Polaris Rising (Consortium Rebellion, #1)(40)

Veronica nodded. “I’ll make sure it gets put with my stuff.”

“For now, I’m going to scope out the spaceport.”

“I will go with you.” She held up a hand when I would’ve protested. “I am frequently at the spaceport, either to meet traders or to attempt to find passage. And I often bring a companion. If I go, you are much less likely to be found.”

I dug the holster I’d requested out of the pile on the table and strapped it around my waist, then slid in my original blast pistol. The new pistol I’d picked up last night I kept hidden in my off-hand pocket. It wasn’t the safest or most convenient, but the element of surprise would be worth it.

“Let’s go,” I said.



True to her word, people nodded at Veronica but few stopped to question her. Those who did ignored me entirely. My fingers remained clenched around my pistol grip, sure every time that this time would be when she would point at me and announce me to the world.

When we entered the spaceport terminal, I finally hissed at her, “What are you doing?”

“Trust me,” she murmured.

She headed straight for the exit out to the ships. The older man in a security guard uniform looked up and smiled, then remembered to frown.

“Veronica,” he said softly, “you know no one will take you.”

“Come on, Tabo, I just want a look. Let a woman dream, won’t you?”

He sighed, but nodded. “Don’t cause any trouble.”

Veronica’s smile was brittle. “Do I ever?” she asked.

Tabo opened the door and waved us through. Once we were out of earshot I whispered, “I can’t believe that worked.”

“I told you, I come here often.” Her voice was wistful. “Tabo is too nice for his own good. He can’t stand to see a woman in pain. He told me once that if he had a ship, he’d take me off-planet in a heartbeat. If there is any way to avoid hurting him, please do so.”

“I will do my best,” I said.

The launch pads were arrayed in a set of three arcs leading away from the terminal. A wide road split each arc in two and allowed ships farther out to have a safe passageway for ground travel.

In total, a dozen ships could land at once. Today, three were berthed, and it seemed like that might be an unusually high number, based on the state of disrepair most of the pads were in.

Larger ships docked on the farthest arc and Richard’s ship was the only one out there. It wasn’t big enough to require the extra space, so they’d docked it for privacy. The ship practically glowed with good maintenance and money. I’d seen maybe three mercenary ships ever that looked that good. No wonder Loch immediately picked up on it being one of Richard’s ships. The cargo ramp was lowered, but the door was closed.

Two small ships, both older and in dire need of exterior maintenance, sat in the closest arc, one on each side. If we had to abandon Richard’s ship, we would need to run back toward the terminal to take one of these two ships. That was less than ideal, but I couldn’t see a way around it.

The ship on the left was a Yamado ship. It was impossible to tell its age just by looking, but I guessed at least fifty. Meant for short-range jumps only, it would truly be our last resort.

The right ship was a von Hasenberg ship that we’d stopped producing before I was born. It was marginally newer than the Yamado ship, but that wasn’t saying much. It was equipped with a long-range FTL drive, but it took forever to charge. If they jumped it on the way here, it was likely still charging.

Fuck.

Based on these two backups, it was imperative that we take Richard’s ship. There was no way I could take on six or more elite soldiers on my own, even if my harebrained scheme worked. If Loch wasn’t in fighting shape then we would have to abort and settle for the von Hasenberg ship.

“I’ve seen enough,” I said.

Veronica cast one more wistful glance at the ships then turned and headed back to the terminal. I followed.

“We need to walk by the detention center,” I said. “The side farthest away from everything else. Then you need to find a reason for why we walked by, even if it’s to stop for tea.”

“I regularly shop in the market nearby. The detention center isn’t exactly on the way, but I often stalk through this district after a visit to the spaceport.”

We exited the terminal and turned right. A two-meter plastech fence marked the edge of spaceport property. The holes were too small to use for climbing, so we’d have to go through. That would be the least of our problems.

Five minutes later we walked past the detention center. It was just as bad as I feared: no cover, cameras everywhere, and only two main access points. This would have to be a quick and dirty rescue.

We stopped in the street market while Veronica bartered with a few vendors. I reined in my impatience. Diverting suspicion was worth the extra few minutes, but I breathed a sigh of relief when we headed back to the house.

Once we were inside, I went straight for the desk. A hand wave brought up the display and the flat keyboard embedded into the desk surface lit up. “Is this secure?” I asked Veronica.

“No.”

I bounced my connection through a variety of universal servers until I was happy that, while not secure, it would at least be difficult to track the connection back to this address. Then, I got down to work.