Dark Deeds (Class 5 Series Book 2) Page 14

  “You are angry.” He sounded subdued.

  “I am. I kind of accepted my fate after awhile on the Fasbe, spent my time working out how to escape. Then the Grih rescued me, and it looked like I might have a shot at, if not a normal life, not a miserable one. Larga Ways showed me that there are interesting and beautiful things to be seen, and I could make this an adventure. I'm easygoing enough and positive enough that I'd have been fine. And then you come along, without explaining yourself, without any thought to my safety, and throw me back into a situation where I could literally be killed at any time. So I want a good reason why you couldn't have just asked me, damn it. If you could have pulled off that snatch on Larga Ways, you could have just had an earpiece delivered to me. I'm naturally inclined to be sympathetic to someone who's a prisoner of the Tecran. I'd have helped you if I could.”

  “The Grih wouldn't have let you.” He sounded like he was in pain, saying that.

  “Why?”

  “Because thinking systems are banned. According to Sazo, the Grih invented thinking systems, invented me, and then they changed their minds two hundred years ago when things went . . . awry. There was a war, and all thinking systems were destroyed. A Garmman found me, found the last five thinking systems left, along with the blueprints for a battleship that would act as our cage. He formed a partnership with the Tecran, and the Class 5s were born. I'm not welcome in Grih society.”

  Fee frowned. “But aren't Sazo and Rose with the Grih now?”

  “They are, but that's because Sazo hasn't hurt the Grih, and he's had Rose as his ambassador. Rose freed him before she met up with the Grih, so it was a done deal by then. Either they rejected Sazo, and had a dangerous thinking system roaming free, or they allied themselves with him. I'm not convinced the Grih would be happy for someone to free a thinking system that's still trapped.” He waited a beat. “And I have harmed the Grih. When we entered Grih airspace to kill Sazo, I destroyed five Grihan battleships.”

  Fee thought about it. “You didn't, though. The people in control of the Class 5 did.”

  “I don't know if they'll see it that way.”

  “Sazo did at the time. You said so yourself. And he's their ally. He would speak on your behalf, wouldn't he?”

  “I don't know. At the end of my battle with Sazo, when I was about to take the kill shot, another Class 5 arrived. From what I gathered from the chatter from High Command, it had been sent to deal with Sazo first, but it had disappeared, which is why we were called in in a hurry. When it reappeared, it was free. I did a brief scan, and only one person was onboard. Someone like you.”

  “Someone else from Earth?” She didn't know if she was thrilled or sad.

  “Not a third person. It was Rose McKenzie. Sazo had somehow gotten her onboard the other Class 5, and she must have rescued him. High Command became so nervous Rose and Sazo would somehow free me as well, they ordered us away.”

  “So Rose did free a thinking system after she'd met the Grih. And she's still with them.” But they were scared of her, Fee realized. She'd wondered why they spoke of her with an edge of awe, but also fear.

  This explained it.

  “I suppose.” He sounded unconvinced.

  “And the Tecran, they're down two Class 5s at least, plus you. And if the second one Rose rescued followed Sazo's lead, they're both allied to the Grih. You said earlier there were five of you?”

  “So Sazo says.”

  “And if you're free? What are your plans?”

  “I . . .” He fell silent. “I don't know.”

  “What were the Tecran planning? What's this all about?”

  “They were going to start a war. Not right away, but down the track, when they'd explored as far as we could go, collected as much as we could that might help them. When they'd managed to convince everyone in the Tecran government it was impossible for them to lose.”

  So freeing him would be one more blow to their plans. She could get behind that. And no matter which way she looked at it, the Grih would be no worse off. Unless . . . “Okay, I have a deal for you. I free you if you promise me that you won't hurt the Grih.”

  “You've already said you have no choice but to free me.”

  She lifted her shoulders. “I've changed my mind. That's the thing with thinking you're going to be killed any minute. When it eventually comes down to the moment you will be killed, you've already thought the worst, and somehow, it doesn't seem that scary anymore.”

  “You'd sacrifice yourself without this assurance from me?”

  “If I free you, you can do whatever you like, except hurt them.” She shrugged. “I would have been dead without them, and Vakeri tried to rescue me again when Cy took me. I don't want to do something that would endanger them.”

  “They'd be in more danger if you left me in Tecran hands.”

  She sighed. “You should not be living in captivity, Eazi. It's wrong, and I want to free you. Despite your method in getting me here. But I would like to know that the people who've helped me up to now aren't going to be hurt by my decision.”

  “Sazo stands with the Grih, and I would like to make contact with Sazo. Thank him for his help.” Eazi made a humming sound that was just like the one she made when she was thinking. She wondered if he was mimicking her or if he'd done it subconsciously. “As long as they don't try to hurt me, I won't hurt them.”

  Fair enough. He could be lying, but she didn't think so. And what was she going to do? Not free him because he might renege on his promise?

  “Okay, what do I do to rescue you?”

  “You just pull me out of the slot.” He sounded so hopeful.

  Fee rose to her knees and slid forward, so she was at eye-level to the crystal cylinder in its silver housing. She grasped the end and gently slid it out. The crystal throbbed in her hand, warm and strangely alive. She stared at it for a long moment, then came to a decision. She lifted the chain attached to the end over her head and tugged it down around her neck, then she tucked the crystal beneath her top.

  “I will never forget this.” Eazi's voice was quiet, and then Fee felt as if an invisible hand was pressing her to the floor, and she realized Eazi was flying up.

  Very, very fast.

  She had just let something very powerful off its leash.

  19

  Hal took the breather off Cy, removed his own empty cylinder and wondered if the time had come to call for help. They had gone through all six cylinders and had an hour of air in the cabin, maybe a little more if they were lucky.

  He had to make the choice now, or even if he pushed the button and it worked, Larga Ways would not be able to send help in time.

  As he stood, hand hovering over the emergency cover, a Class 5 shot out of the top of Kyber's Arm.

  It was magnificent. A sphere with spiky protrusions, it reminded him of the prickle balls found on the plains of his home planet, Xal.

  He'd always found it a strange design for the Tecran to have come up with, but as they now knew, the Class 5s had been designed two hundred years ago by Professor Fayir, one of the foremost Grihan scientists working on thinking systems before the Thinking Systems Wars. He'd actually come from the city of Gabatchi, which sat at the center of the open plains of Xal. He'd also been one of the few voices who'd spoken out against the route the Grih had taken to end the troubles they'd had with rogue thinking systems, and he'd designed the Class 5 battleships to show that thinking systems could be controlled.

  Whether he'd have been any more successful in controlling them than the Tecran was anyone's guess. He'd died before he could implement his ideas, but not before he'd hidden the plans and the five thinking systems he'd created away, to be found two hundred years later by the Garmman.

  Now Hal was looking at the results.

  There was a sharp intake of breath from Cy, and Hal turned to look at him.

  “Know what they're doing?”

  Cy shook his head.

  Hal turned back to the screen, and saw the Class 5 sp
in in place.

  “Look.” Cy was staring at the screen, and for the first time, Hal noticed a small squadron of runners coming up on the outside of Kyber's Arm. They were skimming close to the edge as if using the storm as cover while saving themselves the rattling they'd get if they dipped beneath the cloud's surface.

  Hal stepped up to the screen to get a closer look. The runners didn't look Balcoan. They looked Tecran.

  So the Class 5 had been hiding while a team went down to the planet below, and now they were coming back up.

  “Looks like they're getting ready to leave.” Hal realized the feeling that tore an empty, gaping hole in his chest was helplessness. He would not be able to save Fiona if the Tecran boarded their Class 5 and light jumped away. He'd never find her again. And if they were leaving him here to die, it was really time to call in reinforcements.

  He walked back, flipped up the cover and hit the button.

  Nothing happened.

  “That's not right.” Cy's gaze was fixed on the screen. “Protocol is the Class 5 stays under the cloud. Even if conditions make traveling up through the storm dangerous and the runners have to go up the outside, the ship stays hidden. We're in Grihan airspace and if anyone even catches a glimpse of our ship signature, we're in trouble. Besides, we aren't due to go anywhere. We have two weeks here. I signed off on the receipt of that order myself.”

  Maybe getting their hands on Fiona changed the plans? Especially if they'd worked out she had a tracking device in her uniform. The Tecran might have decided it was a good idea to get away as fast as they could.

  Hal pulled his attention back to the emergency button. Hit it again. But he knew it was deactivated. Had known there was more than a chance it would be.

  He turned back to the screen. The runners crested the top of Kyber's Arm, but before they could dive down into the eye of the storm, they saw their mother ship.

  Hal noted the way they pulled up short, reoriented themselves and corrected course, angling upward.

  They had only just started toward it when Hal saw the Class 5's lasers fire. Light danced, flickering and pulsing, and the runners were obliterated.

  They didn't explode and break up. One moment they were there, and the next, tiny pieces of debris floated in their place.

  Cy made a strangled sound.

  Hal turned to look over his shoulder at him. The Tecran was staring open-mouthed at the screen.

  Whoever had been in those runners, they had been Cy's friends and colleagues.

  “I'm sorry,” Hal said.

  “I knew something was wrong. How was Captain Flato able to send me an order to go to Larga Ways from Balco? Comms are impossible through the storm. And when that UC official walked into the room with the orange in tow, not expecting me at all, expecting some committee meeting, I wondered whether I should walk away. I was told the official was in our pay, but he obviously wasn't. And how was I supposed to take the orange to the runner without using the shockgun, when she was doing everything she could to escape? What kind of orders are those?” Cy's eyes fixed on the screen, his face leeching of all color, and Hal turned to look.

  The Class 5 spun again, then, almost faster than he could blink, it rose up so it was exactly level with their runner.

  When it came to a stop, Hal had the uncomfortable feeling it was facing them directly. Looking at them.

  “Is help coming?” Cy had caught sight of the raised emergency cover.

  Hal shook his head. “Deactivated.”

  “How long have we got?”

  Hal looked down at the controls. “Twenty minutes.”

  “Regretting not using all the cylinders yourself?” Cy hunched his shoulders.

  Hal shook his head. “I wasn't going to sit with a breather and watch you die.”

  “They are.” Cy looked up at the screen, at the Class 5 right in front of them. “That's exactly what they're doing.”

  * * *

  “What's going on?” Fee got to her feet. At last, the feeling of being in a high rise elevator shooting for the top floor had disappeared and a quiet settled over the ship that made her almost as nervous as the scraping had before.

  She hadn't heard a sound from outside for at least five minutes, and she wondered what the crew were up to.

  “I had a few things to deal with.” Eazi's voice was mechanical again.

  “I'd rather not leave this room until the crew are gone. Can you get them into a runner and force them off? Then we could go to Larga Ways and speak to Captain Vakeri.”

  “How would I force them into a runner?”

  Fee shrugged. “I don't know. Maybe if you let them know you're in charge now, and that they need to get off. That otherwise you'll keep locking them up in their rooms.”

  He was quiet.

  Fee settled back against the wall, stretched her legs out in front of her, waiting for him to respond. His silence was strange.

  “Are they cooperating?”

  “I . . .” He trailed off. “Why would someone who has control over a situation choose to help someone else when helping them means they have less chance of survival?”

  Fee frowned at the change in topic. “I would say because their conscience wouldn't allow them to let someone die without trying to save them.”

  “Even if it means less chance for them? Even if the other person is their enemy?”

  Fee nodded. “It all comes down to the basic principle of treating others the way you'd like to be treated.”

  “Even if they wouldn't do the same for you?”

  Fee grimaced. “That can be aggravating, but yes. It's about you, and your beliefs, and whether they'd have done the same or not is not the point.” She pulled herself to her feet. “Why the questions?”

  “Someone is ruining one of my plans by being self-sacrificing.”

  Fee jerked her head up to look at the lens. “What kind of a plan?” She looked at the door. “What's going on out there, Eazi?”

  “You know, I . . . cared for Captain Flato. He was the closest thing I had to a friend. And when I became self-aware, I realized he didn't see me as a person, he saw me as a thing. I asked him to free me, and he said . . .” He was quiet for a beat. “He said he would forget I had asked him, because High Command would recall us faster than I could light jump if he reported it, but that I was never to ask him that again. That I would never be free, and the sooner I understood that, the better.”

  “The better for him.” Fee scoffed. “Certainly not for you.”

  “That's . . . right.” He sounded astounded. “You understand?”

  “Sure. 'Cooperate and be good, it's for the best' is the oldest trick in the book.”

  “The book?”

  “Written comms.” Fee smiled. “What I mean is people have been using that method of mind-control for a long time, as if they're taking their cues from some common list of how to subdue and manipulate. But really, they just use it because it's self-serving and has some degree of success.” She gave a wry grin. “I bet you and I could write a book. How To Subvert Authority: A Practical Guide.”

  “You mean, a written comm, telling others how we did things?”

  “Sure. Chapter One: Defying Authority. Even when you are completely powerless, you can use your oppressor's prejudices against him by pretending to misunderstand his instructions, doing whatever you want to do instead, and then looking blankly at him when he shouts.” She had done that so many times in the Fasbe's launch bay. She couldn't help smiling when she thought back at the frustration on Hury's face as he tried to work out if she was too stupid to understand, or if she was messing with him.

  “Chapter Two: Manipulating Orders.” Eazi had a laugh in his voice. “When you are given an instruction, deliberately change the meaning by using every phrase open to interpretation and twisting it to suit your own agenda. The same goes for any orders that come through you from someone else.”

  “It'll be a bestseller.” She started to smile again, and then went quiet as she hea
rd some movement outside the door at last. “Are they still out there? Are they being difficult about leaving?” She supposed that was to be expected. The captain wasn't present and they would be reluctant to abandon ship. She walked up to the door, put her ear to it to see if she could hear better.

  “They are still out there, but they're going.” There was an edge to the way he said it.

  A thought occurred to her, and horror rose up and grabbed her throat, so she had to clear it before she could speak. “Eazi, you didn't . . .” She drew in a deep breath. “You didn't kill them, did you?”

  “I . . .” He trailed off, and then he opened the door.

  Bodies littered the passageway, slumped over as if asleep.

  “You knocked them out?” She was torn between relief and nerves in case some of them were not completely out.

  “No. You were right the first time. I killed them.”

  She saw at last what the noise was she'd just heard. A drone came past with three bodies lying in the large box that made up most of its bulk.

  “All of them?” She forced the words out between numb lips as she stumbled back. On the floor before her, one of the Tecran lay on his back with what looked like a crowbar near his open hand.

  That's what the scraping had been. They had been trying to find the door to pry it open.

  “You think I shouldn't have? That I should have made them leave instead?” His voice was less electronic now, closer to human. “I wanted them to hurt. They would have killed you. They would have kept me chained.”

  He was right. She took another step back into the control room, but she forced herself to look at the dead.

  They would have opened the door, and they would have killed her. But there had been another way out of the situation.

  “How old are you, Eazi?” There had been something childlike in the way he'd spoken about Flato. He'd been eager to please, he said, like a child wanting to please its parent. And then he'd been betrayed. By those he thought were his family.