Chapter 17

17

- Maeve -

The journey through hyperspace is the worst time I've ever had. I keep thinking about Tara maybe being dead, and about how I failed the mission almost right away.

But I mostly think about Arelion. He's on his way to a war where he might get killed. And the last thing I did was to leave him without a word, after I said I would stay.

IHe should understand. I have to do this. But I worry he'll hate me and think I was just using him.

It's weird, though. Just when I was getting used to being in space. Just when I was coming out of my shell and even sometimes acting bubbly. Just when I was starting to feel free, just when I had a love life for the first time in my life — that's when I had to run right back into uncertainty and danger.

The Mark he left on my hip tingles and itches. Is he thinking of me, or was that just mythical nonsense?

"I didn't expect this to work," I remind myself. "That relationship was a luxury I can't afford. Being safe is a luxury I can't afford."

But It doesn't land. Twice I decide to return to Gigori, and twice I keep going.

"What if he's right?" I mutter. "What if that Earth girl on Xap Station is a total stranger, not Tara at all? Maybe not even an Earth girl? What if I can't help, and I just end up getting captured myself?"

"Are you expecting me to answer these questions?" Bari asks. "Or are you talking to yourself again?"

I look down on her. " Can you answer them?"

"It sounds a lot like organic gibberish to me. So, no."

"Well, there you go."

She stretches one paw. "You know how I feel about organics talking to themselves, so I won't repeat it."

I get to my feet, just to walk off some tension. "You really think I'm crazy?"

"All organics seem crazy to me. But you're no more of a lunatic than most of them."

I kick at a console. "It's weird, though. The Bululg were always right on our trail. We only got away because Arelion is good in a fight and he survived being shot many times. What if this is a trap we're about to step into?"

"Ah, this is what organics call ‘overthinking'," Bari says with satisfaction. "Perfectly normal, but usually not helpful."

"It's my thing," I tell her, trying to avoid thinking more about Arelion because I can feel some serious darkness tugging at my mind. "I don't feel comfortable if I'm not overthinking."

I wander the little saucer restlessly, repeating everything about my mission. But most of it is pretty useless. My contact on Pranst Station was supposed to know where to go. And because so many things were unknown about Tara's situation, they and I were supposed to play it by ear and improvise, which was apparently also something the contact was good at. I was mostly needed to identify Tara and to maybe set up some kind of decoy. I sometimes got the feeling that the Resistance only gave me the mission because I pestered them.

"But without the contact, I'm left on my own," I repeat for the twentieth time. "With Arelion, I might have had a chance."

Nobody replies. Bari is staying in the control room, and I don't want to worry her with my anxiety.

It takes an eternity to get to the right solar system. When the ship drops out of hyperspace, I check the displays and try to make sense of them.

"Xap Station is ahead," Bari says. "I'll pilot us there, if you want."

"All right," I agree. "Do you know anything else about it?"

"No," she says as she puts a paw on the main console, piloting by some kind of electronic contact without actually pushing buttons or using any of the controls. "It could be anything from a regular, commercial station to a Bululg fortress. My money is on the former. I don't think the Bululg would bring slaves to their homes."

Yeah. That's what this is about. Prisons and slaves and death. And I'm all alone. That felt less scary before I met him. Now I'm used to having that giant peacock by my side, being kept safe even in firefights and battles. Not having him here makes me nervous.

But I'm better equipped now than before. I have some pieces of armor, I have a ray gun and my fighting stick, my Interespeech has improved a great deal, and I have experience with aliens and with fighting them. And with shooting them.

"There it is," Bari says and nods to the main screen. "Xap Station."

It's an oblong, slowly spinning ball in space. If I squint, I can imagine it's a big, gray football. "How do we get in?"

"We're flying a Bululg saucer. If the Bululg own this place, I imagine they will talk to us on the comms and absolutely expect to be answered in their own language with a credible explanation of who we are."

"Do you speak fluent Bululg?" I ask.

"What do you think?"

"No, huh? Can you learn it? In, say, ninety seconds or so?"

She doesn't even answer.

The station grows larger, until it feels like I could reach out and touch it.

"They're not talking to us at all," Bari observes. "It's rare to find a space station this trusting of approaching ships. I see a hangar opening. Should we just fly in?"

I check my gun and my fighting stick. "Is there any other way?"

"No. I'm asking from politeness."

"Then I guess we just fly in."

I'm not just nervous — I'm scared . I'm about to enter a space station where there are bound to be enemies. And where Tara may be about to be murdered.

I pat the pockets of my suit, fish out an energy bar laced with drugs to keep me calm and effective, and quickly eat it. It's not my favorite thing to need a crutch like that, but I'm too shaky to not use all the tools I have.

The black opening into the station's hangar looks like an ominous gape, as if we're about to be swallowed by a monster.

"It's not a Bululg station," Bari tells me as we slowly fly inside. "Some kind of commercial hub. But I see Bululg ships in here— huh. That's unusual."

"What?" I ask, worried.

"They closed the hangar door right after we came in."

"To trap us?"

"Either that, or the force fields don't work right. But it is strange. I'll just find us a berth."

"Act like normal," I suggest, my voice shaking a little because the drugs haven't kicked in yet.

"We are," Bari assures me as she slowly brings the saucer to a halt by a walkway. "It's they who are not."

"Can we get out of this right now?" I ask, just to be sure.

"If they open the hangar doors, we can. If not, no."

I take a deep breath, put on my helmet, and straighten my suit and the armor plates. "Then the only way is forward. You don't have to come, Bari. But I would be grateful if you stay here in the ship. Just so I have a possible escape."

"All right," she says simply.

I see no reason to dawdle. I open the airlocks and walk out of the ship, onto the metal walkway.

There are very few ships in the hangar, so it looks almost empty. There are some ships I don't recognize, and I spot a couple of Bululg saucers. They're bigger than mine, but smaller than the Revenge .

The place is quiet. There's no movement in the hangar. When I slowly move into what should be a marketplace, there's nobody there. But the lights are on.

I stop, looking around. Is this a prison? All I see are cells and cages everywhere. But there's nobody in them.

Big shapes move out of the shadows. I back up to the wall, wanting to get out of their way.

More shapes come out from all sides. My heart sinks in my chest when I see that they're Fresks.

And some are Eoans, big and winged, all converging on the spot I'm standing in.

They're obviously here for me.

I glance quickly over at the archway to the hangars. That way has already been blocked by three Fresks.

I draw the ray gun. If they want me, they'll pay dearly for it.

"Stay where you are!" one Eoan yells, his voice almost as deep as Arelion's. "We don't mean you any particular harm."

I answer by aiming at the nearest Fresk. "Recall your goons or lose them!"

A couple of seconds go by, and I change my aim, ready to shoot.

"Fresks, stand still!" the Eoan bellows.

They obey, but the three Eoans don't. They're still coming at me.

"Now you stop," I tell them. "Or I'll shoot you. "

They don't falter. "That would be unwise. We're the only friends you have here."

"Friends don't usually ambush friends," I seethe.

Damn it! Friends? Are these Arelion's guys? Did he tell them to come here and get me? Or help me?

"That's true under most circumstances," the leader Eoan says. "But nothing about this is normal."

The three come closer, slowly closing off all escape. They're various shades of red, from fire truck to dark Merlot.

Either I shoot now, or they'll get me.

Arelion's guys wouldn't act this way. This is not his way, and they would know it.

I fire the ray gun over their heads, creating a white beam of ionized air that slowly fades.

They stop. "There's no need for this," says the Merlot–colored one. "We just want to invite you for some hospitality."

"In a cell," I state drily, fully abandoning any hope that they are my friends at all. "Yes, I've heard of that."

"Not at all," he goes on from about thirty feet away. "It's a sincere invitation."

"I decline your invitation," I tell him. "Now I invite you to let me go back to my ship." They were clearly waiting for me, which means all chances of surprise or stealth are gone. If Tara is here, I now have no way to get to her unseen.

"Regrettably, I can't," says the darkest Eoan. "I am Cariolio, by the way. May I call you Maeve?"

The Fresks by the hangar aren't budging. Can I shoot all three and then run out there without these Eoans catching up with me? "You will not need to call me anything. I'm leaving."

There's suddenly movement above me, as well as a soft beating of big wings.

A weighted net drops on me. It's so heavy that I fall forwards, only managing to fire the gun straight up before I get so entangled I can't move.

There's a deep yelp of pain from above, and the flying Eoan lands heavily between me and the three others. He keeps his wings folded out and crouches down, clearly in pain. "Murderous bitch!"

Cariolio strides over to me. "No, let's not use words like that. It's perfectly understandable that a military agent tries to do as much damage as she can." He peers down at me. "Sorry it had to come to this. But we did give you a chance to come freely."

The two others lift me and the net between them and carry me along. I try to get a better grip on my gun, but the net moves by itself and makes it impossible for me to change my position.

I make sure my left hand can reach my right wrist, though. The hard square under the skin there gives me an ice cold peace of mind. I can end both this and my abductors any time I want. But first I have to see where this is going

They carry me through the space station. It's practically completely deserted, I notice. All I see is cells and cages. It's a perfect place for criminals and slave traders like this. They're obviously not Arelion's men, but they may well have some connection to his enemy, Buroteo.

The Eoans take me to a large, open room. It's dimly lit, but I spot a podium by one wall. It could be a place where auctions were held. Say, slave auctions.

There's a row of cages along one wall.

Two of them release the net and roll it up into a sphere the size of a golf ball. They take my gun and the fighting stick, then hold me firmly between them.

"Take your stinking hands off me," I spit, having to fight back somehow .

"You wonder what's happening," Cariolio says, ignoring my outburst. "Some of it should be obvious."

Like the fact that they were waiting for me, which means that I was betrayed. Again.

"And everything else will become clear when my boss arrives," he goes on. "For now, be satisfied that what happens from now on is partly up to you. It would be wise to cooperate. This can actually end somewhat well for you."

I don't believe a word.

They open a cage and shove me in, then slam the door shut with a resounding clank.

They walk away, but they leave a Fresk to keep an eye on me.

" Shit," I sum up the situation to myself.

"It's not great," a voice agrees from somewhere in the room. In English.

I throw myself at the bars on the front of the cage. "Tara?!"

"Hey, Maeve. They said you were coming. I was really wishing you weren't." It's definitely Tara's voice. But I can't see her.

"Where are you?"

"I'm in a cage on your left, two levels up. Don't tell me anything that should be secret. I think they have translators that understand English."

The side walls of my cage are solid metal, and only the front is bars. So I can't see her. "Are you all right?"

"I'm as good as you can be after you've failed your mission and then spent months as a captive of the Bululg. So like I said, not great. They told me some things about you, Maeve. Thank you for coming to get me."

She sounds downbeat, which shouldn't surprise me. But it makes me unsure if it's actually my sister. "For all the good it did. Tara, do you remember the summers when we were kids? Uncle Nick's cabin by Lake Superior?"

"No," she scoffs. "It was grandads's cabin by Lake Erie. Now, you tell me: whose bike did I wreck in grade two?"

I think back. A bike? "It was Mackenzie Norton's. And it wasn't her bike, it was her skateboard. It broke in half when you jumped on it. You claimed it was her own fault."

"It was!" Tara exclaims. "Who leaves their wooden skateboard out in the rain?! The wood was all soggy and soft."

Yeah, it's her. "I had to check. I wish I could hug you, but there's some steel in the way."

"We're not done yet," she says, sounding more like herself. "Don't lose hope."

"Oh, I won't." But I know that without the energy bar and its chemicals, I would get pretty close to that point right now. "Damn it. They were waiting for me."

"Yep. They'll use you as some kind of hostage. They want to pressure someone using you."

Arelion. These guys are his enemies. "Well, that won't work."

"They think it will."

I can't hold back a dry, joyless laugh. "Then they're a bunch of idiots. I stole his spaceship and left him without a word. He's going to be pretty mad at me right now."

It's awkward to talk to Tara like this. I never expected this to be how I'd meet her again, held in cages so far apart that we have to raise our voices to speak, and it all echoes from the metal walls in this big room. It doesn't make for the most cheerful reunification.

"What's your story, anyway?" I ask, then remember that if she wants to tell me, she will. There may be things she wants to keep secret. "Actually, never mind. This isn't the best way to talk. How's the food in this joint?"

"It's bland and harmless," she says. "Most food is, here in space. But of course I mostly had prison food. Yeah, they placed us together like this so that we would say things to each other that they may be able to use later. So the less we talk, the better. Sorry. I'm not happy you're here, Maeve. But I appreciate you coming."

"I heard they were going to execute you. The Bululg, I mean."

"They were. And then these peacock guys came along recently, and things changed."

Even with the cocktail of drugs in my system, I have to pull myself together to not cry. "I want to hug you so bad right now, Tara."

"The feeling is mutual. And we will, Maeve. We will." Only a sister would be able to hear the tiny hint of defeat in my voice.

"I know."

I want to tell her about Arelion and everything, but until I know what these Eoans want, it will be too risky. I can't guess what might be valuable to them. Already we've probably said too much.

"I'll take a nap," Tara says. "Thanks for coming to get me, Maeve. I was hoping someone would."