A Pale Light in the Black

by K. B. Wagers

  “I love you, Dai.”

  Luis’s words intruded and Jenks snarled. Was this just a ploy to get her distracted? If it was, it was working.

  A softer voice in her head tried to insist Luis would never do something like that. That they respected each other’s fights as sacred. That the cage was separate from everything else between them. That had been the agreement.

  But too many years of not trusting spoke louder, building the fury as she strode through the door of the cage, rolling her shoulders and giving Commander Pashol a perfunctory nod.

  Jenks barely heard the ref’s opening remarks, nodding in all the right places. She could recite the rules of the fight in her sleep anyway.

  He doesn’t really love you, Jenks. You’re not the kind of person who gets that. Your own mother didn’t love you enough to keep you.

  “Ready?” The referee looked between them and at their nods—hers mechanical—blew his whistle. “Fight!”

  Jenks dodged Pashol’s opening attack, putting all her weight behind her answering punch. It connected with his jaw and he dropped faster than someone stepping onto a high-g asteroid.

  “Hold!”

  Jenks backed off at the referee’s shout, falling into parade rest out of habit more than anything with her shaking hands clasped behind her back.

  “He’s out! That’s match!”

  The stunned silence that had swept through the crowd was just as quickly destroyed by the roar.

  Jenks waved off the ref before he could raise her arm and headed for the cage door.

  “Hey, Tai,” she said, catching PO Majrashi by the arm as they passed her. “When he wakes up tell him I’m sorry. That was, um, a little harder than it should have been.”

  “No worries, Jenks.” Tai flashed her a grin. “He’s not going to live this one down for a while, though.”

  Her teammates made way for her as she left the cage, Rosa merely raising a curious eyebrow while the others wore looks ranging from concern to awe.

  “What?” Jenks finally snapped, grabbing for her things.

  “Nothing,” Sapphi said, lifting her hands with a smile. “Whoever you’re mad at, stay that way. Don’t transfer it to me.”

  Jenks strode to the changing rooms, holding on to her confusing emotions until she was alone in the shower, where she finally let the tears fall.

  Because she was starting to realize the person she was mad at was herself.

  Preliminaries—Day Three

  The day dawned bright and early as the NeoG teams got under way for the grueling final forty-eight hours of the preliminaries. Legends were made or broken in this span as the first round of the Boarding Action started at an ungodly hour that only the most dedicated fans roused themselves from their beds for.

  Rosa cupped her coffee between her hands and took a sip as she watched D’Arcy and his team demolish Green Machine.

  “Dread Treasure is on a roll,” Ma commented as he joined her. “They’re nipping at Honorable’s heels in the overall points.”

  Rosa grunted, sipped again, and sighed at the heat of the coffee. “I’m really glad we got a bye on this. I would not want to be out there trying to fight this early.”

  “I don’t know, dragging a grumpy Jenks out there probably would have meant the rest of us could sit back and watch.”

  Rosa chuckled, though her amusement faded quickly. “She open up about what got her so worked up yesterday?”

  “No, and I’m not pushing it. I don’t want to end up like Commander Pashol.”

  “He’s okay, right?”

  “Yeah, just a wicked headache and a shit-ton of embarrassment.” Ma’s grin was quick and sharp. “As for Jenks, she’ll shake it off, she always does.”

  Rosa hummed. She wasn’t so sure. Jenks was focused as a default and the Games only made her more so. But that punch she’d landed on the commander of Nitro Horizon had seemed to shock her, which meant she hadn’t been in control—and that concerned Rosa. Because an out-of-control Jenks was something that she had only ever had to deal with once in the last six years. She didn’t want to have to deal with it again.

  “Nitro has to go up against Keppler’s Folly. I suspect with Pashol not performing at top speed they’re not going to win.” Rosa continued to watch the screens.

  “Highly likely and works for me. Keppler’s team is predictable. We should be able to handle them.”

  “We’ll fight them this afternoon,” Rosa said. “I want to do a quick strategy session before that in the break.”

  “Flux is doing surprisingly well this year.” Ma pointed at the screen where Flux Capacitor was fighting with Impossible Star. “Commander Till may have a team that places above last.”

  “Anything’s possible. Max has to fight her today, I’m curious to see how that ends up.”

  “Even if she loses it won’t affect our points all that much, though don’t tell Max I said that.” Ma chuckled. “She’s done well so far. Her navigation is spot-on.”

  “She has,” Rosa agreed. “Everyone’s performances have been excellent. Everyone’s making it to the semis, or close enough to give us points for the total. We’re tight, but your and Sapphi’s wins today will give us some breathing room. If Tamago can pull out a win against D’Arcy . . .”

  “That’s a tough fight. And Sapphi and I do still have to win our comps first, Commander.”

  “True. But I have faith, Ma.”

  “Whatever gets you through the day.”

  “What gets you through the day?”

  “Breakfast. Tell anyone who wakes up I’ll be at Sam’s.”

  Rosa smiled at him, then went back to watching the Boarding Actions.

  There were four fights going on and another three would start within the hour. One team was designated the “bad guys,” but the objective was the same for both teams. Secure the ship against your opponents. It was, oddly enough, the most fun competition of the Games, with a great deal of hilarity amid the fights. Anything was legal, no matter how wild. The seriousness was saved for the Big Game and it was a balance that even Rosa enjoyed.

  The structure in the corner of the gymnasium contained the competition while the fourth round of the sword fights and cage matches continued, not to mention the final rounds for the pilots and hackers. This was the point in the Games where Rosa didn’t envy the organizers. The field shrank and they had to make sure that contestants’ comps didn’t overlap. Which was a huge part of the reason for the early-hour start. The sword and cage matches wouldn’t begin for another two hours, giving everyone plenty of time to finish up here and prepare for what came next.

  If Max were here she’d likely pick the winners out from these four matches after a couple of minutes of watching, but Rosa had ordered her to sleep in. Max’s bout with Commander Till was gathering nearly as much attention as Jenks’s fight later in the day with Ensign Vicks from Keppler’s Folly.

  Jenks’s fight was almost a sure thing, especially if she hadn’t calmed down from whatever was bothering her; but Flux Capacitor’s commander was a good fighter and Rosa wasn’t sure even Max’s spooky ability to predict people would garner her a win.

  “Morning,” Tamago said, drifting by with a cup of coffee in their hands.

  “Anyone else up?”

  “Max is stirring. Sapphi and Jenks were out late. They’ll be up in an hour or so.” Tamago yawned and leaned a hip on the table. “How goes it?”

  “Green Machine’s last man just went down.” Rosa pointed at the screen in the middle. “And I don’t think Avenging Heroes is going to be able to pull a win out of that early fiasco.”

  “I hope Green at least wore D’Arcy down a bit, give me an edge in our fight today,” they replied, scanning the other two screens with sharp brown eyes.

  “Anything’s possible, but don’t count on it. Keep your sword up and watch him when he comes in close.” Rosa glanced Tamago’s way. “Did Jenks say anything about yesterday?”

  Tamago shrugged. “Armstrong.” It w
as all they needed to say.

  “She talked to you?”

  “No, you know how she is. Easier to open up HQ’s vaults than get her to talk about feelings. But he’s the only thing that would get her in knots like this. Something’s been going on—they’ve been messaging and calling so much more than normal these last few months—I’m surprised you didn’t notice.”

  “To be fair, I try not to stick my nose into your private lives too much. Plus, we’ve all been pretending we didn’t notice this thing between them for how many years now?”

  They laughed. “True. Well, something happened. I don’t know what and I’m not asking.”

  “You don’t think he’s doing it deliberately to try to get her off-balance, do you?”

  Tamago blinked at the suggestion, but shook their head. “No. Anyone else, I’d maybe consider it, but not Luis. He doesn’t operate like that. Honestly there’s only one thing that would shake her up this bad. He—” Tamago broke off, tipping their chin at the door, and Rosa glanced behind her to see Jenks stumbling into the room.

  “Later,” Rosa said, pointing a finger at Tamago, who shook their head and pantomimed locking their lips.

  “Coffee, Jenks,” they said, crossing the room. “Meds too—open up.” They tossed a couple of pain meds into Jenks’s mouth and then handed over their coffee cup.

  Jenks swallowed the pills with a hiss, handed the cup back, and scratched at her scalp. Doge sat patiently next to her and Jenks absently patted one side of his metal frame. “Morning, Commander. How go the Boarding Actions?”

  “Good. You’re up early.”

  “Eh, got three hours in.” Jenks shrugged as she came to stand next to Rosa. “That’s enough for me.”

  “You hungover?”

  Jenks stuck her tongue out and grinned at Rosa. “A bit, but I’ll be fine by this afternoon.”

  “You okay?”

  A flicker of something passed over Jenks’s face, washed away just as quickly by an impressively fake smile that was all Jenks. “I’m fine, Commander. Didn’t even drink all that much when you get down to it. And dragged Sapphi out of there before she did, so you’re welcome.”

  “Fine.” Rosa knew it was a losing battle, so she let it go rather than press forward. “Make sure you’re with Max for her fight with Till. I know she may not win, but if she does it’s going to put us on solid footing going into tomorrow, and you might see something that can help her.”

  “Was planning on it.” Jenks smiled. “I like watching Till fight anyway—she’s always coming up with some new trick. Going to get breakfast. Do you want me to bring anything back?”

  “No, I ate already.” Rosa waved. “Ma went to Sam’s Place if you want to join him.”

  “Mmm, pancakes.” Jenks saluted as she headed for the door. “See you in a bit.”

  “Inhale,” Jenks said, holding the tube just under Max’s bleeding nose. “Come on, Lieutenant, inhale for me.”

  Max finally managed to inhale, choking a little as she sucked some blood the wrong direction along with the clotting agent. Within moments it had done its job and her gushing nose stopped.

  “She all right?” Vera asked.

  Jenks laughed as she looked over her shoulder at Till. “She’ll be fine. You try that kick with me, though, and I’m going to pull your leg off and beat you with it.”

  “You always say the nicest things. Feel free to pull my leg anytime,” Vera replied, and sauntered off.

  Jenks watched her go with a little sigh. Normally she’d be following Vera back to the showers for a quick bang, but even if she didn’t have to babysit the still woozy Max, she wasn’t feeling it.

  Damn you, Luis.

  The med tech ran the last of her scans and nodded at Jenks with a thumbs-up. “Brain scans are fine. She’s a little rattled, but no concussion. Sleep would be good.” The tech pressed an injection gun to Max’s forearm. “She’ll be fine and ready for the next event this afternoon. Come find me if there’s any problem.”

  “I did not even see that kick coming,” Max said, her words slurring together as Jenks slid an arm around her waist and hauled her to her feet.

  “Most people don’t. Let’s get you back to the changing rooms; you can lie down in there for a while until the world stops spinning.”

  “Sorry I lost.”

  “You’re fine, Lieutenant. You held her till the end, which is what we were hoping for. That’s good enough points to keep our lead solid. We’re going to do some hard-core studying of the teams for the final Games, you and me.”

  “I’d like that. We should spend more time together.”

  Jenks rolled her eyes and laughed. “Ease up there, space ranger.”

  “I just mean we should be friends. I’m not like you, Jenks. I don’t know how to just be around people without it getting all awkward.”

  “I can see that.” Jenks was starting to wonder if the med tech had missed a scan, but it appeared Till’s kick had just knocked loose whatever filter Max usually employed that kept her silent and watchful. “Okay, on the cot, LT.”

  Max sighed as she lay back. “You just called me LT.”

  “Yeah, I did.” Jenks raised an eyebrow. “That’s what you are.”

  “Yeah. No. It’s . . . it’s just you’ve called me lieutenant pretty relentlessly since I got here. Which for someone not hot on formalities says a lot. Does this mean you trust me?”

  “Not in the least. You’ve gotta save my life at least once for that,” Jenks replied, but she smiled. “Go to sleep, LT—I’ll check on you in an hour.”

  “Okay.”

  Jenks watched Max roll onto her side and shook her head as she grabbed for the blanket folded nearby and draped it out over the sleeping woman.

  “She all right? That was a wicked kick.”

  Jenks froze at the sound of Luis’s voice, forced herself to smooth the blanket over Max’s shoulders, and then carefully turned around. “She’ll be all right according to the doc. Besides, she’s tough.”

  “She is at that.”

  Was that admiration in his voice? Jenks frowned. “You know her? You didn’t say anything.”

  “No. Just of her. There was a lot of buzz when she applied at the academy and then came to HQ. Commander Yevchenko had been trying to get her for our Intel squad when she signed up for the Interceptor course instead.”

  “One more perk of being a Carmichael.” Jenks forced a smile.

  “I guess.” Luis shrugged and leaned on the doorjamb. “Seems to me a pain in the ass to be from that family if you’re not willing to toe the line. From what I’ve heard that’s where Max has landed. But I didn’t come to talk about her.”

  “Really, because you’re doing a pretty good job of it.” Jenks looked away, muttered a curse. “Sorry, that was uncalled for. What do you want?”

  “To apologize. I did not want to get into that discussion with you right then and I shouldn’t have pushed it. I also shouldn’t have manhandled you the way I did. I’m sorry.”

  “If you’d crossed a line I would have laid you out.”

  “I know.” His grin was quick, vanishing almost as fast as it appeared. “I saw the video from yesterday’s fight. I feel like I need to send Commander Pashol a fruit basket.”

  “You might. Soft fruits, though.”

  “Are we good?”

  “I accept your apology,” she replied carefully.

  Luis opened his mouth and then closed it again with a sigh. “Fair enough.” He dragged a hand through his dark blond hair and then shoved it into his pants pocket. “We’ll talk after, okay?”

  She couldn’t say yes, not knowing that she’d likely try to avoid a conversation with him about this at any cost. And the lack of answer wasn’t lost on Luis—he knew her even better than Nika did.

  “Right,” he said with another sigh. “Jenks doesn’t make promises she knows she can’t keep.”

  “Luis—”

  “No, it’s fine. This is my own damn fault, top to botto
m. Good luck out there today.” He mustered up a smile, amber eyes filled with so much emotion Jenks had to look away.

  “You too,” she whispered, but when she looked back he was already gone.

  Preliminaries—Day Four

  “I’m in.” Sapphi blew out a breath. “Tell Commander Till thanks for those passcodes. It would have taken me an hour to crack through those layers on my own.”

  Max looked away from the door. The voices of her teammates were muted in her ear as Rosa and the others cleared the floor room by room. Ma was in the hallway, sword out and watching for any sign of trouble, but so far things had been quiet.

  We’ve kept things quiet.

  As Sapphi sifted through the information she now had access to, Max marveled at just how well Admiral Chen’s plan had come together. Commander Till’s Flux and four other teams had broken previous passcodes wide open, passing them on from team to team. Without those codes the teams following almost certainly wouldn’t be able to proceed in enough time to complete the mission.

  “Max, you copy? I’m showing four hostiles incoming through the front door. Looks like the shift change is showing.” Rosa’s voice was calm over the com, but Max’s heart jumped in response to the news.

  “Ma, go down and help her.” Max jerked her head and he followed her back into the room. “Sapphi, get moving on that shutdown. I want this whole place to go dark before we go.”

  Intel gathered by Burden of Proof carried the warning that the facility was next door to a massive troop installation and any alarm would result in the team being overwhelmed before they could get to the admiral and get her out. Max and Rosa had built up their strategy piece by piece as the information filtered to them these past few days, and now it was flowing.

  True to Max’s guess, the other teams had done exactly what Admiral Chen wanted. Working together even as they competed for the top spot. Sharing vital information from team to team to allow everyone to succeed in their objectives.