Change Horizons: Three Novellas (11 page)

Dana double-checked the long-range sensors and saw that the decloaked ships that had surrounded her beloved
Koenigin
now were in pursuit, but at a reasonably safe distance. She overviewed the autopilot settings before she finally relaxed. Rubbing the back of her neck, she moaned.

“You should clean up. It’s remarkable what it does to revive the spirits.” EiLeen’s voice from behind her made Dana jump.

Turning around, she took in the vision of the woman she had to protect until she could deliver her to Admiral Jacelon. Dressed in a light-gray coverall, EiLeen still managed to look poised and elegant. Her short hair lay in stylish waves around her face and she stood as if on display on some podium. Such dignity had to come naturally to her after being the leader and constantly in the public eye for so many years.

“Sounds wonderful, but I can’t leave the helm. They’re in pursuit.” She hoped she didn’t come off as too acerbic.

“I do know how to read sensors and pilot a shuttle,” EiLeen said, sounding bored. “It will take you only a few minutes.”

“You know how to pilot a star shuttle?” Dana knew she sounded disbelieving, but the idea that any royalty piloted anything was too much.

“Yes.” EiLeen offered no explanations but sounded confident.

“Please.” She stood and offered EiLeen her place. “It’s not that I think you’re exaggerating, but perhaps I should make sure you—”

“Sensors are there. Our guests are far enough away to not cause too much worry.” EiLeen let her fingertips grace the console. “We’re traveling at optimal speed for a shuttle of this type, and you’ve set the weapons array on standby to be brought online within seconds, should we need it. You can leave.”

Dana had opened her mouth to tell EiLeen just where she could tuck her superior attitude, when she saw a faint sparkle of amusement in her eyes. Suddenly hard-pressed not to burst into undignified giggles, Dana nodded curtly. “Fine. I’ll only be a minute.” She squeezed by EiLeen, involuntarily inhaling the typical scent of cleansing agent and something that had to be EiLeen’s own. The dark, faintly woodsy fragrance fit her well, and the stars only knew where she had kept it. Did the woman carry perfume oils in her pockets?

Efficient as usual, Dana tore off her clothes, entered the cleansing tube, and felt the hum of the sonar waves run through her body and rid her of the sweat and grime that crawling around the inner parts of the
Koenigin
had bestowed upon her. She grudgingly had to concede that EiLeen was right; it did feel better, much better, to be clean. About to replicate a new uniform, she thought better of it and chose the same gray coverall that EiLeen wore. It was softer and wasn’t as tight or confining as her uniform. Realizing that the hairclip she used to put her hair up in its usual low bun was broken, she replicated elastic and created a simple ponytail. Not about to admit any form of vanity on her part, Dana was secretly proud of her long, blond hair and reluctant to cut it even when it was a chore to maintain.

She returned to the small bridge and stood watching EiLeen. How infuriating she was, and how utterly beautiful. EiLeen was studying the helm console with complete focus, her brow marred with a few wrinkles as she concentrated.

“What’s our status?” She let EiLeen remain in the pilot’s seat and took the navigation officer’s seat right next to it.

“Same distance to the pursuers. All systems are functioning. Nothing new.”

“Then we have some time before we decide where to set down and get you to safety.”

“And apprehend these…these thugs.” EiLeen turned darkened eyes to Dana. “They’ve shown nothing but callous determination. An SC asteroid prison seems too lenient.”

“That’s what we have to offer. We can’t disregard the directives of our legislators.”

“I know. I merely keep seeing that young woman, Ensign Saghall, dragging herself along the corridor soaked in her own blood. I’m sure these fools could not care less about her and potentially ruining her life. If she survives that type of blood loss.”

“The
Koenigin
’s medical staff is highly skilled to deal with trauma. If they got her there in time, they’ll save her.” Dana realized she was trying to convince herself as much as EiLeen. “I know seeing such wounds in real life can be hard.”

“I’ve seen my share of wounds, but it’s gut-wrenching to realize these criminals were after me and are hurting innocents in the process. I sincerely hope they left your ship alone once they realized I’d escaped.”

That was Dana’s fear as well. “I might be able to reach the ship via subspace communications.” She turned to the console and punched in a few commands. “Shuttle One to the
Koenigin
. Come in.” Waiting for a moment, she repeated the process. “
Koenigin
, this is Shuttle One. Do you read?”

“—
nigin
. L’Ley here, Captain. Secure channel implemented.”

“Excellent. Status report.”

“Sweeping the ship for hostiles as we speak, Captain. From what internal sensors suggest, they all took off after you. Are you all right, ma’am?”

“We’re fine. Staying well ahead of the enemy. What about Ensign Saghall?”

“I regret to inform you that Ensign Saghall didn’t make it. She’d lost too much blood. I’m sorry, Captain.”

Dana heard a muffled gasp behind her and turned around. EiLeen was pale now, her breathing erratic. “I’m sorry to hear this, Commander. Ensign Saghall will be missed. Very much so.” Dana swallowed hard. “So young…”

“Yes. She was. I have taken steps to notify next of kin and prepare for the return of her remains. What a complete and horrible mess. This is a cruise ship, for stars and skies.” L’Ley’s distraught tone came through, even though she clearly tried to stay collected.

“Agreed. I’ll try to contact you every hour on the hour. In the meantime I expect you to return to our closest emergency port. As soon as you can safely do so, file a subspace report to SC Command.” She stopped talking when EiLeen briefly touched her arm. “Yes? You have something to add, Madame Maxio?”

“Commander L’Ley. This is EiLeen Maxio. When you contact SC Command, you must give the details only to Admiral Ewan Jacelon. It’s imperative that you understand this.”

“Ma’am?” L’Ley’s voice showed trepidation as well as confusion. “Captain?”

“Sound advice,” Dana said, frowning at EiLeen. “Contact only Jacelon until we know what we’re dealing with.”

“But you need backup ASAP, Captain.”

“We do.” EiLeen interrupted, looking unperturbed. “That said, if you talk to the wrong person within the SC, you might as well be signing our death sentence. There’s far more at stake than you realize, Commander. Do I make myself clear?”

“Captain?” L’Ley sounded as if she was torn between being cordial to former royalty and thinking said royalty was being a presumptuous busybody.

“For now, Commander, I second Madame Maxio’s
suggestion
.” Glowering at EiLeen, daring her to object to her choice of words, Dana closed the subspace communication link. She studied EiLeen, secretly amazed at how confident the woman appeared. Here she was, being pursued by ruthless people who clearly didn’t care who they hurt to get to her, and she wasn’t above issuing orders as if she were still the reigning queen of Imidestria. “Now, tell me how you can presume to give my next-in-command orders.”

“I know about the positions that your Commander L’Ley and one of your chefs hold within the SC Fleet. You’re not just a cruise-ship captain, as admirable as that can be, but you hold the same rank within the fleet.” EiLeen tilted her head, her narrowing eyes studying Dana closely. “Same goes for L’Ley and the chef.”

“Why would you dream up something like that?”

“Because as an intelligence operative, I have top security clearance.” Leaning back in the pilot’s seat, EiLeen smiled enigmatically. “And before you call me delusional, I’d suggest you check in with Jacelon at the first opportunity to corroborate this. He’s the one who…hmm, drafted me.” She chuckled. “I wasn’t all that hard to persuade, as I was beyond bored with doing nothing after my abdication. When Jacelon pointed out how the SC could benefit from using me and my network of powerful friends, I agreed to go through the training. That’s one of the reasons we need to return to Revos Prime.”

“God. You’re a spook?” Dana slumped against the backrest. “So, what is it you have, or know, that these fools chasing us are after?”

“It’s not what I have. It’s what I mean to hand over. I promise you, all will be revealed.”

“And you’re not going to tell me now?”

EiLeen shook her head, now with a cautious expression in her eyes. “I can’t be careful enough. I know you’re trusted, and certainly your actions speak volumes about how dependable and dedicated you are. That said, you don’t have high enough clearance for me to brief you.” She shrugged but didn’t look very apologetic.

“This is insane. I can’t understand why Jacelon would keep me in the dark. I’ve been undercover as a civilian captain for years. Damn!” Slapping her right armrest, she pressed her lips together to stop from saying anything that might make matters worse.

“Dana, please. This is a mission that can’t fail.” EiLeen’s voice changed, losing its flippant tone. “Lots of people depend on its success. I ask you to trust me, and your admiral, and help me reach Revos Prime—or a vessel that can take me there. Quickly.”

“I can’t hand you over to just any vessel.” Aghast, Dana envisioned such a scenario ending in total disaster with her as the scapegoat. “This shuttle can’t travel much faster than this, which means it’ll take us at least three weeks to get to Revos Prime.”

“Then we need to use another type of spacecraft.”

“Yes.” Dana agreed. “Let me work on a plan for us to do that without the official hassle.”

“Are you saying you’re prepared to accept my orders?” EiLeen raised one eyebrow in a trademark example of her ever-present disdain.

“No. I accept Jacelon’s orders, and that’s it. If they coincide with your
suggestions
, then fine.” Dana motioned for EiLeen to change seats with her. “I need to make course corrections.”

“Very well, by all means.” EiLeen rose to switch seats.

As they passed each other in the confined area between the chairs, Dana accidentally brushed against EiLeen’s arm. Her skin erupted with goose bumps. The soft scent engulfed her, traveled along her senses, marked her. She glanced at EiLeen, wondering if she’d noticed anything. It was hard to tell as EiLeen had her superiority mask slapped on so hard, no personal expression was readily distinguishable.

Dana pulled up the star chart that showed every miniscule civilian space station. “Your idea has some merit,” she said, muttering. “If we lose this shuttle and move on in another…um, acquired ship, we could go faster and make things harder for our ‘friends.’ By the way, who are they? Or is that beyond my security-clearance grade?”

“I honestly couldn’t tell you. I know what they want, or at least I think I do.” Sitting down with her usual elegant grace, EiLeen tapped her lips with her index finger. “They’re well financed, well connected, or they wouldn’t have half a squadron of ships at their disposal, let alone people ready to die for the task at hand. Ridding ourselves of this rowboat of a shuttle gets us to Revos Prime faster, that much is clear, but how do you propose we do that?”

“I can see only one way. Look here.” She tapped the star chart. “This space station is a sordid little run-down pleasure dome where outcasts and shady characters gamble their hard-earned, or stolen, credits. What many of them have is really nice ships. That’s how they stay clear of the SC patrols.”

“Don’t the SC patrols close down such places as this station?” EiLeen leaned in close, her hair tickling Dana’s temple as she placed a hand on her armrest.

“They try, but as soon as they do, someone toggles the empty station somewhere else, and the word spreads fast among these people. It doesn’t take them long to have it up and running. Sometimes rich and very bored passengers who travel with the
Koenigin
ask us to detour to one of these stations. I never do, but their requests make me aware of their location. Or last known coordinates, at least.”

“So, what’s your plan?” EiLeen supported herself against Dana’s knee as she perused the star chart.

“Steal a ship, of course.” It was a thrill to see EiLeen’s eyes widen at her words. She held back a wry smile as EiLeen nodded thoughtfully, an odd look on her face. She actually appeared a little impressed.

“It’ll take us about four hours to reach the station. At our current speed, that should give us about two hours, wouldn’t you say, to obtain another vessel. A fast one, at that. Any idea how to go about it? I mean, nobody would leave their ship unsupervised at such a place, and there are just two of us.” EiLeen’s star-shaped pupils shrank as the light from the stars outside hit them.

“I think they’ll perceive us, two women traveling alone, as quite harmless,” Dana said. “I do have a plan, but you might not like it.”

“As long as I don’t have to sleep with any of them to procure a ship.” EiLeen straightened and looked regally at Dana.

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Dana managed to say after nearly choking on EiLeen’s words. “No sex for favors or coercion—that’s not how I operate.”

“No sex.” EiLeen tilted her head again, a movement that clearly indicated that she was trying to probe Dana’s mind.

As Dana hatched the plan of their heist, she briefly touched her temple. Oddly enough she still felt EiLeen’s soft and silky strands caressing it. She was starting to think she was imagining things and was due for a long vacation, so she squared her shoulders and pulled at her coverall. She missed the protection of her leather-like jacket, but no garment invented or designed would protect her from attraction, welcome or not. “For my plan to work, I’ll need your full cooperation, no questions asked.”

This statement did not sit well with her ex-majesty. Her lips suddenly pinched, her eyes a stormy color of pale gray, and her body language rigid, EiLeen nodded slowly. “Against my better judgment and only because Admiral Jacelon praised your service record and your ability to, and I quote, ‘think on your feet.’ That is a weird expression, but I understand the meaning. You’re very good at being undercover.”