11. Eleven

Eleven

Raider - The Wanderer

Raider glared at the woman he’d come to view as a particularly annoying little sister over the years. A minor miracle considering Raider’s fractious relationship with the notion of ’family’.

Until Elise and Kira had crashed into his life and dragged him into their orbit, he’d been happy to give the concept a wide berth. He was a lone wolf. A half feral creature with no concern for anyone but himself.

To him, family had always meant the people who hurt and beat you. Those who thought they owned you simply because they’d been responsible for bringing you into the world.

He’d been a commodity. Someone they vented their anger and imposed their will on.

Kira changed that. The first he’d come to view as ’family’. Though he hadn’t known to call it that back then.

He didn’t have a word for the fact that she and the rest of the members of their tiny group were people he’d gladly lay down his life to protect. He wouldn’t even have to think twice.

By the time Elise came around, he was more open to the concept of relationships. It helped that she’d captivated him from the first fake smile she’d given him. The one she used to fool the rest of the Curs into thinking she was a good person.

He couldn’t help but be drawn to her duality. So like his. Her outwardly warm exterior a mask for the cold way she treated people. Often with them never realizing. Then there was the person he sometimes glimpsed when her guard was down. The stray acts of kindness when she thought no one was looking. Like the hospital bills she paid off for Bates’s mother without ever letting him know that she was the one responsible. Or the little girl she’d given her food to when they were on Kala.

That girl had been starving and the protracted siege of the planet meant no one knew when they would be able to get supplies in next.

It was those little things. So at odds with the devious and cold woman he’d come to know.

Everything that happened afterward. Rothchild and her disappearance. Raider no longer cared. He knew who Elise was. Had been reminded of it the moment she injected the isotope that would allow her to follow Elena, thus taking Kira’s place.

She was the only woman he’d ever loved. The mother of his child. A master of intrigue. And the ultimate survivor.

He was getting them back. Both her and Elena.

So, Blue had better get with the program. Annoying little sister or not.

Raider slammed a hand down on the table. "That’s too long. This boat needs to go faster, Blue. I don’t care how you do it, but get us to Rothchild."

Blue threw up her hands as a frustrated sound left her. "Do you think I’m not trying? You’re asking me to break the laws of physics. The Wanderer is already running at capacity. We can’t go faster."

Raider refused to accept that. "A Tuann ship could make that journey in half the time. Don’t tell me it’s not possible."

"Yes, a Tuann ship," Blue stressed. "For all the modifications Roake made to the Wanderer, she’s still Consortium made."

Raider was getting tired of the excuses. "You’ve spent months in their territory. Don’t tell me you’ve learned nothing that can help us."

That was why she was on Ta Sa’Riel, after all.

Raider had been tasked with babysitting Kira and making sure she didn’t fuck up their alliance—or get herself killed with her stubbornness. While Blue was supposed to do a little intellectual espionage. Reverse engineer anything that might give them a technological edge in the war Himoto and Jace thought was coming.

"I’ve learned quite a lot, actually," Blue said. "But nothing that would help in this situation."

"How is that possible?" Raider snarled.

Frustration mounted.

"You’re right. I could probably jury-rig some type of modification that would allow us to eke out a little more speed from the engines. BUT—" Blue held up a finger. "That would only cause massive damage. I doubt we’d make it even half way before they quit. We’d be stranded between systems, waiting for someone to answer our distress call. That would leave us worse off than we are now."

"Since when have you been the cautious sort?"

Blue had a history of disregarding any potential risks and sallying forth despite the objections of those around her. She’d endangered his and the Curs’ lives on more than one occasion.

It figured that the one time he was willing to allow the mad scientist at the helm she’d gone AWOL.

"I’m trying to show a little personal growth and maturity," Blue spat, kicking the chair next to her. "If you weren’t reacting emotionally, you might even appreciate that."

Raider’s glare turned white hot. "Blue—"

"I’m sorry!" Blue cried. "But breaking the ship won’t help Elena—or Kira."

Raider held back the words he wanted to spew. Most of them not nice or what Blue deserved.

The urge to issue a command forcing the point was hard to resist. Only possible because he knew it was pointless.

The first rule of command—don’t make stupid orders. It was the fastest way to lose respect and most of the time it didn’t work anyway.

"Raider," Wren rumbled from the corner of the room where he’d been watching the argument. "This isn’t helping."

Raider ground his teeth together hard enough to cause pain to shoot through his jaw. He was well aware of that. But he also didn’t know what else to do.

The restless energy in him demanded action.

The Wanderer’s sirens wailed. The overhead lights turned red a moment later. Right after, the ship shuddered as something collided with its side.

"What’s that?" Raider asked.

Blue was already scrambling for the bridge. "We’re under attack."

The ship shuddered again as Raider and the others made it to the bridge to find Talon and Finn already seated in the pilots’ chairs, one flying the ship while the other operated the weapon’s system.

"What’s going on? Status report," Raider barked.

For half a second, it occurred to him that Wren, as the most senior member on board, should be the one issuing orders before he dismissed that thought. It was his daughter at risk. This was his mission. He’d be damned if he’d allow anyone else to take command.

Kira was the sole exception to that rule. Partly because he had experience serving under her. But mostly because he trusted her implicitly and he knew she was as desperate for Elena’s safe return as he.

"A Tsavitee fleet appeared moments ago," Finn answered.

The ship tilted as he evaded a round of strigmor eels, a particularly nasty Tsavitee weapon that looked like a long, silvery ribbon and moved like it was gliding through water, sinuous as it hunted their ship.

If they impacted, they would burrow through their hull, depressurizing everything inside.

"They’re trying to capture us alive," Raider said.

Blue nodded in agreement. "They would have sent something better than eels otherwise."

Wren’s gaze didn’t move from the display of the Tsavitee fleet. "How did they get close?"

"They evaded our scanners somehow. It wasn’t until they fired that our systems picked them up," Talon answered as Devon and Joule appeared in the hatchway behind them.

"Where’s the general? Who has eyes on him?" Raider barked.

Raider’s skin crawled at the thought of Aeron walking around this ship unsupervised while they were under attack from the Tsavitee. He wouldn’t put it past the general to sabotage their ship to make it easier for the other Tsavitee to take them captive.

"We locked him in his quarters as soon as the alarms sounded," Devon answered.

Joule nodded. "I put a shield around the area as well. Just in case."

Good.

Kira would be proud of the boy. He was turning into a good soldier who’d make a fine leader one day if he kept going the way he was.

"How many enemies are there?" Wren asked.

"Too many," Talon answered.

"How did they even find us?" Blue asked as Raider moved to one of the other displays, bringing up the exterior feeds to see what they were dealing with.

A half dozen ships came into focus.

"Oh fuck," Blue cursed. "We’re no match for them."

In addition to the Tsavitee Superior Class One ship in the middle, a vessel capable of housing approximately 120-150 souls, there were five smaller escort vessels arrayed around it. Each with an additional capacity of thirty to forty depending on the mix of species inside.

During the war, the Superior Class had given their fleet fits, pushing the Centcom’s back again and again.

"Don’t be so quick to count us out," Wren advised. "We are not without recourse."

"Look, I know the Tuann think they’re the biggest, scariest thing in the galaxy who no one else can match," Blue said sarcastically before stabbing a finger at the window and what was waiting outside. "But we’re heavily outnumbered and out gunned. Nor is it likely we can outrun them for long. Like I said before—the odds aren’t in our favor."

Wren and Finn exchanged a look.

"Then perhaps it’s time we call in a few people who can change that," Wren said.

Raider stopped to look at his seon’yer. Something in Wren’s voice warning him that the other man wasn’t just talking out of his ass.

The calm on Wren’s face, despite the very dark odds they were facing, was all Raider needed to see to know the old man was up to something.

"You’re having us followed," Raider guessed.

From that look the two shared, Finn knew. And hadn’t told Kira.

"Harlow’s people or Graydon’s?" Raider asked.

Wren’s eyes were steady as they met Raider’s.

"Both then," Raider guessed.

Wren’s facade cracked a tiny bit, enough to allow one side of his mouth to twitch up in approval.

Raider sighed. "I’d be angry you kept this from us if not for the fact it’s probably going to save our asses."

He’d take the Tuann’s interference over being captured by the Tsavitee any day.

"Whatever we’re going to do, it should happen soon," Talon announced, firing the Wanderer’s weapons. "Their ships are closing fast."

The Wanderer jerked under their feet, a boom echoing.

"I take it Harlow upgraded her weapons too," Raider said as the laser hit one of the smaller Tsavitee ships, destroying it.

Kira’s little pea shooter wouldn’t have been able to do that.

"Not bad," Finn said, looking over at his friend with a half-smile. "Looks like you’re less rusty than I expected."

Talon’s smirk was small. "There are some things that are impossible to lose. Excellence is one of them."

"Arrogant," Finn murmured as he went back to concentrating on flying.

"Call your people in," Raider ordered Wren, coming to a decision.

Wren nodded, touching the communication panel on the forearm of his synth armor.

"Oh. Oh. Not good," Blue cried. "Another set of ships just came into range."

"Your people?" Raider asked Wren.

His seon’yer shook his head. "Doubtful. They were instructed to keep their distance until otherwise directed."

Shit.

"You two—go strap yourselves in," Raider ordered Devon and Joule.

"We can help," Joule argued.

"Go!" Raider pointed. To Wren, "How soon can your people get here?"

Wren shook his head grimly. "Not soon enough."

"Looks like it’ll be a fight after all," Talon murmured.

Finn arched an eyebrow at him. "You did say you thought you were getting flabby."

Talon’s chuckle made Raider shake his head. They were as crazy as the Curs. No wonder Kira and Finn got on so well.

"Wait a minute. They’re human,” Blue called.

Their comms beeped, announcing an incoming hail.

"I don’t believe it," Blue said, a stunned look on her face as she looked over her shoulder at Raider. "It’s Jace. Those are his ships."

"Put it through," Raider ordered.

Blue tapped a button.

Jace’s face appeared on one of the displays. "This is the CSS Reliance, hailing the Wanderer. Phoenix, if you’re there—answer me."

Thank the God Raider no longer believed in.

"Jace, it’s me. We hear you loud and clear," Raider said. "You sure are a sight for sore eyes."

He’d certainly earned his call sign of White Knight all over again today. Raider had never been so grateful for the other’s tendency to appear just in the nick of time.

"What can I say—I got tired of waiting for you two to report for duty. Good thing I came. Looks like you’ve gotten into a little bit of trouble," Jace drawled. "Shall I handle it for you?"

"Be my guest," Raider said.

If his friend wanted to do a little cleanup, who was he to stop him?

"How did you even find us?"

Raider didn’t know if it was Kira’s paranoia infecting him, but Jace’s arrival felt convenient. A little too convenient.

On the screen, one of Jace’s ships fell behind as the other three took the lead, opening fire on the Tsavitee fleet as they scrambled several of their single manned fighters. Waveboards included.

The ship in the rear made its way toward the Wanderer. It set up a flanking position that would allow it to protect the smaller ship from any further weapons fire.

"Himoto," Jace confessed. "He tagged Kira’s ship when she was on O’Riley. He was afraid of her trying to slip away unannounced. We’ve been tracking you since you left Tuann territory."

The Tuann—not to mention Kira—weren’t going to be happy when they learned about that. Except for a few carefully selected planets that they’d allowed humans to find out about, they were careful to keep any further information—including the number of planets under their control and their location—out of human hands.

Raider cast a look at the Tuann around him, noting the stony expressions on Wren and Finn’s faces.

He was certain neither had expected Roake’s technicians to miss that when they were retrofitting Kira’s ship. He had to hand it to his fellow humans. They could be cunning when they needed to be.

Talon’s expression remained easy and laid back. The topic seeming to be of little concern to him.

"Where is Kira by the way?" Jace asked, scanning the air behind Raider in confusion.

He knew as well as Raider did that it would take a life altering event for her to allow someone besides herself to take command of her bridge during a crisis like this.

"There was a small hiccup. We got separated."

Raider didn’t go into details, not wanting to share exactly how that had happened. It seemed his time among the Tuann had changed him. He now knew that there were some things best kept to himself.

Raider blamed Kira. That woman had a way of corrupting people.

"Sounds like you’ve had quite the journey," Jace said, not seeming too surprised about Kira having wandered off.

Then again, there was precedent.

"I look forward to hearing the details." Jace gestured to someone off screen. "There’s room in my ship’s docking bay. We can talk more once you’re on board."

Raider’s hesitation showed on his face. "About that—"

"Don’t test me," Jace warned. "I don’t care what you and Kira were up to. It’s time to come back into the fold."

Raider kept his expression under rigid control, allowing none of the frustration eating at him to slip through.

Jace’s expression held a warning as he reached forward. "I expect to see you soon."

The communication cut off before Raider acknowledged the order.

"Fuck!" Raider punched a wall, the momentary pain as the skin on his knuckles split clearing his head a little.

He ran a hand over the back of his head. "I was hoping that would go a little better."

He’d banked on Jace’s history with Kira. One that predated even Raider’s own. They’d come up the ranks side-by-side. If not for Jace’s ambition, he might have had a chance with Kira. Instead, he’d chosen power, unwilling to play second fiddle to someone else.

That had always been the difference between him and Raider. Raider had never cared what position he filled as long as he could be with the woman he loved and respected. Second-in-command. Last. It didn’t matter to him.

He’d have laid himself beneath his woman’s feet if that’s what it took.

"Will he be open to negotiation?" Wren asked.

"Unlikely."

"We could always tell him the truth," Blue volunteered.

"Not an option," Raider said at the same time as both Wren and Finn gave an emphatic, "No."

"This is Jace we’re talking about. Not some faceless commander. He’ll understand if we tell him about Elena and what she is to you," Blue argued.

Raider leveled a serious look on her. "It’s nonnegotiable."

And not just because of paranoia either.

There was no certainty that him knowing about Elena would make a difference. Considering his mentor was Himoto, a man who had always chosen the greater good over the self-interests of even his closest confidants, there was a real chance Jace wouldn’t care about what they had to share.

Raider didn’t want to risk it.

"We just received the docking coordinates. Whatever we’re going to do, we need to do it soon," Talon drawled.

Raider stared at the view of space, thinking. Worst case scenario—Jace impounded the Wanderer and reassigned Raider and Blue to the Curs in preparation for deployment. Chances were that he’d allow Wren and the rest to continue on their way afterward.

Of course, they’d lose valuable time. And if Jace found out about the prisoner they had on board all bets were off.

That brought him to the real problem.

Finn was good, but there was no guarantee he’d be able to locate Kira on Rothchild. He didn’t know what signs Kira might have left for them to find and follow.

Raider did.

Finn and the rest also weren’t prepared for the nuisance that was Odin.

Raider was part of the team originally tasked with hunting that criminal. They would have caught Odin too if not for Kira’s sabotage.

Something Raider was still sore about.

"How soon until your people can arrive?" Raider asked Wren.

"An hour. Two at most."

Raider nodded. "Okay then."

"Okay then?" Blue asked in an outraged voice that betrayed her upset. "What does that mean?"

Wren’s gaze was steady. He nodded once. As if to say it was already done.

Appreciation rumbled through Raider. He and his father-in-law seemed to share the same mind when it came to this. Maybe there was hope for them after all.

Raider focused on Blue. "It means that if Jace becomes a problem, they’ll be there to get us out. By force, if necessary."

Blue sputtered. "That’s—"

"Mutiny. I know," Raider agreed grimly. "I’m really hoping it doesn’t come to that."