Priestess of the Eggstone (17 page)

The Swan bowed gracefully into normal space, hardly an indicator fluttered. She really was a beautiful ship. We went through the routine of shutting down the hyperdrive and dumping speed while Jasyn called the planet.

We got the course laid in and the engines trimmed. Jasyn kept the headset on, because Herifon had a fairly busy spaceport. It was a major crosspoint for trade. It also had a large Patrol base, but that couldn’t be helped. I mentally crossed my fingers and hoped they hadn’t heard about us yet. We saw nothing that resembled a Sessimoniss ship.

“When we land,” Lady Rina spoke when our button pushing slowed, “Jasyn will go with Caid to look for the item you sold. The two of you will remain with the ship. I have some shopping to attend to.”

“Jasyn has no idea what to look for,” Jerimon objected. “And Buzzer’s place isn’t safe. I can go alone.”

“I’ll go with him,” I said. “I can pick up the parts Caid needs on the way.”

“Caid will go,” Lady Rina began again.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Caid said from the stairway. “Not until that drive shaft is up to spec. It’s three points off to the left again.”

“It felt fine,” Lady Rina replied.

“You won’t feel anything until it’s so far out it’s ready to split.” He polished his greasy wrench on a rag only slightly less greasy. “Six hours minimum, if we can find the parts.”

Lady Rina looked between us; me, Jerimon, Jasyn, and Caid. Her mouth pinched tight. Caid calmly polished his wrench.

“Very well. Jasyn will remain on the ship. Jerimon and Dace will stay together.” She smiled slightly at that. “Caid will provide the list of parts the ship requires. I will make arrangements for funds.” Estelle handed her a small touchpad. Lady Rina frowned. “I have neglected my investments too long. I need your thumbprint, Dace.”

“My prints are registered with the Independent Traders Guild. The Patrol has probably flagged them.”

“Then I will need Jerimon’s print. I assume you are clear?” Lady Rina’s tone was acid.

“As far as I know,” he said.

“I wanted an adventure, not a complicated nightmare,” she said as she finished up the paperwork.

The landing went smoothly. The Swan rumbled down, engines purring, with only minor drifting. I shut down the ship, putting it on standby backup before fetching my boots. I tried to comb the sticky stuff out of my hair. It had grown long enough to brush my collar. Maybe I could get it cut before we had to lift off again. Maybe I’d dance with the Emperor’s son. And maybe the Patrol would forget all about me.

I dragged a comb through the mess on my head. It stuck up in all different directions no matter what I did.

Jasyn followed me to the cabin. “Try this.” Jasyn took the comb from me. Within seconds she had my hair looking nicer than it ever had, lying flat where it was supposed to and fluffing out other places. She met my eyes in the mirror. “With a few touches you’d really look nice.”

“Why do I want to look nice?” I saw too many changes already with my hair and a shipsuit that actually showed I was female.

Jasyn shook her head. Side by side in the mirror I looked plain enough to disappear into the background. Her long, dark hair went exactly where she wanted it to. My hair was a muddy brown, too short to really do more than stick up in funny ways. Her violet eyes slanted slightly, giving her an exotic look. Mine were the color of mud.

“You’re too hard on yourself.” She handed back my comb.

I dumped it into a drawer. “I’m not anything special, I’m just ordinary.”

“Looks aren’t everything, Dace.” She cocked her head, her hair falling in soft waves. “Lady Rina had the right idea, even if she went about it wrong.”

I slammed the drawer. “Don’t even start trying to set me up with Jerimon. It won’t work.”

“But you’ve been getting along so much better.”

“Only because we don’t see each other. We agreed to be friends. I’m not marrying anyone. Not for a long, long time.”

“Friends will work,” Jasyn said, looking delighted. “He is my brother. We probably have to offer him a position on our ship. When we get one.”

“You think we still can?”

“Lady Rina would probably give us the Swan, if we asked.”

“It wouldn’t work for cargo. She’s a bit slow. Parts are hard to find. And the docking ports have to have adapters.”

Jasyn laughed. “You’re too practical for your own good.”

“If I were practical, I wouldn’t have eight-foot lizards chasing me. Or the Patrol.”

“So let’s find the Eggstone, return it, and deal with the Patrol.”

“If only it were that simple.”

Chapter Fourteen

Buzzer’s store was a run down, mangy looking plascrete hut surrounded by empty warehouses, shady stores, and rowdy bars. Jerimon and I attracted more than a few stares. We both wore Lady Rina’s uniforms and stood out like flowers in a garbage dump. I wished I’d brought my blaster. Jerimon ignored the looks and pushed open the door to Buzzer’s shop.

Bells jangled somewhere in the back. Junk crowded the store. Books, real paper ones, spilled off an overloaded shelf. Ship control modules fought for space with used household appliances. Comp units were stacked chest high in one corner, topped by a disconnected android head, blank eyes staring at nothing. Tangles of decorative lighting swung from the ceiling. Jerimon picked his way through the piles of furniture and clothing that cluttered the center to a dusty display cabinet at the back. Jewelry glittered inside, tawdry pieces I didn’t give a second glance.

A fat man perched behind the counter glared with bloodshot eyes. He wore an undershirt, gray with old dirt. His hair stuck up in patches. He spat to one side. “Whatcha want?”

“I sold an item to you several weeks ago,” Jerimon said. “I want it back.”

The old man looked Jerimon over. “I don’t buy pretty-boy goods.”

“It was a rock, about this size and glossy black.”

“Don’t remember no rocks.” Buzzer spat again. “No money in rocks, ‘ceptin gems.”

“Buzzer!” A voice shrilled from the back of the store. “Don’t you buy no more junk!”

“Shut yer face, Liddie! I ain’t buyin nothin.” He scratched his armpit.

I nudged Jerimon aside, then pulled a five credit note from my pocket. I held it where Buzzer could see it. “This help your memory?”

“Maybe,” he said and gave me the once over.

“Black rock? About fist size?”

“Sold it two weeks ago to a collector. Don’t give out no names.” He reached for the credit.

I pulled it out of his reach. “Five credits is a lot. Give me a name and address and it’s yours.”

He folded his arms and spat. “I don’t give out none of that.”

I put the slip back in my pocket.

“I got friends that take care of them that welsh on deals,” Buzzer threatened.

“Give me a name and address and it’s yours.” I tried to loom over him. I was too short to be effective.

He glared, mouth working. He finally spat again before digging an old book from under the case. He flipped it open, running a grubby finger down the page.

“Kile Wells,” he said as if the name were being pulled out with pliers. “Don’t got an address.”

“Ship’s name? Anything?” I dangled the slip again.

Buzzer shook his head. “He was headed off to Besht with it. Last I heard.”

I dropped the slip on the counter. It vanished almost instantly into Buzzer’s hand. I threaded my way through the clutter into the relatively clean air outside. Jerimon followed behind.

The thugs hanging around outside in the afternoon dismissed us as either too much bother or not enough profit. I didn’t mind being ignored. “We need parts for the ship. Do you know where any dealers are?”

“I think they were back that way.” Jerimon pointed the way we’d come.

I shoved my hands in my pockets, crumpling the list from Caid, and walked quickly.

Jerimon matched my pace. “That was slick, Dace. You bribed him, then threatened him. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you really were meaner and tougher than those thugs back there.”

“Who says I’m not?”

“Did you learn that in the Patrol?”

“Don’t bring that up again, Jerimon. Or you’ll find out how mean I really am.”

He snapped his mouth shut.

We found all the parts. Lady Rina’s credit held up well. Jerimon let me do the bargaining. I hadn’t done any actual dickering for a long time. I missed it. I argued all of the dealers down to a much more reasonable price. We took what we could carry and made arrangements for delivery of the rest before we headed back to the Swan.

The Swan’s hatch glowed softly. Jerimon tapped the controls. The door slid open. I followed him down to the engines where we dumped the parts. Caid’s foot stuck out from under the main drive shaft. He whistled happily.

“Here’s some of the parts,” I said. The whistling paused. “The rest should be delivered in the morning.”

“Good. Be in here at first bell.” Caid resumed whistling.

I turned to leave.

Jerimon stood in the doorway studying me. He flushed, turning quickly into the hall. Out of Caid’s hearing, I noticed.

“I like your hair,” Jerimon said as the engine room door slid shut. “You did something different to it.”

“Thanks,” I muttered, embarrassed.

“You ought to let it grow.” He shifted closer.

I closed my eyes, looking for any patience I might have overlooked earlier. “Jerimon, go away.”

“Maybe Lady Rina is right, Dace. Maybe we should give it a chance.”

“Give what a chance?” I opened my eyes and glared at him. “I’m tired and hungry and if you don’t move, now, I’m going to kick you.”

He stomped into his cabin. If the doors slammed, I’m sure he would have slammed his. It slid shut, silent as always.

I’d been mean. I felt a twinge of guilt, but pushed it aside, blaming it on hunger.

I didn’t have to even try to avoid Jerimon after that. I spent the next day and a half of planet time scraping my knuckles on the engine. Caid dragged me off into the engine room right after a too early breakfast. We ate lunch down there when I threatened to leave if he didn’t let me eat. The same went for dinner. By the time he reluctantly decided it was too late to keep working I was too tired to do more than stagger to bed. The next morning was a repeat, only with heavier parts. The new drive-shaft bearings arrived during the night.

We got everything back with a minimum of swearing. Just about the time I was screwing in the last fastener, Estelle appeared in the doorway.

“Lady Rina would like to leave now,” she said.

I was startled enough to drop the wrench, onto my foot. It was the first time I’d heard Estelle say anything. I rubbed my bruised foot and muttered bad words.

“Half an hour to test everything,” Caid said, poking through the coolant coils.

Estelle nodded, then disappeared as silently as she usually did.

“Is it ready to test?” Caid asked, slamming the cover over the coolant controls.

“The last bolt is tight,” I answered. I didn’t want to ever, ever be an assistant engineer to Caid if I could avoid it. Eighteen hours a day of hard labor was way too much. I also knew I didn’t want a ship so outdated it required constant work to keep running. Caid loved the Swan, to him it was not work. I had aching muscles in places I didn’t want to think about.

Caid started the engine, powering it up just enough so we could check the alignment of the drive shaft. I rubbed a kink in my neck. Caid tweaked the drive bearings, measured again, tweaked some more, and measured again. I shifted from foot to foot. I wanted a shower.

Caid sent me running, fetching tools, checking dials, talking Jerimon through the preflight checks, and adjusting settings. Jerimon was powering up the engines when Caid finally noticed me.

“Don’t you belong up there flying this bird?” he said with a frown.

I didn’t bother replying, he wouldn’t have listened. I shoved the tools I held into a bin

“Dace?” Jerimon called over the com. “Liftoff in less than a minute. Get up here, now.”

I ran out of the engine room and up to the lounge. I barely had time to strap in before we were lifting, the engines thundering steadily. I kept an eye on the gauges, but our repairs seemed to be holding. We cleared the planet and the engine rumble died down to a low vibration. Jasyn relayed the course. I plugged the numbers in. The ship curved to the right then straightened on a new heading. I finally relaxed.

Lady Rina leaned on the back of my chair. “It has been too long since I’ve visited Besht, center of culture and trade for the whole sector. It will be a pleasure to see the sights once again.”

“Dace,” Jerimon whispered, pointing to the scanner. Dots crawled across the screen, red, blue and green. One yellow dot curved in from the far side of the planet. He tapped it, the computer pulled up the information from the ship’s beacon. I swallowed hard. It was a Sessimoniss ship, moving fast.

“How do they do that?” I muttered.

Jerimon shrugged.

“How does who do what?” Jasyn asked.

“The Sessimoniss,” Jerimon answered, his voice cracking slightly. “They just came in-system.”

“We’re moving as fast as the Swan can go,” I said, checking the engine indicators.

“Then we just have to hope they don’t notice us,” Lady Rina said calmly.

I envied her poise.

“How are they finding me?” Jerimon whispered, watching as the yellow dot came around the planet. The latest course plot for it changed, turning onto our vector.

“They’ve got the planet security worked up,” Jasyn said. “Port Authority has called up the Patrol.”

I stared at my controls, wondering how I could get more speed out of the Swan. I didn’t know enough about the design. Minutes ticked by. The yellow dot was definitely shadowing our course. I did some quick calculating. We should reach jump point only a few moments ahead of the Sessimoniss. I hoped we stayed far enough ahead to be out of tractor-beam range.

“There’s an ore freighter in their way,” Jasyn said.

We watched the yellow dot pass very close to a green one. Two red blips appeared, Patrol cruisers chasing down the Sessimoniss ship. Part of me wanted the Sessimoniss to shoot at the Patrol and let us escape, but the system was a busy one and innocent people would be hurt. The minutes crawled by while I sweated and the Swan slowly built up speed.