Scattered Suns - Kevin J. Anderson [206]
“A man ahead of his time! We should remember him as a freedom fighter, an independence leader fighting against the oppressive Big shizzy Goose.”
Though the temperature around them remained frigid, Denn felt pleasantly warm. He thought he’d finished his drink, but his glass was somehow full again. “After Rendezvous, my Cesca told the Roamers to scatter and hide. But maybe we should take it a step further than that, follow Sorengaard’s example and be freedom fighters ourselves.”
The twins looked at him. Caleb and Andrew seemed slower to realize what he was suggesting, but Denn kept talking about his idea. When he found his words becoming slurred, he raised his voice to compensate. “We’ve got ships. We’ve got stealth and speed. And we know what the Eddies did to Hurricane Depot, to Raven Kamarov’s ship—”
Caleb raised his glass. “Here’s to Raven Kamarov.” They all drank a toast.
Denn took a few moments to gather his thoughts again, then remembered what he had been saying. “How ’bout if we all go out and rouse some rabble on our own? Take back a few things to make up for all the damage the Big Goose has done to us.”
The Tamblyn brothers began to chuckle, and their eyes lit up. “Would be a good chance for payback.”
“Seems like a plan to me. First we’re outlaws. Now we’re going to be pirates. Sounds more respectable.”
Denn was grinning. “Let’s figure out how to get started.” He looked down and saw that his glass was unaccountably empty, but the Tamblyn brothers were happy to refill it.
Their plans didn’t make a great deal of sense, but what they lacked in logic, the five men made up for with boisterous enthusiasm.
Chapter 104—RLINDA KETT
The Voracious Curiosity raced away for hours, one step ahead of any EDF ships. Rlinda wandered along a drunkard’s path that she hoped would shake pursuit. Considering all the current emergencies in the Hansa, she doubted the military would waste much effort on such a small fish, especially if they thought BeBob was already dead.
Then again, it was General Lanyan.
“Life with you is never boring, Rlinda,” BeBob said, still miserable. “I hope you’re not doing this to impress me.”
She tried to find the strength to tease him. “You’ve got a lot to pay me back for, BeBob—and don’t you think I won’t collect it.”
“I shall do my best, ma’am.” His breath hitched briefly. “And thanks...for everything.”
The Curiosity eventually arrived in a backwater system that the old Ildiran starcharts named Plumas, where they thought they might be safe for a while. “We’ve got to give our engines a chance to rest, perform a few minor repairs, and take an inventory of everything we dumped out the cargo hold. I’m fairly sure I had three cases of New Portugal wine in there, as well as ten kilos of the best black chocolate you’ll ever taste. Damn! All together, that was probably more valuable than your ship.”
“Not to me, Rlinda. My ship...”
“And Davlin.” The spy had always been silent and cool, and not someone who would have been willing to sacrifice his life for them.
Of course he wouldn’t.
Therefore, it was likely that he had not done what she thought. Which was exactly how Davlin would have planned it...
“You know, I’m thinking Davlin might have gotten away.”
BeBob looked at her in disbelief. “We saw my whole ship turn into a fireball.”
“Those pyrotechnics were obviously intentional—part of his plan—and I very much doubt that any plan of Davlin’s would require his own death.” She shrugged. “Just a thought, that’s all.” Rlinda heaved herself out of her expansive pilot’s chair. “Come on, we’ll only get depressed if we keep talking like this. Let’s at least get depressed in the engine compartment, where we can do something useful.”
While the fuel cells recharged and the two fugitives ran a careful analysis of any damage the Remoras had done, the hours passed in blissful, if still tense, tedium. This was just what she’d wanted—plenty of time alone with BeBob...but she hadn’t expected it would be so hard