“Yes.” They strode down dimly lit stairs that led to the river trail. “Why are you surprised?” When you’re also a Starseer, his tone seemed to add.
“Because I guard my thoughts. All Starseers do.”
She winced in anticipation of a comment that would suggest she and Erick weren’t real Starseers since they weren’t a part of the community and had only trained with Grandpa.
“I know back doors,” was all he said, looking toward the space base.
Since they’d descended to reach the riverside, the space base wasn’t as visible as Jelena had hoped. The upper tiers were, so maybe if they walked farther, they would be able to see the Snapper in dock. Maybe the people standing outside of it would be visible too. She guided them through the shadows between the lampposts as much as possible, lamenting that the Blue Armadillo kept its trail lit at night. A jogger passed them, his forehead gleaming with sweat in the warm night air, and Alfie woofed and eyed his ankles. Jelena gave her a mental nudge to ensure good behavior.
“Don’t you think it’s rude to open back doors to other people’s houses, when you haven’t been invited?” Jelena asked, though she’d slipped into the minds of non-Starseers on occasion. And she knew that some Starseers made a regular habit of it when dealing with mundanes. But Grandpa had always emphasized the importance of respecting people’s boundaries, mundane or not.
“Better rude than dead,” Thor said.
“I don’t see how that’s an excuse for monitoring me. Do you really think your life is in danger based on what you’ve read in my mind in the last hour?”
“Perhaps.” He didn’t have the good grace to look sheepish at his eavesdropping. “You might push me into the river to save an animal.”
“Please. I wouldn’t risk your life for fewer than two animals.” Jelena pointed to a bench in the shadows between two lampposts, one that looked up the hill toward the Snapper. “Care to share a romantic interlude?”
“A what?”
“Sit on the bench with me and pretend we’re lovers gazing at the river together while we surreptitiously spy on the base.”
He contemplated the bench for a moment, then shook his head. “I can tell you what you want to know from here.”
Apparently, he wasn’t interested in romantic interludes. She thought about mentioning how Zhou, the boy she’d dated on Arkadius when she had been there practicing for her flight exams, would have sat with her, but quashed the idea. What did that have to do with anything? They were here for a mission, not romance, pretend or otherwise.
Another jogger headed their way, and Jelena sat on the bench. She would feel conspicuous standing on the path and staring at the base. Alfie was content to sniff bushes beside the trail.
Jelena reached out to see if all those troops were still there and grimaced because they were. If anything, there were one or two more. The base was lit up brightly, too, with few shadows.
There wasn’t as much activity on the roads and ramps and lifts as there had been earlier, but there was still plenty. Cowboys and drones prodded along a herd of cattle, taking them from a train to a big freighter two levels below the Snapper. The way was well lit for them. Jelena’s hopes of climbing to the Snapper from above or below and sneaking in through the airlock hatch dwindled. She scowled toward the ramp that held the armored men, willing them to go away.
“They want the woman who was driving the truck,” Thor said. “Masika Ghazali.”
“If she’s turning herself in, maybe they’ll leave.”
“They have orders to kill you and Ostberg too. And destroy your ship. They don’t feel they can do the latter while it’s in dock here, but—ah. They’ve planted an explosive.” His tone turned bitter. “Must be the trendy thing to do to enemies this year.”
“Is it on the inside or outside of the ship?”
“Outside. I can point it out to Ostberg when we all get back up there.” He looked at her.
“Are you wondering why I don’t suggest we—or you—simply kill them all?”
“I was wondering how you managed to get people hating you as much as the Alliance hates me right now.” He looked down at Alfie.
“Masika, the woman we rescued so she wouldn’t die, is more than the security guard we thought she was. I’m not sure if she’s part of some experiment they did or what, but she’s very strong. And fast. Erick and I assumed she had cyborg implants for a long time. And maybe she does, but there seems to be something proprietary or otherwise valuable about her because Stellacor wants her back, and they were also super concerned that we might have taken tissue samples or scans or something, and shared the information.” Jelena was starting to wish she’d shared the footage she’d taken of those men unpacking corpses. Maybe to a news outlet. If they’d reported on it, maybe it would have distracted Stellacor from chasing down Masika.
“Stellacor?” Thor asked. “I didn’t cross that name in any of their thoughts.”
“Maybe these were bounty hunters or paid thugs and they weren’t sure who had hired them.”
“Possibly.” Thor sounded doubtful. “Either way, you’ll have an easier time convincing the corporation to leave you alone if Ghazali isn’t with you.”
“That’s a given. But she hasn’t been very eager to go back to them, even though she told me she gave her word that she’d stay with them. Ten years. Bet she regrets that. A lot.”
“Well, let’s go get rid of your ship’s unwanted patio decorations.” Thor nodded toward the armored men, as if it would be a simple matter.
“And how will we be doing that?” She didn’t want to leave piles of dead men behind. Even if Stellacor had decided that she should be killed, she still had a hope of getting that death warrant revoked, especially if she could prove that she hadn’t shared any information on Masika—she didn’t have any information on Masika. Maybe she could even blackmail them to leave her alone by using the footage she’d taken.
“We’ll think of something,” Thor said, leaving the path and walking up the grassy hill rising from the river.
They had barely reached the top of it when a clanging came from the direction of the security office. Lights flashed near the road. Up on the Snapper’s ramp, Jelena sensed the troops stirring and looking down at the commotion.
“Is that your something?” Jelena whispered.
“It’s not.”
A gate that had been closed was opened, and an armored truck drove in. A law enforcement vehicle.
Four of the men guarding the Snapper jogged down the ramp toward the main level. Jelena started to get an inkling of what might be in that truck. It stopped on the main level of the base, at a dock where a recent-model civilian cruiser perched, lights on behind its portholes. The back doors of the truck opened as the four armored men strode up. Several uniformed enforcers hopped out. They weren’t in armor, but they all carried blazers, and they pointed them warily into the back of the truck.
Jelena was too far away to hear what anyone was saying, but she used her mind to check on the occupant in the truck. Masika.
She jumped out, her wrists bound with intellicuffs. The enforcers stepped aside as the armored men strode up. One pointed toward the cruiser. Masika turned in that direction, her head down, her shoulders slumped.
Why are they taking you away like you’re a prisoner? Jelena asked, speaking into her mind for the first time. Thor, standing at her side in the shadows, didn’t react to any of this. Jelena knew she shouldn’t do anything, should let Masika go without another word, but she worried that she was being taken back to some fate worse than being a security guard. Didn’t you voluntarily give yourself up?
Masika lifted her head and started to look around, but seemed to think better of it. I made a mistake, she replied in her mind. These aren’t Stellacor people, and I don’t think Stellacor was the one to bribe the Alliance to put a bounty on my head, either.
Whose people are they?
Regen Sciences. That rival corporation I told you about. They have
a lot of reasons to want to strike a blow against Stellacor, but I think they just happened upon the information that I was on the loose. They want to cut me open and examine me, see what Stellacor has been making.
Cut you open? Jelena gaped at the horrid picture that came to mind.
That’s the impression I get, but I don’t know for sure. These are just local enforcers and hired thugs, not their scientists. I’m not sure I want to meet their scientists. Masika gritted her teeth and flexed her shoulders, looking around, as if weighing her options for escape. As fast and strong as she was, what could she do against so many? What could she do alone against so many?
Any chance you’d like to stay with us and paint the rest of the Snapper? Jelena looked around, wondering how she might facilitate that.
Even if I got away, I should go back to Stellacor. But . . .
You don’t want to.
No.
Masika was almost to the ship. If Jelena was going to do anything, it would have to be soon.
You are better people than they are, Masika thought.
That’s a given. We’re wonderful people.
Thor looked over at her, and she sensed disapproval, though she wasn’t sure if it was for the comment or the fact that she was contemplating rescuing Masika again.
I would stay long enough to paint your ship, Masika offered. After that, it wouldn’t be a good idea. Stellacor will keep coming for me.
We’ll see about that.
Masika paused to look up at the stars. Wistfully? She stood before the threshold of the cruiser.
The armored guards gathered behind her. Someone in a white lab coat came to the open hatch and looked down at her. Was that an injector in his hand? Maybe one of the scientists had come along.
“We have to get her back,” Jelena whispered.
“She’s the source of your troubles.”
“Not entirely.” Jelena looked down at Alfie.
A guard prodded Masika and pointed to the open hatch. For the first time, Masika looked toward the grassy hill where Jelena and Thor stood. She didn’t form the words, “Help me” in her mind, but Jelena read the plea in her gaze. That was enough.
Jelena looked across the base to where the first of the cattle had almost reached their own open cargo hatch. They were hot, she sensed, from their ride in the train and the muggy night.
Water, she announced, flooding their minds with imagery of the nearby river. Delightful, cold water! The next image she sent was of cattle standing chest deep in the water, feeling refreshingly cool and drinking deeply.
Don’t get in, Jelena whispered into Masika’s mind, seeing that she’d started forward again.
The excited moos of the creatures rang out, echoing across the base and bouncing from the hulls of the ships docked there. It sounded like thousands of cattle instead of a couple hundred. The guards, having doubtless been aware of them before, did not bother looking over, not at first. But Masika paused, her foot in the air as she’d been about to step up into the ship.
Then the stampede began.
The noise of hooves thundering over the pavement drowned out the startled yells from their tenders. Alfie whined and hid behind Jelena’s legs.
The armored men spun toward the cattle, realizing they were in the creatures’ paths. The big animals charged toward them, the river the only thing in their minds. The men lifted their rifles, but must have known they couldn’t fire on someone else’s cargo. Instead, they jumped into the cruiser to get out of the way.
One man grabbed for Masika to take her aboard, too, but she dodged, throwing herself to the ground and rolling out of reach. The guard jumped back out of the ship to try to get her. She sprang to her feet, not overly hindered by having her wrists cuffed. In combat armor, the man might catch her even if she sprinted away.
The cattle were almost upon them, though, and the man hesitated. Masika hesitated, too, not sure which way to run. She glanced toward the roof of the cruiser, but with her hands bound, couldn’t have climbed up to it.
Jelena nudged the lead cattle, promising them an easier way down to the water if they didn’t pass close to that ship. But it was hard to adjust their intent now that they were excited.
The guard lunged for Masika, but something struck him from the side, hurling him against the hull of his ship. A second later, Masika was lifted into the air, as Jelena had been when Thor levitated her over the fence. She squawked and kicked, not knowing what was happening. The cattle raced by below her.
The armored man tried to recover and get to his feet, but the steers had reached him. Massive, furred shoulders rammed into him as the creatures stampeded past. Even though his armor insulated him, it must have been terrifying to have all those big animals running past, bumping against him. He slipped and went down, and the cattle kept running past.
Masika landed in a crouch on the top of the cruiser, but she didn’t stay there. She ran across the ship and jumped down on the opposite side.
“Come on,” Thor said, grabbing Jelena’s arm.
He led her away from the cattle’s path and around ships on the outskirts of the base, heading in the same direction as Masika. Alfie followed right behind them. Masika must have spotted them, because she angled toward them, running amazingly quickly, especially considering she couldn’t pump her arms.
They reunited, and Jelena started to speak, but Thor kept running. He circled around the cowboys chasing vainly after their cattle and to the back side of the freighter waiting forlornly for its cow cargo. Thor leaped, another amazingly high jump—it was almost like following Leonidas through an obstacle course—and landed thirty feet up on the roof of the freighter. Jelena reached the hull and was contemplating how to adjust her staff so she could climb up, but stiff air came up below her like an elevator platform. It lifted her, Alfie, and Masika from the ground.
Masika cursed, lowering into a crouch, but she didn’t otherwise question the unorthodox travel method. Jelena soothed the alarmed Alfie with her mind.
They landed next to Thor on the roof, and he took off without a word. He ran to the end and leaped up, catching the lip of one of the ramps that led to the level above. He pulled himself up, again lifting Masika, Alfie, and Jelena after him.
“I could do this without help if my hands were free,” Masika grumbled.
Jelena doubted she could break intellicuffs easily, especially while running and climbing, so she did not reply.
There are still six men in front of the Snapper, she warned Thor, though she doubted he had forgotten.
Yes, and the bomb to remove, he responded, running up the ramp without looking back.
Jelena raced after him, trusting he had some ideas. As far as she knew, Erick wasn’t anywhere near the base at the moment, so they would have to remove the bomb themselves if they wanted to take off.
Thor found the ramp that led up to the Snapper and charged up without slowing down. Jelena thought he might camouflage himself from the troops standing outside the cargo hold, but he didn’t bother. They saw him coming and raised their rifles. But they hesitated to fire, probably not recognizing him. Then they spotted Jelena, Masika, and Alfie coming up the ramp from behind. Their hesitation vanished. Since Thor was in the lead, they fired at him.
The crimson and orange blazer bolts bounced off a barrier he’d erected across the ramp ahead of him. He kept running. There was a pause as the men gaped at him uncertainly, not firing. In that split second, Thor lowered his barrier and hurled a wave—no, a tsunami—of energy at them. Jelena couldn’t see it, but she could feel it, feel the immense power.
All six men flew away from the ramp. They hurtled through the air all the way to the edge of the space base before dropping to the ground.
“Open,” Jelena ordered the cargo hatch as soon as they were close enough.
It lifted, and the ramp descended for them. Masika and Alfie ran inside without hesitating.
“The bomb?” Jelena stopped at the base of the ramp, sucking in deep breath
s after the wild run. She looked toward the river below them and off to the side, where cowboys shouted and tried to round up their charges. The cattle mooed happily from the water.
Thor stopped beside Jelena, and an image flashed into her mind. A dark, compact disk attached to the side of the Snapper in front of one of the thruster housings. It was nestled into a spot without camera coverage, and it was almost invisible against the dark green paint of the hull.
“I think it’ll explode if we try to move it,” Thor said.
“Where’s Erick when you need him?” Jelena looked toward the city, wishing they hadn’t split up. She tried to reach out to him and call for him to come, but she wasn’t sure if the mental cry reached him—there were hundreds of thousands of people in the city, making it hard to pick out one.
“We can handle it. I’ll detonate it, and you make a shield around it to contain the explosion.”
That sounded daunting, especially when the Snapper would be severely damaged—if not outright destroyed—if she wasn’t able to contain it. And then what? They wouldn’t be able to take off. Down below, the men were collecting themselves in the aftermath of the stampede. The ones Thor had hurled across the base had survived, thanks to their armor, and were racing back.
“How about you make the shield, and I’ll detonate it?” Jelena asked.
“Fine, but you should have more faith in your abilities.”
“I’ll have plenty of faith when the bomb is attached to someone else’s ship.”
Thor looked toward the thruster housing, though they couldn’t see the bomb from their position. “I’ve got it shielded.”
Jelena sought the device with her own senses and might have missed it, so nicely camouflaged was it, if not for feeling Thor’s power around it. At first, she couldn’t figure out how to manipulate the bomb at all through his barrier, but he sent a tendril of energy toward her, a guide of sorts, leading her and showing her what to do.
It was a strange experience, the mingling of their mental energies, and she had no words to describe it, but decided it wasn’t unpleasant. It reminded her of the way he’d taught her some things when they’d been kids. He’d always been the more experienced, the more powerful, and nothing had changed. She wondered if Grandpa would be disappointed at how little she seemed to have progressed, at least in comparison to Thor.