Collision Course - An Aeon 14 Space Opera Adventure

by M. D. Cooper

  It was going to be an exhausting night. Nadine had to play things just right if she wanted to get everyone where they needed to be. She was up for the challenge, of course. This is what The Hand trained its operatives for: be whatever you need in order to get the intel out of your target.

  She picked up her goblet and toasted with him. “To us.”

  * * * * *

  During the dinner they spoke of trivialities, of Maverick’s rise to position of president, and Kylie’s role in those events. Kingfisher also admitted that he was impressed with Nadine’s skill as a fighter.

  “To be honest, given the condition you were in, I half expected you to die in the first minute. Tell me, is there a chance that you too possess this nanotech?”

  Nadine gave a soft laugh. “Kingfisher, if I could do what Kylie can, Beatrice would have died in the first ten seconds. Her body would be a charred husk back in your camp.”

  Kingfisher laughed. “Well, we’d best not tell her that. She might get testy.”

  Nadine rose from the table as dinner came to a close. “I thank you, Kingfisher, for being so hospitable. I’m hoping that we can forge a working relationship that’s…amicable for both of us.”

  Kingfisher leaned back in his seat and sipped his wine. For a pirate, he had a certain style and finesse that Nadine could appreciate. Even when he was being ruthless, there was something about him that she liked. Something about him that said he was a survivor; Nadine appreciated that on many levels.

  “Amicable is a word for it. Profitable is another. Do you think you can get your crewmates to cooperate and play nice with mine?”

  Nadine thought about it for a moment. “I do. If you’d allow me access to visit them…”

  “Absolutely.” Kingfisher snapped his fingers as if the act itself allowed it. “If, however, they don’t play nice, if they can’t share with others, I’ll space them without a moment’s pause.”

  “And when we find Kylie, we’ll work out how to share the tech with you, but she’s not a prisoner.”

  Kingfisher nodded. “Very well.”

  Nadine could tell that he was lying. It was far too easy. She was no fool. The real details would be hashed out at gunpoint at the worst time possible.

  “I mean it,” she said.

  “I’m sure you do. Now give me the tracking signal’s details.”

  Nadine shook her head. “Not yet. First, I’ll check on my boys, and you’ll give them quarters without bars and locks. Then we’ll talk about the talk. Besides, you haven’t even broken orbit from Jericho yet.”

  Kingfisher shrugged. “Maverick is bound to get testy if I do. I’d prefer to have somewhere specific to go if I’m going to get on his bad side. The vector will determine what excuse I come up with.”

  Nadine resisted the urge to take a shot at the captain of the Barbaric Queen. For all his bluster, he still had a master—one who had just become much more powerful.

  “OK. Point taken.” Nadine passed him the vector David Rhoads’ ship had last been on. It was for a fringe jump point. Likely one that led to the bulk of his father’s fleet. “There, that’s your vector. With any luck, they may not have jumped yet.”

  “And if they have? And who is ‘they’? I like to know what I’m getting into.”

  Nadine gave the captain a sad smile. “It’s her brother.”

  Kingfisher’s eyebrows rose. “Her family has her? The Rhoads family? I’ve heard rumors about her crazy preacher father. I thought they hated tech.”

  Nadine nodded. “They plan to destroy it and cleanse her.”

  “Well then, we can’t let that happen, can we? But what if they’ve reached the jump point? You can’t track someone through the dark layer.”

  That was a fact Nadine knew all too well.

  “If everything worked as it should the device I left on her will have left data in the system-edge beacon that will give us their vector. The Fringe is not rife with systems; we should know their destination without trouble.”

  Kingfisher gave her an appraising look. “Let’s hope so.”

  Nadine turned toward the door and Kingfisher called out. “Where are you going?”

  “To speak with Rogers and Winter. I assume one of your crew is out there, waiting to escort me.”

  “I wasn’t kidding about the dancing.”

  Nadine turned, placing her hands on her hips. “It’s been nearly four hours since we came aboard. I’ve entertained you, and we’ve had our chat. Let’s work up to dancing, shall we?”

  “Very well. Remember, they step out of line and they find out what it’s like to breathe vacuum.”

  “It won’t come to that. I can make them understand. Do you mind if I…?” Nadine pointed to the door.

  Kingfisher nodded his head. “Go, see them. Then return to your quarters when you’re done and get a good night’s rest. In two days’ we’ll be at the jump point and we’ll see where our prey has gone. Don’t forget the terms to our agreement.”

  “I won’t.” Nadine offered him a parting smile and strode calmly out of the dining room.

  Back in the hall, a heavily muscled man stood guard beside the door. His hair was long and bundled into dreadlocks which glowed different colors and moved about his head as though they had minds of their own. His sightless eyes stared ahead as she approached, but she knew he saw her.

  She knew his name, Raye, as he was a well-known fixture in Montral, only recently having joined The Black Crow.

  Remaining blind was a strange affectation, but she suspected that his hair functioned as a type of high-frequency sonar, also sensing EM and air currents and feeding it all into his mind in place of vision.

  It took all kinds.

  “Nice dinner?” Raye asked.

  “Lovely. The captain has given me permission…”

  “I know,” Raye didn’t look at her as he spoke, his unnaturally blue eyes moving about rapidly. Two of the dreads on his head lifted up and moved together as though they were dancing. “He snapped his fingers. I felt the vibration.”

  “Well, if you could just point the way—”

  His one of the dreads broke off from the dance and pointed down the hall. “That way. They had been making a stink earlier. Didn’t like their dinner. Good luck with them because they seem like trouble.”

  “Yes.” Nadine gave a short burst of laughter. “Well, we’ve had a rough patch lately. I’m sure I can calm them down. I just want to speak to them.”

  “Be on your way, princess. You don’t need a nanny. You have basic shipnet access. It will lead you to the brig.” Raye’s cynical laugh slowed Nadine’s movements. She glanced back at him, but he was leaning against the wall, his head tilted back, as he scanned the area, his hair swaying gently around him.

  What a strange place.

  Nadine glanced down at her dress, wondering what the boys would say when they saw her cleaned up and dressed for a lovely evening out.

  Considering that this was the most demure thing in the cabin’s wardrobe, she would have to chance their anger—her clothing was bound to be the least of what they would find fault with.

  The information on the shipnet directed her to take the lift down to Deck 48, from there she’d have to go through a section listed as ‘Security and Good Loot Storage’.

  So much for these being high-falutin pirates.

  The lift let her out into a wide foyer where a pair of crew stood at consoles. They wore matching black armor, much like those who had attacked the abandoned building Nadine and the boys had been hiding in earlier in the evening…damn, no, yesterday. Not that days meant that much when you went from station to ship to planet to ship. Everyone’s clocks were set to a different shift cycle.

  One of the guards looked up at her and grunted, pointing down a corridor to the right. Nadine nodded her thanks and went the way he had directed. She passed into a long, dark passageway. There was no one present, but she did see cameras, and more than one automated turret.

  Each of which s
lowly tracked her movements as she walked, by.

  The corridor was lined with doors, and Nadine realized that these were the brig’s cells. When the ship had been a cruise liner, this was probably where the crew slept, small quarters in the belly of the ship.

  From what she could see of this one passageway, she suspected that the ship was equipped to hold hundreds of prisoners. For all his polish, Kingfisher likely made much of his money on the back of kidnappings and slavery.

  She was wondering which of the doors concealed Rogers and Winter, when a door to her left slid open. Nadine slowed, drew a deep breath, and stepped inside.

  Within the five-meter-square room were barred cells, one on either side. The cell bars stretched overtop the occupants, just low enough that the men would have to hunch over if they stood.

  Winter sat cross-legged on his cot, sweating in the enclosed space’s oppressive heat—likely courtesy of one of the guards she had passed in the foyer.

  Rogers was sitting on the floor with his hands around the bars. Both of them looked up as she entered, but neither met her eyes. “Guys, I can explain—”

  Winter’s stared ahead at Rogers. “Explain what? We don’t need any explanations, do we, Rogers?”

  “Nope,” Rogers said simply and didn’t look up at her.

  “That’s not fair.” Nadine took a breath. “I did what I had to.”

  “To get us on this ship,” Winter said.

  “Yes!” Nadine couldn’t believe he understood so easily. Maybe they were more in sync that she thought.

  Winter narrowed his eyes. “You got us on this ship, got us stuck in this cell, so you can eat and be merry with the asshole Kingfisher. That’s what I see. Nice dress. Did a maid help you do your hair before the ball?”

  Or…maybe not.

  “Winter, it’s not like that. If you can just let me explain—”

  “You can explain to me how you did that, took down that ape-woman,” Rogers said tonelessly, but Nadine could see the anger in his eyes. “The Nadine I know would’ve cowered and run from a fight like that. We thought you were a goner.”

  “I nearly was. If Kingfisher hadn’t stopped her—”

  “You may have killed her,” Winter interrupted. “You held your own, didn’t back down. I know you were kidnapped and gone for a few weeks…but what we saw?” Winter shook his head. “It’s like you’re a different woman.”

  “We couldn’t believe it. Still can’t.”

  Nadine leaned back and touched the control panel on the wall, sending a stream of nano into it to alter the room’s monitoring. It would record a very different conversation from what they were about to have.

  “I did what I had to! Guys, come on. Do you think I wanted to crash land on Jericho only to get kidnapped by pirates? Think about it! I did what I had to,” Nadine whispered the last sentence and glanced back at the door to make sure it was still shut.

  “You’re going to sell Kylie out. What other deal would Kingfisher take?” Winter accused.

  Nadine rolled her eyes. “How dense are you? The both of you really think I’d sell out Kylie? I wouldn’t! I couldn’t. I only said that to get on board this ship.” Nadine glanced between them and felt their festering doubt. “The Dauntless isn’t going to fly again. I’m sorry, Rogers, but we couldn’t fix her. We needed a ride off Jericho. Rescuing Kylie is the only thing that matters. She did everything to save me, I can’t do any less.”

  “And we ride in the brig?” Rogers asked while Winter snorted in agreement. “This doesn’t feel like much of a joy ride, Nadine. Feels more like a double-cross.”

  “Listen. Just shut up and stop interrupting me, please. I’m allowed to come here to plead my case to you both. If you work with the crew, if you do what he says, he’ll let you out of those cells. I need you two to play along.”

  “Have the Kingfisher as my captain?” Winter shook his head. “Uh-huh. No way. I only answer to one captain, and even then, only about half the time.”

  Nadine’s eyes widened. “Winter!”

  “I can’t work with this crew. You’re a fool if you think they’ll just hand Kylie over. The SSF’s bounty on her will be impossible to ignore,” Rogers said. “I can’t believe we’re even having this conversation.”

  “I can’t believe neither of you haven’t figured it out.” Nadine sighed. “How thick-headed are you two? Of course Kingfisher will double-cross us, just like I plan to double-cross him. We work with the crew until they’re comfortable with us and then…we take the ship.”

  Rogers and Winter glanced at each other through the bars. “We take the ship?”

  Nadine nodded and stepped forward. “By force. This thing doesn’t have an AI, I’m certain of it. I can take control of its core systems. We space them, make it for ours. We show them what they get for messing with a bunch of junkers, and we get Kylie back.” Nadine smiled. “We get her back and we do whatever we have to next but nothing happens without her. Deal?”

  “Maybe we can trust you.” Rogers shrugged.

  “Or,” Winter said with clear distain, “maybe you’re working some angle you’re not telling us. You’re obviously not who you say you are—not who we thought we rescued on that derelict all those years ago.”

  “I assume you’ve done something to the room’s monitoring systems?” Rogers asked, nodding at her hand on the control panel. “Did you get knocked up with Lana’s super-nano as well?”

  Nadine shook her head. “No, there’s stuff I learned—before I got kidnapped—that I’ve been trying forget. We all have stuff in our past like that. Yeah, so I can actually fight, and I’m better with tech than I’ve let on, but I’m still the same Nadine. Same woman you’ve always known.”

  “Really? You’re advocating spacing an entire crew. That might be my thing,” Winter said, “never been your thing.”

  “Fine, so we don’t space them. We do something else. Times are desperate. We do what we have to.”

  “Yeah, all right. That I understand, but once we get Kylie back, I think we need to have a conversation. A long conversation. One you might not like. You’re going to spill the beans to us, and to Kylie. No more lies in this crew.”

  “That’s fair,” Nadine said softly. She looked at Rogers. “Are you in? Do I have your trust, Rogers?”

  But he didn’t raise his head and he didn’t look her in the eye like he used to. “I’ll work with the crew. I’ll do what’s necessary for the Dauntless. I swear on the stars, I’m getting her back. If I have to weld her back together myself. I’m not letting the old girl go.”

  Nadine smiled kindly. “We all love the Dauntless, but let’s get Kylie back first. We play along, do what we’re supposed to…”

  Winter leaned forward. “And find a plan to wipe these guys out.”

  Nadine smiled. She might not have had Kylie, but she had her team; something about that made her feel good—as if Kylie was there right alongside her. “I’m glad we’re all on the same page. I’ll talk with Kingfisher.” She hurried to the door. “He said if I convince you help, he’ll let you out of there.”

  “We better be,” Winter whispered. “If your plan doesn’t work…”

  “It’ll work. I can get him to trust me.”

  Roger scowled and finally met her eyes what appeared to be genuine concern. “How?”

  Nadine tried not to think about it. “Any means necessary.”

  Winter huffed. “Guess you’re good at that, aren’t you?”

  Nadine took her licks, she deserved them. She just wished they hadn’t been necessary. “When this is over, I’ll explain everything. You’ll understand…”

  “Maybe we will. Maybe we won’t. For now, just get us the hell out of here.”

  SILSTRAND SPACE FORCE

  STELLAR DATE: 09.26.8948 (Adjusted Years)

  LOCATION: Emperor’s Tears

  REGION: Gedri System, Silstrand Alliance

  Grayson was on his second day in the medbay, which was nice and all, but getting more than
a little dull. The ship had a decent autodoc—something Kylie should invest in for the Dauntless.

  He pushed himself up and sat on the edge of the bed, waiting for his head to get used to being upright. When the room settled down, he slipped off the bed and grabbed the clothes Lana had left for him on the counter.

  He realized that she must have gone through his bags, not that there was much in the way of personal items within. Still felt strange to have a girl whom he had once bounced on his knee taking care of him.

  The corridor was empty, and he queried the ship’s systems for a location on her. She was running laps around the ship’s lower deck, trying to burn off some of the increasing energy she said was running through her body.

  Grayson wasn’t surprised, now that she had the new nano, she ate like a horse. It occurred to him that this weaponized nanotech was probably intended for someone with internal superconductor batteries. Those could store the energy needed for the nano without wearing out the organic systems in the process.

  The sooner they got her to the SSF, the better. One thing was for certain, the girl needed help. He wondered how Kylie was faring. The physical upgrades that the nanotech would impart would be different for her. She already had modified internal systems from her time in the SSF. Perhaps she would adapt better.

  Perseverating over what could be wasn’t going to help keep anxiety at bay.

  He walked down the passageway, took the ladder to the crew deck and entered the galley. Meal prep always calmed his nerves, allowed him to reduce his focus to one simple task. One task that he could complete successfully.

  As he worked, he heard Lana pass by, apparently her run was a multi-level affair. One thing he did notice about her route through the ship was that she avoided both cargo bay one and two. Bay two still held Tayna’s torture implements—and a dried puddle of his blood on the floor. Bay one held something far worse.

  At least the ship had chill systems for the bays, the bodies they studiously avoided speaking of would not rot and stink up the ship.

  If there was one thing to be said about the former crew of the Emperor’s Tears, it was that they liked to eat well. The ship’s larder had been stocked for a month’s journey. He opted for something simple, and made himself a bowl of oatmeal with raisins and apples.