Asarlai Wars 1: Warrior Wench (18 page)

“Stop pounding, or by the goddess I will blow you away through this damn door!” The sound Vas made wasn’t really a yell so much as a bellow.

“Captain Tor Dain, it is vital that you open this door. We must speak now.” Flarik was calm, or so she appeared. However, Deven saw the feathers down near the base of her neck start to ruffle up. Nariel was studiously engrossed in reviewing the previous day’s logs, most likely for about the fifth or sixth time. Divee was starting to take apart a perfectly good console. The thin human was the only one on the ship with almost as much skill as Gosta. Anything he took apart he probably could get back together.

Gosta. The man wouldn’t appreciate being wakened hours before his sleep cycle ended, however Deven didn’t think he had much of a choice. At this point it was a contest to see whether Flarik would tear the door open before Vas blew a hole in it.

“Nariel, call up Gosta. No, wait. Go get him.” At Divee’s panicked look he added, “And take Divee with you. Tell Gosta we’ve an emergency and need him now.”

The mind doc looked ready to offer her assistance, then thought better of it and nodded. “Aye, Deven.” An instant later she and Divee fled the battleground.

Deven took a deep breath and turned back to the combatants. Right now a drunken merc captain and a pissed-off, sleep-deprived, Wavian lawyer were probably the deadliest combination in this region of space.

The feathers on the back of Flarik’s neck were completely up now. “You must take action. It is your duty.”

Vas’s responding comment was too garbled to hear, but Deven thought it was, “Fuck my duty.” He really hoped Gosta got up here quickly. Things were going to get a lot worse if he had to intervene.

“What did you need?”

Deven spun at Gosta’s breathless question. Thank god on this ship of drama kings and queens they had Gosta. “Good man.” Deven clasped the taller man’s shoulder and propelled him toward the captain’s ready room.

“Condensed down, we need to get into Vas’s ready room. Preferably before she and Flarik destroy the door.”

The thin navigator took a deep breath and squared his shoulders. “Aye.”

The two combatants were down to snarling at each other in low phrases through the door, so the clicking of his multi jointed legs sounded harsher than usual.

“Captain? It’s me, Gosta. Deven and Flarik are very concerned.”

Noises came from the ready room, but they were too low for Deven to hear. Gosta however clearly could hear them.

“No, Captain, I don’t believe they will go away.” More muttered sounds followed by a burst of laughter from Gosta. “No, nor do I think they will drop into a vat of boiling oil, hang themselves, jump out an airlock, or get you more Hydriang ale.”

Again the sound of muttering followed, and then Gosta took a step back from the door. With a click it unlocked and slid open. The woman who stuck her head out was not the Vas Deven had left a few hours ago. Her glorious red hair stuck up in haystacks, writing styluses could be seen in two knots hanging off the right side of her head, and the entire left side of her face had weird indentations where she’d clearly lost consciousness at her desk.

“You all have two seconds to get your bony asses in here before I lock it up again.” However, it didn’t look like she would be doing anything quickly as she slumped against the doorframe.

Gosta helped Vas up and was arranging her at her desk when Deven and Flarik entered. Deven shut the door, after a quick nod toward Nariel and Divee who had trailed Gosta to the bridge. They could resume their normal low-key shift in peace.

Deven immediately went to the small food dispenser in the corner of her ready room. Vas rarely used the one on the
Victorious Dead
, far preferring the galley to the limited supplies found in the ship-wide dispensers. But desperate times called for desperate measures. “One solie, dark.” The small box-like machine gave a soft whirl and a cup appeared filled with the pungent brown drink.

“Drink it.” Deven sat it down on her desk, and then pulled forward a chair.

She glared at him petulantly.

“You know, it’s really hard to take you seriously when you have writing styluses growing out of your head.” Deven leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. He wasn’t going to even try to get this started until she’d taken the edge off her bender.

Vas glared some more, but she did reach up into the mess of hair with a wince. “Damn.” She reached into her desk and pulled out a small signal mirror, then grimaced some more. “I’ll drink the damn stuff. But I’ll have you know I was perfectly justified in my drinking. My life is filling with unexplainable shit.” She took a long sip of the steaming drink, her shoulders lowering as it worked its way into her system. That a stimulant was acting to relax her spoke volumes about her current state. “Shit, by the way, that none of you have helped get rid of.”

“I have been in hibernation, Captain.” If Flarik was upset about the previous battle of wills, she gave no indication now. Her clawed hands stayed folded neatly in her lap. “However, had I realized what was happening, I would have forgone my sleep.”

Gosta fiddled with a flap on his tunic. Finally he glanced up. “I may have found something, but you’re not going to like it.”

Vas stopped trying to untangle her hair and looked at him from under a chunk of it. “Go on.”

“The attack from that ore ship may have been prompted by the monks. I believe that I underestimated the Graylian monks and their puzzle.”

If Flarik’s neck could have turned a full one hundred and eighty degrees it would have. “What? You’ve invited Graylian monks on the ship as well?”

“No, of course not. They don’t leave their home world…wait, as well as what?” Gosta asked.

Deven winced. “I told her about Marli.”

“What?” Vas almost spit out the sip of solie she’d just taken.

“That captain who came to get her crewman? What about her?” Gosta glanced around the room in confusion.

“Why don’t we save that for later?” Deven motioned for Gosta to continue and Flarik to sit back in her seat. “Now about the monks and their puzzles?”

“Yes, well…I realized that one of the pieces of our ship wasn’t more than a slight nudge off the track to the meeting with Mac’s buyer. So, I entered that in as a precursor to the data on the planet for Mac’s drop when we left the space station.” He leapt to his feet and jerkily paced the small ready room. “It was my fault. I know how seriously the monks take their puzzles. They use normal ones as a test for their initiates on their home planet. But we weren’t sure you see—” His earnest face flitted from one to the other; his hands worked themselves into knots. “We didn’t know if that was a real Graylian puzzle or simply a fluke. I mean, no one has ever heard of a Graylian puzzle in space.” He gave a nervous laugh.

“The idea is insane. Or was. Until now.” He deflated back into his chair. “The monks have great penalties for initiates who try to solve it out of order. They view it as cheating.” He shook his head in a quick jerking manner. “They have our ship parts in specific locations that follow the initiates puzzle. I was trying to go after the nearest piece, but it wasn’t the first in the puzzle. I believe they sent the ore ship after us as a penalty.”

Vas threw back her head and laughed, a good sign the solie was working to clear the alcohol out of her system. “Don’t be ridiculous. Some planet-bound monks light years from us sent out an ore ship to ram us? We could have blown that ship out of the sky even with its increased speed. The only reason I didn’t was because I’m sick of the mysteries around here.” She continued to shake her head, only stopping when she saw the looks facing her.

“What? You three really think Graylian monks sent a trap for us. Because we didn’t follow their little plan?”

“Yes.” Gosta’s answer was simple.

Flarik frowned. “I didn’t realize Graylian monks were now involved. Clearly my hibernation was at a bad time. I must agree with Gosta. If the monks have set forth one of their puzzles, they will fight any attempt to break it. One must adhere to the proper order.”

Deven waited until Vas looked his way, and then just nodded once. If Gosta had found a true Graylian monk puzzle, and the pieces of the
Victorious Dead
were the goals, then he was surprised they’d only sent the ore ship. Graylians were peaceful unless it was anything revolving around their religion.

“Captain, I agree the Graylian puzzle work is important, but I wish to discuss the Rillianians. I don’t believe that we can—” Flarik was working up to a full verbal attack when the comm buzzed on the desk.

“Vas, we’ve got a problem.”

Terel’s voice was high, a sure sign of stress. Not to mention she was never awake this late, or early, depending on how you looked at it. Vas held up a hand to hold off Flarik and answer Terel. “What is it?”

“Pela just woke me. She was doing an inventory. Blood samples from all of the crew are missing, your blood vials with the trackers are missing, and our corpse is gone.”

Vas frowned. “Marli took him back with her.”

“Not that one. Someone took the body or bodies we found in the storage room.”

Chapter Nineteen

Vas swore and told Terel they’d be down there in a few minutes. Then she folded her arms and glared at Deven. “Any reason to think this wasn’t your friend?”

The look that crossed his handsome face told her he’d made the same connection. Hell, he’d probably made it before she did.

“No. I hate to say this, but Marli is involved for her own reasons. I won’t speculate at what they are, but I don’t think she’d harm this crew.”

Vas leapt to her feet. She’d resented the solie he forced on her at first; wallowing in a drunken stupor had been liberating for the first few hours. Now she was grateful. “You don’t think she’d hurt this crew? What if you think wrong?”

“Well, she did plant that tracker on the hull.” Gosta winced as soon as he said it and pounded his forehead. “I’m sorry, Deven.”

“She did what?” Vas couldn’t believe this. “And you didn’t want me to know?”

“I told Gosta not to tell you because you were busy drowning in a vat of booze.” Deven turned and headed out of the room. “It’s not hurting anything, and it’s better to let her think she got away with that than some of her other tricks.”

“Did you know about the body snatching as well?” Vas was going to have to rethink trusting Deven with her ship and crew. What the hell game was he playing?

Flarik stood near the door, her patience clearly thinning. “I understand there is a crisis of sorts in the med lab. If I am needed, I would like to get there before it is time for me to feed.” A flash of that mouth full of tiny daggers reinforced her request.

“Agreed.” Vas wasn’t afraid Flarik would try to make her an entrée, but if she was disturbed enough to make the comment, they really shouldn’t keep her waiting.

It took only twenty minutes to catalog all that had been taken. DNA samples from each crewmember were gone. The bodies, Terel was fairly sure there were two, and that they had died in a very similar way as that of Marli’s crewman, had been taken so cleanly the protective covering was still intact. The only thing left of them were the files she had hidden deep in her backup computer.

No damage had been done. No one had seen anything. They were just gone.

“When would she have had a chance? You were with her the entire time, right?” At Deven’s nod, Vas continued her tirade. “Then how could she have gotten them out?”

“Not in that tiny little suit.” Mac winced as Vas smacked him in the back of the head.

“Why are you here again?”

Rubbing the back of his head, Mac frowned. “I was the one who noticed the bodies were gone. I should have some stake in them since I found them, you know.”

“You came down to look at the bodies.” Vas glanced around. “Okay where is she?” Gosta, Deven, Flarik, and Terel were all she could see but Mac wouldn’t have come down here for nothing.

Such a pale face really shouldn’t lie. He flashed bright red before he even opened his mouth. “I don’t know what you’re talking about—”

Vas whapped him in the back of the head again.

“Ouch!” He resumed rubbing his head and took a calculated step back. “Okay, I might have been showing one of the girls—”

This time Terel hit him.

“You’re bringing dates to my med labs?”

“What is it with you people and the hitting? No, it wasn’t a date. She just said she thought it was cool about the bodies and all and since I found them.”

Vas rubbed her forehead. The headache slam back from her bout of drinking was creeping in early. With help from Mac. She’d have to get something from Terel before her brain started leaking out her ears.

“Just go, Mac. Thank you for telling us the bodies were missing. But go.” She lifted an eyebrow at Terel’s glare. “And I wouldn’t suggest using the med lab for show and tell anymore.”

Argumentative by nature, Mac opened his mouth to defend himself. Flarik, who had stood back since they got to the med labs, made a clicking noise with her teeth.

Mac was gone an instant later, all protestations gone with him.

Vas caught Flarik’s eye and noticed a smile. The Wavian may have more of a sense of humor than she gave her credit for.

Unfortunately, even after Mac left, they didn’t come up with any answers. That the Graylian monks were somehow involved was now a certainty. How they managed to trigger an attack against the
Warrior Wench
when she went after a piece out of their ornate order was completely unknown.

Terel was going to pull apart the limited data she had on both the bodies found in the hold and Marli’s late crewman to see if there were any connections. Marli clearly took the extra bodies for a reason.

Vas made her way back to her ready room with Deven and Gosta dragging behind. Flarik had given up and returned to her quarters to try and sort things out. Getting her and Gosta together to brainstorm would have been ideal, but she needed to figure things out with the Asarlaí in the equation first. Then she’d work with Gosta and leave that part out.

“So, gentlemen, I believe the question is where do we go from here?” Vas asked as the door slid shut behind Deven.

“I think the same as before. We have to lay low until we get a handle on things.” Deven pulled up the most comfortable chair in the small room and threw up his feet. Vas realized he probably hadn’t slept in over twenty-four hours. “There are too many players involved.” He held up a fist, flinging up fingers as he counted. “Whoever took the ship. Skrankle. Whoever poisoned you. The owners of that fake pub on the space station. Whoever slammed into you.” Vas thought he gave her an odd look at that, but he went on quickly, adding his other hand. “Plus, the ambush at Lantaria, the bodies, the Starchaser parts, the ore ship, Marli, Graylian monks, and Rillianian idiots.”

“Okay I missed the last one. I assume it has to do with why our erstwhile lawyer was swearing about them under her breath when she left us.” Vas frowned. “I thought her people got along with those xenophobic nuts.”

She felt a pleasant flush when Deven appeared surprised. That was something that almost never happened.

“How’d you know that?”

Even Gosta was startled but at least he didn’t say anything.

“I am the captain, people. It’s my job to know who on my crew are friends. I’d always understood those two races were supportive of each other.”

Deven ran his fingers through his hair and stretched, fatigue etching a few lines on his face. They’d probably have to wrap this up soon or she’d have him sleeping in her ready room.

“They may have been. But according to Flarik that’s not going to last.” He pulled out the piece of fabric. “It took some work, but I made a readable copy. Flarik said it’s from some Asarlaí-worshiping cult. The Wavians believe the Asarlaí were the worst abominations in the history of the galaxy. She was not pleased that a world her people trades with is worshipping them.” He flipped the patch to Vas then got out the panel with the image from the vid.

She studied both for a bit, frowning as she realized he only had the image of the man who hit her, and the patch from his uniform on the panel and not the entire clip. She was going to have to bug him about it when Gosta wasn’t around. He didn’t need to see any more infighting than he already had.

“Gosta, can you see what, if anything, you can find on this group or cult?” She flipped the panel and saw Flarik’s translation on the back. “Use these terms, and stick to connections with the Rillianians.”

He stood, taking the panel and patch. “I take it I’m off watch shift again?” He wasn’t even paying attention to her answer as he peered at the item in his hands. Clearly he’d be happily ensconced for a few hours.

“Yes, you’ll be covered.”

The door shut on her last word. To be honest he probably hadn’t even heard her.

“Now why in the hell would an Asarlaí want those bodies and the DNA samples?” Vas pushed Deven back into his seat as he attempted to follow Gosta out. He might fall asleep in here, but she needed some answers first. She went to her desk as a thought hit her.

“Hold off on that. Could your friend have done to you what had been done to me? You know, erase those memories?”

“No, of course not. I would have noticed.” His comment lost steam as he clearly gave it some thought. His creative swearing told her his answer.

“Two weeks ago I would have said no. Over the years I didn’t think of her as an Asarlaí, but more of an equal.”

Vas waited but he’d drifted off in thought. “And two weeks ago you realized…?”

“Sorry. I realized how very much she and I aren’t equals. She could have wiped my memories with a thought. Hell, she could have had us all help her carry them out.” He leaned forward and held his head in his hands. “This isn’t good. We need to take that tracker off our hull.”

“No, your first instinct was right. This just confirms that she can do whatever she wants.” She tapped the computer in front of her. “I did notice one thing though, but I didn’t want to mention it in front of the others. The computer in the lab where the bodies were was on. I had its information sent to me, any searches in the last twenty-four hours. Terel’s too fastidious, and none of her people would have left it running.”

“I didn’t even see you do it.”

“See? Not all of us need pretty mind tricks to pull something.” She flicked up the transfer information as Deven came around behind her. “Hmm, the ship’s systems? Why would she pull up…hello?” Vas froze as a series of screens unfolded to reveal an entirely unknown system running in the ship, directly below the hold where the body and Starchaser parts had been found. She clicked around until the entire system schematics spread out before her. “A particle mover.”

“What?” Deven leaned forward, and then pulled back with a deep breath. “Oh. One of those.”

Vas spun on him. “What do you mean, ‘one of those’? They’re completely theoretical. Something that can take apart things, weapons, people, anything, and mash them into the tiniest of molecules, then send them from one place to another? That only gets a ‘one of those’?” She folded her arms and glared. “I suppose your people use them all of the time. Whoever they are.”

The look on Deven’s face made it clear he didn’t want to discuss his people. However, he obviously recognized this highly secret bit of tech. The inner circle of the Commonwealth council might be used to the concept; normal merc captains certainly weren’t. And their seconds shouldn’t be.

Without answering her, Deven reached around her and began flipping through the screens. His look grew darker the more he saw.

“Damn it, what is it?”

He tapped the screen with a frown. “That thing is fully functional. And it also has Rillianian writing on it.”