“We’ve got two good ships,” he said.
“We’ve got two ships anyway,” Amos said. “I love ’em both, but the Roci’s feeling her years and the Storm’s gone a long way between updates.”
“We’ve got two mostly okay ships,” Jim said. “Not bad anyway. We load up everyone on Draper Station, burn hard for the ring gate, and take the Sparrowhawk out if it tries to stop us. With the Storm in the open, no reason to bomb Freehold anymore. At least the planet would be safe.”
“Best bad plan we’ve got,” Naomi said.
Jim headed for the door. He almost felt like himself again. The panic and fear weren’t gone, but they’d grown smaller. Manageable. “First thing is make sure we’re all the way topped up on rail-gun slugs,” he said, and pulled the handle. The door didn’t move, and an alert popped up on the locking panel. The error was so out of place that he pulled on the door twice more before he understood what he was seeing. EMERGENCY LOCKDOWN. VACUUM HAZARD.
“Uh, that’s weird,” he said.
Naomi was already on her hand terminal. “Jillian. What’s going on?”
The voice that answered was hard and brittle. “I understand that you’re upset, ma’am.”
“What did you do?”
“While I respect the civilian branch of the underground which you represent, this is a military matter. The enemy has a hundred thousand of our people they’re prepared to spare in exchange for one girl who they aren’t even going to hurt. There’s no dishonor in a prisoner exchange.”
“Do you think Trejo’s really going to walk away once he’s got her?” Naomi said. Rage buzzed, but she didn’t raise her voice.
“According to our best sources on the man, he will honor his word,” Jillian said.
“You don’t get to make that call,” Naomi said. “That’s my job.”
“Respectfully? As the captain of the Gathering Storm, which is the flagship of our military branch, I have authority over military decisions. This is a military decision.”
“Jillian,” Alex said, loud enough for Naomi’s hand terminal to pick him up. “You don’t need to do this. Bobbie wouldn’t have done this.”
“Captain Draper understood that one individual can’t stand in the way of the greater good, Mr. Kamal. If she were here, she’d be doing the same thing I’m doing.”
Amos chuckled. “You can tell yourself that, Sunshine. Don’t make it true.”
“The Sparrowhawk is on its way with a representative of Laconia. The Derecho is burning this way as an escort force with an understanding that both ships will leave the system once the handoff is complete. Until it is, I’m restricting you all to your quarters,” Jillian said. “Once this is over, and your emotions are calm enough that you can see that this decision was correct, we can discuss whether you want to fracture the underground’s leadership or back my authority.”
“Jillian,” Naomi said, but the connection was dead.
The walls of the common room felt as small as a cell, and the fear rolled up Jim’s spine, as fresh and angry as if he’d never put a lid on it. The others were talking, their voices washing over each other. Alex saying I can talk sense into her if we can just get her to pick up again. Amos guessing out loud how long it would take to get down the hallway in hard vacuum, and whether the rest of them would survive even if he did. Naomi repeating Jillian’s name again, trying the connection. He was the only one who stayed quiet. Or, no, Teresa did too.
She looked at him like they were alone together. He nodded to her. She nodded back.
Chapter Nineteen: Kit
Their cabin on the Preiss was so small that if Rohi were standing in it, he couldn’t cross the room without brushing against her.
The thick cloth covering the metal bulkheads was an unappetizing olive color with location and maintenance data woven into the fabric in orange thread. The wall screen was hardly bigger than two handhelds put side by side and had a protective coating that never seemed clean no matter how much Kit wiped it down. Their crash couches were old gel and badly designed, built into cubbies in the wall that could pinch fingers and toes if they weren’t careful. Bakari’s couch was welded to the deck, the metal still bright where it had been put in. It was a much better design.
It was their only private space for the next few months while the Preiss burned out to the ring gate, made the transit to Nieuwestad system, and then burned to Fortuna Sittard—the capital city on the main habitable planet.