“Kidnapped.” Kendra turned to Foxworthy. “This is strong. If this is right, then we’re talking about a kidnap operation that had to be coordinated months in advance. There will be money, resources… Who on our rolls has connections to Kikaya?”
“On it.”
Kendra hunched forward toward Adriana’s floating image. “What else do you know?”
“I know that Mbuto airport is only one hundred miles from the plantation. Modifications are being made and workers hired. The rumor is that preparations are for the arrival of a space vehicle.”
And those words made Kendra’s stomach clench.
Kendra and her assistants sat in the center, surrounded by technicians who seemed too stunned to speak.
“I think that we can make some guesses about this now,” she said.
“We know their escape route,” Foxworthy said.
“Yes,” she replied. “There is a coup in Kikaya. The Prince is being kidnapped, and their plan is to get off the Moon-”
“Not as difficult as you might think. Nobody wants to touch this one.”
Kendra ticked off possibilities on her fingers. “What are you thinking? That we’ll be ordered to let them go. And they’ll have a safe place to land, from which they will simply disappear.”
“And?” Foxworthy asked.
“It’s not going to happen. Kidnap, destruction of property, assault. Somebody died. One of their men died, and when people die in the commission of a crime, his coconspirators can be charged with murder. I can believe that wasn’t a part of the plan. But it happened, and I’m not just rolling over.”
“So…?” Piering asked.
“So no direct actions. We follow those instructions. But we investigate.”
“Good. Damned good,” he said. “Coordination of communication, resources…”
“Such as?” Kendra asked.
“Weaponry. Personnel. Information. Money has changed hands, you can count on it.”
“We backdoor this,” Kendra said. “We don’t use ordinary investigative channels. Too many politics, and too many potential conspirators. We trust no one except who’s right here in this room.”
Foxworthy hailed her attention. “Ms. Griffin? I have your call.”
The worried face of Alex Griffin bobbled in the air. “Kendra! I’d been watching, but wanted to stay out of your way. Is there anything, anything at all I can do?”
Kendra gave a long exhalation, only at that moment realizing the depths of her shock and distress. Alex’s smile, even one as worried and wan as this, was like a warm, fatherly hug.
“Dad, I need to brainstorm, and I can’t think of anyone I’d rather talk to. You know about the kidnap situation. Hostages. But what we just learned is that there may be a connection between that, and the coup currently underway in the Republic of Kikaya.”
“A coup?”
“You tell me,” Kendra said. “There’s been a news blackout on the lunar stream. Are you getting anything on your end?”
“I guess I’d seen a banner, but hadn’t clicked through to read about it. Dammit, what was I thinking?”
“Don’t beat yourself up… who could have known?”
“So Scotty’s Prince has been snatched on Luna.” A quarter-million miles away, Alex Griffin’s brows furrowed. “This was to put pressure on the King?”
“We can only guess at this point, but it would make sense. The kidnappers may have been paid by the insurgents, or people sympathetic to their cause.”
“That could answer their exit strategy. I’d wondered where they could get the nerve to think they’ll get away with this. But they can only do that if there’s a place to land, and if they can get off the Moon. Exactly who has jurisdiction?”
“The United Nations. Cowles Industries. Heinlein Explorations Limited. The lawyers are fighting over it, and as long as no one else is killed, we’ve been told to stand down.”
Inside the dome, the gamers sat in a circle, struggling to understand what had happened to them, and what their options might be.
“We’re not gettin’ any help from outside. Bet on that,” Darla said.
“None,” Scotty agreed.
With one slender forefinger, Angelique drew a line in the layer of thin, fine lunar dust. “If we go back, we fall right into their hands. But we’re boxed in here. To keep going, we’d have to knock a hole in the wall. No way that won’t make noise. They’ll see and hear, and catch us.”
The others were quiet for a time, then Mickey cleared his throat. “Then we have to give up. If we can’t go forward, the only thing that makes sense-”
“No!” Maud’s face had reddened with anger. She looked as if she wanted to slap him. “What? Do you trust these people? Do you think they’re just going to say ‘righty-oh’? Not punish us for trying to get away? If you believe that, you’re just an old fool.”
“Maud!” Mickey chirped in protest.
She crossed her arms. “I’m not talking to you.”
“People. People.” Angelique as peacemaker. “Darla was about to say something, and I think it would be smart for us to listen.”
“Look,” Darla said. “If we can’t get into the next bubble without noise, then we have to make some noise. Too much noise is as good as none at all.”
“A distraction?”
“Got me an idea,” Darla said. “While we were putting this dome together, we had an emergency alarm system set up in case of dome breach, release of toxic gases. Gremlins. Whatever. It’s the most hellacious racket you ever heard. I heard one go off over at Tycho once, and it like to split my skull.”
“Can we access it? Something like that might cause enough chaos.”
“Not from the inside. They seem to have overridden most of the systems. But there’s a parallel system on the exterior of the dome. With the right tools, one person could do it.” She gnawed at her lower lip. “But I have an idea. It would take three people to pull it off. I know where we can find two suits, and we’ll need another.”
Wayne clucked. “Then what are we talking about? We can’t. If there is no way, what difference does it make?”
“Once again, you forget that I am here.” Asako’s mechanical voice took them by surprise. “You talk as if I am not here. I am the reason you need to cross that breach. I am the reason that you cannot just disappear into the spaces between the bubbles-”
“Asako,” Scotty said. “Even if we could, we can’t just escape through the aquifer. You heard Kendra: It’s sabotaged. Booby-trapped. Whatever. You want to blow us up?”
“At least we’d have options,” her pod’s speaker rasped. “This is what I am saying to you: You have to let me help.”
“Help? How?”
“My pod is rated for vacuum. My treads should be able to lock on to the service ladders.”
Only silence greeted her.
Then Darla broke it. “You saw mechs working on the outside of the dome. Standard utility tracks-your pod should work just fine. Fine. But Asako… it’s just too risky.”
The bubble-girl laughed. “Risk. You speak of risk? Darla, thank you for caring, but I have nothing in my life except this.” Her frail hands gestured weakly. “No family save gamers. Have you any idea how my heart would break if I caused damage to my family? If you did not escape because you were trying to protect me? You must let me try to help.”
The gamers glanced at each other. One at a time, they nodded grimly. Then Ali said, “I will go as well. None of you would be in danger, if it weren’t for me-”
“No,” Darla said. “Ali. Ain’t no joy down that road, pumpkin. The only ones to blame are the pirates. They started this whole fandango. Listen, you got no training for this. Scotty and I do. Asako has the bubble, so we can’t tell her no. But no one else has to take this risk.”
“Can this actually work?” Scotty asked.
“Yes,” Asako said. “It can.”
The pirates of Neutral Moresnot had made their own plans and preparations.
“Shotz,” Celeste said. “We have the pool sealed. We have their communication blocked. No one on the outside of this dome knows that they have gotten away from us.”