“Oh. I was hoping—never mind.”
“Thank you for this. Thank you for keeping it.” He put the blade on his belt.
“Least I could do.”
Nero sighed and glanced back into the living room. “Rune’s a cute kid. Who’s his mother?”
Kae and Ameluan exchanged looks.
That was a rude question. This could be a sore spot for them, Prospero said.
“I meant no offense,” he added.
“None taken,” Ameluan said. “Kae came to Zov with him.”
“To be honest, I don’t know. I found him while doing a job.” Kae shifted in his seat. “I didn’t really intend it, but the kid was all alone and needed help, so I took him.”
Nero hesitated. This was an opening to ask the harder questions. “How’d you wind up on a VoQuana world?”
Kae exchanged a glance with Ameluan.
“It has to do with Siren, doesn’t it?”
Ameluan’s face twitched. Kaeden paled.
“We tracked you here,” he continued. “I almost don’t believe it, but you filed a flight plan at Elmorus—a real one. Why didn’t you enter a fake destination?”
Kae’s jaw dropped a centimeter. “I got sloppy. That damn Urok was so annoying; I filed one just to shut it up. Who knew a plant could talk so much? I can’t believe you got it out of that decaying computer system.”
“Sorina’s something special. She managed to piece it together. Have you been here the whole time since?”
Kae looked at Ameluan again. “I’ve had reason to start using Zov as a friendly port.”
“I have to ask. You took Siren to Brogh Prime, didn’t you? Did it start the war?” He watched, feeling a pang of regret for the necessity of the question. The only friend he knew looked pained.
“I’ve made several runs off-world since. Brogh Prime isn’t the only place where I’ve had to take that shit.” He shook his head and looked down at the table. Ameluan put a hand on his shoulder.
“Other worlds have been attacked?” Nero asked.
He nodded.
“Who are you working for? Why’d you do it?”
“There was always some intermediary,” Kae said. “I know the person behind those I met is very powerful. Whoever it is wanted this war with the Brogh, and niu almost got me killed on Calemni IIb.”
“Niu? Like an Isinari?”
“No, I’m just not sure who the person is, male, female, or something else.” Kaeden sighed. “Whoever it is, they’re linked to the beings that broke the quarantine on this world.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because they gave the order to bring Siren to Calemni IIb through me,” Ameluan answered. “The order came from Login, but I am certain he was not its origin. The only thing I know about the one who gave that command is that niu does not work for the Matriarch, but seems to hold at least equal rank with a lugal or higher.”
The Matriarch is the leader of the VoQuana, Prospero chimed in as Nero was about to ask. She rules them from Quae. The lugals are the governors of her colony worlds.
He nodded. “So, we’re no closer to finding out who calls the shots.”
“If there were some way to interrogate Login you might find out, but as a machine he is immune to our abilities. He is also protected by Lugal Meshara and his army of drones. You will never get near him,” Ameluan said.
He took in a deep breath. “We can find out if we can get at his neural processor.”
“Even if that’s possible, I’d think it’s better we get you all off-planet. Kae’s ship is in the hills nearby, and it has an AlCas Drive,” Ameluan said.
It was a tempting thought, but he shook his head. “I must find out who ordered the Siren attacks, and who breeched the quarantine. I suspect it’s the same being, but I need proof. If that proof is in Login’s head, that’s where we need to go—er—I mean that’s what we need to get at before we go.”
“Well, that hasn’t changed about you,” Kae said.
“What?”
“You’re still stubborn as hell.” He shifted his weight and the chair to creaked. “I have to agree with Luan. Trying to capture and interrogate Praetor Login would be suicide.”
“Maybe.” He sighed. “You still haven’t answered why you brought Siren to Brogh.”
Kae’s shoulders slumped. “I didn’t know what it was the first time. The job was just to take a bunch of canisters to Ambassador Keltan on Brogh Prime. I figured it was a milk run, nothing special. I thought they were probably supplies or something.”
“You didn’t check?”
“Had orders, and I didn’t care what it was at the time. The payment was taking me off the AWOL list.”
“Who offered you that?” Nero asked.
His friend hesitated. Ameluan reached over and squeezed Kae’s hand.
“I’m not sure. They contacted me through Orithia at first. I guess that was the only way to get to me after she helped us off the Zeus’ Thunder. I don’t know how they knew it was her, but they said if I didn’t help them I’d be executed, and she would follow along with Zura—”
“Zura?” he asked.
“She was the only other surviving member of our unit, Zura’Ux’Zura. Meanest Cleebian I’ve ever met.” He chuckled, lost in a memory behind his eyes for a moment. “You’d never know it from that tiny mouth of hers but she could drink us all into the Void. She stopped me from committing suicide and attacking the Abyssian as he took you away. I hated her for it then, but now I’m grateful. I wish I could’ve told her that before we parted ways, but she went back with Orithia after they dropped me off.”
Nero stared at the table, trying to recall this “Zura’Ux’Zura” but his mind was blank. “I don’t remember.”
“Maybe I could be of assistance?” Ameluan said.
He scratched his chin. “I let someone monkey in my head already and it didn’t help much—well, I remembered Kaeden, but that was all. I’m not sure you could help undo what Daedalus did.”
“Just so, it is my species’ specialty.”
“I’m a little creeped out, truth be told. No offense.”
“None taken. Not everyone is as enlightened as my Kae.”
“Luan,” Kae frowned.
“I meant no offense. Please continue with your story, darling.” Ameluan planted a kiss on Kae’s cheek. The move brought the hints of a blush to the skin above his mutton chops.
“Stop it,” he said without force, then took a deep breath and continued. “I couldn’t let them get Orithia because of what I did. I couldn’t let them do that to you after failing to get you away from that Praetor. When whoever it was approached me and proved they had the power to make my AWOL status go away I agreed to their demands, and Orithia got a transfer to the Peleus. I didn’t want to chance screwing up before… but then I saw what the thing in those canisters did.” He sighed. “I wasn’t supposed to hang around Brogh Prime, but I got the urge to drink so I found a bar in town. I figured I’d have just one drink, maybe two, to shake off the bad feeling I had in my gut. I was there when it started.”
He slumped, taking a deep draft from the cup before him. “The Broghs tore each other apart in the streets. It didn’t affect me, I don’t know why since the other times it worked on humans, but I was able to make it out. I was supposed to head back to Elmorus after the drop-off, but I went to Sasstossa instead. They found me anyways and told me if I disobeyed again they’d kill me and your sister. I couldn’t bear that, so I did what they said.”
“How many worlds?” Nero asked.
“So far? Four. The last job I did was to bring that crap to Calemni IIb.” He stopped, biting his finger and looking towards the living room. Nero followed his gaze to where Sorina and Rune were on the couch. “Ten goddamn years of this shit.”
“I’m sorry, Kae,” he said.
“I failed you. You shouldn’t apologize—don’t. Just, let me try to make it up to you now.”
Nero nodded and caught Sorina’s e
ye. She got up and came over. “All right. First, I need you to come with us when we leave this planet.”
Kae frowned. “Why?”
“I’m after the man I believe created Siren, and your testimony will help put him away.”
“You’re still working for Daedalus?” Kae’s eyes widened.
“Fuck no, but right is still right. I’m doing this for me, and I suppose a few of the barons who’ve also been wronged by the one responsible.” He pressed his lips together, feeling his answer was inadequate but he had no idea how to shore it up. “Anyways, maybe it’ll bring some justice back to the Spur if you help me do this.”
Kae nodded. “Yeah, I can see that.”
“Baby—” Ameluan said.
“It’s a chance to set some things right, at least a little. Look, Nero, I’ll go with you to Kosfanter or wherever, but I’m telling you going after Login here, behind a wall of armed drones, guards, and Maskhim, is not going to happen. Maybe we can do something about him and the quarantine breech later, but if we try this right now we’re dead.”
The green sparks in Ameluan’s eyes flickered back and forth between him and Kae. Sorina took her seat between them with her ears twitching.
“Kae, this is—” Ameluan began.
“I’m going with him,” he said in a firm tone.
“What about Rune?” Ameluan asked. “You can’t involve him in this.”
Kae looked over at the boy on the couch. “He can’t stay here either. In order to get off-planet without permission we’re going to have to mess with the air traffic and defense system. They’ll trace it back, and they’ll know who did it. After we do this, you know they’ll come for him if he stays.”
“And me,” Ameluan said.
Kae nodded, then looked at Nero. It took him a moment to realize what that look meant.
Oh no, Nero. No way! You can’t possibly think of taking a VoQuana off a quarantined world, Prospero said.
It’s been breached already, he thought in muted tone. And I think we’ve all been through enough. We need Kae with us, and I won’t have him torn from someone he cares about in the process.
Prospero was silent for a few moments. Fine, but you’re going to get us both into a world of shit.
We’re already there, he thought back. “He can come with us. I guess we’ll have to use your ship anyways. Aside from that, I think we have a chance against Login. I’d like to take it.”
“You don’t,” Kae responded.
He gritted his teeth, but he supposed he would have to accept that for now. Maybe Kae was right and they could do something about it later. Maybe he could alert Daedalus, or the Barony, and maybe that would help their case against Baron Revenant if they didn’t find out he took a VoQuana off-world with him. He didn’t like it, but it didn’t seem like there was another option.
“Okay, we’ll do it your way,” he said. “We won’t go after Login.”
“I guess we better get to it.” Kae brightened, though he noted that Ameluan did not seem moved.
“Get to what?” he asked.
“Planning the mission.”
“What’s involved?” he asked with a glance at Sorina. Her expression was focused, her ears still.
Ameluan shook his teardrop-shaped head. “The defense and air-traffic control network was set up by your master—”
“He isn’t my master anymore.”
“As you say, but it doesn’t change the fact that the system is impossible to hack.”
“Someone hacked Login,” Athame stated.
“And I still can’t imagine how niu managed it,” Ameluan responded. “But there could be another way. The defense network is centered in the central ziggurat. If I physically damage it—”
“Wait, what?” Kae interrupted. “You can’t. They’ll kill you.”
“It would knock out the system until the backups activated in the spaceport,” Ameluan said. “If you knock out those the system goes down.”
“What about the battle stations?” Sorina asked. “They operate independently, don’t they?”
“They’re linked, but you’re right. They can stand-in for the ground system.” Ameluan sighed. “Maybe it won’t work.”
“We’ll have to think of another way. To tell you the truth I’m relieved. You can’t put yourself in danger like that,” Kae said.
“Why not? You are.” The corners of Ameluan’s mouth angled towards his pointed chin.
“If I can come up with a new version of the virus we used to knock Login out it would make a window for us to escape,” Sorina said.
“Can you do it?” Nero asked. “I thought that was a one-shot thing.”
“That particular virus complex was a one-shot deal, but something new might work,” she answered. “Two new things. One virus complex for the spaceport systems and one for Login’s network.”
“I concur with Agent Khepria,” Athame said. “It can be done.”
“How long would you need?” he asked.
“I do not know,” she answered.
We’re stuck here until we figure it out anyways, so what does that matter? Prospero asked.
“Good point,” Nero nodded.
“What is?” Kae asked.
“Never mind. We’ll need a while, maybe a few days or more to develop the virus. I hate to lean on you, brother, but—”
“We cannot remain within the city undetected for long. The lugal will notice my deception in time. We should go to the ship,” Ameluan cut in.
Nero looked at Kae.
“You’re right, darling. The ship is safer.” He nodded.
“You have a way to get us there undetected?” Nero asked.
A smile spread across Kae’s lips. “Of course.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
TSDS Kageryū, Taiumikai System
41:3:2 (J2400:3184)
“You okay?” Armstrong asked in her heavy frontier drawl. The question drew his gaze up from the fold-out table protruding from the wall in his quarters where he watched the death of his world for the fifth time in high-definition holography. He blinked, took in a deep breath, and ordered the image away before turning the chair around. The move brought his feet into contact with Tengu, who was napping beneath it. The cerberai raised his sleepy head and gave him a green-eyed stare before shuffling half-a-meter away and resuming his nap.
“Sorry,” Ichiro muttered with a nod at Tengu. His quarters were located in the primary habitat ring, and were double the size of the captain’s. Armstrong stood two-meters away from him, leaning her back against the far wall and looking him over with her mismatched blue and brown eyes. She was letting her hair grow in, he noted. A thin, honey-blond fuzz now covered her scalp. Thanks to the fabricators on board, she wore a gray jumpsuit and a utility jacket with the blooded ax and sword of her mercenary company over her left breast. The white circle and three lines of his House decorated the space over her right. His eyes traced back and forth between the two symbols.
“Do I have to tell you where my eyes are?”
“Apologies, Commander. I was looking at the symbols on your jacket.” He blanched and looked over at the window as fast as he could. The eerie blue-green glow of the Einstein-Rosen Bridge filled the octagonal portal.
Armstrong chuckled. “I’m sure you were. I don’ mind, by the way. I was jus’ askin’.”
He didn’t know what to make of that. What she was referring to exactly? It was best, in these situations, just to forge ahead. “I was thinking about your company. I said I would help, but I’m sorry we haven’t had time to go back for them. I would do so right now if I could.”
“I know. I already accepted that. You got other things that got to get done right now. I’m sure Kasca’s got it under control.”
“Who’s Kasca?”
“My younger brother. The Reivers are a family business, an’ he’s in charge when I’m not around,” she said.
Ichiro nodded. “I’m sure he’s leading them well.”
“
He’s all right,” she said with half a smile. “How about you?”
“Me?”
“You still haven’ answered my question.”
He pressed his lips together. How could he answer her when he felt so defeated inside? Telling the truth here would be admitting that he was crushed, that all he wanted to do was sit and let the pain of losing everything he was sworn to protect kill him. He wanted to plunge Hoshinagi into his stomach and split it open. It was probably what he should do. No other Shōgun in history had allowed such a disaster to occur, but he knew that if he did there would be no one to oppose Zalor, or avenge Taiumikai, or to fulfill his father’s dream. It had to be him, and so he had to live with his shame until the work was complete.
He sighed.
“That bad? Look, I know you don’ wanna hear it, but there’s nothin’ you could do. That attack came outta nowhere, an’ it’s a miracle that we weren’ killed. I suppose we got your küschelbär to thank for that, right?”
He nodded. “I think so, but I don’t really know. We’ll ask her when we find her.”
Armstrong made a face, but hid it quickly. He felt her pity.
“I ‘spose we will. In the meantime, we got work to do. An’ before you go thinkin’ I ain’t been through what you have, remember my home world was scorched by the Brogh. Other than my brother an’ my company, I got nothin’ left. It’s the same as you, in a way. I’m not sayin’ it’s on the same scale, but you got people, an’ you got this ship, an’ you got me, right? So you still got somethin’ you can do, that you have to do. I know you ain’ askin’ my advice, but I say concentrate on that an’ you’ll get through this.”
Ichiro looked down, but she was right. It didn’t make it hurt any less, but she knew what she was talking about, and he would do what he had to if for no other reason than it was the right thing.
“You’ve got a way with words, Armstrong.”
She shrugged. “I’m sure. I’m a regular poet.”
He gave her a look, then chuckled. “Since we’re talking, maybe you should tell me what I should do with my uncle.”
Eye of the Abyss Page 36
