Avalon

CHAPTER 28

IT TOOK LESS THAN AN HOUR.

“Are you sure that’s where they are?” Jeth said.

“Yep. We can get there in a single jump,” said Dax. “Assuming they don’t go somewhere before we’re ready.”

Sierra leaned over Dax, examining the screen. “Can you tell anything about the environment off that trace?”

Dax nodded and entered a command. An image displayed on the screen. “It looks like a . . .”

“C-ninety-three Strata,” Sierra said.

“Yeah, that’s right. How’d you tell so quickly?”

“Because that’s Renford ship.” She looked at Jeth. “It’s called the Northern Dancer. It’s black ops, with more than two hundred crew on board and enough firepower to blast a crater in a moon. It’s not going to be easy getting in there.”

Jeth winced at the doubt in her tone that suggested it wouldn’t just be hard but a feat of miraculous proportions.

“I thought Stratas were luxury cruise ships?” Celeste said.

“Normally, yes,” said Sierra. “That’s one of the reasons why it’s so effective for black ops. Most spaceports and passing patrols take one look at the Northern Dancer and deem her harmless.”

Shady snorted. “Anybody that’s ever been on a cruise ship should know it ain’t harmless. All kinds of nasty rich people inside of them.”

“What the heck do you know about being on a cruise ship?” said Flynn.

Shady grumbled something incoherent.

“Will you two shut up?” said Celeste.

Jeth cut them all off with a look. Then he turned his gaze on Sierra. “But you know the ship, right? I mean, well enough that you can help us plan how to get in and out without getting caught?”

“Sure, I can help,” Sierra said. “But I have no idea how we’ll get in there. They’re sure to see us coming. And no offense to Avalon, but she’s not big enough to take on the Northern Dancer in a firefight.”

Jeth knew she was right. Avalon’s biggest assets were her speed and agility.

“We’re not going to attack it outright,” said Dax. “No reason to. All we need is a ship with a stealth drive.”

Sierra scoffed. “And where’re we supposed to get one of those?”

Jeth’s spirits lifted and an eager smile rose to his lips. “Right here. In the spaceport.”

“That’s right,” Dax said. “The Citation will be perfect for a job like this. We can pull right alongside, and they’ll never know we’re there.”

“You came here on a ship with a stealth drive?” Sierra asked, raising her eyebrows.

“Sure did, sweetheart,” said Dax.

“And it actually works?”

“Most of the time. Hammer’s got a whole lot of really smart people trying to perfect the technology.”

Sierra smirked. “Hmmm, I always heard Hammer was a force to be reckoned with.”

“Oh, yes. He certainly is.” There was a sharp edge to Dax’s voice.

“Okay,” Jeth said. “Let’s start figuring out how we get onto the ship. We’ll head out as soon as Flynn’s got Avalon’s new metadrive working.”

“Just a couple more hours,” Flynn said with more bravado in his voice than his expression suggested should be present.

“Why wait?” Dax said. “Let’s just take the Citation.”

“No.” Jeth said, casting him a significant look. According to their agreement, Lizzie and the rest were free to go once they finished this. They’d need a space-worthy ship.

“Whatever you say,” Dax said, clapping Jeth on the shoulder. “You’re calling the shots.”

For now.

Four hours later, Flynn declared Avalon flight ready. Jeth and Milton had spent the time filling in the rest of the crew about Cora and the reason why Lizzie had been taken. Jeth had decided the others needed to know, but they had to do it quietly, keeping Dax in the dark.

Jeth stared around at the compartment housing the metadrive, not certain he believed Flynn about them being ready. The engine room looked as if it had been ransacked by a group of feral monkeys. Loose wires dangled from the ceiling and stretched across the floor like snakes. The metadrive itself was an ominous shade of red, threaded with miniscule streaks of white that Jeth knew meant the thing was already dying. It was sad, really. He wondered if the entire species or superorganism or whatever the Pyreans were would soon be extinct.

“Good work, Flynn,” Jeth said, despite his reservations. He imagined it wasn’t easy messing around with that thing.

Sierra was ready, too. As Jeth and the others gathered in the common room, she gave him a significant look that told him she had successfully modified Milton’s copy of the Aether Project as he’d asked her to do shortly after making the deal with Dax.

Sierra began going over the plan for how they would approach the Northern Dancer. They would take both ships until just outside scanning range of the Northern Dancer’s position. Flynn and Milton would stay with Avalon. The rest of them would approach the Northern Dancer aboard the Citation, running in stealth mode.

From there, they would have to get creative on the fly for getting to Lizzie. It all depended on where she was being held, and with any luck, Cora would be with her. Once they had Lizzie to crack the Northern Dancer’s network, they would track down the Aether Project files. Jeth, Milton, and Sierra had agreed privately that they would have to get the original Aether Project data cell from Renford, instead of taking the easy route of pretending to find it and then handing over the fake to Dax. They couldn’t leave the Aether Project in Renford’s hands.

“Um,” Celeste said when Sierra finished speaking, “I know Lizzie is brilliant and all, but how will she be able to track down the Aether Project files?”

“It’ll take time and a little bit of luck,” said Sierra, “but if Renford has put it on any computer on the Northern Dancer, she’ll be able to find it.”

Shady raised his hand. “What if he’s using a computer on an isolated network?”

Everyone present turned and gaped at him in disbelief.

“What?” said Shady. “I know a thing or two about computers.”

Celeste snorted. “Since when?”

“Since I watched this spy movie about—”

Jeth smacked him in the back of the head. “Shut. Up.”

Shady rubbed the spot, grinning.

“It’s a fair question,” Sierra said, casting Shady a bemused look. “But unless Renford’s had new hardware installed recently, he doesn’t have the ability to set up an isolated network. He’s never had a reason to. His men all hold top-secret clearances. Now—” Sierra swept her gaze over everyone present. “Are we all good with what’s happening?”

When no one said anything to the contrary, Jeth stood and said, “Let’s get ready to go. Those of us going to the Citation, get your gear. We head out in ten.”

Everyone stood and moved for the door, except for Jeth, who lingered behind with Milton.

“Doesn’t that include you?” Milton said when they were alone. “The Citation, I mean.”

“Yeah, it does.” Jeth tried not to think about how this might be the last time he was ever on board Avalon. The thought was so painful, he thought his heart might stop beating if he dwelled on it too long.

“What’s on your mind?” Milton said.

Jeth swallowed, finding it hard to breathe. He knew what he had to say, he just wasn’t sure he was ready. It wasn’t that he expected Milton to be angry or to argue, it was knowing that he wouldn’t. Milton would understand what Jeth was about to say better than anybody.

“When we get Cora and Lizzie back on Avalon, I want you to take the ship and get as far away from Hammer as possible. Find somewhere safe, maybe even something planetside. I hear Enoch is a good place to settle.” He sucked in a breath, the words like acid in his mouth, the terrible taste of a dying dream. “Take the rest of the crew too, if you can convince them.”

“Take them, but not you?” Milton asked, his voice a throaty whisper.

“I’m going back to Peltraz.”

A muscle pulsed in Milton’s jaw, and for a moment Jeth thought he’d been wrong, that his uncle would argue with him. But Milton only said, “Why?”

“I’ve got to go back. If I try to escape, Hammer will come after me and he’ll never stop.” Jeth took a deep breath and then told Milton about Hammer’s promise that Jeth would wear one of the two implants.

Pity glistened in Milton’s eyes as Jeth finished speaking.

“You don’t seem surprised,” Jeth said, running a hand over his shaved hair.

“I saw the implant architecture when I examined you earlier.”

“Oh. Right.”

Milton shook his head. “The architecture may not be permanent, Jeth. It’s possible with the right equipment I might be able to remove it.”

Jeth gulped, the idea of being free of it making him heartsick with longing. Only it wasn’t an option. Not now. “No. Dax says if I go back willingly with him that Hammer won’t come looking for the rest of you. I’ve told him I will. At least this way I might have a chance at some kind of life. And it’ll give Lizzie and the others a chance at something even better.”

“You’re going to take the word of one of the Brethren on that?” Milton said.

“I have reason to believe him.”

Milton rubbed the scruff of gray beard on his chin. “Well, that might solve the threat from Hammer, but what about the ITA?”

“You’ll have to rely on Sierra to help with that. She’s already proven how far she’ll go to keep Cora safe. But it’ll be on you to protect all of them. It’s the least you can do.”

Milton flinched. “I’m sorry,” he said, “for starting all this. I never should’ve gambled the ship, and I never should’ve stayed.”

Jeth didn’t say anything. There wasn’t anything to say. If he told Milton it was all right, that he wasn’t responsible, it would be a lie. Now didn’t seem the time for lying. All of them were responsible, and none of this was all right.

“Do you know why your parents named her Avalon?” Milton asked, looking around at the common room.

Jeth nodded, his throat tightening with painful memories. “Because she was their paradise, their otherworld, like the Avalon in First-Earth mythology. The land of apples and eternal summer and youth.”

“That’s right.” Milton exhaled. “And when they died—when I believed Marian was dead—I hated this ship. Hated it for what it was supposed to be and what it wasn’t. But when I lost Avalon in that card game, and to a tyrant like Hammer, I couldn’t just walk away. This was all I had left of your mother. She was more than my sister, you know. With our age difference, I practically raised her. She was like my daughter.”

Jeth bit his lip. He’d known Milton cared for his mother, but he’d never realized it was like that. He never talked about her. “Well, Avalon’s yours again. Just take care of her and Lizzie and Cora.” Jeth turned to leave, feeling the weight of despair press down upon him. He was leaving his ship. Maybe forever.

Milton grabbed his shoulder, stopping him. Jeth turned back and reluctantly met his uncle’s gaze.

“You’re not going back to Hammer just to keep him off our trail, are you?”

Jeth shook his head. Of course Milton would guess his secondary motive, the one so deep and secret inside him, he’d been afraid to give thought to it until now. “If I go back and have access to Hammer’s resources, I might find a way to rescue Mom.”

Milton swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat. “But you have most of those resources here with this crew.”

“No. Lizzie and Cora have to be safe. And I’ve already put everybody in enough danger as it is. As much as I want to rescue her, I know Mom would want me to take care of my sisters first.”

Milton sighed. “You’re right. That’s exactly what Marian would want.” He paused. “You’re so much like her sometimes.”

Sadness squeezed Jeth’s chest even tighter. “I’ve got to go.”

“I know,” Milton said. “Be careful.”

Jeth nodded and then strode for the door. He paused just outside and glanced back at Milton. “Make sure you keep an eye on Lizzie’s cat. Until she gets back.”

Milton smiled. “Of course.”

Jeth turned and left the room, hoping the dread he felt was wrong, that this wouldn’t be the last time he saw his uncle.

And as he walked down the corridor to his cabin, he trailed his hand along the walls of his ship, whispering goodbye, and hoping, praying, this wasn’t the last time he saw his Avalon either.