Thor? Jelena was too busy flying to look back this time. Is there any chance you can make the person Masika is talking to more . . . acquiescent?
I can do that or stop these ships. And I can only guarantee the ships. It’s almost impossible to affect someone over a comm.
He should be on Sunset Island. Can’t you find the island and reach him in the usual way? There shouldn’t be that many people floating around on it.
That island is on the other side of the planet from where we are now.
Is that far for you? Huh. Guess I’m expecting too much of you.
Jelena did not look back, but imagined she could feel his flat look upon her.
Deal with the ships, please, she added, glancing at the shield integrity again. She funneled more power into the rear shields, since their attackers were focusing on her backside. Typical.
I can tell you he’s not in charge of anything important, unless being one of the senior staff for the homeowners counts. I think he’s the sommelier.
The what?
The wine steward. He’s thinking about that now because he was in the middle of making space in the cellars for a shipment coming in later.
How can a castle hovering in the clouds have cellars?
“You’re on a ship known to have thieves and troublemakers aboard,” the man—the sommelier—said. Faint clinks sounded behind him somewhere. Jelena imagined the Vogels sitting at some dining room table just out of view of the camera and relaying messages while sipping offerings from a flight of wine. “You will surrender to those pursuing you, or the company, deeming that ship a threat, will order that it be destroyed.”
“This ship is owned by Alliance citizens, not rogue thieves,” Masika said. “It would be a crime to destroy it and them, especially in Alliance space. If you’ll let me come turn myself in, I’ll happily explain it all. They’re not to blame for my mistakes.” Masika sounded sincere, and Jelena wanted to object, but she kept her mouth shut, knowing the man would hear her.
Ostberg is working on our pursuers, Thor told her silently. I believe I can influence him now if you wish.
That was good, but if the sommelier’s bosses were nearby, he wasn’t going to be able to amble out and lower the forcefield.
An idea popped into Jelena’s mind. Wait—both of you. Thor, can you tell where his expected shipment is coming from and when?
Another round of blazer fire hammered the shields.
Jelena? That was Erick. I can disable them, but we need to act soon if we don’t want a lot of damage to repair. Or worse. I know I don’t want that.
“Then surrender yourself now,” the man said after a long look to the side. Someone was definitely instructing him. “Halt that ship you’re on and have the captain lower the shields.”
“Sure,” Jelena muttered, closing the comm, “that’s going to happen.” Silently, she said, Give Thor a minute, Erick.
He’s expecting the shipment in approximately five hours, coming in a shuttle from Hierarchy Cellars, which is based on the mainland, about a hundred miles from their current location.
Excellent. Thank you, Thor.
The freighter lurched, throwing Jelena against her harness. An audible alarm wailed, and several lights flashed on the panel. Their pursuers had unloaded the e-cannons.
Jelena? Erick prompted her, his exasperation coming through the silent link.
I need you and Thor to work together on something. Jelena banked, wobbling the ship erratically and descending toward the planet. They had been up near the pole, so she angled her descent to take the Snapper toward the equator, closer to the castle. Or, more specifically, closer to that wine place. We need to make it look like we’re crashing, without actually crashing, preferably without doing any damage at all.
How do you want us to do that? Erick demanded.
Androids won’t be fooled by mind illusions, Thor said.
Our shields could protect us if we crashed into the ocean and disappeared. Jelena imagined the Snapper plunging into the water, staying submerged for long enough for the ships to assume they’d been destroyed and forget about them, and then coming up and flying off. If our enemies believe we’re all dead, they won’t continue to hunt for us, she added, starting to like the idea. And if Erick and his toolbox can come up with an idea to muffle or interfere with the transmission of Masika’s tracking device until we can have a doctor remove it, then she’ll appear to be dead too.
Just one problem with your scenario, Thor said.
Just one? Erick managed to sound impressively incredulous via the telepathic link.
We can’t disappear into the ocean. The ship is full of air—it’ll float. Even if we strike with significant velocity, we’ll pop back up again. Our pursuers will see that we’re not truly damaged. They’ll probably be able to read the energy signature from our raised shields too.
“Marchenko, what are you doing?” Masika, not privy to any of the telepathic communication, gripped the console with both hands.
Jelena had added an uneven roll to their descent, hoping to convince their pursuers they were damaged, even though their shields were still up. Now that they had entered the planet’s atmosphere, the ship’s artificial gravity generator was groaning to compensate and keep them in their seats. Jelena wished she could vent some smoke from somewhere for more verisimilitude.
“Trying to figure out how to crash.”
“Those are not words a passenger wants to hear from her captain.”
Jelena? Thor prompted, sounding mildly alarmed. Probably because they were now hurtling toward an ocean. Your plan won’t work.
What if we close off the cargo hold and let it fill with water? There’s nothing in there now that we couldn’t lose, aside from Alfie’s dog food.
And our thrust bikes! Erick cried into her mind, as if she’d suggested sacrificing children.
Wouldn’t they just get wet? You could fix them, I’m sure. We’re running out of time. What do you two think?
That you’re spaced, Erick promptly replied. Thorian agrees.
It would take ages for the cargo hold to fill up, Thor said. Just . . . take us in. I’ll figure out a way to make us heavier than the water we need to displace.
How in all the suns’ hells are you going to do that? Erick demanded. You’re spaced too!
Thor did not respond, and Jelena imagined him cogitating hard as he tried to figure out a solution. She almost backed away from her plan, but the ocean was coming up fast, and those ships were on the Snapper’s tail.
We need the shields up for this, right? she asked both of them. It seemed logical, but their pursuers might not believe they’d needed to crash if they dove into the ocean with their shields up.
Lower them, Thor said. Erick will erect a Starseer barrier around the ship to protect it from the landing and the water pressure as we descend.
A barrier around the entire ship? Erick asked. Have I mentioned that you’re both utterly and completely spaced?
You can do it.
Masika gripped the console more tightly as the choppy, blue and white ocean waves filled the view screen. The two ships had been following relentlessly, albeit holding fire as their prey descended, and now they swept upward to avoid splashing down.
“We’re going in,” Jelena said, hoping Erick could do as Thor asked. She would do her best to lend her own power to the effort.
She toggled the shields on and off a few times, as if they were failing, then left them off. She took them into the water at a steep angle, having already checked the sensors to make sure nothing was hiding under the surface that they might crash into. There was an underwater canyon, so she took them toward that, hoping that having rock all around them might befuddle the enemy ships’ sensor scans.
When the Snapper struck, Jelena expected a jolt and for splashes to spatter the camera lenses, but Erick had gotten his barrier up. The ship slipped under the surface, angling downward, like an experienced diver arrowing in without a splash.
“Thank you, Erick,” she murmured, gaze locked to the view screen as they plunged into the canyon and the water rapidly grew darker and darker.
But their momentum soon slowed, and she grimaced. The ship would start rising soon.
Thor?
Working on it.
An ominous crack sounded, and Alfie whimpered under the console.
“Was that the ship?” Masika demanded, her knuckles white as she gripped her armrests.
“I don’t think so.” Jelena glanced at the indicators, then used her mind to check Erick’s barrier. She sensed it wrapping fully around the ship, hugging the contours of the hull.
An alarm flashed and beeped, making her jump in her seat. The proximity alert.
Something’s falling toward us, Erick blurted into her mind.
A second later, she sensed it herself. A huge slab of rock had sheered off one of the canyon cliffs. It tumbled toward them as the Snapper floated upward toward it.
Jelena lent her power to Erick’s to reinforce the barrier around the ship. Abruptly, even more power flowed into it, Thor’s contribution.
The massive slab of rock landed atop the Snapper with a thud, and the ship lurched, shifting downward. Alfie howled. Or maybe that was Masika.
A horrific scrape echoed through the canyon, and Jelena thought the slab was damaging the ship, despite their barrier, but that was the sound of it striking the rock walls outside, catching against them. The proximity alarm complained vehemently—the slab had missed hitting the turret and the star cannon by inches—but it slowly dawned on Jelena that the ship was no longer rising. They were pinned in the canyon.
Masika looked over at her with round eyes. Maybe Jelena should have shared more of her plan aloud before plunging them into the water.
Turn off the power so they believe we’re dead in the water, Thor ordered.
Erick walked in as Jelena did so, hitting all except one switch in a line on the main power panel. The lights went out, and dim emergency lighting flickered on, the red glow creating strange shadows on people’s faces. The constant hum of the engines disappeared, and it grew so silent that Jelena could hear everyone’s breathing. Only a few small indicators remained on. It felt as dark and isolated as if they were in deep space.
She hoped the Stellacor ships would give them up for dead soon and fly away. Since the sensors were out, they would have to rely on their Starseer senses to gauge that.
“I’m confused,” Masika said. “Does this mean I’m no longer trying to get invited up to the island to turn myself in?”
“Correct,” Jelena said. “As soon as it’s clear our pursuers have left, we’ll float up, fly to Hierarchy Cellars, sneak aboard the wine shuttle going to the island, and get in without having to worry about forcefields or invitations.”
“Hierarchy Cellars? I clearly missed something.”
“Thor was reading the mind of the wine steward we were talking to and plucked some information out of his thoughts.”
“That was the wine steward threatening me? He seemed rather self-important for that.”
Jelena shrugged. “Maybe he’s got a lot of seniority among the staff.”
“Who gets to move this giant rock off us when it’s time to leave?” Erick asked.
Thor looked blandly at him and did not respond. Instead, he nodded to Jelena. Taking us into the canyon was an inspired idea.
Jelena managed to respond with, Thanks, instead of a snort. It wasn’t as if she had foreseen his plan.
“Erick,” she said. “Before we take off, I need you to find a way to nullify or block Masika’s tracking device so it can’t transmit.”
“If she doesn’t know exactly where it is, that could be difficult. Unless you want me to turn the lav into a Faraday cage and lock her in there.”
“I don’t know what that is, but make sure to send the cleaning robot through there before locking anyone in.”
Masika scowled at both of them. “It’s in my arm.” She pointed to a spot on her biceps.
“Oh, I can fix that then. Well, I can at least shield it a bit. Should help.” Erick reached for his toolbox. “I was wondering why you had me bring this up here.”
“The Stellacor ships are leaving,” Thor said, his voice distant, his eyes closed.
Jelena let her senses trickle upward and spotted the enemy ships flying away from the area.
“Good,” she said. “Let me know when you’re ready to leave the ocean.”
“Let me know, too,” Masika grumbled. “I’m sensing that telepathy has been happening around here.”
“Yes, among multiple parties,” Jelena said.
“A level five skill. Impressive.”
“Telepathy is level five when mind manipulation is level one?” Jelena asked. “Erick is right. The games get it all wrong. Those are two branches of the same art, and mind manipulation is a lot trickier than having a silent conversation with someone.”
“Games?” Thor’s eyes opened slightly.
“Yes, things children—and apparently many adults—engage in for fun,” Jelena said. “Didn’t they let you play games when you were in training on that moon?”
“Kai Chen, my combat trainer, let me go out and hunt daygboi with a spear. It was sort of a game.”
“Daygboi? Those aren’t the giant angry apes with the fangs, are they?”
“Yes. Dr. Dominguez wanted fewer of the ones infected by Ezer’s Disease around the camp. They’d been making visits dangerous for the supply shuttle pilot. He assured me he could treat me if I became infected. I did my best to avoid being cut.”
“Some game,” Jelena muttered, wondering what all Thor had been put through by those imperial loyalists. After having his parents killed and enduring Tymoteusz’s torture, he definitely should have been permitted to play games. No wonder a spring in his brain had snapped free, and he’d gone off on a killing spree.
Not all of us had the luxury of a cozy family life and a normal childhood, Thor spoke into her mind, his words somewhere between bitterness and wistfulness.
I had that after my mom was gone for years and after my dad died, she said, sympathetic but also annoyed that he seemed to think he’d been the only one whose life had been messed up by the war. Besides, you could have had what I had after we found Mom again too. Leonidas invited you to stay on the Nomad, as I recall. You chose to go train with daygboi. Daygbois? What was the appropriate plural for crazy apes?
I’d been hoping Leonidas would come with me, Thor replied. I did ask. There was the bitterness again, and this time, a hint of resentment.
He was rather attached to my mom by then, and I don’t think my Alliance pilot mother was interested in helping reinstate the empire. Or skulking around in forests full of rabid predators.
I know. Men make foolish choices because of women. Thor sneered slightly, looking from her to the still-dark view screen, the hardness in his eyes suggesting the conversation was over. And also that he’d never let feelings for some mere woman interfere with his plans for the future.
That was fine with Jelena. Just so long as he knew she wasn’t going to let him kill Senator Hawk while he was destroying his future by assassinating all the important people in the system. Admittedly, her own future was in a questionable place right now. At least he was self-destructing intentionally and for what he believed was a good reason.
“All done,” Erick said cheerfully.
Masika had removed her fatigue jacket and wore a gray T-shirt underneath, revealing strong, sinewy arms, along with . . .
“Please tell me that’s more than aluminum foil wrapped around her arm,” Jelena said.
“Of course it’s more than aluminum foil. I’m not an amateur.”
Jelena eyed the crinkly metallic armband dubiously. “Is aluminum foil a component?”
“Aluminum foil is electrically conductive and can reflect and absorb radio waves. It’s a perfectly legitimate substance for an engineer to have in his toolbox.”
“If you
say so. Can I ignite the thrusters and get us out from under this rock?” Jelena looked at both Thor and Erick.
“Erick, maintain the barrier while I move the boulder.” Thor closed his eyes again, and Jelena sensed the lessening of the barrier as he shifted his attention elsewhere.
The huge slab of rock floated off the Snapper without so much as a scrape or clink. Jelena couldn’t believe Thor’s telekinetic skills were strong enough to move so much mass.
The slab levitated to the side of the freighter, and Thor let go. Thuds and clacks reverberated through the water as the rock banged and bumped down to the bottom of the canyon. With the weight no longer atop it, the ship rose toward the surface.
Jelena powered up the Snapper and was surprised by how dark the water remained when the view screen came on.
“Night fell,” Erick said. “Hope we’re not going to be too late to catch that wine shuttle.”
“Me too,” Jelena said quietly.
The ship broke the surface with a bob that startled her. Soon, they floated on the waves, still cocooned by Erick’s barrier.
“It’s safe to take off,” Thor said.
As soon as they rose above the surface and Erick could lower his shield, he headed for the corridor. “I’m heading down to engineering to see what got shaken loose in that mad flight if anyone wants to join me and hold my wrenches.”
Jelena suspected the offer was for Masika, but Alfie rose to her feet and trotted through the hatchway after him, nails clacking on the deck.
“Alfie is coming to help,” Jelena called after him.
“How is she at holding wrenches?”
“I don’t think that’s her area of expertise. If you need a stray bird flushed out of the machinery in engineering, she’d be a good ally.”
“We should have kept one of the monkeys.”
“How long will it take us to reach this wine cellar?” Masika asked, ignoring the exchange and pointing at the view screen. Darkness had indeed fallen, and stars gleamed in the sky over the ocean. Land wasn’t visible from their current location.