“I don’t think this is going to be a good week,” she muttered to herself.
Chapter 6
Jelena padded to the mess hall to fill her stallion mug and mix a drink to take to bed with her. It was late, and she sensed almost everyone else was already asleep, except for Austin, who was in engineering, serving as the night shift for the ship. A light also came from sickbay, and she went to check on it after grabbing a packet of Teravian dornberry to stir into her water.
Sensing Kiyoko and Masika inside, Jelena wondered if something had happened. Had Masika had an altercation with Brody and been injured?
She poked her head through the hatchway. “Hello?”
Masika stood with her hip against a counter, her arms crossed over her chest, while Kiyoko poked in a drawer. Masika frowned at her, and Jelena worried her concern might not be appreciated. Still, she was the captain. If something was happening to her crew, she needed to know about it.
“Everything all right?” she asked.
Masika didn’t appear hurt, and there weren’t any fresh bruises on her knuckles. Kiyoko wore her usual saffron robe, but she was barefoot with her long black hair down, as if she’d been pulled from her bunk.
“Fine,” Masika said.
“Hm.” Kiyoko rose, a bottle in her hand.
“Hm?” Jelena eyed it, but couldn’t read the label from the hatchway.
“Fine,” Masika said again, her tone making it clear she didn’t want to discuss whatever it was.
“You should let me have a blood sample first,” Kiyoko told Masika. “You haven’t let me do a physical on you, but you mentioned that you’ve undergone some unique surgeries and adjustments to your metabolism. I can test to see if you’ll react poorly to this.”
“I react fine. I’ve had Nepherin before.”
“As you wish.” Kiyoko handed her the bottle, though she didn’t look pleased about it.
“Nepherin?” Jelena asked. “That’s a sleep drug, isn’t it?”
“A powerful one, yes. Not without side effects.” Kiyoko frowned at Masika. “Perhaps I could recommend some more natural options? I noticed a pouch of gelatin in the mess hall cupboards. Gelatin is high in glycine, which can have a calming effect on the mind, lowering the stress hormone norepinephrine. In numerous studies, it’s been shown to improve sleep quality and sleep efficacy without causing daytime drowsiness or other side effects.”
Masika opened the bottle, dumped out two pills, and took them without water. “Can I keep this?”
Kiyoko’s expression grew bleak, but all she did was spread a hand toward Jelena. “It’s her sickbay.”
Jelena looked down into her mug and stirred the powder into the water while letting her senses trickle toward Masika. Unlike Thor, she didn’t like snooping into other people’s thoughts, but if Brody was harassing her, Jelena knew she had to do something. Even though Masika was strong enough to fight most men, a Starseer could complicate things, and her own past could complicate things further. How would she react if a man tried to force his attentions on her? Not well, surely.
The first thing she sensed from Masika was weariness. She hadn’t slept well these last few days, and that was at the top of her mind. She kept falling asleep, only to wake gasping a few minutes later, adrenaline surging through her veins. Thoughts of Brody leering out of the darkness and grabbing her were on her mind. It would take time for her body to calm down, but as soon as she fell asleep, the cycle would repeat, and she’d wake again.
“Captain?” Masika prompted.
“Yes, of course,” Jelena murmured. “We can get some more with our big treasure-hunting money.” She smiled, though it didn’t seem that helpful. But what could she do to help someone with dreams? Other than getting Brody off the ship? She sighed wistfully at that idea.
“I didn’t know the people who transported the treasure hunters earned big money,” Kiyoko remarked.
“Well, we’ve been paid for transporting them already. It’s always possible there will be opportunities to earn a few tindarks on the side.” Jelena thought about mentioning her experience with lemonade stands.
“Night,” Masika said gruffly.
“Night.” Jelena stepped aside as she strode out. “Have good sleep.”
Masika glowered back at her before stepping into her cabin.
“She’s had a rough past,” Jelena said, feeling the need to explain since Kiyoko’s lips were pursed with disapproval. But then again, it wasn’t her place to share Masika’s history, unless Masika chose to share it herself. Maybe she would once she knew Kiyoko better. Their new doctor should have a record on everyone.
“I know about rough pasts,” Kiyoko said.
Jelena winced. Of course. Kiyoko had lost her parents, and the horrors of war had to be on par with what Masika had experienced.
“And I’m certainly not opposed to the use of drugs when applicable,” Kiyoko added, “but it would be nice if she tried some therapy or at least lesser evils when it comes to drugs. Nepherin is addictive, can damage the liver, and even the less serious side effects include depleting serotonin and GABA. Some of the so-called happiness hormones.”
“If you’re saying Masika is going to be grumpy, that rocket already launched.”
Kiyoko snorted softly.
“Also, I’m not sure the gelatin in the back of that cupboard counts as a lesser evil. It’s probably been expired for years. It must have come with the ship, because I do the grocery orders, and I only get vegetarian products and vat-grown meat.” Jelena wrinkled her nose at the idea of gelatin. That came from skin and hooves and tails, didn’t it? Ew.
“Someone else may have purchased it. I noticed Austin using it to make gummy worms.”
“Oh, yeah. He inhales those. I’m not sure I’d call his mind calm, though.”
“No? He’s rather laid back compared to, say, Thor. Or even Erick.”
“Unless he’s on the tail of a ghost.”
Kiyoko closed the drawer and headed for the hatch. “What are you drinking?”
“Teravian dornberry-flavored water.” Jelena took a sip. “There are vitamins in it,” she added in case Kiyoko was one of those weird people who thought all drinks other than pure water were undesirable. Water was so… flavorless. “Want a packet?”
“I think I’ll just make some tea.”
“Have a good night, Doctor.”
Jelena walked back to her cabin, frowning at Masika’s closed hatch as she passed. She doubted she could be an effective therapist even if Masika ever decided to open up. Better to go finish this mission quickly and get Brody off the ship before he could turn into more than a bad dream.
• • • • •
Three days passed without trouble, but on the last night before the Snapper would arrive at the belt, Jelena was awakened from a sound sleep with a jolt that threw her against the bulkhead. She reached out with her senses as she scrambled out of bed and felt the startled confusion—and the fear—of those in the cabins around her.
We’re being attacked, Thor spoke into her mind, the words an island of calm amid the fear of the rest of the crew.
A wailing echoed from the ship’s speakers. The proximity alarm.
“That warning’s a little late,” Jelena grumbled, throwing open her hatch and running to NavCom without grabbing shoes or changing out of her pajamas.
She almost crashed into Thor, who was also heading for NavCom. He stepped back, letting her go first.
She flung herself inside, raising the shields and checking the sensors before sitting down. The asteroid field was about a half hour away, and they were already flying past a few outliers. Jelena’s earstar alarm would have awakened her in a few minutes anyway, but she would have much preferred to be roused by the dawn simulator and cheerful music than being hurled against a bulkhead.
Light flashed on one of the rear cameras as she spotted a ship on their sensors, a small dark fighter craft with an X-shaped wing configuration. It looked like it would only hold on
e or two people and was for short-range trips rather than interplanetary ventures. She immediately looked for the larger ship it must have been launched from. Instead, she spotted other small X-shaped craft veering out from behind asteroids. They’d been using them for cover, the hulking rocks hiding the ships from her sensors as well as the cameras. No wonder the Snapper’s proximity alarm hadn’t gone off until they were already being fired upon.
Blue streaks of energy lit up the dark of space as the lead X-craft—she had no idea what to call it, since she’d never seen the ships before—flew closer. Three of its allies joined in, chasing after the Snapper’s tail.
Jelena accelerated and took them through a series of evasive maneuvers that were starting to come naturally for her, now that she’d been in a few space battles. Still, she didn’t like their odds against four ships. No, damn it. There were another two. Six ships. And she still hadn’t spotted the mother ship she suspected must be out there.
She kept flying in the general direction of the asteroid belt, hoping they could find some cover in there, and maybe even a spot to hide, but she watched the sensors, expecting more trouble to come out and intercept her. These ships might simply be herding her toward that trouble. Though she didn’t know why.
She glanced at the comm, wondering if she’d somehow missed a message from one of them. If they believed she had a cargo and wanted to steal it, they shouldn’t be shooting so relentlessly at her. They should have given her an opportunity to surrender and be boarded. And if this was about Abelardus and the artifact hunt… well, it still would have been polite for the ships to contact her before trying to utterly destroy her.
They’re Starseer ships, Thor spoke into her mind. A very new model, an upgrade to their Darts. I’ve seen the specs of these before, but never the real thing.
Anything on those specs that’ll help us disable them? Jelena replied as someone clomped into NavCom behind them. Several someones. Abelardus, Brody, and Zhou. She glimpsed Erick and Austin running down the corridor in the other direction, toward engineering.
We’ll see. I’ll head up to the turret. Thor jogged out without waiting for her approval. Give me some angles to fire at them whenever you can.
If less had been going on, she might have bristled at him making presumptions about who she wanted to fire the star cannon and also about him giving orders, but she was too busy avoiding the six ships. They had all given chase with the first four trying to flank her as they raked the Snapper’s shields with blazer fire. Besides, how could she complain about initiative?
“Can we help?” Abelardus asked.
“Yeah, use your powers to convince those other Starseers to leave us alone.”
“Other Starseers?” Abelardus blinked, peering at the holodisplay showing the rear camera imagery.
“Are your powers not sufficient to the task, Captain?” Brody asked.
He didn’t appear surprised at all by the appearance of Starseer ships.
“My powers are busy trying to keep our butts from getting shaved by blazers,” Jelena growled. “If you can’t do anything helpful, get out of NavCom.”
Zhou flushed and backed through the hatchway. Jelena grimaced. She hadn’t meant he had to get out, but there wasn’t time to explain. And he probably didn’t know how to do anything in the co-pilot’s seat anyway.
She hit the comm button. “Erick, if Austin can handle things in engineering, I could use someone up here to fire the blazers.”
“He can handle it if nothing blows up,” Erick said.
“I’ll encourage the Snapper to avoid explosive situations.”
Jelena threw them into a roll as the ship curved around an asteroid, and some of their pursuers’ fire slammed into the pockmarked rock instead of hammering her shields. Good. For the moment, the Snapper was still at eighty percent shield power, since those X-craft didn’t seem to have any big weapons, but six ships with only blazers could still wear down the Snapper’s shields given time. And there was no space station or base to run to out here, so their enemies had all the time they needed unless her people could fight them off. But why were Starseers attacking them to start with?
She leaned over and hit the weapons controls in front of the co-pilot’s seat. Blazer fire streaked away from the rear of the Snapper as one of the X-craft rounded the asteroid behind them. The blasts should have struck it in the nose, but the pilot anticipated the attack and wheeled out of the way.
“Wonderful,” she muttered.
A soft thud reverberated through the ship, the star cannon firing. Its heavy blast was like a sun in comparison to the blazer bolts, and it slammed into the side of the X-craft. The ship’s shields absorbed the blow, but that had to have drained them significantly.
“That works, Thor,” she said. “Do it again.”
Demanding captain, he replied silently.
“I like my crew to be eager and willing to please,” she said, only realizing the words had come out aloud when Erick gave her a strange look as he pushed past Abelardus and Brody and slid into the co-pilot’s seat.
“I didn’t know being eager and pleasing was a requirement here.” He glanced at the sensor display, but didn’t hesitate long before firing the blazers. Three more ships were curving around the asteroid as the Snapper flew away from it.
“Yes, that’s why I so rarely drag out the whips and chains. I like my people to be happy.” Jelena decided to get them closer to the core of the asteroid belt but to parallel the field rather than charging straight in. She couldn't see a mother ship on the sensors yet, but still suspected one was hiding in there.
Erick fired a couple of times, not having much more luck than she had in hitting their agile pursuers. He paused with his hands on the control panel and closed his eyes.
“Thor said they’re Starseers,” Jelena said.
“I know. I’ve already felt someone inspecting us with a mental probe.”
“Rude to peek under our clothes without comming to say hello first.”
“I’ll see if I can dissuade them from further invasions of our privacy.”
Brody snorted. “You? Unlikely, boy.”
Abelardus slapped his colleague on the chest. “This is our only way into the belt and back home. You might want to help.”
“Yes, yes, working on it.”
Jelena bit her tongue, even though she would have preferred that those two “work on it” from their cabins.
She flew to another asteroid, again hugging it close as the Snapper banked around it. She was tempted to fly into a denser part of the field, where it would be harder for her pursuers to keep their sights on her. Had the Snapper gone far enough away from the original course to avoid the mother ship?
The X-craft closest to her, one doggedly firing at the Snapper’s backside, abruptly lurched sideways. The ship accelerated as its shields surprisingly dropped. It smashed into the asteroid in a brief explosion, what would have been spectacular flames in the atmosphere of a planet muted out here in space.
“Thank you,” Jelena said to whoever had successfully rid them of an enemy, suspecting it had been Erick.
“You’re welcome,” Brody said smugly.
I’m trying, but they’ve got good mental defenses, Erick told her telepathically. I haven’t been able to break through and manipulate anyone.
Keep trying. Jelena flew toward a hulking asteroid full of craters. She wondered if there were any tunnels that she could dart into—if her enemies didn’t see her enter, they might fly past before realizing where the Snapper had gone. Many of these asteroids had been mined, so there could be all manner of passages inside. Of course, she might also get herself trapped in a space too tight for maneuvering. Better to keep shooting and let her comrades fight with their mental powers. She glanced at the shield power. Sixty-three percent. She wasn’t desperate yet.
Make sure you keep your personal defenses up. Erick’s words startled her.
Jelena wasn’t used to battling other Starseers. She should have thou
ght of that, that they would—
Something intangible seemed to grip her skull, pressing against her brain from within.
Her heartbeat jolted into triple-time, and she hastily erected a barrier around her mind. She could feel the presence of someone, an older woman with a determined aura.
Of its own accord, Jelena’s hand jerked toward the switch for the shields.
Cursing, she yanked it back, pulling it into her chest. She threw all her effort into walling off her thoughts, her mind. So much so that she almost forgot about flying.
“Jelena?” Erick’s concerned voice sounded so distant.
The huge asteroid lay ahead of them, its lumpy brownish-gray growing larger on the view screen. Jelena had to turn them now, or they would splat into it as spectacularly as that X-craft had. But she couldn’t move her hands. She couldn’t move anything. Some invisible grip held her in a cocoon of power.
Your mission is not sanctioned by the Starseer government, the woman spoke into her mind, the voice cold and stern. You will halt your ship, and hand over the map and the archaeologist, or we will crush it.
The Snapper shuddered as weapons fire lit up the rear shields. The five remaining ships had keyed into the fact that Jelena wasn’t maneuvering now, that she was flying straight. An easy target.
The shield power percentage dropped drastically.
Jelena marshaled her inner strength and tried to push the woman away again. For a second, the grip loosened, the woman’s presence growing farther away. But doubt crept into Jelena’s soul and distracted her. This wasn’t some pirate or treasure-hunting competitor attacking her. That woman sounded like a representative of the Starseer government, of the community she’d been hoping to be invited into. How had she ended up working at cross-purposes to them?