“You were correct,” murmured Jack. “Further conversation later.” He ended the call.
“Everything ok?” asked Aria.
“Can’t leave the ship for even a minute in case the engines fall off,” he joked. “Everything’s fine, love.” He addressed the techs. “How long until planetfall?”
“Less than two minutes,” one responded.
Jack kept his expression calm and composed, but his mind was racing. The Gryffin family wiped out, along with their estates? That spoke to a level of resources and ruthlessness that was truly intimidating. Not just the ability to do such a thing—although that was worrying enough—but the will to wipe out an entire family, scorch the soil on which they had lived, erase them as if they had never been?
How will Aria react when she finds out?Jack dreaded the answer. He was also, despite himself, feeling uncomfortably exposed on this cutter journeying from theMaracaiboto the Pleasure House. They were in a tiny ship, completely helpless, while somewhere out there lurked a spacecraft that could slip between detection systems, bomb from orbit, and disappear…
“Good grief, Jack, you look as though you’re trying to swallow castor oil!” laughed Aria, as she gazed at him from her gurney. “What’s gotten into you?”
The pirate gave her a self-deprecating grin. “I’m a space-faring man, my darling. I get nervous at the thought of ground.”
“Well, you learn something every day.” She reached a hand out, and Jack gave it a reassuring squeeze.
“Thirty seconds,” said a tech. “Prepare for landing.”
Thank goodness for that.
***
Thirty minutes later, Jack was standing at the glass partition between a waiting room and a surgical suite, deep inside the maze of buildings that composed the Pleasure House. A privacy screen sheltered Aria’s body from outside gaze, but Jack could see the surgeons and their assistants working calmly and methodically on the extraction, and there seemed to be no call for concern or alarm.
“Don’t fret, brother,” came a feminine voice from behind him. “They tell me they have removed the device and are repairing the femur before closing her up. No complications.”
Jack turned to look at his little sister Madeline. “Little” was a bit of a misnomer. Madeline was a tall, slender redhead, imposing in a gray-and-black power suit with a pencil skirt and black heels. She wore her no-nonsense professional demeanor like medieval knights had once worn armor. At the moment, however, she smiled warmly and opened her arms to her big brother.
Jack swept her up in a fierce hug. “Maddy!”
She gave him a hard punch in the ribs, and he let her go with an“Oof.”
“Well, you did warn me about calling you that,” he said ruefully, rubbing his side.
She reached up and tousled his hair. “You big goofus,” she said, mock severely. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“Thanks for this, Maddy—Madeline!” Jack said, holding his hands up defensively. “I’ll get better, I swear. Anyhow, thanks so much. I owe you, sis.”
“Not by my reckoning, you don’t,” responded the redhead. “The money you brought with you, well, that’s going to buy me some serious time and resources to fight these bastards. And hijacking theStella Maris? That was a devious move, brother mine. Don’t tell me what you did with the liner. I’m sure I don’t want to know.”
“It became part of a noble philanthropic exercise,” protested Jack.
Madeline laughed.
“It did!” he insisted, becoming slightly indignant.
“I’ll have to take your word for it.” She put a hand up to forestall further argument. “Your lady is coming out of surgery. She’ll be waking up from the anesthetic in about an hour or so. I assume you’ll want to be there.”
“Of course,” Jack agreed. “Just show me where.”
“I will. But we have a little time, and I’d like to hear what our scientists have to say about the device itself. Will you join me?” asked Madeline.
“As long as it doesn’t take too long,” said Jack. “I have to admit, I’m rather curious myself.” He followed Madeline down the hallway and into a room that looked like a small university lecture hall. Two scientists were already there, and they were soon joined by the surgeon, who was throwing on a clean jacket.
“Gentlemen, what have you learned?” demanded Madeline, and Jack could not help but be a little impressed at the authority his little sister’s voice carried.
“The procedure itself was very informative, Ms. Marx,” replied the surgeon. “The device did not have an independent battery. It was powered by the body heat of the patient. In addition, it was set into the femur itself, like a jewel set into a bracelet. Nothing would ever have caused it to loosen or to lose power. It was,” said the surgeon, “a truly magnificent design.”
