Star Road Page 29

  “What happened here? At the camp? Where are my men?”

  “Your men?” Kyros let out a sharp burst of laughter. “Brother, you betrayed your men. You double-crossed us all.”

  Ivan shook his head.

  “I did no—”

  “You sold us out to the World Council.”

  Well, that game’s over. Time to put all the cards on the table.

  And as he stared at the lifelike holo, he realized that something else had changed about Kyros. Something internal, not visible.

  And in his gut, Ivan knew his brother was much more dangerous.

  No point in pretending.

  “You’re right. I made a deal.” It took considerable effort to keep his voice neutral. “Not just for my life, but for all of our lives.”

  Kyros’s laughter rose even louder, the sound swelling.

  Insane.

  His face turned bright red.

  “You don’t fucking get it, do you, brother?”

  “Get what?”

  “That you no longer command the Runners. I do.”

  “Hang on. Listen. We’ve been granted a pardon—total amnesty. All of us. We’re free to go anywh—”

  “Anywhere except wherever the hell we want to go on the Star Road.”

  Kyros’s face was livid now.

  “All along—as soon as you got yourself captured, I suspected you’d do this.” Kyros trembled, staring straight into the camera lens. “That’s why we had to set a few examples along the way to prove that the Runners weren’t broken.”

  Kyros’s tongue snaked out of his mouth.

  “That we aren’t all gutless traitors.”

  “The pack of warrows in the way station?” Ivan said. “Looked pretty gutless to me.”

  “They did the job we wanted done.” Kyros took a deep breath. Shifted in the massive seat.

  “And you—I don’t need your approval, brother. In fact, there’s only one thing I need that you have.”

  Kyros gripped both chair arms tightly as he glared into the camera.

  Has he really gone insane? Ivan wondered.

  “And what would that be?”

  “Send me Nahara within two hours, or you and everyone on board that bucket of bolts will be incinerated.”

  “No,” Ivan said sharply. “First, we talk. You and me. Face-to-face. Then you can have Nahara.”

  “You don’t have any cards to play here!”

  “I have Nahara.”

  Kyros, wide-eyed with rage, veins throbbing in his neck, pounded his console. Then he leaned back in his chair and rubbed his cheeks with the flats of his hands. When he gazed up at the ceiling, the view of the hologram made it look as if his eyes had rolled back in his head, exposing nothing but the whites.

  Madness.

  Finally: “All right then, brother. We’ll talk.” A hollow laugh. “Maybe you can convince me to accept this amnesty of yours.”

  As if I can’t tell he wants to kill me the instant he sees me, Ivan thought.

  “Where are you?”

  Ivan still couldn’t make out his brother’s surroundings. He shifted back and forth while gazing at the hologram, but the image held tight on Kyros.

  His brother smiled.

  “See that cave opening due west of the settlement?” A pause. “Let me send you coordinates.”

  He turned around and tapped something on a keypad out of sight.

  Ivan glanced at Annie, who checked the readings and then pointed toward the range of mountains off to the port side.

  “Got it,” she whispered.

  Ivan felt a nudge on his shoulder and, turning, saw Jordan pointing to another screen, scanning the rocky slope that towered into the green-tinged sky.

  After a few sweeps, the movement stopped.

  He saw something—a dark, gaping opening.

  “You’re in the old mine? I checked that out a long time ago.”

  “You didn’t check carefully enough,” Kyros said. “That’s your problem. You quit too easily, Ivan.” A beat. “Wait and see.”

  And there was that loud, braying laugh again.

  “So what are you waiting for? Come on up and visit me. Alone!”

  “You know better than that,” Ivan replied.

  “You want to bring your friends along? Fine. Dangerous cave, though. You never know what might happen.”

  With that, Kyros leaned forward, his arm moved, and then the hologram dissolved in a static-filled hiss.

  “Well,” Ivan said, straightening up. “That’s my brother.”

  Neither Annie nor Jordan said anything.

  Then he added: “What say we go find the bastard.”

  ~ * ~

  35

  EXPEDITION

  Jordan knelt down on one knee, his face close to Nahara’s. The man’s breath, like sour vinegar, was warm on his cheek.

  “You nice and comfy there, you worthless piece of shit?”

  He grabbed Nahara’s right arm and raised it until it was level with his shoulders. Then he let it drop. It sounded like a dead fish hitting the floor when it slapped down on his lap.

  Jordan would have paid money to haul off and punch the guy— repeatedly—until his face looked like strawberry marmalade.

  Someone came up behind him and tapped him lightly on the shoulder. Jordan sprang to his feet and turned.

  Annie frowned at him as she leaned away.

  “You’re above taunting a prisoner,” she said.

  Jordan grinned. “Just making sure he’s secure, Captain.” He looked back at Nahara. “And I’m not keen on leaving him here like this.”

  “You got a better idea? Looks like the collar’s working.”

  “Kill him? Say he was trying to escape.”

  Annie shook her head. “Like I said. You’re better than that. Come on. We’re ready for the EVA.”

  Jordan looked at her. Then back at Nahara.

  “In a minute,” he said.

  After she was gone, Jordan went to the supply compartment and took out a length of nylon rope. He quickly bound Nahara’s hands and feet to the seat supports.

  Once that was done, he straightened up and said, “Stay nice and snug until I get back. Okay?”

  And then—for good measure—he punched Nahara once in the face.

  Hard enough to make something in his face or neck crack.

  ~ * ~

  “Grab as much of that filament line as you can find,” Ivan said. “And full spectrum goggles if you have them. Gonna be dark.”

  “Lemme check,” Annie said, and she hurried out of the storage and back to the passengers’ cabin.

  “That was McGowan’s,” Sinjira said, indicating the loops of filament line Ivan had picked up.

  “He’d probably be glad to see it put to good use.”

  He—along with Annie, Jordan, Ruth, Rodriguez, and Sinjira—were scrambling around the SRV’s cargo hold, suiting up and equipping themselves for the hike up to, and into, the cave where his brother was waiting.

  Waiting ... for what? To trap them and kill them?

  So it’s down to this ... brother against brother.

  And then: What’s he got waiting for us up there?

  “We’re going to have to be on our toes,” he said. “We have no idea how many Runners are up there or how hard they’ll fight for my brother. If I can talk to them ... convince them that—”

  “They can talk to this,” Jordan said, slapping the butt of his pulse rifle as he entered the cargo area. He had double holsters strapped to his waist, each slinging a meg-10 pulse pistol with extra chargers.

  Imposing.

  Got any flash grenades... maybe a nuke to go with that? Ivan thought but didn’t say.

  No use antagonizing the man he was going to count on most. He already seemed on edge about something.

  “I’m sure you’ll get your chance,” Ivan said calmly.

  Then he turned to An
nie. “What other equipment do we have?”

  “What do we need?”

  Ivan made a quick inventory of what they had so far: lights, helmets, goggles, filament line and collapsed grappling hooks, flashlights, dehydrated food packs, canteens of water, and guns ... plenty of guns and chargers for everyone, except Ruth and Sinjira. Both of them refused to be armed.

  Probably safer that way.

  Good to know one’s limits.

  “We can take on an army,” Annie said, but Ivan wasn’t reassured.

  He couldn’t get rid of the nagging feeling that they’d forgotten something... something vital.

  He also wished he had been able to convince Ruth to stay behind with the SRV and keep watch on Nahara.

  “You’ll be safer,” he had said more than once. “Lock the hatch until we get back. No one will bother you.’”

  But she had refused ... insisted.

  Jordan, too, appeared to be rattled that she was coming along. Ivan wondered—again-—what there might be between them ... and if it was over.

  As for Sinjira, he could understand why she’d want to tag along. She’d be recording her ass off. There were few—if any—chips available of firsthand explorations on distant planets. Add the chance for a firefight, and it could be a classic chip.

  And Rodriguez?

  Come along or stay behind—either way, he’d be more hindrance than help.

  Jordan, Annie. He could trust them with his life. He had already.

  “I’m still not sure why we’re doing this,” Annie said as she returned to the cargo hold. She tightened a belt of pulse chargers around her waist.

  “We have—” She looked around, making sure no one else could hear them. Then she leaned closer and whispered, “We have the data crystal your brother wants. I don’t see why we don’t wait him out. Make him come to us.”

  Ivan shook his head.

  “Hell,” Annie said, “we could start back to Earth today. Right now. Give the data crystal to the World Council. Deliver Nahara to them. Explain what happened. They’d get a couple of troop ships out here pronto. Enough to bring the whole damned mountain down on his head.”

  She took a breath.

  “We don’t have to do this.”

  “And if Kyros leaves? What if he plans more attacks on other stations ... or an ambush for us? Can we even get away if we want to?”

  Another shake of his head.

  “I doubt it,” Ivan said.

  Annie hesitated. Then: “I certainly don’t like the idea of civilians coming along. This isn’t some damn picnic.”

  “But they’re not your responsibility anymore. They’re not on your ship, so you can’t tell them what or what not to do. Better that they’re with us than alone.”

  Distracted for a moment, Ivan shifted his gaze over to Sinjira, struck for a moment by just how beautiful she looked as she raised her arms above her head and stretched her shoulders back to heft a backpack with Rodriguez’s help.

  She caught Ivan looking at her and shot him a wide smile.

  “And Rodriguez,” Annie was saying. “At least he’s on official business. But we’ve seen how totally useless he is in a pinch.”

  Ivan grinned at that. Then he double-checked his weapons belt and adjusted his backpack.

  He smiled at Annie and said, “Come on. It’s time to meet my brother.”

  ~ * ~

  Rodriguez started having second—and third and fourth—thoughts as they trudged in single file up the winding mountain trail.

  The wind blew dust into his face. It stuck to his arms and clothes with a slick, oily feel. The green sky was filled with towering yellow clouds that, for all he knew, meant a storm might be coming.

  Let’s get into that fucking cave and get this over with.

  Delgato was leading them ... of course.

  Even on the steep trail, Ivan walked with a swagger that Rodriguez found irritating.

  He’s a criminal!

  No matter—he was about to learn the truth behind the cover story of a plague on Omega Nine.

  The problem was, without getting his final briefing pod when they were on Hydra Salim, he—like the rest of them—had no idea what they were walking into.

  And for all he knew, it would be a lot worse than any plague.

  He noticed how close Ruth stayed to Ivan.

  Following Ruth was the Chippie, who remained blessedly silent, for the most part, as she looked around, recording everything she saw, heard, smelled, and felt.

  The SRV captain—Annie—was next, and behind Rodriguez, Jordan brought up the rear.

  Whenever Rodriguez glanced over his shoulder at the gunner, he saw the man carrying his pulse rifle at the ready, swinging it from side to side as he scanned the area.

  Wary ... like a hunting warrow ...

  And what the hell am I doing here?

  Without final orders, his first priority would have been to get back to the way station. If the message system was intact, he should send a message back to the World Council and get them to clarify his orders.

  I’m out here because it’s clear now what killed everyone on Omega Nine.

  Kyros and the Runners.

  He kept thinking this as he trudged along, placing one foot in front of the other with mind-numbing monotony.

  ~ * ~

  More than three Earth hours of hiking passed under the blazing hot sun.

  The clouds had long since blown away, and the emerald sky was clear.

  Ivan looked up at the larger of the twin pock-faced moons hovering low on the horizon. A thin, ivory sickle. He took a breath, but the air was hot and dry, burning the insides of his nose.

  He kept checking to see how Ruth was holding up, surprised by her stamina.

  More guts than I’d expected.

  The extra gravity was weighing them down, and he could see how exhausted she was.

  But she never complained or even asked to stop for a rest.

  Not until the others did.

  The cave mouth, nearly halfway up the mountain—their destination— came in and out of view as they moved.

  Years ago, when the Runners first established a base here, Ivan had come up with an exploratory party, but they hadn’t found much of interest.

  Just a large limestone cave that some indigenous life form used as a den.

  But then we didn’t go very deep.... We didn’t go all the way in.

  And Kyros found something.

  Finally, exhausted, they arrived at the ledge outside the cave just as the sun began slipping below the distant horizon. The sky was a deeper green now.

  Ivan was surprised to see evidence of activity up here.

  Debris ... piles of dirt and huge chunks of castaway stone were piled outside the entrance.

  “Good place for an ambush,” Jordan said, the last to join the group.

  Ivan shook his head.

  “He wants us... me, anyway, alive. Knowing my brother, I’d say he’s not likely to go for a direct assault.”

  “Why’s that?” Annie asked.

  Like Jordan, she never stopped looking around, as though she expected an attack at any moment.

  “For one, we have what he wants. You have it, right, Annie?”

  She nodded and patted a pants pocket.

  Ivan thought to ask her if he could see it. Just to make sure.

  Trust.

  But he wouldn’t put it past her to bring a fake.

  Maybe that’s what he would have done.

  “And two. He knows he has us on his terms.”

  Jordan took a breath, clearly not happy with that. The gunner looked like he was about to say something, but instead he simply looked at Ivan, then away.

  Ivan made a show of checking his weapon and then addressed the group.