Supergiant (Gigaparsec Book 2) (20 page)

Deke and Roz both worked the bridge controls in order to
depart as soon as possible. Roz whispered, “I’m sorry about what happened to
Kesh, but I’m glad we left early. Every day that passes here, I worry we’re
signing Crakik’s death sentence.”

“The average prisoner survives four
years,” Deke quoted from the documentary.

Roz flipped switches as she
confirmed their fuel and water for the voyage. “He’s a middle-aged physics
professor. The sooner the better.”

“We’re short doctors.”

“We have your lady, Max, a sick
intern, and two nuns. That should be enough,” Roz said. “Any others we can pick
up when we stop at the world with the big church.”

Deke rolled through a complex
traffic pattern without batting an eyelash. “We need to install beds and air
scrubbers in the cargo slices, as well as reinforcing the physical security
between the cargo level and the crew.”

“The longer we wait on that, the
less we pay in extra fuel and the more we earn on cargo. We’ll have the
retrofit done at the shipyard, as planned. I’ve already indicated most of the
improvements in red marker.” Until safeguards were in place, no one could visit
Echo’s hidden level. Roz had climbed down the shaft to block access with a
metal plate. She had also welded shut the door to the quantum tubes and stacked
crates to hide what remained. “What’s really bothering you? A couple of the
families on Aviar’s list were willing to pay half the adult cost for each child
of theirs we rescue. That’s a win, and we won’t need to break the law.”

“The governor agreed too easily,
and I don’t trust his soldiers,” Deke said, clearing the last layer of
spacecraft in the holding pattern. “Someone is going to attack us. It doesn’t
matter whether it’s the crown, pirates, or Saurian mob. We need better
defenses.”

“Trust me. I do this for a living.
Our linked Icarus fields deflect most lasers and nukes. Armor against high
explosives is too expensive to carry because of the added acceleration and
deceleration fuel costs.”

Deke said, “In war time, our
haulers used ice armor, which could be converted to propulsion in an
emergency.”

“With fifty crewmen and heavy bots
to move the hull pieces. Plus, Bat designs place jets in the rear and armor in
the front. This sphere is dotted with thrusters in every direction.”

Sighing, Deke switched off his
display. “Pilot, the helm is yours.”

Roz steered the ship away from the
hubward trade line that ran toward Magi space. “Heading into the spin of the
spiral arm. Next stop, Cardiam.”

“Confirming course to nexus-point
two.”

Everything became a blur of routine
as she approached the next jump site. However, now Max ate breakfast with her
and her family after her daily workout.

Family.
She glanced down at
her new ring for the tenth time that hour.
I’m going to be a wife. How weird
is that?
Would she take Max’s false last name or Echo’s unknown surname?
How could she be ready for a new life where she didn’t even know what people
would call her?

****

At Cardiam, the ship loaded three shuttle reactors. Roz
studied the reactor manual in order to find a way to stow them safely. Without
the thermal controller to liquefy the radioactive salts, the system remained
inert and safe from meltdown. The factory even gave her the remote shutdown
codes in the event of an emergency. Yenang or Grady guarded the reactors at all
times. Trusting Ivy, Roz didn’t bother herself with the remainder of the cargo.

Truth be told, she couldn’t stand
seeing Kesh after he emerged from the regeneration tanks. The scars were
hideous, but Max claimed Saurians liked them. “The more adversity their bodies
face successfully, the better a mate they are.”

If that were true, Max was going to
be quite the catch with all his scars.

During a lull at the port, the crew
celebrated Alyssa’s fiftieth birthday. Roz baked the cake herself. Herb
provided the ice cream between the layers, and Ivy frosted. When Max tried to
light the candles, Alyssa stopped him. “Don’t waste the air. I already have
everything I want … except maybe a grandchild.”

Roz cut rows of cake mechanically,
shoveling cold squares onto tiny, disposable plates. She wasn’t certain she
could even bear children, especially alien hybrids, let alone in the time her
mother had left.

“We can’t risk that until after we
return to Magi space,” Max repeated firmly.

“Says the man who takes three cold
showers a day,” Reuben joked.

Roz grinned, glad she hadn’t been
the only casualty. However, the magnitude of the delay loomed before her. The
Magi capital could take years to reach. If the subbasement drive malfunctioned,
the journey would exceed a decade. She might enter menopause before they
arrived.
Thirteen more years of this torment?

Worse, the team had to block all
access to Echo while the ship was full of strangers. Worker Bats were coming
and going at all hours. She couldn’t afford a single germ in her current,
fragile state. Echo would spend the next month and a half receiving a treatment
to bolster her immune system.

Without her daily connection with
Echo, the back of Roz’s neck itched constantly. Only intimate time with Max
seemed to scratch it. If she neglected her fix, she couldn’t seem to sleep.
More than once, she had climbed out of bed to find him. Was she addicted to the
Magi mental contact? Would sex enable her to break the habit? Her growing
agitation had become apparent to her roommate.

As Roz served birthday cake to the
crew, Ivy cleared her throat. “A motivated doctor should be able to come up
with a few safe alternatives.” She even suggested a few acts Roz had only heard
about from racy movies and on the walls of public bathrooms at bus stations.

Far from shocked, Alyssa offered
more risqué options.

Roz missed the last plate and
dropped a chunk of ice-cream cake on the floor. She smiled and bent over to
clean up the mess. When Dr. Lisheen chimed in with popular Bat variations, Roz
literally crawled under the table. Her face couldn’t possibly get any redder.

“You don’t think I want to do all
that and more?” Max growled. “If I seek pleasure with Roz on my own, I’ll be
unfaithful to Echo. The grief could kill her. Waiting won’t cause me physical
harm.”

Roz decided to take the wasted food
to Jeeves. The mimic could use the extra calcium, and she could stand to have
some fresh air.

She appreciated Max’s gallantry,
but the fact that he abstained for Echo’s sake stung.

Roz decided she should test out the
newly repaired stasis unit in person during the upcoming jump to the shipyards,
freezing herself until the crew needed her again. That’s what Echo often did
during prolonged periods in normal space. Roz would remove the temptation for
all concerned. The longer she brooded in the jungle, the more depressed and
jealous she became.

Nuts fell off the tree overhead.

Her talent seemed to be interacting
with her dark mood. She wasn’t safe to be around.

When Deke arrived for Jeeves’s Bat
language lessons, she asked how soon she could take off for a personal
emergency. The copilot said, “The next leg of the journey is so routine and
well-traveled that the automatics can handle it. We’re superfluous.”

Roz applied for her weeks of
accumulated shore leave and went straight to the stasis unit. She emailed Ivy
her reasons and pinned a note to the controls asking not to be disturbed. If
the device functioned flawlessly, it would remove all thought and feeling for
the next five weeks.

A heartbeat after activating the stasis field, Roz felt so
dizzy that she fell over.

Max caught her arm and eased her
into a chair. “Idiot. You need vitamin injections and a thorough exam before
you use one of these units, especially the low-grade ones.”

“Then give ’em to me.” Roz said,
gripping her seat.

Max slapped a diagnostic strip over
her forehead and another over her finger. “Your vacation is up. We’re about to
leave the shipyards, and we want you to inspect the workmanship of the
renovations.” Based on the test results, he prepared a glucose injection.

“All that time passed? You let me?”

He glared at her as he administered
the booster shot. “The team took a vote. Ivy and your mother supported your
need to keep others safe. I wanted to treat your depression with medication,
but I was outnumbered.”

“Thank you for honoring my wishes.”

“They even gave you a couple extra
weeks for the construction. Grady was glad to oversee. Open your flight suit
please. I need a heart check.”

She unzipped just enough for the
doctor to slide a heart monitor in place. His hand was so warm that she closed
her eyes.

“Are you going to pass out?” he
asked, anxiously.

“Unfortunately not.” The pain was
still there. She didn’t need pharmaceutical help, though.

“What do you mean?”

Roz took his hand away from his
wrist computer and placed it back against her chest. “I’m in love. I need to
know if you feel the same way.”

His breath caught as she shifted
his hand under her breast. “I—I thought the engagement would have been enough.”

“You’ve done everything for Echo. I
understand, but I’m selfish.” She stood and leaned into him to press their lips
together, but he resisted. “You’re holding me at arm’s length until she returns
to the Magi worlds. After this mission, you’ll come up with another delay
because you know as soon as she surrenders her secret, she’ll release her hold
on life.”

Max swept his eyes over her,
swallowing. “I told you how I feel about you.”

“No. The analogy of the woman with
the birthmark? That was Echo, too. You confuse us sometimes, even when we’re
necking.” He removed his hand from her and turned away in shame, but she
continued, “The moment she gets what she needs, you’re afraid she’ll leave. So
you try to postpone that event as long as possible. Every time you do, my hope
dies a little more.”

She could see this was news to him,
but he wasn’t denying anything. A few moments of reflection passed before he
said, “I never meant to hurt you. I only wanted to correct an old wrong.”

“I understand. Your compassion was
part of what drew me to you, but how do you feel about
me
?”

Max turned to face her. “You’re
perfect.”

“Stop saying that!”

“It’s true!” he said, with just as
much volume and force. “You’re everything I never knew I needed. You complete
me. The truth is, I let them keep you in this glass coffin because I wanted the
smell of you, the touch of your body, too much.”

“Then why do you keep your
distance? Why aren’t you touching me right now?”

Max clenched his hands and bit his
lip.

She kept pushing. “Do you want me
to wear her costume? Style my hair like hers?” Angry at his stoicism, she
shoved his chest. “Talk to me, or I walk!”

“I’m a killer. I spoil everything I
touch. My life is full of broken things that will never be right again.” He
took a deep breath. “I don’t want to ruin you, too. You’re too important.”

“Prove how important I am,” she
whispered. “Don’t wait. Marry us.”

“Kesh is the only one around who
can perform ceremonies, and I don’t think he’s qualified.”

“So you’d do the deed if we could
find someone with suitable gravity?”

“Yeah.”

Roz snuck an arm around his neck.
“Like the pontifex of the Bat religion? Would that be big enough?”

“Uh. If he knew the Magi ceremony,
I guess.”

“Hmm.” She slipped her other arm
around him. “The Cathedral of Veekarat houses the chief listener,
second-in-command of the Church of the Void. Deke already put in a special
request for us to stop there for a pilgrimage. We could have the listener do
the job while we’re in town.” She tickled the hair at the back of his neck.

“He? What? Would he?”

“The nuns and Sir Deke could
petition for us.” Her mother’s persuasiveness and Roz’s talent could give the
odds a little nudge. “If the listener agrees, we could honeymoon until we reach
the prison system.”

Max closed his eyes. “What’s the
hurry for the ceremony?”

“If the subbasement doesn’t work or
pirates ambush us, I don’t want to die apart from you.” She sprinkled him with
kisses. “I want history to record that we found each other and faced our
challenges together.”

“Okay.”

“I’m giving myself to you, and
that’s the best you can do?” Roz asked with a pout.

That broke his resolve. The next
thing she knew, Max had her backed against the wall, whispering hoarse yeses as
he returned her tokens of affection.

His panting broke off as they both
heard slow clapping behind them. Ivy stood in the doorway. “About bloody time.”

“Don’t you have something important
to do?” Roz hinted.

Ivy shook her head. “No. You’ve had
your Sleeping Beauty mouth-to-mouth. Time for you to give the cargo and repairs
a probing that thorough.”

Roz gave Max’s butt a cheerful pat.
“Sorry. Duty calls. While I’m gone, your job is to talk to Echo and figure out
what our new last name is going to be.”

“Name?”

She loved reducing him to
monosyllables. That was just the ego boost she needed.

Ivy led her from the cargo bay to
the inner ring. “Your mother is going to love planning the ceremony and
reception.”

“It’ll need to be on the ship if
Echo is going to attend, even as a hologram.”

“Alyssa will probably buy a
nanofabricator to generate your dress.”

“We’ll want one anyway in case we
end up ten years from nowhere. Maybe two fabs, just to be safe,” Roz said, filled
with fresh energy as she bounded through the hall past the dining hall.

Ivy grunted. “We don’t want them on
the manifest. I’ll work it out with Kesh. We can dump all our remaining cheese
wheels for one last trade.”

“Did we cash in the gold cubes yet?
The shipyard can use gold for electrical wiring.”

“No. The guys want Aviar to believe
we’re cooperating for one more star system. If he thinks we dumped the radios
in the church domain, we’ll have an excuse.”

Together, they examined the new
security layers between the dining area and the elevator. The loop was cut in
half, just the way she had marked on the blueprints. To reach the lift,
visitors had to enter through the crew quarters, pass a security desk, and
pause inside a reinforced scanning chamber. If the applicant didn’t pass
inspection, he could be gassed from above. “How much knock-out gas did we get?”

“Enough for three uses.” Ivy
pointed out a new grating on the ceiling. “Based on the security system at the
cigar store, Max added sonics around the perimeter to confuse any group of Bats
that may storm the crew quarters.”

Roz double-checked each seam and
right angle. “The security precautions will slow us down, but it’s worth it to
save lives.”

“You don’t have to sell me. I just
wondered why your cage has a back door to the jungle.”

The other two biomes could be
accessed by any of the passengers, but she had installed blast doors sealing
off the jungle habitat from the outer ring. “Ship safety dictates that every
sealed area have at least two exits in case we experience a hull breach.”

“Admit it—you just want somewhere
for Jeeves to play.”

Shrugging, Roz said, “It also give
us extra life support and food if someone does gain a foothold on board.”

Ivy smiled. “Not likely. We
reinforced the docking bay and put in a laser turret.”

Roz checked her pad for changes she
hadn’t authorized. “You realize that throws the ship out of balance. We’ll need
something of equal mass on the other side.” She scanned her wish list for
something in the proper weight class.

“Such as?”

“An industrial-grade spinner and
steel feedstock for it, in case an engine-mount strut goes bad.” Roz showed her
friend the catalogue entry the way a man would share a photo of a sports car.

“You don’t think small,
girlfriend.”

“I know what I want, and I don’t
accept less.”

They tracked Kesh to the bridge.
While Roz double-checked fuel, water, and air levels, Ivy greeted him. “Hey,
big guy.”

“You won’t believe it. Credits are
still pouring into the charity account. More with every system the news cubes
spread to.”

“Great. We have some last-minute
cargo requests.” Ivy related the tools and the rationale. “If we get stranded,
we’ll wish we had them. If we don’t, we can sell them for a profit at the
agricultural world where we’re planning on traveling after the prison.”

Kesh took some convincing, but he
finally agreed on one condition. “If we’re stockpiling for a rainy day, I want
to save one of the reactors for the frontier worlds. The farmers will pay a lot
more than the shipyard.”

“Did you already secure the jump
vector?” asked Roz. The information had been transmitted to the ansible there
so often, someone had to keep a local copy to save money.

The Saurian grunted. “I forwarded
the algorithm to Echo. The nexus moves constantly. The expensive part was purchasing
the inspection in Niishamboor.”

Roz asked, “Why? The governor
already signed our request.”

“The military has to inspect every
ship for contraband and verify the transport papers on every Bat,” Kesh
explained. “We have to pay what it costs for their ship to fly out to meet us
plus the salaries of everyone aboard.”

“We have to
pay
to go to
prison? That’s not fair.” Roz flounced on the pilot’s chair in protest.

Ivy asked, “Anything else we need
while we’re here?”

Kesh shook his head. “I have no
idea why they built in this star system, other than the centralized location.
They barely produce enough oxygen to survive.”

“That’s obvious,” said Roz. “This
is a trinary star system. That means they can test their new ships by hopping
between two points in the same system. If there’s a problem, you want to shake
it down on a microsecond hop, rather than misjumping a month’s travel away.”

“These things are second nature to
you, and we’d never question your expertise,” Kesh said. “I see bribes and
comparative economy the same way. You manage the ship, and we’ll worry about
the people. Will you trust me?”

Roz sighed. “Fine.”

She checked over her anti-tamper
monitors, expecting nothing. Two of her safeguards turned up access attempts.
“Uh … guys, we have a problem.” The first site showed only vibration activity.
On the bridge console, the second sensor played back an image of Yenang leaning
over the liquid-crystal junction with a camera.

As usual, Ivy was the first one to
curse. Kesh followed soon after. Both expletives involved reproductive requests
and colors. Neither sounded comfortable.

“I thought you guys were keeping an
eye on him!” Roz said.

“It’s Reuben’s turn,” Ivy replied.

“Tell me Yenang hasn’t been in the
jungle room, too.”

“He was assistant supervisor during
the construction. Of course he was.”

Roz growled as she located the
power engineer by his badge. “He’s in the lower crawl spaces, probably videoing
ever square centimeter of this ship. Damn him. I wrote a stellar recommendation
and primed him for the best job in the sector. This is how he repays me?”

Kesh hit the intercom button for
Max. “Doctor, it’s imperative that you catch Yenang before he leaves the ship.”

“What are you asking me to do?”

Ivy replied, “He’s been spying. We
need to know how much and for whom. Until then, we can’t risk him contacting
anyone outside this ship. Have Reuben fake his entrance onto the space station
and toss him into stasis until we check his camera.”

“That’s kidnapping,” Roz whispered.

“Not technically.” Kesh spread his hands
in a facsimile of a reasonable man. “Our contract with him gives us permission
to suspend and transport him until we find a mutually beneficial employment
site.”

Roz watched as the blips on her
screen moved closer to one another. “At the cathedral?”

“Too close. He’s proven he has no
intention of keeping his non-disclosure agreement.” Kesh punched up Deke in the
cargo bay. “Yenang is stealing from us. Block corridor three south so he
doesn’t try to run.”

“Are we going to take him to
Niisham prison against his will?” Roz asked.

Ivy replied, “That’s where traitors
go, honey.”

“We’re behaving like the bad guys.”

“No, we’re behaving like people
with something to hide because that’s what we are. Would you rather induce
amnesia with a stun gun to the back of the head?”

“I need to spend time with Jeeves,”
Roz said as the manhunt progressed.

****

Roz couldn’t bring herself to leave her quarters while the
others examined the evidence against Yenang. Jeeves babbled happily in Bat, and
her earbud AI converted most of it into toddler-ese. During her absence, the
mimic had grown heavier. Jeeves’s ears had also become taller and more
Bat-like. Still, when Roz showed him the technique of domed-roof building with
the red, rectangular blocks, Jeeves clapped enthusiastically and said, “Mommy
neat.”

Ivy came back to their room an hour
later. “The good news is that Yenang wasn’t working for any intelligence
service. He’s doggedly loyal to the crown and would never leak information to
the Bankers. He was hoping the Royal Navy might use your ideas to improve their
fleet.”