CHAPTER SIX
THE ATTACK ON HIS PARENTS had left Joshua in shock. Maybe leaving Remington hadn’t been the right thing to do, but something about the two officers made him very uneasy.
“Where are we going?” Caina asked, her face pale.
He struggled to think of someplace safe. “Brian and Geoff’s? The skiff doesn’t have hyperspace, so we can’t go too far.”
Their cousins’ home was the most logical place to go, though it would take a day to get to another colony where they could trade for a jump ship. Caina looked away, biting her lip as if she didn’t like the idea.
“We’re going back for our parents as soon as we can get help,” he said.
“From where?”
It was a valid question and he didn’t have much of an answer. “I’m not sure yet,” he admitted.
She slept all night on one of the bunks that slid out from the wall behind the cockpit. Joshua watched her fall asleep; when her face relaxed, he knew she was deep enough to forget the day. He reclined his chair back and watched the stars change.
When he’d seen his parents limp and unconscious on the floor, he’d felt something slip out from under him. They were his safe place, his anchor no matter where he went or what happened. It had taken him a while after they adopted him to believe they really meant it, but after that, they’d become his safe haven. That was made even more apparent when he’d spent the first lonely night at Sterling Academy, and he’d realized how much he leaned on them.
Anger, fear, and the desire to fight anyone who hurt the people he loved swept away his strength, and he felt weary and drained.
He put his head in his hands and tried to think. As the hours dragged on, he found sleep harder to fight. They needed to dock in a safe place so he could get some rest.
Exploring the route on a holomap, he found a space station operated by the Hadrian Colony. By the time the small blue planet of Vessa IV came into view, he had nodded off several times. Vessa IV had four colonies, including Hadrian and three new premiers. Since the new premier appointments, security had tightened for planetary landings, but not so much for the space station. The massive main ring of the station held hundreds of docks, and the four vertical wings were as many stories high, small cities of their own. He approached the station, waiting to be hailed.
“This is Hadrian Space Station. We’ve identified this vehicle as belonging to Joshua West. Please confirm your identity.”
Wishing he could remain anonymous, but fearing he would be denied permission to dock, he stared into the screen as they took a picture for a retinal scan.
“Please approach Dock B223, as indicated on the uplink we’ve sent.”
Reluctantly, he accepted the uplink and allowed his nav system to follow the course. The skiff moved around the space station at a stately pace, giving Joshua plenty of time to observe the massive structure with its twinkling lights and busy docks. The skiff pulled itself into a dock, and docking arms locked the skiff in place as he shut the engines down.
He lowered the lights, checked on Caina, and then wearily sank into one of the bunks.
He woke to find Caina sitting in the cockpit, staring out the window, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. He sat up, rubbing his eyes. She turned to him. “I’m hungry.”
Sighing, he got up and rummaged around in a compartment next to the bunks. “All I’ve got are some energy bars and junk food.”
She made a face. “What about real food?”
He stood up, his long arms resting against the low ceiling. “I really didn’t want to go onboard.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. After the creepy Colonial Security on Remington I don’t trust anyone right now.”
She grimaced. “Yeah, me neither.”
“Tell you what, we’ll board the station, but we’re making it short.”
She looked down at her white, flowing gown from the party last night and her bare feet. “I don’t suppose you have any extra clothes.”
He had a rumpled pair of pants that she rolled up and a thin shirt that she twisted and tucked until it didn’t look too bad. He had a pair of boots, but he put those on his own bare feet. She wouldn’t have fit in them anyway. “We’ll buy you some shoes,” he said as she stood at the door wiggling her pink painted toenails.
“Pony up,” she said, looking up at him.
He smiled wryly and bent down so she could jump on his back. They stepped out into the airlock and then to the corridor leading to the station walkways. The walls were in neutral colors, some of them patterned to break up the monotony. A few sections had plastiglass walls looking out to the planet below. It was orange with large patches of blue. He’d heard it had a lot of deserts.
They found an elevator transport and a holomap of the station. The time blinked at the bottom of the map, a nice courtesy feature. In space, time stretched out into whatever breaks you wanted to make. Night or day didn’t matter.
No one joined them on the elevator transport, to Joshua’s relief. The fewer people they met, the better. His zen was short-lived when they stepped out. The open atrium buzzed with people and activity. The stores and restaurants were all crammed on several floors. Some of the sections mimicked times of the day, like evening or midday. Caina found a general store, and soon she was standing at a glass wall looking at the selections behind it. The walls all had a warm orange and gold glow, like a sunset, or maybe sunrise.
She took forever, and tried on way too many shoes, in his opinion. She finally settled on a ridiculous pair of sandals with bright yellow straps that wound up her tan legs. Maybe the sunset got her into a summer mood because she also picked out a pair of shorts and a light top. It didn’t matter that the temperature right outside the station was absolute zero. She picked out a light outer jacket with a trendy, pointy hood.
He bought a shirt and a pair of pants, not wanting to wear the academy trousers with the stripe down the leg.
They found a food counter with high bar stools, the lighting reminiscent of midday. She ordered a hearty sandwich with planet grown vegetables, and he did the same. She swiveled absently on the chair as they waited for their sandwiches to be made by the girl behind the counter, checking her wrist cell for messages.
“Don’t respond to any of your friends,” he said.
“I know. We’re on the run.”
He assessed her cool confidence. He had not yet decided that they were fugitives, but he had to admit that running off planet and harboring paranoia about who they talked to might qualify as being “on the run.”
The thin girl with dark skin behind the counter finished the sandwiches and wrapped them to go. He placed his hand on the payment pad. It blinked, and the girl frowned. “It didn’t go through.”
Caina’s eyes widened, and Joshua bit down on an appropriate curse. Caina put her hand on the pad and payment was accepted. Joshua’s mind raced as he took the sandwiches, blushing under the girl’s curious gaze. It had been a long time since he’d known what it was like not to have credits. His parents were generous, and he never abused their trust, so they had always kept a more than adequate amount in his account. Had someone blocked it? It was the only explanation. Had they forgotten about Caina’s?
Nervous now, he jerked his head at Caina and picked up their pace. She followed, keeping up, her long hair swishing behind her. His eyes picked out several security guards but they were milling around, bored, not looking for anyone.
He casually snagged his sister’s elbow and steered her to a store window. She munched on her sandwich and stood next to him without being told to act inconspicuous. “We should go separately,” he said under his breath. “They won’t be looking for one of us, they’ll be looking for two. You go first and message me if you can’t get in the skiff.”
She wiped her mouth and sauntered away to the elevator transport. He watched her out of the corner of his eye. She waited at the elevator, and when the doors slid open, two security guards exited. Joshua ducked his head, hoping to keep his red eyes from view.
Caina stalked on board, her head held high, though he knew how afraid she was. He had never been more proud of her. The doors closed, and he felt a stab of anxiety once she was out of sight.
He finished his sandwich, and with the back of his neck prickling, walked to the elevator. He stood, listening. His first year at the academy, his instructors observed that he had above average hearing and sight. It proved to be an interesting new angle for tactical exercises. His eyesight was not just good, it was telescopic. They didn’t even have a scale for what he could see. Before the academy, he didn’t realize how different he was in that respect. Oddly, his parents never mentioned the report from the academy physicals when he came home that first year. He didn’t bring it up, not wanting to brag. He and Cristian had a bit of fun with it, though.
While he waited for the doors to open, he picked up a lot of security chatter, muffled so no one else would hear. At least, that’s what they thought. They were definitely looking for a tall young man with red eyes and a girl with long, blonde hair and green eyes. Great.
The doors opened, and to his relief, there was only a group of five teen girls, talking loudly to each other as they left the elevator. He knew they saw him, but he also knew they would ignore him unless he spoke to them first. Teen girls had some code about not acknowledging boys. Also, he was pretty sure he was too old to attract their interest, though he couldn’t be sure. One of the girls bumped into him as she walked by and giggled an apology. He smiled politely and stood aside to let them pass. So he wasn’t too old. Oh well. It wouldn’t hurt him, he hoped.
The doors closed, and he let out a breath. His cell buzzed, and he looked down at the message from Caina. There are security guards watching the skiff. I’m at another dock. B219.
Thx, he responded. They could track him on his DNA alone if they wanted, so it was only a matter of time before they nabbed him. He had to move fast. What he really needed was a Licentian merchant ship. The Licentia Colony had a large independent population that refused to use biorecognition. They hated being tracked and wouldn’t register their DNA for any biorecognition programs. It made their ships easier to steal, but if they caught you, they had little mercy. Most would-be thieves steered clear of their ships, but Joshua didn’t have much choice. He needed to get off this station, and he didn’t want anyone tracking him. He searched his cell band for a map of the docks. He found the few marked “docked – unidentified” and picked one out. He texted it to Caina.
See you there, she answered.
He directed the elevator to the dock and scanned through his cell messages for one in particular. He and a few friends had taught themselves how to jack a ship. Not because they intended serious mischief; they just wanted to know if they could. He never dreamed he would actually use it.
The elevator opened, and he walked down the walkway. An unidentified ship didn’t necessarily mean it was free of biorecognition; it could also be that someone wanted to be anonymous. Most people were so accustomed to having their DNA identified and their movements tracked, no one cared. He’d never given it a second thought until now.
He approached the airlock to the ship he’d selected. He had no idea how big the ship was or if it was occupied. He couldn’t see much of it from here besides the airlock door. He took off his cell band and held up his palm for a recognition scan in case there was one. The program said there was no biorecognition, but it required a code.
He liked codes. Codes could be broken.
He activated the hack on his cell band and pressed it to the pad on the airlock. He leaned back against the wall. This would take a while. Caina walked into the corridor, her hood drawn up over her hair.
“What are you doing?” she asked in a low voice.
“Hacking.”
She searched his face, and he wondered if he was doing the right thing. Shaking off the guilt, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and watched the program break down the entry code.
They waited in silence, trying not to count down the seconds. The cell band emitted a low tone, and Joshua lifted it. The airlock to the ship opened. Elated, he stepped through.
Long, narrow arches in shining black melted into a sleek cockpit. Every inch was seamless, the ceiling flowing into the walls and the walls flowing into the floor. From what they could see out of the windows, the exterior had lean, aggressive lines. Everything about it screamed money.
Caina’s mouth dropped open. “What is this?” she asked.
“I think it’s a Suki,” he said in a low reverent voice, hardly daring to believe his good fortune. Famed starcraft engineer Sasuke Koto had designed his dream ship a hundred years ago, and it still held its mythical appeal. They weren’t rare, but they weren’t on every colony either, and they were jump ships, able to travel at hyperspeed.
“We should check to see if anyone is onboard,” Caina warned.
Joshua went to the front console, sitting almost gingerly in the pilot chair. He touched the glossy screen, and it came to life under his fingers. “Beautiful,” he said, scanning through the commands until he found what he was looking for. “No one is on board but us.”
Caina sat next to him, her hands searching the seat for places where the restraints might be. Joshua quickly acclimated to the display and turned on the engines. “Let’s not waste any time getting out of here,” he muttered.
As soon as the engines came on, restraints slid out from the seats, locking him and Caina in.
An automated voice spoke. “Are you disembarking from the station?”
Glancing out the window at the mechanical arms holding the ship in place and praying they would be able to leave, he answered, “Yes.”
The voice spoke again. “You are being released. Thank you for staying at Hadrian Space Station.”
The arms moved from the ship, and it floated away from the dock. He quickly set a course and the ship obeyed, shooting out of Hadrian’s solar system.
From what he knew about a ship without biorecognition, the owners could still track it if they wanted to. It might only be minutes before whoever owned the ship knew it had been stolen.
It might even have a self-destruct mechanism if the owners decided they couldn’t retrieve it. Sukis were beautiful and dangerous. He would have to find something less exotic as soon as possible, but for now, he unleashed the hyperdrive towards the Benning galaxy. At least while in hyperdrive they were impossible to track. It would only be a few hours now until they were on their cousin’s home planet.
Caina explored the small ship, marveling at the luxury of it all. She eventually settled in a small gaming nook and found a game to play, her feet propped up in a hammock.
Joshua did some exploring of the ship on his own. He went down a small passageway that ended in a dark alcove filled with dimly lit compartment drawers. Curious, he opened one of them. The drawer slid out to reveal a plasma gun. Surprised, he reached down and picked it up. The weight was familiar, as was the manufacturer. He had learned to use them at the academy, though they used uncharged plasma.
His finger found the switch that opened either the d-plasma or the red chamber. Laying it back down, he allowed the drawer to close. He couldn’t help imagining what would have happened if he’d had this a few hours ago.
He opened another drawer and became even more anxious about stealing the ship. Inside the drawer lay a tidy ball of transparent threads. He picked it up and let it unravel. Onix. Made of light refracting threads, it made the wearer invisible, even to infrared. It defied even thermal vision. Licentians were a fiercely independent lot, and although they were mocked for their paranoid defense of their freedom from biorecognition, he wondered if maybe they were right. He sat down and pulled the threads over him, feet first and pulling it all upward until it covered his body. Sliding his hands over the onix, he activated it, feeling the faint buzz that told him the connecting threads were working. He deactivated it, his mind wandering. It might come in handy. At the very least, he could sell it since his credits were blocked.
Two hours into the solar system his cell band vibrated with a message. He turned his wrist and looked at the dimly lit words.
Don’t go home. It was from Cristian.