Free Skirmishes by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

shootout. Hers wouldn’t.
    “I don’t think we’re going anywhere,” Coop said to the woman. “I’ve told you our plans. I was very clear. We need thirty minutes to leave this place.”
    “Your transport is cloaked,” she said.
    “Standard procedure,” he said. “We do that as we power up and prepare to leave. That way no one tracks us because they don’t know our origin point. Don’t you people do the same thing?”
    He hoped it sounded plausible. To him, it sounded like the bold-faced lie it was.
    “I don’t like what’s happening here,” the woman said. “You’re coming with us and we will remove the rest of your people from here.”
    Coop let the contempt he felt into his voice. “I don’t think so. We’ve offered to cooperate. You should take us up on that.”
    Her eyebrows went up, and she tilted her head just a little. “Is that a threat?”
    He shrugged. He wanted her to see that. “You can take it however you want. I think of it as friendly advice. Two of your soldiers have already left the area. It’s clear that your crew lacks discipline. I watched you for a long time before you even noticed me, and my people have been watching you longer than I have. You can’t get most of your crew out of this entry. Apparently they’re afraid of this Room of Lost Souls, as you call it, and that fear trumps whatever discipline you have.”
    Her expression didn’t change, but she moved her head just a little, enough so that he caught it. The civilian behind her looked at all of the soldiers around him as though they had betrayed him. Only the four other civilians looked calm.
    Had they been inside this starbase before? Was that why they weren’t afraid?
    “Now,” Coop said as reasonably as he could. “You could let us leave of our own accord, or you could try to force us to go with you. I don’t recommend the second.”
    Even though it would probably please Boss. It would be an excuse to get rid of these people, to make certain that any knowledge of the anacapa ceased to exist.
    “Let me go with them,” the civilian said. “I want to see how they got into that room. It’ll be cooperation, and I can make sure they leave.”
    Coop felt a moment of irritation. He wanted to leave here with no loss of life, and he had almost been there. They hadn’t seen the Ivoire , and they didn’t know where the anacapa drive actually was. If this civilian came with them, then the shooting would start.
    But he didn’t dare say anything, because if he voted either way, he would influence their decisions.
    “Leave the room open,” the woman said.
    “Which room?” Coop asked, continuing to play his game with her. He theoretically didn’t know, so he wouldn’t be able to leave the proper door ajar.
    “All of them,” she said.
    “Fine,” he said.
    “No!” the civilian said at the same time.
    Coop’s irritation grew. This idiot wanted to die.
    “I have to know how they got in,” the civilian said. “If that door closes and we get trapped….”
    He let the thought hang, but he didn’t need to. From the woman’s expression, she understood. And, from the half-second look of dislike that flashed across her face, she probably didn’t care if the civilian got trapped in one of those rooms.
    For the first time, Coop wondered how many people she had lost to this starbase. He would wager it was quite a few.
    “He can tell you how he opened it,” the woman said to the civilian.
    “No,” the civilian said. “It’s clearly not easy. If it were, we would have opened it already. We’ve been trying to open that door for years .”
    Coop sighed silently.
    “The price of knowledge,” Rossetti said softly through their private link.
    “Let’s hope she says no,” Coop said to Rossetti.
    “Fine,” the woman said, even though she clearly thought this a bad idea. “Rigley, Lerner, go with Vilhauser.”
    Two of the soldiers moved beside the civilian, who had to be Vilhauser. One of the other civilians