Rook Winters - Weight of Ashes

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. The more people, the more attention we can attract.”

“The only reason I’m here is to keep Elle safe while she sees this thing through. I can’t stay holed up in here.”

“We have a plan that needs four people and we already have four.”

“We both know that there’s something different about Elle. They don’t just want the data vault. They want her. I’m nobody. If there’s any risk of getting caught, you need to send me instead. Please, Britt.”

He was right, she knew. Elle was unique for reasons she didn’t understand. There was nothing remarkable about Court other than his naive bravery and good heart.

“You understand that you’ll be putting yourself at risk? If something goes wrong, we may not be able to do anything to help you. You could end up in a forced work program or even sent off planet to a red ship.”

“I know the risk.”

“With respect, I doubt that you do. You have a good soul, Court, but you’ve lived a sheltered life, and you’ve only gotten a glimpse of the suffering that happens elsewhere.”

“Those nacking monsters killed my parents, they destroyed my village, they murdered Marsh and everyone else in front of me. Don’t tell me I don’t know about suffering. Elle is where I draw the line. They can’t have her.”

Britt recognized the look of a person who’d made up their mind. She’d seen it in Bear’s eyes the day she proposed their first job. She’d seen it in Ainsley’s eyes and in Wilm’s. And she’d seen it in the mirror.

“Very well. Now, Ainsley, I’m sorry about this, but we’re going to need to get that data vault.”

“It’ll be fine. The doc gave me anesthetic and antibiotics.”

She removed the wrapping from around her knee and Wilm pressed a needle into the flesh next to her wound. He counted down from thirty and when Ainsley signaled that she was ready, he peeled back a flap of skin and removed the data vault with tweezers.

Wilm dropped it into Britt’s hand. She tried not to grimace.

“Things won’t be the same after this, Wilm. Keep your head down, keep pouring that shit beer upstairs, and keep yourself safe, alright? If the chance comes to do more, I’ll reach out to you.”

He pulled her into another hug. She felt a wet tear fall on her neck. Part of her wanted to hold on and cry herself. That would have to come later. They had a job to finish.

Petra opened the flyer’s hatch and motioned for them to hurry. Elle’s heart leaped when she saw Court walking back with Britt. The flyer was designed to seat four people but Court was able to squeeze in between the seats, with only Bear’s knee pressing into his ribcage.

He surprised her by taking hold of her hand. She started to bristle but changed her mind. She was relieved to see him safe and his touch was comforting.

It only took a few minutes for them to reach the warehouse. Petra handed out earpieces before they disembarked.

“These are emergency communication devices. I’m programming them to run on an encrypted, off-network, peer-to-peer protocol. That means they’ll only work if you’re within a few hundred meters of each other or the flyer. Just stick it in your ear. Hold your finger against it to talk. Tap three times to lock the mic on. Three times again to turn it off. It’s a shared audio channel so everyone will hear what everyone else says. Got that?”

Everyone nodded and put in their earpiece.

“Good. Give me a minute to hack into the security feeds and then you’re good to go.”

She tapped and swiped on her wrist computer and the flyer’s control panel.

“You’re all set. Good luck, everyone. I’ll be waiting for you when the package is delivered.”

Bear climbed out first and the rest followed him, with Court sticking close to Elle.

“You don’t seem too worse for wear,” she said.

“They patched me up after my fall down the stairs. Do you know anything about nanobots? They can’t control me or make me sick or anything, right?”

Elle laughed and Britt flashed her a stern look over her shoulder.

“Control you? What, like a nanobot zombie?”

“I don’t know. We don’t have nanobots in the village. I mean, we didn’t.”

The crack in his demeanor was brief but she saw it. He was still struggling to deal with the pain of losing his people. With all that had happened so suddenly, he still needed to finish grieving. She had at least had the handful of days in the village after that beast had taken Dr. Donovan from her.

“Don’t worry about the nanobots. Your body flushes them out in six or seven days.”

“Good. That’s good.”

He looked relieved, and she remembered how different their life experiences were. Once again, she wondered when he would get to return to his home. Now that they were fugitives, it might never be safe for him to go back there.

The warehouse in front of them was enormous, more like a geographical feature than a building.

Bear led them to a door that was a speck on the massive wall. He punched a code into a numeric keypad and the door opened with a gentle buzz.

“I worked here for several years, but there’s been a lot of changeover since I left so don’t talk to anybody unless I introduce you. Don’t even look at anyone. Understood?”

Britt patted him on the back in acknowledgement and they proceeded inside. The warehouse was organized into collections of containers. A handful of humans and robots roamed the space, moving crates or examining tablets. They stopped at a makeshift office of crates stacked around a desk.

“Why’s it smell so much like robot lube over here?”

“Bear, you son of a bitch, how you doing, pal?”

The man at the desk was heavyset with dark circles under his eyes. He came out from behind the desk and Bear clasped him by the shoulders.

“It’s good to see you, Kamil.”

“You brought a whole entourage with you.”

“Look who’s been learning big words. These are some friends of mine. We need to get a package to the Willow Wisp . It’s important.”

“No can do, compadre. Since your last shipment got snagged, management’s been making a bunch of changes. I’m getting rotated out. I’ll be working logistics in Arizona end of next week. By the time that shuttle goes up, there’s going to be all new ground and shuttle crew here. We won’t be able to drop anything off for the Wisp on that run.”

“Well, shit.”

“Unless the shipping schedules change, the Wisp won’t be back in range for months,” Britt said. “That’s too long to wait. What other options are there?”

“None. You’ve got to have a human up there who can override the airlock and toss the packages out into space. The people we trust aren’t going on the next shuttle run now, and the people who will be going I don’t know if we can trust yet. All the other upcoming shipments are smaller payloads going up in automated pods.”

“Please, this is unbelievably important. More important than anything you’ve helped us deliver before.”

“I’m sorry but without a human component, it just doesn’t work.”

“What if a person went?” Elle asked.

“I just told you, we don’t have anyone on the next staffed trip.”

“Not on the shuttle. What if someone was in the automated pod? Could they open an airlock?”

“Those pods are glorified shipping containers. They don’t even have airlocks. In theory, someone could travel in a suit inside a pod and open the door, but that’s a suicide mission. It’d be a one-way trip.”

“When does the next pod shipment go up?”

“No,” Britt said. “We’ll find another way. I won’t ask someone to make that sacrifice.”