Dark Horse

by Michelle Diener

  “They know weʼre listening, so not much. General conversation. Promises of reprisal.”

  Dav rubbed his hand through his hair. “So noted.”

  The guard activated the door and for a moment, Dimitara simply stood in the entryway and stared.

  Dav left her there, stepping in. He ignored the call of the Tecran captain, walking past him and on to what he had already identified as Roseʼs cell. He turned, and called the guard over, got instructions on how to open the cell door.

  Dimitara joined him as it slid open.

  “She lived in a glass cage?” She shook her head. “No wonder she asked Dr. Havak and I if there were lenses tracking her inside her bedroom.”

  Davʼs head jerked up. Dimitara met his gaze.

  “Can you blame her? They,” she waved a hand toward the Tecran officers, “are part of the same Council we are.”

  Dav didnʼt respond. He stepped into the room, saw the neatly made bed, the small sink, the toilet beside it. Sheʼd had no privacy for three months.

  On the tiny round table there was a handheld, and he picked it up.

  “She asked if she could have that back, if we didnʼt want her to have a handheld from the Barrist.” Dimitara held out her hand for it, but Dav didnʼt oblige.

  He switched it on.

  “Why did she want it?” He scrolled through the options.

  “It has the five languages of the Council members on it, and she wants to improve her Grih. Learn Bukarian.”

  “Her Grih is already excellent.” Dav couldnʼt find anything on the handheld but the five languages, and handed it to Dimitara.

  She almost snatched it from him. “Yes. I asked for a handheld from your comms team for her that included cultural and social norms for all five signatories to the United Council.”

  Dav hadnʼt heard anything about that, and he had been specific in his orders that anything concerning Rose come through him first.

  It must have showed in the look he sent her.

  “Not one on the system. A standalone.” She all but rolled her eyes. “And they wouldnʼt give it to her until youʼd approved. The request is probably waiting for you back on the Barrist. Of course, as this is hers, she could simply have it back instead.”

  “Iʼll take it with me. Let Borjiʼs team check it out first, then if theyʼre happy there are no nasty surprises on it, she can have it.”

  The Tecran captain was hammering on the clear wall of his cell by now for their attention, and Dav held out his hand for the tablet back and then stepped out of the tiny room to hear what he had to say.

  “Captain Gee?” He waited, hands behind his back, lens feed on the tiny lens clipped to his collar activated.

  Gee had stopped pounding the moment Dav stood in front of his cell, and now his eyes slid right to Dimitara. “Who is that?”

  “This is United Council Liaison Officer Filavantri Dimitara.” Dav wondered if there had been a liaison officer aboard the Class 5. It seemed unlikely, given the massive breach of Council law that had happened in this very room.

  Gee seemed to ponder that. “The United Council moved quickly to be here already.”

  Was it fear or anticipation that made Geeʼs hands shake?

  “I was already on board the Barrist when it encountered your vessel, Captain Gee. Iʼve witnessed everything that happened in the last twenty-four hours first hand.” Dimitara turned her head, looking down the length of the transparent-walled cells, the low ceilings and the lenses mounted on the walls.

  It was most likely true that if the liaison officer hadnʼt taken to Rose, she would still be angry at this blatant and inexcusable breach of the rules, but Dav knew from both Havak and the guards heʼd tasked with watching Rose that Dimitara was behaving very protectively of their new guest.

  Dav was struggling to maintain a distance from her himself, so he didnʼt blame the UC liaison, and was more than grateful for it now.

  The Grih would come out of this with a clean record, if Dimitara had anything to do with it.

  Gee narrowed his eyes. “Why is there a liaison officer on a Grih exploration vessel? You must already suspect them of wrong-doing.”

  Dimitara cocked her head, her long, slender neck a perfect curve against the silver-gray of her United Council uniform. “All exploration and military vessels, from every member nation of the United Council, now has a liaison officer aboard. The law was introduced a year ago. Interestingly, in light of what Iʼve seen here, the Tecran were the only ones to vote against it, and I can now see why they wouldnʼt want any independent eyes on board. It was a four to one vote in favor, and the only reason none of the Class 5s have a liaison officer is because your government said all Class 5s were in deep-space, and involved in important work, and you would have to accept your new liaisons when you came back in for major servicing.” Dimitara made the humming sound that grated on Davʼs ears so badly, but which didnʼt seem to effect the Tecran at all. “Iʼm surprised you donʼt know about it. I would have thought it would at least have been communicated to you, Captain Gee.”

  Gee looked like he didnʼt know whether to continue to deny heʼd ever heard of the new legislation, which Dav was sure was true, given Geeʼs accusations and the look on his face when Dimitara set him straight, or whether to pretend he had been told and had forgotten about it.

  In the end, he went with silence.

  Dav crossed his arms. “You seem very quiet, now, for a man who insisted I come over to speak to you.”

  Gee raised his head, as if he suddenly recalled why Dav was here at all. “I demand to speak to Dr. Fliap.”

  Dav frowned. “Who is Dr. Fliap?”

  The feathers at Geeʼs neck fluffed out. “A scientist on board this ship. He became ill nearly two months ago, and was in the high-care med-chamber.”

  Dav recalled Appalʼs report on the man. “As far as Iʼm aware, heʼs barely hanging on to life, and has been in that state for some time.”

  Gee shook his head. “We heard him. He spoke to us.”

  Dav frowned. “Spoke to you?”

  “Through the comms.” Gee indicated a comms unit up at one end of the room.

  Dav walked over to it, looked up. Turned to the guard. “You hear anything?”

  “We arenʼt in here all the time. Mostly weʼre outside. If someone spoke in Tecran through that comms unit, we wouldnʼt be able to distinguish it from all the talking theyʼve been doing amongst themselves.”

  Dav gave a nod. “From now on, someone is in this room at all times.” He turned back to Gee. “Iʼm afraid youʼre mistaken, Gee. Your scientist is on board the Barrist, in our own high-care med-chamber, and has been since a few hours after we stepped onto your ship.”

  “He asked for help. Said he was trapped in the med-chamber.” Geeʼs hands clenched to fists against the glass wall of his cell. “I recognized his voice. It was unmistakably him.”

  Dimitara took out her handheld. Made a note. The action caught Geeʼs attention.

  “You! Youʼre the liaison officer for the Council. I demand you investigate.”

  Dimitaraʼs mobile, elegant lips pursed. “I have, in fact, seen Dr. Fliap in the med-chamber on board the Barrist. The chief medical officer showed me the arrangements theyʼd made for him personally.”

  Gee looked around at his colleagues, and they exchanged uneasy looks.

  They seemed to be telling the truth, which was disturbing. Because it meant someone had sent a false comm through the system. Was it to stir up the Tecran? Or had it been done to achieve something else? Like get the captain of the Barrist back over on the Class 5?

  14

  Waiting for the technician to bring her handheld was making Rose edgy. She imagined Sazo, being oh-so-clever in his mind, thinking up ways to get her to the Class 5, or having some comm device delivered to her.

  If he lost patience, he might just force them to send her over and he was a ʽcanʼt make an omelet without breaking some eggsʼ kind of guy.

  She paced her room, agitated
. It took a lot longer to pace than her cell on the Class 5, but it still felt confining.

  Remembering both Captain Jallan and Dimitara flicking their sleeve for the time, she did the same on her borrowed Grih outfit, and sure enough, her cuff lit up with the time.

  Cool.

  Although it told her sheʼd already been here two hours. Enough to make her tired of waiting like a good little girl.

  She stepped up to the comm system, used it as Havak had shown her yesterday to find the comms department, and worked out a route.

  She would go to them.

  They must be busy, what with the Class 5 hanging before them like a prickly black forbidden fruit.

  Sheʼd save them some time, and hopefully ease the feeling inside her that she was coming out of her skin.

  She stepped into the passageway, took a moment to enjoy the frothy green-blue of the walls again, and started walking in what she hoped was the right direction.

  Every now and then a comm would come through the hidden speakers. Mundane calls for personnel to be somewhere, do something. No music, which surprised her, given how taken everyone seemed to be with her rendition of Row, Row, Row Your Boat.

  Despite the circumstance, she grinned.

  Not exactly Grammy-winning material, but they acted like it was something really special. Sheʼd always loved to sing, enjoyed being part of the university choir, but she was no soloist.

  She turned a corner and faltered. Instead of the serene green-blue corridor, the way opened up into a massive half oval, with an exterior wall made of the clearest glass. It was as if she was hanging in space, and she pushed herself reflexively up against the solid wall behind her.

  The floor was clear glass as well, at the outer rim, so if you stepped right up to the window to look out, it would feel as if you were floating in space.

  “You all right?”

  Rose looked to her right, found herself being studied by a Grih officer in the pale blue uniform most of the crew wore.

  She gave a nod. “Wasnʼt expecting it, thatʼs all.”

  The moment she spoke, the womanʼs focus on her seemed to intensify. “What werenʼt you expecting?”

  “Iʼve been kept in small spaces for a long time, and this . . .” She looked out at the vast black in front of her, glittering with stars in the distance and dominated by the gas planet and Harmon, with the Class 5 blighting the view. She cleared her throat. “It was a surprise, thatʼs all.”

  “You sound as if youʼre making music with your voice.” The womanʼs direct stare was hard to handle, almost as hard as the view, given how long sheʼd gone with being both exposed and invisible at the same time.

  Sheʼd had similar scrutiny on Harmon from Captain Jallan, but perhaps because it had been outdoors, or something about Jallan himself, it had felt more comfortable than this focus.

  “So I gather.” She hunched, turned her head to face the stars so she wouldnʼt have to watch the woman watching her. The endlessness of the universe outside the window put her and her problems neatly in their place.

  “Iʼm Dara. I work with Lieutenant Kila in the explorations division. You must be Rose McKenzie.” Dara extended her hands, palms together. Rose covered them with her own reluctantly. She had no wish to spend time talking about herself right now.

  The feeling of climbing out of her skin was back, worse than before.

  “I have to go.” She steadied herself, pushed off from the wall. The sense she had of too much space had diminished and she was able to focus on what was happening around her.

  It was a well-used area. A small group of people were exercising together with smooth, flowing movements that reminded her of tai chi. Others sat with cups or small plates of food around tables, talking and laughing, and a few ran a circuit around the area.

  It was so normal, so familiar, she felt a resurgence in appreciation and gratitude toward Sazo for bringing her here. They truly were like her, in the most fundamental of ways.

  “Goodbye.” She nodded to Dara and started walking across the massive space. She stopped at the far end, looked back, just one last look at the amazing spacescape.

  Dara was watching her, standing where sheʼd left her, and Rose managed a polite nod before she turned away.

  The passageways sheʼd walked along to get to the viewport area had been empty, but now she passed more and more people as she made her way to the busy part of the ship.

  She attracted attention, but she had to expect that. She was an alien. An unknown advanced sentient. It was perfectly natural.

  She forced herself not to cringe, and tried to meet the gazes of most of the Grih crew who stared at her.

  They were all tall, and though sheʼd never thought of herself as short, she came, at most, to just above the shoulder of most of them.

  Their hair fascinated her. Captain Jallanʼs was almost blue-black, with silver-gray tips, and sheʼd found it hard not to stare at it the whole way up from Harmon.

  Most of the people she passed had a similar look; a darker color tipped with a lighter shade. Brown and light red, or black tipped with white.

  She was the only blonde.

  She tried not to stare at their ears, but they still delighted her beyond all logic. The first time sheʼd seen Captain Jallanʼs ears had been the moment sheʼd accepted she was in a completely new world, and it wasnʼt all bad. There was adventure and magic in this place.

  She could whine about her fate, or embrace it, and one thing Rose had never been able to stand was a whiner.

  Sheʼd been getting slower and slower, trying to pretend she didnʼt know she was the object of everyoneʼs attention, and now she realized she had no idea where she was.

  “You are lost?”

  Rose had already seen the Grih who addressed her. It would be hard to miss him. He lounged against the wall, big enough to act as a lode-bearing pillar. He had the short, spiky Grih hair in sandy brown tipped with copper, hulking great shoulders, and a hard expression.

  “I am.”

  He raised a brow. “Where do you wish to be?”

  “The comms division.”

  “Whatʼs your business there?” He crossed his arms over his chest and muscles popped out everywhere.

  Rose decided she liked Captain Jallanʼs sleeker look. He had muscles, sheʼd felt them personally, but this guy took it just that one step too far.

  He wanted to know her business, and she was surprised to find she felt slightly insulted by the question, even if they had every reason to be wary of her. “I need to pick up a handheld.”

  “Name?” His voice was gravel in a concrete mixer, like all the Grih.

  “Rose McKenzie.”

  The big Grih pushed himself off the wall heʼd been leaning against, and Rose couldnʼt help flinching and taking a step back.

  He stilled. “I wonʼt hurt you.”

  She tried to shrug it off, shoot him a smile, but she couldnʼt quite pull it off. “Had a few bad experiences recently,” she said. “Iʼm afraid Iʼm jumpy.”

  He gave her a long look. “This is the systems engineering division, comms is part of it.” He waved his hand toward a door to her right, and she peered through.

  It was a quiet place. A few people working at desks, others standing on both sides of a huge free-standing glass board with a schematic etched onto it. As she watched, lights jumped and flared on the screen.

  “You an engineer?” Rose slanted the big Grih hulking beside her a look.

  He gave a curt nod. “First officer Yari.”

  “Pleased to meet you.” She presented her hands, palms together, to him, and he took a step back.

  “That isnʼt an appropriate greeting in these circumstances?” Rose frowned, and hoped whatever handheld she received had more information on Grih societal norms.

  “No. It is appropriate, as you are clearly not part of Battle Center.” Yari clasped her hands between his own massive ones. “I didnʼt expect you to know our ways, thatʼs all.”

  “I speak your
language,” Rose pointed out.

  “So you do.” Yariʼs lips managed to tweak up slightly in a half-smile. “Your voice . . .” He didnʼt finish the sentence, and Roseʼs focus shifted to the woman approaching them with a scowl on her face.

  “Sub-lieutenant.” Yari came to attention. “This is Rose McKenzie.”

  “Hello.” Rose presented her hands again, and the sub-lieutenant hesitated a moment before clasping them. She was much smaller than Yari, although Rose still had to look up at her.

  “Sub-lieutenant Hista.” She gave that strangely formal head bow. “What are you doing here, Rose McKenzie? The instructions were for you to wait in your room for one of my staff to come to you, when the captain had approved giving you a device.”

  Rose held her ground. “I found it difficult to wait. I wanted to explore, and not be confined. If you arenʼt ready for me, thatʼs fine, Iʼll keep going and you can leave a message on my room comm for me when approval comes through.”

  Histaʼs eyes narrowed.

  Rose turned to Yari. “It was nice to meet you. You, too, Sub-lieutenant Hista.”

  She turned to go.

  “Wait.” Histaʼs voice was grudging. “Sit on the bench. Iʼll be with you in a moment.”

  Rose walked over to a long, cushioned bench against the far wall and sat, content to watch while the engineers worked.

  Hista and Yari bent their heads together, talking so quietly Rose couldnʼt hear them. They were lucky she didnʼt have super-hearing, rather than super-eyesight. And she still felt, with every step, that she could launch herself further and higher than she would ever have been able to do on Earth.

  Hista and Yari were still at it, and the feeling of wanting to jump out of her skin rose up in her again. Sazo was waiting, had set a deadline, and while she still had time, she was nervous heʼd get impatient.

  She started humming, the sound soothing her like it had back on the Class 5, when the only voices sheʼd heard some days were Sazoʼs and her own.

  She didnʼt notice the gradual silence, but when she looked up, every face was turned her way.

  She froze.

  She wanted to speak, to ask what was wrong, but her throat had closed up, and she could do nothing but try to swallow.