Songs of Love & Death (43 page)

“First one’s already diverted.”

He realized then that she had a slim strafer pen in her fingers. Later, he’d ask her just what a nice girl like Serenity Beck was doing with such a delightfully illegal device. He prayed they had a “later.” For now, he let her work. Her record for unraveling code traps in Scout-and-Snipe had been damned near flawless.

“Shit!” She pulled the pen back abruptly, angling it away from the screen.

A searcher worm. Someone had upgraded the station’s security programs recently.

“I can create a subprogram to distract it,” she said, “if we have enough time.”

They didn’t. Frustration flooded him. “Options, Serri. Let the ship go. I’ll do everything I can to get you and Quin safely back in-system.”

Her lips thinned. “That’s no option. I could get another job, but Quin put everything he had into the
Pandea.
” She hesitated. “The bad guys must have the cargo by now. Case solved. Just go tell station admin who you are, make them give me my ship back.”

It sounded so easy. It
would
be so easy. There was a DIA stealth ship full of enforcement agents two hours out that could definitely provide the muscle, but that was something else he wasn’t permitted to reveal for at least another thirty-five hours. “Serri, if I could, I would. I can’t.”

“Please.”

The desperation in her voice tore at him. He wiped one hand over his face. “The best I could do is release some data so that you can prove a case against Jonas. You could get an attorney to file a civil case for damages—”

“When? A year? Two? Three? Didn’t you hear me? Quin has no resources left, financially and emotionally. I’ve worked with him for six years. He’s the kindest, most honorable, most decent being I’ve ever met. But since those death threats—”

“Death threats?” He knew the entire file on the Skoggi. It didn’t contain any threats, or the agency would have pulled the tagged cargo off the
Pandea
, knowing a secondary problem would muddy the investigation. “Because of—”

“Old news: his resignation from the council. He said it was probably just a sick joke, especially after all this time.”

“Damn it.” Nic spun for the door, angry at HQ for sloppy research, angry at Serri for not telling him sooner, and angry at himself for not asking all the questions he knew that he should have but didn’t. Finding Serri again restarted his heart but shut down his brain. “This could be the real reason Jonas assigned
the cargo to your ship.”

“But why would Rez care about Skoggi politics?”

“Because Rez Jonas’s maternal grandfather was Manton Suthis.” The details on Quintrek James that eluded him earlier came back now with blinding clarity. “Suthis was the attorney for a Dalvarrian mining cooperative that allegedly funneled illegal political contributions to key Skoggi administrators ten years ago, in exchange for government contracts.”

She stared at him. “Quin never mentioned names. Just that he had proof, but the court refused to investigate.”

“That didn’t stop Suthis from committing suicide.” And Rez, Nic remembered, had always been devoted to his grandparents. His devotion might now have taken a deadly twist.

Serri stepped toward him. “Quin—”

“I’ll take care of Quin. I need you to skew that weapons program. When you’re on your way down to the ship, comm me. If I don’t give you the all-clear”—and he hesitated, then pulled out his transcomm, knowing that she wasn’t going to like this option, knowing that his boss would like it even less—“contact Director Jessamyn Emory at DIA headquarters.” He rattled off a private comm number, sending it to Serri’s transcomm at the same time. “She’ll get you off-station.”

Her lips parted, fear and something else flickering across her features. A concern, a compassion that reminded him of the old Serri, his closest friend, the woman he’d loved in secret for years. “Nic…”

His chest tightened.
You’re still my best friend
would make him deliriously happy. Maybe then he’d have a chance. But he’d settle for
I don’t hate you as much as I used to.

“I… be careful.”

“Comm me. And keep the safety off your pistol.” He slipped out the door, then bolted for the catwalks.

S
ERRI HATED SEARCHER
worm code. More than that, she hated that she’d left Quin alone and vulnerable. And that Nic might even now be too late.

She could lose them both. The thought came and went because she didn’t have time for pity, though her heart ached and her throat felt tight. She had a searcher worm to choke. And a weapons guidance program to screw up.

It took ten minutes before the worm choked, the program freezing up long enough for her to launch a worm of her own into the ion cannons’ guidance system. It wasn’t her best work; it would unravel in about an hour, leaving
station techs swearing at yet another inexplicable program malfunction that suddenly restored itself. But it bought her, Quin, and Nic time.

She slipped out of the maintenance compartment into the shadowy cavernous core of catwalks and access tunnels. Twenty minutes had passed since Nic left. She sent Nic a brief “on my way,” then moved as quickly as she could down the rickety catwalk stairs, transcomm still in hand as she listened for a confirmation back from him. She needed to know that Quin was safe. And Nic… his reappearance after all this time set off emotions in her she wasn’t sure what to do with. Maybe he hadn’t been trying to hurt her when he’d covered up Rez’s infidelity. Maybe he was simply caught between two people he cared about, and didn’t know what to do. Or maybe—

Her transcomm pinged. Nic. But no, it showed Quin’s ident. Then the signal disconnected. If it was an error, he’d call back, but she didn’t for a moment think that’s what it was. She quickened her pace, abandoning her intention of using the main corridors. She’d stay in the relative safety of the maintenance rampways and tunnels until she was sure what was going on.

Why hadn’t Nic confirmed back to her?

Another ping. Quin again. This time the screen stayed lit. There were the low sounds of someone talking, many of the words distorted. Quin must have activated his transcomm through his CI vest, and was letting her know what was going on in the
Pandea’
s bay without others in the bay realizing that he’d done so.

Still moving quickly, she strained to catch snippets of conversation—no, threats—between Quin and Gop Filar. Then, heart pounding, she broke into a run.

Because there was one thing she didn’t hear along with the threats: Nic’s voice.

He should have reached Quin by now, and she didn’t know if she was more worried that he hadn’t—or that he had. Because Filar’s “You are out of options” went right to the pit of her stomach.

It sounded as if someone had tried and failed.

Nic couldn’t fail. He was a DIA agent. He was trained. He was someone she cared oh-so-deeply about—even if she didn’t want to admit that to herself.

She reached the first level of freighter bays. If she exited through the yellow-ringed maintenance panel on her right, she’d be about thirty feet from the
Pandea’
s airlock. Though the only voices she could hear through Quin’s open transcomm were his and Filar’s, Filar could have the bay full of his Bruisers. Barging in was a move she wouldn’t even do in Scout-and-Snipe, let alone in
real life.

But she could take advantage of the way the freighter levels were structured, with maintenance pits underneath each bay. She bolted down half a level. Quin was still arguing. That gave her hope.

She found the pit for the
Pandea’
s bay, checked it for alarms and, finding none, pocketed her transcomm, then turned the manual lock. The panel was heavy, but she only needed it open far enough to slip through. She went into Scout-and-Snipe mode: listening, sensing. Nothing but the creak, groan, and whoosh of the station, and the lingering scent of grease. She stepped into the shadowed pit, her eyes picking out pinpoints of light from the various control consoles on the far bulkhead.

A slight exhalation of breath whispered behind her. She flinched, fear spiking, her fingers fumbling for her pistol just as a hand covered her mouth. An arm wrapped hard around her midsection, pinning her arms. Heart pounding, she twisted, trying to free one arm so she could—

“Serri.” Her name, hushed, in her ear.

Nic’s voice.

Nic?

The arm loosened, the hand pulled away. She spun, right hand fisted, her breath coming in hard gasps as she stared at the familiar lines of Nic’s face in the dim lighting. Relief poured through her. “Why didn’t you answer my message?”

“Your transcomm’s off line.” He kept his voice low.

Not off line. She yanked it out. “Quin,” she whispered, handing it to him.

He listened for a moment, nodding, then tugged her forward, his free hand on her wrist. “All right. We’ll come up underneath the ship. Use the rampway as partial cover. Did you get the targeting programs skewed?”

“We have about forty-five minutes before they’ll reset. What happened with Quin?”

“Filar and three guards were in the
Pandea
’s airlock when I got there,” he explained as they trotted toward the far side of the bay. “Quin refused to leave the ship until about five minutes ago.”

“That’s when he called me.”

“He should have stayed onboard.”

She heard worry and frustration in the tight tone of his voice. “He’s Skoggi. He can sense you. He doesn’t want us locked out of our own ship. If he’s on the ramp, then he’s telling us it’s time to break dock and leave.”

“I have every intention of granting his wish. He’d just better not mind an extra passenger.”

She didn’t want to know why his words made her heart beat faster. “I assumed you were coming.”

“Not just me. Filar.” He slowed as they neared a set of tall servostairs, then motioned her behind him. “I’m on point. Set your pistol to stun only. I want that bastard alive and spilling everything he knows about Rez Jonas.”

They were going to kidnap the Jabo Station dockmaster? “You can’t possibly be—”

“The Crystal Flame scenario, Scout-and-Snipe.”

She remembered. “Nic, we never got past level seven in that one.”

“This time, though, we’re going all the way.” His wry grin was confident even in the low lighting. “Trust me.”

She had to. They were out of options and almost out of time. The ion cannons would come back online in forty minutes.

T
HE SERVOSTAIRS WERE
rickety and, once Nic reached the halfway point, no longer lit by the dim illumination of the pit’s emergency lights. Overhead a series of movable hatchways were crisscrossed by cables and pulleys and dangling things that—in spite of the narrow light offered by his handbeam—managed to gouge his shoulders and his back. Serri didn’t fare much better. More than once he heard her sharp intake of breath.

He was leading a civilian into a potential firefight, violating a half-dozen DIA regs he could quote from memory, but his distinct uneasiness had nothing to do with those regs. It wasn’t that he doubted Serri. Serenity Beck could be tough when tough was needed. It was that she was Serri, and he would do everything he could to protect her.

Even if it meant his own life.

There was a reason the Crystal Flame scenario was so difficult to complete. It was because level eight set up a do-or-die situation: sacrifice a team member or go back to level one.

The top of the servostairs widened into a platform. He clambered up, then guided Serri next to him. She had the transcomm to her ear.

“Status?”

“Quin’s switching between Trade and Skoge. It’s making Filar’s trans-lang crazy. But it sounds like Quin’s trying to bribe him.”

“Keep listening. Some of what he’s saying is likely aimed at us.” He ran his fingers over the gritty, pitted metal panels inches over his head, feeling for a manual release. He found it, pulled, and was rewarded by a soft double click. It was open. His heart hammered. He took a deep breath. He had to forget for
now that Serri was Serri. This was the mission; he was a professional. Personalities—hell, his heart’s desire—could not come into play.

“Quin’s telling Filar that he has a collection of Nonga vases he can show him onboard.”

Nic glanced at her. It was exactly where he wanted the Nalshinian dockmaster: locked in the
Pandea’
s brig. “You sure Quin’s not telepathic?”

“You know as much about the Skoggi as I do.”

“Is Filar going?”

She was silent. Then: “Sounds like it.”

“Here’s what we do. Crystal Flame, level seven. We stun whatever Bruisers are outside the ship. Then you watch in case backup arrives. I’ll take care of Filar and his escort.”

“Wrong, Talligar. It’s my ship. We take out the guards, then
I’m
on point. I think I know where Quin’s leading Filar so we can trap him.”

“You could tell me—”

“We’re wasting time. Thirty-five minutes before those cannons come back on line.”

Shit. He’d forgotten about that. He pointed to her transcomm. “Anything more?”

She was frowning. “Signal’s disconnected. I don’t like it.”

Neither did he, but rushing into this could be fatal. He carefully slid the portal panel to the left, pinpointing the locations of at least two guards by their noises. “Now,” he whispered, and shoved himself through.

The freighter bay seemed almost dirtside-daylight bright to his eyes, even with the large ship hulking above him. He assessed his position immediately, spotting the two guards about twenty-five feet from the end of the rampway, just inside the bay’s safe zone. Good. They’d be locked behind a blast wall when the ship powered up. He crouched quickly next to a landing strut, feeling Serri behind him. He motioned for her to take out the one on the left. A quick glance showed her pistol raised. He took aim. They had to fire at the same time or risk retaliation.

“Now,” he whispered again.

He fired, aware of the low hum from her pistol in tandem with his. He hit the guard on the right center mass, but Serri’s guard turned and her stun charge hit him in the shoulder. His guard dropped like a crate of unsecured cargo, but hers twisted, falling to one knee as one hand raised a pistol and another punched something on his transcomm.