Maiden, p.18
MAIDEN, page 18
Sydren grunted. “You mentioned kioli lotion?”
“Aye,” Crystal said. She spied glints on his arms as well. “Enough for all of your fine crew, judiciously used. Showers first, to clean as much beforehand as possible, of course.”
Tempton nodded. “Of course. And for once, we might actually have enough hot water for everyone.” He leaned against the console beside Sydren’s chair and crossed his arms over his chest again. “Now. You actually have a slip-pass for us?”
“It couldn’t have come from the builder’s freighter,” Sydren said. “We scoured that ship looking for anything that might help us.”
“So Scrounger said,” Crystal replied. “And she wants her equipment returned. Nay, the slip-pass came with the cargo pods used to hide me and my supplies. Two pods, two passes.” She kept quiet about the third on the powersled Vicken had used to reach the debris field, by now lost in the deepness of space. As was Vicken.
Sydren waved. “She’s welcome to whatever she wants if you get us a slip-pass. We can have it installed and test fly the Besk within twelve hours. The next freighter passing through the sliprings arrives in…” He glanced at his father.
“Roughly thirty-one hours. If all goes well, we can be on our way in thirty-one hours.” He sighed. “I never imagined it possible. Especially after the freighters stopped delivering supplies.”
Sydren snorted. “We’re lucky to have lasted as long as we have.”
Crystal said, “The Brethren, they meant you to perish, aye?”
Tempton nodded. “We think so, yes.”
“Pretty sure of it. We just don’t know why,” Sydren added. “There’s twenty-one of us left. If you ask why we’re here, you’d get twenty-one different answers.”
His father grunted. “Those loyal to Ympress and House Medammo blame my house. Those loyal to me and House Idrosi blame her and Medammo.” His shoulders sagged. “Truth is, we’ve all done things that would get us banished like this. It’s been so hard keeping everyone from each other’s throats.”
Crystal studied the two men. According to Yrten, Tempton was only thirty years older than his eldest son. But to look at them, one might imagine Tempton Sydren’s granda instead. Wrinkles creased his face. His skin bore an unhealthy pallor. Gray claimed his thinning hair and beard, what little black remaining banished to the fringes. He leaned in a slight slump.
Still, looking at him told any observer he was in charge.
He reminded Crystal of her creator. When Anias Steele looked at you, you felt like he saw you. When you spoke, he heard everything you said—even what you didn’t say. He always had a presence about him. It reflected confidence, assurance, faith, trust. The aura of one born to lead.
She saw the same qualities in Lord Tempton deThau. And in his son, Prince Sydren deThau. Less of it in Prince Yrten deThau, but still there.
What would it be like, allying myself with them?
Sydren had better born the burdens of the past ten months. His glossy black mane had gray highlights, as did his trimmed beard. The wrinkles around his nose and eyes seemed appropriate for his forty-two years. When he stood, he moved with a certain jauntiness—self-confidence, perhaps. Yrten looked up to him. When the time came, he’d become the next Lord deThau.
Assuming House Idrosi survived…
Both were broad chested, strong arms and legs, lips hinting at a perpetual smile. The top of her head reached their breastbones. While she was confident in her blade play, she was relieved Tempton had surrendered so readily. I could have probably handled him, but the two of them together, in such tight confines…
She held back her smile. Would’ve been a rousing fight.
Sydren clapped once. “So. We need to decide what to tell everyone. And when we need to say it. I’d hate to get everyone’s hopes raised only for the slip-pass to not work.”
“Yes.” Tempton looked at Crystal. “I assume the builder’s freighter has a slip-pass? It’s certainly not coated in slipdust.”
“The builder has a name. Scrounger. Please use it,” Crystal said. “And her vessel is a smart-ship. The core is one of the most advanced—that’s why the interface is vital. She built the ability to pass through sliprings into its design.”
Tempton straightened, as though shocked by the console behind him. “What?”
Sydren leaned back in his chair. “A smart-ship! No wonder it bothered my father so.”
“Dammit!” Tempton clenched his hands into fists. “I shouldn’t have trusted Ympress to make first contact. She blundered from the get-go. We might’ve been out of here weeks ago.”
Sydren grimaced. “She was a member of the diplomatic corps back home,” he said to Crystal. “But she wasn’t very skilled, to hear others speak of it. She worked better behind a desk.”
Crystal chuckled. “Aye. Yrten said as much. And I didn’t have to torture that from him.”
Tempton shook his head. “She should have gone onto that freighter—er, smart-ship alone, not with three armed men. Of course, the male there fought back. I’d have thought the four of them pirates as well.”
“Still, I doubt they would have helped us,” Sydren said. “People who fly about in smart-ships don’t keep people like us company.”
“It would have been nice to open a dialogue. Ympress bungled it right from the start.” He muttered, “What was she thinking?”
Crystal waved. “It’s done. And Scrounger will be less likely now to help than she might have sixty days ago, when she and her mate arrived. So answering your question, no, she would not let you on board her smart-ship if the slip-pass for the Besk fails. It’ll take convincing for her to allow anyone on board to help fetch Yrten and the rest. And my allegiance is with her. You’ll not steal on board without losing blood, limb, and life.”
Tempton waved. “We wouldn’t try. We’ll make the slip-pass work.” Then he frowned. “My son, the others… How bad are their conditions?”
Crystal shrugged. “Yrten and Nate still suffer lingering effects from electroprods. Both will probably need medical care for minor burns. The young pilot, Gance, should recover fine. The big one, Quoll…” She shook her head. “He killed Lis. Scrounger’s mate. Scrounger… She saw the opportunity for payback. I sedated him. But he will need deeper care.”
“Damn.”
Sydren looked up at his father. “I’d better alert Prame to prepare more beds in Medical.”
“Right. Let’s make that our first order of business—getting our people back. Let everyone see they’re all right.” He glanced at Crystal. “More or less.”
“Aye. And while you’re settling them in, I’ll fetch the slip-pass. The child, Rysha, can help me bring it to your workbay. I assume that’s where you have the Besk?”
Sydren nodded. “All hitched up for its coating of slipdust.” He turned to his console. “What should we bring with us to the builder’s—er, Scrounger’s smart-ship?”
“A stretcher for Quoll will be sufficient. The rest can walk.”
Tempton grunted. “Scrounger. What kind of name is that?”
Sydren glanced over his shoulder. “Think she’ll let me bring a pair of stewards?”
Crystal nodded. “As long as everyone’s unarmed.”
“While you’re busy with that, I’ll check in with Bredner,” Tempton said. “Help finish repairs and nip any rumors in the bud. Let everyone know there’s little cause for concern.”
“Aye, Lord deThau,” Crystal said. “Maintain the calm. For another thirty-one hours.”
27
CRYSTAL FOLLOWED Sydren to Medical on the second deck, close to the primary workbay, where most of the heavier and dangerous work on the station was done. As he went inside, she glanced past him. The lightpads inside were dim. The old steward, Prame, stood by the bed where Ympress lay, her head raised. He wiped a damp cloth over her nose and mouth. White gauze poked from her nostrils. Laying limp, she looked sedated.
Sydren whispered to him. Prame gestured toward the back of the bay. Sydren fetched a stretcher there and met her at the hatch. “Prame’ll be ready.” He looked over her shoulder, down the corridor. “Holsyn, Kammam, you’re here. Good.”
The two younger men emerging from the decklift stopped short, eyebrows rising, mouths agape. “Whuh… Who’s that?” one asked. Sweat matted their hair and wet their foreheads and necks. Grease and soot streaked their rumpled clothing, the same plain worksuits worn by Nate and Quoll. They smelled of smoke.
“She’s our guest,” Sydren snapped. “Stop staring.”
They both snapped to attention. “Yes, sir!” the first said.
“You asked for us, Milord?” the other said.
Sydren pushed the stretcher toward the decklift doors. Crystal kept pace beside him. “Follow us to the build—er, Scrounger’s vessel. Eighth deck docking bay.”
“Yes, sir!”
The decklift ascended. Sydren looked up. “No grinding.”
“Whatever took control of the station fixed up a lot of problems, Milord,” one man said—Crystal guessed Holsyn, who appeared to be of House Idrosi. The other had the swarthier looks of Quoll and Lady Ympress. “The fire abatement systems kicked in and finished most of our work.”
“Good thing, too,” Kammam said. “A lot of the small fires threatened to become big ones.” He sounded like Quoll.
“We have our guest here to thank for that,” Sydren said with a nod in Crystal’s direction. He chuckled. “For starting the fires and putting them out.”
The stewards glanced at each other. But before either could speak, Sydren raised a hand. “Father and I will explain in due course. Just know our situation has stabilized. Our focus now is to fetch our people from Scrounger’s vessel.”
Holsyn said, “Yes, milord.”
As they approached the docking bay lock, Crystal in front, unfamiliar signals brushed her precious advantage. She understood only one out of five data packet languages, but enough to confirm without question the brethren Sibly was awake. Revived. She searched for signals from her core, but found none.
“Wait here,” she told the men before opening the lock. Blue lights glowed on the ops panel at the end of the lockway. She reached for the button to open Sibly’s lock, but before she pressed it, the hatch opened.
“Welcome, Crystal Maiden.” Sibly’s young, emotionless voice floated from speakers inside the primary lock.
She almost thought her reply through her chord, catching herself at the last moment. “Sibly,” she said. Its mechanical drone sounded… odd. She’d never spoken with a brethren before, but thought they might sound more… human.
“Yes. Scrounger has told me what you have done for her. For us. I thank you. And I thank you for sparing my life.”
Crystal smirked. “Yes, well, I haven’t entirely decided to spare you, young brethren. But it looks favorable.” She stepped inside the nodeship and closed the hatch behind her.
The song of the ship washed over her chord—data transmissions, queries, responses, exchanges. Ghostly beeps, chirps, trills, and others echoed at the periphery of her awareness. With a sharp breath, she glanced up, surprised. I’ve… felt this before! Three times, in fact—each time she and her team stormed a nodeship and destroyed the brethren. Parts of the song died with the brethren. But the rest of the nodeship’s systems continued operating, transmitting reports, exchanging data, keeping the vessel operating. While she’d been aboard vessels more advanced than nodeships, the song seemed unique to them.
I’ve known all along this was a nodeship. I should have expected this. Even from one so young, on a vessel so small.
Wiping her eyes, Scrounger stepped from the pilot’s deck. “Sibly alerted me you were coming.” She rushed close and hugged Crystal. “Sibly survived. Thank you, Crystal. Thank you.”
Crystal returned the embrace. “I am pleased. What is the nodeship’s condition?”
Stepping back, Scrounger laughed. “We can fly through the slipring out of here all right. But there’s so much to fix.” Sniffling, she wiped her cheeks. “Ugh. I’m a mess. Sorry. I just got…”
“I understand.” Crystal squeezed her arms. “Listen. Sydren is here with a couple of his stewards to fetch our captives.”
Scrounger frowned. “Is it wise to let them go? They give us leverage.”
“We have the interface. We no longer need them. And if all goes well, we will be gone from here within thirty-two hours. Sooner, possibly, depending on how quickly they test their yacht after they’ve installed the slip pass.”
“You’re really giving them a slip pass?”
“Aye. I know we did not discuss this, but we cannot leave them here to die.”
Scrounger opened her mouth, but Sibly spoke first, its voice emerging from hidden speakers.
“She is right, Scrounger. We cannot abandon them. Despite all that has transpired.”
“It was your fellow Brethren who banished them here,” Scrounger said. “How can you—”
“We will discuss this later. Just know I believe Crystal is correct. Whatever their transgressions, they do not deserve such a fate. And it is a simple matter to help. Also, the slip-pass is not ours. It belongs to Crystal. She can do with it what she pleases.”
Scrounger pursed her lips. “Very well. But I’ll be interested to hear your reasoning behind this, Sibly.”
Crystal said, “Thank you, Sibly.” She nodded at the primary lock’s external hatch. “They’re waiting. They bought our story Sibly is a mere smart-ship. So watch what you say. Sibly?”
“Yes, Crystal?”
“None of them have chords. Still, it might be best if you just watched and listened.”
“Until they leave, I shall speak only to alert you or Scrounger of an emergency.”
“Good.” She looked at Scrounger. “I’ll meet you in the workbay.”
Scrounger shook her head. “I’d rather wait on the pilot’s deck, if it’s all the same.”
“Of course. I’ll call if we need help.”
She waited until Scrounger disappeared before opening the hatch. “This way.”
Sydren sniffed as he pushed the stretcher on board. “At least your air smells a lot better than ours.”
Crystal laughed. “Not so many unwashed bodies.”
She unlocked and opened the supply pod. “Now, the smell in here…”
Sydren laughed.
Save for the sedated Quoll, her captives groaned as Crystal unlatched their bindings, then stepped back.
A splint around his injured wrist, Yrten stood and embraced his older brother. “Thank god. I was worried.” Nate stood with his hands on Gance’s shoulders. Both looked like they’d just risen from troubled sleep.
Sydren waved. “Come on, before she changes her mind.” That earned him a pair of smiles.
Nate glanced down at Quoll’s still form. “What about—”
“I brought help. We’ll load him on the stretcher.” He waved his men forward. Holsyn locked the stretcher’s wheels and lowered the side rails.
Yrten grabbed Nate’s shoulder. “It’s all right.” He guided Nate and Gance from the pod.
Sydren, Holsyn, and Kammam lifted Quoll onto the stretcher, careful of the bandage holding the thick gauze over his eye and the splints around his hands. Cheeks puffy, he grumbled incoherently as they strapped him down.
“The sedative wears thin,” Crystal said. “I have more.”
Sydren shook his head. “We’ll let Prame take it from here.” To the others, he said, “Wait for me in the docking bay.” He gently clapped his brother’s shoulder.
“God, I could use a nice hot shower,” Yrten muttered.
“Something to eat,” Gance said. “I’m starving.”
“I think Milord’s right—we all need to shower first,” Nate replied.
As they departed, Sydren glanced over the two cargo pods. “This is how you survived. A cargo pod converted into a hibernation chamber. And this one with all your extra stuff. Hidden in the debris field?”
“Aye.” Crystal unlocked and opened her cargo pod. “See? What’s worse is I helped build all this in the days before my Creator placed me inside.”
Sydren laughed. “Amazing. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes…” He rapped his knuckles on the exterior panel by the open hatch. “Looks like it took a beating. I’m surprised you lived so long.”
“Creator knows his tech.”
“That he did.”
Crystal realized then what she’d said. “Aye. Knew his tech.” She closed the hatch.
Sydren’s gaze bore into her. “Amazing,” he whispered. Then he blinked and looked away. “Well, better get my boys down to Medical and tend to their wounds.”
“Aye. I’ll bring the slip-pass down to the maintenance bay. Meet you there.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
She escorted him to the lock, then sealed it behind him.
28
“SCROUNGER, THEY’RE gone.” Crystal waited in the primary lock foyer.
Yrten’s blade at her waist, Scrounger walked from the pilot’s deck again. She sighed. “If you’re set on this, let’s do it.”
“I am.”
They walked to the workbay.
The song of the ship continued to play through Crystal’s chord. She wanted to ask Scrounger if she heard it too, what it sounded like to her, but refrained. Best to keep keeping my precious advantage a secret. While Scrounger stepped onto the control deck, Crystal locked the supply pod hatch. “Let’s remove the slip-pass from this one.”
“Step back.”
Crystal moved to Scrounger’s side. “Wait. The control station for the internal boom is over there, is it not?”
“With the interface back, I don’t need it. Watch.” She stood still, hands clasped together. After a moment, the internal boom, its grip pointed toward Sibly’s bow where they’d left it earlier, the crumpled half-hatch in its grasp, came to life. The amber lights along its length flashed to blue. It gave a mechanical whine. Then it slid forward, away from the cargo pods along the aft bulkhead.
