A Pale Light in the Black
Page 39
Rosa didn’t miss the hard look Jenks threw at the woman’s back as she left.
“Sammi said that her serum would protect her from the defect,” Max said as Stephan patiently walked her through her official statement.
“I don’t think any amount of immunity could stand up to having a syringeful of it injected straight into her chest,” he replied.
“I suppose you’re right.”
“What happened after you tackled her?”
“She was on the ground. The syringe was sticking out of her chest. It was empty. It must have gotten depressed when I landed on her. She screamed, and then . . .”
“Gooshed?” Jenks supplied.
Rosa closed her eyes but didn’t say anything. She knew Jenks was as rattled as Max was; humor was just her way of dealing with it. They’d all watched the security feed as Sammi Gerard had dissolved into a pile next to Carmine’s dead body. The closed-off section now extended on either side until the CHN Disease Center could arrive and figure out what they were dealing with.
“All this over revenge,” Max murmured.
“Pfft.” Jenks rubbed at the back of her head. “Some of the best feuds in history were over revenge. I’m not surprised this isn’t any different. Hatfields and McCoys. MacGregors and Campbells. Purple and Green Drazi—”
“Jenks.” Rosa shook her head.
“I’m just saying.”
Stephan chuckled. Max was smiling, though Rosa could see the strain around her eyes.
“You did good,” she said. “Both of you.”
“We done here, Commander?” Jenks asked Stephan.
He looked to Rosa and she shrugged. “You know where to find us if you have more questions.”
“It’s going to be a while sorting through those techs and the muscle Sammi hired. I suspect I’ll have a visit from the CHN suits before sunrise anyway and they’ll claim jurisdiction on all this. To be honest, I’m okay with that.” He shook his head with a grim look. “This is a mess, and one that’s looking more and more like it’s over my pay grade.”
“Tell me about it,” Jenks said, and Max laughed.
“Get on out of here,” Stephan replied, extending a hand with a smile. “I appreciate all the help, Rosa. Good luck keeping these two in line.”
Rosa took his hand with a smile of her own. “I’ll see you in the sword ring, Stephan.”
“Hey, Ria, we’re headed out on a run. What’s up?” Max held her tablet up out of the way as Tamago ducked past her with a bag thrown over their shoulder.
“Just wanted to let you know the Disease Center is turning over all the compounds found at the Atlantic lab and another they raided yesterday on Trappist-1e to LifeEx. I’ve ordered all of it destroyed except for samples of the newest dupe and the contagion so our scientists can—”
“Max, we’re headed down.”
She waved a hand at Jenks. “I’ll be right behind you. Tell Rosa I’m talking to Ria about the dupe.” Max looked back at Ria. “Sorry, go ahead.”
“So our scientists will be studying it to see if we can’t find a cure for the contagion they’ve created.”
Max nodded. “Just tell them to be careful with it. I don’t even want to think about what would happen if someone else got their hands on it.”
“We will. I promise.”
“Great. Was there something else?” Max prompted when her sister didn’t continue. “I need to go.”
“You’re mad at me. Max, I wanted to—”
“You knew. You knew about Sammi the whole time and you didn’t tell us.” Max met her sister’s gaze with a level look.
“I have a business to—”
“I don’t want to hear a single word about the business or the legacy. People died, Ria. I could have died. If nothing else matters—that should. Next time you lie to me about a case I’m working on I’ll bring you up on charges.”
Ria gaped at her. “You really would, wouldn’t you?”
“I’d recommend not testing me.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Ria stopped in the act of reaching for the disconnect on her tablet and tilted her head. “My baby sister, all grown up. Max, are you happy there?”
“I’ve never been happier.”
“Good.” Ria nodded, a pleased smile pulling at her perfectly made-up mouth.
“Do you want me to say thank you?” Max tried, and failed, not to grin at the way Ria blinked at her. As mad as she was at her older sister it was nice to be the one dropping the surprise for a change.
“How long have you known?”
Max shook her head. “For certain? Not until right now. But I suspected back when we met you in your office. You pretended not to know Jenks, but then made a comment about her family—or lack thereof. I already knew there was something strange about me ending up on the best NeoG team out there, I just never thought my own sister would have done something like this.”
“You deserved to be with the best. Are you mad at me for it?”
“No, but I would like to know why.”
“Because I do love you. Whatever you may think of me right now.” Ria smiled. “And I know this family sucks at saying that. I stood by and watched what our parents did to Scott. I stood by and watched while they did it to you. I couldn’t undo either of those things. So I did the only thing I know how to do. I made a deal, got you where you wanted to be.” There were tears in her eyes. “But you did the work, little sister. Don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise. You belong there. I just made sure you ended up with people who could keep you safe while not crushing the life out of you.”
The emotions surged up in Max’s throat and she had to swallow hard to keep them down. “I appreciate you looking out for me. Don’t do it again.”
“Max, you’re my sister.”
“I know, but I’m also their family now.” She gestured around the room. “If you want to do something for me, lean on the CHN about getting us better equipment, more recruits, a larger budget to do our jobs. We’re doing important work out here with barely enough to keep the lights on. These people deserve better. The people we’re saving and protecting deserve better.”
“Okay, okay.” Ria held up her hands with a laugh. “I can’t promise anything, but I’ll see what I can do. Meanwhile, you take care of yourself out there.”
“I will,” Max promised. “Love you.”
“Love you, too.” Ria waved and then disconnected.
Max slipped the tablet into the bag on her bunk and headed across the empty room, tapping a hand against the shining, spiraled Boarding Games trophy as she made her way out of the quarters and toward Zuma’s Ghost.
Acknowledgments
I don’t want these acknowledgments to ever feel rote or repetitive. The past few years have been a whirlwind and you’d think for the sixth book going to press I’d be old hat at writing these. However, it’s the same mad, tearful scramble to remember who helped me during the writing of which book and worry that I’m going to forget to thank someone.
*deep breath*
All the thanks and love go to my partner, Don, for answering my question of “Should I add to my already overworked schedule?” with “How can I help you?,” and for being there to follow through on that offer. I love you more than Jenks loves punching people.
My family and friends mean the world to me; if you’re in that group you already know it, and I hope I say it enough. Life is too short not to love each other. Thanks for helping me normalize saying “I love you” to the people we really care about.
To my CP Lisa Didio, who is forever my sister and always so ready to say “What the hell are you doing?” when I stray too far from the plot.
To my agent, Andy Zack, as always, for keeping an eye out for me and for never failing to tell me the truth. Your support and input are invaluable.
To David Pomerico for answering my “Why me?” question in our first phone call with a glowing endorsement that still sometimes gets me emotional. Thanks for putting your tr
ust in me with this idea. It takes a great deal of courage to hand something over to someone else and let them run with it.
Thanks to Laura Cherkas for your amazing copyedits—you are the catcher of repeated words and the asker of the tough questions. And to the rest of the team at Harper Voyager, for all your work to bring this wild bunch to life.
Special thanks to Vadim Sadovski for the simply stunning cover art. It’s beyond anything I could have dreamed of and such a stunning representation of this world.
To Mike Headley for reading an early draft of this and immediately throwing his lot in with Jenks. I appreciate all the feedback and the plot help in the zero hour. You’re a steely-eyed missile man with a fashion sense the Doctor would be proud of.
Shout-out to my Patreon crew, my social media folks, and everyone who’s ever sent me a little note to tell me how much the worlds I’ve created mean to you. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart and the depths of my soul, for your kindness and your support and your love.
To all the folks on Twitter who threw out a metric ton of names when I was desperately trying to put together competition brackets and realized what I’d gotten myself into. Some of these suggestions made it into the story, others just made it into the brackets. I think I’ve gotten everyone so I’m desperately sorry if I forgot you. Thanks go out to: @veg-ragabash, @just_hebah, @invisibleinkie, @Rustymarble, @leydhen, @majkia, @synGMW, @jessicaelwood, @iagofromtheash, @SeanMLocke (who offered up his own name and earned a special spot among Dread Treasure for it), @saintburns, @ryder_kendra, @MxMaxine, and @Narina_Vhey.
I owe Walk the Moon a debt of gratitude for their song “One Foot.” I listened to that thing on repeat through so many of these scenes and there is no better song that exemplifies the love and devotion that the members of Zuma’s Ghost feel for each other. And Daughtry’s song “Undefeated,” which was playing in the car on my way to work when I saw how the fight between Jenks and Parsikov was going to go down and I ended up screaming “YES!” in my car at six o’clock in the morning. Keep making music, y’all. We need it.
To Dr. Katie Mack, whose poem “Disorientation” is responsible for the name of the ship that started it all. It can be found at astrokatie.com/disorientation.
To all you new readers, thanks for coming along for the ride; buckle up and watch your hands and feet.
Finally, to my readers who love Hail and Co. so very much. I hope you love this new world and these new characters. Your support has gotten me here in the first place. I am eternally grateful for you.
About the Author
K. B. WAGERS is the author of Orbit Books’ Indranan War trilogy (the first of which, Behind the Throne, has been optioned for film and television by legendary UK film producer David Barron) and Farian War trilogy, which feature the life and trials of former gunrunner/now empress Hail Bristol. A Pale Light in the Black is their first book in the NeoG series with Harper Voyager. They are represented by Andrew Zack of The Zack Company.
Having grown up on a farm in northeastern Colorado, K. B. graduated from the University of Colorado with a bachelor’s degree in Russian studies. They now live in the shadow of Pikes Peak with their husband and a crew of poorly behaved cats. They are especially proud of their second-degree black belt in Shaolin Kung Fu and three Tough Mudder completions, even if they can’t run like that anymore. There’s never really a moment when they’re not writing, bullet journaling, or hand-lettering, but they do enjoy photography and a good whiskey.
Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.
Also by K. B. Wagers
The Indranan War Trilogy
Behind the Throne
After the Crown
Beyond the Empire
The Farian War Trilogy
There Before the Chaos
Down Among the Dead
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
a pale light in the black. Copyright © 2020 by Katy B. Wagers. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Harper Voyager and design are trademarks of HarperCollins Publishers LLC.
first edition
Cover design by Richard L. Aquan
Cover illustration © Vadim Sadovski
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for.
Digital Edition MARCH 2020 ISBN: 978-0-06-288780-1
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-288778-8
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