Chapter 149

A week out from Mara, the rockets failed. Connor spent a day in the engineering section, first cleaning up leaked fuel, then studying user manuals and finding the right tools. He had to wear an environment suit because of the fuel.

Even inside the suit, he imagined the toxic fumes were getting to him. It was just the vestiges of the planet’s atmosphere, but it was in his head.

Late that night, Elise joined him.

She’d been improving each day since coming out of the medicine-induced coma Lem had used to purge the last of the infection and impregnation.

Still, she was too weak to do the work. Instead, she supervised.

As she handed him a spanner, she smiled. “You’ve gotten better.” Her voice had changed—probably the scarring from the necrotic tissue removal.

He tapped the environment suit faceplate. “It’s the glasses.”

“You won’t have to wear those forever, will you?”

“Until I can afford surgery.”

“Aren’t you a billionaire now?” She took the spanner back and handed him a screwdriver. “I mean, Mosiah was a wealthy man, right? His contract was pretty rich, wasn’t it?”

“We’ll have to see. When your client dies, everything turns muddy. And then there’s the problem of me being a fugitive. The Directorate could contest the contract or simply void it if they want.”

“So have Selen manage things. It’s her team, isn’t it?”

“It’s complicated. Yemi wouldn’t hesitate to toss her out an airlock. Vicente wouldn’t stop him. I think Lem doesn’t trust her now, and I know Kalpana doesn’t.”

“But the team has a contract. That’s a starting point.”

“We don’t have the money to hire litigators, though. And once we land on Mara…” He handed the screwdriver back. “Well, I’ll have room and board until the Directorate decides to kill me.”

“You said the other day you were planning to reach out to people in the Coil government about starting research on a new prison for that alien.”

“If we can get the comms working fully, I’ll try.”

“Could they intervene for you?”

“I don’t think the Directorate will listen to Coil government officials when there’s an opportunity to silence the last survivor of the Nyango Revolt. I’m a walking public relations nightmare for them.”

The archaeologist frowned. “What if you were someone else?”

“What?”

“Remember how I told you I spent a lot of time working long-haul transport?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, that was only part of it. Some of those jobs weren’t particularly legal.”

“Are you a fugitive, too?”

“I would be, if I’d spent those years using my real identity. When I worked the space lanes, I was Bonnie Cousins.”

Connor laughed. “A fugitive and scoundrel.”

“You do what you have to do to survive. Plus, Bonnie never paid a penny in taxes. That helped me get out of that line of work quicker.”

“Well, your secret dies with me, Bonnie.”

“I don’t think you understand: I forged my own identity.”

“Oh.” Connor wiped sealant from his gloves. “And you think you could forge a new one for me.”

“With those glasses, you could pass for Walter—Dr. Kang. I mean, his younger cousin. Without all the muscles. And we’d have to trim your hair. Walter said long hair was too much work to keep up with.”

“It’s not long.”

“Walter kept his very short. The point is, using an existing identity makes it pretty easy. I have all the resources I need here, and we still have a couple weeks. That’s plenty of time. I end up merging photos, and that updates records instantly. It’s surprisingly convincing.”

“If the engines hold up.” Connor patted the fuel system regulator as if it were a temperamental beast.

“Is that a yes or a no?”

“They can only kill me once, I guess.”

Elise made a raspy, croaking sound: a laugh for her. “You could always come back to the university with me, if it works.”

He winced. “My best-case outcome is fleeing back into Coil space ahead of Talon assassins.”

“And your girlfriend?” The archaeologist looked away and stroked the neck of her suit self-consciously.

Connor realized Elise had made a connection with him but not in a way he’d ever intended. “She’s the key to all of this. I’ll have to figure out if we’re even still a thing, or if she just needed me to be her agent.”

“Oh, I’m sure she still cares for you.”

“I thought so. But what she’s involved in—the level of knowledge…” He shook his head. “She was hacking alien technology. Me? I’m just a mercenary.”

“You’re more than that.” Elise started putting tools away.

“Actually, I was thinking about that. All I’ve done since I was a kid was fight. Muay Thai tournaments, Eskrima, Krav Maga. Then I became a starry-eyed rebel. Now this. Years and years of fighting and killing.”

“Maybe that makes you perfect for this struggle to get humans to come together.”

“I think it makes me the worst person for it. We need people who can bring everyone together, not someone who puts people in the ground.”

Elise closed the toolbox and hefted it with some effort. You never know what you might be good at until you try.”

After a step, she stopped. “Oh. And when I said earlier you were getting better, I meant your engineering skills.”

He waited until she was gone, then ran a few more tests to be sure everything was operational.

After Yemi gave the system a clean bill of health, Connor headed to the galley.

Kalpana and Vicente were sharing a rehydrated slab of tofu that they’d smothered in sauces and pastes.

It still looked horrible, and when they took a bite, they grimaced.

After looking the options over, Connor settled on a mug of chilled tea. It was bitter and stale but cold.

Kalpana turned, tugging on a half-eaten sliver of tofu. “Saved the day again?”

Connor smiled. “Elise walked me through the worst of it.”

“Whatever. You’re the only one who can work everything.”

Vicente nodded. “She’s right, Boss. You run this whole operation.”

Alarms went off in Connor’s head. “You two know I can’t stay on.”

“We been talking about how to get you through Directorate security.”

“Elise is already working an angle. What’s yours?”

“Well, they’re not gonna expect us to open fire the second we land, so—”

Connor held up a hand. “I like the initiative, but I think it’s best if I give Elise’s idea a try first.”

“Yeah? Because we’re pretty sure we could steal a ship and be off that rock before they know what hit them.”

Kalpana winked, made a pistol with her forefinger and thumb, then pretended to fire it. “Major upgrade, too. A fast one.”

The two of them needed a leader. “Don’t give up on Selen, okay?”

Vicente’s face twisted into a frown. “We’ll keep an open mind.”

Connor could only hope Selen recovered and returned to being the person she’d been, although he wasn’t sure he’d ever known who she really was.

Then again, after all that had happened between him and Toshiko, he wasn’t so sure anyone could ever really know someone else.