victim ranted of. But assuming it is… I just don’t know. I’m sure the Frontier women would be grateful to find out the source of the conspiracy that put them in cryostasis…but not if they died trying to find out.”
We both fall silent because at times like this, there are no easy answers, and neither Solair nor I stand much on platitudes.
Chapter Thirteen
Lamira
“She’s killing it.”
“And that’s why she’s the best.” Sitting with her back against the wall of my bunk, Varia crosses her legs and nods sagely at the holovid playing at the center of the room.
On it, a large stage surrounded by thousands of screaming fans is being illuminated by a multitude of red and blue lights, a single woman with an exotic attire made of giant golden feathers at the center of it all. The thrumming of a steady beat has the crowd swaying like a single entity, and that’s even before Fenix Black has begun singing.
A rising music star straight out of Novaria, she’s been tearing up the charts for the last couple of months and it seems like every woman our age is a fan. I count myself as one of them. Something I was planning to do before I woke up in the Frontier’s damp cargo hold was save up enough money to attend one of her concerts. I guess that plan is dead now. Unless Fenix Black decides to hold a concert for the IHC’s most wanted list, I’m never going to see her live.
“You think we’ll ever go back to being like them?” I point at the women and men singing along with Fenix Black, her silky voice now filling the entire room. I think about lowering the volume, but decide against it and simply raise my voice. “Are we ever going to have a normal life again?”
“Well, didn’t you get the memo, Lamira?” she asks me in a sarcastic tone. “We’re rogues and adventurers now. Why would we want a normal life?”
“Very funny,” I can’t stop myself from laughing. It’s good to know that Varia is maintaining an upbeat attitude about the whole thing. She’s right about that. There’s no use in turning into a depressed blob, after all.
“Why wasn’t I invited to this party?” I hear someone shout, and Varia and I turn toward the door just as Fiona bursts into the room. She’s wearing blue mechanic overalls that are one size too large for her petite frame, and she has rolled the oiled-stained sleeves up to her elbows. Crossing her arms, she tilts her chin up toward the holovid. “Fenix Black, huh? Her last album was dope.”
“Are you a fan?”
“I wasn’t, but...” she starts to say, and then merely shrugs. “Everyone in my bunk room insists on playing her concerts all the freaking time, so it’s not like I have a choice. I think I already know all her lyrics by heart.”
“Well, you can join us then. We’ve just started to—”
“Yeah, no.” Waving one hand at the holovid, she lowers its volume and then grabs a datapad from her pocket. Looking at us with a confident expression, she closes the door behind her and closes the distance between us three. “I came here to talk about Solace.”
She doesn’t need to say a word more.
Varia and I immediately sit up on the bunk bed, and I shut the holovid off with a quick gesture. Fenix Black’s voice disappears completely, leaving in its wake an anxious silence. Turning up her datapad, Fiona connects the screen to the room’s terminal, and a holographic map takes over the place where Fenix Black’s holo concert was. On it, a planet of an icy blue appears, eight moons floating in its orbit.
“That planet is Tartus,” Fiona starts to explain. “As we suspected, it’s a fringe planet outside of League space. It doesn’t really appear on most official registries since there’s only one small chartered settlement on the surface, but what Lamira told me about an abandoned base helped narrow my search.” Raising both her hands, she spreads them widely to enlarge one of the moons on the holographic projection. This one has the same blue tonality as the planet, but its diminutive size sheds some doubts on it being an actual moon. It’s more like an asteroid that was pulled into Tartus’ orbit and remained trapped there.
“None of these moons are called Solace, though,” Varia says, eyeing the map attentively. With both her hands on her hips, she lets a small frown take over her face.