by Casey Lea
Nightwing paced across the viscous floor of a simple escape bubble, treading a rainbow circle in its flat base. He trusted Free more than anyone he knew, but returning to kres territory was still a huge risk. He faced arrest or worse. If the Arck had an agent on board Wing would have to fight for his life. He frowned blindly down at the floor puddling beneath his feet, oblivious to the ripples of color surrounding each step.
He remained lost to his surroundings, until his wrist tingled with the arrival of co-ordinates at his com. He focused on the unexpected directions in surprise. He’d never needed electronic navigation to find an open docking bay before. He looked up at the approaching ship for the first time since leaving the Bandit.
A giant vessel blocked the stars ahead and Wing’s lips pursed in a low whistle. Its purple bulk curved above his bubble, which rocketed beneath its hull and past letters twice as tall as he was. Grace he read as he sped under the belly of the beast and the name unsettled him further.
The Freefall who had been his best friend would never have named his ship after that caustic and bossy old lady. Did he even know his cousin anymore? Perhaps after so many years apart they would simply stare at each other like strangers.
However, Wing had no more time to worry about their reunion. His com thrummed, directing the bubble to slow sharply until it could drift through an open hatch. It wafted the length of an entry bay, to settle gently against the energy field at its far end. The small vessel’s curved skin flattened against that shield, before fusing with it so that the single surface could part to let Wing enter his cousin’s ship.
The kres pirate hesitated at the sight of guards in the chamber beyond, but the ten armoured figures snapped to attention, five on either side of the door in honor guard formation. Wing took a deep breath before strolling through the hatch with a casual whistle. That childhood signal went unanswered and there was no other sign of Free. Instead a strange officer stepped forward and bowed.
“Ship Senior Gull Snowbeak welcoming you on, my lord. Please enter.”
Wing nodded gravely, but when he advanced further into the ship Gull’s smile disappeared.
“Take him.”
Wing’s honor guard changed to captors in an instant. They circled him with raised wrists, but he was just as fast. His compressed sword dropped from his com to his hand, where he spun it in a series of arcs before gripping it firmly, in the pattern demanding trial by combat.
However Gull simply sneered at the ancient ritual. “You’re no longer one of us and none will cross blades with you. Your challenge is rejected. Drop the weapon.”
Instead Wing raised his sword to the ready position. “Are you all too Honorless to duel?”
The guards stirred uneasily and one of them cleared her throat, but before she could speak they were distracted by the distant shriek of someone's rapid passage along the link. The noise grew louder and a rising wind travelled with it. A final rush of air blasted from the tunnel to tumble Gull into the guard in front of Wing. They both stumbled aside when Free appeared in the doorway.
The kres Leader was still moving too fast to stop, so instead ran up the alcove wall. He slid down that curved surface when gravity finally caught him and skidded to a halt in front of Nightwing. The two cousins studied each other impassively.
“Wing.”
“Free.”
“Nice sword.”
“Nice ship.”
Nightwing calmly sheathed his blade at his wrist and tried to stay cool, but it was impossible. Free grinned and he felt his own beaming smile, huge and irrepressible, in response. He launched himself into a bear hug and they held each other hard, until Wing plucked Free from his feet in delight. He dropped his reclaimed cousin and they separated just far enough to clasp forearms instead.
“Wing.”
“Free.”
I’ve missed you, their fronds sent at the same moment and Free gripped Wing’s shoulder to study him intently.
“Are you well? You look good.”
“I believe I look under arrest,” Wing corrected, glancing past his cousin to raise an eyebrow at Gull.
“Certain-sure,” the Ship Senior confirmed, straightening his tunic before moving to stand behind his leader. “We’ve orders to hold you as a traitor.”
“Gull,” Free said softly, but with a mental snap that made all of his crew flinch, “I’ve told you that my cousin is no traitor and on my ship you’d best remember such.”
He released Wing and turned to lock stares with his senior officer. Gull quickly dropped his gaze, but his voice was determined. “This is a prime order from the Arck. Please, sah, let me do my duty and arrest him.”
“Never.”
“It’s my duty.”
“I’m sorry you see it so, with no loyalty owed to me. I doubt your crewmates will agree. They know how to obey the highest officer present. If you persist in this mutiny you’ll never give another order on this ship. Nor will you ever leave it.”
Wing jerked with shock and almost recoiled. His cousin had changed more than he’d feared. His old friend could never have threatened anyone in such a way, much less one of his crew, but Free’s mind was steady and resolved. A single frond twitch was enough to convince Gull.
“Who should my strike team arrest? You, or no-one?” Free demanded and his Senior bowed low.
“I apologise Sector Leader. Your direct order is paramount and your understanding of these matters far beyond mine. Do you wish these guards dismissed?”
“Indeed.”
Gull saluted crisply then gestured for the strike team to leave. “Back to barracks. Quick time.”
They turned as one and trotted into the link, where they quickly disappeared with their Senior close behind. Free stared grimly after them, until Wing draped an arm across his shoulders.
“Command's a ditch,” the ex-pirate observed philosophically. “Would you really have killed him?”
Free snorted. “Don't over value yourself. I'd never hurt Gull, but a time in his quarters with no out-talk might have been needed.”
“Thanks. You okay?”
“Oh-what?”
Wing pulled back in surprise before shrugging a hand. “It's just a word a friend of mine likes to use. I meant are you well?”
Free smiled more easily in response. “I'm the best I've been for years. Come, let's have a drink and you can bore me with your exploits.”
“Just like times past.”
They entered the link together and Free directed them across it to an empty greeting room. They wafted into a circular chamber showing visuals of a sandy island set in a teal sea that seemed to stretch away on all sides.
“This ship's as pretty as its leader,” Wing observed gleefully.
“At least I have a ship,” Free retorted just as happily. “Grab a seat.”
Wing crunched across impressively authentic sand to settle on a feather fringed settee.
“Do you still drink grathol on ice with a fizz mixer?” Free asked after catching glasses released by the wall.
“No mixer. I'm all grown up now and hard as any glacier.”
“Save your sex stories for later.”
Wing chuckled contentedly. “How I've missed your refined wit.”
“I'm sure there's nothing like it on the Rim.” Free turned with the drinks and walked across to pass one down to Wing.
He accepted his glass with a nod at his cousin's torso. “Who did you shoot to get the sector leader’s tunic?”
“Like it?” Free spun slowly with arms spread wide, to show off his uniform.
“It suits you well, but I'm not so sure of the ship’s name. You didn’t choose it, did you?”
“I did and it’s most deserved. Lady Grace made this hulk fully fit for space. She carried all the cost of refurbishing.”
“You owe her then?”
“I fear so.”
Wing lifted his glass and threw back half of its contents. “Grace is too strange for me to fathom. She’s ever been caustic and crit
ical, yet she aids us both as if we were her young. It makes no sense. She’s an enigma.”
“She’s also on board.”
“She’s here? Guano. There’s extra incentive for me to leave the ship and finish my mission.”
“Mission?”
“For true.”
“Wait.” Freefall chose a tartan patterned lounger and collapsed onto it. He stretched out to gaze at the apparent sky above and took a long sip of his drink. “I'm ready. Tell all.”
“We needs must go back then. You remember when I ran from Court?”
“The scandal of the century that cut out my heart and my cheeks? I recall.”
Wing stirred uncomfortably and paused for another gulp of grathol, letting it drag fire from his throat to his gut while he gathered his thoughts. “Some parts you may have missed. Once you realized that Goldown had turned me addict by feeding me hook without my knowing, well... you saved my life. You helped me fight free of that guano...”
“You've told me thanks before,” Free said softly in the silence that fell. “And that is all long past.”
“True, but you don't know what happened when I broke with Goldown. She placed a contract for your death and said she'd make it active unless I stayed.” Wing jerked forward to perch on the edge of his seat and gulped at his drink again. “I didn't stay.” Silence grew once more. “Did you hear, Free? I told her no and I left.”
Wing edged further forward, but his cousin refused to make eye contact. Instead Free stopped staring at a roof now streaked with sunset and closed his eyes. “A-huh,” he managed, but that was all. So you ran and that's how I got shot, his mind filled in and Wing leapt to his feet.
“No, gods no. It wasn't like that. I'd never run and leave you to assassins. I love you more than anyone in my life, you know that.” His mind underlined the tie between them and Free accepted it.
“So what was it like, then?”
“I went to Crest.”
Free’s eyes flicked open in surprise. “Our Crest? Who raised us?”
“Ye. He had a secret that I'd discovered years past.”
“Tell.”
“Crest was an agent for the Shadows.” Wing threw back the last of his drink, before checking Free's reaction to his revelation. It started as a laugh, but quickly changed to amazement when Wing’s mind reinforced the truth of his words.
“A Shadow? Like the super spies of old? Working for good and to keep all kres safe?”
“Just like. I could scarce believe it either, but I did my own spying and found it was true. He admitted such when I asked him for help saving you and escaping Goldown. He also recruited me then.”
Wing was interrupted by another guffaw of disbelieving laughter. He gave his cousin a long look, supported by his most serious mental touch. “I am a Shadow, Free. I know it sounds crazy, but Crest needed me to investigate the t'ssaa.”
“Wait, wait.” Free settled back further in his seat to stare at the roof. “Are you saying you're in mission now? Something to do with the t'ssaa?”
“Exactly. They've been hunting kres.”
“Hunting us? I’ve never heard of such.”
“That’s because there have only been four incidents. Two attempted snatches were foiled by Shadows and two by the Fleet. However, Sharpeye considers them random acts of piracy.”
“But t’ssaa aren’t pirates and they've never shown such interest in kres before.”
“Which is why we Shadows are so worried. I've placed tracking cells with a group of t'ssaa and I can follow them to gain information. But I need your help to do that.”
“Don’t you have backup? And what of the Arck? He may not agree with them in this, but doesn’t he support the Shadows?”
“Support?” Wing laughed. “The Shadows find no favor with Sharpeye. Our resources are still impressive, but not publicly. We work for our people all alone and in secret.”
Free gazed absently at the roof, circling his glass so that the ice gave a tinkling accompaniment to his abstraction. “We used to play Shadow agents as chicks,” he murmured and shook his head in wonder.
He sighed before finally sitting forward to study his cousin. “Alright, you’ve my full support. I’ll follow the t’ssaa for you, despite the risk. I’ll get you close enough to reach them and spy on them and I’ll wait as long as you need for extraction. I would send a strike team with you too, but not on the Rim.”
“Indeed. A group of kres out there would raise more than just suspicion. My thanks, Free. I’m debted to you.”
“I just hope I get to collect.”
“Don’t fear for me on the Rim. I’ve won a place there as an Honorless exile and none will question it.” Wing raised his empty glass with a cynical smile. “Here’s to being outcast.”
Free lifted his tumbler in a matching salute. “Here’s to coming home.”
34
Gratuity
