“Aye, captain,” Sway nodded once before turning back to his console, crest flat on his head, attempting once again to interact with the system.
“We search exactly how we did when we tried to find the trackers on Garnet and Goldie,” Tanin said, looking over the others. “We’ll use the same sectioning method. Go.”
“Aye, captain!”
At his command, the others turned and began moving towards the lift. As he passed, however, Vytln put a hand on Sorbet’s chest and brought him, and Tebros, up short. The twin avanava males looked at him expectantly.
“This guild of yours, does it have a name?”
Sorbet shook his head. “If it does, it isn’t spoken. Most of the upper members of the organization lose their tonguesentirely. We are not spies. We are assassins. We do not share information. Tebros and I left just before we lost ours, in fact.”
“Would they bring us somewhere? Or would they just take the opportunity to kill us the moment we drop out.?”
“Probably not kill us,” Sorbet said. “They would have gotten rid of us immediately if that was their goal. And it is. They want us dead. No tongue. They don’t tell secrets, and they don’t talk to ask questions. So, it makes no sense to force us somewhere. That makes me think it is more likely to be your brother doing this.”
Vytln shook his head. “I promise, he is not that smart. Or that subtle. But he is showy. He won’t want to kill me that easily. Not at first. He not only wants everyone to see him victorious, he needs to know thatIknow he is victorious. An instant death in an explosion wouldn’t satisfy him. Would your guild put his contract with them over their desire to kill you?”
“Yes,” Sorbet assured him immediately. “We are nothing. We hold no grudge, we bear no evil, we give no mercy. We are weapons, and weapons are wielded as their master wills. In the way of our teachings, doing whatever your brother wanteddoestake precedence over silencing us.
“They are patient. They are thorough. They would be willing to bring you to Kldyn first, knowing that it just puts us in range. They don’t need all of you dead, just Tebros and I, so they won’t care what he does to you. Once you’re delivered, their contract is done.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Tanin interjected, walking up. “Right now, it’s more important that we regain control of the situation. Whoever is taking us, be it your brother or your guild or some other third party, I don’t care right now. The only thing I want is that hijacking device found. Go.”
“Aye, captain,” the three intoned. Haven chimed in just after them.
She turned to follow Vytln to the lift and down. She had to go get her tablet from her nest so she could communicate with her termites. Tanin was right. It didn't rightfully matter who grabbed them, just that they didn't want to go.
And if her termites could reach the outside of the ship even in subspace.
Chapter 39
Vytln
Subspace was a place that, once within, you became totally untouchable. Not just to other ships, but even to communication. The signal that turned on the hijacking device and took over their ship was gone, but Alred was still unresponsive, so it was still working – wherever it was.
But that meant that they only needed to interfere with it and they would be able to get some control back without anyone being able to stop them. The search of the ship's internals had turned up nothing.
However, they didn't need to keep it up any longer.
Haven truly was a wonder. And her termites were incredible.
The nanobots that monitored and performed some maintenance on the outside of the ship typically did not function while they were in subspace. They remained outside, having their own terminal that they connected to on the exterior of the ship. They were fully separate from the interior nanobot fleet and couldn’t cross under normal circumstances.
Haven, however, had managed to use her termites to break into the terminal from the inside of the ship. She then took control of it and used that control to communicate to the nanobots on the outside.
It was incredibly imperfect. The data that was relayed back to her tablet was fragmented and broken. She described it as static. She also had to fight to keep the connection. The nanobots weren’t designed to operate whileinsidesubspace and doing so messed with their systems.
But she found something. Amongst the background noise of subspace, noticed only because she and her termites were so attuned to the ship, she found something attached to their base that shouldn't be there.
And she was trying to interfere with it.
They gathered in the bridge to watch her do it. Haven was at one of the four seats, as two were always open. Sway and Grace, who worked here full time, were there as well. Vytln and Tanin stood behind Haven, watching as she tried and failed and tried again to somehow stop the device.
Goldie was there as well. Vytln wasn't at all surprised to see her, though she served no purpose here. She looked distraught, as she had the entire day without Alred able to talk to her from overhead.She was quiet, not being a bother, but she would wring her hands silently and kept glancing upward, as though hoping to see Alred appearing as Haven worked.
Haven, meanwhile, had a look of pinched concentration on her usually bright and happy face. She was serious, focused, and completely immobile.
Vytln never saw her like this. Even when she was concentrating, she was typically moving or bouncing or chatting. She almost never did one thing at a time. Even when he fucked her to the point of clearing her head, she was laughing or teasing or begging. She might be thoughtless, but she was never this serious and still.
