AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You were right but Theo’s working on another plan now.”
“Your friend who’s so excited about what’s in the cargo hold?” The girl’s voice was dismissive. “My dad did the same thing. My mom said he was obsessed.” She stumbled over the word. “That means crazy.”
“He was thinking too much about it maybe but I’m sure he wasn’t insane,” Jayna said. “He still loved you and your mother. Remember Nishagwaq was working on him too. But Theo’s on guard now—he didn’t know what was happening before. None of us did.”
“We didn’t at first either. Then it got really bad.” Angelee rubbed her forehead. “I can’t remember too much about all of it.”
“Don’t try. honey, not right now.” Jayna wished she could hold the child and offer real comfort for her grief. "You didn’t see all of it happen though, right? You were in the stasis pod?”
Angelee set the dolls down and went to the bed to retrieve the lovey. Jayna knew she’d been able to affect the physical environment on the ship before, maybe drawing on Nishagwaq’s power. “The pod was in sick bay. My mom said the pod came with the standard module, whatever that means. One of the new crew members wanted it for himself and my mom shot him. Then she put me inside, gave me a kiss and promised she’d wake me up later.” The hologram’s face crumpled as tears poured down the child’s face. “Only she didn’t. It was Nishagwaq, in my dreams kind of, like nightmares. I sleep mostly, but sometimes like now I can get out in my mind and wander. Nishagwaq says my games and songs amuse her.”
“Listen we’re going to take you with us when we escape,” Jayna said, not sure how much longer the apparition could remain. “Where exactly is your pod in the cargo hold? Do you know?”
“Next to her.” Angelee made a face as if she was tasting a sour fruit. “I don’t want to be there but I can’t move the pod. Only small things like my toys and books.” She came closer to Jayna. “I tried to warn all the people who came on board, all the different times, but no one listens until it’s too late.”
The stuffed animal dropped to the deck and bounced.
Angelee was gone.
Scooping up the toy, Jayna said to the empty room, hoping the child could hear her, “We’re going to put an end to this, I promise.” She headed out of the captain’s suite, carrying the toy, which she compressed as much as she could and tucked into the biggest pocket on her utilities where it made an unsightly bulge. Jayna was determined to place the lovey into Angelee’s arms as she and Theo carried her off this cursed ghost ship and made their escape.
Theo sat in the captain’s chair on the flight deck and stared at the notebook, sitting innocently on the wide arm. He nudged it with his forefinger and felt a slight tingling in his hand. The urge to open it was growing stronger by the minute. He could reread Captain Herron’s excitement over the great prize he’d brought on board and all the man’s dreams for the future riches he thought he’d gained. It would be so easy to slide into the narrative again as he had before, with himself front and center as the new owner of the Ancient Observer treasures.
Disaster for himself and the other people on board would result.
Drawing a deep breath, he checked on Paxter, who was in his pilot’s chair, rocking back and forth to the beat of the music on his handheld. Theo had checked the course himself five times already and the ship was aimed for Najie Three, although he couldn’t imagine Nishagwaq wanted to go there. She’d had some destination in mind before the salvage crew arrived. He found it odd she could affect many of the ship’s simpler mechanisms, like doors and lifeboat clamps, and even the LB’s engine, but apparently was unable to affect the main engines or the navigational systems. She needed humans to do that for her. So far Paxter was resisting, pulling on shreds of the discipline he usually claimed.
Idly he wondered if the Mebsuta C had had an artificial intelligence whether the outcome would have been different. Could the alien’s uncanny powers affect an AI? Probably not one like Maeve, the huge, complex personality who was the Nebula Zephyr. But even Maeve must have hidden dreams and desires Nishagwaq could work on. She was too advanced and too sentient not to.
All right, Knox, you’re stalling. To some extent he was afraid to risk another bout of influence from their alien nemesis, although he trusted Jayna to break him free of it again, but also he was reluctant to check the one small detail in the notebook which might offer a sliver of hope. If he was wrong about this, they might as well all go to medbay and take an overdose before Nishagwaq could kill them and surrender was not in his nature. Or Jayna’s. Where in the seven hells was she? It shouldn’t have taken this long to tuck Turner into her cabin, poor kid.
Theo pushed away his fear for Jayna and the impulse to go out right now and search the ship for her. She was tough, she knew the situation and she’d be here as soon as she could. He needed to be ready to do his part.
With a grunt he scooped the notebook up and began skimming the early portion, before the Mebsuta’s last voyage under Herron’s control. It was surprisingly hard not to slip into reading every word and reliving the first captain’s experiences. The man had been a damn fine writer. Could have had a career writing books and trideo scripts if he hadn’t been a small-time freighter captain. Theo could so easily relate to a lot of Herron’s story, especially the part where he got out of a Sector prison after doing hard time for smuggling runs. He got the feeling the Sectors only uncovered part of all the shady dealings the captain had done or the authorities of the time wouldn’t have paroled him.
But his girlfriend, Angelee’s mother, had been waiting and the secret bank account on New Switzerland had been in her name so the feds never found it. The couple had bought the Mebsuta C and outfitted it and embarked on what they hoped would be a law abiding, good future enabling them to provide for their child and themselves.
Until they encountered Nishagwaq and her deadly distress call.
Excitement and hope rising, Theo kept skimming the now-familiar pages until he reached the part he was after. Almost a throwaway comment on Herron’s part but it had stuck with him. “Found it.”
“Sir?” Paxter swiveled to stare at him. Evidently he’d exclaimed more loudly than he realized.
“Never mind. As you were.” Theo needed Jayna now. He had to talk to her and plan. The two of them were the most in control individuals left in their small crew. Theo rose and paced around the bridge, staring at the deck intently, laughing to himself at how he must look. Fine, let Nishagwaq think he was slipping over the edge again if she was watching them. He’d completed two slow circuits of the bridge before deciding what he sought wasn’t there and was rubbing his chin contemplating where else it might be on the ship when Jayna walked in.
Chapter Seven
He intercepted her, taking her by the elbow and escorting her into the corridor. “I’ve got something to tell you. How about we go to the wardroom and grab a bite? You seem famished.”
“How can you tell?” She gave him a puzzled look but played along. “I have a new development to share with you too.”
Small talk was beyond him under the circumstances but as they were proceeding to the wardroom, he paused at the entrance to the lifeboat. Finger to his lips, he pulled Jayna inside with him and resealed the hatch behind them. “I’m hoping she can’t overhear us in here.”
Jayna sat on the nearest chair. “You first.”
“I found what I was hunting for in the captain’s notebook. The guy was a convicted smuggler you know and I guess he never strayed too far from his roots. When he was outfitting the Mebsuta C, he had a smuggling compartment constructed, using off the books labor. If we can figure out where it is, that may be our escape vehicle.”
“How does cramming ourselves into some secret compartment under the deck get us out of here?” she asked, forehead wrinkled.
