Tiger Honor, page 15
Maybe Min would rescue herself and save me the trouble. Unfortunately, I couldn’t count on that. Always plan for the worst, my family used to tell me. That had turned out to be excellent advice for this cruise. Ironic that I was using my family’s advice against my uncle. Besides, Hwan had utterly alienated Min. The moment he let his guard down, she’d be at his throat, and in the literal sense, too. So that was no good.
Quickly, I typed in an abbreviated account of our success, then left the message in draft mode instead of sending it to Hwan. If Jee happened to double-check later, I hoped he would think I’d made an honest mistake.
My palms were sweating. “While Captain Hwan has so much going on,” I said, trying for an authoritative tone, “we can save him some trouble by checking the captain’s office.” This was the kind of reasoning I might legitimately have presented to a squad of my own if I weren’t a jumped-up cadet.
There were so many things that could go wrong. Whatever mercenaries guarded the bridge might tell us that they’d already searched the office, or refuse to let us in. I was betting, however, that they hadn’t been given instructions to ransack the place, but simply to secure it.
Judging from Rokuro’s behavior, the mercs might be by-the-book types. I hoped the ones guarding the bridge didn’t include any unruly individuals. Surely Rokuro’s Captain Uchida wouldn’t be the sort to smash everything in sight? Probably not, if Uncle Hwan had done his job right. He would have given that task to only the most reliable of warriors.
I wished I could see Rokuro’s face. “If you insist,” they said in that maddeningly neutral voice.
“Sounds good to me,” Jee said, although he eyed me uneasily.
“Lead on,” Euna said briskly. “I’ll bring up the rear.”
Wordlessly, Rokuro dropped back to join her.
Euna rolled her eyes, then winked at me when Rokuro’s head was turned. I did, in fact, feel better knowing that I wouldn’t have a complete stranger at my back. Even if I didn’t know Euna very well, either. It was hard to believe I’d only been on the Haetae for a day. Less than a day, even.
My heart rate remained elevated as we made our way to the bridge, as if we might be attacked at any moment. It didn’t help that Jee startled at every small clank and groan that emanated from the ship. I had no way of knowing if the remnants of the crew had escaped and were planning an ambush. Especially since the fact that we were accompanied by one of the mercs made our allegiance clear.
We arrived intact, and the bridge looked entirely different this time. No fallen bodies, no miasma of combat and despair. Even the flashing red lights seemed less intense.
Four mercenaries stood watch. Their leader sported a different helmet than the others, with a mask in the shape of a grimacing…ogre? Demon? Regardless, it had a ferocious scowl and gleamed bright red. This must be Captain Uchida, I decided.
Rokuro thumbed their breastplate. I tensed and nearly transformed into a tiger, then rocked back on my heels as the other four mercs mimicked the action. This must be what passed for a salute among them.
They conversed in their own language. I had no way of knowing what they were saying, and I tried not to fidget. I cast a glance sideways at Jee, wondering if his training had included this language, or if he could get me a machine translation. Jee caught my eye and shook his head. No such luck, then.
Then I noticed Euna darting significant looks in my direction, trying to get my attention. I cocked an eyebrow at her. She mouthed a single word. I frowned at her in confusion. She did it again, then her face stilled into an impassive mask when one of the mercs looked her way.
I wished I could decipher her warning, but I wasn’t good at lipreading. I added it to the list of life skills, like ethics, that my family had failed to teach me. Clearly, the next time I saw the Matriarch, I would have to suggest some changes to the curriculum.
“State your request,” Rokuro said abruptly. “I’ll translate for you and Captain Uchida.”
I hadn’t realized that not all the mercenaries spoke Hangeul, the language of the Thousand Worlds. Uncle Hwan must have chosen Rokuro for their fluency, although whether that was to make communication possible or so Rokuro could spy on anything Jee, Euna, and I might say to one another was unclear. Maybe a bit of both.
“We’re here to check on the captain’s ready room and make sure everything is in good shape for Captain Hwan’s takeover,” I said, doing my best to project confidence. I faced the ogre-masked merc.
“ ‘Acceptable,’” Rokuro translated for Captain Uchida. “She says you must surrender your weapons. We can assure your safety.”
Euna’s mouth was set in a mulish scowl. She didn’t like this. I didn’t, either—it suggested that someone already found us suspicious—but I saw no alternative.
“We’ll get them back on the way out?” I asked, my tone challenging.
“ ‘Of course,’” Rokuro said for Uchida. Was it my imagination, or was Rokuro’s voice more toneless than usual?
With a sigh, I nodded at Euna. She handed over her glare pistol and chuckled darkly at the mercs’ baffled expression. It appeared they’d never seen anything like it, either.
“Your knife,” Rokuro added, surprising me. How did they…?
I’d completely forgotten about the knife that Aunt Sooni had given me. It hardly counted as a weapon, but I was reluctant to part with it. Even if I couldn’t trust my family anymore, I missed her. Giving it up felt like giving up one of the last things that tied me to my family.
Sighing again, I gave Captain Uchida my knife.
“Thank you for your vigilance,” I said to Uchida, fighting to hide my worry.
I’d learned the hard way that even a tiger can go down if they’re unlucky. And I didn’t want anything bad to happen to Jee or Euna, neither of whom had so much as a personal shield. But we were outnumbered, and the best way forward was to cooperate. For now.
The ready room was outside the office, but they were both marked by similar signs. It reminded me that I’d been to the captain’s office once before, when I’d tried—and failed—to have myself sworn in to the Thousand Worlds Space Forces. When I’d tried—and failed—to warn Captain Chaewon that I’d detected my uncle’s scent mark. I was haunted by the thought of how much would have turned out differently if I’d at least succeeded in the latter.
Still, I couldn’t alter the past. I just had to make sure of a better future.
I tried the hatch to the ready room. No luck. I assumed Hwan had the overrides, but I didn’t blame him for not handing them out, not even to his hand-picked guards. And it would definitely arouse his suspicions if I called him for access now.
“Jee,” I said, “can you get us in?” I did my best to sound casual.
“No problem,” Jee said with his usual cheer.
“You’ve got to teach me how you do that,” Euna remarked, watching as Jee pulled up a decidedly nonstandard program on his slate. “My parents didn’t approve of me fooling around with computers. Granted, that was because I spent all my time playing shooters. And I might have, uh, rewired my nini’s food processor into a makeshift glare pistol once or twice. For some reason my family and friends hated that.”
“It’s not hard,” Jee offered, “but you do have to know a lot about the protocols that they’ve coded into the system. Tell you what—if you show me how to rewire hardware, I’ll teach you some of my tricks.”
He continued talking amiably in geek jargon as his fingers spidered over the slate. There came an audible click, and the hatch whooshed open.
“Good work,” I told him, and he beamed at me.
“Impressive,” Rokuro said, a note of surprise in their voice. And to Euna: “You must show me some of those shooters sometime.”
“I could use someone to stand watch,” I hinted to Rokuro before they got too distracted. Even so, I felt a pang of envy. Aunt Sooni had been the only one in my family who played video games, usually the kind where you mauled hordes of the undead. Once in a while she’d let me sneak in a game, though she knew my parents disapproved.
“No one will get past the guards,” Rokuro said forbiddingly. “Or Captain Uchida.”
“How did she meet up with Hwan, anyway?” I asked as the others preceded us in.
“He spared her in battle,” Rokuro said, even more forbiddingly. “She pledged our clan’s loyalty to him in gratitude.”
Huh. Rokuro sounded like they didn’t entirely approve. That could be useful.
We crowded into the captain’s ready room. Given its size, it accommodated all four of us comfortably. There were only chairs for two people on this side of the desk. The captain’s seat was empty, of course, and I grimaced ruefully.
I listened to the swoosh of the hatch closing behind us, careful not to betray any sign of my anxiety.
For this to work, I needed to have as few witnesses as possible. Jee had to be here, because he’d make everything possible, and he and Euna were still Charmed. But I’d failed to get rid of Rokuro. The real problem was going to be whether I could fast-talk my way past all three of them—not one of my notable strengths.
“Jee,” I said, as nonchalantly as I could manage, “could you check to see if the top-priority messaging system is active?”
I held my breath. Normally, the captain or acting captain was the only one who could send top-priority messages. In theory, once we exited the Gate, it would broadcast an encrypted communication to everyone in the area. Any Thousand Worlds station or ship in the area that received it was obligated to relay it to Space Forces High Command.
It would be easier to send out a general distress call, but I was sure Rokuro would put a halt to that, even if Yi’s original briefing was accurate and there wasn’t any help nearby. I also didn’t want any enemies or pirates lurking in the area to be aware of our weakened state.
On the other hand, I was gambling that Rokuro didn’t know the emergency protocol. Which left the question of how long Jee and Euna would go along with me. I didn’t have a good sense of the limits of Min’s powers.
Indeed, just then Jee was shaking his head and mumbling, “What…what…?”
Oh no! Min’s Charm was wearing off—at the worst possible moment. I was confident of my ability to wrestle down Jee, but Euna had a fighter’s reflexes. In any case, I didn’t want to fight either of them if I could help it.
Rokuro barked something in the foreign language and drew their stunner.
Jee’s mumbling had given me just enough warning. Could I take Rokuro down before the guards outside heard signs of a struggle and intervened?
I flowed into my native tiger shape, gathered myself, and leaped for Rokuro, all in one smooth motion. Euna brought up her blaster but wavered with uncharacteristic indecision. She smelled strongly of confusion.
Where did she get that? I had a moment to wonder. Hadn’t she surrendered her glare pistol to the guards? I had to deal with Rokuro quickly, before Euna came to her senses and took me out.
I crashed into Rokuro and landed partially on top of them. Ouch! All those spiky protrusions on their armor hurt even through my thick layer of fur. And I still hadn’t entirely recovered from being knocked out by Yi’s trap.
Rokuro got off one shot anyway, and scrambled out from beneath me. A tiger makes for a large target, and the purple bolt caught me in the hind leg. My entire limb went numb, and I collapsed to the deck with a thud. So much for secrecy.
Then Rokuro wheezed something that sounded like “Reflex, didn’t mean it,” and went quiet.
How good is the soundproofing in here, anyway? I wondered. We were about to find out.
“Sebin!” Euna cried as I attempted to move my paralyzed leg. She shoved an alarmed Jee behind her to the cover of the desk, crouched, and fired not at Rokuro themself, but at their stunner.
Whatever her reasoning, it was the right decision. The stunner melted, running down Rokuro’s gauntleted hand in a foul-smelling ooze. It dripped down onto the carpet, leaving equally nasty-smelling scorch marks.
That gave me the opportunity to reach out with one of my forepaws—tigers are incredibly stretchy—and sweep Rokuro’s legs out from under them. The mercenary went down.
I shifted back to human form. “Secure Rokuro,” I said, surprised at how remote my voice sounded. “Euna, where did that blaster come from?”
“I was trying to tell you earlier,” Euna said breathlessly. “That brainwashing trick stopped working on me a while back. I figured I’d wait to see what you were up to and back your play, or not, as necessary. As for the blaster—please. I always have a spare in a hidden holster. You think I’d let the mercs take my only weapon?”
Jee, the only one who hadn’t been involved in the brief combat, was shaking. “Sebin,” he said plaintively, “what’s going on? Are you with Hwan, or—”
“Wait,” Rokuro croaked from where they’d fallen. Not unconscious after all.
Euna turned her blaster on them.
I held up one paw—no, hand—for silence as I strode to the hatch and pressed my ear to it. I didn’t hear anything. Was that a good sign or a bad one? Belatedly, it occurred to me that excellent soundproofing could work against us, too.
“Okay,” I said to Rokuro. “Speak.”
“I don’t want to be your enemy,” Rokuro said. “Hwan has gone too far. I didn’t realize how powerful the fox’s magic was. If Captain Uchida knew Hwan was brainwashing people like this, she would turn against him, too. I hope.”
Jee’s eyes flickered from Rokuro to me. “Fox’s magic?”
“We can trust Rokuro,” I said to Euna. “They smell sincere. Give me a second, Jee, and I’ll explain. Rokuro,” I went on, “why didn’t you tell your captain about what Hwan did?”
Was Rokuro squirming? “I thought you were under the fox’s thrall,” they said. “I didn’t want to have to fight you when it wasn’t your fault. I’m glad the enchantment wore off.”
All right, I couldn’t argue with that logic.
Euna raised an eyebrow but nodded and pointed her blaster at the hatch again.
I could have asked Jee to turn on a camera feed to the bridge so we could see what was going on out there, but I needed his attention on more urgent matters. “I only have time to go over this once,” I said, “so listen….”
I told the others my connection with Captain Hwan and his plot to hijack the Haetae. That Min was a gumiho, and she’d used her Charm not only on me, but on everyone else after Hwan blackmailed her. I didn’t mention that Yi had used me as bait. It felt too personal, and anyway, it wasn’t relevant to the present situation.
Jee blanched. Euna merely looked grim and commented, “If this were a shooting game, I’d be having the time of my life, but as it stands…No one’s going to believe us when we tell them we were on a hijacked ship during our training cruise. And it’ll be classified anyway, so I can’t draw a webcomic based on it….”
I rifled through the captain’s desk for anything that might be useful, feeling like an impostor. I didn’t find anything in my cursory search.
“What are you doing?” Jee demanded. “Do you know how much trouble—”
Euna had already figured it out. “We need every resource we can get,” she said. “Right? If we’re lucky, we’ll find more weapons.”
“I must agree,” Rokuro said, a tinge of worry coloring their normal monotone. “You can always apologize to your captain later. Euna, you should continue covering the egress. I will help with the search.”
“Sure,” she said, after a glance at me to make sure I approved.
I nodded agreement. “I imagine we’re not the first crew members to improvise,” I said dryly. I didn’t look forward to explaining this to Captain Chaewon. “Jee, I have something more important for you to work on.” I willed him to focus on my voice so he wouldn’t become even more rattled.
Whether it was my steady tone or he’d found some inner oasis of stability, Jee drew a deep breath, then nodded, biting his lip. “What can I do?”
“We need to get word out over the relay to Space Forces High Command.” To anyone who would believe us, really. “We can’t count on having access to the relay until we exit the Gate, so we’ll need to queue up the message.”
If anything, Jee paled further. “Who’s going to listen to a bunch of cadets?”
I grimaced. “One of the admirals is a relative of mine. Admiral Hasun. They might pay attention.”
“You must have a lot of relatives,” Euna observed in fascination. “Like my family, except we’re mostly grunts, not flag-officer types.” Her grin took the sting out of the words.
“Anyway,” I said with a rueful nod at Euna to acknowledge the comment, “I don’t know how to work the ship’s comms. Not to send a priority-one distress message to Command over the relay. But you do, Jee.”
Jee gulped. “I’ll—I’ll do my best.”
I stifled my frustration. We all depended on each other. There was no other way we could succeed. “I’ve seen you at work, Jee,” I said, doing my best to project confidence—in him. “We’ll guard the office so you can concentrate.”
Jee swallowed again and then nodded, his mouth firming. “I’ll do better than my best.”
I left Jee muttering to himself. “Rokuro,” I said, “can you feel out your captain by telling her about Hwan?”
“I can do that,” Rokuro agreed.
“Euna, are you able to get us a video feed of the bridge?” I asked. “I want to keep an eye on what’s out there. Rokuro, signal us if you need help.”
Euna’s eyes crinkled. “I’m second choice for this technical stuff, aren’t I?” she said. She holstered her blaster. “But I get it. We can’t risk Hwan taking anyone unawares. I mean, he has control of a real live Space Forces battle cruiser, and it wouldn’t be hard for him to spoof Captain Chaewon’s likeness over an outgoing video feed.”
A counterfeit image? That possibility hadn’t even occurred to me, but with modern computers…
“One would hope they’d have countermeasures for such things,” Rokuro observed as Euna navigated several menus on a slate she’d pulled from the captain’s desk. “Where I come from, people caught faking video footage are stuffed and mounted as museum exhibits.”
