Crossways

by Jacey Bedford

  *And if you don’t? We were twelve hours behind you at the Crossways gate.*

  *This isn’t a gate. We’ll come through together. Trust me.*

  *I’m all trust.*

  Ben doesn’t know whether believing is really what makes this work, but it’s the best he can do. He and Lowenbrun share one vision of the line. Like dancers they echo each other’s steps, nudging forward, gaining what counts for velocity in foldspace.

  *Ready,* Lowenbrun says.

  Ben nudges the ark a little closer to Solar Wind. *Go for it.*

  *Now!*

  There was a shimmer in the air and the ark groaned around them as if subjected to plate-buckling pressure from the outside. Was that even possible?

  “Did we do it?” Max asked. “Oh, gods, I’m going to be sick.” He unbuckled and bolted from the flight deck.

  Cara had bent forward and was squeezing the bridge of her nose between thumb and forefinger.

  “We did.” Ben swallowed bile and inhaled deeply. Truth to tell he didn’t feel any better than any of them looked, but he fought it and checked their position. *Well done, Jake.* He allowed himself a self-satisfied grin. *Everyone all right?*

  *Well, Gwala’s made out of iron, but Hilde looks three shades paler than her normal Scandi-fair.*

  *How about you?*

  *Better than I have a right to be under the circumstances.*

  *Good. We should be able to establish an orbit around Jamundi in approximately two hours.*

  *Yeah, about that? What happens to me, now? Am I off the hook?*

  *Do you want to be?*

  *I don’t want to get spaced, if that’s what you mean.*

  *It’s your word against a dead man’s. I doubt Alexandrov left any sworn statements. Are you willing to have a full psych evaluation?*

  *Anything.*

  *I’m going to need you to stay on board the ark while the settlers are offloaded and resuscitated. There are thirty thousand of them, so that’s going to take some time. The ark needs a pilot just to maintain orbit. It’ll be a routine job, but it’s yours if you want it.*

  *I can do routine.*

  *Good. Maybe when you’ve done routine we can talk about a real job.*

  *Flying for Crossways?*

  *Flying for the Free Company.*

  Ben looked at Cara’s surprised face. “What? We need jumpship pilots.”

  “You hardly know him.”

  “I like him. He strikes me as a decent man who got a set of bad breaks. Isn’t that where we all are right now?”

  “I suppose.”

  “You’re an Empath. What do you think?”

  “I like him too, but I’ve been wrong before. Spectacularly wrong. Do me a favor and get your Nan to check him out. I can connect them.”

  He nodded.

  “Cool.” Lowenbrun sounded happy about the prospect of a new permanent job. *What about Dree?*

  *I guess we can find your cousin a job.*

  Cara cleared her throat loudly and he smoothly followed up with, *Depending on what other skills she’s got.*

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  REUNITED

  CARA HAD THE PLEASURE OF LETTING Everyone know that they’d brought the ark home, and pleasure it was. Gen instantly forgave them for the nine days they’d been out of contact. Max was relieved that it was only nine days and Gen hadn’t given birth without him being there.

  Marta went into a frenzy of sourcing cryo revival units and med-techs to operate them. Then she started muttering about the logistics of supply. The settlement would need extra staples to last them until the first harvest, more agricultural machinery, tools, and livestock. The embryonic trading network that Garrick was setting up was going to be working overtime, especially considering that until Olyanda’s platinum was in full production everyone was working on teetering piles of bills and three degrees of credit.

  Saedi Sugrue received the news for the Jamundi settlement. If the settlers had lost Max when he transferred to the psi-techs to be with Gen, they’d gained Saedi, who was now thoroughly absorbed into the settler society. She was overjoyed and signed off almost immediately so that she could pass the news along. When she came back to Cara with thanks, congratulations, and questions Cara tried to calm the excitement down. *Tell them not to start roasting the ox yet. We’ll get cryo revival units there as quickly as we can, but it’s going to be a slow job reviving thirty thousand, supplying and equipping them with everything they need.*

  They debated whether to revive the ark’s crew and came to the conclusion that it was better to keep them in cryo and revive them later on a neutral station. Then, if they wished to return to their old lives with the Trust they could do so without having knowledge that would compromise Crossways or Jamundi.

  They docked the ark with Solar Wind and traded places with Jake. Ben had Max put Jake on payroll as the newest member of the Free Company.

  They made a brief visit to Jamundi. Psi-techs and settlers, working together, had already carved a holding out of the dense growth on the bank above the lazy river. While Gupta supervised building, Mel Hoffner took the news of thirty thousand incoming cryo pods in her stride and had already begun to make a list of the resources she’d need to devote to the revival project and how long it would take. She fistbumped Ben to transfer the lists from her handpad to his and after a brief report was called away to solve some minor problem that someone else could easily have dealt with.

  *Was I like that on Olyanda?* Ben asked.

  Cara laughed softly. *All the time. You need to talk to Mel and tell her that other people are capable of solving problems, too, otherwise she’ll wear herself out.*

  After the obligatory tour of the settlement to see newly cleared fields and timber stacked ready for building, they admired the sprinkling of self-sufficient houses, some built, some still only frames, and then Ben and Cara borrowed a groundcar and headed out to the new Benjamin farm. Cara was worried that Rion and Ben would start bickering again, but Rion greeted them both warmly and immediately took them on a tour of the farm, still devoid of animals except for the two dogs, a nanny goat in kid, a few feral chickens, and a sty sheltering a fat sow with heavy teats for eight squealing piglets.

  “Come and look at the barn.” He took Cara by the elbow. “Course, there’s not much to see yet except the foundations, but I’ll show you the plans when we go inside.”

  The inside he was referring to was still the temporary medonite structure that Cara had sourced for the family prior to leaving Crossways, a series of small geodesic domes comprising a central living pod and three bedrooms, one for Nan, one for Rion, and one for Ricky and Kai to share.

  *How like Rion to build the shelter for the animals before his own house,* Ben said. *My brother never changes.*

  *You’d be upset if he did.*

  *Maybe.*

  Kai ran to meet them across the yard, a thin auburn-haired girl trailing uncertainly in his wake.

  “Have you seen the barn?”

  “What there is of it,” Cara laughed. “But I’m sure it’s going to be wonderful.”

  “Dad’s been wrapped up in the design for an efficient building for intensive stock rearing. He had these ideas back on Chenon, but tearing down the old barns and starting again would have been too expensive. He still has occasional mood swings, but I think starting again has been good for him.”

  “How about you?”

  “Oh, all right. Pretty good actually.” He held out his hand. “This is Thea. With Nan away an extra pair of hands is really useful, and Thea was contracted to a carpenter and his family but didn’t get on with them.”

  “I signed up to work with wood,” Thea said, “but they wanted a household drudge, so I told them they were in fundamental breach of contract and walked out. I’m good with a hammer and nails.” She grinned. “Much stronger than I
look. I don’t know much about cattle, but I’ll learn, and until then there’s a lot of building to do.” She smiled and her thin face lit up. “Kai’s cooked for us all, but I’m very happy to boil water for tea.”

  Cara smiled to herself. Thea might look quiet, but there was a layer of steel under the fair skin—another Nan in the making. “It’s a very Benjamin thing to do,” Cara said. “Tea would be lovely.”

  While Ben and Rion were deep in conversation and Thea was making tea, Cara leaned over to Kai. “You like this settler girl.”

  “Well, yeah.” Kai grinned back at her.

  “And she likes you?”

  “Oh, yeah.”

  “And your dad?”

  “He’s okay with it. He doesn’t have much of a choice, really.”

  “Like that, is it?”

  Kai winked.

  Visits over, duty done, they headed straight back to Crossways to reunite Max and Gen and to catch up with whatever they’d missed.

  They got an unexpected salute from the guards on the entrance to Blue Seven, which Gwala and Hilde grinned at and Ben returned automatically. Gwala and Hilde tried to leave them at the gate but Tengue turned them around and pushed them into the barbican after Cara, Ben, and Max. As they emerged from the tunnel into Blue Seven, the place was crowded with psi-techs who all began to applaud.

  “This is for you as well,” Tengue said, slapping Gwala and Hilde on the back. “You brought those people out of the Folds. Be proud.”

  Cara felt a rush of elation. Tengue and his mercs had become integral to the Free Company, not just as employees, but as partners.

  Gen rushed forward and flung her arms around Max, pulling him as close as she could to her belly. “Well done.”

  Max actually blushed and looked overwhelmed by the attention, and then they were all in the middle of a back-slapping congratulations fest which lasted until Ben grabbed Cara’s wrist and pulled her into Wenna’s office.

  Wenna was waiting for them with a smile on her face. “That’s a first. I guess you just made history, not one foldspace recovery, but two.”

  Cara had almost forgotten the Bellatkin and her cargo of coffee. It seemed insignificant alongside the ark and thirty thousand settlers.

  “How’s Marta coming along with the cryo units for Jamundi?” Ben asked.

  “I have fifty new ones due for delivery from Drogan’s World within the next two days.” Marta slipped into the office behind them. “Cotille has offered thirty-five that they’ve had warehoused since their own planetfall and I’ve asked Miss Benjamin to inquire of her contacts. Some of the newer colonies may have spares if they haven’t recycled them for raw materials.”

  “How’s Nan doing?”

  “She’s been checking in regularly,” Wenna said. “Mostly with Mother Ramona and Garrick. Says to tell you Ricky is loving the trip, even though she’s making him do schoolwork every day.”

  “He’s a smart kid,” Ben said. “More sussed than I was at his age.”

  Wenna continued. “She’s signed up four more independent planets to a trade agreement with Crossways. All of them are desperate for platinum at standard price so Garrick has agreed to supply them as soon as Olyanda starts to produce. Evidently the megacorps have been charging premium prices to nonaligned worlds.”

  “Imagine that,” Cara said.

  “Yes, who’d have thought it!” Wenna smirked. “Garrick’s agreed that Crossways will stick strictly to standard prices, no more, no less. Three more colonies your Nan has spoken to have reneged on agreements with the Trust and formed their own alliance and are now open to free trade. She says to call her when you get back, by the way.”

  “I will,” Ben said. “What about the jump drives and Gen’s pilot training program?”

  Gen and Max had quietly absconded. Cara didn’t need to guess why. Good for them. They should snatch every moment together while they could.

  “Dido’s jump drives are working well with smaller ships, but she’s trying to develop a compact jump drive that will take larger vessels through foldspace. Gen’s working her pilots hard, but they’ve all achieved basic competence, and the Magena sisters are on their way to becoming outstanding. Crossways has acquired a further fifteen pilots, and two of them recognized the void dragon.”

  “Good,” Ben said.

  “Is it good enough?” Wenna frowned. “It looks like we might need them soon.”

  “What’s up?” Ben asked.

  It was as if icy fingers stroked Cara’s spine at Wenna’s words. She shivered.

  “Crowder’s cooking up something for us,” Wenna said. “Mother Ramona’s spies are picking up unusual ship movements.”

  “She’s sure it’s Crowder?” Cara asked. “I thought he was under suspension.”

  “For someone under suspension he seems to have a lot of lines of communication open to the top offices in both the Trust and Alphacorp.”

  “They’re going after Olyanda before we get too well-established,” Ben said. “It’s what I would do.”

  “You, my love, would offer a clean fight,” Cara said. “I think Crowder’s coming after Crossways as well.”

  When the door to their apartment closed behind them and they were alone, Cara put her arms around Ben.

  He hugged her close, resting his head on her shoulder.

  “Crowder,” she said.

  He groaned. “How much does it take for a man to stay dead?”

  “Well, you made a good comeback yourself.”

  “I suppose I did, but I thought we’d seen the last of Crowder. I thought he’d lost all his credibility with the release of the vid.”

  “Did you feel guilty when you thought you’d killed him?”

  “No guilt. He hurt you. I didn’t even think about it.”

  “You used to be friends. It’s always hard when friendship turns sour.”

  “Crowder didn’t get more than he deserved. Next time I’ll make it four darts.”

  “There won’t be a next time. He’s going to stay as far away from you as he possibly can.”

  “I think you’re right. He’s coming after Crossways. He’ll throw everything he can at us again and again until this is over. He’ll do it through a third party this time.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Oh yes. I need to talk to Garrick.”

  “It’s almost midnight.”

  “So it is. Tomorrow then.”

  “So . . . tonight . . .” She kissed his ear.

  “You have plans?” He raised his head.

  “Unless the station’s about to explode around us there’s not much we can do until morning.”

  “Oh yes there is.”

  Their lips connected.

  Ben awoke warm and safe with Cara snuggled against him in the nest that their passion had carved out of the quilt. Her regular breathing indicated she was still deeply asleep. Since he didn’t want to disturb her he lay still, his arm around her waist, his hand on the silky smoothness of her ribcage, contemplating their future together.

  He remembered her, edgy and nervous on Mirrimar-14 when they’d first met. He’d loved her from the very beginning, but it had taken her much longer to develop trust. He got that. He’d have trust issues as well if van Blaiden and McLellan had mindfucked him as thoroughly as they had her. He was amazed and grateful that she seemed to have overcome all that, at least well enough to function, though he knew from the way she mumbled in her dreams that it was still with her and might never leave.

  She’d come to trust him, though, and now his past was catching up with them both. It was hardly fair, but when had fair ever been part of the equation?

  What did he want? He’d fulfilled his promise to the Ecolibrians, brought home their missing settlers and left them in a safe space. Whatever happened to him, Gupta and Mel Hoffner would mak
e sure the settlement survived, even if they had to be isolated from the rest of humanity. If that’s what it took, then that’s what it took.

  He had a duty to the Free Company, to Wenna and Marta, to Ronan and Jon, to Gen and Max and their unborn child, to the indefatigable Archie Tatum and steadfast Yan Gwenn. Names crowded in. He owed them all.

  Was Crowder coming for them as well?

  Cara stirred in his arms. “Time is it?”

  “Early.”

  “Too early for coffee?”

  “Much too early.”

  He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. She turned into him and stretched against him belly to belly. He stiffened against her. She stroked his flank.

  “I love you, Ben Benjamin.”

  “I’ve loved you since the very first moment we met.”

  “Prove it.” She slipped her hand between their bodies and he gasped. A delicious heat growing in his groin chased away all thoughts of Crowder and the Free Company.

  It was the smell of coffee that roused Ben for the second time that morning. Cara was out of bed, wrapped in a robe, her short hair wet from the shower.

  “The coffee from the Bellatkin is good. Marta sold most of it on the open market but kept some for us.” She laughed. “I can see the look on your face. Don’t worry, there’s caff for you. The good stuff is all mine.”

  “Good. We couldn’t have retrieved a tea clipper, I don’t suppose. It had to be coffee.” He swung his legs over the side of the bed and stretched. “Marta didn’t sell the ship, did she?”

  “No. It’s been overhauled and retrofitted with one of Dido Kennedy’s jump drives.”

  “The pilots?”

  “Families have been notified, ashes returned as requested.”

  He nodded. “I suppose there are loose ends to clear up. The missing ark has been top of the agenda for so long I feel a bit bereft now we’ve found it. Everything seems to be going our way for a change.”

  “Apart from Crowder.”

  “Yes, Crowder.”

  “And Kitty.”