Muses of Roma (Codex Antonius Book 1) (11 page)

Galeo winced. Kaeso never found out who had him “relieved” of his duties, but Galeo, his handler, must have known. Kaeso had been investigating a slave trafficking network from the Lost Worlds to Roma, and was close to learning the name of the Ancile who ran the network. Then he was suddenly accused of the crime he was investigating. All the evidence he had passed along to Umbra somehow pointed to him, and he was dishonorably discharged from Umbra. Those in Umbra who knew him well, like Galeo, knew he'd been framed, but their implants prevented them from helping Kaeso. Which confirmed to Kaeso the framer was a senior Ancile.

“You will never get back into Umbra,” Galeo said. “For argument's sake, let's say what you believe is true, that a senior Ancile set you up. Do you think that Ancile will allow you back in, only to have you discover his name?”

Kaeso didn't think Galeo would agree to Umbra reinstatement. He would’ve been suspicious if Galeo had, but Kaeso had planted a seed that Galeo would take back to his superiors. If Kaeso completed this mission, the Magisterium might see what they lost when they let him go. Maybe his reinstatement would be more valuable to them than the senior Ancile they protected. Particularly since it sounded like the entire Umbra presence on Roma needed rebuilding from the ground up.

“Fine, at least citizenship for my crew. Deal?”

Galeo nodded. “It can be arranged.”

“And suggest the reinstatement, would you?”

“I will, but it's never going to happen. Besides, why do you want back in? I would’ve thought you'd be a little bitter.”

“I suppose I'm a patriot and a fool.”

“Nobody's that foolish, or patriotic. Tell me why and I'll consider passing along your request.”

Kaeso glanced around the corridor, noticed a hairline crack in a ventilation pipe that ran into the cargo bays.
One more repair to add to the list.

“I'm not a good centuriae,” Kaeso said, “but I was a good Ancile.”

Galeo nodded, understanding in his cloak-rendered eyes.
Yes, the cloaks are much better than when I was in. The things I could do with these new tools.

“I'll ask some questions,” Galeo said, “but I wouldn't sell your ship just yet. So if by the grace of Juno you do get back in, what will you tell your crew?”

“Not your concern.”

It was true, but he didn’t explain it to Galeo because he had no idea what he'd tell his crew if Umbra reinstated him. Whatever he told them, he knew they deserved a better centuriae than him. One who wouldn't risk their lives with dangerous jobs just to keep flying.

Galeo nodded. “Very well, we’ll bring over a sleeper crib for your crewman and way line plasma for your ship. We will escort you back to Libertus where your ship will go through some minor upgrades.”

“'Minor upgrades?’”

Galeo smiled. “Well, not so minor, but I think you'll enjoy them. They'll get you into and out of Roma a lot easier.”

“Wait, you want me to take
Caduceus
to Roma?”

“And your crew. You will infiltrate Roma as a licensed courier from Libertus.”

“No way. I just told you, my crew are wanted in Roman space.”

“We'll give them credentials and gene coatings to match. The gene coatings won't fake a blood test, but they will fool any skin scan they'll get at customs.”

“I said no. I can’t ask them to do that. I’ll go in alone like I always did.”

“How will you extract Marcia Licinius or the defector? With what ship? Every Ancile on Roma is gone. You’ll have no contacts there to arrange transport. You’ll need a ship, and you’ll need one with the upgrades we’ll give yours.”

A cold weight formed in Kaeso's stomach as he realized Galeo was right. He'd never done an extraction. Umbra had always sent him in to make sure certain Romans never left.

But he could not put his crew in such danger. Not again.

“I still have non-Umbra contacts there,” Kaeso said. “I can work something out.”

“How do you know they're still alive? If Roma killed our Ancilia, what makes you think they missed your contacts?”

“Why them?” Kaeso asked “Why not Liberti security forces? I'm sure they have undercover agents they could loan us.”

“None who are ready to go in time, or who know your ship’s systems. Gods,
Caduceus
is 80 years old. Your crew knows the ship and works well together. You cannot fake that kind of familiarity or teamwork, especially in front of a curious Roman customs official.”

Kaeso clenched his teeth. “Don't patronize me. You can just tell me we’re expendable.”

Galeo frowned, but didn't say anything.

“I don't know if I can get them to go,” Kaeso said.

“You'll think of something. Or you won’t get what you want.” Galeo paused. “It was good seeing you again, old friend. I'm sorry for opening old wounds.”

Kaeso was silent. It was all he could do to keep those old wounds from tearing him apart.

Galeo nodded to him one more time and then disappeared.

Kaeso peered through the docking hatch window. An Ancile in a pressure suit, with a gold faceplate masking the Ancile’s identity, pushed a motorized lift with a sleeper crib and several way line plasma canisters. Kaeso tapped a button on his console, and the docking hatch opened with a hiss. The Ancile pushed the lift through the hatch and then turned back to the Umbra ship.

“We can keep the lift?” Kaeso called out.

The Ancile didn't acknowledge him. Kaeso shrugged, then tapped his collar com. “Attention all crew, meet in cargo hold corridor.”

Kaeso's crew stood in the corridor between the cargo bays. Except for Dariya, who stood next to the glass in Cargo One, listening over the com. Kaeso's implant allowed him to tell his crew Libertus wanted them to go to Roma to extract a noble defector who knew how to cure the Cariosus. The reward would be Liberti citizenship and a possible cure for Dariya. He could not say the noble was a Consular with an alleged secret that could “bring down the Roman Republic,” and he certainly could not reveal the facts about Umbra or Ocella.

They took the news better than he thought they would—they didn’t mutiny and throw him out the airlock. Instead, they all stared at him as if he said he saw Mercury streak past the command deck window.

Blaesus said, “I would rather kiss Bacchus’s soggy ass than return to Roman space.”

“It is Liberti citizenship,” Nestor said. “That is quite valuable.”

“Not if I'm crucified before I get it, which will happen to us all if we’re caught in Roman territory. Except you, Flamma. You'll be tackled down and married to the first noble adolescent whose father used to be a fan.”

Flamma grimaced.

“Why us?” Lucia asked Kaeso. “Doesn't Libertus have its own security forces for this?”

“Exactly,” Blaesus said. “I don’t doubt the bravery of you all, but none of us are trained for this.”

“He's right, sir,” Lucia said. “We’ll be caught for sure.”

“I agree,” Kaeso said, “you’re not trained for this. That's why you're not going.”

Lucia narrowed her eyes. “You're going alone?”

“Yes.”

“You’re joking,” Lucia said. “You can’t even pilot this ship on your own, much less go to Roma by yourself.”

“Once we reach Libertus, they will add automated system controls to
Caduceus
. I will run the ship just fine from the command deck. And thanks for your confidence in my piloting skills, Trierarch.”

“But
you’re
not even trained for this,” Lucia protested. “Commanding a shuttle in the Liberti Defense Force doesn’t make you a spy.”

Kaeso clenched his teeth against the warning pains from his implant.

Thankfully, Dariya interrupted Lucia. “Will it not seem odd if you dock at a Terran way station without a crew?”

“My credentials will show I just bought the ship, and I’m going to Terra to hire a new crew.”

Lucia laughed. “Your credentials? I suppose our Liberti friends will give you those as well?”

“Yes.”

Blaesus cleared his throat. “Your paperwork may be in order, but out of curiosity, Centuriae, how will you get through the gene identity scans at customs? We Romans love our Terran security.”

“Libertus will give me a gene coat,” Kaeso said.

“Gene coat?” Nestor asked.

“A layer of fake skin that masks genes from external scans. They'll get me past any gene scanner in a Roman port.”

Gene coats were Umbra technology, but they were no longer under Umbra concealment protocols. They were still classified since the “mainstream” Liberti security forces used them, but Kaeso found he could speak of them without his implant driving a spike through his brain.

“Interesting,” Nestor said. “Liberti magic always amazes me.”

Kaeso grinned inwardly at the Greek medicus, wondering what he'd think of Umbra’s other Muse-revealed tools.

Lucia scoffed. “Sir, you would need our help even if you had the skills for this mission. Besides, leaving us behind would be an insult to our honor. We've pledged ourselves to you.”

“We’re not military,” Kaeso said, his voice hard. “We’re merchants. My first responsibility as your merchant centuriae is to ensure you don't get killed following my orders.”

“Like going to Menota?” Lucia asked, glancing at Dariya behind the glass. Kaeso also looked at Dariya, but her eyes did not meet his.

“Yes,” Kaeso said quietly. “Like going to Menota. I won’t make that mistake again. So
un-pledge
yourselves. You will wait on Libertus until I come back. After that, you will have Liberti citizenship and then you can find a more respectable job.”

Kaeso hated pushing his crew away. His guilt over the anger and hurt he saw on their faces was almost enough to compete with the pain brought on by his memories of Spuria (
Ocella!
). But he would not risk their lives and freedoms by taking them to Roma, especially for a mission he wanted for his own reasons. They could rage against him all they wanted, Umbra could threaten to cancel the mission for not bringing them, but he would not budge. Even if he risked losing their friendship. At least they'd be alive to hate him.

“Well,” Lucia said, her face twitching, “if the Centuriae is so eager to be rid of us, I suggest we not to waste another moment. Everyone prepare for way line jump in twenty minutes.”

She turned around without being dismissed, strode down the corridor, and climbed the ladder up to the command deck. Daryush gave Dariya a plaintive look, but she nodded at him to follow Lucia's orders. He went to the loaded lift with sad eyes and pushed it toward the engine room. Blaesus and Flamma glanced at each other, at Kaeso, and then left the corridor.

Nestor said, “Centuriae, I will help Dariya with the sleeper crib.”

“Give us a minute first.”

Nestor nodded, then walked down the corridor. Once he had climbed the ladder to the upper levels, Kaeso said to Dariya, “You ever been in one of these?”

“Once,” she said, eying the sleeper crib. “As punishment.”

Sleeper cribs were only used in extreme emergencies these days, like when a starship was out of way line plasma in a system without a way station. Almost every world required its space merchants to undergo sleeper crib training to obtain a commercial space license.

But Kaeso knew she referred to her time as a Roman slave. Kaeso had watched sadistic Roman masters throw a slave into a vat, seal the top, and then pump in sleeper fluid. The slave thought it was water. After the vat was full, the slave would try to hold his breath as long as he could, but then his body would betray him and he'd take a breath, thinking he was about to drown...and breathe the oxygenated sleeper fluid. Kaeso had watched Roman masters bet hundreds of sesterces on whose slave would hold their breath the longest.

“Centuriae, your plan is crazy.”

“I’m going alone, Dariya.”

“I hate to admit this, but I agree with Lucia. Your time with the Liberti Defense Force does not qualify you for a spy mission in Roma.”

“The decision is final,” he said in a tone that told Dariya he was finished discussing the matter. She closed her mouth. Her eyes were red-rimmed and thin blue veins crawled in delicate patterns around her neck.

“When we get to Libertus,” Kaeso said slowly, “they will take you to their medical facilities.”

“What will they do to me?”

“They’re going to help you.”

Dariya smiled sadly. “Of course they will.”

“I need you to do something for me first,” Kaeso said. When he told her, Dariya nodded.

“If I can get in that coffin, I can take a blood sample from my arm,” she said. “Centuriae, I need you to do something for me as well.”

“Of course.”

“Take care of Daryush.”

“You can take care of him yourself.”

“Please, Centuriae, I see it in your eyes. I am going to die. I do not believe in this miracle cure for a minute, but I want Daryush to have his freedom. I want him to—” Her voice caught, and then she paused to collect herself. “I want him to be happy and free. Can you promise me that, sir?”

Kaeso didn't know what to say to Dariya. She had never made such an emotional plea before, and he knew how it grated on her to do it now, even to her centuriae. Knowing that made it all the more powerful. How could he not give a dying woman such a promise? Yet how could he make a promise he knew he couldn’t keep if he went back to Umbra?

“When we get back,” Kaeso said, “I will make sure Daryush is free. But his happiness depends on you surviving. I can't promise you this cure exists, because it’s all a rumor. If it
does
exist, you will have it.”

Dariya nodded. “I suppose that is the best I can get from you, Centuriae.”

“You'll need to get in the crib now,” Kaeso said, “but I need that sample before you do.”

She nodded, went to the medical kit strapped to the wall and pulled it down. She went through the contents until she found the syringe. She plunged the needle into her arm and withdrew enough blood to fill the container. She did it without flinching, and Kaeso was never more proud to be on the same crew with her.

After she finished, she put the blood-filled syringe on the box next to her. Kaeso said, “We don't want to waste any time. Can you get in the crib on your own?”

She stood and started taking off her clothes. “I can do it. I have no choice.”

Kaeso thumbed his collar com. “Nestor, she's ready.”

“Should we tell Daryush first?” Nestor asked over the com. “Not to be fatalistic, but he may want to say goodbye?”

Kaeso glanced at Dariya, her naked back to him. “No,” she said. “We have already said what we need to say to each other. I do not want to talk to him again until I am healed.”

Nestor climbed down the corridor ladder and approached Kaeso.

“She’s ready,” Kaeso said.

“Centuriae, our jump sacrifice—”

“We don't have any more chickens,” Kaeso said, striding down the corridor. “Besides, there's not much more the gods could do to us.”

Nestor groaned.