“Probably, deep down,” she said. “Yeah. I am.”
He nodded. “Me too,” he said. “Not at your parents, but at my own.”
Chapter 27
The story Jack told her seemed pretty simple on the surface: his parents had abandoned him into some kind of government-controlled child care, and had never come back for him. Jack told it simply as if it were nothing more than a fact of life, but Skye could hear the pain underneath it all.
She recognized it. She had felt it herself, and she hoped she had kept it mostly hidden.
Although she was a bit shaky after telling him about her parents. She’d told dozens of people that story over the years, although never all in one piece, and never quite as clearly. Usually someone with authority would ask, and she’d tell them only what they needed to know. Then they’d need more and she’d tell them that.
Finally, they’d have the entire sorry tale, although most of the time they wouldn’t recognize that she’d told them everything. They’d forget parts or confuse her with someone else or ask her all over again.
Jack was the only person who had heard it all at once, and he was certainly the only person who had ever asked her if her so-called uncle had used her for his sexual pleasure. Jack hadn’t asked it salaciously either. He’d been concerned for her.
She wondered what he’d seen in that child-care place. Probably more than she ever wanted to think about.
Someone had dumped Jack as well, although she wasn’t sure it was his parents. The fact that he had no idea who he was and couldn’t figure it out disturbed her. It sounded like there had been some trauma back there, trauma locked in his brain. Trauma no one had tried to figure out.
She made herself focus on him. She owed him that for listening to her.
“You’ve tried to find them?” she asked.
“Yeah.” He sat perfectly still in the copilot’s chair, maybe the first time she’d seen him sitting that motionless. “The ultimate hunter. I started out by breaking into the files at Tranquility House. I hired a few investigators to look for me, and discovered I was better at searching than they were.”
“You did a DNA match?” she asked.
He didn’t seem insulted by the obvious question. “When I could afford it,” he said. “And nothing. Not even a blocked category. It’s like I started to exist at eight and had no history before that.”
She twisted a little in her chair. “You don’t think someone was trying to hide you?”
“The secret prince syndrome?” He laughed. “Every kid at Tranquility House believed he was royalty that someone had hidden. It’s part of being abandoned, I think. Only Rikki didn’t.”
“Rikki?” Skye asked. “Who’s he?”
“She,” Jack said. “She’s my oldest friend. She knew who her parents were. They’d died rather horribly, and she had nowhere else to go.”
He was silent for a moment. He seemed to be contemplating something.
“Speaking of,” he said. “Do you know an assassin named Mikael Yurinovich Orlinski or, I guess, Misha? He’s with the Guild.”
Skye stiffened. Why would Jack want to know about an assassin with the Guild? What did it matter to him?
“Why? What’s he got to do with you?” Her tone sounded a little sharp, even to her.
“Not with me,” Jack said. “Rikki. She wanted me to check on him.”
That seemed odd to Skye. She was about to say so when Jack added, “I used to be Rikki’s go-to guy for information. This one’s important to her. It’s personal.”
It got stranger. Skye shifted in her seat. She wasn’t used to talking about the Guild or its members with anyone from outside the Guild.
“Personal?” she asked. “Wouldn’t you think assassination is always personal?”
Jack laughed, which surprised her. “Rikki’s an assassin too. She trained with the Rovers, but she left long before I did. She met this Orlinski on a job and she’s worried about something. I guess he—God, I don’t know how much I can say without breaking confidence.”
“He’s not poaching from her,” Skye said. “He never would.”
She’d known Misha for years. He was probably the most stand-up person she’d met in the Guild.
“That’s not it.” Jack sighed. “I guess he’s interested in Rikki, and she seems to be interested in return.”
Misha? Skye rocked back in her seat in surprise. Really? She’d’ve thought him a eunuch, if it weren’t for a rather ugly breakup he’d had with Liora Olliver.
The very thought of her made Skye wince. She hadn’t considered anything about Liora since it became clear that the Rovers were after Jack. She’d left Liora on that station with Heller.
“Do you know Liora Olliver?” she asked Jack.
“No, why? Should I?”
She shook her head.
“Does she have something to do with this Orlinski?”
“Not anymore,” Skye said. “Except that they’re both part of the Guild.”
She’d have to tell Jack about Liora at some point. Just not now.
“Here’s what I know about Misha,” Skye said. “He’s one of the best men in the Guild. He never breaks rules. He goes out of his way to minimize collateral damage, sometimes abandoning jobs to keep innocents safe. He’s quick, he’s good, and he’s probably the most honest man I know.”
Although she wanted to consider Jack the most honest man she knew. But she hadn’t spent enough time with him. She wasn’t sure of him. Not yet, anyway.
But her gut said he was reliable. Maybe more reliable than Misha.
“I’ll be honest, though,” Skye said. “I can’t imagine him falling for someone outside of the Guild. He’s all- Guild all the way.”
“You sound like you don’t approve,” Jack said.
She shrugged. “They haven’t exactly treated me well.”
Then the ship lurched again, and stars formed around them. Visible stars.
Skye couldn’t talk any longer. She needed to look for threats and wayward ships.
She leaned over the navigation board, putting in information, and making sure she hadn’t missed any warnings.
Jack didn’t say anything as she worked. He just watched her, then got up and peered at the various screens, as if he could see something.
“Where’s Zaeen?” he asked.
“About fifteen minutes out,” she said, a little startled that they were this close.
“What port are we stopping at?” he asked.
“I don’t think we’re stopping at a port,” she said. “This ship is too much trouble.”
“Meaning what?” he asked.
“Meaning that if we land her, one of those other ships will find us. I don’t want to risk that, do you?”
“What do you propose?” he asked.
“We’ll set the automatic pilot and let her go on her way.”
“And then what are we going to do?” he asked.
“There are lifepods,” she said. “I think we’ll take the largest of them.”
“You’re kidding, right?” he asked.
She grinned at him. “You’ll find that I don’t joke about life and death matters.”
“Someone’s following us again, aren’t they?” he asked.
“I’m not sure,” she said.
“If they are, then getting into a lifepod is stupid. They’ll catch us.”
“No, they won’t,” she said. “You can change sensor indicators.”
“Not on a lifepod where I don’t even know the language,” he said.
