Sharovan?
“The security company that grabbed you the last time you visited Depredides.”
Oh. I never had caught their name.
“So that’s the plan? We head to Depredides and chase down the lead?”
“While Case gets the Marie into hiding, and keeps the crew safe. Mack won’t thank us if his people come to harm, while he’s away.”
Away. Well, that was one way to put it. We had to get Mack back.
“We will, Cutter. Just as soon as we find out who’s controlling the contract. Now, are you ready?”
And I discovered that Abby had had the crewman walk me to the conference room while she’d been talking to me.
“Ma’am?” the girl was saying, her face creased by worry. The worry was replaced by relief when she saw me blink. “We’re here, Ma’am.”
I wanted to tell her I was no way known a ‘Ma’am’ and didn’t deserve the title, but I couldn’t.
“Thank you…” I managed, and then realized I didn’t know her name.
“Hella.”
“Thank you, Hella. I appreciate your help.”
“Are you ready?” Abby asked, and I shook my head.
“I’m never ready for stuff like this,” I told her, and she snorted.
“Then let’s get this crazy show on the road,” she said, and opened the door.
I stepped through and discovered Abs had taken me to the back of the conference room. I remembered this. Last time I’d been here, I’d been interviewed by a Star Shadow Hunt Master and proven I was part of his pack… at least temporarily. This occasion couldn’t have been more different.
I mean, I was still the centre of attention, but me being there wasn’t actually important.
“Where’s Mack?” came one question, followed quickly by “Yeah, what did you do to him?”
I stared at the joker in the middle row, and he grinned. I glared, and the grin faded.
“Looks like we’re in the shit, again,” he muttered, and the woman next to him leaned in close.
“Nope, just you, but you should be used to that, cos…”
“…only the depth varies,” he finished. “Yeah, yeah. Very funny.”
I decided that was as good a place to start as any.
“No,” I said, and everyone looked at me. “He’s right. We’re all in the shit, again. I’ll do my best to explain what kind of shit, how deep, and what we’ve got planned to try and get you out of it.”
By the time I was done, they were silent—and all sense of humor had vanished from their faces.
“I want off the boat,” someone said. “If I’m not part of the crew, I’m clear, right?”
A low murmur greeted this, and then stopped when I shook my head.
“They know who’s on this ship. They have a crew manifest.”
I waited until the cussing and cries of disbelief had died down, and then explained.
“Every station we’ve stopped at. Every planet. Every orbital. It’s law that Mack gives a full crew manifest. Your names are out there. Even if you leave, you’ll still be a target. This contract was made with a specific point of time in mind. Everyone on the boat since that time is included on the contract.”
This was met with whispers of disbelief, and murmurs of dismay—and then someone asked the question I’d been waiting on.
“What point in time?”
I shrugged.
“I don’t know, but I do know that it has something to do with Depredides.”
The response to that was unexpected.
“But we only went there once!”
Abby’s voice came over the intercom, and I remembered that she was hooked into the ship’s systems.
“Once? Are you sure?”
The crew members exchanged looks, and then nodded.
“Check the log, but once is all I can recall, too.”
“Yeah, me too.”
“And me.”
I listened to the chorus of agreement and my heart sank.
Just the once, huh? And I bet I knew when…
“We went to fetch you.”
Yup, that would be it.
That comment had come from Doc.
The crew went still, and turned towards me. Every single one of them wanting to know what I’d done.
“Then it’s my fault,” I said. “I tried to hack their net.”
Someone snickered. Someone else snorted. A murmur of ‘idiot’ floated from the centre of the room, and then Doc silenced them all.
“Mack didn’t have to go fetch you,” he said. “Nor did Tens, or Delight, or Pritchard.”
My heart fell further. Delight and Pritchard. Well, fuck. But Doc wasn’t finished.
He looked around at the crew.
“Matter of fact,” he said. “I don’t think there are many of us he hasn’t pulled out a pile that’s been our own making, at one time or another.”
“Yeah…” answered him from a distant corner of the room. “You’re not alone, Cutter. I was facing a firing squad.”
Another round of muttering followed, but the general tone was the same. Mack had done some pretty crazy things for his crew, and they all owed him. It made Tens’s long-ago comment about Mack picking up strays take on a very solid kind of sense. The man really did pick up strays. This boat was full of them.
“Well, now we have that settled,” Abby said, her crisp, clear tones cutting through the babble. “I believe you all understand why you need to lay low while Cutter and I go and sort this out.”
“And rescue Mack,” came from the crowd.
“And rescue Mack,” Abby confirmed, and continued, “and Tens, and Rohan.”
She paused, and then gave a melodramatic sigh.
“Oh, fine. We’ll rescue Delight and Pritchard, as well, but only if we really must.”
This brought quiet laughter, since they all knew how awkward things got with Delight, and me and Mack. The whole Odyssey debacle was a well-known tale amongst them. I held up my hand.
“Case is in charge while me and Abby are away. She knows where to fly you to give you half a chance of staying safe.” I scanned the room, and was relieved to find Abby had woken up the Supply Master. “And Stepyan is her 2IC. Any trouble from any of you, and he’s the one you’ll be answering to.”
It was almost satisfying to see them turn briefly to glance at Stepyan, and then hurriedly face the front, again. For
