Tin Star (19 page)

“No. Take your time,” I said.

Then Tournour dismissed his guards and slowly packed my things back up even though he could have confiscated it all. He started to chatter away about something he’d seen that he thought I’d find funny, or some entertainments he’d found exciting. Even though I mostly did find those things interesting, I could not concentrate on what he was saying to me because my body was too impatient to be with Reza.

“I’ve noticed that you’re spending a lot of time with Reza Wilson. I just need to make sure you’re not about to pull some trick like the communications array repair.”

“Everyone was thankful about that,” I said. “Except for you.”

“It caused me a lot of headaches and work,” he said as he handed me back my bag. “Well, I don’t want to keep you.”

I was already running down to the underguts where Reza was waiting.

It was a silent agreement between us that if we spoke too much then we would have to talk about the practical things. About revenge. About the civil war on Earth. About Brother Blue. If we ever spoke of the things that truly pressed up against us, our very real worries, our seemingly impossible plans for escape, our divergent hopes for the future, our bubble would blow apart. So instead I used this joy I felt to buoy me up. I allowed myself to fantasize that the passes were usable. That I could give him one so he could make his way back to Earth, and I could follow the pieces I was putting together.

As reluctant as I was to leave Reza’s arms, I did my rounds every day, looking for a sign. And here it was.

It was an Imperium representative entering the Ministry of Colonies and Travel. I felt a rush as I tried to contain my excitement. I put my plans for trade on hold, and I waited to watch until the representative left the ministry. Soon, the passes might be usable again. I figured that I would follow him and see what his business was on the station. If I could determine it and whom he was dealing with then perhaps I could time it so that the passes I had would not be suspect. I could be days from leaving.

After an hour, he emerged.

The representative seemed out of place among the regular aliens moving about the square. His crisp uniform made him stand out. Everyone was careful to not walk to near him. He seemed agitated. Even though we were technically a part of the Imperium, once the census had been done, the Yertina Feray had been running itself without much interference from them. He flagged down an alien who looked up and pointed his tiny tentacle over to me. The representative nodded and began to walk toward me. I was not ready for him, but I could not escape now.

“Human, Human,” he called after me.

“Yes?” I said. My hands started to shake as though I’d done something wrong.

“I am Ven Dar. You’ve been trying to reach me. And here I am.”

He was a Loor, like Tournour.

I nodded. It was my habit to never deny what someone thought, even if they had made a mistake.

“I am very curious about the information you claim to have, and I would be most grateful if we could meet in a discreet location to discuss the terms of your demands.”

“Of course,” I said.

Tournour walked by at that moment on his way to his office. The two Loor caught eyes and did an elaborate greeting. Then Tournour left without even acknowledging me.

“You know him well?” Ven Dar asked when he turned back to me.

“No,” I said, surprised he asked since Tournour had so clearly ignored me. “But he’s the chief constable. We’ve had dealings.”

“But he…” Ven Dar said. “Never mind. I do not understand how these things work out here. Back home his greeting to me deferring power as his elder would indicate a close relationship with you.”

“You’re mistaken. Mostly he makes my life difficult.”

“That must explain it,” he said.

He seemed lost in thought and somewhat agitated. Ven Dar’s antennae were darting about.

I wished that he would get to the business at hand. But I knew from experience that often times, in a deal, one must cultivate patience and indulge the client.

“An elder in his family must have done something terrible,” Ven Dar said.

I’d never thought about Tournour having a family. But of course he must.

“Why would you say that?” I asked.

“It’s surprising to see such a young Loor out in this part of space,” Ven Dar continued.

“He’s young?” I asked. I was surprised.

“Yes, barely thirty-five Loor years. I’d wager he’s not even that. If I were to go by his shading.”

“I thought he was old,” I said. But what I did know about the Loor home world was that its orbit around its sun only took 212 days. Technically, Tournour was not that much older than I was.

“Oh, no. His family must be in great disgrace to have sent out their youngest. I would not have greeted him, but out here, one follows protocol. He’s the chief constable, even if he is a shunned Loor.”

I tried to digest what he had said about Tournour: a shunned Loor.

“Back to the business at hand. We do not suffer the slings of rebels lightly. You were wise to contact us to let us know what you had uncovered,” he said. “My colleague—he is sorry that he could not come here himself, but it would be inappropriate and draw too much attention to the matter at hand—is willing to negotiate most favorable terms for your silence. I am authorized to reward you with your demands.”

“I have so many demands,” I said. From the amount of agitation this alien had, I could tell that whatever information he thought I had was very valuable and I could likely get twice what he thought my lowest demand would be.

“Well, we can discuss those once we speak in earnest. I’ll let you know the location. I must make sure it is ideal. In a place like this, there is little that is up to Imperium standards.”

“Of course.”

He bowed and then left. There was only one other female Human on this station, so I knew that he had mistaken me for Els.

What was she up to? I’d likely been mistaken to keep her at such a distance. She was the one that I should keep near. I still had so much to learn. There was still time to pull her close.

27

I didn’t have to wait long to find out what was going on. Normally if someone came into my bin, I’d be up in a flash and ready to defend myself. But Els managed to sneak in somehow, quietly, without disturbing even the air.

I must have sensed something because slowly I came around and opened my eyes. Els was sitting there at my feet. It was the smell of the lotion that made me realize it was not a dream. She was dressed, as she always was lately, in extreme alien fashions. I marveled at Els’s ability to incorporate the fashions of many different species and make it look good on her Human frame. She looked soft and sharp at the same time. Her mask of makeup was firmly in place, cheeks rouged, lips reddened. Els had grown wild. It was as though when the reality of being stranded on the Yertina Feray sunk in, it had made her go mad. She spent most of her time at Kitsch Rutsok’s entertainments at night, screaming and cooing to anyone whom she thought would get word to the Imperium for her.

“What do you want? You’re lucky I didn’t kill you for sneaking in here,” I said.

“You could never kill anyone,” Els said.

“I would kill if I had to,” I said.

“I have news,” she said, ignoring me and instead grasping both of my hands into hers. Her excitement was infectious. “Someone from the Imperium is here and wants to make contact.”

Then she did that thing again, like she always did, where she seemed to summon tears up from nowhere. On Els, tears came when called; they did not spring up like a slow building storm.

“Yes,” I said. “I saw a Loor representative from the Imperium on the main square.”

“Why didn’t they send a Human?” she asked. Her face darkened. And then she shook it off, as though it didn’t matter. And then Els did that thing with her eyes that made everything seem like it
was
going to be all right. “What I have discovered is huge, they should respect me. I could bring down half the Imperium.”

She was likely deluding herself, but she obviously had something of interest or Ven Dar wouldn’t have insisted on agreeing to the terms she’d laid out.

“Really I have you to thank for it. Something you said to me made me realize something,” she said. “Something big about Brother Blue.”

“Me?” I said. If I had knowledge that could have harmed Brother Blue in any way I would have used it long ago. “What did I say?”

“That you never once were able to communicate with the colonies after you were left here,” she said. “I’ve been going over the communication logs to the colonies that I had with me when I went into my escape pod.”

“So?” I asked.

“I’ve spent every moment since then harassing aliens who have taken Humans on their ships. Not one of them was ever from a Children of Earth colony.”

“Brother Blue felt they were too wild and wouldn’t mix well with colonists,” I said. It had been drilled into us colonists that the Humans who roamed and wandered were not to be mixed with.”

“But don’t you think it’s strange? Not ever? No one from a Children of Earth colony has ever gone anywhere? And no Human who roams has ever settled on one of those Human colonies? Even on isolationist Earth, some people traveled. They had to for negotiations or for trade conferences. And exceptions are always made for immigrants when it comes to refuge. And now, thanks to Brother Blue’s Children of Earth colonist effort, we’re close to securing our place in the galaxy. There should be movement, communication, engagement.”

I couldn’t see what she was getting at.

“What’s your point?” I said.

“There are no colonies,” Els said. Then she bubbled with excitement. “It’s all a con. Brother Blue has managed the biggest con ever. And I’m going to get myself in on it. I’m going to be one of the most powerful Humans in the galaxy.”

I sank back into my pillow. As ridiculous as it seemed, something about what she was saying rang true. It would explain why Brother Blue didn’t want us to ever talk to aliens. Or understand Universal Galactic or get the nanites. Or why the colonies had never responded ever to a single message I had sent, or if they did, with such strange and cold responses.

“Earth Imperium Alliance’s whole position is dependent on those colonies existing,” I said.

“Yes,” Els said. “The Imperium only accepts Earth’s status as a rising species because of those thriving colonies that Brother Blue built. And if that were true, and those colonies were thriving, then my ship and I would be there helping them to reintegrate with Earth. But we didn’t make it.”

“And it would take a few years to retrain people and send them out to the colonies,” I said, the truth of what she was saying dawning on me.

“With one ship exploding,” Els said, “Brother Blue bought himself some more time to figure out how to stretch this con out, or wait out the Imperium. After all, things always fall.”

“The map always changes,” I said.

My mind was racing. We had him.

“But why destroy the
Prairie Rose
?” I asked. “We were a real colony ship.”

“Probably because you were,” Els said. “For the
Prairie Rose
it was just bad timing. Maybe he traded one con for another when the Imperium took control and changed everything. He could have used Beta Granade as a good front if he’d thought further down the line.”

I shifted. He’d been grooming me. He’d wanted me to be a part of his plans. That’s why I had to be eliminated. I knew it all, only I didn’t know that I knew it.

“We should expose him immediately,” I said. “That will get Earth united.”

“No! I need Earth to remain where it is. The Earth Imperium Alliance is back in control there, and Brother Blue can’t be doing this alone. There must be powerful people helping him with his secret. I got word to Brother Blue that I was onto him and in exchange for my silence and expertise, he’ll get me a nice position on Bessen.”

Els was diabolical. But she was going to get me closest to Brother Blue. He was within my grasp. The only way to find out was to play. I took a deep breath.

“How do you want me to help?” I asked.

I would have to pull her in closer to me so that I could best assess the situation and make a choice later on. If I alienated her now, I’d be in the dark and she was a wild card that I did not want out of my hand. Heckleck had always said to keep the wildest cards in your hand for as long as possible.

“I have to be sure that it’s not a trick,” Els said. “Will you pose as me for the meeting? You’re still better at dealing with aliens that I am.”

I nodded. She didn’t trust her position. She needed a canary to see if the coal mine was safe. If it got me to Brother Blue, or to Bessen, to the Human embassy, with a knife in my hand, then I would do it.

“What do you need me to do?”

Els threw her arms around me. She squeezed too hard. When Els let me go, she withdrew a small data plug from her pocket.

“To show that my information is good, I’m to give the Imperium aide this.”

“What is it?”

“It’s enough to prove that my suspicions are real. He’ll have to verify it.”

She pressed the data plug into my hand.

“Once he does, then we’ll head to Bessen together,” she said. “You’ll come with me.”

I nodded. I would go to Bessen, but for different reasons.

“I’m going to have my life back,” she said. “Isn’t it wonderful?”

I wondered what it would be like to have my life back. I looked around at the cold white walls, breathed in the recycled air. The only home I knew on the station was the bin in the underguts on the Yertina Feray. As hard as life was here, it was a life I knew and it was not such a bad one.

Neither Reza nor Caleb could deliver me as close to Brother Blue as Els could. I would have to leave with Els no matter how detestable she was. She was my true pass out of here and toward my revenge.

“Tula. I will do anything in return for your help.”

“Anything?”

“Anything,” she said.

I knew from experience that no one would actually do
anything.
That was just something that people said. To give up anything was harder than one thought. There was always something that someone would not give up or trade. A thing that they couldn’t do. I knew that everyone had that thing inside of them. I wondered where my line was. I was already willing to abandon Reza to follow Els to achieve my goal. What else did I have to give up?