Home Front (Star Kingdom #7) - Lindsay Buroker Page 0,101

Viggo said.

“Really.” Bonita tried comming two more times, but the system didn’t even invite her to leave a message. “I feel snubbed.”

“Do you want to accelerate to close the gap between our ships?”

If she did that, it would be hard to pretend, for the sake of onlookers, that the Dragon was ambling toward the gate with no interest in the other ships.

“How far is she from the Druckers?” She looked at the scanner display.

“Not too far. The Mirage is closer. They’re on course to fly past the pirate warships—seemingly giving them a wide berth—on their way to the gate. So far, neither of the Drucker warships has moved off its course to intercept.”

“Meaning they’re not buying it?”

“Possibly,” Viggo said. “I am detecting transmissions from Queen Dya’s ship.”

Bonita glanced at her comm panel, but it remained dark. “Transmissions to whom? Is she contacting the Druckers?”

She clenched a fist, frustrated and worried for her friends. If the Druckers recognized it as a ruse, they might do more than ignore the Mirage. They might attack it. That yacht couldn’t withstand the might of the warships. Their whole plan was predicated on the Druckers wanting to board the ship and steal its fictional cargo.

“She is communicating with the Mirage.” Viggo sounded surprised. “I shall try to intercept the transmission. It does not appear to be encrypted.”

Bonita leaned back in her pod and made herself stop chewing on her nails. One of Viggo’s vacuums trundled into navigation to suck up nonexistent dirt on the deck. It was important that the ship not go into battle dusty.

“The transmission ended, and the Mirage has not responded yet,” Viggo said. “I am playing what I managed to capture.”

“Dear Jemadari,” Queen Dya purred. “I know you were enamored with my prototype slydar detector when I gave you a tour of my ship, but I didn’t think that you and your minions would sneak aboard and steal it. Did you think I don’t have cameras and wouldn’t notice? It was thoughtful of you to leave my jewelry alone, but we both know the slydar detector is worth a lot more. Just because the gate has been repaired doesn’t mean you can get away from me. Don’t think I won’t gun you down because I’m a woman. I’ll give you fifteen minutes to decelerate so I can catch you and you can return it. If you don’t, I will open fire.”

Bonita gazed at the comm panel, as if the blank display might provide enlightenment. “I’m confused, Viggo.”

“As am I.”

“Did that actually happen? Did Qin, Asger, and Bjarke get involved in some Miners’ Union-leader squabble?”

“Perhaps it is a ruse. The Druckers should also be close enough to intercept that communication. If they cared to do so. Maybe they’re indifferent to anything other than what’s going on at the station. That is still their heading.”

“I’m going to check in with Qin. If there was another slydar detector that we didn’t know about, and if Jemadari’s people did take it, she should know by now, right?”

“If the passengers are not being kept in the dark.”

Qin, Bonita messaged. Did you know that Queen Dya is chasing the ship you’re on?

The last I heard, it’s following us at a distance.

Check again. You guys just got an ultimatum from her. You may be in a battle soon if Jemadari doesn’t reply.

A battle with Dya?

Bonita summed up the message, ending with, You’ve been ordered to slow down.

Uh, none of our people are in navigation, but I’m pretty sure we aren’t.

“Is the Mirage decelerating, Viggo?” Bonita asked.

“Not that I can detect.”

Figure out what’s going on over there, and let me know if you need help.

Thanks, Captain. I’ll get back to you soon.

Bonita grimaced. She’d hoped that Qin would have known exactly what was going on and already have a plan in action. Should she try Bjarke? Or were he and Asger sitting in some passenger compartment right next to Qin, equally clueless?

“One of the Drucker warships is changing course,” Viggo said.

“Toward the Mirage?” Bonita asked with sinking certainty.

“Toward the Mirage.”

“The other Drucker ship hasn’t deviated from its path toward Stardust Palace.”

“Why would it? They only need one warship to annihilate either of those yachts. And us too, for that matter.”

Bonita tapped the navigation console but didn’t do anything to alter the Dragon’s course yet. For now, they were probably an uninteresting blip on the Druckers’ scanner display. As soon as she got involved, the pirates would have a reason to notice her. Better not to be a part of