TangleRoot (Star Sojourner Book 6)

by Jean Kilczer

  “Looks like you came up with a deal, after all.”

  “One thing.”

  “I can't wait to hear it.”

  “I want you to swear on your crucifix, as a devout Catholic, that you'll keep your word.”

  “Marrona mia, what a pair of brass balls! Anything else, kraut?”

  I shook my head.

  He fished out the crucifix around his neck, kissed it, and murmured, “I swear by my Lord Jesus Christ, the savior of my soul, who I love above all others, that the broad…the woman Sophia, will go free, unharmed, when we reach LaGuardia Spaceport. Amen.” He kissed the crucifix and tucked it inside his shirt. “Is that good enough for ya?”

  “It'll have to do.”

  “I want you to understand something. There's nothing personal between you an' me. What I gotta do, I gotta do. It's strictly business.”

  “Whatever.” My stomach clenched.

  “So what I'm gonna do for you is this. You'll never see it coming, an' it'll be so fast, ya won't feel a thing.” He shrugged. “That's the best offer I can make you.”

  My hand shook on the controls as I watched Equus fall away like a blue ball flung into space. The planets are sanctuaries in the great void. I doubted I would ever again feel soft earth beneath my feet, or the warmth of a sun on my face. I programmed the ship for the trade lanes and closed my eyes as I pictured my daughter's laughing face.

  “Al,” I heard Paulie say as he entered the cabin, “I want to talk to you. It's important.”

  “Everybody wants to talk to me. OK, what is it?”

  Paulie glanced at me. “Not here.”

  Al got up and strode out of the cabin. I heard Paulie and him arguing in the living quarters. Dammit! Sophia was in there.

  I struggled to loosen the ropes around my chest. I used the armrests to push myself down into the seat. I didn't know what I'd do if I got loose, but I had to try to comfort Sophia. I lifted my arms and pushed hard to slide out from under the ropes. I think they stretched, because suddenly they were around my neck. I threw them off and jumped up, panting.

  I turned and almost ran into Zack, who filled the doorway. He grabbed the front of my shirt and drew back a fist.

  “Don't hit!” I yelled.

  His brows wrinkled into a furry caterpillar. “Why not?”

  “Because I give up.”

  He threw me through the doorway. I fell, rolled, and got to my feet.

  “He give up,” Zack told Al.

  “You're a moron,” Al told him.

  “Oh, Jules!” Sophia jumped from the chair and threw her arms around me.

  I held her head against my chest. “Al,” I said, “let her stay in the cabin with me and I give you my word I won't try to untie myself again.” I looked around. Zack and Vito stood on either side of me. Paulie sat at the table with his head down, rubbing his forehead. “Where would I go?” I asked Al.

  His eyes narrowed to black slits. “How long before this boat's programmed to land on Earth?”

  I took a breath. My throat felt tight. “Three or four E-hours. When the Alcubierre drive kicks in and starts warping the space around the ship into a bubble.”

  He motioned toward the cabin and I led Sophia there. She sat in the co-pilot's seat and watched me. I smiled tightly and felt tears burn my eyes.

  Vito came in and tied me to the seat with a rope around my chest. “Now stay put!” he ordered. “Al don't like it when you squirm outa the ropes.”

  “Tell Al to go fuck himself,” I said.

  “Hey!” He smacked me with an open palm across my head.

  Sophia half rose. “Leave him alone, you dirt bag!”

  Vito raised his hand to hit her. She stared at him defiantly.

  “Vito, don't!” I said. “Please. Leave her alone.” I felt weary, almost numb. This lifebind would be over for me in a few hours at most.

  Vito lowered his hand. “Bitch broad. What'd you ever see in her?”

  I didn't answer and he left the cabin.

  Sophia came and sat on the deck by my side, her head on my thigh.

  “Soph, when this is over –”

  “I don't want to talk about it!”

  “Listen to me.” I took a shaky breath and stroked her hair. “You're a young, beautiful woman. I don't want you to mourn for me. That's just a waste of your life.”

  She began to sob.

  “Now listen. You find a good tag, marry him, and have a family.”

  She shook her head.

  “I'm sorry I got you into this. Just do one thing for me.”

  She looked up. Her eyes were red and tear-streaked.

  “Tell Lisa that her daddy will always love her. OK? More than anything.”

  She nodded and wiped her eyes. Then she reached up and wiped my eyes and I realized that they were wet.

  I ran my fingers across her face, drinking in every feature, as though making it my own. At what appeared to be the end of my life, I found that never have I loved life more. I thought of Joe's aria about the tag who was about to be executed. My last hour has flown. She pulled my head toward her and kissed me gently on the lips. Her kiss was bringing me back to this life. I lifted my head and stared at the deck. My stomach was so knotted I was afraid I was going to throw up. I hoped I wouldn't, for Sophia's sake.

  The Alcubierre drive kicked in with a whine and a flash of green lights that made me gasp. I knew they heard the drive from the living quarters.

  My arm felt heavy as I programmed the ship for LaGuardia Spaceport, Earth, typed in a code that Starship Searcher would land on autopilot, and gave the tower my call sign for the ship. I sat back, hoping my demise would be as quick as Al had promised.

  The fear waned and I felt only numbness, as though I were halfway to geth state, death, already. Spirit?

  It has been an honor to know you, Jules.

  You too, my friend. You too. See you in the next lifebind?

  Perhaps.

  Sophia glanced at the door. Her eyes widened and she screamed.

  I lurched forward against the rope and drew in a breath through gritted teeth.

  Sophia's screams came through a world that had turned to frost. I had time to think that this was not what I'd expected before my mind froze up like a watch plunged into ice water.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Let the bitch scream! I opened my pocket knife and made a small cut on the back of Julio's head. There had to be blood for Al to think I'd hot-flashed him instead of just stun. Jesus Christ! If Al found out what I just did, I'd be out the airlock along with the kraut, even though I was Al's brother. You don't question the capo, let alone disobey an important order like this one. My hands shook as I cut the rope around Julio's chest and grabbed him as he fell forward. The bitch was still screaming.

  “Help me with him!” I ordered her.

  She shook her head.

  “Listen, comare, your boyfriend ain't dead.” I glanced at the empty doorway. “You understand what I'm saying? Now help me get him to the airlock,” I whispered. “There's a lifeboat in there.” I slung Julio's arm over my shoulder. “I could get killed fer this!”

  She stared at me like a statue.

  “What the fuck's wrong with you, lady? Did you turn to stone? Help me with him, capisco?”

  She nodded, finally closed her mouth, got up and threw Julio's other arm across her shoulders.

  Blood dripped down the kraut's cheek as we dragged him into the living quarters.

  Sophia continued to cry. Thank God, she was putting on a good act, or maybe her nerves were shot. Either way.

  “She wants to say goodbye to him in the airlock,” I told Al and kept dragging the kraut toward the inner lock. Jesus God, don't let him wake up now! I prayed.

  “Hey, Al!” Vito said, “I just saw his foot twitch. What the hell is that?”

  Al shrugged. “Nerves. Get him outa here, Paulie. He's dripping blood all over the floor.”

  “Sure,” I said.

  “I'm glad it's over,�
� I heard Al say. “I take no pleasure in this business.”

  Vito hit the airlock switch and the inner door sprang open. Me an' the broad dragged Julio through.

  My heart was beating like a hammer at what I was about to do. There's no friggin' turning back now, I thought as I slammed the inner door and locked it. “Unlock the outer one!” I waved toward the door and dragged the kraut into the lifeboat. I threw three spacesuits and helmets into the back, just in case, and pushed the power button. It turned green and the motors started up.

  The broad threw herself into the boat.

  “You know how to run this friggin' thing?” I asked her.

  “Yes! Move over.” She nudged me out of the driver's seat. Pushy bitch. “It's like a ship's console,” she said and studied the gauges. “Only a lot simpler. More like a hovair.” She pulled down a lever marked Airlock. Beware! Air will Escape through Outer Door!

  The outer door swung open and I heard the whoosh as air went through. The boat rocked.

  “Paulie!” Al screamed through the boat's link. “What the fuck are you doing?”

  “Sorry, Al.” My voice was shaky. “I just couldn't let ya kill him, you know? I'm…I'm through with the family. Goodbye, Al. Goodbye, Vito.” I started to cry and bit my knuckle. “Goodbye.”

  “I'll fuckin' kill you, Paulie!” Al shouted. “I'll cut out your lungs and throw you in the East River. Are you nuts? He's a witness! Get back here, you stupid moron!”

  “I can't do it no more, Al. I can't! Forgive me, mio fratelli.”I shut off the link.

  She guided the boat out of the airlock. She knew what she was doing. Then we were in that big black pot of nothing and I grabbed the door handle, feeling like I was gonna fall. “What…what do we do now?”

  She glanced back at the kraut, who was rolling his head. “Jules can guide us back to Equus. A lifeboat can't make jumps.”

  I scratched my forehead. “If he gets his hands on me, Marrona mia, I'll be sleeping with the fishes.”

  “Al?” she asked.

  I nodded.

  “Isn't he your brother?”

  “Listen, lady. He's the capo first. Then he's my brother.”

  “That's a brave thing you did, Paulie. I can't thank you enough.”

  “Yeah, if they catch up to me, just throw some flowers in the East River in my honor, OK?”

  Chapter Fourteen

  How could I still be alive? I lifted my head. Was this a new lifebind? I thought fearfully. No. It was my human body. My hands. My clothes. There was a cut on the back of my head. I put my fingers on it. They came away bloody.

  Somebody stroked my cheek. I jumped.

  “It's me, babe. Sophia.” She kissed my forehead.

  “I thought I was dead,” I mumbled.

  “I know. I thought so too. Paulie saved you. He used the stun setting instead of hot beam and we made believe you were dead and carried you into the lifeboat.”

  “Paulie did that? Why?”

  “To save your life! He's steering the boat but we need you to program it.”

  “Help me up.”

  She did.

  I made my way to the pilot's seat. “Let me take over, Paulie.”

  He got up and I sat down heavily. Blood trickled down my neck and back.

  “You feel up to it?” he asked.

  “No. Does this rig have a sous? I could sure use a cup of coffee.”

  Paulie looked at Sophia.

  Sophia nodded. “I'll make a pot.”

  “These lifeboats don't have a star drive,” I told them. “Either we have to return to Equus and wait with the others for the transports to arrive, or try to make it to the trade lanes.”

  “You think,” Sophia said, “we can hitch a ride home on a starship?”

  “I hope so.”

  She handed me a cup of steaming Earth brew and pressed a cold compress to the cut on my head. It hurt, but I knew we had to stop the bleeding.

  “A starship would have an SPS unit onboard,” I said. “We could alert La Guardia Spaceport to arrest the crew when Searcher arrives, and tell them that a biologist and a guard at the lab plan to steal the Blackroot tank for the Mafia.”

  “Do you have to get my brothers arrested?” Paulie asked and ran a hand nervously through his hair.

  I thought of the catastrophe that would follow if the Mafia sold bristra to wealthy customers and they grew it in their own gardens. Gabby had suggested that at maturity, during temperate weather, the roots might produce windblown spores. “I do, Paulie,” I said. “I'm sorry, but I really do. I'll explain it when this is over.” Providing we weren't toast, I thought as stars whizzed by. Caught in this bubble, we could be plunged into a sun.

  “I owe you one, kid,” I told Paulie and tried again to break us free of the bubble with full power. “A big one.” I smiled. “Grazie. What did it cost you? I think your family.”

  He blinked back tears and nodded.

  “If it's any consolation,” I said, “you did the right thing, not just for me, though I'm pretty damn grateful.”

  “I know.” He rubbed his eyes.

  Sophia reached over and patted his shoulder. He took her hand and held it tight. I heard him sob.

  Sophia pulled her hand away.

  I looked at her and lifted my brows.

  “Hold the compress,” she told me.

  I did.

  She walked around to Paulie and held his head in both hands. He wrapped his arms around her waist, buried his face against her, and cried.

  “I'm sorry I called you all those names,” he said.

  She kissed his head and smiled. “That was the old Paulie, before the epiphany.”

  “Epiphany?” He looked up at her. “That's the Feast of the Three Kings Day. We don't eat until we see the first star at night. My mother always made cassata sicilliana.” He put his fingers to his lips and kissed them. I sipped coffee and held the compress as he clasped Sophia and cried again.

  “Better than cannoli?” I asked, to lighten the mood.

  “You haven't lived until you've eaten cassata sicilliana the way my mother makes it!” He buried his face in Sophia's stomach again and sobbed.

  She looked at me and shrugged.

  “It's OK.” I smiled. “I'm not the jealous type.” Just the worried type, I thought, and rotated the chair back to face the console.

  “Are you plotting a course to Equus or to Earth?” Sophia asked.

  "No, we're sort of, uh, stuck in this bubble for now, Soph. I'm working on it. Sure I am.

  “There's something you're not telling us, Jules. I know that look.”

  “I'm working on it, that's all,” I lied.

  She stared out the viewport and bit a nail as she watched stars streak by. “Work on it faster, all right?”

  “All right.”

  Paulie came to the pilot's seat and watched from over my shoulder. “You know, Julio, we could still go back an' find some live Blackroot.” He nudged my shoulder with an elbow. “We'd be billionaires. Ya know what I'm sayin'?” He grinned that lopsided grin.

  “We'd be dead, Paulie. Just take my word for it. If we ever…” I bit my lip. “When we kick ourselves out of this bubble, or get a pick up, we're going back to Earth.”

  “What's your problem with being a billionaire?” he asked.

  “My problem's with being dead. Now let me work on this!”

  “Paulie.” Sophia took his arm and led him to a rear seat. “Leave him alone. He knows what he's doing.”

  Sure, I thought. I activated the distress signals on the heads-up holo display and flipped on the mic. “Mayday. Mayday. Mayday. Grave and immediate danger.”

  I heard Sophia draw in a breath. “Just normal procedure,” I threw back. “We're looking for a pickup,” I said into the mic. “Three adults onboard the Starship Searcher's lifeboat. Calling anyone inside the bubble. Request assistance.”

  I sat back and stared at the circle of stars shooting by in the viewport. What if we plowed through a sta
r? Would we even know that it happened, like jumping through a hoop of fire, or would we be toast? I cranked up the power and tried to kick the boat out of the bubble. It hit the edge and bounced back. The grav stabilizers held us steady in an invisible net.

  “Dammit,” I muttered. Only Great Mind knew where we'd come out of this warp, if ever. The continuous contraction and expansion of space/time could fling us past the Milky Way. The laws of physics were being bent all out of shape. And we might be too if it spit us into that great wheel, the galaxy's central black hole.

  Sophia came back and put a hand on my shoulder. “I know you're doing your best, babe.”

  I nodded. “I'm trying, Soph.”

  The boat had a limited supply of air tanks. After that, there were the biosuits. After that…

  She sat in the co-pilot's seat. “Jules?”

  I lifted brows.

  “If this doesn't end well…”

  I reached out and she gave me her hand. “Don't think that way.”

  “I just want you to know that whatever happens, I will love you to my last breath.”

  “If it comes to that,” I said, “I want you to know that I loved you from that first time on the pier.” I squeezed her hand and smiled. “You know, when you threatened to gut me like a crusty with your dive knife.”

  Paulie came forward and we were all crowded in the tight front quarters. “If we gotta die, I can't think of anybody I'd rather be with when it happens.” He squeezed between me and Sophia and put a hand on each of our shoulders. “We're all too young to die, you know what I'm saying? But if it's gotta be, then it's gotta be. You two are like family to me.”

  Sophia smiled and leaned her head against his side.

  “This is the Texas Belle Star,” the radio suddenly crackled. “We are homing in on your signals.”

  “Oh my God!” Sophia jumped out of the seat and covered her mouth with a hand. “Oh my God.”

  Paulie looked from Sophia to me. “So our asses are saved? We're gonna be OK?”

  “Looks like we lucked out, Paulie,” I said.

  “Mamma mia. I thought we were dead meat. I mean…” He planted a kiss on my cheek, then one on Sophia's. “Thank you, Lord Jesus!”