Home Front (Star Kingdom #7) - Lindsay Buroker Page 0,97

back online, didn’t it? Maybe something will come through. Uh, do you want me to respond if something comes in while you’re gone?”

“No. Do not communicate with him until I’ve fully learned what he’s been doing in Stymphalia.”

Did that mean he had a partial idea already?

“Yes, Father,” Oku said, though she intended to disobey that order. Hopefully, with her chip replaced, she could do so without worrying about Royal Intelligence finding out.

“And if he had anything to do with Jorg’s death,” Father added darkly.

Oku rocked back. “I can’t believe that he would.”

Why would her father even think that?

“We’ll see,” was all he said before walking out.

21

Casmir divvied his crushers up so that each of the ships in his mishmash of a fleet got at least a couple to help out in the event they were boarded. He was sending most of the crushers on two of Shayban’s vessels that were designed for combat. They weren’t warships or anywhere near the size of the Kingdom spacecraft, but they were heavily armored and bore numerous weapons—the vessels usually accompanied Shayban’s mining ships to protect their rich loads as they ventured far from civilized space.

Shayban didn’t have a militia, but he’d scrounged up security officers with armor and spaceship combat experience. They had boarded earlier with the crushers. Only Casmir, Tristan, and Nalini remained out in the bay, directing people where to go as Shayban paced and watched these final preparations. He didn’t interfere, but a couple of times, he paused and lifted a finger, as if he wanted to. But he inevitably lowered it again and returned to pacing. Casmir hadn’t seen Shayban nervous before, and it rattled him a bit. Did he know more than he’d let on?

Casmir was nervous himself. A deluge of messages from back home had flooded his chip earlier, meaning the gate was open and a courier ship had come through from the Kingdom. That meant Dubashi could leave any time he wanted, and it meant everything that had happened here would have made it back to Jager by now. Casmir felt time pressing on him from all sides.

“Time to board, Professor,” Tristan said. “Half of our fleet has already flown out, and if we mean to get out before any shots are fired, we need to leave too.”

“I know. I’m ready.”

Casmir checked the exits one more time before heading to the ramp of the armored ship that he, Nalini, and Tristan would ride in. Even though he’d hugged Kim and said goodbye, he hoped she would show up at the last minute and join him. Maybe it was silly—he didn’t know if she would be safer out there or safer in here—but they’d been through so much together since leaving Odin. It seemed strange to go somewhere without her now.

Shayban hugged Nalini, shook Tristan’s hand, and then the two of them headed up the ramp. He offered Casmir his hand too.

“I think you know what I want done, Professor.”

“The mercenaries driven away and your enemy vanquished, or at least kidnapped and brought back to you.”

“Indeed. Do you realize that the rest of the ships—those that aren’t mine—were lent to your fleet for more reasons than a desire for a slydar detector?” Shayban arched his eyebrows.

“Oh?” he asked carefully.

Casmir still wasn’t sure if Shayban was pleased that his expensive prototype was in the middle of being mass produced. The first detector off the line had been installed in the combat ship he was about to enter. It was all he’d been able to get ready in time, and they had yet to test it.

But Shayban didn’t bring up the slydar detector. “I know you were working and missed the start of the talks—the talks that we’ve unfortunately had to pause until we’re sure everybody will be safe—but I trust you gathered that the various scholars—and the government leaders backing those scholars—are interested in the gate pieces that your Kingdom ships made off with.”

“I did wonder about that, sir. The Kingdom did get a number of pieces, but I believe the mercenary Rache got more, and of course Kyla Moonrazor herself took away half of them.”

“Through luck or design—I am assuming luck—the Kingdom ships got what the scholars believe is one of two control pieces. They believe the astroshamans got one of them and that Jager now has control of the other. It’ll be difficult for them to replicate the gate without studying one of those integral pieces. They’ve already asked the astroshamans if they’ll share theirs—the answer,