Gardner used his ID and retinal to open the back door of the Supremacy facility. He held it open as Vas, Reyer, Jane, Ciro, and Lynx all filed in. He came in last, checking the area outside for anyone who might have been watching.
The five of them were waiting for him.
He nodded and led them down the hall.
There was a checkpoint, but whoever was supposed to be at the desk was absent. The scan. The ID. They were through the door and walking past the empty chair.
“How did you do it?” Vas asked.
Gardner glanced over his shoulder. “I told you that I had favors owed to me. I don’t think you need any more details.”
“And they’ll do whatever you say?”
“It’s not that simple, Captain. In this case, I suspect my friend, who is currently in charge of this facility, has given the guards a few orders that will keep them conveniently out of the way.”
“And he’ll ask nothing in return?”
“She’ll probably ask me a lot of questions in return, but I’ll deal with that when the time comes.”
“And you know where the ship is?” Ciro asked.
“Yes. She sent me the information a while ago.”
“A while ago?” Reyer said. “You mean, before we got to you? Before we came back?”
“Yes.”
“How did you—”
“I was actually trying to figure out how I could get you released or break you out when you showed up in my home and put a gun to my head.”
“I hope you’re not holding your breath for an apology, General,” Vas said.
Gardner mumbled, “No. I’m not.”
“You would have broken us out?” Reyer asked.
Gardner only half turned his head this time. For a while there was nothing but the sound of their steps on the tile, then he finally answered: “Yes, Miss Reyer. I told you I don’t care about the war anymore—I don’t care if you’re rebels.”
“But you care about this?” Vas said.
“Oh, yes, Captain. But as luck would have it, you’re an even better crew than I could have hoped for. You were resourceful enough to free yourselves. I appreciate that. It saved me a lot of time.”
He pointed down another corridor. When they all turned, they were briefly stopped by another security door. Gardner once again opened it for them, and they walked into the main hangar.
A huge opening loomed above them, doubtless protected by a force field. There was an over-sized door at the side of the building. Near it sat the Golondrina, almost hidden by the half dozen other ships that were being kept there.
“They had to tow her in,” Gardner explained. “They couldn’t figure out how to bypass your security codes.”
Ciro smirked.
“She’s moored,” Vas said.
“I’ll take care of it.”
They started down the long room, but a voice behind them eventually made itself heard over their footsteps.
“Hey! Hey!”
They all stopped and turned.
It was a woman. Her long black hair was tucked up in a neat knot. Her uniform was military, but the symbol under her left shoulder patch indicated that she worked with the peacekeepers.
Gardner drew himself up. “Yes, Corporal? What is it?”
“Excuse me, sir, but who are you, and what are you doing here?”
Vas and Reyer both stepped behind Jane and Ciro, hoping to make their weapons less obvious.
The general held up his ID. “General Emery Gardner. I worked in MI.” The past-tense “d” at the end of “worked” was so faint it could be easily missed. When he was certain the corporal was done inspecting the ID, he lowered it. “Now, Corporal, I have to ask you what you’re doing here.”
“It’s my shift. I work here, sir.”
“Daraway hasn’t spoken to you?”
“No, sir. I barely arrived. I haven’t had time to look at my orders for the day.”
“I suggest you do that now, Corporal. I have no doubt that the Colonel has some important orders for you.”
“Be that as it may, sir. I have to deal with you first. I need to know why you’re here and under whose order.”
Gardner let out a huge sigh. Then he pointed with a stub, fat finger at the Golondrina. “I am here to take possession of that ship. This crew will be taking charge of it and removing it from your custody.”
“Yes, sir. Where’s your warrant, sir?”
“My warrant, Corporal?”
“Yes, sir. Your warrant or your orders.”
Vas grit his teeth and tried not to roll his eyes. This is why he hated people who obeyed all the rules. They always made life difficult.
“Corporal, you did hear me when I said I was from MI?” Gardner said.
“Yes, sir.”
“And you did hear me tell you that you should go look at your dailies?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Perhaps I should come with you and do that now. We could all come with you, if it would make you feel better.”
The woman hesitated. “I don’t see how that can change things, sir—”
“General,” Reyer said, “I don’t think that would be a good idea.”
General Gardner gazed at Alix, trying to understand. When it finally occurred to him, he raised his eyes to the ceiling. Yes, it might be a bad idea to take a bunch of wanted fugitives who had recently escaped peacekeeper custody, doubtless using violent methods, to go look at their wanted posters with a fresh, keen-eyed soldier.
Well, shit.
Gardner put his arm over the woman’s shoulder and pulled her partly away from the others. He didn’t like how she was looking at Reyer. “Corporal, what’s your name?”
“Sensely, sir.”
“Corporal Sensely. I tried to be discreet, but now I’m afraid I have to resort to being direct. I am here on a very sensitive matter that is so far above your head you wouldn’t hear it whistle if it went over. Colonel Daraway should have left you orders that would either help to explain your role in the situation or remove you from the situation. Does that make things clear?”
“No, sir.”
Stubborn brat.
“I need to either see direct orders from Colonel Daraway, a properly signed warrant, or signed and sealed orders with a code. I don’t care how sensitive or secret the matter is. Rules are rules. It’s the only way people like me can tell the difference between a legitimate covert operation”— here she motioned to the group—“and a bunch of weirdos trying to sneak in and steal an impounded ship! Sir.”
Reyer turned to Vas. “I like her.”
“You would,” he said.
“Can we keep her?”
“I don’t think she’d really fit in.”
“Think how much Jordan would love her though.”
Corporal Sensely listened to this exchange, her cheeks slowly taking on a pink hue, while her mind spun with confusion.
Vas grunted. “You can ask, but I doubt she’ll be interested, and I am not kidnapping anyone else. We still haven’t gotten rid of the last one!”
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Vas pulled his e-pistol and leveled it at the corporal. Her hand started to dive for her own weapon, but she hesitated with it a few centimeters over the grip.
“Brave too,” Reyer said, coming forward. “First inclination is to fight and resist.”
“But smart,” Vas agreed, following her. As they got closer, the corporal raised both hands. “Very smart.”
Reyer took Sensely’s e-pistol and handed it to the general. “Corporal Sensely,” she said. “Would you be interested in joining the Uprising? We could use a woman like you.”
Sensely stared.
“No? If you ever change your mind, you’d be welcome. Tell them that Reyer sent you.” Alix finished searching Sensely’s belt. She removed and handed off the machete and knife.
“Did you have to tell her you’re from the Rising?” General Gardner asked when Reyer straightened up.
“She would have figured it out the moment she went to look at her orders, General. Now, how is this going to work?”
Gardner reluctantly drew his own e-pistol. “Go on, the lot of you. Corporal Sensely and I will release the hold on your ship and lower the force field.”
“What about the planet-wide field?” Ciro asked.
“I’ll get you a code out. Go.”
Vas was the last to turn. He and Gardner watched each other for a long time. No words passed between them. When the captain did leave, it was with a resigned air hanging over him. Gardner recognized it from his own sense of dismay. What could they say to each other? Remember what you promised? Either they would do it or they wouldn’t. That was all either of them had.
Gardner marched Sensely over to the controls at the far end of the hangar while Vas and his crew went to the Golondrina. He had her sit down in the chair.
“Your coworker isn’t here,” he noted.
“I wondered about that too.” Sensely’s voice was bitter.
“He must have read his orders first.” Gardner pressed his e-pistol into her back. “Please undo the locks on the ship.” He pointed to the screen. “That one, specifically.”
She sat there, unmoving.
Gardner sighed. “I think it would be fascinating to discuss, at length, the nature of this mission. I would love to hear your philosophical take on it. However, I don’t have the time at the moment, so let me explain something…”
He reached over to the computer’s console and pressed a few buttons. The latches on the Golondrina deactivated. “I can do this by myself. If you resist, you won’t be stopping anything. If you cooperate, you’ll live. Captain Vas thinks you’re a smart girl. Let’s see if that’s true. You can die for nothing, or you can live and pursue whatever course you feel would best represent your beliefs and values.”
“I won’t help a traitor.”
Gardner sighed. “Someday you’ll see how meaningless that word usually is. But for now, listen carefully.” He leaned down so his head was right by her ear. “There are at least two members of the Rising on that ship, and they’re going to try to save twenty Supremacy citizens. This is bigger than sides, Corporal. This is bigger than you or me. Choose to be a part of it or get out of the way.”
Sensely lifted her shaking hands and put them on the console.
On the general’s orders, she opened the force field. Then he ordered her to transmit an exit code to the runner as it pulled away from the hangar.
Gardner saw her hesitate with her hand over the em-code. If she sent them that one, their ship would be flagged as “in a state of emergency,” drawing all the attention the world of Kala had to offer.
Gardner wondered if she would do it. His perverse curiosity was so powerful, he watched instead of acted, waiting to see what she would do. She moved her hand and pressed the button to send them a normal code.
Was it self-preservation? Doubt? He’d be able to speculate on it for years to come.
“Ah, well done, Corporal.” Gardner let out a sigh as he turned his e-pistol around and handed it to her. “And thank you.”
The baffled corporal took the weapon. “What—what’s going on?”
“I can’t tell you.” He held out her e-pistol so she could take that as well.
“What happens now?”
“That’s up to you, Corporal, but I would suggest that you and I should have a short talk with Colonel Daraway.”
“Will that clear things up?”
Gardner scoffed. “Not in the slightest. Not for you. But maybe it’ll help you put your mind at ease.”
Sensely didn’t look at ease on the long ride up the elevator. She looked less at ease holding an e-pistol on him than when he’d been holding one on her.
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Up in the Golondrina, they were already well outside of Kala’s atmosphere. Reyer was in the copilot’s seat, trying her best to do the most basic navigation duties. Her jack-of-all-trade training was lacking in that department.
Vas kept trying to assure her that she was a quick learner. She had her own view.
“You can’t threaten to shoot numbers! Ciro!” she shouted back to the main deck. “Are you done with Lynx yet?”
“One thing at a time, Miss Reyer!”
“We need you to be tracking down that battleship!”
“One thing at a time,” Ciro repeated. “There’s still only one of me, and I have to double-check all of Lynx’s systems while we have a quiet moment.”
Vas slapped the paper on Reyer’s knee. “You shouldn’t be overly reliant on technology anyway. Stop whining and do the math. I’ll double-check it.”
“Don’t rely on technology,” Reyer smiled, “says the man flying a ship where if anything goes wrong, we would all die horrible deaths out in the vacuum of space.”
“That’s not true,” Vas said. “Most of the scenarios say we would starve to death in here.”
Dr. Jane finished inspecting all of her materials and equipment. All the specimens and the untransformed xenos were secured and accounted for. She could finally relax now that she felt sure nothing had been disturbed. She sat down on the middle bench, put her face in her hands, and forced herself to take a deep breath. When she opened her eyes, she had the chance to watch Ciro poke around in Lynx’s open chest cavity.
After watching him for a minute, she couldn’t stand it any longer.
“All right, how did you do it?” she demanded.
“Do what, Dr. Jane?” Ciro made a small grunting noise as he tried to move a tangled bit of wire so he could finish his visual inspection.
“How did Lynx survive?”
Ciro grinned. “You must be referring to his resurrection program.”
“Whatever. I don’t care what you call it—how does a bot survive an emp?”
Ciro stepped back from the robot’s innards. “I have a number of hardening measures in place. Give him a damn good chassis, strategic spark gaps, nothing but fiber-optic wires, absorbers—that kind of thing. It’s not new technology. You just have to make it a priority.”
“Then why don’t they all have it?”
“Because most bots, Dr. Jane, are worthless factory drones exactly like the others. It’d be cheaper to buy a new one rather than engineer one to survive. But Lynx represents years of programming and work.” He reached up and knocked on Lynx’s metal forehead. The bot remained dark and motionless.
Ciro reached down beside the doctor and picked up the bot’s chest plate. As he put it in place, he said, “And he’s my brother’s copilot. It’s not like I didn’t foresee him getting into trouble every now and then.”
“So you taught him to play dead?”
“To protect every system possible.”
“And then you taught him to come back to life?”
“I taught him how to come back online, program by program, checking each one before going any further to make sure that he’s not running good code into a bad unit.” He let go of the now secured chest plate. “I also taught him how to run with a partial program or crippled body—just in case.”
Jane shook her head. “All right, Wonder Boy. You win. I’ll admit it—I’m impressed.”
Ciro click his tongue. “Dr. Jane, you have to stop. I’m not used to such flattery.” He put his hand on Lynx’s chest plate and called the bot’s name.
Lynx’s lights came on. “Running diagnostics.” Ciro had barely finished putting away his tools when the robot announced, “I detect no malfunction with my hardware, nor any problems in my software program. However, there is some wear on certain portions of my body due to the fighting.”
“I know it.” Ciro sighed. “Reset as new normal and set a reminder for me to repair you when we get back to Home Base.”
“Yes, Master Ciro.”
“Are all of your memories active and retrievable?”
“Yes, Master Ciro.”
“Good. Then you had better get up there.” He jerked his thumb to indicate the cockpit. “Miss Reyer is trying to set a route.”
“Sir, there is nothing in her file to indicate she would know how to do that.”
“Which is why you should probably hurry.”
Reyer was more than willing to give up her seat to the real copilot.
“Coward,” Vas said as she tried to get out of the way.
“I can threaten to shoot you, Captain,” she said, leaning over his chair. When Lynx was in position, she had room to sit down on the top stair.
“Ciro, you’re free now—” Vas said.
“If by free you mean in desperate need of some sleep and food—”
“You can sleep in velox. First you find out everything you can about the battleship we’re looking for. Lynx, you remember the call number Gardner gave you, right?”
“Yes, Captain.”
“Ciro, I want anything and everything you can find, including schematics, where it was, and where it might be now.”
“I’m on it, Adan.” Ciro got the call number from Lynx and disappeared among his machines.
“Lynx, as soon as you and Ciro have some facts, I want a time estimate for how long it would take that ship to get to the xeno home world if it was going at its fastest speed.”
“Yes, Captain.”
“But first,” he handed the bot the paper Reyer had been scribbling on, “is this route through normal space safe?”
“Yes, sir.” Lynx turned his head. “Well done, Miss Reyer. This is adequate work.”
Before she could respond, Vas said, “Well, you know how hard she strives to be adequate.”
The bot regarded the captain with his expressionless face.
“That was sarcasm, Lynx,” Reyer said.
“So you don’t try to be adequate?”
“Never mind, Lynx. Shut up,” Vas said. “Dr. Jane!”
Jane came over to the steps. “Captain?”
Now that she was there, Vas didn’t seem as enthusiastic about talking to her. In a quiet voice, he said, “I’m sorry you didn’t get to talk to Gardner for long.”
She shrugged. “I can find him again.”
“I’ll help you!” Ciro called out from his den of tablets and computers.
“I can find him myself, Wonder Boy.”
Vas interrupted before the exchange could go any further: “But now I have a problem. As soon as Ciro gets me the specs on that battleship, I’ll have a rough estimate for how long it’ll take it to reach the xeno home world—”
“So you’re going after it?”
Vas stopped, then looked over his shoulder at her. “I said I would, didn’t I?”
Reyer added, “I told you—it’s an honor thing.”
Adan’s feelings of offense at Jane’s question melted when he heard Alix’s comment.
“But you have no way of knowing if Gardener will keep up his end of the bargain,” Jane said. “You don’t even know if he’ll be able to!”
“It doesn’t matter,” Vas said. “He’s right. The xenos are as much a problem for the Rising as they are for the Supremacy. And there are innocent people—presumably innocent people—”
“As innocent as Supremacy people can get?” Reyer teased.
“Almost human?” Jane added.
Vas said, “My point is that we may not have time to drop you off somewhere safe before we go.”
“I understand.” Jane folded her thin arms. “And, you know what? Good.”
“Good?”
“Yeah.” She turned around, “Hey, Wonder Boy!”
“Yes, Doctor?” Ciro called.
“Someone has a full copy of all my notes, right?”
“Several someones on different secured systems.”
Jane turned back to Vas and Reyer. “There you go. Everything that really matters is taken care of.”
Vas shook his head. “I admire your dedication to your priorities, Dr. Jane.”
“And I admire yours, Captain,” Jane said. “Even though I think you’re all a bunch of lunatics.”
Adan won the brief battle he had with his conscience. He felt almost no guilt in pointing out, “We were right about the Supremacy using the xenos.”
Jane’s face twisted up as the comment hit home. “Yeah. You were. But I wouldn’t bet a rusty ten-coin that at least five people in the Rising wouldn’t have been tempted to do the same thing.”
“Five people?” Reyer asked.
“Isn’t that all it took with the Supremacy?” Jane went to lay down.
Vas and Reyer shared a glance.
“I’m afraid Dr. Jane has a point, Captain,” Lynx said, “I’m sorry to say that human—”
“Shut up, Lynx,” Vas grumbled. “Ciro, have you got the files you need? The sooner we hit velox the better chance we have of catching them.”
When the required thirty seconds of silence had passed, Lynx said with his speaker volume at its lowest level, “Not thinking about it doesn’t make it go away, Captain.”
Adan glared at the robot, but Lynx was too busy plotting a route through velox to notice.