by John Bowers
“Worried about me? Why?”
She pulled back and gazed up at him, tears running down her cheeks. She continued to grip him by the arms.
“No one knew where you were. When I came back, I thought you would be here, but—”
“Why did you come back? I thought you were going to be okay on Vega.”
She backed off a step and wiped her eyes. She nodded.
“Vega was nice. Everyone was wonderful to me, but—it wasn’t home. It took me about a year to figure out that I didn’t fit in, and…” She chewed her lip. “…Mother and Nathan are here. This is where I want to be.”
She glanced at the door. Mildred Trimmer had remained on the shop floor, giving them privacy.
“Mildred contacted me and asked if I wanted to sell Mother’s share of the boutique, and I think that’s when I realized I wanted to come back. Mother started something here and I want to continue it. She loved this shop, and so do I.”
Nick nodded, hardly knowing what to say.
“Where are you living?”
“I rented the same house you and Mother lived in. It was available.” She glanced over her shoulder. “Look, there’s nothing here that can’t wait until tomorrow. Let me shut everything down and we can talk at home.”
Ten minutes later, they left the shop and walked the several blocks to the bungalow at the edge of town. Past the police station, the U.F. Marshal’s office, the church, the park. Nick felt conspicuous, hoping no one would recognize him, and fortunately not many people were on the street. They reached the bungalow without running into anyone he knew.
Kristina unlocked the door and they went inside. Nick braced himself—he was coming home to an empty house. He looked around, half expecting Suzanne to come out of the kitchen with a smile and a kiss. Everything looked the same, but…
Different.
“You haven’t changed anything,” he said.
“No. All the furniture was still here. I just…”
She stopped and chewed her lip. She turned to him.
“I’m sorry. I try not to think about it so much anymore.”
“I know. But it’s hard.”
“Yes.”
He nodded toward the Sophia shrine in the corner of the living room.
“Did you pull that out of storage?”
“I did. Sophia meant a lot to Mother, and during my time on Vega I got to know a lot more about her. I think Sophia saved my sanity.”
Nick nodded. He knew little about the Cult of Sophia, except that, as Kristina said, Suzanne had been a lifelong devotee. Sophia worship was unique to the Vegan culture and one of the few religions he knew of that didn’t have much of a militant aspect.
“Good. I’m glad.”
“Are you hungry? Let me get something cooking.”
“There’s no rush, unless you’re hungry.”
“No, I’m fine for now. I had a late lunch. It gets crazy in the shop sometimes.”
“How are you and Mildred getting along?”
“Mildred is wonderful. She’s almost like a sister I never had.”
He nodded. “I always thought she was nice.”
Kristina sat down on the couch. He took a chair facing her.
“Where were you, Nick? Where did you go?”
He took a deep breath and let it out in a rush.
“I went looking for the man who killed your mother.”
“I thought you got her killer already.”
“No, the girl who shot her was just a dumb kid who got sucked into something too big for her. It’s the man who sent her that I want.”
“You didn’t get him?”
“Not yet, but I have a new lead. And I won’t rest until he’s dead.”
Kristina stared at him for a long moment. Nick took a good look at her for the first time—she still had the stunning looks of a young Vegan woman, but something was different. Maybe it was the eyes, or just a quiet maturity he hadn’t seen before. She had suffered a lot of pain after losing Nathan and Suzanne, and it had to have changed her.
“You’re going to kill him?”
“Very slowly and very painfully.”
“You can’t just arrest him?”
His eyes narrowed as he detected disapproval in her voice. Somehow he had expected her to embrace his murderous plan.
“He’s responsible for at least three thousand deaths, probably more by now. Including Nathan and Suzanne.”
“I thought Nathan was killed by friendly fire.”
“Saracen is the reason he was on that train. That makes Saracen responsible.”
Kristina was silent for a moment, gazing across the room in thought. Her gaze returned to his face and her expression softened.
“How are you doing, Nick? You look like it’s been rough.”
“I’m all right. At least I will be after I get rid of Saracen.”
“How are you dealing with it?”
“You mean losing Suzanne?” He sighed wearily. “Not as well as you, I’m afraid. I don’t mean that in the wrong way—I’m glad you’re coping—but I’m not there yet.”
“Nick…” She blinked rapidly for a moment and chewed her lip. “Nick, I know you loved my mother and I know she adored you. Losing her has to be the hardest thing that’s ever happened to either of us, but you can’t let it destroy you.”
“That isn’t going to happen.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. I’m grieving, just like you, but that’s all.”
“I know you are, but you haven’t found any peace.”
“Who says I haven’t?”
“I do. Nick, I know you. I know what you’re like when you’re normal, and you’re not normal now. You haven’t come to terms with it yet.”
“I will. Just as soon as—”
“Mother wouldn’t want you to commit murder on her account. Neither would Nathan. If you have to catch this guy, then catch him. But please, don’t do what you’re thinking of doing. Don’t drop to his level.”
Nick felt a jolt of adrenaline, as if his mother had just caught him looking at pornography. He suddenly felt uncomfortable under Kristina’s clear green gaze.
He took a deep, slow breath.
“I think I stooped to his level a long time ago. In the war.”
She smiled sadly and shook her head.
“I’ve seen the statue in the park. I know what you did in the war, at least some of it. That was nothing like this.”
He stared at the floor. He didn’t know what to say.
“When you first came into our lives, you were a breath of fresh air. Maybe it was because you were a stranger, and we didn’t see many of those, but you filled us with confidence. It was exhilarating just seeing you every day. You were all about law and order, and fairness, and helping people, getting justice for those who needed it. We hadn’t seen much of that in a long time. So don’t try to tell me that you had ever stooped to Ken Saracen’s level. He’s a monster, but you’re not. Don’t let him change you into one.”
She leaned forward and laid a hand on his arm.
“Please.”
Nick felt a lump in his chest. He blinked rapidly.
She squeezed his arm.
“I don’t want to lose you, too. You’re all I have left.”
“There’s your father…”
“We were never close. He isn’t going to leave Sirius anyway, and obviously I can’t go there. So you’re it. If I ever get married again…” She lifted her chin. “If that ever happens, I expect you to give me away.”
He stared at her for a long moment, fighting his emotions. Finally he nodded.
“It will happen. And I would be proud to do that.”
She squeezed his arm again, as if in warning.
“But not if you become a monster.”
Chapter 7
Wednesday, September 5, 0447 (CC)
Cachet Hotel, Lucaston – Alpha Centauri 2
Nick’s excursion to Trimmer Springs had thrown a kin
k into their plans. Victoria Cross checked into a hotel for the night, and had to retrieve her luggage from the spaceport. She hadn’t heard from Nick since he left and wasn’t sure when he was coming back.
It was a few minutes before noon when a knock came at her door. She was packing her bag, getting ready to check out. She opened the door to find him standing there.
“You ready?” he asked.
“Ready for what? I don’t even know what we’re doing anymore.”
“We’re going to go see Marshal Bridge.”
“You’re going to accept your job back?”
He stepped inside so she could close the door.
“Temporarily, anyway. I’ve decided to take it one step at a time and not make any long-term plans.”
“What prompted the change?”
“Kristina.” He sighed. “She gave me a few things to think about.”
“Well, thank God for that!”
He shrugged. “Thank the goddess, maybe. She’s gone full-blown Sophia worship.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
“No, just the opposite. I think it helped her come to terms with everything.”
“Maybe you should check into Sophia yourself.”
He shook his head.
“How is Kristina doing?”
“Much better than I am. She has her mother’s strength, and the religion thing.”
“Good for her.” Victoria glanced at her watch. “I’ve got to be out of here in ten minutes or pay for another night. Are you ready to go?”
“Yep. Let’s do it.”
53rd Floor, Federation Building – Lucaston, Alpha Centauri 2
Marshal Robert Bridge shook Nick’s hand warmly, then shook Victoria’s as well. He ushered them to chairs in front of his desk. Nick took a seat and gazed out the window at a magnificent view of Lucaston.
Bridge took his own chair.
“I’m glad to see you, Nick. Did you have a change of heart?”
Nick heaved an embarrassed sigh and nodded.
“For the time being, at least.”
“Well, that’s a start.” Bridge reached into a desk drawer and pulled out a document. He placed it on the desk in front of Nick.
“I need you to sign where indicated.” He pointed to four different spots. “Here, here, here, and there. Read it first if you want.”
“I already signed that.”
“No, what you signed was for your guns. This is for your badge.”
Nick scanned the fine print, but saw nothing objectionable. He signed the document and handed it back.
Bridge looked at Victoria.
“Do you still have the badge?”
With a smile, she pulled it out of her purse and handed it to Nick. He looked at it a moment, then slipped it into his jacket pocket.
Bridge pulled open his bottom drawer and pulled out a gunbelt with two holsters, wrapped into a bundle. He handed it across, then handed over a laser pistol as well.
“Two Ru-Hawk .44 Magnum pistols and one Class 3 laser. I think that’s everything you surrendered.”
“What about my ammo?”
“Oh, yeah.” Bridge set out four boxes of ammunition. He watched with satisfaction as Nick accepted them.
“Anything else?”
“Yeah. I have conditions.”
“Oh, great. You should have told me that before you signed the form.”
He smiled.
Nick didn’t.
“I’m not accepting any postings until Ken Saracen is either dead or behind bars. Do you have a problem with that?”
“No. I’ve already informed London that, in the event you accepted your job back, your first assignment would be to track Saracen down. Anything else?”
“I need travel money.”
“Before you came in here, you already had travel plans. How were you going to pay for that?”
“Private sponsor, but if I’m back on the job, then the Federation should foot the bill.”
“Fair enough. May I ask who the private sponsor is?”
“No. He isn’t a Federation citizen, so it doesn’t matter.”
“We’ll set you up with an expense account and some pocket cash. Anything else?”
“I want everything you have on Saracen’s whereabouts. Victoria said she traced him to Tau Ceti, but if you have anything more detailed than that, then I need it.”
Bridge reached into his desk and produced a data chip, which he tossed to Nick.
“Everything we have is on that chip. You can study it at your leisure.” He nodded to Victoria. “We got some of it from Miss Cross and the rest from FIA. It looks like Saracen has worn out his welcome on most Federation worlds, so when he left here he headed toward Sirius, but he didn’t stay there long. Probably stopped to provision his yacht. From there he departed in the direction of Tau Ceti, and we lost him after that.”
“So you don’t know for sure that’s where he went?”
“Not a hundred percent, but it’s the only reasonable destination for a ship on the course he was headed. He could have turned back, I guess, and gone to Altair, but that’s a Muslim world and he would have to tread very carefully there.”
Nick nodded thoughtfully. If Saracen suspected he was being tracked, he could have headed for Tau Ceti as a diversion—once in hyperspace he would be off the radar until he arrived at some destination, so he could have dropped out of warp and changed course. But where else would he have gone?
“I think TC is our best bet,” he told Bridge.
“So do I. If you don’t find him there, we can reevaluate, but it has to be checked out at the very least.”
“Any idea how many people he took with him?”
“No. Possibly none, but in two years we haven’t picked up a single one of his followers, so it’s a safe bet he took at least a few of them. Those we have in custody said he had about fifty altogether; you and Nathan Green accounted for five of them before the big shootout on the train, and then you killed another twelve that day, so that’s seventeen. A third of his crew.”
“If he’s the coward I think he is, he ran as soon as he found out his people failed to kill me,” Nick said. “If anyone was with him at that moment, he probably took them along, but I’m betting he bailed on the others.”
“It seems likely, but like I said, we haven’t found any of them.
“Now…” Bridge sat back with a sigh. “…here’s the problem—if you go to Tau Ceti, you go as a civilian. It isn’t a Federation system and the U.F. has no authority there.”
“That’s what Vic told me, but I thought it was a frontier planet.”
“Two planets, actually, but they aren’t Federation colonies. Ninety percent of people emigrating from Terra come to one of the Centauri systems. Tau Ceti is three times farther away, and getting there is much more expensive. TC doesn’t claim allegiance to any other system and, although they allow immigration, they don’t encourage it. Also, there is no regular passenger service in that direction, so if someone wants to move there, they have to really want to.”
“How do they get there?”
“Haphazardly. Some people buy passage on freighters and some hire charters. Now and then some group will pool their money and put together a one-way expedition. Right now the combined population of both planets is only about a quarter million, and most of those were born there. About ninety percent live on TC 4. TC 5 is still being explored.”
“What about government?”
“No global government. Each settlement has its own local authority, and they differ from one place to the next. Everything we know is on that chip I gave you.”
“How many settlements?”
“Thirty or so. It’s on the chip.”
Nick sat in thought for a moment.
“So what you’re telling me is that I’m on my own. No backup if anything goes wrong.”
Bridge nodded.
“Unfortunately, yes. The FIA has agents there and you can contact one of them in the eve
nt of trouble, but they can’t do much more than alert us about what’s going on. We have no police, military, or legal authority in that system. Nothing.”
Nick puffed his cheeks and looked at Victoria.
“Sounds like fun. If there’s no passenger service, how do we get there?”
“Your best bet is probably to book passage on a freighter out of Sirius; Sirius is the closest system to TC and they conduct most of their trade with them.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. If I ever set foot on Sirius again, I’ll need facial reconstruction, new fingerprints, and new DNA. I’m not too popular on that planet.”
Bridge considered for a moment, then shrugged.
“Then I guess the only other option is to hire a private charter. But it’s going to be expensive, and I don’t think the U.F. will want to cover the cost.”
“How about the U.F. pays half the fare—the amount it would cost to go by freighter—and my private sponsor covers the rest? Will that work?”
“I think it will. How will your sponsor feel about that?”
“I don’t think he’ll mind. He told me to get Ken Saracen and screw the cost.”
Bridge smiled.
“All right, then. I think we’re done here. Good luck.”
Orbit of Alpha Centauri 2
It was late in the day by Lucaston time when Nick and Victoria Cross stepped off a shuttle and boarded the Charles E. Noble Memorial Space Station. They pulled their luggage behind them as they entered a large, circular concourse that offered access to a dozen passenger gates. Passengers could purchase tickets to distant worlds, transfer from ship to ship, or take an escalator up to the hotel level and rent a room or suite. Gift shops and restaurants ringed the concourse, which was eighty yards across; the smell of exotic foods from half a dozen worlds was tantalizing. The space station also boasted a gymnasium, shower facilities, and six holographic theaters.
Nick stopped in the center of the concourse and looked around in confusion.
“Where did you say we’re going?”
“The Orbital Transit Authority.” Victoria nodded straight ahead. “I see the administration office over there. They can probably tell us where it is.”
The station wasn’t terribly crowded. Only one passenger ship was docked at the moment, but Nick could imagine what it was like at peak traffic. They headed across the concourse, dodged a panhandler, and shortly arrived at a nondescript office where two bored clerks were staring at computer displays. Victoria got their attention, told them what she was looking for, and was directed down a lift to a lower level where cargo shipments were handled.
