Star Road (34 page)

Annie hesitated. Not knowing what to say. Like she was on the precipice of a terrible truth.

Ivan took a breath. Annie waited.

The Runner’s words were compelling.

“Someone else—not human—made the Roads and developed the technology. We all realize that, but we’ve never met them. But here’s a thought.... What if they purposely gave us the technology for
us
to find
them?”

“You’re sounding like the Seeker who wants to find the Builders,” Jordan said, grinning.

But Annie noticed that Ivan wasn’t smiling at the idea.

“Yeah, I do, except... I think that may not be such a good thing after all.”

~ * ~

There was absolute quiet for a few moments.

“I’ll hold on to this, if you don’t mind,” Annie said, looking directly at Ivan, challenging him to disagree.

“Still don’t trust me, huh? After all we’ve been through.” A wide smile.

He expected I’d take it.

And as for trust?

He’d been the leader of the Runners—an outlaw group, and yet he had shot at his own people, disabled their vehicle that was out to destroy or board them. He let Jordan kill their commander. And helped them escape.

But maybe, with this crystal... could Ivan still want to be the Runner leader again?

“This is clearly top-secret World Council and Road Authority property,” Annie said. “Nahara downloaded and stole it from the Road Authority’s computers”—she squared her shoulders—”but as the duly appointed official representative here—”

Ivan laughed out loud. “Go on. Say it, Cap’n. You don’t
trust
me.”

She slipped the crystal into her jacket pocket.

“Sorry.”

“So why did Nahara steal it?” Jordan asked.

Annie looked at Ivan, guessing he already had a theory.

And she was right.

Ivan took a breath.

“That’s easy. He stole it to deliver to the same person who sabotaged my solo and who just tried to capture me and bring me back alive to Omega Nine.”

“Kyros,” Jordan said.

“Uh-huh, and—”

A warning beep suddenly sounded. Annie turned back to the cockpit window.

“Got some tricky curves coming up.” To Jordan: “Maybe we’d best—”

“Yeah ... back to work.”

A nod to Ivan. “And you’d best head back to the cabin. Might get bumpy.”

“Sure, but one more thing.”

She could see, even now, that the Road had begun to rise up and fall, and the SRV was suddenly in need of some real piloting.

“What?” she asked over her shoulder, focusing on the Road ahead now.

“Kyros wants that crystal. We’re going to Omega Nine. My guess is he’s still there, and he’ll do anything to get it.”

“He’s done quite a bit already,” Jordan said, a sharp snap in his voice.

“We have our destination. We have our cargo for the settlement. Rodriguez needs to get there for whatever reason the council sent him.”

“I hear you.”

Annie nodded. “Right. So we’re not turning around. As long as that’s clear.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Ivan started to leave but then stopped. “Just remember, you better be ready. Now you have some idea what my brother’s capable of, but trust me—that’s only a fraction.”

Jordan sniffed.

“I already wish we had never found that crystal,” Annie said.

Then, all was quiet.

And with the Road suddenly gone from an endless flat ribbon to something filled with twists and bumps, navigating unknown and unseen distortions of space and time, Ivan left the cockpit.

And Annie told herself:
Whatever’s waiting for us on Omega Nine
,
we’ll find out soon enough.

“Just have to get us there in one piece,” she whispered.

“You say something?” Jordan didn’t look away from his screens.

Annie shook her head and held the wheel tightly as the Road became even more ragged.

“Nope.”

~ * ~

33

OMEGA NINE

Time to sleep.

Annie hadn’t had even a nap in almost forty-eight hours.

Forty-eight hours? Feels more like a week.

“You got the stick?” she asked Jordan as she pulled the lever to lower her seat back. The footrest kicked up, and she was prone. The foam-filled cushion adjusted to her weight and position, surrounding her in comfort.

Jordan grunted, then said, “Yeah. Took a som-tab a couple of hours ago. I’m good.”

“You sure?”

“I said I’m good.”

Annie rolled her head up and down but still felt too wired to fall asleep quickly. Maybe a som-tab was the answer.

A lot to think about—transporting a thief with World Council materials, harboring and even abetting a supposedly convicted felon.

And a load of materials and passengers that she needed to deliver safely to their destination.

“Do you think the passengers are—”

“They’re fine. Everyone’s fine. Now get some rest. I got this.”

Annie grunted and nestled her head into the seatback.

It did feel good to rest... to let her mind and body go.

And soon enough, she was in a deep asleep, so deep, she didn’t even dream.

~ * ~

Sinjira—about to sleep—knew she would dream.

Chip enough, and dreams became a constant, merging with reality.

After helping Rodriguez—who didn’t seem like such a bad guy, after all— she settled down to sleep.

The tension of the Road trip so far had weighed on her.

It was one thing to put on a front and live the life of an adrenaline-crazed Chippie, providing “experiences” for other people.

But now, out here, on the far edges of the Road, where shit got real very fast?

She closed her eyes and concentrated on her breathing ... slow ... steady ... in ... out...

She drifted in a warm, comfortable place. The white noise of the SRV lulled her deeper ... deeper ... until—

A face suddenly loomed up in front of her.

“McGowan!”

The image of the dead man’s face resolved more clearly, and she saw not flesh and blood, but gears and flywheels and blinking lights, all merging to form the man’s features.

Not the real man!

She sat up suddenly, a ragged intake of breath. The dream image vanishing.

Momentarily disoriented, she didn’t know where she was. The light in the passengers’ cabin had been dimmed, and everyone—everyone, that is, except that Seeker—was sound asleep.

Even her outcry hadn’t awakened them.

“You all right?” the Seeker asked.

It won’t hurt you to be nice to her. She’s just showing concern.

Sinjira licked her lips, feeling their dry texture.

“Yeah,” she said, her voice a froglike croak. “Just a ...”

“Bad dream?”

The image of McGowan’s face lingered in her memory, filling her with a feeling of dread.

It was all but impossible to describe, but she had the feeling it hadn t been a dream.

No. It had been a vision ... or something.

Somehow she had experienced a kind of connection with the man she knew, for a fact, was dead.

“We all have ghosts inside us,” Ruth said.

Sinjira nodded.

A ghost. A phantom.

Or... something else?

A warning?

One thing for sure, though—she wasn’t going to get to sleep now.

So she popped a stim-cap.

~ * ~

The view out in front of SRV-66 suddenly changed.

The shimmering, rotating lights of the portal appeared in the distance. Jordan, starting to feel the strain of sleep deprivation himself, nudged Annie’s shoulder.

“Hey. Captain. Time to wake up.”

He watched Annie’s eyes open, crusty with sleep and cloudy.

She could have used more sleep. But running the Road, you got used to grabbing a few winks when you could.

She looked confused for a moment. Then—in a flash—she was awake.

“How long was I out?”

“Few hours.”

“Everything okay?”

“Couldn’t be better.”

He reached down and made slight adjustments in preparation for the jump through the portal.

“Passengers quiet?”

“Not a peep.”

He nodded at the display showing the immobilized Nahara. His eyes were closed, but Jordan doubted he was asleep.

“But we’re coming up on Omega Nine.”

“Okay,” Annie said, a chill hitting her gut. Then: “I’ll take over from here.”

Jordan nodded. The captain was back in charge.

Annie pressed a button on the side of her chair, and with a faint hum, the back and footrest retracted, shifting her to a sitting position.

Jordan, like Annie, wanted to drop their passengers and supplies, deal with Nahara as quickly as possible, and get the hell back on the Road to home.

Maybe getting too old for this, wanting to get back to Earth.

Maybe this Road trip was just a bit too much fun.

A fleeting thought. He knew well enough that he’d never settle down. Maybe he was feeling low because—after the mad race out of Hydra Salim—now there wasn’t
enough
going on.

Annie took over the controls, and he settled back in his chair.

“You strapped in?” Annie asked.

Jordan nodded, then watched as Annie flipped the button for the intercom.

“Attention passengers. We’re approaching our final destination, Omega Nine. Please make sure your harnesses are secure. We’ll be landing soon.”

She keyed off the intercom.

Then Jordan saw something on the security screen.

A face had appeared at the cockpit door.

Ivan.

Eyebrows raised—a silent question—Jordan glanced at Annie and pointed at the screen.

“Let him in. Let’s hear what he has to say.”

~ * ~

“You like getting banged around on takeoffs and landings?” Annie asked, looking at him. “You heard my announcement. Take your—”

“I’m fine where I am,” Ivan replied.

Up ahead, the spinning light of the approaching portal grew closer, filling the screens. Jordan ran through automatic readouts.

Annie stayed focused on piloting her SRV, adjusting speed and vector to make as smooth a landing as possible.

There was a moment where everything felt like it was shrinking... contracting into an infinitely small point, and then—like
that—
they were through the portal and on the runway.

A glance at Ivan, who was tightening his grip to keep from swaying around too much.

The sudden glare of sunlight stung Annie’s eyes, making them water; but through the blur, she could make out the terminal building in the distance.

Beyond the terminal, a ring of jagged mountains rose up into the sky like a ring of rotten teeth. The sky was clear and had a greenish tinge like algae in a pond.

“Long runway,” Annie said.

“Planet this far out of system ... got plenty of room to stretch out,” Ivan said.

Annie leaned forward and flipped the switch on the commlink, but as she cleared her throat, preparing to speak, Ivan stopped her.

A gentle touch on the back of her hand.

She looked up at him. He bit his lower lip and shook his head.

“I wouldn’t just yet, until we see what’s what... that way.”

He pointed, and Annie steered the SRV up the runaway toward the far end of the terminal.

Its engines roared in the sudden stillness. Brakes squealing ... wheels thundering on the tarmac, kicking up a plume of dust that rose into the oddly green-tinted sky.

Now Ivan leaned closer to the control, his fingers poised over the nav system.

Before he touched the screen, though, he looked Annie straight in the eyes. Close.

“May I?” he asked.

She nodded slowly.

Trust.

At least for now.

~ * ~

Ivan’s fingers slid back and forth as he entered a code.

Annie was watching his every move. Did she trust him or not? He could feel her apprehension. He also noticed that Jordan’s right hand never strayed far from his sidearm.

“Go to these coordinates,” Ivan said, his voice light, not betraying that he’d read her concern.

Annie gave him another, longer look.

Then she nodded and hit
enter.
Making minor adjustments, she had to use both hands to steer the vehicle as it left the smooth ramp and headed out across the wide, rock-strewn plain.