Blood of the Cosmos (45 page)

 

CHAPTER

73

ORLI COVITZ

After Rlinda departed on her mission for King Peter and Queen Estarra, Orli and DD settled in at the headquarters of Kett Shipping, offering to work in the main company hangars. Orli was surrounded by loud noises, industrial smells, and a boisterous group of pilots and mechanics who had a habit of shouting even when they didn't have to. DD remained faithfully at her side, helping out whenever he could.

Most important, he kept her company, which Orli found useful, especially in the last year when she had felt so alone, before she found Garrison. She wondered what he was doing right now. He had gone to Fireheart Station, which sounded like a dramatic and fascinating place. Though she kept herself busy at Kett Shipping, Orli pondered whether she should have accompanied him out there. She thought about him often, and she missed him.

Orli also owed a great deal to Rlinda, and she would spend a few weeks here, deciding what to do. She had no interest in being a trader pilot again—that wasn't her real calling—but she could do a good job in many things. Maybe she and Garrison could find something to keep them happy together after all.

Meanwhile, Orli had done her best to get up to speed with all the vessels in the Kett fleet and the hangar operations. She was especially pleased to see how many Mechanic-model compies were here, since compies were her area of expertise.

Tasia Tamblyn and Robb Brindle were still trying to find a good fit for Orli, and they kept her busy in the hangar with the compies as well as the ship maintenance. Although Tasia and Robb served as the company administrators, they didn't mind getting their hands dirty. Both of them would rather be in the hangar with the maintenance workers and the other pilots than be trapped in a clean air-conditioned office. Orli saw them there often.

A ship flew in, signaling an approach. Tasia grabbed for her comm unit at the same time Robb did, and they both brightened. “It's the
Verne
! About time.”

Robb frowned. “They're almost three weeks late.”

DD said to Orli, “Their compy OK transmitted a brief report that I find difficult to comprehend. The
Verne
made a detour after leaving Ulio Station. And they do not appear to have any new cargo.”

When the ship landed inside the busy hangar, few pilots took notice. The
Verne
wasn't much different from the other Kett vessels. Tasia and Robb studiously tried to avoid playing favorites because their son was the pilot, and of course they failed.

As Tasia and Robb hurried forward, Orli and DD followed. The hatch opened, and Xander emerged grinning, which Orli took as a good sign. Tasia gave her son a hug, and Robb did the same. “It's good to see you again, son. Safe and uninjured, I hope?”

As OK marched down the ramp, guiding Terry behind him, Xander said, “Safe and uninjured,” he said. “And with some good news.”

Tasia got down to business. “Did you track Elisa Enturi's flight path? Is that why you're delayed?”

“We placed the tracker, but we have to go back to retrieve the data. Give her time to fly her route and return to Ulio again.”

Terry added, “It's a passive tracker, completely undetectable, just recording her movements. The data will automatically download to a secret file in the Ulio Central Offices the next time Elisa's ship docks there. Once we retrieve it, somebody can connect the dots and follow wherever she went.”

“You're three weeks late,” Robb said. “The data is probably already there.”

Tasia said, “Good, then let's head to Ulio Station and figure this out.” She glanced at Robb. “Maybe we can follow the breadcrumbs. Like old times.”

Xander blurted out, “But that's not the real news! We met old Maria Ulio in deep space. She called us to a secret rendezvous.”

Robb was surprised. “Maria? She's been gone for years.”

Xander kept grinning. “Terry was very special to her, so she sent a message—and now she's made him her heir. We have to go back to Ulio and modify all the account numbers, but
Terry's rich
!”

Terry seemed embarrassed. “We still have to see exactly what it is. A lot of paperwork. I've never been rich before.”

Robb laughed, but Tasia remained focused. “Ekti-X is making us all rich, but we still want to find out where Iswander is getting it—and if he's doing something illicit … something that he's gotten
us
mixed up in. We need to know the source.”

Listening to the conversation, Orli frowned. “The source of ekti-X? Lee Iswander used to harvest it from a cluster of bloaters, but those operations are gone now after a Shana Rei attack.”

Tasia shot her a surprised look. “Bloaters? How do you know that?”

Orli looked at all the amazed stares. “When I was dying from the plague, I stumbled upon his extraction field. That's where I was cured, inside one of the bloaters. Garrison Reeves knows about it, too.” She was puzzled, surprised that they didn't know. “Sorry, I've been isolated ever since I recovered, and then Garrison and I went to out-of-the-way Ikbir.”

Robb and Tasia both looked at her in amazement. “You've seen where Iswander gets his stardrive fuel? Roamer clans have been trying to figure that out for months!”

Orli realized she had been out of the loop. “His operations were shut down anyway when the cluster dispersed, but bloaters are appearing everywhere now.” She remembered the streams she had seen extending around the vicinity of Ikbir's star, the chiming musical noise she heard inside her head. “Iswander could have set up a new extraction field, I suppose.”

Xander said, “And the tracker on Elisa's ship will take us right there, if it's true.”

Orli was still trying to understand. “But don't you have a trading relationship with Iswander Industries? Didn't you say the distribution was making you rich? Are you looking to get into ekti production yourselves?”

Tasia sounded relieved. “If that's what he's doing, we'll keep his secret—and I will sleep a lot better at night. I was afraid he extracted the ekti-X from cute puppies or Ildiran babies, and we didn't want to be accomplices.” Nobody laughed at her joke.

Robb turned to Xander and Terry. “Since you're the main distributors of ekti-X, you two have to keep your hands clean. I don't want Elisa suspecting you of anything. There's too much business at stake. I think we should go in the
Voracious Curiosity
, while you two do your own business, like nothing's changed.”

“I've never been to Ulio Station,” Orli pointed out. She had time to kill while Garrison was away at Fireheart. “I wouldn't mind.…”

Robb nodded. “Sure, you and DD can join us on the
Curiosity
. We'll leave tomorrow.” He glanced at Xander. “If you think the
Verne
will be ready by then?”

“Of course. We have to get back to Ulio ourselves.” Xander grinned at Terry. “After all, we've got an inheritance to arrange.”

 

CHAPTER

74

GENERAL NALANI KEAH

The departure of a grand exploratory mission called for a certain amount of fanfare. General Keah wasn't the sort of person who liked parades and celebrations
before
returning home from a successful mission, but the crew deserved some sort of recognition. After all, they were going to the literal definition of “points unknown”—a star system that didn't even show up on the charts.

She wanted to give her people a little extra reward. She asked First Officer Mercer Wingo to work crew scheduling, juggling shifts to arrange extra R&R for conjugal visits, or fixing the roof, or whatever else they wanted to do before shipping out to the fringes of the Spiral Arm.

Not surprisingly, all that celebration placed much of her crew in various stages of hangover misery when the
Kutuzov
pulled out of spacedock. But it was a long voyage out to rendezvous with Adar Zan'nh and his Solar Navy ships; she knew they would have a chance to recover on the way.

Sitting in her seat on the command bridge, Keah sympathized with her recovering crew and gave them light duties for most of the first day, but that was enough of that. On the second day she initiated a series of war-game exercises to keep them sharp, and they did their best—which was pretty damn good.

The ship's green priest, Nadd, used his treeling to send messages of their progress. All green priests were eager to learn what had happened to the Gardeners, and Nadd would be there to see for himself.

The
Kutuzov
arrived at the rendezvous exactly on time—Keah was pleased about that—and Zan'nh was there waiting for her with his seven warliners. “You're early, Z,” she said.

On the screen, Adar Zan'nh wore his formal uniform with medals and his impeccably clean dress tunic. “Being early prevents me from being late.”

As was their tradition before a joint mission, the General and the Adar shared a meal, taking turns as host. Keah shuttled over to the Ildiran flagship with some of her handpicked officers so they could meet their counterparts face-to-face. Any added understanding among the two crews might shave off a millisecond or two of critical reaction time, and a millisecond might mean the difference between destruction and survival.

The General was accompanied by First Officer Wingo, Weapons Officer Patton, Tactical Officer Tait, and their green priest. For his own part, Adar Zan'nh had invited the oddly pale Tal Gale'nh, and Gale'nh's brother Rod'h.

Keah brought a bottle of wine, though the Adar had no taste for any human vintage. In exchange, Zan'nh brought out an expensive bottle of distilled kirae, which the General couldn't even swallow.

She opened the wine herself while attender kithmen scurried in with numerous Ildiran delicacies along with crude attempts at traditional Earth dishes. Keah had eaten so much military food that she wasn't picky; Wingo, Patton, and Tait ate the proffered dishes with polite comments, while Nadd seemed more curious than hungry. Adar Zan'nh, Tal Gale'nh, and Rod'h all ate with minimal conversation.

Rod'h raised a glass of kirae in a defiant toast. “This mission will end differently from the
Kolpraxa
.” He looked at his pale brother. “We will find answers to help us defeat the creatures of darkness.”

Gale'nh did not argue. He raised his own glass of kirae. “I concur.”

Keah picked up the wine bottle and nodded to Rod'h. “I'd like to requisition some of that confidence so I can distribute it among my crew.”

To the consternation of the eager attenders, she poured more wine for herself and her officers, and a polite splash of a taste for Zan'nh and his companions, knowing they would insist.

The Adar said, “We should wait for the formalities. One other will be joining us.” He frowned slightly. “He is often late because he is often preoccupied.”

Attenders hurried out of his stateroom and returned with a human male clad in Ildiran rememberer robes. “Sorry, everyone. I was translating newly recovered records. Remarkable stories! But alas, nothing useful for this mission.” He carried a datapad with him.

Adar Zan'nh said, “We must accurately chronicle this important mission. And for that, we require a rememberer.”

Anton Colicos was perhaps the most famous human historian, even though he had spent more than half of his life in the Ildiran Empire. He was grinning now. “Besides, I wanted to come along.” Anton extended his hand. “Pleased to meet you, General. I will try my best not to get in the way.”

“I don't mind being in the history books,” Keah said.

The attenders reappeared with an extra wineglass for Anton. When the General reached for the bottle, one of them politely snatched it out of her hand and poured the additional glass.

Adar Zan'nh poured a small serving of kirae for himself and his Ildiran guests. “So we can all enjoy our toast.”

Anton Colicos rolled the wine around in the glass, sniffed. “Ah, it's been a long time. And maybe you can spare a little coffee from your ship, General?”

Keah laughed. “As much as you like.” When everyone had their drinks, she lifted her glass in a toast. “To the start of a great adventure—at least let's hope it turns out that way.”

They all drank.

 

CHAPTER

75

PRINCE REYN

When Rlinda Kett returned from her trip to Pergamus, she was devastated. “I am so sorry, Raindrop.” Her big brown eyes were full of sadness. “Those people have no interest in helping, that's for sure. And I'm convinced that I barely got out of there with my skin intact.”

She enfolded him in a big hug, and he let himself sink into it, just as when he was a boy. She was shaking, and he tried to reassure her more than himself. “We've got every other researcher in the Spiral Arm working on it. Somebody will come up with a treatment, just you wait.”

She hugged him tighter. Frankly, he was most disappointed in Dr. Paolus, who had betrayed his patient's trust by selling Reyn's private information to Pergamus, then profiting again by betraying the location of Pergamus to his parents.

King Peter was disturbed to hear Rlinda's report. “I don't like the idea of that secret installation. If Pergamus is hoarding disease specimens, that could pose a danger to all humankind. What if they are developing biological weapons to sell to the highest bidder?”

His mother was also grim. “Lee Iswander just delivered information about that horrific alien plague—what if there are even worse viruses at Pergamus? Even if Zoe Alakis doesn't have evil intentions, how do we know that her security is adequate?”

Peter's anger was clearly visible. “Pergamus hasn't heard the last of us—I will send the whole CDF fleet if I have to.”