Home Front (Star Kingdom #7) - Lindsay Buroker Page 0,90

followers. Casmir noted how quickly her responses were coming back to him. Moonrazor couldn’t be far from the station. He hoped that didn’t mean she would join in with the mercenary attack. His base was practically empty of human life.

His main residence is in System Hydra, but yes, he has followers there and here. Or he did. While he’s been busy with his plots against the Kingdom, I’ve slid in and reminded them of the true ways of the astroshamans and that we care nothing of planets or pleasures of the body. Once we transcend to fully machine entities, we do not need the sun on our faces or anything except electricity to survive.

That’s what you’re doing now? Making the rounds and collecting his wayward acolytes?

The opportunity to do so, and the belief that Dubashi will soon be extricated from this existence, is what brought me to System Stymphalia.

You foresaw that? Through, uhm, divination? When he’d been in her base, he hadn’t seen evidence of livestock sacrifices or portents drawn in chicken entrails. But he had been sick at the time. Maybe he’d failed to notice the signs.

When your mind is like a computer, you find it easy to calculate odds and permutations. Thousands of possible outcomes and their likelihoods. Dubashi made two mistakes: going to war with the Kingdom and drawing you into his world. At that point, many of the outcomes veered out of his favor. There was a pause before she added, Though I admit, I hadn’t factored this damn mercenary into my calculations. Foolish of me. I should have realized the other clone could not help but play a role. Is it strange that I believe he’ll keep his word when he attacked my ship without warning? I hope he has some of your honor. I do not sacrifice my own, so I must open the gate. You have been warned.

Wait! Can’t you delay him? Or do you at least know where Dubashi is? Casmir imagined the prince with his ship full of rockets poised to fly to System Lion as soon as the gate came online.

I know where he is not. Like your mercenary clone, I also have an equivalent of your new slydar detector. I regret not installing it on my assistant’s ship. Then she would not have been caught by surprise. I did not realize that technology had become so widespread.

Casmir wondered how many mercenaries were coming to the station in addition to the ones the scanners could pick up. Soon, they might be close enough for the slydar detector to pick up. Maybe foolishly, Casmir was more worried about Dubashi.

If he’s not by the gate— Casmir intended to check with Rache to see if he could and would confirm that, —then where do you think he is? There’s nothing left of his base. The mercenaries know he can’t pay them, so they should be ignoring him now.

He’ll need ships to complete his invasion of your system. And I’m sure he still wants to kill you.

You think he’s coming here? Is that why you’re here? Or near here?

Am I? I’m certain you don’t see me, and I must go attend to the man using the lives of my kin to extort me.

Any chance you can let him out and then close the gate again?

It is not a light switch you can instantly flip on and off, nor do I intend to stick around indefinitely in this system to do your bidding. You have your warning, Professor. The gate will open soon. I’ll send instructions on where to deliver my crusher.

“Shit.” Casmir rubbed his head. He didn’t know if he was more alarmed that they were out of time when it came to the gate or that Dubashi might be coming here with the mercenaries or in the wake of the mercenaries—using them as a distraction?—to get Shayban’s ships. And maybe to get Casmir. “Better corroborate her story first.”

Thus far, Moonrazor had been fairly honest with him and even helped him, but he couldn’t guarantee that was still the case. She’d been irked by Rache’s meddling.

“So he’s the natural person to message for corroboration, right?” No, but he didn’t know who else he could try.

Rache, Casmir composed his message. You never let me know where to send your crusher. I hear you’re by the gate harassing astroshamans. Will you be there long enough for a postal ship to find you?

It took a while for the response, lending credence to the notion that Rache wasn’t