by R. E. Vega
“Uh, Dayna,” he said, tightening his grip on the sides of the rover. “Can you drive this thing a little faster?”
“Little busy here,” Dayna called back to him.
“Here.” Thad was suddenly at his side, pressing a fully charged blaster into his hand. “Shoot ‘em if they get too close.”
As if in direct response to his words, a beam of purple light shot from the ship and hit the sand just behind them, sending up a spray of debris and leaving a huge torch mark on the beach.
“Shit,” Thad muttered, raising his own gun and firing back. The beam of his weapon hit the side of the ship with stunning accuracy, but from what Brax could see, it hardly left a mark. “We’re not equipped for this.”
“Hold on, you guys,” Dayna called back to them. “Gregson is strapped down, right?”
“Yup,” Thad called back. He raised his weapon again.
Brax did the same, lifting his gun and aiming at the enemy ship. Their weapons might not have the same destructive power as the enemies’, but they had the range, and the ship had to have a few weaknesses…
He could see the thick window guarding the small vessel’s cockpit. With a few well-placed hits, he might be able to shatter the viewport. He shifted his weapon into position, aimed, and fired—
And the rover swung wildly to the left, nearly throwing him out of the vehicle. Another beam of purple light struck the earth where the rover had been only a moment ago, but Brax hardly had time to register this before the rover swerved again, throwing him in the opposite direction. Thad nearly fell on top of him.
“What the hell are you doing, Dayna?” Brax demanded, pushing himself back up and trying to aim again. “You made my shot go wide!”
“I’m saving our asses, that’s what I’m doing,” she said. “If that thing hits us even once, we’ll probably all be dead.”
She jerked the wheel, turning them abruptly right again. Brax’s shoulder slammed into the side of the rover, and he winced. He raised his gun again, cursing under his breath, but he had to admit that Dayna’s erratic driving was doing the trick—every beam fired by the ship missed their rover.
The vessel was close enough now that he could almost make out the symbol on the side. It was more or less a circle, and there appeared to be words within it, but he couldn’t make them out. He couldn’t even be certain they were in a language he recognized.
Another beam of purple light narrowly missed the rover.
“We have about ten seconds,” he said, in part to himself and in part to Thad. “Looks like they can only shoot at us three times before they have to recharge. Recharge takes ten seconds.”
Right on cue, when the ten seconds were up, the vessel fired again. Three shots—each narrowly missing them—then a few seconds of respite. Brax took the opportunity to finally fire at the window guarding the cockpit. It was a perfect shot—the window cracked, but it didn’t shatter.
Thad got a couple of his own shots in.
“I don’t think they’ll follow us into town,” he said to Brax. “Whoever they are, I can’t believe they’d want to go up against Trousso’s new force.”
“You don’t think they’re Trousso’s?” Brax said.
Thad gave a single shake of his head. “No way. No idea who they are, but they aren’t Trousso’s.”
The rover reached the road, but the ship still followed. It stopped shooting at them, but it kept just behind them, following them into the city.
“They want to know where we’re going,” Brax said. “What ship we’re heading toward.”
Thad nodded. “We’re going to have to ditch the rover. Dayna,” he called up to her. “Get us out of sight as soon as possible. We’ll need to get to the ship on foot.”
“Captain will kill us if we return without the rover,” Dayna yelled back.
“She’d kill us worse if we got ourselves shot. Or led those people straight to us,” Thad said. “Don’t worry about the Captain—I’ll deal with her.”
That’s apparently all Dayna needed to hear. The buildings were already getting taller around them, the streets busier, but the other ship still followed overhead, watching their every move.
Dayna drove the rover into the long tunnel beneath Castalia’s main market square. She pulled the rover over out of the main thoroughfare and came to a stop. Quickly, without a word to each other, the three of them tumbled out of the vehicle. Thad began unbuckling Gregson, who groaned and stirred.
“Gregson,” Thad said, shaking him. “Come on, wake up. This will be a hell of a lot easier if I don’t have to carry you.”
Gregson groaned again and blinked a couple of times, regaining consciousness.
“We have to go,” Thad told him. “We’re being followed. We have to get back to the ship without attracting any attention.”
Gregson nodded and rubbed his head. With Thad’s help, he was able to sit up and then finally get on his feet.
“Come on,” Dayna said. “They’ve probably figured out we aren’t coming out the other side by now. They may have had time to land.”
Brax heard the worry in her voice, and he stepped nearer, trying not to wince as he put a little too much weight on his injured foot. “Don’t worry, sweetheart, I won’t let them get you.”
She responded by elbowing him in the stomach. He doubled over, clutching his abdomen as Thad and Gregson strode by him.
“Let’s go,” Thad said. “There’s a shortcut through the market to the port.”
Together, the company limped through the market. Fortunately, this was one of the busiest parts of the city, and even though it was a sad shadow of its former self, the crowds were still large enough to hide four people.
Brax risked a glance up at the sky. He could no longer spot the ship anywhere, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t there, watching them. Whoever they were, whatever they wanted, it was clear now that the entire crew of the Defiance was at risk. He’d almost drowned, for God’s sake. Almost been a stegodrake’s lunch.
And no matter how many times Dayna brushed off his questions, he was going to do whatever it took to get some answers.
KAYLIN
Nothing about this mission to Castalia was supposed to be easy. Kaylin had known all along that she was risking her ship—her crew—in support of a goal much bigger than any of them.
She hadn’t always been like this—worrying about the welfare of the greater good. She had certainly never been willing to sacrifice members of her crew, but this mission—if they could pull it off—would mean a better life for billions of people. At least, that was how it had been presented to her.
And yes, she had been skeptical at first, too. But as the details of the plan with Barner had been revealed to her, it made sense. More sense than most things had about her existence. She was ready for a change. Ready to find a permanent home.
At least, she thought she was. Thad had been suggesting it for quite some time—the two of them running off together to live on some warm, tropical planet somewhere far, far away from the rest of the IU. And there were times she actually considered doing just that. Kaylin might have accomplished her dream of owning her own ship at a relatively young age, but it was a lot more work—a lot more stress—than most people realized.
And seeing her four crewmembers return to the ship—two of them injured—reminded her of why she needed to end this as soon as possible. If not for them, then for herself. She may not have ever said it aloud, but she grieved every injury her crew suffered in defense of her—of her ship. It was why she still tended to each of them herself, even though she could have afforded to hire a medic a long time ago.
She wasn’t sure who was injured as she rushed with Ruce to help them, and she wasn’t able to ignore the fact that her heart skipped a few beats when she realized that Thad wasn’t among the injured.
Something was going to have to change, and fast. It wasn’t right that she cared more about knowing Thad was all right than any of the rest of them.
“Re
port.” She tried to sound more like a captain than a relieved girlfriend, but she was sure everyone could hear the truth in her voice. She motioned for Ruce to secure the doors.
“Gregson took a pretty heavy stun, but he seems to be recovering.” Thad guided the injured man over to Ruce and they headed onto the ship. He hitched a thumb in Brax’s direction. “This one took a hit to the foot before we got to him—”
“And tried to get us killed,” Dayna interrupted. “His captors pursued us into the city. We had to ditch the rover—”
“Another rover?” The exasperation in Kaylin’s voice was more than evident. She glared at the two of them. “That’s the third one this year, Brax.”
“Captain, I…” He glanced over at Dayna, who was still holding him up by the waist. “You can take it from my pay.” Something about his voice had changed, and she wasn’t sure why, only that it seemed to have something to do with the woman at his side.
“Bullshit. I’ll pay for it.” Dayna grabbed the back of Brax’s belt, pulling him upright so he could stand on his uninjured foot. “I won’t have anyone holding something like that over me. I’ll never owe anyone anything. Especially Brax.” There was something strange in her voice, too.
Kaylin’s brow furrowed as she glanced between the two of them. She finally let out a long breath. “Jackson, head to the bridge and prepare the ship for departure. We’ll be leaving within the hour. Locke…” She shook her head. “Come with me to the medical bay.”
Dayna shot a look at Brax that could have wounded him, but she headed for the bridge without another word.
Kaylin approached Brax, taking over the position of human crutch and helped him hobble to the medical bay.
Brax said nothing on their way, but slammed the door closed behind them as soon as they entered before plopping onto the edge of the single gurney in the small room.
“Captain…” He shook his head. “I—”
“Just give me your report, Brax. Were you able to find out anything about the border guard?” She pulled some equipment from the cupboard and walked over to the injured man, motioning for him to lie back on the bed.
He shook his head as he did what she suggested, almost throwing his head against the pillow. He crossed his arms over his chest and stared up at the ceiling. “I didn’t find out anything. I never had the chance.”
“Hmm.” Kaylin pulled the shoe and sock off his injured foot and began tending to his wound. “Usually the Andromeda Tavern is crawling with border employees. I wouldn’t have wasted your time—or our resources—if I had known things were so different since the regime change. But those people have to be hanging out somewhere. We’ll have to figure out where for our next visit.” She didn’t like lying to him, but there was no reason to upset him now, especially when he had taken a blaster shot to the foot for his crew. For her.
She decided to change the subject. “Who did this to you?”
“Well, if you want the short version of the story…I did.” He still stared up at the ceiling. “Kaylin, we’ve known each other a long time, haven’t we?”
She nodded, still focused on the injury to his foot. “Yes—”
“It’s been at least ten years, right? We served on the Lima together, and when you got this bag of bones, I was the first person you hired—”
“I hired you and Thad at the same time.”
“Whatever.” He almost growled. “Point is, we’ve known each other forever, right?”
“I suppose.” She changed the setting on the healing tool. “You might want to brace yourself. I had to up the juice on this thing. It’s going to burn.”
He gritted his teeth and held his arms more tightly across his chest. “Dayna…she’s only been here four years.”
“We’ve all only been here four years, Brax.” She set the tool against his injury and pressed the button.
He tried to hide the small cry that came from his lips, but he didn’t do a very good job of it. He recovered a moment later. “I just mean…I’ve known you a long time. Longer than you’ve known her.”
“I suppose that’s true. Is there a point to this, Brax? Or would you rather just explain to me how you came to lose another of my rovers?”
He almost growled, and she wasn’t sure if it was because of the healing tool or because of something she’d said. “Something isn’t right with her, Captain.”
“Something isn’t right with all of us on this ship, or we wouldn’t be here.” She pressed another button on the tool, not caring this time to warn him. “You know I don’t take kindly to anyone questioning my decisions as captain of this ship. If you have something to say, you’d better do it before I let you walk around with this sad hole in your foot for the rest of your life.”
“I left the bar with a woman, Kaylin. A beautiful woman with the most amazing tits—”
“Brax.” She let out a short huff.
“Sorry. I thought I was just going to…you know. I figured she was a prostitute—I knew I’d probably have to pay, but my God. She would have been worth it.”
Kaylin rolled her eyes as she adjusted the setting again on the tool. “Well, I’m glad you were able to get your shore leave in, even though I was very clear that that was not what your mission was about. But we can deal with that later. Right now—”
“I’m not finished. She drugged me—the woman. I figured it was some sort of sex game, but then I woke up underwater. I was under the fucking water. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“No. Not really.” She pulled the tool away from his foot and admired the mostly healed wound on his foot. “But your foot is going to be fine. You’ll need to give it a few days—the bone healing is going to be pretty painful. But you’ll live—”
He sat up, interrupting her. “Captain, the woman… Her name was Sarai, at least, that’s what she told me.”
“Congratulations, Brax. I guess you can add her to the list of conquests you keep. You do keep a list, don’t you?” She lifted a brow, grinning. “Now, if you’ll be so kind as to head for the bridge to help Dayna get the ship ready for departure—”
“Captain…Kaylin. Listen to me.” He slid again to the edge of the bed. “I don’t think Sarai wanted anything to do with me. I mean…she definitely did want something with me—”
“All right, I’ve heard enough—”
“I didn’t mean it like that.” He shook his head again. “Okay, I did mean it like that, but I also meant that I think she wanted to use me as bait. To get to someone else.”
Kaylin nodded. “Okay. Well, everyone in our crew is here and accounted for. And we have some very special cargo that needs to be protected from the IU patrols. And it would still be very…helpful…for me if you could find out if there’s some weakness we can expose in those patrols—maybe someone left there from Barner’s regime…”
He let out a long sigh. “How much do you actually know about Dayna? I mean, from before she joined the crew?”
Kaylin frowned. “Again, Brax, if you’re questioning my decisions…or my authority—”
“It’s not that. It isn’t that at all. It’s just…” He hopped off the bed, testing his weight on his foot. He looked over at her. “I think…I think that Sarai woman was actually there for Dayna. Not for me. I think she knew who I was and set a trap, hoping Dayna would be one of the people who came for me.”
“Even if that’s true, there are almost a dozen crewmembers on this ship. How could she have been sure Dayna would have been one of them?” Kaylin motioned toward the door of the small medical bay. “We really should head back to the bridge. We can have this conversation later.”
He limped over to block her from leaving. “No, Captain. I’m serious. I don’t think we should go anywhere. Not yet. I think they’re going to follow us, and we don’t need any more attention than we’ve already got. I think…I think we need to give them what they’re after. I think we need to give them Dayna.”
YUKI
They were close. She could f
eel it.
Yuki sat back on the bunk and drew her knees up to her chest. When she’d boarded this ship, everyone had made it sound like their departure was imminent, but she’d been sitting in this room for a couple of hours now and they still hadn’t taken off. Had something gone wrong? Maybe she’d chosen the wrong ship. Maybe the crew of the Defiance had realized who she was and they were just holding her here until they could come and retrieve her.
Every time she closed her eyes, she saw them. They filled her mind like waking nightmares. And they’d always come after her, those purple eyes.
She squeezed her knees tighter and dropped her head, forcing herself to take a deep breath. Now wasn’t the time to panic. Now was the time to think about her options.
That woman Dayna had seemed so nice, so trustworthy—but Yuki should have known better than to trust anyone on this God-forsaken planet, let alone a virtual stranger. They had agents everywhere.
But if the crew of Defiance were agents, then what was taking so long? Surely something would have happened by now.
Slowly, she unfolded her legs and slid off the bed. Her door locked from the inside, which meant she could leave this tiny bunk at any time. If she were actually a prisoner, shouldn’t they have made sure she couldn’t get out?
She unlocked the door. Her breath stuck in her throat as she slowly slid it open. If the Defiance wasn’t about to leave, then maybe it was better to find another ship. She didn’t care where they were going, only that they left Castalia immediately.
She took one step out of the room. Then another. The corridor in front of her was empty. Cold. She had no idea which way to go or whether or not she was even making the right decision. She just suddenly felt very small.
What was she doing?
Panic flooded her, and she stumbled back into the small room, sliding the door shut behind her. At least on this ship she had four walls and a lock to protect her. Outside, in the port, there was nothing. Why was she even considering going back out there? They’d be on her long before she could find another way out of here.
