I glanced at Hirin before I stood up. He met my eye but I couldn’t communicate simply with a look, what I was about to propose. I just had to trust that he’d go along with me.
“I volunteer to take the Tane Ikai to investigate the Split,” I said. “It’s obvious we need to get inside it.”
Mother stood up, too. “Luta, no. You can’t. There’s not enough—”
I held up a hand. “I’m not going to leap off the unknown side—I’m not crazy. I’m saying we just take the ship through, take readings, see if we can figure anything out. Maybe there are clues to what happened with Mauronet and the Dorland, or how the Chron are getting in. Maybe something has changed inside the wormhole since anyone else from Nearspace went through it. But we can’t find out enough from the outside.”
Then everyone on the Protectorate side was speaking at once. Lanar shook his head. Viss and Yuskeya shared a glance but said nothing. Jahelia Sord was grinning at me. She looked downright approving, and that was the only thing that made me think I was making a big mistake.
Lanar said, “Luta, much as you’re an asset to the Protectorate, you’re still a civilian. If anyone goes in there, it should be a Protectorate ship.”
“How many Protectorate ships have pilots who’ve actually run the Split?” I asked.
“There are some,” Lanar said stubbornly. “A handful.”
“Who may be days or even weeks away, somewhere else in Nearspace. We don’t have that kind of time. You said it yourself.”
“She’s right about one thing,” Viss said. “All that data we collected, even from the probe—didn’t really tell us anything new.”
Lanar shot him a betrayed look, but Viss shrugged. “Sorry, Admiral, it’s the truth.”
“What if something bad happened in there, with the Dorland and the Chron ship?” Harle Southwind asked mildly. His tone masked agitation, however, which manifested in the flicking of one ear. I’d noticed the same thing in Cerevare Brindlepaw when she’d been with us.
“Well, no debris exited either end of the wormhole.”
“Which proves nothing.”
“If there’s debris inside the wormhole, we’ll know what happened,” I said reasonably. “And the probe should have detected that.”
“I’m in, if you go,” Jahelia said suddenly. She glanced at Viss. “At least, I’d like to be. I know you have your engineer back now, but I might be useful.”
“She’s not going,” Lanar insisted. “What if you get pulled through the bad side against your will? End up somewhere else, like this mysterious system the PrimeCorp files mention.”
“I consider that a possibility,” I said. “If that happens, we’d deal with it. Maybe it would be a good thing.”
“What will your crew think of this idea, Captain?” Harle Southwind still kept his voice calm and reasonable, but that ear kept twitching.
“My crew is always encouraged to make their own decisions,” I told him. “They know they can opt to stay behind, no questions asked and no recriminations.”
“I’ll go,” Viss said, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. “I need to see what shape my engine room is in.” He didn’t look at Jahelia, but his tone was friendly.
Mother took a few steps toward me and put her hands on my arms. “Luta,” she said, “I just found you. I don’t want to lose you. This seems reckless. Let someone else do it.”
“There is no-one else,” I said gently. “Look, the crew on my ship probably has the most combined experience of the Split of any ship in Nearspace. Even if only Hirin and I went, we’ve been through it three times. We can handle this. It’s necessary.”
Mother hesitated a moment, then nodded and released my arms.
Fleet Commander Regina Holles had been the only Protectorate officer saying nothing, as usual. Instead she regarded me through considering eyes. “I don’t have to allow you to do this, Captain Paixon,” she said.
“You’d have to find a way to stop her,” Hirin muttered, and I almost smiled.
“No, you don’t. But I’ll be honest with you, I’d probably try to find a way to do it without your permission. We need to find out what’s in there. It could be the key to this whole mess. And if we could have that knowledge by the time the Corvids get here—”
Regina Holles held up a hand. “If I allow this, there will be conditions. You are not, under any circumstances, to try to navigate through the malformed side of the Split.”
“Agreed. I have no intention of doing that.”
“If something happens that tries to force you through that side, you will attempt to counteract with any means possible.”
I nodded.
“We’ll have Protectorate ships stationed at both ends of the Split. They’ll protect you when you emerge, if it’s necessary. If you need crew members to replace any of yours who opt out of the mission, I will ask for Protectorate officers to volunteer in their stead.”
“I’m fine with that.”
“Your ship will undergo a complete inspection by qualified Protectorate specialists before you leave. They will carry out repairs or improvements at the Protectorate’s expense.”
Viss narrowed his eyes but I hastily said, “That’s very kind of you.”
“Admiral Mahane will go with you. So will ex-Chairman Sedmamin.”
Mother looked startled and Lanar looked slightly mollified, but Sedmamin popped up from his seat, sputtering. “Fleet Commander, this is outrageous! There is absolutely no reason to involve me in this. I’m not a military person! I have nothing more to offer.”
The Fleet Commander fixed him with a steely eye. “We don’t know what you might have to offer, sir, because we don’t know what you might find. You have years of knowledge and experience with PrimeCorp. You may have insights or knowledge that will be useful to Captain Paixon and her crew.”
“I’ve given you the files! Everything! Willingly!” Sedmamin had summoned every ounce of indignation he could muster. “And this is how you thank me.”
“We appreciate your cooperation,” she said, but her voice held an edge of mockery. She knew he’d only done it to protect his own azeno. Regina Holles rose from her chair and placed her fingertips on the desk, leaning forward slightly. “I don’t think you quite realize your situation, Citizen Sedmamin,” she said with emphasis. “You may have made a deal with Captain Paixon. But you have not made a deal with me.”
The full implication of her words hit Sedmamin at once. He looked a little wildly from Holles to Lanar to me and back again. He’d assumed that I’d talked to Lanar about the trade—Sedmamin’s freedom for the information that he’d turned over. But I never had. And I’d never, I realized, told Sedmamin that.
I shrugged. “Sorry, Chairman, I guess you’re stuck with us for a little while longer.”
He sat down again and ran a hand over his face. “It looks that way, Captain,” he said finally. “Just stop calling me Chairman.”
LANAR CAME ON board the Tane Ikai two days later looking like he was embarking on shore leave, which I didn’t think he’d done for at least five years. He’d traded his Protectorate uniform for organic denim jeans, a trim transform t-shirt painting itself a repressed purple, and a short black jacket. He carried a plain weekend bag and a smaller case for his datapad.
I greeted him at the airlock. “You look like you’re going on vacation,” I said, giving him a quick hug.
“I thought it might be less intimidating if I didn’t look officially Protectorate for this little jaunt,” he said.
“Intimidating to whom? Not me, I hope.”
He smiled. “No, not you. But I was thinking of Yuskeya. You’re her current Captain, and I wouldn’t want to muddy that up.”
“Well, that was thoughtful of you.”
“Also, I like to get out of the uniform occasionally,” he reflected. “Sometimes I think differently without it.”
“Does the Fleet Commander know this?” I asked him, showing him along the corridor to the quarte
rs he’d have while on board. We’d agreed after further discussion that the mission could involve several skips through the wormhole, from both ends, and might continue for several days. Lanar had seemed content to leave Commander Linna Drake in charge of the Cheswick while he’d be away.
“I don’t tell her everything,” Lanar said mildly. “It’s a need-to-know basis.”
“Uh-huh. How’s she doing? With her leg, I mean?” She hadn’t moved around the room while we were meeting, and I’d seen the cane propped unobtrusively against the wall behind her chair.
Lanar grinned. “Regina? Cranky. The doctor says she’ll still be using the cane to get around for a couple of weeks, and she hates the thing. Personally, I won’t be surprised if she ends up hitting someone with it.”
“Up to giving orders, though,” I said, smiling.
“Until the day she dies, I’m sure.”
We had a full ship now, with Sedmamin on board, Viss and Yuskeya back, and Jahelia Sord still with us as well. The Tane Ikai had been subjected to the thorough inspection Regina Holles had ordered, and even Viss stopped complaining after they installed a few nice upgrades.
As we reached the door of the quarters I was giving Lanar, the door across the corridor opened and Jahelia stood silhouetted in the opening. I saw her take him in, and then slip back behind her mask of bored amusement. She leaned against the doorframe and crossed her arms. “Well, Protectorate, we meet again.”
“You can’t call him ‘Protectorate,’” I told her. “That’s the same thing you call Yuskeya. It’s going to get confusing around here if you don’t start learning names.”
“Hmm.” She nodded. “You’re right. Although if only one of them is around at a time, it could still work.”
“And you were almost Protectorate yourself, if I remember correctly,” I told her.
“Don’t remind me of my misspent youth.”
“You could just call me ‘Admiral,’” Lanar suggested. “I’ll answer to that.”
Jahelia pursed her lips and frowned in mock speculation. “That sounds entirely too respectful. I’ll have to give it some further thought. Later, Protectorate.” She threw a perfect Protectorate salute to Lanar and moved off toward the galley, letting the door close behind her.
Lanar watched her go. I watched him for a moment, then said pointedly, “So here’s your room.”
He looked back to me, a small frown creasing his forehead. “What’s up with her, anyway?” he asked. “Is she like that with everybody?”
I shrugged. “Pretty much. Jahelia Sord is prickly, outspoken, apparently fearless, and entirely disrespectful of authority.”
“Huh,” Lanar said. “I think I see why you two hit it off.”
I punched him in the arm. “I’m going to the galley for a much-needed double caff, and then I’ll be on the bridge. When you run into Jahelia, just play nice and don’t break anything, all right? We’ll leave the Station as soon as we get the go-ahead from Docking. And you’re welcome on the bridge any time.” I opened the door for him.
“See you in a bit,” he said, and stepped inside.
I found Jahelia in the galley, sipping caff and eating a solanto cookie.
She grinned. “I’ve decided to make life easy for you. I’ll use Yuskeya’s name from now on, and reserve the pet name for your brother. He hasn’t earned my respect yet.”
“Thanks, that’s all I needed to make my life easier,” I said. “Should be a walk in the park, now.”
Jahelia leaned against the counter as I pulled my caff from the machine. “Your brother,” she said, nodding her head back the way we’d come. “Does he know about my nanobioscavs?”
I shook my head. “Not from me. I didn’t tell anyone until I told my mother, and he was back aboard his ship by then. Since then . . . well, it just hasn’t come up. I don’t think she has told anyone.”
She nodded. “So, it’s just you and your mother and your husband who know? Really know? All of it?”
I snorted. “Jahelia, I wouldn’t say that any of us know all of it.” I put my back against the counter next to her, so that she and I weren’t facing. I wrapped my hands around the warm mug gratefully. “Maja and I know what you told each of us, and Hirin saw the message you left for me. I asked Mother about your father, so I know her side of that. I know you’re about the same actual age as we are, and that your nanobioscavengers could probably use an upgrade.”
She said nothing, so I shook my head. “Okay, you still don’t want to talk about that. The short answer to your question is, yes, only Hirin and Mother and I know your true age. Maja probably suspects, but we haven’t talked about it. I don’t see any need to tell anyone else unless circumstances make it necessary, or you want to.” I glanced sideways at her and grinned. “How’s that?”
She nodded once. “That’s fine. Thank you. I’m not—” She broke off, then tried again. “I’m not used to anyone else knowing about me. I feel like I need to know where I stand with everyone.”
I blew out a sigh. “I do know. It’s only recently that my crew found out about me. So, I understand. But it’s your secret, not mine to tell. And Hirin can keep a secret better than anyone else I know.”
“Do you mind my staying aboard?” she asked with uncharacteristic frankness. “I said I’d help, and I meant it. But I know it’s probably not the most comfortable arrangement.”
I took a sip of my drink. Sweet and hot and fortifying. “Things have changed fast over the past couple of weeks. I don’t have a problem with you being here.” I risked a glance at her. “I do wonder a bit about your motivation.”
She was silent so long, eating the last bites of her cookie, I thought she wasn’t going to answer. Finally, she said, “It’s a long time since I cared about anything but myself and . . . revenge. But I—now I do. I care about stopping the Chron.”
“You’ve changed a lot since we first met,” I said. “For the better, I think.”
She took a long swallow of caff. “Believe me, no-one is more surprised than I am,” she said. “Now let’s go up to the bridge and you can find some job for me to do.”
Chapter 19 – Lanar
Into the Dark
I WASN’T USED to being a mere passenger on a ship; even when I could turn the immediate bridge command of the Cheswick over to Linna Drake or one of my other officers, there was still an alertness, a sense of purpose in knowing that I was ultimately responsible for everything that happened. Being a passenger on Luta’s ship—emphasized by the absence of my Protectorate uniform—was unnerving. I realized just how long it had been since I’d taken a real vacation. Too long, obviously.
And I was also unnerved by the presence of Jahelia Sord. That feeling was more difficult to figure out. She was a loose cannon by all reports, and although Luta told me the woman had changed considerably since they’d first met, I still didn’t know whether we should trust her. She was just as prickly and insolent as Luta had said, and yet I had the impression that it was all an act. She was living up to a reputation, but at least some of the time, it rang false. I wondered if I was simply being too suspicious, or if she was planning some elaborate double-cross. From what I knew of her, it was entirely possible.
We arrived at the Split to find five Protectorate ships in place near the terminal point—two Pixiu scouts, two Pegasus cruisers, and a Bahamut support ship. It was a sorry complement if the Chron sent through a serious invasion force, but this was only one possible entry point into Nearspace, and the fleet was stretched thin. In the event of an attack, they’d have to do what they could, and get word to Fleet Command.
They’d obviously been apprised by Regina that we’d be arriving and heading into the wormhole, because the lead cruiser, the Sophia, sent a message of acknowledgement through to Luta. She responded and after they’d broken the connection, looked around the bridge.
“Are we ready to do this?” she asked.
It had been no surprise to me that her entire crew had agreed to be involved in the m
ission. I knew the glue that held this crew together was more than the duty and purpose that bonded a Protectorate crew. These folks were more like family, and had been through a lot together in the past months. Jahelia was an outsider, but they’d opened up a space for her, too. She was installed now at the secondary engineering board on the bridge, while Viss manned the main controls on the lower level. Yuskeya, Rei, and Baden were at their usual posts, and Hirin had shown me with some enthusiasm the weapons station he’d set up.
No, I was the odd man out, and it was a strange feeling.
“Where’s Sedmamin?” Luta asked.
“Sulking in his quarters,” Jahelia said with a grin. “I threatened to tell Fleet Commander Holles and he was—extremely rude.”
“I can go get him,” I said. It would give me something to do, but Luta motioned me into a seat at one of the empty consoles.
“Never mind him. He doesn’t have to be here for this. We’ll get him if anything unexpected happens.”
“Like being pulled off the missing side of the Split?” I asked.
“That wouldn’t be completely unexpected, but yes,” Luta agreed.
“You lied to Mother,” I said, shaking a finger at her as I crossed to sit where she’d indicated.
“You didn’t stop me,” Luta countered. “All right, Viss, let’s get the skip drive online. Baden, send the tracer through, make sure there’s nothing coming the other way.”
The ping was back in a moment, and Baden confirmed we were clear to enter.
“Rei, you can take us in whenever you’re ready.”
“Straight through unless anything interferes,” Rei said. “Anything goes weird, you tell me what you want me to do, Captain. But don’t leave it too long. You know what it’s like in there.”
“I know, and that’s the plan,” Luta confirmed. “Yuskeya, Jahelia, you’re clear on running scans? Keep them going no matter what happens.”
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