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Da’shay nodded. “Genetic sampler?”

“I got one if that’s what you need.”

Da’shay nodded.

Divy held both his hands up toward Ramsay to show they were
empty and he meant no harm before he got off his stool and moved stiffly to a
spot behind the counter. He had to brace himself to bend down and get back up,
but he handed Da’shay the wicked looking needle.

Taking the cap off, she drove the needle into her arm so
hard that Tom cringed and Ramsay made a sympathetic hiss of pain. She triggered
the collection and waited while it clicked away. When the light switched from
pink to yellow, she pulled it out and capped it again. “For payment,” she said,
carefully handing the sample to Kada. He clutched it tightly.

She ran her fingers over the weapons Tom had chosen. “Divy
will get Kada back to Hou. Make an offer to purchase. Make it clear Kada is
most logical, found little mice trails and ant trails hidden so carefully. Hou
should value. Divy can do that favor.” She smiled at Divy.

Divy shook his head. “When have I ever said ‘no’ to you?
I’ll get your boy home.” Divy limped around the end of the counter and Kada
inched toward the old man, casting worried looks at Da’shay as if he wasn’t
sure he was doing the right thing.

Divy waved a hand at one of his employees, a small woman who
reminded Tom of a mouse. She had quick eyes that never stopped and a small body
that he could imagine led to a lot of people underestimating her. She seemed
the dangerous sort. “Zabeth, take them to the wet docks.”

“Divy,” she said, protesting.

He laughed. “Trust me, they’re not going to come back around
again. You’ll still have exclusive use of that tunnel for your thieving, but if
Da’shay wants to find wet-tech, then we help her find it or I blast the cover
on that tunnel and expose it to the whole world.” Divy’s voice got hard and
Zabeth pressed her lips together and stared at the ground. She wasn’t happy,
but Tom guessed she wouldn’t risk going against Divy. Whoever he was, he had
power. At least until he died, which wasn’t all that far off. “A whole lot of
people owed me favors when the ships landed and they cut me a dock that leads
out into a low valley. I ran traders through it for a long time before I moved
into this place, and lately, we’ve had some old friends running ships through
there.

“Ants through the leaf litter,” Da’shay whispered.

“Are you talking about these mysterious new aliens of hers?”
Tom asked.

Divy nodded. “Yep. The same ones that tried shooting us out
of space all those years ago. They seem a little more likely to talk than shoot
these days, but I can’t say I like knowing they’re down there. I considered
blowing the dock, but then where would Zabeth steal her toys?”

“You seen them?” Ramsay asked, his voice sharp.

“Yeah. I’ve seen more of them than I care to remember.
They’ve pretty much taken over the old docks. The mouth of the place opens into
a rock slot that makes a perfect launch ramp. I suppose they’re doing a lot of
planetary travel they don’t want showing up on anyone’s paperwork. At least,
that’s how I used the dock. Zabeth will take you through the tunnels.” Divy put
a hand on Kada’s shoulder and leaned heavily on him. “Let’s get you home and
impress your master.”

Tom started draping the weapons over his shoulder, leaving
one sniper rifle on the counter as the weapon he’d carry in hand. He kept
looking at Da’shay, searching for some sign that she was as old as this
withered old man who leaned heavily on Kada to get up the stairs.

“Divy,” she said softly.

He looked over and smiled at her. “I’m glad to see you
again.” He turned to Tom. “You take care of our girl. I never did a very good
job of that and she can’t take care of herself when she’s too busy lost in that
darkness of hers or when she’s off saving everyone else.” With that, he started
for a door behind the counter, pulling Kada along with him. Tom tried to
imagine what he’d been like at twenty something, a scared kid going to war
against some strange aliens with only Da’shay for help.

“So, seems like you’ve been around a while,” Tom said
carefully.

She shrugged and took the forty-pound lobber in hand as if
it were light as a handgun. “Cat in the cavern, healing.”

Ramsay came over to claim his own share of the weapons. “I
am getting plenty of tired of secrets,” he complained in a whisper. “Tom,
they’re talking about a ninety-year-old war, about a war with a species that
has set up in the middle of
Nodar
.”

“Were those the ones that had to taste my hate?” Tom asked
as he remembered the odd speech pattern of the one who had touched his face
when he’d been blindfolded. Da’shay nodded mutely. “Shit. That means the doctor
saw them and most likely others did too.”

Ramsay rubbed his hand over his face. “The fucking slavers
are making alien alliances,” Ramsay concluded. The employees were politely
keeping their gazes averted, but Tom figured the rumors would start two seconds
after they’d left the room. Tom didn’t say anything, but that might be a reason
for Command to want to start a war.

“Whispers empty as air,” Da’shay said loudly, startling both
of them into silence. “Let us find the totally and completely fucking crazy
people now.” She smiled and brought the lobber around to firing position. She
looked over at Zabeth. “Now.”

Tom lay on the ledge and sighted down his sniper rifle.
Whatever had been on the hologram of that egg-shaped thing, a whole bunch of
them were walking around down in the cavern. The heat was crawling up the stone
walls and the cave’s narrow mouth shimmered, so he guessed they were looking at
the backside of the hologram that hid the opening to the rock slot Divy talked
about. As far as docks went, this was a tiny one with only a single launching
bay, but three ships were crowded into it.

Da’shay sat on Tom’s ass. “I’m thinking Da’shay was being a
mite bit optimistic when she said we had four of these guys to deal with. I’ve
got forty-one targets,” Tom reported. He didn’t like that Da’shay was so close
to the edge of the ledge where Zabeth had led them, but he figured she knew
more about what they were doing than any of them.

“Four diamonds, shining through the dross,” Da’shay answered
him.

“Shit. They look like
casslit
.” Ramsay pushed himself
back from the edge, the succulent-like moss that grew all over the rock
staining his shirt green.

“Careful,” Da’shay said. Tom looked over his shoulder and
Da’shay was plucking weird clinging vines of the stuff from Ramsay’s shirt.
“Divy saved.” She carefully laid the broken plant back down onto the place
where Ramsay had accidentally ripped it from the rock. “Tiny fragments of
diamonds all white. They use it to soften the voices. Doesn’t work so good for
genta
-girl
because too much DNA twirls around each other.”

Zabeth was sticking to the back of the ledge near the
tunnel. “She’s right. Those things will hear anyone the second they stick their
head out of any tunnel that doesn’t have that stuff. I stay here and use remote
hooks to try to capture anything they leave laying around. Divy said it came
off a pirate that attacked the generational colony ship he worked on when he
was young. He calls it
cati
-moss.”

“Totally and completely fucking crazy people,” Da’shay
whispered.

“
Cati
? Are those your crazy people down there?”
Ramsay asked.

“
Cati
.” Da’shay sounded it out as though she’d never
heard the word before. Then again, they’d ripped all sorts of things out of her
brain, so who knew how much she could remember.

“The
cati
themselves started showing up about five
years ago. Before that, marauders used this bay,” Zabeth explained. “Years ago,
this was all Divy’s territory. A whole lot of people owed him for saving their
lives, and even if the big shots liked to pretend the captain had saved the
ship, most of the workers knew the truth.”

“The truth?”

“Those guys attacked the ship and Divy saved it.”

“Trails in the dark. Red and teal streaking through space,”
Da’shay said softly. “Kill the new. Rub it out so colors are forgotten,”
Da’shay said, her voice sad.

“Divy and Da’shay saved it,” Tom corrected her.

“From how Divy tells the story, there were two generational
ships and a half dozen of those
cati
ships. I suppose that would make
Da’shay the refugee he talks about. He said she was part
cati
or
deformed
cati
or something”

“Part-
cati genta
girl lost and wandering,” Da’shay
said. “Colors streaking so bright she couldn’t figure which way to turn.”
Da’shay stroked Tom’s back, her fingers fisting his shirt for a second. Tom had
an image of her ninety years ago, a young woman confused by thoughts she
couldn’t understand and trying to fight folks who were just plain evil. He had
to admit that he admired any woman who could stand that strong. At the same
time, his stomach was almost knotted at the thought of her alone, collared and
struggling to do right by sleeping folks who never even thanked her. It wasn’t
the sort of story that came with a happy ending, especially knowing that she
somehow went from saving folks to getting enslaved. This was going to turn out
better this time, even if Tom had to blow the whole fucking planet to bits in
order to make it happen. He’d die before he let her get lost the way Divy had.

Da’shay’s fingers slipped under the hem of his shirt and
traced lines against the small of his back. “No white where
genta
-girl
could just think,” Da’shay said in a whisper. Da’shay’s weight shifted and she
lay down on his back, her hair cascading over his shoulder and tickling his
neck. “So long lost. Now I found white to think and brown to lay down in.” She
whispered the words in his ear, her breath tickling over his skin.

Zabeth ignored Da’shay. “If Divy had asked the guys who
built this place to secretly build him a castle in the center of the fucking planet,
they would have, so a hidden base off a slot valley wasn’t a problem. These
days, he’s about the only arms dealer left because when the
cati
showed
up here, the government started cleaning out the marauders and independent
contractors.”

“And everyone knows about this?” Ramsay demanded.

She shrugged. “A few of us do. Mostly the government has
been driving people out…either that or arresting and slaving them. It’s
starting to feel a little too much like Corps space with all the new rules
around this place.”

“Trust me, this is nothing like Corps space where slaving
would never be allowed,” Ramsay said. Zabeth didn’t answer, but she did make a
real disgusted noise.

“I got two new ones,” Tom said. They all went about their
jobs without any sort of communication. From how much they were lifting, Tom
guessed they were stronger than humans, but not nearly as strong as
genta
.
He hoped they were easier to kill than
genta
. Otherwise, this was going
to be a short fight, and they were going to be on the wrong end of it.

“Have others shot at them?” Da’shay asked.

Zabeth answered, “There was a really big shoot out when they
first showed up to take the port from the marauders, nothing since.”

“No ant trails to follow.” Da’shay’s voice was soft. “Ignore
cati
until they pick up a gun. Kill then,” Da’shay said, pushing herself
up so only her palm rested against Tom’s back. “Try to make run, shoot near
feet, break things.” She laid the lobber near him. “Except that one.” Da’shay
pointed toward a
cati
that stood out in a long red shirt. He was slowly
walking the dock, the only
cati
who didn’t seem to be actually doing
anything, which made Tom suspect he was an officer. “Kill him,” Da’shay
ordered.

“You want Tom to take on forty-three people? That ain’t
happening,” Ramsay said firmly. “We’re not ever for sure these are enemies.”

“You want to try to talk to them?” Tom asked sweetly. He
didn’t even have to look to know that Ramsay was giving him a real unhappy
glare.

“I’ll agree they’re most likely not friendly.”

“War horses tripped on invisible strings, archers unseen in
the bushes rise up to take out the army’s standard bearer,” Da’shay said, her
voice grand like one of those guys that talked over the historical vid images.

“That don’t need too much translating.” Tom targeted the
cati
officer. If Da’shay believed that these people would pose a risk to any Command
ships coming in, he’d damn well end it right now.

“Well, shit.” Ramsay sounded tired. “I agree that we’ve got
to warn Command that they’ve got alien tech waiting for them, I’ll give you
that one. But the best way to warn them isn’t attacking that dock by ourselves.
One sharp shooter is—”

“Human colors. Human colors staining a world not human. You
don’t lead,” Da’shay cut him off.

“Captain, Da’shay’s right,” Tom said firmly. “She knows what
these things are. If she says I can take them, then I can. If she says that I
need to attack, then I will. If she says it’s best to panic them, I can fucking
do that. You’re the one who told me she was a Command officer and I reckon that
means she knows what Command is capable of and what these guys are likely to
do. I sure ain’t going to sit back and then listen to reports of these
cati
ships cutting through the Command fleet if it is going to be war. So, if you’re
going to stick around, you hand me loaded weapons, but you don’t go having this
fight about who’s boss again. Damn. I thought I was a stubborn bastard, but
I’ve got nothing on you.”

“Tom, you don’t understand what you’re facing,” Ramsay told
him in a tone of voice that Tom had stopped taking from his mother twenty years
ago. “I’ve fought the
casslit
.”

“And those ain’t
casslit
,” Tom pointed out. The faces
were too human, the joints of their bodies were different.
Casslit
hands
and bodies were always in motion, a dance that communicated to their group when
they weren’t in physical contact to share information. These
cati
weren’t doing that. From a distance one might even pass for human. A mighty
sickly and scrawny human with overlong limbs, but they didn’t move alien the
way
meaiai
and
casslit
did.

“Fine.” Ramsay’s voice was whisper quiet, but he still
managed to sound as if he was yelling the word. “Do you mind if I ask what the
plan is?”

“Take that ship,” Da’shay pointed to the middle of the dock
where a long, arrow-shaped ship had her nose pointed at the holographic cave
mouth and her tail to a launch cradle. It was twice as large as any other ship
in the dock and five times the size of the
Kratos
.

“We’re… What?” Ramsay sounded as if he couldn’t get his
breath.

“How many of these
cati
are we going to find inside?”
Tom asked.

“Don’t know.”

“Will the pulse gun work?” Tom asked. “I don’t like the
thought of stray bullets inside a ship when I don’t know where the critical
parts are.”

“Yep. Pain blinds.”

“Then I figure we just need to fight our way in a door and
we’ll be fine. Problem is getting past the hatch without having to shoot our
way in. I assume you want her space-worthy so we can fly out?” Tom asked.

“Yep,” Da’shay agreed.

“This is crazy.” Ramsay sighed. “And you’re talking to her
like crazy makes sense. If you take the ship, where are you going to fly it?”

“New ant trails,” Da’shay said cheerfully. When Tom glanced
over his shoulder, Ramsay looked mighty frustrated.

“Captain, she’s been right so far,” Tom pointed out.
“Actually, you got us thrown in prison and scheduled for enslavement and every
step of the way she’s been trying to get us out of that mess.”

“So, this is my fault?” Ramsay gave Tom a cold glare.

“Yep,” Tom agreed.

Ramsay sagged. It wasn’t often that Ramsay looked old, but
he did for that moment. “I’m going to hate myself for this tomorrow.” He
scrubbed a hand over his face. “Do the
cati
pay any attention to transmissions?”
Ramsay asked. Da’shay just gazed at him.

Zabeth shrugged. “Not that I’ve noticed, but if you’re going
to start shooting, can you give me time to get clear first?”

“Actually, could you wait near the hidden entrance and show
two more people down here?” Ramsay asked. Tom pushed himself up on one elbow
and looked at the captain.

Ramsay wasn’t looking all that happy. “I’m not leaving those
two behind to deal with whatever mess we’re about to make,” he said, his lips
thin and his eyes narrowed with frustration. “They can watch, and if we manage
to get that ship of yours, they can come along for the ride.” Ramsay pulled out
his handheld and hit a button. “Hey guys, come take a lookie-loo,” he said,
using the code for a full evacuation. Tom figured Becca was already grabbing
the quantum navigator relays and her Sammy the seal stuffed toy. “We have a
friend to introduce you to in the public tunnels. Just look for my signal.”
Ramsay turned the unit off without waiting for an answer. Tom felt a pang at
the thought of the good little ship sitting there abandoned in enemy territory.

Ramsay took his handheld off and offered it to Zabeth. “Show
them down here and Da’shay will make sure your boss knows you really helped
us.”

She hesitated. Tom wasn’t sure the captain should trust her,
but he figured Da’shay wasn’t getting riled, so he settled back down and
watched the dock. “I’ll point them in the right direction,” Zabeth agreed.
“Good luck.” There was silence for a good long time after that.

“We’re about to die down there,” Ramsay pointed out.

“Not if I can help it,” Tom said. Concentrating on the dock,
he searched every corner for flammables, breakables and exits. If Da’shay
wanted panic instead of bodies on the ground, he was going to make sure every
bullet made an impression. He’d have these
cati
bastards running in
circles.

Da’shay started to hum, her fingers tracing some pattern on
the back of his thigh, and Tom lay for long minutes. Every once in a while he’d
notice Ramsay pacing at the back of the ledge, but this was where Tom felt
right, lying still and studying the world from a distance. Tom’s brothers never
understood the pleasure he’d take from lying stomach down on a ridge for hours
as he tracked the path of game to the waterhole. The killing was proof that
he’d done his job right, evidence of his skill at putting a bullet where he
wanted, but the joy was watching the world through the scope of a rifle until
everything just made sense.

“Soft white, making the world fade,” Da’shay whispered. She
was sitting on Tom again, this time on his lower back, but he focused on his
target. It was a special quiet he found before the fighting started and he
didn’t want to give that up. Not yet. “Captain should stay here,” Da’shay said.
“If Captain and Tom are in trouble, I’ll save Tom. Can’t save both and won’t
lose Tom.” It was about the most coherent sentence Tom had ever heard out of
Da’shay and he twisted around to look at her.

“Don’t make much sense to save the corporal and not the
captain,” Tom said slowly.