Katrina sent an incredulous look. <Seriously?>
<Yeah, I sent her away using the cover I was working on your ship.>
<Good thing you were around,> Katrina said. <We haven’t been too careful with our DNA in there.>
Juasa laughed. <You can say that again. I’m going to give it a full clean. Can you complain to Ferris that something is wrong with your port side engine, like a mixture alert? I told Anna I’m replacing an injector, and that Ferris told me to.>
<Shoot, Juasa, that’s gonna be a pain in the ass. You’ll have to fab a part,> Katrina replied apologetically.
<Yeah…I know. Gotta make it look good, though.>
<OK, I’ll be with him in a moment…he’s never far, it seems.>
Juasa felt a twinge of jealousy, but pushed it down.
<Yeah, I know what you mean. I’ll talk to you later, gotta get to work.>
<Sorry again, love,> Katrina said. <I’ll talk to you soon.>
Juasa sent a pair of kissing lips Katrina’s way, and then cut the connection.
‘Love’. Katrina is really knee deep in it. Juasa didn’t blame her; she was, too. With a bounce in her step and a whistle on her lips, she pulled herself out of the trench and walked to the bay’s tool rack.
Time to get to work. It may take the next four or five hours, but it’s worth it for the chance to leave this place.
Especially to leave with Katrina.
COMMUNIQUE
STELLAR DATE: 11.17.8511 (Adjusted Gregorian)
LOCATION: KSS Havermere, en route to Voyager
REGION: Scattered Disk, Bollam’s World System (58 Eridani)
Another day, another session with Ferris in his room.
This, however, had been the last. In a few hours, they would be at the Voyager.
Once back in her room, Katrina washed off the stench of Ferris—as much as the sonic shower could. When that was done, she stretched for several minutes, working out kinks in her muscles, and relaxing her body while clearing her mind.
It was a routine that she had picked up during her time as a spy and had kept up with in the intervening years. Always wearing a mask, always pretending at attitudes, reactions, and opinions—it was exhausting work.
Without the routine of grounding herself, Katrina knew that she would start to lose her identity in the personas she created. She would forget who she was and become one of her creations—or something worse: a chameleon who had no real face.
After several minutes, she began her mantra.
“I am Katrina,” she whispered. “Daughter of the despot Yusuf, friend of the Noctus, liberator of the Hyperion, wife of Markus, president of Victoria, searcher in the dark.”
She breathed out, closed her eyes, and breathed back in once more. “I am all of those things, together they are me. They form my foundation, they give me purpose, my memories are my strength, the proof of my convictions.”
She bowed her head, touching her chin to her sternum and continued her recitation.
“I am the soft reed that grows along the shore. One foot in the river, one on land. I bend in the wind, I weather the flood, I persist, I survive. I touch all these things, I live in their worlds, but they are not me, and I am not them. I am Katrina.”
As she spoke those last words, Katrina placed her legs together, and stretched her arms overhead, imaging herself as the flexible, unbroken reed. She bent over backwards arching her back more and more until her hands reached her ankles, then the floor.
“And even though my world may so often seem upside down,” with that she kicked her right leg out and up, followed by her left, now standing on her hands, “it does not change who I am. I continue to be Katrina. I am always myself; nothing less, nothing more.”
She held the pose for a minute, concentrating on her breathing, before flexing her arms and pushing off, flipping into the air and landing on her feet.
In front of her was the row of drawers set into the bulkhead. Each one contained a costume, a disguise. One was less so than the others—the black and red skinsheath she bought first on Tsarina.
She pulled it out and flipped it over in her hands, the supple polymer sliding like it was a living thing. Something about the duality of the outfit, the glowing red, contrasted with the dark, light-sucking black, made it feel more like her.
Or maybe it was that she was wearing it when she met Juasa.
Katrina slipped into the outfit and pulled up the fastener, dimming the sheath’s glow once it activated. She considered the a-grav boots.
“Why the hell not,” she said to herself.
Once the boots were on, Katrina sat at her desk, idly bouncing her feet up and down against the soft a-grav field. She checked over the additional nano she had deposited near the control systems for the ship’s comm array, and saw that they had finished creating the bypass circuit that would allow her to send out a tight-beam message.
The ship’s logs would not show any outgoing signal, and with her various hacks in place, the sensors were unlikely to pick up the response.
<Troy, this is Katrina. You still out there?>
They were still five light seconds away from the Voyager’s location; a gap that they would close in the next hour.
She waited for the response and when it came, breathed a long sigh of relief.
<Of course I am. Where else would I be?>
Where else indeed.
<I’m on my way to you with a repair ship that can outfit the Voyager with everything we need for FTL travel. However, there have been…complications.>
<I’ve been sniffing what data I can while I’ve waited,> Troy replied after the delay. <I suspect you mean the likelihood that they’ll declare us fair game for being Streamers.>
Katrina nodded, even though she knew he couldn’t see it.
<Yes, there’s that. I’ve been working on a plan to keep us safe. It’s involved a lot of sex, swindling, and deals, but I have the captain of this ship in my pocket, and many of the vessel’s systems infiltrated. We’re going to swap four pods for the repairs, and then pay off the captain with two. Can you have the automatons disconnect them from the stasis bays and stack them in the cargo hold? Maybe do a dozen; we may have to do some last minute convincing.>
<Of course. There are spares in storage, it will be easy,> Troy replied. <I assume you’ve got something in mind to keep the repair crews themselves from taking the Voyager and running.>
<I do. I have formed a relationship with the crew chief, and have been playing her and the captain against one another—sort of. Either way, she’s onboard; and so is her second and his top crew.>
Troy’s response took half a second longer than it should have. <Interesting choice of words, ‘on board’.>
<Noticed that, did you?> Katrina asked.
<I can load balance mass transfer on a ship that’s boosting at over seventy gs while traveling at relativistic speeds. Picking up on your nuances is like arithmetic by comparison.>
<You’re so humble, Troy,> Katrina replied with a laugh.
<You have no idea. How many stray pups we taking on?>
<Six. The crew chief, Juasa; her second, Carl; and his team. Excepting Juasa, they’re all indentured. A ride out of Bollam’s World to just about anywhere is a deal they’re willing to take.>
<And the chief?> Troy asked. <What was her price, if not freedom from servitude?>
<Just me,> Katrina replied after a moment.
<Hold on. Are you telling me that she’s coming along because she feels a chemical attraction to you? Are you sure that’s wise? I’ve seen the sims. That always ends badly.>
Katrina laughed. <The chemical attraction is mutual. She knows what she’s getting into.>
<Wait. You told her? How much?>
<Everything,> Katrina replied.
<Katrina. You’re such an…organic. I can’t believe you did that.>
She knew that Troy meant that to be an insult, but she didn’t take it as one. <She was figuring it out, and I’m not as good
at hiding who I am as I once was. I didn’t want to lie to her anymore.>
<Fine. So how do you think this will play out?>
<Honestly? I think that we’ll at least get the a-grav systems installed before things go sideways.>
Troy chuckled in her mind. <Well, at least your little love affair hasn’t clouded your judgement too much. You can tell that this is going to fall apart before the end.>
<It’s not a love affair.>
<OK, Katrina.>
Katrina shook her head. If ever there was an ‘OK’ that directly translated into ‘you keep telling yourself that’, it was the one Troy had just uttered.
<Juasa isn’t our problem, and I don’t think the repair crew will be, either. What I’m worried about is that either the captain or one of his crew will double-cross us.>
<Do they have an AI?> Troy asked.
<Yeah, though you’d barely call it such—though it’s at least grumpy like you.>
<That’s something, I suppose. I might be able to get it on our side, if push comes to shove.>
<I’ve also secured some data on local FTL routes,> Katrina said. <Passing it along.>
<Excellent. I’ve pulled an update from the local beacon, and have been watching other ships jump in and out. The location I’m waiting in is jump-capable.>
<Sounds like you’re prepared.>
Troy’s reply was resolute. <Always.>
<I’ll see you in a few hours, Troy. Keep your fingers crossed.>
<Funny.>
Katrina passed a command to the nano in the comm systems to disable the connection and resume their previous state. Even if someone had noticed the comm array sending a signal, a diagnostics run wouldn’t show anything unusual. A physical inspection of the comm systems’ components would be required to uncover what she had done.
She tunneled through one of her other secure connections into the ship’s network and reached out to Juasa.
<Are you ready?>
<As I’ll ever be. I can’t believe we’re doing this,> Juasa replied.
<It’s going to go off without a hitch,> Katrina lied. A perfect execution would be a miracle. <Ready for Ferris to earn his asshole badge?>
<Trust me, he has a mountain of those already.>
They spoke further, reviewing the plan’s details, but eventually Juasa begged off to attend to some of her team.
Katrina signed off from the desk and removed all traces of the hacks she had performed from its interface. Now that she had compromised the Havermere’s network, she could perform future hacks from nearly any point on the ship—even wirelessly, if she chose, though that had a greater risk of detection.
Once the cleanup was done, Katrina pulled her case out of the cupboard where she had stowed it, and activated its a-grav system, smiling with delight as it floated up before her.
She quickly packed her outfits, gave the room one last visual and nano sweep, and then walked to the door. She paused for it to open, and then strode out into the corridor.
It was time to return to the Voyager.
VOYAGER
STELLAR DATE: 11.17.8511 (Adjusted Gregorian)
LOCATION: KSS Havermere, approaching the Voyager
REGION: Scattered Disk, Bollam’s World System (58 Eridani)
Ferris and Anna were waiting for her outside her room.
“My lady!” Ferris exclaimed. “You look incredible!”
“Thank you,” Katrina replied, while inclining her head graciously. She noted that even Anna’s normal narrow gaze had given way to a wide-eyed look. “However, I don’t think I need an escort. I know the way back to the docking bay.”
“Of course you do,” Ferris said. “I just thought it fitting that I escort you off, as I escorted you aboard.”
He offered his arm and Katrina slipped hers around it. They began to walk down the hall, and Anna stayed abreast on Katrina’s right side.
The situation made her skin crawl. Ferris walking her down was expected. But Anna? That was not something she had anticipated.
“I understand that Carl has put together an estimate of four days to install the new graviton emitters,” Katrina said.
That wasn’t entirely true. Carl and Juasa were certain they could install the emitters in two days. The work wouldn’t be pretty, but it would get them dumped into the dark layer and on their way somewhere that wasn’t Bollams’s World.
The installation could be finessed at a later date.
“That is the estimate that Carl has provided me as well,” Ferris replied. “The test runs will take a few days longer, of course, but I have no reason to believe it will take him longer than that.”
“And Juasa?” Katrina asked. “How has she taken her demotion?”
Ferris chuckled. “Better than I expected. Normally she’d scream at me for an hour over something like this, but this time she only went on for twenty minutes or so.”
Anna snorted. “So you’re wearing her down, then?”
“Yup,” Ferris grinned. “From here on out, she’ll be happy for whatever scraps I give her.”
“I never asked; how is it that you can pull her off the job? I thought she didn’t report directly to you?” Katrina pressed.
“Oh, I have my ways,” Ferris said. “I’ve been working up a report of all the shit she’s gotten up to since she came aboard. If I ever send it in, she’ll be fired or collared—maybe both. Either way, I pretty much own her now.”
“Just like you’ve always wanted,” Anna said, giving a caustic laugh.
Katrina wondered about the relationship between these two. Anna wasn’t as beautiful as Juasa, but she was still a very attractive woman. Yet Ferris seemed to have no desire to bed or control her.
Perhaps Anna had something on him; or maybe she had no interest in men. Katrina had certainly noticed a few looks from her over the last couple days—and minutes.
They reached the lift, and Ferris gestured for the two women to enter first. Once inside, Anna turned to Katrina and gave her a sweet smile. “I know what you’re up to, and I want in.”
“Up to?” Katrina asked archly.
Katrina nodded. “I figured you’d wise up, Anna. You don’t seem like a slouch. I’m prepared to offer you one stasis pod for your silence.”
Anna glanced at Ferris, then back at Katrina. “Why’s he get two?”
“Because I have to bribe half the ship with my cut from the sales,” Ferris said. “Take your pod and be happy. It’s more money than you were ever going to earn in your life, anyway.”
Anna looked like she was going to say something in response to Ferris, but then closed her mouth and nodded.
“Fine.”
When the lift doors opened, Anna didn’t leave, and Katrina walked out with Ferris.
“She’s a bit pushy,” Katrina said once the doors closed and they were alone.
“Yeah, sorry about that. She thinks she’s above herself, but she’s a decent first mate, so I let her get away with it from time to time.”
Katrina held back a comment about how it seemed like Anna had just walked all over him, and instead gave the captain a winning smile. “I understand. She needs to feel valued, so you let her assert herself on occasion.”
“Exactly.” Ferris nodded. “’You catch more flies with honey’, and all that.”
They reached the bay, and Katrina walked toward the ramp to her pinnace, with Ferris following her aboard.
Katrina paused and turned around. “Did I miss something?”
Ferris shook his head. “Maybe. I thought that it’d be obvious. I need to come over to inspect the merchandise.”
Katrina looked around the bay. “Without Jan?”
“She’ll be over in a bit with Carl’s crew. I figured since you’re going, and I’m going, we may as well go together.”
Dammit!
Katrina laughed and nodded with a coy smile. “I know what you want. Well, come on then; get onboard.”
Once inside the pinnace, Katrina stowed her case, and then sat in the pilot’s seat and pulled on her harness.
“Expecting a bumpy ride?” Ferris asked quizzically.
“This pinnace is a relic,” Katrina replied. “No a-grav.”
“Huh,” Ferris said as he looked around. “Seems new.”
Katrina gave a soft laugh as she activated the navigation systems and ran a pre-flight check. “Juasa said the same thing. The Voyager’s previous owner was a bit of a collector. He liked things that looked like they were from a bygone era.”
“Well, he did a good job restoring it, that’s for sure,” Ferris said.
“You going to stop fondling my pinnace’s cockpit and put on your harness so we can go?”
Ferris snorted. “Pushy!”
“You like me pushy,” Katrina said with a smirk.
“Yeah, you can say that again.”
Ferris put on his harness without further comment, and Katrina signaled to the bay chief that they were ready for takeoff.
The Havermere’s docking bay powered up its launch beam, lifted the pinnace off the cradle, and pushed it out into space.
Once they were beyond Havermere, Katrina spun the pinnace with its attitude jets and then gave a short burn on the chem booster to send them toward the Voyager.
Her ship was on the far side of the Havermere, and Katrina deftly steered the pinnace under the repair ship’s hull.
“Not a bad pilot,” Ferris said. “I half expected you to use a comp to take you over.”
“I’ve picked up a few useful skills over the years,” Katrina said and then let out a long sigh. “Ah…there she is.”
The Voyager looked just as it had when last Katrina laid eyes on it. Matte grey, almost invisible without its running lights, and long and sleek—but flattened, like a narrow manta ray.
“That sure is a nice ship,” Ferris commented. “In really good shape, too.”
“I take care of my things,” Katrina said, and ran a hand along the cockpit’s console for emphasis. “There’s too much junk in the galaxy. I like to surround myself with beauty.”