Reavers (Book 3) (25 page)

“Lagging?” Renoff demanded.

“Because we didn’t have time to properly insert half our operatives,” Isabella said bluntly.  “If we had another month, word of the Freeport being up for grabs would have spread to every ear.  Your massacre would have been far more effective.”

“Is that a hint of compassion I detect?” he asked slowly.

She kept her focus on the monitor.

“I’ll remind you that these aren’t peaceful protestors on some core world,” Renoff said as he gestured to the battle on the monitor.  “There are no banners or well written speeches about high ideas.  These are criminals.  Filth.  If you posses something they want, they wouldn’t bat an eye about murdering you for it.  They aren’t worthy of your compassion.”

“How long until desired saturation?” she asked, ignoring him completely.

“Given number of approaching ships, another three days until ideal conditions to strike,” another MI agent said.

“Did you hear what I said?” Renoff demanded.  “These things are . . .”

He paused as he turned to gesture to the pirates.  Something was different.  He studied the monitor intently.

“Sir?”

“I want an analysis,” he said distractedly.  “Their formations, they are . . . off.”

“What do you mean?” Isabella said, finally responding.

“There!” a woman shouted as she jumped to her feet.  “That docking port is opening!”

“What?” Renoff shouted.  “It’s too early!  Did we give the signal yet?”

“Of course not,” Isabella said briskly.

“Pirates altering battle formations to intercept new craft,” and agent shouted.  “The ship leaving the port . . . it’s ours, sir.”

“What are those fools doing?” Renoff demanded.

“We don’t know, sir,” Isabella said angrily.  “You pushed the operation ahead by
months
.  We didn’t have time to set up a secure and discreet way for them to report in.  We haven’t heard a word from the team since they boarded the Freeport.”

“Pirates opening fire!” a hunched over man said in obvious panic.

Before any of the weapons impacted the ship, it ignited in a massive explosion.  All the MI agents stared in shock and horror.  One quickly pointed at the other side of the Freeport.

“New contact departing Freeport,” another man said.  “Configuration doesn’t match standard pirate design.  Running comparisons now.”

“There was a private crew on that Freeport?” Renoff asked in exasperation and he returned to his chair.  “The Freeport was supposed to be clear!”

“They must have had to allow them to dock,” Isabella guessed aloud.  “They couldn’t request orders from us, they must have had to improvise.”

“A single ship has compromised the entire operation,” Renoff said to himself as he ran his finger around the lip of his glass.

“Pirate formations returning to original,” a woman reported.  “A few diverting to chase after unidentified ship.”

Renoff nodded, but wasn’t really listening.  What would have been remembered as the final blow against the pirates had failed because of
one ship
.  A life’s work derailed with the finish line just on the horizon.  How could this have happened?  Suddenly, a brilliant white light filled the room.  He glanced back at the monitor and found one of the pirate battleships engulfed in a painfully bright white.

“Report,” he demanded at once.

“Energy signature unmistakable,” a tall man said in awe.  “They have the prototypes.”

“All pirates diverting to deal with new threat,” an agent said with a hint of relief.  “They won’t be able to fight them all off.”

“If they had managed to get away with those missiles,” Isabella said slowly as the implications set in.

The monitor above them shifted away from the Freeport, focusing firmly on the lone ship.  It was a sleek and nimble thing, but there was too much incoming fire for it to avoid all of it.  More and more of the incoming weapons hit their marks.  Abruptly, several tiny flashes of light left the ship.

“Who are they taking with them?” Renoff asked, only mildly interested.

“Weapons fire formation is . . . this is impossible!  How do they know this technique?”

Renoff turned to the woman and leaned over to glance at her station.  His eyes widened in surprise.

“Get a lock on that ship! 
Now
!” he shouted with all his might.  “Don’t lose it!”

It was too late, the warheads detonated and covered the screen in blinding light.  When they faded the ship was gone.

“Did we get a jump vector?” Renoff asked, hoping.

Dozens of jump windows filled the massive monitor as most the pirates departed.  It was unlikely they knew of the trap, but after that scene they weren’t sticking around.

“The energy bloom off the warhead formation blinded all our scanners,” Isabella said with a tone of finality.  “They knew
exactly
how to blind us.  By the time we isolate their jump amid all the other pirates fleeing, they will be long gone.”

“I want to know everything there is to know about that ship,” Renoff said, standing tall and straightening his shirt.  “And I want to know it yesterday!”

A strand of hair swiped against Frank’s sleeping face.  As his drowsy hands moved to wipe the hair away, he had the familiarly overwhelming feeling he was being watched.  Slowly opening his eyes, Frank found Zia’s face perched mere inches away.  Her legs and back were again straight, meeting at a near ninety-degree angle.  As he opened his mouth, she covered it with her hand.  Raising an eyebrow, he didn’t make a sound.

“Everyone else is still sleeping,” Zia whispered.

He glanced around the cabin, finding Morio and Diana deep in enviable sleep.

“Something wrong?” Frank whispered as she removed her hand.

She shook her head with a smile.

“How long were you watching me?”

“A while.”  She chuckled faintly.

Frank was about to suggest she find a more interesting way to spend her time, when he remembered their situation.  The four of them had been locked in the room since they boarded the ship.  Only a trooper dropping off their meals broke the dull tedium.  Even their use of the stalls was on a regular schedule.

If he hadn’t kept a deck of cards on him, they all probably would have gone crazy with boredom.  Perhaps the saddest fact was he had lost track of time.  One day had faded into the next until they had all become one dull blur.  Frank didn’t even have a remote idea how long they had been trapped in the metal room.

“It’s not
that
bad,” she whispered warmly as she sat next to him.

“Trying to read my mind?” Frank asked quietly.

“You know I can’t do that!” Zia said defensively.  “It’s obvious you don’t like it here.  Don’t need to be able to sense emotions to notice that.”

“Fine, fine.  But how can you possibly say this place isn’t bad?  Aren’t you bored to tears?”

“I could think of worse places to be.”  She gently rested her head on his shoulder.

Frank had to smile.  In all fairness, being locked in a room with friends and a girl who loved him wasn’t as terrible as he let himself think.  Plus, he had to be thankful they all shared the room.  Who knew what Zia would have tried if they had been alone.

“Don’t go thinking dirty thoughts about me,” she said as she blushed deeply.

“I didn’t know Frank had any
other
kind of thoughts,” Diana said with a yawn.

“So you’re finally awake?” he asked as Zia quickly sat up straight.

“Oh, don’t mind me,” Diana said to Zia.  “No one is going to mind if you snuggle a bit.”

“You’re one to talk,” Morio said without words.  “You’ve been uptight since we got here.  Worried you’ll make Zia jealous?”

Before she could reprimand him, Morio had moved close and kissed her.  Zia chuckled as Diana thoroughly enjoyed his surprise.

“I promise not to eavesdrop,” Zia said warmly.

Diana instantly blushed.

“Eavesdrop?” Frank asked, obviously confused.

“Diana’s worried I’ll be paying attention,” she said with a shrug.

“Speaking of paying attention,” Morio gestured after a quick bit of stretching.  “Any idea of when we will get to wherever it is we are headed?”

“We are almost there.”  Zia said politely.  “Another jump or two at most.”

“You knew when we were getting there?” Frank asked flabbergasted.  “Why didn’t you tell us earlier.”

“You never asked.”

Diana and Morio burst into laugher as Frank hung his head.  Zia smiled innocently as the Wall moved through the room.  He debated how he should punish her for keeping him in the dark.  Those idle thoughts instantly disappeared as the door slid open.  The foreboding frame of their captor stood in the doorway.

“On your feet,” Gazsi ordered.

All four jumped to the stony man’s order.  Zia nodded reassuringly to the others as they followed the man through the ship.  Gazsi didn’t say a word as he guided them to the nearest disembarkation point.  The hatch was already open although it was hard to tell which side was which.  Both the ship and whatever they had docked to both shared the gleaming white walls of the military.  Lining the halls of the other side of the hatch were dozens of heavily armed men, all of them wearing the same dull black uniforms.

They seemed to pull away from Gazsi as he passed.  No doubt they feared him as much as Frank and the others did.  Half of the gathered men followed behind the four troopers while the other half returned to whatever duties they had.  As they all marched down the corridors, Frank realized they had to be on a station or a battleship - nothing else could be large enough for them to have to walk this long.

Abruptly Gazsi came to a full stop in the middle of a large room.  There was nothing in the room save for a single ostentatious desk.  A man was working on his pad, completely oblivious to the arrivals in the room.  Gazsi grunted slightly and the man raised his head.  Frank instantly recognized the face and hid behind Zia.

“Kántor!” the man shouted warmly as he got up and approached the gathered group.  “What took you so long?”

“Hard to explain, sir,” Gazsi said sounding slightly embarrassed.  “It seems we got . . .
lost
a few times on the way here.”

“Lost?  Don’t tell me you high-jacked our top of the line ship to go sightseeing.”

“Excuse me,” Diana said.  “Why have you brought us here?”

The man leaned over to stare beyond Gazsi.  Morio instantly stiffened.  He had finally recognized the man.

“You must be Diana Hoffman,” the man said as he walked toward her.

“And you are?”

“Why don’t you tell her?” the man asked Morio with the hint of a smile.

“He’s my brother,” Morio gestured.

Diana turned a hard stare on the man.

“You don’t look like you two are related,” she said bluntly.

“Nobue Yamakawa at your service,” the man said as he bowed elegantly.  “Do you doubt my brother’s
word
?”

Morio stiffened as a look of annoyance filled his face.

“Still not talking?” Nobue asked.  “I see time has yet to remedy that.  So who are these charming young troopers?”

Zia stiffened as Nobue turned to face her.  He studied her carefully until he froze solid.  A look of deep resentment filled his face.  His eyes narrowed and his lip curled up into what looked like a snarl.

“Bosch,” Nobue almost spitted as he said the name.  “I should have known.”

“Long time no scold, Nabie,” Frank said, making sure to mispronounce the name.

“It’s Nobue you insufferable oaf!  What are you doing here?”

“Your orders were clear,” Gazsi said apologetically.  “I was to bring Morio and his friends.”

“Still associating with this lowlife?”  Nobue turned to stare at Morio.

Morio only shrugged.

“You know this guy, Frank?” Diana asked in surprise.

“We’ve met,” he said coldly.

“Oh!”  Nobue smiled sinisterly.  “Don’t tell me you haven’t regaled your friends with the story of your treachery.”

“Treachery?” Zia asked, tilting her head slightly.

“Don’t beat a dead horse, Nobue,” Morio gestured.

“Would you cut that out?” the man shouted at Morio.  “You haven’t said a word since you turned six; give it up already.  You’ll never match Dad.  Even if you could, it doesn’t matter anymore.”

Zia and Diana stared at one another, then in unison turned to face Morio.  He only shrugged.

“I guess today is a red letter day for secrets!” Nobue said exasperated.  “He hasn’t told you all why he keeps quiet?  Why he isn’t a master of stealth today?  What Frank did to him?”

“Stay out of it, Nobue!” Morio gestured, seemingly annoyed.

Zia and Diana quickly tossed glances between the three arguing men.  Abruptly, the loud sound of clicking heels broke through the verbal sparring.  Everyone turned to face the sound.  A tall man stood at the entryway to the large room.  He was dressed like the others but at the same time there seemed a different quality to him.