The Fringe Wars

3.19

Finding the Eversea

Torrent Headquarters, Terra

The Gryphon wasn't scheduled to depart until the next morning, which meant Reyne had to stay another night at Seda's retreat. He had just settled in bed to read, when the lights flickered, followed by an explosion that shook the walls. He dashed out into the hallway to see Critch, wearing only pants, jump out from his room. They caught each other's eyes for an instant before turning to see smoke curl out from under Heid's door.

"No." The word spilt from Reyne's slack-jawed lips.

The pair raced down the hallway to her room.

Critch reached the door first and tried to open it. "Locked," he growled and pounded on the door. "Heid!"

Seda came running down the hallway. "Move." He shoved Critch to the side and placed his hand over the access screen. The lock clicked, and Seda threw the door open.

The building's air system was already sucking out the smoky air, leaving behind the stench of burnt wires. Computer shards were impaled in the walls. The three men rushed into the room to find Heid crumpled on the floor.

Seda reached her first. He kneeled and tenderly rolled her over. He didn't check for a pulse. It was obvious that he didn't need to. The computer had exploded with such force that hundreds of small pieces had hit her chest like a shotgun blast at short range. The front of her body was darkened by electrical soot and blood.

He wiped a tuft of hair from Heid's face. Critch and Reyne stood next to him, looking down at her.

Hari squeezed between Critch and Reyne. She fell to her knees next to Seda. She clenched her fists against her mouth. "No."

Reyne looked over to where the computer had sat. There was nothing left except char where even the metal had melted in places. The power supply was a black hole. He thought back to the lights in his room. The code had somehow suppressed any electrical system safeguards while calling a power surge at such speed and intensity as to create a single burst of energy.

It was a genius, horrific plan. He grimaced, unable to fathom what Mason had done. How could a man kill his own daughter?

He swallowed back the bile coming into his mouth. "The data file. Mason included a kill code with the file."

"Mason," Critch snarled, and began pacing the room with clenched fists. "I should've killed him back on Alluvia."

"Impossible. Heid had Vapor scan the file," Seda said, stiffened, and then growled, "Vapor was the one who embedded the code in the first place."

Hari leaned on the floor for support. "I don't understand why a hacker would do this. She's helped us on several occasions."

Seda scowled. "She helped because we paid her well. She's known throughout the fringe as the best hacker out there. Mason would know her, and I imagine he paid even better."

In a fury, Critch grabbed a vase and threw it against the wall. Everyone watched, but no one said anything. Without making eye contact, he walked over to Heid, bent over, and picked her up as though she were a sleeping child. He carried her over to the bed and laid her down upon it. He murmured a prayer under his breath, and covered her with a blanket.

Critch turned back to the group. "Tomorrow, we mourn. Then, we hunt Mason down and take him apart, one piece at a time."

* * *

They held a funeral for Gabriela Heid and the Arcadia's crew the following day in the Rebus Station churchyard. The funeral had been planned before Heid's tragic death to free both her and her crew from the Collective's death warrants. The mission she'd taken to free her crew from the CUF's shackles had been courageous, even though he'd later learned the mission had served the ulterior purpose of killing Corps General Ausyar.