Treasure of Light (The Light Trilogy) (70 page)

She ground her teeth softly. Her pearl-smooth cheeks vibrated. “Set the
Hoyer
down?”

“Yes.”

C-J class cruisers were built for space travel, not gravity wells. He could see the hurt on her face. He’d just told her to murder their ship, to condemn it to being stripped and sliced into scrap. His gaze caressed the stark white walls lovingly, in silent apology, before he forced it back to Carey.

“Aye, Captain. But if I wait—if I play with Brent—won’t it be too late?”

He sucked in a deep breath. “Might be. But I don’t think Brent will fire on you if he knows you’re heading for the surface.”

“You mean because he’ll assume, and correctly, that he’ll be able to capture nearly everyone who flees the downed vessel.”

“Yes.”

Carey’s gaze softened. “All right. Well, one last question.”

He rubbed a fist over his mouth. “What?”

“If none of this works—if something totally unexpected happens—what’s our story about Baruch’s capture on Tikkun?”

She’d said the words calmly, but her mouth trembled. Cole leaned back in his chair. “Hmm. Good point. They’ll wonder why, if I could organize the resistance, I didn’t stay with my crew…. Let’s go with this: Everything happened just the way it did—except I gave the stand-down order and later, while we were trying to retake the ship—I blundered. Baruch captured me and forced me to the planet as his hostage.”

Carey laughed bitterly, shaking her head. “It doesn’t make any sense. Why would he? And no one who knows you will believe you could make such a blunder.”

“Fortunately, by then we’ll be dealing with the Magistrates. And I’ll have had more time to think about it.” He got lithely to his feet. The fluttering lamplight threw his shadow in an amorphous black wave across the back wall. “Any other questions?”

Carey shook her head.

Rachel shoved out of her chair. “When are we leaving for Tikkun?”

“As quickly as we can. Get to your people and set them up with Carey, then meet me in the landing bay. I need to reprogram the shuttle so I can handle her if it comes to a fight on Tikkun.”

Carey looked up at him. “Cole, when you’re in the bay, if you can access the ship-wide link….”

“Yes.” He closed his eyes against the thought. His stomach churned sickeningly. “Sorry I didn’t think of that. If I can. I’ll… I’ll talk to our people and order them to assemble outside of Engineering. You, Rachel, will kindly advise your people not to disrupt my trap by killing anyone who appears there.”

“Understood.”

“Is that it? Good. Let’s move.”

Halloway stepped around the table and embraced him in a hug so hard it drove the air from his lungs. He noticed for the first time the delicate fragrance that clung to her hair. He nuzzled his cheek against the top of her head, hugging her back.

“Don’t take any unnecessary risks,” he murmured. “I plan on both of us living long and boring lives in hiding. Understand?”

“Got it. I hear there are some great holes in the wall on Vensyl.”

He grimaced distastefully. “Vensyl’s a dive and you know it. I was thinking more of the caves on Acre. Those nomadic goatherders make some damned fine stouts.”

She laughed, burying her face against her shoulder. “We’ll argue about it later.”

“Affirmative.”

She released him and stepped back. In strict military fashion, she spun and sprinted for the door. Tahn turned and gave Rachel a confident smile. “See you in half an hour?”

“Less if I can arrange it.” In a hesitant gesture, she lifted her rifle and handed it to him. “Welcome to the side of the angels, Captain.”

He reached out, taking it and cradling it in his arms. A euphoria of pride and inexplicable contentment filled him briefly, before the image of the little girl kicking beside the ditch smothered every other emotion. “Yes,” he said, checking the rifle’s charge. “I believe it is.”

Neil Dannon sat in the command chair on the bridge, laughing hysterically. Tears rolled down his cheeks. His body shuddered so hard that the pistols tucked into his belt jammed against his ribs. He carelessly pulled them out and dropped them to the floor beside the command chair. Tahn’s voice echoed through the ship, broken, fragmented, but his message rang out loud and clear.
They’d won!
Baruch had been captured by Lichtner on Tikkun and Tahn himself had Engineering.

When that powerful, jubilant voice ceased, Neil lifted his gaze to the serene image of his home world on the monitor. An ache like a poor sword thrust accosted him. He sat forward to brace his elbows on his knees. He was safe. Safe.

Dropping his face in his hands, he laughed again. Loudly and raucously. The deep-throated sound grew drier, more husky, as the seconds swept by, changing to sobs before he could stop himself.

He ought to be down there on Tikkun.

Killing Lichtner.

Getting Jeremiel out.

He ought to.

CHAPTER 53

Carey Halloway stood in the hall outside of Engineering, a rifle in her arms, pistol on her hip. Alone. She listened to Cole’s voice booming all over the ship. He sounded so confident, so utterly in control.
Everybody probably does
—
once they’ve given themselves up for dead.
And she figured he had. She had. Still, his voice soothed her fears. He sounded so much the old Cole of a year ago, before the government began its mad assault on Gamant civilians and he’d been carried away in the cyclone. Just his triumphant tone sent her spirits soaring—like it must have those of every other member of his crew.

She shifted to brace a shoulder against the wall. Rachel’s people had been willing, but wary. Without the voice of Yosef Calas on her side, she doubted they would have ever accepted her as their commanding officer.

Down the hall, she saw Carlene Millhyser and Jason West emerge, rifles clutched in tight fists, herding Mikael Calas and another child in front of them. Mikael had tears tracing his cheeks. The little girl looked dangerously upset, like none of them had better turn their backs on her or she’d rip their throats out. How could such a young girl look so fierce, Carey wondered? But then this child was Gamant, she’d probably seen more horror in her short life than Carey had.

Millhyser and West spotted her and broad smiles lit their faces. Carlene trotted forward, lifting an arm to embrace Halloway. She hugged her back, patting her meaty shoulders.

“Glad to see you made it, Carlene. Damn good work.” She released her and reached out for West. “Jason? You look all right. No direct hits anyway.”

He laughed and hugged her tightly. “I’m all right, Lieutenant.”

Millhyser chuckled in joy and relief. “We had a time of it on level seven, I’ll tell you that. If you hadn’t set up that ambush outside of the security tunnel, I doubt we’d have ever gotten weapons.”

She smiled. “I may have set it up, but
you
carried it off. I’m proud of you. So’s the captain. Come on inside. Tahn dug a bottle of Sartrian brandy out of some hole and is waiting to open it until everybody arrives.”

West did a little dance of sheer happiness in the hall, then put his hands at the children’s backs while Millhyser hit the patch to open the double doors that led into Engineering. When they snicked back, Carey led the way inside. West, Millhyser, and the children followed unwittingly—falling straight into the arms of six Gamant guards.

“Uncle Yosef!” Mikael cried, running headlong across the room.

Halloway quickly pounded a fist into the patch. The doors closed before anyone coming up the hall could hear the screams of disbelief and rage.

Erinyes roughly rubbed his earlobe, grimacing at Ornias. The ambassador leaned seductively over Saren Lil’s shoulder pretending to watch her go about her com duties. She kept casting imploring looks at Erinyes, obviously begging him to save her.

He’d been holding off, hoping Tetrax would figure it out for himself. “Ambassador,” Erinyes said with silky threat. “I’m sure the lieutenant could carry out her responsibilities more effectively if you weren’t fogging up her monitor.”

Ornias straightened and gave him a slit-eyed appraisal.

“Since nothing’s coming in over com, I hardly see that it matters.”

Erinyes thrust a hand at the wavering splash of colors on the forward monitor. “We are just about to exit vault. Why don’t you sit your fat… your
self down.”

Ornias smiled that plastic smile that made Erinyes want to slit his throat. Dressed in a long azure robe embroidered with golden threads, Tetrax looked—and acted—like royalty in exile; it irritated Erinyes. A government employee should dress like one, for God’s sake.

“Captain, have you made arrangements to retrieve Calas from the
Hoyer?
”

“Of course.” Then, with exaggerated politeness, he continued, “Don’t worry about
anything.”

Ornias opened his mouth to say something undoubtedly vituperative, but Lulen’s sharp voice stopped him.

“Captain,” she said, “we’re out of vault. Ships on screen.”

Erinyes heaved a sigh of relief. “Put in a tran to the
Hoyer.
Notify them of our mission. At the same time, send that Clandestine One message from the Magistrates to all the other Magisterial vessels out there.”

Ornias caressed his braided beard, lime green eyes gleaming. “And what, pray tell, will you do if Tahn refuses to turn the boy over?”

“Then we’ll know for certain he’s not in control of the
Hoyer
and we’ll fall into the Laced Star maneuver. Eventually, Ambassador, we’ll get the child.”

Ornias lifted a brow. “We want him
alive,
Erinyes. He won’t do us any good dead.”

Erinyes glowered. “I’m quite familiar with the necessities of treating political hostages delicately.”

Brent Bogomil grimaced, watching the tube of light streak directly at the
Hoyer.
“Dharon? What ship is that?”

She paused, brown eyes glued to her console. “The
Klewe,
Captain. I don’t know what the hell he thinks he’s—”

Bogomil lurched out of his chair. “Get him on com! He’ll undermine our entire maneuver!
Nobody
is supposed to make contact until we’ve safely established the Star and surrounded the
Hoyer!”

“Sir?” Winnow called. “Clandestine One message coming over com. Do you want it on screen or—”

“Give it to me in the aura.” He dropped back into his chair as the golden halo snapped on around his head. He listened to Slothen’s terse alien voice giving new orders and sank back into his seat. “Blast it. This is ridiculous—”

“Brent!” Dharon shouted, rising halfway out of her chair. “Ships on screen!”

“What?” He pounded a fist into his chair arm unit to kill the aura. Six, then seven, tubes of light streaked across the blackness of space, heading straight for Tikkun. “Who is that, Dharon?”

“I don’t know, but from the readings, those are AO class vessels.” She whirled around to pin him with a gaze wild with fear.

Hoarsely, he whispered, “The
Underground?
Get Abruzzi and the others on com! Tell them to fan out around the
Hoyer.
We’ve got to go in now!”

CHAPTER 54

Rachel eased down into the copilot’s seat, hitting the EM restraints. Beside her, Tahn did the same. He looked cool, handsome in his soiled uniform. His brown hair clung in tiny curls to his temples. Those piercing blue-violet eyes had taken on a preoccupied, calculating look.

“I take it your crew had no problems aligning with Halloway?” he asked.

“They’re worried, but they’ll obey her orders.” She frowned at the brittle sound of her voice.
Where was Sybil? Uriah said they’d found Harper dead.
Since that moment, the hard surface beneath her feet had melted to quicksand. Her knees had gone wobbly with the fear that her world might have already ended and she just didn’t know it yet.

Tahn gave her a sideways glance. “What’s wrong?”

She shook her head, not quite willing to discuss family with this newfound ally. “Nothing. I’m all right. Just on edge.”

“Uh-huh. Sounded like more than that. You have a daughter aboard, don’t you?”

She met his gaze; beneath the hard glitter, a friendly sympathy shone. Reluctantly, she nodded. “Yes. I don’t know where she is.”

He keyed something into his com console and the ship began to lift like a feather borne on spring breezes. Rachel braced herself as the shuttle eased out through the open bay doors and into space. Below, the continent of Amman whirled, covered by a patchy opalescent layer of golden clouds. The dark red wrinkles of a mountain range showed through in places.

Tahn nosed the shuttle down and Rachel unconsciously braced her feet against the floor, straining against the motion—which was no motion at all, but it
looked
like it. He watched her for a second, amusement in his eyes.

“Won’t help,” he said. “We’re going down regardless.”

“I feared as much.”