She looked up, fearing breaking beams as much as bombs. Broken bits of the ceiling were hanging overhead, but they lay on an invisible shelf. Thor had created a barrier across the entire warehouse, protecting everyone inside from falling debris.
“Your appearance is timely,” Jelena observed, checking the air above the building. The bomber was gone, at least for now.
It’s permanently gone, Thor said coolly.
His eyes narrowed, and soldiers gasped as all the debris hanging over them was hurled into a corner of the building.
“Got it,” Erick yelled, and something clunked on. The generator.
A soft hum filled the remains of the building. Jelena couldn’t see the forcefield turn on, but she trusted that it had. She hoped all the planes were on the other side of it.
Not all. Thor shared an image with her, of one crashing into it as the forcefield turned on, blocking its way.
The plane might as well have hit a wall. It was knocked back, and the pilot couldn’t regain control of the craft before it crashed into the top of a building.
“Given what he was here to do, I guess I can’t feel too bad for that pilot,” Jelena said, but she wouldn’t have minded if Thor had kept the vision to himself.
“A couple of the others made it out,” Thor said. “I believe… Yes, they’re flying back across the ocean, no doubt to report that the forcefield has been reengaged.”
“Good.” Jelena looked toward Erick in time to see him take a great leap with his toolbox under his arm. His jump took him over many of the mines that she’d marked with wires. Hakim and the soldiers had drenched them, the ground visibly damp in spots, but Erick wasn’t going to take chances.
Elsewhere, spots Jelena had marked had been buried by the falling ceiling—a great deal of it had come down before Thor ran in to help. She guessed at least ten mines would have detonated if they hadn’t been nullified first. Having two go off had been devastating enough. Relieved that more hadn’t, Jelena leaned down and rubbed the hound’s ears.
“A mate for Alfie?” Thor asked.
“That wasn’t my plan.” Jelena didn’t know how wise it was to collect dogs the way she’d been collecting cats back on the Nomad, cats that hadn’t shown much interest in moving to the Snapper. When she’d suggested it to them, they’d merely yawned and twitched their tails a bit. Of course, they had been lounging in Leonidas’s lap at the time, quite contentedly. “There’s a limit to how many dogs that faux grass potty area we made can accommodate.”
“We?” Erick asked, joining them. “I believe I got roped into making that.”
“I picked out the grass.”
“A Herculean effort, no doubt.”
“I taught Alfie how to use it.” Jelena gave him a challenging look, wagering that might have taken him more time. “Did you know she was thinking of using your cabin when she first came aboard?”
A horrified expression blossomed on Erick’s face. “My cabin? Why mine?”
“If I had to guess, I’d say all the clothing on the deck made it seem like a leaf-strewn forest floor to her.”
“Leaf-strewn? Jelena Marchenko, are you lying to me?”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.” Jelena stopped speaking because Hakim was walking up to them. She probably thought the conversation an odd one for a group of heroic Starseers to have.
Heroic? Thor murmured into her mind.
You don’t think we were heroic?
Ostberg did come through in the nick of time. You talked a dog into smelling dirt.
Into smelling explosive dirt. That was massively heroic. He risked his life out there.
Yes, and what did you do?
I stuck little wires into the dirt.
Hm.
I feel like if I punched you right now, you’d deserve it.
I suspect I usually do.
“Thank you,” Hakim said, bowing to Erick, then also to Jelena and Thor, though she probably had little idea what Thor had been doing out there, that he’d single-handedly eliminated the threat of all those mercenaries.
Single-handedly and heroically, he pointed out.
You definitely deserve a punch. Jelena smiled and told Hakim, “You’re welcome,” while Erick tried to figure out how to return the bow without dropping his toolbox. “Would you do me a favor, War Leader?” Jelena pointed at the hound, where Hoshi had taken over rubbing his ears. “Make sure he gets a good home? He’s a smart boy, and he definitely helped us.”
“I saw.” Hakim nodded. “I’ll find someone who can take care of him.”
“Good. Thank you.”
“I told you they’d save us, War Leader Hakim,” Hoshi said, beaming a smile at Thor and Jelena. “And stop the war!”
“We haven’t done that yet,” Jelena said. “But I have a plan.”
Thor, who must know exactly what her plan was by now, wore a dubious expression. He deserved more than one punch, Jelena decided. And she was still plotting how best to sneak into his cabin and glue glitter to his shoes. Maybe to the hilt of his sword too. She could find blue glitter to match the blade when it glowed.
I’m going to have to plant booby traps, he told her.
I’ll train Alfie to sniff them out.
You are definitely a woman with nefarious intent.
Just like your tutors warned you about, eh?
They neglected to mention the glitter menace.
How shortsighted.
Yes.
Chapter 17
Back on the Snapper, Jelena stood next to Thor in the corridor outside the mess hall. Alfie sat on the deck between them and flapped her tail whenever they made eye contact. They were waiting for Hakim and Dr. Ogiwara to finish creating a concoction in sickbay. The mining corporation man and the three Alliance representatives were sitting around the table in the mess hall with Masika standing guard by the door.
The Snapper had taken off twenty minutes earlier. Once it had reached a cruising altitude, Jelena had programmed the autopilot to take them to the Opuntian capital, setting a leisurely pace. She’d also commed War Minister Sorel to let him know they were coming and that they had the prisoners. Sorel had been suspicious and had demanded to see footage. Rumors about the way Jelena’s team had helped the Chollans must have made it home, or maybe the Opuntians had suspected her team of being untrustworthy from the beginning. So unfair.
“I see you’re extremely nervous about whether this is going to work or not,” Jelena said, peering at Thor’s holodisplay.
He was leaning against the bulkhead, his netdisc in one hand as he pushed floating puzzle pieces around with the other. Maybe he ought to let Erick help him make a character in that gaming world, after all. The puzzles didn’t seem all that scintillating.
“I like them,” he said, responding to her thoughts instead of her comment. “They don’t take up much time, they’re easy to work on while you’re waiting for something—” he tilted his head toward the closed mess hall hatch, “—and everything has a place and fits precisely into its place so that the pieces combine to make the picture you’re expecting. It’s…”
“Comforting?” she suggested when he didn’t finish. “Soothing?”
“Let’s just say that I wish I could do the same thing with my own life,” he said dryly.
Jelena thought that might be the first hint he’d given that he didn’t know how he would achieve his goals. If his father had asked him to reestablish the empire—and she was only guessing that because he’d never shared what his father’s last words had been—that was no simple, easily defined task. Was he to remake the exact empire that had existed? How could that be possible? Or was he supposed to create a new one? Were there any scenarios that didn’t involve a huge war with the Alliance and everyone else out there who would object to a new empire?
“Are you not certain what your own picture is supposed to be?” she asked.
“Not exactly, no.”
She thought that was all he would say, but then he groped in the air abov
e the holodisplay, not reaching for the puzzle but for something less tangible. “I more or less know what’s expected, but the picture is vague, and the pieces are blurry. It’s hard to know which ones I need to acquire and how to combine the ones I’m able to get to complete the puzzle.”
“Maybe you need to bring that picture into focus first before you start sliding pieces around. Then the puzzle will be easier to assemble.”
He grunted neutrally. Or maybe dismissively.
Right, she wouldn’t understand. She wasn’t an emperor’s heir.
“Is your picture in focus?” Thor asked, raising an eyebrow in a challenge. “Or have you even decided on one?”
Er, hers was on the vague side, too, wasn’t it? How could one delineate a picture of something abstract? She wanted to find honor and belonging among the Starseer community. She wanted to use her powers to make a difference. She wanted to pay back her parents and earn their respect. She wanted to be a strong, capable woman who decided her own fate. What would those things look like in a picture?
“I’m still figuring it out,” she said honestly—it wasn’t as if there was a point to being anything except honest with him. “But I’m certain there’s a horse in the picture. And a dog.” She looked down at Alfie, who promptly flapped her tail.
“Well, you’ve got some of the pieces already in then. Though I’m not sure where you’ll put a horse on the Snapper.”
“Is that a challenge? Because I’m positive stables would fit in the cargo hold. It would just be a matter of getting the horse sufficient exercise. Do you think there’s such a thing as horse treadmills?”
He snorted and shook his head, sliding a couple more pieces around on the holodisplay.
The sickbay hatch opened at the other end of the corridor, and voices drifted out.
“Maybe you’ll find your puzzle easier to assemble if you make the picture simpler,” Jelena said quietly.
“I don’t think it’s possible for my future to be simple,” Thor said. “Too many people, living and dead, have had a hand in shaping it, and they all want… much.”
“Your hand is the one that matters. What you want matters.”
Did he even want the destiny he was seeking? Or was he on this life’s mission because he felt obligated to his father and the others who’d raised him?
Thor shook his head again. Dismissal.
Jelena wanted to protest further, but Hakim and Ogiwara walked out of sickbay.
“I’ll leave this to you and check on the rest of my patients,” Ogiwara said, veering toward the cargo hold when they reached the intersection.
“Kiyoko!” came Hoshi’s voice from somewhere ahead of the doctor.
“I don’t think she knows her sister has Starseer talents,” Thor murmured.
“She does?” Jelena nearly fell over. “Hoshi?”
“You didn’t notice her knack for sensing things?”
“I wasn’t paying much attention, but I suppose I can see it, now that you mention it.”
“Hoshi?” Hakim asked, joining them. She carried four vials of what appeared to be water in her hand. “A Starseer?”
“She would need training,” Thor said. “If she was to develop her skills fully. She should have it, regardless. It can be dangerous for a person to have some wild talent without learning any control.”
Jelena looked at him but kept her mouth shut on the thought that came to mind, that he was quite dangerous with control.
“I don’t know where she would go for that on Cholla,” Hakim said. “I’m not aware of any Starseer communities anywhere on Fourseas.”
“My grandpa trains people,” Jelena said, though she didn’t know how he would feel about being volunteered to teach someone who wasn’t a family member or close friend of the family. He’d taken on Erick, but that had been ten years ago. Would he be interested in training another little girl? A process that would take years and years? Erick and Jelena were still receiving training via their sys-net communications with Grandpa. But Hoshi was about the age of Jelena’s twin sisters, so she would have playmates if she went to live on the Nomad.
Maybe it was moot. Would Hoshi’s family be willing to let her go off with strangers?
“I thought we were going to negotiate for the doctor, not her little sister,” Thor said, smiling.
“Dr. Ogiwara?” Hakim blinked.
“Uhm.” Jelena met her eyes but struggled to hold the contact. She wanted to get something out of this, especially since the ship would probably need a few new parts after taking damage in that battle, but now that the moment had come to ask for some reward for their help, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She had her family and friends and the Snapper—what was a little debt compared to all these people had suffered? How many colleagues and friends had Hakim lost? Could anyone in that city have avoided losing family? “That was just a joke,” Jelena heard herself saying. “We’ve been hoping to recruit a doctor for our ship, but I’m sure your people need her services more than we do.”
“Yes, she’s been a great asset to us. The last decade has been hard for our nation, and not many young people who’ve been able to find passage off the planet have returned. Kiyoko got some of the best galactic training out there, and she could have found employment on any of the core planets, and taken Hoshi off-world for an education and a better life. But she knew Cholla needed her, and she came back.”
“I understand.” Jelena avoided looking at Thor in case he was judging her for not being mercenary enough. Instead, she pointed at the vials. “Let’s go chat with our friends. Thor, we may need some scary Starseer intimidation in there. Are you ready to be the source of that?”
“Always.”
“Do you think you should put away your game first?” She nodded to the holodisplay still hovering over his netdisc, having some inkling that puzzle players didn’t come across as scary.
He slid the netdisc into his pocket, unhooked his sword, and flicked his wrist to telescope the blade out. “Better?”
“Much. War Leader? I’ll take those.” Jelena pointed at the vials again.
Hakim hesitated, a slightly belligerent expression crossing her weary face, as if she wanted to stomp in there and do the deed herself.
“Let me be the neutral third party.” Jelena held out her hand.
“Are you?” Hakim laid the vials on her palm. “Neutral?”
Jelena sighed. “If I was smart, I would be. And I would have fulfilled my original mission and nothing more. My family is going to… Well, I never imagined I’d be someone who’d get herself into trouble with the Alliance.” Twice in one month, she added to herself, thinking of the space base on Upsilon Seven.
“You’ll have a place here if you ever need it.”
Jelena forced herself to smile, but she would feel as if she were being punished by the gods if she had to live in Cholla, hiding in tunnels like a rat or being baked by the suns in that barren desert.
Hakim must have seen through her smile, because she returned a wry smirk. “You haven’t had the arigato cactus yet. It’s worth staying for.”
“Oh? Is that why Dr. Ogiwara came back?”
“Her parents died in the opening salvos of the war. She originally came back to arrange their funeral and take custody of her little sister. I still marvel that she stayed.”
“Oh.” What else could Jelena say? These people had no happy stories, of that, she was certain.
Maybe she could change that. She pushed open the hatch and walked into the small mess hall. The woman and the three men turned wary looks toward her. Masika eyed the vials, but didn’t ask anything. She continued to stand by the door, her hand on the blazer pistol in her holster.
“Good evening,” Jelena told her guests, glancing toward the dark porthole.
Their gazes shifted to Thor as he walked in, their expressions growing even warier. They barely seemed to notice Hakim, even though she surely had more reason to treat them badly than Jelena or Thor did.
 
; “My Starseer comrade and I,” Jelena said, nodding to Thor and making certain these people had no doubt as to what they were, “listened in as you spoke to War Leader Hakim in the water plant. You all seemed to believe that her people were being unreasonable and that there was no reason for them to fight to defend their land from miners wanting to set up camp on their shores.”
“That’s right,” Powell said, standing up. “But I don’t recall talking about all that during that discussion. What lies has she been telling you?”
“There are no lies when you’re dealing with Starseers,” Thor said, his tone quiet but cool. He must have been enhancing his words or his presence, because he seemed to emanate a dangerous chill. It left even Jelena wanting to step away from him. “Yes, Malcolm Andrew Powell. I can read your thoughts.”
Powell licked his lips. “Someone gave you my—”
“Let us not waste time,” Thor interrupted, and Powell stumbled away from the table, his back slamming into the hull next to the porthole. Thor hadn’t moved, but it was as if he’d punched the man. “If you’ve never picked up a book on Starseers, that’s your handicap. Don’t let it hinder our discussion. Our time is brief.”
Jelena tapped the side of her nose and frowned at Thorian. I told you to be intimidating, not be an asshole.
It’s hard when dealing with Alliance warts. Thor didn’t look at Jelena when he replied to her. His hard gaze remained on Powell, who hadn’t tried to move away from the hull.
She suspected they were having a mental chat. She turned her attention to the other three people. The mining executive sneered belligerently and looked like he wanted to speak. Maybe Thor could bully him next.
“As I was saying,” Jelena said, “it sounds like you all believe there was no reason for the Chollans to turn down the original offer, to accept miners coming to their continent.”
“No reason whatsoever,” the woman said.
“Even though the mining industry has been known throughout history for leaving environmental waste, some of it toxic to humans, as a byproduct of their excavations.” Jelena didn’t know if that was true, but thought it seemed likely, given the stories her parents’ old engineer Mica had shared about growing up in a mining colony.