Page 16

Ruby

I wasn’t sure if I’d made a mistake by go ing outside to look for Brace or not. He told me it was fine, but I could see how anxious he was about De’tor’s escape. That was my fault, if I hadn’t distracted my mate, De’tor wouldn’t have gotten away. Curling my hands around my belly , I wondered how I felt about this. I really didn’t like the thought that my baby’s father was an awful murderer. Was that a nature or nurture thing? Brace was proof that one could go against nature with a lot of willpower. He was doing it every day.

Shivering, I tucked the blankets more tightly around myself and fed another piece of wood to my campfire. This place was drafty and cold compared to the cabin, but I’d agreed with Brace that we couldn’t stay there after De’tor had found us. It could have been the Hoxiam’s tracking abilities, but Brace hadn’t been certain. He’d been a little disparaging of the male’s survival skills , actually, which left some kind of tracking trickery from De’tor himself. A gadget, a com-device trace. I’d turned off my com to be certain, but I had never handed out my details to De’tor, not even back on the Yengar Spacestation.

When my toes were going numb, I got up to pace in circles around the fire to get them warm. My back was still aching a little , too, and now I was without a soft bed to lie down on. It sucked, but I was going to deal. This was only temporary. All we had to do wa s wait until the Varakartoom reached Rumcas. They’d sent a party to pick up Brace and me, and all would be well.

Unable to help myself, I ducked my head out of the narrow crevice that led into this small cavern. Snow was falling in gentle, huge flakes from the sky, soaring and tumbling slowly , as there was barely any wind. They looked like fat little snow fairies, or maybe marshm a llows. My belly rumbled hungrily in response to that thought, but there was no food to be had right now. That’s what Brace had gone out to get, the promised breakfast.

In a repeat from earlier that morning, it felt like he was taking forever. I’d already added wood to my fire three times, and the pile we’d brought into the cave was rapidly dwindling. After we’d hiked here, Brace also had to erase our tracks in the snow, which took time. He had even talked of running back to the city to get better things for me, to keep me warm. What we’d ‘borrowed’ from the abandoned cabin was not going to be enough for me to last another couple of days. The cold was already getting to me, and I furiously wriggled my toes and fingers.

By the time night began to fall, I knew something had happened to my mate. He would never have left me alone this long. I’d had to go out to find more wood for my fire, and melted snow from the pail beside the fire was the only thing in my belly. My baby boy was asleep now, but he’d danced up a storm not that long ago , so I knew he was fine. Brace , however, there was no way he hadn’t run into trouble.

For the umpteenth time, I peered out of the cave and cursed in frustration when I saw no sign of him. I did not even know in which direction he’d gone or how to begin searching for him. With darkness beginning to fall, it would also become much colder, and thus , much more dangerous to start looking.

I debated what to do over and over, but in the end, I decided there was only one option. Pulling out my com, I hesitated over the on button for a second. If this was how De’tor had found us before, turning it on now could lead him straight back to me. I only had to think of Brace lying somewhere in the snow, bleeding to death, and my finger pressed down. I had to help him.

Once my com turned on, I scrolled to my most recently added contact and pressed to call it. I held my breath the entire time, cold air blowing into my face from the entrance to the cave. My eyes searched the dark, the snow glowing beneath the light of a moon and a million stars. Still no sig n of Brace, no sign of any life at all. I n the distance, though, the city glowed against the night sky, some of its tallest buildings rising like gem - studded spires above the snow - covered forest. Ships also came and went, blips of light against the darkness that moved too fast to be stars.

“This is the Varakartoom . Who is calling?” an unfriendly voice said in curt tones. I didn’t know who it was, but it wasn’t the Talacan second-in-command. Licking my dry lips was instantly punished by the cold biting into the wet flesh. I swallowed, then forced myself to speak and make my case. I had to believe they’d want to help their crewmate—that they were loyal enough to hurry to his rescue—but they were mercenaries. They just as easily might not give a damn.

“This is Ruby González ,” I said. “I believe Brace has been captured.” Captured or dying—but captured was the more hopeful of the two. I refused to believe that he was already gone. In hurried sentences, I explained the situation to the male on the other side of the connection. His accent was completely foreign to me, and if I listened closely, the words of his actual language were even stranger. But my translator did have his language.

“I protected your com against tracking,” the male said firmly. “It is not compr om ised. I am locating Brace’s signal now and will send it to your device.” When he went on to explain that they were on the way but still several days out, he sounded much kinder. His confident tone also made me feel at ease. If Brace’s com had a signal this male could trace, then I could go out and find him.

By the time the com connection ended, I had both direction and a plan. Biting my lip, I darted back into the cave, knuckles digging into my lower back to ease the mild ache there. I needed to wrap myself up as best as I could, gather any supplies we had, and set out as fast as possible. Brace’s signal indicated that he was back in the city, and the male on the Varakartoom had even pinpointed his position to a building from the port authorities. We had calculated that hiking back to Avur would take me eight hours, ten if I took regular breaks. That would allow me to reach the port in the morning, as soon as the offices opened.

Tying every single blanket we had around my body left me feeling like a snowman — poofy and ungainly. My feet and hands were most at risk from the exposure, but I’d managed to fashion a hood from one blanket to protect my head and face. That left me with no good place to stash De’tor’s gun, which Brace had pulled from the snow that morning. I ended up simply holding it beneath the poncho - like blankets as I set out.

Within an hour of walking, I knew it was going to take me longer than ten hours. I was not making good progress through the deep snow at all, and exhaustion dogged my heels, along with that persistent , low-grade back pain. Six hours into the hike, my breathing was growing tight, and my legs burned and ached, but I didn’t feel cold. The back pain was increasing, and a niggle at the back of my head wondered if it wasn’t some kind of contraction - type thing. I dismissed it, because this was only in my back . S urely , it was just because I was tired and walking so much. It was far too early for me to give birth. I still had at least two months to go.

The sound of low , muttering voices had me duck behind a tree. My breathing was too rapid and too loud in the dark; pressing a fist to my mouth, I tried to silence the noise. Where were they? Who were they? I cursed my useless eyes in the dark. Sure, the bright snow helped a little — it caused the light from the stars and moon to reflect back — but it wasn’t enough for me to see far. Just enough not to trip and break my fucking neck.

The sound of low voices came again, and I waited, my head turning to figure out from which direction it came. There, from the city, which I could no longer see beneath the trees. When I focused, I realized the voices were coming closer, marching with very precise steps. A military patrol. That was not a surprise. Rumcas had a very heavy military presence, being a border planet. These could be soldiers out on a simple night training mission, or they could be searching for the culprits who blew up the i r port. Not that it was my fault, but the Rummicaron would only care that I was the owner of the ship.

I waited, hunkering down, my toes going numb in my boots. Pain stabbed at my back, and now it was radiating around, making my belly feel hard and tight. “Not now!” I urged under my breath to my baby. “This is a really bad moment to decide to come.” He kicked me , as if to say he’d make up his own damn mind.

The patrol was passing on my left; I could see them now and hear their Rummicaron tongue. Two dozen, walking two by two in a line, their pace precise and unbothered by the deep snow. It was not nearly so deep on them as it was on me, of course. They were wearing snow camouflage and heavy backpacks, laser rifles slung in front of their bodies at the exact same angle for all of them. A training patrol, not an actual search party, I hoped.

I was a frozen, achy mess by the time I dared to rise again and continue my journey. The walk would heat me back up, I told myself ; the walk would get the blood flowing again. Fervently, I wriggled my toes and fingers as I went, but I couldn’t feel my fingertips, freezing against the cold grip of the gun. What was I going to do when I reached the city? I had credits that were still good, a little savings left. Would they be enough to buy Brace’s freedom from the port authorities? Make some kind of reparation arrangements for the damage to their port?

I reached the gate and its busy roadway when dawn had streaked the skies blue and pink. A heavy purple fog lay to the east, the direction in which the road , with its hordes of hover vehicles and land vehicles , w as going. Guards manned the gate, armed to the teeth, which had not been the case the previous times I’d been here. That was courtesy of the disaster at the port.

Worse, I was pretty sure that the male pacing along the side of the road , smoking something with purple smoke, was one of De’tor’s men. He was far enough away from the road not to be notice d by the guards, and on my side of the woods, his eyes scann ed the trees as if he w ere waiting for someone. Me. I couldn’t tell what species he was, but he didn’t have the distinct back fin that the Rummicaron had, so , not a local.

Luck struck when some kind of vehicular crash drew the attention of the guards and De’tor’s spy. I dashed for it as fast as I could through heavy snow, my hands clutching the gun around my belly as if that would help. My speed was not grea t, but I made it to a dense clutch of shrubbery near the road without being noticed. By then, the pile - up appeared to have been resolved, though traffic into the city was still at a standstill. The nearest vehicles were all on wheels, and one had a low back for cargo that did not appear properly secured. Would I be able to make it?

There was no further distraction to hide my movements, but De’tor’s male was watching the woods, not the side of the road. The guards were moving back into position at the gate, their backs turned; it was now or never. I rushed the vehicle, flicked the latch, and , with a pained grunt, rolled myself inside. I was lucky the cab was closed off from this cargo area, or the driver would have noticed my very non-stealthy entry.

Pushing myself up on my elbows, I fumbled to shut the hatch with fingers that ached as they touched the icy metal. I stared directly into the eyes of the driver of the vehicle behind this one , then. A Rummicaron woman, her expression as cool as ice . S he blinked twice , then looked away. The latch snicked as I shut it fully, and for the first time in hours, I was completely out of the cold wind. It almost felt…warm , in comparison , but I knew not to let that trick me into sitting still. Hyp o thermia or frostbite were serious risks until I managed to get warmed up properly. I wriggled my fingers again, massaging them , and did the same for my toes.

The vehicle rocked gently as it began driving again, and I did not dare open the hatch until it had come to another full stop. My com device let me know exactly where we were, and it had traveled the closed circuit around the city to somewhere almost directly across from the port. That meant another long hike ahead of me, or to risk public transportation , which the Rummicaron were so fond of inside their city.

In all my planning, I had forgotten to think about what would happen if the driver of this vehicle opened the hatch and saw me. I was not fast enough to get it myself — my frozen fingers were clumsy — and then I found myself staring into the sharkish snout of a Rummicaron male. He looked startled, which was technically, according to the Rummicaron not an emotion. The expression smoothed out quickly anyway, replaced by a snarky, what are you doing here?

I struggled upright to heave myself out of the back, and my pregnancy must have been obvious enough for him. He reached out and helped me out with impersonal but gentle hands. Once I was on my feet, my legs ached , and that backache was so fierce now that I had to grit my teeth against the pain. “I’m sorry, I didn’t take anything, I was just so tired of walking.” He narrowed his eyes at me , as if he didn’t quite believe me, and I hoped he didn’t recognize me from the port authorities ’ arrest warrant that had flashed all over the city before. He was from out of town , though, so maybe he hadn’t seen it.

Looking pitiful wasn’t all that hard, and it was not something the male was equipped to deal with. It made most Rummicaron very uneasy to deal with any overt expression of emotion, as they suppressed all o f their own. This male was no different, hurriedly stepping away. He was businesslike enough to quickly inspect the back of his truck before demanding a small amount of credits in compensation for used fuel. It almost made me laugh, but this was truly the best outcome, you could almost call that a kindness.

Having paid up, I started walking again, my eyes flick ing to the tracking program open on my com every so often to make sure I was still on track. It was warmer inside the city, the stones capturing the sun ’ s heat and the buildings blocking the winds that swept through the bare woods outside . Because of that, I felt I could tough it out a little longer, even in pain as I was. I just needed to reach those offices where they were holding Brace. At least he wasn’t in De’tor’s clutches, so I hoped that meant I could talk them into releasing him to me.

When I passed Kali’s Bread and Fish shop, the exhaustion and pain were too much. I eyed Brace’s blip guiltily but ducked inside anyway so I could sit down someplace warm for just a minute. Food, I needed food so badly that I ordered a pile of it from Kali’s menu. All my favorites. It felt too much like I was ordering my last meal, and though it warmed me, restoring feeling to my fingers and toes , n one of it tasted the way it should. Every bite was like ashes in my mouth, and I knew that was my guilt talking. I should be in that office already . W hat if they executed Brace for his perceived role in the explosion? What if they gave him to that greedy military q uarter m aster I’d sold my bolts of fabric to? What if De’tor was there after all?

Getting up after sitting down felt impossible. Tears leaped to my eyes when the pain crescendo e d so badly that I couldn’t breath e . This wasn’t good ; something really awful was happening. What if the baby was in danger? What if I was going into labor prematurely? So much stress lately… i t wasn’t unreasonable to think that.

Wobbling on unsteady feet, I debated what my course of action should be : r escue my mate or find a doctor to help my baby . Then the pain ebbed, and for a moment , I felt almost normal. I turned in the direction of the port and started walking.