Chapter 6 #4
As Breaker leads the way along the compressed path of snow, Noa looks at me. “I know I can’t touch him or let him touch me… anything I need to be worried about with you?”
“Not like that, but it’s still not a great idea to touch me.”
He holds up his hands—his gloves look expensive—and laughs. “I promise you’re safe from me.”
Breaker looks back and has to shout, “But you’re not safe from the cavrinskh, so let’s get moving.”
Even while I watch Noa, I scan the inner caldera walls. Just because I haven’t seen an attack doesn’t mean there won’t be one. And the last thing we need is a man with more money than sense getting mauled on our watch.
He squats down and turns the casing over, knocking the snow off. “This is an aftermarket modification. It should hold coolant, but this appears to be some sort of medical fluid. Someone on the ship was sick before they died… or maybe sedated?”
“She was sedated.”
Breaker looks at me sharply, but he doesn’t say anything to let Noa know that he hadn’t known that.
“We are keeping that quiet.”
Noa looks up at me, squinting—he never should have taken his glasses off. “I understand confidentiality better than you’d think. No one will know she exists because of me.”
Nodding, I let him get back to his work, answering the questions I can and watching both the horizon and Breaker.
In another situation, I might like Noa. He’s serious when he needs to be, but only when he needs to be. And I can’t tell if his humor is forced, if his seemingly ever-present smile is a product of his profession.
But I don’t think it is…
Which makes this even less enjoyable than it would have been in the first place.
When Breaker is out of earshot, I turn slightly to Noa. “You should see a doctor.”
It won’t save him, but it might ease whatever brings what I saw to pass.
His brow ridges fly high, but he’s still smiling. “Is that your… thing? I know the brothers all have one. Can you smell my illness?”
“Not exactly.”
“Thank you for your concern, but my doctors and I already know.” He looks at me a little longer and finally, his smile falters. “That moment when we met. It was a pause so brief I thought I imagined it, but… you saw me die.”
“I saw you dead. There is a difference.”
“I have spent two fortunes trying to change my fate, Shock. Can you tell me how?”
“No.”
Then, as if he’s the one who knows things, he says, “Once you’ve seen it, it’s set. You’ve never been wrong?”
“Not once.”
He nods and then shrugs. “There’s nothing that can be done. I promise I’ve taken every possible chance…” He laughs, the first bitter sound I’ve heard from him. “And death will not be enough to pay for the sins I committed trying to save myself.”
Looking out over the snow, he releases a deep breath that mists in the air. “Do you know when? I don’t ask out of morbid curiosity… I would prefer to take certain precautions.”
“What kind of precautions?”
“Are you bonded?” He looks at me like he might be able to tell from my appearance.
“Not yet.”
A different smile touches his lips. “I love my bondmate more than I could ever tell you… If I can ensure she lives… I would spend a hundred fortunes.”
I look at him, trying to find his answer, but it gives me nothing. “I’m sorry, I can’t see that future.”
He swallows, his eyes bright and I realize… he’s on the verge of tears.
Hope can be a terrible thing. For a moment, Noa had it again, and with one uncertainty, I ripped it away.
“Thank you for trying to help.” He moves to the next piece of the ship, inspecting it wordlessly, and then the next.
Try as I might, I cannot see what happens to his bondmate.
And I am reminded of how often this feels like a curse. Not a gift.
We work our way through a large chunk of the debris field until Noa finds what he’s been looking for all this time.
Lifting it up, he carries over a cube-like chunk of the ship and sets it on top of one of the others.
“What’s that?” Breaker looks it over from a safe distance as Noa pulls out a scanning device I’ve never seen before.
“It’s the base ID for the ship. Once I scan this in, I can tell you who bought it and anyone who owned it after.”
“What if it was stolen?”
“Command codes are always changed. That’s what this pulls IDs from.”
The scanner beeps, but when he looks at it, his expression fades and he quickly turns the display off.
“Who owned it?” Breaker asks.
“I can’t tell you that.”
But that’s not right. “He means he won’t.”
“Some things are classified. I’ll have to get CSS approval before I can tell you anything.”
He doesn’t look scared. He looks… frustrated.
“Can you tell me how long they’ve owned it at least? Was it stolen?”
He looks at the plate, and I can tell he’s trying to decide how much and what he can say. “It has never changed hands. The command codes are the same. So, no. It wasn’t stolen.”
Breaker picks up a handful of snow and a moment later the electric pulse in his hand melts it. He uses the water left behind to rinse his hands. “Anything else you can tell us?”
“This is a lot worse than any of us thought it was.”
He hurries away, and Breaker and I watch him go. Hopefully he survives long enough for us to find out what’s actually going on.
“So there was a woman on board.”
“You are going to keep that to yourself.”
“I mean… I am going to tell Faith.”
“Yourself included her. But make sure she doesn’t tell anyone either.”
“I’ll keep my mouth shut.” He looks in the direction of my outpost. “Is that why Arc hasn’t come over to play with Mr. Jones lately?”
“He’s hunting down the Company connection in Calisan right now.”
The face Breaker pulls is almost comical. “I do not envy him that.”