Rebel Stars 1: Outlaw (11 page)

She squinted at him. "Or we walk out into a mess of heavily armed gangsters.
Or
we walk out with the exact same 1.15, because this is my show and I'm not about to roll over."

Webber bobbed his head. "I got you."

"Do you? You're an asset I hadn't counted on, but you're proving to be an even bigger liability. Quit barging in on my scene. Watch and learn. Know your place. You got input? I'm all ears. But you provide that input in the appropriate ways at the appropriate time. Otherwise? You think you know better? Go get your own damn ship."

"I'm sorry, Captain. This is all new to me. From now on, I'll be more mindful of the chain of command."

"So you
do
know the concept. Next time it happens, you're back on mop duty. Got it?"

"Got it," he said. "But he
was
whining."

Gomes laughed, shaking her head. "Get out of here before I come to my senses."

He ducked his head and walked off. Away from the park, the air had the stale, recycled smell of all closed environments, but at that moment, it tasted like it had been pumped in fresh from Fiji.

He had a few hours until the meet at the Hook and Claw, so he figured he'd do some exploring, get a feel for the place. Captured moon it might be, but it was also tiny, small enough to handle artificial gravity. He figured he could see a decent slice of it before his appointment.

He stopped at a stall for a packet of fried starch. Feeling rich, he splurged on a bowl of curry made from local fruit. He took his meal down a side street and sat on a vacant stoop. The curry tasted like strawberries and half-cooked bread.

"New in town?" A man stood over him, dressed in a long, thin coat and a short-brimmed hat.

"This your apartment?" Webber stood, crumpling the wrappers of his meal. "Was just looking for a place to sit while I ate."

"More of a rhetorical question. I know exactly who you are, Webber." The man pulled his hand halfway from his pocket, revealing the dull black of a pistol. "Care to come with me?"

As it turned out, the ex-girlfriend hadn't moved since the breakup. She lived in Neucali, an old Martian warren near the water supply of the northern icecap. At the moment, Mars was on the opposite side of the sun from Earth. About as long as Inner trips got. After Simm confirmed the autopilot's course, there wasn't much to do besides catch up on correspondence and rake over what they'd gathered to date. She Needled Toman about their progress and to request he reach out to Iggi Daniels. Simm, as usual, occupied himself with the net, gathering up all traces of Peregrine Lawson and compiling them into one master file.

Toman replied within an hour, a prerecorded video. He congratulated her on cracking the first part of Jain Kayle's message and let her know he'd drop a line to Iggi, but didn't expect his rival to start spilling secrets.

Simm's automated search software hadn't turned up anything interesting in the Pip File, but with nothing better to do, Rada searched it by hand, combing through years-old message board posts about video games and genealogy. She didn't have any more luck than Simm's bots, but she came away with a better sense of the dead man: pleasant, though occasionally acerbic, and wishful for something more.

Halfway to Mars, coasting at cruising speed, Simm said he was picking up engine signals on the long-distance scanners. They kept their eyes sharp, but nothing came of it.

Around the time they began to brake, a video came in from Iggi Daniels. She wasn't much older than Toman. Like him, she had no interest in a traditional appearance. Blue hair done up in a wing. Dark eyeliner. A single point of light traced the black lines, making it appear as if each eye were being orbited by a tiny, glimmering comet. Rada thought it must be very nice to be so wealthy and successful that anyone who judged you would be accused of being jealous.

Iggi's message was prerecorded, too. "Hey all. What with the whole rivals thing, I can't get too deep in the guttyworks. Besides, we're all over this too. I can tell you this much: Jain's recent assignment involved a long, hard look at what's outside the Outer. Well-trodden ground, I know. But sometimes, the only way to break a case is to confront it with a fresh set of eyes."

She smiled into the camera and lifted her brows. "Dunno if that's enough to help, but I hope it does. She was a big part of the team. Appreciate the interest. Iggi out."

The message ended. Rada unbuckled and floated to the galley. "That doesn't do much. Besides reinforce our assumptions."

"Yeah," Simm said. "Nice of her to get back to us, though."

A day later, Mars grew on the screen, a dirty orange ball. The
Tine
was capable of atmospheric flight, but it was cheaper to dock in orbit and take a shuttle down to the surface. To stay on Toman's good side, Rada made the arrangements. A few hours later, the shuttle landed at Neucali Station. Outside the dome, wind whisked the powdery dust into scouring whirlwinds.

They descended to the warren. The tunnels were cramped and smelled like earth and fungus. Rada rented an electric two-seater, called ahead to Xixi the ex-girlfriend, and pedaled down the hallways. Things were very quiet except when she flashed by an intersection opening to a public cavern; then, voices and laughter rang loud.

Xixi lived in a hole a few bends of the tunnel from one of these caverns. She made Rada and Simm ID themselves to her door scanner before allowing them inside.

She wasn't as old as Rada had expected. 27, 28. The neutral resignation in her face looked much older. She offered them a seat on the dusty-smelling couch.

"So," Rada said.

Xixi stared. "Ask what you came to ask. It's been years. I'm not a flower. Down here, we endure."

"We're trying to decipher something Peregrine's mother said before her accident. It could be very important."

"Or it could be nonsense," Simm said.

Rada scowled. "Either way, it would be nice to understand her final recorded words. If only to know that there is no understanding them."

The woman closed her eyes. "Talk or don't. It's all the same."

Rada repeated Jain Kayle's message about the rabbit, then lowered her gaze to the plain stone floor. "Ring any bells?"

"No. You couldn't have asked me through the net?"

"Please, just take a minute to think about it. He lived in the warrens with you. Some Earthers call
you
guys rabbits. Does this bring back anything at all?"

"Let me think." Xixi nodded, gazing at nothing. Ten seconds drabbled by. Finally, she shook her head. "Down here, you get a lot of talk about rabbits. But I don't remember anything related to that phrase."

Rada sighed. "I see."

Simm tapped his knee. "Did you call him Pip, too?"

"Sure," Xixi said. "He hated his real name."

Rada glanced at Simm. "What does this tell us?"

"Nothing, probably." He folded his hands. "Curious if the message could have originated with anyone else."

Xixi shrugged. "I got friends who knew him. You might check with them."

"That would be great," Rada said. "Before we go, could you tell us about him? Anything could help."

"He wasn't the kind of guy who would knock you out of orbit. You had to spend some time with him before you started to see what was special. He was sturdy. Loyal. Hard-working. Every extra bit he made, he sent it off to care for his sister. For Dinah."

"Sounds like a sweet guy."

Xixi laughed wryly. "Sure. If you were his sister."

Rada glanced at Simm. "Did you think he was…too generous?"

"She's sick. Needs help. I get it. But I wanted a family too, you know? And I couldn't bring myself to start one until we'd paid off this hole. At least enough to know we wouldn't starve."

"Was that what broke you up?" Simm said.

Rada gaped. "Simm!"

Xixi waved a hand. "It's a fair question. There was more to it. He got angry sometimes. So did I. Dinah wasn't the only reason we split. But it sure didn't help."

"Well," Simm said. "I'm sorry."

"Maybe it's for the best. Thanks to her, we learned we weren't right for each other before we made the mistake of dragging kids into the mix." The woman shook her head. "You ask me, the rabbit business is probably something Jain and Pip joked about when he was little. Once he got older, they weren't on good terms. Her last message was probably a reminder to herself that it wasn't always like that."

Rada's stomach sank. "Do you know why their relationship was strained?"

"He thought she worked too hard when she should have been caring for Dinah. Resented having to shoulder the load himself."

"I see." Rada couldn't bring herself to make eye contact. "Well, the people who knew him. Would you mind drawing up a list?"

The woman nodded, got her device from the coffee table, and started tapping its cracked screen. A minute later, she looked up sharply. "Look, this is a long shot."

Rada leaned forward. "Lately, that's the only kind of shot we've had."

"Well, this part of the warren, it's pretty close to the surface. But there's another place. Way down deep. We're supposed to go there if there's ever an attack or an asteroid or anything that could compromise the upper level."

"The kind of place a rabbit would hide if it saw a hawk."

"Renters have communal shelters. But everyone who owns a hole gets a cabin of their own." Xixi got up and shuffled to a dresser. "Got the key around here somewhere."

"Do you think there might be something there?" Simm said. "Something Jain left?"

"I don't know. After we moved in, I haven't been to it since."

After a detailed search, she located the key—a small magnet set to the same frequency as the lock—and transferred the list of Pip's friends to Rada's device. At the door, Rada thanked her, smiling wanly. Xixi nodded, expressionless, and closed the door.

They started off to the elevator to the shelters. Simm glanced back down the tunnel. "Well, that was depressing."

"But we've got something. That's worth every moment, isn't it?"

"No doubt."

She felt lighter than she had in days, and it wasn't just the undemanding Martian gravity. As they navigated the tunnels with the aid of her device, moving deeper and deeper into the warren, she told herself that there was a good chance the shelter was nothing more than coincidence. Even if there was an answer in it, like Xixi had said, it would probably turn out to be nothing more than Jain reminding herself of better days.

There was hope, though. It sounded like Jain Kayle had been devoted to her work. To the point of alienating her own kids. Tragic, to be sure. But it gave Rada the idea that Jain would not allow her life's work to be lost.

The tunnels grew dim, quieter yet. Even when they opened on large caverns, the spaces were subdued, occupied by worn-looking people drinking from bottles and fiddling with their devices. Rada hurried along.

Two turns later, Simm slowed, gazing behind them. He murmured, "I think we're being followed."

"By who?"

"Not sure. Do you want me to go ask?"

Simm being Simm, she took a second to ensure he was being sarcastic. She forced herself not to look back. "Have we committed any crimes since getting here?"

"To the contrary, we've been model visitors."

"Then we can reasonably assume that crimes are about to be done to us." She detached the button-sized camera from her device, breathed on its back to activate its adhesive, and thumbed it to the wall. "Let's get a look, shall we?"

Simm bit his lip. "Why don't we call the cops?"

"Because they won't get here in time. But if it makes you feel better, go ahead."

"
That
sure doesn't make me feel better," he mumbled, punching something into his device. "How about we hurry?"

"I don't think there's any getting out of this," she said. "Not when it's their turf. But if you've got ideas, I've got ears."

They turned another corner. At their current pace, Rada's device estimated they were less than three minutes from the elevator, but the system was so old it wouldn't allow her to summon it to be ready on their arrival.

Her video feed flashed, insistent. She switched over. The wall-mounted camera showed four figures striding down the tunnel, faces concealed by the red-orange bandanas favored by Martians whenever there was a chance they'd be exposed to the planet's powdery dust. She thought they all had male builds. One carried a pipe or a club. The others appeared unarmed, but that didn't mean much. They swept past the camera in perfect silence and turned down the same corner Rada and Simm had taken seconds before.

"Too late," she said. "Hope you're wearing your scrapping shoes."

Simm turned around and glared down the hallway. It was dim and slightly curved. "This is outrageous. What do they want with us?"

"They look like hoods—or someone who wants us to think they're hoods."

"Armed?"

"It's a safe bet."

They planted themselves in the tight hall, spaced three feet apart. The four men rounded the corner. Eyes glittered above the bandanas. Two of the men flicked out batons, the heavy synthetics clicking into place.

One of them took a step forward. A beard bristled beneath his orange bandana. "Let's not make this hard."

"Agreed," Rada said. "In my pocket, there's a card. On the card, I've got four hundred and change. Here's my proposal: I give you the card, you turn around and walk away."

"You can't just give him your card," Simm said. "What'd he do to deserve it?"

The man narrowed his eyes. Rada rolled hers. "Simm, the sooner this is over, the sooner we can resume the rabbit hunt."

Simm folded his arms at the hoods' leader. "In that case, I insist you take the card."

"Four hundred," the man said.

Rada nodded. "And change."

"Pretty good haul for fifteen minutes of work," Simm said.

The man turned to his crew. "What do you think?"

To his left, a short man lifted his nose to the air and sniffed. "Hey. Hey, Pads. You smell that?"

"What've you got?"

The short man inhaled deeply. "Smells like money."