“The paint is just as ugly in here, isn’t it?” she asked.
“Uh, it’s the same all over the ship, I think,” Jelena said. “We haven’t had time to decorate.”
“Consider yourself fortunate,” Erick said. “Jelena’s cabin back home is covered from floor to ceiling with pictures of ponies.”
“Better than decorating with dirty laundry,” Jelena shot back.
“Her mom kept waiting for her to grow up and show an interest in boys—normal teenage girls put pictures of boys on their walls, I understand. Her only concession to puberty was to add a picture of a boy on a pony.”
“Gerard Jacquet is a famous forceball player, not a boy. And he’s on a stallion in that picture.”
“What girl wouldn’t dream of those things together?”
“Exactly.”
“You two are siblings?” the woman asked, her eyes narrowed again as she watched the exchange.
“Not by blood,” Jelena said. “But more or less.”
“It was either that or an old, married couple. Given that you’re still in diapers, that seemed unlikely.”
“Diapers.” Erick stood up, almost clunking his head on the ceiling. “I’m twenty-four.”
“Extremely venerable,” the woman said.
“How old are you?” Jelena asked. She hadn’t thought the woman was much older than Erick.
The woman hesitated, as if answering the question would be giving up some top-secret intel. Finally, she shrugged and said, “Twenty-nine.”
“I’m surprised you don’t need a cane,” Erick grumbled, sitting down now that he had made the point that he was taller than she.
“We’re definitely not a married couple,” Jelena said before he could further insult the woman she was trying to hire. “In fact, Erick is available if you’re interested.”
Erick managed to make a gagging sound and send her a betrayed look at the same time.
“Wonderful,” the woman said, her tone almost as dry as Leonidas’s when he got dry. Maybe something about cyborg surgery turned people sarcastic. Or maybe it just took that kind of person to want cyborg surgery.
“Jelena is also available,” Erick said. “But her step-dad is a cyborg. That dissuades some suitors.”
The woman’s eyebrows rose again, and Jelena thought she might ask for more information. About Leonidas, not about her availability. But all the woman said was, “I’ll consider your offer.”
Then she walked out.
“She meant my offer of employment, right?” Jelena whispered. “Because I’m not as into her bare wrists as you are.”
“Just get us down there so we can drop off monkeys, find the doctor, find Thorian, and get to Arkadius where we belong.”
“Yes, my chief engineer.”
“I’m your mom’s chief engineer.”
“What are you to me?”
“I used to be the babysitter. I probably still should be.”
His heckling dwindled as Jelena flew them into the moon’s atmosphere. Unlike Alpha 17, it had a gravity similar to that of Perun and Arkadius, the most populated planets in the system. As they flew onto the daylight side of the moon, soaring over the lush green forests and glittering blue lakes, Jelena found it surprising that it hadn’t been colonized by anyone but itinerant workers.
“Why doesn’t anyone live here, Erick?” she asked, too busy flying to look up the moon for herself. They were encountering some turbulence. She should have orbited for longer and come in more directly.
“Uh.” He muttered a couple of commands to his netdisc and skimmed a readout. “There are a lot of scary predators, but mostly, it looks like the first groups of colonists got killed off by some brutal parasites and infectious diseases. Some vaccines have been developed for the diseases. The parasites, hm. Don’t drink the water while we’re here. Or eat the food. Or get a cut.”
“Sounds like a lovely place for a Starseer training facility.” Jelena tapped the sensors, trying to get more information about the area around the coordinates. Now that they were close, she could see that it was more open than she’d thought with several big gaps in the trees.
“One you want to keep secret, I imagine so.”
As Jelena flew closer, she realized those gaps were very irregular and appeared to have been made recently. Dark gray smoke wafted from one spot.
She guided the Snapper over the area for a better look, then sucked in a startled breath as she spotted a wrecked ship in a small clearing surrounded by downed trees. Those trees looked like they’d been downed by blazer fire, not an axe or robo-logger. The ship itself, one of the new Alliance Striker-21s, had smashed into one of the thicker logs, and its entire front end was crumpled in, including the cockpit. Jelena doubted the pilot had survived.
“Huh,” Erick said, gazing at the view screen.
“Not what I was expecting from a secret base, either.” Jelena pointed as she spotted another crashed Alliance fighter among more downed trees. The ejector seat had been fired on this one, the cockpit blown open, but she didn’t see anyone walking around. “Looks like this happened a day or two ago.”
A one-story rectangular building stood at the edge of the combat zone, moss and grass growing from its living roof, vines twining along the sides. A satellite dish perched on one end, the only thing suggesting it had modern amenities and access to the rest of the system. If not for the downed trees, Jelena never would have spotted the building while flying by from above. A third Striker had smashed into one end of the structure, and rubble lay all around it. Smoke still wafted from its thruster housings.
Jelena did not see any non-Alliance ships crashed on the battlefield. If this had truly been a small training facility, and nothing more, the Starseers living there might not have had ships of their own. A shuttle could have brought in supplies now and then.
“I guess this place wasn’t a secret from the Alliance, after all,” Erick said. “If Thorian was here . . . they may have already gotten him.”
“I don’t know. It looks like the Alliance lost the battle.”
“I don’t sense anyone inside there.” Erick waved at the structure.
The sensors didn’t show any energy readings coming from the building. Had it been abandoned? Or what if everyone inside had been killed?
“They could have shielded it,” Jelena said. “Both from Starseers and from anyone flying by in a ship.”
“These people found it.” He pointed at one of the wrecked ships.
“And regretted that, I wager. See any place we can land that won’t involve balancing across two logs?”
“If you prefer three logs, there’s a spot.”
“Funny.”
Jelena flew over the structure, looking with her eyes for signs of life. There weren’t any. Unease settled in the pit of her stomach, along with the fear that they were too late. “I could try landing on the roof.”
The big freighter might fit. Mostly.
“I wouldn’t. The whole roof could crumble under your weight.”
“Didn’t your father ever teach you that it’s not nice to comment on a woman’s weight?”
“No, but I haven’t seen him much since I started my Starseer training. Tommy was the one who chatted about women with me when I was a teenager,” he said, naming the man Jelena had called “Uncle Tommy” growing up. He’d been the Nomad’s security officer and chef for years before finally making it big with his line of barbecue sauces. He and his wife had settled on Arkadius, and he catered for some important people now. Maybe he would have been a good person to comm for information on government happenings. “His advice leaned toward culinary techniques to make a woman happy,” Erick added.
“I wouldn’t mind having a cook on this ship,” Jelena said, deciding to find a less tenuous landing spot. “I miss Uncle Tommy’s offerings.”
“We all do. Leonidas and your mom are . . . good business owners.”
“Who have zero interest in cooking unless sweets are involved, I know.
At least they can afford decent quick-meals these days.”
“We should have brought more of those along. They’re disappearing at an alarming rate now that we have a third person on board.”
“Since we essentially kidnapped her, I don’t think we can complain that she’s eating while she’s here.”
“You kidnapped her.”
“You flew down and got her.”
“Because you ordered me to. Actually, since you’re not officially in charge, it was more begging and pleading.”
“That’s cute.” Jelena flew toward a spot on the edge of what she was thinking of as the combat zone. Hoping the ground was solid, she gingerly set them down in a flat, muddy area between a pond and a few logs.
“What is?” Erick asked warily.
“That you think I’m not in charge.”
Mom had named her the captain, after all. Of course, Leonidas had also told Erick to watch out for her and that he had the power to veto her decisions if necessary.
The landing legs sank into the mud a couple of inches, and Jelena held her breath. But the ground did not give further. In the center of the view screen, the remains of a warped piece of hull stuck up out of the pond like a charred metal flag.
“I’ll ready the thrust bikes,” Erick said, standing up.
“We’re only a half mile from the building. I bet we can make the epic journey on foot.” Jelena powered down the freighter and locked the console, just in case their passenger turned out to be a pilot—or to not be a pilot—and tried to take off while they were gone.
“It’s muddy out there. Planets and moons are so messy.”
“So is your cabin, but that doesn’t keep you from venturing in on foot. You—” Jelena broke off with a startled squawk when something large flew past the view screen. It blurred by so fast, she couldn’t tell if it was a ship, a bird, or a leaping animal. “What was that?”
“Another reason not to go on foot.”
“That looked more like a reason not to go without combat armor.”
Jelena brought up the sensor display, scanning for life forms. The forest was full of them, animals, birds, and reptiles of all sizes. Some of those sizes were quite substantial. Most of the creatures were under the forest canopy, not out here on the battlefield, but a pack of animals—something akin to wolves?—was circling the area. She wasn’t sure what had leaped or flown past the view screen. A couple of the bigger animals were near one of the wrecks. They appeared to have greater mass than humans.
“Unfortunately, my salary isn’t large enough to encourage me to go shopping for combat armor,” Erick said. “Also, engineers aren’t supposed to need it. Engineers stay in engineering, puttering with machines and not going out on messy moons.”
“And pilots are supposed to stay in NavCom, but since there are only two of us on the ship, we have to do double duty.” Jelena headed for the hatchway.
“We could send out the cyborg.”
“She hasn’t accepted my scintillating job offer yet.”
“I was thinking more as bait than as an employee.”
Jelena headed for her cabin to grab a blazer pistol as well as her staff. “Superheroes aren’t supposed to hide behind other people. I’m going to confiscate your cape.”
“You mean my sheet? Darn.”
Despite his grousing, Erick also grabbed his staff and a pistol. They found the cyborg woman in the cargo hold, petting a couple of the dogs. Most of them were being quite frisky. Maybe they knew they were on solid ground and wanted to go out to explore. Unfortunately, this didn’t look like a good place for exploratory romps.
Erick trotted to the back of the hold and unclasped the two thrust bikes from their stands. Jelena checked the exterior camera display next to the rear cargo hatch. She didn’t see any of the large animals poised to charge the ship. If they had been drawn to the area because of post-battle carnage—a grisly thought, that—then they should go for the easier meat rather than attacking people.
“Sounds like a reasonable argument,” she muttered to herself.
“Where are you going, pilot?” the cyborg asked, walking up behind her.
“Jelena,” Jelena corrected. “And your name is?”
“None of your business.”
“Then where we’re going is none of your business, but if you’d keep an eye on the animals while we’re gone, I’d appreciate it.”
Erick flew over on his bike, leading Jelena’s behind him. Ignoring the cyborg’s glower, Jelena checked for predators one more time, then opened the hatch. This was the larger exit opposite the airlock hatch, and a ramp extended downward and settled in the mud.
A clang sounded above them.
“Animal up there,” Erick said.
“What kind of animal?” the cyborg asked. “That’s thirty feet up.”
Jelena reached out to get a sense of it and found a shaggy, two-legged, fanged creature crouching up there. It was larger than a person, and when she brushed its mind, she founds its thoughts surprisingly disorganized and chaotic. It seemed afraid but belligerent as well, and she glimpsed images of it planning to attack them by leaping down.
She tried to soothe it, to share the idea that they were friends, or at least not an appropriate dinner. Usually, animals listened to her suggestions, but this one only grew more belligerent, and something between a roar and a howl floated down from the roof.
“That’s problematic,” Jelena said.
“What?” Erick asked.
“It doesn’t seem to like me.”
His eyebrows rose. “I thought all animals liked you. Once you manipulate them into doing so.”
The cyborg frowned in confusion.
“This one has a strange mind, almost as if—”
The roar came again, louder this time. The dark, shaggy shape dropped onto the ramp with a thud and whirled toward them. It loomed ten feet tall, with great muscled thighs under its shaggy fur, those thighs bunching to spring. The monkeys in the hold hooted in alarm, and dog barks echoed off the bulkheads.
Keeping her gaze on the creature, Jelena lifted her staff, but Erick reacted first. A wave of energy struck it in the chest as it leaped toward them, its long fangs bared. It was hurled backward, landing hard at the bottom of the ramp. It roared and jumped to its feet again, raising its furry arms in anger, sharp, black claws catching the sunlight. It raced up the ramp, and Erick flung another wave of energy at it. This time, the animal proved smart and dropped to the ramp, claws gripping the sides as handholds. Erick’s power battered it, but it wasn’t hurled backward.
Jelena kept her staff ready, but she focused on the creature’s mind instead of attacking. Flee! she commanded it, sharing images of a wildfire roaring through the trees and catching and engulfing the animal.
Instead of fear and compliance, she got frenzied anger. The shaggy animal sprang to its feet again and leaped straight toward her.
Jelena, startled that her mental compulsion had done nothing, was slow to get her staff up. The cyborg snatched the blazer pistol from her holster and fired.
The blast took the creature between the eyes, but its momentum brought it toward them, claws still slashing. Jelena leaped to the side as the animal barreled through the air at her. She was fast, but not fast enough, and one of those shaggy arms clipped her shoulder, spinning her away.
She crashed into the bulkhead, but managed to keep her feet underneath her. This time, she didn’t hesitate to raise her staff and use it to channel power at the creature. Like a typhoon, a wave of power swept through the hold, ruffling her hair as it struck their furry attacker, knocking it not only to the end of the ramp but twenty feet out into the clearing. It slammed against a log and dropped to the ground, not moving.
Belatedly, she decided that much power hadn’t been necessary. The cyborg’s attack should have killed it. Jelena had reacted with fear and frustration. Why had the animal forced her to do that? Why had it been so impossible to get through to it, to warn it to leave them alone?
/>
Erick cleared his throat, and Jelena wrenched her gaze from the fallen creature.
The cyborg still had Jelena’s pistol, and she was eyeing Erick, who was eyeing her back, his staff pointed toward her. She wasn’t pointing the weapon at him, but she had a good grip on it, the barrel toward the deck. Given how quickly and accurately she’d shot the creature, she might think she could take him out before he could bring his mind powers to bear. She might be right.
Jelena took a step toward her, lifting a hand. “Thanks for the help. I’ll take that back now, if you don’t mind. I might need it out there. Apparently, this landing spot hasn’t been approved by local space traffic control.”
The cyborg pinned her with her gaze, not looking like she wanted to return the weapon. But then she flipped it in her hand and tossed it butt-first toward Jelena.
“Masika,” she said.
Jelena caught the pistol and returned it to her holster. “Is that your name?”
“Masika Ghazali. If you’re going to hire me, temporarily, to watch your asses, you might need to know. For your accounting. Do thieves do accounting?”
“Freighter operators do.” Jelena looked at Erick and silently asked, Are you manipulating her? Or did she return the blazer of her own volition?
I didn’t do anything.
Huh.
“We’re not thieves,” Jelena added.
“Oh, right. You’re liberators. We can discuss how much my salary should be when you get done roaming out there. I’ll watch the ship.” She—Masika—waved toward the animals. The monkeys were still hooting, eyeing the fallen creature outside as if wondering if it had been some distant relative. If so, it had been a crazy relative.
“Sounds good,” Jelena said.
She started toward her bike but decided to toss the pistol back to Masika before hopping on. Jelena doubted she could use it on an animal, even a crazy one. Her staff would be enough.
“In case any more predators show up,” Jelena said.
“I was planning on shutting the hatch,” Masika said dryly.
“Just as long as you open it back up when we’re ready to board,” Erick said.
Masika squinted at him. “Somehow, I don’t think you two would have trouble opening hatches, whether they were locked or not. What are you? Starseers?”