Chapter 35
The Illium moved fast.
Hal had to assume the Garmman battleship was monitoring them, so moving quickly, confronting them before they had time to react, was the best plan.
The battleship flew straight over the top of the moon and dropped down in front of the Garmman ship.
And well, well, well . . .
The Ciolla.
“Captain Hunner has some explaining to do,” Hal said.
“He seemed very concerned about sticking to space boundaries just a week or so ago,” Voa said. “What a hypocrite.”
“Hail them.” Hal glanced over at Gerbardi. “The admiral is connected?”
Gerbardi nodded, then sent the hail.
Hunner appeared on screen, and Hal inclined his head. Stayed silent.
The Garmman captain shifted in place.
Hal tilted his head, lifted a brow.
“We received a call for help from Balco.” Hunner cleared his throat. “We responded, but wanted to observe first, to make sure the call was genuine.”
“A call from whom?” Hal asked. But he suddenly had a good guess.
“Leader Baruke.”
“Who was kidnapped yesterday, and whose whereabouts are still unknown,” Hal said.
“Impossible,” Hunner said. “While the original call for help was from a Balcoan diplomat on behalf of the government, alleging a break in your agreement with the Balcoans, I confirmed the details with Baruke a few hours later, and that was less than a day ago.”
So either Baruke was being threatened when he communicated with the Garmman, or they were lying about talking to him and were in on the plot.
There was an outside chance Baruke was complicit, but Hal didn’t think so. He’d nearly died at the dinner, and he’d looked very unhappy when Fiona had spoken about the disruptions to Paxe’s rebuild.
“I highly doubt he spoke to you willingly,” Hal said. “Given it was just yesterday I had his daughter begging me to find him after he and his bodyguards disappeared without a trace.”
Hunner looked like he’d been slapped, but Hal couldn’t decide if it was because he had a feeling he’d been duped, or because Hal wasn’t buying his story.
“Please leave our airspace immediately. You can expect a formal complaint will be lodged at UC headquarters.” Hal widened his stance.
“We are here in response to a call for help, Vakeri. The Balcoans say they’re no longer willing partners to the accord you have with them, and they feel threatened.”
“And have they raised this with the UC?” Hal asked. “Have they raised this issue with Battle Center? Either formally or informally? I think you’ll find the answer to all of those questions is no.”
“What are you suggesting?” Hunner asked.
“That this is a ploy on your part to take Larga Ways and adjust your space boundary to include what was once ours.” Hal lifted his shoulders. “A clear breach of about three agreements between our nations.”
Hunner tilted his head as if listening to a message in his ear piece and then he sighed. “I have been told to withdraw for now.”
“Thank you.” Hal bared his teeth.
Hunner winked out, the screen going blank as he cut the comms, and then the Ciolla moved back, and light jumped away.
“That was easy,” Chel said.
“Too easy.” Hal frowned.
“They’re not on our scanners any more,” Gerbardi said.
“They aren’t on our scanners as a battleship,” Hal said. “But they’ve been playing games for weeks, remember. Fine-tuning their strategy in real time with our battleships. What do you bet the Ciolla now looks like a small fleet of traders to most scanners?”
“Ah.” Voa turned in her seat to face him. “The little sneaks.”
Fee was sure the grahudi was following her, but every time she looked back, there was nothing to see.
If it had been haunting the base since it was blown up, it must have developed strategies to stay hidden. She guessed she’d only see it if it wanted her to see it.
She was back in the stairwell, and she looked in on the storage floor, trying to see if there was a way for her to sneak out that way.
There were people loading more pipes, and she watched them get back on the massive lift and rise up to the amphitheater. The sunlight cut off as the lift reached the level above, and then the gloom was broken again as a lift further down was lowered.
She might be able to get up in the frame of the build without being seen, she guessed, but climbing the stairs to the desert above unseen would be almost impossible.
She didn’t like to give up. She had to reframe this in her head not as giving up, but as a strategic retreat.
Dying of dehydration or a frien bite in the desert was the definition of losing.
Surviving, and finding another way out, was the only smart option.
She closed the door and climbed the stairs to the upper level, and was surprised there was no one running around shouting and looking for her when she got to the main floor.
She moved along the passage cautiously, turning when she heard a sound.
Bunny was on her shoulder, and she followed the direction of his gaze, and found the grahudi looking down at her from the ceiling.
It ran past her overhead, keeping to where the ceiling met the wall, and disappeared around the corner in the direction of the entrance foyer.
She suddenly remembered the cups lying on the ground in front of the water dispenser and smiled.
Clever killing machine.
And speaking of killing machines . . .
“Maybe hide under my sleeve. We’ll run into someone eventually.” She extended her arm to Bunny, but he ducked under her jacket and settled in the small of her back instead.
She kept going, rounding the final corner to her room.
The door was still open, and Bart and his friend were still in there, still passed out.
She tried to work out how long she’d been gone. Maybe half an hour?
So not very long, but not five minutes, either.
The fact that no one had come to check what was going on was extraordinary. Maybe they were all hands on deck to get the frame ready for its lift into nearspace? Bart had told her the Garmman had a very short window of time when Kyber’s Arm was at its furthest distance.
They might not have the staff to spare.
What to do?
Play dumb, she decided. Play the concerned, frightened, squeamish orange.
“Bart.” She shook his shoulder. “Wake up!”
He started and blinked up at her. “What?”
“It ran out the room, but I can’t lift you, and you’re on the floor.” She backed away, giving him room, and hopped back up on her bench.
Bart staggered to his feet, saw his buddy, and grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking him hard.
“Pallo, get up. Get up now.” Bart’s gaze was darting around the room, panicked.
Pallo snorted, opened his eyes wide, and then groaned in pain, rubbing the side of his head. “What happened?”
Bart looked at Fee.
She shrugged. “I don’t know what it was. It was quick, it was on you for a moment,” she nodded to Pallo, “then it disappeared. I waited for a bit until I was sure it was gone and then tried to wake you both up.”
Before Bart could respond, Vira appeared in the doorway. “What’s going on?”
“A baby frien, I think.” Pallo shook his head. “I’ve had my shots so I’m probably fine. Bart?”
“I got them last week.” Bart shuddered. “But why did we pass out?”
“That happens, especially with the really young babies. Unconsciousness isn’t uncommon after a bite.” Pallo massaged his temples.
Bart shuddered. “How do they move so quickly? I didn’t even see it.”
“That’s a good question.” Vira stared at Fee.
She lifted her hands up. “Don’t look at me. I tried to help them.”
“She did.” Bart shook his shoulders, as if trying to dislodge the horror of the situation. “She didn’t even run when she could have.”
“And why is that?” Vira asked.
“I considered it,” Fee said with a shrug. “But that thing is out there. I saw it run for the door, and I did not want to follow it out.”
Pallo looked at Vira. “You didn’t see anything?” he asked.
Vira glanced behind her. “No. I came from the—” She shook her head, as if cutting herself off. “What happened to the lens?”
“Whatever it was was in the conduits,” Pallo said. “It pushed the lens out. Probably attracted by the cool air in here.”
Vira moved to where the lens lay on the ground and looked up at the hole in the wall. “So it’s small.”
“Baby friens are thin, but they’re long. And their venom is actually worse than the adults. It’s no joke.” Pallo was rubbing his head again. “I need to go to the med bay. I hit my head when I fell.”
“I should probably get checked, too.” Bart rubbed his neck, and winced.
“And you escaped unscathed,” Vira said, narrowing her eyes at Fee.
“I’m not responsible for the biting habits of the baby frien population,” Fee told her. “And I’m very glad I didn’t get bitten, because as far as I know, the anti venom doesn’t work on me.”
It looked like Vira hadn’t considered that. She waved her hand at Bart. “Help me take Fiona to the build center, then you can go to the med bay.”
Bart shot her a look, lips together. “Fine. Let’s go.” He made a come here gesture with his hand, and Fee hopped down off the bench.
He didn’t restrain her, he just put a hand on her shoulder and let her walk out of the room.
“Where are the restraints?” Vira asked, voice sharp.
“I don’t have them with me. I came to see why the lens was out, not to restrain her.” Bart sent her a bland look over his shoulder.
Vira heaved out an irritated breath and followed, and Pallo trailed behind her.
It looked as if the med bay was to the left of the main entrance, because when they came to the foyer with the water station, Pallo kept going.
There were cups on the floor again.
Fee hid her smile and then Bart opened the door and a blast of heat hit her.
She blinked, almost stumbling as her body tried to adjust after the cool of the passageway.
Vira pushed past them, leading the way, and they followed her around the edge of the amphitheater to a small building to one side.
They were walking on a path around the frame, but closer in, set into the ground, were the lifts, staggered all around the circumference, six in total.
Workers gathered on the one nearest them, and then sank into the ground, and Fee peered over the edge and looked down, saw them stepping off to collect more supplies.