Chapter 31
Ethan must be caught. He had been gone too long for any other explanation.
Velda paced the room, worry gnawing at her, and wished there was a uniform available that would fit her, because stepping out as she was would definitely raise eyebrows. The casual outfit she’d packed for Nanganya, what seemed like a lifetime ago, was now very much the worse for wear.
She would have to step out, though. That was just reality.
The occupant of this room could come back at any moment, and then she’d be cornered, and if Ethan was captured, she needed to be free to be able to help him.
She had at least found a coat with a hood in the cupboard, and it sat easily over her clothing. It hid most of the wear and tear, stopping just below her knees.
She checked the mirror, decided it was as good as it was going to get, and turned to the door.
When it opened before she could hit the button beside it, she took a step back in surprise.
Fortunately the laz was primed and in her hand.
She shot the two Cores guards as they stepped in, using a side to side motion with the Caruson weapon.
They were already most of the way into the room—they had leaped forward when they saw her—and so when they fell, the door was just able to close behind their boots.
If she’d guessed Ethan had been found before, now she knew for certain, with guards out looking for her.
She scooped up both laz that had fallen to the floor, sticking them under her stolen jacket in the waistband of her pants, and then stepped out of the room.
Someone was coming toward her from the left, so she turned right and strode back toward the launch bay, the coat billowing around her.
She couldn’t think of a better place to hide.
As soon as she was inside, she moved behind the stack of crates she and Ethan had used as a hiding place before, and drew the coat around her, tucking it under her thighs as she crouched down.
There was a misaligned pillar of boxes in the row she was hiding behind, creating a gap that allowed a thin line of sight into the bay.
She hadn’t noticed anyone in the bay when she’d entered, but she’d only just settled into her hiding place when someone stepped out from the runner, and she suppressed a shiver at how close she’d come to being seen.
The bay doors opened, and two guards stepped in, both armed, and called to the person who was walking from the runner toward them.
“See anyone?”
“No.” It was a woman, and she was carrying some equipment in her hand. “You chasing someone?”
“Jint and Falre are both down, and their laz are gone. It’s probably the other prisoner. She’s hiding somewhere.” One of the two guards slowly turned in place, laz at waist height.
“Why do you think they snuck onboard the runner at all?” the woman asked.
“Would you like to be trapped with the Caruso?” the other guard asked. He was looking as well, but his laz was still by his side.
“Good point. Still, they could have just given themselves up.” The woman shrugged and moved past the men. “I’ve done my check, they didn’t damage or disable the runner while they were in there.”
She left the bay and the two guards stood quietly for a moment, waiting.
They would wait a long time. Velda was not going to be caught.
We will make sure of it, the silver balls told her.
Sometimes it’s not possible to escape, Velda reminded them. Ethan was caught, and I’m sure he tried his best to stay free.
They were quiet after that. She had the feeling they were considering her words carefully.
The two guards decided to move together, rather than split up, which was a huge advantage for her. Velda sidled around the stack of boxes as they moved in her direction.
She managed to keep out of sight, and ended up in a far corner of the bay, hidden behind even more boxes.
She looked up, and saw there was a way to get to the top.
It would be useful to rest up there, she decided, and also, most people didn’t look up.
She climbed the crates carefully and then pulled herself onto her stomach, wriggling forward until her whole body was lying across the boxes on the top of the stack.
The guards were not giving up, though.
They moved around the bay carefully, as if expecting an imminent attack, and when the bay door opened behind them, the one who’d had his laz ready the whole time turned and shot in a single movement.
There was a squawk of outrage from whoever had come in. Velda’s view was blocked so she couldn’t see, but it sounded as if the shot had missed, but only just.
The guard stammered apologies, and then Sylvester and the guard that seemed to follow behind him like a shadow stepped into view.
“She’s here,” Sylvester said. “The door logs make that a certainty.”
Velda felt a lurch in her stomach. Damn. Of course they would have door logs. She was lucky they didn’t have visual comms.
“She took Jint and Falre’s weapons, sir. You should leave this to us.” The guard who’d accidentally discharged his own weapon said.
Sylvester’s guard murmured agreement, and the two left the bay, but Velda guessed it wouldn’t be long before more guards joined the two already here.
She guessed right.
Another four guards arrived, and they broke into three groups of two, dividing the bay up into sections and moving through each section thoroughly.
She held her breath as the group assigned to her section moved around the crates and stacks, lights out to illuminate the dark corners.
They did not look up.
“She’s not here.” The one who’d come in first sounded annoyed when they all met back up in the middle of the bay.
“She has to be.”
“Not if she stepped through into the bay, saw or heard Dimez inside the runner doing her check, and ducked back out.” The second man who’d been in the original group of two tapped his weapon against his thigh.
“Oh. That could have happened,” one of the other newcomers said. “Whether she did it because she heard Dimez or because she wanted to fool us, it was a pretty good strategy.”
“Now she’s had . . .” One of the men checked his comms unit. “More than an hour to find a new hiding place.”
“Still, it’s not like she’s going anywhere,” someone else said. “She’s stuck on this ship.”
“Let’s just hope she doesn’t take a shot at the boss.” The man who spoke had come in after Sylvester had left.
“Yeah, that would be terrible.” It was the partner of the guard who’d done just that.
“Shut up.” The trigger-happy guard stalked toward the door. “Let’s go tell Simo our theory and get him to see if there are other places she could be holed up in.”
All the guards left except one. He stood silently, listening. Waiting.
Velda rolled her eyes mentally at their efforts to try and trick her into emerging.
Eventually the guard sighed and left, but she noticed he had bent down and left something on the floor.
Some kind of monitoring lens or image tracker, she guessed. It would definitely make getting out of here harder.
She closed her eyes, lying still, trying to rest for a bit. She’d been in a state of stress since Linao had been shot, and that had only intensified while she waited for Ethan to return. She couldn’t keep it up.
She felt the silver balls trying to soothe her, and for once she leaned into their help.
The twenty minutes of peace she had before the launch bay doors opened again really made a difference. She felt less panicked and able to think more clearly.
A team of four guards entered.
She recognized two of them as being part of the group that had searched the bay earlier.
“She has to be here.” The woman who spoke held her weapon in both hands. “Every other door that was opened has been accounted for. Spread out and look properly.”
She had a decision to make, Velda realized. Because the likelihood of being found this time was high. If they were convinced she was here, they would start to look up.
Get them to touch you, the silver balls said.
She could do that.
She slid backward, easing off the high stack, but leaving the laz the Caruso had given her at the top, and only taking the two weapons they knew she had with her.
When she reached the ground, she lay herself down and arranged herself so that she looked as if she’d fallen. She placed a laz on either side of her, as if she’d dropped them, and then closed her eyes.
It seemed to take a long time for a guard to stumble across her.
He made a sound of surprise and called out, then knelt beside her and pushed the hood of her coat off her face.
As soon as his fingers touched her skin, he paused, pressing down with his fingertips a little.
Then he leaned back on his heels.
“Grede, what is it—?” The woman who seemed to be in charge rounded the stacks and then stopped short. “What’s wrong with her?”
“I don’t know.” Grede shuffled out of the way and the woman joined him, flipping back her coat to get a better look at her.
“Maybe she fell.” The woman put a hand to her neck as if to check her pulse, and again, stilled, and then pressed a little harder. “Kilber and Vine, come here.” She raised her voice to call the other two.
They were obviously already on their way, because it was seconds before they crowded in behind the stacks as well.
“Let’s carry her together.” The woman’s hand was still pressed into her neck, as if she didn’t want to lose contact. “We need to get her to the med bay.”
They lifted her together, leaving the weapons lying on the ground, which Velda almost couldn’t believe.
What are we doing here? she asked the silver balls as she was carried like precious cargo out of the bay.
They need to feel protective, the voices in her head told her. We are making sure they will be on your side going forward.
They reached the med bay quickly, and Velda could hear someone moving around inside.
She also knew, suddenly and with certainty, Ethan was here. Lying somewhere close by.
“The prisoner?” a voice asked.
“We don’t know what’s happened to her,” the woman said. “We think she may have fallen off a high stack of boxes.”
She was laid down on a bed, and someone lifted her wrist to check her pulse.