Traitor (Rebel Stars Book 2) (24 page)

"I can't go into details. All I can tell you is that if you want to stay independent, we have to get that ship out of here."

"The passengers are one thing. But there's no way you get that ship out. Even if we get it launched, they'll shoot it down with everything they've got. We have to leave it behind."

"The passengers will never go for that. But I've got a solution. Six, seven years ago, we moved on your corners. Ever wonder how we did that?"

Venner's eyes flashed with anger. "Rubbing my nose in it is not an effective negotiation strategy."

"Grapefruit," Ced said. He explained quickly.

Venner laughed raspily. "That could work. And I'd be delighted to toss a giant wrench into Kansas' plans. So what do you want out of this?"

"For you to do your job."

"If this is a setup, it's the most ham-handed one I've ever heard." The admiral's eyes widened, then narrowed. "Hang on there. I've seen you with her. Finally figure out you're just a toy?"

Ced stiffened. "How do you mean?"

"You must really love her to want to hurt her like this." Venner stuck out his hand. "You've got a deal."

He couldn't pull the trigger yet, though. Not until he talked to Kansas. He messaged her on his way back. She was still up. And sounded eager to speak.

She was in the penthouse. Alone at the windows. From her vantage, you could look down on all the people on the street and they'd never know you were watching.

"Do you have something to tell me?" she said.

"I spoke to the crew," he said. "From the Hive."

"And?"

"We have to let them go."

"They told you we're being manipulated?" Halfway across the room, she began to walk toward him, bare feet moving soundlessly. "They don't know anything. I own this place. I've torn down the debts."

He made himself meet her eyes. "You're working for the people who helped
create
the debts!"

"And I have them under control." She stopped three feet away, the lower half of her face lit by a ray of light from the building opposite. "Don't do anything stupid."

"Or what?"

She reached for his arm. He knocked her hand away. She thrust her jaw forward and grabbed his wrist. "Or you're gone."

Ced smiled faintly. "I knew you'd say that. You're right. This place is yours now."

He headed back to the white room. Paranoid, probably, but this was no time to take chances. He put in the call to Venner.

The Orcs needed two days. The next day, the three captives were moved to the main office, probably so Kansas could keep a closer watch. That was fine with Ced. He had access to the entire building.

On the night the Orcs were ready, Ced headed up to where the Hive's people were being confined on the sixteenth floor. The doors were sealed, but a guard was posted outside. Ced flashed his ID. The guard consulted his device and let him into a foyer, then through another locked door.

Inside, there were just two cells, with MacAdams and Webber sharing one. Ced turned his device on the locks. The doors slid open.

"Ready to go?" he said.

Webber grinned. "As fast as our legs can carry us."

He'd brought three sets of magnetic cuffs that looked legit but would part with a good tug. Once the three of them were "shackled," he brought them back into the hall.

The guard moved in front of him. "Whoa. Hey."

"I'm taking them upstairs." Ced flashed his device. "Orders straight from Kansas."

The man eyed the screen, then shook his head. "I got orders that no one goes out under any circumstances. If the admiral changed her mind, I need to hear it from her."

He went for his device. Ced said, "I don't think you understand. She—"

A great clenched fist drove into the back of the man's head. He flew forward; his device soared into the air. As MacAdams drove through him, scanning him for movement, a startled Webber caught the tumbling device. The guard lay facedown on the floor.

"I had that!" Ced said. Webber was already dragging the unconscious man into the holding cell.

MacAdams shook out the hand he'd punched the guard with. "Sure, kid. Do you want to argue about it, or do you want to get out of here?"

Webber locked the door to the cells. Ced muttered something unkind and led them to the rear elevator. It was rarely used, but the descent was the longest of his life. On the ground floor, a few crewmen headed in and out. Ced walked through them like it was the most normal thing in the world. He led the three prisoners half a block to the car—he'd considered the tube, but there were too many cameras—and hopped in. As soon as the doors closed, the car swerved into the street.

Rada glanced through the rear window. "What's the plan?"

"Drive to the port," Ced said.

"And?"

"Hop ship."

Webber furrowed his brow. "Are your plans normally this optimistic?"

"Won't need much luck. I've been practicing for this my entire life."

Within three blocks of leaving the office, the car slowed to a crawl, nosing cautiously through the swarming pedestrians. As with all stations, space was at a premium. Few streets were designed for car traffic. Heart racing, Ced kept one eye on the way ahead and one out the back window.

"Tell me this is part of the plan, too," Webber said.

"We don't got time for this," MacAdams said. "That prison guard I clocked could wake any second."

"You're right." Ced flipped the locks. "We'll bolt. Take the tube."

"Better idea." Rada unstrapped. "Shove over. I'm driving."

They climbed over each other, changing places. She smelled like she'd been in lockup a few days. She shut down the autopilot and grabbed the steering sticks. She nudged forward, all but daring the throngs to get in the vehicle's path. A gap opened ahead and she surged to squeeze through. A moment later, it closed. She turned hard to the right, the tires bumping over the low curb, and rolled down the sidewalk, passing inches from the carts of vendors. Steam fogged the window.

"Where did you learn how to drive?" Ced said. "Better Sands?"

Rada smiled lopsidedly. "An empty rock."

She emerged into a clear intersection and pulled in behind a sweeper churning dust and trash out of the road. Ahead, a small car with a flashing green light cleared the way. Rada looped in behind it, dogging it for several blocks, then broke right down a quiet street. Within minutes, they were at the port.

Ced had her park near the main terminal. "You're going to Wing C. It's right over there. A man named Venner will take you to his ship."

"
His
ship?" Rada said.

"You're not coming with us?" Webber added, doing nothing to disguise his skepticism.

"They can track me," Ced said. "Best I stay in the public terminal until you're out." He turned to Rada. "I got you this far. Trust me to take you this last step."

She nodded. MacAdams clapped him on the shoulder. "What happens to you once they find out what you did?"

"That's on them," Ced said. "Good luck."

He got out and ambled toward the public terminal. Behind him, the car continued toward Wing C. There was no point in him trying to run. They could track him wherever he went. He moved to keep tabs on the outgoing flights. Though he knew they could come for him at any time, he felt as light as he had since before the crews, when he and Stefen had roamed through the whole Locker as if it was their back yard. Could be he felt that way because he knew it was over—Kansas would have him airlocked, or buried beneath the crypts—but he let himself float in that feeling, enjoying whatever time he had left.

Venner's ship was a freighter called the
Mattock
. It was scheduled to depart in six minutes. When its name disappeared from the screen, he smiled. He didn't walk away, though. They weren't out of it quite yet.

She showed up four minutes after that. It was late enough that the terminal had quieted down, and she and her hardshelled escort had no problems finding him.

"Where is it?" she hissed.

He turned back to the departure screens. "Where's what?"

"You can't stall me, fool. The
Tine
hasn't launched yet. When it does, I'll blow it out of the sky."

"You can't!" He whirled on her, pawing at her shoulder. "Please, Kansas! You have to let them go!"

She smirked, scrolling through the scheduled departures, pulling up video of every ship waiting to take off. It didn't take long to confirm that none were the
Tine
. She swore to herself, going back through the recent takeoffs. As she neared the end of the list, she swung up her head, eyes so bright you could read by them.

"Grapefruit," she said. "You son of a
bitch
. You betrayed me!"

They were still in the middle of the terminal. Passengers and crewmen came and went. Their presence didn't stop Kansas from drawing a pistol and pointing it directly at Ced's face.

He closed his eyes. He was scared, but all he could think of was a field of green grass waving under a wide blue sky.

15

"Ten seconds to separation." The woman's voice was classic pilot: calm, reassuring, a touch of cockiness. She began to count down. Rada triple-checked her displays. "…three. Two. One. Hit it!"

Rada could have let the ship handle this itself, but she preferred to stay viscerally engaged. She tapped her screen. A dull, deep clunk reverberated through the hull. Somehow, the Motion Arrestor was still aboard. Either Admiral Kansas hadn't known what she was looking for, or Iggi Daniels had ordered her not to touch it.

Whatever the case, as the
Tine
departed from the belly of the
Mattock
and thrust gently into the vacuum, Rada felt nothing at all.

She curled away on two axes. The bulkier, MA-less freighter swung straight up. Rada opened a Needle line. "Your assistance is much obliged,
Mattock
."

"You're going to roll out without even giving us a hint?" the other woman mock-whined.

"I'm under orders to keep my big mouth shut. For once, I think it's best I obey." On her screen, a light went green. "Watch the news. Heading out!"

Now at safe distance, she opened up the engines, beginning a shallow turn sunward. On nav, the freighter rumbled away on its made-up mission.

"Suppose we should run a sweep for bugs?" Webber said. "Or bombs?"

"Venner claimed it was clear." Rada glanced across the command room, which couldn't decide if it was a large cockpit or a small bridge. "But considering he'd look right at home in Bartertown, I'd say you should check twice."

He got up to do a manual check, device in hand. MacAdams gazed calmly at the screens. Nav showed a few ships flicking around the Locker and its outer defense stations, but the
Tine
was accelerating away faster than anything the crews could put in pursuit. Rada found herself grinning uncontrollably. At that moment, she didn't care about anything beyond how good it had felt to break out of their cells and get into action.

Once her euphoria died down, she composed a Needle to Toman, summarizing what they'd learned from Ced. Given distance-lag, it would be at least three hours before she heard back from him. And five more days until they were back at the Hive.

Webber's search turned up nothing out of sorts. Lastly, they checked themselves for bugs, then settled into the bridge.

"So that was fun," Webber said. "But we're screwed, aren't we?"

Rada rubbed her temples. "The Locker was our best chance to neutralize FinnTech. Instead, Iggi brought the pirates onto their side. We're being outmaneuvered at every turn."

"Where does that leave us? And please don't tell me 'by ourselves, drenched in goat blood, surrounded by hungry wolves.'"

"By ourselves," Rada said, "drenched in goat—"

"It ain't over." MacAdams clapped his hands. "We got evidence of a conspiracy. Dirty deeds going back more than a generation."

"Against who? A group of people who live outside the law? Who prey on legitimate shipping? Every government and corporation out there has been waiting for this day. They'll probably give Valiant a medal for finally putting the Locker on a leash."

The only sound in the cockpit was the dim, multi-part hums of the engines, life support, and electronics.

Webber exhaled. "Well, let's hope Fearless Leader has better news than we do."

The minimum reply-time came and went. It was another hour after that before Toman's Needle came in. Rada punched it up on the big screen.

"Good news on your improvised exit." Toman smiled, but his lower eyelids were puffy, his face creased. "I want you to know I've been negotiating ever since Admiral Carruth's demands came in. These were so exorbitant I developed the impression she didn't
want
to reach a deal. LOTR was working on extraction strategies, but I'm glad you once again proved more than capable of taking care of yourselves."

His smile faded. He moved in front of a wall-sized blank screen. "I wish my news was as good as yours. During your incarceration, FinnTech declared it would use its alien-gifted technology to benefit everyone—by putting an end to piracy in the System. It's already 'pacified' several rocks and habitats in the Belt."

Behind him, the screen flicked to life. A swarm of sleek fighters whipped around a knobby asteroid, hurling missiles at the lumpy, outdated defenders. White light burst into being, shimmering away into blackness.

"LOTR identified this as a PR stunt. A way to make it look like Finn's involvement with the Swimmers wasn't about profit, but about improving the human condition. However, I believe there's another prong to this plan. I think it's about getting practice for their troops."

The screen changed to footage of the asteroid's main airlock. Figures in armored white environmental suits scrambled around it, ant-like beside the gigantic doors. A star-bright blue flame appeared on the right-hand door, searing a ten-foot-wide hole straight through it. The armored troopers readied rifles and poured inside.

"This covers the last week," Toman continued. "Minutes after your Needle arrived, FinnTech made a System-wide announcement. They have discovered a shocking plot: the Hive is a long-time supporter and ally of piracy." The footage switched to Rada seated across from Kansas Carruth, attempting to enlist her aid. "They have declared us outlaws. If I don't give you over to them within the next ten days, they will confiscate my holdings. Starting with the Hive."