The Dead Fleet (Juggernaut #3)

Eighty Two

'We've been looking for you everywhere!'

'Ellie, this is literally the second place we looked,' said Malachi.

'Oh, shush. You know what I mean,' said Ellie.

'Well done?' offered Tila. She hadn't been hiding, she told herself. Their gantry high above the upside-down market place was no secret. She sat like she always sat. Legs dangling, chin digging into her forearm like it was digging out the answer to a question she didn't understand.

'What are you doing?' said Tila.

'Watching. Thinking.'

'About what? No, never mind. I have news,' said Ellie.

'What news?'

'I'm going back to Parador.'

Tila's chin popped off her arms. 'You're what?'

'I'm going back. I want to see Jayce and the sky again. I don't have to stay here anymore. None of us do.'

'You can't go back, Ellie.'

'Why not?'

'It's dangerous!'

'That's what you said last time.'

'I know, and I was right.'

'But it was only dangerous because you kept getting us in trouble.'

'That's not true! Mal, tell her.'

Malachi tried to back out the middle of the conversation, and then realised to his regret, that being in the middle on the gantry meant there was nowhere he could back away to. He was trapped, not for the first time, and definitely not for the last, between a verbal rock and a hard place.

'She's technically right though,' he admitted.

'That's not the point.'

'This was your idea! You told me to be memorable,' complained Ellie.

'That's not what I meant.'

'I have to take the Valkyrie back anyway. We can't keep them, you know. They belong to Jayce.'

'They belong to some faceless corporation on Parador, you mean. Not Jayce,' said Tila.

'Either way they don't belong to us. We have to give them back. Malachi's taking his back too, right Mal?'

'Um. It's sort of in pieces right now.'

'You broke it!?'

'I wanted to see how it worked.'

'Mal, you have to put it back together! Jayce will get in trouble.'

'Mal, we can't have Jayce getting in trouble, can we?' said Tila.

Ellie reached past Malachi to slap Tila on the shoulder. 'Don't be mean.'

'You're actually leaving? Really leaving?' said Malachi.

Ellie nodded. 'I'll come back.'

'How will you come back? You want to return your ship,' Tila pointed out.

Ellie thought for a moment. Tila was right. 'I'll borrow another one.'

'But then you will have to go and give that back too,' said Malachi.

'Right.'

'And then take it back again.'

'Yes, obviously.' Ellie wondered why they could only see the downsides to this plan.

'So why not keep the one you have?'

'I keep telling you, because it's not mine. You need to fix yours too.'

'Don't we have criminal records or something on Parador now?' said Tila. 'Can we ever go back? Not that I want to,' she added quickly.

Ellie shook her head sadly. 'You're right, Mal, she never listens.'

Tila untangled her legs and arms and finally stood up. 'Listen to what?'

'Grace and Conway took care of everything. The Rhino's fees, any fines and records for our landing. Knowing a trillionaire has its advantages,' said Malachi.

'So it's safe for Ellie to go back?'

Ellie nodded enthusiastically. Malachi concurred. 'As safe as it can be. She can take a surrogate flight to the beacon to avoid pirates.'

'They couldn't catch me anyway,' said Ellie.

'But you have your own jump drive so you won't need to pay for a surrogate jump, and...'

Their conversation trailed off into the distance. Maybe it wasn't really a bad thing for Ellie to go back. The commonwealth planets were open to them now like never before. Plus it would keep her out of trouble. Probably.

Besides, Tila had plans to make and things to prepare. They had rushed in to events at Parador and the Dead Fleet. They got lucky, she knew that. Tila also knew she couldn't afford to do that again. The risks were too high. If friends are the family you choose then she had to keep her family safe. Now she had more to lose than ever before, and that was unacceptable.

Tila knew what she was going to do next. Her friends would have to stay behind. She loved them and needed them and valued them, but she had to admit to herself that the danger they had faced was her fault.

She couldn't put them in a situation like that again. They would have to stay behind. There was no question about it.

Tila tuned back in to the conversation again. It had moved on.

'Ellie, I can't put a Valkyrie engine in your racer.'

'Why not?'

'Because, I just can't, okay?' Malachi could have blustered something about design tolerances, compatible electronics, encrypted code, unknown power core matrices, but what was the point? He already knew how this was going to end. Maybe Nina could help with the code...

Tila barged back into the conversation because some things never change. 'Fine, you can go. Just come back safely. And make sure Jayce doesn't give me a reason to visit and break something of his, understand? Like his face.'

'You already lost his Valkyrie, Tila,' said Ellie reproachfully.

'Just be careful, okay? I nearly lost you once. Once is too much.'

'I promise,' said Ellie. She pushed past Malachi to squeeze her friend tight around the waist.

'So I'm going to Parador to see Jayce. Malachi will try to keep Nina interested. What are you going to do?'

'We can get on with our lives now,' said Malachi. 'The rescue mission will be ready in a few months, and I'm sure they will find your father and the other colonists. All you have to do is wait. You already got your mother back. You must be glad this is all over.'

Tila looked at her friends. She would miss them, but they would be safer here or on Parador, and not where she was planning to go. She turned back to the market below, where people chatted and argued and haggled and lived free. Her gaze pierced the endless decks of the rusty city and leapt through space, past their star, to rest in another system, where one stolen colony ship drifted among undiscovered planets, and where the people were not free.

Not yet.

'Oh, this isn't over,' said Tila. 'I'm just getting started.'