by Rachel Aukes
Reyne rushed down the dock the moment the door to the Honorless opened.
When he saw Critch assisting Heid down the ramp, relief flooded him. She’d survived. The crazy, harebrained idea of faking her and her crew’s deaths by letting Ausyar destroy the Arcadia had worked. The Campaign had lost its greatest asset, but at the same time had secured the safety of over three hundred lives.
He walked over to greet them. When he reached them, he embraced Heid. She immediately tensed as if she hadn’t ever been hugged, but then wrapped an arm around him. He took a step back. “You pulled it off. I never thought I’d say it, but I think you’re crazier than Critch here.”
She grinned. “It definitely was easier in theory than in practice.”
He grew concerned. “Your crew that flew with you on this mission?”
She winced. “We lost six.”
He closed his eyes and lowered his head for a brief moment. “The eversea has gained six brave souls.” While six was a low number for such a high-risk mission, he would’ve been happier if there’d been no deaths. He turned to Critch. “And your crew?”
“Without a scratch,” Critch replied.
He exhaled a sigh. “Good. Today, we had a major win against the CUF, thanks to you and your crew.” When neither spoke, Reyne motioned. “Come. Seda wants to meet Gabriela.”
The trio headed to the hangar to find Seda working at his desk.
Heid cocked her head. “I honestly never thought I’d meet the Aeronaut.”
Seda came to his feet and held out his arm. “Welcome, Baker. However, I believe you go by your real name now you’re no longer associated with the Founders.”
She clasped his forearm in salutation. “It’s a pleasure, Seda.”
He nodded toward her injury. “You should get that looked at.”
“I will,” she said and took a seat.
Critch walked over to the bar and poured himself a whiskey. He downed the glass and refilled it.
Seda watched Critch. “Did everything go as planned?”
Critch nodded. “Exactly as planned.”
“Except we lost two escape pods,” Heid added.
Seda frowned. “I’m sorry to hear that. I’m sure they were good people.”
“The best,” Heid said.
A chime sounded. Seda opened the drawer and pulled out a tablet that only a few people in the Collective knew about. “I don’t believe it,” he said. “It’s Mason.”
Shivers coursed over Reyne. He strode over, closed the door, and then leaned against the wall.
Seda furrowed his brows. “What is he up to?” He shook off the expression. “Let’s find out, shall we?”
Seda transferred the call to the wall screen, and Mason—also known as Gabriel Heid—appeared. While everyone in the room could see and hear Mason, Mason could only see Seda.
“Hello, Aeronaut,” Mason said.
“Mason,” Seda said, following suit. “To what do I owe this call today?”
“First things first. How’s my daughter?”
Seda kept his poker face. “I’m afraid Corps General Ausyar launched an attack against the Arcadia earlier today. All souls aboard, including your daughter, were killed.”
Mason pursed his lips. “I saw the footage, and I applaud the subterfuge. However, I know Gabriela loved that ship. And I know the only thing she loved more than that ship was her crew. I knew she had something up her sleeve when she jumped from orbit.”
“She’s gone,” Seda reiterated. “But I don’t understand why you’d care. Wasn’t it just last year you tried to capture her on Spate?”
Mason gave a small smile. “Capture, not kill, Aeronaut. Gabriela is still my daughter and the only family I have left. Of course I care about her well-being.”
Reyne shot a glance at Heid, to see her roll her eyes, and he was glad she had the common sense to remain silent.
“I suspect you care about your daughter’s well-being about as much as you cared about Mariner’s well-being when you tortured her to death,” Seda said.
Mason cocked his head. “You’re still bothered about that little incident?”
“She was my wife.” Seda nearly spat the words.
Mason sobered. “Then you shouldn’t have digressed from our plans.”
“Your plans,” Seda corrected, glaring. “They were never the Founders’ plans.”
Mason waved a hand through the air. “What’s done is done. Now, I hope you will convey to my daughter that she’s in my thoughts,” Mason continued.
“Why did you call?” Seda asked.
“I’m calling about what you did today, of course. I must say, I was quite impressed to hear you had the courage to kill Corps General Ausyar, though I thought writing ‘Broken Mountain’ on the torpedo was rather melodramatic. You could’ve handled it in a different way than making it look like terrorism.”
Reyne stiffened, confused. What torpedo? Ausyar was dead? When the words on the torpedo sunk in, he spun to face Critch. Critch sat in his chair, with a glass of whiskey in one hand, watching Reyne. He didn’t look the least bit bothered. If anything, the bastard looked smug. Reyne shot him a dark look and then turned away. I’ll deal with you later.
“I see you’re still closely connected with your sources in the CUF,” Seda said. “What else did they tell you?”
“That the blight you released on the Unity killed all 455 souls on board, as well as eighteen souls on board the two patrol ships sent to investigate.”
The blight. Reyne’s jaw slackened, and he forced himself to breathe slowly and deeply to keep from attacking Critch at that precise moment.
“Parliament is worried. They’re afraid this was a warning shot, and your next target is them.” Mason shrugged. “I encourage that perception.”
Seda’s gaze narrowed. “Why is that?”
“Because I want the colonies to be free. Or, at least, to believe they’re free. That way, they get this little rebellious streak out of their systems and they realize they can’t last on their own without support. How long do you give the colonies before they come back to Parliament with their tails between their legs, begging to be brought back into the Collective?”
Seda laughed. “You never understood the mind of a colonist.”
“And you’ve never understood the difference between a revolution and a civil war. The colonies needed to experience a revolution, but you never needed to take them into war.”
“I’ve done and will continue to do whatever is needed to ensure the colonies are free. If you remember, Mason, the original purpose of the Founders was to ensure equality and independence.”
“The colonies didn’t even exist when the Founders met for the first time,” Mason said.
“I remember the greatest thing the Founders ever accomplished was to instigate civil war between Myr and Alluvia.”
Mason’s brows rose. “And I suppose you’re likening yourself to the original Founders. Aeronaut, you’re no Jacob Mason.”
“Nor do I pretend to be.” Seda gave a sly smile. “After all, I’m not the one who took the first Founder’s name upon initiation.”
“Enough chitchat,” Mason said. “The first reason I called is to congratulate you on taking care of Ausyar for me. I especially like the irony of him dying by his own creation.”
“Hm. Now, I suspect you’re playing me. I know you steered his empiric motivations. He never would’ve had the blight without your guidance.”
“Ah, Ausyar proved to be a disappointment. He had the ambition and resources to unify the Collective. But he also had greed. And that weakness tends to make one shortsighted.”
“You only want to rule the entire Collective,” Seda sneered. “I suppose that’s not greed?”
Mason narrowed his gaze before he brushed the air with his hand. “Now, to the second reason I called. I know my daughter is there with you, so what I have to say now is for her. Gabriela, you made a mistake to come to Terra. You should have stayed on Playa where you
were safe. Now you’ve lost the Arcadia, which will cripple your little rebellion, even if you don’t see it yet.”
Reyne watched Heid’s features tighten as she listened, and he was surprised she didn’t speak up.
“Without the Arcadia, you are effectively defenseless,” Mason continued. “And so, I wish to help you. I am sending you a file; what you do with it is up to you. The file is secure with your DNA—no one else can open it. If you choose to use it, it will give the Fringe Liberation Campaign what it needs to turn Parliament’s opinion to its favor. In this file, you’ll find all the proof you need that the creation and subsequent use of that terrible blight was done under Corps General Michel Ausyar’s orders, and that he had desires to take over the Collective. Use this file, and you’ll be safe from the CUF because the conflict will be over.” Mason paused. “I know we’ve had our differences of late, but as I told Aeronaut, you are still my daughter even if you no longer adhere to the Founders code. I want you to be safe.”
When Mason didn’t say anything else, Seda spoke. “Is that all?”
Mason straightened, then gave a half-nod.
“For the free,” Seda said.
Mason hung up.
Heid jumped to her feet. “What a conceited, pompous, arrogant ass!”
“Do you believe anything he said?” Critch asked her.
“No,” she said quickly, paused for a moment, then shook her head. “No, I don’t. He doesn’t do anything that wouldn’t help his cause. Helping me certainly doesn’t accomplish that.”
“What do you want done with the file?” Seda asked. “I can delete it if you wish.”
Heid thought for a long moment. “I’ll have Vapor check it out first. If it’s clean, I’ll take a look and see if it’s what he says it is.”
Seda nodded. “If it is, it would be a PR miracle.”
Reyne pushed off from the wall and looked across the three faces in the room. “You were all in on it.”
They turned to face him.
“You knew I was against using the blight. You had a meeting after our meeting to plan the Arcadia mission.”
“You made it clear you wouldn’t support the idea,” Seda said.
“Of course I wouldn’t!” Reyne yelled. “You saw what the blight did to Sol Base. We’re now as guilty as Ausyar.”
“We had to stop Ausyar,” Seda said. “He bombed Broken Mountain. He was about to bomb Rebus Station, and then work his way through the colonies.”
Reyne shook his head. “You didn’t have to kill five hundred people to kill one man.”
“That was my idea,” Heid said quietly.
Reyne snapped on her. “Is that what the CUF taught you? To kill one person, take out a city?”
“No,” she said. “It’s what my father taught me. If we’d killed only Ausyar, Parliament would wonder what we’re capable of. By using the blight to kill Ausyar, Parliament would tremble at what we’re capable of. Now, they’ll be willing to negotiate.”
“And you can fly off into the stars,” Reyne finished, then sighed. “Your impatience has cost us our honor.” He rubbed his forehead and turned away from the group.
“What’s done is done,” Seda said. “Reyne, I realize now that you should have been there. You have my word that all major decisions going forward must be discussed and voted on by all three marshals. You, Critch, and Gabriela are a triad, each with your own strengths. You balance out one another. The colonies need each of you to fight for their freedom.”
As Seda spoke, a decision came to Reyne. He felt the arthritis in his joints, he felt the sorrow of losing Throttle, and he felt the anguish Sixx was going through. He knew where he needed to be. He turned back to face them. “As leaders, it’s our job to represent the best of the colonists. What happened today was the opposite. We showed the entire Collective we’re no different than Ausyar when we want something. You’ve taken the Campaign down a path I never would’ve gone, and now you need to ride it where it leads. I can’t be a part of that.”
With that, he opened the door and left.
He’d made it halfway through the hangar before he heard footsteps behind him. He turned, surprised to see Critch was the one to come after him.
Reyne sighed. “I know you fired the torpedo. Did it take away the pain of losing Broken Mountain?”
Critch shook his head. “No. But I couldn’t sit by and watch Ausyar bomb the next Broken Mountain. Not when there was something I could do about it.”
“I know,” Reyne said. “I don’t blame you for wanting revenge, but you shouldn’t have cut me out. We could’ve found another way.”
“This was the only way,” Critch said.
“There’s always another way.” Reyne turned, then took a deep sigh. “I know your intentions are good, but that doesn’t change the fact you crossed a line when you used the blight. You should’ve destroyed it the moment you saw it. Instead, you used it to make a statement, no different than how Ausyar used it. There’s nothing I can do for the Campaign, but I can look after my crew. So that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
Reyne started walking.
“I hope you find her,” Critch said.
Reyne paused for a moment, and then kept on walking.
Eighteen
Data Dump
Torrent Headquarters, Terra
Heid
Heid sat at the desk in her room at Seda’s retreat and reread the message from Vapor for the umpteenth time.
Data file is clean. No risks detected.
She blew out a breath and leaned back. She never expected she’d be sitting there, deciding whether to open the file or not. She’d assumed the file was dirty, with a Trojan, virus, or something else. But the best hacker in the Collective verified it’s clean, so it has to be clean, right?
She tentatively placed her hand on the scanner. After the system accepted her DNA as a match, it took several seconds to open the file. She began to have second thoughts, when it finally opened. A recording of her father started playing. She frowned.
Hello, Gabriela. I’m glad you opened this file. I wish we could have spoken again, but I suppose that’s not possible, since my daughter died the day she betrayed me, the Founders, and the Collective.
Heid’s eyes grew wide, and she tried to shut off the playback, but it wouldn’t stop.
Today, the person who continues to bear the name Gabriela Heid will cease to exist so that my daughter may rest in peace. Goodbye Gabriela.
She jumped to her feet at the same time the computer exploded with the force of a small bomb.
Gabriela Heid never felt a thing.
Nineteen
Finding the Eversea
Torrent Headquarters, Terra
Reyne
The Gryphon wasn’t scheduled to depart until the next morning, which meant Reyne had to stay another night at Seda’s retreat. He had just settled in bed to read, when the lights flickered, followed by an explosion that shook the walls. He dashed out into the hallway to see Critch, wearing only pants, jump out from his room. They caught each other’s eyes for an instant before turning to see smoke curl out from under Heid’s door.
“No.” The word spilt from Reyne’s slack-jawed lips.
The pair raced down the hallway to her room.
Critch reached the door first and tried to open it. “Locked,” he growled and pounded on the door. “Heid!”
Seda came running down the hallway. “Move.” He shoved Critch to the side and placed his hand over the access screen. The lock clicked, and Seda threw the door open.
The building’s air system was already sucking out the smoky air, leaving behind the stench of burnt wires. Computer shards were impaled in the walls. The three men rushed into the room to find Heid crumpled on the floor.
Seda reached her first. He kneeled and tenderly rolled her over. He didn’t check for a pulse. It was obvious that he didn’t need to. The computer had exploded with such force that hundreds of small pieces had hit her chest like a s
hotgun blast at short range. The front of her body was darkened by electrical soot and blood.
He wiped a tuft of hair from Heid’s face. Critch and Reyne stood next to him, looking down at her.
Hari squeezed between Critch and Reyne. She fell to her knees next to Seda. She clenched her fists against her mouth. “No.”
Reyne looked over to where the computer had sat. There was nothing left except char where even the metal had melted in places. The power supply was a black hole. He thought back to the lights in his room. The code had somehow suppressed any electrical system safeguards while calling a power surge at such speed and intensity as to create a single burst of energy.
It was a genius, horrific plan. He grimaced, unable to fathom what Mason had done. How could a man kill his own daughter?
He swallowed back the bile coming into his mouth. “The data file. Mason included a kill code with the file.”
“Mason,” Critch snarled, and began pacing the room with clenched fists. “I should’ve killed him back on Alluvia.”
“Impossible. Heid had Vapor scan the file,” Seda said, stiffened, and then growled, “Vapor was the one who embedded the code in the first place.”
Hari leaned on the floor for support. “I don’t understand why a hacker would do this. She’s helped us on several occasions.”
Seda scowled. “She helped because we paid her well. She’s known throughout the fringe as the best hacker out there. Mason would know her, and I imagine he paid even better.”
In a fury, Critch grabbed a vase and threw it against the wall. Everyone watched, but no one said anything. Without making eye contact, he walked over to Heid, bent over, and picked her up as though she were a sleeping child. He carried her over to the bed and laid her down upon it. He murmured a prayer under his breath, and covered her with a blanket.
Critch turned back to the group. “Tomorrow, we mourn. Then, we hunt Mason down and take him apart, one piece at a time.”
