Red Lightning (41 page)

"Well, time is different in 'em. Maybe time is zeroed out, I still haven't figgered all the equations for that one."

"Why'd you make it?" Evangeline asked. "Oh, dumb question. You made it so you could escape."

"No, ma'am. I made it because I don't like frozen fish, me." There was a suitable silence. Travis sighed and made a go-ahead motion toward Jubal. He was used to this.

"Lotsa fish in them Falkland Islands. I like to catch 'em, me. But some days I don't catch any, and then if I want fish, I got to take some out of the freezer."

"Jubal, they'd have flown any kind of fresh fish you want in if you'd asked for it."

Jubal stared at the floor.

"I don't like to ask for stuff. And I like to catch my own. Tastes better. But you know fish, it ain't as good the second day. and the third day... whew! Forget about that thing! So I wondered how I could keep fish fresh longer."

It made perfect sense, didn't it? When you thought about it? But Jubal was just... ah,
warming
to his subject.

"Keep stuff hot, too. Cook up a étouffée, put it in a stopper, and a year later you open 'er up and she still be steamin'! Never have to freeze nothin', nothin' ever have to spoil, no! Keep your drinks hot or cold, dependin' what you want."

Travis looked at us, and he looked as astonished as I'd ever seen him. It actually was a pretty damn good idea. Of course, there were about a thousand other ways to use a stopper bubble that the three of us could think of without breaking a sweat, some of them with scary implications... but that was Jubal. He was the theory man and the engineer. Travis was the practical one.

We were interrupted by a beeping sound. Travis sighed.

"Jubal, you okay with me opening the windows?"

"Think I wear my helmet, me," he said, and put it over his head. When he was safe with whatever comfort the suit gave him, Travis opened the windows all around the bridge and we saw the three black ships surrounding us. Their exhausts were so bright the windows darkened until we could barely see the ships themselves. They were equally spaced, and seemed to be around the same size, which was the same size as the ones that had first landed and taken me and my family prisoner. Say a bit bigger than the
Second Amendment
. Travis picked up the old-fashioned mike from his console and spoke.

"Captain Broussard of the SS
Second Amendment
, calling Captain Jerkoff of the good ship Pus-bucket. Come in, Pus-bucket. Don't you think it's about time we talked? You're bound to have a proposal for me. A threat? An offer? A heartfelt plea?"

"You are instructed to cut your drive immediately and prepare to be boarded," somebody said, in a voice that sent chills up my spine. It was a woman's voice. It was hard to be absolutely sure, but it sounded a lot like the voice that had interrogated me for endless hours and then threatened my family.

"Oh, an instruction, is it? Am I addressing Captain Jerkoff herself, or are you merely a lackey? By the way, did
you
know it's customary, by the ancient and honorable laws of the high seas and high space, to identify yourself when communicating from one craft to another?"

"Who I am is none of your concern. Cut your drive and wait to be boarded." She was trying for the calm, even voice she had used during interrogation, but there was anger there in the rising tone at the end.

"
Hoo
! Getting a little cranky, are we? Boosting at two gees for three days didn't agree with you? Hard to sleep, isn't it? Man, I've got a crick in my neck, hurts something awful." Travis put the mike down and cracked his knuckles in front of it, grinning at us. He was enjoying this. I tried to smile myself, but that voice took most of the fun out of it.

"You are ordered to cut your drive at once, and –"

"Or what?"

There was a silence. When Travis spoke again, there was steel in his voice.

"Or what, Captain Douchebag? Cut the baloney and lay your cards on the table. Tell me why I should cut my drive, or I'm going to keep blasting until somebody's food runs out. I got a
lot
of food aboard. Enough to feed the four of us for about a year. How much do
you
have?"

Silence again. Travis winked at us.

"Not that much, huh? Course, at the speeds we'll be reaching, it might be enough to last a hundred years, back home. That would be awkward, getting back home and finding out the people who were paying you for your atrocities have forgotten who you are."

"Who's bullshitting now?" she said. I saw Jubal wince. "You people have families. You wouldn't want them to all be dead when you got back."

"Touché," Travis said. "So we both have to turn around at some point. But I don't see why I should do it in your custody."

"Keep thinking about family, Broussard," she said, and the menace and confidence was back. "And you, too, Ramon, and you, Evangeline. I'm sure you remember the things that were told to you when you were in custody. Are you really willing to sacrifice everyone who is dear to you to protect that... that freak?"

I'd have been shocked, but I'd already been there. Once someone threatens your family like that, you know where your real vulnerability is.

Would I? Would I beg Travis to stop the boost, get down on my knees, and plead with him to surrender Jubal to these people if I thought they would hurt my family, or Evangeline's?

You betcha.

If you wouldn't have done the same thing, there's something wrong with you. Don't forget, the worst that would happen to Jubal would be getting locked up again in a prison like the Falklands. They didn't want to kill him; they wanted what was in his head.

I'd already worked it through in mine. These were people who didn't mind using any amount of force, who would drug children and actually seemed to like psychological torture. I knew without question that they'd enjoy physical torture as well, or if they didn't, they'd hire somebody who did, who was good at it, who was a Michelangelo of torture. Maybe they figured they could force the secrets of the Squeezers out of Jubal. Maybe they actually
could
. I didn't know. Would I give him up, with the certainty that they'd use any means necessary?

Sorry, Jubal. I love you, I really do. But I'll turn you in if it comes to it.

But first, before I start pleading, let's hear what Travis has in mind.

He seemed to have been reading my thoughts. He looked at me and Evangeline and shook his head. He covered the mike with his hand.

"Not gonna happen," he said, quietly. "We will all do whatever it takes to protect your families."

"Ray, Evangeline," Jubal said, quietly, "came to it, I'd give myself up. I done caused too much trouble already. Don't y'all worry none about your families."

Evangeline looked away from him. There were tears in her eyes.

"Not gonna happen," Travis said again. Then he spoke into the mike.

"That sounded like a threat to me, Captain D. Would you mind repeating it for the recording, so we can play it at your trial?"

"Just turn off your drive, you motherfucker, or I will personally supervise the slow deaths of everyone you ever held dear."

"Got it," Travis said. "Give us one hour to talk it over, okay?"

"Are you out of your fucking –"

"Come on, Captain. We've come this far, and we've got a big decision ahead of us. What's one more hour?"

"There is one more thing you should know," she said. "You understand we want Jubal Broussard alive. But even more important than that, we want to make sure that no one else gets their hands on him. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"I'd. understand it a lot better if I knew who you are, and who the 'no one else' is."

"That's not something you need to know. All you need to know is that, if you don't stop accelerating and allow yourself to be boarded in one hour, your fucking ship will be destroyed, and your fucking families will
still
die."

"Got it. Talk to you in an hour."

There was a short silence after Travis turned off the radio, then he turned to me and Evangeline.

"First, what happens out here will have
no bearing
on what happens to your families, I can promise you that. I don't know if they've been rounded up, there's no way to know what's happening. But those folks on those ships out there aren't going to be sending any orders back. They're fixing to disappear."

"You mean..."

"I mean, I'm going to take them
out
!" We both jumped at the savagery in his voice. The amiable, easygoing Travis was gone for a moment. He looked away and got himself under control. Then he looked at Jubal.

"What do you think, Jubal?"

He was looking at his hands twisting in his lap.

"That lady got a nasty mouth on her, sure enough." He looked up. "She really kill their families?"

"I think you can count on it."

He shook his head. "I didn't want no more killin'. There already been enough killin', and it all my fault."

"It's not your fault, Jubal," Travis said.

"He's right," Evangeline said. I nodded when Jubal looked at me.

He was still shaking his head.

Travis sighed, then looked at me and Evangeline.

"Give me and Jubal a minute, you guys."

He put his arm around Jubal and took him to the far end of the bridge. Evangeline went to the other side, keeping our backs to them, and looked out at one of the black ships. We could see a bubble on top, with windows, and somebody was standing there, looking out at us. They were too far away to make out, but I thought it was a woman in a black uniform.

"Want to give her the finger?" Evangeline said. I shivered.

"No, I think Travis should handle poking at snakes with a sharp stick. All I want to do is run."

"Me, too."

We thought about that for a while. Well, I actually thought about kicking myself repeatedly in the ass if I could bend my leg enough.
Idiot
! You're supposed to brag and swagger about what big balls you have to your girlfriend, aren't you? This is the girl who kicked an armed soldier in the nuts while you stood there with nothing but a dumb, stupefied grin on your face. What would it have cost you, popping the rod to that murdering bitch across the way? But it was too late to do it now, it would look stupid. And too late to reassure her with brave words after what you'd just said.

All I want to do is run.
Idiot
!

"I'm glad you're here, Ray," she said, and put her arm around me. I did the same.

"I'll do what I can," I said. Idiot!

"I know you will, Ray. I know you will."

Well, maybe all was not lost.

We heard only a few phrases from across the room, mostly when Travis raised his voice in frustration, but several times we heard Jubal, sounding determined.

"I don't want no more killin'," he said. "Been too much killin'."

Then, just a little later, Travis said, "I don't see the difference. Six of one, half a dozen of the other."

Jubal said something, and I watched the reflection in the glass as Travis shrugged, but he looked a lot happier than he had.

"How long do you think it'll take? We only got fifty minutes."

"Ten minutes. Maybe fifteen."

"Go to it, then." He took Jubal to a section of the control panel that had only a few basic dials and a joystick on it. He turned some catches under the console and lifted it from the front. Jubal bent over and stuck his head inside. Travis came over toward us, and I laughed aloud.

"What's funny?"

I spoke quietly, because I knew Jubal could take offense, being laughed at.

"He just looks like a mechanic working under the hood."

Travis looked over his shoulder; I heard Evangeline giggle.

"When he's done, the rascal will probably pad the bill."

"Travis, don't you think it's about time you told us what's going on?"

"Yeah. I was trying to convince –"

"It done, Travis." Jubal had straightened up and collapsed into one of the control chairs. He didn't look happy.

"Already?" Jubal didn't answer. Travis sighed, put a hand on each of our shoulders. "Might as well just do it and explain it later. This is my decision, okay?"

I didn't know what else to do but nod. Travis took his seat, looked out the window at what we figured was the command ship, and picked up the mike.

"Calling the unidentified ship," he said. "Answer at once."

"Did you make up your mind?" came the awful voice.

"No more games, no more insults," Travis said. "I'd sort of like to know your name. Is that you at the window?" He waved at the dark, distant figure.

"My name is no concern of yours. Have you made up your mind already?"

"Yes, we have. We've decided to take you out. That's why I asked your name. It doesn't seem right to kill someone I'm looking at without knowing her name."

She could actually laugh. I hope she enjoyed it, because it was her last one.

"You are incredible. If you'd had weapons that can take me out, you'd have used them already."

"No,
you'd
have used them. That's the difference between us, and I know it's a weakness, but I like to give somebody a chance to do the right thing. It's still not too late. Turn yourself in, do a little time, start a new life. There's always work for sadists."

"You have thirty-nine minutes."

"No, you have five seconds. And the last lesson you're going to learn in your miserable life is this: Never assume a ship called the
Second Amendment
is unarmed." Travis clicked something on the control panel, and we saw her react. She didn't like what she saw. Evangeline and I turned around, and the other two ships were gone.

Just... gone.

Travis waved to her, and we saw her turn to shout orders to somebody, and Travis clicked the thing again, and her ship was gone.

Jubal retired to a stateroom, refusing to talk to anyone. Travis was skulking around with such a sour expression that neither Evangeline nor I thought it was the right time to talk. There was a lot of time before decisions had to be made, anyway. I didn't have the foggiest idea of what those decisions would be, or much of a notion of our alternatives, though I was chewing that over in my mind a lot.