Pets in Space: Cats, Dogs, and Other Worldly Creatures Read online

  Her dad had always been steadfastly devoted to the cause. Now Adini would find out if the Network would be equally loyal in return.

  Calypso’s air jets blasted, bringing the ship to hover just above the well-maintained landing pad. Three ground tugs scuttled over to ferry the ship to her assigned bay, which turned out to be at the extreme outer fringes of the spaceport. Clearly, the captain was attempting to slip her remarkable vessel into a quiet berth, unnoticed.

  At least Banna was a safe haven from Ithian interference. No Ithian tactical squad would be storming the hangar to arrest Captain Jordan for the non-authorized launch back on Carduwa.

  But that stunt might well catch up with her one day…

  With the rear atmospheric drive still winding down, Captain Jordan and Taro appeared in the portal room. Adini’s heart fluttered at the sight of him, looking so handsome and capable in the fresh black uniform. His gaze touched hers briefly before dropping to his deck boots. She regretted the shadow of unease she saw in his deep russet eyes.

  Katrina chattered a happy greeting, now returned to her familiar spot, balancing on Adini’s left shoulder.

  “Package delivered,” the skipper said. “Time to settle up so we can be on our way.”

  Captain Jordan seemed more than eager to depart, and nothing about Taro’s expression said he would do anything other than leave with Calypso. And why shouldn’t he? What they’d shared together had been crazy-impetuous, not binding. During the awkward moments when they’d dressed, he’d muttered something about it only being the flashpoint talking.

  Was he right? She didn’t believe that, but she’d been too bewildered by his withdrawal to argue the point.

  Adini spoke with a confidence she didn’t feel. “I’ll need to find an electro-teller.”

  “Nav Shall will steer you to the nearest. He knows this spaceport well. Katrina stays on the ship until we conclude our business.”

  Dini’s attention shifted to Taro, whose expression grew even more solemn. So Captain Jordan thought she might default on her obligation and was sending her nav as escort? Did Taro doubt her, too? Even now? Didn’t he at least know her well enough to realize she’d never renege on her word?

  Adini clicked her fingers at the StarDog and gestured to Captain Jordan. Katrina obediently hopped from her shoulder to the captain’s. “You stay here, girl. I’ll be back.”

  Taro escorted her to the airlock without a word. He lowered the gangway, and they descended together.

  “Sorry,” Taro said once they were headed away from the ship. “She’s a cautious sort.”

  “I’m not going to default.”

  “I don’t think that’s her main worry.”

  Adini turned her head sharply to look at Taro when she caught his meaning. “She’s afraid I’d go directly to Jaeo Gant and report her and her ship?”

  “She’s very edgy about Gant.” Before Adini could form a question, Taro added, “I don’t know why. It’s not my place to ask.”

  “How do you feel about Gant?” she queried.

  “The way I see it, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

  “Maybe I should be the one who’s worried. What if Captain Jordan reports me to the Alliance? I’m sure by now they’ve posted a bounty.”

  “Betraying someone she’s doing business with isn’t in her DNA. And besides, she may not love this Network you speak of, but you can bet she hates the Alliance.”

  “There may come a time she’ll be forced to declare her loyalty—one way or the other.”

  Taro gave her a meaningful glance. “I think she’ll cross that void when she reaches it.”

  They continued to walk the lengthy complex of alleys, Taro motioning to turn right then left, left again, and then to take a right-hand fork at a three-way split. Crew carts buzzed by, filled with deckhands from a dozen worlds. In spite of their terse conversation, Adini was grateful for Taro’s company. The complicated maze of Calos Spaceport wasn’t a place she’d care to venture alone.

  Ahead, Adini spied an electra-teller in a shady alcove. She approached the unit while Taro waited a few paces out, keeping a watchful eye on the surroundings. After pulling the access card from her skirt pocket, Adini allowed the eye to scan it. She held her breath until the inquiry screen requested her default code then punched it in. The machine accepted it without delay, displayed a withdrawal interface and promptly surrendered the credits to her wristchip. No fuss, no muss, no piercing alarms. With the mounting tensions, at least Banna’s status as a safe haven had proven to be intact.

  Adini returned to Taro. “Got it.”

  “Great. Let’s get back to the ship.”

  “Twenty thousand replas, Captain. Complete with a bill of sale for Katrina.” Adini transferred the data from her wristchip to the captain’s receiver.

  “Pleasure doing business, Miss Kemm,” the skipper replied. “Good luck to you.” Captain Jordan nodded toward the airlock.

  “Captain,” Taro interjected. “I’m going with her. I want to be sure she finds this Gant fellow.”

  Adini sucked in a silent breath. This she hadn’t expected.

  The captain quirked an eyebrow and studied him a full tempa before she looked away and answered, “That’s your call to make, Nav.”

  “I’ll be back as soon as I know she’s in good hands.”

  Adini eased out her breath when Captain Jordan gave her wave of dismissal. She glanced at Taro, but he’d already turned back toward the airlock.

  The StarDog came scampering down the corridor with several high-pitched barks.

  Adini bent to scoop the little scolder into her arms. “I wasn’t going to leave without saying goodbye, girl. Yes, I’ll miss you too.” She slowly stroked the animal’s long back and maned neck. “You take good care of this ship and crew.” She planted a kiss on the soft fur of the StarDog’s head then placed her back on the deck. Katrina sat up, balancing on her two hind legs to weave back and forth and wave her little paws.

  The captain plucked her off the deck. “Don’t worry. She’ll be well taken care of.”

  “I know,” Adini answered. “You wouldn’t have her, otherwise.” She reached out to give Katrina a parting stroke. “Be good.” Then she offered the skipper her hand. “Thank you, Captain Jordan.” The woman gave her a firm but wordless handshake.

  “Ready?” Taro asked quietly.

  They may not have much time. She was sure the cap was itching to take wing and leave Banna in her wake.

  Adini nodded. “Ready.” With one last look at Katrina, tears welling in her eyes, she joined him as he started for the airlock.

  Six

  Two haras later, after checking in at Flight Authority, Taro helped Adini locate the ship captained by Gant, slotted in bay 1552 South.

  After making a mostly wordless trek across the expansive spaceport, they found the vessel in her assigned hangar—an immaculate silver craft with a flame-in-pyramid symbol emblazoned on her hull that identified her LaGuardian registry. She might’ve passed as an upper-end passenger liner if not for the fact that she bristled with an array of weaponry.

  “Expensive looking craft,” Taro muttered.

  “Mennelsohn design,” Adini responded under her breath.

  Taro gave a low whistle. Vessels blueprinted by Zaviar Mennelsohn weren’t easy to come by. Gant had to be quite wealthy. And that sort of wealth wasn’t always gained via legitimate means.

  Three uniformed personnel engaged in quiet conversation at the bottom of the boarding ramp all turned to stare as they approached. Two eased their hands closer to the weapons strapped on their hips, while the third, a tall, mature, fair-haired man with keen eyes, stepped forward to intercept them.

  “Help you?” His offer of assistance was more challenge than greeting, but then his eyes fixed on Adini and widened. “Aren’t you Carbin Kemm’s daughter?”

  “Adini, yes, Captain Gant,” she answered, the relief evident in her voice. “And my father is the reason I’m here. I need your
help.” Her gaze flicked nervously to the other crewmen, unsure how much she should say in their presence.

  Jaeo Gant stiffened and his full attention came to bear on Adini. “What’s happened?”

  “The Ithians seized him, sir. They raided our home on Carduwa.”

  The older man’s eyes hardened like gleaming jade. “What? When? Why?”

  “Yesterday.” Her eyes flickered to the men behind him again before she added, “Because…because of the StarDogs.”

  Gant’s expression morphed from alarm to wariness in an instant. He turned his calculating green eyes on Taro. “And you are?”

  “A friend,” Taro answered.

  Adini affirmed his response with a quick bob of her head. “He’s with me.”

  “Let’s talk inside,” Gant rumbled, moving his hand to a device on his belt before motioning them toward the boarding ramp. The two crewmen accompanying him suddenly multiplied into six when they reached the airlock scan/dis. Taro read the signs. Gant’s offer to board wasn’t an invitation. It was an order.

  He gave Adini an anxious glance as Gant ushered them into the airlock. Her confidence in the man did nothing to assuage Taro’s feeling that he was walking straight into the mouth of a monster.

  Wisdom’s interior was even more intimidating than her outward appearance. She was a larger vessel than Calypso, with four decks of cleanly gridded corridors and cabins, a contrast to the rounded Manta configuration of Captain Jordan’s ship. Every aspect was polished and orderly. All of Gant’s crew were professionally outfitted in crisp black and gray uniforms and branded service hats.

  Wisdom had the look and feel of a military flagship. Except LaGuardia wasn’t supposed to have a military. The planet had been stripped of its fleet two centuries ago, along with its Universal Peacekeeper status, when the Ithians had come to power. Whoever and whatever Jaeo Gant was, the man seemed to wield an unnerving level of authority. Taro began to see why his skipper might want to steer clear of such a man. Right about now, he was wishing he could do the same. The truth was, he wasn’t about to leave Adini in Gant’s care without first getting some assurances from the man.

  Raising his hand, Gant brought the party to a halt in the corridor. The seal to a cabin door slid open with a soft hum.

  “Inside, please,” Gant said, gesturing for Dini and Taro to enter. They stepped forward in unison, and were immediately hit by a weapons scanner embedded into the seal jamb.

  Taro turned to Gant. “What—”

  “No weapons, sir,” one of Gant’s burly men reported.

  “Be seated.” Gant’s command left no room to argue.

  Adini slid into one of the bodyform chairs at a transparent plexi-table. Taro was slower to take his seat beside her. He’d seen this setup before. The transparent table was standard issue in military inquiry rooms. It gave the interrogator the advantage of watching the accused’s hands and feet.

  Two of Gant’s men stationed themselves on either side of the seal as it closed with a pronounced click. Locks engaged. The disquiet in Taro’s gut ramped up several notches.

  “If we’re going to save my father, we need to act quickly,” Adini protested.

  “My men are already working that angle,” Gant replied. “But we’ll proceed with caution.”

  Taro caught the ominous undercurrent in his words, but Adini seemed too focused on her father’s welfare to take note.

  “But sir, they’ve already had him for over a day!”

  Gant’s measuring gaze lifted to her face. “So you’ve said.”

  “I thought you were my father’s friend.”

  “I am his friend. But I’m not yours. In fact, we’ve only met briefly. I don’t know much about you. I can’t even be sure you really are Adini Kemm, or merely an imposter who looks very much like her.” He turned to Taro. “And I know nothing about you.”

  “The name’s Taro Shall.” He shifted in his seat under the man’s intense scrutiny.

  Gant looked over his shoulder at one of his men. The officer raised and aimed a small black device. Taro shouted and recoiled, but instead of the expected stunpulse ray, a thin blue beam scanned his face and then his hands when he raised them in a defensive reflex against the piercing light.

  “Taro Shall,” Gant’s man confirmed, reading from the screen. “Citizen of Tectol. Graduated Tectolian Academy as a certified Navigator, ID 7456392. Registered as a nav for the Clearsky, Baddinger, Blue Darley, and Tahanna, all registered out of Tectol, the Viebold out of Parol. A half-calendar gap in service after that.”

  Gant’s green eyes narrowed with a suspicious glint. “What have you been doing that last half calendar, Taro Shall?”

  “Please! You’re wasting time,” Adini cried. “You know what the Ithians do to p—” She snapped her mouth shut, and Taro sensed her dread. Yes, they all knew what the Ithians did to people. He reached out to close his hand over hers.

  Gant took it all in, seeming oddly relieved by Adini’s distress. Bastard. When he spoke, his voice carried less of an edge. “I need to sort out a few inconsistencies in your story, but trust me, steps are being taken to locate Carbin Kemm as I speak.”

  The blue beam hit Adini, and Taro uttered an expletive. She didn’t flinch, allowing the beam to complete its scan, even raising her hand to voluntarily offer her palm.

  “Adini Kemm,” Gant’s man confirmed. “Civilian. Licensed vendor at Carduwa City Spaceport, Carduwa. Registered Network supporter. She’s cleared, sir.”

  Gant’s rigid posture eased. “Very well. Welcome aboard, Adini. Consider yourself in my protective custody. One of my men will escort you to quarters.”

  “What about Taro?”

  “Mr. Shall stays here.”

  “No,” Adini declared. “We stick together.”

  Gant opened his mouth to respond when a loud chime emitted from a comm device carried by one of his men. Gant turned to his subordinate. “What’s the report, Garr?”

  The man scanned his comm. “We have a track on the Ithian transport, sir.”

  Adini braced her hands on the table. “The one carrying my father?”

  “On screen,” Gant said.

  Garr walked five paces to his right and tapped his comm to the wall. A large animated star chart appeared, with various systems and vessels tagged. Taro squinted, studying the 3D space map. Calypso had similar technology—a 360-degree view field called a panascreen, which Captain Jordan seldom deployed due to the enormous energy-drain it required.

  “The vessel is transponding as Fidelity, specialized Conmara patrol ship. She’s on course for Ithis. ETA, six days. Beyond our range to intercept before she reaches her destination, sir.”

  “No,” Adini whispered.

  Taro bit the inside of his lip. While they were flying to Banna, the transport had been carrying her father in the other direction, increasing the distance between them.

  Gant didn’t acknowledge Adini’s cry, studying the chart with a tilt of his head. “That flight path will take Fidelity in close proximity to the Purmian system, am I right?”

  “Correct, sir,” Garr answered.

  “What’s the current location of Specter?”

  Garr consulted his comm before announcing, “On Purmia, sir.”

  “Current status?”

  Garr’s fingers tapped at his comm device. “Awaiting delivery of a shipment, sir, classified as Priority One.”

  “Override it, Priority Double Star,” Gant said. “Assign her to intercept. We’ve got a friend in harm’s way.”

  “What is Specter?” Taro questioned.

  “Mr. Shall, you’re here by virtue of Ms. Kemm’s good graces and in no position to ask questions.” Gant brought his attention to bear on Taro. “Before you leave this ship, I’ll require you to be fully cleared.”

  Taro choked back a protest. Fully cleared implied fully interrogated. How in Hades would he avoid keeping Captain Jordan and Calypso out of the conversation?

  “The Specter’s first mate is demand
ing verification of your orders, sir.”

  Gant’s mouth quirked. “Inform Commander Shenna to standby for encrypted transmission with Specter in fifteen tempas and secure immediate departure from Calos Spaceport Authority.”

  “Wait just a secta!” Taro shouted. “I’m not going with you. I need to get back to my ship.”

  “And what ship would that be, Mr. Shall? You’re not currently registered as a navigator on any vessel.”

  Island Gods, how was he going to get out of this? He couldn’t embark on an indeterminate voyage with these people. Calypso wouldn’t wait!

  “Please let him go, sir,” Adini pleaded. “He’s no threat to the Network. You have my word on that.”

  “I’m sorry, Adini.” Gant angled toward Taro with a frown. “Mr. Shall is going to have to prove that to us.”

  “Abduction of a free citizen is still a crime on this world, is it not?” Taro challenged.

  “For now, Mr. Shall, consider yourself my guest. Lieutenant Garr will see you both to quarters. Trust that we’ll be speaking again…very soon.”

  For all his heavy-handedness, at least Gant honored Adini’s wishes and didn’t have them separated. They sat together on one of several bunks in a guest cabin where they’d been since the ship launched. Their inner berth had no ports, just four solid walls and a locked door.

  “I don’t think I like your friend,” Taro growled.

  “He’s my father’s friend. And I’m not so sure I like him either.” She drew up one leg to rest her chin on her knee. “I know he only means to protect his interests, but the Network is supposed to be a champion of personal rights and freedoms. Not this.”

  “How do you know what they really stand for? Maybe they aren’t the good guys at all.”

  “Compared to whom?” Adini forced the breath from her lungs. “I’m sorry, Taro.”

  “For what?”