Page 9 of Ghost Ship Numenon
KAHDREX
“Thefemalehas left your quarters,” Anima Numenon said. “And she appears irate.”
I crushed the flash of guilt. We had no other way to leave theNumenonalive, but I knew Maddie would reject my plan. I couldn’t even explain it to her—not while I assumed Anima would listen in.
This way, she gets to live. If she hates me, so be it—I refuse to watch her die when saving her is in my grasp.I walked faster, hoping to escape a confrontation, talking to the comm unit I’d salvaged from the remains of my hardsuit in a low, serious tone.
“If anything happens to her, our deal is over. I’ll die fighting my way to your core, and who knows how long you’ll need to wait for the next explorers to find you?”
“Youwoundme, C-captain. I have givenmyword, and she is perfectly safeinmycare.”
Her crew should have been safe, too, but I didn’t mention that.Avirwas close, and risking my escape by arguing would be foolish.
Around the last corner, I saw the airlock I’d docked at illuminated by flickering light. Beside it waited a pair of armored corpses carrying a crate between them. I winced at the thoughtof bringing them aboard, but that was the cost of doing business. Anima wanted to make sure I held up my bargain, it seemed. Not an idiot, then.
Wasting no time on discussion, I hurried to the lock and pressed my hand to the pad. “Open up,Avir.”
My ship took a moment to complete its biometric scan, then the door slid open. I tensed, ready to fight—getting aboard theAvirwas all Anima needed me for. From this point, I was useful but disposable to her.
Fortunately, while she was a mad AI, she was apparently a mad AI of her word. The shambling corpses carried their burden inside with no hostile moves, and I wondered if I could trust her with Maddie’s safety after all.
No point in worrying about it now, when I’d committed to this plan. I left the corpses to secure their cargo and climbed into the cockpit, where I rushed through a cut-down preflight checklist. As soon as I was satisfied the engines worked and the airlocks sealed, I hit the switch to disengage from theNumenon.TheAvirkicked off in a flash of thrusters, and I relaxed a fraction. Now that I didn’t have to worry about Maddie joining me, I worked on setting my course. I was half-done when the comms board lit up. The temptation to answer it was strong, and while I tried to resist, I could not.
The comms center hissed and crackled before the sound collapsed into a voice. Maddie’s voice, angrier than I’d ever heard her. “Where the fuck do you think you’re going, asshole? Come back here so I can cut your skin off and feed it to you!”
“I believe you would,” I said, impressed. Despite the unlikely threat, she sounded chillingly believable, and few people managed that. “It’s not the most compelling argument for coming back.”
TheAvirhadn’t drifted far, so I saw when Maddie reached the airlock I’d undocked from moments before. She met my gazewith a glare and slammed her fist into the transparent portal. The look in her eyes hurt worse than any weapon, and I tore my gaze away.
I also killed the comm. At best, talking would hurt my hearts, and at worst, it might distract me from my calculations. Better silence than that. Instead, I focused on completing the preflight check. Every light was green, every system functional. I saw no sign theNumenon’scurse infected my ship. All I had to do was vent the shambling dead and their cargo into space and I could go home and reap the fame and fortune I’d get for rediscovering the lost capital ship.
I allowed my mind to wander, imagining the medals, the rewards, the social standing I’d gain. The honor heaped on my family and my clan. It made a heady image, spoiled only by the emptiness at my side. No human stood there offering snarky commentary or trying to steal the silverware.
Our competition had been so intense I’d thought I hated her. Now, though, I knew the truth. I could not leave her behind. My life would be a gray and joyless thing without her, and now that I had tasted the delights of her company, I refused to go back to the lonely existence I’d had before.
With a sigh, I imagined what mother would say if I lost theAvirtrying to rescue the rival who’d been the bane of my life for so long. So be it—I was proud of my family, but not their slave. Maddie wasmine, and if mother or anyone else objected, that was their problem. Let them seethe.
The battleship receded into the distance as I let theAvirdrift away. No rushing, now. I needed to get this right and do it without alerting Anima too soon. If I powered up the scanners, she’d wonder why, so I leaned forward in my chair and focused on the faint returns the navigation sensors gave me. TheNumenondominated all of my sensors, butAvirwas a clever ship and a perceptive one. A hunter, a killer.
“What are youdoing, emissary?” The chorus of Anima Numenon’s voice came from all around me, an effect I hadn’t knownAvir’sspeakers could cause. Not wanting to give her the satisfaction of showing any surprise, I growled in response. “Why are youleavingso slowly?”
“This is more efficient with a modern drive,” I lied. “I need most of the batteries fully charged for a big jump.”
Nonsense, of course. Hyperdrives had changed little since theNumenonsaw service, but Anima shouldn’t know that.
“Fascinating,” she said without a pause. “I lookforwardto learning more. Please send me yourdrivespecifications.”
Well, there goes stealth. I slammed the throttle down. The gravity fields tried to compensate and failed. Acceleration jammed me back in my seat and the roar of blood in my ears drowned out anything Anima tried to tell me. One hand on the controls, I fumbled at the emergency panel with the other, uncovering the switch I’d hoped never to use.
A small screen showed me the hold. The shamblers hadn’t been braced or in acceleration seats. They hadn’t done as well as I had. Both lay on the deck, twisted and broken. Vertebrate necks should not bend like that, and for a moment I thought I’d killed them both.
Then they pulled themselves up, heads lolling horribly, and staggered toward the cockpit. The state of the mummified corpses within the armor was irrelevant, something I found all too easy to forget. Hoping it would buy me enough time, I sealed the hatch behind me. Every second counted.
There!I saw my target and swung the ship in a wild turn that voided theAvir’swarranties. I smiled at that thought. Succeed or fail, after this, warranties would be the least of my worries.
A loud thump announced the shamblers’ arrival outside the cockpit, the hardsuits pummeling the hatch with enough force that it buckled under their assault.Time to go,I thought, lockingin the course and watching the hologram display. My timing had to be perfect—missing by even a single heartbeat would be fatal.
Metal screamed behind me as the shamblers pried the hatch open. A glance over my shoulder told me I was out of time.
