“Yeah,” she said, her voice dry. “Two of them are.”
“You have a gauntlet you can lead them through?” He set his helmet on the co-pilot’s seat and leaned over the back of it, too large to sit in it now that he was suited up.
She was heading into a gauntlet right now, the asteroids small and dense, dust turning the dark space ahead into a pale brown cloud. “I do. What are you doing?”
He had started typing commands on the keyboard nestled into the console amid the switches and buttons. She almost objected out of principle, irritated that he presumed to touch her controls, but she couldn’t spare the attention to speak. Asteroids loomed in all directions, threatening to smash into their shields enough times to wear them out. Already the energy panel read half depleted, and she could feel the ship’s core throbbing through the decking as it tried to create more power to fuel them.
“With luck, lowering their shields,” he said, punching in a long string of numbers and symbols on the keyboard.
“How?”
Alisa banked around a giant asteroid, then dove as she spotted a field of large ones mixed with thousands and thousands of smaller ones. That ought to challenge any pilot. The two imperial bombers chased right behind her, side by side, weapons firing up her ass. Cheeky bastards.
“Command codes.”
“What the hell are those?” Alisa had never heard of some remote code that could force a ship to lower its shields. If there had been such a thing during the war, her people would have been using them left and right.
“Codes designed to keep Alliance thieves from stealing our hardware.” He eyed her out of the corner of his eyes, then tapped a button on his armor. Twin razor prongs popped up above his wrist in a spot where if he punched someone in the face, the follow-through would probably gouge his opponent’s eyes out. “There are codes to lock up the controls on the various imperial ships and other ones to force them to drop shields. They’re hardwired in at the factories.”
“I don’t suppose you can make their controls lock up now?” Though curious as to what the knives were for, Alisa couldn’t focus on him. She banked and slid the Nomad under the belly of an asteroid, still having a notion of losing her pursuers. The Alliance ship had fallen behind, but those two bombers refused to be shaken.
“I don’t remember those codes,” he said dryly. “I’ve never had an occasion to use them. Where’s the scanner? That thing?”
She was too busy flying as close as she could to the crater-filled body of the asteroid to respond. He must have answered his own question, because he used one of the razor prongs to cut his finger. He dribbled a drop of blood onto the scanner. It flashed blue in acknowledgment.
“Now what are you doing?” Alisa left the shelter of the one asteroid, weaved through a field of debris, and headed for two more giant asteroids, these almost hugging.
“Identifying myself.” Leonidas typed something else on the keyboard, then held his finger over the transmit button. “I’m ready. Can you put them into a position where it will matter?”
“Trying.”
Alisa veered straight for the narrow gap between the two massive asteroids. Even as she approached, it seemed to grow smaller, the rocky bodies drifting closer together. She flipped the Nomad sideways to make its profile narrower. The ship shuddered as the shields bumped against rock, and she felt the shimmy in the flight stick.
“Easy,” she murmured. “Easy.”
The two bombers followed right behind her. The gap widened slightly, and Alisa followed the curve of the bigger of the two lumpy asteroids. For a moment, its body hid the bombers from her and vice versa. She flew in a loop, flipping the Nomad and throwing all of the defensive power into the forward shields.
Leonidas sucked in a surprised breath as the bombers raced around the curvature of the asteroid, straight at them. Alisa held her course. The bombers split, one heading left and one right to keep from crashing into her.
“Now,” she ordered, glancing at Leonidas.
He hit the transmit button. The bomber that had gone left steered straight at the asteroid, its pilot clearly flustered by the near miss. He tried to pull up, but not in time. A protrusion on the lumpy surface clipped the bottom half of his ship, and he blew up, a fiery ball leaping from the surface of the asteroid.
The second bomber veered in the other direction and was in no danger of crashing into the big asteroid, but his wing must have clipped one of the smaller rocks. With his shields up, it wouldn’t have mattered, but his velocity made the impact forceful enough that it knocked him off his course. He spun in circles, thrusters flaring orange as he tried to stop himself. Before he managed to slow the craft, it smacked into another asteroid and exploded.
Alisa did not stick around to check for survivors. That Alliance craft was still out there, and she didn’t know any codes that could make it lower its shields. At least the big mining ship had disappeared from her sensors. She had avoided the smaller vessels’ attempts to drive her back toward it, and if it was still following them, it had fallen too far behind now to matter.
Leonidas stepped back, flicking his wrist so that his razor blades disappeared into his armor again. He picked up his helmet and tucked it under his arm. His expression was bland, as if this was all in a day’s work. If he had been impressed at all by her flying, he didn’t show it. Not that she cared one whit about impressing him.
He produced a handkerchief from a pocket inside the back of the helmet lining, spit on it, then wiped the scanner clean of his blood. Next, he put it away and produced the netdisc he had shown her in his cabin. When he activated the holodisplay, the map and coordinates appeared again.
“We may still be on their sensors,” he said. “Take a circuitous route to get to our destination.”
“I’m not an idiot,” Alisa snapped, annoyed that he was presuming to give her orders, even if they made sense.
He turned his bland expression on her, then walked out without another word.
It occurred to her that she should have thanked him for his help. He’d proven himself the most useful member of her crew twice now, first with blowing up that ledge—nobody else could have climbed up to set those explosives, nor had anyone else possessed explosives in the first place—and now here. But, she reminded herself firmly, he wasn’t a part of her crew. He wasn’t on the docket, and he hadn’t claimed any loyalty to her or anyone else here. If he had his way, he would be in charge. From the way he barked orders, he was used to that. Well, not on her ship.
Scowling, Alisa turned her attention back to flying—they were still deep within the asteroid belt, giving her plenty to worry about. Still, she found her gaze shifting over to that scanner. Had he cleaned it because he was polite and didn’t want to leave a mess on her console? Or because he wanted to make sure she couldn’t get a sample of his blood? It wasn’t as if she had access to the imperial census archives that kept track of every subject by DNA and fingerprints.
But if she did… she wondered what she would find if she could look him up. It made sense that the command codes he had typed in wouldn’t have been enough to order an imperial ship to lower its shields on their own. Their headquarters wouldn’t have wanted to give any soldier who happened to get his hands on the codes the ability to do such a thing. Soldiers could be bought or blackmailed, the same as the next person. So, his blood had been part of the key to unlock those shields. Just how many people’s blood had been programmed into those imperial ships for that purpose?
Not many, she guessed. Not many.
Chapter 9
After a couple of hours without further sign of pursuit, everyone on the ship relaxed, and people started wandering into NavCom to look at the asteroid field and ask questions. Alisa thought about locking the hatch and keeping everyone out, but she owed her other two passengers an explanation. Soon after they had left Dustor, she’d explained that there would be a diversion before they headed to Perun, but she hadn’t said anything that would lead them to belie
ve they would be in danger. Of course, she couldn’t have anticipated pirates haunting the T-belt, not when there wasn’t anything out here except ore, and that was only for those with the patience and dedication to mine it out. Not to mention equipment. Still, this far away from the civilized planets, she couldn’t say that running into trouble surprised her.
Yumi and Alejandro came to NavCom together.
“Everyone doing all right?” Alisa asked. Perhaps she should have gotten on the intercom and asked earlier, but she had been too busy navigating through the maze of rocks to leave her seat or worry overmuch about customer service.
“My chickens were alarmed by the battle,” Yumi said. “Out of fear, they squabbled among themselves, and some blood was drawn. Fortunately, the good doctor here had some QuickSkin. While not rated for livestock, it did the job.”
Alejandro inclined his head.
“The girls have quieted down now,” Yumi said.
“That’s good.”
“There may not be eggs in the morning.”
“There’s plenty of oatmeal in the mess.” Alisa admitted that the eggs had been a nice treat. Fresh food was a rarity out here unless one had recently left a planet or a moon.
Yumi leaned on the back of the co-pilot’s chair and eyed the asteroid field. “May I sit at your sensor station? I’ve never been out here before. It would be interesting to take close-up readings of my own instead of relying on textbooks.”
“Close-up? Should have been here two hours ago. I could have given you very close up.”
Yumi tilted her head.
“Never mind.” Alisa pointed her thumb behind her shoulder at the fold-out seat. “Read away.”
“Excellent. I’ll take some recordings to use in the classroom for my students.”
“That’s right—you said you’re a teacher, didn’t you?”
“A science teacher, yes. Though I am looking for work. I was a part of a program to start more schools on Dustor, but that was scrapped halfway through the war. Oddly, people aren’t interested in sending their children out in the world to study when bombs are being dropped in the streets.”
Alisa frowned, trying to decide if that was simply a wry observation or if there was a hint of condemnation in there, condemnation for an officer who had been a part of the force that had been behind the bombings. Not that they couldn’t have been avoided had the empire simply accepted its fate and succumbed earlier. It had taken the death of the emperor himself before things had finally fallen apart, and white flags had been raised in surrender.
Yumi continued speaking, not noticing Alisa’s frown. “After that, I found work and refuge in the Red River Sanctuary among the monks seeking a deeper understanding of themselves and of the universe through meditation.”
Alisa resisted the urge to ask if it was hard to meditate with bombs going off in the nearby city.
“I’m surprised I didn’t see you there,” Yumi added, nodding to Alejandro’s robe.
“It wasn’t until after the war that I headed to Dustor for research and to seek a better understanding of the universe,” he said.
“A planet habitually scoured by sandstorms and earthquakes and now run by the mafia being the natural place for those things,” Alisa said, wondering what kind of research one could possibly do there.
“It is a place in need of guidance from the sun gods,” Alejandro said. “I had intended to stay longer, but pressing business back on Perun has demanded my return.” His lips thinned as he regarded the asteroid field. He’d been too polite or cultured to complain about the delay when she announced it, and this was the first glimpse she’d had that it irritated him. “Are we allowed to know why we’ve come to the T-belt and how long we’ll be delayed here?” Despite the brief display of irritation, his tone was as calm and measured as ever. Almost melodious. She wondered if he was a good singer.
“You’ll have to ask Leonidas. This is his mission. Trust me, I didn’t want to come.” Alisa waved to the co-pilot’s seat in case Alejandro wanted to sit down. She would rather have everyone seated than anyone looming over her shoulder.
He lifted his fingers, declining the offer. “Leonidas?”
“The cyborg.”
“Interesting choice,” he murmured so softly Alisa almost missed the words.
“I assume it’s not his real name,” she said, fishing. She recalled that Alejandro had seemed to recognize something about Leonidas when they first saw each other in the cargo hold.
“Likely not.”
Disappointed, she guided them around another asteroid. Was that all she would get from him?
“I figure there are some people who might want him dead if they knew who he was,” Alisa tried, though she hadn’t figured any such thing.
“I’m certain there are many people who want cyborgs dead.” Alejandro clasped his hands behind his back and watched the asteroid field.
They flew past a big one with a refining station taking up a third of the real estate. It wasn’t the first sign they had seen of mining operations as they had passed through. After their run-in with the pirates, Alisa was glad they had all appeared automated thus far. At the least, nobody had hailed them and asked them what they were doing.
“Leonidas?” Yumi lifted her head. She’d had her nose to the sensor display, tinkering with the controls. “That was one of the Spartan kings, yes? The one who died at Thermopylae.”
Alejandro regarded her through his eyelashes. “I thought you taught science, not history.”
“A science teacher can’t read a history book now and then?”
Alisa wished she knew what they were talking about, especially if there was a hint to the cyborg’s identity in it. But her education hadn’t been thorough when it came to history, at least Old Earth history. She knew about the Foundation, of course, and about the colonies, the Starseer attempt to conquer the system, the Order Wars, and the eventual establishment of the Sarellian Empire, but her mother had been more interested in teaching her how to survive flights through the system than about ancient history, and at the university, most of her courses had revolved around mathematics and astronautics. She supposed the cyborg’s past didn’t matter much to her. She was just going to drop him off as soon as she got the chance. Besides, seeing his blood work to lower the shields of an imperial ship told her enough. He’d likely been someone fairly high up in the military command structure. He might even have been someone she had faced in battle before. That thought made her shudder.
She focused on her controls, checking their current location against the coordinates Leonidas had given her. They ought to be getting close.
“Leonidas belonged to the Agiad dynasty, if I recall correctly,” Yumi said, “and they claimed descent from the divine hero Heracles.” She chuckled. “I suppose I could see why a cyborg might wish to be associated with such a representative of masculinity.”
“I will be in my cabin if there is further need of a doctor,” Alejandro said and walked out.
Yumi peered after him. “Did I offend him?”
“He was an imperial. They get offended easily these days.” Losing a war would do that to a person.
“Was he? He didn’t say.”
“I’m just assuming. Most rich and well-educated people are beholden to the system they’re born into and aren’t real appreciative when things get changed and they lose their status.”
“How do you know he’s rich? Your fare wasn’t that extravagant.”
Alisa lifted a shoulder. In truth, it was just a hunch. His robe certainly didn’t denote great wealth, but he had a manner about him, one that spoke of education and being raised in a genteel environment. Maybe because she’d been raised out in the scruff of the system on the battered old freighter, she could sniff out the privileged, even when they hid under monastic robes.
As they skimmed past a red asteroid with a bluish layer carved off the end, a new thought popped into Alisa’s mind. “Say, Yumi, do you want to do me a favor? Can you take som
e readings and get an idea of what minerals are in the asteroids out here? Especially if there’s anything unusual or rare?”
“I can try. We would need core samples to truly analyze them. Why do you ask?”
Alisa glanced at the hatchway, making sure Leonidas hadn’t strolled up to observe again. He moved quietly for such a big man. Even in combat armor, he hadn’t clomped as much as one would expect.
“Just wondering what kind of research station someone might set up out here,” she said quietly.
“Is that where we’re going? A research station?”
“That’s what I was led to believe.” She looked toward the holodisplay where the oblong asteroid still floated.
“Give me a few minutes, and I’ll see if the rocks themselves have any clues. The area might simply have been chosen for its remoteness. Without directions, you’d never find a particular asteroid in this maze. Even with directions, you would have to take into account the orbit of the asteroids and the Yarkovsky effect, among other things.”
Alisa eyed the holodisplay again. Had Leonidas gotten the map from someone else, perhaps through trade—or force? Or had he figured it out for himself?
“The T-belt is known for containing asteroids rich in gold, platinum, cobalt, iron, nickel, osmium, and ahridium,” Yumi said, her nose to the sensor display. “I see nothing to contradict that so far. As for rare ore, I don’t know. Do you want to stop and take a core sample? I would be happy to examine it.”
“No stopping,” came Leonidas’s voice from the corridor. He walked into NavCom, still wearing his combat armor, and gave cool looks to Alisa and Yumi. “We’re almost there.”
Alisa thought about telling him that it was her ship, and she would stop to be a tourist—or a geologist—whenever she wished, but the truth was that even though she was curious about their destination, she did not want to delay out here. Those pirates could still be looking for them, and who knew what other nefarious entities were lurking out here? Besides, she could have Mica figure out a way to grab samples of the asteroid they landed on—or in—while Leonidas was exploring.