“Yes. It’s linked to all my hidden accounts. It’s also what I use when I talk to Nas. Everything is fully encrypted.” She entered a code, and the panel beneath the station glowed red. “Put your palm on it so I can give you access to the system.”
Once he did, the system hummed until the panel turned green.
“There we go,” she entered a few more codes, “now you have access to everything.”
“I can’t believe you did that,” he said quietly.
“Did what?” She looked up at him in confusion.
“You just gave me access to all your accounts,” he told her, his disbelief easily heard.
“Why wouldn’t I?” she asked. “I love you, and besides, someone other than me needs to know how to access them.”
“Nas doesn’t know how?”
“He does. After all, he helped me set them up, but he’s never accessed them.” Her eyes widened. “But he would if he needed credits.” She spun back to the station and began to furiously type, checking first one account and then another until her shoulders sagged in defeat. “He hasn’t accessed any of the accounts.”
Dropping to his knees, he ran a reassuring hand along her leg. “He wouldn’t, Taly. Not if there was the slightest chance of the transmission being intercepted. He wouldn’t risk you that way.”
“I’d just hoped….”
“I know, but he will contact us.”
The ringing of the comm had them both looking to the station. Ranvir was the one that answered.
“What is it?”
“Major,” Vujcec’s voice came through the earbuds they still wore. “There’s a transmission you and Taly will want to see.”
“On our way.”
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
Taly stared at the view screen in disbelief. Some enterprising being had recorded the entire incident on the tarmac of Yelmurn. Not only had they captured it, but they’d also somehow been able to recognize Talyani.
The angle zoomed-in when her hood fell back as she struggled against two large men. Ganesha and Pike prevented her from getting off the ship to help Ranvir.
The narrator claimed they were restraining her. They were abducting her to do unspeakable things to her. They were ruthless cyborgs, after all.
No one could refute the claim to their identities after seeing Ranvir make the impossible leap from the deck into the ship’s hatch several meters high.
The narrator demanded the authorities should come to her aid, even though he’d stood by and done nothing.
“Gods damned, fucking shit!” Taly ignored the shocked looks she received for her extreme profanity. “How the fuck were they able to get this out so fast?”
“You’re Talyani,” Vujcec said as if that answered everything.
“They also revealed our transponder code,” Tane told them. “The entire universe will now be looking for it.”
“Shut it down, Vujcec,” Ranvir ordered.
“Already done,” he replied.
“Now we need to decide what to do,” Ranvir told them. “Especially with innocent civilians on board.”
Taly walked over to Vujcec’s comm center and pressed a button. “Oved. Sato. Ree. Could you return to the bridge, please?”
“What are you doing, Taly?” Ranvir asked.