Omniphage Invasion Read online

  Chapter 12: Tessa

  Tessa rose to her feet. It irritated her that even standing, she was still barely two heads taller than the seated Terran. Being short was one of the failings that had led her father to despise her. Impatiently, she reached down and tugged on Jak’s arm.

  "Come with me," she commanded. "We need to speak privately." She turned to Kamura. "And you, you stay put, stay quiet, and try not to make things worse."

  Jak stood without protest, as Tessa grabbed his wrist and dragged him into her bedroom. It was a small space with room only for her bed, with its red coverlet and many bright pillows, and a wardrobe where she kept her clothes. The window at the head of the bed provided a cheerful light that seemed to mock her purpose.

  She shut the door behind her, and turned to find Jak looking around the room with interest. Ah, that was right; she’d never brought him in here before. She’d rented a small room across the hall and let him stay there while she’d nursed him back to health. This room was her sanctum, and she’d never allowed anyone else in here before this moment, not even her most favored clients. But she needed to speak to him privately, and she could hardly make the Terran wait outside the door of her apartment.

  Still, it was amazing how Jak seemed to fill up the small space. He stood close to her, big and warm and, somehow, comforting. She blinked to clear her thoughts. Enough of that! He wasn’t going to like what she had to say.

  Anticipating her objections, Jak repeated his earlier statement, "I couldn’t leave her there to die." His voice was low and earnest with a pleading tone that belied the twisted sneer of his face.

  "Yes, you could have. Yes, you should have. But maybe there’s still time to rectify the situation. Kill her now," Tessa told him.

  His vest hung open, and she thumped his bare chest with her finger to emphasize her words. The sight of his pilot’s medallion dangling so close to her hand strengthened her resolve.

  "Kill her and dump her body in the Ur for the banderri to eat, and maybe n’Tau will forget you ever saw them together."

  Jak shifted and looked away, gazing over the top of her head as if he could find inspiration in the sea of flat roofs visible outside the room’s single window.

  "The Gambler isn’t likely to forget, no matter what I do," he said. "I’ll have to face him sooner or later. And there’s more—"

  She took hold of the front of his vest with both hands and gave it a sharp tug. "Jak! You’re supposed to be protecting me! Not risking your life for a stranger."

  How dare this stupid girl put her pilot at risk! Jak was hers, all hers. Yes, she’d found him injured and near death in an alley and brought him to her place to nurse him back to health. The irony of the situation was clear to her, but so were the differences. Jak wasn’t part of some great trading Family. He wasn’t targeted by the Regent. Above all, he wasn’t some naive child about to drag them all down with her. She let go of his vest and stepped back. He was too close. It made it hard for her to think clearly.

  "Jak, be sensible!"

  He shook his head. "Were you being sensible when you told Bolon to go feed the banderri?"

  Tessa’s blue eyes narrowed in outrage, and her golden skin turned white.

  "I don’t mean you should have given in to Bolon," he said, holding up a hand as if to forestall an attack. "I just mean that there are some things you can’t make yourself do, no matter how ‘sensible’ the idea seems." He rested both his hands on her shoulders, a warm, reassuring weight. "That’s why I helped Kamura. Because I can’t walk away from someone who needs me. And I tried to tell you, there’s worse. Bolon gave me an ultimatum today. Tessa, he’s ordered me to kill you. I told him you were out of the city, but that won’t buy us much time."

  Tessa looked at him helplessly, the outrage fading from her face as nausea welled up. Everything she’d ever hoped for or dreamed of was dying around her. She remembered the day her father had sold her, the nausea, the disbelief. It was happening again.

  "You can leave Shadriss," Jak urged. The fingers of his right hand gently brushed her cheek. "Listen to Kamura. She’s willing to pay 10,000 credits. Half up front."

  "Jak—"

  "Half up front," Jak repeated, his voice louder as he tried to make his point. "In your name. You’d be safe. You’ll be able to leave Shadriss and have a decent life somewhere better. You just have to hide until you can get a berth on a passenger ship. Your High Lord could—"

  "He will be no help."

  Then she paused, shocked. Jak didn’t expect to make it back to her. He didn’t expect to survive the trip. He’d let his sense of honor back him into an impossible corner, and he was still trying to save her. But what would be the point of leaving Shadriss without Jak? How could she go on without him?

  "Jak, you’re not thinking this through. I’m nothing but a pretty toy to any of my clients. Bolan has the Regent’s backing. None of them will hide me or take any risk for me. And there are no more than three or four passenger ships through here in a year. No matter where I hide, Bolon will find me. Without you here to protect me, I won’t live until one arrives."

  "I know that," he said. "I just hoped . . . . I thought maybe we could find a mobbie Alpha with connections on the river . . . ."

  She watched the pain and frustration wash over his face as he realized the full implications of what his act of ‘mercy’ had done. He dropped down on the edge of her bed and put his head in his hands. Tentatively, Tessa put her hand on his broad shoulder. Think, she told herself. You’re the clever one, the one who always comes up with ideas. Think!

  Why had Family Mobutu sent a young, inexperienced Recorder to Shadriss to record the Joining of the Prime and the God Core? Tessa didn’t buy Kamura’s story about trading contracts or the collector value of the alien artifacts. The worms’ artifacts were curiosities at best. And why send Kamura alone? She was so young; she must be barely out of training, with little or no experience. Did Family Mobutu have so few Recorders that this girl was all they could spare? There was more to this than Kamura was telling them, but the why of it didn’t matter. What mattered was that if Kamura was truly a Recorder, she had authority to spend Family Mobutu’s assets.

  "All right," she told him. "You’ll escort this girl to Tekena, and I’ll go with you." He raised his head, but kept silent. If the only safe place for her was by Jak’s side, then by his side she would be. "You had the right idea, using the mobbies to buy passage on a cargo transport, but all three of us will go. Only we won’t do it for a mere 10,000 credits. If we live through this, we’re going to have enough money for both of us to be free of this place forever. So, let me do the talking and go along with whatever I say. Okay?"

  Still seated on her bed, Jak looked up at her, his confidence in her plain to read. He trusted her so completely . . . it made her feel strange inside. She wasn’t sure she liked the feeling.

  "Let’s go talk to the girl," Tessa said.

  She herded him back to the living room. She wanted off Shadriss, and she wanted Jak with her as her as her pilot. And she as good at getting what she wanted.

  Kamura was still waiting for them when they returned to the living room. She sat with her legs crossed, very much the grand lady, despite her bruises. But the nervous tapping of her foot told of her real feelings. Tessa gave the girl a cool glance. Jak made mistakes because he was too softhearted for his own good. This girl made mistakes because she’d never had to deal with the consequences of her actions. It was up to her to try to turn both their mistakes into the outcome she wanted.

  "You say you are a Recorder for Family Mobutu," Tessa began as she and Jak once more took their accustomed places.

  "That is true."

  "If I understand correctly, that means that you not only record binding contracts, you also have authority to disburse Family assets, up to and including everything Family Mobutu owns."

  Kamura�
��s eyes narrowed. "You seem well versed in our legal measures."

  "I’m well versed in many things," Tessa told her.

  That included reading people. Tessa knew that charm would get her nowhere with this girl, but Kamura was desperate to reach Tekena. Why the urgency? Despite what Kamura had told them, Tessa doubted that the trade in those odd shapes of black, glass-like substance was great enough to merit risking this girl’s life. Unless it was the God Core itself she was really after? Tessa knew about it only from legend. Was it simple enough for the Recorder to copy? She shrugged. All that mattered was determining just how badly the girl wanted it.

  "The mating of the Twins is only a few days away. All transport to Tekena is already full of passengers who want to see the joining just as much as you do."

  "Surely, there must be something. A private aircar, even a ground-car—"

  "Neither is an option for you. You’re in trouble with both the legitimate government of Shadriss and with the most powerful of the local criminal gangs. And yes, n’Tau is a criminal, no matter how pretty you found him."

  "I didn’t find him pretty," Kamura muttered. "Just—suitable. As an escort. Nothing more."

  "Regardless, no legitimate means of travel is available to you," Tessa said. "However, I think it’s possible to get you to Tekena by less conventional means. The three of us will be traveling together. It won’t be easy, and it won’t be pleasant, so get over any idea that you’re going to be traveling in the sort of comfort that you’re used to."

  "You’re coming, too? There is no need for your services on this journey."

  Tessa regarded her from narrowed eyes. "You could not buy my services, ignorant girl, not with all the credits Family Mobutu possesses. I have my own reasons for making the trip. If you want to go to Tekena, the three of us will go together."

  Kamura’s face was hard to read beneath the bruising but Tessa saw that her words brought a flush of anger mixed with relief. Yes, it was just possible that the girl was desperate enough to pay her price.

  "Just what do you have in mind?"

  Tessa noted that Jak watched her closely, but he said nothing. That was another thing she liked about him. He knew their relative strengths and was willing to play to them.

  "Whatever your intentions, there’s only one way left to get you to Tekena. And it will cost more than a mere 10,000 credits."

  Kamura frowned but didn’t protest. Tessa allowed herself a brief sense of triumph. So, this trip was important, although probably not for the reason the girl had given. If she got her price, if they survived, then nothing on this worn out planet would ever matter again.

  "How much?" Kamura snapped. "How many credits do you think you can force out of me?"

  Tessa gave her a small, tight smile. Yes!

  "The 10,000 will do, but we want a ship, as well."

  "A ship?" Kamura managed to sound bored, but Tessa caught the quick intake of breath.

  Tessa looked at Jak and willed him to be silent. She knew he was surprised, too, but they had to appear united. With the credits and a ship, they could start their own trading company. They could be free. They could have a real life.

  Then Kamura asked, "What sort of ship?" and Tessa knew she’d won.

  "Something small, fast," she said, feeling almost faint with relief. "Manageable with a crew of two."

  "Cargo or passenger?"

  "Both. Something that will carry either or both."

  Jak spoke. "A Morgan-Haruka Class 9," he said. "That’s what we want. No more than ten years use on the engines. Laser canons fore and aft. Full registry and ownership in—in Tessa’s name."

  "Yes," Tessa agreed, "in my name."

  Because Jak had no legal identity on Shadriss. His pilot’s medallion might reveal more once they were able to connect to better databanks. But there was a chance that he would be as anonymous elsewhere as he was here. For the first time, she realized just how isolated Jak’s lack of memory made him.

  "We’ll travel to Tekena on a cargo barge," she said. "It’s illegal for them to carry passengers, but they’ll do it anyway if you have the right connections."

  "And you have?" the Terran asked.

  "We know where to find them," Tessa evaded.

  The mobbies were the key. The mobbie packs were involved in every illegal activity on Shadriss. They just had to find a mobbie Alpha willing to do business with them, one who could negotiate passage for three on a cargo barge bound for Tekena.

  "Very well," Kamura said. "But the ship won’t be put in your name until after I reach Tekena and see the Prime joined."

  "In that case, you’ll pay the full 10,000 credits up front," Tessa haggled.

  Of the three of them, the girl was the least likely to survive the trip. With the credits in her name, she and Jak might still have a chance to escape Shadriss.

  It took another hour, but they finally settled on 7,000 credits up front, the remainder and the ship to be released to Tessa when Kamura arrived in Tekena. And there would be no waiting while Kamura recorded the joining of the Prime and the God Core.

  "Now that that’s settled," Tessa said, "would either of you care for some tea?"