Free Catalyst by Dani Worth Page B

take over the business would fail. They hurried things up. I don’t think they planned to blow the mines when so many were on planet, and I don’t think they expected the release of gases. At least, I have to think that way because the alternative…”
    “They couldn’t have known what would happen,” I said. “Saturna couldn’t get on planet. They still can’t. There wasn’t enough kithronite off planet to build more ships.”
    He inclined his head. “No one expected the poisoning of the atmosphere.”
    “Why devastate an entire planet like that?”
    “Something went wrong. Something Crichton did. When you saw me running from the mines, I was on my way to confront him. He used some kind of substance—I don’t know where it came from—but it was like nothing I’ve ever seen. And it didn’t come from Saturna.”
    “Why do you think Crichton was guilty?”
    “Because he’d been off planet in meetings and when he got back, he wasn’t acting like himself. The last day I saw him, he apologized for taking my maps. He—” Jacks broke off, stared at his hands. “He looked shattered that day.”
    “Where’s Crichton now?”
    “He disappeared. I’ve had his entire family, his former lovers, everyone he knew monitored. He’s never spoken to anyone. Crichton has seven sisters and he was close to every single one of them. He’ll slip up one of these days.”
    “So, he’s off somewhere hiding on a planet. Like you.”
    “Or dead.” He stood up. “Come with me.”
    I pulled the big pants back on and slipped into my boots.
    Jacks took us down the narrow passageway. This time, I wasn’t groggy from the humidity and was more aware of my surroundings, and the closer we got to the front of the caves, the louder the waterfall grew and the more tree roots we had to climb around. The forest had grown through cracks in the ancient stone walls and floors, creating a maze of roots. We walked into a huge room that had ledges carved into the walls. Strategically placed notches climbed to each ledge and the width of them told me that whoever had lived here had been a lot taller. A part of me itched to explore, but the other part felt too heavy with horrified shock over what Jackson had told me.
    Plus, he was moving fast.
    He took us down another passageway and I was happy to see bowls of replicant crystals. They threw bright light onto the walls and ceiling, and another time, I would have stopped to explore the shadowy markings I saw etched into the stone. I watched Jacks walk ahead of me, my emotions so tangled, I felt nauseous. “Why haven’t you turned Saturna in?”
    “I don’t have solid proof. Not enough.” He veered into a wider tunnel. “It’s hard having to do everything from here. What I can’t get, my brother does. But there are still a few missing people I haven’t found.”
    “Like Crichton.”
    Bastian called out from behind me and I turned. He pointed to another carved section of rock. Looked like a chair of some sort—notched right out of the wall. “Giants,” he said. “I met a couple of giants in Sector Two once. They were sitting outside a bar, on the ground. The bartender wouldn’t let them back inside because they’d broken furniture.”
    “Must have been an old bar.” I’d flown all over the galaxies during the years I’d spent angry, and most places were equipped to handle different alien species. I leaned over to whisper, “Why did you really stop me?”
    He glanced around me and I turned to find that Jacks was pretty far ahead.
    “I don’t think we should become involved in this.”
    “What do you mean?” I hissed. “We are involved. It was our planet, our people.”
    He shivered. It wasn’t cold in this cavern tunnel at all. “Bastian?”
    “I have— had —dealings with someone from Saturna.” Bastian lowered his voice and I heard Jacks coming back. “He convinced me true evil exists.”
    I stepped close and took his hand. “There’s a lot of good around,