by L A Warren
She looked up, her gaze searching the glittering depths of his silvery eyes. “I’m not doing it for you.”
His chuckle caught her off-guard. “I know. Now, tonight, I have a race to watch. Do you remember Mr. Tusel and I discussing my bet? Can you guess who I placed the Imperial bet on?"
She shook her head, confused by the change in conversation. Why does he care so much about a competition? She found the strength to answer his question. “I would guess you went with the sure thing.”
“Hm.” His eyes glittered with interest. "You'll find out soon enough. It's not announced until the winner's circle. Trust me, the next few days will prove to be very exciting for jump-jet fans.”
“I don’t care about jump-jets.”
“I do, which means you do too. I want to see who wins. The S’lorek is on its way to Malbra. This is the last time for my people to relax and have fun. War is upon us, Elise.”
Firm hands held her shoulders and she felt his hot breath on her neck. His body vibrated with energy. He reached down and retied the laces of her gown. She grunted as he cinched them tight.
He glanced over to the half-eaten food. “I care a great deal about you. Perhaps, some day, you'll believe me. You have much to think about, and more to accomplish, over the next few days."
Her heart felt heavy, drained of strength. “I’m too tired, Gregor. I just want it all to end. I don't want to watch jump-jet races with you.”
"Go to bed, opés. Try to think about what I've said and find a path that will bring you to me."
“Within a few days, it won't matter what I think. How will you know the difference between what I choose and what you choose for me?"
"I’ll know." He turned to face the screen. His dismissal couldn't be ignored.
She exited his apartments and, as the door swished closed, she felt as if a noose had settled around her neck. Four days until my mind is no longer mine.
Should she go down like a rock sinking beneath the waves and disappear into oblivion quietly? Or should she ignite a firestorm and explode in brilliance, going out like a roman candle, luminous and magnificent, before the darkness snuffed her out completely?
Jeena had worked hard to train her. It would be a shame to let all that time and energy go to waste. Besides, she could always designate the prize money to Dove. If she was going to lose everything to Gregor, why not spend her last days enjoying what she had left? Gregor would be furious when he found out, but by then it wouldn't matter.
I want to race! Malice hissed. I want to fly!
Then we will fly, my sister.
Weeeeee!
Elise had a jump-jet competition to win. Dreams of escape might be gone, but if she won, she would always know that in some small way she had defeated Gregor. She wasn't a pawn.
Chapter Four
Gambit, Day 278
Elise arrived at the jump-jet hangar, only to be shoved into her flightsuit and pressed into the little dragonfly craft by Jeena and Dove.
“You’re cutting it close again!” Jeena gave her a disapproving frown.
“I'm sorry, but it’s complicated.” She took the helmet Jeena handed her and shoved it over her head. The conversation with Gregor had her hands shaking and her stomach feeling light.
Dove put a hand on her shoulder and gripped tight. “Don’t worry, Chickadee, you just go out there and do what you do best. In a few days, it’ll all be over.” He kissed her helmet.
Gregor’s words still had her reeling.
He wants you to date him, Whimper giggled. Date!
No, Malice countered. He wants her to come to terms with her slavery. His version of charming makes me want to vomit. I don’t understand where her mind is.
Malice, don’t talk about me like I’m not even here. Elise climbed the ladder to the jump-jet and settled herself inside the cockpit. You do realize I have a time trial to run? I need to focus on flying, not Gregor. Can we stop talking about him?
What? I can’t speak my mind anymore? Malice’s words dripped with venom. He wants you to forget every degradation, every torture, every death, and you’re just supposed to learn to live with him? Have you forgotten what Shriek had to endure? He’s the enemy, Elise. I’m questioning your sanity, and that alone should worry you.
Now wasn't that ironic. The voice in her head questioned Elise's sanity.
She flicked through her preflight checklist, striking the buttons on her console a bit harder than normal.
If I don’t win this competition, Malice, that’s exactly what I’ll have to do. Now shut up. I’m nervous enough as it is.
Malice, Alex whispered from the dark, come and stop badgering her. She needs to focus. Whimper, you too. Come and leave Elise alone.
Malice grumbled as Alex pulled her away.
Whimper skipped off, but Elise could hear her chant. He loves us. He loves us not. He loves us. He loves us not.
Shriek did not join in on Malice's taunting. Shriek was nowhere to be found.
Alex streamed her thoughts to Elise in a focused beam. You can’t afford to lose. You’ve trained for this. You want it. Go get them, sister. Kick some Vendel ass!
Elise vented a low chuckle. Thank you, Alex.
The crane came and picked up her jump-jet and aligned it in the launch tube. As the clamps grabbed her little ship, she rocked to the side. Eager for the distraction the jump-jet competition provided, her heart thundered and her breathing sawed in and out of her chest. She closed her eyes and visualized the course she would soon fly, just as Jeena had taught her to do. The pre-race visualization helped her anticipate anomalies.
It didn't escape her notice that this would be her first time flying in real space. All her other jump-jet runs had been within the silvery bubble of WOR-space surrounding the Vendel fleet. She looked forward to the experience with an overwhelming eagerness.
Fifty rings.
A time trial.
She needed a solid run.
Malikai, who consistently scored ten seconds per ring, currently held the lead in the competition. She needed to beat his time. If he hit and scored on any of the bonus rings, his time would be cut to even less than that.
Elise traced the path of the circuit in her mind. Every ten rings, beginning with the fifth ring, she had an opportunity to catch a bonus ring. Each bonus shaved thirty seconds off her total time. In her last race, she had hit two of the rings. Malikai had hit three. That made his time trial difficult to beat.
A light flashed green on her console, and she pressed her palms to the gel-flight controls. With a roar, her jump-jet screamed down the launch tube, spitting her out into the blackness of space. Not the silver of WOR-space, but true space. She squealed with excitement.
Gregor would never take away the thrill of this moment. It belonged solely to her.
Elise positioned her jump-jet at the starting gate and lined up for her run. She was up next. For now, Sigour was on the course. He came from around the far side of Gambit, weaving wildly through the last ten rings. She checked his score as he pulled into the gate. Eleven seconds per ring and he hit one bonus ring.
Damn.
Elise nudged her ship forward. It was her turn.
When the light turned green, she ignited her thrusters, surged forward, and piled on the speed. The first bonus ring came into view. She considered trying for it, but her alignment was off. What she could not afford was to miss a bonus ring. That carried a hefty penalty. She left the first bonus ring behind, unchallenged.
Elise caressed the jump-jet controls and coaxed wild accelerations out of the craft. Her speed and direction shifted with nearly every breath. Ring fifteen approached and behind it a bonus ring loomed. She set her line and slipped right through the bonus ring, letting the rhythm of flying guide her hands on the gel-pad. Her palms pressed down into the gel. Her fingers fine-tuned her course. She trusted her gut and tried not to think too hard. The third bonus ring loomed in front of her. She made a break to hit it, but at the last moment it slipped to t
he side. She cursed, and readjusted her flight path, slipping through the twenty-sixth ring.
Jeena's words came to her. Don’t go wild out there. Stay focused and think of only the next two rings in your sights.
Looping and diving around the course, she kept Jeena’s instructions planted firmly in her mind. Two more shots at the remaining bonus rings remained. Whatever the cost, those would be hers.
The next bonus ring came into focus. Twisting and diving through the course she hit it dead on. With her focus on the last ten rings, and the final bonus ring, she didn’t realize when she breezed through the last ring and glanced at her time.
Nine seconds per ring. Holy shit!
She brought the jump-jet back around to the course start. Candice and Pauline were busy setting up for their head-to-head race. Her race against Malikai would run after theirs.
Everyone had two head-to-head trials scheduled today. Elise had three scheduled tomorrow. Elise and Malikai would face off and then she had an hour break before her race against the other female in the semi-finals, Effie. After that, she hoped to make it back to her quarters for a little rest.
Candice and Pauline finished their second heat of Rabbit or Fox. The score tied. They headed into position for the third and final race.
Malikai arrived and pulled up alongside her jump-jet.
Her head buzzed with pre-race jitters.
“Chickadee.” His greeting was clipped and curt.
“Malikai,” she said without encouragement.
“I bet Candice wins. Pauline’s getting sloppy. Care to wager?”
“I don’t bet, Malikai, but you know that.”
“You should, it makes things more interesting.”
“Not interested.”
“Fox or Rabbit?”
Pauline, who had taken Rabbit for the last race, passed the twenty-fifth ring and raced for the finish line. Candice pursued, narrowing the gap.
“You pick,” Elise said.
“I’ll take Fox.”
Malikai accepted Fox and Elise acknowledged her position as Rabbit. She pressed her finger to the palm pad, and their first heat was set.
Candice stopped firing at Pauline. They passed the fortieth ring with Candice half a ring behind Pauline.
“Candice stopped firing,” he said. “That’s odd.”
“Candice is going for the finish line.” The woman’s jump-jet surged forward, catching Pauline’s ship.
Malikai’s wry voice came over the communications channel. “Care to wager?”
She laughed. “No, I do not.”
Candice caught up with Pauline, passed her, and slipped through the last ring less than a ship’s length ahead of Pauline.
“Pauline made a mistake,” Malikai said. “She should have fired on Candice before she went through the last ring. It would have given her three points and the win. I told you she was getting sloppy. You should have placed your bet, Chickadee.”
“You have nothing I want. Are you ready to lose?”
“I don’t think I’m going to lose to you today,” he said. “But, there is something I want.”
“Not going to happen.”
Elise initiated the countdown for the start of their race. When her console flicked green, she pressed down on the gel-pads. Silver rings disappeared behind her as she wove her way through the first set of rings. Just before she hit the fourth ring, Malikai began his pursuit as Fox.
She enjoyed the chase, and imagined she was riding the biggest and fastest rollercoaster in the world. Silver flashed before her eyes and rings piled up behind her. Elise was surprised when she flew through the fiftieth ring without Malikai landing a shot. She’d evaded, and he’d come dangerously close to scoring a hit on her, but her mind had been focused more on the thrill of looping through the course than on the competition.
“That’s two points for me,” she said.
“Don’t get cocky,” he replied.
She should have listened. He took Rabbit on the next race and nailed her by ring forty, earning three points as Rabbit with Fangs. He now led the points three to two. Elise cursed. It had been a mistake.
“Such words from a lady? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, I choose Fox for the last race.” Since she trailed in the points, the final pick of Rabbit or Fox belonged to her.
“Key it in. I think a six-to-two-point spread will keep the fans screaming for years. Care to bet on it?”
“There’s no way in hell you’re going to do that again. You got lucky.”
“You were distracted. If you have any desire to make it to the top three, you need to focus. It would be nice to share the podium with you. We could go out for a drink and maybe dinner afterward?”
“You’re not my type. You have ten seconds, get ready.”
“Oh, I’m ready.” Malikai shot out of the starting block.
Elise counted down the seconds. When the timer hit zero, she went for the chase.
Malikai picked up rings with surprising speed. She tried, and failed, to lock onto his craft. There was no way in hell he was going to grow fangs and bite her again. Rabbit slipped through the twenty-fifth ring. Malakai had two options: race to the finish or turn and go on the hunt. The second choice would earn him another three points if he scored another hit.
Elise cursed.
He accelerated and headed down the course. Unsure if it was a ploy or not, she narrowed his lead and kept her fingers on her trigger, harrying him down the course.
Malikai dodged. It cost him time. She used that to narrow the gap, then took a chance and passed Malikai at the forty-second ring.
Curses blatted over her communications channel.
She ignored him and instead visualized the next eight rings. Laser fire flashed behind her as Malikai lined up his sights. One shot nearly tagged her left wing. She rolled around her center axis, without altering her course, and the shot passed between her twin wingtips.
Too close for comfort. Come on. You can do it.
More cursing followed.
The fiftieth ring rose before her, proud and glorious. This wouldn’t be a win. She’d only take a single point for a Fox finish, but it would be a tie. Malikai hated tying.
Elise acknowledged the final score. There were two races before her next head-to-head against Effie. She pointed the nose of her craft back to the Gambit for a short rest. Malikai hung back, silent, fuming perhaps. She took a perverse pleasure in irritating him.
Effie and Pauline lined up for the next race. After they finished, Malikai and Segour would face off. She had time to regroup and rethink her strategy. Without a parting word, Elise headed back to the hangar.
Jeena jumped and Dove collected her in a bear hug. He spun her around in a circle and smothered her against his chest. When he let her down, Larkin came over and thumped her on the back. He gave her two soft kisses on both cheeks and congratulations.
“Thank guys.” A little breathless from the excitement of her first races in the semi-finals, she still couldn’t imagine this was actually happening.
Jeena clapped her hands. “You’re doing so well. I couldn’t be prouder.”
“Only because I had the best instructor.” Her cheeks hurt from smiling so much.
Larkin draped an arm across her shoulders. His eyes were red lined and the faint aroma of alcohol tainted his breath. The Dunlaap disaster still weighed heavily on him.
Elise envied him, in a morbid sort of way. The Earth WOR hadn’t had the easy convenience of alcohol to take the edge off their pain. They had WOR-guards and whipsticks, Vendel classes and an entire culture and language shoved down their throats, with the very real threat of torture if they failed to please. She also had the braklav. None of it had dulled her pain like Larkin's alcohol, quite the opposite had happened.
It didn’t seem fair.
He kissed her cheek and gave a lopsided grin. She kissed him back, on the lips no less, unwilling to hold her pain up against his.
Larkin’s expressio
n sobered for the briefest of moments. He pushed his curls away from his eyes. “You shouldn’t tease a guy, El. It’s not fair.”
“Oh, Lark.” She tousled the curls on his head. “You need to stop drinking. You reek.” She disentangled herself from Larkin, and he wobbled for a moment before sinking to the floor.
He sat cross-legged, eyed her closely, and then pulled a small flask out of his shirt pocket. “Cheers, El.” He dumped the liquid onto the floor of the hanger, draining the container.
“It’ll get better, Lark. I promise.”
“How can you be so sure?” He capped the flask and tucked it back in his jumpsuit.
“I believe in hope, even when all is dark.” For the first time in days, the conviction of her words resonated with truth.
There’s still time, sister, Alex said. Gregor hasn’t beaten us yet.
What bothers me, she admitted, is that I’m ready to let him win. She glanced around the hangar, watching her friends. This is my last stand. The last thing I have to throw in his face. We’re beaten. Done. I can’t win. What’s worse is that I’m not even sure I want to fight him anymore. I can learn to live with him. I have feelings for him.
I know, Alex said. And I understand, but I’m telling you we’re not done. Not yet. There’s still hope. I need you to not give up.
I won’t. Elise vented a sigh. I’m here. I’m still fighting. But if I lose, I’m just saying that I can accept it the end. I can accept him.
Elise turned around and brought her attention back to the hangar.
Dove stood in front of a gorgeous man wearing a green jumpsuit with dazzling eyes which matched the hue of his Conclave colors. Dove pressed against Carek’s chest and held him fast.
Carek’s face was beet red. He'd put up her entrance fee then pulled it back once he'd discovered who she really was. He hadn't said anything to his friends. None of them knew Dove's Chickadee was also the Emperor's slave and soon-to-be bound WOR. He'd kept her secret and begged her to return to Gregor. Her pursuit of the jump-jet competition defied his wishes, but he held faith with her and kept her secrets. He did it because he loved her.
