Avalon

Jeth winced at the doubt in her tone that suggested it wouldn’t just be hard but a feat of miraculous proportions.

“I thought Stratas were luxury cruise ships?” Celeste said.

“Normally, yes,” said Sierra. “That’s one of the reasons why it’s so effective for black ops. Most spaceports and passing patrols take one look at the Northern Dancer and deem her harmless.”

Shady snorted. “Anybody that’s ever been on a cruise ship should know it ain’t harmless. All kinds of nasty rich people inside of them.”

“What the heck do you know about being on a cruise ship?” said Flynn.

Shady grumbled something incoherent.

“Will you two shut up?” said Celeste.

Jeth cut them all off with a look. Then he turned his gaze on Sierra. “But you know the ship, right? I mean, well enough that you can help us plan how to get in and out without getting caught?”

“Sure, I can help,” Sierra said. “But I have no idea how we’ll get in there. They’re sure to see us coming. And no offense to Avalon, but she’s not big enough to take on the Northern Dancer in a firefight.”

Jeth knew she was right. Avalon’s biggest assets were her speed and agility.

“We’re not going to attack it outright,” said Dax. “No reason to. All we need is a ship with a stealth drive.”

Sierra scoffed. “And where’re we supposed to get one of those?”

Jeth’s spirits lifted and an eager smile rose to his lips. “Right here. In the spaceport.”

“That’s right,” Dax said. “The Citation will be perfect for a job like this. We can pull right alongside, and they’ll never know we’re there.”

“You came here on a ship with a stealth drive?” Sierra asked, raising her eyebrows.

“Sure did, sweetheart,” said Dax.

“And it actually works?”

“Most of the time. Hammer’s got a whole lot of really smart people trying to perfect the technology.”

Sierra smirked. “Hmmm, I always heard Hammer was a force to be reckoned with.”

“Oh, yes. He certainly is.” There was a sharp edge to Dax’s voice.

“Okay,” Jeth said. “Let’s start figuring out how we get onto the ship. We’ll head out as soon as Flynn’s got Avalon’s new metadrive working.”

“Just a couple more hours,” Flynn said with more bravado in his voice than his expression suggested should be present.

“Why wait?” Dax said. “Let’s just take the Citation.”

“No.” Jeth said, casting him a significant look. According to their agreement, Lizzie and the rest were free to go once they finished this. They’d need a space-worthy ship.

“Whatever you say,” Dax said, clapping Jeth on the shoulder. “You’re calling the shots.”

For now.

Four hours later, Flynn declared Avalon flight ready. Jeth and Milton had spent the time filling in the rest of the crew about Cora and the reason why Lizzie had been taken. Jeth had decided the others needed to know, but they had to do it quietly, keeping Dax in the dark.

Jeth stared around at the compartment housing the metadrive, not certain he believed Flynn about them being ready. The engine room looked as if it had been ransacked by a group of feral monkeys. Loose wires dangled from the ceiling and stretched across the floor like snakes. The metadrive itself was an ominous shade of red, threaded with miniscule streaks of white that Jeth knew meant the thing was already dying. It was sad, really. He wondered if the entire species or superorganism or whatever the Pyreans were would soon be extinct.

“Good work, Flynn,” Jeth said, despite his reservations. He imagined it wasn’t easy messing around with that thing.

Sierra was ready, too. As Jeth and the others gathered in the common room, she gave him a significant look that told him she had successfully modified Milton’s copy of the Aether Project as he’d asked her to do shortly after making the deal with Dax.

Sierra began going over the plan for how they would approach the Northern Dancer. They would take both ships until just outside scanning range of the Northern Dancer’s position. Flynn and Milton would stay with Avalon. The rest of them would approach the Northern Dancer aboard the Citation, running in stealth mode.

From there, they would have to get creative on the fly for getting to Lizzie. It all depended on where she was being held, and with any luck, Cora would be with her. Once they had Lizzie to crack the Northern Dancer’s network, they would track down the Aether Project files. Jeth, Milton, and Sierra had agreed privately that they would have to get the original Aether Project data cell from Renford, instead of taking the easy route of pretending to find it and then handing over the fake to Dax. They couldn’t leave the Aether Project in Renford’s hands.

“Um,” Celeste said when Sierra finished speaking, “I know Lizzie is brilliant and all, but how will she be able to track down the Aether Project files?”

“It’ll take time and a little bit of luck,” said Sierra, “but if Renford has put it on any computer on the Northern Dancer, she’ll be able to find it.”

Shady raised his hand. “What if he’s using a computer on an isolated network?”

Everyone present turned and gaped at him in disbelief.

“What?” said Shady. “I know a thing or two about computers.”

Celeste snorted. “Since when?”