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  “I can’t believe they didn’t even give us a chance to explain,” Mach moaned. The armed guards had kept the others locked in the Intrepid while they took Mach and Adira away at the behest of Marlene Laverna, the so-called Black Swan, and owner of the orbital. “Do you know why they decided to take you?”

  Adira shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

  “Sure there’s nothing you should tell me?”

  “No.”

  “Well, that’s super helpful. I’m starting to think I ought to have left you in solitary.”

  “You’re making me wish you did too. Do you ever just shut up for more than a minute? The Black Swan will be here eventually; it makes no sense to take us away if she didn’t want to talk about something. Just have some patience. You always were so eager and in a hurry.”

  “Not in all things,” he said. “Besides, we don’t know how long that wormhole will stay open for. I’d rather not miss our opportunity; it’s our only lead.”

  Adira moved her shoulders to the left and then the right until a crack rang out. She winced and cracked again.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Mach asked.

  “Insurance policy,” Adira said between gritted teeth. She closed her eyes with pain and lifted her right hand free of the cuffs, then the left. Her wrists bled with the shallow cuts. She wiped it away on the back of her crimson tunic. She kept her arms behind her back.

  “Nice trick, want to help me out here?” Mach said.

  “How about you let me deal with the pain of dislocating both of my shoulders for a moment. See, always so damned eager.”

  “Fair point. So would this be a good time to ask who took the contract out on me?”

  “No,” Adira said, and that was that.

  Mach leaned forward onto his knees and stood up. The cell was half a meter taller than his two-meter-tall height and less than three meters square. The door was made from extra-thick titanium with some kind of strengthening material that striped through the dull gray surface.

  A single overhead glow lamp provided a meager wash of light. The place stank of oil and blood. The floor had a series of four holes that he realized were probably areas to lock in a chair… for ‘questioning.’

  On their way to the cell, escorted by four not unfriendly guards, Mach had noticed that the orbital was massively understaffed, with decks and decks of empty rooms and hangars. They had passed one area that looked like a bar given the kind of entertainment and excited voices coming from within the gloomy room. He had thought that if they were to have any luck in finding an engineer, that’d be a good place to start.

  In all his experiences, engineers often spent as much time in bars as they did engine modules. At least Squid and Babcock being detained on the ship meant they could perhaps start work on the repairs—the ones that they knew about. They really needed to find a vestan engineer to really understand what had happened to the crystal array to blow two units like that.

  “I can literally hear the thoughts in your head,” Adira said. “What are you planning?”

  “Nothing, just considering what we need to get the Intrepid up and running.”

  “A miracle would be good.”

  “Perhaps I could trade you in for one, eh?”

  Adira didn’t take the bait. She just sat there, her eyes half-closed as though she were in a state of meditation.

  With his hands cuffed behind his back, Mach paced around the cell to keep the blood flowing through his legs. His GraphTech fatigues weren’t as good as his full suit in keeping out the cold.

  At least thirty minutes must have gone by when finally someone opened the cell door.

  The waft of cold air made Mach shiver. A silhouette of a large man appeared in the doorway. “You’re to stay to the back of the cell and not move,” the deep rumbling voice said. “Ms. Laverne is here to speak with you.”

  Mach and Adira shuffled until their backs were against the wall. Adira kept her arms in position as though she were still cuffed. Even Mach wouldn’t have guessed anything was wrong.

  The large silhouette disappeared. A small thin woman with long, flowing black locks cascading over her shoulders stepped in. She wore a black leather waistcoat over a long leather skirt that had a varied range of pleats around the hem. She wore a pair of incongruous CW-issue combat boots, their bulky shape at odds with her slim frame.

  Around her waist Mach noticed a Stiletto—a discreet, but powerful laser weapon—hanging in an ornamental belt that looked like it was studded with the very stars that surrounded the orbital.

  “Your IDs checked out,” the woman said, closing the door behind her so that she stood over them. “But what I can’t work out is why you, Mr. Mach, are transporting a known killer and now a wanted prison escapee.”

  “That’s because it was me that broke her out,” Mach said, smiling up at the middle-aged face that featured a pair of green eyes that wouldn’t be out of place on a bird of prey and a petite, upturned nose that told of her selected breeding. Her small chin dimpled slightly when she spoke.

  “You have us at a disadvantage,” Adira said politely. “May I enquire as to whom we’re speaking?”

  “Sure you can,” the woman said. “Though it shouldn’t take a genius, really. You can call me Ms. Laverna. And this is my orbital. You say you’re only here for repairs and then you’ll be on your way.”

  Mach didn’t assume it was a question and kept quiet, preferring to let the Black Swan dictate the direction of the conversation. He thought that would be the fastest way out—if there was one.

  Adira was a backup option.

  Ms. Laverne continued, “So tell me, why is it that your ship scanned a considerable area beyond the station before hailing us? And why were you scanning far outside of regular communication frequencies? It’s clear you were looking for something. What is it? What’s your true destination? Who sent you?”

  “No one sent us,” Mach said. “As I told your flight coordinator, we’re unaffiliated freelancers and just trying to make a living. We were trailing a reported sighting of the Atlantis ship, knowing it’s all a load of crap but hoping we’d find something worth salvaging—we had come from the Retsina system after something destroyed Orbital Forty, leaving behind lots of valuable scrap. We were planning on selling it to the shipbuilders in Feronia.”

  Ms. Laverna scoffed. “Those two-penny tight-asses wouldn’t give you anything for scrap metal. They’ve got it all locked up from the Axis Combine’s upgrade program.”

  She seemed bitter about it, but given the rumor she was booted out of the family, it didn’t come as a huge surprise. “Look, Ms. Laverna, I don’t know what else you want from us, we’re just trying to get our ship fixed and then we’ll be on our way. I’m sure we can work out some kind of deal.”

  The woman tapped the toe of her boot on the floor as she thought, all the while regarding Adira with a canny eye. “This one has a reputation,” she said, pointing to Adira. “That could come in handy for a small problem I have. You see, there are some deluded fools on this orbital who think they could do a better job, regardless of the fact that under my stewardship we repelled an attack of this so-called Atlantis ship.”

  The mention of it made Mach’s heart beat a little faster. He tried to remember what Adira said and controlled himself so he didn’t look to eager. He feigned surprise and said, “It was here too?”

  “A ship jumped here, yes. Was it that old myth? I doubt it very much.”

  “So what did destroy your fleet of horan cruisers?” Adira said.

  “That’s a good question. I have no answer—yet. I’m looking into it, but first I need to deal with you two and that ship of yours. It’s an interesting design. I’ve not seen one like it before. Vestan, isn’t it?”

  Mach could tell she was fishing. He didn’t want to go into too much detail of what it was, or how he procured it; he couldn’t tell whether she still might have loyal connections within the orcus.

  “Yes,” Mach said
. “A new design of assault ship. An old contact of mine managed to procure it during the Axis’ recent upgrading of ships.”

  Ms. Laverna eyed him up with a suspicious look, but then her face relaxed. “War’s imminent. I suppose you know that.”

  “We do,” Adira said. “Which is why we’re trying to make as much eros as we can now so we can be far away when the shit really hits the fan. Look, Ms. Laverna, can we just cut to the chase here. We don’t care what you’re doing here; we don’t care about Atlantis ship sightings or any of that bullshit, we just want to get our ship fixed and scoot out to some safe little rim world until the next war is over.”

  “What she means,” Mach said, interrupting before Adira built herself into a frenzy that would make it much harder for them to talk their way out, “is can we do a deal with you? All we want is access to a vestan engineer, or someone familiar with their tech, and some parts. I’m sure you’d have them here given the number of ships that must come here to trade.”

  The Black Swan smiled and paced the room, her arms crossed over her chest. “Trade, indeed. It’s obvious to me that you two are deceiving scum, but that’s okay, we’re all two-faced here; it’s the way of the universe, is it not? So let’s get down to it, shall we?”

  She fixed her attention on Adira.

  “I know who you are and what you are. You will take someone out for me. In return I’ll give you the name of someone who might be able to help you. In the meantime, your ship stays where it is under my guard…. So basically, I’m not giving you a choice here. You take the deal or I’ll just have you killed along with the rest of your two-bit crew.”

  Adira stood up, letting the loose cuffs clink to the ground. She brought her hands casually to her sides. “Who’s the target?” she asked, gaining a genuinely entertained smile from Ms. Laverna, who just let out a satisfied laugh.

  “My girl, you’ll do fine here. Come with me, I’ll give you the briefing.” She opened the door and gestured to her guard. “Adekafka, release Mr. Mach, we’ve come to an agreement.”

  The giant human—clearly a product of advanced genetic modification and muscle-growth enhancers—stepped inside the cell, making it seem suddenly much smaller than it did a moment ago. The brute, wearing a set of ceramic-plated armor colored a dull green, leaned over Mach’s shoulders and with a wave of his hand unlocked the cuffs.

  The giant smelled of tobacco and linseed oil.

  Mach sighed with the relief of his release and rubbed at his wrists that were bright red. “God, that feels good,” he said. “While we’re on good terms, any chance I can use your bathroom? I seriously need to have a piss.”

  “Ade, would you show Mr. Mach to the facilities before the poor man spoils his fancy fatigues. Adira, come with me, we’ll get started on your target.”

  ***

  Mach stared at the image of the Black Swan’s target on his smart-screen and committed it to memory. The person she wanted to have killed was a young woman, no older than nineteen by the looks of her.

  With Adira by his side, they stalked down the deserted corridor of the orbital. Broken glass littered the metal floor. Rust accumulated in the corners, providing homes for vestan rust-spiders.

  “What did the Swan say this poor woman did for her to be killed?”

  “She’s the girlfriend of her son,” Adira replied, her voice cool and distant.

  “And that doesn’t bother you?”

  Adira shook her head and increased her pace.

  While Mach mulled over their plans, he observed the emptiness of the orbital. The place was huge, easily capable of housing twenty million souls comfortably, but with just a few thousand on it, there were hundreds of levels that remained empty.

  “Here,” Adira said, pointing to a transport tube.

  The once-transparent tube was now a dull yellow color as though the very orbital was sick. With the Black Swan running things, it probably was, Mach thought. They stepped inside and entered the floor where the Swan had said they could find the girl. “Stessoa,” Mach said, enjoying how her name sounded on his lips.

  The transport tube’s maglev mechanism activated and they shot up through the orbital. Adira read her mission brief again on her smart-screen before closing her eyes during the ride.

  “What are you thinking?” Mach said, sensing anxiety in her outwardly calm body language. Though to others she looked as though she were relaxed, Mach could tell from the minute tightness in her shoulders.

  “That the Black Swan is full of shit, and we ought to get back to the Intrepid as soon as we can. I wouldn’t put it past her to be setting us up.”

  “Well, one can never trust a Lavernan. But we do need the location of that vestan engineer if we’re to leave this damned place.”|

  “And you think if we kill this girl, the Swan will do as she suggested?”

  “Probably not,” Mach replied with a sigh of resignation in his voice. “But without comm access to the others and no way to find an engineer, what else can we do?”

  “Who said we have no way of finding the vestan?”

  “You have an idea, do you?”

  “I might do. Let me think on it.”

  The tube transporter stopped at level ninety-three. Mach and Adira exited and stepped out onto a brightly lit gantry that split the floor in two. It stretched out across the level in a shallow arc, connecting two transport towers. Below them, a few hundred mixed-species people went about their business, some looking shadier than others.

  Mach stopped for a moment and gripped the glass railing. He took a deep breath and turned to Adira, who remained upright, her face neutral, which always told Mach she was working something out.

  “Stessoa’s boutique is down there,” Adira finally said, inclining her head to the far right side of the level. A narrow doorway, illuminated by blue laser light and surrounded by tall green fanlike plants, stood out from the dozen or so other open-fronted kiosks.

  Some had signs offering various stim packages; others sold food and alcoholic beverages, while still others provided clothes and various weapons. Stessoa’s little place at the end of the row sold soaps and perfumes. Given that the orbital reeked of grease and pungent sweat, he doubted the girl was doing much of a trade.

  Adira made to move across the walkway toward a spiral staircase that led down the twenty meters to the level’s floor below. Mach grabbed her arm and pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her waist so she couldn’t pull away.

  Her body stiffened against his, but she didn’t struggle.

  Mach leaned in, his lips brushing against her neck. He whispered, “Act natural; we’ve got an interested party coming this way.”

  Adira ran her hand up his neck, her fingers gripping his thick hair. Mach looked up out of the corner of his eye to snatch a look at the two bulky-looking horans coming their way.

  The two aliens were jabbering and clucking away in their native language, only occasionally glancing at Adira and Mach. They eventually moved by and entered the tube transport Mach and Adira had used earlier. Satisfied they were alone, Mach released Adira and stepped back, but Adira held on, moving with him.

  She stared at him with those frustratingly passive eyes of hers. Like two small suns they burned into him, neither betraying what might be happening in their core, what was driving Adira’s thoughts.

  He wanted to ask her. Wanted to know so many things, but just when the words began to form on his lips, she released her hold on him and stepped back. Mach’s mouth remained open for a moment. He shut it, swallowed, and looked away, unable to stand Adira’s opaque scrutiny.

  It maddened him how they could be close in one instant, yet so very far apart, as if they were two entirely opposable species with little genetic coding in common. And yet, just for a few, occasional moments, she made him feel. Feel that there was something there between them… whatever it was. Fleeting, he thought. He knew that much. Whatever they had was always so fleeting.

  “What?” he finally said, looking
back at her.

  “The vestan engineer,” Adira said. “I believe we can find her without killing Stessoa for the Swan.”

  “Oh? And how do you propose that?”

  “While you were freshening up in the facilities, I took the liberty of hacking the Swan’s smart-screen—they’re not even using two-fifty-six-bit encryption here. It’s like we’re living in the twentieth century again.”

  Mach snorted a nervous laugh. “That was quite the risk, given how we’re at her mercy. But regardless, what did you find out?”

  “Come look.” Adira grabbed his shoulder and led him across the gantry to stand by one of the huge vertical windows that looked out on the vacuum of space.

  “Yeah, the stars are awe inspiring, and the debris indicates there was a battle recently, but what am I supposed to be looking at?”

  Adira pointed to a small pod hovering in a geosynchronous orbit to the station. “That’s where the engineer is, and where we’re going. We’re going for a little space walk, Mach. Romantic, eh?”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Mach and Adira slipped through a shaded access corridor behind Stessoa’s boutique. Mach rested against the steel door and watched Adira expertly clamber to the ceiling, remove a panel and disappear into the gloom above.

  A few seconds later, Adira’s face dropped out of the darkness. She wore a satisfied expression on her face and gave him a thumbs-up, indicating she’d cut the video feed. She fell from the ceiling, landing on her feet with barely a whisper. Her voice hushed, she said, “We’ll have about thirty seconds before they know the feed’s been tampered with.”

  Rolling the stim-injector around in his hand, Carson Mach nodded and ran the plan through his mind once more: get in, jab the girl, remove her unconscious body and take a body scan with his smart-screen for insurance.

  “You sure that stuff will stop her heart for long enough?” Adira said, eyeing the chromed cylinder in his hand.