larga Ways was as perfect as a managed environment could be. Warm, just the slightest hint of a breeze.
The air was perfumed with flowers and as night slowly faded the spectacular sunset, the city was lit with intricate lights on buildings, strung across streets and embedded in the pavings on the square itself.
“It looks as if Inita and his cousin gauged the level of interest correctly,” Dav murmured to Cam as they stood on Inita's private balcony above the entrance to Gurtain's Song, looking down at the growing crowd. “The square was the only possible choice for a venue.”
“They certainly spared no expense on the stage.” Cam had come by earlier and seen the construction team putting the elevated circular stage together, with its filigree dome of light.
“I think Inita persuaded Eazi to pay for it, actually.” Hal came up behind them, and they made room for him beside them. “I overheard some of the negotiations, and Inita can be persuasive.”
Cam grinned at the thought of the Grihan trader getting around Eazi.
“The meetings are over for today?” Dav asked Hal, and the captain of the Illium gave a weary nod.
“I was able to use the excuse of this performance to close things down. It's being broadcast to all four planets, so most of the team wanted to leave to watch it, anyway.”
“Don't tell Imogen that.” Cam knew it would throw her off her stride. As far as she was concerned, this was a thank you to Inita and Takari. That it had grown into something more, the celebration of Larga Ways being saved not once, but twice, by the strange Earth music-makers, had been bad enough. She was already wary that most of Larga Ways was coming to watch. If she knew the population of four planets were going to see it, too, that might be a deal-breaker.
“I won't.” Hal's lips twisted into a wry grin. “Eazi and I are keeping it from Fiona, too.”
Dav shook his head. “Rose has no illusions. She's assuming it'll be be
amed everywhere. Let's hope she doesn't tell the other two.”
“And how far along are the negotiations?” Cam asked, as the last of the sunset disappeared, and they were surrounded by twinkling lights.
He'd been involved in the United Council talks, Hal had been pulled in to a discussion the Tecran had called, and Dav had the Fitalian camp to sort out.
“The Tecran government is claiming they had no idea what High Command was up to, and they shouldn't be punished for a high-level conspiracy.” Hal leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest.
“They could be telling the truth,” Dav said.
Cam shrugged. “They could. My guess is the only way the UC will accept that argument is if they agree to massive changes in oversight and transparency. They won't be able to say they didn't know a second time.”
“And the Fitali?” Hal asked, turning to Dav.
“We're letting them save face, so they won't be sanctioned by the UC, and they're very aware of the favor we've done them.” Dav shrugged. “We have Imogen's guess that Paxe hid that evidence, and it was destroyed along with him, and that's going to have to be enough for them.”
“That works for me.” Hal's smile was coldly satisfied. “It's the perfect ending. Because Vice-Admiral Ipsos will always wonder, at the back of his mind, if it isn't still out there, waiting to bury him.”
While they'd been speaking, the square had filled to capacity with a mix of Balcoans, Grih and the myriad other races who came to trade on Larga Ways.
Inita and Takari were standing on the stairs leading up to the stage, and suddenly the center of it was illuminated, and Imogen, Rose and Fiona stood shoulder to shoulder.
“Do you know what they're going to sing?” Dav asked softly, and Cam recognized the look on his face. He was sure it was the same as the one on his own.
He shook his head. “Imogen said it might as well be a surprise for me, too, knowing how much I love hearing her sing. She said if she practiced it for me, I'd get bored of it.” He knew he sounded incredulous.
“They think like that,” Hal agreed. “They actually think like that.”
“They do.” Dav smiled. “I think Rose understands how we are a little more. She's been with the Grih the longest, but still, she never sings the same song too often. They seem to have hundreds to choose from.”
They went quiet as Inita stepped forward to address the crowd. More than one person on the way station had their suspicions about the Fitalian battleships that had loomed over them the day before, but most were content with the story that Imogen had helped Paxe sacrifice himself bravely for the good of the Grih, bringing down the Tecran incursion and stripping them of their last Class 5.
Paxe's actions had settled the Grih when it came to the other Class 5s, as well. Cam had noted a change in tone when people spoke about them, now.
They were no longer quite so scary.
Inita finished up the formalities, and then bowed deeply to the women on the stage.
There was a moment of silence, then they all started to click their fingers in time. The crowd stirred, and then Imogen started to sing on her own, the sound smooth and controlled, in time with the beat they were creating. The cadence went up and down, and then suddenly Fiona and Rose joined in, the harmony so sublime, Cam gripped the edge of the balcony rail.
They didn't chase each other with their voices, like they'd done before, but they each took different parts, then came together, creating something so complex, he was astonished.
As Imogen sang the last verse on her own, it was as if everyone had been taken on an exciting journey, and were being dropped back at home again, having seen new and wonderful sights.
“Was this like what they sang before?” Dav's voice was low.
“Better,” Cam said. “Even better.”
There was quiet over the square for a long moment, and then the Grih ululated their approval.
The three bowed, and then were whisked from the stage, something Inita had clearly set up earlier.
He still stood on the stairs, so Cam guessed he'd gotten his Balcoan staff to do it, the Grih were still too enraptured to do more than voice their appreciation.
He stepped in from the balcony as soon as the women were escorted into the building, and made his way down the stairs to the back entrance of the bar.
Dav was right behind him, Hal moved a little slower. Cam looked back at him, and saw he was as taken away as Cam had been when he'd heard the three women sing in Gurtain's Song.
Imogen was waiting for him with Rose and Fiona in the private office at the back.
She grinned at him. “That was an experience. I think they really liked it.”
Behind him, Dav choked back a laugh, and Cam pulled her in close and kissed her. “I think they really did,” he said.
She relaxed against him. “Good.”
“What was it about?” Hal slid an arm around Fiona. He still looked as if he had taken a shockgun hit.
“Just something fun,” Imogen said, with one of those infuriatingly humble shrugs.
Rose rested her head on Dav's shoulder and smiled at her. “They can't accept that answer. Believe me.” She snuggled in closer. “We sang a song called Royals, and in it, we asked to be your rulers.”
Fiona was looking at Hal with concern, but relaxed when he started stroking back her hair, his arm clamped tightly around her.
“I think if you'd asked us that in Grihan,” he said, “we would have answered yes.”
The Class 5 Series
Other books in the Class 5 series are:
Dark Horse: Class 5 #1
Some secrets carry the weight of the world.
Rose McKenzie may be far from Earth with no way back, but she's made a powerful ally--a fellow prisoner with whom she's formed a strong bond. Sazo's an artificial intelligence. He's saved her from captivity and torture, but he's also put her in the middle of a conflict, leaving Rose with her loyalties divided.
Captain Dav Jallan doesn't know why he and his crew have stumbled across an almost legendary Class 5 battleship, but he's not going to complain. The only problem is, all its crew are dead, all except for one strange, new alien being.
She calls herself Rose. She seems small and harmless, but less and less about her story is adding up, and Dav has a bad feeling his crew, and maybe even the four planets, are in jeopardy. The Class 5's owners, the Tecran, look set to start a war to get it back and Dav suspects Rose isn't the only alien being who survived what happened on the Class 5. And whatever else is out there is playing its own games.
In this race for the truth, he's going to have to go against his leaders and trust the dark horse.
Dark Horse is the winner of a Galaxy Award and the Prism Award for Best Futuristic 2016.
Buy Dark Horse
Dark Deeds: Class 5 #2
Rescue might just be the death of her.
Far from home . . .
Fiona Russell has been snatched from Earth, imprisoned and used as slave labor, but nothing about her abduction makes sense. When she's rescued by the Grih, she realizes there's a much bigger game in play than she could ever have imagined, and she's right in the middle of it.
Far from safe . . .
Battleship captain Hal Vakeri is chasing down pirates when he stumbles across a woman abducted from Earth. She's the second one the Grih have found in two months, and her presence is potentially explosive in the Grih's ongoing negotiations with their enemies, the Tecran. The Tecran and the Grih are on the cusp of war, and Fiona might just tip the balance.
Far from done . . .
Fiona has had to bide her time while she's been a prisoner, pretending to be less than she is, but when the chance comes for her to forge her own destiny in the new world she's found herself in, she grabs it with both hands. After all, actions speak louder than words.
Buy Dark Deeds
Dark Horse Excerpt
Chapter 1
Rose slipped her ticket out of hell over her
head and tucked it beneath her shirt, where it lay against her skin, throbbing like a heartbeat.
The sensation was so unnerving, she curled her fingers around it and lifted it back out, eyeing the clear crystal oblong uncertainly.
“Iʼll try to keep all the passageways clear for you and Iʼve disabled the lenses, but just in case someone disobeys orders, it would be better if they didnʼt see me.” Sazo spoke too loudly through the tiny earpiece she wore, and she winced.
She reluctantly tucked the crystal, that was somehow also Sazo, back under her shirt, tugging the cord it hung from so it was below her neckline. After three months of being the only thing sheʼd had to wear, washed over and over again, the shirt was threadbare, and barely concealed Sazo anyway, but it was better than nothing.
She took the two steps to the door of the tiny control room tucked away to one side on the Tecran ship and it slid silently open. Sheʼd only been inside for ten minutes at most to steal Sazo, or break him out, depending on your view of things, and the corridor was as empty now as it had been when Sazo led her here.
She looked back, but the door had closed, completely concealing the control room, so it looked like an uninterrupted passageway again.
“Youʼre still in control, even though Iʼve unplugged you?” She spoke very quietly, because even though Sazo had opened doors, and diverted traffic all the way from her prison cell to this room earlier, there was no point taking foolish chances like talking too loudly when it was unnecessary.
“I would not have initiated this plan if I wasnʼt absolutely certain that it would work.” Sazo sounded a little . . . stressed.
“You okay?”
“There has been a delay loading the animals at the launch bay and the Grih have come through their light jump three minutes sooner than I calculated.” He went quiet for a moment. “Iʼm sorry, Rose.”
“What? What is it?” Freezing hands of panic gripped her heart and she stumbled to a halt. If he was going to tell her they had to abort, that she had to go back to the cell . . .
Dark Minds (Class 5 Series Book 3) Page 30
