Crescent (22 page)

Gerald shifted in his chair and lit another cigarette.
“Yeah, yeah.
I know. Believe me. I have regretted signing that contract with Crescent’s benevolent mayor since day one. I regret a lot of shit. Top of the list: ever setting foot here.” He took an exaggerated drag and exhaled the smoke in a sidelong plume. “Kendall’s got me running salvage missions in
Tireca
. And let me say that there is something
all
wrong about these runs. Some of these so-called salvages are still hot. Sometimes, the raiders are only just leaving the scene. It’s like Kendall—or his crony, Walter Vegan—
have
a sixth sense. They know where these ships are
gonna
to be.
Which is
fuckin
’ crazy, because, hell, I don’t know how these miners could even know where they are.
I keep being sent to the same field in
Tireca
. The fucker is dense.”

“This wouldn’t be in the vicinity of the fourth planet in the system, would it?” Nigel asked.

“It would be,” Gerald confirmed.

“So, someone is informing the raiders where and when to attack, then?”

“You said it, pal. Not me,” Gerald replied with a smirk.

“What kind of ships?”

“Mining.
A few supply transports. There was one colony ship, way off course. I get this sinking feeling it was that same ship that showed up on the news feeds the other week. You know, now that I think of it, I was running a job right here in
Anrar
and saw a Crescent light cargo ship and an unmarked cargo ship—I thought it had been a raider—exchanging a heavy duty container.”

Nigel sat back in his seat and examined his own cigarette. The end was smoldering and looked like a living thing. “Do know anything about Galatea?” Nigel asked.

“Galatea?
Greek to me,” Gerald said. Nigel laughed, not sure if the pun was intentional or not.

“Thank you, Gerald. You look tired. I think that’ll be all. Go get some rest—you look like you’re about to fall out of your chair. You’ve been extremely helpful,” Nigel said.

“Can I ask why you came to Crescent in the first place? Was there a reason for this audit?” Gerald asked. He didn’t get up.

“Crescent is being decommissioned. I’m here to make sure things go smoothly. And looking at the place, I’m just speeding up a preexisting necrosis.”

“Wow,” Gerald said. Nigel got to his feet and dropped the cigarette butt into the ashtray.

“Thanks again, Gerald. I trust you won’t share the details of our talk with anyone. Being that your ass stands in to be in a precarious position for even talking to me.”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“Good,” Nigel said.

“Nigel, you can help me with one thing,” Gerald said.

“What’s that?”

“You can help me up. I don’t think I can stand on my own.”

(•••)

“So, Kendall,” Nigel said aloud as he made his way down the empty corridor.” You’re working with the local cutthroats to take out targets of opportunity.” His voice and the sound of his boots hitting the deck were the only competition for the whispering air handlers and the occasional clicking of dying light panels. Nigel was well aware that ships went missing on the fringe of populated space all the time. There were ion storms, careless piloting, and of course raider attacks. But as far as Nigel was concerned, the ships that Gerald was hauling were the result of coordinated strikes—Kendall was in bed with
Darros
Stronghold, so to speak.

There was only one dense asteroid cluster in
Tireca
and that cluster orbited the fourth planet. That cluster hid Galatea. Security had been beefed up in
Tireca
to prevent attacks from Stronghold’s clan so that the Galatea project could move ahead on schedule. Kendall might not know about Galatea but he would know about the new security patrol patterns and mining ops between
Anrar
,
Tireca
, and the New Juno gate. That was standard procedure. Ezra Kendall would know, along with his ATC controller—Vegan. Kendall was telling the raiders exactly where to hit and Evans was unknowingly helping Kendall hide the evidence.

He halted in front of the Core Sec HQ.

And there was the matter of the influx of guns to the colony on
Habeos
—the suspicious crates from the Farm could have easily been loaded with firearms. This was another dangerous lead to pursue for a Core Sec auditor working solo.

Nigel was close. He could feel the fact like heat on his face, but for now he was only playing the assumption game. He needed more evidence.
Something concrete.
He took a deep breath and let his head clear. He waited outside the door to HQ until his thoughts stopped racing.

(•••)

As far as Ina was concerned, her return trip to Crescent had been uneventful. She had slept for the duration of the flight, though she still awoke to a deep weariness when they landed. Gerald had been
so
exhausted as the pair climbed out of Bean that he hardly seemed to notice her milling about the flight deck. He was ignoring her. Eventually, she just left without saying goodbye. No more than a meter away from her apartment door, she was struck with the compulsion to go elsewhere.

She moved like a wraith down a cable-lined passageway that could only be described as forgotten. The few water-stained overhead light panels that still functioned flickered with a dull mustard-colored glow. There were cobwebs on the ventilation grates and the dust on the floor was thick. She left small footprints in her wake.

The musty air reminded her of the basement stacks in the library at the university on Caen. The smell was of spiders and old books; of things long untouched. There was something nostalgic about the odor, but it was so potent and cloying that it made her stomach feel queasy. She cursed her belly—it had been sensitive of late. Ina stopped and looked back the way she had come. The hallway extended well into the distance, in alternating plots of shadow and flickering yellow light. She turned back the way she was headed. The same indefinite distance extended before her.

She closed her eyes.

She had been there before, hadn’t she? Ina took her next breath slowly and then held it. Her pulse drummed softly in her ears and her memories marched by as still frame images. It had been her idea to look for the area called
the Vault;
that was a long time ago, when she and her father had first arrived. She hadn’t told him. She had crawled through the dust and
spiderwebs
, through the standing water, through the darkness. She remembered the fear. And when she had found the big door marked with the red X, her heart had hammered in her chest. There had been a moment of exhilaration.
And then what?
Darkness?

No. Not darkness.

I have to remember,
she thought.
This is important.

Her lungs burned, but she still held her breath.

The still frames quickened until the scenes she saw moved with life-like motion.

The door opens its eyes.

No,
Ina thought,
I’m seeing this wrong.

Something behind the door opens its eyes. Fissures appear—tears in space and time, behind which lies nothingness. The slits, they yawn wide and grow into a devilish darkness so thick she starts to drown in it. And then the other woman shows up and the Black stretches out and touches her as well. And when it pulls back—Ina thinks “this is just like the tide”—and the Black becomes a part of her and the dark-haired girl.

None of her actions since she had come to the station, she suddenly realized, had been of her own will.

There was a flash of red. Ina’s eyes snapped open. She let out the breath with a gasp.

Another flash.
She blinked.

Ina closed her eyes and all she could see was Red—a breathing wall of liquid garnet. It overwhelmed her with emotion. Hot tears filled her eyes and ran down her cheeks.

Keep the stone safe and hidden. Keep yourself safe and hidden. Keep the vessel safe and hidden. Your business is not here. Keep the vessel safe.

Vessel?

(•••)

Marisa punched in the entry code for her apartment. The door buzzed; the LED above the key pad cycled from red, to green, to yellow, and back to green again. The door was unlocked already. She hadn’t remembered leaving it unlocked. But these days, she didn’t really count on her memory as a reliable source of information. The door hissed open and she drew her stun rod.

“Come in, Lieutenant. No one is going to hurt you. Not in your home, of all places.”

Kendall.

She stepped over the threshold. The door whined shut and she was promptly slammed against the wall by someone much larger, stronger, and less pleasant smelling than herself. The force of the impact knocked the stun rod from her hand.

“Christ!” she wailed. “Is this really necessary?”

“It might be. I heard that your friend Nigel
Swaren
was shooting the shit with Gerald Evans. Does any of this ring a bell?” Kendall asked. “This news came to me as quite the disappointment. We had a deal, Marisa…
 
Nigel
Swaren
showed up in my office today.
Un-ex-
pected
.
Remember our little discussion about you being my eyes, ears, and hands. No? Perhaps I can refresh your memory.”

Taylor slammed her against the wall again. Marisa studied his arms. The enhanced muscle moved beneath his hairless flesh like vipers.

“I’m neither
Swaren’s
keeper nor Gerald’s. Whatever
Swaren
wanted with him, I have no idea. And you know what, Mayor? I can’t be on
Swaren
twenty-four seven. There’s no fucking way.” Marisa felt her cheeks getting hot.

“Taylor,” Kendall said, and looked down at his well-groomed fingernails. Taylor slammed Marisa into the wall yet again, hard enough to knock the wind out of her.

Kill him
, a voice whispered. She looked at Kendall and then up to Taylor’s stupid, gleaming eyes. The walls moved behind the man—the shadows shifted and swirled, slowly at first and then with increasing speed.

“
Swaren
sends me off when he’s about to get into something important.
Has
me check light fixtures.” Marisa’s tongue felt thick, but it wasn’t the
carthine
.

“Taylor,” Kendall said, and Taylor kneed her in the stomach before throttling her into the terminal. Something hard dug into her back. Was it the terminal’s handset? She had no idea. She wondered, most absently, why the terminal even had a handset. Taylor held her firmly in place. Kendall got to his feet and began to remove his suit jacket.

Kill them both,
the voice cooed in a honey tone.
Be rid of them.

Before Marisa knew what was happening she had Taylor by the face. She pressed her fingers into his eyes. He screamed a high pitched wail—so high Marisa could hardly believe it—and batted at her hands like they were a swarm of angry bees. She pressed harder and felt one of his eyes burst.

“Enough!” Kendall shouted. She couldn’t stop. Drool flowed warm out the corners of her mouth and down her chin. She began to laugh, her own voice ringing foreign to her ears. The shadows came to life; they spun around the room in a mad dervish. Marisa was transfixed for an instant and in her moment of hesitation, a stun rod—her stun rod—jabbed her directly in the ribs. A bolt of electricity rocketed through her nervous system. She relinquished her grip on Taylor and as the big man slid to the ground she whirled to face the source of the shock. Kendall stood in an awkward stance, legs spread apart and the stunner clutched in both trembling hands. He seemed positively surprised that the shock hadn’t thrown her to the ground. In truth, she was surprised, herself.

“I’m only going to tell you this one time, Mayor,” Marisa said. Rage, sheer and venomous, coursed through her veins. She was wildfire, ready to eat Taylor and Kendall alive like a pile of dry brush.
This is what it feels like to go mad,
she thought. “I don’t know what
Swaren
wanted with Gerald Evans and I don’t give a shit. I’m doing the best job I can for you. I’m about five seconds away from tearing your goddamn arms off, so why don’t you take your piece of shit bodyguard and get out of here.”

As if on cue, Taylor
wailed, “I can’t fucking
see. The bitch blinded me.”

“Shut up, you stupid cocksucker,” Kendall hissed. “This was really inadvisable, Lieutenant. I just wanted to have a chat with you.”

“Eat shit or get out. Or how about you get out and eat shit?” Laughter exploded past her lips, melodic and shrill. “And if you fuck with me, I’ll start a shit storm between Crescent and Core Sec that will have you sucking vacuum before it’s over.”

Kendall averted his gaze and looked at his fallen bodyguard.

“Get up, you worthless son of a bitch.” Kendall kicked Taylor in the side. The large man struggled to get to his feet. Taylor’s right eye oozed thick, dark blood from between two swollen and bruised lids. The lids of the other eye were growing in size, but he was still able to open them.