Breakeven

by Michelle Diener

  She didn't have the same safety net here. There was no Leo, no Finkle, to come rescue her.

  Sebastian would, though.

  The thought steadied her, and yet spiked her heart rate even more. She didn't want Sebastian to put himself in danger for her.

  So she had to succeed.

  She forced herself to her feet and looked around the tiny space.

  A light had come on when she'd stepped inside, and it illuminated a maintenance cart with the usual vacuum and cleaning materials.

  She rose up, grabbed hold of the handles, and maneuvered it out of the closet.

  She walked the length of the floor, heading for the opposite end, and then called the lift.

  When the door pivoted open, she forced herself to move, swinging the cart around so she faced the door again.

  The lift rose up one floor.

  She took a deep breath as the semi-circular door swung open, but there was no one waiting on the other side.

  The foyer the lift opened out into was lit with the same dim lighting on the floor below.

  She stepped out, moving much more slowly as she headed for where she thought they were holding Lucia.

  When she was a few doors away from the passageway where she'd noticed the guards on her first day here, she heard low voices, and she pushed into the first office she came to, leaving it open and switching on the vacuum.

  On Garmen, most of the cleaning was done by automatons, but here it seemed they used the gen-pop. Perhaps because they could get away with barely paying them.

  She turned her back to the door, and began running the long, slim head of the device along the floor.

  “Hey.”

  She heard the sharp command, and ignored it.

  “Hey!”

  She pretended surprise, looking over her shoulder with a frown.

  “Who sent you to clean?” The guard leaned in and switched off the vacuum.

  She didn't want to talk if she could help it. She knew her accent was different. She tipped her head to the side in silent question.

  “I thought they'd fired the cleaner. Wasn't she a resistance snitch?” Another guard peered in over the first guard's massive shoulder.

  Dee looked down, avoiding eye contact, and pulled the work schedule off the cart and held it out.

  The guard snatched it from her. “This doesn't tell me anything except the offices are supposed to be cleaned.” He tossed it back in disgust, and it fluttered to the floor.

  Dee made a big deal of bending down to pick it up, and reattaching it to the cart.

  “It's not like she could have gotten in without clearance. Fattal's locked this place down.” The other guard was already moving away, clearly bored with the whole thing.

  The big one stood for a moment. “Finish quickly.”

  She nodded, eyes still averted.

  “And bring us some jah.”

  The last statement was delivered with a nastiness she took to be his attempt at truly putting her in her place for alarming him.

  She nodded again, and stepped out of the room after him.

  He had gone to the intersection of the two passageways, and was watching her with hostile eyes.

  She hunched over, making herself smaller, and giving herself a tiny limp, and scurried back a few doors to the small kitchen she'd spotted on her way down the wide corridor.

  As soon as she was through the door she straightened and smiled.

  She needed the venom in case she had to do a swap for Lucia, but there was surely enough in her vial for a small drop each into the guards' jah?

  She didn't know what it would do, but there was no harm in trying.

  Well. No harm to her.

  Chapter 29

  Sebastian left the protection of the darker alleyways for the main paths. It was faster.

  He also didn't worry that he hadn't sighted Peyt since he'd seen him from the top of the building.

  He knew where he was going.

  He approached the smaller Tree at a flat out run, taking the steps to the front entrance three at a time as the door swung closed.

  He grabbed it just in time.

  Peyt was walking ahead of him, and stopped to call the lift.

  Sebastian slipped inside the foyer and let the door swish silently closed behind him.

  He moved to the right, sliding out of Peyt's line of sight as he turned in the lift to face forward, and as soon as the door had pivoted closed, Sebastian shoved open the door of the stairwell and ran up it, the ill-fitting maintenance jacket tied around his waist flapping behind him.

  He assumed the lift had beaten him up, and he was right. When he stepped out, Peyt was ahead of him and he followed him to his apartment.

  There was something going on with the man. He seemed unaware of what was going on around him, his hand shaking a little as he swiped his finger through his laslock and opened the door.

  As he stepped through, Sebastian shoved him between the shoulder blades, and caught completely unawares, Peyt fell forward with a shout.

  Sebastian pulled the door closed behind him and knelt on Peyt's back.

  “Careful, careful! You'll break it.” Peyt's words were desperate.

  “Break what?” Sebastian had stuffed the restraints he kept in his pack into one of the pockets of his maintenance uniform, and he pulled them out and secured Peyt's hands behind his back.

  “You.” Peyt twisted his neck to look around and up at him, and then winced as if the movement had pulled a muscle. “Look, I did what that little thief wanted. I got her in, and I expect to keep my payment.”

  Payment?

  Sebastian rolled Peyt onto his side, and began going through his pockets, and pulled out a familiar looking vial.

  For a moment he looked at it in shock, until he realized it wasn't even close to as full as the one she'd slipped into her top had been.

  He hadn't checked, but it was possible she'd put some of Fluffy's venom into a second vial, and his thoughts stuck on why she would do that.

  There weren't many places to go with that information, and not all of them were places he wanted to explore.

  “So, she gave you some venom in exchange for getting her in. I'll offer you the same deal. Get me in, too, and I'll give this back to you.”

  Peyt stared at him for a long beat. “You fucker.” He kicked out, overbalancing and then tried to kick out again. “Fucker, fucker, fucker. That is mine!” Snot and tears ran down his face as he squirmed and grunted, trying to get to his feet while trying to kick Sebastian at the same time.

  Sebastian put a boot on his shoulder and shoved, so he fell back on his hands and arms.

  He looked down at Peyt, at the rage and lack of control, and threw out any thoughts that he'd be cooperative, even with the promise of getting the venom back.

  Dee began cleaning the next office down, but this time facing the door. Whatever the venom in their jah was going to do, she wanted to see them coming if they went looking for her.

  They'd taken the cups with a smirk, and she knew they thought they'd gotten one over her. Mostly likely making jah for the guards wasn't in the cleaner's duties.

  She kept her own smirk hidden, and her eyes down.

  When she heard a thump over the hum of the vacuum, she kept it running, leaving it in the middle of the room, and stepped out cautiously.

  “I don't care what Fattal says, the Caruso are going to gut us all, as soon as there's enough of them in that warehouse at the hover base, and as soon as they've stockpiled enough weapons.”

  “Why would the Cores be so stupid? They have to know it's a risk, and they must have some plan to keep the Caruso in check.”

  The two men were facing each other, and one of them thumped the wall with his fist again.

  “Careful, Cutter. You're going to force me to tell the boss you're not on board.”

  “Fuck you, Harv. I'm just stating the obvious. If you can't see it, then you're either stupid or blind. Or both.”

  Harv
lashed out, punching Cutter in the jaw.

  He went down, and lay on the ground blinking. “What the hell? You asshole.” He pushed himself unsteadily to his feet. His back was to Dee, who was crouched low and peering around the corner, and she saw him reach for his laz.

  He brought it out in one smooth move, shooting his colleague full on the chest.

  Harv went down and Cutter stood over him, breathing hard. Then his foot went back and he kicked him in the ribs with a grunt of satisfaction.

  Dee rose up, stepped into the passageway, and shot him with her laz in the middle of the back.

  He fell over his friend, toppling like a tree.

  She walked up to them, picking up Cutter's laz to check the settings, and saw he'd used the same one on Harv that she had for him.

  Both men would be out for a couple of hours at least.

  She slid his laz into one of her pockets, found Harv's and pocketed it, too.

  She patted them both down, looking for some kind of access card or key. They surely would have Lucia locked up in some way.

  She found nothing, and worried about the time she was taking, she stepped up to the door.

  There was no laslock, as if it was a general access space, and she opened it cautiously. It swung open smoothly, and she hesitated in the doorway, looking in.

  It had probably at one time been an office, but someone had converted it into a prison and torture chamber.

  The floor was smooth and hard, and three cages sat evenly spaced across the far wall.

  There was a chair in the middle of the room.

  There was something ominous about its placement, and she avoided looking at it.

  The faces of her colleagues, Sunar and Petro--not as they'd been before they'd been taken, but after she had found them thrown like refuse outside Leo's Tether Town warehouse--flitted through her mind, and she had to breathe carefully for a moment.

  The rustle of fabric snapped her out of it.

  Someone was in at least one of the cages.

  It was dark in here, particularly where the cages were, but the base level lighting used in the corridors was installed in here, too, and she could just make out someone moving in the cage to the left.

  “Lucia?” she whispered.

  “Dee?” The voice came from the right, and Dee paused in the middle of the room, mouth open.

  “Ruanne?”

  Finally she made out a woman crouched against the bars of the cage, hands white-knuckled, hair wild around her face and falling over her shoulders.

  Time to be surprised and happy later. “How can I get you out?”

  “How did you get in?” The question was asked in a deep, hoarse voice, and Dee spun to look at the middle cage.

  A man stared back at her, his face a landscape of fading bruises.

  “Vahn?”

  He reared back in surprise at that.

  “Is Lucia here?” She stepped closer to the third cage.

  “She's there, but she's out of it.” Ruanne's voice was soft. “She only just got in, and it takes a while for the sedative to work through the system.” She spoke without emotion, but Dee thought her voice trembled a little.

  An unconscious Lucia wasn't good. “So, back to the original question, how do I get you out of here?”

  “You don't. But I do thank you for arriving in such a timely manner.”

  Dee spun, saw Hanran Fattal, flanked by two guards, standing in the doorway.

  It was hard to swallow, but she forced herself to. “Well, then, get your thugs to carry Lucia back to the settlement, now I'm here.”

  “And why would I do that?” Fattal stepped into the room, and even though the lighting was bad, she could see the fury and hatred glittering in his eyes.

  “Because if you don't, the next time you demand an exchange, there won't even be a chance you can get what you want. You either honor the agreement, or you never get cooperation again.” She lifted her shoulders in a shrug to emphasize the obviousness of it.

  Fattal stared at her for a long time, and instead of frightening her, she found it steadied her nerve.

  He was a bully, but he was also the head of the Cores, and he couldn't have gotten to a position like that without being at least somewhat intelligent.

  “Take her back while she's still sedated. You can leave her at the gate,” Fattal ordered one of the guards behind him, and then walked to Lucia's cage, and swiped his finger through it.

  So, a laslock tuned to Hanran Fattal. Probably only him, if she was reading the situation correctly.

  He was in total control here.

  The guard he'd given the order to stepped inside, picked Lucia up, and hefted her over his shoulder.

  When he walked out of the room, he was replaced by another guard.

  So, they were nervous of her. Or Fluffy.

  She glanced back, saw Ruanne and Vahn were watching her with interest, obviously trying to work out what was going on.

  “Where's your little pet?” Hanran asked, and she turned back to face him.

  “Well, your thugs tried to grab me in the settlement, forcing me to run into the forest. Fluffy decided she liked the trees better than being with me.” She lifted her hands in regret. “Actions have consequences.”

  He struck her, and she went with it, lifting an arm up and falling to the ground, head bowed. It hurt. It hurt a lot. But she'd minimized the impact by moving back.

  She felt hands on her, patting her down and taking all three of her weapons, and then she was lifted up, set in the chair, and her arms pulled viciously back and secured behind her.

  “So big and strong. So brave,” she murmured to the two guards, and she felt one of them flinch at her words.

  She slowly lifted her head to look at Fattal as the guards stepped back.

  “I don't need you anymore,” Hanran said to them. “Go sort out the two idiots passed out outside.”

  The guards left, and the door closed behind them.

  She looked up, and saw Hanran Fattal watching her again.

  She wanted--needed--to wipe the smirk off his face.

  “Scared they'll hear you talking about the talu?” Dee asked him. “I noticed you called her a pet, rather than saying what she is. Not sure they'd be that comfortable with the notion of your using talu venom, are you? And did they know you were off your head on it two days ago?”

  Hanran Fattal bared his teeth. “The purchase of the talu is secret. They didn't need to know.”

  Most likely, that was true. The less was known about his secret weapon, the better.

  “So, what do you want from me?” she asked.

  “Obviously, I want the talu. I don't believe you'd have let it run off, and fortunately, I know a way to find out where you've put it.”

  She went ice cold. If he had found out about Jamari, if Dee had put her in danger--

  But Hanran Fattal was suddenly beside her, shoving a hand down her top with hard, rough fingers, and then drawing the vial out with a triumphant grunt. “I think you understand how I'm going to use this against you.” He lifted it up to look at it. “We've had you under surveillance since you stepped onto this floor. I'll admit at first we thought you were a cleaner, especially with the change in hair, but fortunately there was a hidden camera in the kitchen, and when I saw you putting something in the guards' jah, I knew it was you.” He grabbed her wig and ripped it off her head.

  Her stomach plummeted and she had to take a deep breath.

  At least she'd gotten Lucia out. That was the only win from this situation.

  “You sure you want to waste precious venom on me?” she asked with a croak.

  “Oh, I don't think it'll be a waste. I think it'll pay back major dividends if I can get the talu back.” He smiled at her, and then took out a slim syringe.

  He drew only the tiniest amount of venom into it. “No sense using more than necessary.” The look he sent her was pure spite, and then he pushed the needle into her shoulder.

  Chapter 30 />
  Sebastian walked with purpose, forcing himself to keep a steady pace rather than run, as every instinct screamed for him to do.

  He was in Peyt's clothes again, his new access card in his hand.

  There was no way Peyt would have been able to come up with an excuse believable enough to get Sebastian into the Tree in his current state, and Sebastian didn't think he'd do it, anyway.

  The Cores brat was no longer thinking logically.

  He was approaching the front entrance when he saw a guard carrying something over his shoulder.

  It wasn't yet dawn, the lights were still dim and barely lit the path, but he could just make out the shape of a woman.

  He slowed, and then stopped, staring at the guard as he walked toward him.

  “Cores business,” the guard said, his gaze hard.

  It was Lucia. Sebastian tried not to let the surprise show on his face. “Where are you taking her?”

  “The settlement. Keep quiet about it, if you know what's good for you.” The guard passed him, and Sebastian found himself rooted to the spot.

  It was hard to breathe.

  The only reason they'd let Lucia go was if they had Dee.

  He tried to pull his thoughts back, to focus.

  He turned to face the Tree.

  Started walking toward it again.

  He was coming in at an angle to one of the side entrances, and as he approached, a scream sounded from the left. The guards at the door he was heading for turned toward the sound and when it came again, Sebastian hesitated, wondering what could be going on--

  “Move.” Darren was suddenly beside him. “That's Lashcka giving us a distraction.”

  Sebastian glanced at him and sped up, trying to keep from looking like he was running, but moving as fast as he could. The guards had taken a few steps toward the sound and Laschka switched to a loud groan, as if she was in severe pain.

  “Help.” She made the call with a trembling voice.

  The guards' backs was turned from the entrance completely, and Sebastian stepped up to the door, tapped Peyt's pass and carefully stepped inside, with Darren right on his heels.

  “Lucia is out,” Sebastian said, voice almost a whisper.