Galaxy's End: Book One by LeRoy Clary (popular ebook readers txt) 📗

were letting whoever commanded the ship know that when it reached an exit nexus, they would be right behind, and in real space, they would travel much faster. It was a wordless warning not to attempt running because they would catch up and things would go worse.

She said, “When we drop out, how long before they will follow?”

Fang said, “They know there is nothing at the nexus we are going to use. They believe we will continue because the wormhole leads nowhere. There is nothing we can use to defend ourselves, no help, so they will not be prepared for the jump. It will take them a short while to reprogram and follow us.”

“Define ‘a short while.’”

Fang laughed throatily. “I would think we could drop out, enter normal space, order and devour a leisurely meal before they burst forth after us. Before we could eat again, they’d catch up to us.”

She smiled and looked up at the speaker grill on the ceiling. “Bert, I want a series of messages created for my review. You know what we’re doing so I’ll let you have your head and not insult you by telling what you already know. I’ll listen to them later.”

Bert sounded his ping before responding. “You want me to incriminate the two ships?”

“Not so they are destroyed. Dangle bait about valuable improved technology aboard to them. Then try to figure a way that will allow the Bradley Concord to release us.”

Fang interrupted, “You do realize that killing us or destroying this ship would allow them to keep their new secret, right?”

Bert said without a ping to announce him, “Not necessarily true. We can forward an encrypted subspace message to the Guardia and also to other known traders. Nobody will know what it contains. Not even if it is garbage. They will discover that we sent it, and when. They’ll have to consider it authentic and that it contains the secret as a ransom for our release.”

Captain Stone laughed out loud.

Fang growled under his breath and hissed, “Incredible solution, my friend. If we are destroyed, they will know their secret will be released to all worlds. The only way to keep it to their advantage will be to trust us. Bert, you are a devious genius.”

Captain Stone was still chuckling. How had she been lucky enough to meet and recruit these beings? Her mind flashed on each for a brief time and ended with her last trip to the communications center. Bert was a digger and had managed to wad paper, clothing, linens, and a dozen other things to fill the room from floor to ceiling.

Inside all that cuddled Bert with his beloved computer inputs. When asked, Kat had told her she only saw him on occasion, often weeks between them. But he was always there when she needed him or wanted to talk, although he rarely emerged.

She imagined that Bert had interfered and mitigated the usual trouble homeless teens get into. What Kat and Bill considered as “lucky” finds of needed meals, clothing, and even the police deciding not to put the pair in jail had probably been Bert working behind the scenes.

She wondered why. It was inconceivable that a member of another race, one far more intelligent than humans, had “adopted” the two. There was more to the story and only Bert could share it.

Captain Stone had asked Kat, who had just entered the bridge, “How did you meet Bert?”

Kat had stumbled over an answer. Not that she lied or was looking for a story, but because she didn’t know. Bert had always been there, she’d said.

Stone persisted, “Then you should ask him about your parents.”

“I have. He doesn’t know anything. I once asked him to perform a computer search. Nothing.”

That was one of the few inconsistencies she’d found. It was also a puzzle to resolve. Perhaps a private conversation with Bert would help. She might do a little background research herself before broaching the subject.

She didn’t think Kat was lying. And Bert may be telling the truth—or withholding a few facts. She suspected the latter.

Bert was protective of Kat. Yes, he was friendly with Bill, but Stone detected a slight difference in their relationship. Bill seemed to be a physical protector for Kat, and Bert dispatched him to rescue her in any situation that might turn against her. Bill often kept her from doing dangerous things or that might get her captured by the police. Or worse, by gang-lords.

It could be that each had taken on their roles as a natural evolution as they grew older, but she suspected otherwise. The roles were too defined. Bert was behind their relationship.

Kat and Bill appeared to be on the lower side of the standard eighteen years of adulthood. Not by a lot. They might have been older, but she doubted it. Humans change right about that age. They mature suddenly. She suspected that Bert was ancient.

The case had been made through DNA or similar indicators that Kat had been raised on Prager Four until reaching Roma at about age four or five. Maybe six. A child of four cannot take care of itself. It would need help. A child of six might survive, especially if it had help from a Digger. Bert could guide it and supply a companion to protect her.

That idea suggested they had been together since Kat arrived on Roma.

Thinking logically, why would an incredibly smart Digger a couple of centuries old align itself with an orphan child of that youthful age? Why had it taken the girl under its care? It was a question that defined her uneasiness. She suspected there was an unknown to explain it.

Subtracting four from their estimated age of eighteen, there were a little over a dozen years to investigate, especially those fourteen years ago. While finding Bill’s history was more problematic, it may