Page 26 of Her Cyborg Commander
He leered at her. “I’m not so sure. Maybe you should come over here and refresh my memory.”
She hadn’t finished formulating a good comeback when a triple-chirp broke up their moment of levity.
Edge had to rummage around in their bedding for several seconds before he found the comm unit he used to stay in contact with Eddi. The AI had the ship parked near one of the planet’s moons. Because of the way the orbit worked, it wasn’t always within range, so they’d arranged a schedule for updates. Now was not one of those times.
All the humor was gone from Edge’s voice as he activated the comm. “Eddi, this is Edge. Report.”
“Hello, Passenger Edge. This is the situation. Another ship has entered this system. Using passive scans, I have determined it is heading toward the planet you currently inhabit. It is also broadcasting a message on all known channels. It appears to be a recording on a continuous loop.”
Dread wrapped icy coils around her guts and squeezed. It shouldn’t be possible, but it had to be Troyan Jens. No one else would enter a supposedly uninhabited system and start blasting a recorded message.
He wanted her to know he’d found her.
“Give me all the information you have. Wait. First, confirm they have not detected you,” Edge ordered the AI.
“They have not noticed this vessel. I am using one of the planet’s satellites to hide this vessel’s presence, as I conveyed to you in previous conversations.”
“That’s good. Don’t let them see you.”
“I have no intention of allowing that to happen. However, the newly arrived ship will be able to detectyourencampment soon. That should be your primary concern, Passenger Edge.”
“They’ll be able to see the camp, sure. But they won’t be able to detect us.” River gestured around them. “This shelter is designed to deflect most common scanners, and the rocks that surround it should make that even more difficult. Jens won’t beable to know if I’m in here or not, and he won’t know there are two of us. We can use that.”
“Hold that thought, River. Eddi, you still haven’t given me a full report. What class of ship is it? Does it have any identifiers?”
Eddi’s calm, impassive voice came back immediately. “The transponder it carries shows that it is a privately owned freighter named theMaggie-May-Dance. There are anomalies within the data that make it seventy-seven percent likely that the transponder is showing a fake identity. While passive scans are not overly effective at this distance, I can also confirm that while the vessel’s appearance has been modified, there is a ninety-two percent chance it is a military vessel of some kind. Likely a corvette class or similar.”
Fraxx. Corvettes were the smallest class of warship, but they were still large enough to carry a sizable crew and weapon compliment.
Edge cursed under his breath before continuing. “Thank you, Eddi. That’s all useful information. What can you tell me about the message being broadcast?”
“It is encrypted. The only readable information is a tag denoting the intended recipient.
Petal. I have no point of reference for that data point and cannot provide you with any assistance in determining what or who Petal is.”
River spoke up. “The message is for me. Eddi, can you decrypt any part of it?”
“Negative. I have never been provided with decryption software.” The AI paused and then added, “I will have to discuss this oversight with Pilot Rem once I have been returned to her.”
The pause this time was longer. “If that is still your intention. If it is not, I must inform you that I am equipped with anti-theft protocols.”
River had to cover her mouth to stop herself from laughing at the AI’s moment of drama.
“Relax your circuits, Eddi. We absolutely intend to give you back to Sevda.” Edge looked like he wanted to reach through the connection and kick the AI in its nonexistent butt for going off topic.
“If Jens is sending this out, it’s got to be a message for me. If that’s the case, he thinks I have the key to decrypt it already.”
“That makes sense, but let’s hold off on that idea for now. There’s something else we need to talk about, first.”
She knew where this was going, but it surprised her that Edge was willing to talk about something that was clearly his fault. “How did he find us?”
“Exactly. He had to have tracked you somehow.”
“What?” she uttered in shock. “That’s not possible. I was in a cryo-pod inside a shielded cargo hold for the entire trip. There’s no way he could have tracked me.” She pointed at Edge. “He must have followedyouhere.”
“That makes no sense at all. Jens sent you that first message either because he thought you’d come running back to him, or he expected you to bolt. Either way, he had a plan in place for finding you if you left Haven. I don’t know how, but he’s here, so that’s got to be it.”
Edge’s assessment put her on the defensive. “You’re ignoring the fact that Nova Force is hunting you. They know what ship you’re on, too. The Interstellar Armed Forces has always had information leaks. Every time they take out one spy, three more appear to take their place. The most likely scenario is that someone heard the chatter and reported it to their corporate handler. Jens or the people he’s working with now got wind of it and decided to follow you. After all, the leader of the cyborgs on Haven wouldn’t leave the colony without a good reason. Coming after a rogue cyborg would definitely count.”
