by K. B. Wagers
“It’s good, so don’t fuck that up.”
“What?”
“You heard me.” Lou pointed a finger. “Just get in there and talk about how Chae’s doing and get your ass out. Do not mention his birthday or so help me I will find a way to put you on kitchen duty for a month.”
“You won’t. There’d be a revolt and we both know it.” Jenks pointed at the side of Lou’s desk. “Doge, sit.”
The ROVER sat and Jenks went through the door into Hoboins’s office.
“What did I tell you about bringing that robot into my office, Chief?”
“He is technically not in your office, sir.”
Lee Hoboins looked up from his tablet. “Sit your ass down, Jenks,” he said with a smile that always reminded her of what a grandfather should look like. A grumpy, somewhat curmudgeonly grandfather, but one who slipped you old-fashioned candies when your parents weren’t looking.
“My baba would have liked you, sir.” She hadn’t meant to say that out loud, and judging from the look on the admiral’s face he was as shocked as she was.
“That’s good to know, Chief Khan. I like to think your and Vagin’s grandmother was a good judge of character. How’s Chae doing?”
Straight to business, then. “Settling in.” Jenks leaned back in her chair. “They’re a hell of a pilot, even better than Ma. They’re smart—possibly smarter than the LT, if that’s a thing.”
Hoboins laughed. “I’m reasonably sure Max would point out there are a lot of people smarter than her.”
“Yeah, maybe.” Jenks shrugged. “I doubt it, though. Chae’s a demon in the Boarding Action, which is where it counts, and I’m still working with them as far as up-close combat goes.” She picked her next words carefully. Hoboins knew about the operation on Trappist, but everyone had been cautioned to keep quiet about it unless they were somewhere with an active jammer. “Chae’s fitting in a lot better since we came home, if that makes sense.”
“It does.” Hoboins nodded in approval. “And that’s great news. You’re doing a good job.”
She couldn’t stop from squirming in her seat. “I’m not doing anything, sir. It’s all Chae.”
“Take the praise, Jenks. You’re a good chief and we both know it. Ma’s proud of you. I’m damn proud of you.” He smiled and arched an eyebrow as he tapped at his tablet. “Now, you want to tell me why the mess hall got fifteen hundred gallons of ice cream delivered on the last freighter?”
Busted.
“No idea. Why?” She affected the most innocent expression she could manage as she stood, which only made Hoboins’s eyes narrow further.
“It seems suspiciously like something someone would do if they were trying to plan a surprise birthday party.”
She lifted her hands. “You know me, Admiral. I made up my birthday, I’m not big on them. Maybe the Navy’s planning a ‘we found another asteroid’ party?”
“You’d better hope so.”
“I don’t know what you mean by that.” She bit the inside of her cheek to keep the laughter at bay.
“I mean I think you ordered all that ice cream and did it behind my back.”
“What a thing to accuse me of, Admiral! Is my name on the request form? Why would I do such a thing when I know how much you supposedly hate your birthday?”
“I will bust you all the way back down to spacer, Altandai, do not test me.” Hoboins was pointing at her now and this time Jenks didn’t bother to hide the grin.
“You know you love me, sir.”
“Get the hell out of my office.” Hoboins was laughing and he waved a hand at the door. “I’ve got actual work to do.”
Jenks threw a sloppy salute his direction and skipped for the door.
“Lou!” Hoboins shouted toward his chief of staff. “Do not let them throw me a birthday party. I will demote everyone on this station, including you!”
“Damn it, Jenks.” Lou groaned. “I told you—”
“In my defense, I did not bring it up. He did. Also in my defense, I have no idea what he’s talking about. Come on, Doge. Have a good day, Lou!” Jenks laughed to herself as she escaped into the hallway and headed for the tube.
“Explosive detected.”
“What?” She stopped in her tracks, looking down at the ROVER. “What are you on about, goofy dog?”
“You are in the blast radius.” He jumped, front legs hitting her in the shoulders, and Jenks staggered back several steps, spitting curses even as flame exploded from the doorway of Hoboins’s office and rushed at her.
Twenty-Six
There was no sound, only the shocking bloom of red-orange from Jupiter Station too bright against the backdrop of the planet. It was the alarm warning of the deadly spray of debris headed toward them that was loud in Nika’s ears.
“Max!” Nika grabbed for her, throwing up his shield as his hand connected with her arm. He pulled her in against his chest and could hear her over the com, voice smooth as glass.
“Antilles, get your shields up now.”
“I see it,” she replied. “They’re up, but they’re not going to help, that stuff’s moving too slow. What the fuck just happened?”
“Clips. Gotta get the clips undone.” Max twisted in his grip and Nika swore.
“What? No.”
“Antilles can’t get clear with us still attached, Nika. There’s mine.” He felt her patting at his waist until she found his tether. “Antilles, we’re loose. Go!”
“Too late. Shit. Brace!”
Shit.
The debris hit them like a hammer and Nika tightened his arms around Max as the breath left him in a rush and they spun out of control.
“Hang on, I’ve got you.”
“I’ve never doubted that for a second.” The emotion in her voice bled over the com as Nika managed to stabilize them with his EMU. “I guess we are field testing these new helmets today after all.”
His laugh choked off when he caught sight of the shuttle. A larger piece of debris had miraculously missed them but ripped its way through the ship. “Antilles?”
“We’re still fucking alive, but I’ve got nothing. Power’s down. Trying to raise the station . . . I’m not getting any response. If I can get out of this cockpit we’ll join you, otherwise I’m stuck here until someone tows what’s left of us in.”
“Do what you can,” Nika ordered, then switched the channel. “This is Commander Nika Vagin, can anyone hear me?” he asked, trying the station directly from his DD chip. They were close enough for the DD chips to work, though it was a bit of a stretch, and all he got was static.
“Oh god.” Max’s exhalation was clear on the coms. “You won’t get them. I can see what’s left of Coms from here, it’s gone and—” She broke off with a pained gasp. “Nika, that’s Hoboins’s office.”
His stomach twisted before Max could even start her next sentence. His first thought was of his sister and the prayer slipped out without a thought. “Most holy God, do not turn your eyes from those who need you in this moment.”
“Jenks,” Max whispered. “Nonono, please no.” She pushed out of his grasp and it took Nika a moment to realize she wasn’t just mindlessly flying toward the station but toward something floating through the black, lights blinking.
Doge.
Saint Ivan, please don’t do this to us.
Max hit the dog head on, wrapping her arms around him. “Doge, where’s Jenks?”
The ROVERs were designed for vacuum, but there was a heart-rending moment when Nika wondered if the AI would respond to Max’s question.
“She is on station. Alive, but vitals are dropping.”
He pushed through the relief trying to swamp everything else, finding refuge in procedure. “Doge, report. What happened?”
“I detected an explosive device at 15:23 when we were three point three meters from Admiral Hoboins’s office. As we were still within the estimated blast radius, I pushed Jenks the rest of the way into the safe zone. I do not know what happene
d after, as I was pulled into space by the loss of structural integrity and lost contact. She is likely injured by debris or possibly burned by the explo—”
“Doge, enough.” Nika couldn’t keep his voice even and the dog’s head swiveled toward him.
“I have upset you. I am sorry. She is alive right now.” There was a fascinating note of sympathy in the ROVER’s voice.
“It’s fine.” He reached out and patted the dog. “You did good, buddy. What’s the best way for us to get onto the station from here?”
“I will need a minute to calculate something.”
“If we get closer, we may be able to get a hold of Sapphi or someone on the team channel,” Max said, and Nika nodded.
“Antilles, how are you looking on getting free?” he asked.
“Eh, not good at the moment, but we are safe. You two go on. Just send someone back for us,” Antilles replied.
“We will.” Nika locked his hand on Doge’s collar next to Max’s and shared a look with her. “Doge, let me know when you have something. We’re headed in.”
“No, if you swap out this board, we’ll still be one short,” Chae said. They heaved a frustrated sigh as they stared up at the guts of Dread Treasure’s flight systems. “I’m sorry. We’re going to have to wait for—”
The concussive wave rolled through the Interceptor bay just moments before the explosion followed it with the fury of a coronal mass ejection. Chae was mostly shielded by the open panel on Dread’s underside, but Lieutenant Commander Locke was thrown a meter away, crashing into a tool cart and sliding to the floor, stunned.
Alarms screamed through the smoke-filled air, echoed by the screams of people. Chae scrambled forward on their hands and knees.
“Locke?” The man groaned and Chae looked around, finally grabbing a spacer who wandered dazedly up with blood streaking down her face. Recognizing her, they said, “Hey, Cora, sit down. Are you hurt anywhere else?”
“I don’t . . . I don’t think so? What happened?”
“I don’t know. You sit here with Locke. Don’t move. I’m going to get help.”
They sprinted toward Flight Control. The fire suppression system had kicked in, as had the emergency field, and the room at the back of the bay was now split down the middle by the blackness of space, held off only by a shimmering blue curtain.
Chae caught a burned Neo as they stumbled, but the big man was barely able to stand and there was no way they could support his weight. Chae looked around, spotted Kelly Evans from Burden of Proof. “Captain, come help me!”
Captain Evans rushed over, slipping under the big man’s arm. “Hey, Lane, easy big guy, I’ve got you.”
Chae slipped free. “I’ve got a few people by Dread; it’s far enough away from this that it’s probably a good spot for the medics to set up.”
“Sounds good.” Evans looked grim, her face streaked with soot. “There’s more injured back there.”
“I’ll go.” Chae continued on. The air filters were working to pull the smoke out, but the acrid stench was choking them, so they covered their mouth with their shirt as they rounded people up, grabbing injured Neos and civilians and sending them in twos and threes back toward the center of the bay.
They turned at the edge of the emergency field and their breath stopped at the sight of a familiar face. Akane, one of Dread Treasure’s petty officers, was half-buried under the wreckage of what looked like Orbital Jam’s bulkhead.
“Oh no.” Chae dropped to their knees at the petty officer’s side and felt for a pulse.
There was nothing under their fingertips and Chae choked back the tears as they leaned in around the wreckage and realized why. Akane had been thrown clear of the destroyed part of the bay, but she’d hit the hull of Flux Capacitor hard enough to break her neck.
“Chae!”
They almost sobbed with relief at the sight of D’Arcy. “Commander. She’s—”
D’Arcy put his hand over Ito’s unseeing eyes and the muscle in his jaw twitched. “There were explosions in Coms and Admiral Hoboins’s office, too. Where’s the rest of your team?”
“Nika and Max were testing helmets outside. Jenks was—oh god.” Chae pressed a hand to their mouth, willing the nausea down with nothing but sheer force. “She was in Hoboins’s office.”
“Fuck.” D’Arcy spit the word so viciously Chae couldn’t stop from flinching. “Sorry, Chae. Come on. We’ll have to leave her here for now.”
“Who did this?”
“I don’t know,” D’Arcy growled. “But we’re going to find out . . . and we’re going to make them pay.”
Jenks’s ears were ringing and when she moved, a hot spike of pain shot through her side. “Fuck.” She rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. “What the fuck?”
She said it out loud but could barely hear herself. She wasn’t sure if that was because of her ears, or because her brain felt like it was front and center at a stomp fest.
Her memory refused to dredge up anything past last night in the bar, but the blinking time stamp in her vision clearly said it was the following afternoon. “Maybe Max is right and I need to stop drinking quite so much, I do not—”
“Hey, we got a live one over here!” The unfamiliar voice echoed in her ears, competing with the ringing.
“Oh thank God.” That voice seemed familiar, but she couldn’t focus.
“You know her, Lieutenant?”
“Yeah, Chief Altandai Khan.”
“Got her name in the system as an Interceptor crew—I’ll mark her as alive and injured. Everything is fucked right now, even the handshakes aren’t showing up properly. I don’t know what they hit us with, but it is not good.”
Jenks felt like there was something important she needed to remember, but she couldn’t make it come to the front of her brain. “Someone tell me what is going on.” At least, she was reasonably sure that’s what she said. She tried to push herself upright, but a hand landed in the middle of her chest and pushed her back to the floor.
“Stay down, Jenks.” She blinked again and Parsikov’s face finally resolved itself.
“Tivo, what the fuck are you doing here?” She tried to shake the confusion off, but even that tiny motion made the room spin and Jenks had to squeeze her eyes shut as the nausea overtook her.
“We just got in an hour ago.” He smiled down at her. It was gentle, a poor attempt to hide the fear in his blue-gray eyes. “I messaged you, but you were flagged as busy. I guess this counts as busy. Don’t move for me, okay? Can you wiggle your fingers?”
“You said don’t move.”
“Jenks, wiggle your fingers.”
She complied.
“How about your toes on your right foot?” There was pressure on the toe of her boot as Tivo reached down. “Good, left?”
Jenks sighed and curled her left toes. “What’s the point of this, bright eyes?” The bits of Tivo’s words poked at her memory and she tried to sit up again, hissing at the pain. “Wait, I’m mad at you. I wouldn’t have answered you anyway, but I was busy.”
Busy doing what, she couldn’t seem to remember.
“I had my dog with me,” she murmured, looking around. “We were—where am I?” There was nothing but debris in what should have been a pristine hallway, and less than two meters from her feet was the empty blackness of space held at bay by a shimmering emergency field. There was— “Why is there space right there?”
“Jenks, I really need you to hold still,” Tivo ordered, his voice a fascinating mixture of frustration and fear that broke through her distraction. “There was an explosion and you’ve got a rather large piece of metal in your gut that I don’t want to disturb. So, for once in your life, listen to someone else and stop moving.”
“I listen to people.” Jenks looked down and whistled at the shard of bulkhead stuck in her side. “That does look bad. Explains the pain, too.”
“How bad?”
“Tolerable.” She looked around. “What the fuck happene
d?”
“An explosion.”
“I heard you the first time, Tiv. Don’t—” Jenks broke off as Wandering Hunter’s medic slid to a stop next to them. “Hey, Master Guns.”
“You go and get yourself hurt again, Chief?” The levity was forced and Jenks tilted her head at him in confusion.
“Unintentionally. What’s going on?” She smacked his hand away before he could shoot her up with pain meds. “No. I don’t wanna be all loopy. I want someone to explain to me what the fuck happened.”
“Jenks.” Tivo swallowed whatever else he’d been about to say when she gave him a deadly look.
“Why do you have to be so holy about doing things your way, Jenks?”
“Because it is holy, Quickdraw. So stop infringing on my religious freedom and tell me what the hell is going on.”
“Someone hit us, Jenks,” Josh replied. “Explosions in the Interceptor bay, Coms, and here at Hoboins’s office. More pressing, you’ve got a forty-centimeter spike of bulkhead going through the left side of your stomach and your kidney. Only reason you haven’t bled out is that the damn thing was hot going in. We need to get you to medical for surgery and that means you’re going under.” He jammed the shot against her arm before she could protest again and everything came flooding back to her, hitting like a second explosion.
Hoboins’s office was on the other side of that black chasm.
Was.
She couldn’t process the thought without screaming and shut the door on that section of her brain as hard as she could. “Where the fuck is my dog?” she managed before unconsciousness slammed down around her.
As Max and Nika got closer to the wreckage of the station the damage became more evident. They wove through the debris at Doge’s direction and though Max tried to keep her breathing even, her sob was loud over the com when they found the first body.
She’d reached out instinctively, but Nika stopped her with a hand on her arm. “We don’t have anything to tow them back in with right now, and they’ll throw off your momentum. You have to let them go.”
“Who did this? Who could have done this?”
