Trade Circle: A Space Opera Adventure Series (The New Dawn Book 3) Read online

  “Give me the knife,” Danny said quietly.

  “You can’t have Henry. I need him,” she said, turning her wide, innocent green eyes on him.

  “Henry? You named my knife Henry?” he asked, laughing in surprise. “You are not allowed to name my things.”

  “I didn’t name him. His name is written right here on the hilt,” she said, tapping her Occ and then showing Danny the tiny inscription on the knife. Danny didn’t try to read it; he just took the knife from her and set it aside.

  “I told you I’d take it from you if you cut yourself again,” he said.

  Amanda looked away, pursing her lips. “I ran away because you were fighting. I can’t help where I go.”

  Danny hugged her apologetically, but didn’t argue. A boy and a girl had followed Tray into the bay, both in dark clothes to help them blend into the forest. The girl carried a bow and a pistol. The boy clutched her cloak, his face twitching with every step.

  “Tray, who are our guests?” Danny asked.

  “There were more of them out there,” Tray said, shaking the water out of his shoes. “I think they’re scouts. From a lot of different tribes.”

  The girl squealed and spun around, taking in the view of the cargo bay. To Danny, it was a cluttered mess, packed with the two little ships, which were tethered weirdly with restraints meant for square cargo crates.

  “She’s excited to be here,” the little boy whispered in Trade, squatting in the middle of the floor, looking sad rather than mesmerized by his environment. His dark skin was streaked with tear tracts, and he looked terrified.

  “I’m excited you speak Trade. What’s your name?” Danny asked. He tried to smile disarmingly, but he wound up drooling and falling onto his elbows.

  “Lakshya.”

  “Is there a tribe in the area that speaks Trade?” Tray asked. “Oh, Laos, don’t touch that.”

  Laos had a hand in the open weapons cabinet, and Tray quickly locked it. She seemed genuinely curious, and her cheeks flushed when Tray took her hand.

  “We met Laos with the Drava,” Tray explained to Danny, escorting Laos back to the center of the bay out of reach of all the shiny objects that drew her attention.

  “She would know how we can get back to Sky,” Hawk spoke up.

  “That’s why she came,” Lakshya said.

  “Have you ever traveled past a place called Quin?” Tray asked. “It’s somewhere south of here. In the grasslands, but on the coast.”

  “They have fishing boats,” Lakshya murmured. “They overharvest the sea and leave nothing for anyone else.”

  “We don’t overfish,” Tray protested. “Do we?”

  “Let it go, Tray,” Danny said.

  “Do you know how to get back there?” Tray asked.

  Lakshya shrank at the question, rocking on his knees before finally bursting into tears. “I don’t know how to get home,” he wailed. Laos rushed to embrace him, and but the boy was inconsolable. Another face peeked into the cargo bay—a young man with a pierced nose and a crude pistol.

  “Shray of Nayak,” Laos introduced, motioning the man in to help her. Shray tread carefully into the ship, shaking the water from his sandals. He tapped the ground before taking every step, like he didn’t trust the deck plates to hold his weight. Despite his caution, he still moved with lightning speed, weaving his way to Lakshya, checking to make sure the boy’s tears weren’t from injury.

  “Do you speak Trade, too?” Tray asked him.

  “No. Just me. All alone,” Lakshya sniffled, pulling Shray’s arm across his chest. Shray seemed irritated by the move, but he protected the little one.

  “Are we opening the ship up to all the tourists, or can we rescue Sky now?” Hawk asked, his limbs quaking with impatience.

  “I don’t want Sky back. She shot me,” Amanda said.

  “We’re rescuing Sky,” Danny said, putting an arm around Amanda.

  “You’re not going anywhere, Captain. You can barely walk,” Saskia argued, resting her cheek on her hand, still unable to keep her head up.

  “You can barely stand,” Danny retorted. “I’m not sending Tray alone with an army of children.”

  “He has me!” Hawk cried. “And they have weapons. Surely they have a plan.”

  Lakshya tugged Danny’s arm. “Once you get her out of the camp, we can help you get back here. We don’t cross into Drava territory. It’s considered an act of war.”

  32

  As far as rescue plans went, this was a bad one. Even Tray knew that. The stunner concealed under his jacket made it even more obvious how bad this plan was. Saskia usually gave him a shock-dart; a pulse rifle if she was worried. Saskia was barely on her feet by the time they were ready to go. She’d pressed her stunner into his hands and told him to bring everyone home. Sometimes he complained that he was nothing more than a glorified chef on Oriana, but now that he’d been captain, medic, and security chief, he wasn’t nearly as eager to take on more responsibility.

  Laos lead the way, her footfalls inaudible, her cloaked figure disappearing into the shadows. The other scouts followed for a while, traveling above ground in the trees, but they’d become more silent and invisible, except the young boy who spoke Trade.

  “My family didn’t want to trade me. They didn’t have food,” Lakshya whispered to Danny, holding his hand. Danny shouldn’t have left the ship, and a part of Tray had been hoping Danny would collapse so they’d have an excuse to leave him behind. Now that they’d gone a mile, Tray didn’t want to have to carry Danny back. The little scout boy had opened up about his home, and the conversation seemed to keep Danny going. “The Nayak never have enough food either. Shray teaches me how to eat off the land—what tastes good. When we go ahead of the drive, it’s easier because we can hunt small things and we don’t have to share.”

  “Shouldn’t we be quiet?” Tray asked him. “Or are all the scouts on our side?”

  “No one’s on your side,” Lakshya said. “Laos is saving her father from the Bandit.”

  “Oh.” Tray’s Virp light did little to illuminate the path. The water had receded with moonset, and were it not for his mapping program, Tray would have been lost.

  “We should just bomb them from the air,” Hawk groused, so eager to move that he was running laps around the others. A few times, he’d run into Laos, nearly knocking the girl over.

  “We’re not a war ship,” Danny pointed out, panting and leaning heavily on Tray. He tapped Laos on the shoulder. “Why did the Drava take Sky—Adita?” he asked, speaking slowly, enunciating every word in Lanvarian.

  “Why?” Laos repeated, her voice barely above a whisper. “She has Lakshmi,” Laos explained, drawing circles around her eyes. “Lakshmi draws us to prosperity.”

  Tray exchanged a look with his brother, but Danny didn’t seem to understand the explanation either.

  “Sky stole something from them,” Tray confessed. “I’m guessing it was bigger than a Bobsled. Are you thinking of leaving her?”

  “No. But if this is a jail break, we’ll be even,” Danny quipped. Tray made a face. There was a time when they were heroes rescuing Patriot refugees from the Terranan Guard. Now Tray had to wonder if he only found himself in these situations because Danny needed to keep rescuing people to stave off the boredom.

  “I don’t think they have jails in the Drava camp,” Tray pointed out.

  “If you’re not speaking to the girl, speak Trade,” Hawk carped, blasting past them again. “I can’t believe I waited fourteen hours for this brilliant plan of ‘walk in and ask for her back.’”

  “We’re going to sneak in, find her, and get out before they know we came,” Danny said pointedly, grabbing hold of Hawk and using him as a crutch to give Tray a break. “As far as they’ll know, she escaped on her own.”

  “You tried this plan in Rocan,” Hawk pointed out. “As I recall, it didn’t work out well.”

  “And whose fault was that?” Tray muttered. “It would help future trade if they
thought we honored our agreement to take the medicine and go.”

  Danny suddenly let go of both Tray and Hawk and dropped to one knee. Tray was by his brother’s side in a heartbeat, helping Danny sit on the rocky path. They still had a quarter mile to go. Laos broke a twig off a nearby tree and rushed to Danny’s side, waving the raw edge of the branch under his nose. The minty smell was strong enough for Tray to get a good whiff, and he felt a chill in his sinuses. Danny’s eyes bugged out, and he backed away from the strong-smelling twig.

  “Why don’t you stay here?” Tray suggested. “Hawk and I can sneak in alone.”

  “Oh, yeah. This plan was worth the wait,” Hawk snarked.

  Danny shook his head. “If we’re discovered, I’ll need you to create a diversion.”

  “If you keep falling over, we’ll be found out for sure,” Hawk said.

  Laos hissed, pressing her fingers to her lips, warning them all to be quiet. Taking Lakshya by the shoulder, she pointed upward. “Drava only,” she whispered.

  Tray nearly jumped out of his skin when the Nayak scout, Shray, appeared a moment later, reaching down a hand for Lakshya. The nomads seemed to blend so easily into the darkness.

  Impatiently, Hawk hooked Danny’s arm over his shoulder, dragging Danny to his feet and hurrying him along. Tray came under Danny’s other shoulder, grunting at the strain. This was a stupid plan and they shouldn’t be taking orders from Danny. Tray used to give orders all the time; he’d been the CEO of eight companies at once, and had legions of team managers awaiting his command. For some reason, he bowed to his brother’s every whim and became one of those drooling sycophants that he’d always found cause to fire.

  “Whoa,” Danny said when they reached the edge of the Drava city. With a combination of firelight and battery-powered globes, it was better lit than the slums of Quin, but there didn’t seem to be as many bugs clustering around those lights.

  “I told you it was big,” Tray said, pursing his lips to hide his own surprise. He needed to be right about something.

  “Circle. Blue tent past two. Adita is trapped that way. Many warriors,” Laos said, pointing toward their destination. The path looked relatively empty, and Tray figured they could sneak through easily enough.

  “I hear Sky crying,” Hawk said, tilting his head and edging eastward.

  “That could be anyone,” Tray whispered, crouching next to Laos. She sniffed the air and then headed in the direction Hawk had indicated.

  Hawk started running, and Danny fell on top of him, tackling him to the ground. Tray wasn’t sure if Danny had fallen from lack of support or launched after Hawk intentionally, but the sound of branches cracking and rustling leaves drew curious eyes and Tray ducked quickly out of sight.

  “It’s Sky,” Hawk hissed, struggling to get out from under Danny. Laos smacked him, growling at him to be quiet.

  “Hawk, you’re ruining another “sneak in” plan,” Tray warned.

  “If she’s able to scream, she’s not beyond help,” Danny said.

  Maybe that was true in the land of doctors and medicines. From Tray’s perspective, his brother had nearly died from a lack of basic local medicine.

  “Okay, Laos, what do we do now?” Tray asked.

  Laos pointed to the tent again. Suddenly, Danny reached under Tray’s coat, grabbed the stunner, and shot her.

  “What did you do?” Hawk cried, catching Laos and scooping her in his arms protectively.

  “She conveniently shows up and is willing to share everything we need to mount a rescue,” Danny shrugged. “It smells like a trap, and this is far enough.”

  “Danny, you’re crazy,” Tray groaned, hoping it was the meds that had warped his judgment. He hadn’t even checked the setting on the stunner. He could have killed her.

  Then another person dropped out of the trees, landing on Danny’s back.

  “I knew it was a trap!” he cried.

  “It’s not a trap. Laos told us the other scouts couldn’t cross into the village, and her own people would join once we got here!” Tray cried. “And now you’ve shot her and alienated all her friends!”

  The new person punched Danny and called for help, but Tray shot him and dragged his brother into hiding.

  “So much for sneaking in,” he muttered.

  Saskia groaned and rolled onto her side, instinctively reaching for her stunner. It took her a moment to remember that she’d given it to Tray. She hoped he hadn’t had to use it. The floor was cold and hard. Someone pressed a moist cloth to her forehead and water beaded over her skin, splashing onto the floor. No pillow. If she was in the infirmary, she wasn’t on the bed.

  “What happened?” Saskia asked, curling into a ball to keep from shivering.

  “You passed out again,” Amanda said, rubbing Saskia’s arm to warm her. She set a glass of water by Saskia’s face and Saskia drank carefully. Her head was pounding.

  “Is everyone safe?” Saskia asked, closing her eyes, trying to gather her strength, but finding she had no strength to gather.

  “Hardly,” Amanda said.

  “What happened to your arm?” Saskia asked, disoriented.

  “Sky,” Amanda said. “I’ll kill her later. The boys are still out rescuing her, and the back-up team is lying on the floor in the cargo bay.”

  Saskia lifted her head and peered around the empty bay. She wasn’t sure how long she’d been out, but by the light coming through the airlock, it was still evening. Rolling onto her back, Saskia contemplated sitting up, but decided against it. “Some help we are.”

  “You were in a coma,” Amanda said with a wry grin. “I’m just glad you still have basic reasoning skills.”

  “I let the captain leave,” Saskia said. Tenderly, Amanda held the cool compress to Saskia’s head. Saskia sighed as her body relaxed and her headache subsided.

  “You argued so strongly against it that you passed out,” Amanda reminded her. Saskia fumbled for the water glass and Amanda handed it to her. This time, when Saskia lifted her head to drink, she felt only a mild throbbing.

  “That’s what I do,” Saskia said, lying her head back on the floor. “Fight until I can’t fight anymore.”

  “That won’t help when the captain comes back and needs us to fly out of here,” Amanda said. “We can’t guard the back door and man the bridge at the same time. So are you going to fight me again, or can we go upstairs?”

  Saskia winced, vaguely remembering the argument with Amanda that had caused her to pass out in the first place. “If we can make it upstairs,” Saskia grumbled.

  With an impish grin, Amanda pulled over an old platform dolly on castor wheels. “Hop on.”

  Saskia’s lips parted in surprise. Amanda had spent her first days on Oriana learning to be mobile while gravity sick, so it shouldn’t have surprised Saskia to see the dolly. Moving gingerly, Saskia mounted the dolly. She had to sit, but at least she could sit hunched over. In fact, being hunched helped Amanda to push her around. What Amanda lacked in strength, she made up for in ingenuity. Amanda rolled them to the freight elevator and they rode to the galley on middeck. Saskia hoped Danny’s strength hadn’t faltered as radically as her own.

  “Did you meet the Drava when they came on board?” Saskia asked. She’d been only semi-conscious for most of the rescue planning.

  “They gave me this to help me see,” Amanda said, tapping a small device on her forehead. “They have the guns and arrows—projectiles.”

  “Oh . . . great,” Saskia groaned, suddenly regretting giving Tray only one stunner.

  “Why?” Amanda asked, rolling them across the galley to the stairwell leading to the upper deck. There were no elevators up here.

  “Projectiles means they can shoot us out of the air,” Saskia explained.

  “Oh . . . great.”

  Shifting off the dolly, Saskia sat backwards on the first step, deciding she’d scoot her way up rather than trying to walk. “Let’s get to the bridge and practice flying with just the two of us.”
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  “You think they won’t come back?” Amanda asked.

  Saskia shook her head. “They’ll come back. But if they’re followed, I don’t want to be shot out of the sky.”

  33

  The firelight was blurred by Sidney’s haze of drunkenness. With his heart swimming in alcohol, there was no need to process feelings, but he knew that it was important he find his daughter before Marius did. Laos was young and impressionable, and she respected her grandfather. She’d be joined to Brishen before the end of the week, and she’d be miserable.

  He tripped and fell to the ground, groaning when his face hit the dirt, but unable to summon the strength to move. Then he heard another moan.

  “Sidney?” Caira murmured, pushing his feet off her chest and sitting up. She smoothed her clothes and wiped her face, then edged over to him, rubbing her palm on his stubbly cheek, frowning at the smell of alcohol on his breath.

  Their daughter was in danger.

  Sidney raked his fingers through his hair, trying to clear his head and figure out where Laos might have gone.

  “You want to run away with her, don’t you?” Caira said mournfully.

  Sidney’s lips parted in surprise, knowing immediately what Caira was upset about. Adita had foreseen it; she’d tried to warn him.

  “The thought crossed my mind,” Sidney said.

  “How long did it stay?”

  “Hasn’t left yet,” he confessed, glancing around. There was nowhere in the village where he couldn’t hear his Adita crying for help, and the urge to go to her was overwhelming.

  “She is your love. Your only love,” Caira said, clasping her hands with his.

  Sidney frowned. Weaving his fingers between hers, he scooted close to her, taking comfort from the familiarity of her touch. Caira had been in his life for so long, always there, always loving. Adita left him over and over, but Caira was there. He could sleep next to her, wake up in the same tent as her, and be her family. It was something he could never have with Adita.