by Maksim Malik
They have a plan. We’re to get to the airlock as soon as we can, Adan said. I can send a message to them through Humanity’s Grace. Part of the message told me to hack the ship and keep Astromancer off their scanners and cameras. They have no idea the ship is so close.
Really? Astromancer is here? The thought comforted her. She could get out of this mess.
Time is of the essence, Adan said. If you are ready, then we must begin soon.
How do I get out of these bindings? Nadani asked.
Only Dr. Tysgan can assist you with that, Adan said. You’ll have to make your escape with them on unfortunately.
Right, Nadani said and took a deep breath. She stood, noting her neck aching.
It’s going to bruise, Adan said. The shower should help though.
That’s fine, Nadani said. She focused on the will and need to free herself.
“What are you doing?” Needles sneered. “There’s nowhere to go even if you get that door open. We’ve thought it through already.”
Nadani refused to reply.
I can’t kill Needles before I go, can I? Nadani asked.
Not with silence, and it could draw too much attention, Adan said.
Another sol then, Nadani said, stifling a sigh.
Ready? Adan asked.
Yes, Nadani replied. She stood facing the door, ready for the man with his back turned toward her.
“There’s no use, idiot,” Needles said. “You’ll be overwhelmed, and there’s no way off the ship.”
Opening now, Adan said.
The door slid open and Nadani dashed out. The man turned as Nadani jumped and kicked straight at his torso. He fell to the ground, and Nadani nearly lost her balance without her arms to steady her on her landing. The man groaned on the floor and Nadani delivered a swift, rough kick to his throat. His groans turned to gurgles, and she turned toward the main corridor, if she guessed correctly.
Yes, take a right and it goes all the way down the corridor, Adan said. Then a left and follow that all the way to the airlock. Both the corridors are clear.
Got it, Nadani said as she entered the hallway. Adan soon had a small map pop up in the bottom corner of her vision, complete with her location as she moved. The long, wide corridor remained empty as she traveled it.
When she turned left, she discovered it empty and broke into a run, airlock in sight. Nadani had taken only a few steps when halfway down the hallway, one of the doors opened and a woman stepped out. She took one look at Nadani and fumbled at her waist while Nadani continued at full speed.
The blonde pulled out a blaster and fired one shot, clearly fired in panic as it went wide.
I’m blocking all the cameras. Someone would have heard the blaster fire, Adan said.
Nadani plowed into her. The impact jolted Nadani’s entire body, but the blaster went skidding farther down the hallway. The woman laid stunned beneath Nadani, and Nadani rolled off her to stand. Once she stood, she ran to the blaster and kicked it even farther down the hallway. She turned to find the woman on her feet and coming toward Nadani.
Closing the distance between them, Nadani noted the woman’s stance; she knew something of martial arts at least, and Nadani disliked how her tied arms gave her such a disadvantage.
The first few punches feinted at Nadani, testing Nadani’s speed. The woman moved slower than Trisha though. Nadani wasted no time and pressed hard with series of kicks. The blonde dodged a spin kick aimed at her head and barely avoided a powerful sidekick. She countered with a punch aimed at Nadani’s face. Nadani moved in time but noticed the wind caused from the punch as it passed and afterward Nadani took a blow to the chest. The attack didn’t cause her much damage, for it had been a weak punch.
Nadani stepped back and before the woman could get close, delivered a high kick aimed at the woman’s face. It missed like Nadani expected, but she dropped low and swept the woman’s feet. The woman fell backward and struck the floor with force.
We can’t have anyone follow, Adan said.
I know, Nadani said.
Cringing inwardly, she stomped on the woman’s throat. What she did would kill the woman unless someone brought her to a MediScan with haste.
What did CAAI have in store for you, I wonder? Adan asked. Death for having an AI? Maybe worse.
Nadani turned from the woman and ran the rest of the way to the airlock.
I can’t open it, she told Adan.
Allow me, Adan said, and the inner airlock door opened.
The outer airlock had no window and as the inner door locked, sealing behind her, Nadani wondered if this would space her. The air didn’t leave the room, nor did the gravity shift to zero gee.
No, there’s a docking tube, Adan said.
The outer door opened, and Nadani’s fears were alleviated. True to Adan’s words, a docking tube attached from Humanity’s Grace to Astromancer.
You’ll have to jump from here and glide to the other side, Adan said.
Nadani didn’t hesitate. She jumped, and her stomach lurched as she went from standard gee to zero gee.
She noticed a problem right away. Sure, she drifted toward the other ship, but she also drifted upward.
We won’t make it all the way, Adan said.
Shit, Nadani said.
About three-quarters of the way there, Nadani’s head hit the top of the tube and she bounced off, spinning slowly in an odd rotation, and killing her forward momentum.
Any moment they’ll come through with blasters and take me back, Nadani thought. She could try pushing off the tube. The way she rotated and moved now made her impact with the bottom of the tube but this time she stuck, head pressed against the cold plastic.
This is problematic, Adan said.
What do I do? she asked.
Something light collided with her left ankle. She couldn’t see it, but it wrapped around her ankle soon after and tugged at her leg. She panicked and squirmed, attempting to free herself from it, thinking surely CAAI had her.
Calm down! It’s Dr. Tysgan, Adan said.
Nadani stopped struggling and watched as the tube passed beneath her at a rapid rate. When she reached the end of the tube, hands grabbed both her legs and oriented her properly to the ship’s airlock. The outer airlock door slid closed, and gravity increased, and she turned to see Dr. Tysgan smiling broadly at her. She returned the smile—she would have hugged him had she not been bound.
“Cuff we remove inside,” Dr. Tysgan said. The inner airlock door opened, and he stepped inside. “Park is removing the docking tube, moving the ship to get range from the larger one, and setting destination.”
Nadani stepped inside her ship, and her fears eased. She came home.
“Wait, what destination?” Nadani asked. She remembered Adan saying something about deciphering the image text, but that had not been the time to discuss it.
“Zarzycki station,” Dr. Tysgan said. “We have little time to warn.”
Requiem for Annabella
Blaster pressed hard against her back, Annabella stood between two men, each gripping one of her arms with no small amount of pain. They force-walked her from the cell, saying nothing, took her through the main corridor, then a few side corridors until she faced a plain-looking door. No signage or lettering existed to give her a clue as to what lay beyond. The door opened, and they brought her inside.
Holopanels and viewscreens covered the walls, casting eerie lights across the room. A man stood in the rear of the room. He wore plainclothes—a t-shirt and slacks—but she could tell the fabric of each cost more than a normal person would spend on a simple outfit. He had a mop top of brown hair, and a kind face. His eyes belied the apparent kindness; she saw a hardness to them she recognized from herself and others she knew in positions of power.
Harvey Klumwald, Pulman said. Not the leader of CAAI, but one of the founders, and in a high position within the organization.
This should be good, she replied.
“Annabella Summerlin,” h
e said after the door closed. “Why don’t you go ahead and drop the fake ident, so we can introduce ourselves properly.”
“You won’t like it,” she teased, acting unnerved by the two men holding her and third person holding a weapon to her back.
“Tell me,” he said, his voice turned stony. The muzzle of the blaster dug in to her lower back hard enough she had to shift forward.
I think we had better drop it now, Pulman said.
Yeah, let’s do that. Then we can get on with the real negotiation, she said.
Done, Pulman said. She didn’t feel any different, which disappointed her. She wanted it to feel more dramatic.
“Shirui Higu,” Klumwald said. “Employed by Fengwa Industries. Fengwa.”
The guard on her left loosened his grip considerably.
“Lady Shirui Higu,” the guard said. “Harvey, this is Lady Shirui Higu.”
Harvey stood there staring at her for a long moment. She wondered what went on in his mind.
He is probably wondering if it is worth turning you in, Pulman said. But he will conclude that angering the entire Fengwa Syndicate is not in his best interests.
“Put away that weapon,” he said with haste a moment later. “Release her.”
“Ah, a man with sense,” Shirui said. She stayed quiet while they freed her arms. When they came loose, she stretched her arms forward and rubbed at her wrists. “Where did Nadani Jagi go? Did you kill her?” she asked.
“No, we did not,” Klumwald said. “She killed two of our people only to space herself as far as we can tell—although we are finding no trace of a body.”
“She didn’t space herself,” Shirui said, growing heated. Glad these fools didn’t kill her prey she grew upset at learning about Nadani’s escape. “She escaped. I don’t know how but double-check your systems for any erroneous behavior. Her AI could hack the ship’s systems.”
“Hack the systems? It can do that?” Klumwald’s jawline became pronounced as he clenched it tight.
“Could you be a dear and reinstate my Exanet access as well?” Shirui asked. “It’s just that things get complicated when I don’t check in at certain times.” A partial lie, but he didn’t know that. It would be several sols of no contact before Fengwa would investigate. Any time her ship folded, she sent a message to Fengwa indicating the estimated time of travel since that would potentially be sols without Exanet as well.
“Of course,” Klumwald said. “My apologies for the mix-up. We were unsure in the heat of the moment and took you both. We’ve known about Nadani Jagi and her AI for some time now, but she had been eluding us until we noticed her ship approaching Lakishma. We were in orbit here for other business.”
“Yes, I see,” Shirui said, getting irritated.
I don’t care about your other business, she thought. Nadani is gone. I need to get back to my ship and leave this place.
I disagree on the plan of action, Pulman said, surprising her. We should pick up your ship, yes, but I believe we ought to stay with CAAI. Capital vessels have foldspace systems which are faster than the types in yours and Jagi’s ships. We could potentially catch up to her if we can find out where she is headed.
Work with CAAI? Shirui said. They’re disgusting! But they hate Jagi, I hate Jagi—that part makes sense. I could use them for a while.
“Is there anything I can do to make up for the incident, Miss—Lady Shirui,” Klumwald said. His face turned red, or perhaps it merely reflected light from one of the holopanels.
“I have a proposal for you, Mr. Klumwald,” Shirui said. Actual negotiation was never her strong suit.
“And what is that?” he asked.
“We are both after Nadani Jagi,” she said, pausing for a second. “Why don’t we work together? I can bring Fengwa in on this operation. We have far more resources than CAAI.”
“What’s the catch?” Klumwald asked, straight to the point.
“You would need to leave Jagi alive. For me,” Shirui said. Her heart beat faster just thinking about the possibility.
“We have some questions we want to ask her,” he said.
“Oh! I can help with that too!” Shirui grew excited.
“Then after that, she can be all yours,” Klumwald said. “As long as we do not have to swear allegiance to Fengwa.”
“No, nothing like that,” Shirui said with haste. “Only a temporary alliance.”
“All right,” Klumwald said. “We can hammer out details later if needed. What’s first?”
Ship first, Pulman said.
“First we must retrieve my ship from the labs,” Shirui said.
“All right, you,” he said, pointing to the guard on Shirui’s left, the one who loosened his grip early, “find Sharise to pilot a shuttle and take her back to her ship,” Klumwald said.
“Yes, sir,” he said. He stepped out of the way and let Shirui exit the room first.
He agreed to that with ease, Pulman said. I thought we would need to sway him harder.
Fengwa scares and intimidates people. Not only do we have the same goal, but he might have worried what I would do should he not agree with me.
I must read more about Fengwa, Pulman said. There is a great deal not available in public records.
I will let you access a Fengwa terminal as soon as we’re in Fengwa space, Shirui promised.
Thank you, Pulman said and a feeling of genuine love and happiness emanated from it. Shirui couldn’t help but smile. It had been a long time since she had loved anyone like she started to love Pulman.
They found Sharise in the docking bay.
“What, back down there again?” she asked. “Sure. Let me check our position,” she said and went quiet for a moment.
I hope the trip down won’t be terribly long, Shirui thought.
“We’re coming up on a good drop window,” Sharise said. “Let’s take Shuttle D this time. She needs a workout.”
Shirui followed Sharise to the shuttle, surprised when the guard climbed in after her with a rifle in hand. She looked in askance of him, raising an eyebrow.
“I figured you would need a bodyguard, Lady,” he said.
“Much appreciated,” Shirui said, amused by his ignorance. She was far from helpless.
The smooth ride down took almost an hour, and she stretched eagerly when she stood on the dock. She didn’t care too much for the smell of the planet though. It smelled too—green. The shuttle lifted off as soon as she and the guard cleared the launch area, and she had to keep herself from jogging ahead to Harmonic Essences. She truly grew fond of the ship.
“You can sit in the parlor,” she told the guard, whose name she didn’t bother learning. The parlor consisted of two couches and one sofa chair squeezed together in a tight, small room—along with the FVR pod. She thought it cozy enough for a small ship.
As she climbed into the pilot’s pit and plugged into the ship, she thought of what she needed to do.
I need to declare myself Shirui again officially, she thought, powering on pre-flight systems.
The Council cannot stop you from being you, Pulman said.
That’s good to know, she replied.
So she would do that and acquire ships and supplies. Shirui needed to contact Suneeti again.
Zarzycki
“Zarzycki is about seven sols from here,” Dr. Tysgan said.
Nadani reappeared from her bedroom after changing out of her plugsuit into shorts and a simple tee. The shower helped with the bruises she acquired, but she still ached, and parts of her body felt tender.
“Adan said it was around that long,” Nadani said, taking up the spot on the couch opposite Dr. Tysgan. “How much time do we have until the attack?”
“Seven sols, three hours, twenty-two minutes, and some seconds,” Dr. Tysgan said.
“I hope that is enough time to talk to the station master and evacuate the station,” Nadani said.
Zarzycki is a small station, Adan said. There will be around two thousand people to evacuate. T
he station’s pods ought to handle most of that, and the rest can fit in whatever ships are present.
What about contacting the authorities? Nadani asked.
The station master can do it, Adan said. We cannot since we are in foldspace and do not have a direct line with any authority of significance.
Fair point, Nadani said.
“Plenty of time,” Dr. Tysgan said. “We arrive at 10:03 GST, so everyone is awake.”
“Most people should be,” Nadani agreed. “Station alarms ought to wake everyone else.”
“Yes, then it is up to people to evacuate smooth,” Dr. Tysgan said. “I admit never have been on station during planned evacuation.”
“I hope it goes well,” Nadani said, imagining the potential eruption of chaos.
“Yes, yes,” Dr. Tysgan said. “With luck Gershan military nearby. They travel fast.”
Nadani nodded. The large battleships and bigger that the belonged to the various militaries had even faster foldspace systems. She could not even begin to calculate how much faster.
Our trip of seven sols would take a dreadnought class ship around two and a half sols to complete, Adan said.
Why don’t large civilian ships have an FSS that fast? Nadani asked. I mean, they’re faster than smaller ships still, but not as fast as that.
Cost and availability, Adan said. The expense of building an FSS like the military-grade FSS is astronomical. They are also not available on the market to civilians. The local government, Gershan, and JUS encompassing that want to be on top of travel speed to maintain control. We could have tried to find a transport ship to take us to Zarzycki, but the odds of one being here with Zarzycki as its endpoint are slim to none.
Yeah, Zarzycki is pretty out there. What do they do there? Nadani asked.
Nothing specialized, Adan said. Although they do have more R&D labs than anything else. It’s cheap to rent a lab in a faraway station.
That makes sense, she said. Ugh. What am I going to do for seven sols?
You could read, watch vids, or use the FVR, Adan said. Nadani hadn’t expected an answer, for she asked rhetorically.
