Twin Stars 1: Ascension (16 page)

* * *

Vaela was in her element. After two weeks of being aboard ship with little to do but wander around sipping coffee and trying not to get in anyone’s way, she was at last doing something she was good at- system breaking.

She had broken apart the codes of her family home when she was barely able to walk, and by the time she was in school she had controlled not only the apartment, but the whole building in which she lived. She had come to realize that she simply perceived Linkspace and datastreams on a different level than others did- to her it was like looking at the building blocks of reality, a reality she could reach out and rearrange at will.

This was the thing that had encouraged her to follow her natural talent into cryptography, and the ability her former boyfriend and the student radicals she’d fallen in with had wanted to use for their own purposes. And now, it was the thing that had lead her to the base commander’s office in the Evergreen Supply Depot.

She sat in the padded chair that formerly belonged to the base commander, and before her laid out in AR were that officer’s personal files. They were encrypted of course, but she was working on that now.

“I still can’t believe we’re here.” She commented as she worked.

Ping An, who was reclining in another chair on the other side of the desk, nodded thoughtfully. “This is what happens when you don’t pay your soldiers- they get other ideas.”

“It was amazing,” Vaela commented. “They really did invite us in!”

As it turned out, Ping An had been working with officials from the base all along, having contacted them before the raid and made a deal. That had gotten her all the files on the base defenses, and the system fleet, which had allowed her to plan much of this adventure in advance.

“I just needed to get rid of the system patrol fleet,” she’d told Vaela on the shuttle over to the base. “Bribing base officials is one thing, but those fleet officers are too stubborn.”

Thus was born another tale to Ping An’s legend, Vaela considered. She wondered where it would all lead- how high could Ping An go before the clan leadership moved against her? The senior members of the clan guarded their power fiercely, and in a pirate clan those the leadership didn’t like tended to disappear out an airlock.

Then she saw was she was looking for in the datastream of the commander’s personal files and reached out to take it. With a thought, she used the passkey she’d broken and removed another level of encryption.

“Just one more layer.”

That earned her a warm smile. “That’s why I brought you, you’re the based system breaker I know.”

“Oh?” Vaela spared her a look and a playfully raised eyebrow. “You’ve been cheating on me with others?”

Ping An made an “I couldn’t help it” gesture, “A few, but they meant nothing to me.”

Vaela smiled. She felt so at home with Ping An, right from the moment they’d met they could talk like they were sisters. Even though she knew Ping An had only brought her to crack this protection, she didn’t feel any resentment, and in fact was happy to do anything her friend asked.

Maybe Ping An’s legend building had gotten to her as well.

Then, the last layer of encryption was gone, and the formerly top secret files were hers to do with as she willed. She brought up a holodisplay window between herself and her Captain.

“Right then- we’re in!”

Ping An’s eyes narrowed, all joviality washed away as she looked at the display.

“I want all his files relating to the Polyvaris Corporation, specifically about deals between them and him. You might have to look in his message traffic, they’ve had a lot of communications.”

Vaela started a search algorithm for references to Polyvaris.

While it ran, she looked at her captain. “Now I understand why you came here. You’re after this data, aren’t you? You didn’t come here for the supplies at all.”

This earned a returning smile from the other woman. “I’m even going to let Bella have more than her share when she gets here. That should shut her up.”

“Why?” Vaela asked. “Who cares if some base commander is making dirty deals with a corp?”

“Because I need all the leverage I have with them to get what I want.”

Vaela wasn’t sure if she should press the point, but found herself asking- “Which is?”

Ping An’s face turned serious again, and for a moment Vaela worried she’d gone too far, but then as the pirate captain spoke she realized it wasn’t herself that Ping An was angry with. “Today, we nearly lost everything because the Empire has the one thing we don’t- hyperspace navigation systems. It’s what gives them the advantage, and why no rebellion against the Empire has ever succeeded.”

“And Polyvaris?”

“They recently won a contract to build starships for the Empire. It means they have access to the hyperspace navigation technology I need.”

Vaela nodded, it made sense. In theory a contractor was an easier target to get into than the fleet itself. “You think the data here will be enough to get them to hand it over?”

“No,” Ping An admitted with an honesty that shocked Vaela. “Probably not.”

“Ahh,” Vaela found herself saying in surprise. Once again, Ping An’s lateral thinking had left her dumbfounded. “How are you going to do it, then?”

“That, my dear friend” said the showman with a wink. “Would be telling.”

CHAPTER FOUR

2718, Day 179

“Sir? Sir?”

Sleepily, Albert Tysen opened his eyes and looked up at the shuttle attendant, seeing the pretty, olive-skinned woman smile down at him.

“Mmmm?” He said, fighting drowsiness. “Is something wrong?”

“Sir,” said the attendant. “We’ll be touching down planetside at Port Fedrin in fifteen minutes, would you or your companion like a drink?”

Tysen glanced over at Esther, who was sleeping in the seat next to him- her head against his arm. The long trip in the confined space had taken its toll on both of them, and he would be glad when it was over.

“No,” he said, trying to smile politely. “We’re fine.” Then a thought occurred to him- “Oh! Could you tell me what the weather’s like there?”

“Raining and a little chilly, sir.” The woman replied with a knowing, practiced smile. “It’s late Autumn where the spaceport is.”

Thanking her, Tysen sent the attendant on.

His first thought was the need to buy coats for both of them, since they’d just come with summer wear from New Wellington. Then, he suddenly wondered at how easily it had come to think in terms of two instead of one.

He looked at the sleeping woman beside him and sighed.

How had this happened? He wasn’t even a captain yet, he didn’t rate a Squire, and certainly not one as special as Esther. He had wanted to refuse when Sir Fawn had told him that Esther was now his, but somehow he hadn’t been able to bring himself to do it. Why hadn’t he? Was he really that lonely? He hadn’t considered himself lonely, and had felt quite at ease in his solitude, but since Esther had suddenly entered his life, he’d felt like something empty inside him had now been filled.

Was he really so pitiful? Since when had he needed anyone?

Tysen had known women, been with women, as a Noble and fleet officer he’d been introduced to many, but it had always been a distraction to him. They were like wine and song- things to help relax and wile away the fears of life, but he’d never felt any deeper need or connection with them. Eventually they always drifted off, but that was how he preferred it and he returned to his own ways.

Now Esther was here- beautiful Esther, perfect Esther.

And he had no idea what to do, except let her follow him around.

Pathetic.

Trying to push his thoughts in another direction, Tysen focused on the reason he and Esther had traveled to Fedrin, a coreward world in the Seven Sister’s Province. For all appearances, he was a recently cleared but still tainted military officer who was fleeing the halls of New Wellington and Castle City to let the scandal that surrounded him settle. It was a common enough situation, especially among Nobility, and even the enhanced memories of Nobles were victim to the short attention spans that accompanied court life. Out of sight, out of mind.

But, inside the neural implant in his head he carried a set of coded files that needed to be delivered to his mentor, Admiral Veers. Veers, also “on vacation” on Fedrin, was in reality having important meetings with other members of the Star Guard Admiralty and needed data quietly delivered to him. Tysen had been the one who’d approached the Admiral’s office looking for something to do besides keeping his recovering sister company, and been surprised but pleased to be offered a courier assignment.

His mother has been less pleased, but given that an assignment meant income for the family, she could hardly argue with him, especially now that he also had a Squire to support. That had been an interesting introduction, and the memory of the look on his mother’s face when he’d introduced Esther would be one that he would smile at for the rest of his life.

He found himself looking at Esther again.

This trip would be a good chance for him to get to know her. She was polite, but still a bit formal with him, which would normally have suited him fine, but he found himself wanting to know more. Where had she been “born”? How long had she been in Sir Fawn’s service? What did she like? What didn’t she like? He knew none of it, and while he desperately wanted to ask, a part of him held back. It was like he was afraid of getting to close with her. Like he would wake up from a dream and find himself facing hard reality if he did.

A mild vibration ran through the shuttle as it hit the planet’s atmosphere, and Tysen faced forward, closing his eyes and letting the pull of gravity slowly settle on him.

He would just relax for now, and enjoy the ride.

* * *

“People mountain, people sea,” Esther said as she and Tysen left the spaceport’s arrival gate, carried along by the tide of people. The gate bore them into the main arrival zone, a vast hall filled with what looked to be a city’s worth of people milling about.

Custom little AR windows had begun to pop-up all across Tysen’s field of vision, advertising hotels, restaurants, promotions and services- all of them tailored to what they thought he might be interested in based on his public data. They threatened to completely block his sight, and he had to take a moment to shut out all incoming AR requests and wipe them away.

That done, Tysen looked at Esther questioningly, to which she simply said- “a comment on our situation.”

He nodded, guessing at the meaning. “Let’s try to find one of the busses into the city.”

“The nearest bus port is this way,” she said simply, pointing to the right of them across the crowd.

“Alright then, follow me.” He said, beginning to shoulder his way slowly along through the people. “Good thing we don’t have to stop and pick up luggage.”

“I noticed you do not carry much.” Esther asked as she followed him.

“Should I?” He answered, switching to a neural link as he pushed forward. “I never gained an attachment to things, Esther. Things weigh you down in life, and they work against you in the service. I have what I need, and I get what I want when I need it.”

“Does that include me?”

“Ahh…” The question brought Tysen up short, and he quickly turned to look at her. “Well, you’re…different. You’re a Squire, not a thing…exactly. You’re…” He paused, trying to think of the right thing to say and stumbling on his words. His eyes unconsciously fell on the blue scarf she was wearing to hide the choker that all Squires wore, then he caught himself and looked back up into her eyes. “You’re more like a companion or a friend.”

He winced inwardly as he said it, wishing already he could take it back.

Esther didn’t seem to notice, she just looked at him without any emotion on her face. “I appreciate you feel that way. By the laws of the Empire, I am a possession, and cannot function without an owner.”

“Yes…” Tysen answered, still not sure what to say, and then he turned and looked at the crowd ahead, letting out a growl of frustration. “Why are there so blasted many people here?”

“It seems there is a blockage of some kind occurring,” Esther answered. “Do you wish me to check its source?”

“Go ahead.”

The Squire’s blue eyes took on a distant look for a moment, and then she refocused on him. “The transport workers who service this spaceport are currently on strike in support of a more general labor movement. All train and bus transport to and from this building is suspended, and there is limited taxi service with very long wait times.”

“Well, that’s a problem, isn’t it?” Tysen mused. The place they were going was far outside of the city, and it would be difficult to reach without transport. He expected that all the rental car units were also long taken.

Esther cocked her head, thoughtful. “Is there not another way? Air transport, perhaps?”

“Yes,” Tysen nodded. “Yes. That could work too. Let’s head for the…”

But before Tysen could finish, another voice cut in- “Excuse me, Lieutenant Tysen?”

Both Tysen and Esther turned to see a large, broad-shouldered man in a blue leather jacket and dress pants standing behind them. In his mid thirties, he had a large round face, with a sunburnt balding head ringed by two patches of fading blond hair.