The Dead Fleet (Juggernaut #3)

Fifty One

Tila held her breath in the shadows. Beside her, her mother breathed slowly. Her mother's finger tapped softly against the trigger guard of her carbine as they waited for the pirates to run past.

Finally the shouting and the footsteps faded into the distance. Grace stepped out of their hiding place and gave Tila the all clear, and they resumed their careful escape.

Tila felt the pressure of time bearing down on them. Pressure to escape, to find her friends, to get answers to new questions about her mother, what she was doing and where she had been. It all depended on their ability to get off the Solar Forge, but that was the third time they had hidden from pirates, and they still hadn't come across any agents. She hoped they could escape without further opposition.

Since stepping into the Rhino, Tila felt like she had aged a lifetime and not slept for a month, even though their adventure had lasted only a few days. There was pressure to rest, but if what her mother had told her was true, they had no time to rest. Cabal agents were coming, either on foot or in ships. They were coming to terminate this operation and everyone involved, and Tila wanted to be far away from here long before that happened. The simple pressure to stay alive overrode the rest.

They covered another three hundred metres or so of winding tunnels and stairwells, then Grace knelt down under the last flight of stairs. She pulled Tila into their new hiding place.

'Rest a moment,' she said.

Grace pressed three fingers of her left hand to her right wrist and a grey and red lines appeared on a black panel which up till now Tila had assumed was simply part of her mother's armour.

'What is that?' Tila asked

'A TBC. Tactical Battlespace Cartographer. I'm checking proposed routes. We've covered enough ground for it to make new suggestions.'

'I thought you knew the way. Malachi's datapad was making a map for us. We could have used that.'

'It's not just a map. It's tracking our location and enemy threat levels and extrapolating the best way back to our ship. The way I know might not be the best way.'

'Just tell it to get us out of her quickly.'

Grace tapped at the faint display. It was visible enough up close and straight on but hard to see from any other angle. It was ideal for someone to use while they were hidden.

Grace swiped three fingers right to left and the panel blackened.

'Well?' said Tila.

'It's suggested a new route. The patrols we've seen suggest more movement than would be expected from a crew this size, so it recommends a more direct route.'

'Okay, so let's go.' Tila stood up. Grace pulled her back down.

'That doesn't mean we rush in. The odds might be in our favour but we can't be certain.'

'I'll take them. Nothing's ever sure.'

Grace unclipped a holster on the back of her left hip and passed the contents to her daughter. 'Tila, I want you to take this. I've seen how you can look after yourself but your staff may not be enough.'

Tila accepted the blaster her mother offered. It was a much lighter weapon than the bulky carbine her mother wielded, or the heavy hand blaster holstered on her thigh. She wrapped her fingers around the molded grip. It sat uneasily in her hand. Tila was used to her staff and fists and feet. They were things she could rely on. They were tools she knew.

"I don't know how to use this," she said.

'The safety is off. Just point it and pull the trigger. And be careful where you point it, of course."

Tila held the pistol out in her left hand and sighted along her arm. 'I'm not going to be able to hit anything with this.'

'You must have something for defence back on the Juggernaut.'

'The militia takes care of that, but I'm not part of the militia. I'm not part of much in New Haven.'

'I'm surprised. You seem very competent.'

'It depends who I'm dealing with and how much they're listening. Militia training is for citizens who have committed to the New Haven rules, and so far I haven't done that.'

'Why not?'

'Rules get in the way.'

'Of what?'

'Of whatever I want to do.'

'Is that how it seems?'

'That's just how it is. Life on the Juggernaut is too unpredictable to let rules get in the way. The New Haven council wants to stick to the rules when they negotiate. They say it builds trust, but then they get double-crossed. They want rules for security, but scavengers and raiders don't follow the rules. Rules don't work.'

'Is New Haven your home on the Juggernaut?'

'It's where I live,' said Tila.

'I see,' said Grace, noting the difference.

'Where do you live?' said Tila, suddenly remembering how little she knew about her mother.

'I don't have a home. I've been working this mission for the last four years. It's been slow and difficult work. Sometimes dangerous work. It never lent itself to a home life.'

'You don't have anyone else? Anyone, you know, new?'

'No one. I always hoped your father might still be alive. As soon as I heard the mission failure might have been staged that hope grew. I've been looking for answers ever since.'

'You should have looked on the Juggernaut,' said Tila grimly. 'All the junk washes up there eventually.'

'One man's junk is another man's treasure, Tila.'

'Depends on the man.'

'Do you have anyone waiting for you in New Haven?'

'Not that I know of. I'd tell them to get lost if I knew anyone.'

'What about your friend?'

'Mal? No way. Anyway, he's taken.'

'From what I've seen I'm not surprised.'

'He might not know it yet though.'

'Oh?'

'He's clever but he has his blind spots and is afraid to take risks.'

'We all have our blind spots. Ellie mentioned another boy. Jayce?'

'Jayce? He's an idiot, that's all you need to know about him. Besides, he and Ellie have a thing for each other,' said Tila sourly.

'A "thing"?' Grace chuckled. 'And you don't approve?'

'Did I mention he's an idiot? She can do better.'

'Are there a lot of eligible bachelors on the Juggernaut?' said Grace with a smile.

Tila didn't return the smile. Ellie and Jayce? Unthinkable. But Grace had a point. The Juggernaut was not exactly swarming with desirable men.

'I never thought I would do anything like this,' said Tila.

'Like what? Do you mean escape a doomed ship against impossible odds?'

'I mean gossip with my mother about my friend's love lives.'

Grace looked her daughter in the eyes and pushed stray hairs from Tila's and tucked them behind one ear. 'I'm glad I could be here too. When we're away from here we can do it again.'

Tila gave her mother a shy smile. 'I'd like that.'

Then it was time for the soldier to take the lead.

'Come on, time to leave,' said Grace.

They ducked out from under the stairs and followed the new route suggested by Grace's wrist cartographer.

One more thought occurred to Tila as they started jogging.

'Did you really spend four years looking for this place?'

'Uh huh. It wasn't easy. Why?'

'We did it in a week.'