There was still time. The earliest date the nightmares usually started was the 30th, so they should arrive before he became a danger to anyone.
It was fine. There was also always a chance the nightmares would start later, and if they did, they’d most likely start on the 3rd of September. So, really, they just needed to be back on Earth by the 3rd. No big deal…everything would be okay. Maybe…
In theory, it would be. Ender had never lost it before the 5th of September, so as long as there were no fuck ups, they’d reach Earth with six or seven days to spare. There was nothing to worry about. Ender just had to ignore the glaring issue that the whole damn reason he was here in the first place was because some bastard Fate had in fact fucked with his…
He frowned. No, that was wrong. It had nothing to do withhisown fate. Whoever was involved, they’d messed with someone else’s, and it had inadvertently pulled him into it.
Fucking hell, what was on that ship…or rather, who?!
Ender rolled his eyes. That definitely was something he should have tried to figure out sooner than while he was in the middle of space!
Spinning, he unlocked the door, it sliding up to reveal FUCKING Soren still standing there with his arms crossed. His hair twisted and coiled together into snakes in an instant, as he hissed, them snapping with him. “Move!”
Looking completely unperturbed, his brother had the audacity to roll his eyes, but he did step aside, so there was that.
Hmphing, Ender smoothed his hands over his still hissing coils and walked past, hurrying back to the bridge and the meeting he’d abandoned.
For some completelyunknownreason, the conversation stopped as soon as he entered the room. He’d even go as far as to say everyone was eyeing him almost apprehensively—again, for some reason he could not point out.
Smiling, Ender took a seat, ignoring Soren, who had followed him. Not wanting to show too much of an interest in what he actually wanted to fucking know, he sweetly barked, “Why isn’t Calico here yet, hmm? The little shit is a bit late, ain’t he?!”
Really, the Succubus should have been there by now, based on his watch. They were wasting time. Not to mention, Ender always got a bit antsy the longer they waited in a single spot in space. It was always a risk. Really, it was a risk anywhere, space or otherwise.
His eyes narrowed when the others just stared. His hair, still very much alive with a mind of its own, reacted to his anger, snapping before he did. “What?!”
Soren snorted. “The man had engine trouble. Something you would have known if you had been paying attention during the meeting yesterday.”
Ender blinked, before sniffing and patting his snakes this time, as he said, “Refresh me.”
Meara, who, on top of being his Interstellar Intelligence Officer, was in charge of communications on Kore’s ship, smiled, but it became more of a snarl as she said, “As mentioned yesterday, boss, the two-ship assault turned into one ship, because the fool managed to damage his vessel during a recent…venture.”
The way she said‘venture’told him enough. He clucked his tongue. “That little bastard couldn’t have waited until AFTER our agreed upon joint task was completed to steal some no doubt worthless piece of junk?! If he thinks he is getting the same cut as he was before, he is two hens short of a coop!”
The Manticore shrugged. “He claimed he saw something pretty. As for the other, he was made aware already.”
Ender sighed. “Speaking of cargo. Do we know exactly what Riker is transporting? Surely, Calico gave a full list before comms were cut?”
Meara snorted. “Normal shit; people, weapons, and some random-ass illegal goods worth a bit of value.” She handed over the thin, clear tablet.
Taking it, he swiped up, reading through what appeared to just be a ship manifest, and a crappily done one at that. Most things were not actually named outright in terms of goods or weapons, as if the person was teasing them with what could be there. And as for the people, all he had was a description, age, danger level, and species—and only sometimes was the last part included.
Tsking at how fucking vague shit was, he tossed the tablet onto the table with a huff. “His inside man sucks at his job.”
She chuckled. “Yeah, whoever it was is bloody awful. Didn’t even think to expand on the ship manifest, just sent it as is. But I'm afraid, after that solar flare, that’s as good as it’s going to get. They would have been in range, if I’m not wrong.”
“Calico’s ship was definitely in range.” Saffire snickered. “Closer than we were, but the good news is…so was Riker.”
Ender sighed. As he thought on the matter, his hair slowly uncoiled, turning back to strands as he tried to think about how else he could get to the bottom of whatever the fuck he was here for.
His gaze flicked to Meara. “Meara, before we lost communications, did Dessa happen to report on anything odd going on around the time we left Earth, or while in space?”
She pursed her lips. “One thing.”
“Well?” he ground out with a smile.
The woman smiled back, too used to Ender to fear him—the brat. “Heightened activity at the Enforcement Bureau, specifically the one under Cyrus Grimm’s command. Though it expanded outward from there. The details were harder to come by. As you are aware, our higher placed agent in the main branch in North America was kicked out last month after being discovered, and his replacement isn’t where we want him to ultimately be at the moment. So much of this was digging through their systems, and they have, as of late, improved their security so much that it’s likely you are going to have to take a swing at it, to get us a real opening again.”
“Would have been nice to know that BEFORE our systems were down, Meara,” Ender huffed. “So, what exactly did you manage to find out?”
