Chapter 23
Tycho Station may have been past its glory days when deconstruction started, but if Vesta had ever had glory days, they were so far in the past as to be only a wistful dream. Dark, dirty, and crowded it was home to the largest population in the outer planets, all confined within a few kilometers of subsurface structures and tunnels.
The smell immediately assaulted Nik as the airlock opened from the docks on the surface to the terminal that served as the point of entry into the colony. Air exchangers and purifiers were never 100% efficient, but the ones on the asteroid were designed to support a much smaller population. In fact, nothing on the asteroid had been designed to support the current demands of the colony. Waste recycling, water reclamation, climate control; all were overtaxed to just short of the point of failure.
Seeing the reactions of the crew as they entered the terminal, she couldn't help but think about her life on Tycho. This, she thought, was perfect for station rats like her. With so many people, wayward children would have been all but invisible. She caught movement out of the corner of her eye as two children wove through the crowd looking for unwary marks. One had already spotted her group and was making his way towards them. She thought about warning the others, then just kept quiet. Who was she to deprive the station's children of their livelihood?
Weaving their way through the mass of people, the crew of the Roci broke up into teams, each with their own assignment. Holden was going to contact someone he knew for information on why the MCRN was looking for her, her parents, and the research they were doing. Nik had no idea who is contact was, but he had assured her that if there was anything out there, they would find it. Alex and Naomi were going to stock up on provisions. Almost anything could be found on the station for a price.
Nik and Amos were tasked with making repairs to the Roci. In addition to the damage the ship had taken at Tycho Station, the stray asteroid had damaged its rail gun and a landing support strut. She wasn't sure why Holden and the others had begun to treat her as a, maybe not a full crew member, but definitely no longer just a passenger, but over the last few days they had included her in their planning discussions.
The asteroid had knocked them off their course, so Alex had to engage the engines earlier than originally planned, giving away their location sooner. They calculated that they had maybe three days before the MCRN was too close for comfort. Whatever repairs were needed, she and Amos only had two days before the Roci departed the station.
Leaving the terminal, they headed towards the industrial section of the station. If the terminal had seemed crowded, the thoroughfares of the stations were a continuous mass of moving bodies. Weaving with the flow, she realized this would be the perfect place to hide. Nobody knew her here and the Belters were so distrusting of inners – Amos was getting a lot of hostile looks – that she was sure she could just disappear. Even if the MCRN knew for certain she was here, it would be virtually impossible for them to find her.
"It would be easy to disappear here," Amos said over the noise around them as if guessing her thoughts.
Nik started, "yes, it would."
"You could start over here if you wanted," he continued.
"Are you trying to get rid of me?" she teased.
"No, but it would be the smart thing to do."
"You forget I have a family waiting for me on Ganymede."
"You would only be putting them in danger if you joined them," he pointed out.
"Then I will need to fix things before then," she snapped, annoyed by his statement for some inexplicable reason. "If you aren't willing to help me, I'll find someone that will."
"What if you can't fix it?"
That was it. She shoved her way out of the flow of traffic, garnering several curses in the process. Once at the side of the tunnel, she rounded on Amos, who had followed her.
"Why are you doing this?" she demanded.
"You need to be realistic, Kitten," he replied calmly. "This might not be something you can fix. Ever."
"Well, at least I can say I tried," she poked him with a finger in the chest. "I'm a Belter, we don't give up just because something is hard. Look around you. We aren't meant to be out here, but here we are, living somewhere we have no business being. If we gave up because it's hard, we'd all be stuck on Earth still."
He stared down at her for a bit. Nik couldn't read his expression and it infuriated her further. She was gearing up for another round when he said, "are you done?"
The simple question stopped her cold. Blinking, she replied, "ya, I've said my piece."
"Good," he nodded. "Now, let's fix the ship so we can get off this rock."
He pushed his way back into the flow of bodies, expecting her to follow. After a hesitation, she did.
"Asshole."
Hours later, hot and sweaty, Nik flopped down on her bunk and shut her eyes for just a moment. When she opened them again, the ship was quiet. Cleaning up quickly and putting on a clean set of coveralls, she left her room looking for the others. She found Alex in the galley.
"Where is everyone?"
"They went to get something to eat. You were sleeping, or they would have asked if you wanted to go," he told her.
"What about you? Why didn't you go?"
"Me? Nah, I'd rather be here. They'll bring something back for me later."
"I think I'll go explore some," she mused.
"If you want to join them, they'll be at the Randy Dog. Oh, before I forget," he held something out to her, "this is for you."
She took the credit stick and looked at him questioningly.
"It's not much, but you could use some clothes that actually fit. Or something else you need."
She looked down stick and murmured, "I've never had new clothes."
"Then go buy something pretty for yourself."
She blinked back tears and turned her back to him so he couldn't see. "Thanks, Alex."
Nik quickly blended in with the crowds and quickly found her way to one of the market sections. Wandering by various shops, carts, and makeshift stalls, sometimes no more than a blanket spread on the floor, she made herself go down the entire length of the area to get an idea of what was available at different vendors before she started shopping. The first shop she went into was full of expensive accessories made from simulated animal hides. The owner followed her around the few minutes she was inside to ensure she didn't steal anything. She supposed she looked pretty scruffy in her working coveralls and her long, unkept braid.
The back of her neck prickled, making her turn around, but nobody was there. Still, she thought she saw a movement and stepped out of the shop quickly to catch whoever might have been watching her. Nobody in the passing crowd seemed out of place or even gave her a passing glance.
"I'm getting paranoid," she said softly.
The next shop was more to her liking, selling mid-priced clothing in various synthetic fabrics. A purple tunic with silver trim made from a soft fabric caught her attention. It was small enough to fit and would look great with a matching pair of pants. It was tempting, but with a sigh, she put it back on the rack. She didn't want to bring any additional attention to herself with the bright color. In the belt, the most prevalent colors were black and gray. Purple would make her stand out in any crowd. No, it wouldn't do.
In the next rack, was a light gray shirt with intricate stitching around the neck and cuffs in a slightly darker gray. It was well made and sturdy, with long twin belts that wrapped around her waist twice to hold the shirt snuggly. This, this was what she was looking for. She would look nice in it while still blending in. Finding a pair of pants just a bit darker, she had a complete outfit. On the way to find the shopkeeper, she spotted a scarf in a pretty shade of deep purple and grabbed it. Maybe just one pretty thing wouldn't hurt.
She made a few more purchases in the market, including a pair of shoes that weren't mag-boots, before she made her way to a specialty shop. Before she entered, she had that feeling of being watched again, but still couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from. Nobody looked familiar around her.
When she stepped out of the shop, she felt like a new person. Her hair was clean and shiny black in its new shorter cut. The ends just brushed the back of her neck and braids at each temple pulled it away from her fact. She had changed into her new clothes, though gray they were still nice and made the most of her slight figure. She had grinned when she saw herself in the mirror: she was almost pretty.
Her marble now hung from a silvery polymer cord around her neck, she held it up in front of her face to squint at the hairline crack. She frowned when she noticed a tiny smudge of something dark on the crack and rubbed it off with her fingertip. Dropping the gray orb to hang from its cord, she smoothed her hands down her sides. She was ready to go find the others from the Roci.
Checking her handheld for directions to the Randy Dog, she made her way back the way she came. Instead of taking the tunnel to the port of entry, she turned the other way, in the direction of the entertainment sector. A flashing sign caught her eye and she froze in place, making the people behind her mutter as they pushed past. Standing at a cart under the sign was Mac, the man responsible for killing Hopper. He was talking to a rough-looking man with multiple OPA tattoos on his face. There was a bag on the cart in front of them.
Realizing she was easy to spot standing still in the middle of the tunnel, Nik pushed her way out of the flow of traffic to the wall of the tunnel several meters away from the two men. She watched as Mac reached into the bag, pulled out a familiar pouch, and handed it to the other man. It was one of the combat rations from the Tycho. He and his men must have got the rest of the boxes off the station.
She wasn't close enough to hear what was being said, but it looked like they were bickering over the pouch. After a few minutes of back and forth, they must have reached an agreement because Mac handed the bag over to the other man. She snapped a couple of stills of the two men, careful to not let anyone see. They talked for a little longer, then Mac slapped the man on the back and started walking down the tunnel towards her.
Nik stepped behind a vendor, thankful once again for her small size, and let him pass before following him. He went deep into the warren of tunnels into one of the run-down residential sectors. When Mac entered a cheap hostel, she broke off her pursuit. She snapped a still of the hostel before leaving to find the others. She needed to come up with a plan, but now that she knew where to find him, she was going to make him pay for killing her friend.
As she made her way to the entertainment district, thinking about what she could do to Mac, she never noticed the second man following her.
Entering the Randy Dog, Nik looked around for the crew of the Roci. She spotted Naomi and Holden sitting at a table near the back of the bar, their heads bent together as they talked and smiled. Loathed to interrupt the couple, Nik looked around for Amos. She spotted him at the bar between two women throwing back a drink. Slamming the empty glass on the bar, he leaned over and whispered something in one of the women's ear. The woman was beautiful in a way Nik could never hope to be. Tall and willowy, she exuded sexiness even without the help of her scanty clothes. She leaned away and said something in response before sliding gracefully off her stool and led Amos, followed by the second woman to a door that led to rooms behind the bar.
Just as he went through, Amos' eyes landing on Nik standing frozen in the middle of the bar. He gave her a slight nod, the disappeared as the door closed.
Nik spun and left the bar, not hearing Naomi call out her name. Back at the Roci, she peeled off her new clothes, throwing them carelessly on the floor, then crawled into the wardrobe to cry herself miserably to sleep.
The next day, neither Nik nor Amos mentioned what transpired at the bar. Nik told herself that it wasn't any of her business what he did on his own time. That her fit of crying had been because she seen Mac and it had brought up all the feelings associated with Hopper's death. It wasn't because she wanted Amos to see her in her new clothes and think of her as a woman, not a child to be rescued and protected. And it was definitely not because she was jealous of the two women. Nope. She was stressed and had been through a lot in the past months. She had been due for some kind of break down. That was all.
Then why was she still mad?
The two of them worked in silence suspended from the side of the Roci, only speaking when necessitated by their work. The fact that he didn't even mention her new haircut was like rubbing salt in the wound. As the day went by, instead of calming down, Nik just got angrier. When they took a break for lunch, she hurried down ahead of Amos and went straight to her room.
After lunch, when they went back to work, the fact that he didn't comment on her absence just pissed her off more.
That night, Holden gathered the five of them in the galley.
"There are rumors all over the station that the MCRN is stopping and searching any ship that was docked at Tycho for the last three months," Naomi told the group.
"I'm hearing the same think over the channels," Alex added.
"So, they are still looking for Nik," Holden surmised as he paced back and forth in the small space.
"Did your contact find anything?" she asked him.
"Yes and no," he answered. "Your parents were listed as wanted fugitives on Mars for stealing research. Now you are wanted for questioning about it. They have you listed as a fugitive. That's all Christjen has been able to dig up so far, but she had some other resources she's going to reach out to."
"That's not very helpful."
"No," he shook his head, "it isn't."
Everyone was quiet for a moment before he spoke again.
"There's a MCRN frigate on its way here. It will be here in two days."
Nik's heart dropped. She was afraid of what he was going to say next, so she beat him to it.
"You guys need to get leave before they get here. I've been thinking about it. I can just disappear here. They would never find me."
"What? No," Holden said.
"Not going to happen," Alex shook his head.
"I thought you were going to fight this?" Amos asked from the other side of the room.
"Wait," she held up a hand to stop them before they could get going. "This is not your fight. You were just unfortunate enough to get caught in the middle of it. I can't ask you to put yourselves in anymore danger for me."
"You don't have to ask," Holden said. "Everyone in favor of helping Nik?"
"Definitely," Naomi answered.
"Hell, yeah," from Alex.
"Fuck the MCRN," Amos nodded.
"So, it's decided," Holden announced smugly. "Amos, where are you and Nik on the repairs?"
"We need just a few more hours to finish up."
"Then get on it. We leave in twelve hours."
Nik stood in shocked stillness as the others filed out of the galley. As Amos walked out, he paused and looked over at her.
"Welcome to the family."