“Nancy?” Ship said. “It can’t be Nancy. We saw her die.”
“You’re dead,” I said.
“Apparently not.”
“But we watched you…I checked your body. You were gone.”
“It’s a long story,” she said. She stetched out her leg, broke a couple of seals, and pulled up a trouser leg. At first glance, the skin looked normal enough. But I’d seen this before. Her leg was a very good replacement.
“How much?”
“About seventy percent. Both legs, half my side. Not my head, though, thankfully.”
Her face hadn’t changed, not much at least. Heart shaped and light brown, with a thin nose, lively blue eyes, and a frame of short blonde hair.
“Who…?”
“You said we need to move,” she said. “We can discuss this later.”
I hesitated, then I said, “All right. Leave your weapon. And we’ll be blocking your plant.”
She stood, touched each of her companions softly, slung a small bag on her shoulder, and nodded, ready to go.
Ship’s lift was a loose soft tube that hung down from Largo’s belly. We went up, one by one, with Kral last, holding Johnny and Meissa above. When we were all aboard, Bael and I ushered everyone into the salon. Nancy moved with an odd gait, but there was nothing to show that she was mostly replacements. I noticed Basto. I increasingly saw him more as Basto with enhancements than an amalgamation of two AIs, but that may have been because I was seeing Basto’s body, not Buttercup’s frame. Basto looked the most confused. Rosalind held his hand as they came into the salon; it was impossible to tell what that meant to Basto. Nancy dropped to one of the couches, and looked as though she was about to sleep. The Captain stood near the hatch, taking it all in with a practiced eye. I brought in some refreshments, including the last of Largo’s bug juice for Kli.
“How soon to the far coast, Ship?”
“Obfuscating the best I can and taking a few detours, maybe twenty minutes.”
“Thanks. Let Bael, Kral, and me know when you’re close.”
The whole crew was mostly seated, or in the case of Johnny and Melissa, slouched, around the salon. Elibel and Kli were talking. He was showing her something on a data projection; what, I didn’t know. Kral stood off to the side, next to the billiard table.
“I think it’s time to revive Johnny and Melissa,” I said. “Kral, I’ll ask you to do that, but please keep them muzzled and secured. And keep them blinded.”
The two captives began to stir. The captain moved closer, but not too close, perched on the arm of a chair.
“Welcome back,” I said. “If you’re sufficiently revived to understand what I’m saying, please nod.”
After a moment’s hesitation, both nodded. Their plants should have been blocked, but I’ve never trusted that tech. I just hoped it was true. In any event, a residual sedative would keep them both a little slow and disoriented.
“Do you understand that you are in danger? And that there will be no opportunity to escape again?”
Both dutifully nodded.
“Excellent. I have a few questions.”
I paused. “At this point,” I said to Ship, Bael, and Kral, “they have no idea whether or not they’re alone or together. Let’s see if I can make any use of that, at least as long as they’re in the dark.”
I walked over to the captives and put a hand on each shoulder. “I want to get a little background,” I said. “And I want to know the truth. Lying will not help you. Do you know where Bresslaft is?”
Both shook their heads.
“You are certain? As I said, I do not appreciate lies.” They shook their heads again. I pressed my hands down on their shoulders, hard. Not enough to hurt much, but enough to emphasize the vulnerability of their position.
“Do you know who Bresslaft is?”
Both nodded.
“Are you working with Bresslaft?”
Both hesitated, then shook their heads.
“He appears to be telling the truth,” Bael said. “From her vitals and her reflex patterns, I can say that she isn’t.”
“I told you I don’t like lies,” I said. “Whatever happens, I’ll tell you now that you both are finished, at least in the consortium, and probably elsewhere. So let’s make this as easy as possible. Are you working with Bresslaft?”
He shook his head again, and spat. This time Melissa nodded, but there was something else in the motion. What, I couldn’t tell.
“Is Bresslaft part of the fudge trade?”
Johnny didn’t move, while Melissa slowly nodded.
“Is there a plot in the works to destabilize Forest?”
Neither moved.
“Come on. I know there is. I just want your confirmation.”
“Hare, I know what you’re trying to do, but for all the things you are, you’re not an interrogator. Your way, this will take forever.” It was the Captain.
“O’Flaherty….”
“Trust me, Trieste. I’ll get us what both of us need.”
She was already close to Johnny. She moved over to him quickly, forcefully. She cut Melissa’a audio, then she paused. She stood there for a moment, idly stroking the little ridge that ran across her forehead. Then she quickly pulled back his hood, cleared his blinder and his muzzle. She slapped him, once, and again, and then a third time.
“Hello, Johnny,” she said, and slapped him again. “Or is it Billy? That’s always been your favorite name, Billy, I think. Billy, I have to tell you: you’re stuck in a slimy, ice-cold load of giant crin-worm secretions.”
Johnny put his head back and shouted, “You are in so much trouble. You have no idea. I’m going….”
“You’ll do nothing, Billy,” she said, and slapped him again. “We’re only in trouble if your people find us, and this time nobody’s going to find us. Not until we’re ready to be found.”
“I won’t tell you anything.”
She bent over him, bunched up his collar in her hand, and looked him in the eye. “Of course you’re not. What you say now has nothing to do with me. You’re coming on a little voyage, and then we’ll see what you say and what you don’t. But before that, Melissa here will tell these good people what they need to know. You’ll just sit and listen.”
He was quiet. The Captain stepped over to Melissa and contemplated her captive.
“We’re almost ready to put down, Hare.”
“Where?”
“We’ll be hiding in plain sight.”
I hooked into Largo’s forward visuals. Below us was desert; the sea was about 40 kilometers away. Spreading out ahead across the desert floor was a city of derelict spaceships, tenders, cargo flyers, ancient pleasure craft, a few water vessels, and a number of hulks the point of which I couldn’t tell. It was a city of technological ghosts. Off to the left was a small town, a few trees, a few houses. A ridge of gray rock rose behind the town. Ship had maneuvered us to a spot above a row of Manta Rays and was deftly settling Largo between two of them.
“Now if only I can find that dead-ship transponder,” she said. “Ah, there it is. Sometimes it pays to be a collector.”
“Packrat,” Bael said.
“That too.”
Finally O’Flaherty snapped out of her reverie and pulled back Melissa’s hood.
“Welcome back to the land of the living, Mizz Bean.”
“The way you said that….”
“Yea, Mizz Bean, it’s me, little Mani. Too many well-placed families sent their daughters off to your school, and mine was unfortunately one of them. At least until I told them a few things. You remember how I disappeared that winter, don’t you. Damn, how I hated you and your school.”
“I….”
“But enough of old times. I will cut to the chase, as my third grandmother used to say. I have Yattea.”
“What…?”
“Oh not here, of course. But safe, in a good place. I can assure you, by my honor, that she is not being hurt and will never be hurt. She is being cared for by three sweet, tough old witches who wouldn’t let me harm her even if I wanted to. I understand that she is having fun, and thinks that you’ve been called away on business. That’s a pretty familiar scenario, is it not, you being away on business?”
“What…?”
“Of course, there’s a good possibility that you’ll never see her again, but we’ll have to work on that.”
“What…?”
“You’re getting a little repetitious, aren’t you? I’d guess that you want to know what I want out of you. Or maybe you want to know what proof I have that I have Yattea. Or maybe both. Well, look at this.”
An image appeared before us, a girl running in a field. She was an adolescent, athough it was hard to tell her actual age. She ran toward us, laughing. She was tall, lovely, coltish, and evidently very happy. Then I could see it. Her hair was longer, and more brown than jet black. And her skin, while tanned, was definitely lighter. But her face was so similar, down to the huge green eyes….
“Bael,” the Captain said, “from what I’ve seen, you’re probably a little tired of discovering unknown relatives. But I have one more for you. This is Yattea. She’s your sister.”
To Be Continued
