Avalon

CHAPTER 29

EVEN WITH THE STEALTH DRIVE ENGAGED, APPROACHING the Northern Dancer was risky. Celeste had to keep their speed low enough that the other ship’s radar wouldn’t pick up their movement. They crawled along, moving annoyingly, impossibly slow.

Jeth had never seen Celeste so focused. She sat as rigid as a statue behind the Citation’s control column while he stood behind her, silently watching. Sierra sat copilot, using her knowledge of the Northern Dancer to help them. They couldn’t rely on the autopilot for this, as Celeste had to keep making adjustments to their path to ensure they lined up successfully with the Northern Dancer. She could only make a change a fraction of a millimeter at a time. Several times, she pushed it a little too hard, and Jeth held his breath, certain they would be spotted.

More than an hour after starting their approach, they finally reached the Northern Dancer. The massive ship looked the same as any other luxury liner Jeth had seen, fat and cumbersome, as unthreatening as the manatee Hammer kept in his menagerie back on Peltraz. It was hard to believe it housed the kind of firepower Sierra claimed, and yet he didn’t doubt her. He knew well enough from Hammer’s enterprise that you shouldn’t trust the outward appearance of any ship. Still, Jeth supposed the ITA had made a good choice in using it for black ops. If weaponized, a ship as large as a Strata would carry a devastating amount of firepower—enough to vaporize a ship as small as the Citation.

Once they were close enough to be out of range of the Northern Dancer’s radar, Jeth placed a hand on Celeste’s shoulder. “Have I told you lately that you’re amazing?”

She ignored him, her focus as rigid as ever.

“There.” Sierra pointed out the window. “Get as close as you can beneath that wing, but don’t break fifty meters. Even with a stealth drive, you’ll set off the proximity alarm.”

Celeste’s answering nod was so slight Jeth thought he might’ve imagined it.

“I’ve got a read on Lizzie’s position,” Dax said, looking up from the comm station monitor. “Looks like L Deck, stern.”

Sierra rose from the copilot’s chair and walked over. She examined the screen, then swore.

“What is it?” Vince asked, standing up from the nav station. He did it slowly, his face pale and pinched from the effort. He’d lost a lot of blood from the gunshot wound in his side. Sierra had wanted him to stay on Avalon, but Vince insisted on being near her. Especially if you’re going in there, Jeth had overheard him saying during the argument.

“That’s the brig,” Sierra said, pointing at the screen. “Why would they put Lizzie in there? I was expecting her to be on one of the passenger decks. It’s not like she’s dangerous.”

“She is with a computer,” said Jeth, coming over to have a look.

“And she knows how to be a pain in the ass when she wants to,” said Shady, standing just to the side of the comm station.

“Or maybe he’s expecting us,” Vince said, pressing a hand against his side as if each word hurt. “How detectable is this tracer you used?”

Dax looked up at him. “Not very, unless you’ve got the right equipment and know where to look for it.”

“Then it is possible he knows we’re coming,” said Jeth, a bad feeling crawling across his skin. “That soldier might’ve noticed when you shot her with the tracer.”

Vince touched Sierra’s shoulder, his face drawn with worry. “This could be a trap.”

She shrugged him off. “Maybe, but Renford can’t know about the stealth drive, so he won’t know we’re here right now.”

“Fair point,” said Dax. He looked at Sierra “Did you include a plan for getting to the brig when you were mapping things out?”

She nodded. “I’ll double-check it just to be safe.”

“What about Cora?” Jeth asked. “Any idea where they’re keeping her?”

“Nope,” said Dax. “But her location might be listed if anybody knows how to do a remote hack.”

Sierra grimaced. “I do, but it’d be risky. I’m not sure I can penetrate the security protocols, and the last thing we want to do is hack it poorly and let them know we’re here.”

“So, what will you do?” asked Vince, a note of petulance in his voice. Sierra might’ve given into letting him come over to the Citation, but she refused to allow him to come with the rescue party. Jeth felt sorry for the guy, knowing full well what it was like to have your sister be in danger when you were not. He never would have stood for it. Then again, neither of his sisters was as fearsome as Sierra—at least not yet. Maybe in a couple of years . . .

Jeth stopped that thought before it could go any further. He couldn’t bear the idea of what a couple of years might bring, and what it might not.

“We stick to the plan,” he said. “We find Lizzie and let her hack it from the inside.”

“Right.” Sierra pressed her hands together in a silent clap. “Let’s go.”

Jeth put on his space suit as quickly as he could, then headed for the Citation’s small top hatch. Sierra was the only one there so far. He stood across from her, a wave of anxiety washing over him at finding himself truly alone with her for the first time since she’d stolen his ship. His feelings about her were a jumbled mess inside him. He’d been doing his best to ignore them.

Still, Jeth couldn’t help a quick glance at her face. He saw at once that she was more nervous than he was. She looked physically ill, although still as pretty as ever.

He frowned. “You all right?” She nodded, but Jeth wasn’t convinced. He searched for something to say. “I, uh, suppose I ought to thank you for rescuing Cora like you did.”

Sierra blinked in surprise. “You’re . . . um . . . welcome.” She sighed. “And I suppose I ought to say I’m sorry for stealing Avalon.”

Jeth gritted his teeth, the memory somehow more painful now that he was about to lose Avalon for good. “Yeah, you probably should.”

Sierra said nothing.

Jeth folded his arms and leaned against the hatch wall, wanting to keep as much distance as possible between them. “So, why did you, anyway?”

“I thought you intended to betray us. I overheard you telling Milton you would call Renford instead of Hammer.”

Jeth frowned. “I didn’t say that exactly. I mean, there was more to it than that. And I didn’t know who Cora was. Why didn’t you just tell me?”

Sierra swallowed, her expression guilty. “I didn’t trust you. Not at first. I had no reason to. You were just a thief hired to bring in the biggest bounty.”

Face flushed, Jeth scowled. “Maybe so, but I’m her brother. Her family.”

Sierra shook her head. “That doesn’t mean anything. Not to me. Blood and family is just a meaningless ideal. Only actions matter.”

“You’re wrong,” Jeth said. “Family does matter. More than anything.”

“I . . .” Sierra’s voice trailed off, and she looked away from him. “I’d planned on telling you the truth about her. That same night, in fact. I thought I’d gotten to know you well enough that it would safe for you to learn the truth. But then I overheard you and Milton. And later I saw you sneak over to the Donerail, and I knew you were searching for the data cell.” Jeth started to protest, but Sierra cut him off. “I understand now what you were doing. Milton explained it to me, and Vince certainly thought I was being a little rash. But if you could have seen it from my point of view, you would understand my reaction.”

“How so?” Jeth said.

“Because Renford . . . he’s my guardian.” She glared. “And I would rather die than be handed over to him again.”

Shock froze Jeth in place. Renford was her guardian? The man who’d abused her so much that when she saw Cora being abused she had to act? His gaze dropped automatically to her hands. He couldn’t see her misshapen fingers through the space suit gloves she was wearing, but he remembered them well. He looked up. “That’s how you know so much, isn’t it? About Renford being a rogue agent and the Northern Dancer?”

Sierra’s expression turned grim. “I lived on that ship for four years up until I took the Aether Project internship. Renford had a part in getting me recruited. He wanted me on the project so I could steal information for him. His home planet is Rosmoor, and he’s been trying for years to bring down the ITA over what they did there with the embargo and the way his people have suffered.”

“Wait,” Jeth said, cutting her off. “Renford is from Rosmoor?”

“Yes,” Sierra said, “although he’s done a good job hiding that from the ITA. He joined long before the embargo, but even then you had to be from a Confederated planet, so he lied on his application.”

“So, does that make him some sort of freedom fighter?” Jeth asked, disliking the notion. It was far too noble a motivation for someone like Renford.

A glower darkened Sierra’s face, and Jeth was glad to see it. “No, he’s nothing but a mercenary. Oh, he acts like his intentions are good and justified, and they might have been at one point for all I know. But he only cares about the money he stands to gain through the Aether Project, and even more about the power.”

“Yeah, I understand the type.”

Sierra exhaled. “You have no idea. I went into the job on the Aether Project fully planning on handing it over to him. Obeying him was what I’d been raised to do, conditioned to do. But Cora and your mother changed all that. Watching them suffer forced me to break free of my own suffering. It was hard. Defying Renford was the toughest thing I’ve ever done. Then the moment I heard you say his name, I lost all sense. I hate him so much.” She stopped speaking and drew a shaky breath.

Jeth stared at her, horrified by the confession and how close to tears she sounded. “If you don’t want to go over there, I understand.”

Sierra cleared her throat. “I have to. I can’t let him win. I’ve come too far. And Cora needs me.”

Jeth frowned. “She needs you?”

“It’s like I said before, her ability to phase is extremely powerful, but she has a hard time keeping it under control, especially during times of high emotional stress. One of the reasons I was able to get so deeply involved in the project is because Cora trusts me. For whatever reason, I’m able to keep her calm. Most of the time.”

Jeth remembered his earlier suspicions. “She caused some of the damage on the Donerail, didn’t she?”

“Yes,” Sierra said, her voice steadier with the new topic. “She’s part of the reason we got so lost once we entered the Belgrave. She got frightened and phased the entire ship by accident. Or at least, I think she did. Milton believes there might be a connection between Cora and the Belgrave, or Empyria to be more precise.”

Jeth supposed it made as much sense as anything else he’d heard. “Is Cora a danger to herself? I mean could she phase herself?” The horrible image of the mutilated monkey flashed in his mind. How could he ever keep her safe from that?

Sierra pursued her lips. “The scientists doubt she would be able to harm herself directly with a phase, but harming herself indirectly is certainly possible based on what she can do to the environment around her. Like, what if she accidentally phased a hole in an exterior wall of the ship? She could get blown out into space.”

Jeth cringed. “In that case, I’m glad you’re coming with us.”

A ghost of a smile slid across Sierra’s lips. “I really am sorry. For stealing Avalon and for not being up front with you from the beginning.”

Jeth didn’t say anything, unsure how to respond. He did understand why she’d done what she had. But he didn’t know if he was ready to forgive her. Not yet.

Fortunately, he was spared the trouble of an answer when Shady and Dax arrived. It was a tight squeeze with all four of them in the hatch, especially in space suits. They slipped on their helmets, trying to avoid elbows.

“Ready?” Sierra asked. She spoke softly and yet her voice boomed inside Jeth’s helmet over the comm system.

Everyone nodded, and Sierra deactivated the gravity drive inside the hatch and then lifted the latch, opening the door to the outside. The Northern Dancer’s hull loomed over their heads. This might be the most dangerous part of the job, the freefall upward to the Northern Dancer’s hatch.

Dax went first, pushing off from the Citation as hard as he could, arms stretched over his body as if he were diving into water. A moment later, he grabbed hold of the handrails outside the Northern Dancer’s hatch and pulled himself toward the ship. Shady went next, then Jeth and finally Sierra.

Jeth held his breath as Sierra slid open the access panel on the Northern Dancer’s hatch and inserted a decryption card. He knew from Lizzie that such devices weren’t to be trusted for this sort of thing, but Sierra had insisted that the code logic behind it was foolproof.

A moment later, the LED on the card flashed green, and the hatch slid open like a wide, welcoming mouth ready to swallow them whole.

One hurdle down, Jeth thought, giving a shiver.

And a million more to go.