Ghost of Jupiter (Jade Saito - Action Sci-Fi Series Book 1)

by Tom Jordan

  What hope was there? Jade’s mind continued to replay the moment when Gliese Voyager had blown apart. There was no way it was flightworthy, even if Tommy had survived the assault. She tried to push it out of her mind while she focused on following Marco to a landing site, but she failed. Tommy was her best friend. How could he possibly be alive after that? What would she do without him?

  Stop, she told herself. One thing at a time. She’d land first, then worry about Tommy, whether it was to fret over his status, or to mourn him.

  “Okay. I’m descending.”

  Jade and Marco skimmed the landscape. Up close, the planetary surface resolved into a scattering of pockmarks from frequent lightning impacts, broken by endless rivers of lava meandering to the horizon. Heat shimmered and distorted everything in sight.

  Jade couldn’t help asking about Tommy. She had to do something to deal with her thoughts. There was no way she could focus while being so worried about him.

  “Tommy has top-of-the-line everything in the Voyager,” Marco said. “Don’t write him off. For now I need to make sure you’re okay, and you need to focus.”

  Jade nodded to herself, not entirely convinced. Marco sounded oddly untroubled.

  She pointed out a plateau to Marco, who agreed it was a desirable place to set down despite the molten rock drooling out in spots along its edges.

  Jade didn’t know the extent of Ghost’s damage, so she landed with care. Fortunately, her landing struts were in their interior compartments and she was able to deploy them for a smooth touchdown. Her head hung forward on its own, and halfway through her sigh of relief a warning sounded. One of her two main propulsion thrusters sputtered as it spun down, shuddering the entire ship and flashing a notice on her one working holoemitter. Silence filled the cockpit after the clanking stopped and the ship’s engines were offline.

  What was wrong with the thruster? Could she even get back into space? Would her canopy hold during atmo exit? How extensive was the damage? At least her life-support system seemed to be holding. The temporary particle field reinforced the canopy, preventing any further atmosphere from leaking in, but it’d only last for a limited time. Repairs would be needed.

  Jade felt a vibration in her boots as Marco’s ship landed close by, causing canopy fragments to buzz across the deck plates.

  She repeatedly checked that her comms were active, looking for any communication from Henning or Tommy. She scrunched her face and scrutinized her map, but it revealed no clue about Gliese Voyager or Audacity. She retracted her emergency visor and leaned against the head rest, pulling in slow, wheezing breaths. Despite feeling like she’d been pummeled with a suitcase, she kept catching herself sinking toward sleep.

  “Go ahead and drop your ramp,” Marco said, causing Jade to jolt back to consciousness. “I’m setting a magnetic clamp and I’m going hull to hull. The ground is reading too hot for my exo suit.”

  “Okay.” Jade sealed the cockpit and did as he asked, then waited.

  She heard the heavy sound of the ramp closing and reopened the cockpit. The clank of Marco’s boots in the ship’s corridor was an unexpected lifeline. She let out a shaky exhalation and unhooked her seat harness, then turned around to see Marco standing in the doorway. He tugged off his large helmet, then shook his mane of hair.

  “Man, it’s a bitch getting in this suit in my cockpit.”

  He flashed a gleaming smile and stomped over to scoop Jade into a hug.

  Relief rushed over her like water through a broken dam. She collapsed onto Marco as he knelt before her, and she sobbed as she laid her head on his shoulder.

  Marco gave her a gentle squeeze and caressed her shoulders while she cried. This small contact was enough to cause her to fall apart. Everything she’d been dealing with poured out—the intensity of the fight with Stormwulf, the pursuit jump to Balenos A, being thrust into the surprise battle…

  And Tommy.

  Sobs racked her body. Before she knew what she was doing, she pulled back, placed her hands on either side of Marco’s face, and kissed him. She unleashed all her emotion, hot and fierce. Nothing in her life compared to what she’d just been through, and she’d never needed the touch of another person as much as she needed it right now. Another tear rolled down her cheek as he returned the lingering kiss, his lips firm. She felt safe with Marco, and strong, as though her own strength rose to meet the strength he used in leading the team.

  “I can’t believe you did that.” He shook his head. “That was incredible. I’m not sure if it was stupid or brilliant,” he said.

  Jade slapped a hand over her mouth and recoiled. How could she kiss him like that? What was wrong with her?

  “Oh!” Marco said. “No! Not…” He threw back his head and laughed long enough to add to Jade’s discomfort.

  “I meant that head-on impact with that ship. Remind me never to cross you, Saito.”

  “Yeah,” she whispered. She didn’t know what to add. Her emotions had run to their limit, and she was spent.

  Marco shrugged out of his thick exo suit, pulling it down to his waist, then rubbed a thumb across Jade’s lips. He leaned in this time, and the desire in his eyes was easy to read. He wrapped his arms around her torso and pulled her in. They embraced, kissing long enough for Jade to lose herself, until Marco eventually leaned back.

  “You taste like sulfur.” He smirked. Jade barked a laugh, then began a new fit of coughs.

  “You scared me, you know. Let’s check you out. Then the ship.”

  “Okay,” she replied, still sitting in the flight seat.

  “Earpiece?” he asked. She pointed to where she’d seen it in the corner of the cockpit.

  Marco bent to pick it up, blew on it, then put it in his ear.

  “Freeborn, come in. Marco here.” A pause. “Okay, that’s great news. Saito’s good too.” He winked at her. “We’re both on the Ghost. You have our location? Okay. See you soon.”

  Marco smiled, took out the earpiece, and tossed it to Jade. She raised her arm to make the catch, then winced. She missed and the earpiece clattered to the deck behind her.

  “What is it? What happened?” she asked, not caring about the earpiece.

  Marco stood and stared out the cockpit. “Freeborn’s coming. Tommy’s with him. He’s okay.”

  Jade let out a shaky sigh that broke into a sob. She slammed her palm on the chair’s arm, and then pulled back and shook the tender hand. “Yes! Ow!” She felt like the last bit of strength keeping her upright departed, like air from a deflating balloon.

  “What’d I tell you,” Marco said, sticking out his chin confidently. “Now we need to regroup and make our next move.” He turned back toward Jade. “Where’s your medical scanner?”

  Jade pointed at a recessed panel on the other side of the cockpit. Marco hit the button to open the storage compartment and unstrapped the small case inside. He rifled through it until he found the scanner, which he flipped open and held in front of him. He followed its prompts, orienting it toward Jade at the proper alignment and distance so it could run its scans.

  “Contusions. Concussion. Toxic-gas inhalation. Bruised ribs.” He looked into her eyes. “Damn, Saito.”

  Jade coughed as he shut the scanner, stuffed it back into the medical kit, and fished out some medical supplies. He handed her a multicolored capsule and instructed her to swallow. Jade did as he asked, and he repeated the act with more pills of other colors two additional times.

  Marco knelt on both knees, tore open a plastic pouch, and set aside the white squares it contained. He peeled off their backing layers and set them down in a careful group on the deck.

  “What are you doing?” Jade asked.

  “Dermal applicators. This will help your bruises. I need you to unzip your suit.”

  Jade flushed. Despite her struggle with pain, a small part of her was excited by the idea, but she didn’t want Marco seeing her undressed and bruised right now. Marco looked businesslike, and wasn’t smiling or doing anything
suggestive like she had expected.

  “It’s okay. I’ll manage,” she said, gingerly rising from her chair. She cringed against the pain, and Marco offered his hand.

  Jade took the packet of applicators and shuffled back to her tiny cabin, one hand on the wall the entire way. Marco called her name as she reached the threshold between the cockpit and central corridor. She turned back.

  “I’m glad you’re okay,” he said, looking into her eyes.

  “Thanks.” She managed to scrunch her face into a smile. “Me too.”

  Jade hit the button to seal the door to her cabin and dragged down the zipper on her flight suit. She winced and sucked a breath in through her teeth as she peeled the suit down to her hips. Her entire torso was tender, with some dark bruises already starting to appear across her sides, breasts, and ribs, clearly taking the crisscross shape where the seat’s harness rested. She coughed, causing more pain in her throat. The rest of her body was filled with omnipresent discomfort, like background static.

  She peeled the backing off of the dermal applicators and applied the sticky side of the crinkly squares. They fused onto her skin, feeling cool and providing immediate relief. She also felt the result of whatever pills Marco had given her. Her pain began to melt away and her mind felt languid and serene.

  The medically aided feelings of relief were dragging her under. She thought she should let Marco know before they took over and she couldn’t stay awake. She fought the sleepy torrent washing her away and opened her door to call to him.

  He peeked around the corner. “Yeah?”

  Why was he smiling like that? She’d never seen him so happy. He was always so serious.

  “You’re serious,” she mumbled, failing to get her point across. She could barely keep her eyelids open. “I’m sleep,” she said. She wanted to be sure he understood. “Me.” She pointed at herself, then said nothing else to let it sink in.

  “Okay,” he said with a voice full of laughter. “Here. Lie down.” She followed his lead, reclining on the fold-down cot. It had never felt as nice as it did now.

  Marco rested her head in his hand and lowered it onto the cot, then covered her up. Her skin felt cool from the square things she’d put on—she couldn’t remember what they were called—and warm from the fuzzy blankets. It was perfection.

  Henning watched the blasted, malevolent surface of Balenos A pass beneath him on his way to Marco’s ship. Tommy slept in the seat to his left, wrapped in a blanket Henning had found for him. With the painkillers coursing through Tommy’s system, the kid had passed out right away. Henning had tried to give him a bunk, but Tommy had wanted to be with him on the bridge and had taken one of the spare seats. He didn’t want to push him. Let him be where he’d be comfortable.

  Henning was fond of Tommy. He was a good guy, and he was like…like a nephew, maybe. He needed to speak his mind more and stand up for himself once in a while, but he was a guru for all the things Henning didn’t know how to do, and Henning liked working with him.

  That was why he was ready to give Marco a piece of his mind.

  This operation had blown up, right in their faces. Tommy had nearly died, and had lost his ship. His ship. Jade was…who knew how Jade was? Injured, probably, since she’d just flown her ship straight through that other guy’s. He was amazed the Ghost was still in one piece.

  And what did they have to show for all this? Nothing. He folded his arms and clenched his jaw. This fuck-up would cancel out the profit they’d made on their last two or three jobs, easy—ammo, repair costs, maintenance, tolls, cross-system comm fees…the list was long. He had a family to look after, and promises to keep about returning home for early retirement. That timeline was now pushed back thanks to these new expenses. And he didn’t imagine Tommy would be too happy when he woke up and realized what had happened to his ship.

  Henning wrung the controls in a death grip. He’d frantically set the cargo arm to load the wreckage of Tommy’s cockpit into Audacity’s bay, then chipped Tommy out of whatever that life-saving foam stuff in his cockpit was. Marco should’ve had to go through that, his heart hammering against his ribs, rushing to clamp a breather over Tommy’s face and squinting to see if any fog showed up. That’d open anyone’s eyes. Holding someone’s life in your hands had that effect.

  Jade, though…she had balls. He’d give her that. He’d never have guessed all her experience was in civilian stuff. She’d scratched two of their assailants and saved all their asses today. She would have done whatever it took to help Tommy. He was sure of it. She’d risen to meet what they’d faced, even though he knew she’d felt the danger. Unlike Marco.

  His earpiece pulled him from his thoughts. “Freeborn, come in. Marco here.”

  “I’m here, hey,” he replied. “Good news and bad. Pulled Tommy out of his ship. He’s gonna be okay. His ship’s totaled, though. En route to you now.”

  “Okay, that’s great news. Saito’s good too. We’re both on the Ghost. You have our location? Okay. See you soon.”

  “Yep,” he said. He didn’t have patience to extend the discussion and give Marco a chance to employ his usual macho posturing. He’d deal with him soon enough.

  Henning tapped a screen and Audacity’s computer set the ship down with care. The wash from its thrusters blew fragments of dust and rock outward. The computer warned Henning of the exposure hazard from the atmosphere, but he’d be staying aboard. Marco wanted to come over to talk in person. Fine by him. Henning preferred his casual clothes and avoided putting on a flight suit whenever possible. He wasn’t even sure where his suit was, or when he’d last seen it.

  Henning landed right next to Rebel Star. Ghost of Jupiter was visible beyond it. Marco, clad in a bulky exo suit and sealed helmet, approached the line connecting his and Jade’s ships, grabbed the handles on the pulley, and wrapped his legs over. He slid to Rebel Star’s hull, then disconnected the equipment and set a new line over to Audacity. He scrambled up Henning’s cockpit to the rear of the ship, stopping along the way to give Henning a mock salute. The hull and cockpit were reinforced against the dangerous, unpredictable, punishing environment of space, so it wasn’t possible for Marco’s boots to do any damage, but his standing on the canopy still irritated Henning. Marco had that effect.

  Henning rose from his seat and walked to the main corridor. He passed the galley, infirmary, several storage rooms, and the stairs to the other decks, then finally reached the crew airlock at the stern, where he set the access panel to open the exterior hatch. It eased ajar, and he watched the broiling air distort the infernal landscape of Balenos A beyond it.

  Marco appeared feetfirst and swung into the airlock from the top of the ship. He rapped on the inner door facing Henning, who closed the outer door and began adjusting the airlock atmosphere. As the airlock cycled, Henning turned away and paced. The inner door opened with a hiss once the ninety-second countdown finished.

  Henning snapped.

  Just after Marco removed his helmet, Henning grabbed Marco’s suit in one fist and slammed the other across his face. He threw the younger man against the bulkhead and pinned him there. Marco staggered, his helmet thumping to the deck as he tried to push Henning’s hands away.

  “What the fuck!” Marco said, his voice slurred.

  Henning didn’t even know where to begin. Marco struggled to break free, eventually attempting to slip under Henning’s arm. Henning spun him around, twisting his arm and wrenching it against his shoulder joint. Marco raised up on his toes. He grunted, and blood flowed from his mouth.

  “You think this is fun, mate? You think this is a game?” Henning asked.

  “What got into you, Freeborn?” Marco said. The skin around his eyes tightened as he hissed in pain.

  Henning leaned in and growled into Marco’s ear. He pointed his chin toward the bridge. “Tommy could have bit it out there. Very. Fucking. Easily. He’s lucky he got away from this. But his ship’s gone. Everything he worked for. Everything!” He shoved Marco away. Marc
o staggered to catch his balance, then spat blood on the deck. He worked his jaw in obvious discomfort.

  “Yeah? What do you want me to do about it?” Marco asked as he began unlocking the seals on his exo suit. “We’re making money catching criminals who are trying very hard not to get caught. Bad luck is part of the game.” He shrugged out of the suit and left it on the ground, then wiped his mouth and stared at the blood on his hand.

  How did he already seem so composed? So cocky? Henning’s breath quickened. “You don’t take this seriously. You think you’ve got it all under control. This isn’t a game for me, man. Or for Tommy, or Jade.”

  “Not seriously, huh? Well, you tell me,” Marco said as he leaned against the wall and rotated his tender shoulder joint. “What would you have done? You think I’m doing a shit job leading this team?”

  Henning thought for a second. “I told you this was a trap.”

  “The people we chase don’t want to be caught.” Marco shrugged. “We have to take some chances. The risk is big on this one, but so is the payoff.”

  “See?” Henning said. He pointed at Marco’s face. “That right there. Callous. I used to work with people like you. You say there’s risk but you don’t feel it. You don’t care. I’m telling you, that gets you killed.” He shook his head. “This isn’t fun for me, mate. It isn’t a game. I have a family depending on me. I have promises to keep. I don’t like losing money and I don’t like putting us in danger.”

  “You think I do?” Marco asked.

  “I think you like putting yourself in danger,” Henning replied. “We’re just along on your ride.”

  Marco stepped forward and stood right in front of Henning. “This outcome wasn’t ideal,” Marco said. “I won’t argue that but I won’t apologize for it either. We knew the risks and I made the best call I could. But you all agreed to proceed. So back off!” He shoved Henning, who moved a few inches.

  The two glared at each other in silence, and then Henning turned and walked back to the cockpit.