Dark Minds (Class 5 Series Book 3) (28 page)

“It was weeks before someone realized the team wasn't answering comms, hadn't reported in. When a new team got there, they found the terra-forming tech running without any oversight, the gruhudi elevated at least to the level of crude tools, and not a single Fitali alive.”

“And there was your problem. If the grahudi were coming into advanced sentience, you couldn't take the planet for the Fitali.” The irony of it was incredible. Cam caught Leto's gaze and she nodded.

“The problem is, Huy is perfect. The terra-forming did its job. But now we had the grahudi running amok, starting to speak in a type of sign language, and forming communities.”

“The Sentient Being Agreement meant you had to leave the planet alone.”

“The Sentient Being Agreement would have damned us for artificially advancing the grahudi, as well.” Leto shrugged. “It was a disaster whichever way you looked at it. Until . . .” She shook her head. “Until they realized the grahudi were killing each other off.”

“They were going to war with each other?” Cam tried to grasp it.

“As the terra-forming took hold, it started changing the environment faster than the grahudi could keep up. Resources they needed became scarcer and scarcer, and they started killing each other to survive. Someone high up in the Horde decided to wait it out.”

“Let them kill each other off, and then the last few would die when the terra-forming was complete?” Imogen spoke again, and this time, she stepped into the lens frame.

“Yes.” Leto eyed her curiously. “We managed to shoot a tracking chip into most of them, but the Tecran stole one, along with a console containing most of the information I've just given you.”

“Have they shown you proof that they have this information still?” Imogen asked Leto.

Cam turned to look at her, surprised.

“No. But we know they have it.”

“They don't have the grahudi anymore. It was killed when the Tecran's facility was destroyed by one of the Class 5s.”

Leto nodded. “One of the battleships above Larga Ways has confirmed the facility is gone, and the tracker was destroyed, so we're sure the grahudi is dead, but the Tecran insist the Class 5 that stole the grahudi never sent the consol down with it to the facility. They still have it.”

“Which Class 5 was it?” Cam felt his heart beat faster. If it was Oris, the information could be right here.

“Paxe,” Imogen told him, remembering that Oris had said it wasn't him, which meant Paxe was the only one left. She went very still and then looked straight at him, eyes wide. “I think I know where that consol is.”

“
W
hat if I
told you the Tecran don't actually have access to that consol?” Imogen watched Leto's face, but the Fitali was so difficult to read.

She had considered asking Oris to cut the Fitali captain off while she discussed this with the others, but they didn't have the time.

Leto closed her eyes, opened them. “We would be interested to hear what you have to say.”

“I've been on the Class 5 which took your grahudi, and I know where the consol is hidden.”

Cam was standing close to her, his shoulder brushing hers as she moved, and she knew the moment he understood what she was talking about. The look he sent her was piercing.

“You mean, I take it, hidden from the Tecran?” Leto sounded confused.

“The Class 5 is run by a thinking system, Paxe, who is at war with the Tecran who are trying to control him. He knew the consol was important to them, that they were using it to further their aims. Paxe wants to thwart them in any way he can, so he hid it. I watched the Tecran hunt for it and come up empty, and I know it is safe. They will never find it.”

Leto was silent again. “I'd like to believe you. The Fitali Horde does not like to be forced into anything, and especially not to act against our treaties.” She turned to look at her senior officers, then back to Cam and Imogen. “I'll take this to my leaders, but it'll be hard to convince them with no proof.”

“The grahudi is gone, and I promise you the consol is not in the Tecran's hands, whatever they want you to believe. Ask them to show it to you. Not just the physical item, which I'm assuming can be duplicated, but the information contained in it. They won't be able to.”

“They could have copied the information,” Leto said.

Imogen shook her head. “Then they wouldn't have been so desperate to find the original. I think they found it, saw what was on it, and put it in their store. When they decided to use it to gain your support they couldn't, because Paxe had killed his crew and run away. And when they did manage to board him, they couldn't find it. I witnessed that myself.”

“I did, too.” Cam looked Leto straight in the eye. “I saw them search the store, and I saw their fury when they realized Paxe had hidden it.”

“Your word will carry more weight than the orange's,” Leto said, satisfied, and then took a step back.

Imogen frowned, then saw the cause. Cam was glaring at the Fitali captain.

“No offense meant,” Leto told her. “But my leaders know Captain Kalor. He has a good reputation in the United Council.”

“Talk to your people, Captain Leto.” Cam was suddenly all formality. “It would be a pity if you threw yourselves into war based on a Tecran trick.”

Leto opened her mouth as if to say something, then shook her head and bowed. “I agree. I will be as fast as I can.” She leaned forward again, and the screen went black.

“What's happening on Larga Ways?” Hal spoke for the first time, and the screen switched back to Fiona.

“Sazo kept us linked in, so we heard all that,” Fiona's smile was fierce. “Imogen, you might have saved this way station. The Fitali have pulled back a little, and the weapons are no longer hot. My guess is they've been told to hold in place, but not make any threats or overt moves.”

“They'll be able to claim they came to our aid if they keep quiet for a bit longer,” Hal agreed.

“Do we let them get away with that?” Dav asked, and Imogen could hear the anger in his voice.

“To the outside world, yes,” Cam said. “But behind closed doors? I think Admiral Hoke and the leaders of the four planets will have quite a lot to say.”

“What about Carro?” Rose asked. “Isn't he surprised we cut off comms and haven't gotten back to him?”

“He'll know we know about the Fitali converging on Larga Ways. I think he's giving us time to work out our response.” Hal Vakeri sounded calm, but Imogen had the sense it was calm of a dangerous kind.

“What happens if Leto's commander decides not to risk it?” Rose posed the question Imogen was thinking.

She noticed Oris and Sazo hadn't said anything since Oris had made it clear neither would hand themselves over to the Tecran, no matter what the consequences to the Grih and Larga Ways.

It was their right, and they had no obligation to submit to slavery again for any reason, but she guessed they wished there was another way.

And maybe she had found one.

“Captain Leto is having difficulty persuading her superiors,” Oris said into the quiet.

“Break into their conversation, and let's talk to them direct.” Cam put his hand on her lower back, rubbing as if to ease an ache for her, but it was his outlet for his anger and agitation, she realized, his calm revealed for the lie it was as he clenched the fabric of her shirt in a fist.

“I think that would be best.” Sazo spoke for the first time, and he sounded angry, too.

The Fitali might give a thought to who they were pissing off.

“Patching you through . . . now.” Oris's voice was a whisper in her ear.

“High Chief Vaw?” Cam's words were clipped, irritated.

There was an abrupt silence. “Is this Captain Kalor? Because——”

“Listen to me.” Cam forced his hand flat against her back again, and Imogen could feel the struggle for control. “We have one of your ships. It is ours unless you do not take this very seriously. We're offering you a way out. The Tecran do not have what they say they have. It is safe. I vouch for this personally. But even if it were not, can you honestly say what you are being asked to do to Larga Ways and Balco will have any less repercussions than what you're trying to cover up?”

“You think I don't know that?” Vaw snapped. “The problem is these orders come from Vice-Admiral Ipsos. His son was one of the scientists who was in the original four, the ones who started this mess. The posthumous reputation of his only child, and his need for revenge against the grahudi, led him down this path, and now he faces a humiliating end to what was otherwise seen as an illustrious career. Personal reputation is coming before national interest. If any Fitali on the home planet knew of this, they would be outraged, and the Horde is walking a fine line between political expediency and not making this any worse.”

“Then put your mind at rest. The Tecran no longer have the consol. You will have to deal with us when this is over, and believe me when I say you will pay for this in ways that will make Ipsos regret his choices, but you will get out of it with your reputation and your public honor intact.”

Vaw waited a beat. “What do you want us to do?”

“The battleships can stay where they are, but focus their weapons outward. You're protecting Larga Ways at Battle Center's request while we deal with the Tecran fleet.”

“And the consol?” Vaw was tenacious, Imogen would give him that.

“If we can get it, it will be returned to you.” Cam qualified the promise carefully.

“And if you can't get it?”

“No one else will be able to, either.”

More silence. “Agreed.”

“Fiona? Eazi?” Hal spoke the moment Vaw signed off.

“They're pulling further back,” Eazi said. “And yes, weapons have gone outward.”

“So what do we say to Carro?” Rose asked, satisfaction clear in her tone.

“We let Captain Carro think we're prepared to sacrifice Larga Ways,” Hal said, a vicious edge to his words. “Let him get his head around that.”

They waited for Oris to connect, and this time, he gave a visual of the Tecran captain. He looked smug.

“Captain Carro.” Hal said nothing else.

“You ready to accede now?” Carro stretched his mouth wide in what Imogen had come to learn was an aggressive display.

“Accede?” Hal pretended confusion.

Carro narrowed his eyes. “Don't play games, Vakeri. You know by now the Fitali are on our side. Hand over the Class 5s or our allies will destroy Larga Ways and fire on Balco.”

“I don't know how many times I can say it, but the Class 5s are not ours to hand over. You've failed to engage with them once since we light-jumped here, but perhaps you need to start doing so. I have no power to make them do anything.”

“Enough.” Carro's chest swelled, and Imogen heard the hint of a screech. “We are serious.”

Imogen couldn't see Hal, the screen showed Carro, but she could picture him lifting up his hands.

“I cannot give you what I do not have. Do I want you to destroy Larga Ways? Of course not. It would be a war crime and both you and the Fitali will be cut from the UC for it. For even making the threat, I should think. But I cannot do a thing to save it if you are determined to fire on it, because I cannot give you the Class 5s.”

Carro looked like he was having an apoplexy. Imogen found it deeply gratifying.

The Tecran captain turned and said something, and Oris switched suddenly to the lens feed of the Tecran fleet before them.

“He has ordered them to shoot . . .” Oris trailed off.

A shot was fired from the Levron at the hostage vessels, but unlike the first time, this was no warning shot.

A small, bulky miner was hit and disintegrated in a flare of bright light.

Imogen lifted both hands to her mouth, pressed them hard against her lips to stop any sound coming out.

Cam was absolutely still.

They all stared at the tiny pieces of debris floating away in silence. Oris switched back to the Levron's bridge.

“How serious do you think I am now, Captain Vakeri?” Carro turned to face the lens again. “Still say there is no way to give me what I want?”

Oris cut him off, making the screen black, and still, no one said a word.

“Oris, do you have an explorer drone like the one Paxe gave us?” Cam's face, when he turned it up to the speaker, was one of stone cold fury.

“Yes.”

“And some space survivors? I'm not sure what the Tecran call them.”

“They use the term space survivors, too. I have enough for every member of the crew who used to serve on this Class 5. Space time is ten hours.”

“I'll take fifty in the explorer. How quickly can you have them loaded?”

“Are you sure about this, Cam?” Hal asked what Imogen could not get past her throat.

“We can't leave them there.” Cam looked at her as he answered. “And we can't ask Oris and Sazo to give themselves up. If we can get everyone off the hostage ships, that will give them a chance and will mean the Tecran have no leverage. As long as everyone takes beacons to activate later when it's safe, we can find them again.”

“Do you want me to come with you?” As Imogen said it, she realized that wouldn't work. She understood why he was shaking his head. He'd need every bit of space in the explorer to fit in whatever the space survivors were, and if there was anyone ill or injured, he'd need room for them, too.

“The explorer is loaded.” Oris sounded subdued.

Cam held out his hand, and she took it, jogged with him down to the launch bay.

“Just try to come back in one piece,” she said when he pulled her in for a hard, tight hug. She kissed the side of his neck, and then his lips as he bent his head.

He rested his forehead against hers. “Stay safe.” He released her. “I'm going to assume they'll be listening for any comms, so I won't make contact at all.”

She stood to one side as he climbed into the explorer, packed with compact boxes the size of briefcases. He hesitated in the doorway before closing it, and she forced herself to stay still as the door came down and the thin, black dust of the launch bay swirled as the explorer lifted and disappeared through the gel wall.

“He is risking his life for those people,” Oris said.

“Yes, he is.”

“Do you think I should be doing the same? Giving myself up for them?”

Imogen shook her head. “Even if you do give yourselves up, do you honestly think they'll let everyone go?”

Oris's silence had the air of surprise. “No. Because you're witnesses to their crimes.”

Imogen nodded.

“You have made me feel better, Imogen. Thank you.”

Imogen reached out and patted the drone that must have loaded the explorer with the space survivors. “That you thought to ask the question is just as appreciated——”

“The listening device has just attached to Paxe, and he's hailing us.” Oris interrupted her with a shout of glee.

“He's encrypted the message,” Sazo said. “The Tecran will know he's communicating with us, but they won't know what he's saying.”

“They'll try to stop him, though.” There was a little hitch in her chest at the thought.

“They'll look for the device and try to destroy it, yes. If they use a maintenance pod to check the exterior, we probably have a little time because they'll have to do a manual scan.”

“Are you able to decrypt it?” Rose asked.

“He's sent a message only another Class 5 could decrypt, but it will still take a little——Got it!” Sazo's excitement was catching.

“Paxe says the captain and his officer are no longer in his lock-safe. The Tecran managed to get more teams onboard and they've destroyed all the drones, so he couldn't keep them pinned down there anymore. The Tecran onboard are looking for the Fitali notes they stole, and they've disabled his engines so he can't run away from them again.”

“He has a request for you, Imogen.” Oris's voice was hesitant.

“What is it?”

“He says, if you are up for it, he will trust you enough.”

Imogen sucked in a breath, pivoted on her heel and started to pace. “Does he think I can get in there undetected?”

“If you can get in, he can keep you safe, he says. Now that there are no drones for him to use, they've restored the lens feed systems in most parts of the ship. And he can tell you where everyone is using the earpiece I gave you earlier. He can direct you to the lock-safe.”

“But he can't go anywhere with his engines disabled.”

“No,” Oris agreed. “But they wouldn't have destroyed the engines, they'll need them to leave later, so he can see what they've done, try to fix them, and he'll have the ability to use his weapons. While he's still under their control, he can't fire on them. That changes as soon as he's free.”

She thought about it. “If you can get me there, then——”