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  “We can make it work for now, though,” Oona said.

  “Good.” Siv pushed off the wall and stumbled towards the captain’s quarters, which was off the corridor, past the entrance to the bridge.

  The captain’s quarters took up the same amount of space as the small room and the crew bunks combined. What would have been the lockers on this side served as the cramped, communal bathroom and shower.

  The size of the of the cabin seemed wasteful to Siv, and as they all peeked in, he said, “I bet we could put up a partition in here to make it into two small rooms.”

  “If we survive long enough for renovations, you mean?” Mitsuki said.

  Siv flopped onto the bed. “Yep.”

  Octavian, as if he’d been waiting impatiently for this moment, scurried in and shooed the others away with squeals and squawks and the waving of four arms.

  “Get some rest, Sivvy,” Mitsuki said.

  “Sleep as long as you want,” Kyralla added. “We’ll be fine till we drop out of hyperspace.”

  “Thanks. I will.” He planned on sleeping for days if he could.

  As soon as the others were out, he unzipped his battlesuit, crinkled his nose up in disgust at the smell, and crawled gingerly into the covers. He honestly had no idea how he’d lasted this long. Perhaps the excitement of the capsule and the jolt of fear when Oona had collapsed…

  He held an arm out. “Octavian, hook me up.”

  The engineering cog, who also served as a more than capable medic, connected Siv to a compact IV system. It was one of the many devices on the ship his dad had spent lavishly on because of the dangers he often faced in the field. The emergency IV system could pump enough fluid and nutrients into him to keep him going for days. Which was more than fine with him. He was too tired to eat anyway.

  As he lay down, his eyes fell upon the Vrazel mask locked away in its case. It was a fake Ancient artifact that Siv had bought for his dad on an auction site. Being ten years old at the time, Siv had thought it was real. He’d also had no idea that the item had brought his parents, an archaeologist and a police detective, together years before.

  Siv relaxed as the fluids flowed through him. Octavian buzzed about, straightening the covers, then dimmed the lights and scuttled out into the corridor, closing the door behind him. Siv's eyes drooped as he listened to the humming of the ship. It occurred to him that Silky hadn't said anything in a long while.

  “You’ve been quiet, old friend. Up to something?”

  “Hardly, sir. Just running maintenance routines, calculating various strategies we might employ, analyzing scans of the capsule… Besides, I’m not interested in who sleeps where.”

  “And that's it?”

  Silky sighed. “I was thinking about the priestess and how disappointed Gav would be, that after all this time, after everything he risked, that she’s dying.”

  “She’s not dead yet, Silkster. She got me to the ship, and if it’s within my power, I’ll repay her.”

  Silky laughed. “You suddenly have an awful lot to do, sir.”

  Siv smiled wryly. “A messiah wanted by the entire galaxy to protect and an Ancient priestess to save? Please, that’s nothing.”

  “As you say, sir.”

  “You know, it’s not Oona’s amulet I’m carrying,” Siv said, rubbing the ceramic square. “If I’m officially guarding anyone, it’s the priestess.”

  “I don’t think there’s anything official about it, sir. Not yet. Gav held that responsibility last, even if he didn’t realize it.”

  “Maybe it’s time I took up that part of his legacy.”

  “I’d rather you didn’t, sir.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “Because Gav took it to his grave.”

  “So? There’s no happy end in sight for me, Silkster. I’m a dying man.”

  “We’re all dying, sir. All the time. But that’s hardly a reason to hasten the process.”

  “Well, I think getting a special ability along my way out would be awesome.”

  “Oh, how I wish I had a head to shake at you, sir.”

  “Too bad,” Siv responded as he drifted off into sleep.

  “Oh wait, sir! I do have an avatar I could animate. That would give me a head to shake.”

  Siv’s eyes snapped open, and he said out loud, “Don’t you dare pull up that image of a donkey again!”

  “It’s not a donkey, sir. It’s an ass.”

  “You’re the ass.”

  “I’m also rubber, sir. Guess what you are…”

  “Good night, Silkster.”

  “You, sir, are glue.”

  Siv rolled his eyes before closing them. “Would you please just let me sleep.”

  5

  Siv Gendin

  Siv groaned and rolled over, expecting a window so he could check to see if the sun was up. Instead, three glowing, bulbous eyes and an angular metal face stared back at him. He wrenched himself up and scrambled back, painfully tugging at the needle in his arm.

  Octavian bleeped and trilled in response, immediately fussing over the IV. Siv’s disorientation faded as he looked around the cabin—his dad’s cabin on the Outworld Ranger—and remembered what he was doing here.

  “How long was I out, Silkster?”

  “Thirty hours, sir.”

  Then they hadn't dropped out of hyperspace yet.

  Octavian moved on from the machine that controlled the drip to the part sticking into Siv’s arm. He brushed away the cog’s ministrations with an impatient gesture.

  “I’m good,” Siv insisted. “Unhook me so I can go to the bathroom.”

  Silky laughed. “He suggests a catheter, sir.”

  Siv placed a hand on each of the cog’s cold metal shoulders, leaned in, and said, “Don’t ever do that unless you have to. Got it?”

  Octavian bobbed his head.

  “Now, unhook me and help me to the bathroom.”

  Siv was astonished to find his strength increasing with each step. But he wasn’t surprised that he still felt exhausted. He couldn't do much more than prop himself against the shower wall and let the water pour over his sore muscles. Once it shut off, he dressed and found the others crammed into the galley.

  The table had room for one more, so he slid in. It turned out the others had slept almost as much as he had, except for Bishop. The gizmet rubbed his red-rimmed eyes and grinned like a toddler the night before Benevolence Day.

  “There’s just so much exciting stuff to examine here!” he said. “And I still haven’t had a chance to go over all the parts I took from the farmhouse! By the way, I can’t get into the cargo bays. Silky refused to override the DNA locks.” Bishop’s face twisted into a dubious expression. “He said it was too difficult to accomplish without applying ‘undo force’ that could damage the systems. Which is weird, because I’m certain Octavian can access them. Only he refused to help me too.”

  “Seriously, Silkster?”

  “I was stalling him, sir. And it worked. I don’t think he would’ve slept a wink otherwise.”

  “I’ll let you in after we eat. I’m curious what’s in there myself.”

  “We’re a little over three days out from the midpoint,” Mitsuki said. “We should start planning.”

  Seneca wheeled carefully around the table, apologizing in Tellit as he bumped into people. The cog placed a bowl of what Siv presumed was food in front of him. He took a bite and barely managed to not spit it out. Seneca glowed an apologetic lavender.

  “All we have are the rations we brought with us,” Kyralla explained, “and the ones that have been stored on the ship for over a century.”

  Siv took another bite of cardboard paste. “And these are…”

  “The ancient ones, sir. I thought we should use them up first.”

  Siv swallowed and nearly gagged.

  “Silky just told you, huh?” Mitsuki chuckled. “Seneca verified they were safe. Then he fancied them up for us with some spices.”

  “This has been fan
cied?”

  “It’s hard to tell,” Oona said, “unless you try it without Seneca’s improvements. And I do not recommend that.”

  “I wouldn’t count on the new ones being all that much better,” Mitsuki said. “Rations are rations.”

  Seneca buzzed shrilly, and his lavender shifted to an offended orange.

  “He’s protesting,” Siv said. “I allowed him to purchase the rations we brought along, and he used a lavish amount from the farm’s expense account. They will taste good.”

  Siv thought sadly of his farm. The orchard had been destroyed by a strike-fighter that had crashed into the house, leaving it a flaming ruin. He had planned to retire to that estate someday.

  He washed down more of the paste with a sickly sweet soda. It wasn’t the nastiest drink he’d ever had, so he didn’t inquire as to its age. “So, we need a plan of action. Any thoughts?”

  “It’s hard to make plans when you don’t know anything,” Mitsuki said. “So our priority is getting more information.”

  Siv looked at Oona. "Do you have any sense of your dad's location or condition?"

  “I meditated and tried to reach out to him last night, but all I got was a sense that he’s alive and in a lot of danger. Just like in the dream I’d had at the farmhouse.”

  “So he could be captured, or on the run, maybe even halfway across the spiral arm by now,” Siv said.

  Oona shook her head. “I feel certain we’re moving in the right direction.”

  “And you’re sure you don’t have any other way of contacting him?” Siv asked. “Perhaps some backup method you’d forgotten before.”

  “We do have one emergency method,” Kyralla said, “using coded comments on WeView videos online. But we checked there and couldn’t find anything.”

  “Artemisia and Rosie reviewed all their recordings and couldn’t find anything else that we might have forgotten,” Oona said.

  Artemisia was Oona’s 8G chippy that she’d been attempting to “uplift,” whatever that meant. And Rosie was Kyralla’s 7G. Both of them should now be performing well above their specs, thanks to Silky. In a desperate attempt to save all of their lives, Silky had upgraded the other chippies’ capabilities with the programming that he’d used over the years to improve himself. Neither Artemisia nor Rosie would ever be as advanced as Silky, of course.

  “We thought the secure government channel would be enough,” Kyralla answered. “And Dad trusted Uncle Pashta with our lives. He was dad’s primary backup plan.”

  Mitsuki rolled her eyes. “Great plan.”

  Kyralla scowled at her but didn't respond.

  Senator Orel Pashta, their uncle, had betrayed them. Siv had no idea what the senator had hoped to get out of the betrayal, but he’d gotten what he deserved. Tekk Reapers had blown up his spaceship as it burned for orbit.

  “We’re going to have to rely on guesswork and scouting,” Siv said.

  Mitsuki sighed. “The only option is to hit Titus II hard, turning over rocks as fast as we can. Cause with all the different powers arrayed against us, we will get discovered—and fast.”

  “You don’t sound hopeful,” Kyralla said despondently.

  “Because I’m not,” Mitsuki replied. “This plan is dangerous, and it’s also not likely to produce results. Remember, we don’t have any established contacts in the Titus system, and we’ve never visited the planet either.”

  “I’m sure that once we get to the planet,” Oona said, “I’ll be able to pinpoint where—”

  “No,” Siv and Mitsuki said at once.

  “You don’t want me to find out where he is?” Oona asked in surprise.

  “They’re going to make you stay on the ship,” Kyralla said. “And I agree with them. We can’t risk having you out there.”

  “But I can find him!”

  “Too risky,” Siv said. “Way too risky. And we’re leaving you on the ship as well, Kyralla. Bishop, too.”

  Kyralla scowled. “You may need me out there.”

  "Mitsuki and I know what we're doing, and we know how the criminal underworld works. This is our area of expertise. All of our enemies will be looking for Oona and this ship so it will be your job to make sure she stays safe. And if something happens to us, then you three can make a run for it."

  Kyralla let out a grudging sigh. “Fine.”

  “I think it’s safe to assume the Tekk Reapers and the Thousand Worlders already have agents waiting for us in the Titus system,” Mitsuki said. “We may not have any time at all to search for him.”

  “Some of the other criminal guilds after us may have offices on Titus II,” Siv added.

  “The Star Cutters have a moderate presence in every major city on Titus II,” Silky said over the comm. “And the World Bleeders have an office in the capital, which is where you’ll have to start looking. The rest of their underworld is composed of local elements. I’m sure there are corrupt government officials at play, too.”

  Mitsuki rubbed her hand over her face in frustration. “And all of that’s assuming someone doesn't locate us before we even make it to the planet.”

  “It would be best to enter the Titus system on a different ship,” Bishop suggested. “The longer the Outworld Ranger is in the system, the greater the danger.”

  “I think Bishop’s onto something,” Siv said. “How about this: If Oona hasn’t gotten a precise fix or a response from her dad by the time we drop out of hyperspace, then we’ll head to the Zayer system and try to find a ship there that can take Mitsuki and me to Titus II.”

  Mitsuki nodded. “Could work. Silkster, could you research travel routes and methods for us, please?”

  “Siv is not allowed to call me that, madam. But I endure it because I must. You, however, are absolutely forbidden to use that name.”

  “You’ve got it…Silkster.”

  Silky growled. “I’ll research merchant routes and passenger lines.”

  “Wouldn’t it be safer and more efficient to lease a small ship and fly there yourself?” Kyralla asked.

  “If we start dropping credits on leasing a ship, we’ll become more noticeable,” Mitsuki said. “Besides, I don’t have enough on me to lease even so much as an antique rocket.”

  Siv nodded. “I only have a few hundred hard credits in my pack. If I could access my accounts, we’d be set. But I’m certain my accounts are being monitored. If I spend any money, it will tip off our location and plan.”

  “Your father, bless his soul,” Silky said, “has about a thousand stashed on the ship. Though a credit doesn’t go as far these days. You could sell some valuables, but then dumping Ancient artifacts on the market runs the same risk of getting you noticed. And I’m afraid you wouldn’t get a good price for any of them on Zayer.”

  “A thousand credits won’t even lease a rusting ship without a stardrive,” Bishop said. “You’d need at least ten thousand, and significant collateral.”

  “So we’ll use fake identities to rent a bunk on a cargo ship or buy a ticket on a passenger liner,” Siv said. “And if we have to leave fast for some reason—”

  “Then we’ll steal a ride,” Mitsuki said, finishing his thought.

  “Meanwhile, we’re supposed to just wait for you in the Zayer system?” Kyralla asked.

  Siv was about to agree, but Mitsuki shook her head. “You should go to the Kor system. No one will think to look for you there.”

  “While Kor is a lightyear closer to Titus,” Bishop said, “hiding in deep space between systems would be best.”

  “I can send them a message when we need them to return to Zayer or to rush in to pick us up on Titus II,” Silky said.

  “You can send a secure message to the ship from that far away?” Mitsuki asked.

  “A scrambled, echo-space, military signal that I know isn’t in use anymore. My range for a reliable signal is only five light years, so keep that in mind.”

  “You’re full of surprises,” Mitsuki said.

  “It’s only surprising bec
ause I have a lot of functions that don’t normally come up doing thuggy things with you and Siv.”

  “We’ll need better chameleon veils,” Siv said. “The ones I have with me are crap, and they might already be recorded in searchable databases as aliases.”

  Mitsuki leaned back in her seat and sighed. “This isn’t going to be easy, getting everything we need without drawing attention.”

  “Hopefully, they won’t be watching Zayer closely and will expect us to make a direct play for Titus II.”

  “I’ve got an idea,” Bishop said.

  Mitsuki pinched his cheek. “Well, don’t be shy.”

  He blushed. “Well…um…right. Oona should send a message to her father, saying she’ll meet him at a bogus rendezvous point. That might throw them off a bit.”

  “If they’re smart, they’ll know it’s a ruse,” Mitsuki said.

  “Coming from Oona, they might believe it,” Siv said. “And if it diverts any attention at all, it would be worth the effort. And it certainly can’t hurt.”

  “Okay then,” Mitsuki said, “if Silky is certain they can’t trace us.”

  “I wouldn’t lie,” he told her. “Trust me. I worked in special forces. I know what I’m doing here.”

  “When should I send the message?” Oona asked.

  “Wait until we reach the midpoint,” Siv said, yawning. “Do it just before we jump toward Zayer.”

  “I’ll start researching Zayer with Silky,” Mitsuki said, “while you get some more rest.”

  Nodding, Siv finished his gruel and pushed the bowl away. “Sounds good to me.”

  “Not that I expect to figure out much,” Mitsuki said. “We’re probably going to have to do a lot of improvising on this one.”

  “Probably,” Siv said, standing. With his belly full of…whatever that was…he was getting sleepy. “Now, before I crash, let’s open up those two cargo bays and see what we’ve got to work with here.”

  They marched down to cargo bay one. Siv swiped his hand across the keypad, and a large door slid open to reveal a storehouse of artifacts, most of them undoubtedly Ancient in origin. But it wasn’t much to look at. All of the boxes were closed and labeled. The only piece they could see sitting out was a metal fragment about two square meters in size that to Siv’s eyes might as well be human in origin.