Losing Mars (Saving Mars Series-3) (17 page)

Cameron turned back to the two sitting at the table and reseated herself, placing both elbows on the table. “Right. So ye say me red armor’s flawed?” she asked of Kipper.

The captain nodded.

“And ye can assist me in the conversion of the, eh, helmet-seals, was it?”

Kipper nodded once more. “I can provide you with the corrected design. It’s not a difficult fix at all.”

“Excellent,” replied the clan chief. “And speaking of fixing things, I’d like to propose ye allow me personal physician to look at that head of yours.”

Kipper’s brows drew together. “Ruchenko told me it was inoperable—”

“The good doctor wasn’t exactly motivated to make ye free to live an ordinary life, was he?”

A smile had appeared on Kip’s pale face. “I was about to add that he used to make jokes about my condition and what good luck it was for him. I’d welcome a second opinion.”

Jessamyn stood, and, hands on her hips, addressed Cameron. “It seems to me that providing a bit of surgery is hardly fair compensation for what Kip and I have just offered. Between the two of us, we’ve just suggested how you can effectively destroy Lucca’s access to that tellurium. Your clan will be safe; you’ll be an immensely wealthy leader once more.”

“Aye, lass, if all goes well. What sort of reward did ye have in mind?”

“An M-class ship would be acceptable,” said Jessamyn, crossing her arms.

“Would it now?” Cameron laughed aloud. “Oh, ye’re a feisty one. I like that, I do.”

Jessamyn’s hands returned to her hips—the equivalent of a skinny cat puffing out its fur to look larger. “So, will you throw in an M-class ship?”

Cameron’s visage sobered. “Not for this, lass. I’ll give ye a ship upon one condition and one condition only.”

“Name it,” demanded Jessamyn.

“Ye spoke of the cessation of trade between our worlds. I’m not going to say I like that. Not at all. Our clan has been a good and true friend to MCC for nearly two hundred years. We’ve supplied ye right through the war, when it might have cost us all our lives. Every last member of the clan stands at risk for what we’ve done upon the Isle of Skye.” Cameron paused, allowing the sound of the piper’s brave song to swell and fill the hall.

As the last notes died out, the clan chief spoke again. “I’ll not part with a ship for anything less than a promise that ye’ll make two more visits to our world, trading tellurium for ration bars or whatever it is ye may need in yer independent future.”

Kipper spoke up. “Jess, you are absolutely not authorized to make this sort of bargain.”

Jessamyn turned upon her captain. “I’ll mine the tellurium myself, if I have to. And I’ll pilot alone as well. And manufacture the fuel by myself if MCC won’t supply it. It’s my choice to make, by Hades!”

“And how are you going to do all of this from prison?” demanded Kipper. “Because the moment you set foot on Mars again, you’ll be locked up.”

Jessamyn paled and seemed to deflate.

“There, now, ladies,” interjected Cameron. “There, now. Let’s all calm ourselves, shall we?” She looked from Jess to Kipper and back again.

Jessamyn sank once more into her seat at the table. “Kip’s right,” she said to Cameron. “I can’t promise I’ll be free to carry out what you are asking for. I’m under arrest
in absentia
.” She placed her elbows on the table and cradled her face. She had nothing more to offer. She was stuck on Earth. She would not return the Raiders to Mars. And it was all her fault.

“Well, lass,” said Cameron, softly. “I can see ye’d like to help me if ye are able. And ye have the CEO’s ear. Will ye swear to do all in yer power to further trade between Clan Wallace and yer world so long as ye have breath in ye?”

Jessamyn turned her gaze to her captain.

“There’s nothing objectionable in that,” admitted Kipper.

But was there? Was Jess willing to commit herself to trade with Earth? That was what Cavanaugh wanted, wasn’t it? She hesitated. No, what Cavanaugh wanted was a prosperous Mars that had long-term ties to the Terran government. This was different. It was only lengthening the status quo by two more raids.

Jessamyn had made a promise to return the Mars Raiders to their home world. She couldn’t do that without a ship. And if getting a ship meant entering into a promise to speak up about Clan Wallace’s reliance on tellurium, well, that was very different from trying to set up ongoing trade with the Terran government.

“Two more deliveries, you say?” Jessamyn asked.

Cameron nodded. “To give me time to transition to where we need no longer rely upon the influx of tellurium. If MCC were to cut us off cold, lass, well, does it not seem a bit harsh to ye?”

Jessamyn nodded. “It does. I don’t think anyone of Mars thought of what the consequences would be to your clan. And you have saved us from starvation many times over. We owe you this much, and I will make it my sworn duty to persuade the powers that be of the truth of your claim upon us.”

Jessamyn felt it in her gut. It was what Harpreet would do.

28

HOPE

But when it came time to make the acquaintance of the M-class ship, Jessamyn discovered news most unwelcome.

“The engines will have been altered, naturally,” said Cameron Wallace. “In order to prevent interplanetary travel.”

Jessamyn stared at the Chieftain in dismay. “You’re giving me a ship that won’t get me home?”

“I’m giving ye a ship in need of some alterations,” said Cameron. “And I’ll load the parts ye’ll be needing in the hold. Anyone with a remotely mechanical bone in their body can do the work required. But I suggest holding off until the time comes to launch. The deep space engines leave a signature in their wake that would set off alarms and get ye shot out of the sky. Or worse.”

Hope and frustration competed inside Jess, and she stuffed her hands deep into her pockets. It wasn’t a perfect, functional ship, but with some work, it would get the Raiders home.

“So I’m leaving the engines be for now,” continued Cameron. “Don’t want to bring Lucca’s pets sniffing around to see what Clan Wallace is up to, now do I?” Darkly, she added, “I leave that to me cousin Brian.”

“Cameron’s absolutely right,” said Kipper. “The Chancellor’s been pushing new legislation to bring the ban on flying down to one hundred kilometers. Sending an M-class with interplanetary capabilities into airspace in the current political climate would be foolish.”

Jess had no choice but to agree. She couldn’t risk drawing the attention of the Terran government again.

“She mostly leaves us be, those of us with actual power outside her control,” continued Cameron. “So long as we play by certain rules. One of which is, don’t attempt space travel. She’s no fool. She knows where tellurium’s to be found, and she’ll suffer no one but her own self to go after it once she truly runs out.”

“But MCC’s sent how many missions here in the last century?” asked Jess. “Without bringing ruin to your clan—”

“That remains to be seen,” said Cameron, glowering. “Thanks to me fool cousin, Clan Wallace is very prominently on the Chancellor’s radar.”

Jess felt color rushing to her face. “Cameron, there’s something you should know. That wasn’t your cousin’s fault. It was mine. The Chancellor’s only after Brian Wallace because she wants me.”

“Jessamyn drugged and stabbed the Chancellor in the course of completing the mission,” added Kipper, drily.

“Did ye really?” asked Cameron. “Well, well, lass. That’s something Brian left out. Ye’re a bold one. But I beg to differ a wee bit: no matter what ye might have done to her, the Chancellor wants more than just some red-haired inciter. She wants her nephew back as well. Her nephew last seen in the company of me cousin, Brian.”

Cameron crossed her arms as if to begin anew her rant against him, but then she sighed and shook her head. “This has gone on long enough. I’m behaving like a child. Would ye tell Brian from me that I’m willing to let bygones be bygones if he is?”

“Of course,” replied Jessamyn.

“Is he well, then?” asked Cameron. “It’s hard for me to imagine me cousin without his wee goats and his orchids. I don’t suppose he raises them in the desert, does he?”

Jess shook her head, No. “But he has friends,” said Jessamyn, thinking of Brian laughing with Renard and Pavel. “Oh, that reminds me. I’m going to need to buy a small craft. I, er, misplaced one in Budapest.”

Jess then offered the kilo of tellurium she’d carried with her, but Cameron wouldn’t take it.

“Don’t be silly, lass. Yer metal’s worthless here.”

Later that afternoon, Cameron Wallace’s physician examined Kipper. A surgeon as well, Dr. Campbell was easily Ruchenko’s superior. But like Ruchenko, Dr. Campbell agreed Kipper’s outcome would be difficult to predict. Surgery might provide relief, or it might not.

But upon one point, Dr. Campbell stood firm.

“She needs four weeks to recover. And not in some forsaken desert. I must insist she be allowed to recuperate here, where her every need can be anticipated.”

“She needs to rejoin her crew,” insisted Jessamyn.

Here the doctor turned to Jess. “Can your community provide ‘round-the-clock care in a state-of-the-art facility?”

“No,” said Jessamyn. “But we have a … person who has hospital training among us.”

“Oh, well, hospital training,” said Cameron’s physician, shrugging. “It’s your funeral, I suppose.”

“Thank you, Dr. Campbell,” said Kipper, intervening. “You’ve given me a great deal to think about. We’ll need some time to talk things through.”

The surgeon nodded and departed.

“Kip, we can’t sit around here for a month doing nothing. There’s work to do back home. Back in Yucca, I mean. I can’t just sit here watching you recover.”

"I don’t think that would be good, either.”

“You’re giving up on the surgery then?” Now Jessamyn felt a pinch of guilt.

“No, but I think you should go back to Yucca without me.”

Jessamyn considered the idea. And then it struck her that her reasons for wanting to bring Kipper back were rather unattractive. Her first impulse was to keep this realization to herself. But after several moments of silence, she decided to admit aloud what she'd been thinking.

“I wanted to bring you back like a … like a prize or something,” said Jess, her voice quiet with embarrassment. “Guess I just wish I could break my streak of trying to do the right thing and screwing it up. And bringing you back to Yucca would've felt like proof I'm capable of getting things right for a change.”

“Hmm,” said Kipper.

“I'm sure you can’t relate to anything that petty,” said Jess, keeping her voice low.

“You’d be wrong to think so,” Kip said, her own voice soft, her cheeks flushing. “When you told me the other day that Mars regards me as a ‘planetary treasure,’ I shrugged like it was no big deal. But to be honest, it's everything I ever wanted: Cassondra Kipling, planetary treasure. I used to dream about it.”

Jess looked up, half a smile on her face. “We all thought you dreamed of being Secretary General.”

“Oh, sure,” said Kipper. “But only because it would give me that same status—that certainty of having become someone important. Someone who mattered to Mars.”

“It’s not the same once it’s actually happened, though, is it?” asked Jessamyn.

Kipper shook her head. “The past weeks, working with those who suffer—and knowing suffering myself—everything’s changed. I don’t know if it would have changed without the pain, though. Honestly, I think I would’ve been as eager as you to get back to Mars with all of you in tow like some sort of trophies I could parade around.”

Jess laughed softly. “Who’d have thought we were so alike, underneath it all?”

Kipper smiled. “I’m honored to be like you in any small way.”

“Oh, Kipper,” said Jess. “You can’t mean that.” And then she started crying, because she knew, without her captain having to say it again, that Kipper meant it.

It was a watershed moment for the two, and as they sat, Jess felt her heart swell with a new appreciation for her captain.

“Things have changed so much,” said Jess at last.

“And so fast,” added Kipper.

“Kip, I’d like to ask you to make that video … denouncing your brother … before you undergo surgery. Just in case—”

“Of course,” replied Kipper. “I’ll get that done and you can take it to your brother.”

“Thank you.” Jessamyn felt a weight lift from her shoulders.

“You know, you’re very lucky, having a brother like Ethan.”

Jess frowned. “I thought you didn’t like Ethan.”

Kipper shrugged. “Guess you’re not the only one who had some growing up to do.”

The two finished their
tête-à-tête
agreeing that Kipper should undergo surgery, and they relayed their plans to Cameron.

Within the hour, Jess stood beside her new ship, ready to depart, Kipper’s message to Mars safely recorded in Marsperanto.

“Well, I suppose this is farewell, then,” said Cameron. “To you, anyway, Pilot Jaarda. Cassondra must, of course, remain with me until we’ve got her patched up and sorted.”

Cameron turned to Kipper. “I can keep ye safe here. We must authenticate yer death back at the hospital, of course, and offer compensation to that doctor of yours. Fortunately, he’ll be motivated to cooperate and call it death and not disappearance, won’t he?”

Cameron smiled brightly and Kip nodded in agreement.

Jess looked solemnly at Cameron. “Do the best you can to get her well again.”

“I’ll do all that can be done,” replied Cameron.

As she climbed aboard the M-class, Jessamyn’s heart lifted. The clean lines of the ship were so familiar—so like the
Galleon
and the
Dawn
. But that was nothing compared to how she felt seated in the pilot’s hot seat. There was a great deal of hollering and shouting heard in the cockpit, which the ship kept to herself. Jessamyn flew back over Greenland, Hudson Bay, and Canada, heading into sunset.

“
Red Hope
,” said Jessamyn as the sun flared blood-red, sinking in the west. “That’s what I’m calling you, my beauty.
Red Hope
.”