No Safe Harbor: The Silver Liner Read online

  “XXPone-fiveA-two-Code Blue,” she said, hoping that her code had not been deactivated.

  “This is an Alliance Interplanetary Intelligence channel,” replied a voice on the other end. “Identify yourself.”

  “Agent Amanda Keyes. I’ve enlisted the aid of a passenger liner, the S.S. Selene, in escaping from a Chiropteran pursuer, working with an Alliance detachment.”

  “We’re aware of them,” the voice replied. “What is your current heading?”

  “Phoenix Station.”

  “We will send in a team to debrief you there. Do not deviate, or you risk being shot down.”

  “Acknowledged,” Amanda replied. “We have a crewman who needs medical attention; we need to get him to the hospital.”

  “Arrangements are being made, Agent Keyes. Over and out.”

  Amanda breathed a sigh of relief. She did not know who the man at the other end was, but his friendly tone set her at ease.

  “There, Captain. I know you were looking to avoid any Alliance entanglements, but given the alternative …”

  “No, I’m good with this,” he said without hesitation. “I figure you’d have turned me over to the Alliance back there if this were some kind of trap.”

  “Believe me, Captain, I would never turn you in to them, not now.”

  “Thank you, Amanda,” Lena added.

  “I just hope this doesn’t blow up in our faces,” Amanda lamented. “I don’t really trust them anymore.”

  “Flyin’ by the seat of your pants, do it all the time,” Kendrick said. “Now, if y’all don’t mind, I gotta go interview our mercenary guest.” Kendrick unbuckled himself and stood to leave. “Amanda, I’m sure Terri wants to see you. Lena, you have the bridge.”

  Terri sat on a table in the Med Bay, Doctor Kinsale having finished checking her over and determining that Terri had no injuries. On one of the beds, lay an unconscious Asian man with various tubes and sensors attached to him. Sitting next to him was a dark haired girl in her early twenties at most. The girl was playing chess, though she was moving both sets of pieces and speaking softly to the unconscious man.

  “That’s Mister Mun,” Fiona said, having noticed Terri staring. “He was injured in our last dust up. The girl with him is our engineer, Heather.”

  “Can he hear her?”

  “It’s been shown that people in comas can often hear people speaking to them and remember being visited. I see Mun every day because I’m the ship’s doctor, but everyone else comes in to visit, often daily.”

  “Why chess?” Terri was confused as to why the girl was playing a game that required sight and touch with an unconscious opponent.

  “Because they played almost every day once she found out he could play.”

  “Are they … romantic?” Terri was moved by the scene.

  “Not that I know of, though I think they’d be a good couple.” Changing the subject, the doctor said, “So, tell me about Amanda Keyes.”

  “She was my high school sweetheart,” Terri began. “I wasn’t popular; middle school was misery.” She shuddered at the recollection. “But on my first day of high school, when the bullies from middle school tried to carry it on for another four years, this beautiful, confident girl came to my side and said, ‘she’s with me,’ and walked me away from it all. She was Amanda, and we were inseparable for four wonderful years.”

  “I’m almost jealous,” Fiona said softly. “I was bullied too, but my high school experience was simply middle school cubed.”

  “I’m sorry. You seem like a nice woman.”

  “Thanks.” Fiona looked away for a moment, trying to hide the pain the memories brought. “You’ve have been together ever since?”

  “I wish!” Terri laughed humorlessly. “Amanda is … like a whirlwind of energy. We went to different colleges and we agreed it was best not to be steady, but we wrote regularly.” Terri was silent for a moment and Fiona took a seat next to her. Terri felt an instant connection with the older woman and decided to share the rest.

  “She was fairly open about her sex life and a voyeuristic part of me lived vicariously through her stories, often imagining myself as the partner she dished about. Then, I’d cry myself to sleep, heartbroken that I wasn’t. I’d have all these things I wanted to say when I finally saw her, but when we were able to visit, well, she’s not someone I’m able to say no to. As soon as her hands are on me, I’m putty and her lips make my mind go …” She blushed brightly at the thought. “Other places … very … pleasurable places, know what I mean?”

  “Oh, yes,” Fiona confessed. “Thankfully, I’m his one and only. I suspect you already know who he is.”

  “Not really. I don’t know a whole lot about you; any of you.” Terri turned towards Fiona so as to face her more comfortably. “I just know that she showed up with a priest and the two of them took on that … that thing. I was shocked when I saw Captain Royce. I would never have recognized him if he hadn’t been in front of the ship; he’s changed his look since his gig at the …” Terri realized that she had seen Fiona before. “You … you’re his backup singer!”

  “Only that once,” Fiona said, a faraway look in her eyes. “It was a cover. Long story, but I was being chased. I fell in love with him that night. I tried not to, but there was just no helping it.” She blushed, and looked down, self-consciously. “I feel the same way when he touches me … kisses me … as you do about Amanda.” Then she added, “But I don’t think we’ve gone quite as far as you two have; kind of saving it for marriage.”

  “I would if I could,” Terri confessed. “I would have gone a lot slower, but once Amanda’s in the driver’s seat, I pretty much just go wherever she takes me.”

  “Do you ever regret … making love to her?” Fiona asked the question with hesitation.

  “No,” Terri said, leaning back and exhaling, smiling as she remembered the first time. “No, not for a minute. I just wish things were different after high school. I really wanted to marry her and settle down, maybe even start a family. But she joined the Alliance military and that idyllic life was no longer a possibility for us. I have no idea what’ll happen now.”

  “You really don’t know how she’s involved with us, do you?” Fiona looked incredulous. “She hasn’t told you, has she?”

  “No; but, you should know, before we get any friendlier, that I was the one who uploaded the virus to your ship at the start of the race.” Terri looked down as she spoke. “Please don’t hate me for it.”

  “You did that?” Heather called out, having overheard the conversation.

  “I … I’m sorry.” Terri cried. “I had no idea what it was; only that Amanda said that it was for your own safety and that you weren’t in trouble. I didn’t want to!”

  “Then why did you?” Heather’s tone was accusing.

  “Because …” Terri began to cry. “Because she asked me to. I would do anything for her, don't you understand?”

  Heather glared at Terri for a few seconds before looking at Fiona. “Does Kendrick know?”

  “Has he been down here to talk to her?” Fiona asked, coming to Terri’s defense.

  “No.”

  “Then, no,” Fiona replied. “What difference would it make? Amanda already confessed to being the origin of the virus and the captain forgave her.”

  Heather stood in silent contemplation, finally looking back at Terri. “I guess I can understand. You an’ Keyes aren’t responsible for what happened to Mun and Lena, so if Kendrick can let it go, I can too.” Heather turned back to Fiona. “Doc, I’m headin’ back to engineering. You got things covered with Terri?”

  “I do,” replied the doctor with a smile. Thank you, Heather.”

  Terri tried to pull herself together, but she was now sobbing uncontrollably. What would happen to her? What was Amanda involved in? And what on earth did it have to do with the rock star captain? The sound of the door opening caught her attention and Amanda came walking in.

  “Amanda!” Terri jumped
up and hugged her as tight as she could, still weak in the increased gravity. “What’s going on? What was that thing? Why was the U.P.A. after me?”

  “Hush, love,” Amanda cooed. “I’m here. It’s a long story; I’m just glad we got to you in time.”

  As Amanda’s arms encircled her, Terri forgot about her worries and fears. Her lover had come for her; and that was all that mattered.

  Cyrus Freeman was pleased with the accommodations. The quiet comfort was relaxing after a very stressful week. Though he never fully let his guard down, he welcomed the respite. The room’s window displayed a sky that had none of the beauty and grandeur of Earth’s, but he appreciated the austere qualities of the Martian horizon.

  A door chime interrupted his relaxation, prompting him to call, “Enter.”

  The door swished open, revealing Captain Royce. Freeman stood, acknowledging the flamboyant shipmaster. Royce had gone dark blond since the broadcast of the start of his race with the Fujin and it looked to be the captain’s natural color. Cyrus sized up the trim captain; he looked to weigh less than eighty-five kilograms, stood about one-hundred-eighty-three centimeters and handled himself well in combat. His reputation as a skilled pilot was mythic, as was the ship’s reputation.

  More importantly, Royce was known to be a stand-up guy. With Lorgen on my tail, Royce could prove a useful ally, he thought. Cyrus was not inclined to trust anyone, especially after the last job, but maybe, just maybe, he could make an exception.

  “Cyrus Freeman.” Cyrus extended his hand.

  Kendrick gave a friendly, but firm handshake. “Pleased to meet you, Cyrus. So what’s your story?”

  “My unit was given up by one of their own. He was a weak-minded fool; sold us out to W.M.S. Security while he was drunk.” Cyrus laughed. “I suppose that’s what I get for signing on at the last minute. A contact warned that Lorgen was after me, but grapevine says he was diverted, chasing after you instead. I laid low for a while, did some local work, but I was made.” He shook his head, laughing at the serendipity of it all. “They were practically on top of me when I came upon you and yours in that gunfight. I reasoned you would appreciate an extra gun and thought you wouldn’t mind my escaping with you; it seems we have a common enemy.”

  “So you got W.M.S. after you,” replied Kendrick. “I know them, but where does Lorg fit in?”

  “Lorgen’s master is Colonel Siegfried Tracht,” explained Cyrus, “who is also a majority shareholder in W.M.S. I’m a bit of a wanted man, so I was hoping, perhaps to sign on with you. Speaking of which, what about you? Why is a space gypsy being chased by the master of the most advanced stealth warship in existence?”

  “Long story. I had a stowaway they were after; didn’t know it at the time. I’ve outwitted him twice and now he wants revenge.”

  “So, why are you on Mars, assisting a Roman Catholic priest, an A.I.I. agent and a secretary in a firefight against a Chiropteran and the U.P.A.?”

  “Another long story.” Kendrick chuckled. “The agent is about the only ally I have right now and her friend had been captured by Velos … the Chiropteran. Didn’t even know what they were called until today. How’d you know about them?”

  “I’m in the loop. And I’ve crossed paths with one.”

  “How’d you kill it?”

  “Kill it?” Cyrus shook his head. “Would that I had! I’m convinced that the job was bogus; a set up to take care of someone’s problem without using government resources. We weren’t told what we were up against and most of my squad died. If I had been able to prepare, I would have used phosphorous incendiary rounds on it.”

  “No silver bullets?”

  “That’s werewolves, Captain,” Cyrus chided. “Get your folklore straight.”

  Kendrick laughed at the comment. “I think I’ve got something in my library on the subject. Till then, I think I’ll do as you suggest and load a few clips with phosphorous rounds.”

  “Understood,” said Cyrus approvingly. “So, let’s get down to business. I need to leave Mars and I’m willing to sign on with you. Is that amenable to you?”

  “Sure,” Kendrick replied. “You act as crew on this ship in exchange for your passage. Meaning, if you want to go somewhere other than where I’m going, I’ll get you there. Your job will be to act in the best interest of this ship should we fall under attack. You decide you want to disembark, I agree to drop you off, no questions asked and no information given to anyone outside of this ship regarding you or your time on board. You abide likewise and give no information to anyone outside of this ship regarding us or your time aboard. I’m not in a position to take jobs consistently, so I can’t promise anything other than passage, but I’ll cut you in on any work we do take and keep you housed and fed.”

  Laying low aboard a ship this comfortable was not a bad deal at all and the agreement to not sell each other out was actually more to Cyrus’ benefit than to Royce’s, so no problem there, not to mention that he would not have to pay for passage.

  “All right, Captain, draw up the contract. I’ll read it and if it adheres to what you just offered me verbally, then I will sign.”

  “Lena, print up a contract based on the offer I just made. Send it to the Med Bay and have Fiona bring it up.”

  Cyrus raised an eyebrow as Royce spoke to thin air, but a few minutes later, a willowy middle-aged woman with long gray hair walked in the door carrying the contract. She gave Cyrus an inquiring look as she handed Kendrick the contract. The contract was one paragraph with two signature lines, one copy for each of them. Cyrus read the contract, and it was word for word what Captain Royce had said. No fine print, no attempt at arcane terminology or legal trickery.

  “Damn! Captain! You have got to be the most forthright man I’ve ever met!” With that, he signed both copies of the contract.

  Kendrick blessed it with his own imprimatur and shook Cyrus’ hand. “And we have a deal. Welcome aboard, Cyrus.”

  Chapter 6

  Phoenix Station

  Selene touched down at the independent colony of Phoenix Station, a local medical transport service on hand to receive Mun. The captain estimated that they had about a week before any serious effort could be made by the U.S. government to bring them in; and the ship did need a lot of maintenance after the stress she had been subjected to. The Alliance was already on Mars, which would normally mean that they had to leave within twenty-four hours. While that was still a possibility, Kendrick hoped that Amanda’s presence might mitigate the threat the Alliance presented. Even so, service techs were already attaching the fuel lines, refilling the Selene before takeoff; and also repairing damaged hull plates. As Mun was wheeled away, Fiona and Ronan accompanying him, Kendrick sent Heather and Cyrus to negotiate the repairs, with orders to keep him apprised.

  Money was getting thin, so he needed to find a way to earn some, and fast. He had several contacts in Phoenix, but his most promising for work was a man by the name of Tiberius Titus Reynolds, T.T. for short. Reynolds had also been the man responsible for getting techs refueling and working on the Selene so quickly. To Kendrick’s relief, Reynolds had responded in the affirmative; he had a business offer specifically for the rock and roll captain.

  Kendrick hired a small security team to keep watch over the Selene while repairs were being made and took Lena with him. He allowed Keyes and Terri to remain on the ship unsupervised, feeling that if Amanda was going to double cross him, she would have acted by now. Based on what Fiona had told him about her own conversation with Terri, the couple needed some alone time.

  He and Lena were soon on their way to Reynolds’ establishment. With the Selene’s spin gravity tuned to Earth’s gravity (one-g), walking on Mars, with only point-thirty-nine-g, put a serious spring in his step. Old science fiction stories presented a future with a thriving interplanetary society, where people living on Mars could freely visit Earth. Science fiction took a turn once the reality of living on Mars had set in: native born Martians and naturalized Martians who had l
ived on the red planet for years could never return to Earth; the human body acclimated to the lighter gravity, less gravity meant that Martians tended to be taller than Earthlings, but their bone density was much less and they would suffer debilitating or even fatal effects upon returning to Earth.

  Old T.T. had lived on Mars for so long that he could never return to Earth; if Kendrick wanted to see him, he had to go to T.T. Those who regularly commuted between Mars and Earth, usually businessmen, mercenaries, government agents and starship crewmembers, such as himself, spent less than a year under Martian gravity; and modern liners progressively increased the gravity to re-acclimate their passengers to one-g. Commuters also took supplements and vitamins, and did resistance weight training regularly to maintain bone density.

  This was one of the major benefits that Lena enjoyed; she needed neither supplements nor exercise to maintain bone density; she was synthetic and her body was unaffected by such things. Built on Venus, which had a gravity of point-nine-g’s, and designed to function in a one-g environment, Lena merely adjusted her systems to compensate for lighter gravity, with the ability to return them to full power at the speed of thought. At full power on Mars, she was nearly as strong as she had been when in her old platform aboard the Selene.

  Phoenix Station had a rugged frontier town atmosphere, very different from the polished, corporate Columbia Station. Without corporate money, the place was maintained and functional, but not ornate. The decorative fountains, gleaming steel and glass structures, and multicolored lighting was absent, replaced by buildings made from native stone or brick made from native materials. The Martian soil yielded fine material for making red bricks and most buildings were made from them. The oldest buildings were modular, made with imported materials. Four massive silos dominated the Phoenix Station skyline, rising above the dome. These tall, cylindrical structures processed the atmosphere, producing water for drinking, bathing and the production of goods, such as brick.