is it?”
“Is it what?”
Walker was starting to lose patience. “Does the fucking ship fly, Yershov?”
He glared at her. “Don’t get shirty with me, lady. Of course it flies. But it’s not legal to fly it within the Expansion.” He gave her a crooked smile. “I won’t tell if you don’t.”
Walker’s handheld buzzed softly. She dug it out, conscious of Yershov checking out the device, putting a price on it, and read the message from Andrei: Trust him. A second message came almost straight away: Correction: don’t trust him at all, obviously. But believe me when I say he can get you where you’re going.
Walker shoved the handheld back in her pocket. Andrei’s word was going to have to do. Because, really, Walker thought, as she looked round the battered shell of the ancient ship in which she was proposing to visit one of the most dangerous parts of known space on a wild goose chase for a colony that may not even exist, how many other options did she have? She couldn’t charter anything on the books. So it would all have to be firmly off the books, which meant trusting herself to something that looked like it could barely heave itself up from the ground.
“All right,” she said. “You’re hired. When can we leave?”
“When do you want to leave?”
“How about now?”
He nodded at her two bags. “That’s all you’re bringing?”
“That’s all I need.”
“Didn’t think people like you could pack light.”
With a conscious effort of will, Walker relaxed. She folded her arms in front of her, and smiled at Yershov. After a moment or two, he began to get uncomfortable. “If we’re going to travel together for a while,” she said, “you’d better get one thing straight. You’ve never met anyone like me.”
He looked at her like she’d sprouted an extra head. “Huh?”
“Get in your sling, Yershov. I want us off Hennessy’s World within the hour.” She followed a hunch, and reached into her pocket for her handheld. “Don’t make me tell Gusev how disappointed I am.”
Andrei’s name, as ever, did the trick. Yershov hastened over to his pilot’s sling, strapping himself in and busying himself with the flight controls. Walker, with deliberate casualness, took the other sling. But her heart was pounding. Andrei’s name would hold him for a while—but as the distance between them and the core worlds grew greater, the threat of the Bureau would diminish. She would need to find another way to control this man.
“Yershov,” she said, suddenly.
He glanced up from the controls. “What?”
“What’s it called?”
“Huh?”
“The ship. What’s its name?”
Yershov ran his hand lovingly over the panel in front of him. For a moment, Walker almost liked him. “This old girl? She’s the Baba Yaga .”
He went back to plotting their escape from Hennessy’s World. The Baba Yaga . It meant nothing to her. But it would.
J ENNY WAS CRYING again, but silently, her head tucked into her mother’s shoulder, her small body shivering with sobs. Maria did not think it was possible to have experienced anything worse than what she’d been through over the past two days—fleeing their home in the dead of night; the long hot day in the desert while Kit had tried to fix the ship; the red-hot flare, strangely beautiful, of a whole world coming under fire... But the universe held even worse horrors. Jenny was now afraid of her father.
It was inevitable, really. Too long without sleep. Too much on his mind. And then they had realised that their escape from Braun’s World had not gone unnoticed, and that a ship was in pursuit... The wrong moment for Jenny to discover that one of her favourite toys had not been packed, and that the only option open to her now was to start screaming... But Kit could shout louder, and the sight of her father angry and out-of-control had hushed the little girl at once. And here she sat, her hot little head pressed against her mother, sobbing away
“Is it what?”
Walker was starting to lose patience. “Does the fucking ship fly, Yershov?”
He glared at her. “Don’t get shirty with me, lady. Of course it flies. But it’s not legal to fly it within the Expansion.” He gave her a crooked smile. “I won’t tell if you don’t.”
Walker’s handheld buzzed softly. She dug it out, conscious of Yershov checking out the device, putting a price on it, and read the message from Andrei: Trust him. A second message came almost straight away: Correction: don’t trust him at all, obviously. But believe me when I say he can get you where you’re going.
Walker shoved the handheld back in her pocket. Andrei’s word was going to have to do. Because, really, Walker thought, as she looked round the battered shell of the ancient ship in which she was proposing to visit one of the most dangerous parts of known space on a wild goose chase for a colony that may not even exist, how many other options did she have? She couldn’t charter anything on the books. So it would all have to be firmly off the books, which meant trusting herself to something that looked like it could barely heave itself up from the ground.
“All right,” she said. “You’re hired. When can we leave?”
“When do you want to leave?”
“How about now?”
He nodded at her two bags. “That’s all you’re bringing?”
“That’s all I need.”
“Didn’t think people like you could pack light.”
With a conscious effort of will, Walker relaxed. She folded her arms in front of her, and smiled at Yershov. After a moment or two, he began to get uncomfortable. “If we’re going to travel together for a while,” she said, “you’d better get one thing straight. You’ve never met anyone like me.”
He looked at her like she’d sprouted an extra head. “Huh?”
“Get in your sling, Yershov. I want us off Hennessy’s World within the hour.” She followed a hunch, and reached into her pocket for her handheld. “Don’t make me tell Gusev how disappointed I am.”
Andrei’s name, as ever, did the trick. Yershov hastened over to his pilot’s sling, strapping himself in and busying himself with the flight controls. Walker, with deliberate casualness, took the other sling. But her heart was pounding. Andrei’s name would hold him for a while—but as the distance between them and the core worlds grew greater, the threat of the Bureau would diminish. She would need to find another way to control this man.
“Yershov,” she said, suddenly.
He glanced up from the controls. “What?”
“What’s it called?”
“Huh?”
“The ship. What’s its name?”
Yershov ran his hand lovingly over the panel in front of him. For a moment, Walker almost liked him. “This old girl? She’s the Baba Yaga .”
He went back to plotting their escape from Hennessy’s World. The Baba Yaga . It meant nothing to her. But it would.
J ENNY WAS CRYING again, but silently, her head tucked into her mother’s shoulder, her small body shivering with sobs. Maria did not think it was possible to have experienced anything worse than what she’d been through over the past two days—fleeing their home in the dead of night; the long hot day in the desert while Kit had tried to fix the ship; the red-hot flare, strangely beautiful, of a whole world coming under fire... But the universe held even worse horrors. Jenny was now afraid of her father.
It was inevitable, really. Too long without sleep. Too much on his mind. And then they had realised that their escape from Braun’s World had not gone unnoticed, and that a ship was in pursuit... The wrong moment for Jenny to discover that one of her favourite toys had not been packed, and that the only option open to her now was to start screaming... But Kit could shout louder, and the sight of her father angry and out-of-control had hushed the little girl at once. And here she sat, her hot little head pressed against her mother, sobbing away
Similar Books
