Unchained (8 page)

Cidra watched in horror as all the attackers
turned on the freighter when the last escort was destroyed,
bombarding it relentlessly. They were so tight that the freighter
couldn’t maneuver, couldn’t jump to hyperspace. The Galena endured
hit after hit.

“
They’re taking a beating,”
Decker reported, intent on the statistics. “Systems are shutting
down all over.”

The freighter slowly rolled left, its port
side guns firing constantly. The image flickered strangely before
flashing back.

“
Hull breach,” Decker
announced gravely. Cidra knew total destruction was
inevitable.

The big guns ceased firing. Internal
explosions lit up the Galena. Suddenly, there was a burst of static
and the image died.

All four sat in stunned silence for a long
time staring into the empty holo grid. The office felt as cold as a
morgue.

Decker rubbed his forehead and swore an oath
for all of them.

“
Well, now we know what
happened.” It was Barrios who finally said it. “All these years and
no one knew.”

Cidra closed her eyes. She should be
analyzing the situation, but her mind wouldn’t cooperate. Someone
had deliberately destroyed that shipment and purposely dishonored
the Kin-sha, Avion, and her father.

“
Why would anyone destroy
that shipment?” She didn’t realize she’d spoken aloud.

“
My question exactly,”
muttered Barrios. “What do you think Stone?”

Grey stared into the empty holo deck, deep
in thought. “Definitely not pirates. They weren’t holding anything
back. They wanted to make sure there was nothing left to that
ship.”

“
Do you think they knew
they destroyed a fortune in vaccine along with it?” Decker
asked.

“
I don’t know,” Grey
replied. He asked another question. “Do you think they realized a
few million people would die without it?”

Barrios groused. “Just what we need, more
questions. One at a time. Decker, hand me that cartridge.”

Decker ejected the holo cartridge from the
holo deck and passed it to Barrios.

“
Just as I thought,”
Barrios commented as he examined the cartridge. “Standard issue
Avion equipment. Manufacture date corresponds with the autodate of
the recording.”

He held the cartridge up to the group. “You
are looking at the original recording media. Has anyone thought
about how this recording survived? If the Galena recorded this
holo, how come it wasn’t destroyed with the freighter?”

Decker voiced his thoughts. “Even if there
was another ship around, it couldn’t have been transmitted off.
According to the stats, their external transmissions were being
jammed from the very beginning. They couldn’t even communicate with
the escort.”

Grey folded his hands in front of his face.
“It’s a long journey from that freighter to Syrus’ box. So how did
it happen?”

Decker shifted in his seat. “Add it to the
list of questions. But I have one answer for you. I know who
attacked the shipment. The Saurelians. I can positively ID those
ships. From what the Galena could gather, I’d say they were
identical. Probably pulled right off the production line. Looks
like they were state of the art at the time.” Decker shook his head
in admiration and regret. “Those Saurelians make good killing
machines. They know how to fly them, too.”

“
No,” stated
Cidra.

All eyes turned to her in surprise. She
straightened and looked to each one in turn.

“
That may be their
fighters, but I can tell you, those weren’t Saurelian pilots. I’ve
studied every alien battle strategy in this sector. It’s not their
style to deploy twenty fighters to take out five ships. They enjoy
the battle too much, and they love flying their own ships.
Saurelians prefer even odds, makes the game more
interesting.”

“
This,” she waved a hand
toward the empty holo grid, “was too easy. Whoever sent those
fighters out there wanted to make sure that shipment wouldn’t make
it to Dakru.”

She looked over to find Grey regarding her
intently over his hands. He turned to Decker. “Run it again.
Half-speed this time. Let’s see if we can get some answers.”

By the third viewing, Cidra had the entire
monstrosity engraved in her memory. Barrios was right. It only
raised more questions.

Who was flying the fighters? Why would
anyone want to destroy a humanitarian shipment? How did they
approach the cortege so easily, apparently undetected? How did the
holo cartridge and an actual vaccine ampoule get off the Galena and
into Syrus’ hands?

And the most important question of all. Grey
couldn’t deny her mission any longer, not with the evidence before
him.

“
So Captain, do we have a
mission?” Cidra asked with a calm secured by
vindication.

Grey was slow to answer. His quick-silver
eyes met hers with cold clarity. “We have a mission. A non-profit
mission. In case you hadn’t noticed, I have an entire crew to pay.”
He leaned back in his chair, watching her. “I set the rules and
timing. We’ll look at it until we get to Vaasa. Then it goes on
hold for as long as it takes to find the Mask of Teran.
Understood?”

Cidra glared at him. “Can’t you see how
important this is?”

Grey glared back. “I don’t need to explain
my reasons to you. You just have to live with them.”

Cidra opened her mouth to say something but
closed it instead. She wasn’t going to win this battle. Not today.
There was always tomorrow. Patience. She knew all about patience.
She took a deep breath, letting go of her anger. “Of course,
Captain. So where do we begin?”

Grey narrowed his eyes at her. She smiled
back brightly.

He began warily, “Ten years ago, someone
purchased twenty Saurelian fighters. That should narrow down the
source. I’ve got some people I can contact on Vaasa. We still need
to figure out how this holo cartridge and the ampoule got off that
freighter. That’s a huge piece of the puzzle.”

To Decker, he said, “I want you to get all
you can out of this recording. Every stat, every development, in
sequence. The answer to the recording’s survival is there, but
we’re missing it. Look for anything unusual. Also, start digging
around in the archives and external sources for everything you can
find on this shipment. Be creative.”

Decker nodded and grinned. “Always. That’s
where I do my best work.”

Grey glanced around the room. “In the
meantime, if anyone comes up with any brilliant theories, be sure
to let me know.”

CHAPTER FIVE

Making her way down the
main corridor with Grey’s dinner, Cidra reflected on her first meal
on
Calíbre
with
dazed amusement. It had been a chaotic, riotous affair with a crew
of people all talking, laughing, and cursing at once. Much of the
time was spent regaling Cidra and Barrios on a few unsavory
adventures involving the Captain and crew of
Calíbre
. She imagined every new
member got the same initiation.

Leena had kept her word and introduced Cidra
to the rest of the crew. She’d met the infamous Coon. Although she
had tried to heed Leena’s advice and not give him any openings, the
man still managed to slip in some suggestive remarks. He looked the
part of a wild man with his crazy eyes, untamed hair, and a few
unusual-looking teeth. To make matters even more interesting, he’d
somehow found an unlikely friend in Barrios. The two had roared
with laughter throughout the entire meal.

The rest of the crew consisted of a
delightfully strange coalition of a gunner, mechanic, sweeper,
retriever, even a historian and physician. Individually, they would
be considered rather eccentric, but together they formed a
surprisingly cohesive unit. Grey had managed to collect the perfect
crew for a treasure hunting operation.

Cidra was grateful to learn that Mora
usually spent mealtimes in the galley. No one seemed to request or
miss her company.

Decker was also absent, covering the bridge
alone. Before dinner, he’d given Cidra a brief message from Grey.
The Captain wouldn’t be joining them this evening. Evidently, it
was normal for Grey to work non-stop for days at a time researching
a find.

On those occasions, someone brought him his
meals. Cidra had offered with some hesitation, unsure she wanted to
be alone with Grey again. The fervent memory of the kiss in his
quarters still lingered, but the opportunity to speak to him about
the mission was too good to pass up. At least that’s what she told
herself right up until she stood in the open doorway of his
office.

Grey stared into a display station, fingers
steepled in front of his face, studying a maze of star charts. The
man had an amazing level of concentration. He didn’t even know she
was there. Only when she stepped into the room did he gaze up at
her in mild surprise.

“
I brought you dinner,”
Cidra started in her most cheerful voice, setting the tray on the
desk next to him. “You better eat it before it gets cold.” As she
spoke, her eyes immediately went to the display. She hesitated for
an awkward moment. Then relenting to her curiosity, she moved
quietly behind him to get a better view of the charts.

Grey didn’t take his eyes off her. “Thank
you. I see you survived your first dinner with the crew?”

She smiled at him with genuine delight. “A
rowdy bunch, especially Coon.”

Grey gave a short laugh. “I’ll bet you heard
all of his best stuff tonight. He always enjoys breaking in a new
crew member or two.”

“
I could tell.” She
inclined her head toward the display. “What is that?”

Grey saw the gleam in her eyes. “You really
want to know?”

She nodded, leaning over his shoulder to get
a better look, her long hair drifting down.

“
I’m trying to track down
the Lost Mask of Teran. It was en route from Teran to Borkova for
an exhibition forty-three years ago and disappeared.”

He pointed to a small galaxy on the screen.
“Their last transmission was tracked to this sector. So that’s
where we started.”

His voice grew husky as he became acutely
aware of Cidra’s hair brushing his neck. He was truly amazed that
she’d come into his office alone after that scorching kiss. Now
here she was, standing inches from him. Either she trusted him more
than he trusted himself or she was genuinely interested in the
subject. He decided it was wiser to focus on the latter.

“
Then what?” she
asked.

He cleared his throat and continued. “We
began with a long list of possibilities, then eliminated them one
by one.”

She turned to him with those incredible
clear, blue eyes. “Possibilities?”

For a split-second, Grey
was caught off-guard.
Just keep
talking
. “Something caused that ship to
disappear. Mechanical malfunction, crew problems, pirates, enemies,
natural disasters. Like I said, it’s a long list.”

Her hair smelled
incredible
.

She frowned at him. “How can you eliminate
possibilities when the ship vanished without a trace?”

“
Research.” He could hear
her steady breathing in his ear, ignored it and plowed ahead. “We
get a complete schematic of the transport ship. Identify previous
or possible mechanical problems. Locate a crew roster. Find out if
the working crew have a history of difficulties? Were pirates
working that sector at the time? Who would have wanted the Mask?
Any local meteoric activity, asteroids, comets or other
anomalies?”

She frowned even more. “Suppose it was
completely destroyed like the Dakru shipment? You could do all this
work for nothing.”

There was a beat of silence before he
finally shrugged. “It’s instinct.”

Cidra’s eyes widened. “That’s it? Your
entire operation is based on instinct?”

He grinned. “Call it hunter’s intuition. I
wouldn’t pursue the prey unless I felt it still existed. I guess
you could call it a gut feeling.”

Like right
now
, for instance. He felt her body heat on
his shoulder, and his gut feeling told him to back off before he
did something stupid. He breathed deeply, crossed his arms, and
leaned forward in the chair.

“
That’s where most treasure
hunters give up. They think the research is too time-consuming and
tedious. Not to mention, it doesn’t pay particularly well if you
don’t find what you’re looking for.”

Cidra was quiet for a minute behind him.
“You don’t give up easily, do you?”

He wasn’t sure if it was a personal or
professional observation and decided it didn’t really matter. The
answer was the same.

“
No. I like to think it’s
one of my most endearing qualities.” He turned and smiled
roguishly. “Among others.”

She raised an eyebrow and indulged him with
a playful grin. “Really? Do you have many?”

“
A few,” he acknowledged,
sliding his gaze down to her lips. “Unfortunately, decent apologies
aren’t at the top of the list.”

Cidra blushed and managed a smile. “Lucky
for you, I’ll accept just about anything.”

Cidra tossed the micropad on the side desk,
rubbed her eyes and stared at the ceiling above her bed. Thanks to
Decker, hundreds of stats from the unearthed battle swam in her
head. Far too many to absorb at once.

She reached back over the
desk and picked up the personal communication unit she had been
issued shortly after boarding. It felt cool and smooth in her palm,
a perfectly balanced disc of metallic technology. The comm unit, as
Decker had called it, provided a direct link to other units or the
main communication board on
Calíbre
. She smiled. It made her feel
like part of the crew.