Earth Awakens (The First Formic War 3)

Re: El Cavador

Rena Delgado and others from El Cavador are no longer here. They left almost two months ago aboard a salvage ship named Gagak. Captained by a Somali named Arjuna. Sorry. No additional information.

The message was projected on the wall-screen in Lem Juke's office, and Victor read it a second time as a mix of emotions welled up inside him. Mother? On a salvage ship? Victor couldn't imagine it. Why would she get on a salvage ship? And with a Somali, no less.

"If she got on a ship, I'm sure she had a good reason," said Imala. She and Lem were standing behind him. They had all seen the message.

Victor turned to face her. "You don't know Somalis, Imala. They're vultures. Pirates. They strip derelict ships to the bone. Sometimes with the crews still inside them. They don't care. They rape, kill, and then they'll rob you."

"That can't be who these Somalis are," said Imala. "It says she left on a salvage ship. If she had been abducted, the message would have said so. I take this to mean she went voluntarily."

"Imala's right," said Lem. "If this Gagak were a crew of vultures, they never would have reached the outpost. The WU-HU defenses would have pulverized them before they got within ten klicks of the place."

Victor glowered. "What do you know about it?"

"Plenty. WU-HU is a competitor. We know their operations inside and out. Those outposts are fortresses. They're engineered to fend off pirates. And speaking of which, not all So

malis are pirates. There are crow crews as well. They live by salvage law. They hate vultures as much as anyone, maybe even more so because vultures give Somalis such a bad rep."

"It doesn't make sense," said Victor. "Why would they leave? They would have been safer at an outpost."

"Apparently your mother didn't think so," said Imala. "If she left, she had reasons. She had women and children with her. Maybe these Somalis offered them passage somewhere."

"Yes, but where? My mother and aunts have nowhere to go."

"We have the name of the ship," said Lem. "We'll find it and contact it directly."

"They're a salvage ship," said Victor. "They're not going to have an account with Luna. They won't likely be in the network. We may not be able to reach them until they dock somewhere. That could be months from now. And if they do their trade off the market, as most salvage crews do, they won't register when they dock. Which means we may never find them."

"Leave that to me," said Lem.

By late the following day, Lem had located them. He approached Victor in the warehouse and handed him the coordinates on a portable datascreen. "They're near an asteroid called Themis in the outer rim of the Belt."

Victor flipped up his welding visor and stared at the datascreen. "But ... how did you find them?"

"Black magic. You'll also be happy to know they're on the network. And since we know they're near Themis, we know their relay route. There are probably a dozen to twenty stations between them and us, so at best it will take several hours to get a response, and that's assuming all the switchboards are operational and the laserline gets through clean. But hey, it doesn't hurt to try."

Victor looked down at the datascreen and then back up at Lem, feeling sheepish. "I can't afford to send a message through that many relays. I have some money that my family gave me, but it's probably not enough."

"I'll cover the expense," said Lem. "Whatever it is, and for however long you talk. I owe you that much."

"Thank you."

They found an empty office in the warehouse filled mostly with boxes of junk and broken equipment. Lem cleared the desk with his arm, knocking most of the items onto the floor and kicking up a cloud of dust. Then he set down the terminal and made a sweeping gesture with his hand. "It's not a luxury suite, but it's private at least. And maybe the only quiet place in the warehouse. I won't tell anyone where you are. I set up a laserline account in your name. It's there onscreen. Take your time."

Lem began to leave.

"Why do this?" asked Victor. "Why help me?"

Lem paused at the door. "I'm not a monster, Victor. I know I may appear that way to you after everything I've done, but I'm trying to make things right here. Besides, I have a mother, too, you know."

"Here on Luna?"

"No. Home. In Finland."

"Are you close?"

Lem laughed sadly. "I haven't spoken to her since I was five years old. She abandoned me and my father. She's a despicable person. I can't stand the thought of her. But I see what you feel for your mother, and I envy that."