17

After almost four weeks, even the luxurious accommodations and extensive entertainment libraries aboard Yerazner were growing old. Kira had learned the names of every plant in the garden dome and had even helped transplant a wisteria bush—from Earth itself!—that had outgrown its pot.

It managed to be even more boring than sitting aboard Deception, doing paperwork and playing guard dog for the Redward System. The last day found her in the room she shared with Konrad, watching the last few episodes of an Apollo media series she’d missed the end of.

Somehow, when she’d been fleeing her home system one step ahead of the Brisingr Shadows and their covert ops assassins, making sure she had a way to get the last season of Rising Guardians hadn’t crossed her mind, after all.

She was realizing that she’d been better off missing it, and considering pinging Konrad to see if he wanted to have sex again when the familiar faint sensation of nova aboard a starship rippled through the room.

We’ve arrived,” Konrad’s mental voice said in her head. “Welcome to Guadaloop, Kira. Ready to get to work?”

You have no fucking idea,” she silently replied—and heard his chuckle from the sitting area at the center of their suite.

“I think we all have some idea,” her boyfriend said loudly through the cracked-open door. “I think we’re all going nuts. It’s a comfortable ship, but…”

“But I’m not equipped to sit very well,” Kira agreed, stepping into the sitting area and looking around at her team. “Are we ready for the actual job, people?”

“Sneaking off this ship without getting seen, renting transport for the runabout to the Crest, and entering an arguably hostile system under the eyes and guns of hostile nova warships?” Bertoli asked calmly.

“That’s the mission, for now at least,” Kira said.

“We’re as ready as we’re going to be. I don’t know what Yerazner’s crew is planning for cover. We’ll start loading on the shuttle straight away.”

“I’ll check in with Jung and Panosyan,” Kira agreed. “Need me for packing?”

“Hardly, Commodore,” Bertoli said with a chuckle.

“That’s the last time you call me that for a while,” she told the merc. “It’s Em Riker now, until we’re back aboard Deception. Kira Demirci is known to the Institute. Let’s hope they’re not watching for us.”

“We can run silent and we can run deep,” Konrad told her softly. “They won’t see us coming, even if they are looking for us. We’ll make sure of it.”

“I hope so.”

* * *

“Are you and your people ready?” Panosyan asked before Kira could say a word. The Crown Zharang was on Yerazner’s bridge, a baroquely decorated but small control space designed for only four people.

“The boys are packing as I speak,” Kira agreed. “Everything we need is on the runabout. We’ve got ideas for getting from here”—she gestured out the window at Guadaloop’s star—“to the Crest.

“But getting off of this ship without being associated with you is going to be the hard part, I suspect.”

“Please, Commodore, I have a plan,” the Crown Zharang said with a smile.

“I assumed. Except you didn’t tell me it,” Kira pointed out.

“I had six, actually,” Panosyan replied, their voice suddenly deadly serious as they looked at the main display. “It depended on who I could get in touch with once I was here. My first and second plans fell through, but I think this one will work better anyway.”

“That’s reassuring,” Kira said. “What’s the plan?”

“Jung, flag our friend.”

An icon on the screen flashed bright green. It took Kira less than five seconds to note that it was on a converging course with Yerazner.

“Local mining-ship captain,” Panosyan said. “Name is Evelina Razc. Longer ago than I care to think about, she missed one too many payments, and her ship was up to be seized by the BRC. I was system manager at the time, one of my first senior roles. She ran one of my subordinates a hell of a sob story and got herself kicked up to my office.

“Since the sob story was true and her mother had just died of cancer, I made an exception on humanitarian grounds and re-amortized her loan.” The banker shrugged. “It was the right thing to do—and we were going to make more money if she kept paying us than if we seized and auctioned the ship.

“She proved me right, but she always said she owed me. Figured this was as good a time to call that in as any.”

And now Kira understood why Jade Panosyan had been so insistent on using Guadaloop as the relay point. If they’d been system manager for the Bank of the Royal Crest there for any extended period of time, they were probably owed a list of favors as long as Kira’s arm.

“It’s a pretty small favor, all told,” the banker noted. “Razc adjusted her course just a little bit to make her run to the refinery cross our course. She’ll be ‘in front’ of us with regard to the orbital scanner networks and the NRC’s Battle Group Final Usury for just over two minutes.

“During that window, we’ll drop your runabout and you’ll vector your course to sweep in to the refinery with Razc’s ship,” they finished. “Arrangements have been made for you to have an officially filed course from the refinery to Guadaloop itself.”

“Everything will appear normal to anyone who isn’t aboard Yerazner,” Jung said. “Final Usury and her battle group have no reason to suspect anything. They may still have sensor drones deployed around the system, however, and that’s why you’ll want to stick close to Razc’s Moonshine.”

“I’ve already agreed to have dinner with Admiral Avagyan,” the Crown Zharang added. “Dafina is a cousin-in-law. I don’t think she’s an SPP supporter, which means I should be able to call in a favor and bury any oddities even if we screw this up.

“Not that I expect us to screw this up.”

Kira chuckled grimly.

I’m flying the runabout, people,” she reminded them. “I’m pretty sure I can outfly Final Usury’s sensor drones if we can pick them out.”

She considered for a moment, then shook her head.

“I have to ask, though. Your planet is known for banking, and you seriously named a fleet carrier Final Usury?”

“I’ve mentioned my grandmother was a stone-cold bitch, yes?” Panosyan asked.

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