“Er…”
Diana walked out of the stateroom and looked along the passageway.
“Where’s the body? Go and get it. Can’t leave a dead passenger out in the corridor, we’ll only get more complaints.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
It wasn’t a big spaceship, just a lander, which did exactly what it was designed for by landing between the lake and the boss’s villa.
This was not meant to happen, but it seemed everyone knew it would.
Except Kiru.
“What’s going on, Grawl?” she said.
There was no point in asking. Firstly, he couldn’t reply. Secondly, she already knew the answer.
It was a break-out.
“Come on, come on, come on!” yelled the boss, waving his metal stick. “All aboard the Monte Cristo! ”
He stood by the entrance to the lander. With him, encased in camouflaged body armour, was one of the ship’s crew.
Kiru watched the group of men and women vanish inside the small craft. These were the core of the boss’s regime, the ones who had been captured with him. Space pirates. About to escape, freed by an outlaw ship that had broken through the cosmic chain which kept Arazon in manacles.
“And you, Grawl!” said the boss.
Everyone else had boarded the lander.
Except Kiru.
And except Aqa, who had been away since yesterday.
Grawl gestured toward the ship. Kiru shook her head. He grabbed her wrist. It was the first time they had ever touched. She tried to hold back, but he was far too strong, and he pulled her toward the hatch.
She didn’t know whether to go with Grawl or stay with Aqa. Whatever she decided, it would be the wrong choice. That was the story of her life.
“Not her,” said the boss. “There’s no room.”
The crewman levelled his gun at Kiru. It looked real. It was real. The most powerful weapon on the whole planet.
Grawl released Kiru, then pretended he was counting down on his fingers, until only his right thumb remained. He peered all about, then shrugged a silent question.
“Yes,” said the boss, “one more, but where is he? Where’s Aqa?”
Which was what Kiru had wondered last night.
“One minute,” said the crewman, through his visor.
“Aqa!” shouted the old man, staring around.
There was no sign of movement.
“Aqa!!”
“Forty-five seconds.”
“Aqa!!!”
No one else was in sight.
Except Kiru.
Grawl jerked his thumb toward her.
“Want a ride?” asked the boss.
She looked at him, looked at Grawl, looked at the ship.
“Thirty seconds.”
“An empty berth when you happen to be around,” said the boss. “Someone up there likes you.”
It wasn’t someone up there. It was someone down here.
“Twenty seconds.”
The boss threw away his stick and stepped into the lander.
Grawl followed, then turned to look at Kiru. It was her decision.
“Ten seconds,” said the guard, as he also went on board.
Grawl winked at her. It was the first change of expression she’d seen him make. Like Kiru, he never smiled. The universe wasn’t funny. It was a serious place. Deadly serious.
He’d killed Aqa. Killed him so Kiru could take his place. He must have liked her, really liked her, to do that. Too bad about Aqa. He was okay, more than okay, but their relationship had only been physical. There were plenty more like him. Plenty more in the universe. But Grawl? Grawl was different. They had a real rapport. He was a true soulmate, and she felt they could see into each other’s hearts.
She boarded the ship and it blasted free of the prison planet, out into orbit.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“Who were they?” asked Wayne Norton.
“Passengers,” said Diana. “Good passengers.”
“Good?”
“Yes. The only good passengers are dead ones.”
“You said I shouldn’t have killed the Sham, so it could have been interrogated. Couldn’t you have questioned those two? You didn’t have to kill them.”
“I only killed one of them, John. You killed the other.”
“No, it was the arrow.”
“Arrows don’t kill people, people kill people. You shot the arrow, didn’t you?”
“You told me to.”
“You were only obeying orders, you mean?”
“Yeah. No. I shot the arrow, but then it whizzed round the corner like a guided missile.”
They were in her stateroom, and he’d knocked back several nerve-calming alcoholic beveiages. She had drunk one glass, probably because she had no nerves to calm. Norton put down another empty glass and held out his right hand. By now, it was no longer shaking.
He didn’t feel as if he’d killed Gold, although logically he knew he had. Maybe if he’d seen her fall because of his bowshot, it would have been different. Or if she’d died in hand-to-hand combat, the way that Diana had killed Silver, he could accept he was the direct cause of her death.
In a similar way, when he’d killed the Sham, Norton had felt nothing. But that was self-defence, wiping out an ugly alien critter that had tried to murder him.
Now he’d shot an old lady in the back, and it was no different from squashing a bug underfoot.
“Were they space pirates?” he asked.
Diana stared at him. “What do you know about space pirates?”
“Only what I’ve seen on SeeV.”
“While you’ve been on board?”
“Yeah.”
“They show dataplays about space pirates to spaceship passengers?” Diana shook her head in bewilderment. “Good. I hope it scares them.”
“They were on the alien stations.”
“What’s an alien station?”
“Television for aliens. Broadcasts I picked up while flicking through the channels.”
“What?” Diana frowned. “Oh, yes, I know what you mean. This ship used to be on the interstellar run to different worlds, which must be why there’s so much alien programming available.” She sipped at her drink. “Some of us have been too busy to watch SeeV.”
Norton wasn’t sure what was worse, watching television all the time or being a steward. One difference was that when he watched TV, he saw people being killed; now that he was a steward, he had to do the killing.
“Tell me about space pirates,” said Diana.
“I’ve seen them on screen, how they take over spaceships. They start by killing the crew.”
“That’s why you thought those two geriatrics were galactic buccaneers? To hijack a spaceship, first wipe out the stewards. I always knew we had the most important job on board.”
“They kill all the crew, steal the ship, hold the passengers for ransom. Is that what happens?”
“Happens? Happened, you mean. Maybe. It’s all ancient history. Although not as ancient as you.”
“Space pirates don’t exist?”
“What you’ve seen is very exaggerated. It’s entertainment, nothing to do with the real universe.”
“Spaceships don’t get stolen?”
“They do, but not very dramatically. It’s all done through fraudulent documentation.”
“Oh.”
“You seem disappointed,” said Diana.
“No,” said Norton, and he shook his head in disappointment.
He’d watched pirate-busters on SeeV and wondered if that was one of GalactiCop’s roles. From what Diana said, that was entirely possible: It sounded dull and boring and routine and monotonous enough.
Norton studied his hand. His finger was its original length again, and the nail had grown back.
“Why couldn’t I fire my non-lethal finger?” he asked.
“Because it’s a defensive weapon. When you’re under threat, the reflex kicks in and blasts out a stun shot.”