City of Ruins - By Kristine Kathryn Rusch Page 0,95

sure about Rea.

I’m more worried about an accidental discharge than I am about the people on that Dignity Vessel.

“How about this?” I say, willing to compromise with my team. “Seager, Quinte, Kersting, lower your weapons. Point them at the floor. If something goes wrong, raise them and use them. But wait until my signal.”

“What if something happens to you?” Quinte asks.

“I think that would substitute for a signal, don’t you?” I can’t help the sarcasm. I miss my real team. I miss Mikk’s quick thinking and Roderick’s impulsive piloting skills. I miss Tamaz’s muscle. I miss their loyalty and their ability to anticipate what I’m about to do.

“The rest of you,” I say, after I manage to regain control of my voice again, “holster your weapons.”

I turn toward them. Rea clutches his like a lifeline.

“Now,” I say, wondering how I’ll enforce this if they don’t listen.

But they do. Rea makes a show of holstering his. DeVries puts his away as if the grip has already burned him. Al-Nasir carefully holsters his as if he thinks it’ll go off if he hits it wrong.

I sigh. I’m stuck in the strangest, possibly the most dangerous, experience I’ve had since some of us went after the Empire’s guards, and this time, I have a bunch of tourists who can’t think clearly if their life depended on it.

And of course, their lives do depend on it.

As does mine.

“Now what?” Rea asks.

“Now,” I say, “we wait.”

* * * *

FIFTY

M

y God,” Dix said. “They’re putting their weapons away.”

Coop looked up from his consultation with Rossetti. She was in full dress uniform as well, just like he had requested, but she would be putting an environmental suit over it for added protection. The dress uniform was for her and not the outsiders. It was to remind her—and her entire team—that they were in a diplomatic situation, not a military one.

Apparently the outsiders thought they weren’t in a military situation, either —or at least the woman did. She held her hands out, showing that they were empty.

That fabric mask she wore over her mouth and nose moved slightly—she was talking to her people. Three of them had holstered their weapons, and the other three had turned the muzzles downward, although the heavyset man would probably shoot his own foot if the weapon discharged.

Amateurs.

That detail still disturbed Coop.

Still, he couldn’t prevent a small smile. He and the woman were communicating already.

She wanted him to know that her people were not a threat. She wanted a dialogue. But she also wanted him to know that she would shoot if shot at.

“Get out there,” he said to Rossetti.

“I had told my team we had another half an hour,” she said.

“I don’t care,” he said. “They’re ready for us now. Get out there as quickly as you can.”

“Yes, sir.” She nodded and left the bridge.

“This isn’t some kind of ploy, is it?” Yash asked, looking at the outsiders

“What kind of ploy would that be?” Coop asked. “We’re the ones who notified them we were here. They didn’t seem too concerned about us before today.

“They didn’t know we were here before today,” Yash said.

“We’ll be careful,” Coop said.

“I hope so,” Yash said. “I really do.”

* * * *

FIFTY-ONE

T

he ship’s door opens. It rises upward, and a small staircase eases out, sliding its way to the floor. I’ve seen the doors open like that on Dignity Vessels we’ve found, but I’ve never seen the staircase. It makes my breath catch again. The magic and mystery of the Dignity Vessels. I’m so overwhelmed, I have to remind myself to remain calm.

A woman emerges. She holds herself rigidly. She’s wearing an environmental suit without a helmet, but an environmental suit unlike any I’ve ever seen. It’s more like a membrane than a suit, and beneath it, I can see a black uniform—or what I’m imagining to be a black uniform.

Her gaze meets mine, and she holds it as she comes down those stairs. She’s already figured out that I’m in charge, and she’s coming directly for me.

“Boss,” Rea says, sounding nervous.

I signal him to remain quiet with my right hand. In fact, I hope my entire team got that signal. I want to be the one doing the talking here. I should have told them that.

Behind the woman comes an entire group of people. Men, women of varying heights and appearances. Some are spacer thin, but some aren’t. Some look like they were raised in real gravity.

I wonder how that’s possible, given what I’ve heard about