Betrothed Episode One (18 page)

“
Coordinates entered, security clearance accepted. Take-off
procedure initiated,” the computer suddenly told me.

My hands
drew slack and tumbled off the panel, falling loose by my
sides.

My eyes
rolled into the back of my head, and I slumped into the flight
seat.

I was
dimly aware of a wet trickle forming over my top lip.

My nose
was bleeding.

I
couldn’t move to wipe the blood off; I couldn’t move at
all.

The
fatigue caught up to me and slammed into my body like a freight
train.

With the
last scrap of energy I had, I managed to pry one eye open as I
locked it onto the view screen.

I saw my ship take off, darting forward and through the open
door of the hangar bay.

I
remained conscious as it veered to the left and I saw a slice of
the city below.

Then it
tipped and shot towards the sky.

I fell into unconsciousness.

I
wouldn’t wake until I’d reached my next destination.

Lieutenant Mark Havelock

She’d
left the city. She’d left the planet. She’d goddamn left
Cluster.

I didn’t want to believe it; the Anna Carter I knew wouldn’t
be able to navigate her way to the shops, let alone circumvent the
security systems of a Cluster city to escape.

It
stunned me, yet it didn’t stun them.

Maybe it
had something to do with whatever medical tests they’d forced us to
do on her. Maybe it didn’t. Christ, I didn’t know what was going
on.

I bent
over the controls of my cruiser, studying the navigation readings.
After several minutes my back was so stiff it felt like every
muscle had been turned into steel.

With a
crack, I straightened up, seeing my frown reflected in one of the
shiny panels to my left.

I
focused on it.

Gain her
trust, they kept telling me, gain her goddamn trust.

That was
meant to be easy, was it?

I
couldn’t even find her.

Maybe I
didn’t know as much about this situation as I wanted, but I had to
keep hold of one fact: I knew why I was doing this.

I knew
why I was doing this.

Every
sacrifice, every freaking sacrifice was towards one
goal.

I
couldn’t forget that.

So I
bent over the control panel again.

Even if
I somehow found Anna, I now wasn’t that confident I’d be able to
catch her. The entire security division of Cluster had let her
escape. I was confident of my abilities, sure, but I wasn’t that
confident.

I
brought up a sweaty hand and pressed it over my chin, letting a
finger drag down my cheek until I dug the nail into my
jawline.

I was
starting to realize I needed more help. Not from friends, but from
enemies turned allies.

Them.

Pressing
that same sweaty hand into my forehead and letting my thumb shut my
eyes closed, I sucked a breath through my teeth.

I would
have to call them, wouldn’t I?

As much
as I hated to admit it, they may be able to help me.

Swearing
and slamming my hand down on the console, though not too close to
the critical navigational controls that I could damage them, I
shoved myself back in my seat and let out an angry
grunt.

Once it
finished echoing through the small confines of my cockpit, I pushed
my left hand forward and let it dart over the communication
controls.

Seconds
later I had them on the line.

“
You are calling us,” they stated the obvious.

“
I need help,” I reluctantly admitted.

“
You must capture her, regain her trust, and deliver her to
us. If you do not, we will not uphold our end of the
bargain.”

I knew
that. For the love of god, I knew that. They didn’t have to keep
repeating the obvious.

I
swallowed my anger. “She escaped from Cluster. I have no idea how.
She stole a ship according to security reports, but nobody’s been
able to track her.”

There
was a long pause. “We will manufacture you a medicine.”

“
Sorry?” I had no idea what they were talking about. “I’m
fine; I don’t need any medicine.”

“
Not for you. For her. It will …” there was a substantial
pause where I could hear them breathing, whatever they were,
“subdue the effects of the ability.”

“
Ability?” I knew cute little Annie Carter was at the center
of this. I knew she was betrothed to Illuminate Hart. I knew she
was the key to unlock the future we all so desperately needed. But
did I really know why?

No.

They
did. Or at least they thought they did.

“
You do not need to know any more information. All you need to
do is deliver the medicine.”

“…
Alright,” I managed as I pushed myself as far
back in my seat as I could go, my tense back pushing hard against
the yielding fabric of the backrest.

I
brought my hand up and pressed my thumb and fingers over my
eyes.

“
Specifications of medicine delivered. We have also calculated
the most likely location of her ship. It is critical you deliver
the medicine before you approach.”

“
Okay,” I grunted.

“
Diffuse airborne deployment is suggested. Manufacture the
medicine in sufficient quantities and bombard her location with
it.”

“
Won’t that be risky? Can she overdose on it?” I shouldn’t
have been questioning them, but I was.

“
Risk negligible. Follow orders. Likely location has now been
sent to your vessel. Find Annie Carter, regain her trust, and
deliver her to us. If you cannot regain her trust, simply deliver
her.”

“
Yes,” I answered.

The
audio feed cut out without so much as a goodbye. Then again, they
weren’t much for politeness.

For a
few seconds I didn’t do anything. I sat there, glassy eyed as I
stared at the view screen.

When my
mind started to question what I was doing I reminded it that what I
was doing was saving the universe. Maybe in the movies you could
avert disaster without spilling blood, but this was the real
world.

With
that thought playing through my mind, I steeled myself, hardened my
jaw, and leaned forward, hands darting over the navigational
panel.

I
quickly accessed the coordinates they’d sent me. It wasn’t that far
away and was within long-range scanners. I scanned the coordinates,
and sure enough I picked up a ship.

While my
scanners identified it as nothing more than a simple freighter
hauling engine parts, the information they’d given me assured me it
was likely Annie.

So I
punched the coordinates into navigation and told the computer to
follow.

With a sigh that barely made it out of my tight, constricted
throat, I pushed up and walked towards the back of the ship. There
was an extremely sophisticated matter reconstructor lodged into the
wall. A gift from a friend.

I plugged in the specifications they’d sent me, and sat back
as it began to synthesize them.

“
Computer, what medication will this synthesize?”

“
Medication not in the known database,” the computer
replied.

“
Then predict what the effects of medication will
be.”

“…
Substance unknown, prediction
impossible.”

My brow
crumpled. “What do you mean prediction impossible? And what do you
mean it’s an unknown substance?”

“
Substance unknown, prediction impossible. Lieutenant Mark
Havelock does not need to know what the medicine will do,” the
computer suddenly said, mimicking the tone and speech pattern of
them.

The skin
along the back of my neck prickled, and I stiffened.

“
All Mark Havelock has to do is to deliver it and secure Anna
Carter.”

I stood
there. I breathed. I nodded.

After
several beeps, a large vial of a blood-red liquid materialized in
the synthesizer.

I left
it there and returned to the navigation seat.

As I
waited for my sophisticated vessel to catch up to Annie, I had
plenty of time to think. But, wisely, I stopped myself from doing
it.

Think,
and I might start questioning what I was doing. So instead I sat
there, rested my hands on the panel, and locked my gaze somewhere
on the wall above the view screen.

Space
darted past outside, just a swathe of dark penetrated by blasts of
bright starlight.

…

Captain Fargo

She was
gone.

Miranda
had left the planet. Don’t ask me how she’d done it. Don’t ask any
of the technicians or esteemed scientists how she’d done it. Nobody
knew.

But she
wasn’t here.

She’d
stolen a prototype ship and escaped.

I sat in
my office staring at the wall. The wall didn’t hold the solutions I
was seeking, but at least it didn’t judge me either.

I kept telling myself I should have seen this coming. That
after one look into Miranda’s eyes, I should have realized she was
some incredible criminal with the hacking abilities of the
universe’s greatest AIs all meshed into one seemingly human
mind.

Despite
everything she’d done, my mind kept going back to one
point.

You
couldn’t fake a betrothal.

No
mistakes were ever made with them.

It was
one of the most secure practices in the universe.

So even
though I couldn’t be sure of her name or where she’d come from or
what she was, I knew Miranda was betrothed.

And that
was my clue.

Maybe all I had to do was figure out who she was betrothed
to, and I would crack this mystery open.

But how
would I do that?

She
claimed that she’d given her betrothal papers to Lieutenant Mark
Havelock, and he was long gone.

Believe
it or not, despite how serious this situation was, I would not be
able to walk into the Contracts Office and demand information on
her betrothal either. It would blow apart the tradition. Only the
two involved in a betrothal contract could access information on
it. I would need a special order, not from the president of the
Foundation, but from the entire Senate and every member of it to
break the tradition. And they wouldn’t do that.

Nor, in
fact, would the Illuminates let them.

The Illuminates guarded the betrothal tradition almost as
closely as they guarded the universe from the Gap.

Plus,
even if I could somehow get a Senate order to access Miranda’s
betrothal, I wouldn’t be able to find it.

Somehow,
some goddamn how, we didn’t have enough information to access her
identity. She’d done something when she’d hacked into the
maintenance tower. She’d scrambled what information we had on her;
there wasn’t even any footage left.

Even the
Contracts Office no longer had records on who had come to see them
one week ago when Miranda had picked up her contract.

It was
incredible to even comprehend that something like this was possible
in the modern universe. There were meant to be so many checks and
balances to prevent security breaches on this level.

It was
incomprehensible and yet it was happening.

And it
was happening on my watch.

I
crossed my arms further in front of my chest until it felt like I
was trying to crush my lungs.

Every
technician and science officer who wasn’t looking into the security
breach in the city was trying to figure out where she’d
gone.

I
doubted they’d be able to find her.

It was
as if Miranda knew exactly how we were going to look for her before
we did.

Which meant she had to know the intricate security operations
of the Foundation Forces extremely well. Another reason to cast
doubt on the premise she was a newfound one.

But if
she wasn’t a newfound one, who the hell was she and where had she
come from?

“
Sir,” a voice suddenly echoed out from the com panel by my
wall.

I
shivered, suddenly pulled from my reverie, and swiveled towards the
door. “Come in.”

The security officer practically charged into the room, and
it was a surprise she didn’t leave skid marks with her shoes. “We
found Mark Havelock.”

I looked
up, breath stuck in my chest. “Where?”

The
security officer’s brow twitched.

“
Where?” I questioned again quickly.

“
He’s dead.”

“
Sorry?” My voice shook in surprise.