The Catalyst (Targon Tales) (15 page)

“What do you want for him?” Drackon’s patience clearly needed little more to break completely. Seth almost sympathized with the man. Compromised or not, to have to negotiate with a rebel of Pe Khoja’s notoriety would surely go against every instinct the Colonel possessed.

It was rumored that the Caspian was the power behind Tharron’s throne now and that the leader was only too happy to leave the logistics of running his rebel empire to him. Where before the Shri-Lan had acted with brute force to oppose and sabotage the Union, they now showed evidence of organization and planning. Pe Khoja, as remorseless and brutal as most of Tharron’s inner circle, used his superior intelligence to organize extortion, black markets and, like now, the subversion of Union members. He rarely dirtied his own hands.

“I’ll let him go for a mere one thousand additional modules,” he said. “Delivered to our people near Naiya.”

Seth could have sworn that the Colonel growled under his breath.

“Who’s the other one you’re looking for?”

“A Human woman also taken off the
Dyona
by your people. Union officer. Whiteside. She showed up on Targon later and then disappeared.”

“I don’t recall anyone mentioning an officer,” Pe Khoja said. “But I’ll ask around.”

“She doesn’t matter as much. I just need her gone, if she’s still alive. Where are you holding the Delphian?”

 “Certainly not here on Magra. We’ll have to deliver him to you.” Pe Khoja pointed one of his thumbs at Seth. “He’ll take the modules to K’lar and we’ll send someone to get the Delphian for you.”

“I’m not sure that my ship can carry ten thousand modules,” Seth said quickly. “You can easily get another liftplane for that. I’ll deliver the Delphian for you.” He grinned. “My crew cabin’s been refitted to house ungrateful company.”

Drackon shrugged. “Matters none to me.” He glowered at Pe Khoja. “I need you to send him to the station outside the Naiya breach. It’s taking our people far too long to chart the jumpsite. Rellius is not a patient man.”

Seth had to take a slow and deep breath to hide his excitement at this revelation. Rellius? A Factor was pulling the strings here? It was almost too audacious to believe that any of the Union’s top level governors would use rebels to achieve their objectives. Or, for that matter, that one of them was willing to wipe out an entire species. His mental image of Nova finding out about this nearly made him grin.

“He’s a spanner?” Pe Khoja’s short laugh sounded like a bark. “Those Delphians are truly multi-purpose.”

Seth frowned. “You have the Delphian working for you?” He lifted his hand to his head to brush his hair back from his forehead; with luck the illumination in this room was enough to ensure an adequate video of the Colonel and Pe Khoja. He scratched his chin to give his bracelet another chance to capture the image.

“I’m not sure I would call it that,” Pe Khoja said. “But we are keeping him occupied. From what I hear he’s not happy with the arrangement.”

“Just get him out there soon,” the Colonel said. “In shape to do the work. I am heading there myself and will expect you within days. And I’m talking Targon time. Rellius wants that gate fully charted and safe for transit before the next council meeting. I’ll have the extra modules with me.”

“Yessir, Colonel, sir!” The Caspian saluted and managed to make it look like an insult.

Both Seth and Pe Khoja watched Drackon leave the room without another word.

“He is not a happy man,” Seth said. “Been working for him long?”

Pe Khoja’s long upper lip lifted in a sneer. “It might be healthier for you to remember that Tharron is the man in charge here, not this Union turncoat or his traitorous overlord. I hope you noticed that I did not mention to him it was you who botched the job on the
Dyona
.”

Seth shrugged. “Wasn’t my command. Maybe if you’d told them what they were stealing they’d be a bit more careful with the merchandise.”

“I’ve dealt with Gwain. And if you hope to take his place here on Magra you’d better come up with a few success stories to share with Tharron.”

“I’ll start with your delivery. Where is this Delphi?”

Pe Khoja smirked. “On Aram.”

Seth groaned. “Should have guessed you weren’t keeping him somewhere pretty.”

“You volunteered. Get over there and find Pramman Raj at Ge’er. He’ll dig up that spanner for you. If he’s still alive. Pop the officer if you find her there. I don’t want to handle uniforms, anyway.”

“Where am I taking the Delphi?”

Pe Khoja’s hand whipped toward him to grasp his wrist. Seth flinched, ready to evade the Caspian’s grasp when he realized that his wrist array was the object of interest. “Nervous?” Pe Khoja taunted, his yellow eyes glittering in the dark. He accessed Seth’s data unit to enter the required coordinates for both the Aram location as well as the keyhole to Naiya. Seth forced himself to remain immobile, waiting for Pe Khoja to realize that the leather bracelet next to the array contained a video recorder.

The rebel finally released his arm. “Like the good Colonel said, you’re in a hurry.” Pe Khoja turned back to his contemplation of the panorama of drifting stars on the curved walls. “Before I forget, Centauri…” he said as Seth headed for the door.

Seth turned to look back at the Caspian.

“You wouldn’t know anything about Comori’s lab on Aikhor suffering an extreme collapse, would you?”

“Not a thing.”

“You were there. Seen with a Bellac whore. Your ship was serviced, too. Does that help you to remember?”

Seth smiled carelessly, wondering how Pe Khoja managed to know the things he did. “Yes, she was sweet.”

Pe Khoja turned. “There were some valuable goods in that lab, Kada. It takes a lot of currency to maintain a ship like yours.” His flat eyes narrowed as he scrutinized the Centauri. “I will not have you playing your own games at Tharron’s expense. That’ll just get you dead. Am I clear there?”

“Anything else?”

The Caspian waved his hand dismissively. “Step carefully, Centauri. Don’t be more trouble than you’re worth.”

* * *

Nova’s attention was only partially captivated by the furred little animal in her lap batting playfully at a string dangling from her wide-brimmed hat. Vincent had insisted that the pilot visiting his home received a good dose of sunshine and fresh air before heading back into the doubtlessly damaging environment of filtered gas and artificial gravity she called home at any other time. He was probably right, Nova thought, inhaling deeply of the fragrant air here in this garden, perceiving scents she had never encountered before. More of her attention was diverted by a large insect buzzing around her head, no doubt fully equipped with various stingers and blood-sucking proboscises.

But for the most part her thoughts were on Seth and the awkward and cold atmosphere that had settled over the Dutchman ever since their disturbing encounter after leaving Pelion two days ago. There had been no more jokes at her expense, no more teasing or lewd remarks. Their conversation was polite and limited to the operations of the ship and their plans for coming here to Magra.

Upon arrival, he had dropped her off at Vincent’s cottage and had gone on his own to seek out his contacts while Acie and Nova took a skimmer into the nearby city to pick up Nova’s medicine. He had been gone for a few days now, no doubt making his inquiries with great caution to get more information about the secret keyhole to Naiya.

Nova regretted her impulsive seduction of Seth aboard the Dutchman, wondering if she had hurt him, surprised that he could be hurt. But he had left her without a word six years ago - surely she had not meant much to him then. And now they were on opposite sides of an armed conflict growing increasingly violent as stakes were raised between the Union and Tharron’s rebel organizations. On opposite sides, yet each day that passed increased his significance, drew her closer to people like Acie and Vincent and led her to question her unwavering loyalty to the Union’s Air Command.

She stared moodily at her arm, abused by days of injections. If not for their mission to save her life as well as the Naiyads’, she should be long gone, returned to the strict confines of military life, unthinking and unquestioning as before.

It was not too late. The nearest Air Command base was only a continent away, within easy calling distance. Even a skimmer could get her there in a few days. But whom could she trust? Colonel Carras’ motives were unclear and she had to admit that she felt compelled to believe Celessa’s accusations against Colonel Drackon. Her own CO and likely her father, too, would simply direct her back to Targon to report all of this. To Carras.

“Nova!” she heard Acie’s bright voice. “Seth’s back. And Vincent made dumplings.”

Nova rose out of the lounger. Acie, as usual, was wearing an oversized lab coat and her white hair hung in several messy braids. She hadn’t told Nova what she was working on in her basement lab and Nova didn’t want to know. She fussed with the ball of fur that insisted on climbing up her arm. Didn’t looking the other way when every bit of her training compelled her to investigate Acie’s projects make her a rebel sympathizer?

“What’s wrong?” Acie’s smile wavered.

Nova inhaled deeply of the sweet air breezing through the garden. “All’s well,” she smiled at the woman.

They entered the kitchen at nearly the same moment that Seth came into the room from the front of the cottage. “I have great news, Vincent,” he proclaimed. “You are going to congratulate me only moments from now.” He halted abruptly when he nearly collided with Nova at the back door. His smile faded and he stepped away. Acie’s brows drew together in a puzzled frown when she looked from Seth to Nova and back again.

Vincent turned from his stove, wiping his hands. “Great news is always welcome.”

Seth went to a side board and fetched a display screen. He placed it on the table in the middle of the room like a magician about to perform a trick. The others came closer when he downloaded something from his bracelet to the monitor. “Watch this.”

They looked at the screen, at first disoriented by the poor lighting in the planetarium and the movements of Seth’s wrist unit.

“Who’s that?” Acie wanted to know.

Seth froze the display. “Pe Khoja, Tharron’s best pal.”

She cocked her head in appraisal. “He’s handsome.” She looked up to see the others staring at her in speechless astonishment. “What? He is!”

“He’s the murdering mastermind of your own people’s misery,” Vincent said. “You’ll want to stay far far out of his way.”

She looked back at the screen with a pout. “Why are all the pretty ones such bastards?”

“Thanks,” Seth said. He restarted the video. “Can we continue?”

They returned their attention to the screen to watch the meeting between Pe Khoja, Drackon and Seth, their eyes growing bigger with every moment that passed. Nova gasped when the Colonel mentioned the Factor’s name. “No! Rellius? Using rebels?”

Seth nodded. “That’s what I thought.”

She watched without further interruption until the recording ended. The video was blurred and at times obscured in the dim light of the exhibit, but both Pe Khoja and Colonel Drackon were clearly recognizable in several of the segments.

Nova sat down, stunned. “Unbelievable.”

Vincent chuckled. “This is almost funny. I do hope you don’t intend to carry out Pe Khoja’s directive to harm our Nova, are you?” He put an arm around her shoulder and gave her a brief squeeze. “After all, the Lieutenant has shown remarkable restraint in your case.”

Nova felt her face grow hot and did not dare to look at Seth.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Seth said. He pushed the display tablet toward her side of the table. “Download this to your system.” He pointed at her wrist unit, purchased on her recent trip up the coast with Acie. “And we’ll keep a copy on the Dutchman. This information is priceless.”

“What will you do with it?” she said.

“Nothing. It’s what
you
will do with it that is the question here.” He shrugged. “I’m just in this to save the squid. And now we know where the Delphian spanner is. Not a bad day’s work. We’ll have to get some more weather gear and an outdoor suit for the Delphian, extra long. Now what is it I’m smelling, Vincent? Did you go and shoot Nova’s daram to make that?”

Nova tapped the copy instructions dispiritedly into her wrist unit. She looked up when she felt Acie’s eyes on her. “What?”

Acie glanced over at Seth, who was admiring Vincent’s culinary creation, and then back to Nova. “What’s going on?” she said quietly.

Nova shrugged and returned to her task. “Not a thing.”

Chapter Ten

This time, neither Seth nor Nova relied on the other’s help to climb into their outdoor gear before leaving the ship. They layered shirts and trousers and covered them with vests, leggings, padded overcoats and lined boots. A thick burnoose and goggles protected their faces from Aram’s extreme temperatures.

“Is it safe to leave the Dutchman here?” Nova peered at the real-vid screens showing their surroundings. They had landed without challenge near Ge’er, a scattering of hovels huddled on the edge of a barren plateau lined with massive cliffs. There was not enough surface water for anything more than some wispy drifts of snow but their gauges indicated deadly temperatures outside. The few people moving among the buildings were bundled in thick layers or even heated pressure suits and only the natives, their bodies covered with hair as dense as fur, seemed indifferent to the weather.

“As safe as any place on this rock,” Seth replied. He looked over her shoulder at the screen. “I think the tunnel entrance is in that blue building. The actual rebel base is dug deep into the cliff to the south. Mostly old mine shafts.”

“Why would anyone want to live in this place?”

He bent to lash his gun holster to his thigh. “Pack a few percussion charges. This place used to do fine business before the last of the crystal was mined. It’s not so bad below ground. Maybe not a great place for people like us, but some of the subsurface habitats are really quite nice. Not this one, though. Not sure I’d even call it a habitat.”