Perilous Hunt

by Lindsay Buroker

  “I feel bad that I didn’t get to know him better,” Alisa said. “That I didn’t give him more of a chance to explain himself. He tried a few times. I didn’t want to hear it.”

  “Because he was a suspicious Starseer who only appeared in your life after stealing your staff.”

  “It wasn’t my staff.”

  “It glowed for you.”

  “It glows more for Tymoteusz.” Alisa shook her head. “It shouldn’t be anyone’s staff. That’s why disposing of it is the best answer.”

  “Probably so. Look, he was suspicious. He helped us, but you never knew if he cared or was just here for his own reasons. Most likely the latter. I wouldn’t have trusted him either.”

  “But you’re pessimistic, and I… thought I wasn’t.”

  “We’re more the same than you think. You just lie to yourself about it. And then you believe your lies.”

  “Your charm is without bounds.”

  “Who wants a charming engineer?” Mica asked.

  “I’d settle for one who could make android eyes.”

  Mica snorted.

  Alisa guided them closer to their fourth asteroid, trying not to feel daunted as she glanced toward the holo map and saw how many more asteroids, each marked with a red dot, they had to search.

  “I never got to know my parents well either,” Mica said, surprising Alisa by volunteering the information. She so rarely spoke about herself and her past. “My dad died when I was about ten. Mom died while I was at the university.”

  “I didn’t realize you had no family left.” Maybe Alisa had, if only intuitively. Mica had never spoken of wanting to return to the mining asteroid where she had grown up, or wanting to make enough money to take her family away from that life.

  Mica shrugged. “Because of the way the government ran the place, children ended up knowing their instructors and mine leaders better than their parents. They put you in the crèche when you were six, and you learned right away how to be a good little worker. Even before that, you were mostly communally raised with the other kids. The adults were too busy working to spend time raising their children. The old and injured ended up with that responsibility.” She waved her hand, as if dismissing the subject. An old wound long past scarred over, even if it had affected the person she became. “I didn’t know them enough to miss them or mourn their loss, but sometimes I miss the idea of them, if that makes sense. I’d read books about other families in other places, and I’d wonder what it might have been like to know them. And like them. Guess it’s like that for you with Stanislav.”

  “I guess.” Alisa glanced at the sensors, then turned that glance into a second long look. “We have company.”

  “That Alliance warship coming after us again?” Mica asked.

  “I don’t think so, but it’s too far out to get a good reading.” Alisa sent a ping. If it was an Alliance ship, it would automatically respond with its ident.

  She didn’t get anything back. Grumbling, she set the second half of her pancake wrap on the console for later. As she had done before, she veered away, trying to put distance between the Nomad and the other ship. She resented once again adding time to their search, but she could loop back toward their destination asteroid after the other vessel was off the sensors.

  Unfortunately, the other vessel veered from its own course. It picked a path through the asteroids around it, heading after the Nomad in as direct a line as possible.

  Hoping that was a coincidence, Alisa turned their nose downward, trying another route. The other ship adjusted its course so that it would eventually cut them off. Faster than they were, it was closing the gap quickly.

  “Do we have a stalker?” Mica asked.

  “Yes, we do.” Alisa opened the internal comm. “Abelardus? We could use you in NavCom.”

  Have you been missing me terribly? he responded promptly, in her mind rather than on the comm. I regret that I haven’t spent more time with you since my people came on board.

  Actually, I’ve been appreciating the quiet. But I need you now.

  I’ve been waiting for you to admit that for weeks. I’ll be right there.

  I hope your people won’t pine overmuch in your absence.

  We were discussing the possibility of setting up a beer brewing center in the kitchen.

  Good. I’m still waiting for a chocolate stout.

  And I’m waiting to be rewarded for producing one for you.

  I’m willing to offer you a half-eaten pancake.

  Generous.

  It’s a very good pancake.

  “Trouble?” Leonidas asked from the hatchway.

  He wore his loose exercise togs and looked much sharper than the last time he had appeared in NavCom.

  “Should I again attempt to dress myself in armor?” he added.

  Alisa smiled at him. “Let’s see how much of an emergency we have first.”

  Leonidas returned the smile and gazed warmly at her. He definitely held the gaze longer than usual. Maybe he was thinking about science experiments.

  Abelardus appeared behind him, trying to shove him aside so he could get into NavCom. He would have had an easier time moving one of the asteroids. Leonidas turned a flat look over his shoulder before stepping into NavCom so Abelardus could pass.

  “Abelardus,” Alisa said, waving toward the sensor panel. “Can you tell anything about that ship? Is it within your range yet?” She grimaced as she noticed just how much closer it had come in the last few minutes.

  “If it’s not, it will be soon.” Abelardus folded down the seat for a better look.

  “It’s not military,” Leonidas said. “A bounty hunter hired to hunt for the prince? Or a treasure hunter looking for the staff?”

  “Just what we need,” Mica said. “A third organization zooming around in here, making trouble.”

  “It should be close enough for me to get a read on the crew now,” Abelardus said slowly, “but I’m not able to sense anyone aboard.”

  Leonidas leaned past Abelardus and touched the sensor display. “I recognize that ship. Remember the corporate android treasure hunter from the quarantine zone around Alcyone Station?”

  “Captain Echo of the Explorer,” Alisa said. “Yes.”

  “What’s he doing here?” Mica asked.

  “The same thing he was doing there, I’ll wager,” Leonidas said.

  “Looking for the staff.” Alisa frowned. “But we don’t have it, and we don’t have the orb anymore, so there’s no reason he should board us.”

  “Does he know that?” Mica asked. “He’s closing fast.”

  “Like a lusty star sailor eyeing his first brothel in months,” Alisa grumbled.

  Leonidas arched an eyebrow.

  “You starting to know the feeling?” Abelardus asked him with a smirk.

  “Stay out of my head,” Leonidas told him.

  Alisa snorted because she had said—or thought—the exact same thing so many times.

  Because you people can’t grasp what amazing company I am, Abelardus informed her silently. I’m shocked you don’t wilt with loneliness when I’m not around.

  Uh huh.

  Your cyborg had lustful dreams involving you last night. Did he tell you?

  No.

  He’s probably ashamed. Hasn’t had to worry about morning perkiness for so long.

  Alisa glared over her shoulder at him. I’m sure you find it fascinating, but why don’t you give him privacy while he sleeps? And stop frolicking through his thoughts the rest of the time too.

  “Stay out of her head too,” Leonidas growled, guessing at the reason for her glare.

  “You’re testier now that more than your armor gets hard,” Abelardus said.

  “The maturity level of NavCom plummets any time there are men in here,” Alisa told Mica.

  “I think it’s Abelardus, more than men in general. Just give them some guns and point them toward the enemy.” Mica waved at the treasure-hunting ship. It was now visible in their rear ca
mera as well as on the sensor monitor.

  Alisa raised the Nomad’s shields. “I’m hoping that android captain, if he’s still in charge over there, will remember what happened to his people the last time he tried to board us.”

  “If he does, won’t he just bring bigger weapons and more androids?” Mica asked.

  “I’m confident our people can handle them even if he does.” Alisa nodded to Leonidas, though she didn’t truly want to send him into battle so soon after his surgery. She hadn’t asked Tiang if it was all right—for all she knew, those failsafes in his skull were still agitated and could go off if he took a crack to the head.

  “I’ll get my armor,” Leonidas said.

  “You may need the leg pieces this time,” Alisa said. “And both boots.”

  “You’re a demanding captain.” He touched the back of her head, fingers lingering to brush through her hair, then left.

  Alisa bit her lip, her cheeks warming as she imagined such touches leading somewhere. Later. When there weren’t androids breathing down their necks.

  “Make sure to tell him not to aim for the face if he does battle with an android,” Mica said.

  “Why not?” Alisa asked.

  “So we can get a replacement eyeball for your new buddy.”

  If Alisa had been thinking of such things back on the station, she might have grabbed the head of the android Leonidas had dismantled in Command and Control. But it would have been a lurid trophy to tote through the corridors.

  Yumi peeked into NavCom. “Do you need any help, Captain?”

  “Why don’t you take the sensor station?” Alisa waved to the seat behind her. “Abelardus is too busy sifting through Leonidas’s thoughts to be useful back there.”

  “Very funny,” Abelardus said, but he slid out of the seat and bowed Yumi into it without further objection.

  “Hm,” Yumi said, “I assume you’re aware of the three ships chasing after us?”

  “Three?” Alisa scowled over her shoulder. “I’m aware of one.”

  “There are two more veering in from farther back. They’re coming from different directions, but they’re definitely angling to chase after us.”

  “Wonderful. Are they all non-military vessels?”

  “I believe so, Captain. They have specs more like civilian yachts than military craft. I do see weapons on that lead one, however.”

  “Yes, we’ve met that ship before.” Alisa headed for a more densely packed part of the field, aware that the Nomad was flying past the asteroid she had wanted to check. The odds of the children being hidden away inside of it were negligible, but she did not want to risk leading strangers to Jelena. Or Prince Thorian. She didn’t know when she had become a guardian for him, but knew Leonidas would prefer he not be hurt.

  “Oh, I recognize it now,” Yumi said. “It’s very modern. And fast.”

  Unlike the Nomad.

  “Abelardus,” Alisa asked, “is it all androids and robots on that ship and on the other two? Or are there any human crew members that your people might be able to influence?”

  “Definitely not on the closest ship,” Abelardus said. “The other two aren’t in my range yet, but they should be soon, since they’re closing so quickly.”

  “Lucky us.” Alisa hit the comm. “Beck, I need you to get into your armor.”

  “How much trouble are we in, Captain?” Beck replied. “I’ve got pancakes on the griddle. A certain cyborg demolished the first batch.”

  Leonidas was not there to refute the comment, but Alisa felt fortunate that he hadn’t made overtures toward her half-eaten one on the console.

  “Find someone else to flip them for you,” she said. “We have three ships chasing us and may be fending off a forced boarding soon.”

  “Will do.”

  Alisa hoped the androids tried to board her freighter instead of simply blowing it up. If it turned out these ships wanted revenge and nothing more, she had no idea how she would defeat all three of them with her two e-cannons, weapons she hadn’t even debuted yet.

  The lead ship came in close, flying right behind her.

  “Its shields are up,” Yumi reported.

  “I figured they would be,” Alisa said. “Weapons hot?”

  “Not yet.”

  “Might be waiting for his allies.” Mica pushed herself to her feet. “I better go down to engineering. I assume something will be scorched, perforated, or blown up before long.”

  Alisa wished she could argue, but damage did seem likely. The two rear ships, civilian yachts, as Yumi had said, had enough firepower to cow a fleet of marauding pirates. As did the ultra-modern lead ship. She well remembered that it had been outfitted with all the latest—and most expensive—equipment and weapons.

  “I’m not getting life auras from either of the other ships,” Abelardus said.

  “Can your people do anything against the androids?” Alisa asked. “Or cause some of the equipment in the ships to malfunction? You have someone who’s an expert with machinery, right?”

  “We have Ostberg.”

  “He’s the one who took out the grab beam on the Alliance ship, isn’t he?”

  “Only because Mica shared her knowledge with him and told him which wires to pull. He doesn’t know enough on his own when it comes to engines.”

  Alisa doubted Mica would have any familiarity with these ships. She had worked on all manner of Alliance craft during the war, and had done battle against imperial warships, but civilian yachts? Neither of them had been invited to fly on any of those.

  Alisa eyed the comm station. None of their pursuers had attempted to open communications. Should she bother?

  The two back ones zipped around an asteroid and came into sight on the rear camera. She tensed as they zoomed in to join the first ship. Any second, one of them would lock down the Nomad with a grab beam, pull alongside it, and attempt to fasten onto her airlock hatch.

  She waited, certain that would happen. But it didn’t.

  All three ships settled in behind her and matched her pace, like runners drafting off the lead sprinter in a race.

  Alisa took them through an obstacle course of asteroids, choosing a challenging route and hoping she might shake them. They either stuck with her or they chose different paths around the asteroids, and then settled in behind the Nomad again.

  She groaned as the gist of their plan sank in.

  “They’re not going to board us,” she said. “They’re going to follow us until we lead them to what they seek.”

  Chapter 12

  Alisa finished her pancake wrap and drank two mugs of coffee while the trio of treasure-hunting ships followed along behind, silent stalkers among the stars. She had stopped trying to outfly them, as they had proven too smart to veer close to an asteroid and crash. For the last hour, she had been mulling over possible ways to get rid of them. Unfortunately, the mulling had been unproductive thus far.

  “What if we just stop?” Leonidas asked from the co-pilot’s seat, his helmet in his lap.

  Alisa regretted telling him to put his armor on when it turned out that there had not been a need, at least not yet.

  “I bet they’ll stop too,” Alisa said. “And wait us out. They won’t need food, so they can stay out here indefinitely. We, on the other hand, will run out of supplies eventually. Not to mention that there are still Alliance and imperial ships skulking around out here, looking for the same thing that we seek.”

  “Imperial ships don’t skulk.”

  “They do when they’re outnumbered and a long way from Perun.”

  He gave her a dry look.

  “The Alliance ships are skulking, too, in my opinion. Everyone is sneaking around out here, trying to find the staff and the children. And we don’t even know if the staff is nearby. Maybe after Tymoteusz lost us, he decided to take it off to a tropical beach somewhere for a vacation.”

  “He didn’t,” Abelardus said from the corridor behind them.

  Yumi, who had gone for coffe
e, slipped past him and returned to the sensor station.

  “How do you know?” Alisa asked Abelardus.

  “One of our people, Nyarai, who has excellent range says she can sense the staff. It’s not close, but it’s near the asteroid belt. The chasadski might be flying just outside of it, also watching us and waiting to see what we find. Now that Stanislav isn’t here to shroud your ship, Tymoteusz must not have had trouble locating us.”

  Alisa groaned. “Why can’t people do their own research? Why are they pestering us?”

  “We could fire at the treasure hunters,” Leonidas said. “They’re more of an immediate threat.”

  “You’ve taken a look at their weapons complements. You really think we’d be a match for them?”

  “Not in a straight battle where both sides will do anything to win, but if they think we can lead them to their prize, they may be unwilling to destroy us.”

  “I’m not willing to take that chance,” Alisa said.

  For now, they were only guessing why the androids were back there. She did not want to assume she knew their assignment.

  “Another option,” Leonidas said, “is to simply continue the search and not worry that we’re being followed. Until we actually find the children, it doesn’t matter if there are androids watching us. And if we do find them, well, we can fight for them then. The androids may even be indifferent to the children if they’re only here for the staff.”

  “That’s true,” Alisa said, assuming their employer didn’t also want the prince. Did the kid have a bounty on his head right now? “I wonder if they would believe me if I told them we’re not after the staff.” She glanced at Abelardus. “Maybe I could even tell them where to find it. I don’t suppose your long-range Starseer would like to go off with some androids and lead them to Tymoteusz.”

  “Not likely,” Abelardus said. “But she might not mind directing the androids to him over the comm. If we send trouble in Tymoteusz’s direction, it should keep him busy for a while, though I have no doubt that he could ultimately destroy these three ships.”

  “Don’t mention that when we chat.” Alisa tapped the comm, attempting to hail the lead ship.

  “Greetings, Star Nomad captain,” came the prompt response.