Deuces Wild Boxed Set: Books 1-4: Beyond the Frontiers, Rampage, Labyrinth, Birthright

by Ell Leigh Clarke

  Barnabas smiled. “So you have ceased to fight your nature? We were never close, but it hurt us all to see you on such a destructive path.”

  Nickie looked away. “There comes a point where poker and drugs just don’t do it anymore. I had to grow up sometime.” She didn’t flinch from the comforting hand Barnabas laid on her shoulder.

  “That is a relief to hear. Perhaps you may not need your final year after all. It would be good to have you home, my dear. When you are ready,” he added quickly as Nickie stiffened, then changed the subject. “You will have to tell me how you ended up with a Skaine on your crew. I saw how kindly you treated it.”

  “Him. How I treated him.” Nickie hadn’t been aware that Barnabas had watched her interaction with Durq. Seeing her be nice to a Skaine must have confused the hell out of him. She snickered internally. Let him wonder. Serve him right for being nosey. “Maybe,” she hedged.

  The silence grew heavy between them as they walked. Finally, she relented. “So, where are we going? Are you taking me to my aunt?”

  Barnabas gave her a sympathetic glance. “None of your aunts are here right now.”

  “But you’re here.”

  Barnabas chuckled. “Yes, Merry. I am. I have my own mission in these parts.”

  Nickie locked her emotions down, feeling her uncle’s scrutiny. “None of them?”

  Barnabas shook his head. “There was a matter that needed Bethany Anne’s…personal attention. They will be back. At some point.”

  Nickie shrugged. “Whatever. I was here to find Prince Pretty Boy anyway. I’m a little surprised he’s here, to be honest.”

  “His planet is facing a crisis.”

  Nickie snorted. “You have to wonder why they settled that planet in the first place.”

  Barnabas nodded sagely. “I believe the original colony was founded in somewhat of a hurry to avoid a civil war.” He pulled the stairwell door open and gestured for Nickie to go through.

  “Well, that explains some of it. I’m more curious about High Tortuga, to be honest.” Nickie waited for Barnabas at the top of the stairs. “Why here? Why this planet? Why not settle somewhere inside the Federation?”

  “Many reasons,” Barnabas told her. “Not least of which is that Bethany Anne and Michael have chosen to raise their family here.”

  Nickie’s mouth fell open. “Bethany Anne had kids?” She had never thought to hear that her whirlwind aunt would settle long enough to raise a family. “You have to be lying. You’re serious?”

  Barnabas broke into a grin and pulled a tablet from his robes. “Would you like to see proof?” He showed her his screensaver, a photo of two mischievous-looking identically grinning children with Bethany Anne and a man Nickie assumed must be the infamous Michael. “Alexis is the girl, Gabriel is the boy.”

  Nickie peered at the photo and searched for the appropriate thing to say. “They’re…small. Very nice. Michael wasn’t dead, then?”

  “Not exactly. He was scattered in Myst form across the Etheric for a hundred years or so. He had recovered by the time Bethany Anne found a way to repair the Gate and went back to Earth to rescue him.”

  “They got the Gate to work?” Nickie asked. “Fuck. I didn’t think even BMW could get it done this century. Is the Gate still active?”

  “The way is closed,” Barnabas commiserated. “The Gate had to be hidden since we are definitely not supposed to have it.”

  “Shame. I always wanted to see where my Grandma Jean came from.” Nickie took a closer look at the photo. “I get why Bethany Anne was so cut up. Dude’s still pretty hot for a guy from the Stone Age.”

  Barnabas gave her a stern look and put the tablet back in his pocket. “If you say so. We have company.” He tucked his hands into his sleeves and nodded toward the stairwell they’d just left.

  Nickie huffed when Barnabas halted. “Great.”

  “You don’t like the prince?” Barnabas asked. “I assumed you two were involved.”

  Nickie glowered. “You’re not reading me? It’s not like you to respect boundaries. He’s a pain in my ass.”

  Barnabas chuckled and held up his hands. “I won’t ask. In fact, I’ll give you two a minute.” He slipped through the door at the bottom of the stairs, leaving Nickie to wait for John.

  John was panting slightly when he burst through the door, but he ran down the stairs to where Nickie stood impatiently. “Thanks for waiting.” He flashed his dimple at her. “So…you couldn’t resist following me.”

  “It wasn’t too difficult.” Nickie grabbed the door handle. “You shouldn’t have made it so easy to tail you if you didn’t want to be caught.” She flounced through the door and took the stairs two at a time until she caught up to Barnabas.

  Barnabas turned when he heard her approach. “Merry.”

  “You can just call me Nickie like everyone else.” She heard John clattering down the stairs after them. “Where are we going?”

  “You’re hungry,” Barnabas told her, “and I would like to discuss a certain matter with you. We can do it over a meal.”

  Nickie was about to protest when her stomach growled.

  Barnabas smiled knowingly. “Come, my dear. Let’s get you fed.” He waved a hand in John’s direction when the prince appeared behind Nickie. “You, too.”

  High Tortuga, Northern Continent, Space Fleet Base, Rec Room Theta

  Barnabas listened to Nickie and John snarking at each other over their food at a table in the corner of the small rec room while he waited for something to eat.

  He absently watched his food being printed on the tray behind the hatch, his mind on his niece and her unexpected return.

  Nickie’s sabbatical appeared to be having the desired effect. Barnabas had scanned her mind before she’d even exited the ship. He had been pleasantly surprised to find she was no longer the unpredictable ball of anger who had caused so much trouble in her younger years, although she was still troubled deep below the surface.

  When Bethany Anne had sent her away, some of the family had disagreed with such strong measures. Barnabas had not been one of them. His own road to perdition back on Earth long ago came to mind. Sometimes the only way to break through to the light was to fall all the way into darkness.

  I like her, Shinigami told him.

  I am not surprised. You are drawn to chaos, and she is a long way from still waters. However, I will be glad to report to Bethany Anne that our niece is on the road to recovery.

  She reminds me of Tabitha. You know, if Tabitha was likely to break your face at any moment. You could use her in that situation with The Six.

  Maybe that is not such a bad idea. Her training is impeccable, and it would be an opportunity to allow her some contact without pushing her into rejoining us too soon.

  You want to ease her in.

  Yes. As gently as possible. Nickie will run like the wind if we overwhelm her. The food replicator blinked to tell Barnabas his food was ready, and he took his tray over to the table.

  Nickie and John paused their bickering when he sat across from them and sighed pointedly at the painfulness of their youth.

  “What’s up, Uncle B?” Nickie asked brightly.

  “Nothing in particular,” he replied, wrinkling his nose at the nickname. “I have a situation that needs to be taken care of.”

  “Why would you involve me?” she retorted. “I’ve fuck-all to do with this place.”

  “I was unsure whether to involve you at all, but you might be the best person for the job.” Barnabas paused with his fork halfway to his mouth. “You were claiming to be a Ranger, were you not?”

  Nickie shrugged. “So what if I was? Aunt Tabitha left that badge for me to use.”

  Barnabas shook his head. “Tabitha left that badge to remind you of who you are. The Rangers have been outlawed, Nickie.”

  Nickie narrowed her eyes. “If the Rangers were outlawed then how the fuck do you have a ‘situation?’”

  Barnabas gave her a solemn look. “The
Rangers may have been disbanded, but my need to see Justice brought wherever it is needed is not that easily quashed. I could not allow injustice to continue unchecked, so I became an outlaw. Or rather, a vigilante.”

  “Vigilante?” Nickie snickered. “You mean you want to tear shit up and have a reason for it. You’re just the same as me.”

  Barnabas’ eyebrow twitched. “We are all the same at heart, but yes. I see the vigilante spirit in you. Which makes me wonder if you might be interested in assisting me with my situation.”

  Nickie gave her uncle a hard look and pointed her fork at him. “Look, I already told you I want nothing to do with High Tortuga. I’m not going to involve myself or my crew in your drama, because the next thing I know you’ll have sucked us in with no escape.”

  “I promise that is not the case at all. I was asked by Lance to take care of a certain obstacle to a system joining the Federation.”

  “That sounds a little assassin-y,” Nickie cut in.

  “It does,” John agreed.

  Barnabas inclined his head a touch. “It could very well be. However, I am a little busy taking care of this planet at the moment. It makes things difficult since the system is not close enough for me to return to High Tortuga quickly should trouble arise.”

  John frowned. “So why are you asking Nickie? She’s not an assassin.”

  Nickie glared daggers at John. “What is it you need me to do?” she asked Barnabas.

  Barnabas placed his fork on the table. “The system in question is called ‘The Six.’ It has, funnily enough, six planets, all of which want to join the Federation.”

  Nickie shrugged. “So what’s the problem? Sign them up.”

  “It’s not that simple, unfortunately. The Six must be brought in together, as per the trade agreements that have already been negotiated. The issue is the internal politics of the first planet, Vietania, which Lance cannot be seen to interfere with.”

  John’s head snapped up. “That name sounds familiar.”

  Barnabas looked at the prince as though he were a child who had just sat on the potty for the first time. “Very good. Your people came from there originally.”

  “Must have been a long time ago,” John remarked.

  Barnabas smiled. “Yes, I suppose for you it would be.”

  Nickie hated all that committee shit. Action was how she dealt with problems, which was one of the reasons she’d held herself apart from colony life back on Themis. Leave that to the people who loved to talk shit all day and night. When they needed something punched, then she would show some interest. That was her political stance. “What’s the problem with the first planet?”

  “There’s a dispute about the line of succession, which could topple the monarchy of the planet.”

  “I know all about them,” John chipped in.

  Barnabas frowned at the interruption. “Yes, well, you should be getting back to resolve your own planet’s issue.”

  John lifted a shoulder. “I will, once you finish explaining the situation Nickie is walking into.”

  Nickie glared at him. “Why? You barely know me.”

  John gave her that maddening grin. “You wound me. I thought we were friends, Nickie?”

  She narrowed her eyes at him and turned to Barnabas. “Just get it over with so Prince Prissypants here will fuck off home.”

  Barnabas looked from Nickie to John, who was a little too happy to have gotten under Nickie’s skin. The silly boy might as well have pulled her hair, and Barnabas remembered how upset Lillian had been by what Nickie had done to the last boy who’d done that.

  However, the prince was still in possession of all his teeth, so maybe the teasing wasn’t too unwelcome. Young love had changed much since he had last courted a lady. “As you wish. The dispute involves the line of succession, as I said, and who is the true heir to the throne. The council of the Six has been unable to resolve the dispute, and until they do, they cannot join the Federation since all six planets need to sign to complete the process. To separate them would unsettle their delicate ecology of trade agreements and currency balance.”

  “So you want me to go in and knock some heads together?”

  Barnabas shook his head. “No, I want subtlety on this. It is imperative this situation is quickly and quietly resolved in a way that leaves the rightful monarch in charge. The means don’t matter, only the resolution.”

  “Isn’t that a little drastic?” John challenged. “I mean, it sounds like you want Nickie to go in there and murder someone.”

  Barnabas gave the young prince a hard stare. “And if that is the solution, then that is what it is. One day you will be responsible for your people. You will learn that ruling is not all largesse and parades.”

  John looked away. “I didn’t think that it was,” he grumbled.

  “What is in the people’s best interest is sometimes not pleasant for the individual. This is an extreme case. The Six are interdependent. They share overall leadership, and their economies are inextricably linked. Without intervention, the entire social structure of the system will come crashing down. The fate of the Six and their place within the Federation depends on the ability to make hard decisions. Nickie is more than capable of these choices.”

  Nickie warmed a little at the praise, but she didn’t like it. “My days of taking Federation orders are done.”

  Barnabas turned his gaze on her. “You are not listening. This has nothing to do with the Federation. They have to be completely in the clear in case any investigation occurs afterward. You, my dear, will be a vigilante. A lone wolf acting on her own agenda.” He winked at her. “What fault could lie with the Federation if a rogue element stepped in to remove an obstacle to peace?”

  “Yeah, I get it, but why would I want to put my neck on the line? Never mind my crew’s. They’ve done nothing to deserve getting caught up in Federation fuckery.”

  Barnabas spread his hands wide. “Fuckery aside, I know you care. These people need help, Nickie.” He shrugged and picked up his cutlery to continue eating. “Think about it before you reject the mission out of hand.”

  Nickie ate her dinner in silence. She ignored John’s attempts to draw her into conversation, too wrapped up in the decision Barnabas had presented her with. He soon gave up and turned his annoyingness on her uncle. Ha.

  What the fuck was she supposed to do about her dilemma? The last thing she wanted was to be pulled back in. But the people… She was torn.

  Meredith? No answer. Meredith? Where have you gone?

  I haven’t gone anywhere, Meredith replied. I was avoiding your wrath.

  What wrath? Nickie complained. I am an absolute fucking delight and don’t you forget it. You, however, are a snitch. The least you can do is help me with this decision after you sang to Shinigami.

  What is there to say? The people need help, and you can help them. I’m not going to tell you to absolve yourself of your sense of responsibility. How would that help?

  Nickie had hoped that was exactly what Meredith would do. I don’t want to deal with this right now.

  Take your time. I know you’ll make the right decision. In the meantime, another of your Aunt Tabitha’s diary entries has become available.

  Mere, you are forgiven. Nickie pushed her tray away and stood up to stretch. “I’m beat to hell, Uncle B.” She let out a huge yawn to emphasize her point. “Can I sleep on it and give you my decision tomorrow?”

  Barnabas smiled. “Of course. We’ll pick up your crew on the way to the guest quarters I had prepared for you all.”

  Nickie balked. “Quarters? I’m fine on my ship, thanks.”

  Barnabas folded his arms. “Nonsense. You will be my guests, and nobody will know you were here. I insist.”

  Nickie sighed, too conflicted to argue any further. “Whatever. I just want a bed.”

  Chapter Four

  High Tortuga, Northern Continent, Space Fleet Base, Guest Suite

  Barnabas left, having shown them all to their room f
or the night, a self-contained apartment on a corridor near the rec room they’d eaten in.

  Adelaide, Grim, and Keen were still bubbling about the base. Nickie joined them in the kitchen to hear about it all. She badly wanted to read her aunt’s diary entry, but she decided a few minutes with them wouldn’t make a difference.

  John had disappeared into one of the bedrooms off the communal area as soon as they’d arrived. Nickie listened to Adelaide’s recounting of their tour for a little while, and then made her excuses and headed for bed.

  She chose the nearest bedroom, which happened to be the one next to John’s. The bed inside called to her, singing a sweet song of comfort and coziness. She looked at the adjoining door to John’s room, which called to her for other reasons.

  Are you ready for me to open the diary entry? Meredith asked.

  Nickie halted mid-step toward the door. Wow, Mere. Just as I was about to get some.

  Meredith snickered. I have no idea what you are referring to.

  You know exactly what I’m talking about. A ride on the bone rollercoaster, a meat injection. You get me yet? I was about to climb aboard the vagina miner—

  Stop, Meredith pleaded. You go too far.

  Apparently not far enough. Otherwise, I’d be getting into a different bed right now. Nickie kicked off her boots and shrugged out of her overalls. She dived into the bed and snuggled into the duvet. Open it, then. Cock will have to wait. Some things are far more important.

  She looked at the door again.

  For now.

  She settled back to read and almost cried out when she saw the first page.

  It was a note from her Aunt Tabitha, and the timestamp matched today’s date.

  Hey, Trouble!

  So, you made it to High Tortuga!

  I wish I could have been there to see you, but duty comes first and I’m up to my eyeballs in that these days. I haven’t forgotten my duty to you, though.

  Barnabas told me that you are healing. I’m so proud of you! Of course, I knew you just needed to burn off a little steam, and you would be fine.