by K A Bledsoe
Quinn appeared to consider this information for a few moments. “What about the priest?” he asked. “What does he think about all this?”
Kurla laughed so hard she nearly doubled over. Quinn’s eyes narrowed again as she tried to catch her breath.
“Oh, I have so much to teach you,” she said, wiping her eyes. “There’s no priest. It’s a ruse that I have used several times to good effect. As you can see, there is so much more to a disguise than wigs and makeup.”
Quinn nodded. “You fooled me.”
“So, you will join us?”
Quinn’s mouth thinned as he glanced briefly at his mother and father. Lenore held her breath as he looked away, guilt on his face.
“Only if you swear to not harm them,” he said. Diarmin gave a small gurgle that Lenore felt in her heart.
“I already promised that,” said Kurla, annoyance in her voice.
“One more thing.” Quinn brandished the blaster again and Hob’s finger tightened on the trigger. “You let my sister go. For good. She is with the patrol by now and I doubt you would want to tangle with them.”
“You are right.” Kurla lifted her chin. “You have my word. We will not pursue her, now or ever.”
Renny started to protest but Kurla cut him off. “That’s my order. This young man will repay tenfold our loss of that part of the bonus. The kids aren’t worth that much anyway.” She held her hand out.
Quinn’s hand wavered slightly but he didn’t lower the weapon. “How can I trust you? Be sure you won’t go after my sister? Or hurt them?”
Kurla lowered her hand and looked annoyed again but answered. “Trust goes both ways. I think I have something that will establish our trust, but I need something from you as well. How can you prove your trustworthiness to me?”
“There is an item in my jacket pocket that should be a start.”
A smile spread across Kurla’s face. “I was going to say the exact same thing. We are very similar creatures, you and I.” She held her left hand away from her body and slowly reached her right hand into her pocket. Quinn tensed but there were no tricks. Kurla pulled out a small device that easily fit into the palm of her hand and held it up.
“Renny. Do you know what this is?”
“Yes, it is the control for the snoop cams.”
“And what happens when I destroy it?”
“You would lose the ability to track the cams.”
“You see? I would have no way to find your ship and sister. I will destroy it if you can earn my trust as well. And if you stay, you can be assured of your parents’ wellbeing. Come now, your turn.”
Without lowering the gun, Quinn reached his left hand into his own pocket and pulled out a small cube that was obviously some kind of electronic device. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“This… this device is unique. It masks any transmissions within a certain area. Even,” he hesitated and wouldn’t look toward his parents. “Even very strong implanted tech.”
The surprise on Kurla’s face was only there for a second until the smile returned. “Ah, so that’s why she didn’t have the patches.”
“Yes. My father and I have been working on this for quite some time.”
Lenore whipped her head toward Diarmin who looked away from her glare. Could it be true? Why would they both betray her like that?
Kurla echoed her thoughts. “Why would you do that?”
“It was designed to hide her bio signs from detection. The side effect we couldn’t counter was complete cutoff from any transmissions. If you use this, you won’t be able to detect any biosignatures.”
“Since they are in the cell, I won’t worry about that,” she said. “Toss that to Renny here to verify it isn’t dangerous.”
Quinn complied and Renny mumbled that it seemed to be a suppressor of a sort, nothing like an explosive.
Lenore kept saying to herself. He’s faking. He has to be. He wouldn’t do this to us.
“Very well.” With a flourish, Kurla tossed the control to the floor and ground it under her heel. “There. I think we have a good start. The rest of trust needs to be earned.” She held out her hand again.
Quinn engaged the safety and handed her the blaster. Hob slowly lowered his though he kept alert.
“Welcome to the crew,” said Kurla. “Your first order is to set up that device so she can’t send any messages.”
Quinn nodded and took the device to hook on to the cell door just above the control pad. Lenore couldn’t stop her feet and she took three long strides until she was in front of her son on the other side of the force field.
“Why?” She stopped herself short from saying his name, but she wanted to.
He wouldn’t look at her and she thought he wouldn’t reply but as he pushed the button to activate the small device, he finally talked.
“This way, I know you will be healthy and able when you get to where you are being taken. And my sister and I have a chance for new lives.” He didn’t give her a chance to answer, simply turned and walked away. Despite telling herself he was acting, doubt crept into her heart.
“Can I ask you a question, Kurla?” asked Quinn.
“Of course,” she said.
“Why did you steal those items?”
“Aha, want to learn something already?” As Quinn nodded, Kurla glanced at Lenore with a grin then linked her arm through Quinn’s and started out the door. “If you want to appear helpless, act like a victim. Also, the stolen tools gave me a reason why I was in the cargo bay, distracting from my true purpose for being there. Nobody thought to look for hidden devices, did they? So, what you need...”
Her voice faded away as she moved out of earshot. Renny shot them a malicious smile before he also disappeared down the corridor after them.
The strength left Lenore’s body and she sank to the floor. The horrible scene that had just played out had distracted her from the fact that she and Diarmin were to be handed over to the very people she wanted to see the least.
But the hurt of losing their son was a hundred times worse than knowing they were going to be delivered to the Xa’ti’al.
Chapter Thirty-five
Allison shifted, trying to relieve the cramp in her left leg. Of all the things she had ever done, sitting squeezed into a tiny storage space for hours was her least favorite. She found a more comfortable position and eyed her pad yet again. Aha! Two heat signatures were in cabins, most likely getting ready for bed. She waited for another fifteen minutes or so but two were still on the bridge. She wished she had a better scanner so she could know who was where.
After hacking into the patrol ship’s computer, Allison had programmed its computer to ignore her bio signs and anything related to the shuttle. After Quinn left, she eased out of the locker where she had stowed away and sneaked on board the ship when all the other bio signs were in the brig. Despite her efforts to sabotage the repairs to the ship, the computer had told her when they had finished. The ship had jumped to transwarp about an hour ago.
Now, since it looked like at least two were going to sleep, Allison went to work. Using her hook into the ship’s computer, she overrode the locks on the cabin doors, locking the two in the cabin. She watched the sensors carefully but the two in the cabins did not move at all. She didn’t dare use the same stratagem on those on the bridge because there they could override her commands. But she was running out of time. She had to start the next phase of the plan or they would all pay the price.
***
“Mom. Dad. Anybody awake?”
Lenore almost didn’t catch the whisper. It wasn’t coming from her audio implant and turning her head slightly, she saw nobody else in the brig. She quickly stuffed the EM device back into her bra and pulled on her gloves. She’d been trying to rig up something to short out the force field of the cell but hadn’t quite succeeded despite Diarmin whispering advice when he could. She noticed Diarmin in a listening pose as well. He looked at her and tapped behind his ear, but Lenore
was already raising her hand to her ear. She activated her enhanced hearing implant and listened again.
“Come on, someone be there. I can’t go any louder.”
The voice sounded like it was coming out of the box that Quinn had attached to the outside of the cell. Lenore stood, eyeing the security cameras as she strode to the box. Diarmin followed on his side of the wall, getting as close as he could to her.
“Alli, is that you?” Lenore whispered, feeling a little silly at talking to a box.
“Yes, it’s me. Your implant isn’t receiving so I tapped into this little device. It isn’t hooked up to the ship so I figured it wouldn’t be traced. I still need to whisper though because I couldn’t hack into any systems in the brig, so the security video and audio are still working.”
“I have my hearing maxed so talk as softly as you need. Where are you?” She assumed on a patrol ship shadowing the stolen vessel.
“In a storage closet two corridors away from the cargo bay.”
“What?!” Lenore’s heart sank as she realized her daughter was exactly where she didn’t want her to be. Diarmin hissed at her and she lowered her voice again.
“How?” she asked, wanting to say so much more but needing to be wary of any watching eyes.
“I stowed away on the shuttle and after Quinn got off, I found a good hiding place in this closet. Except it’s quite cramped and I can’t do all I wanted.”
“Look, Allison. You need to get back on that shuttle and get out of here.”
“They’ve locked it down and I haven’t hacked those codes yet. Concentrating on getting you and Dad out.”
“We’ll be fine. You leave!” Lenore couldn’t help her voice raising again.
“Ow, Mom. Not so loud. Anyway, I can’t access the systems of the brig to let you out. They are on a separate grid than the rest of the ship. I can’t even cut power to that section. Probably a failsafe built into patrol ships to prevent exactly what I am doing. I need to come to you to let you out. Just wanted to give you a heads up so you will be ready.”
“Don’t you dare, Alli,” Lenore said in a rough whisper. “You stay put.” A quick glance at Diarmin showed that his anxiety levels were perilously close to the maximum like her own.
“It’s okay. I have got two of the others locked in their cabins. The other two, I don’t know which, are on the bridge…oh, oops. Crap!”
“Allison,” said Lenore.
No answer. Lenore looked at Diarmin and the fear in his eyes echoed that in her heart.
“Allison!”
The box was silent but suddenly that was her secondary worry as Kurla and Quinn came into the room. Quinn was walking in front of her and Lenore noticed that Kurla was wearing a blaster. So, she still didn’t quite trust her newest crewman. Lenore’s relief that they hadn’t discovered her daughter must have showed as Kurla’s eyes narrowed.
“Why would you be happy to see me?” asked Kurla. “I am here to get some answers as to why you two are talking in whispers.” Her head swiveled between her prisoners. “You could have talked from your beds. Why are you standing here? Attempting to get out?”
Lenore took a step back. “Just restless and bored. Got anything to read on this ship?”
Kurla laughed sourly. “Reading? That should be the least of your worries. Now, what exactly are you up to?”
A face popped around the door frame and it took all of Lenore’s will not to react. She thought Diarmin was completely stone faced as well but Kurla either noticed or heard something. She spun around to face Allison, hand going for her blaster.
“Don’t,” said Allison. “I really don’t want to shoot you.” She was in the doorway, at least ten feet from Kurla, but with both hands she held a blaster rifle.
Kurla’s hand hovered over her blaster. “Well, well, well. The whole family back together again. You know, little girl, I can see that you are not used to that weapon and I am guessing that I could probably get a shot off with no difficulty. Unlike you, I am very experienced and would not miss. So why don’t you be a sport and simply hand over that gun so nobody gets hurt. You can join your parents.”
Lenore had come to the same unfortunate conclusion since she could see the barrel wavering and Allison trembling.
“You said you would let her go,” said Quinn.
“I said I wouldn’t pursue her.” Kurla shot a quick glance and grin at Quinn. “But what am I supposed to do when she appears on my doorstep?” She turned back to Allison. “Now be good. I doubt your aim would do more than singe my hair.”
“I don’t have to aim. This weapon is set on wide beam,” said Allison as she gripped the barrel more firmly.
The grin vanished off Kurla’s face and her hand stopped its slow approach toward her own weapon. “I see. But if you fire, you will take out your brother as well and you don’t want that, do you?”
Allison’s eyes flicked toward Quinn and Lenore could see her son give a minute nod. Was he confirming what Kurla said? Encouraging her to give over the blaster? Lenore felt her heart couldn’t take any more. She decided to create a distraction, but the decision was moot as everything happened all at once.
Kurla went for her blaster.
Allison said, “Sorry, Quinn.”
She squeezed her eyes shut and pulled the trigger.
Chapter Thirty-six
Diarmin blinked the tears away. The blue light had filled the room and he was temporarily blinded. The force field had kept any of the weapon’s discharge from reaching inside the cell, but he heard groans and thuds. He fiercely rubbed at his eyes, desperate to see what had occurred. The only comfort he could give himself was that the light had been blue. That indicated a stun shot but he couldn’t be sure. He didn’t think that rifle had a stun setting.
Through watery vision, he could see someone outside their cells, fiddling with the controls. He thought he could see dark hair.
“Alli?”
“Just a minute, Dad. These controls are tough.”
“What…what did you do?” That was Lenore’s voice.
“It’s okay, Mom. The gun was set to stun. Ah, there!”
The force field fizzled out and Diarmin rushed to envelop his daughter in a hug. His wife was half a second behind.
“Ooof. Okay, okay. I’m fine. Let’s get this ship turned around, shall we?” she said.
Diarmin could feel the tears in his eyes and this time they weren’t from the stun beam light. “Good work, Pirate Peri.”
Allison smiled at his use of her hacker ID.
Lenore went to Quinn, checking his pulse.
“It’s okay, Mom. I told you I used the stun setting.”
“Not everyone handles stunning well. Also, that stun setting is for large crowds. Point blank and in close quarters like this, it’s lucky you weren’t stunned as well, Alli.” Lenore straightened, apparently satisfied with Quinn’s condition.
“Huh. I think I have learned a few things from you guys,” replied Allison as she pulled the tiny personal shield emitter out of her left jumpsuit pocket.
“Good girl,” said Lenore though her smile was only there for a moment. “Can you reactivate the cells?”
Allison shrugged. “Sure.”
“Good. Diarmin, put Kurla in that one.” She pointed at the cell that he had just vacated.
“What about Quinn?” he asked as he picked up the unconscious girl.
Lenore looked at her son a long time before answering. Diarmin wondered if she was considering putting him in the other cell. Allison must have thought the same thing because she went to her mother.
“Mom, Quinn didn’t really abandon us, you know.” She put a hand on her mother’s arm.
Now Lenore smiled but Diarmin wondered if Allison saw the sadness in it. “I know. Let’s take him to sick bay. Activate the cell, Alli and your father will carry Quinn.” She turned to Diarmin. “Meet us on the bridge when Quinn is secure.” She turned back to Allison after the force field crackled back to life. “Lead the way
to the bridge.”
Diarmin gently gathered his son up in his arms and exited the brig as well.
“Okay, Mom. I wish I could have locked the two on the bridge like I did the other two in their cabins but that would have been a waste. After all, the bridge is where everything is controlled so they could have easily opened the door and also discovered my hack so I had to wait until they were in another room. But I was stupid and got distracted talking to you…”
Her voice faded out as they went the opposite way down the corridor and turned a corner. Diarmin knew Allison’s constant chatter was simply her working off her nerves. Especially because Lenore was not being maternal but militant, like she always did when on a mission. The family knew she did that, but it didn’t make it any easier to deal with.
Diarmin looked down at Quinn’s face. Had it all been an act? He had always believed in his son, but he had seemed so sincere.
Either he’s a better actor than Lenore or I gave him credit for, or he did indeed…no…I won’t believe that he would leave us. He was pretending.
But the doubt in his heart wouldn’t be silent.
***
Fortunately, the patrol ship hadn’t gone far, and it was only a little over an hour back to their ship which Quinn and Allison had hidden behind a moon. After they reversed course, Diarmin joined them on the bridge and told them Quinn would recover fairly quickly. Lenore kept herself busy while Allison chattered constantly, obviously trying to convince her mother that she and Quinn had planned everything together.
“Although he didn’t tell me what he was going to do, just distract Kurla and her cohorts so that when they were no longer suspicious, I would lock them down, then unlock the brig.” Allison was sitting at the science terminal, still fiddling with the computer. “But I couldn’t unlock the brig and I got confused as to why there were only two signatures in there and four outside. I figured Quinn would be in the cells with you guys but—” Allison abruptly cut herself off with a bite of her lip. She obviously realized she might be getting Quinn in worse trouble. Diarmin was seated at the navigator console apparently ignoring everything but by the hunch of his shoulders, Lenore knew he was uncertain about Quinn as well.
