Justice Keepers Saga - Books 13-15

Chapter 4-2

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Velezia isn’t that far,” Larani added. “We’ll only have to stay here one night.”

“So, what happens when we get there?”

Leaning against the wall across from the bunks, Larani drummed her fingers on the bulkhead. “I honestly don’t know,” she admitted. “We’ll have to convince them to let us disembark. And then we’ll warn them about the impending attack on Leyria.”

Melissa should have expected as much. The finer points of this plan were still a bit fuzzy. It couldn’t be helped when so much depended on variables you couldn’t control. This whole thing was an act of desperation.

Their first plan had been to find a SlipGate and use it to get a message to Leyria, but after three days of searching, they had discovered that the Ragnosians had pilfered just about every Gate on the planet’s surface. The only way to access one would be to sneak aboard a Ragnosian ship, and the odds of success weren’t good.

Their only other option was to sneak off-world and deliver the message in person. Larani had been chosen for this mission because she still had a lot of credibility with people who believed in the Justice Keepers. Novol was the closest thing they had to an expert on Ragnosian shipping practices; so, he had to come too. The resistance leaders had insisted that a second Keeper should go with Larani, and Novol’s presence pretty much guaranteed that it would be Melissa.

The Salusians were willing to let her go. Larani had brought a dozen Nassai with her when she came to Salus. Every resistance cell had at least one Keeper. Melissa would be missed, but everyone agreed that delivering this intel was too important. The war with Leyria was the only thing preventing the Ragonosians from directing all of their resources into pacifying Salus Prime.

Rolling onto her side, Melissa set her elbow on the mattress and propped her head up with one hand. “You ever date a non-Keeper?” It was a subject she had been thinking about quite a bit lately. One day, Novol would look like an old man, and Melissa – if she made it that far – would look the way she did now. That was one of many reasons why most Keepers didn’t bother with romance.

Larani eyed her warily, then scowled and shook her head. “I don’t do a lot of dating,” she said. “I’ve always focused on my career.”

“Come on, there had to be someone.”

Chuckling, Larani smiled up at the ceiling. “Bleakness take me,” she said. “Are you trying to get to know me? One might consider that a breach of our professional relationship, Agent Carlson.”

“Well, I’m not Agent Carlson anymore,” Melissa countered. “And you’re not Director Tal. We’re just two bad-a*s ladies who lead a rebellion. And bonding is good for morale. So, spill!”

Larani was quiet for a moment, lost in her own private reverie. “Anna told me that you were growing more confident,” she mumbled. “Months ago, when you were still a cadet. I guess I never saw it until now.”

Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, Melissa sat up. She had to hunch over to avoid bumping her head on the top bunk. “You never answered my question,” she said. “Have you ever dated someone without a symbiont?”

“I was seeing Gabrina for a while there.”

“Really?”

Larani fell back against the wall, clearing her throat forcefully. She was obviously having a hard time divulging the details of her personal life. Perhaps Melissa shouldn’t have brought it up. “I called it off shortly after I was removed from my position as chief director,” Larani explained. “It’s probably for the best; I’m not a very good partner.”

“I don’t believe that.”

“It’s true,” Larani said. “Relationships have always been something of a distraction to me. I don’t fall in love easily. The last time it happened, I was your age.”

“Who was she?”

“A fellow cadet,” Larani muttered. “We were in training at the same time. She was the type of person who could light up a room just by walking through the door. And she was always challenging our instructors. I used to lie awake at night, wishing that I had one tenth of her courage.”

Melissa was enraptured. She had never heard Larani speak with such passion! Whoever this mystery woman was, she must have been incredible.

“We went on a few missions together,” Larani went on. “But the truth is she was barely aware of my existence. Why would she be? She spent most of our first year dating a young woman named Adira Medron. After that, it was a Conor Sharosi. And then Lyn Shemasa. I don’t think she was ever single for more than two weeks at stretch. I kept thinking I would work up the courage to…Well, that’s not important.”

Melissa felt a burst of elation upon hearing those names, elation that was not her own. Ilia was practically bouncing around in the back of her head. But why would a Nassai be so excited by a list of…

“Jena,” Melissa whispered. “You were in love with Jena.”

Larani flinched, the colour draining out of her face. “How did you…” She cleared her throat again. “How did you figure that out?”

Melissa stood up, locking eyes with the other woman. “I carry her symbiont, Larani,” she said. “Ilia recognized those names.”

“I should have realized,” Larani muttered. “I’m getting sloppy.”

“What does it matter?” Melissa exclaimed. “I think it’s beautiful that you were in love with Jena.”

“Yes, well, just the same, I would very much prefer it if you kept this conversation to yourself.”

Pinching her thumb and forefinger together, Melissa drew them across her lips like she was doing up a zipper. “Promise,” she murmured. “Your secret is safe with me.”

Melissa woke up in the middle of the night with an abundance of energy, quickly realizing that she wouldn’t be getting back to sleep anytime soon. Her cabin was pitch-dark, but her spatial awareness painted the room in perfect detail. She could hear Larani’s soft, steady breathing from the top bunk.

Ilia was still sad; Larani’s revelation had shaken her. Finding a relaxed state of mind wasn’t easy on a ship full of sketchy people who were probably planning to rob her – or worse – but Melissa had forced herself to meditate. It took twice as long as it should have, but she eventually made contact with her Nassai.

Ilia seemed to think that Larani should have acted on her feelings. Melissa didn’t probe – her Nassai could be remarkably tight-lipped when it came to Jena’s memories – but it wasn’t hard to put the pieces together. If Ilia thought that Larani should have asked Jena out, it meant there was a good chance Jena would have said yes.

Missed opportunities. In some ways, they were the greatest of all tragedies. She had debated with herself for half an hour before sleep finally claimed her, trying to decide whether she should tell Larani what she had deduced. In the end, she decided to keep that little nugget to herself. It would only cause Larani pain.

Restless, Melissa got out of bed and stretched. She was still fully clothed – she was not going to let her guard down around Bareo and his men – which made it easier to slip away without making too much noise.

notThe hallway was so bright it made her eyes water. The air was stale and stuffy with a scent that made her think of an auto-mechanic’s shop. She could hear the warp engines humming softly, which meant they were still somewhere in the vast emptiness between Salus and Velezia.

Trailing her fingers along the wall, Melissa shuffled through the narrow corridor with her eyes closed. “Just fourteen hours,” she muttered to herself. “Fourteen hours, and you can get off this ship.”

She passed the door to the larger cabin that Bareo’s crew used. Novol would be in there, most likely sound asleep. Assuming he could sleep under these conditions. She wanted to talk to him, but knocking wouldn’t be a good idea. The crew wouldn’t think very much of her if she woke them up in the middle of the night.

couldThe hallway opened into a cargo bay about half the size of her high-school gym. Metal crates were spaced out on the floor in neat, little rows, creating a series of “streets” that ran between them in a grid pattern.

She followed one to the space door.

Pausing there, Melissa craned her neck to take in the sight of it. She turned around, heading back the way she had come, but a flicker of motion caught her eye.

A man stepped out from behind one of the crates, jumping backward when he saw her. This guy was tall, mid-thirties with a bit of a barrel chest and wrinkles on his pale face. “You startled me!” he exclaimed in Vanasku.

“Sorry,” she replied, realizing too late that she might have made a critical error. Would he wonder how a Salusian woman could speak his language? Melissa was trying to maintain the masquerade.

“It’s all right,” the old guy said, bracing one hand against a crate. He smiled and turned his head to stare at the wall. “Couldn’t sleep?”

“First time in space.”

“Well, you could have fooled me.”

“Oh?”

A blush put some colour in the man’s cheeks. He cleared his throat, lowering his eyes to the floor. “Just…” The awkward silence stretched on as he fumbled for the words. “I guess I would have expected you to panic.”

Melissa folded her arms, leaning back against the crate across from him. “Panic,” she said, arching an eyebrow. “I suppose you were expecting us to tremble in awe at the sight of your devilish flying machines.”

He forced a smile, refusing to look at her. “Point taken,” he mumbled. “I must say I’m impressed by how well you speak my language.”

It was Melissa’s turn to blush, a reaction that she tried to smother. Confidence. She had to project confidence. Why was this always so much easier for Anna? “Your armies occupied my village,” she said. “They forced us to learn.”

“Still, most people can’t pick up a language in a matter of months.”

“I’m not most people.”

“I guess not,” he said. “The name’s Jinsa.”

“Solaya,” she replied, using the alias that she and Larani had agreed upon. “Thank you very much for letting us travel on your ship.”

He turned to go, stalking off through the aisle between crates on his way back to the crew quarters. “Thank the captain!” he called out to her. “Our losses are coming out of his share!”

Melissa stood with her feet apart, clasping her chin as she watched the man go. Losses, she thought. Now, there’s something we didn’t consider.

Losses,Now, there’s something we didn’t consider.The crew might not look kindly on their captain’s decision to throw the ship off schedule so he could ferry a bunch of country bumpkins to a Leyrian planet. Technically, Velezia was an independent world, not under Leyrian jurisdiction, but she doubted that distinction mattered much to people on this ship.