Chapter 50 #3
Chee shifted uneasily, back to just waiting and waiting.
She could see on the 3D hologram the guys finishing loading up their fur pickup.
They would leave whatever they didn’t manage to load behind if they had to take off on a moment’s notice, but they also still wanted to complete their job because this job was what let them keep their freedom. It was vital to them.
But she hated that they weren’t already moving. She hated that they weren’t going after Trove immediately. And she knew that they didn’t know where he was. They didn’t have a direction to ‘go’ in order to go after him, but she hated just standing there doing nothing.
Just more waiting.
Painful waiting.
She was going to rip out her hair. She was going to scream. What was taking so long?!
“Captain,” Alred finally spoke, gesturing with his hand. One of the names of ships on his list was pulled out, enlarging until it stood out. “This one.”
It was an alien word, one she not only didn’t recognize, but one she couldn’t even read. It wasn’t written in Standard. Which wasn’t uncommon or unusual. About half the ship names on the list weren’t in Standard.
“This ship is called Passion, in its native tongue,” Alred said, translated.
“They’re a ship that specifically transports raw metal supplies for industrial purposes.
That’s all they do. They go back and forth from this place where they pick up the raw materials and the factory where they drop it off. That’s the only run they make.”
“Why?” Tanin asked. He didn’t mean why they made that delivery, he meant why did Alred isolate them as the one he suspected the most.
“The captain and flight crew are all licensed and registered. However, the rest of the ship crew, those who do the grunt work, are not licensed. And most of them are reformed criminals. Their crimes are relatively petty. Theft, fraud – nothing impressive or interesting. Except for one. He has a few violent crimes in his history. Nothing too bad, but the pattern is escalating.”
“That doesn’t mean much,” Tanin said, unimpressed. “Most of the crews of ships like those are people with criminal histories who can’t work elsewhere.”
“True. That’s not what really drew my attention, however.
This ship, Passion, is not owned by the industrial company that uses it.
In fact, it’s on long term loan. They pay for the rights to use it.
The company that does own the ship is called Industry Trade.
They’re a company that specializes in providing large equipment for industrial purposes.
They themselves are a subsidiary company of Vaulted Trade. ”
“Rinnicks,” Tanin finished for him.
The helpless anxiety in Chee’s belly hardened into a ball of hatred and fury.
That bitch didn’t…
“Rinnicks indeed,” Alred agreed. “That is her ship. The crew working on it is not, but it wouldn’t be hard for her to get in communication with them.”
“But how did they know we were here?” Goldie asked, frowning.
“Because she brought us here,” Tanin surmised easily, leaning in over the board.
“Alred, double check our client. I bet if you look, you’ll find that these furs belong to Rinnicks as well, and he’s just some distant worker of hers.
But first, tell me where this ship is now. Is it still attached to the station?”
“They’ve disembarked.”
“When?”
“Not long. They’re still putting distance between them and the station, but they’re moving fast. Once they jump into subspace, I won’t be able to track them.”
Tanin reached onto the console and pressed a button. His voice boomed out over the entire ship, “Inside now. We’re leaving immediately.”
The hologram figures didn’t waste a moment. They were back up the ramp, completely abandoning what looked to be the last of the hovercarts. Because the job was important, but obeying Tanin was their number one rule above all else.
It looked like Vytln was the last one in. He grabbed the cord plugging Alred into the station. The last image transmitted was him yanking it out as he jogged into the ship.
Alred didn’t need instruction to lift the loading ramp and began disembarking.
Chee couldn’t see anyone any longer, but she knew the others would be moving to their work stations.
And sure enough, it was only a moment later that Sway was inside, jogging to his spot at the helm.
The metaphorical helm since there wasn’t a steering wheel, just another console that came alive at his touch as he began moving the ship.
“What do we do now?” Chee asked, looking at her captain expectantly. But it wasn’t worry that filled her. It was hatred. “That bitch took him.”
Tanin met her angry gaze with a cold one of his own. Not distant, not unaffected – icy. Controlled. The deadly shine of a blade pointed at a target.
“We get him back, or we get revenge,” he said simply, like it really was just that simple.
And for them, she knew, it was.
Tightening her jaw, she followed Tanin out of the room, but she didn’t go to join him at the helm with Sway.
Instead, she went downstairs. Heading to her room.
Their room.
Where Trove kept his weapons.
Because she was no longer a child, held in check by laws that discredited the words of children. She would no longer sit back as someone she loved was stolen from her.
Never again.