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Chapter Six




“Oh, the Platinum Corsairs!” Aiko-One remarked once she and Nathan were both back in the Neptune Belle, seated in the mess hall. Beany lowered a branch to Nathan, but he waved it away, and the branch returned to the tree’s crown.

“Sounds like you know them.”

“You could say that. I have a copy-clan sister who ran with them for a while. Name’s Prinn Pratti. I don’t think she’s a member anymore, but I could reach out to her. Maybe she heard about these supposed kidnappers. Hell, if the incident actually did happen five years ago, then she might have been there.”

“Sounds solid enough. Give it a try.”

“Sure thing. I’ll send the message out, though who knows how long it’ll take us to hear back.”

“I’ll take anything that helps us sort out this mess. Even if it’s a long shot.”

“I hear you.” Aiko leaned toward him. “So, first Hugo Dirge and now this Joshua Cotton fellow. I wonder if there’ll be other interested parties if we wait long enough.”

“The sooner we offload her the better. And dumping her at the station is still the safest bet for us.”

“Didn’t sound like the cops were terribly interested, though.”

“Yeah.” Nathan slung an arm over the back of his chair. “If we hand her over, all they’re likely to do is stuff her in a cell for a month or so, then release her. They won’t even make the effort to come pick her up.”

“We could just let her go like Cotton wants.”

“But she tried to steal a spaceship!”

“From a group of scumbags who shorted us a grand and who may have their hands in human trafficking. And she hasn’t been officially charged for it, so the police don’t care.”

“I’ve been wondering about that last part,” Nathan said. “Maybe Dirge hasn’t pressed charges because he doesn’t want the police anywhere near his operation.”

“Or maybe so he can grab Vessani for himself?”

“There’s that, too.”

“Question is why.”

“Don’t know. All we got out of her is some fairy tale about a pentatech relic.”

“Could be true,” Aiko said, and Nathan gave her a doubtful sideways glance. “Could be,” she repeated.

“Here’s a question: How good a look did you get of Dirge’s ship?”

“Two and I inspected it before we left the refinery, but we were focused on making sure it was flightworthy. Why?”

“Anything stand out to you?”

“Not sure. Give me a moment.” Aiko paused to commune with her copies. “Two noticed the internal layout had been modified from the pattern standards.”

“In what way?”

“Some of the crew cabins looked like they’d been reinforced.”

“For the purpose of keeping people inside?”

“Possibly.”

“Hmm.” He wagged a finger. “That would track with Cotton’s story, then.”

“What did you make of Dirge’s offer?” Aiko asked.

“It stinks. I’m not biting.”

“I know that. But what would cause him to jump to five grand like it was nothing?”

“Something big.”

“Big like a tasty lead on a pentatech relic?”

“You wish,” Nathan scoffed.


“I heard back from Prinn,” Aiko-One reported early the next morning, joining Nathan in the mess hall.

“Oh, good.” Nathan looked up from his breakfast donburi. He was halfway through the small bowl of scrambled eggs and rice. “What’d she have to say?”

“That she was with the Platinum Corsairs during the time in question and even remembered an incident that might line up with Cotton’s story. The Corsairs have taken out a lot of illegal operations over the years.”

“Illegal from the Jovian perspective,” Nathan pointed out with a frown.

“Well, naturally. Anyway, Prinn recalled one mission where they liberated a young, female nekoan. She couldn’t give me any other details, unfortunately—not the girl’s name, age, or even what she looked like. She never interacted with the nekoan directly. That said, this nekoan served with the Corsairs for a brief period.”

“Really?” Nathan’s eyebrows raised in surprise.

“It’s not all that unusual. There are a lot of places Jovians aren’t welcome, so teaming up with a few meat sacks can be useful. Not every copy-clan is that open-minded, but a few are. The Corsairs ended up dropping this nekoan off somewhere on Saturn. Prinn wasn’t aware of any issues with her, but their next mission required sustained high gees, so they decided to shed their auxiliary organics.”

“So, to summarize,” Nathan said, “there’s no way for us to confirm the nekoan the Corsairs rescued and then hired was Vessani.”

“Not without digging deeper, like trying to reach out to the rest of the crew.”

“You think we’d have any luck with that?”

Aiko made a raspberry sound with her speaker. “Nope! Prinn helped us out because we’re family. She’s willing to overlook my deviant status, but we can expect the cold shoulder from anyone else.”

“I was worried you’d say that.”

“Thoughts?” she prompted.

“I’m leaning toward just dumping her off at the station.” Nathan set his spoon down and stood up. “It certainly sounds like the Corsair nekoan was her, but so what? That doesn’t corroborate the rest of Cotton’s story or prove she was justified in trying to steal Dirge’s ship or . . . or really anything. And it’s not like this is a life-or-death decision. She can suck it up and do her time in a Concord cell. They’ll let her out before too long, and we get to wash our hands of this whole affair.”

“I’m fine with that if you are,” Aiko replied neutrally.

“Then it’s decided.” He picked up his bowl and stood up. “I’ll put in a call to the station and arrange a drop-off.”

He took the freight elevator up to A Deck and shoveled down the last of his donburi on the way to the cockpit. Most of the ship’s systems were powered down, but the commect stayed on in case of incoming calls. He selected Sergeant Shawn Turner from the list of contacts.

“Hey, Nate,” Turner said after a short wait. “What can I do for you?”

“It’s about that nekoan. I’d like to arrange a drop-off time.”

“The nekoan? Oh, you mean S’Kaari!”

“The same.”

“Sorry, it’s been one of those mornings. My mind was on another problem.”

“I can bring her over right now, if you like. Or whenever. Just let me know what’s most convenient.”

“Yeah . . . about that,” Turner said, dragging out his words to indicate a problem.

“Something wrong?” Nathan asked, concerned by Turner’s change in tone.

“It’s actually good you called. I needed to talk to you about her anyway. I just received an update from the prosecutor’s office. Seems the charges against Miss S’Kaari have been dropped in their entirety.”

“Dropped?” Nathan glowered at the commect’s speaker. “That’s suspicious timing.”

“Whatever do you mean, Nate?” Turner replied coyly.

“Do you know why the charges were dropped?”

“No, but I wouldn’t get too worked up about this. Frankly, an annoyance like her isn’t worth our time.”

“Was a young man in to see the prosecutors?”

“We get a lot of people passing through here.”

“Blond hair, well-dressed. Had a refined air about him.”

“Maybe,” Turner admitted. “Might have seen someone like that.”

“And did this gentleman also happen to make a donation to the PLPD Retirement Fund?”

“Why, Nate, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Turner said, though his tone made it clear he knew exactly what Nathan was talking about.

“Right . . .”

“Look, the reason we needed to talk is you’re currently holding that woman against her will.”

“I caught her stealing a spaceship!”

“Maybe so, but the owner hasn’t pressed charges. That means you lack the authority to hold her. You wouldn’t want there to be a misunderstanding, would you, Nate?”

“Fine!” He shook his head. “I’ll go down right now and boot her off my ship. Would that make everyone happy?”

“It at least won’t make anyone upset. Something else I can do for you?”

“Not anymore,” Nathan griped.

“Then I’ll let you get back to it.”

Turner disconnected from the call.

Nathan slouched in the pilot seat and stared out the canopy with the empty bowl in his lap. He then pushed out of the seat with a grunt.

“At least she won’t be causing me anymore headaches,” he grumbled on his way down to C Deck.


Aiko-Two stood to one side of the Neptune Belle’s open cargo ramp, rifle in her hands, head swiveling back and forth in constant vigilance. Tedious, mundane tasks had never bothered her. Quite the opposite, in fact, since they gave her time to ponder the great mysteries of the solar system.

Such as if the Guardian Deities were still alive. Had they truly abandoned humanity? Or were they still around, somewhere, perhaps out there beyond the Kuiper Belt, fighting an endless war against the Devil of Proxima? Did the Devil even exist or was it pure myth?

Stuff like that.

Also, she wondered if Nathan liked her, because sometimes her mind bounced around like that.

The question was more complex than it first may have seemed. Clearly, they worked well together, and he respected both her contributions to their (kind of) duet as well as her opinion on important matters.

But how did he feel about her?

Hard to tell, she reflected.

She wasn’t sure how she felt, either. It had been a lo-o-o-o-ong time since she’d been organic. Not every Jovian child was elevated to the Everlife—only excellence deserves immortality, as the saying went—but she’d somehow made the cut, despite evidence of her deviant tendencies, even back that far.

Nathan hadn’t seemed all that remarkable the first time they’d met. Just another meat sack in a solar system overflowing with them. Sure, he’d helped her escape the smothering conformity of her home, but only because he was a man with a ship.

That didn’t make him special.

But there was just something about him that appealed to a deep part of her psyche. A certain eagerness to experience the unknown that gelled with her own sensibilities and her own reasons for leaving the Everlife.

And, as she had slowly come to realize, what she yearned for most was companionship. The copy-clans had failed to quench this need, leading to her deep dissatisfaction within the Everlife. But around Nathan she was content. Even happy. Happier than she ever remembered being on Jupiter.

Reproductive desires didn’t factor into the equation, of course. As a Jovian, she could replicate herself as much as she wanted, assuming she had access to enough spare bodies and her persona safe. But creating mirror images of herself wasn’t companionship. Not really. Not in the way she yearned for.

Plus, I love that hair, she thought.

It was really nice hair, even if she sometimes poked fun at the boring color. She found herself wondering what it would feel like to run her fingers through it. She wished he’d grow it out a bit more, though. That would make him even more dashing.

I really need to get a decent-looking body one of these days, she thought. Something that’ll turn heads.

Her cameras alternated between the two entrances to the docking bay.

A large, hulking silhouette appeared in one of them, and her cameras focused in. She recognized the divergent male almost immediately thanks to his green skin and black attire, though he’d swapped out his shirt and trousers for the armored pieces of what looked like a stripped-down hard suit. A heavy pistol hung from his belt.

“Can I help you?” she asked pointedly when the man stopped in front of her.

“I’m here on behalf of Mr. Dirge,” Broog replied.

“Yeah? What of it?”

“He’d like to know why your boss hasn’t returned his calls.”

“Because he and Captain Kade have nothing to discuss.”

“Mr. Dirge insists on talking to him.”

“What for?”

“He would like to make another offer for the cat.”

“The captain isn’t interested, and neither am I.”

“Is that your final position?”

“It is.” She bobbed her head toward the exit. “Now scram. Before I—”

Broog pulled out his pistol and fired from the hip. The first heavy bolt punched into Aiko’s abdomen, bowing her armor and throwing her back. The second exploded inside her, frying her secondary power systems. She tried to bring her own weapon up, but Broog kept firing, unloading ten shots into her in rapid succession.

She clattered back onto the ramp, then slid down it, smoke rising from the holes in her chest. She heard and felt the rapid pounding of several boots on the ramp as Broog ejected his spent magazine and slammed in a fresh one. At least three other Dirge Company goons hurried inside past her body.

Broog aimed the pistol at her head, and a toothy grin formed on his lips.

Her last thoughts were: Damn it, not again.


“Were those gunshots?” Vessani asked urgently, still in her cell.

“I don’t know.” Kade keyed the commect on his belt. “Aiko, what’s going on?”

“This is Six speaking; we’ve got trouble! Two is down, and hostiles are in the ship! I’ve called One back to the ship, but it’s going to be at least twenty minutes until she gets here.”

“Where are you?”

“A Deck. Right next to the cockpit.”

“Place the ship into lockdown. Seal everything!”

“You’ve got it, boss!”

Every pressure door on the ship slammed shut, the lights turned red, and a siren wailed a few times before being silenced.

“That should buy us some time,” Kade said. “Now, what are we up against?”

“Dirge’s thugs. Maybe four or five of them. They’ve made it to the elevator shaft and are heading up. It’s a good bet they’re coming your way.”

“Yeah.” Kade glanced back to Vessani. “I figured.”

“Hey!” Vessani spread her arms. “Let me out of here!”

“You serious?” Kade snapped at her.

“My hard suit’s right there, and you can’t fit in it!” She pointed to the articles piled on the workbench outside her cell. “Like it or not, we’re in this together!”

“I . . .” Kade hesitated, but only for a moment. “Fine!” He tapped a code into the cell’s vlass, and the door slid open. “Suit up!”

“Don’t need to tell me twice!” Vessani grabbed the armored leggings and started pulling them on.

“Aiko, where are they now?”

“They’ve made it to C Deck and are trying to bypass the first pressure door. There are two doors between them and you.”

“Get ready to release the lockdown. Once you do, try to hit them from behind.”

“Got it. Just give the word.”

Vessani curled her tail around her waist and slipped the top half of her body armor on. She didn’t bother closing the environmental seals or putting on her gloves. All she cared about was having as much solid material as possible between her and incoming bullets. She grabbed her helmet and fitted it over her head, looped the utility belt around her waist, then turned to Kade, who held her pistol in one hand and his own in the other. He spun the weapon in his hand and presented it to her, grip first. She took hold of it, but when she tugged, he didn’t let go.

He brought his face close to her helmet. “Don’t make me regret this.”

“You won’t.”

He let go of the weapon, and she aimed it down the corridor, steadying it in both hands.

“I’ll follow your lead,” she said.

“You’d damn well better.”

Kade raised his own pistol and they advanced nearly side by side to a four-way junction. He took up position on one side of the short corridor leading back to the elevator shaft and motioned for her to take the other side. She knelt behind the cover opposite him and waited, conscious of the muted clanking and grinding sounds emanating from the other side of that door.

“You ready, Aiko?” Kade whispered, a finger dialing down the volume on his commect.

“Ready.”

“Okay.” Kade swallowed and aimed down the corridor. “Aiko, release the lockdown and open all doors.”

“Releasing in three . . . two . . . one . . . now!”

The door split open with a cluster of black-clad pirates bunched up on the other side. Vessani spotted Zuloph crouched with his hands stuck inside an open wall panel. Broog loomed behind the others like a mountain of muscle and simmering rage, but the slightest glimmer of worry formed on his face in the split second after the door opened.

Kade and Vessani opened fire, showering the intruders with a rapid, almost random fusillade. Body armor absorbed many of the shots, but others struck exposed heads and limbs. The top of Zuloph’s head blew apart like overripe fruit, and his body slumped forward, hands still caught in the panel.

One of the other assailants folded forward, clutching his stomach, while the man beside him fell back onto his butt and kicked the ground, desperately trying to push himself into cover.

One of their shots—Vessani wasn’t sure if it was her gun or Kade’s—blew a chunk out of Broog’s left arm, but all he did was snarl and return fire. An explosive bolt ricocheted over Kade’s head and detonated against the wall behind him.

“Damn!” Kade ducked back behind cover and began reloading.

Vessani emptied her last bullet into Broog, but the shot zinged off his chest plate. A bolt struck her shoulder and sprayed the side of her helmet with hot bits of metal. She pulled her arms and head into cover and grabbed a fresh magazine. Her fingers moved in a quick, fluid dance, and she finished reloading her gun before Kade.

Broog roared and charged down the corridor, firing shot after shot, his boots thudding against the deck as explosions tore panels off the walls and floor. Two other intruders rose and followed his lead, charging in behind the brute. A bullet exploded next to Vessani, and shrapnel scraped across her leg armor.

She stuck the barrel of her pistol around the corner and fired a trio of blind shots, then heard the click of Broog’s own weapon coming up empty. She kicked off the ground, springing from cover—

—only to have Broog tackle her to the ground.

They rolled across the deck, and her pistol flew from her hand and slid across the floor. She landed on her side with Broog screaming in her face, flecks of saliva spackling her visor. He punched her in the helmet, and the impact thumped her head to the side hard enough for stars to swim across her vision.

Vessani drew her knife and stuck it in Broog’s side, slipping it between two armor plates, but he only sneered at her before smashing a fist into her gut hard enough to make her gasp. She pulled the knife out and stuck him again, this time in the armpit.

Broog grabbed her by the throat and squeezed. She squirmed under his viselike grip, punching, stabbing, legs kicking out. His fingers bore down into her throat, and she gasped for air.

But then whatever font of energy drove the enormous man began to peter out, and his grip loosened. Vessani sucked in a quick, delicious breath of air and stuck her knife through one of his hands. She squirmed out from under him and raised the knife, ready to stab him again—

—but it wasn’t necessary. Broog collapsed to the ground, revealing the bloody craters that now covered his back. A growling exhalation escaped his lips, and he was finally still.

Vessani pushed away from him and took stock of her surroundings. Two more bodies lay behind Broog with Kade and one of the Aikos standing over them. The danger had passed. She didn’t take any pleasure in killing her former compatriots, but she didn’t regret their deaths, either. They were slavers and killers, and they deserved the bullet-riddled ends they’d met.

Shakily, she slid the knife back into its sheath and tried to push herself up off the floor—but found someone had replaced her legs with noodles.

Nathan extended a hand. She took hold of it, and he helped her to her feet.


Vessani learned that Aiko had called the police when several uniformed officers arrived shortly after the firefight. What followed was one of the strangest, most awkward experiences of her life. Not because of anything that happened, but rather what didn’t happen.

The police weren’t yelling at her. They weren’t even upset with her. All they did was take her statement and move on with the business of interviewing the Belle’s crew, photographing the blood-splattered corridor, and removing the organic bodies.

It was so strange.

She spent most of her time waiting in the cargo hold in something of a daze, helmet stuck in the crook of her arm, not sure what do to next. She found herself wrestling with a deep, visceral urge to be somewhere else whenever one of the officers passed by, but that’s all they did—walked past her with barely a glance, their attention focused on other, larger, messier problems. It was so different from her typical interactions with authority figures, which often ended in cops shouting at her while she struggled through a wild, drunken stupor.

Is this what being respectable feels like? she wondered, not sure if she liked it or not.

Soon enough, most of the police finished their business and left. One of the cops, a graying sergeant named Turner, stayed behind and spoke cordially with Captain Kade and at length. Vessani sensed the two had something of a history. Meanwhile, one of the Aikos grabbed a mop and bucket and headed up to C Deck while humming to herself.

Sergeant Turner eventually left, and Kade joined Vessani by the ramp.

“I don’t think your former boss is going to be much of a problem moving forward,” he told her.

“Why do you say that?” Vessani asked.

“Because his ship’s been impounded, and the police are putting him and the rest of his crew under surveillance until they finish their investigation. Shawn made it sound like some of the precinct detectives are licking their chops, ready to use this incident to take a long, hard look at Dirge’s affairs.”

“Shawn?”

“The sergeant I was talking to.”

“Ah. You friends with him?”

“Something like that. It’s more a case of him being an old acquaintance of the family. He and my father were tight.”

Vessani caught a brief flash of tension in Nathan’s voice when he mentioned his father, but she didn’t inquire further. She had enough sense to know prying into his affairs would be a bad move.

“So, what now?” she said after a while.

“I’m glad you asked. Would you mind stepping off the ramp?”

“Sure.” She walked off and turned back to him.

“Thanks.” Nathan tapped a vlass by the exit, and the ramp levered upward with Vessani outside the ship.

“Wait a second.” She put her hands on her hips. “That’s it?”

He paused the ramp at the halfway point. “Why not?”

“What about Dirge and the rest of his goons?”

“Not my problem.”

“You’re just going to abandon me?”

“You seem like you can handle yourself. Besides, Aiko’s down a body because of you, and I almost got shot! You’re trouble we don’t want or need. Sorry, but not sorry.”

He resumed closing the ramp.

Vessani stood on the tips of her toes, trying to catch his gaze. “Can I at least have the rest of my stuff back?”

The ramp creaked shut, and Vessani thought she heard the faint echo of retreating footsteps.

“Guess not,” she said to no one in particular, waiting and listening. When nothing else happened, she slumped her shoulders with a deep sigh, turned away, and headed for the nearest exit.




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