Supergiant (Gigaparsec Book 2)

by Scott Rhine

  “Even the bank updates? Aren’t those coded?”

  “Many interesting messages are sent plaintext when people assume the channel is private. Even bank codes may be broken over time. Information is more important than gold to rulers.”

  She left him alone with his keypad. Did having an ally such as this make her team evil as well? Did such labels matter anymore given the enormity of her goals?

  ****

  Lord Aviar took so long at his computer pad that the weary Roz fell asleep listening to her Insomnia music playlist. The Bat lord woke her over an hour later. “You flatter me with your trust.”

  “I am confident in my mates and your desire to see justice done.”

  He snickered at the word. “Justice. The foundation is rotten, and there are rats in the wainscoting. The royals can’t hold much longer, and I will be alive to watch them fall. I will be Nero who fiddles while the outdated aristocracy burns.”

  Crazy much? “What did you find out about the professor?”

  “I wish he were real.”

  “Pardon?”

  “The case against him is constructed from mostly circumstantial evidence. Years ago, he was transported to the Mnamnabo system to study the sun-killer device.”

  “He is a brilliant theoretical physicist, and even the Union doesn’t know how Xerxes built his device.” Unless the Enigma Cube taught him how.

  “A recent financial transaction shows a rebel group paying Crakik to translate this skill into creating a bomb—one that will target the smallest star in the Carousel, crippling the Bat economy forever. He stands accused of crimes against the Void and attempting to silence the Voice.”

  The implications staggered her. Could the subbasement drive submerge suns? They were certainly perfect spheres with all the necessary hydrogen. Had the Black Ram perverted this wonder of science into a lethal weapon? How horrible. What damage would this inflict on subspace? Could someone like Crakik reproduce the weapon from residual hints?

  Her panic must have shown on her face because Aviar said, “Please, I told you this was pure fiction. I’m the leader of the terrorist group who allegedly paid him, and I commissioned no such weapon.”

  She blinked. “That would mean the Bankers lied.”

  Aviar covered him mouth in mock surprise. “And used a cipher they knew the royals had already cracked? To what end?”

  “To bury any knowledge he might have about star-drive improvements and eliminate his usefulness to us,” Roz said.

  “All the more reason for me to speed you on your way.”

  Roz stood. “So you’ll testify at his trial?”

  Lord Aviar actually laughed. “No, child. Even if I were willing to implicate myself and they believed me, we would never reach the throne world in time. Besides, most of the guards here are tasked with keeping me outside the kingdom.”

  “Then what can we do?”

  “Nothing. He’ll be convicted in a few months and shipped off to the supergiant long before you can reach the throne world.”

  Roz had pulled up the star charts on her suit cuff to confirm the length of the route, so she missed specifics of the professor’s destination. Perhaps the translator was faulty. “Sorry. Did you say supermax prison?”

  “Though my government has little compunction about torture or thin evidence, they adhere to the sanctity of life. Those who we never wish to see again are shipped to a system from which there is no escape. Niisham is a single-star system containing a massive supergiant star. This means that while it has a single easy-access point through the nearby Niishamboor system, there is no way out faster than light.”

  Gravity lanes worked between stars, with the heaviest gravity well pushing deeper into Einstein’s rubber sheet. Lanes always traveled one direction, from lighter gravity sources to heavier. That was why most populated systems were binary stars of different weights, making two-way commerce possible. However, nothing outweighed a supergiant in this sector. The Bats had transformed a one-way nexus into a secure prison colony, the way the English had used Australia.

  Roz panned Deke’s military star charts hubward to examine Niisham. “How does anyone get in? I mean, is it a ship graveyard?” Such a no-return journey would cost billions and several crew members, an insane price tag.

  “Every decade before the war, we subcontracted Phibs and Saurians to ship in prisoners. The prison colony mines rare earths and heavy metals common to the vicinity of a supergiant, which they trade to the foreign ships for supplies. Once the transfer is complete, the cold-blooded crew places itself in freezers for the long journey home. They use solar sails to help the acceleration, but the trip still takes more years than a warm-blood could survive. There have been many escape attempts, but the only Bats who return from that system are dried husks.”

  “There’s no way out?”

  “Many of my friends and family have been sent there already. If there were a way to freedom, I would have paid for it,” Aviar insisted.

  Roz did some math in her head. Intercepting the professor at the gateway system of Niishamboor was just barely possible. “How long could we stretch out the trial?”

  “They’re normally open-and-shut, before a military magistrate, and behind closed doors. The crown will prepare its case during the months the professor will take to journey to the throne. Trial and sentencing should take a week or two at most.”

  Roz chewed her lip. “Could you use your influence to stall, both his trial and transport?”

  “Why?”

  She tapped the chart. “Because we’re not that much farther from the prison than he is. We might be able to beat him there, or at least get to him before the next cold-blooded express to Niisham departs.”

  “No, I meant, why would I help you?” said the Anubis-like lord.

  “So you admit you could?”

  “It would do you no good. The military wouldn’t let you take him.”

  “I only need to talk to him. An hour or two might do.”

  Aviar raised an eyebrow, a Human touch. “A very important question. It must be worth a great deal to the Magi to travel so far.”

  Roz glared. “How much for say three or four months?”

  “I would like you to carry sealed correspondence to the systems along your path.”

  “About ten populated stops. How many kilos?”

  The Bat lord shrugged. “About a quarter ton … each.”

  Her eyes grew large as she attempted to stay calm. Kesh would blow a neck vein. “We have limited space in our non-perishable stasis, around thirty-three cubic meters.”

  “Strictly inorganic.”

  “Would this be considered smuggling?”

  “Not until the cargo leaves your hold. I’ll place each under diplomatic seal, to be opened only at the target system. The contacts can also help you distribute your musical recordings in a safe and profitable manner.”

  “We won’t do drugs or weapons,” Roz said.

  He panted in amusement. “I intend something much more potent—portable radio stations will be the seeds of my revolution. Music for the masses.”

  She considered this for a moment. The thought of playing Johnny Appleseed with subversive music appealed to her and would to others. “We can scan them to confirm the contents?”

  “Certainly.”

  She shook his hand. “I’ll need to confirm matters with my partners, but I see no reason we can’t enjoy a mutually beneficial relationship.”

  At her first opportunity, Roz looked up the translation for the Bat system names. Boor meant gateway, which made sense. Niisham referred to one of their many hells. She might leave those facts out of the mission briefing.

  Chapter 18 – Let He Who Is without Sins

  Once Aviar returned to his own ship, the six partners met in the jungle room. Roz said, “Maybe we should include Deke. His input would be valuable.”

  Max said, “I talked to him earlier. He doesn’t want to leave the bridge in case someone tries to board us by fo
rce. I can sum up his opinion of Aviar in one phrase: if his lips are moving, he’s lying about something.”

  Ivy sat on the tire swing Roz had built for Jeeves. “Is he objecting on religious grounds?”

  On the edge of the sandbox Max had constructed, Reuben said, “Nah. A purist wouldn’t have signed our business agreement because he wouldn’t want to be ‘joined to an unbeliever.’ Deke has some legit concerns that someone who has been exiled would honor his word. What did Aviar tell you? Our microphones were spotty once you turned the music on. We think he jammed them.”

  Roz related the highlights of the discussion and added details as people questioned her. When she reached the part about distributing radios, Ivy whooped. “Girl, who broke your cherry?”

  “What? Is this about me calling Max my mate? I was playing my cover role.”

  Ivy grinned. “For a girl who was afraid to lie on a rental agreement a few months ago, you sure agreed to treason quickly.”

  “Those teenagers are going to rebel with or without us. A little music to make out to is harmless. I checked the law, and only selling the radio is illegal. We’ll be giving it away. I think drawing an ethical line would be hypocritical for the rest of you at this point. I’m asking permission to accept the cargo ahead of time and with full disclosure. Unlike some people, partnerships mean something to me.” Roz peeked at Max to see if the barb struck home. He didn’t seem to notice. “Reaching the professor is critical to fixing the subbasement drive.”

  Echo’s image near the airlock announced, “I concur. The prize is worth the risk.”

  “That’s two yeses,” Roz said. “Discussion?”

  Max put a hand to his chin as he paced. “Isn’t there another mathematician somewhere we can ask?”

  Echo shook her head. “Perhaps two Turtles, but the journey would take up to fifteen years. They might not even agree to speak to us once we arrived.”

  “Okay. If Aviar is playing straight, we have to race to the gateway system, Niishamboor, to talk to the professor. We aren’t likely to run into a news cube on the story until we’re over halfway there. By then, Aviar could have kidnapped our guy. Ivy, does your network have anyone on the throne world to confirm this psycho’s intel?”

  Ivy sighed. “I believe him about the ansible filters. We’ve suspected the same for a while. Bats are excellent listeners. Legend has it that at first contact, they met the uplift shuttle because they heard it coming. That’s why, several hundred years later on Earth, the Magi dropped a box of instructions from orbit. The rest, I’ll have to check on.” She closed her eyes to make mental contact with the other triplets.

  A few minutes later, Roz whispered, “Why do the Bats still have a royal family? Everyone else dumped that model centuries ago.”

  Reuben replied, “The royals have a monopoly on neutronium buttons.”

  Roz nodded. “Yeah. Just a little goes a long way. They use it to for the core of their Icarus drives and alternating gravity devices. Neutronium make them twenty times smaller than Earth’s design and seven times smaller than the Magi’s.”

  “Our implementation is much safer,” Echo said.

  “No doubt,” Roz replied, “but the Bat blades are sweet.”

  Max said, “I asked Deke if his repaired shuttle still counts as an official blade. Evidently the drive pods are like serial numbers on currency. If those are intact, the bills are still legal tender. No knight can possess a neutronium drive without royal blessing, and the engines can be disabled at any time remotely.”

  “The Golden Rule, baby,” Reuben joked. “He who has the gold makes the rules. This reminds me of that Machiavelli book Max had me read.”

  Ivy opened her eyes. “The terrorism trial has been set for eight weeks from now. Our agent can’t stall proceedings without revealing himself, but he can give us periodic updates when we’re outside subspace.”

  “So we’ll know we’re screwed shortly before it happens, but we’ll be helpless to stop it,” Max said.

  “Sometimes that can be exciting,” Reuben said. “I vote to play Pied Piper and visit the entrance to the prison system. Can’t hurt anything.”

  “It could damage our relationship with an important ally,” said Ivy. “My people urge me to vote no.”

  Kesh’s tail twitched nervously. “We need to make a bank transfer this week, or the loan raptors my brother borrowed from could come after us.”

  “Sorry, Captain, Aviar’s not going to let that happen either way,” Roz said. “Besides, what are the gangsters going to do to us clear out here? No. When we get to the next stop, just explain that the cops were chasing you. They’ll understand.”

  “I don’t want to land in the supergiant prison for distributing ‘You Put the Funk in my Junk,’” Kesh said. “I vote no. Max, you decide.”

  Max took Roz’s hand. “Is this important enough to die over?”

  She considered for a moment. “Whether we speak to Crakik or not, the problem is significant enough for Echo and me to dedicate every waking hour to for the rest of our lives. I don’t see a distinction between that and sacrificing ourselves bodily.”

  Max closed his eyes. “I’ll agree to this mission on three conditions.”

  Is he going to propose? Roz leaned in beside him to hear every word. “Yes?”

  “First, you return to working out with me every morning. I need to see that you’re staying healthy.”

  “Sure. That will be just before my bedtime. It’ll help me relax.”

  “Second, Alyssa and I go along on the illegal transactions. If at any time one of us doesn’t like what we see, we break off and regroup. We drop the cargo into the nearest volcano if we even think it’s a setup.”

  “Of course. You always have operational authority. I’m sure Alyssa has relevant experience at breaking the law. And third?” Roz asked, hoping for the big question.

  “We demand that Aviar assign an inmate to buddy up with and protect Professor Crakik, or he might not last until he reaches Niishamboor.”

  She blinked. “Um … sure. Why not? Any other no voters want to add conditions?”

  Kesh growled. “If you’re going to drag us through this, have Aviar post a bond and sign an agreement. If he breaks any of his conditions, the money is ours free and clear. Make it enough to pay for our time—more than that, enough to hurt.”

  Roz nodded. She turned to Ivy. “How about you, roomie?”

  Ivy’s eyes pleaded with her. “You could live a happy and long life. Walk away from all this. It’s going to get messy, honey.”

  “When I pledge myself, I don’t hold back,” Roz said.

  Ivy stared at her feet. “For you, I’ll do it, but I want everyone to promise they won’t judge me for things I need to do to accomplish your goal.”

  Reuben laughed. “Babe, I break five laws before breakfast, and my family ruined a star system for revenge. I have no cause to judge.” Others nodded and mouthed similar oaths.

  Roz said, “I’m willing to give the non-partners the chance to get off here if they have any objection.”

  “The Greenbergs are committed, and Grady would follow you anywhere,” Max said. “The only person I worry about is Deke.”

  “I’ll talk to him,” Ivy volunteered.

  “About the Greenbergs,” Roz said. “I’ll have to reissue security badges. Someone scammed access data from the cargo-hold reader, and the criminals look like the best candidates.”

  Reuben cleared his throat. “Actually, I did that months ago to help free Echo from Zrulkesh.”

  Roz refused to be derailed. “They still can’t be trusted. Maybe we should drop Herb off in Purgatory.”

  Max shook his head. “Absolutely not. They’re pair-bonded. We’d have to leave them both, and she’d end up back in jail for parole violation.”

  Roz shrugged. “Maybe she deserves—”

  “She did it for you,” Reuben snapped. “I’ve been an orphan my entire life. You have family committing felonies to be by your side. You n
eed to accept this as a gift. I vote to keep them, too.”

  Max nudged Kesh, who mumbled, “The clutch is one. Until your family tries to kill you, we must protect them.”

  “Is this something you guys cooked up behind my back?” Roz asked.

  “Nothing illegal or immoral. We may have chatted over drinks about theoretical scenarios,” Reuben admitted. “Either way, the motion passes. Accommodations for dissent?”

  Echo replied, “While I agree that mingling with our guests will help Roz become a more complete person, as an agent of the Bankers, Herb shall never enter any of my control areas or leave the ship where he can use an ansible.”

  Ivy volunteered to escort Alyssa whenever Roz’s aunt left the ship. “If she ever slips my leash, she doesn’t get back on board.”

  Max agreed to the terms.

  “I don’t get a say?” Roz complained.

  “As your doctor and your friend, I’m telling you to get to know these people. Like it or not, they’ll tell you more about who you really are than your time on Napa or Anodyne ever did. Do you trust me?”

  She locked eyes with him. “I don’t always understand you, but I trust you with my life. Always have.”

  In the end, everyone but the hologram placed their hands in the center of the circle to seal the agreements. Echo said, “So let our light shine.”

  Chapter 19 – Toxic Secrets

  Before accepting the mission, Echo plotted their proposed voyage and posted it in the dining hall for all the crew members to see. Their ship would follow a well-known Magi trade loop and then veer off toward the gateway system, Niishamboor. Roz went to find Deke to get his opinion, the last one necessary before beginning the mission. Internal security placed him in the high-value cargo hold, not the one that held the tellurium. She approached the low-g area with caution, in case he was stealing.