Chapter 30
Fee was made to wait in the cart while Vira went off to get the container Fee had told her would keep Eazi leashed.
Jaden had talked his way out, persuading Bart that he needed to go back to the office now that Vira’s hideout had been discovered.
Fee guessed both Vira and Bart had decided it was better to have him in a position to help them later, from within the system, if things didn’t go well for them and they got caught.
Also, she was pretty sure Vira had noticed the problem Jaden had with the threat to Larga Ways from the Garmman, and wanted him out of the way in case hard decisions had to be made.
Vira most likely didn’t want to lose the access he had given them for months, and she had to have picked up on his new uncertainty.
He’d turned back before he left. “Fiona, I’m sorr—”
“You’re sorry you got caught.” Fiona cut him off. “And don’t go back to work. I already told you, you’re fired.”
As he stood there, shocked, Bart had slammed the cart door closed, and plunged her into darkness, broken only by a thin line of light from where the top of the door didn’t quite meet the roof of the cart.
They were still in the same alleyway, off the main streets, and if anyone came by, all they’d see was Bart waiting beside a maintenance cart and think nothing of it.
She had quietly explored the cart, looking for any possible way out, but while she could probably kick her way out of it given enough time, Bart would be on to her after the first try.
Eventually, she leaned at an angle into a corner—the most comfortable way to sit with her hands still restrained behind her— and closed her eyes. She might as well rest while she could.
But it hardly felt like any time had passed before Bart opened the door. He motioned her out, and when she was standing in the green gloom of the alleyway, she saw Vira had brought someone with her.
She recognized the man.
He was Balcoan, and she tried to remember where she’d seen him before, but couldn’t put her finger on it. Somewhere on Balco. And recently. Maybe at the warehouse market.
He frowned at her. “She’s Grihan, not—”
“She’s in disguise, Caran. Apparently there may be assassins after her.” Vira’s tone was dry. She had a box under one arm, and Fee guessed it contained the thin sterling silver cylinder she had specified.
Maybe when this was all done, Eazi could melt it down and make a jewelry set for her with it.
Caran stepped closer and tilted his head. “If you say so. We better have the right one, or—”
“We have the right one. Come on, we have to get to the runner before the comms go up, so we’re ready to lift off the moment the systems are back online.” Vira was carrying a cloak over her arm, and she stepped forward and swirled it over Fee’s shoulders and lifted the hood.
A few people wore cloaks like these on Larga Ways. Mainly the Vanad, but they were all well over six foot, as far as Fiona had seen. It wouldn’t necessarily draw the eye, though, and it would hide her restrained hands and her face well enough.
“Nice and quiet, understand?” Caran put an arm around Fee and Vira took the other side.
Bart positioned himself slightly ahead of them, to Vira’s right, and they had the short length of the alley to practice looking natural and like they were all just friends going back to their runner after having a good time.
“I don’t need to reiterate what will happen if you call attention to us, do I?” Vira asked.
“Won’t that be completely impractical?” Fee asked. “Damaging Larga Ways will not endear you to the residents or to the people of Balco.”
“To get it fully back into our hands, I think more people than you realize would see it as a fair trade.” Vira trilled out a laugh, as if they were discussing something light and funny for anyone looking their way, a smile on her face. Her eyes were utterly focused, though.
Fee thought Vira was the one who was mistaken, but she wasn’t prepared to risk a strike to the way station if she could win by other means.
The alley they’d been hiding in was close to the docks, and they approached the checkpoint a few minutes after they’d stepped out into the street.
The light barrier that was usually in place between the two poles on each side of the dock was down, along with every other dock arm barrier that protected Larga Ways from unauthorized entry.
That was obviously due to the comms blackout, but there should still have been guards here to check them through.
There were none.
“You paid them off?” Fee asked.
“We had Jaden send a messenger a few minutes ago with a note that they were ordered to head over to Security headquarters to meet with Tean Lee.”
Well, at least they weren’t corrupt. And she couldn’t blame them for believing a note from Jaden Tris, either. He was part of the legitimate administrative structure of the way station.
The runner they headed for was on the left, and beyond it, on the next dock spoke over, was the skeletal shape of the lower part of Paxe’s new Class 5.
The plan had been to move it off the way station when it reached a point where it could only just fit through the frame of the dome.
It would be harder to build outside of the gravitational system that kept everything solidly grounded, so they’d made the decision to only do it when they had to, and even then, Eazi and Paxe were still working out whether they could build the ship in sections at the dock, and move them up and connect them piece by piece.
Which suddenly begged the question, where was this secret other Class 5 being built?
On Balco, most likely, but Fee wondered how they were going to launch it out of the atmosphere into nearspace when it was done.
“No work’s gone on there since the comms went down,” Caran said, and Fee realized he’d been watching her and seen where she was looking.
Fee shrugged. “Paxe can’t run his drones without comms.”
She was pretty sure he could, though. They were self-aware, and didn’t need instructions to work. But she wasn’t surprised he’d stopped building when he realized the comms were down. He’d taken the comms down himself in the past, so he might have decided to look into the problem.
Caran studied her for another moment, then gave a nod.
The door to the runner opened, and another Balcoan stood in the opening, eyes widening at the sight of her.
“What—?”
“Let’s get in.” Vira snapped out the words.
The Balcoan stumbled back and as soon as they were inside, the door closed behind them.
“The comms are coming back on, so get ready to go,” Vira said. “We need to be one of the first out as soon as the system comes back online.”
“What about . . .” The Balcoan glanced to the side, and Fee saw he was looking at a plain wall panel.
“Unless Fiona Russell wishes to see this way station hit by battleship fire, that won’t be a problem.” Vira touched the wall and the panel slid aside.
Behind it were an array of weapons, each hanging neatly in place, and above them was a shelf. Fee could see her replica trophy sitting on there, as well as a few other weapons that weren’t as practical to hang on hooks.
Vira opened the box she’d been carrying, lifted out the silver cylinder, and slid the trophy into it.
“A bit big, but not a bad fit for short notice,” she said. Her eyes narrowed. “You better hope this keeps him contained.”
“The Tecran didn’t tell the Garmman about how to do it?” Fiona asked. “How rude of them.”
Vira held her gaze for a long beat, then pushed Fee ahead of her onto the small bridge of the runner and attached her restraints to the arm of a chair. Bart took up a spot behind her, hovering.
It seemed as if they didn’t trust her not to try something.
The Balcoan who’d met them at the door eyed her, and went to sit down at a console. Caran pushed past to sit down next to him and Vira settled into the captain’s chair.
“Henric, check where we are in the line-up to leave.”
The Balcoan tapped at a screen. “In the top quarter,” he said.
“We need to be higher.” Vira pulled out a comms unit.
Fee watched her carefully. When the comms came back on, she had to hope Eazi connected to her first, before he did anything in the system. Otherwise Larga Ways would take a hit.
That was, if there really was a Garmman battleship hiding behind one of the moons.
It was just possible Vira was bluffing.
She also didn’t know how Vira would know if Eazi was back in the system. Maybe she expected him to talk to someone. Except he only ever talked to her and Paxe.
Vira tapped her ear, and stood. “They’re shutting down the jammer,” she said. “Starting . . . now.”
Henric tapped his console again, shook his head, and then went still. “Something’s happening.”
“Take off,” Vira ordered, and Caran reached over and uncoupled the runner from the dock. Fee heard the faint thud as the connecter slid back into its housing.
Then they began to rise.
Henric began murmuring to someone—Fee guessed it was flight control—as they continued upward.
She could hear her heartbeat thundering in her ears. Eazi would leap into action the moment he had a connection to his system. If he made himself known . . .
“They say we need to wait our turn.” Henric looked over his shoulder at Vira.
“Pretend to misunderstand them. Thank them for allowing us to exit.” Vira paced a little, full of nerves.
“They might blacklist us if they think we’ve flaunted their orders,” Caran warned.
“They can blacklist us all they like, they won’t be in control of this way station much longer.” Vira shrugged.
Fee’s hands were still restrained, and she wished she could lift a hand to her ear, make sure her earpiece was activated.
It was silly. She always left it on, but the silence was weighing on her.
“We’re nearly at the top of the dome,” Caran said. “There are three runners ahead of us.”
“That’s good. I don’t want us to stand out,” Vira said. “Being the third or fourth runner to leave works.”
The minutes stretched out, and Fee realized her whole body was stiff with nerves.
“We’re out.” Caran’s relief was clear.
Vira turned to Fee. “It looks like you were telling the truth.”
“I don’t want the way station destroyed. I’ve already risked my life once to keep it safe, why would I endanger it?” she asked.
“I have to admit I had serious doubts that that cylinder would be able to contain the thinking system,” Vira said. “I’m glad it has, though. It would have been very inconvenient to damage Larga Ways in order to get it back.”
Fee’s hands were joined at the wrists behind her back, and her hands were resting on the crystals that were sewn into the back of her jacket. She felt a sudden tingle against her skin, as if something was vibrating as it warmed up.
She just managed to swallow her gasp of surprise.
“They threatened to damage the way station?” Eazi’s voice was a whisper in her ear. “They think they have me in a cylinder? And what object is in there?”
His outrage almost made her smile.
“Is the Garmman battleship going to stay hidden behind its moon, or will they finally show themselves, now the comms are back up?” Fee asked.
Vira gazed at her, narrow-eyed. “Checking to see if they were ever really there? If my threat was real?”
“A Garmman battleship was the threat?” Eazi sounded thoughtful.
“Was it?” Fee kept her tone neutral. “You won. I was honest with you. What does it matter if I know the truth now?”
“Keep questioning them. I want them to regurgitate the whole plot for me,” Eazi murmured.
“The battleship is where I said it is, but it won’t make itself known while the Illium is still in orbit around Larga Ways.” Vira looked out of the main front view port, and Fee saw Hal’s massive ship was still sitting close to the way station. “That could start a war.”
“They don’t want to start a war?” Fee made herself sound amused. “You don’t think taking the way station will be considered as serious as an attack on a battleship?”
“Not if the way station is taken back by the Balcoans,” Vira said. “That’s not the same as the Garmman taking it.”
“Even if the Garmman are behind the whole thing, paying you all to do their dirty work for them?” Fee asked lightly.
“We’re not puppets.” Vira’s brows came down. “The Garmman are helping to fund this, but we’ll be in charge when it’s over.”
“If you say so.” Fee laughed at her. “Sure. The Garmman are just being helpful. They don’t want anything out of it.
It’s out of the goodness of their hearts that they’re breaking every treaty they signed when they joined the United Council.
No reason not to trust a group that’s happy to rip up treaties that have been adhered to for hundreds of years.
They’ll definitely stick to what they’ve promised you.
Even though they’re not sticking to what they promised all the much more powerful groups in the United Council. You’re special.”
Henric and Caran turned around and looked at her with wide eyes as she spoke, and then at Vira.
Vira’s mouth worked a few times before she shook her head sharply and turned away.
“That’s what I thought,” Fee said.
“Fuck you, Fiona. This is not your place. It’s not even your fucking galaxy.” Vira’s shoulders lifted, and she glared over at Fee.
“No. But it’s hardly on me that I’m here, is it? Or do you think the Tecran politely invited me to be abducted?”
“She’s got more than one good point,” Caran said. “Actually, I’m pretty sure she’s dead right.”
“You know it, too.” Bart spoke for the first time, nodding at Vira. “Look at how you’re acting.”
Vira turned toward her flunkies. “Don’t look at me like that. You took the money, just the same as I did.” She bared her teeth at Fee. “I might suspect that we’re being played, but how is it different to our deal with the Grih?”
“The Grih have honored their alliance with you,” Fee said. “And you’ve always benefited. Can you be sure that’s going to continue if the Garmman take control?”
“We’ll see.” Vira’s lips formed a tight line.
“So we will.” Fee leaned back. “So we will.”