Wrath of the Void Strider (27 page)

He chuckled.  “I don’t think so.”

“Trust me.”

Hesitantly, Takeo said, “Sure.  How wide should I open it?”

Gavin observed the room remotely.  “Just enough to catch this doughnut hole.”

Furrowing his brow, he asked, “Are you planning to bank it off the walls?”

“I am not.”  With an excited smile, he urged, “Come on!  Open it.”

The others regarded him as Takeo leaned back slightly and did as Gavin asked.  He jumped as the doughnut hole appeared from nowhere, sailing through the air directly at his face.  Reflexively, he closed his eyes and mouth, and it bounced off his lips.

Gavin grinned as he emerged from the bathroom.  “Pretty amazing, right?”

Stunned, his comrades stared at him.

“I figured it out this morning.”

“Gavin,” said Taryn, “how did you do that?”

“I made a gravity bridge.”

Filan regarded him with disbelief.  After a moment, she whispered, “And you used it to throw a doughnut hole at Takeo?”

Gavin nodded, and Valerie joyfully laughed.  “I knew you could do it!”  She beamed.  “I knew you could do it.”

With undisguised wonder, Taryn threw her arms around his neck and squeezed. 

“Thanks for believing in me, guys,” he said.  “Please, don’t say anything about it to anyone, except to Zerki.”

“That’s a given,” said Taryn, and she looked to her companions.  “Right?”

“Of course,” said Valerie, and Filan nodded resolutely.

Takeo’s mind raced.  “Right, of course.”  Unsure of what else to say, he cleared his throat and glanced at his phone.  “We should probably start heading down.  It’s about time to go, and I wouldn’t want to keep the captain waiting.”

After gathering their things, they joined the rest of the crew in the lobby.

Zerki marched up to Gavin and studied him intently.  She stared deeply into his eyes.

“Captain?”  His throat bobbed.

Nodding decisively, she muttered, “Good,” and squeezed his shoulder before walking away.

“What was that about?” asked Gavin, and he looked to Valerie.

She shrugged.  “I really have no idea.”

Chapter 17

Zerki summoned the bridge crew to a passenger shuttle, where they quickly boarded.  When they were settled, she leaned in close and said, “I believe the
Shadow
has been sabotaged.”  Met with doubting and confused responses, she retrieved her phone and turned it on.  “This morning, a byriani hitman made an attempt on my life, and I have reason to believe he was working with saboteurs sent to collect the bounty on the
Shadow
.”  She displayed a photo of the assassin’s corpse.

Valerie gasped.  “You did that?”

“It was self-defense.”

Collins regarded her, impressed.  “
How
did you do that?”

Growing impatient, Zerki said, “I used an atom wrench.”  She waited a moment before continuing.  “The first order of business when we get back is to find out what’s been done to the
Shadow
.  I’ll bring in Cajun, Taryn and Fogg, and we’ll all take a look around—deck by deck, cable by cable.”  A deep thump rang through the vessel as it released docking clamps and began its flight from the planet.

“What do we tell the rest of the crew?” asked D’Arro.

“Try to keep a lid on it.  Tell them we’re checking for stowaways.  Whatever else you do, keep them off the
Shadow
—physically, if you must.”  Her eyes red at the edges, she regarded him with as much focus as she could muster.  “D’Arro, I’m putting you on crowd control, if you think you’re up to it.”

He tested his shoulder, rotated it several times and nodded.  “I should be fine.”

“Good.”

Gavin asked, “What about me?”

Zerki cast him a stern glare.  “I just told you.  The rest of us will be searching the ship.”

He flushed slightly.  “No, I meant my starsight.”

For a moment, Zerki looked about to snap, but she caught herself.  “Actually, that’s a grand idea.  Forgive me, Gavin.  I’m running on zero sleep.”  She drew a deep breath and added, “Let’s have you stationed just inside the airlock on a closed channel with the rest of us.  We’ll let you know where we are, and you look inside for booby traps before we make entry.  Sound good?”

He nodded.  “That’s exactly what I was thinking!”

“Great.”  She closed her eyes as she eased back into her chair.  “I’m going to catch some shuteye.”

With raised brows, he opened his mouth to say more, but Valerie rested her hand on his forearm and shook her head.  “Later,” she whispered.

He nodded in response.  “Yeah, good call.”  They settled into their respective seats and lost themselves in the view.  Before long, the space station drifted into view, though it took some time for the shuttlecraft to complete docking maneuvers.  When the interior lights brightened, Collins jostled Zerki awake.

From several vessels, the
Sanguine Shadow
’s crew disembarked, flooding the narrow corridors of the spaceport.  Zerki took Cajun, Taryn and Fogg aside to quietly explain the task at hand.  Meanwhile, D’Arro moved to stand near the hauler’s boarding tube and called for everyone’s attention.  He proceeded to explain that some members of the crew would be sweeping the starship for stowaways.  When he had finished, he watched his companions file through the airlock passageway.

As Taryn passed by, he hoarsely whispered, “Wait!”

She faced him, tracing his considerable height with her eyes.  “What’s up?”

“Just…”  He exhaled.  “Be careful.”

“I will.”  Taryn smiled, and she turned to catch up to the others.

The rest of the crew gathered in small groups, and a din of lighthearted conversation warmed the air.  D’Arro gloomily looked on, glancing back to the boarding tube at every loud or strange noise he heard coming from inside.  He closed his eyes and imagined a black void.

“Is everything okay?”

D’Arro found Jenn standing nearby, regarding him with a concerned stare.  “Jenn,” he noted, “you have hair!”

She raised her brow and gestured with open hands.  “I know!” 

“I don’t think I ever saw it down before.”

“Or you never noticed,” she teased. 
She wore a green satin shirtdress and black pumps, and her skin was freckled.  What caught D’Arro’s eye was the wavy cascade of copper hair that tumbled down past her shoulders.  “I haven’t really cut it since I was in college.”  She pursed her lips toward one side of her face.  “Unless you count trims.”

“I molt,” he stated.  “I don’t count anything that involves scissors.”

Jenn laughed, her green eyes brightly smiling.  “I suppose you wouldn’t.”  Her cheer faded only slightly as she glanced toward the airlock.  “What’s got you so worried?”

His shoulders sagged.  “A few things.”  He leaned heavily against the bulkhead at his back.

Crossing her arms, she leaned against the wall next to him.  “Anything you want to talk about?”

D’Arro nodded solemnly.

A moment passed in silence, and Jenn regarded him expectantly.  “Well?”

“Oh, I can’t talk about it.”  He looked to her sidelong and smiled distantly.  “How was your stay?”

“Good, but way too short.  Still, it was nice to get away.”  She nudged him with her elbow.  “No offense, boss.”

He laughed affectionately.  “Why, do I stress you out?”

“Only recently.”  She stared absently down the corridor, toward her fellow crewmates.  “It’s not your fault.  Things took a bad turn when we picked up that new Navigator.  I hate to say it, but I think Collins is right.  Gavin’s an albatross.”

“Albatross, huh?  How much of that four thousand you got left?”

“All of it, plus most of the…  Oh.”  Jenn blushed, and she nodded.  “Touché.”

D’Arro stared fixedly ahead.  He muttered, “I hope everything’s going okay in there.”

·· • ··

Within the depths of the slumbering starship, Cajun and Fogg examined one of the
Sanguine Shadow
’s engineering units.  When their investigation was finished, Cajun activated his comm.  “They wired the radiation nullifier to the jump rig.  It’ll start decaying as soon as Gavin forms a link with the ship.  On top of that, they fused the safety override, so once it gets going, there’s no way to jettison the fusion cores.  We’ll be cooked alive in seconds as soon as the decay’s complete.”

Zerki asked, “How long will it take to decay?”

“Just over two hours.”

“About as long as it takes for any other starship to complete a jump cycle.”  She sighed audibly on the other end.  “Can you fix it?”

“No way.  Not even with Fogg’s help.”

Static hung on the air across the comms.  At last, Zerki said, “Good find, guys.  Everyone, finish your sweeps.  When I’m done with mine, I’ll head to the briefing room.  I want you all to join me there to discuss our options.”

Her companions acknowledged her request and resumed their search.  In time, they met within the unlit briefing room.  Zerki retrieved several disk lamps from a drawer under the holo-table and set them about its ledge.  After she had switched them on, she said, “It looks like everyone’s here.”  She blew into her hands and rubbed them together.

“It’s cold in here,” Gavin muttered.

Cajun nodded.  “Without life support running, it’s going to get even colder.”

Zerki asked, “Did anyone find anything else?”  Her companions assured her they had not, and she breathed a sigh of relief.  “That’s some good luck, then.  Any ideas?”

“We could ask Varuna’s Corps of Engineers for help,” suggested Cajun.  “It’ll take time, and it might be pricey, but it’ll get done right.”

Shaking her head, Zerki answered, “We can’t wait that long.  Too many people know we’re here, and as soon as housekeeping finds that body, this station’s going to be crawling with UNIPOL.  We’ll be sitting ducks.”

“AFTER CHECKING VARUNA’S SALE SHEETS, I HAVE DETERMINED THERE ARE SEVERAL VESSELS OF COMPARABLE SIZE AVAILABLE FOR SALE AND FOR RENT,” offered Fogg.

“Thanks, but renting something that big will draw too much attention.”  Shaking her head, she muttered, “Plus, even if we won the bid on a short sale, it could take hours to close escrow.”  She rested her chin upon her index fingers.  “We need to find a way to fix the
Shadow
.”

Collins leaned back in his chair.  “Got an idea, but you won’t like it.”

“I might surprise you,” Zerki replied.

“You often do.”  He smiled affectionately.  “Need a place that’s off the grid and has the know-how to get the
Shadow
fixed an hour after we land, right?”

With a stern nod, Zerki urged him to continue.

“That sounds like Nerthus, to me.”

Krane rankled.  “With Father Stone and his cultists?  No way!”

“Now, hold on,” Zerki interjected.  “The idea’s got some merit.”

“What’s so bad about Nerthus?” asked Taryn.

“It’ll break your mind—make you insane,” said Krane, and he regarded her fiercely.  “It’s a planet full of deranged people that got that way by eating each other.  Then along comes Ben Stone the nano-surgeon, and he delivers them all from their damnation by infusing them with nanobots.  Now they all worship him like he’s some kind of god.”

Zerki said, “That’s only partly true.”

“No, it’s completely true,” contended Krane.  “Taryn, look it up.”

“It’s not going to come up on any legitimate searches,” said Valerie.  “Nerthus was disavowed.  The Union would sweep it under the rug, if they had the means.  They’re counting on time to do the slow work for them.”

“You’re not wrong, Val,” said Collins.

“I’m telling you, they’ll turn on us,” said Krane.  “And they’ll turn us into one of them!  Captain, I can’t believe you’re actually considering this.”

Leaning over the table on straightened arms, Zerki breathed evenly.  “I don’t see that we have much choice.  We know Stone will do the work, likely for free, and better than that, we know he can get it done in time.”  She straightened and decided, “Let’s power up the
Shadow
and get everyone back here for a quick briefing.”

·· • ··

In short order, the entire complement of the
Sanguine Shadow
crowded the briefing room and its doorway.  The starship was well-lit and warm again.  Zerki put the finishing touches on her holographic presentation and called for everyone to quiet down.  “Welcome back,” she began.  “I hope everyone enjoyed their time on Varuna.  I know I did.”

She tapped the table’s controls, and images of rusted, mechanical desolation sprang to life above it.  “This is Nerthus, located in Chiron System,” she explained.  “It’s a long-dead hive world that lost more than ninety percent of its population to the most tragic supply disruption in galactic history.”  She displayed images of men and women with quicksilver eyes, patchwork flesh and metal skin.  “This is what the inhabitants look like, today.”

Much of her crew exchanged concerned murmurs.

“Every hive world in the galaxy is completely dependent on outside resupply.  When Nerthus experienced a series of supply disruptions, largely due to ellogon piracy, things went straight to hell—widespread looting and rioting, to start.  Ultimately, the survivors turned to cannibalism.  With the populace devastated, and the Union unable to break the chokehold the ellogon privateers had on the system at the time, it wasn’t looking good for the people stranded there.”

Tapping the console, she called up an image of a handsome, lantern-jawed man with stylish black hair and thin-rim glasses.  He stood with a slanted smile and crossed arms, wearing a long white lab coat, a white shirt and black slacks.  “This gentleman is Dr. Benjamin Stone, one of the most brilliant nano-surgeons the galaxy has ever known, and at one time, a tireless humanitarian.”  She called up a lengthy list of his personal achievements.  “He slipped past the ellogon blockade and disappeared into the hive world.”

The display returned to a city-level view of the ruins of Nerthus.  “No one saw or heard from him for over a year, but when he did emerge, he brought a miracle with him.  He had found a way to infuse the survivors with symbiotic nanobots that allowed them to literally eat anything.   With a planet full of steel and coal, there was no longer a shortage of food.  But it came at a cost, as you can see.”  She recalled the images of Nerthus’s inhabitants.  “Most of these people are hundreds of years old, now.  They call Dr. Stone ‘Father,’ and their fierce loyalty is cultish.  They would… yes?”