Relic of Sorrows: Fallen Empire, Book 4

by Lindsay Buroker

  “Leonidas,” Alejandro said quietly, “you’re grabbing the wrong person’s wrist. We have to investigate those coordinates immediately, before any more ships get there. Before the Alliance gets there. From all my research, I was led to believe the orb would be crucial in acquiring the staff, but if there’s a way to circumvent it… we can’t let the Alliance try. This is too important. It’s not just my mission and his dying request; it’s our only chance to regain what we had. Without it, we don’t have the resources, and it could be generations before we’re able to rebuild and reestablish ourselves.”

  Neither Leonidas nor Abelardus was looking at him. Maybe neither man even heard him. They seemed to be locked in a silent battle.

  Abelardus was the one to finally break. He gasped and dropped to his knees, turning his body and grabbing at the hand locked around his wrist. Leonidas released him and pushed him away from the pilot’s seat, from Alisa. He put his back to her, but he stood close enough that she could almost feel the heat from his body. He glared at Abelardus, and he also glared at Alejandro.

  Alisa had wanted him as a bodyguard, as an employee, but this was not how she had imagined it. She wasn’t even positive that was what he was doing. Was he guarding her so nobody could force her to change course? Or had he just not wanted Abelardus touching her?

  Her hands shook slightly as she finished laying in the new course, one that would skirt the quarantined area and take them toward Cleon Moon.

  “Leonidas…” Alejandro said, watching him and also watching Alisa work. “We have to get there as soon as possible.”

  Abelardus pushed himself to his feet, massaging his wrist as he stood shoulder to shoulder with Alejandro. “I agree. What those people on that ship found, it’s the tip of the iceberg. I don’t know how it’s possible, but the staff may very well be waiting for us.”

  Leonidas shrugged. “Convince her then. With words,” he added, his voice hard as he glared at Abelardus.

  Alisa exchanged a bleak look with Mica. She did not want to be convinced, with words or anything else. While she appreciated Leonidas stepping in and keeping Abelardus from forcing her to change course, she could not allow herself to forget that he was not on her side, not in this.

  “I have better range than this primitive freighter’s sensors,” Abelardus said, tapping the side of his head. “I can warn her if there are ships in our path or heading in our direction, and Captain Marchenko could fly us out of their range before they sense us. If they somehow got close, I could get into the heads of their bridge crew, whoever’s monitoring sensors, and make him believe he doesn’t see us.”

  “What if there’s a lot more radiation up ahead?” Mica asked. “We don’t have the equipment for dealing with it.”

  Technically, the Nomad could warn them if the radiation levels were dangerously high outside—Alisa had seen that alert when dealing with the pilgrim ship—but she didn’t see the point of going into the quarantine zone at all if they wouldn’t be able to get close.

  “We’ll at least know what we’re dealing with,” Abelardus said. “And who we’re dealing with. Plus, if there are Alliance ships in there, already properly equipped, we can take what we need from them.”

  “Oh yes, stealing from the Alliance,” Alisa said. “You’re really sweet-talking me into helping you now.”

  “I’m saying that we can find a way to handle any obstacles we cross,” Abelardus said. “There’s no reason to turn away.”

  Then why could Alisa think of a dozen reasons without trying?

  You have a fecund mind, Abelardus announced into her head.

  She sighed. Why wouldn’t he leave her alone?

  “Alisa,” Leonidas said, turning enough that he could look down at her.

  She studied the controls and avoided meeting his eyes, a premonition making her stomach flutter with nerves. The others might not convince her, not with words, but if Leonidas asked, it would be different. It would be much harder to say no.

  She took a deep breath to brace herself. She had to say no. This was a foolish mission, one that could keep her from ever finding Jelena, from even living through to the end of the week.

  “Help us with this,” he said quietly, his words for her and not the others, “and I’ll accept your job offer when we’re done. I’ll work for you, and I’ll do my best to help you find her.” He looked like he wanted to say more, but he glanced toward the others and shut his mouth.

  It did not matter. It was enough.

  Alisa closed her eyes.

  All along, she had been eager to have Alejandro and his orb leave her ship, but she had deeply regretted the idea of Leonidas walking away with him, of her never seeing him again. If he hired on, he wouldn’t leave, no matter what Alejandro planned for the remnants of the empire. And even if Alejandro somehow got this staff, could he manage to do anything else without Leonidas’s help? Already, Leonidas had saved his life several times. If Leonidas was here, he wouldn’t be helping rebuild the empire. And more than that, he would be with her, on her ship. How much safer would she and Jelena be out in the freight lanes with an elite cyborg soldier to protect them? A thousand times safer. And more than that… she wanted him here for non-practical reasons. Because she liked him. Because she could see more than liking him, if he ever indicated that he was interested in that.

  He touched the side of her head, fingers brushing along her hair. It was the lightest touch, but it raised gooseflesh all over her body.

  “Damn it, Leonidas.” She thumped a fist down on her console, and he pulled his hand back.

  A hurt expression flashed through his eyes. She wanted to kiss him, to let him know she was frustrated with the situation, not with him, or at least mostly not with him. But she was well aware of Abelardus and Alejandro staring at them.

  All she did was drop her hands onto the controls and reprogram the course again.

  “Doctor, give our Starseer guest some caffeine pills,” Alisa said. “He doesn’t get to sleep until we’re out of this quarantine zone. I want to know well in advance if any ships are coming our way.”

  “I can do that,” Alejandro said, the relief clear in his voice as he walked out of NavCom.

  “I don’t need drugs to stay awake,” Abelardus said. “I’m an evolved human being.”

  “Take your evolved ass to your cabin. I don’t want to see you unless it’s to warn me about trouble.”

  “As you wish.” Abelardus offered that bow again, then strode out.

  “I’m sorry, Alisa,” Leonidas said softly when the two men were gone.

  “For manipulating me or for being on the doctor’s side?” She tried not to sound bitter.

  A big part of her knew she should change the course back to Cleon as soon as they all left NavCom. But she also knew she would not do it.

  “Yes,” he said, touched her shoulder lightly, then walked out.

  “You better be telling the truth about coming to work for me, Leonidas,” Alisa called after him. She lowered her voice to add, “And we better not both be irradiated before it can happen.”

  “I am,” he called back.

  “Sure he is. He’ll probably only work for me for two weeks before sending his résumé out all over the rest of the system.” Alisa looked over at Mica, expecting a comment about résumés.

  Mica had her head in her hand and looked utterly dejected.

  “You think we’re in trouble, you say?” Alisa asked.

  “I knew we were in trouble as soon as he touched your hair.” Mica lifted her head, her face aggrieved. “Damn it, Captain. Can’t you ever make the choice that’s more likely to preserve your own ass? And the asses of your crew? Do you really think we’re going to survive this? If the radiation doesn’t kill us, the Alliance will.”

  Mica pushed herself to her feet and stalked out of NavCom.

  “Optimistic as always,” Alisa murmured, staring at the view screen ahead.

  She reached up and touched the stuffed spider hanging over the co-
pilot’s seat, feeling the need for luck. She prayed that Mica would be proven wrong, but a queasy feeling settled in her stomach as the warning buoy came into view and the Star Nomad sailed past it.

  Chapter 6

  Alisa knew she should get some sleep, especially given the challenges that may lie ahead, but she found herself heading to the mess hall instead of to the lav to sani her teeth. Too many thoughts were spinning through her mind, and she doubted she would do anything but stare at the ceiling if she went to her bunk now.

  She was not the only one awake. Leonidas’s hatch stood ajar, light slashing out into the night-dimmed corridor. She stopped a few paces away. It almost seemed like an invitation, but did she want to take it? She missed having someone to lean against, to sit with on the sofa or in bed while reading or watching a vid. It had been so long since she had that normalcy in her life.

  But if she went in to see Leonidas, they would only end up talking about this suicidal mission. And she wasn’t that happy with him right now. He had finally agreed to what she’d wanted for weeks, but he’d done it to manipulate her. He had been open about it, not trying to be sly, but it was what it was.

  “I don’t understand,” a voice said from inside the cabin, not Leonidas’s.

  It was Alejandro, and Alisa’s lip curled of its own accord.

  “Even if we find the staff there,” Alejandro went on, “which seems like wishful thinking, that’s only the beginning of things, not the end. You can’t simply go off to be a bodyguard on some insignificant freighter. We have to find the boy after that, and teach him, make him worthy of his destiny, of the millions—billions—who will follow him. Just because he has the staff—”

  “Doctor,” Leonidas said, sounding weary, “that’s your quest, not mine.”

  “You’re an imperial officer!”

  “I was an imperial officer. It’s been eight months since anyone deposited money in my account.”

  “I don’t believe for a second that you wore that uniform because of the money. You risked your life every day for the empire, for the emperor. And you told me you risked your life for the boy too.”

  “Yes, I did, and I don’t regret it,” Leonidas said, his voice becoming clearer, as if he had turned toward the hatch.

  Did he know Alisa was standing out there? Had he heard her walking through the corridor? She wouldn’t be surprised. Maybe she should continue past, pretend she hadn’t heard anything, but the hatch was open enough that he would see her go by if he was facing it. And besides, they could have closed it if they wanted a private conversation. This time, the eavesdropping wasn’t her fault.

  “But my twenty years came up last year, Doctor.”

  “So?”

  “So, I’d been thinking about retiring. It was the war that kept me from seriously contemplating it then, but now…”

  The war? Leonidas had admitted to Alisa before that he didn’t know what he would do with himself if he retired. That fighting was all he knew. No, that wasn’t entirely true. Back on Arkadius, he had been about to admit that there was something else he would consider doing, but they had been interrupted before he could tell her what it was. They hadn’t had many moments alone since then, many moments when he might have resumed that conversation.

  “Now, your services are needed even more,” Alejandro said.

  “I’ll get in contact with some of my men. I’m sure I can find you several cyborgs who would be loyal to your cause.”

  Alejandro made a disgusted huff. “Is this really about retirement? Wouldn’t you be bored plodding through the system in a freighter?”

  “I haven’t been so far,” Leonidas said dryly.

  “Are you sure this isn’t just about you wanting to run around the galaxy, rutting with abandon?”

  Alisa blinked, putting her hand on the wall. That sounded so unlike Leonidas that she couldn’t fathom where Alejandro had come up with the imagery.

  “You know that’s not what I want,” Leonidas said, the lightness gone from his voice.

  “If you just want kids, there are other ways. There are—”

  A hatch opened behind Alisa. She jumped and spun, torn between hustling back to her cabin and continuing down the corridor. Was Leonidas still turned toward the hatchway?

  Yumi stepped out carrying a lit candle in a holder. “Greetings, Captain,” she said cheerfully.

  Alisa grimaced. Well, if the two men hadn’t known she was skulking in the corridor before, they would now.

  “Yumi,” Alisa said, “it took you long enough. I thought we were getting a snack.”

  “Uhm?” Yumi gave her a quizzical look.

  Before she could say more, Alisa took her arm and guided her past Leonidas’s hatchway without looking in.

  “I didn’t realize you were waiting for me, Captain,” Yumi said as they continued toward the mess.

  Alisa’s grimaced deepened, since she was sure Leonidas and his enhanced ears would hear the words.

  “Did Mica tell you that I’m going to perform a group prayer and meditation session in the mess hall?” Yumi went on. “You are, of course, welcome to join us.”

  “It does seem like it would be a good time to pray,” Alisa said as they walked into the mess.

  The lights were on, and a couple of plates sat on the table. Beck stood with his head in the refrigerator, humming to himself as he inspected his options. He wore baggy plaid trousers and fuzzy slippers that almost matched the shag carpet in the rec room. Oddly, he also wore gloves. Alisa hadn’t seen him bother with such sanitary methods when preparing food before.

  “Oh, Tommy,” Yumi said, “are you also going to join in the group prayer and meditation session? You’ll find it a relaxing way to unwind before bed.”

  Beck turned, a miso jar in hand. “Er?”

  Yumi set her candle on the table. “Just let me go check on my chickens. I’ve been worried about them due to the radiation exposure. I convinced the doctor to modify his cocktail for them.”

  “I bet that was fun,” Beck said.

  “He grumbled about not being a vet, but he did supply me with something.”

  As Yumi continued through the mess hall and toward the cargo hold, Alisa slid into the table, hoping Beck would share whatever he was making if she looked hungry enough.

  “Are you shedding?” Beck asked.

  “Pardon?” Alisa asked.

  He held up his gloved hand. “It’s like I have a sunburn that’s peeling. I’m not sure whether to blame the radiation or Doc’s medicine.”

  “The radiation, I think.” Alisa hadn’t experienced any skin issues. Only the side effects from Alejandro’s “cocktail.” If she had known about her special blood before, she would have passed on that treatment.

  “Hope the chickens aren’t shedding,” Beck said. “Or de-feathering. They’re homely enough as they are. They’d look funny without feathers.”

  “They’re not so homely that you object to eating their eggs.” Alisa frowned. “We may want to pass on that for a while.”

  “Seems smart.” Beck pulled out some sliced meat and a knife, which he flipped and caught a few times without cutting himself. “Something on your mind, Captain?”

  Everything.

  “Why do you ask?” Alisa resisted the urge to glance back toward Leonidas’s cabin.

  “You don’t usually show up for Yumi’s meditation sessions.”

  “Do you?”

  “Me and Mica do sometimes, though I prefer it when it’s just me and Yumi.” He gave her a wink, though his expression soon turned sour. “Last night, the Starseer showed up too. That was intolerable.”

  “Is he not a skilled meditator?”

  “That’s all he wanted to do. He got cranky with me when I asked Yumi questions. He said people aren’t supposed to talk when they meditate.”

  Maybe Alisa would tell Abelardus she was meditating the next time he spoke into her head.

  “But since we haven’t started yet, you can talk if you want to,” Beck
offered. “I’m making a sandwich. Want one?”

  “Yes, please. Do I look like I need to talk?”

  “Well, maybe. I heard what happened in NavCom. Wish you’d called me up there when they were all trying to bully you into changing course. I was working out and didn’t know anything was going on.”

  “I don’t think anyone else would have fit in NavCom.”

  “If you don’t want to go on this diversion, just let me know.” He waved his knife, then sighted down it, as if it were a gun. “We’ll lock you in NavCom, and I’ll stand outside the hatch and deal with anyone who tries to come force you to go where you don’t want to go.”

  “You’ll deal with Leonidas and Abelardus?”

  “Absolutely. They both eat my food, you know. I can do dire things to them, if not with poison, then with some undercooked meat. How’re they going to make you change course when they’re doubled over in the lav for hours with crippling—”

  “Thank you,” Alisa said, flinging up a hand to stop the imagery. “I’ll keep your offer in mind. Though I do think Leonidas’s enhanced taste buds might warn him when he’s in danger of… being crippled.”

  “What about the Starseer?”

  “I’m not sure. I’d settle for being able to keep him out of my head. I wish I knew some Starseer tricks myself for that.”

  Alisa remembered Yumi mentioning some drugs she had that supposedly made it hard for a Starseer to see a person’s thoughts. Should she ask for some of those? She could see a time coming when it would be useful to keep Abelardus from rummaging in her mind. Too bad she had some busted genes but not actual Starseer skills. It would have been helpful to have the mental powers to block him from intruding.

  “Then you’d be one of those freaks,” Beck said with distaste, spreading miso on slices of bread.

  Alisa winced. Of course, he had no idea that she had recently been put into the freak category. And he knew little of Jelena, certainly not that she had developed Starseer powers. Alisa could not blame him for talking that way. After all, he still called Leonidas a mech. Beck did not have the smoothest tongue.

  “Would it matter if I was?” she asked, not sure why the words slipped out.