Breakeven

by Michelle Diener

  “Dee!”

  The voice came from the almost impenetrable gloom of what seemed more like a thin gap between two buildings than an alleyway.

  She turned, unwilling to step closer, and tried to work out why the voice was so familiar.

  Darkness suddenly surrounded her as a dank, black sack was shoved over her head from behind.

  She fought, but whoever had her was huge, his arms like steel bands around her as he clamped her arms to her sides and lifted her off her feet.

  He carried her into the narrow alley in just a few steps, she could tell because what little light had come through the rough-woven sack disappeared, and it felt like only moments later a door banged open. She threw her body wildly and her head hit something hard before she was deposited on her back on the ground.

  Bright lights danced in front of her closed eyes and she breathed through the pain and nausea and then started coughing as the musty smell of the bag caught the back of her throat. She could hear Fluffy's outrage from her pack, which was still looped over her arm.

  “What's this?” A man's deep voice sounded by her ear, and before she could say anything, before she could work out if she wanted to say anything, she heard him cry out in pain.

  She ripped the sack off her head, and struggled up on her arms, taking in a simple, clean and well-lit room, a man lying on his side choking, and a woman crouched next to him, face white with fear.

  “What's happening to him?” The woman tried to lift his head.

  Dee stared at her. “Jamari.”

  She turned more fully to Dee. “What. Is. Happening?”

  Dee looked at the man with regret. “He's been bitten by a talu. I honestly don't know what that means for him, or what talu poison does, or if it can be countered.”

  “A talu?” Jamari's eyes were huge in her face as Fluffy wriggled free of the bag and jumped into Dee's arms. “Then Paka's dead.”

  Paka was heavy.

  Dee worked that out first hand as she helped Jamari lift him up onto the bed in the corner of the room.

  They propped him up with pillows and then Jamari trickled water down his throat.

  He swallowed reflexively. His skin was a warm brown, but now it had a yellow tinge to it, and white foam had dried around his mouth.

  He looked bad.

  Dee had tried to put Fluffy on the table in the middle of the room to help Jamari lift Paka, but she'd refused to let go of Dee, and so she ended up clinging to Dee's shoulder as they moved him, chirping from her perch like she was scolding him.

  Dee stood back as Jamari fussed over the big man, and lifted Fluffy off her shoulder and held her close. The talu curled up under her chin, and Dee soothed her with long, gentle strokes, to calm her shivers.

  “Get that thing out of here.” Jamari's eyes were slits.

  Dee shrugged, and walked to pick up her bag, and gently placed Fluffy inside. “Don't blame the talu. You hurt and frightened her. You hurt and frightened me.” She walked to the door. “If you'd called me over and spoken to me like a normal person, this wouldn't have happened. Instead, you got Paka to abduct me. What the hell, Jamari?” She opened the door.

  Jamari's face crumpled, as if she'd been deflated. “I'm sorry.” She pressed her fingers against closed eyes. “Sorry. Don't go.”

  Dee hesitated. Jamari was one of Ruanne's best trader captains. And Finkle had warned her they were all working for the Cores now, willingly or not. But something was going on here, and she did feel bad about Paka's fate.

  Maybe she should learn how to milk the venom from a talu.

  “What are you doing here?” Jamari got up and ran some water from the sink over a cloth in her hand, then walked back and wiped the thin line of white foam from around Paka's mouth.

  “It's a long story. It wasn't by choice. But since I've gotten here, I've learned you lied to me six months ago when I spoke to you on the Deck.”

  Jamari winced as she wiped Paka's face in slow, gentle strokes. “I didn't lie, I swear. Ruanne disappeared while I was piloting the trader back to Lassa. Or, that's when I found out about it, anyway. Cores guards were waiting for us when we landed and took everything we had in the hold.” She folded the damp cloth over and pressed it gently against Paka's forehead.

  “Do you know what happened to Ruanne?” Dee closed the door and set her bag on the table.

  Jamari shook her head. “She could be dead. They could be holding her prisoner. I don't know. They corralled everyone from the trader together, marched us into the hover port, and set about embedding a tracker into everyone's upper arm.”

  “What?” That wasn't something Finkle had passed on from the trader captain he and Leo had in custody.

  “They started at one end of the group, and there was a lot of objections to it, as you can imagine. All the guards moved forward to deal with the resistance. I was near the back because I was the last one out of the trader. The door behind me, the one we'd all come through, hadn't closed properly because there were bags in the way, and I just squeezed out and then walked away.”

  “Did they try to find you?”

  Jamari nodded. “I've had to keep away from the markets and public places. Paka's the one who goes out. I sometimes risk it, but always with some kind of disguise. Some of my old crew wouldn't go running to the Cores if they saw me, but a few would. Especially if they'd been offered a reward for it. I can't trust anyone.”

  Fluffy poked her head out of the bag, and Dee put out an arm for her to climb up.

  “Where did you get a talu?” Jamari asked. “I've never seen one until today, and I had no idea they were so tiny.”

  “Tiny and cute.” Dee chucked Fluffy under the chin, and she chirped back. “She was in Rina Fattal's living quarters on the Verden, the pleasure cruiser Rina was using.”

  Jamari stared at her. “What the hell were you doing in Rina Fattal's living quarters?”

  “Hiding from a Caruso attack. I was on the Deck to speak to your colleague Vur, to warn him we'd heard the Caruso were about to attack Lassa, so he could pass the message on to Ruanne. While I was looking for him, the Caruso attacked Garmen instead. They were shooting at everyone on the Deck.”

  Jamari sucked in a breath. “What happened?”

  “I took cover in the first open door I found, which just happened to be Rina Fattal's ship.”

  “What happened to Rina?”

  Dee's lips twisted. “Dead.”

  Jamari's eyes were saucers. “And how did you get here?”

  “The Lassian resistance were on the ship as well. They'd planned to kidnap Rina and they took off with me, thinking I was her. By the time I convinced them I wasn't who they were after, the Caruso had swept down on us, and the only way any of us got out of that alive was by me pretending to be Rina. It seems her father was eager to get her back, and the Caruso obviously have some deal with him.”

  “He wasn't eager to get her back. It was the talu.” Jamari was still sitting on the edge of the bed, but now her hands were braced at her sides, clenched tight. “They're so rare. What's a bet Rina was on the Deck to acquire one in an illegal trade?”

  Dee nodded. “Could be. She might have gotten Fluffy earlier and then stepped out to look at the view. She was killed on her way back to the ship.”

  Paka made a choking sound, and Jamari rolled him onto his side.

  He started breathing a little better.

  “Do you know what's happening to him?” Dee asked.

  Jamari tipped her head from side to side. “Sort of. I've heard rumors about talu venom out on the trade routes. There are some places where anything goes, you know? Word is talu poison is lethal in large doses, a psychedelic drug in much smaller doses, and a truth serum in tiny amounts.” She glanced at Fluffy. “I'm betting Hanran Fattal wanted her for the truth serum abilities, and Rina Fattal was probably keen to indulge in the psychedelic ones.”

  Dee pulled out a chair and sat. “Truth serum?”

  “The VSC won't allow anything like
that to be produced. It's a massive violation of the rights of the individual, but I'm sure some groups illegally try to produce it in a lab. Nothing apparently beats talu venom, though. It's got a reputation as the most reliable product.”

  “So that's why that horrible man was so determined to take you from me.” Dee rubbed Fluffy's head.

  “Who tried to take her? Where have you even been, if the Caruso took Rina Fattal's ship?”

  “They escorted us to the Cores hover base, but as I say, they thought I was Rina, and I played that role until I could get away. Hanran Fattal and one of his guards got me into Fattal's office first, though, and when they realized I wasn't Rina, they tried to grab Fluffy. She bit them both. The guard was bitten first, and he died almost immediately. Hanran Fattal got very strange after he was bitten, but if the poison has psychedelic properties, that would explain it.” She kissed the top of Fluffy's head. “I think Paka is probably lucky she already bit two people within the last day. And he's so big, he might be able to take a dose that would kill someone smaller.”

  Jamari turned and looked down at Paka, and threaded her fingers in his hair, pushing it back from his forehead. “I shouldn't have asked Paka to grab you like that. He told me we should just ask you in, but when we saw you eating breakfast, I wanted to know what was going on. I didn't want to risk you calling out my name or running away to talk to the resistance. It's my fault Paka is lying here.”

  “Why are you afraid of the resistance?”

  “Because they're compromised. Vahn, the leader, disappeared around four months after Ruanne, and since then, some of their informants have disappeared as well. Just gone. Their families are desperate to know what's happened to them, but they're afraid if they make too much of a fuss, they'll be next. Paka keeps his ear to the ground about it.”

  “The Cores knew about the plan to kidnap Rina Fattal, and that's why the Caruso were sent to escort her home, so I know there's a mole in the resistance. The team who were supposed to grab Rina Fattal would have been killed by the Caruso if I hadn't pretended to be Rina, and convinced the Caruso that they were my regular crew.”

  “But you just said the Caruso killed her.”

  Dee nodded. “They were killing anyone who moved. It was completely indiscriminate. From what was said when they caught up with the pleasure cruiser, they didn't know Rina was on the Deck. They were angry at her for not letting them know her whereabouts.”

  “You think Hanran Fattal sent her to get the talu in secret?” Jamari looked up from Paka.

  Dee shrugged. “He didn't like hearing the Caruso had attacked the Garmen Cores on the Felicitos Deck, that's for sure.” She stood up and walked to the tiny, dusty window and leaned against the wall beside it, looking out onto the dark alleyway. “Just like on Garmen, the Caruso and the Cores are playing each other, each thinking they can cooperate while it suits them, and then turn on the other and get the upper-hand when it doesn't.”

  “Jamari.” Paka's voice was weak but audible.

  “You're okay, sweetness.” She cupped his cheek.

  “No, I'm not okay. I feel strange.” He stared up at her.

  “You have some venom in your system, but I think you'll be all right.”

  He didn't look as if he understood her.

  “What can I get you?” Jamari smoothed the damp cloth over his brow again.

  “Nothing. You're the most important thing in my life.”

  From the look on Jamari's face, that was news to her.

  Dee guessed talu venom really was a good truth serum.

  Jamari squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them again. “Shh. Just rest. You need to rest.” She kissed his forehead, and he sighed deeply and closed his eyes again.

  Dee had to fight not to laugh at the panic she saw on Jamari's face. They exchanged a look, and Jamari pointed a warning finger at her.

  “Not a word.”

  Dee pretended to seal her mouth closed, and turned back to the window.

  Someone ran past the front of the alley, on the main road, and she could hear shouting.

  She frowned. “What's the time?”

  “I'd guess just before midday.”

  “I have to go. I'm meeting someone, and they'll get worried if I don't show up.” Dee put Fluffy back in the pack and hitched it over her shoulder.

  “Who're you meeting?” Jamari stood up.

  “Sebastian Xian. The new leader of the resistance.”

  Jamari's mouth fell open. “Dee, that's not safe.”

  Dee closed her hand over the door handle. “Too late for that warning, Jamari. Way, way too late.”

  Chapter 22

  When Dee reached the street, there was no sign of the disturbance she'd heard earlier. She hesitated for a moment in front of a row of stalls with displays of fruit and vegetables, but they were mostly unfamiliar to her, and she chose to head back to Sebastian's place first. She was most likely already late.

  His door was open, and she heard raised voices within.

  She gave a short knock and stepped inside.

  Sebastian was facing the door, and his gaze locked onto her.

  Karr stood in front of him, and he turned at the sound of her knock, and she could see relief on his face.

  “Sorry I'm late. I got lost.” She walked past Karr toward Sebastian, and then stopped beside him, suddenly unsure how to greet him.

  He put his hands on her shoulders, his gaze raking her. “You're all right?”

  She nodded but he lifted a hand and his finger lingered on the bruise on her temple. Her back was to Karr, so she mouthed 'later' to him, and he frowned but said nothing.

  “Word was, someone grabbed you.”

  She turned as Karr spoke. “Word from who?”

  “That's just what I was asking,” Sebastian said.

  “Someone noticed something. Passed it along.” Karr lifted his shoulders. “They didn't leave their name.”

  “How could they pass it along without revealing who they are?” Dee wondered.

  “We have an anonymous voice drop at headquarters.” Sebastian slid hands into his pockets. “Out on the pipelines, they'd have come in themselves, told me everything they knew.”

  “This isn't the pipelines,” Karr said.

  His words seemed to insert a chill into the conversation.

  The silence was broken by a ping of sound coming from Karr's shirt pocket.

  He frowned, pulled a small comms unit out. “Yes?” He blinked. “Cores guards, headed this way.” His eyes were wild when he looked at Dee. “Looking for you.”

  “Guards? In the settlement?” Sebastian shook his head. “We'll worry about that later. Let's go.” He grabbed her arm, and she ran with him into his bedroom. He scooped up a bag set in a corner, then pulled a lever below the window and a small panel came away, just large enough for them to crawl through.

  Dee dived out, with both men right behind her. Sebastian took a few seconds to close the panel back up, and then he took the lead, running through the trees.

  Dee realized he was running parallel to the road, back toward headquarters, then he stopped beneath a particularly massive tree, and began climbing it.

  It was only when he was halfway up the trunk that she noticed the tiny metal spikes set in a staggered pattern up the side that he was using for foot and hand holds.

  She followed him up, and Karr came right behind her.

  When she reached the first thick branch, the spikes disappeared, and she had to pull herself up from branch to branch, working harder than Sebastian because she was at least a head shorter than he was.

  He looked back more than once to offer her a hand, but she shook her head. She could tell he was in a hurry. He wanted to get up as fast as he could, and she was slowing him down.

  She was breathing hard by the time she found him crouched on a small platform set two thirds up the trunk, with a good view of the main pathway.

  Fluffy had poked her head out of the pack when they'd started running, and now
she wriggled out and chittered as she ran to the end of the branch the platform rested on.

  Karr hauled himself up beside her, and forced her to more or less plaster herself to Sebastian's side. His arm came around her and held her close to him.

  “Did you see anything?” she asked quietly.

  “Not yet.” As he answered, a group of four guards came into view. They walked in a line, weapons cradled in their arms.

  “What the hell?” Karr breathed it out. “They never come into the settlement.”

  “Hanran Fattal must be on the mend. And pretty annoyed with me.” Dee remembered the cold hatred in his eyes when they'd met before.

  When the guards disappeared from view--the trees and other houses shielding them--Sebastian blew out a breath and sat down.

  “Guess Hanran Fattal is looking for some payback.”

  Karr looked sick. “What do we do?”

  “They aren't looking for you, so I'd say the best thing to do is leave us with that comm unit and go back. Dee and I will try to keep in range, and you can use it to let us know what's going on.”

  “Whoever told them where you live will know I'm most likely someone you'll rely on for help.” Karr rubbed a hand over his mouth.

  “It won't matter if they don't know about this comms unit. I certainly didn't.” Sebastian held out his hand, and after a moment of hesitation, Karr handed it over.

  “Vavi and I found two in the staff sleeping quarters on the Verden, and we took them. They seem to be set to a specific frequency, so they're only useful to communicate between each other.” Karr settled down cross-legged. “We didn't have a chance to tell you about them after the Caruso towed the ship.”

  “Good thing you had them.” Dee meant that. Without the warning, they'd have been in the house when the guards arrived.

  “Vavi saw the guards come through the Dar Raca gate, demanding to know where Sebastian lived. Then they asked if anyone had seen Dee.”

  “Someone told them I was with Sebastian.” Dee thought back to what Jamari had told her and knew she was right. The resistance was definitely compromised.