Delight stilled, and I watched her attention sharpen.
“What else?”
“They’ve restricted crew movements to the deck we’re docked at, and only on the concourse directly outside our docking bay. We have to order on-line and have our resupplies delivered.”
I watched as Delight’s face flushed.
“So much for a quiet holiday invasion,” she said, and shrugged. “I guess we’ll just have to go to Plan B.”
“C might be better,” the Wanderer interrupted, her voice coming clearly through our implants, and not the comms unit in the room.
“C?”
“C. I do not believe it is safe for me to remain docked at this station for very much longer. I am afraid there may be movement that would compromise me, and place my crew in danger.”
“Such as?”
“You and Pritchard are the subjects of a contractual warrant; I feel the wolves are going to try and make good on that contract.”
“Wanderer, are you saying they know Pritchard and I are on board?”
“They did not know,” Wanderer replied, sounding almost insulted, “and they are still not sure, but there is a battle cruiser docked two decks down on the other side of the station, and I am afraid it has been subtly probing my defenses. It is only a matter of time, before they confirm the data.”
“Data?”
“They have traced my route, and identified that I was on orbital Selimen 9. Your Hack Team has intercepted the passage of two messages that make our status, here…tenuous.”
“Clarify.”
“The messages reached their intended recipients. The first message informs Ashina Ship Catering that its offices on Selimen 9 have been attacked by an unknown group of assailants. There is no evidence that Odyssey was involved, although the message does note the coincidence of my arrival and departure as these bracket the incident. The second message is more problematic making a note that the oligarch, Costoganzi, has been taken into custody by Odyssey, and that I was the only Odyssey ship in-system at the time. They have yet to verify that the route they have on file is the route I actually took, but they have technicians working on that, and I will only be able to delay them for so long.”
“Tell me about Plan C.”
“Teleportation will be detected by the two battle-cruisers in-system. It would be better for you to take a drop-ship to the planet and LALO to the location required for retrieval. I can teleport you out, when you have your targets secured.”
I wasn’t sure how I felt about Mack and Tens and Rohan being referred to as targets, but now wasn’t the time to protest—a fact confirmed by the way no-one commented on the thought, even though they must have noticed it. Cascade whined and pushed against Pritchard’s leg.
I don’t know if the dog was picking images of the plan out of people’s implants, or if he could just sense the tension in the room, but he had a point. LALO—Low Altitude, Low Opening, right? How the Hell was a dog supposed to operate a chute?
“Scarpil will carry him. He’ll be fine.”
Delight had an answer for everything. This time, at least, I was glad of it.
“Shut it, Cutter.” She returned her attention to Wanderer. “We can’t use one of your shuttles, and Abby needs to stay out of sight.”
“Agreed.” Wanderer hesitated, and I almost felt the ship when she decided not to ask for details. “I suggest you find a solution that does not involve me. Your usual frequency is secure.”
“Understood, Wanderer. Do you require intervention?”
“I require overwatch, if you can spare your teams.”
I noted the plural on teams, and watched Delight’s eyebrows rise.
“The teams are yours, Wanderer. I have passed the order.”
“Thank you, Agent. Please be swift. I cannot take down two cruisers on my own, and I do not know how many more are within jump range.”
“We are leaving. Please inform the captain to have teleport teams on stand-by for emergency extraction. The necessary DNA profiles have been uploaded.”
Even for Cascade? I wondered, and Delight nodded.
“Yes, Cutter. Even for the dog. Rohan needs him.”
Rohan did, did he? And, while I didn’t understand why Delight would care, I appreciated the sentiment.
“Time to move,” Delight said, and the door to the briefing room opened. “We’ll brief en-route. Abs, how is that data hunt coming?”
“Easier since Bennett joined me. He is an asset you need to keep.”
“Point taken. We’ll need that data when we return with the boys.”
“I’ll have it standing by.”
The rest of the team had filed in, while she’d been speaking, and I realized she’d summoned them as soon as Wanderer had told her of the urgency. They were already kitted for the mission, and had brought three duffels of kit for Pritchard, Delight and I. Scarpil stepped over to Cascade.
“You’re riding with me,” he said.
The dog turned his head toward me, and I nodded.
“Good man,” I said, keeping it simple, because I hadn’t worked out just how much the pup understood.
Cascade seemed unconvinced. He turned his head, looking from Scarpil to Pritchard and back to me. It looked, for all the world, like he was asking why he couldn’t go riding with one of us.
“We’re too small,” I told him. “Scarpil will keep you safe, help you find Rohan.”
This earned me another long look, and then the dog sighed, and padded over to Scarpil.
“Wuff.”
“Come on, boy. I have to put you in a bag so I can carry you outside.”
Outside?
I felt my skin go cold as I registered what that might mean, and Delight shot me a tight, mirthless smile.
“You and Pritchard need to talk,” she said, and indicated the two bags of kit that had been dumped at Pritchard’s feet.
He’d already pulled on a suit of light-to-medium combat armor, and was doing it up, but he shot a glance in my direction when Delight spoke.
“Hurry up, kid,” he said. “I’m not going to bite.”
Funny, I remembered the last time he’d said that.
25—Fetching Mack
My wariness was justified. I’d taken the first step I needed to close the distance between us,
