Polaris Rising (Consortium Rebellion, #1)(113)

Once we put some distance between us and the High Chamber, I pulled out my com and called Bianca. “I am safe for now,” I said. “We are heading off-planet after a very brief stop by my room. Father forbade me from speaking to anyone in person so you might as well save yourself the trip. Have housekeeping pack up all of my stuff and meet me in Sedition when you can.”

Even on the encrypted line she knew better than to press for details. “Consider it done,” she said. “Your ride contacted me. They are in orbit.”

“Ask them to meet me at the public von Hasenberg spaceport as soon as they are able.”

“Will do. Are you okay?” she asked.

“I am uninjured,” I said.

She took that for the “no” that it was. “Be careful,” she said. “I will see you soon. And I will let the others know.”

I ended the call. After a few more turns down empty corridors, we stepped outside to find a troop transport waiting for us.

The sergeant stopped by the door and offered me a hand up. “After you, Lady Ada,” he said flatly. He wasn’t offering to help because he wanted to but because it was expected.

“Thank you, Sergeant. What’s your name?” I asked. I stepped into the transport, confident Loch had my back if this was some sort of trap. Seats lined the edges of the transport, facing toward the open middle area. I sat across from the door.

“Edwards, my lady,” the sergeant said. He followed me in and sat beside me.

“Well, Sergeant Edwards, I know I’ve put you in an uncomfortable position,” I said. I didn’t apologize because I would do the exact same thing again. “If Lady Rockhurst or the others make your life too miserable, come find me in Sedition and I’ll put you to work.”

“I am responsible for the failed security. I will accept whatever punishment is deemed necessary,” he said stiffly.

“Of course,” I murmured. I couldn’t force him to join me, but I’d at least planted the seed. Perhaps his survival instinct would kick in if things became dire.

Another soldier sat on my left. Loch was the last person to board the transport. He stopped in front of the soldier beside me and glared. “Move,” he said.

The soldier glanced at the sergeant for permission then moved to another seat. Loch dropped into the empty seat with a barely audible grunt. His bloody left side was pressed up against the soldier on his other side so I couldn’t check his wound.

We made the trip to my room in silence. When I opened the door, Sergeant Edwards tried to follow me in. I blocked his entry. “You may wait here,” I said. “I will be out in five minutes as agreed.”

“Lady Ada—” he started.

“Father did not give you permission to breach my personal rooms. Wait here,” I said. I waved Loch in then closed the door in Sergeant Edwards’s face before he could continue arguing.

“Didi, set a timer for four and a half minutes,” I said. A chime confirmed the command.

I pulled Loch into the master bedroom, only to stop short at finding Bianca waiting for us with a first aid kit. “Sit,” she said to Loch, pointing to the chair she’d pulled over. Loch sat.

“How did you know?” I asked.

“I didn’t,” she said, “but I wanted to be prepared.”

“I have four-ish minutes to dump my accounts,” I said. “Unless you need help, I’m going to do that.”

“I’m fine,” Loch said. “Do what you need to do.” Bianca nodded in agreement.

House von Hasenberg was directly linked to the main bank in Serenity, so transferring money would be as instantaneous as if I was at the bank in person. I’d already moved a good deal of my money out of my House accounts, but I had no doubt Father would lock down whatever was left.

I authenticated with the bank then transferred all of the remaining money in my House account into a numbered account. Eventually I would need to make a legitimate named account, but this would work as a temporary solution.

After the transfer completed, I opened another connection and routed it through several secure servers then kicked off a script that did a whole lot of nothing. Oh, it made a bunch of secure tunneled connections and updated various files across a number of servers, but none of it mattered—all of the files I really had on time-release weren’t on any of these systems. But the thought of the Consortium trying to track down all of these random connections made me smile.

That done, I disconnected and wiped the session history. Then I opened the armory and started packing weapons into a travel case. I hadn’t taken them last time because I had been traveling undercover. This time I would at least have my House name to protect me from being arrested for being a walking arsenal.

Bianca said to Loch, “I’ve done what I can, but you need to spend some time in the medbay when you get to the ship.”

I glanced over my shoulder as he stood. “How bad?” I asked.

He shrugged. “I’m functional. You want me to do that?” he asked.

I nodded and headed for the closet. Bianca followed me. “You’re leaving?” she asked.

“Yes,” I said. “Father wanted to disown me but since that wouldn’t be good for my long-term survivability, he banished me instead.”

I waved my arm in front of a random panel in the middle of my closet wall. A small door opened, revealing a safe. I held my left arm next to it and typed in the fifteen-digit code with my other hand. The safe unlocked and I opened it to reveal a small locked case.