There was a story-telling cadence to the way she said it, but her words put a crease in Halliwell’s forehead. Used to have? He repressed the urge to shake his head in confusion.
“Scoyfol operated primarily in the region of space known as Nashass, though they also maintained shipping routes with planets in nearby systems. But their principle clientele lived and worked on the planets of Vendir, Eldirer, Tulseer and Troyal.”
She acted as if he should know the system and the planets but...
A hologram appeared in front of him. So Bangle was listening. He didn’t roll his eyes, because he was a general. It wouldn’t be the first time he did an inner eye roll, however. Even generals got to do those.
Identifying information was included on the display. He studied the hologram, trying to figure out what he saw and place it in relation with what he knew…
“That’s—is that in former Dusan territory?”
The Dusan had been a ruthless and almost unbeatable enemy until his expedition had arrived in system. They had allied with those who opposed the Dusan and defeated them, but it had been a near thing. A very near thing.
“It belonged to the citizens of the system before the Dusan stole it,” she said. Her gaze was shadowed, but her tone was even, still in that dispassionate and yet richly compelling, story-telling cadence.
The Dusan stole it? They stole a lot of planets. How long ago were they talking about?
She must have read something in his eyes because her lips twisted for several seconds.
“No, I don’t remember it, but it is a part of the story of Scoyfol,” she said.
The story of Scoyfol? He considered this, but he still couldn’t quite wrap his brain around it. The Dusan had started the war so long ago, his people hadn’t even tried to do the math on when. It wasn’t helped by the fact that people in this system counted time differently than they did. Take it a step a time, he told himself, gesturing at the hologram.
“Which planet was yours?” he asked.
“Scoyfol is ships, the crews are ships. Spacefarers, not dirt siders.”
Halliwell’s brows arched a bit. He loved the Doolittle, loved commanding space vessels. He missed them when he was dirt side, but Earth, home, it anchored him and gave him a sense of purpose. He was here for his people and for what he could learn to benefit them.
How did that even work? he wondered. If she “was ships” where was the ship she’d arrived on? Did it matter? Why all the drama and secrecy? There were other, not hidden outposts, where she could have made her appeal—and that is probably what had happened, he realized, glancing around as if he could see the MIA Bangle. What had she told the AI? Was Bangle susceptible to that voice, too? He knew of only one way to get answers, and that was to play this scene to the end.
“I am not explaining well.” Her hands moved restlessly on her knees. “Words are not my skill,” she added ruefully.
With that voice? He half smiled and was rewarded with a small, but charming one in return. Charming. He was losing the plot. He realized he was staring and turned his gaze back to the display. There was something about that location that bugged him. He looked at her again, a brow arched in interrogation.
“Perhaps start at the beginning, keeping in mind that though we’ve been knocking around here for a while, there is still a lot we don’t know.”
The soft lines of her mouth curved into a deeper smile, that somehow softened the chill of the room and the stone floor. He shouldn’t have felt that spike of pleasure. She was an interesting mix of quiet confidence with a surface uncertainty. Her lashes lowered, a dark curve against her cheeks. They lifted, the intense blue gaze meeting his. He saw no guile in them, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t there.
“I suppose the beginning is also the end, in a way. Scoyfol is ships, but Scoyfol is also a bond, a compact if you will, not with cargo—not anymore—but with its manifest.”
Without quite knowing why, Halliwell felt a chill form in the center of his back. Was she saying…
“When Scoyfol undertakes to transport, Scoyfol delivers.” She hesitated, licking her lips. “No matter how long it takes.”
No matter—he gave a shake. Her phrasing felt odd, but she was alien, even if she didn’t look alien. “Are you telling me you’ve been…attempting delivery since before…” He couldn’t say the words.
“Before the Dusan took over Nashass? That is correct.” She frowned, staring ahead as if she saw it, saw the past. She glanced at him. “That is the heart of the story of Scoyfol.”
Not the kind of story he liked to read. He was not into never ending stories. The thought almost shocked him enough to show it.
“It won’t end until all passengers are returned home.”
And then what? The whole system was still being rebuilt following the end of the war. He turned back to the hologram, watching the slowly orbiting system. Home? There? It wasn’t just former Dusan space, it was deep in former Dusan space. Something wasn’t adding up. If these passengers came from there—he came back to the math he didn’t know how to do to calculate how long their journey had taken. How was it even possible for them to exist as a unit for so long? Did he need this question answered?
“We have no objection to your passengers going home.” He couldn’t, and didn’t want, to police this small system within the larger Garradian Galaxy. He actually had no plans to police the wider galaxy. They hadn’t come here to get into a war, even if that is what had happened. Personally? He wouldn’t want to be on any planet that had been occupied by the Dusan. Everything they’d touched was ugly, even if it didn’t start that way.
Was going home possible? Nashass was a very small system, as systems went. It had a sun, not a large one, but one apparently adequate to sustain life. The four planets in question were marked “habitable,” and there were a few smaller planets orbiting around. But habitable might not mean that much post-war.
He pulled back the view with a wave of his hand, then frowned. “Isn’t that the original Dusan home system?”
He pointed to another smaller system that bordered on Nashass. If they’d been that close to the original Dusan home system, they’d have been among the first absorbed into the Dusan Empire. This brought him back to the fact that they’d been absorbed a very long time ago. Would there be anything to go home to? Was this why she was here? If it was…he shook his head. “We don’t have the resources…” he began.
“Scoyfol is not looking for resources,” she said, the first time a small flare of frustration marred her expression. She leaned back in the chair, stretching her booted feet out, one heel tapping against the floor for several seconds before she stopped it. With a self-conscious look, she drew her legs back in and sat up straighter. “At least…that is not why I am here,” she amended.
Halliwell felt a stir of something at the sight, but quelled it. It was February back on Earth so a few Valentine’s decorations had popped up around the base, but no reason to get distracted by that right now.
“If only it were that simple.” She huffed out a sigh and the frog croaked softly, as if in agreement or sympathy.
Halliwell didn’t understand croak, so he couldn’t say.