Polaris Rising (Consortium Rebellion, #1)(70)

He didn’t look threatening exactly, but there was something off about his stance. I still had both blasters and my necklace and cuff, so I pushed away the fear. If he tried to take me, he’d come out sorry.

I put the FTL drive in manual standby then returned to the alcubium hatch. I reread the instructions, then turned the hatch handle ninety degrees and pulled. An illuminated plastech cylinder a little less than a meter long slid from the hole. Nestled inside was a smaller cylinder filled less than a quarter with a glowing, viscous pink fluid.

That seemed . . . bad.

“Polaris, is this stuff radioactive?”

“Minimal levels of radiation detected. Levels remain well below the safety threshold for humans.”

Well, that was a relief. My nanobots could probably handle some radiation damage, as long as it wasn’t extreme, but I didn’t relish the thought of testing their capability.

I slid the alcubium container back into place and locked it in, then returned the FTL drive to active. Now I just had to find a meter-long tube of glowing pink liquid. No problem.

It took another consultation of the manual, but I finally found the locked cabinet where the spare containers were stored, in the wall across the catwalk from the hatch. It had room for ten cylinders, but currently held only one faintly glowing pink tube.

This setup, more than anything else I’d seen so far, indicated that this was a prototype ship. In a fully functional production model, the entire process would be automated. Either this was an early model and they’d moved to automation in newer models, or they were not as far along in production as I feared.

One thing was clear: if alcubium tubes were being manufactured on XAD Six or Seven, I had a duty to my House to try to secure as many as possible. Of course, if I got blown up in the process, that would be counterproductive, so I’d have to weigh the risks once I saw what sort of defense they had.

When I returned to the workshop, Loch still hadn’t moved. I’d have to squeeze by him to return to the passenger section of the ship. “Did you need something else?” I asked from across the room. “Or did Rhys talk to you, tell you what he told me? I wasn’t planning to ask you about it, if that’s what has you worried.”

He straightened and narrowed his eyes. “What did he say?”

“He said a lot of things, actually. He is still speaking to me.” It was a mistake to expose the wound, but I couldn’t help myself. “He was meddling, trying to use my curiosity against me.” I waved a negligent hand. “He knows me too well.”

That barb struck home. I watched Loch’s expression turn furious before being wiped clean. “That fucker needs to keep his mouth shut and stay out of my business,” he growled.

I sighed, abruptly bone-weary with the whole thing. “Look, I’m sorry about the things I said, and I’m sorry Rhys is meddling. If you want to talk about your past, I’m here. If not, that’s fine, too. In a few more days we can each go our own way and that’ll be that. Can we at least try to be civil until then?”

Loch’s expression was inscrutable, but finally he nodded once.

“Thanks,” I said. “Now I need to get back to the flight deck and see if this heap has any offensive ability before I decide to do something potentially stupid.” I slid past him, careful not to touch. Loch followed me back to the passenger area, silent as a ghost.

It did not escape my notice that he had not apologized.





Chapter 19




The deeper I dug into Polaris’s systems, the more I fell in love. House Rockhurst had spared no expense. Not only did it have the offensive and defensive prowess of a small corvette-class warship, but it also had exceptional stealth and cloaking ability.

I knew House von Hasenberg had ships that could match it—at least, if you took out the alcubium FTL drive—but I’d never captained one. It would be hard to turn Polaris over and let our scientists dismantle it. During negotiations, I would have to ensure that I received the ship back in perfect working order—or that I received an early prototype to match it. Father would love that.

I catnapped as I waited for the FTL drive to cool down. It was strange how quickly I’d gotten accustomed to fast jumps and how waiting six hours—a very short wait by conventional standards—was agony. It was no wonder House Rockhurst was willing to go to war to corner this market. They’d make enough money to buy the rest of the Houses.

Once the drive was nearly ready, I sent an announcement over the intercom. “We’re getting ready to jump into Rockhurst space. We’re going in cloaked, but things may get rocky. You have fifteen minutes to secure loose objects and yourself. I’ll sound a warning at one minute. Let me know if you need more time.”

I started a countdown on my com and went to check my quarters. Hopefully the ship’s compensators would counteract any maneuvers we had to make, but it wasn’t always guaranteed, especially if we had to fight. Nothing that I’d left out would take damage from falling, but I went ahead and put away my clothes and bag.

By the time I returned to the flight deck, Rhys and Loch were seated in the navigation and tactical stations, respectively. I dropped into the commander’s station and clicked in the harness. The timer went off, and I sounded the one-minute alarm.

“You think we’re going to hit trouble so soon?” Rhys asked.