Page 11 of Escape from Nova Nine
Julke moved closer. “The maintenance lab deliberately fries the static countervailers in them. Supposed to be a secret.”
Lantham lowered his head and spoke softly. “Lots of things will get you stunned. Disobeying orders from guards or staff, or arguing with them. Like today with you and Julke.”
“Same goes with pharma techs.” added Julke. At Zade’s puzzled expression, she added, “I’ll tell you about them later.”
Lantham ticked off items with his fingers. “Fighting with another prisoner. Minor assault, minor theft.” He made a rude hissing sound. “Or with assholes like Dajoya, just breathing.”
Julke nodded. They were getting close to the dining hall, and there was still so much he needed to know to survive. “Some things get you seriously hurt and stuffed in an autodoc while you heal. Don’t ever touch a guard without permission, not even in self-defense. They’ll shoot you on sight if they catch you unescorted in the forbidden areas. Making quota is job number one, so don’t damage a prisoner enough that they can’t work. No equipment sabotage, either.”
“Yeah,” said Lantham. “Endangering lives gets you disabled in a nanosecond. If it was deliberate, the prisoners would probably hold you for the guards.”
“What about escape attempts?” asked Zade.
Lantham sighed. “You seem like a pleasant person, so I’d hate to see you suffer. Don’t try it. They’ll hurt you, kill you, or worse.”
Zade’s expression seemed earnest, but she thought she saw a brief pattern of ‘challenge accepted’ in his emotional aura. Which her own talent shouldn’t be detecting in the first place. Damnit. That stunner shot must have left her more out of control than she thought.
“Look,” she said, “everyone dreams of freedom. Noobs like you, especially. But no one has ever succeeded, and the warden gets twisted thrills from making gory public examples of failures.” The line slowed as the people in front began filing through the dining hall entrance scanners. “Nova Nine is a dark relic from your notorious Central League era, and its elements are worth mega-trillions. He’d kill every one of us to keep its secrets.”
4
NOVA NINE FACILITY • GDAT 3243.116
In the ten days since Zade’s arrival, Julke had felt a renewed sense of precious time slipping by. Maybe because her bad feeling about the vein they’d been working hadn’t gone away. Or maybe because she was seeing everything new again while teaching him how to stay alive.
She hung her clothes on the locker room hook, then finished stretching and twisting in her exosuit to get it situated on her body. Thankfully, she no longer had to smuggle an injured griffin. Moonlet was already flying short distances again, even though the wing splint only came off yesterday.
The locker room was beginning to stink again. She sealed her helmet early, or she’d be smelling it for the whole work shift. When the odors got obnoxious enough, facility maintenance would seal the room and give it a chem bath. Then it would smell like caustic insecticide and fungicide for a week.
She glanced around for Zade and found him with Lantham, already waiting at the airlock, helmet sealed. He’d turned out to be an amazingly quick study, which he’d attributed to his variety of starship jobs across the galaxy. Based on his experience, she suspected Zade was older than the mid-forties he looked. And his lively interest in everything might be part of it. He soaked up knowledge like a sponge. At mealtimes, he cajoled even the surliest of prisoners into conversations.
She also found him unexpectedly easy to talk to, which should have been tripping her warning bells but wasn’t. She’d like to blame it on the unexpected mesh of their empathic talents. However, she knew she had a weakness for people who were sexy, noble, and kind. He ducked confrontation unless he was defending other prisoners. The only thing against him so far was his habit of humming or whistling tunes in quiet moments.
And the griffins adored him. She’d seen an increasing number clinging to his cell wall to sleep in his cell at night. If he got up in the dark, at least three sets of fire-bright eyes would be watching him. Though it was possible they were hoping for the treats he’d been successfully smuggling from the dining hall, she’d only ever seen Sutrio’s cell with that many griffins.
Even downhearted Lantham, who missed his family deeply, seemed less gloomy when Zade worked the extraction equipment with him. They shared a love of vintage starships and a dreamer’s desire to collect them.
To top it off, he was nova hot. Not that she’d deliberately looked, but she couldn’t help noticing when they all stripped twice a day to get in and out of exosuits. Wide-shouldered, wide and well-muscled rib cage, and undeniably stellar ass and thighs. The dark stubble of hair on his head hinted at a jacker-style mohawk if it grew back. Beautiful brown skin, unmarred by scars, though mine work would change that.
Unsurprising for someone from the Central Galactic Concordance, where healthcare and anti-aging maintenance was a foundation right for all citizens. Hell, Lantham looked early fifties but had been celebrating his one hundred and nineteenth birthday the day of his capture.
While operating in CGC territory, she’d taken advantage of a medical and cosmetic body shop or two herself. Volksstam traditionalists sneered, but she didn’t care. Her public position had been that of a private trade broker at the outer edge of CGC territory. Altering her appearance and dressing the part kept the CGC military from singling her out as the hated pirate clan. Her indie trader and frontier planet government contacts knew she had access to unique Volksstam goods and services and didn’t ask questions.
Julke turned, expecting to see Sutrio getting into her suit. Instead, the woman was naked and kneeling, violently expelling her breakfast onto the floor. The other prisoners were giving her a wide berth.
Julke quickly unsealed her helmet and dropped to one knee. She swallowed hard against the stomach-turning stench that threatened to choke her. “Do you need a medic?”
Sutrio shook her head, then wiped her mouth with her forearm. “What I need is my brain-chem balancers. Fucking pharma researchers deactivated my implants because they were invalidating their fucking drug trials.” Her stomach heaved again and she coughed.
That explained Sutrio’s increasingly odd behavior. Julke kicked herself for not asking her friend about it sooner. “What do you want me to do?”
“Go with Lantham and Zade. I’ll stay here and tell the guards I’m supposed to ask to see Medic Peshek.” The corner of Sutrio’s mouth twitched. “She hates the pharma assholes almost as much as we do.”
Julke caught Sutrio’s eye. “I’m sorry I didn’t notice you were in trouble.”
Sutrio sat back on her heels. “I didn’t tell you. Nothing you could’ve done about it.” Her head tilted toward the airlock. “Enjoy the party without me.”
Julke hesitated, then reluctantly stood and made her way to the airlock, sealing her helmet on the way. She spoke out loud so the Admin tech for their shift would hear. “Sutrio is sick.” She made the sign for pharma, though only Lantham would understand it.
