Children of Scarabaeus (40 page)
Finn turned to Edie with a rare smile. “We’ll make it.”
“Finn really did almost kill me.” Cat cut an indignant glare in Finn’s direction before turning back to the nav console. “Then right after he left to find you, those evil beetles swarmed the ship. I was worried they’d damage it so I had to take off and circle.”
They punched through the atmosphere and into space. In Natesa’s fancy ship that Cat was so thrilled to be flying, the jump node was only four hours away. No sign yet of any Crib ships, but they had to be on the way.
“The commsat came back up while you were in there,” Cat said.
“I know. Scarabaeus used it to blast the Reach.”
“Well, I uploaded a beacon to it—basically, a firm suggestion to any ship that shows up with a cannon to destroy it. But the beacon kept winking out.”
“Scarabaeus controls the commsat. It’s not going to tolerate a message inviting its own destruction.”
“The Crib will destroy it anyway, once they figure out it’s linked to all the other Fringe worlds,” Corinth said. He was sprawled on a seat at the back of the cockpit, one leg out of action and the other still heavily strapped. “That’s the sort of shit that freaks out the Crib. That loss of power.”
“Are you kidding?” Cat said. “This shit is freaking
me
out!”
Corinth grinned at her appreciatively. “Point is, they’ll blow up the commsat and bomb the planet if they feel like it.”
“Maybe not.” Edie had already worked through the options in her head. “Set up a scrambled link so I can talk to someone at CCU. Contact Eric O’Mara,” she said in a flash of inspiration. He was the one person who might listen to her. “What the Crib has to realize is that what’s happened on the Fringe is a solution for them, too. If the Crib allows Scarabaeus to transmit its sentience to the Central planets, it can bring those ecosystems back under control. No more famine. No need for another hairbrained scheme like Ardra to feed the masses.”
Corinth’s dubious expression was starting to look a little more inspired.
Galeon poked his head into the cockpit. “We made food for everyone.” The children had been left in the galley, shaken but unharmed after their adventure.
Finn helped Corinth out, with Galeon tailing them and chattering about the noodle-and-cereal faces Hanna and Raena had labored over. Edie waited for Cat while she checked the autopilot.
“How long to the Fringe?” Edie asked her.
“Five days to the border, another week to Fairbairn.”
“We’re going to Fairbairn?”
“Yes. You know, before she was killed, Valari had already asked me to look into finding homes for the children.”
That was a surprise. “She was really against the idea of taking them.”
Cat shrugged. “Well, that’s what she did. Anyway, I followed up on her contacts so we have somewhere to start. She also told me Finn might need some persuading to return home.”
“I got that impression too.”
“Fairbairn was neutral in the Reach Conflicts, Valari told me. Pretty much sold out to the Crib to keep the peace.
Finn’s family was in the public eye. Everyone knew he left to fight against the Crib. He disgraced them.”
“Will they welcome him back?”
“Valari thinks so. The problem is that Finn doesn’t want them to do so at the expense of their reputation. He could go home a hero if he wanted to.”
“I don’t think that’s a hat he’s comfortable wearing.”
“What about you?”
Edie thought about it for a full second. “No. And not just because I hate speeches. So, will you stay with us?”
“Absolutely. As long as you let me keep the ship. I’ve already christened it
Ezekiel
. Come on, let’s eat.”
They joined the others in the galley.
“Edie!” Galeon had a salt cracker in one hand and a small shiny object in the other—the beetle sculpted from scrap. “Finn made this for you. I helped with the feelers.”
She’d forgotten about Finn’s farewell gift. “The feelers are the best part.”
“I found it in the lifepod right before we left to visit Macky.”
“Thanks for thinking to pick it up.” She slipped the beetle in her pocket.
“Finn said he’ll get me a puppy.”
Finn swallowed a mouthful of soup and pointed his spoon at the boy. “Is that really what I said?”
“Well, you said a pet. A spider would be okay, I guess.”
The younger girls fell about in giggles over the merits of that idea. Edie went to Pris, who was preparing something at the counter.
“Is Ms Natesa dead?” Pris asked, too quietly to be heard by the others over the animated conversation.
“Yes. It’s not your fault. You know that, right?” Edie said, worried Pris would accept the blame.
Pris gave a small smile and nodded. She handed Edie a plate of food. Trees cut from flatbread, flowers made from dried fruit, and a noodle river running along the bottom. At the river’s edge sat a salt cracker house.
“I know it’s silly, but the younger ones thought it was fun to make pictures.”
“It’s perfect. Thank you.” Edie sat down and took a moment to just watch them all. She found herself smiling. When she looked at Finn, he was smiling at her. She picked up a fork and tucked into the food.
Edie awoke to the sound of the shower running and the sight of Finn’s silhouette behind the frosted plaz screen. She’d collapsed on the bed in her cabin and slept solidly. Her hair was slightly damp from her own shower, so she must have been asleep a few hours.
Curling up on her side, she waited for him. When he emerged, towel around his hips, she noticed new bruises and scrapes on his shoulders and ribs, the consequences of doing battle without an e-shield. She had a few of her own, too.
“Go back to sleep,” he said.
“I’m okay. How long was I out?”
“Five hours. We’ve jumped twice already.”
He palmed a switch by the window to dissolve the shutter. She got up and went to him, standing near enough that their bare arms brushed, and together they watched the nonsensical patterns of nodespace energy that the human eye and brain interpreted as chaotic ribbons of light lashing against black velvet.
“Are you okay with returning home?” she asked him.
He let out his breath slowly. “For now. But there’s work to be done, even if the fighting’s over. That strange planet of yours has given the Fringe worlds something to talk to each other about. We have an alliance to build. We’ll do it right this time.”
“First, we need to drop off that merc as soon as we can. And somehow I have to persuade Cat to return this ship. Doesn’t feel right to steal it just because it was Natesa who commissioned it.”
“She’s going to love that idea,” he said dryly.
They watched nodespace in silence for a while.
“Why did you come back for me?” she asked at last.
“I told you I wouldn’t leave you behind.”
“But I was trying to…you know, save the galaxy. Cat explained that to you, right?”
“Yeah,” he drawled. He turned to her, tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “Just didn’t seem like a fair trade to me.”
She leaned against him. “Finn,” she whispered, “I only wanted to save the galaxy because you were in it.”
His laughed softly. “Galaxy saved. Mission accomplished. What do you want next?”
“I want you. In a bed, for once.”
She kissed him, rising on her toes as his hands swept down her back. She pressed against him but he broke the kiss, his brow furrowed.
“If you want me so bad, why did you fight me when I came for you?”
She pulled back and sighed and stared out the window again. “I was too far gone, barely aware of you. I was so tempted to merge with Scarabaeus. The world would’ve been
mine
.”
“Without your emotions and memories, you wouldn’t be you anymore.”
“It didn’t matter. I just wanted to let go of life and become part of something bigger.”
He tilted her chin with a finger and his eyes narrowed as he searched hers. “You don’t know life yet, Edie. You don’t know what you’d be letting go.”
A lump came to her throat at the tender look he gave her. Nothing she was leaving behind meant much to her, but it was all she’d ever known. She’d relied on that familiarity for a sense of safety. Yet the only place she’d felt truly safe was with Finn.
“Will you show me?”
“I intend to.”
Thanks to my friends at Tucson RWA for their encouragement, especially to Cindy Somerville for being my emergency reader; to my agent Kristin Nelson for her support and understanding; to Diana Gill, Will Hinton, and everyone else at Harper Voyager Books involved in the book’s production; to Chris McGrath for a couple of great covers; to my wonderful mum for moral support and grandma duties; and to MCP, with love, for everything else.
SARA CREASY
grew up in a tumbling-down Victorian house in England, where she tapped out her first stories on a tiny blue typewriter. After moving to southeastern Australia as a teenager, her love of all things fantastical hooked her on science fiction. Meanwhile, in real life, a biology degree led to work as an editor in the educational publishing industry. She was associate editor of Australia’s science fiction and fantasy magazine
Aurealis
for several years, and her involvement with the SF community inspired her to write her first novel. Marriage to an American resulted in a second intercontinental move, and she lived in Arizona for five years. She now lives in Melbourne, Australia.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.
RESOUNDING
PRAISE
for the breathtaking debut of an extraordinary new SF voice
SARA CREASY’S
Song of Scarabaeus
is an enjoyable, fast-paced slice of
(*starred review*)
definitely has both going for it.”
Song of Scarabaeus
is a novel to read and enjoy.”
Cover art by Chris McGrath
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
CHILDREN OF SCARABAEUS. Copyright © 2011 by Sara Creasy. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
First Harper Voyager mass market printing: April 2011
EPub Edition © February 2011 ISBN: 978-0-06-207872-8
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