Dead World [Sunsinger Chronicles Book 3] Read online

  “Us specifically, or Spacers in general?”

  “Spacers specifically.” Gil glanced at Branda. “We're working on a system that will provide shielding against Mashrami sensors.”

  “Wow,” Bain whispered. “We wouldn't have to be scared of Mashrami shooting at us anymore, would we?”

  “If it works,” Branda said. “That's the sticking point, isn't it, Captain?”

  “It's time to take it out of the laboratory and test it,” Gil said, nodding.

  “Ah, now I see.” Lin uncrossed her arms. “You need Sunsinger to help with the tests. Common sense says you need to actually find and get close to Mashrami to be sure the shield hides us from their sensors. You want Sunsinger to take a few suicide runs for you.”

  “Not suicide.” His voice got sharp.

  For some reason, Bain felt sorry for the Ranger captain. Gil frowned, and his shoulders were curved from tension, and little angry lines crowded around his eyes and mouth and across his forehead.

  “You'll be escorted by a full Ranger squadron through every phase of the test. If you agree.”

  “It must be pretty risky if you don't want to ask us,” Lin said. She sat down and picked up a sugared fruit stick, nibbling on the end. “What made you pick us, anyway?”

  “I didn't pick you. We ran a list of traits through the roster of ships. You aren't the first Spacer ship we've recruited.”

  “Ah ha. I have this feeling we're the last on the list, by design. Using your rank to play favorites with old friends, is that it? I'm ashamed of you, Gil.”

  “Lin, if it wasn't this important I wouldn't be asking, believe me.”

  “I know.” The teasing sneer left her voice. “Branda, I think we should head back to the ship for the rest of this. Ganfer could participate through our links, but I want him able to give us figures and printouts immediately.”

  “The war goes on,” Branda said, with a shrug. “Next time, I definitely want to hear that piece about Boothby, Bain.”

  “I promise.” Bain started sliding his harp back into its case.

  “Next time, I'll have your new harp ready.” She smiled when Bain gaped at the news. “You're growing. You can handle more strings and more complicated pieces.”

  “He's growing, all right.” Gil tried to smile. “It took me a few seconds to recognize you when I walked in, Bain. Ready for a ship of your own?”

  “Not for a long time,” Bain hurried to say.

  “Sooner than any of us think,” Lin said. She finished putting away her flute, and stood again. “Let's go.”

  * * * *

  Gil's assistant was Lt. Horiss. He was first science officer for Gil's squadron, and had spent time with the scientists who developed the Mashrami sensor-proof shield system. Horiss was the one who would explain what the shields were supposed to do, and what would be done to Sunsinger if Lin agreed to work with the Rangers.

  Lin, Bain, Gil and Horiss walked in silence through the streets of the spaceport's residential district. There really was little to say after the introductions were made. Bain thought about what Gil and Lin had said before they left Branda's house.

  The Rangers had developed shields to hide ships from Mashrami sensors. That was good, wasn't it? If the aliens couldn't see or sense Human ships, they couldn't shoot at them. Fewer people would get hurt or die.

  Bain wondered if the shields could be expanded for Human colonies.

  Then he wondered what would happen if the Mashrami couldn't tell there were colonists and ships and fields and factories on the worlds they approached. Would they land without looking at what they crushed under their ships? Was it possible for the Mashrami to come to a world, miss the signs of civilization, and come down in the middle of a town without knowing it?

  He would have to save that question for Lt. Horiss whenever they got a chance to talk.

  They would get a chance to talk. Bain knew Lin wouldn't pass up this testing, even if it was dangerous. Lin believed in helping others. She believed in taking risks for the good of those who couldn't defend or help themselves. He knew Lin was only pretending to be difficult, and asking lots of questions, to make sure she wasn't taking a stupid risk.

  Branda had been right when she said many people on Kesley waited until the cool of the night to socialize and conduct business. Bain stared at the people sitting on patios and under awnings, with torches burning brightly and recorded music blaring from broadcast speakers. Pots of scented oil burned at even intervals, surrounding the porches and patios and open windows. The scent filled the air with spicy perfume, and kept the night-flying, blood-drinking insects away. People danced and laughed. They wore bright colors, and played games on long tables set up under the bright, starlit canopy of the cool night sky. He almost wished he and Lin didn't have to go back to Sunsinger to talk to the Rangers. It looked like the fun on Kesley only came out at night.

  Finally, Lin and Gil led the way out of the residential district into the marketplace. Most of the booths were closed. The restaurants and musicians’ stands were open, though. They were lit with torches and candles, and delicious, spicy aromas mixed with the sounds of dozens of musical instruments. The sounds and smells spilled down the aisles in the marketplace, weaving together and begging every passerby to come in.

  In ten minutes, they had passed through the furthest edge of the marketplace and started walking across the spaceport. Sunsinger sat far to one side, away from the exhaust blast and less graceful landing practices of the larger ships. She crouched low in the shadows, a darker shape hugging the ground.

  “Ganfer,” Lin said. She touched the collar link. Three little green lights blinked on. “It's a little dark out here. Could you light our way?”

  Sunsinger's running lights came to life, spilling white and blue and green puddles of light all around the ship's body. Two larger floodlights emerged from a recessed panel in the ship's nose, and created a path of light across the landing field.

  Less than ten minutes later they walked in through the smaller airlock into the cargo hold and climbed the angled access tube up to the bridge. Bain took Lin's flute case and stowed it in her cubicle, then put his harp away. Lin gestured for Gil and the lieutenant to take seats in the galley booth.

  “All right, why Sunsinger in particular, among all the ships out there on that field right now?” Lin said. She perched on the edge of the control panel in the center of the bridge, and studied her two guests.

  Horiss looked to Gil, visibly asking permission to speak, and the Ranger captain nodded. The scientist cleared his throat. He opened his mouth to speak, and stopped short when Bain slid out of his cubicle and walked over to the control panel to join Lin. He smiled at the boy, and finally started talking.

  “For this phase of the shield testing, we need small ships. Despite being an older design, most Spacer ships have the speed and maneuverability necessary to avoid being damaged by a Mashrami attack. Speed and maneuverability that larger ships don't have, despite the technological advances that always accompany a war situation.”

  “That means we're smaller targets, harder to find and harder to hit,” Lin said, leaning toward Bain as if she talked only to him.

  “That's part of it, yes,” Gil said. “We also added in a variable that requires the captains or pilots of the test ships to have good instincts for trouble. You have to sense it before it arrives. You have to be able to get out of trouble when you're hip-deep in it. You have to be a hot pilot. And you have to be a pilot who's gone up against the Mashrami before, and escaped with nothing more than singed sensor arrays.”

  “I have to admit, that sounds like us,” Lin murmured. “With such strict criteria, why are we the last you've contacted?”

  Bain held his breath. His imagination raced, creating horrible answers. Maybe Gil hadn't come to them first because all the other Spacer ships had better pilots. Bain couldn't quite believe that. He had seen Lin at work. He had seen how her fingers flew over the controls, and she barked out cryptic commands
for Ganfer that flew the ship with precision as sharp and thin as the blade of a knife.

  Maybe the other Spacer ships had been destroyed in the test, and Sunsinger was the only one left?

  “We're doing multiple tests,” Gil said. “Six other teams of Spacer ships and Ranger squadrons. We're the seventh team, if you agree to work with us.”

  “Teamed with you? Should I take that as a compliment or an insult?” Lin said with a chuckle.

  “Take it as a sign of my extreme paranoia and guilt. If anything happens to you, I don't want to have to wade through reams of reports to find out what went wrong. I don't want to have to destroy the careers of an entire squadron to make up for either of you getting hurt.” He shrugged and gave her a crooked smile. “If I'm in charge, I'll know, and I can take all the blame myself.”

  “Don't make a martyr of yourself or us. Not yet, at least.” Lin balanced on her tailbone on the edge of the control panel, and crossed one ankle over the other. She crossed her arms over her chest, and tilted her head to one side as she studied Gil and Lt. Horiss.

  “Are the shields that bad?” Bain asked. “Don't you know if they work or not?” he continued, when the three adults on the bridge just looked at him, and nobody told him to be quiet.

  “They work, as far as we can tell.” Horiss nodded. “We've simulated a Mashrami sensor array, from the pieces of wrecked ships we've salvaged. As near as we can tell, the shields do fool Mashrami sensors.”

  “As near as you can tell,” Lin said, nodding. “That's the sticking point, isn't it? You haven't fully figured out the Mashrami sensors, so you don't know if the shields are really working or not.”

  “Exactly. I don't like sending civilians into danger, even for something so vital.” Gil stood and crossed from the galley booth to the control panel. “I don't like sending my friends into danger when I'm not sure I can get there in time to help them.”

  “You'll have to travel far enough back from us that the Mashrami won't be able to sense you.” She nodded. A wry smile twisted her lips. “The more I hear, the more I like this little puzzle box.”

  “Lin, for once in your life, could you be serious?” he growled.

  “Why? This may be the only fun we'll have until the tests are over.” She winked at Bain.

  “You can't be agreeing to do this. Not yet.” Gil raked his fingers through his hair. Bain thought for a moment the man would start yanking it out. “You hardly know a fraction of the details; how the tests will be run; what they'll have to do to your ship; how long it'll last; what dangers you could be in; where we'll be heading. Ganfer, aren't you going to say anything?” he finished, and tilted his head back so he talked directly to the sensor dome in the ceiling.

  “I admit, I would like answers to those questions you just listed,” the ship-brain said. “Especially concerning the changes you'll make to my systems.”

  “Don't worry, Gil.” Lin stood up straight, and rested both hands on his shoulders. She had to look up to meet the man's gaze. “I always examine every question and every angle and every possibility of danger before I commit to anything. I just have this feeling that even if there are some details I don't like, I'll still agree to help with the tests. This is something that needs to be done, for the good of the Commonwealth.”

  “I knew you'd see it that way,” the Ranger said with a sigh. “Sometimes I really hate my job.”

  “Consider this.” Lin squeezed his shoulders, and pushed him just hard enough that he staggered back a step. “If I didn't want to do this, do you really think you could talk me into it?”

  Gil thought for a moment. Some brightness returned to his eyes as he shook his head. He still didn't smile, though.

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  * * *

  Chapter Three

  Gil had brought a data disk with all the information on the development and theory behind the Mashrami shields, and he gave it to Lin to study. Time was too precious to waste on wavering for days before deciding if Sunsinger would help the Rangers in their test. Lin agreed to study the disk, and give Gil an answer by morning. Bain wanted to stay up and read the information and study it with Lin. She made him go to bed almost as soon as Gil and Horiss left the ship.

  “But if I'm going to help, I should know what's going on, right?” the boy protested.

  “If we agree to the shield tests, you'll have plenty of time to study this disk—and probably a thousand others—before we find any Mashrami.” Lin went to the galley and put a cup of coffee in the heater.

  That was a sign of how serious this was. Lin only heated coffee when she had a long watch ahead of her, and she had to stay awake, or she needed to be alert for a dangerous situation.

  “What if you decide we can't do it?” Bain said, after a few seconds of thinking.

  “Then the less you know about military projects, the happier you and the military will be.” Lin made shooing motions toward his cubicle. “Off to bed with you.”

  Bain obeyed. He had a horrid feeling that if he made too much of a fuss or upset Lin, she would leave him behind on Kesley with Branda. Bain liked Branda, but he didn't want to spend the rest of his life as a merchant, even a Spacer merchant. He wanted to be on Sunsinger, even if they were going into danger.

  He curled up under his blankets and bed net, and put his pillow near the foot of his bunk, so his head was near the latch for the cubicle curtain. Bain left the curtain open just wide enough to press his eye to the opening so he could watch Lin. If he lay quietly, he knew he could hear everything she and Ganfer said to each other.

  Lin sat at the control panel. Except for telling Ganfer on which screen to display the disk information, she didn't say anything. For three hours.

  Bain knew how long because he kept dozing and waking. Each time he woke, he looked at the chronometer in the wall just above his head. For three whole hours, she said nothing. She did nothing but read the screen, and tap the button to scroll down.

  After that, Bain fell asleep. He didn't wake up until the early morning hours when he had a nightmare that Lin picked him up and carried him out of the ship, and left him by the side of the landing field in his blankets and underwear, while Sunsinger launched and went hunting Mashrami.

  He woke up gasping and sweating, and rolled over to check the chrono. It was nearly dawn, Kesley time. Lin was no longer studying at the control panel. The bridge was dark and quiet, with only the auto-program lights blinking to show the ship was awake and waiting.

  “Ganfer?” Bain whispered, and touched the activation button on his collar link.

  “What is it, Bain?” the ship-brain asked, in just as soft a tone, through the collar link.

  “Is Lin going to help with the tests?”

  “Of course. What else could she do?”

  “She's going to let me come along, won't she?”

  Ganfer didn't answer. The silence alone made Bain feel frightened and sick, like he had the time he thought he would fall off a tall ladder.

  “Ganfer?”

  “She wanted to leave you behind, so you would be safe. But,” the ship-brain continued, before Bain could say anything, “she knew you would probably sneak on board, and that I would help you.”

  “You would?” Bain nearly laughed aloud. “I didn't even think of sneaking back on board yet.”

  “You would have, given enough time.”

  “Maybe. Lin's going to let me stay. I'm glad.”

  “She'll need your help, Bain. This isn't going to be like running into the Mashrami by accident, and doing some fancy tricks to escape them. This time, you'll have to go out there and find the Mashrami, and then turn on the shields and hide from them. If the shields don't work, and depending on how far away the Rangers are, you and Lin could get badly hurt. If she didn't need your help, Lin would try to leave you behind, no matter what I said.”

  “Am I good enough to help?” Bain whispered.

  “Of course you are. Lin is the best teacher you could ever hope to have.”<
br />
  “Thanks, Ganfer.” He rolled over and tugged the cubicle curtain closed all the way, and closed his eyes. Just as he fell asleep, it occurred to Bain to wonder if Lin, the best teacher for Spacers, really did need his help, how dangerous was the shield test?

  * * * *

  Bain got out of bed before Lin did the next morning. He took extra care to be quiet as he made his breakfast. Lin rarely ever slept in, which showed just how late she had stayed up studying the information Horiss had given her about the shield tests. Bain washed up and got dressed and hurried down to the cargo hold. He wasn't sure what to do, but he knew he had to do something. He felt too nervous about Lin's answer to just sit in his cubicle and study. He had to do something far away from the bridge, so he wouldn't make noise and wake her.

  All the dormitory furniture and bracing poles and support plates and bolts had been removed from the hold the day before. There was nothing to do but clean. Bain hated the stinging smell of the disinfectant, but he pulled out the spray canister anyway, and got to work.

  He swept up the floor of the cargo hold. Why let loose dirt soak up the disinfectant and waste it? The dirt would be removed sooner or later, and what good was disinfected dirt to anyone? Bain worked himself into a sweat getting into all the corners, and double-sweeping in the shadows to make sure he didn't miss anything.

  When he was done with the sweeping, he opened the hatch to toss the dirt out; bits of dust congealed with oil and spilled food, shavings of plastic and thin curls of metal from bolts and plates and bars, scraped off during the stress of travel. Bain dumped it all to the left of the hatch door. He didn't worry about messing up the landing field, because when Sunsinger launched, the blast of the exhaust would burn it all to dust.

  Bain left the hatch open when he finished. The ventilation system in Sunsinger was good, but every little bit of fresh air he could get into the ship while he sprayed the disinfectant, the better for him. The spray stank. It got up into his nose, and burned and gave him a headache, and he could still smell it in his hair and skin days later, even if he took showers twice a day.