Chapter 27
Tean Lee led Hal and Fiona down into the basement.
Hal thought it looked a little menacing, given this was just Larga Ways Security Headquarters, and he was surprised to see at least three people in cells before they reached the room where the Balcoan attackers from the warehouse were being held.
A Garmman, a Balcoan, and a Vanad sat or lay on beds attached to the wall and looked out at them as they passed by from behind transparent walls.
“What crimes are those three being held for?” he asked.
“Two for theft, one for violence,” Tean Lee said. “We usually have three to five people down here most days.”
“How do you deal with them?” Hal hadn’t ever thought about crime on the way station.
“We don’t have a justice system, we’re too small,” Fee said. “We send them back to where they came from and blacklist them from the way station if what they’re accused of is serious.” She glanced at the three prisoners. “And we fine them—or their embassies—a hefty fee.”
“I didn’t know that.” But it made sense. There was barely enough room on the way station as it was. There certainly wasn’t room for a prison.
“We send someone to watch them being escorted by an embassy representative onto a ship leaving for their home planet, and charge more for every day we have to house them in a cell,” Fee said. “The turnaround’s about two or three days, right?”
Tean Lee stopped in front of a closed door. “We try to keep it at two, but if there’s an issue, it can take three days before we see them on their way.”
He opened the door and stepped in, and Hal and Fee followed him.
There were two of Tean Lee’s team standing guard inside, and the two Balcoans were seated at two separate tables and both were restrained.
“Have they given their names?” Fee asked Tean Lee.
He shook his head. “They’ve refused to say anything at all.”
Hal studied them. He and Fee knew their names, but they’d decided to keep that to themselves for now. Tean Lee would want to know how they’d come by the information, and Fee didn’t want to tell him. It wouldn’t matter, anyway. The names they’d come in on in the past were likely not even real.
“Where is your base on the way station?” Hal asked it for form’s sake, but he knew he wouldn’t get an answer.
He was right.
Neither man even looked up.
“This is a waste of time.” Tean Lee looked like he wanted to try a more hands-on method of getting an answer, but a knock at the door had him turning away from the men. “What?”
The messenger gestured and all three of them left the room.
“I went to Jaden Tris’s office to see if he was back, and he is,” the woman said. “I decided to not make myself known. I watched him for a few minutes and then came straight back.”
Tean Lee looked irritated at the interruption.
“We’ll go speak to him, Tean. You can stay here and see what you can get out of them,” Fee said.
Tean Lee gave a satisfied nod. “That works. I’ll see you later.”
Fiona glanced at Hal, and he gave a nod of agreement. They weren’t going to get anywhere here and with his team searching the streets above, Hal wanted to be with them.
They left the security building, walking down the street to the big building that housed Fee’s offices, and passed Grih Battle Center’s Larga Ways headquarters on the way. Hal noticed it was very crowded outside Battle Center’s doors.
Grih were standing around in small groups, and he waved to someone he knew from before he’d made captain of the Illium. “Falna.”
“Vakeri!” Falna turned toward him and waved back. “I saw your ship was docked. How are you?”
Hal knew Fee was in a hurry to corner Jaden Tris, but he wanted to find out what was going on in the Grihan military building first. Something was off.
“Is there a problem in headquarters?” he asked, and sensed Fee’s attention suddenly sharpen on the building.
“Apparently there’s a major water leak,” Falna said. “They’re claiming the comms issue caused a valve to open and it’s tripped the power. They need to sort it out before they can let anyone inside.”
Fee went still beside him.
He looked down at her.
“That sounds . . . possible,” she said. “After the Battle Center building was blown up and your headquarters were moved here, Eazi built serious fire prevention systems into the new building. It could have malfunctioned.”
Falna was no fool, and she was listening in. Her gaze sharpened onto Fee’s face. “You’re no Grih. Not with that voice.”
Fee made a face. “Sorry, I’m in disguise right now, because apparently there are assassins after me.” She tugged a little at Hal’s arm.
“Fiona Russell?” Falna knew enough to keep her voice down to a whisper, Hal was pleased to note. “What’s going on?”
“We’re trying to work that out,” Hal told her. “Listen, can you make sure this headquarters shut down is legit? There are strange things going on, and we’ve got other commitments.”
“I was about to go nosey my way in there, anyway. I never was good at standing around and waiting.” Falna gave him a friendly nod, and strode toward the headquarters entrance.
As he and Fiona headed for her office, and hopefully Jaden Tris, Hal saw the Illium slowly rise up above the buildings and slide through the gel that encased the dome’s frame.
The Illium was only just able to fit through.
“Looks like that request you made to Tean Lee before he took us down to the cells was acted on immediately.” Hal felt a sense of relief at the sight of his ship no longer docked and unable to maneuver. “He must have sent a messenger straight out to arrange it.”
“I’m surprised.” Fee stopped for a moment to watch the battleship move a little way away from the dome and then hold in place. “He gave me such a pained look, like I was really imposing on him.”
Hal looked over at her. “You think he resents you?”
“He definitely resents me. But then he’ll go above and beyond, like now, putting the request through and expediting it.
He’s a bundle of contradictions.” She sighed.
“I’ve nearly fired him so many times, but he knows this way station like the back of his hand, and he’s got the respect of the security team. ”
Before he could respond, Hal saw Lieutenant Rial Corvac approaching him. His team leader looked barely able to contain his excitement.
“Captain, I’m glad to see you’re free. We found their hidey-hole.”
Hal exchanged a look with Fee.
“Go. I have to speak to Jaden,” she said. “I’m wearing my bracelet, I’m in disguise, and I cannot risk him slipping away again.”
Hal gave a reluctant nod, and just remembered in time that if she was Grihan, and a member of his crew, he wouldn’t be pulling her close for a kiss.
Instead he briefly touched her arm. “Be very careful.”
He strode off with Rial, and managed to only glance back once.
Fiona was headed to the left, toward her office, and no one seemed to be paying her any attention.
And still . . . he couldn’t help thinking he was making a mistake.