Here's today's chapter! Thanks for the amazing discussion in the comments. Love to see it :)

Head's up! On 9/10 through 9/14, I'll be at ArmadilloCon in Austin, TX. I'll probably miss posting a chapter or two while I'm there. I'll be sure to keep you updated as things unfold.

Thanks for reading :)

-Plum

9 – Worth It

Hector spent the rest of the day distracted by Mathews’s situation. As much as he hated to do it, he moved her into the brig. If Mathews hadn’t been an aura user, he could have taken her weapons away and confined her to quarters. She was an aura user, though, and Maidensong had once been a military vessel; her brig was designed to hold enemy combatants. There was a null-aura field installed under the decking there, and a scanner array capable of measuring Mathews’s active aura pool.

He stayed with her until the scanner beeped and flashed green, indicating that the field had drained her pool. It took nearly an hour, whereas his pool had been emptied after only twenty minutes or so. He hated the feeling of a null-aura field; it was like a cold lump in his gut, a discomfort he couldn’t quite describe in physical terms.

“Guess I’m dry,” she said.

Hector grunted. “Took a while.”

She lay back on the bunk, making a soft groaning sound. “I hate this feeling. Bet you’re looking forward to walking out that door.”

“The null field? Yeah, I hate it, too.” He took a breath and then added, “Sorry.”

“Don’t you dare apologize. If this is what we think it is, then I can’t have any aura.” She shifted onto her side. When she smiled at him, it didn’t look like it was too painful. In fact, the whole time he’d sat there, chatting with her, Hector had gotten the sense that she was relieved. He had a feeling she’d been wanting to confess for a while, but a streak of self-preservation and a stubborn sense of pride had made her resist the impulse.

She’d wanted to believe she wasn’t really infected, and if she were, she’d wanted to believe she could beat it. She said as much, repeating herself for the third or fourth time, when he stood to leave. “Maybe I’m just going crazy, Hector. It happens, you know.”

He shrugged. “Maybe. You went through hell in the rift, that’s for sure.”

“Right?” She chuckled. “I sure did, but…” She shook her head, smiling fiercely, exposing her sharp, chromed canines. “I’ve been through hell before.”

Hector glanced back at her. “In the belt?”

She nodded. “Decompression, plasma burns, captured and tortured—yeah, they could sell a lot of subs to a serial about my former career.”

He returned her grin. “Well, this’ll be a walk in the park, then—killing off that thing living in your head.”

“Is it? Alive, I mean? Why can’t the docs find anything?”

Hector shook his head. “It’s in the aura, I think.” A thought occurred to him. “You sitting on potentia?”

She nodded. “Roxy’s been bugging me to spend it, but…” She shrugged. “I haven’t wanted to—been kinda distracted.”

Hector moved his hand away from the door panel and stared at her, rubbing his chin as he mulled over her words. Mathews was a fairly strong aura user, and one thing he knew about aura users was that they didn’t tend to sit around, holding onto a grip of potentia. He was a case in point; as soon as he’d had a spare second of downtime, he’d started spending his hoard. “You haven’t wanted to?”

She shook her head. “The thought of it makes me sick to my stomach.”

“All right. Well, something’s working for you, so don’t spend it yet. Let me talk to Paige, and I’ll make sure someone’s here—close by—at all hours. Okay? Just tell Mae if you need anything.”

Mathews glanced at the scanner array, frowning. The ship’s AI would have eyes and ears on her at all times. “I will.” When Hector turned back to the door, she added, “Thank you, Hector.”

He stepped into the hallway, then, as the door slid shut, said, “Don’t get all mushy on me.” He started walking, and when he was halfway to the junction, he asked, “Where’s Paige?”

//In the lounge near our crew quarters. She’s with Ling, Lemon, Kit, and Kristy.//

Hector had only been to the lounge a couple of times; it held snack machines, couches, and a couple of tables equipped with entertainment systems. He started for the elevator, glancing at his clock—it was already after three. “Get in touch with Gladia, too. Ask her if she can meet with me this afternoon.”

//On it.//

Evie knew he was stressed; Hector always handled danger to himself better than he did those he was taking care of—his charges. For some damn reason, Mathews—and some of the others on his team—had fallen into that category. “Doesn’t make any sense,” he muttered, and he didn’t have to explain himself to Evie; his thoughts were plenty loud. Mathews was a soldier, and he’d taken her onto Maidensong as a favor and because his people needed protecting. She wasn’t supposed to be one of his people.

As he stepped off the elevator, he rolled his neck and decided it wasn’t worth trying to figure out. Apparently, he’d bonded with the commander more than he’d thought while they’d been inside the rift—nothing more to it. He was saved from further introspection when he stepped into the lounge and was immediately deluged with questions.

“What’s going on with the commander?” Kristy asked, arms folded and fox ears twitching.

“Hector, what can we do to help?” Lemon asked.

“Oh, excuse me, sir,” Ling said, “I wonder if you have an assignment for me?”

“Is it true?” Paige asked, her chair falling over with a clatter as she lurched to her feet. “Is it a rift symbiote?”

Hector scanned the room, looking for Kit, and found him on one of the couches, looking at a tablet with oversized earphones cradling his skull. Nodding to himself, he stepped closer to the others. “We’re still trying to figure things out. That’s where you’re going to come in, Paige.”

“Me?” She shook her head. “I’m a biologist with medical training—not an expert on rift symbiotes!”

“Well, this is your job now—Ling will be your assistant.” Hector gave the former rift tech another look, taking in his blue-plastic-sheathed hand. “How are the new limbs working out?”

While Paige sputtered, Ling stood up and did a set of high-knee steps, demonstrating his cybernetic leg’s capabilities. “Perfectly, sir!”

“Good.”

“Hector,” Paige said, stepping around the table. “You know I care about Melanie as much as any of us, but if she’s got a rift symbiote…” She trailed off, shrugging.

“There’s something different about her situation. She has some of the symptoms that are…common knowledge, I guess, but some things don’t add up. I think there’s a chance for her, and if there’s a chance, we’re going to find it. I’ll talk with Gladia and see if I can get her to open up the House Ventress libraries for you.”

Paige stared at him for a moment, processing what he’d said. “Do you think they’ll know more than what’s on the pub-net?”

Kristy snorted.

Ling held up a hand as though asking for permission to speak, but Hector was already replying, “Yeah, Paige, I think they will.”

“Do you think she’ll share?” Paige gestured toward the ceiling. “Will she have the libraries here?”

“On her ship?” Hector asked, tilting his head. “Yeah, I’d say so—maybe not as up-to-date as whatever they’ve got on Earth.”

//Speaking of Gladia, she responded and is currently available on the bridge.//

Hector turned back to the door. “I’m going to meet her now.”

He heard footsteps behind him, and Lemon asked, “What about me?”

“And me?” Kristy asked.

Sighing, Hector turned back. “Kristy, you’ve got training to focus on. How did things go with Sass, by the way? The blade work?”

She shrugged. “It went fine; neither of us are experts with blades, but Burton’s a good teacher.”

“Where is she?” Hector asked.

Lemon replied before Kristy could. “Sass is showering.” When Hector looked at her, she asked again, “What about me?”

He tried to keep his face neutral as his angry inner voice began to harangue him about getting tied up with too many people. Hector had managed teams before, but this was different; he had a bunch of civilians mixed up with soldiers and no clear objective for most of them. He fended her off with a question of his own. “Where are Demon and Orin?”

Lemon smiled—an almost mischievous expression. “House Ventress protocol and comportment training.” Gladia had agreed to put the two former thugs on her payroll, padding out her depleted security personnel, but only on the condition that they learn how to conduct themselves among the nobility. Kristy and Mathews had escaped their fate by passing an interview.

One side of Hector’s mouth curled into a smile as he nodded. “Okay. Is Kit good?”

Lemon glanced at the boy, then nodded. “He’s fine—working on his lessons.”

“You can come with me, then.”

“T-to meet with Lady Ventress?”

Hector’s smile grew. “Yeah.” He didn’t want to call her out in front of everyone, but the whole reason she’d decided to stay on the ship, to travel with him and Gladia, was so that she could get close to the Royal. She wanted to be a part of things—to help Gladia shape policy in whatever post-rebellion reality they managed to forge. She wouldn’t do that by hiding in the lounge or following the others around as they performed errands.

He turned back to the door, calling over his shoulder. “Paige, go check on Mathews and I’ll update you as soon as I have an answer from Gladia.”

In the elevator, Lemon looked at him until he felt her gaze and turned toward her. “Do I look okay?”

“You always look good, Lemon.”

“Seriously!”

“I am being serious. You look fine.”

“I…” She gestured to her blue, button-up blouse and her form-fitting navy slacks. “I don’t dress like her.”

“Well, you’re not filthy rich. She knows that. Besides, you’re on a ship, not walking into a Ventress TC board meeting.” The elevator opened, and he stepped out. “Come on. Just be yourself.”

She nodded quickly, pressing her lips together firmly.

Hector led the way to the bridge, and when they stepped through the door, they found Gladia mid-conversation with one of her medical crew members.

“…doesn’t matter what he wants. I don’t want him out until his system is finished processing all of his potentia.” She saw Hector and beckoned him closer. “Freddy’s trying to leave the tank early. He thinks he can take his time processing the rest of his potentia, but that’ll stretch out the process for months. Do you think you could speak to him?”

Hector nodded, moving closer. “Yeah; I’ve been meaning to check in on him, anyway.”

Gladia waved the medic away. “Go on. Tell him what I said.”

Hector watched the young man leave, then looked around the bridge; there were two other officers there, but they were engrossed in their duties—glossy black visors hiding their eyes as they tapped away on crystal-glass displays. He stared at the viewscreen for a moment, trying and failing to guess what stars or planets he was looking at.

Meanwhile, Gladia shifted her focus. “Hello, Lemon. How are you finding things? I got your note about your room, and you’re most welcome; it only made sense, considering your little brother.”

“Um, hello, Lady Ventress—”

“Just Gladia. I think surviving an assassination attempt together should put us on a first-name basis.”

Hector turned to Lemon and winked surreptitiously. Lemon’s cheeks immediately turned rosy, and she pointedly looked away from him. “Thank you, then, Gladia. Things are going well, though I’m quite worried about Melanie.”

Gladia nodded, turning to Hector. “How is she? Of course, Mae filled me in about moving her to the brig and about your…suspicions. I certainly hope you’re mistaken.”

“That’s why I’m here,” Hector said. “There’s not a lot of public information about aura fiends on the pub-net. I’m sure some of the data repositories have more information, but we’re not exactly near any research institutes, assuming they’d let us withdraw the information.”

Lemon surprised Hector by clearing her throat and then saying, “What he’s trying to say is we’re basically operating off folklore! These sorts of things are rare, and the Imperial Guard doesn’t publish its research!”

Gladia nodded, delicately stroking her chin. “You want me to open the House Ventress data vault.”

“Just about this topic,” Hector said, folding his arms across his chest. “You could have Mae curate the information and send it to Paige Melnyk; she’ll be working with Mathews.”

“Paige? She’s another of Freddy’s rift team members? Not the one with the ears, is she?”

Hector shook his head. “No, not one of the fighters—the biologist.”

“Well…” Gladia looked from Hector to Lemon. “I’m not supposed to grant access to Ventress proprietary information, and the tricky thing is that the data vault has its own AI; it logs everything, and it’ll tattle to the House nexus. I’ll have Mae deal with it, though. She’ll word the request properly so it looks like this is a House Ventress matter. I’ve already entered you and your team on the rolls as provisional retainers, so that’s a start. Once the data vault has isolated the pertinent data—assuming there is any—I’ll have Mae share it with your biologist.”

Hector unfolded his arms, nodding. He’d known it would be like pulling teeth to get access to the House Ventress library, but he’d assumed Gladia could override any restrictions. Maybe she could, and she was just being cagey, but there was certainly a possibility that the AI controlling the “data vault” wasn’t subject to her authority. “Thank you, Gladia.”

“Don’t mention it. Now, I’m glad you’re here because there’s another matter we should discuss.”

Hector arched an eyebrow. “There is?”

“Yes. My brother has agents on Sojourn Station, and they’ve gotten word to him, and through him, to me, that we were observed and monitored while there.”

“We?” Hector asked.

“Well, Maidensong.” She shrugged. “Of course, I anticipated this; I can’t go anywhere without someone taking note. This ship is far too large to avoid attention, and my enemies like to know where I am, so they pay well for the information—it’s the same for most members of the Great Houses.”

“Enemies?” Lemon asked.

Gladia smiled at her. “Yes, dear, Balus wasn’t my only hateful cousin, and there are plenty of other families who wouldn’t mind seeing me come to harm.”

“But it’s nothing unusual,” Hector said, and Gladia nodded.

“Correct. Currently, we’re traveling roughly toward the Jovian System, though anyone who did a little math would see that we aren’t flying toward any of the moons. In fact, we’ll miss Jupiter by a wide margin.”

Hector glanced at the viewscreen. Of course, he’d had to give Gladia a direction of travel; Evie knew exactly what asteroid they were going to, exactly where it was at any given moment, but he hadn’t shared that much—just the general direction. “It wouldn’t be too hard to figure out we’re headed for that field, though, and what part of it.”

“That’s right. And some of my enemies are closer than we are. If they depart the Jovian System anytime in the next week, they could arrive before us and set up an ambush.”

“They can just watch us?” Lemon asked. “They can see where we’re going?”

Gladia sighed. “Not exactly. We were spotted on Sojourn and there are a lot of eyes around Mars; they’ll monitor our course as long as they can and extrapolate our general destination. Unless we waste days traveling in a different direction—something that could add a week or more to our overall transit…” She trailed off, shrugging. “It doesn’t matter; we don’t have the time for any of that.”

“You think they’ll try something like that? An ambush?” Hector asked.

“They could, but the asteroid field is large and they don’t know exactly where we’re going. We’ll have a good chance at avoiding them.”

“So what are you asking me?”

Gladia smiled, shaking her head at him. “I’m not really asking you anything. I’m just letting you know that if you’re dead-set on going after this ship of yours—don’t bother denying—then I hope you’re willing to risk…everything.”

For the first time in a while, Hector wasn’t sure if Gladia was blatantly manipulating him. Had she come up with the story about an ambush in the asteroid field so that he’d abandon his plans and tell her to go back to Mars? Was this Sparling’s idea? Her brother’s? Had they all decided that he needed to be more focused on the Games so they could feel more secure in their plan for taking out the governor?

He didn’t bother trying to call her out or question her motives. He just shrugged and said, “Well, if what I’m after is there, then it’ll be worth it.”