Privateers in Exile
Jamie McFarlane
Fickle Dragon Publishing LLC
Contents
Preface
1. Hotspur
2. Gilded Cage
3. Betrayal
4. Reunion
5. Basket Weaving
6. Pity the Fool
7. Begins with One Step
8. Point Masters
9. Elves
10. Crystal City
11. God Humor
12. Politicking and Time
13. Trial by Farce
14. Up the Voltage
15. Energy Weapons and Crystal Grottoes
16. Payback
17. Mostly Harmless
18. Trust is Earned
19. We Were We
20. Knotty Problems
21. If It Was Easy
22. Smoke Signals
23. Truth and Consequence
24. Bluster Busted
25. For Love
Epilogue
About the Author
Acknowledgments
Also by Jamie McFarlane
Preface
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Chapter 1
Hotspur
"Mr. Hoffen, Kelly Jangles from Daily Voice, Mars’ premier news purveyor. Can you confirm the rumors that you've come back to Mars to run for the High Council?" The doe-eyed, blonde reporter asking the question somehow managed to convey trustworthy sincerity in her delivery.
Public interest in our story had reached a fever pitch after we'd returned, the conquering heroes. We'd played an active role in repelling the Kroerak invaders that had very nearly enslaved humanity and then tracked them to their homes. In the end we'd put a permanent end to the threat in spectacular fashion.
Thomas Anino, the inestimably wealthy business tycoon who also happened to be a friend and occasional business partner, had suggested that our lives would be made easier if we fielded some questions today. He’d pitched the press conference as a human-interest, local-boy-and-friends-save-the-world, get-to-know-the-people-behind-the-scenes type of an affair.
For the first twenty minutes that's exactly how things had gone. Kelly Jangles’ question, however, caught me completely flat-footed. I'd heard some jokes about my taking political office, but the fact was, we had a life in the Dwingeloo galaxy where I was already in charge of a growing, albeit small, tribe called House of the Bold.
I smiled back at Jangles, which was the wrong thing to do. She turned up the voltage with her own perfect smile and it left me a bit starstruck. "Um," I started, stammering as my brain raced to find an answer.
A comforting hand rested on my shoulder. "What my partner is trying to say …" Nick James, my best friend, business partner and almost always the smartest person in the room. He knew I wasn't prepared for the question and was about to take a bullet for me. "… is that we are just visiting Mars and will be headed back to Dwingeloo galaxy in a few days."
"Reports obtained by Daily Voice show that you and your team did what neither Mars Protectorate nor the entire Earth Alliance fleet could manage. Polling shows you're a lock for a High Council seat this fall, Mr. Hoffen," Kelly Jangles pushed. Her smile had turned from girl next door to salivating predator in seconds.
"That's ridiculous," I said. "We're all lucky to be alive. A lot of brave men and women died defending our home worlds. I'm just grateful we found a solution at all."
"Are you saying that without you and Tabitha Masters acquiring that Piscivoru weapon, the combined fleets would have been triumphant?" Jangles asked.
"I think it's clear that without the Iskstar, things would have turned out differently," I said and immediately regretted it as a surge of reporters pushed forward, all shouting their questions. I caught Jangles' eye. She had a satisfied grin on her face as she spoke into a recording device that hovered in front of her.
Marty Jacks, a publicist who was helping manage the press conference, jumped to his feet and animatedly waved his arms. My AI indicated that Jacks had severed our comm feeds. "That's all we have for today," he announced. Originally, I'd wondered why Anino had felt Jacks' services were necessary. Now, as the room full of reporters began to boil over into a frenzy, I saw the wisdom. Unlike myself, Jacks' team didn't hesitate at the sudden shift in intensity. A group of security personnel poured into the room, creating a physical barrier between where my team had been seated and the gallery. Jacks wasted no time in escorting us off the stage.
"That was intense," Tabby said, smiling and pushing shoulder-length auburn hair out of her face. Tabby was, of course, my soul mate. She was also not one for public speaking. "I think Kelly Jangles has the hots for you."
My grin reflected the irony I found in her new attitude. During the war against the Kroerak, Tabby had almost died by volunteering to serve as a host for the Iskstar mother crystal. To save her life, she’d undergone an extensive round of surgeries to replace much of her damaged musculature and skeletal system. According to Thomas Anino's mother, Dorian, Tabby had something called a hero gene. People with this rare condition had an unusual symbiosis with synthetically grown replacement tissues, resulting in a substantial increase in strength, stamina, and reflexes.
While Tabby had received the same surgeries once before, the doctors failed to notice the existence of her hero gene. Without proper monitoring and intervention, she’d grown more and more aggressive as her body strengthened to an extreme level. The old Tabby wouldn't have found Kelly Jangles amusing. She would have seen her as a threat and likely have already taken steps to deal with it. Hence, the irony.
"Oh, Kelly would show you quite the time," Marty Jacks said, picking up on the conversation. "And you'd bare your soul to her. Guaranteed, she'd manufacture a believable story, just close enough to the truth that most people would believe it."
"I thought you handled those reporters just fine," Marny Bertrand offered. In addition to being one of my closest advisors, she and Nick were married with an adorable six-month-old son, Pete. Marny was unforgettable. Earthers were already big compared to spacers like me, but she was exceptional, heavily muscled and well above the average Earther’s height. I wouldn't lie or suggest that having two women in my life who could pound me into dust wasn't somewhat humbling.
"Are you kidding?" This came from the fifth member of our crew, Ada Chen. Unlike Marny and Tabby, Ada had no remarkable strength. She was small with a willowy build, but what she lacked in physical power, she made up for in her capacity to pilot ships of all sizes. "The public already believes the government let them down by allowing the invasion of Earth. Jangles is going to hold you out as a savior."
A door was thrown open, slamming loudly against the wall. The small but enigmatic Thomas Anino entered the room, just catching Ada's last words. "Dammit Jacks, how could you let him answer that frakking question? Who allowed Jangles into the conference?" he spluttered, his adolescent voice cracking awkwardly.
Like so many of the people I knew, outward appearances didn’t accurately represent the person within. At first glance, Thomas Anino appeared to be a gawky, unassuming early-teen spacer. Nothing could have been further from the truth. He regularly utilized highly illegal rejuvenation surgeries and was in fact centuries old; a fact known to very few.
"I'm sorry, sir." Marty Jacks bowed and backed up, obviously afraid of Anino's temper.
"Well, frakking go fix it!" Anino pushed. "It's obvious even to Chen that Jangles is going to run with that story. Shite!"
"Is it really that bad?" I asked, stealing a glance at Ada.
Her dark-brown cheeks showed a hint of red flush, which was saying something. She knew Anino well enough to understand he hadn't intentionally insulted her, but his flippancy was annoying nonetheless.
Anino shook his head as Jacks disappeared through the door to the press room. A roar erupted as the reporters, hungry for a story, recognized new fodder and pounced. The noise abated when the door finally closed.
"Depends on whether or not you want a target on your back," Anino snapped, holding my gaze for a moment. "Do you have any idea what politicians and their political parties are willing to do to keep themselves in power? You think the Kroerak were vicious? They were nothing. Your life expectancy just dropped in half with that little stunt."
"Hey, it wasn't a stunt. He was just speaking the truth," Tabby said. I grabbed her hand, impressed at how calmly she'd delivered the rebuke. Old Tabby would have been in Anino's face, threatening physical violence.
Anino took in a deep breath and sighed. "It's my fault. I knew there was a chance the question of your political aspirations would be raised. She's right, you know. You wouldn't need much starting capital to run for that open High Council seat." He shrugged his shoulders as an idea floated through his consciousness. "If you want it, we could make it happen."
"This press conference was supposed to reduce the pressure on us," I said. "Before today, we couldn't walk through Puskar Stellar market without being mobbed. There's no way that's getting better now."
Anino shook his head. "Ten standard years," he said.
"For what?" I asked.
"No one will know who you are in ten years. After two years, you'll still get a few people coming up to you. Five years, you'll get funny looks and the occasional do I know you questions. By ten years, you'll be forgotten completely."
"We don't have that kind of time," I said. "We need to get back to Mhina. We left Mom in charge of an entire solar system."
"What about our deal?" Anino asked.
"Deal?" I looked from him to Nick. Nick's abashed face suggested he had some knowledge of the deal Anino referred to.
"Let's get out of here and we can talk," Anino said. "Are you hungry?"
I'd always been surprised at how easily that old man changed subjects in a conversation.
"Let's make sure to grab Jonathan," I said.
Jonathan was the only crew remaining from those that had originally accompanied us back from the Dwingeloo galaxy. To call the collective of fourteen hundred plus sentients that inhabited a very life-like android body crew wasn't strictly accurate. I suppose consultant was a more apt description.
"He's already in the shuttle," Anino pushed.
We'd originally met Jonathan at the same time we'd met Anino. They had a special bond I still didn’t understand but Jonathan had more than earned my trust on multiple occasions. I couldn't say the same for Anino. He was up to something.
"What's going on, Anino?" I asked.
"We need to talk somewhere private," he said. Something in his bearing got my attention. Something was bothering him, and it wasn't the press conference.
"I'm out," Marny said. "Peter is with a temporary babysitter. Meet back at the hotel?"
To call the place we were staying a hotel was something of an understatement. It was more like a private compound for the rich and famous. Each guest or party was given their own mansion with beach-front views of Concord Lake. Interestingly, the resort was only a few kilometers south of the Mars Naval Academy where Tabby had trained in what felt like a lifetime ago.
Poor Nick looked back and forth between me and his wife, then reached out to her. "I'll come with you."
"You should be part of whatever's going on," Marny said to him. “You can link me in on comms when you get to the meat of the conversation."
"I'm afraid I'm out too," Ada said. "Dad's making dinner." Ada's mother had been killed in a pirate attack years ago, and though she could never imagine being planet-bound, she missed her father. Since we'd been back, the two spent as much time as possible together.
I nodded in understanding. "We'll catch you up."
Tabby, Nick, and I followed Anino to an underground lot where we loaded into a small, nondescript passenger craft. From the outside, it looked like any other midsize taxi, but Anino was a master of hiding in plain sight. The vessel was anything but ordinary.
Once we were in the air, I couldn’t wait any longer. "What's on your mind? And what about Jonathan?"
"Jonathan are otherwise engaged," Anino said. It was both weird and correct that he referred to Jonathan in the plural. I tended to think of Jonathan as a single entity even though he, or they, were multitude.
"I assume our deal refers to House of the Bold's agreement to chase down the Belirand mission crystals?" Nick got right to the issue and as soon as he said it, I realized what I’d been missing.
"The reason I've been withholding technology and capital from you is because I was afraid you'd get in exactly the position you're in now," Anino replied.
"What position is that?" I asked. "The position where we saved the known universe?"
"Doesn't get old saying it, does it?" The smile Anino gave was genuine, which by itself was unusual. He always seemed to be plotting and planning.
"Probably gets old for everyone else," I said. "But it's kind of cool knowing that no matter what happens, we saved a lot of people. Most won't know the sacrifices that were made, either." I rested my hand on Tabby's knee and gave it a squeeze.
Anino placed a briefcase on a short table and opened it. Sure enough, rows of gleaming quantum communication crystals sat neatly embedded in the cushioned lining.
"The position I'm referring to is your confusion of priorities," he said. "Don't get me wrong, it's entirely natural to be wooed by power. How great is it to be able to build your own city, run your own planet, and rule your own solar system? In a few short years, you transformed from asteroid mining space-trash to Abasi royalty."
"Hey, watch it," I said, bristling at the space-trash reference. The people I'd grown up with worked hard as asteroid miners and calling us trash was below the belt.
The squealing sound of bending metal broke the stare-down between me and Anino. Tabby had twisted the metal of her chair. The arm pointed down at a forty-five-degree angle and showed indentations where her fingers had rested. Tabby's face was placid, but her eyes had a slightly crazed look to them.
"Masters?" Anino asked with a gulp. His expression indicated he wondered how deep he'd stepped in it.
Tabby shook her head and smiled. "Sorry. I'm working on positive responses. I guess I squeezed too hard."
I smiled at her and waggled my eyebrows. The kinder, gentler Tabby was nice when sparring in the ring, but I’d always loved when she became the fiery defender of the innocent. I was used to her quick temper and wasn't sure I was ready to give up those honest responses just yet.
Anino breathed a sigh of relief. "Yeah. Good. Keep doing that," he said. "I didn't mean space-trash exactly … but, you know what I mean? You weren't exactly on schedule to take over the world."
She maintained her placid demeanor, but there was a hint of seething just beneath. "He's too successful? That's your issue?"
Anino nodded. "Exactly. I told you early on that the trappings of success would divert you from the core mission."
"In fairness, a lot has changed," Nick said.
"Not from where I sit," Anino said. "There are still over eighty Belirand missions unaccounted for."
"Most of those people are probably dead," I said, making an argument I didn't love.
"Like York settlement or Yishuv or Cradle?" he pushed back, causing me to immediately regret my statement.
"What would you have us do? We have an entire solar system that needs us."
"You can do both," Anino replied.
Tabby looked out the window. "Where are we going?" Instead of sailing out of the city, we'd continued to climb, the cityscape disappearing below us.
"I have a surprise for you," he sai
d.
"Running House of the Bold is going to take a lot of attention," Nick said, uninterested in Anino's surprise. "With Abasi forces reduced, we're going to see increased pirate activity in the region. We need more capital than ever before."
"Good. We're finally negotiating." Anino sounded relieved.
"What?" I asked, skeptically.
"Nick says you need capital and help fighting pirates. I can do you one better than that. I happen to know an elite team that's good at all that fighting stuff. You remember Natalia Lizst?"
"Tali? No way," I said. "Last I knew, she was hanging up her boots."
"Nope. She's hooked up with a team that works with my mother, Dorian. I can get them to look into your pirate problem," he said. "Trust me when I say they're more than effective at their job."
Nick frowned. "I'm not sure a single team can fix these problems. We need ships and patrols and sensor equipment. The list is huge. One of the reasons we’re here is to cut some deals and bring industry to York."
"I'll build a shipyard in orbit over York and send four frigates," Anino said. "I'll pay standard Abasi taxes and supply the personnel."
"You don't give things away," Tabby said. "There's more to this than having us chase down these old Belirand missions. What gives?"
"There's really nothing more to it," Anino said. "Granted, I might not be telling you everything I know about the failed missions, but that is truly at the center of it all."
"Timeline to deliver shipyard?" Nick asked.
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