Rebel (Rebel Stars Book 0) (10 page)

Rada clenched her teeth, then made herself relax. "It's not your ship. It belongs to the crew of the
Box Turtle
."

"That's the problem with laws, isn't it?" He smiled unhappily. "The laws of the legal system aren't
really
laws. Not in the sense of the law of gravity or thermodynamics. Social laws are much flimsier. Easily broken. They're only as binding as their enforcement. Which, out there—" He gestured to the sky, the blankness beyond. "Doesn't account for much."

"Are you saying you intend to take it from me?"

"I'm going to take it from the damn pirates," he said. "Captain Parson and I signed a contract. I have a legal claim to the ship and all its contents. You do, too, of course." He squinted at her. "I could dance around this. Try to make it sound less brutal. But the facts are what they are."

"You're a billionaire," she said. "A naval magnate relied on by entire industries. Wildly popular, too. And I'm nothing but miner scum."

"So we've reached a consensus?"

"Sure. I've been intending to go after the ship since the moment I stepped foot on the
Tine
."

He laughed, eyeing her. "Then what are we arguing about?"

"I don't like being told what to do."

"Me neither. Explains my entire life."

"Besides, you're right." She folded her arms. "You're Toman Benez. You'll get whatever you want. If I hold out, the only thing I'd accomplish is to cut myself out of the profits."

"Wrong, Ms. Pence. Whatever you decide, you'll get your share. And as the last living heir of the
Box Turtle
, it will be substantial."

Rada blinked, glancing around the grassy field as if in search of hidden cameras. "You're going to honor the contract?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Because you're Toman Benez. You don't have to."

He chuckled, glancing out at the light bouncing from the lake. "Yeah, and part of being me includes being saddled with that vestigial organ known as a 'conscience.' I tried to have it removed once, but the doctors didn't know what it looked like, either."

She couldn't help smiling. "I don't buy it. Anyone else in your position would put me in the airlock and talk to me from there."

"Why would I do that? I'm already rich, Rada."

"And the unifying trait of the rich is they don't give up one dollar they don't have to."

"Money's amazing. It lets me build things like this." He spread his arms, encompassing the microplanet. "But I didn't build the Hive because I could. I built it to pursue what's driven me from the beginning: learning as much as possible about the aliens. Those who invaded us, and those who must be watching from the darkness."

Rada nodded vaguely. Ultimately, it was nothing but words. She could claim to live by the principles of the ancient Amish, but it wouldn't change the fact she galloped through the system on starships. Same deal for Toman and his claims.

Be that as it may, Nereid had proven how helpless she was on her own. What other choice did she have?

"How do you intend to get the ship back?" she said.

"Here at the Hive, I have assembled a team. They are mighty. They are fearsome. And I have every confidence that they will identify the people who attacked you and your crewmates."

"They
will
find the ship? What about the video I sent you? Can't they use that to identify it?"

"The ship on Nereid was a
Bunker
-class. Very common freight vessel. We've narrowed the search the best we can, but most ships aren't even registered."

"How about its engine signature?"

"Long gone before the
Tine
arrived." He smiled. "Don't worry. My team rules the net like a king. Nothing can hide from them for long."

"The net?" Rada said. "Who exactly is this team?"

"The Lords of the True Realm. Detectives. Algomancers. Spiders of the web and hackers of the black box."

"You're conducting the entire investigation through the net."

"The investigation, yes. Once we have actionable information, we will shift operations into the lesser realm of physical space."

"Is there something I'm missing?" Rada said. "Why not send agents into the field?"

"When you're in the physical realm, you're visible." Toman said this in a manner that made it clear he'd had this discussion before. "Whereas on the net, the LOTR can pass without a trace. Why is this important, you may ask? Because I am not the only dog on the block. I'm not the biggest, either. If it turns out the ship was stolen by somebody like Valiant or FinnTech, I'm not about to provoke a war by sending spies to infiltrate their stations."

"But they
stole
it. They have to be punished."

"I understand you lost your crew, Rada. Your friends. In your situation, I'd want revenge, too." He tilted his face toward her. "But I'm not in your situation. I want something different. Something that's not worth risking my business and my people over."

"But you want the ship. You want to learn about the Swimmers."

"I do. Whether or not I'm the one to monetize the vessel, I'll still be able to learn about it."

She laughed, the harsh sound carrying over the lake. "That's your big plan, then? Send a bunch of dorks to trawl the net for clues? Then
if
they turn up something, and that something is too scary, you'll throw up your hands and walk away? Where do I fit into this?"

"I'd like you to stay here. To answer any questions LOTR comes up with."

"I've already given a full report. You need people out there pounding pavement. On Skylon, I was approached by a man named Rigel. He said he worked for—"

Toman closed his eyes, head wagging up and down. "We're on him. Ghosting him across the net. If he's left a trail, we'll find it."

"So you want me to stay here, doing nothing, on the off chance I might have another detail or two for your Lord People."

"You never know which piece will finish the puzzle."

"I'll need to think about it."

"Naturally. In the meantime, enjoy the run of the place. I mean it. If you wander someplace you shouldn't, we'll let you know."

Another cart ferried her off the island. Halfway to shore, she called up Simm and arranged for a meet. She'd only known him a few days, but that was more than could be said for anyone else in her life at the moment. Besides, brief though their relationship was, she believed he was honest. Possibly so honest it could work against him.

He met her inside the ring at an "outdoor" cafe that smelled like real coffee and something fruity she didn't recognize. Simm told her it was blueberry jam.

"I need advice," she said. "I don't have anyone else to ask. Can I trust you to keep this in confidence?"

He glanced from her ear to her eye and back to her ear. "Yes. Although if you couldn't trust me, I'd tell you the same thing."

She laid out the basics of her conversation with Toman. "My issue is that he doesn't seem…entirely serious."

Simm swung his head around. "Toman is the most serious person I've ever met. Especially when it comes to anything related to the aliens."

"Then why is he so unwilling to push for this? We're talking about a preserved alien ship. There has never been anything like this."

"It's exactly as he said. He wishes to obtain the ship. He will not, however, play it to the bone to get it. Because the only thing he cares about more than learning about the Swimmers is protecting his people."

She sipped her coffee. It was incredible. "Do you think the LOTR will come through for us?"

"I would bet on it," Simm said. "But I would not be surprised if I lost that bet."

"Thanks, Simm."

"That's it?"

"Doesn't take long to see if you're marching in the same direction as the guy with the biggest hat."

To give herself the chance to consider second thoughts—and mostly to create the illusion she
had
given it second thought—she waited until the next day to contact Toman's majordomo. She was granted an appointment that afternoon.

The cart delivered her to the island in the lake. Seeing no sign of Toman, she wandered toward the lighthouse, stirring the smell of grass and damp earth. Something moved on the path, startling her, but it was just a toaster-sized white drone rolling across the hard-packed dirt. It stopped in front of her and announced that Toman was at the top of the lighthouse.

This required stairs. A whole lot of stairs. By the time Rada got to the top, she suspected Benez made people climb to see him just so they'd be so grateful to be done climbing that they'd agree to anything.

"Love it up here," he said, leaned over the railing, hair ruffled by the faint breeze. Below, the lake spread to all sides. Above, the artificial lights couldn't quite hide the stars. "Shows me exactly what I've accomplished while reminding me it's nothing but a toy."

"I'm going back to Skylon," Rada said.

"It is a bit of a walk, isn't it? You'd better move your feet."

She stared at the back of his head. "I'll need a ride."

"I expect you will." He gazed over his domain. "Good luck getting one."

8

Rada exhaled slowly. "You mean to stop me from leaving the Hive."

Toman turned halfway from the lighthouse rail to watch her in his peripheral vision. "I'm not going to stop you from doing anything."

"You own this entire place. You don't have to lock me up to keep me from leaving. All you have to do is prevent any ships from taking me onboard."

"Yes, that sounds plausible."

"I'll hire my own ship. Someone out there won't be afraid of you. And if you won't let them land, I'll tell the entire system that you've kidnapped me."

He snorted. "Kidnapping? No court would ever convict me."

She took a step toward the rails. "It's not about the law, though, is it? It's about perception. You'll look like a tyrant at best. At worst…"

His shoulders rose and fell. "This is exactly why I don't want you out there. You're a liability. Apt to do our cause more harm than good."

"The only way to stop me is to lock me up. Either that or kill me."

At last, Toman turned from the rails, disgust creasing his face. "Are you trying to
make
me into a tyrant? We want the same things, Rada."

"No, we don't. You want the ship. But if getting it proves to be too much hassle, you're happy to let someone else have its secrets, knowing you'll have access to them in time." She stared him in the eye. "Me? I want justice for my friends. Vengeance against the people who casually destroyed them. And it will be mine."

He looked up and past her. He appeared to be suppressing a smile. "I won't keep you against your will. But please, when you're out there and your finger's hovering over the button? Remember that I could have."

"I'll keep the Hive out of it." She swept her hair from her face. "Guess I'd better go find a ship."

"No need," he said. "You'll be taking the
Tine
."

~

They launched later that day, the same crew that had rescued her from Nereid: Lonnie the pilot, Simm the…whatever he was. Rada didn't take her escort as a compliment. They were there to keep tabs on her.

Well, they could watch all they wanted. She had work to do. The first step was to confirm Rigel, the Dison Concerns agent, was still on Skylon. The second step would be to arrange a meet. Not as Rada, of course: Rada was supposed to be dead, murdered on the surface of Nereid.

Connecting to the net from an in-flight ship was a royal pain in the ass. Rada had an image of the net downloaded to her device, but it was far from complete. When you needed to grab something from the wider net, the ship had to Needle it to the nearest habitat or station, where the inquiry would be processed and then Needled back to the ship. For security reasons, Rada was sticking with the Hive's connection, and as they drew away, her sends began to take minutes to travel back and forth.

She spent the delays working on her cover story and combing through the net footprint connected to Rigel's contact info. This footprint was sparse, especially for the headhunter for a major spacefaring company. She dug deeper, growing increasingly frustrated by the minutes elapsing between each query and the return of that information from the Hive.

After an hour of listening to her muttered sighing and swearing, Simm turned from his seat at the controls. "What's up?"

"It's this guy I'm after," Rada said. "I'm trying to confirm he's still at Skylon, but I can barely confirm he exists."

"Let me see?" he said. The request was a formality: the ship's computer was processing all her device's transmissions, meaning Simm could page through them as he pleased. Within five minutes, he looked up from his device, a funny look on his face. "I've figured out why you can't find him. It's because he doesn't exist."

"Simm," Rada said. "I
met
him. Shook his hand. He's real."

"I have no doubt you interacted with another living person. What I'm saying is the identity that person claimed does not exist."

"No way. The whole thing was a setup, wasn't it? There was no Rigel. He probably didn't even work for Dison. He knew I'd applied to them and used their name to buy my trust. To get me to drop some details about what we'd found."

"That would appear to be the most likely explanation."

"What are the others?"

"I don't know," he shrugged. "I'm merely reminding us that there may be other options."

Rada rubbed her face. "Why didn't the LOTR figure this out?"

"I don't know that, either. From what I've gathered, their focus has been on identifying the ship that attacked you." He bent over his device. "I'll send them a request for more information."

"If I'm the only one 'Rigel' gave his contact info to, then if I message him, he'll know it's me. And I'm supposed to be dead."

"Bummer for you," Lonnie said. "So have you got a destination for me or not?"

Rada stared at the screen and its view of silent vacuum. "Skylon. It's the only lead we've got."