Page 47 of The Last Hunt
Aethon is standing on a scaffold near the top of the maintenance bay, nursing a mediocre cup of Valley Starbase coffee. Behind him are the doors to the office where the portly lead mechanic named Memphis Nedd had given Aethon a quote for the work. Memphis took his sweet time, muttering and stroking his goatee as he looked over the specs of the Archer and the damage from a cursory scan.
“Uh, for materials and labor - I can give ya a deal,” Memphis finally grumbled. “850 credits.”
Aethon leaned down on the desk and shook his head. “Oh c’mon now, man. That’s thievery. I could get this support strut reinforced at any other starbase for 450. Easy.” He leaned back and crossed his arms, raising a brow.
“Well, then go to another starbase,” Memphis said snidely, sitting down in his enormous office chair.
Despite the frustration riding through his body, Aethon chuckled and shrugged. “You know I can’t do that, Memphis. But can’t you help me out here a little?”
After haggling for a good half hour Aethon got the man down to 650 credits. Now, as he watches the techs scramble all over the Archer with welding torches and riveting guns, Aethon knows for sure he’s getting ripped off. He scowls, sets his coffee down, and pulls out his tab, wanting to let Maeve know about the final price, as well as the shoddy job the techs are doing. He wonders if they might need to have the Archer checked out at a different repair depot later, but they don’t have much time to spare if they want to catch Daik.
As Aethon opens his message thread to Maeve, his brows furrow. There are messages there from her that he hasn’t seen and hadn’t gotten notifications for, sent while he was negotiating with Memphis Nedd. He scans through them quickly. Quinlar Cho knows she’s here? Adrenaline floods his body when he gets to the last one: I’m coming for you.
Aethon is moving before his brain can fully register the messages. He leaps over the edge of the scaffolding, falling slower than he would on a planet thanks to the lower gravity, but still landing with a thud that reverberates up through his bones. He sprints over to the Archer and slams his palm on the metal plate to open the door. Maybe he’s wrong - maybe she’s in here - maybe he’ll find Maeve stretched out asleep on her bed. Even though the messages sounded like she went running off toward Quinlar Cho - maybe he’s wrong -
“Hey!” one of the techs shouts from on top of the Archer. “If you want this work done, stop opening and closing the damn door!”
Aethon stops and leans back, making eye contact with the tech who’s holding a huge soldering iron. “What are you talking about?”
“I told the woman earlier!” he shouts.
“What woman?” Aethon growls.
The tech shrugs. “The redhead with the bad attitude.”
Aethon’s hands clench on the door frame. “Where did she go?”
“How the hell am I supposed to know?” the tech says with a shrug. But then he gets a look at Aethon’s expression and holds up his hands. “I don’t ask questions, man. She went off to the main part of the starbase, I think. Maybe she went shopping. Though she was loaded for bear if she was just picking out a new purse.”
Loaded for bear. Fuck. Aethon’s heart starts to race. Where the hell did she go? Though he wants to sprint off toward the main area of the starbase, he forces himself to pause. He goes into the Archer and looks around for some kind of clue as to where Maeve might have gone. There’s nothing. Her pillow is dented from where she was clearly lying on it. Nothing else is amiss. Then he pulls up his messages again, rereading the ones she sent.
Cho knows I’m here. Get back here. Watch your back.
We need to leave. What are you doing? Where are you?
Are you getting these? Tell me what nickname you call me.
I’m coming for you.
Aethon feels sick. Based on these messages, he’s sure that Maeve thinks Cho has him somehow. Why would she think that? She couldn’t have checked the damn maintenance office before running off? He shoves a hand back through his hair, thinking. He goes to Maeve’s room and opens his bag, searching for other weapons she might have grabbed for him from the Menace. He slides a second knife into his bandolier, and rechecks his pulse gun at his hip. He doesn’t have anything else. He wishes he could speak to one of the AIs, but he knows the ship can’t be turned on before they’re done with the repairs - and getting the Archer fixed so it’s ready to fly is quickly becoming his second highest priority.
Aethon takes out his tab and pulls up a map of Valley Starbase. If Cho lured Maeve somewhere, he would want it to be secluded, with no escape routes. There are too many options - and he can’t waste any more time.
Aethon leaves the ship and runs to the back of the bay. The doors there slide open, spitting him out into a corridor in the commercial area of the starbase. He’s at one of the middle levels where there’s a wide variety of places to eat and people milling around. There are crowds of Vitraxians from the planet below - notable due to their permanently orangish stained skin.
There’s a rail along the edge of the hall, and Aethon can see all the way over to the other side of the cylindrical base through the open air center core. He looks around, his hunter instincts kicking in. Cho would never lure Maeve anywhere near here - it’s too open. Too many people. Based on the map, the likelier places are mostly concentrated at the very top of the base. And yet Aethon knows Maeve would never let herself be cornered. She’d make it as difficult as possible for anyone trying to capture her.
Aethon turns right and sprints down the hall, weaving through the crowd, making his way for the stairs. As he runs, he thinks of Maeve and what she might be doing. What will she do when she realizes Cho doesn’t have him? She’s smart and resourceful. He might be overreacting. Maybe she’s got the situation well under control.
Still, his mind conjures up an image of Maeve four years ago on the escape pod when she started to think they might die out there. She’d tried to hide her fear from him behind sarcasm and bravado, but the way her eyes got wide and her sharp chin tightened as she stared out at Jupiter is burned into his brain. Fuck - Aethon doesn’t care if she doesn’t want him, he doesn’t care if she thinks he’s not worth her time - he will do anything he can to never see Maeve Bladesbearer afraid again.
People start to notice Aethon sprinting through the crowd, but he ignores them. His stature and outfit makes them get out of his way faster. He’s clearly armed, and his Two Roses guild crest is obvious on his collar. He sprints up two flights of stairs to the next level, but stops when he hears shouting. People on this floor are starting to gather at the railing, pointing over and up to a floor about six up from where they are now.
“They’re arresting somebody,” a woman says.
“Some woman with a gun.”
“Damn, she’s loud,” another person says.