Dark Horse (16 page)

Eventually she leaned against a wall, bent at the waist, hands on her knees and concentrated on sucking in gulps of air.

Not her finest moment.

She was so angry with herself. She wasnʼt like this. She could lecture to a room of bored twenty year-olds who found their phones more interesting than linguistic studies, but a rapt audience did her in?

Then again, that was before sheʼd been trapped in a glass cage for months. And it didnʼt help that she felt like a fraud. She wanted to wince at just how mediocre she was as a singer.

They had no business applauding.

She clenched her fists. Suck it up, buttercup.

She heaved a final breath and straightened. There was no one in either direction, and she took out her Grih handheld, tapped on an image of what she thought might be the
Barrist
on the start-up page, and tried to see where she was on the ship.

Sure enough, a steady blinking light showed her position, and she saw if she walked a little further and turned left, she would be in the corridor the pool was in.

She could swim. It was just what she felt like and she had barely done two laps before Dav Jallan had hauled her out last time.

She made her way to the room, looked inside, and sagged in relief. She had it to herself.

“Iʼm taking out my earpiece to go for a swim,” she told Sazo, and slipped it deep in the pocket of her tunic before he could reply.

She put on another voluminous swim suit and tugged at it while she waited for the solid cover to retract.

When it was fully locked in place, she dived in and swam the full length under water, stopping at the end to suck in a breath before going under again.

It was indescribably good.

At lap three she was just beginning to tire when she heard a humming sound. She rose out of the water to grab her next breath of air, and turned to see what was making the noise.

The pool cover slid across the water toward her, and for a long moment she tried to make sense of it.

When she did, when she realized she was in trouble, she turned, hands on the pool edge, feet against the side to pull herself out.

And was pushed straight under.

She could feel someoneʼs hand on her head, large, squeezing painfully as well as pushing her down.

When she came up again, she was coughing, her lungs screaming for oxygen, and down she went again, the shove even harder this time.

She turned under the water, sinking out of reach of the hand, to look down the pool, trying to gauge how close to her the end of the cover was, and shot to the surface as she realized it was almost on top of her.

As her head and shoulders broke the surface, she felt the hard edge of it against her collarbone, just below her neck, and it trapped her for a moment against the side of the pool, but then she felt it inch back.

It was like an electric gate with a sensor, she realized, tears of relief forming in her eyes. It wasnʼt going to crush her against the side, there was a failsafe.

She twisted her head to look up at her assailant, but he was gone and when her gaze moved to the door, she saw it was just closing.

He must have realized about the failsafe as well, she thought. And every moment he remained, trying to drown her, was a moment he could be discovered by anyone coming along.

She turned, grabbing the edge again and pushing back against the cover with her back.

“Rose?”

She looked over her shoulder, and Dav Jallan stood in the doorway, with Filavantri at his side.

“Captain.” She turned away from them, rested her head on the hands gripping the edge.

“What happened?” Filavantriʼs voice was sharp.

She closed her eyes, her teeth chattering as if the water was cold. “I think someone just tried to kill me.”

D
av brushed past Dimitara
, striding down the length of the pool.

For the second time he caught hold of Rose under her arms, lifting her carefully from the water so he didnʼt scrape her back on the pool cover. He swung her as he lifted her, cradling her against his chest. He ignored the surprised look Dimitara sent him.

“Did you see who it was?”

She shook her head, resting against him, shivering a little. “He shoved me under the water. He wanted to force me under so the cover would come over me and . . .” Her voice caught and she went still.

“We heard someone running away when we arrived.” Dimitara looked around the room thoughtfully. “No lenses?”

Dav shook his head. “This is considered a private space. No lenses here.”

Dimitara sighed. “I agree with that reasoning. Itʼs just a pity, this one time, thatʼs all.”

“You were looking for me because of what happened in the spacescape?” Roseʼs voice was soft as a whisper now. He could feel the tension in her, the way her muscles flexed against him.

He couldnʼt help holding her a little tighter, and didnʼt loosen his grip, even though Dimitara sent him a sharp look.

“We were concerned about you.” Dav tamped down the fury heʼd felt since Dr. Revil had contacted him, as per the ship-wide instructions to report any incident with Rose, and heʼd learned sheʼd been surrounded by an enthusiastic crowd.

“Iʼm going to take you to the med-chamber, and then weʼll see if anyone saw anything.”

She shook her head violently, rearing back from him and struggling to be released.

“No med-chamber.”

Filavantri Dimitara came to his rescue. “It would be best if Dr. Havak could make sure youʼre all right——”

“No.”

Heʼd set her down, and she stumbled back a step.

“I swallowed some water, and thatʼs about it. I got a fright, and if heʼd succeeded, Iʼd be dead, but all I want is to have a warm shower, and crawl into bed for a while.” She looked up at him, her body shaking. “Please. Donʼt send me to the med-chamber.”

What the hell could he say to that?

“Either I, Dr. Havak or Officer Dimitara will check on you in an hour. And weʼll escort you to your room now.”

She gave a nod, and tried to hitch the hopelessly big swimming suit up a little to cover a bit more of her breasts. “Iʼll just put on my clothes.”

By the time sheʼd gotten dressed and theyʼd walked her to her room, the heat of his temper had morphed into something that could cut through the hull of the
Barrist
.

She was under his care, and someone on this ship, someone he trusted, had attacked her.

Everyone heʼd contacted for an emergency meeting was waiting when he and Dimitara entered the conference room.

Dimitara had been quiet since theyʼd left Rose in her quarters, but as soon as the door closed behind them, before sheʼd even taken her seat, she pointed a finger at him. “What are you going to do about this, Captain?”

He eased himself into his chair and surveyed the oval conference table. All his senior officers were in attendance, and he wished that somehow he could have found a diplomatic way to exclude Dimitara, but given her fury, the fall-out would not be worth it. Heʼd tried to suggest she stay with Rose, but it had been obvious Rose wanted time on her own, and Dimitara wanted in on the hunt for whoever had hurt her.

He sighed. “For a start, Rose will now have a security detail assigned to her full-time.”

“Are you saying there wasnʼt one before?” Dimitaraʼs tone was disbelieving.

“I had two officers watching her for her first twenty-four hours, but that was just precautionary. They were pulled back to simply checking on her whereabouts every couple of hours.”

“And how do they know her whereabouts?” Dr. Havak asked.

“Her new handheld has a homing device, naturally, but if you must know, all visitor clothing has one embedded in it, as well.”

“Thatʼs why you didnʼt want to give her her bags and clothing?” Dimitara sounded as if she could barely take a breath, she was so scandalized.

“I gave her bags back personally this afternoon,” Dav told her, but that
had
been one of the reasons they had wanted her in their clothes. Especially in the beginning.

“What does it matter, anyway?” Appalʼs voice cut through the tension. “Sheʼs been attacked on our own ship. That either means someone got on board without our knowledge, which will be an unprecedented breach, or we have someone on the crew who wants her dead.”

“Sheʼs only been here for two days, how could she have made any enemies in that time?” Havak asked.

Borji cleared his throat. Opened his mouth and then closed it again.

Dav turned to him, eyes narrowed. “Spit it out.”

Borji sighed. “There was a transmission earlier. From an unidentified source.”

“When?” Dav sat straighter.

“About an hour before the attack on Rose. They used an old frequency which would probably have gone undetected by us, but fortunately it was detected by the comm system on the Class 5, which seems to be monitoring all comms within a truly staggering range of space. Iʼve set up an alert if anything happens in the Class 5 system, so I got a ping when it came through.” He paused, took a sip of water from the glass in front of him. “The signal was a written comm to a private handheld on this ship, asking if Rose was an advanced enough sentient to testify about what the Tecran had done to her. Whether she could ruin the plan.”

There was silence in the room.

“Were you able to pin-point which handheld it went to?” Lothric asked him.

Borji shook his head. “But I will. I will make it my mission.” He looked like he wanted to throttle the drinking glass in his hand, he was gripping it so tightly. “Whoever received the message had to have planned the communication in advance, or knew there was a chance they would be contacted. They actively planned a way to circumvent my comms system . . .” He scrubbed his hands over his face. “I am going to shut that down.”

“Did the owner of the handheld respond?” Dav wondered who the hell on board could be involved in this, but it did solve one mystery, how the Tecran knew to put themselves exactly at the
Barristʼs
light jump destination. Heʼd always thought that was so unlikely as to be impossible, but if someone on board was reporting to them, or whoever had brought them here, that would make a lot more sense.

Borji gave a nod. “The Class 5 comm system had another little sweet surprise for our traitor. Iʼm not sure why the Class 5 did this, but the outgoing message will look to the sender as if it was sent, but it was blocked. I got notification of the message, but whoever contacted our private handheld user is still waiting for a reply.”

“And what did the response say?” Dimitara asked.

“They replied that she was most definitely a danger to their plans.”

“Thatʼs all?” Havak tugged at his ear.

“All? It says Rose is a threat to what they have planned because she can tell the UC exactly what the Tecran did to her. And not an hour later, someone tries to kill her.”

“I think itʼs safe to assume whoever received the message and sent the confirmation back is the person who decided to eliminate the threat Rose posed to them.” Dav could hardly believe he was saying this. But one aspect of this was winding a thin tendril of relief through him, and that was that it was looking increasingly unlikely that Rose was involved in any of this, other than as an innocent victim.

“Good work,” Appal told Borji.

Borji made a face. “To be honest, itʼs all the Class 5 comm system, not me. Iʼm just glad I set an alert, thatʼs all.”

“So, we were lucky. But this still throws a whole new light on our coming across the Class 5.” Appal looked up at Dav, and he appreciated that sheʼd come to the same conclusion as he had.

“Yes. The chance of us light jumping to exactly the same place as the Class 5 has struck me as highly unlikely from the start. The Tecran captain either didnʼt know where his light jump was going to end up, given his convincing confusion, or heʼs a good actor, but someone knew weʼd be arriving here, and when, and had the Class 5 waiting for us. Now we know someone on board is in secret contact with another ship, either Tecran or someone else, itʼs logical they gave our light jump coordinates in advance.”

“They were probably planning to attack us as we arrived.” Appal tapped her fingers on the table.

“Something obviously went wrong on their side.” Dimitara had caught on, too. “Something disabled their ship, it malfunctioned, for whatever reason, and now a smaller Tecran vessel is out there, trying to find out what happened and what kind of trouble theyʼre in from their contact on this ship.”

“I actually hope this other ship is Tecran, because if it isnʼt, I donʼt know who weʼre dealing with.” Dav wouldnʼt bet on it either way, though. Because then he came right back to the original sticking point. The fact that they had control of the Class 5, something he couldnʼt believe the Tecran would ever willingly allow.

“Did anyone see anything after Roseʼs attack that would help us narrow down who took the secret comm?” Kila asked.

Appal shook her head. “The privacy rules mean no lens feed along that passageway.” She didnʼt bother showing frustration for something she couldnʼt change. “All the traitor would need to do is walk normally, and no one would really have anything to report.”

“They were lucky they werenʼt caught by someone going to the pool,” Lothric said. “They took a risk.”

Dav nodded. “I think we can assume this was a crime of opportunity, and they wonʼt get the opportunity again. Rose will have someone watching her at all times from now until we catch this person.”

“If we catch them,” Lothric said.

“No.” Dav looked at them one by one. “One thing I promise. We will catch them.”

“
W
hoever received
that comm asking if you were a danger to their plans was the person who tried to kill you.” Sazoʼs voice was subdued in her ear.

“Yes.” Rose pulled on her pajamas and stumbled to her bed. She didnʼt care if Dav was sending someone to check on her, she could barely keep her eyes open.

She snuggled under the blankets and closed her eyes.

“If Iʼd been in the system, I could have stopped the pool cover from closing.”

She made a sound of agreement. Then forced herself to respond. “But then, perhaps they would simply have tried to drown me, rather than making it look like some kind of weird accident.”

Sazo was quiet. “Thatʼs true.” He didnʼt say anything for a while, and Rose was almost asleep when he did. “But I might have been able to deduce who was in the area from their movements in the system. I could find out who this would-be murderer is.”

“Maybe. But Sazo, I canʼt let you in if you canʼt promise that no matter what, you wonʼt kill anyone.”

“Now itʼs anyone, not just the Grih?”

She thought about that. “If someone who is not Grihan is trying to kill you, then Iʼd accept you defending yourself. But only as a last option. Youʼre so smart, Sazo, Iʼm sure there are a hundred ways you could deal with someone rather than kill them. And you could ask me. Iʼd help you find a solution that didnʼt involve death.”

“The Grih will try to hold on to the Class 5.”

She forced herself to sit up at that, because she could hear the worry in his voice. “You sort of set that up, Sazo.”

He sighed, and her lips twitched at how exactly like her he sounded. “I know. They are so excited about having one. Only, they donʼt.”

“And they never will, because you are the Class 5. Or what makes it such an amazing ship.” She spoke slowly, because this had just occurred to her. The Class 5 was what it was because of Sazo. Which meant other Class 5s . . .

She went still, and slid back down under the covers, feeling that at last, she was getting a glimpse of Sazoʼs plan.

“How do you feel about the Class 5, Sazo?” She realized sheʼd never asked him this question before. “Is it your hated prison, or your home?”

“I donʼt know. When you pulled me out of the lock-safe, Iʼd never felt happier. But the thought of the Grih taking it makes me want to hurt them and scream MINE through all their comm systems, so they have to cover their ears. It
is
mine. The systems are all me. Made by me, or all Iʼve known since the Tecran woke me.”

“I think I understand. Itʼs a part of you, but a part that was used against you for a long time. You just need to get used to having that part back, but this time, youʼre in charge.”

“Youʼre right.” He sounded calmer. Thoughtful.

“I still say you should introduce yourself, let them know youʼre happy to ally yourself with them, because theyʼve been so nice to me, and you, me, and Captain Jallan could sail off into the sunset together.”

“I donʼt think Captain Jallan would agree to be my sidekick.”

“Thatʼs my job, anyway,” Rose said, and then gave a huge yawn. “But you could be partners.”

“Itʼs a nice idea. Not very realistic, given their feelings on thinking systems.” But Sazo sounded like he was considering it.

Rose tried to summon the will to respond, but her eyes felt weighed down with concrete and she closed them.

Sheʼd only slept about ten minutes before the chime above her door sounded. She turned and looked at it. Closed her eyes again.

It didnʼt stop sounding.

She stumbled out of bed, looked down at herself, and decided the thigh-length sleep shirt was good enough, tried three times to hit the screen to see who it was, and then, when she saw it was Dav, Dr. Havak, Commander Appal and Filavantri, she hit the button with a little bit of temper, and was already half-way back to bed before the door had fully opened.

“We have disturbed you.” Filavantri stepped into the room as Rose made it to her bed, and pulled the covers up.

She knew her eyes must be red-rimmed with fatigue, because Havak hurried over to her and whipped out a slim cylindrical instrument and pointed it at her eyes.

“Just very tired,” she said to him. “Long day.”

“I would agree.” He pointed it at her abdomen. “Your lungs seem to be fine, even though someone tried to drown you.”

“I told Captain Jallan and Filavantri that I was okay.”

“You have to concede that we would be remiss if we didnʼt make sure,” Havak said, and she was forced to nod.

“Rose, can you remember anything about what happened that could help us track down who was responsible?” Appal crouched down beside her bed, and Rose noticed that Dav stood a few steps back, the only one not crowding her.

“He had big hands. Strong hands. He didnʼt just push me down, he sort of squeezed my head at the same time.”

As soon as she said that, Havak pointed the device at her head, and then nodded. “See the bruising here?” He lifted her hair, only half-dried from her shower, and Filavantri sucked in a breath.

“We could measure the marks. That would give us a handspan, which we could use in evidence.” Appal sounded very satisfied.

Havak pulled out something else, a special lens, and filmed her bruises.

Filavantriʼs handheld beeped, and she stood, looked down at the screen in irritation, and then reached out to touch Rose on the hand. “I have to go and speak to my coordinator from the Council. It canʼt wait. When youʼve slept, please call me and we can have a meal together.”

Rose nodded, and Dr. Havak stood as well. “You seem extraordinarily resilient, and a good rest should see you feeling much better.”

He left in Filavantriʼs wake, leaving her with Appal and Dav.

“Iʼm glad youʼre all right.” Dav took a step closer, and then, as if understanding how uncomfortable she was with them both towering above her, he sat down on one side of the bed, and taking his lead, Appal sat on the other.

“We think this attack was purely opportunistic. There is someone on board who has something to do with the Class 5ʼs appearance, and theyʼre afraid of what youʼll say to the United Council when they get here.”

Rose frowned. “But even if I couldnʼt tell them, even if I was dead, thereʼs lens feed somewhere, surely? And the evidence in the cells themselves?”

Appal nodded. “Yes, but we couldnʼt find the lens feed until a couple of hours ago.” She turned to Dav. “Who knows we found it?”

Dav frowned. “Borji, obviously, yourself, me and Filavantri. I didnʼt deliberately keep it a secret, but it doesnʼt make easy watching and thereʼs no reason for anyone else to be informed.”

“So itʼs possible whoever did this was merely buying time until the feed was found, or hoping it had been destroyed. They didnʼt realize weʼve had it for hours.”

“What about the physical evidence?” Rose was feeling tired again, as the warmth of the blanket seeped into her muscles.

“Damning, yes.” Appal said. “But more easily explained away.”

“Iʼll let it be known we have the feed. That should mean there is no need to risk trying to kill Rose again.”

“Even then . . .” Appal looked over at Dav, and Rose admired the stark beauty of her face. Her cheekbones were high and sharp, and her hair was a deep chestnut brown, tipped with bronze. “The lens feed tells a story, yes, but itʼs only when you meet Rose, talk to her, that you realize the full extent of the crime. Because she isnʼt just an advanced sentient in the technical sense, she is undoubtedly one of us. A fully-realized person who could pass for Grih. Except for the ears.” Appal grinned at her as she said that.

“So youʼre saying even if they knew the lens feed had been found, theyʼd have tried to kill her, because itʼs her physical presence thatʼs the danger. When she stands in front of the United Council and testifies, her intelligence will shine through. There will be no way to deny they didnʼt know what they had in their cell. Something they could more easily do if all we had was the lens feed of Rose, traumatized and in pain.” Davʼs hand was gripping her blanket, bunching it in his fist so that it slipped a little from her shoulders.

“You agree?” Appal asked him.

“I agree. We make it known we have the lens feed, but there will still be a guard on Rose at all times.”

Rose made a face, and then couldnʼt help the huge yawn that claimed her. When she looked up again, Dav was watching her, eyes narrowed.

“Rose, please cooperate with the guards. Weʼll find out who did this, but while we do, I want you to be safe.”

She gave a nod. She hadnʼt made it out of the Class 5 alive just to die because she was too stubborn to follow orders.

“Weʼll let you sleep. Thereʼll be guards outside your door from now on.” Appal stood, and looked down at Dav, as if waiting for him to join her.

“I want a quick word with Rose. Iʼll see you later, Commander.” He made no move or sign that the word he wanted to have was anything other than professional, but Rose saw Appalʼs eyebrows lift fractionally.

She inclined her head and walked out, and as the doors opened for her, Rose saw two guards stand to attention.

She relaxed back into her pillows.

“Are you really all right?” Davʼs voice was low. The Grih all had rough voices, but now his held an extra edge. She shot him a surprised look.

“Yes. I wouldnʼt lie about it. If I was really injured Iʼd have said.”

He leaned forward, ran a finger down her cheek, and unable to help herself, she turned her head and let her lips brush it.

He went still. Then he leaned forward, nuzzled the spot just under her ear, and breathed in deeply.

She lifted her hands and stroked them through his hair, surprised to find the strands a little rough, not as smooth and soft as they looked.

He raised his head, caught her face in his hands, and she saw the temptation to kiss her, the longing to take another step forward, cross his face.

This wasnʼt fair of her, because if he knew the truth, he would be locking her up, not making out with her, and she turned her head away, looking at the wall.

He drew back a little, cleared his throat, and when she glanced up at him, she thought there was relief as well as hunger in his expression.

This was a bad idea for both of them.

“I didnʼt just mean if you were physically all right, Rose.”

She hunched under the covers, even as she caught hold of the change of subject gratefully. “Iʼm shaken. But Iʼm angry, too. Iʼm going to make every effort to stand in front of the United Council alive and well and make the Tecran wish theyʼd never so much as laid eyes on me.”

“Good.” He grinned at her. Then the grin faded. “What I said, earlier, about you being a suspect——”

“Forget it.” She shook her head. “Youʼd have been negligent to look at it any other way. And youʼre right. I am an unknown entity. You
should
be wary of me. You should keep me at armʼs length.”

His gaze fixed on hers, and she held it, willing him to understand what she was trying to tell him without breaking her word to Sazo.

He touched her hand, lying on top of the covers. “Youʼre warning me off?”

“I owe you.” She closed her eyes against the intense, probing blue of his, then forced herself to look at him again. “Iʼve said it before, and I mean it. And Iʼm loyal to those I owe. I would never do anything to hurt you or your crew, and if itʼs in my power to protect you, I will.”

“You do know something.” He said it slowly. “Tell me. Whatever it is.”

She shook her head. “As I said, Iʼm loyal to those I owe.”

He stood, the movement frustrated. He took a few steps to the door, stopped, turned and glared at her, then spun back and walked to the panel to set the door to lock when it closed behind him. When that was done, he stalked out.

She gave a weak smile. Even when he was furious with her, he was protecting her.

Sheʼd be as angry as he was, if their places were reversed.

She stretched out under the covers, wiggled herself into a comfortable position. “Please, Sazo. Tell them.”

He didnʼt answer, or if he did, by that time sheʼd let sleep take her.