“I suppose, but it would be days, if not weeks, to get a response here. The Perunese may even be blocking or editing outgoing communications. My sister-in-law had to physically mail a letter through a private service to get word to me about my husband.”
“A problem that is easily solved by leaving the planet and taking me somewhere with more employment prospects.”
“So glad your job hunt is taking precedence over your sympathy for my plight, Mica.”
“Sorry. It’s not that. You know, I’m just…” Mica scooted to the edge of her bunk and put a hand on Alisa’s shoulder. “I’m not good at sympathy and being womanly and caring and such. You’re not, either, you know. I figure that’s why we ended up drinking together back on the Silver Striker so often.”
“I thought that was just because nobody else would drink with us.”
“That too. We have the kind of wit that not everybody appreciates.”
“And that starts wars.”
“Probably true.” Mica smiled and squeezed her shoulder before sitting back against the wall again. “I don’t think you should trust him, but I think you’re already planning to sneak into the doctor’s cabin and steal the orb.”
“Why are you so sure?”
“Because Mladenovic is the only lead you’ve got.”
Alisa thought of the conversation she had overheard, of the proof that Alejandro did not care one way or another about her and wouldn’t mind if she were dead. She had to admit that she felt less bad about the idea of stealing from him after that. Oh, she did not think anything she was contemplating was truly honorable, but her choices were limited.
What worried her more than the questionable morality of what she was considering was incurring Leonidas’s wrath. He would be a terrifying enemy, and if she did take the orb and hand it off to someone, he would be back here at the ship, waiting for her to return. Or he might track her down before she had a chance to reach Major Mladenovic. She would have to figure out a way to get him and Alejandro off the ship, at least for a few hours, so she could fly away. If she could get off planet, she guessed—hoped—that they wouldn’t come after her. They ought to be too busy trying to find the orb. They might go after Major Mladenovic, but if he could not take care of himself, that was his problem. She didn’t owe anything to a man who was bribing her.
“You better watch out for Leonidas if you go through with it,” Mica said. “He could break you in half with his pinky fingers.”
“I’m very aware of that.” The memory of his exposed implant popped into Alisa’s mind. “That’s why I need help.”
“Help? I thought you were here for sympathy.”
“Sympathy, advice, help… We can’t try to get the doctor off the ship and search his cabin, because he takes that orb everywhere he goes. I need to sneak in and get it from him while he’s sleeping, and then I need to hustle off to this meeting. At some point, he’ll wake up and realize it’s missing.” Hopefully not until she had already made the trade. “I would guess that he’ll get Leonidas and that they’ll leave the ship. Can you rig something so that once they leave, they can’t get back in?”
“With the doctor, it’s that way now. You and I are needed to unlock the hatch. Or Leonidas. Remember how he was on the ship for weeks before we got to that junk cave?”
“Yes.”
“Well, I’m fairly certain now that he was the one doing those repairs. He also gave himself access to a lot of the ship’s systems, so he can go anywhere he wants.”
“Can we revoke that access?”
“You can. You’re hardwired in as the ship’s original owner.”
Was she? Her mother must have done that years ago.
Mica pulled up a different program on the holodisplay. “Here, authorize this, and I’ll see what I can do about revoking his access. Then you can steal the orb and go.”
“We can go,” Alisa said as she typed in the passcode for the computer, then leaned forward so it could grab a retina scan.
“Eh?”
“If you’re here when they wake up, they might question you.”
“I can lock myself in here or in engineering. Probably engineering so I can monitor what they’re up to on the rest of the—”
“Mica, I’ve seen him tear open locked metal doors and grates. I wouldn’t be surprised if he could get to you through a locked hatch.” Alisa eyed the one in the cabin. It was sturdy and thick, like something found on a submarine that had to withstand thousands of pounds of pressure underwater, but Leonidas’s arms were even thicker.
“In other words, you’ve determined that I’m not getting any sleep tonight,” Mica said.
“You could have slept earlier instead of praying to candles on the cargo hold floor.”
“We weren’t praying. She was teaching me how to meditate and relax my mind and my body. Apparently, I don’t do that.”
Alisa wondered if Mica’s willingness to subject herself to meditation had anything to do with her finding Yumi cute, something she had mentioned before in passing.
“Did you not find the meditation as rejuvenating as a full night of sleep?” Alisa stood up and rubbed her hands together. She would have to do the next step of her plan by herself.
“Oddly not. People who stank of the sewers came in and interrupted us.”
Alisa headed for the hatch. “How long will it take you to revoke his access?”
“Not long.”
“Can you meet me at the cargo hatch in an hour? I want to give Alejandro more time to settle into a nice deep sleep.”
“It’s your plan,” Mica said, not sounding enthused about it or her night of lost sleep.
Chapter 10
Alisa thumbed on the flashlight on her multitool, choosing the red lens out of some vague hope that the color would be less likely to wake someone up than white. Not making noise probably mattered more. She hoped she could manage that. She knew these cabins well, but if Alejandro was sleeping with the orb under his pillow, all of her knowledge would be useless.
She slipped out of her cabin into the corridor—she had turned off the usual nighttime lights, so utter darkness filled the passage. She eased out into it, guiding herself by touch. She wore soft boots and a jacket warm enough for venturing out into the night. If she succeeded in escaping with the orb, she would head straight out.
She walked past Leonidas’s hatch as quietly as she could, regretting that she’d assigned Alejandro a cabin right next to his when the doctor had first come aboard. A thump came from within it as she passed, and she froze, expecting the hatch to burst open. She would be caught before she even started. Dozens of excuses whirled through her mind, but then she reminded herself that she hadn’t done anything yet. For all Leonidas knew, she could be going to use the head.
Another thump sounded inside of his cabin, but the hatch did not open. The noises sounded like they were coming from the back of the room, where the bunk lay, and she remembered that she’d heard such noises coming from Leonidas’s cabin before at night. He wasn’t a quiet sleeper. Maybe someday, if they met again and he didn’t kill her for stealing the doctor’s orb, she would ask him what cyborgs dreamed about. If. An optimistic thought. She doubted they would meet again. That made her sad. She liked him a lot more than she liked Alejandro. But not enough to foolishly try to keep in touch with him after she betrayed them. The system was a large place, and she could not see herself returning to Perun. With her husband dead and her daughter gone, there was nothing left for her here.
She forced herself to continue past the room, shaking away the feelings of loss. What she did tonight was for Jelena. Alisa had to believe that it would get her closer to finding her daughter.
When she reached Alejandro’s hatch, she pressed her ear against the cool metal. No sounds came from within. Despite his words to the contrary, he must not have that much trouble sleeping.
Alisa turned off and pocketed her flashlight, then pressed her hand to the lock pad. It lit briefly, blue light bright
ening the corridor. The lock disengaged with a faint clunk. She lowered her hand and pressed her ear to the hatch again. The noise had not been loud, but if Alejandro was a light sleeper—or one paranoid about losing his orb—he might wake easily.
Again, she did not hear anything. Knowing she was about to cross the threshold, she gripped the old-style latch and slid it to the side. After this, she would not be able to claim that she was simply going to the head.
It was dark inside, the sounds of soft, even breaths coming from the back. The clock on the wall glowed a faint green. It did not provide enough light to see much, but she could make out the outline of the bunk and Alejandro’s form on it. She tried to see if anything lay on the floor, both because she didn’t want to step on his belongings and because it would be handy if his orb satchel was simply leaning against the wall by the door. It was too dark to pick out anything against the dark carpet.
Reluctantly, she withdrew the flashlight. Using it should save her time, keep her from patting around and possibly knocking something over. But she kept a nervous eye toward Alejandro’s form as she flicked it on. She skimmed the red beam along the carpet, but did not see anything. The desk and chair were also empty. There were built-in drawers and cupboards that she could open, but the metal latches and doors weren’t that quiet—there were identical ones in her cabin, so she knew. Besides, she suspected Alejandro was too paranoid to sleep that far from his precious orb.
She inched across the room and risked running the beam over his blanketed form. He slept on his side, facing the exit—facing her. His even breathing continued, but she worried that his eyes would pop open at any moment. She kept from running the beam close to his face and angled it down toward the carpet as soon as she had seen what she needed to see. He was not using the satchel for a pillow as he slept.
Alisa was about to head to the cabinets when she remembered the presence that the orb had. She had been able to feel it, like energy humming in the air during an electrical storm, when it had been out of its box on the pirate ship. Apparently, the box provided some insulation, because she had not noticed it other times, but she also had not tried to notice it. The thing—an artifact, the major had called it—disturbed her and made her want to stay away. But she could not do that now. She backed to the center of the room and flipped off the flashlight. Though she hated taking her attention from Alejandro, she closed her eyes and tried to open up her other senses. The even rhythm of his breathing comforted her slightly.
Alisa had no idea how to use her sixth sense or whatever it was that was involved in these things. Maybe she should have joined Mica and Yumi for meditation. An altered state of consciousness might be helpful for this.
After a few seconds, she thought she sensed something. Her imagination? Gooseflesh rose on her arms. The feeling seemed to originate from the direction of Alejandro’s bunk. Maybe he did have it under his pillow. Or under his blanket.
Flicking her flashlight on again, she eased back to his side. Carefully, she lifted the edge of his blanket. A bead of sweat ran down her spine. Searching the room was one thing, but risking touching him? That was sure to rouse him.
She crouched down to look under the blanket without lifting it higher, sweeping the flashlight through the space. She couldn’t keep from imagining Alejandro waking up and staring at her, his face less than two feet from hers. But all of her worries disappeared when she spotted the satchel nestled under the blanket and against his chest, the strap hooked around his wrist with his arm draped over it. Three suns, a lover would be jealous of the thing.
She couldn’t detect the sewer odor, so he must have laundered it since they had returned earlier. Or maybe he had showered with it. Paranoid bastard.
There was no way she would try to get that strap off his wrist, but she put away the flashlight and risked poking her hand under the blanket. From the way he held it, she might be able to lift the flap and extricate the box without bumping him. Maybe.
Even as she tried, she could not believe she was doing this. There was absolutely no excuse she could make to explain herself if he woke up. No, she would have to club him over the head and hope for the best. She did have her Etcher in her holster. But she didn’t want to kill him, and everyone would hear that gun going off. This would have been much less crazy if she had a stunner. She made a note to herself to buy a wider variety of weaponry someday—if she ever had time to go look for legitimate work.
She slid her hand under the flap and felt the corner of the box, the hard wood slightly warm under her fingers.
Alejandro grunted, his even breathing stopping. Alisa froze. His arm moved, and she yanked her hand out, dropping to the floor beside the bunk. He stirred further, the blankets rustling slightly. She lay on her back, looking up at the dark ceiling, her heart pounding against her rib cage. If he woke fully and decided to use the lav, he would step on her on his way out.
More rustling came, then a quiet pause. His even breathing started up again, fainter than before. Even though he sounded like he had fallen back to sleep without fully waking, she waited for several minutes before risking sticking her head up. She slumped with relief when she realized that he had turned over. Not only that, but he faced the wall now, and the satchel remained on the bunk behind him, his arms no longer around it, the blanket no longer covering it fully. Maybe one of the sun gods was looking down upon her and wanted to help. The strap might still be hooked to his arm, but she could easily reach the flap, and she did so, opening it. She eased the box out, her hands shaking as she backed away with her prize.
Alisa wanted to sprint for the corridor and the cargo hold so she could get off the ship as quickly as possible, but she made herself step slowly, quietly. She would still be in trouble if he woke up.
She eased into the dark corridor, looking both ways.
A thump came from her left, and she nearly dropped the box. She whirled, turning on the flashlight, expecting to find Leonidas standing there.
The corridor was empty. The noise had come from inside his cabin, not outside of it. Good.
Alisa hustled in the other direction, more eager than ever to get off the ship. She barely kept from sprinting down the steps and into the cargo hold. A few lights were on, and Mica waited near the hatch, yawning as she fiddled with something on her netdisc.
“Open the door,” Alisa said. “We’re going.”
Mica eyed the box tucked under her arm. “I see that.”
She wasn’t moving quickly enough for Alisa’s tastes, so Alisa leaned past her and thumped the button for the hatch. Cold salty air rushed in as the ramp lowered. Not waiting for it to settle, Alisa grabbed an empty shopping bag and hurried outside.
“How long do we have?” Mica asked, jogging to catch up.
Alisa waved at the sensor to close the hatch, then turned toward the empty walkway outside. At least, she expected it to be empty at this time of night, but she almost crashed into someone striding past a lamppost. For the second time in as many minutes, she nearly dropped the box.
A hand reached toward her, and she leaped back, her nerves on edge, before it registered that she knew who this was. How many people ambled along the concourse in full combat armor?
“Beck,” Alisa blurted. “Where have you been?”
She felt guilty that she had forgotten about him ever since the major’s message had come in. She had meant to look up his comm number and try to reach him.
Beck glanced over his shoulder. He wasn’t wearing his helmet and had it tucked under his arm. He did not carry bags of chicken feed or anything that would suggest he had been out shopping. “Extricating myself from trouble.”
“With campus security?”
“First with them, yes, but all I got was a warning there for walking onto campus with weapons. But on the way back, a truck screeched out from an alley and two men with rifles tried to take me down. I can’t prove it, but I think they were White Dragon. They must have people on this planet—and the word must be out that I’m wa
nted dead.” He grimaced. “I was wearing my helmet too. I shouldn’t have been easy to identify. All I can assume is that they’ve got me tagged somehow. I’ll have to take my armor to a master smith, see if he can figure it out.”
“A good quest for you for tomorrow. Why don’t you come with us now?” Alisa gripped his arm and turned him away from the ship, pointing down the dark concourse. She glanced back at the hatch, making sure it was still closed. Alejandro could wake up any moment and come storming out of the ship.
“Now?” Beck blinked and looked from her to Mica. Then his gaze snagged on the box under her arm. “Uhh, what’s that?”
“A long story,” Alisa said, relieved he had started walking. She stuffed the box into her bag so it would be less obvious. “But your timing is impeccable. We could use someone burly and intimidating for this meeting.”
“And you chose me instead of the mech?” Beck lifted his head, sounding pleased.
“Of course.”
Mica twitched an eyebrow in her direction but kept her mouth shut. Maybe she was too tired for sarcasm or pessimism tonight. Alisa certainly was.
She looked back a final time before a bend took the Star Nomad out of sight. She dreaded returning, not knowing if Leonidas and Alejandro would have left and been locked out, or if they would still be there, waiting to punish her for her betrayal.
No, she told herself once again. It wasn’t a betrayal. They were enemies, both of them. She was Alliance. She needed to find her daughter. All of this was perfectly logical.
The words did not keep her from feeling that she had left her honor in shreds on the floor of Alejandro’s cabin.
Chapter 11
“Someone’s coming,” Beck whispered, nudging Alisa with his elbow.