17


“Give us a minute, Elise,” I said.
I didn’t see her leave, but I heard the door open and shut.
Novasdaughter watched me as though Elise had never been here. “He’ll catch you and destroy you.”
“Nebs is going to wish you had never heard of me if he hurts one of my people,” I said. “I tried to save your mother.”
“Don’t talk about her! Just don’t,” she said.
“I need to know which side you’re on,” I stated.
Novasdaughter took a long time to answer. “Nebs will never quit. He has his Archangels. Take my advice, Reaper, run away and don’t look back.”
I didn’t understand this woman. When I finally recognized who she was, I suspected that her by-the-book attitude in her decisiveness spoke of a deeply held personal agenda. I’d seen more than one person victimized by the Union only to become a fanatical member of the Union. It was a form of denial.
“What do you think, X?” I asked.
“I imagine she has either suppressed memories of her mother’s death or has been serving the Union only to betray them,” X-37 said.
“Why are you working for them?” I asked Novasdaughter.
“Who should I work for?” she asked, her tone defensive. “You worked for them. When I found out that you’d become a Reaper, I didn’t want to believe it. I told you I remembered that day. I was just a kid and I didn’t know your name or Captain Clark’s name, but I learned both. He’s dead, you know?”
“How did he die?” I asked, already knowing the answer. This is a test question to see if she was inventing this story on the spot or was telling the truth as she remembered it.
“I didn’t kill him, if that’s what you’re asking. I’m not the assassin. Once I graduated basic training, I had access to the gal-net that I didn’t have as a civilian. I flagged my computer to alert me if there was an obituary for Captain Clark,” she said. “He died in his sleep, which is too good for him, but at least he’s gone.”
I didn’t respond. I had done something similar, keeping track of the man who had shot my arm off. He’d risen higher than I expected due to his political affiliations but ran afoul with a senator when he was on the list to become a Lieutenant Colonel. The rest of his career was a tedious list of crap assignments and alcoholism.
I wondered how much Lieutenant Amii Novasdaughter really knew about the man we both blamed for the death of her mother.
“You had a sister,” I said.
“We don’t get along,” she said. “I’m not here to be your friend. And I’ll still turn you over to Vice Admiral Nebs if I get a chance.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s my job. Moral dilemmas are easier to solve if you just follow the rules and do what you’re told,” she said, clearly unhappy with her own answer.
She didn’t seem like someone who would submit easily to authority. It was like she was paying penance for a sin real or imagined.
“Your mother’s name was Nova?” I asked.
Amii Novasdaughter looked down when she nodded.
I thought about her reaction and everything I had learned during the second interview with the woman.
“What are you going to do with me?” she asked.
“I haven’t decided,” I said. It seemed like our conversation was over, so I left and went to the bridge.
* * *
It was time for a meeting. I had tough decisions to make and felt like I owed it to my crew to include them. Elise and Tom joined me on the bridge while Path stood guard in the hallway outside of the prisoners’ rooms.
“Update us on the Union fleet,” I said.
Jelly answered promptly, “All three of the Union carriers are continuing their search, both with scans and by sending out the micro fighters in shuttles to check debris fields where scanners might not find us if we were hiding there. They haven’t given up finding us, but I do believe they are working away toward the primary slip tunnel leaving the system.”
“All right, thanks. Next item. What are we doing with the prisoners?” I asked.
“I don’t see we have a lot of options,” Tom said. “We keep them locked up until we find a planet to leave them on. One suitable for their survival if not retrieval by the Union.”
“Is anyone opposed to that plan?” I asked.
Elise shrugged. X-37 and Jelly concurred.
“I’ll assume that Path will be good with whatever decision we make regarding the prisoners,” I said.
“Nice of you to include him,” Elise said. “But I’m annoyed with him right now. I think he ruptured my liver with the side kick the last time we were sparring.”
“I’ll try to remember to avoid his side kick,” I said.
“The Union ships have gathered their smaller vessels and are heading toward a slip tunnel at their best possible speed,” Jelly advised.
“Okay, remain cloaked.” I had my suspicions about the seemingly abrupt acceleration. “Can you predict if the slip tunnel they’ve chosen will leave them anywhere near the Bold Freedom’s distress call?” I asked.
“I don’t believe they are heading toward that particular system,” Jelly reported. “I should also advise you that X-37 and I have been working on the available data referencing the Bold Freedom.”
“The freighter’s situation has become more urgent,” X-37 said. “It seems they now have seventy-two hours before they will be destroyed by the approaching comet.”
“What are your orders, Captain?” Jelly asked.
Neither Elise nor Tom made any suggestions. I could see they were struggling with the choice at least as much as I was. Henshaw and the Lady Faith or locate fuel for the Bold Freedom.
“How long before we confirm that Nebs and his ships have left the system?” I asked.
“Not long,” Jelly said. “They are moving at the best possible speed. May I suggest that your decision has been made for you? We cannot catch up to the carrier group in the system. Since slip tunnel speeds are constant, they will have the same lead when they emerge from the tunnel.”
“We can catch them eventually,” Elise said. “By then, we should have a plan to rescue Henshaw and his ship.”
“What about the Bold Freedom, Elise? You were on Dreadmax. Don’t you want to help Bug and the others who were illegally detained there by the Union?” I asked. She seemed unsure of herself and a bit guilty perhaps.
“You know we’re not going to find fuel in time to help them,” she said. “Bug and everyone on the Bold Freedom are already gone. We can’t worry about them now.”
“You may be right, but I don’t think it will be as hard as you think to catch up with the Union ships,” I said. “It won’t be long before we’re running from them again, with or without Henshaw. If they think we left the system, they’ll search for us after the next slip tunnel.”
“Maybe they will split up to cover more star systems,” Tom suggested hopefully.
“Maybe,” I conceded. “But I don’t think they are quite done in this system. Call it Reaper instinct.”