Steven Harper - Trickster

"We aren't going to your ship?" Kendi asked.

"And risk you finding some way to escape and take over? Hardly. I'm done underestimating you, Mr. Qiwele, or whatever your name is. There's nothing you can do on an escape pod except wait, so off you go. The shackles, Guard. Now!"

"Yes, sir," said the male guard, moving to obey.

"No!" Martina screamed, but the female guard clapped a band around her wrist in a single lightning movement.

"Alice," Roon said, "activate sector-wide public address."

"Activated."

"This is Edsard Roon. Due to the medical emergency, we must evacuate immediately." His voice echoed from the loudspeakers as he spoke. "All personnel are hereby directed to move immediately to the escape pods. Repeat: move immediately to the escape pods. Do not stop for possessions. You will be picked up as quickly as possible. There is no need to worry-the virus has not yet reached the ventilation systems. Deltas, remain with your Alphas and Betas. Alice, deactivate public address."

Kendi tried to fight as the guard clamped shackles on his wrist and ankle, but his muscles refused to respond. For a moment he was twelve years old again, torn out of cryo-sleep and shackled in a slave ship. Then he was being jerked to his feet. Pain marched through every nerve, and he was only vaguely aware of Martina beside him.

"Evan," she was saying. "Evan, I'm sorry. I didn't know you were coming. It's my fault. All life, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"We'll speak again, Father," Roon said as the guards hauled them away. "At great and painful length."

The evacuation was quick and quiet. Only the Alphas, Betas, and Deltas actually lived in the Collection's sector. Most of the food service, research personnel, clerical workers, and other such employees were off-shift, meaning only about a hundred people were present and therefore obliged to evacuate. They moved swiftly and without panic to a particular corridor on the outer wall of the Collection, where dozens of small airlocks lay open. When three or four people had filled one of the little, rounded capsules, the airlock cycled shut and a small charge shoved the pod away from the station. Kendi let himself be half-dragged toward one of the airlocks, and he was aware of people speaking in hushed voices around him as they boarded their own pods.

"I'm sorry," Martina whispered beside him over and over. "I'm so sorry."

The guards dragged them, brother and sister, across the threshold of the airlock. There was barely room for the four of them, and they crowded against the pod's rudimentary control panel. A single round porthole looked out into empty space. Already several dozen other pods were drifting away from the station. The female guard cycled the lock shut and her male counterpart hit the activator. A heavy thump, and stars began to move slowly past the porthole. Martina slumped to the floor and put her hands over her face.

The male guard put a hand to his ear. "Yes, Mr. Roon, we've evacuated." Pause. "One moment." He tapped the control panel and a small vid-screen winked to life. Edsard Roon's long, serious face appeared.

"I've boarded my ship, Father," he said. "If you will look out the portal to your left, I'm sure you'll find something worth seeing."

Kendi couldn't help but obey. An enormous hulk of a vessel was drifting slowly toward a clump of escape pods. The words Kalopolis Intergalactic Traveling Emporium of Wonders was painted in large, fancy letters along one side. A much smaller, sleeker vessel rushed toward it and opened fire. A dozen missile trails streamed forward like hungry fingers. Kendi stared as the big, defenseless ship exploded in a dazzling fireball that dwarfed the sun. Debris pinged off the escape pod's hull. After a long moment, Kendi turned to the male guard and held up his hand. The shackle gleamed, silver and heavy, at his wrist.

"Take this thing off me," he said.

"It would be my pleasure," said Prasad Vajhur.

Prasad ignored Roon, and a moment later, Kendi's shackles thudded to the floor. Vidya, the female guard, knelt next to Martina and released her shackles as well.

"I apologize for the slaps," Vidya murmured. "There was no other way."

"Evan?" she said. "What's going on?"

"You silly goose." His throat was thick and hoarse. "You were supposed to wait and let us rescue you."

And then, for the first time in fifteen years, he hugged his sister. Kendi's cheek brushed hers beneath the wimple. The Silent jolt rocked him to his heels, but he didn't let go.

"You're Silent," she whispered. "All life. I'd always wondered."

"I told you I'd find you," he said. Warm tears ran down his face. "I told you I would."

"I remember." She pulled back. "What about Mom? She was sold with you. Is she here, too?"

Kendi shook his head. "We were separated. I don't know where she is. I'm sorry."

"How about Keith? He was in that place with me."

"Taken care of." Kendi got up and swiped at the salt water with one sleeve. "We'll talk soon, once I get the rest done. Don't worry."

"I muted the sound for you," Prasad said. His eyes were a little shiny. "I did not think you would want Roon's shouting to disturb you."

"Thanks." Kendi faced Roon on the vid-screen and tapped the mute control.

"Shut up!" Kendi snapped. "I've won, and in a minute I'm going to tell you how to salvage your sorry ass, but not if you keep yelping like a dingo with its tail in a twist."

Roon glared at him. "What do you mean?"

"First of all, I need to tell you that the rest of the station doesn't even know about this little fiasco. Yet. We used Mallory's access to sever all communication with the station proper, including the distress calls sent out by these pods. Right now 'Ms. Mallory' is contacting SA Station to tell them about the accidental explosion of a derelict ship. No rush to investigate. By the time they figure out what happened, we'll be long gone."

"We had to provide something for you to waste your missiles on. We'll be picked up by the real Emporium ship in few moments, along with the rest of the pods. The Silent you kidnapped will stay with us, and your non-Silent employees will be set adrift in the escape pods for you to pick up. Everybody wins."

"I said, shut up," Kendi snarled. "I'm getting to your worthless hide. Is Isaac Todd there with you?"

"Have you ever scanned his genes?"

"Pity. You had a treasure all along and didn't know it. Don't let him get away-I went through a lot of trouble to ensure you could have him. Think of him as the gift that could save your career."

"Isaac Todd isn't Silent himself," Kendi said, "but he always fathers Silent children."

All the blood drained from Todd's face as Roon gave him a speculative look. Kendi broke the connection without another word.

At that moment, the pod shuddered. Kendi glanced out the porthole and saw the Emporium's ship-the real one. A gravity beam was gathering the scattered escape pods and bringing them into a wide hold like a mother duck gathering ducklings under her wings. Then the Poltergeist, swift and trim, swooped into view.

"We're fine here," Kendi replied. "And I've got someone for you to meet."

The moment Kendi stepped out of the escape pod and into the cargo bay, a pair of strong arms engulfed him. All the air rushed out of his lungs.

"Oxygen! Oxygen!" Kendi protested with a laugh. "All life, I love you, too."

Ben released him. "Okay, where is she? Val said she has your brother on the Emporium ship, but your sister-"

"Right here." Kendi reached into the pod and helped Martina down. Vidya and Prasad followed, still in their Security uniforms. Kendi turned to his sister and said words he had been rehearsing in his head for months.

"Martina," he said, "this is Ben Rymar. We're partnered. Ben, this is my sister Martina."