TangleRoot (Star Sojourner Book 6) (16 page)

Let the bitch scream!
I opened my pocket knife and made a small cut on the back of Julio's head. There had to be blood for Al to think I'd hot-flashed him instead of just stun. Jesus Christ! If Al found out what I just did, I'd be out the airlock along with the kraut, even though I was Al's brother. You don't question the
capo
, let alone disobey an important order like this one. My hands shook as I cut the rope around Julio's chest and grabbed him as he fell forward. The bitch was still screaming.

“Help me with him!” I ordered her.

She shook her head.

“Listen,
comare
, your boyfriend ain't dead.” I glanced at the empty doorway. “You understand what I'm saying? Now help me get him to the airlock,” I whispered. “There's a lifeboat in there.” I slung Julio's arm over my shoulder. “I could get killed fer this!”

She stared at me like a statue.

“What the fuck's wrong with you, lady? Did you turn to stone? Help me with him,
capisco
?”

She nodded, finally closed her mouth, got up and threw Julio's other arm across her shoulders.

Blood dripped down the kraut's cheek as we dragged him into the living quarters.

Sophia continued to cry. Thank God, she was putting on a good act, or maybe her nerves were shot. Either way.

“She wants to say goodbye to him in the airlock,” I told Al and kept dragging the kraut toward the inner lock.
Jesus God, don't let him wake up now!
I prayed.

“Hey, Al!” Vito said, “I just saw his foot twitch. What the hell is that?”

Al shrugged. “Nerves. Get him outa here, Paulie. He's dripping blood all over the floor.”

“Sure,” I said.

“I'm glad it's over,” I heard Al say. “I take no pleasure in this business.”

Vito hit the airlock switch and the inner door sprang open. Me an' the broad dragged Julio through.

My heart was beating like a hammer at what I was about to do.
There's no friggin' turning back now,
I thought as I slammed the inner door and locked it. “Unlock the outer one!” I waved toward the door and dragged the kraut into the lifeboat. I threw three spacesuits and helmets into the back, just in case, and pushed the power button. It turned green and the motors started up.

The broad threw herself into the boat.

“You know how to run this friggin' thing?” I asked her.

“Yes! Move over.” She nudged me out of the driver's seat. Pushy bitch. “It's like a ship's console,” she said and studied the gauges. “Only a lot simpler. More like a hovair.” She pulled down a lever marked
Airlock. Beware! Air will Escape through Outer Door!

The outer door swung open and I heard the whoosh as air went through. The boat rocked.

“Paulie!” Al screamed through the boat's link. “What the fuck are you doing?”

“Sorry, Al.” My voice was shaky. “I just couldn't let ya kill him, you know? I'm…I'm through with the family. Goodbye, Al. Goodbye, Vito.” I started to cry and bit my knuckle. “Goodbye.”

“I'll fuckin' kill you, Paulie!” Al shouted. “I'll cut out your lungs and throw you in the East River. Are you nuts? He's a
witness
! Get back here, you stupid moron!”

“I can't do it no more, Al. I can't! Forgive me,
mio fratelli.
”I shut off the link.

She guided the boat out of the airlock. She knew what she was doing. Then we were in that big black pot of nothing and I grabbed the door handle, feeling like I was gonna fall. “What…what do we do now?”

She glanced back at the kraut, who was rolling his head. “Jules can guide us back to Equus. A lifeboat can't make jumps.”

I scratched my forehead. “If he gets his hands on me,
Marrona mia,
I'll be sleeping with the fishes.”

“Al?” she asked.

I nodded.

“Isn't he your brother?”

“Listen, lady. He's the
capo
first.
Then
he's my brother.”

“That's a brave thing you did, Paulie. I can't thank you enough.”

“Yeah, if they catch up to me, just throw some flowers in the East River in my honor, OK?”

How could I still be alive? I lifted my head.
Was this a new lifebind?
I thought fearfully. No. It was my human body. My hands. My clothes. There was a cut on the back of my head. I put my fingers on it. They came away bloody.

Somebody stroked my cheek. I jumped.

“It's me, babe. Sophia.” She kissed my forehead.

“I thought I was dead,” I mumbled.

“I know. I thought so too. Paulie saved you. He used the stun setting instead of hot beam and we made believe you were dead and carried you into the lifeboat.”

“Paulie did that? Why?”

“To save your life! He's steering the boat but we need you to program it.”

“Help me up.”

She did.

I made my way to the pilot's seat. “Let me take over, Paulie.”

He got up and I sat down heavily. Blood trickled down my neck and back.

“You feel up to it?” he asked.

“No. Does this rig have a sous? I could sure use a cup of coffee.”

Paulie looked at Sophia.

Sophia nodded. “I'll make a pot.”

“These lifeboats don't have a star drive,” I told them. “Either we have to return to Equus and wait with the others for the transports to arrive, or try to make it to the trade lanes.”

“You think,” Sophia said, “we can hitch a ride home on a starship?”

“I hope so.”

She handed me a cup of steaming Earth brew and pressed a cold compress to the cut on my head. It hurt, but I knew we had to stop the bleeding.

“A starship would have an SPS unit onboard,” I said. “We could alert La Guardia Spaceport to arrest the crew when Searcher arrives, and tell them that a biologist and a guard at the lab plan to steal the Blackroot tank for the Mafia.”

“Do you have to get my brothers arrested?” Paulie asked and ran a hand nervously through his hair.

I thought of the catastrophe that would follow if the Mafia sold bristra to wealthy customers and they grew it in their own gardens. Gabby had suggested that at maturity, during temperate weather, the roots might produce windblown spores. “I do, Paulie,” I said. “I'm sorry, but I really do. I'll explain it when this is over.”
Providing we weren't toast,
I thought as stars whizzed by. Caught in this bubble, we could be plunged into a sun.

“I owe you one, kid,” I told Paulie and tried again to break us free of the bubble with full power. “A big one.” I smiled. “
Grazie.
What did it cost you? I think your family.”

He blinked back tears and nodded.

“If it's any consolation,” I said, “you did the right thing, not just for me, though I'm pretty damn grateful.”

“I know.” He rubbed his eyes.

Sophia reached over and patted his shoulder. He took her hand and held it tight. I heard him sob.

Sophia pulled her hand away.

I looked at her and lifted my brows.

“Hold the compress,” she told me.

I did.

She walked around to Paulie and held his head in both hands. He wrapped his arms around her waist, buried his face against her, and cried.

“I'm sorry I called you all those names,” he said.

She kissed his head and smiled. “That was the old Paulie, before the epiphany.”

“Epiphany?” He looked up at her. “That's the Feast of the Three Kings Day. We don't eat until we see the first star at night. My mother always made
cassata sicilliana
.” He put his fingers to his lips and kissed them. I sipped coffee and held the compress as he clasped Sophia and cried again.

“Better than
cannoli
?” I asked, to lighten the mood.

“You haven't lived until you've eaten
cassata sicilliana
the way my mother makes it!” He buried his face in Sophia's stomach again and sobbed.

She looked at me and shrugged.

“It's OK.” I smiled. “I'm not the jealous type.”
Just the worried type,
I thought, and rotated the chair back to face the console.

“Are you plotting a course to Equus or to Earth?” Sophia asked.

"No, we're sort of, uh, stuck in this bubble for now, Soph. I'm working on it.
Sure I am.

“There's something you're not telling us, Jules. I know that look.”

“I'm working on it, that's all,” I lied.

She stared out the viewport and bit a nail as she watched stars streak by. “Work on it faster, all right?”

“All right.”

Paulie came to the pilot's seat and watched from over my shoulder. “You know, Julio, we could still go back an' find some live Blackroot.” He nudged my shoulder with an elbow. “We'd be billionaires. Ya know what I'm sayin'?” He grinned that lopsided grin.

“We'd be dead, Paulie. Just take my word for it. If we ever…” I bit my lip. “When we kick ourselves out of this bubble, or get a pick up, we're going back to Earth.”

“What's your problem with being a billionaire?” he asked.

“My problem's with being
dead
. Now let me work on this!”

“Paulie.” Sophia took his arm and led him to a rear seat. “Leave him alone. He knows what he's doing.”

Sure,
I thought. I activated the distress signals on the heads-up holo display and flipped on the mic. “Mayday. Mayday. Mayday. Grave and immediate danger.”

I heard Sophia draw in a breath. “Just normal procedure,” I threw back. “We're looking for a pickup,” I said into the mic. “Three adults onboard the Starship Searcher's lifeboat. Calling anyone inside the bubble. Request assistance.”

I sat back and stared at the circle of stars shooting by in the viewport. What if we plowed through a star? Would we even know that it happened, like jumping through a hoop of fire, or would we be toast? I cranked up the power and tried to kick the boat out of the bubble. It hit the edge and bounced back. The grav stabilizers held us steady in an invisible net.

“Dammit,” I muttered. Only Great Mind knew where we'd come out of this warp, if ever. The continuous contraction and expansion of space/time could fling us past the Milky Way. The laws of physics were being bent all out of shape. And we might be too if it spit us into that great wheel, the galaxy's central black hole.

Sophia came back and put a hand on my shoulder. “I know you're doing your best, babe.”

I nodded. “I'm trying, Soph.”

The boat had a limited supply of air tanks. After that, there were the biosuits. After that…

She sat in the co-pilot's seat. “Jules?”

I lifted brows.

“If this doesn't end well…”

I reached out and she gave me her hand. “Don't think that way.”

“I just want you to know that whatever happens, I will love you to my last breath.”

“If it comes to that,” I said, “I want you to know that I loved you from that first time on the pier.” I squeezed her hand and smiled. “You know, when you threatened to gut me like a crusty with your dive knife.”

Paulie came forward and we were all crowded in the tight front quarters. “If we gotta die, I can't think of anybody I'd rather be with when it happens.” He squeezed between me and Sophia and put a hand on each of our shoulders. “We're all too young to die, you know what I'm saying? But if it's gotta be, then it's gotta be. You two are like family to me.”

Sophia smiled and leaned her head against his side.

“This is the Texas Belle Star,” the radio suddenly crackled. “We are homing in on your signals.”

“Oh my God!” Sophia jumped out of the seat and covered her mouth with a hand. “Oh my God.”

Paulie looked from Sophia to me. “So our asses are saved? We're gonna be OK?”

“Looks like we lucked out, Paulie,” I said.

“
Mamma mia
. I thought we were dead meat. I mean…” He planted a kiss on my cheek, then one on Sophia's. “Thank you, Lord Jesus!”

Sophia threw her arms around him and laughed. “Saved by the Belle,” she said.

I sat back and didn't know whether to sigh with relief, or groan at that joke. Instead, I wiped my wet cheek and smiled.

We had our ride home.

The Belle Star, a cargo scow, gnashed her metal teeth and rumbled deep in her belly like an old man with indigestion, sending vibrations racing along ribbed metal beneath our feet.

“Y'all just some lost sheep out there in the bubble?” Captain M. Jackson, a squat man with a stained white beard and a paunch that hung over his belt, gave us suspicious looks as he shuffled down a dimly lit lower deck. Our footsteps echoed through the hollow tube as three silent crewmen followed us.

“Captain,” I said, and stopped him with a hand on his worn blue uniform, “I have to use your Star Positioning System for a priority call to Earth.” I'd told him that when they first picked us up, minutes before, but he'd ignored it.

“Sounds mighty important.” He scratched behind his ear and flicked some crud from his finger. “ `Fraid y'all have to wait till we get to the space station on Denebria. This old lady ain't had a workin' SPS for the life of a dwarf star.”

“Denebria?” I said. “I thought we were heading to Earth? This is
urgent
, Captain.”

“Got to pick up some passengers on Denebria first.” He narrowed his bloodshot eyes. “This is business, Mr. Rammis.”

I glanced at Sophia and Paulie. Sophia shook her head. Paulie dropped his gaze. I had explained the ramifications to him of widespread bristra on Earth. I think he still felt guilty for his part in this possible disaster.

I took a breath. “Captain, Alpha or Earth Central will reimburse you for the loss of the passenger fees. But this call has to go through!”

He shrugged and continued walking. We followed. The three crewmen followed us, past twisted metal girders, patched breaks in the walls, and a comlink dangling by wires. The foul smell in the air made me think the recyclers weren't working either.

“Y'all know how the government works,” Jackson said as he ambled along. “I'll be feeding the worms an' pushing up daisies 'fore they put the check in my credcount. Sorry, but I got to look out for my own ass. Oh, 'scuse me, Ma'am.” He opened a hall door to a small room. “Here's your quarters, Mr. Rammis.” His gaze slid across Sophia's body. “And the, uh, misses?” He winked.

I leaned against the wall. I had to contact Earth Central before the Mafia stole the bristra tank from the Lab. If Al had talked to his family on Searcher's SPS unit, I would already be too late. My team, back on Equus, didn't know that Al's family planned to rob the Lab specimens. My only hope was that Al couldn't use an SPS unit. Still, with a stop on Denebria, Al and his boys would make it back to Earth before us, and with my message to La Guardia Spaceport, they'd walk away from Searcher free as three vultures.

“Captain Jackson,” Sophia used her authoritative tone and took a step closer to him, “Jules is trying to
tell
you that your decision could cause a worldwide catastrophe.” She moved even closer, but he held his ground. I had to give her credit, considering the smell of whiskey on his breath. “You're our host,” she said, “and we're grateful to you. But if you don't take us directly to Earth, you could be in for jail time.” She nodded for emphasis.

Jackson narrowed his eyes and I caught a glimmer of the tough-minded captain he once was.

“Miss Rella, or Mrs. Rammis,” he said, using the old labels, “I learned long ago not to depend on the conclusions of strangers who have a stake in those conclusions.” He motioned toward the compartment. “Dinner is in two hours. I expect payment for the food, and the fuel we expended to find your boat and pick you up. Son,” he addressed Paulie, “your berth is next door. Gentlemen.” He nodded at me and Paulie, turned and started back toward the ladder. The three crewmen followed him.

Paulie flicked a thumb at his back. “
Gavone!
” he whispered. His shoulders sagged and his hair fell over his eyes.

“Get some rest,” I told him. “It's been a trying day all around.”

“To say the least,” Sophia added.

Paulie shrugged. “I don't know what I'm gonna do when we get back to Earth. I'm fish food if the family finds me. Where the hell am I gonna go?”

I patted his shoulder. “We'll get you into the witness protection program.”

“Sure! I'll be shoveling cow shit in Montana.”

“You're young, Paulie,” Sophia said, and you're a handsome man. You'll make a life."

Paulie patted her cheek. “Maybe I'll find a broad…I mean a woman, like you.”

We all laughed.

“Later, Paulie.” I entered the compartment with Sophia and locked the door.

She sat on the bunk and wiped her hands through her hair. “We did what we could, Jules.”

I sat next to her. “I think I could've done more.”

She rubbed my knee. “You always think you could've done more.”

I put my arm around her and breathed in her scent. “Right now I want to do more.” I kissed her cheek.

“Now?”

I smiled. “Now.”

“Don't smile, babe, you know what that does to me. It's not fair.”

I broadened it to an evil grin.

“You are incorrigible.” She ran a hand through my hair. “You need a haircut.”

“Don't get any ideas, woman. This time you don't have Chancey to back you up.” I touched her lips with mine. “And I think I could take you on any time.”

“Oh, yeah, man, you and what army,” she said, imitating Chancey's words and dialect.

I laughed. “You don't have your dive knife with you, dear.”

She took my head in her hands and kissed me. “What you do to me is sinful!” Her expression turned inward, touching on some inner pain. “I thought I lost you back there when Paulie used the stun setting instead of the hot beam.” She traced her fingers across my cheek. “I would give you anything you asked for. I can't help myself.”

“Good. Because I'm asking for you. All of you.” I pressed her face against mine. “I want to be inside you, Sophia. Not just for sex.” I kissed her neck, her lips. “I want to feel you all around me, like another skin. A better one than mine.”

She sighed heavily and pulled me down on top of her. “You don't make sense.” She got her hands under my jacket, my shirt, and ran her nails lightly over my back. Bat had applied new skin after a whipping I'd taken on planet New Lithnia, and Sophia's touch was not painful, just exciting. “You cat!”

She giggled. “My mouse.”

I was ready for her as I sat up and threw off my jacket and shirt. She pulled me back down and held my head as we kissed hard again, as though trying to enter each other. “Whoever invented zippers?” she said as she tried to unzip my pants."

I got my hands around her back and fumbled with the bra clips. “The same idiot who invented bras.” I unclipped it, and ran my hands across her breasts. I took in a breath. “I can't wait much longer, Soph.”

“Then take off those damn pants!” She lifted up and slid her pants and panties down to her knees, then kicked them off. I got out of my pants while she slipped off her blouse.

“Oh, Jules!” She pulled me down on top of her. “Baby. Baby!” she gasped and spread her legs around my hips.

I kissed her breast and sucked on a nipple.

“That's all I can take!” she said, and pushed me inside her.

“Be gentle with me.” I pushed in deeper.

Our lovemaking was more like a cat fight. Maybe it was all the trauma we'd been through, but we both needed this ultimate physical closeness that melded us into one, and the release that came with our orgasms.

We clung to each other for a long while afterwards, relaxed, content, in the face of all the uncertainties that weighed on us and destroyed our peace of mind. Here was a small sanctuary in space and time.

“I love you, Sophia,” I whispered. “My woman. That hasn't been easy for me to say.”

“I know. I know what the death of your sister Ginny did to you. And Joe told me how you grieved inconsolably after Willa's murder.” She held me close. “I know it's difficult for you to commit and maybe get hurt again.”

I could not hold back tears. They slid to her cheeks and I wiped them.

“I feel so quiet inside, Jules. We make our own garden wherever we are.”

I nodded. “With you, it's easy.”

She lifted my chin. “Babe, as long as I'm alive, I'll be there for you.”

“As long as I'm alive,” I whispered, “I'll be your rock to cling to.”

She chuckled.

“What?”

“Nothing.” She turned her face and chuckled again.

“C'mon.
What?
”

“Oh, the image of you, my reckless adventurer, as a steady rock.”

“I can do it. I can be a rock.”

She pressed her lips, trying not to laugh, but I felt her chest shake.

“Listen, wench,” I lifted onto elbows, “if I'm going to be your husband, you'd better learn to take orders from me and believe every word I say.”

This time she couldn't suppress a laugh. “Is that a proposal?”

“A what? Oh. Well, I meant…uh.”

She pulled me back down and kissed me lightly on the lips. “It's all right. Let's not ruin this perfect moment with a committal.”

* * *

Our worst fears were realized when we docked at the Denebrian outpost station and I put in a call to Earth Central. They'd already been informed that a tank of alien Blackroot had been stolen from the Los Alamos National Lab in New Mexico.

The sounds of humans and aliens rolling or balancing or levitating their travel bags, laughing as they awaited ships to destinations among the stars, seemed to fade as I considered the consequences. The metallic smell of the air, laced with aromas from open restaurants, just served to turn my stomach.

“They've got it,” I told Sophia and Paulie. “We're too late.”

“The Mafia?” Sophia asked in a hushed voice.

I nodded.

“Mother of God,” Paulie said, “you'll never get it away from them.”

“We've
got
to,” I told him. “You know where their compound is located. You're our only hope.”

“Then there's no hope!” he shouted. People and aliens alike turned. “What do ya want me to do, turn in my own
family
? Fuck that! I'm out o' here.”

“Paulie,” I started, “you know the consequences if bristra sprouts spores and they spread across the continents.”

He pointed a finger at me. “This time, you're asking too much.” He bared his chest dramatically, ripping off buttons. “Here! Cut out my heart while you're at it.”

I glanced at Sophia. She raised her brows.

“OK, Paulie,” I said, “you're out of it. Just tell us where the compound is located. We know it's somewhere on Long Island.”

“You don't understand nothing,” he said. “
Niente
. You call it a
compound
? Hey, it's my family's home. You understand? There's kids there, my mother, husbands and wives of my brothers and sisters. I was born on the kitchen table in that friggin'
compound.
What do you know about anything, kraut? You told me yourself you never had a family. So what the hell do you know about anything?”

I bit my lip. “You can't go back there anymore. You know that.”

“Paulie,” Sophia said, “if bristra gets loose, your own family could be at risk.”

Paulie strode away and paused. “You understand what would happen if the police or the CIA came down on them?” he yelled. “You think they're gonna throw up their hands and walk into the friggin' enemies' arms? You don't know shit!”

“They won't have a choice,” I called back.

A young spaceport guard sauntered over, wearing an oversized brown cap and a uniform two sizes too big for his narrow frame. “Is there a problem here?”

“No,” Sophia said innocently. “No problem, officer.”

“They'll send the women and children away,” Paulie yelled, “and they'll stand an' fight till…” He pressed a fist to his mouth and bit a knuckle. “Till the last man is dead! But first they'll take some CIA pricks with them! You understand what I'm sayin'?”

The officer looked from me to Paulie. His blue eyes widened.

I walked toward Paulie, followed by Sophia and the officer, whose hand edged to the butt of his holstered stingler. “Suppose you just give us the location of the Mafia's home base,” I said. “Then you're out of it, OK?”

“You don't know what you're asking.” He turned and brushed past the officer. “Get the fuck outa my way!”

The officer took a step back and almost fell.

Paulie strode toward the boarding gate. “I'll be on the Belle Star if you want me.” He threw back a dismissive wave of his hand.

“Now what?” Sophia asked.

I rubbed my lips as I watched Paulie disappear around a corner, almost knocking over a Cleocean who was balancing on his tails. “We could use truth serum on him,” I said.

“Oh, that's low, Jules.”

“Any lower than thousands of lives lost if bristra produces spores that spread across the continents?”

The officer took my arm and Sophia's. “I'd like you two to accompany me to the guards' quarters for a talk with my captain.”

I took out my wallet and showed him my WCIA badge. “We're on a mission, officer.”

“Oh, wow! A mission?” He released our arms. “Sorry, sir.”

“It's OK,” I said. “You're just doing your job.”

“Thank you,” Sophia gave him a demure smile, “for being so alert and concerned and brave.”

He stared at her for a moment and I could almost see his pupils dilate. Then he touched his wide cap. “Uh, ma'am, sir, have a nice day.” He turned and walked back to his station with the cuffs of his pants flapping.

“I think he has to grow into the job,” Sophia said. “What's going to happen when Paulie wakes up?”

“He'll have no memory of what he said under the influence of the drug. He'll think he just had a pleasant night's sleep.”

I turned back to the SPS wall unit. “Oh, man. I've got to call Joe. By now the transports have landed on Earth. He's not going to be happy when I tell him the news.” I held still for the retinal scan, then punched in his call numbers and sighed, “He's going to kill me. I hope he doesn't hit me this time.”

“Why would he do that?”

“Oh, if I hadn't tried to be a decoy for Searcher, but just gone to the hovair, I wouldn't have gotten us both captured.”

“Well, I followed you willingly.”

“Thing is, if I was in the hovair when the transports landed on Equus, I could've used their SPS to contact Earth Central and warn them of the Mafia's plans.”