Space Wrangler (30 page)

He shook his head.

“You said, I should tell Trent ‘hi' from you when I saw him.” Tears stung her eyes. “It meant so much, Rick. Kept me going, especially when the Sea-Mont sentient wouldn't engage with me. I know you wish you'd left me that red beacon, but you left me something infinitely more important.”

“Don't cry,” he murmured. “We'll make everything right, I promise.”

“That's not your job. If I can stow away here until Zeke's crew contacts us, they can do the rest by getting me back to Earth so I can destroy David. I just hope it happens before he hurts Zeke or Gabby.” She bit her lip. “Once David hears I made it safely to Earth, he might kill them just to get back at me.”

“Don't worry, I'll handle that part.”

“Pardon?”

“As soon as I know you're safe, I'll hit the platform and get them out. Hopefully by subterfuge, but if I've got to blow something up? Or take a Seaton hostage?” He gave her a cheerful smile. “I've kind of missed that stuff.”

His words crushed down on her, blanketing her with her guilt and foreboding. “I know you have to do that. And I'll help you. But once I'm through the sinkhole, you need to go back to Sector Fourteen and pretend you never heard of any of us.”

“That's crazy. If you're worried I'll get hurt—”

“I'm worried you'll get your heart broken again. Someone will die and you'll blame yourself. Don't you see?” She struggled to sit up. “This isn't your fight. I should never have made you take me to the Titans.
That's
where it all started. I'm so sorry, Rick.”

“What are you talking about?”

“It's not your job to save Zeke. Or Gabby. Or me.”

“Did it ever occur to you that I
want
to save you? Because I like being with you?” he demanded.

“That's even worse. You didn't want to care about anyone. Because you knew this would happen again. And now you'll blame yourself. Like you did when your crew died.”

“I don't blame myself for my crew's death,” he assured her bluntly. “I never did.”

“Pardon?”

“I don't blame myself for Dad either. Is that what you've been so sorry about? Geezus, Lexie. I
miss
them. And yeah, I felt guilty for surviving. But I didn't make that copter blow up. And I didn't leave Dad unguarded. And even Mom…” He paused, then admitted wistfully, “Yeah, I wish I hadn't been a sniveling little coward. But I was a kid. Fifty pounds soaking wet, scrawny, no weapons, scared out of my wits. I couldn't have saved her even if I tried.”

“And it's possible you can't save us either,” she told him quietly.

“Sure I can. It'll be fun. Trust me.”

“Rick…” She knew he was kidding himself. If this went wrong, he'd blame himself forever. It wouldn't just set him back three years, or five years, or however long it had taken in the past.

This time, it would kill him.

“Go to sleep, beautiful. Everything's under control.”

“Okay,” she murmured, knowing she had no choice. His jaw was set with determination, and her brain was already drifting off. “You can go to the platform and save them. But
I'm
coming with you. And after that, we'll say goodbye once and for all.”

“I am concerned, Captain,” Sensie told Rick as he stood on the enclosed deck of the
Drifter
and searched the distance for a comet that was scheduled to pass through the sector. Alexia was asleep in his bunk, and her words—her crazy assertion that she would accompany him to the platform to rescue Gabby and Zeke—rang in the air.

“It's fine,” he said reassuringly. “We'll stall for a while, keep her occupied. Seaton can't possibly arrest
all
the smugglers, and the ones still out there will be loyal to Angelus. Loyal enough to smuggle Alexia through the sinkhole. Once we hear from them, we'll convince her to go E-side.”

“She will not go. Not until she helps you rescue her friends.”

“She'll go,” he said simply. “She thinks I feel guilty, but
she's
the one who's drowning in the stuff. If I tell her I can't be happy, can't be free, until I know she's E-side, she'll go.”

“It is there, Captain.”

“Huh? Oh, that's effing amazing.”

The ball of ice hurtled through space, its twin tails streaking in a glittery display as it orbited closer to Destry's sun.

He was awestruck, and had to believe his computer, for all her logic, was equally impressed. She was flawed, after all. Human, thanks to her programming. He had always known that, yet it hadn't made sense so he had dismissed it.

Now he understood. She had Alexia Montoya's amazing brain patterns etched into her cyber DNA.

“She's beautiful. Right, Sensie?”

“Yes, Captain,” the computer replied.

Then another voice echoed. “Yes, Captain. She's beautiful.”

He turned to see Alexia dressed in loose-fitting long johns. So innocent. So painfully eager. She wanted to help. To save her friends, to save Rick, to save the company and to find Trent.

So ambitious for a five-foot-six human female.

“How'd you sleep?”

“I'm good. Strong. Ready.”

“Good.” He walked over to her, took her by the arm, then led her off the deck and into the control room. “Sensie synthesized mashed potatoes. She said they're your favorite.”

“Yum.”

“Sit and eat. And we'll go over the plan.”

Alexia seemed pleased. “For storming the platform? Together?”

“That's one scenario.” He watched her dig into her food. “But we need to keep our eye on the prize. Stopping David Seaton once and for all. If something happens to you before you go home and testify, he'll be untouchable. He won't just own the whole company. He'll control the narrative. And he'll make sure the rest of us can never contradict him.”

She set her fork down, then looked at him through clear eyes. “If we could get the sinkhole open, I'd agree I should go straight home. But that could be weeks. We can't just let Zeke and Gabby rot in prison for so long. Unless you're willing to put me back into the Titan leg while you rescue them yourself.”

“That wouldn't work. Once I grabbed them, all hell would break loose and I wouldn't be able to get back to Destry.”

“That's true,” she murmured, returning to her meal.

“You'd actually go back into the leg? Wasn't it miserable?”

“At first, yes. Then Trent showed up—in my delusions, but still, he gave me great advice. To trust the bio-metal. I get why Zeke told me to stay away from the walls, but he was wrong. The bio-metal gave me strength.”

“Water and food would have given you strength,” Rick told her bluntly. “You should have seen yourself when we found you. Dehydrated, semi-conscious—”

“Dying,” Sensie added. “You were dying, Alexia. We cannot allow you to enter the Titan again.”

She smiled. “It's still so cool that he talked to you. Too bad he didn't say more.”

“He did. But he asked me not to share it. And he asked that you two keep his confidence about my true identity.”

Alexia gave Rick a frustrated grin. “So much for being captain of your ship, right?”

He laughed. “Yeah, Sensie. Let's hear it. That's an order.”

The computer stayed silent for a moment, then told him quietly, “It is for your own protection, Captain. This knowledge could be dangerous.”

“Out with it.”

“Come on, Sensie,” Alexia wheedled. “I'm you and you're me, remember? We can't keep secrets from each other. Just tell us what he said. Word for word, no paraphrasing.”

“Fine.” The computer's voice resonated through the cabin. “The Titan said, ‘I attempted to sustain your mortal form, Alexia Montoya. But these Earth humans are too fragile for bio-linking. It is regrettable, yet I believe she will recover with your assistance. I caution you not to share this information with the humans. They are not ready and may abuse it or be misled into danger by it. You and I must cease all communications from this moment forward.'”

“Bio-linking?” Alexia whispered.

“Yeah,” Rick said, honestly stunned. “Maybe that's why you craved contact with the walls of the
Drifter
. Trying to reestablish a link. It's amazing.”

“And dangerous,” Sensie scolded them. “You should have put her in the ACT right away.”

He glared. “If you had
told
me right away, maybe I would have. So just drop it and help us analyze this mess.”

Alexia's eyes danced with amber lights. “We're all thinking the same thing, aren't we? The Destroyers actually bio-linked with the Titans. Maybe with
all
their robots. It's so cool.”

“Which means the Destroyers were tougher than us. Not just technologically advanced, but physically too,” Rick reasoned aloud. “But still humanoids, or why else would the Titan call us
Earth
humans?”

“Oh my God, you're right!” Alexia smiled proudly. “He's right, Sensie, isn't he?”

“It is possible.”

“Do you think you could communicate with the Titan again? If we got close enough?”

“He said we must cease such behavior. And so I do not believe he would be open to it. It is even possible…”

Rick eyed the monitor sternly. “Spit it out.”

“It is possible his bio-link with Alexia enabled him to communicate with me on a temporary basis. Re-energized him for a period of time. Or it is possible he was never dormant at all, but I find that unpersuasive.”

“If
my
Titan was never dormant, then none of them are,” Alexia murmured. “So why did they wait until now to communicate? Plus,
Trent
said they were dormant. And it's been seven years since we arrived on Destry. It doesn't make sense that they'd just—well, stay quiet until now.”

“Do you see why the knowledge is dangerous, Captain?” Sensie asked Rick.

“Yeah, I get it. We need to keep this to ourselves. For a lot of reasons.”

“Until we find Trent,” Alexia reminded him.

“Right.”

She turned her gaze toward the icy streak of dust on the monitor. “What do you call this gorgeous display?”

“The Phoenix comet.”

“I love it.”

He nodded. “There's a lot to see in space. You'd like it.”

She pushed at the potatoes with her fork, then said in a too-casual voice, “TJ thinks you're trading bio-metal on the black market. I know you'd never do that. But…” She smiled in apology. “What exactly do you do out here? Besides wrangle and chase comets, I mean.”

The question made him laugh. He had told her all his other secrets, hadn't he? Why not this one? Especially because it would resonate with her.

So he stood and offered his hand. “Come on. We'll watch the comet from the deck while I tell you the story. It'll make more sense out there. Right, Sensie?”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Alexia sat on the deck, pretending to watch the sparkling tails of the Phoenix comet, but actually studying Rick. He had promised her a story, but instead was gazing into the star-studded darkness, and she wondered what was going through his mind. Memories of the past? Concerns about the future? A desire to run away screaming?

She wouldn't blame him for that.

Then without turning to face her, he began. “I've mentioned how I came here to explore. Not to work for Sea-Mont. But I wanted access to discounted fuel, so I decided to take down some thugs. Not extensively, though. Just enough to get by. Then I heard about the infodroids.” He exhaled slowly. “At that time, only two had ever been wrangled. Both by accident, or at least, that's what I was told. They were usually so slippery, and had so little bio-metal in their gangly bodies, they weren't worth the risk. Because for every infodroid, there were always two or three thugs lurking nearby, protecting it.”

“But TJ pays more for them because of the data in their heads?”

He looked surprised but also pleased. “I forgot we told you about that. So yeah. He pays fifty-thousand per infodroid, compared to around twenty-thousand for a medium-sized thug. And he pays for scrap metal too, so a lot of the guys don't wrangle at all. The point is, no one was going after nymphs—that's what me and Sensie call them. And I didn't need the extra money. But I decided to try it once, just for the experience.”

She listened, entranced, as he told the story of their first nymph hunt. It had taken a while to locate one, and when he'd first seen it, he had been so busy battling two huge thugs, he hadn't paid it a lot of attention, other than to have Sensie track it. Finally, he had hauled both thugs aboard, then headed after the silvery-blue octopus in the distance.

He didn't fire on her as he'd done on her protectors, since he didn't want to damage her precious memory chip. So he had used only the electronic lariat. She had proven as slippery as described, slithering away more than once before he finally lassoed her, affixed a tow beam, and pulled her into the hull, careful not to damage her.

He had rushed to examine her, curious about the luminous eye-like patches on her arms. He would detach the head and carry it to the control room so he could download a copy of the data for his own use before stowing the head in the hull with the other bounty and returning to Destry for payment.

“But I wasn't prepared for what I saw,” he said, turning for the first time to look Alexia in the eyes. “You should have seen her. Not just an astonishing piece of technology, but eerily alive. Graceful, vulnerable. Almost perfect really. The thought of dismantling her seemed fundamentally wrong.”

“May I tell the rest, Captain?” Sensie asked.

“Sure, go ahead.”

The computer spoke in hushed tones. “From the time the captain first built me, I had great respect for his intellect and straightforwardness. And great awareness of how dependent I was on him. And so I always cooperated fully, and obeyed his orders without question. But it wasn't until that moment—when he returned to the control room and instructed me to release the nymph back into space—that I finally understood how fortunate I was to have fallen into his hands. I saw his respect for that cyber creature. For a form of life completely alien to his culture. And I swore allegiance to the goodness in his heart and in his human soul, knowing it was a miracle that he was the one to reclaim me.”

Alexia's eyes swam with tears of delight. “You let it go? It's so wonderful.” She stood and walked over to him, then kissed him gently. “She's right, you know. She's lucky. So am I.”

“You would have reacted the same way,” he said, his face flushed at the praise. “That nymph was alive. Sentient, actually. Not in a well-rounded way like Sensie, but still, she was self-aware. And aware of her surroundings. I just couldn't hurt her.” He flashed a sheepish smile. “It's hypocritical, right? I have no problem blasting holes in thugs.”

“Thugs attack you,” Sensie reminded him. “And they are single-purpose. The equivalent of single-celled organisms in the hierarchy of life. But you saw something more in that nymph, and you respected it.”

Alexia brushed her tears away. “So you released her. And you've never wrangled one again? But TJ thinks you have?”

“I wrangle them all the time,” he assured her. “Partly because I want the data. And I want Earth scientists to have it too. And partly to protect them, strange as it sounds.”

Sensie interrupted him. “It is not strange. Not at all. You need to understand, Alexia. The captain worried for days about that first nymph. She no longer had her thugs to protect her. It was just a matter of time before some other wrangler would spot her and find her easy prey. So he crafted a small skull from the bio-metal we keep on board for repairs. You should show her, Captain.”

“Yeah. Come on.” He led Alexia to his quarters and activated a small compartment in the wall, revealing a shelf. And on that shelf were five shimmering skulls.

“Oh! Can I touch one?”

“Be my guest.”

She held one reverently. “Is this the real thing? Or one you made?”

“I made these. To replace the real ones.” He gave her an encouraging smile as if to say he knew it was confusing. “We wrangle the nymphs and download their data. Then I replace the nymph's head with this and we program a new chip to carry her far beyond the outer sectors, where she won't be in any more danger. So I get the data for my own use. Sea-Mont and science get the data for whatever purpose, complete with original skull. And the nymph is out of danger. At least, danger from humans.”

“
Earth
humans.”

“Right.” He grinned. “As a bonus, the original nymphs contain tiny red signaling devices so they can summon nearby thugs when threatened. Since there aren't any thugs where I'm sending them, I keep the beacons. I don't know where Angelus gets his, though.”

“Maybe he wrangles nymphs too.”

“Him?” Rick snorted. “He's never done an honest day's work, trust me.”

“He saved me.”

“For a price,” he muttered. “I'm grateful, obviously. But he's no saint.”

She glared in warning. “He hero-worships you. So be nice when you see him. I mean it.” She arched an eyebrow, but couldn't keep it up. So she admitted, “You saved those nymphs. The same way you're trying to save everyone else.”

“Stop that,” he insisted. “It's not true.”

“Speaking of not true, how did you explain all this to TJ?”

He drew back, then chuckled. “Yeah, I see what you mean. He questioned me about bringing the heads without the bodies, and I told him the bodies weren't worth it so I just threw them back. Because they had too little bio-metal compared to the room they took up in my hold. I guess he didn't buy it.”

“I think he did. Because he trusted you. Right up until the time he found out we betrayed him by sleeping together.”

Rick shook his head. “You give him too much credit. He's as evil as his father. I should have seen it sooner.”

Her heart ached for TJ but she knew better than to argue. Rick's moral code was so strict, and he held himself to it so rigidly he couldn't cut TJ any slack. Or Zeke for that matter. He judged those guys by his own standards, forgetting he had had certain advantages they must have lacked.

But she didn't dare say that to him, mostly because it was ludicrous. What advantages had Rick had? Seeing his mother butchered before his eyes? Losing his father to violence? Watching his beloved comrades immolated and being helpless to save them?

“Hey, cowboy?”

“Yeah?”

“On behalf of females everywhere—cyber or otherwise—I'd like to give you an award. In
bed
. Just in case I didn't make that part clear.”

She half-expected him to object. To say he didn't deserve it. But he was a guy, and so he just grinned ear to ear, scooped her up in his muscular arms, and carried her to his bunk.

Zeke Angelus had a burning need to escape the basement prison of the Sea-Mont building. To help his beautiful blonde girlfriend. To help his crew. Even to help Alexia Montoya, although he suspected
that
particular cargo—precious as it was—was safe in the arms of her lover.

Zeke could use that guy's assistance right about now. And he knew Rick Gage would help if he could. But like any guy, Gage had to put his girl first. So he'd take Alexia out to Sector Fourteen and frolic with her, leaving Zeke to save the day for the rest of them.

Fine by Zeke. He actually preferred saving Gabby single-handedly, thus fast-tracking himself from casual date to solid boyfriend.

Not to mention the need to re-establish his own invincibility to his crew. He had worked hard to cultivate that illusion. He could run any rip, procure any item, calculate any percentage, battle any foe. That was the leader they wanted. The leader they had chosen him to be.

Who was he to argue?

Only two things held him back. The lock on his cell door and his massive injuries, including broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder, a cracked jaw and a concussion, along with head-to-toe bruising and contusions.

Fucking Seatons and their fucking bootlickers.

He had been punched, stomped and otherwise assaulted by five cowardly but effective enforcers led by the supreme asshole Belker. That freak was a sadist, pure and simple, but Zeke had stayed alive, stayed strong, remembering his promise to Alexia that he would kill the fucker for her.

He still intended to do that, despite this godforsaken cell. Supposedly he was awaiting legal proceedings, but so far, no charges, no trial, no sentence.

Which meant the sentence was death. Probably by even more vicious and varied beatings. Unless he managed to free himself first.

He intended to do just that. He couldn't count on Rick Gage, and he couldn't count on his crew. For one thing, he had ordered them to stay away from the platform and Destry until they heard from him. He knew the Seatons would suspect the smugglers of grabbing Alexia, and because Sea-Mont had closed the sinkhole before the smugglers could possibly get her there, the Seatons would believe she was aboard one of Zeke's ships, loitering just far enough from the sinkhole to evade detection, waiting things out.

Maintaining that illusion was pivotal to Alexia's safety and the safety of his crew.

And it was probably keeping Zeke alive too, at least for the moment, since the whereabouts of the other smugglers was a wild card against which the Seatons wouldn't want to bet. He chuckled, proud of the way he had made his crew sound impressively large, when it really consisted of seven core guys, four of whom were currently operating E-side and were thus of no use. Each crewmember, including Zeke, had numerous contacts in the military and Sea-Mont—people susceptible to bribery and who occupied positions that would help with fake transit papers, difficult procurements, and the spread of exotic bio-metal samples to collectors on Earth.

But in terms of actual henchmen? It was really just Zeke and two D-side operatives. Not much of a gang after all.

As he paced, reviewing his lack of options, the huge double doors to the prison slid open and a familiar figure appeared with a tray of food. “Good afternoon, Captain Angelus. How are we today?”

“Well,
I'm
fine and
you're
a bitch. So no change since last time.”

The gray-haired woman laughed. “I see you've been wearing the brace I gave you, so let's assume your ribs are healing nicely. The swelling in your face has gone down too. And now you have some delicious pasta for your dining pleasure.”

Zeke eyed Meg Bodin in disgust. She called herself a physician, but was really just another lackey. Sure, she had finally supplied him with a brace for his aching ribs, a sling for his arm, and some pain pills. But before that, she had let him suffer for three days, during which time Belker had been the one to deliver his food, but only after informing him that every guard on duty had pissed in the meal first. Just to show Zeke they cared.

That at least had stopped, although he didn't give this so-called doctor any credit for it. He would eat her food and wear her slings and braces. Anything to keep his strength up. But he wouldn't thank her. Nor would he take the pills, which were almost certainly designed to weaken, not strengthen him.

Taking the tray now, he muttered, “You're a disgrace to your profession. And to the Montoyas who made this place—
and
your fucking success—possible.”

She seemed hurt by the observation. “You see yourself as some kind of hero, but
you've
endangered this miraculous place, and the Montoya memory, more than anyone. If you had just let the romance between TJ and Alexia take its course, she'd be safe and happy now. Instead of dead in the sinkhole, thanks to your reckless intervention.”

He wasn't sure the doctor really believed Alexia was dead. Belker and his cronies certainly did, and had had the hypocrisy to kick him a few extra times in the face and gut “for Alexia Montoya”, and as Belker always added, for depriving him of the chance to “get a piece of her before she died”.

It was one thing for those creeps to act like savages, but this doctor? An educated, sophisticated, well-spoken woman, and yet without a shred of conscience, honor or compassion.

The good news was, Dr. Bodin hadn't mentioned Gabby, so hopefully the Seatons still didn't know about the communications director's affair with a lowly smuggler. And probably didn't suspect her of helping Alexia either. He and Gabby kept their relationship quiet for the sake of her job, but he knew at least three of the residents suspected something. Pretty little Lana for sure. Carlos the nurse. And Barbara, who didn't miss anything. Zeke would thank them someday for their silence. Meanwhile, he prayed they wouldn't crack under the pressure of questioning or a desire to curry favor in this un-brave new world.