The Empress Capsule (Audacity Saga Book 1), page 8
He hadn’t offered his last name, and yet Isa had plucked it out with barely a brushing sensation, so she was either quite gifted or very practiced in finding that specific information in those certain neural pathways, or both. He eyed her warily, wondering if he was missing another deft brush as the awkward handshake went on just a tad too long.
Isa’s brightly smiling face fell for a moment. Her head cocked to one side, then brightened again. “Well, you made it on the ship.”
His eyes widened. Oh, that did not bode well. “What?”
Isa glanced over her shoulder at the door, then back at him, her grin returning. “You’ve already impressed her,” she whispered conspiratorially. “She doesn’t bring people she doesn’t like onboard.”
“Who?”
A beep sounded at the hatch.
“Xi, door open,” Kael said quickly, not yet releasing Isa’s hand. Hand-shaking seemed more innocent than practically anything else he could think of, so he clung to that. He didn’t need to be thrown in the brig for something he hadn’t done before his first twenty-four had passed on the ship. The last time he’d been falsely accused had been traumatic enough for one lifetime.
The hatch slid open to reveal a fiercely scowling woman, thick tattoos running like racing stripes across the sides of her shaved head and flanking a narrow strip of long red hair secured back in a ponytail. She wore a black cargo jumpsuit with more pockets than his pack and—was that a studded leather jacket over it?
“Isa, holy hell, what do you think you’re doing?”
The girl whirled, still smiling. “Making friends,” she said. It wasn’t the voice of a friendly, innocent teen. It was a little more… creepy, like maybe she meant she was also planning his murder.
“I woke up to her staring at me,” he added quickly, holding up his flat palms.
“Get back to your room,” the woman snapped, stepping aside as Isa skipped away. The girl waved cheerily at Kael as she bounced down the hallway.
“Bye, Mr. Sidassian,” she called from out of sight.
“Salam, Isa.”
The leather-jacketed woman sighed. “Thanks, Xi.”
“You’re welcome, Engineer Lawson,” came the placid voice from the ceiling.
“Sorry about that,” said Lawson, jutting a chin out at him. “Kid’s harmless, but her curiosity might be the death of her.”
Kael opened his mouth to reply but didn’t get a word out.
“Oh, hello,” said another feminine voice over Lawson’s shoulder. The smooth and sultry notes from the hall contained far more interest than he’d received so far—or hoped to receive. He just needed to lie low.
Flawless skin and perfectly white, long hair came into view—a careful recreation of Capital elegance. Her eyes glowed an artificial violet outlined in rich black accenting their almond shape, gleaming with a disturbingly predatory sheen. The girl looked barely legal—and entirely unequipped for the chaos in someone like him.
“We were looking for the young Isa ourselves to begin studies.” A second woman, perhaps an older sister to the first, peered around the wall and into his hatch, eyes also evaluating but far more detached. Her accent was also smooth and toward the front of the mouth—probably both from Capital.
He ignored the Capital types and directed his comments only to the leather jacket. “I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that what she did was seriously dangerous. Not every Theroki is like me. And she really should stay out of my head. It’s… not a place for kids.” He shuddered to think. His chip malfunction—well, sabotage was probably a better word, even if he’d been a willing subject—was rather harmless compared to what could have happened if different areas had been damaged.
“Yeah, no shit. She’s more dangerous than she looks, though.” Lawson glanced down the hallway after Isa, then at the Capitals, then back at him with a vague expression of finding them all excessively trying.
“She’s certainly fearless. Are you two related? I’m Kael, by the way.”
“She’s my kid,” Lawson said, pressing her lips together. “And for the record, her dad’s not here, and she doesn’t need a new one. Also no, I won’t teach her to stay in her cabin. Already beyond failed at that.” She paused, squinting at him.
He only stared in response. It was too early in the morning for this shit.
Lawson’s expression softened at his lack of reaction. “I’m Bri, chief engineer on this pointless exercise in self-flagellation stuffed into a tin can barreling through space.”
“Don’t let her gruff exterior fool you,” said the youngest smoothly, her eyes brightening as his gaze locked with hers momentarily. “She’s quite a good engineer, and there’s nowhere else in the galaxy she’d rather be.”
He considered a fierce expression to frighten the girl away… but he had a feeling such an attempt would backfire. Hell, this ship was a fragging minefield.
Bri gave the Capital girl a fiery glare. “Only because this ’verse is a flaming pile of dog shit. Not a lot of competition.”
“How many engineers are there?” he said instead, definitely wanting to avoid that topic. It hadn’t seemed like that big of a ship.
“Just me.”
“So you’re chief of yourself.”
“Yep. And I’m the best engineer on the ship too, as far as you’re concerned. Got a problem with that?”
“Um, nice to meet you too,” he muttered.
“Ladies, I don’t think viewing hours at the ship zoo begin until 0800,” came Ryu’s cool voice from out in the hallway.
Immediately, they all straightened and turned toward her at attention, or something very like it. A decent reaction to raise out of nonmilitary types. He found himself smirking.
“Isa started it, Commander,” said Bri.
“I don’t doubt it. But shall we perhaps leave our passenger alone this early in the morning? I’m sure you find him ogle-worthy, but the coffee isn’t even done yet.”
Ogle-worthy? His smirk melted into a grin. The young Capital flushed but also sneered in Ryu’s direction; the older one looked vaguely irritated. Bri rolled her eyes.
“Yeah, whatever,” Bri muttered and stormed away, in the opposite direction that Isa had gone. The fine and graceful ladies skittered the other way, after Isa, long robes swirling.
Commander Ryu appeared in the doorway. “Sorry about that.”
He shrugged. “It’s fine. Not every morning you wake up to being mind-violated in your sleep by a fourteen-year-old, but you know. I’ve seen worse mornings.”
“I’ll bet you have,” she said softly. Her eyes flicked over his torso, not missing his scars. He wondered if the young Capital had noticed them the way Ryu did. Ryu might have some idea how costly each one had been. A desire to get her to inspect them more closely hit him, and for the first time, he didn’t feel surprised at the thought. Just more space noise to ignore, he told himself.
“Isa is… unusual,” she said into what had become a rather long, if comfortable silence. “My apologies. I’ll talk to her. Don’t get your hopes up, though. Did she want something specific?”
“To make friends, she claimed,” he said, barely repressing laughter.
The commander snorted. “Typical. And to think puberty’s only just started.” Her eyes lit up a little with her own faint touch of amusement.
He laughed. “You run quite the unusual ship, Commander.”
“You don’t know the half of it.”
“Puberty-related thoughts did not seem to be on her mind.”
“She pretty much mines people for information. I should kick her off, but Bri is a damn near irreplaceable engineer. I won’t hold it against you if you need to… take evasive maneuvers.”
He winced. “And… what kind of information does she look for?”
“What kind of information were you looking for when you were fourteen? While she wouldn’t have acted on it, she probably showed up so quickly because you would be… ‘an unusual data source.’ Her words, not mine.”
He snorted, but then remembered the way Isa’s face had fallen just after he’d thought about the chip—and Vala. What had the girl seen exactly? Ugh. “You don’t object to her behavior? I’m surprised.”
“Oh, I do. I’ll give her a stern talking-to. It just hasn’t worked in the past. She’s convinced of the morality of her actions, as long as she rarely shares what she ‘discovers.’ ”
“Rarely?”
“I’ve only seen it done once, in a dire situation, but I suppose you never know. I wouldn’t think about your mission while she’s around.”
He risked a slight glare at her. “You could have warned me.”
She smiled slightly. “Of what? The curious teenager that will likely scar herself by perusing your memories of past sexual exploits and then vanish into her books again?”
“You know what I mean,” he said, narrowing his eyes further.
“If you’re thinking I didn’t mention her so I could use her to get whatever facts I wanted out of you, put that idea out of your head. She’s no one’s tool, least of all mine.”
“Of course, you’re right, Commander. I’ll just take that at face value and not question it for a minute.” He tried to keep his smirk friendly to soften the sarcasm.
“Look, I didn’t come here to harass you before breakfast either. I wanted to let you know we’ll be touching down on Elpi VI at 1500. There’s some Ursas in need of medical care during a brief cease-fire, and we’ve managed to pick up a freelance security contract in the area.”
“Freelance?” So they were mercenaries, just like him. That made a certain sense.
“Hey, someone’s gotta pay our healthcare bills. If you want to join us, I’ll count it as a third of your passage. Briefing for that is at 1300. No skin off my back if you want to stay and cower inside the ship.”
He smiled crookedly at her. “Stay and cower? Really, Commander, you must want my help.”
She frowned.
“Do you taunt all your able-bodied passengers into assisting with freelance contracts?”
“Only the ogle-worthy ones. Need them to look pretty for clients.”
“Obviously.”
“Yes, obviously. Also the ones without credits to pay their passage.”
“Excellent point.”
“The briefing is not optional if you want to fight. Or at least walk around and look ominous and threatening. You are verifiably good at that.” Enough sarcasm dripped from her voice that he wasn’t sure what she meant and what she didn’t. Before he could tug more out of her, she slammed the hatch control, and it slid shut as she walked away.
He paused for a moment, thinking. “Xi?” he asked the empty room.
“Yes, Passenger 6A?”
“You can call me Kael.”
“Acknowledged. Kael.”
“Is there a way to lock the door to this cabin? And was it locked?”
“Yes, there is a locking mechanism, but no, you did not engage it. Do you wish for me to set up an automatic locking routine based on your location?”
“Uh, sure? What would that entail?”
“The most basic default configuration is that the ship will lock the door when you are in the room and not lock it when you are not.”
“That would be great.” He got up, looking for where he’d thrown his shirt. Oh, there it was, in the corner.
Ryu seemed like the orderly type. Did she fold everything perfectly to specification and set it back in a designated drawer even on her own private vessel? Hang things neatly in perfectly spaced rows? Kael could never have made it in any military other than the Theroki one, if it could even be called one. As he pulled the shirt on, something occurred to him.
“Xi, did Isa use the door to enter my cabin?”
“No, she did not.”
His mouth fell open. “How did she enter then?”
There was a pause. “I apologize, but you are not approved to access this information about the ship and its structures. Would you like me to request access?”
Oh, that would really freak them out. “No, no. Just, uh, good to know. I would rather not have someone do that. Can you tell me right away next time if they do? Even if I’m not in my cabin?”
“Acknowledged. I will add it to the locking routine and create a security profile.”
“Sounds fancy.”
There was another pause. “Would ‘thank you’ be an appropriate response in this instance?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you. I also appreciate your willingness to enhance my young conversational algorithms.”
“You’re welcome,” he muttered, sure she would hear him. Private cabin or no, this ship was not turning out to have much privacy of any kind at all.
He glanced at the utility cabinet. Bending down, he checked the canister, but it was still in its hiding place. He needed to go on that mission, but it was just large enough it’d be hard to store in his armor without a pack. He could leave his grenades behind and put it in there, but that cavity could launch whatever was inside it a hundred yards. He wouldn’t command it to, but on the off chance his armor got hacked… or he got seriously injured…
What was the alternative, leaving it onboard? That didn’t seem like a good idea either. He’d have to try the grenade cavity.
How much of a problem was it that the girl could discover the capsule? And worse, its true purpose? Its identity, if it had one yet? He’d have to hope Ryu was right and the girl was more interested in bedroom exploits than mission details. And he’d have to keep his thoughts about it to a minimum and not give her a trail to follow.
Perhaps he’d have to focus on the commander a little more and the mission a little less. For secrecy’s sake, of course. His dedication to mission secrecy was absolutely the only reason.
He laughed out loud and went rummaging in his pack for something to eat.
Chapter Four
“You still should have consulted us, Commander,” grumbled Dr. Levereaux. “There’s a lot of risk inherent in having a Theroki aboard.”
Ellen pressed her lips together and glanced over at Dr. Dremer, who was not paying any of them any mind, her attention focused on her tablet. Dremer and the other two women sat around the polished white quartz table in the ship’s conference room. The metal of the walls lent tension to the pair of serious glares in Ellen’s direction. Dremer glared instead at something or other in her files.
To prepare for the coming mission, she’d gathered the three Foundation scientists into the briefing room early to make sure she had their opinions, not to talk about the Theroki. But perhaps she should have expected it. Levereaux wasn’t the best at handling risk. She liked everything pinned down, like the many moths, beetles, and butterflies on display on her cabin wall.
“It’s worth the risk to be certain he’s not smuggling something from the Enhancer lab we hit. And besides, Dremer approved it,” Ellen said, since the woman wasn’t speaking up.
Dr. Dremer looked up at the sound of her name. “What? What did I approve?”
“You agreed to bringing the Theroki onboard?” Levereaux demanded. She leaned her elbows onto the table, pressing Dremer to pay attention. Unfortunately for her current goal, her Enhancer-designed beauty and perfection of form had little effect on Dremer, with all her study of such engineering and its effects. “He could kill us all.”
“We can handle him,” Ellen put in, not that they were listening.
Dremer smirked, only focused on her tablet again. As usual, the scientists mostly ignored Ellen in their discussions, not out of disdain or disrespect, but just because they had so much more to argue with each other. “Listen, Rach. With the modifications made to his chip, I’d say he’s more likely to try to bed us all than kill us at this point.”
Levereaux raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me? A Theroki?”
“This one’s no eunuch. Or at least, someone turned off that bit of programming for now. Did you find out how that happened, Commander?”
Ellen shook her head. “No.” She hadn’t tried, though. Yet. She would respect that area of privacy for now, until it became necessary or his mission clearly posed a problem. That respect was probably naive and the thing these ladies should truly be concerned about, but none of them thought like intelligence officers. Unfortunately.
Ellen lacked that on their current crew, in spite of all the high IQs and advanced degrees of study. Simmons and his intel people were good, but they weren’t here on the ship to remind her of and poke at her flaws. She didn’t prefer it that way; more intel was already on the list of recruitment needs.
“And that’s supposed to make me feel better?” Levereaux rolled her eyes.
Dremer sighed, finally thumping the tablet on the table. “With his configuration, having operated with an emotion-and-desire-suppressing chip for at least five or ten years, maybe fifteen or more if he enlisted early? Imagine if you never felt hungry. Or thirsty. For a decade. And then it came back. The cognitive load of all those interruptions would be significant.”
Levereaux clenched her jaw. Dr. Taylor, who had yet to say anything, smiled, recognizing the signs as Ellen did that Dremer had already won. “You didn’t mention brownies in the cafeteria, though,” said Levereaux. “You mentioned beds. Or should I be concerned about our food supply too?”
“Hunger isn’t the only urge he’s recently regained access to,” Dremer said, eyes sparkling. “And if I know men—and I do—I know which one will be the hardest to control. Although I am not sure I’d recommend any of us taking him up on relieving any of those urges without thoroughly considering the risks and knowing more about his mission.” Her eyes flicked straight at Ellen.
“What? Why are you looking at me?” Ellen growled.
“Oh, you know. You’re the alpha wolf here. If I know anything about wolves—”
Taylor snorted. “You know that’s all bunk, right? Humans are much more like baboons than wolves. And the original wolf behavior research was refuted by its own author. And yet! It refuses to die.” Ellen was happy to listen to their resident expert in the human mind over a woman who loved replacing human body parts with synthetic ones any day.
