Collision Course (Class 5, #6)

Chapter 19

CHAPTER 19

Rose sat at the kitchen table and chewed the squishy berry gel while the Bandri faction of the Fisone argued about her.

They had sent some kind of communication out when things had settled down after Ecdre’s escape, and she had been parked to the side while they put the unconscious guard in the med bay and discussed their next moves.

She didn’t think she was in immediate danger, but she didn’t like being a prisoner again.

She’d hoped they might just let her go, after helping her send out a communication, but she could tell quite quickly they were loathe to give away what they thought might be a useful pawn in their war with the other Fisone faction.

When a new comm came through, though, things changed.

A lot.

They listened, and the translator suddenly began babbling about explosions in Tecran.

“Explosions?” she asked.

“Not explosions,” the woman snapped at her. “Destruction. Of our landing pad. We no longer have a way off the moon.”

Destruction. She leaned back in her chair and slowly chewed another bite of gel.

There was more fast chatter, and she managed to pick up there had been a second strike.

“The Kimol are also hit.” The guard she had taken her suit from the night before seemed to perk up a bit. “Did any of you know they had a military bunker near our landing pad?”

Rose took a sip of water. Smiled to herself.

She had done it.

Sazo had gotten the message.

Silence fell, and when she looked up, everyone was staring at her.

“Let me guess,” she said, and put her glass down. “Hand me over, or more of your infrastructure will be destroyed?” That was very Sazo.

“Your communication,” the woman breathed. “You called this down on us.”

She stood up. “If you were in my position, wouldn’t you call for help?”

“We never took you!” The guard Pyre had shot waved a hand at her.

“Maybe not.” She shrugged. She honestly didn’t know enough about the factions. “But you’re holding me now. And you shot me when I posed no threat to you at all.”

There was an uncomfortable shuffle of feet.

“Can I let Sazo know where I am, so he can come get me?” she asked, nodding toward the comms panel.

“You’re going to let them destroy our landing pad with no retaliation?” The guard who’d shot her in the back rose from his corner where he’d been sitting since the incident.

“No, Caudra, I’m going to let the general know we have Rose McKenzie here with us, and wait for orders.” The woman went to the comms panel and began to speak in low, quick tones.

Caudra seemed to settle down at her response, but Rose didn’t trust him, or like him sitting slightly behind her.

Once the message was sent, the woman, who Rose heard the others calling Vichea, turned back to her.

“Let’s finally clear the air,” she said. “How did you come to be here?”

“I was moving between the two ships in my convoy, when I was abducted by people from your planet. They told me their plan was to hold me hostage in exchange for people and a ship that had been taken a year ago.”

“Your people took the Kimol’s ship a year ago?” The guard who’s suit she’d taken asked, voice sharp.

“No. The people who stole me from my world, the Tecran, also stole the ship and the crew from yours. I was rescued, and the people who rescued me are part of a coalition with other planets. When they found out what the Tecran had done, they sent the convoy I am part of to speak to your people and explain what had happened.”

“And what did happen?” Vichea asked.

“The crew of the ship torched the inside of it and killed themselves before they were even out of your solar system. The Tecran took the ship, which seemed unusable, and put it in storage.” Rose wondered if she should tell them that Irini had since proved very much alive and well.

“You say seemed.” The guard whose suit she was wearing, Pinli, was the sharp one of this group, clearly.

“She was simply biding her time,” Rose conceded. “She came into her own, and as she is an autonomous being, her wishes are respected. She refuses to return to Fisone.”

There was a beat of silence. “So they did manage intelligence,” Vichea said, voice hushed.

“And then someone just swooped in and took it.” Caudra, sitting in the corner, fisted his hands on his knees. “They should have brought it back.”

“I’ve just explained we don’t force people to do things against their will.” Rose shifted her chair so she could always keep him in her periphery. “Irini did not want to return.”

“So you say.” Caudra shook his head. “That’s convenient, that you take our technology.”

Rose smiled. “How do you know we don’t have even more advanced technology?” And wasn’t she cocky, coming from Earth? Strictly speaking she was probably the least technologically advanced of all of them.

There was another silence.

“Do you?” Vichea asked.

Before she could answer, the comms unit lit up, and everyone turned to it.

“We have to take you to what’s left of the landing pad,” Vichea said.

“How far away is it?” Rose asked. She put her hand on her bump, felt the edge of her baby’s foot press against her palm.

“A fair distance. Why?”

“Because I’m not in a good condition to walk,” Rose said. “My baby is due any day.”

It was as if she’d thrown a grenade into the room. The Fisone visibly flinched away from her.

“You carry the possibility of life?” Pinli asked.

“Yes. I am close to giving birth.” She stood and arched her back to ease the stiffness. “I want to get back to my people, so I can have my child in safety.”

“What were the Kimol thinking?” Vichea breathed.

“What were you thinking?” Rose asked. “I gave you the opportunity to help me contact my ship and let me go hours ago. You refused.”

There was a sudden, deathly quiet.

“We could not have known,” Caudra said from the corner.

“It will be our fault, either way.” Vichea closed her eyes. “They will blame the landing pad’s destruction on us.”

They’d be right, Rose thought.

Pinli’s gaze snapped to hers. “They won’t know if we lose her.”

Whoa . The concept of blame obviously included more than a dressing down.

“I’m assuming your lives are in danger if you’re blamed?” she guessed.

“You assume correctly,” Caudra said.

“And that won’t happen if you ‘lose’ the prisoner you’ve just caught, when there are six of you and one of me?” She asked the question lightly.

Vichea and Pinli shared a look, and the other guards murmured to themselves.

“All right, maybe the outcome would be the same. Will you keep quiet about your request to us?” Vichea asked.

“My lips are sealed if he doesn’t come with us,” she said, tipping her head in Caudra’s direction. “I don’t trust him.”

“Done.” Pinli’s smile told Rose he was as happy with that arrangement as she was.

“What about your friend who escaped?” Vichea asked. “Where did he go?”

“He’s probably long gone,” Rose said, and wondered if Ecdre had taken the skimmer. If the Fisone were planning on walking to the launch pad, she hoped it was still there, because she didn’t think she had the chops to walk a long distance right now. “How are we traveling?” she asked.

“All the smaller ships were destroyed by your people,” Vichea said. “So we will have to take the skimmers.”

“You will let her dictate who can and cannot travel to the launch pad?” Caudra asked. His voice was worryingly low.

“Do you want her talking about her request for our help, which might have prevented the launch pad’s destruction if we had helped her?” Pinli asked.

Caudra looked like he plenty of opinions on that, but instead he walked out of the room.

“They want us there as soon as possible,” Vichea said. “So let’s go.”