conflicting
politics?” asked Commander Charlene.
Ariane shook her head and avoided meeting Charlene’s eyes. Crèche-get
could be annoying when they were catching up on events. They took their neutrality seriously,
more than anyone else did, meaning they thought they should be privy to everyone’s secrets.
Granted, this crew had plenty to learn. In the decades between the Pilgrimage ’s launch and their arrival in G-145, the use of a
temporal-distortion weapon had ended the war between the Consortium of Autonomist Worlds and
the Terran Expansion League. The Pilgrimage crew had also missed
the beginning of Pax Minoica, brokered by the Minoans.
“Parmet was probably sent to represent the Terran companies that signed
our leases and monitor the contractors doing research on Priamos—that’s why we’re so
interested.” Matt diverted Charlene’s interest.
So many secrets. So hard to remember who knows what
about whom . Matt knew Parmet had tortured her and that she’d signed the leases under
duress, but did he know why? Did he know exactly what she, Brandon, and Cipher had done during
the war? This was why she needed the blessed numbness of alcohol and smooth to quiet the
buzzing of all the secrets in her head.
“You’ll have to excuse us, Commander. I need to speak privately with my
pilot and him .” Matt jerked his thumb to indicate Joyce. “Got a
place we could use?”
“Certainly, Mr. Journey. I can let you use a small enclosure off the
chapel on the floor below. It’s secure.” Charlene pointed back down the vertical
airlock.
“Secure, my ass!” Once inside, Joyce growled and paced around the small
room. “There’s nothing secure on this damn ship and I wish I had the equipment to prove
it.”
“Doesn’t matter, does it?” Matt stared at Joyce. “Even if we had a
secure facility, you wouldn’t tell us why you’re going to Beta Priamos.”
“Do you really want to know?”
“No,” Ariane and Matt responded in unison.
“See?” Joyce smiled grimly. Matt glared in response.
Ariane put her arm on Matt’s to get his attention. “What’s going
on?”
“We’ve got a problem. I have to delay the contractor meeting. I’ve got
to give a deposition within the next twenty-two hours, and I’ll need representation.” Matt
glanced uncomfortably toward Joyce. “They’ve subpoenaed Nestor’s packages, the ones he sent me
before he died. I need to fight this, so I don’t see us leaving the Pilgrimage for another day, at the least.”
He was protecting himself and Ariane—because they were harboring an
illegal AI. But he was also protecting Muse 3 itself, all he had left of his friend. Over
Matt’s shoulder, Ariane saw Joyce’s eyebrows go up.
“What about my schedule?” Joyce asked. Ariane and Matt ignored
him.
“So?” She shrugged. “Let me go out to Priamos and take care of the
contractor meeting.”
There was silence as Matt and Joyce stared at her in shock.
“What? Why the surprise?” she asked.
“No offense, Ari, but you haven’t shown much interest in the business
side of this exploration company. Now you want to present a reporting matrix to a bunch
of—er—hostile contractors?” Matt asked.
“Sure. You already familiarized me with all the reporting ins and
outs.”
“Maj—Ms. Kedros, you avoid business and anything that smells like
paperwork.” Joyce looked at her skeptically.
“Yes, and it’s time I changed that. Matt’s been asking me to shoulder
more of the administrative load.” Turning to Matt, she asked, “Isn’t that right?
“But now we find that Parmet will be at Priamos. It’s too dangerous for
you, Ari.”
She drew a deep breath. “I figured we could run into him. I know that
Maria Guillotte’s already there managing contractors who, not surprisingly, have strong
connections to the Terran Space Forces. I can handle it.”
“No. They tortured you, Ari.” Matt looked for support from Joyce,
politics?” asked Commander Charlene.
Ariane shook her head and avoided meeting Charlene’s eyes. Crèche-get
could be annoying when they were catching up on events. They took their neutrality seriously,
more than anyone else did, meaning they thought they should be privy to everyone’s secrets.
Granted, this crew had plenty to learn. In the decades between the Pilgrimage ’s launch and their arrival in G-145, the use of a
temporal-distortion weapon had ended the war between the Consortium of Autonomist Worlds and
the Terran Expansion League. The Pilgrimage crew had also missed
the beginning of Pax Minoica, brokered by the Minoans.
“Parmet was probably sent to represent the Terran companies that signed
our leases and monitor the contractors doing research on Priamos—that’s why we’re so
interested.” Matt diverted Charlene’s interest.
So many secrets. So hard to remember who knows what
about whom . Matt knew Parmet had tortured her and that she’d signed the leases under
duress, but did he know why? Did he know exactly what she, Brandon, and Cipher had done during
the war? This was why she needed the blessed numbness of alcohol and smooth to quiet the
buzzing of all the secrets in her head.
“You’ll have to excuse us, Commander. I need to speak privately with my
pilot and him .” Matt jerked his thumb to indicate Joyce. “Got a
place we could use?”
“Certainly, Mr. Journey. I can let you use a small enclosure off the
chapel on the floor below. It’s secure.” Charlene pointed back down the vertical
airlock.
“Secure, my ass!” Once inside, Joyce growled and paced around the small
room. “There’s nothing secure on this damn ship and I wish I had the equipment to prove
it.”
“Doesn’t matter, does it?” Matt stared at Joyce. “Even if we had a
secure facility, you wouldn’t tell us why you’re going to Beta Priamos.”
“Do you really want to know?”
“No,” Ariane and Matt responded in unison.
“See?” Joyce smiled grimly. Matt glared in response.
Ariane put her arm on Matt’s to get his attention. “What’s going
on?”
“We’ve got a problem. I have to delay the contractor meeting. I’ve got
to give a deposition within the next twenty-two hours, and I’ll need representation.” Matt
glanced uncomfortably toward Joyce. “They’ve subpoenaed Nestor’s packages, the ones he sent me
before he died. I need to fight this, so I don’t see us leaving the Pilgrimage for another day, at the least.”
He was protecting himself and Ariane—because they were harboring an
illegal AI. But he was also protecting Muse 3 itself, all he had left of his friend. Over
Matt’s shoulder, Ariane saw Joyce’s eyebrows go up.
“What about my schedule?” Joyce asked. Ariane and Matt ignored
him.
“So?” She shrugged. “Let me go out to Priamos and take care of the
contractor meeting.”
There was silence as Matt and Joyce stared at her in shock.
“What? Why the surprise?” she asked.
“No offense, Ari, but you haven’t shown much interest in the business
side of this exploration company. Now you want to present a reporting matrix to a bunch
of—er—hostile contractors?” Matt asked.
“Sure. You already familiarized me with all the reporting ins and
outs.”
“Maj—Ms. Kedros, you avoid business and anything that smells like
paperwork.” Joyce looked at her skeptically.
“Yes, and it’s time I changed that. Matt’s been asking me to shoulder
more of the administrative load.” Turning to Matt, she asked, “Isn’t that right?
“But now we find that Parmet will be at Priamos. It’s too dangerous for
you, Ari.”
She drew a deep breath. “I figured we could run into him. I know that
Maria Guillotte’s already there managing contractors who, not surprisingly, have strong
connections to the Terran Space Forces. I can handle it.”
“No. They tortured you, Ari.” Matt looked for support from Joyce,
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