Zero Page 14

  Hugo nodded, enjoying the way it warmed his throat.

  “Where did you get it?”

  “Kinjo found a supplier on Sunside 4.”

  Webb raised his eyebrows, looked at the remnants in his glass. “Tastes old, too. Bet you grew up drinking this, huh?”

  “My father drinks it, if that's what you mean.”

  “I need a payrise,” Webb muttered. Hugo took his glass from him and poured them both another. “So are you going to tell me where Marilyn sprung up from?”

  “That brings me to why we've come to get you early. She tracked us down on Sunside 5. She was after you.”

  “That can't be good,” Webb mumbled, watching the blask swill in his glass.

  “It's not. The Splinters are running weapons into Lunar 1.”

  Webb froze with his glass to his mouth, stared at Hugo over the rim. “What?”

  Hugo nodded. “It's true. They cornered Harvey into doing a run for them.”

  Webb lowered his glass. “Fuck.”

  “Yeah,” Hugo said. “She felt she couldn't sit on it.”

  “Aye,” Webb said. “Jesus. If they know she's come out with this, they'll be after her skin.”

  “What do you think it could be?”

  “Well, someone's got a nasty score to settle, that's for sure.”

  “Do you think it could be LIL?”

  Webb's eyes widened for a moment but then he shook his head and drained his glass. “No. They're not that stupid.”

  “Just because you're revolutionary doesn't necessarily mean you're smart.”

  “Fitzroy's smart,” Webb said. “Two generations in the Lunar Strip have lost parents and friends to revolution and chemical plague. They may still want to kick the Service out, but they won't fight another war for it.”

  “The timing is not reassuring.”

  “If anyone's going to try and re-establish a Lunar State, it's going to be done through politics. For that LIL needs power, influence. And not the sort bought with fear. Hence cosying up to bigwigs like Gabor. Fitzroy's got something up his sleeve, that's for sure. But no one in the Lunar Independence League would hire the Splinters. This is something else.”

  Hugo took one last mouthful of his drink and put the glass aside. “I don't know if that makes it better or worse.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  Hugo folded his arms. “We're to stop them.”

  Webb coughed on his drink. “Come again?”

  Hugo crossed his arms. “Luscombe wants us to go to Lunar 1 and stop whatever it is the Splinters are planning.”

  “Can't he just use us as target practice for the Resolution? It would be quicker.”

  “It was a direct order.”

  “Jesus,” Webb said, rubbing his eyes. “This'll be fun.”

  “We're launching tonight. Once we're on course to Lunar 1 I want us all to meet in the galley to work on a strategy.”

  “Aye aye Captain. And if you have any more of this,” he said, draining his glass. “I'd bring it.”

  ɵ

  “You're space crazy, the whole fucking lot of you.”

  “Marilyn -”

  “I ain't joking. I don't care what contract you found on them, it ain't worth it. And I ain't gonna be dragged down with you. Let me off at Lunar 3.”

  “We'll drop you if you want,” Webb said. “But I'll bet the Zero and the Phoenix that the Splinters be on you the minute you try and catch a run out of there.”

  “So we march up and knock on their door instead?” Harvey shook her head. “You're morons. Suicidal morons.”

  “Captain Harvey,” Spinn put in, not loudly, but Harvey still jumped. “I feel it is in your best interests to help.”

  “Do you, professor?” she said. “Well you can feel whatever you want. I like my head where it is.”

  “Marilyn,” Webb said. “If we win... they won't come after you again.”

  “Big fucking 'if' there, Ezekiel.”

  “It would be smaller if you helped.”

  She glowered a moment longer then shook her head with a wordless noise. “I'll talk to some people for you. That's all I'm doing, mind. And only because this'll give the Splinters someone else to want to murder other than me.”

  “Your faith is touching.”

  “Yours is useless.”

  Harvey and Webb exchanged glares for a moment longer then looked back to Hugo. Hugo took a breath to make sure his voice was steady. “Harvey, where did you run your cargo into?”

  “Docking bays on the Earth-side rim,” she said.

  “That's as good a place to start as any. Is there any business we could convincingly be conducting whilst we're there?”

  Webb laughed. “Nothing you'd like. But, yeah. Sure we can find something to keep us busy.”

  “Kinjo, Sub, Bolt,” Hugo said and they looked up. “You can sort that?” They nodded.

  “A new bike would be good...” Webb said with a smile.

  “We'll see what trading we can find,” Sub said.

  “Make it good,” Hugo urged “In the meantime, Rami, Harvey and I -”

  “Hang on one cotton-picking -”

  “Captain,” Hugo cut Harvey off. “You're in or you're not. And if you're in, this is my ship and you're following my orders.” Hugo thought she was about to burst a blood vessel, green eyes hot and jaw bulging. “Rami, Harvey and I will set out to ask questions. Commander, what points do you know that would be worth starting with?”

  “I've got several points who might know something,” Webb said, eyes narrow. “But am I going to have to be the one to point out the obvious flaw in this plan?”

  “You are not accompanying us, Commander,” Hugo said.

  Webb's face darkened. “Hugo, I was born on this colony.”

  “I'm aware of that.”

  Webb kneaded his temples. “You came and got me from Lunar 5 specifically because of it.”

  “You are not physically up to fieldwork.”

  “Captain-”

  “No arguments, Commander. You are to help us plan and give us details of your contacts. We will keep in touch by comm. But you are to remain on the Zero with More and oversee everyone's movements.”

  “Hugo, please, just listen a second...” Webb said, shifting in his seat and holding his hands up. “It's just... this isn't Earth. Some of the points here are as likely to shoot you on sight as tell you anything.”

  “Then you had better choose who we speak to wisely,” Hugo said firmly. Webb didn't say anything more, though Hugo could tell he wanted to. “We don't know how much time we have so we will set out immediately. I want everyone ready.” Everyone nodded and acknowledged the orders, apart from Webb and Harvey who were both still glowering. “I want a complete check-over of our weapons and tech stock completed before we dock. How long to Lunar 1, Sub-Lieutenant?”

  More looked at his wrist display. “Four hours, Captain.”

  “Get us docked in the grimiest rim harbour you can find. The sort that aren't interested in having accurate records.”

  “You're getting good at this, Captain,” Webb said, though he didn't smile.

  “You have your orders. We have four hours to prepare. Be ready.”

  VII

  Webb swallowed a couple of pills with a dry throat. Exhaustion rolled through him in waves, but it wasn't enough to overwhelm the sneaking finger of doubt that worked its way up his spine. He'd tried distracting himself with the tech check, but he was still tiring quickly and Kinjo had eventually shooed him off. He stared at the bottle of pills for a moment, trying to untangle his thoughts.

  “Are you okay?”

  He looked up to see Rami stood in the medbay door, a penetrating look on her face.

  “I'm fine,” he said, turning to replace the bottle. “Just a headache.”

  “Is that so?” she said. “Strip.”

  “Right here in the medbay, Lieutenant? After last time?” Webb smirked.

  “I assume you want to keep those new teeth,
Commander? Do as you're told.”

  Webb chuckled as he unzipped his flight suit and shouldered himself out of it. “I'm fine, honestly. You'd be proud. I barely moved off my ass for the whole five weeks.”

  “A likely story. Sit.”

  Webb smiled and lowered himself into a chair and allowed Rami to shine a lenslight in his eyes. Her hands on his skin were warm. He felt himself relax despite himself, even when she fingered the tender areas on his jaw.

  “So,” she said. “Do you think it can be done?”

  “Scuppering the Splinters?”

  She nodded.

  He sighed then, flinching slightly as she lifted his arm and examined his shoulder. “You know...” he said, quietly. “It might just be possible, yeah. We'll need some luck and some smarts. But... yeah. Maybe.”

  “If we do,” Rami said as she lifted up his other arm and started feeling her way down the healing skin on his ribs. “It means we'll have made Lunar 1 a better place.”

  “We'd be swatting a fly on a dying horse,” he muttered while Rami knelt and unfastened his ankle brace. “But I guess it's something. Listen, Anita – you will be careful, won't you?”

  “You know me, Zeek,” she said whilst she prodded at the bones in his ankle. She muttered to herself, replaced the brace and stood. She was about to move away but Webb caught her hand. She looked at him, dark eyes steady and he pulled her down and kissed her, then just held her there, pressing her forehead to his. “Promise.”

  She paused a moment and he felt her sigh. “I promise.”

  He nodded and let her go. She retrieved a syringe from the cupboard and filled it from a vial.

  “So,” he said, rubbing at his shoulder. “What's the verdict?”

  “Well,” she said. “I think some of your tattoos are a write-off.”

  “You never liked them anyway,” he said, and was pleased to see her smile slightly. She bent and gave him the shot and he watched her face as she did so but it was calm and unreadable. She helped him shoulder back into his flight suit and he stood.

  “Oh. Here,” Rami said and pulled something out of her pocket. He held out his hand and she dropped his crucifix onto his palm. The gold was warm. He felt a genuine smile spread across his face.

  “Commander?” came More's voice from the wall display.

  “Webb here,” he said, fastening the chain back around his neck.

  “We're approaching Lunar 1. Do you want to handle control?”

  “What's wrong, More? Not scared, are you?”

  There was a pause, though More's face on the screen didn't change. “No.”

  “Relax, Thomas. I'll be right up.”

  The screen went blank and Webb turned to go but felt Rami's hand on his shoulder. He looked back at her. “You be careful too, okay?”

  He grinned. “When am I ever not?”

  She shook her head and let him go.

  He cursed as he shambled up the stairway to the bridge. He could feel Hugo's eyes on him as he limped to the controls and felt frustration flame again. But he didn't look back and dropped himself into the seat.

  “Ah,” he sighed, running his hand over the panel. “I missed you girl. What's More done to you, eh?”

  “Approaching now, Zeek,” More said, adjusting the course slightly. The Earth-facing rim of the disk-shaped colony already took up most of the viewscreen. A couple more breaches had been patched up since he was last here, though no one had bothered clearing up the carbon burns that blackened the hull around them. He adjusted their course, pulling them into an emptier spaceway to dodge the heavier traffic heading towards the hub. When they dropped in line he keyed in a couple of commands to start hailing Docking Control.

  “Section 4 Control here,” a bored-sounding voice eventually crackled through the channel.

  “Hey, Control,” Webb said, ratcheting up his accent a notch. “Gotta drydock for a class 2?”

  “Might have. Purpose of visit?”

  “Well it ain't gonna be leisure, is it, Control?”

  “Your manifest is thin, Zero,” the voice returned.

  “We're buying. You'll get us for a few weeks at least, if you'll take rolling payment.”

  “Got any collateral?”

  Webb sighed loudly. “Come on, Control. You want credit coming into your colony or not?”

  “No collateral, no dock, Zero.”

  “Commander,” Hugo put in. “We've got credit for an up-front payment.”

  Webb held up his hand. “Stow it one second, Captain,” he flicked the comm back on. “Control, if you insist on being such hard-assess...we've got some fighters aboard. Service-class.”

  “Fighters?”

  “Three. In good shape. Transmitting details.”

  There was another pause. Webb peered out the screen as they got closer and could start picking out the patterns of lights from viewports and the honeycomb entrance to the docks. “They'll do, Zero. Logging them as guarantee. Head on bearing 5-6-1 to bay 3694. Welcome to Lunar 1.”

  “Our humble thanks, Control. Out.” He flicked off the comm and slumped back in his chair. “Fuck. Don't it just feel great to be home?”

  “You put up the fighters...?”

  “Relax, Captain. Having credit for front payment on weeks' worth of docking is more likely to get you noticed than having a few modified fighters aboard.”

  “Is it too late to turn back?”

  Webb looked to Harvey where she stood in the hatchway, glowering out the viewscreen at the approaching docking bay doors.

  “Relax, Marilyn,” he said. “What could possibly go wrong?”

  “You had to say it, didn't you?” Harvey retorted and Webb thought for a moment that she looked a little paler than usual.

  He looked away and concentrated on bringing the Zero into dock. 3694 glowed in red over the hatchway and they steered her in. It was a class 2 craft bay, but only just. Webb muttered as they brought her in and had to ease her down to avoid scraping her stern on the hatchway. They landed and the hatch closed behind them with a clang. A tinny voice announced depressurisation would be complete in one minute. Everyone left the bridge except Hugo, who stayed in his chair and gazed out the viewscreen at the oil-streaked metal of the docking bay. For a second Webb thought he saw a flicker of something like doubt in his eyes, but it was gone again when the captain looked his way.

  “Don't you have work to do, Commander?” he said then left before Webb could reply.

  ɵ

  Hugo strapped on both his holsters before pulling his jacket over the top. He double-checked the knife sheath in his boot and triple-checked his wrist panel for connection to the Zero's systems and Lunar 1's mainframe and the solarnet. All was as it should be. He gazed at the man that stared back from the mirror over the sink. His hair was scruffy and his jaw had three days' growth. There were grey smudges under his eyes and he wondered what his mother would think if she saw him now. Then he shook his head and made himself leave the cabin.

  The crew were gathered in the hold. Kinjo, Sub and Bolt were just clambering into the Jeep. Rami and More were checking something on a handheld computer panel and Harvey was leaning against one of the fighters. She had pulled her unruly yellow hair back into a tight tail and was wearing one of Webb's caps again as well as a large light-visor. It obscured her eyes but he could still see she was scowling. Webb was a step back from everyone, watching with an unreadable expression.

  “Captain?”

  Hugo looked up and More presented him with another handgun, identical to the one he lost at AI. Hugo loaded it into his empty holster, reassured by its weight.

  “Everyone has checked the connectivity on their comms?” There were nods and affirmations and Hugo nodded. “Right. Move out.”

  More opened the cargo bay doors. As the ramp lowered, the bitter smell of oily, recycled air filled the room. Sub started the Jeep's engine and it rolled out and down the ramp and across the narrow bay. The docking bay exit opened and the Jeep drove out, the doors hissin
g closed again behind it.

  “Are we ready?” Hugo asked. Rami nodded whilst checking her own weapons and tech, and Harvey's scowl deepened.

  “Captain,” Webb said, face grave.

  “Yes?”

  Webb chewed his lip for a moment then shook his head. “Just...follow Rami's lead, okay?”

  Hugo felt heat flush his face but he stopped the retort that came to his mouth and made himself nod. Rami stood straight but her glance flicked back and forth between them.

  “Are we ready, Lieutenant?”

  “Yes sir,” she said and moved to leave.

  “Stay in communication, Commander,” Hugo said as he fell into step behind her. “Are you coming, Harvey?”

  “I think it's important you know, Hugo,” Harvey said whilst pacing over. “I'm already regretting this.”

  “We'll make it worth your while, Captain,” Hugo said.

  “You'd better,” she said and sauntered out and down the ramp.

  Hugo paused to look back at Webb. He stood stiffly, and his eyes didn't have the smile Hugo was used to. “It's for the best, Commander. Stay on the comm.”

  Webb nodded but didn't answer. Hugo turned and followed Harvey. The bay doors opened onto a wide space that was heaving with machinery, crates, cargo and spacers. The metal hull of the colony curved up above them to where the day-cycle lights rendered it the dull grey of a winter day. The noise was tumultuous. They skirted the edge of the harbour, trying to stay out of the way of the hover craft, cranes, tugs pulling industrial-sized lifters and spacers haggling over import fees until they reached the gate. After a cursory scan by a greasy customs agent who didn't even check when the scanner bleeped over their guns, they stepped into the streets of Lunar 1.

  “For fuck's sake, Hugo,” Harvey muttered as she paced along beside him. “Will you slouch a bit, already? People are looking.”

  Hugo glanced about, saw indeed that a few faces were turned his way and attempted to stoop his shoulders and keep his gaze on the walkway, as Rami was doing.

  “Where are we going?” he asked as they turned down a side-street, dodging the throng of people coming and going from the dockside bars and warehouses.

  “Shuttle station,” Rami said. “We'll head hubwards where most of the business is. We need to start putting word about that we're down on our luck and in need of a quick-profit run.”