The Star Pirate's Folly

Chapter 27: Momentum

Bee knocked on the bulkhead door to the bridge, three solid thumps with the bottom of her fist. The Captain had called her up to see the view of Optima as they approached. Truly opened the door for her and led her inside. Ferro and the Captain each had their respective control seats while Silver loitered near the door. He'd probably seen the view a hundred times before. Bee took a spot up front just inches from the thick windows. Truly stood to her left, arms crossed, still wearing only an undersuit.

The darkness of space thrilled her—the distance, the emptiness. So much room. Optima's sunlit side shone bright and welcoming against the consuming black beyond it. Some of the spherical asteroid's craters glinted in the light and Bee realized they were capped by clear domes like Capitol City. She wondered what they were like underneath.

"It's beautiful," said Bee.

"Yeah, anything looks pretty this far out," said the Captain from behind her. "Don't let that fool you. Optima doesn't really compare to where you're from."

"Out here the Core maintains a presence, but it's a pirate's paradise," Truly explained. "Far enough out to make it easy to run and hard to chase them down, trade routes coming in from all around the system, secret lairs in the belt... they love it here."

"I thought the Core Fleet just came through," Bee pointed out.

"They were only after the pirate Families," said Truly.

"Families?"

Truly raised an eyebrow at her. "You've never heard of the Families?"

Bee shook her head.

"So you've been chasing Starhawk since you were a little girl and you haven't even heard of the biggest pirate organization in the system?"

"I didn't know he was a pirate," she said. "He's never had a bounty on him until now. I only realized it when I saw his face."

"That's all you've got?" Truly asked. "You saw his face?"

Find him, whispered Mother.

Bee's breathing came short and shallow as the memories crashed into her thoughts. Every day she had to force herself not to bury them and forget. Every day she thought of his face, held it in her mind's eye, made it a part of herself. She probably knew it better than Mother's.

Peel back his eyelids until—

"Until this week that's all I had," Bee said, shoving her mother's orders to the back of her mind. "Now I know who he is, I know where he is, and I know how to get there."

"Too bad you don't know how to fight," said Truly.

Bee turned away from the view to face Truly directly. "You taught me to shoot."

"And you think that's all you need? A couple of hours on the firing range?"

"I'm going back."

Truly stared out the window in silence.

Captain Anson spoke with audible hesitance from behind her. "We got word from Surface this morning."

"What's happening?" she asked.

"Okay. I don't want you to freak out or anything, but pirates are inside the city," he said. "Everyone's safe in shelters underneath. They bombed the dome from orbit and some of them got in. Most of the pirates are dead already and the Core Fleet hasn't even reached Surface yet. Once they arrive tonight it's over. The ships he has in orbit are all he's got."

"That's not going to stop me," said Bee.

"Even if you got there and he was still alive—he's got warships, Bee. An army of killers. Swarms of drone fighters. The entire Planetary Guard is getting trounced and you think you can just waltz on in and... do what, exactly?"

"Find him and kill him," she said, and heard Mother echo her words.

"I want you to come with us," said Captain Anson.

Surprised, Bee didn't know what to say. They'd been so eager to get rid of her before and now a sudden invitation to join the crew? Why would he—

"Myra talked to you, didn't she?" Bee asked.

"Of course she did. At first I thought it was a ridiculous idea, but we could all benefit from having you around—and I don't mean as a passenger. I want to bring you onto the crew. Paid. You've got a good head on your shoulders, you're willing to work hard, and best of all you make good company for Myra. She's been getting cranky recently and I don't want any more tantrums while we're out there on our own."

"I can hear you," said Myra, wounded.

"Now try listening," said Captain Anson with a stern edge.

Bee turned back to the view of Optima, working her options over in her head. Obviously they were right. She didn't have a plan. She didn't even have a gun. What could she do? The Core Fleet was bound to either capture or kill Starhawk. But this nagging feeling told her he would get away somehow. She'd missed her shot at him once—if only she'd stayed at the hotel! If another chance presented itself she wouldn't falter.

Find him, Mother insisted.

But she knew the choices she'd made were the best available to her at the time. She couldn't have known then what she did now. But even if she had, what then? What could one eighteen year old girl do that a trained military defense force couldn't?

Kill him, Mother wailed. Her voice was getting louder, more desperate. She hadn't been this loud, this persistent, since the old days.

Whatever the odds, Bee had to try.

"I'm going back," she said, but didn't turn to face the others. The cratered planetoid loomed larger and larger as Wanderlust approached.

"Come with us," said Captain Anson.

Bee whirled on the crew, snarling with sudden fury, "I'm going to kill him! You just try and stop me."

Pain flared in her shoulder and Bee cried out. Truly had snatched her right wrist and twisted it behind her back until it felt like her arm would snap out of place. He clamped his other hand around her upper arm to hold her still, his long fingers digging into her skin. She didn't even notice him move.

"I stopped you," said Truly from behind her, close enough for his breath to tickle her hair against her ear. "Now you're dead."

"Let me go!" Bee's instincts kicked in and she tried to smack her head against his face. Truly jerked away and held her at arm's length, agony once again blooming in her right shoulder.

"You think Starhawk's going to go easy on you?"

"Truly," warned the Captain, and the first officer released her.

Bee clutched her throbbing shoulder and stormed off the bridge, tears blurring her vision. Myra called to her as she went but no one got in her way.

"That was a mistake," said Bill Silver.

"She'll die if she goes back," the Captain said. "Or worse. You okay with that?"

"She's not yours to protect, Captain. You're making her problems into our problems. It compromises us, sir."

"I disagree. She's smart, she's got guts, and I think she'd make a good asset someday. Besides, Myra needs this—"

"Oh, don't start with her too. Myra's got you threaded around her finger and you don't even know it."

Captain Anson dropped his casual demeanor. "You're out of line, Quartermaster."

Silver stood up straight, arms flat against his sides. "Permission to leave the bridge."

"Dismissed."

#

Myra was already waiting for Bee when she got to her room, speaking as she entered.

"I'm sorry," Myra said. "I'm only trying to help you."

"Leave me alone," said Bee. "I never asked you to talk to him."

"You're not ready. We thought it would be safe to send you back by now, but the pirates have been more trouble than anyone could have predicted."

"He'll get away. If I don't go now he'll escape somehow, he'll get away and then I'll never get the chance again." Bee's voice quavered as she put her fears into words.

"Exactly—you get one shot. Make it the best shot you can take. Don't waste your chance now. Come with us, let us train you. We can teach you the things you need to know."

"If I don't kill him she'll never stop," Bee said.

"Who won't stop?"

"Nothing. No one," she said, immediately regretting letting her thoughts slip.

"You talk in your sleep, you know," said Myra.

Silence.

"Do you want to know what you say?"

"I think I know already."

"Let us help you," Myra said softly.

"What if this is my only chance? What if this is where I choose wrong?"

"Chin up, Buttercup," said Myra. "I'm sure your mother would be very proud of everything you've done for her. Just take a look at where you are now after all that you've been through."

"She used to say that to me."

"Come with us, honey. It's the best thing you can do. If you won't say yes I'm going to walk you through every single scenario I've run for you to give you an idea of just how many of them end with you sucking vacuum."

"Which ones do I live in?"

"None. Eventually you always die. I'll outlast all of you, in fact."

"Thanks for that little nugget of morbidity, but you know what I meant. Are there any where I... you know, get him?"

"None of those outcomes are possible if you go back now."

Bee's stomach twisted in sickening knots as she wrestled with the decision. Her whole life this had been her goal. She dreamed of it often—that final cathartic moment when she had her hands wrapped around his neck and she could finally feel him die. She'd relish it, savor it, and drink deep every instant she could make him suffer before she killed him. If she had to wait a little longer to get there, so be it.

The words wouldn't come. She wanted to scream at Myra that she was going back. She wanted to rage and shout, to destroy something, to rail against the hand she'd been dealt, the unfair chaotic cruelty of the universe. But she stuffed those urges down deep, stoking the vengeful fire that burned deep inside her. Those flames would never fade.

"I'll do it," Bee said, forcing the words from her lips. "I'll go with you."

Bee curled up on her bed and slept for an hour until Myra came back and told her the crew was about to take the shuttle to Optima. She left her room for the docking bay to see them off. The decision to stay with Wanderlust still stung fresh in her mind, but it had time to settle while she napped.

Truly, fully armored in his gray and orange suit, stood outside the bulkhead door to the docking bay.

"Hey, Trouble," he said. "Sorry about your arm. I heard you're staying though."

"I'm sure you're thrilled," said Bee.

"You're growing on me," Truly said as he opened the door. "Like a tumor or a wart or something."

"Real funny," she said as he stepped through. "Hey, when you get back I want to know more about the Families."

"You want to ride with us? I can tell you on the way. Captain said you should come with to see how we operate anyway."

"Yeah," said Bee. "Yeah, I'll come."

#

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