When the coast was clear, they dashed from behind the statue to cover the open ground between them and the service entrance under the walkway. Cynthia led John through the small door into a long red-carpeted hallway.
They came out in a recess about halfway along the hallway.
John glanced up and down the hall. “Which way now?” he whispered.
Cynthia headed for the righthand door at the end of the hall.
John glanced at the full-sized oil painting of a man in full regalia on the wall opposite the door. “Is that your father?”
Cynthia smiled at the painting. “Yes. Daddy hated this painting. He always said it made him look stuffy.” She took his hand. “Come on, we’re nearly there now. We have to be careful near the security office. Jolie will be directing the search from there.”
John looked back uneasily. “Where next after this tunnel?”
“We get aboard your ship and leave.” Cynthia stuck a hand down the front of her top and pulled out a key on a necklace. “The tunnel will take us all the way to the shipyard.”
She bent to the ornate doorknob and jiggled the key in the lock. “This silly thing always sticks.”
John kept watch while Cynthia worked the key around, and there was a soft snick as the mechanism finally engaged. John moved to follow her through the door, but Cynthia froze as the door at the other end of the hall opened and Jolie came into the hallway.
Cynthia’s sister dropped the stack of paperwork she was carrying and let out a scream at the sight of John. “Guards!”
John jumped into action. He snatched the key from the lock and bundled Cynthia through the door to her father’s former office. He had the door locked behind them before Jolie’s guards had even made it out of the security office.
He turned to Cynthia, who was crying a little from the shock. “Hey, are you okay?”
Cynthia sniffed. “I’m scared.”
John took her in his arms as the guards began to pound on the door. “I’ll ask you again. Are you sure you want to come with me? I can leave, and you can stay here. I would miss you, but I would understand.”
Cynthia gazed at him blankly for a moment before pulling herself together. “No, Jolie will rule better than I ever could. She has the passion.”
“So do the guards by the sounds of it,” John joked as the pounding grew louder. “I think they found something to use as a ram. We need to get going.”
Cynthia nodded resolutely. She rushed over to a bookcase by the fireplace and jumped to reach a book on the third shelf, knocking the others off the shelf in her hurry to open the passage.
The bookcase swung inward, and they ran into the passage as the guards broke the door down and rushed into the room with their weapons drawn.
“Don’t shoot!” Jolie cried from behind them. “He’s got Cynthia!”
Cynthia dragged John behind her. “There’s a nexus up ahead. If we get there, we can lose them and head for the shipyard.”
“What about Jolie? She thinks I’ve kidnapped you,”
There was a crash, and light flooded the tunnel behind them.
They looked back over their shoulders, and Cynthia screamed as the guards spilled into the tunnel. “Forget her! Just run!”
John and Cynthia didn’t wait to find out if Jolie followed. They pelted along the tunnel until they came to the eight-way intersection Cynthia had described.
“Where now?” John asked.
“One minute.” Cynthia pulled the fastenings from her hair and removed her diadem as she headed for the fourth tunnel. She dropped the jeweled headdress a short way from the mouth of the tunnel before doubling back to the second tunnel. “That should throw them off long enough for us to escape.”
John followed her into the second tunnel, and they pushed hard to keep their head start on Jolie and the guards.
Chapter Nineteen
System of the Six, Planet Vietania, Plomerilia, Shipyard, Public Docks
Nickie clung to the shadows beneath the Briar Rose, waiting for John to arrive with Cynthia.
She was pissed that she’d forgotten to pick her helmet up when she’d left her quarters, but by the time she’d remembered it had been too late to go back for it.
She just had to make sure that nobody tried to shoot her in the head tonight.
Meredith, Keen, any sign of John and Cynthia yet?
Keen was stationed on the royal dock in view of the tunnel entrance, ready to follow the two from a safe distance and back John up if he needed it.
Nothing yet, Keen reported.
Meredith?
I’m still tracking John’s comm, Nickie. They’re almost at the dock end of the tunnel. Keen should have eyes on them in a few minutes.
Got you, Keen chipped in. I’ll keep them peeled, then.
Nickie was happy about John’s turnaround, but she wasn’t too comfortable with the sickly sweetness of his interactions with Cynthia, so she’d had Meredith monitor their escape from the palace. She didn’t want to have to listen to the two of them make kissy noises in her ear the whole time.
Still, she felt bad for Cynthia. John had the young queen convinced that he wanted her, but she was in for the rudest awakening when they got to the ship. Now that Nickie had considered what life in Cynthia’s shoes might look like, she felt pretty fucking bad that she had to take her out.
Are you having second thoughts?
Nickie sighed and leaned her head against the strut she was using as cover. I have a mission to complete. I don’t have the luxury of second thoughts. Cynthia has to go, or everything goes to shit.
But does she have to die?
Nickie hit the metal with the heel of her hand. What do you suggest, Meredith? That I drop her off at the nearest luxury resort world for deposed planetary leaders and go on my merry way? She looked at the slight dent she’d made in the metal and shook her head. Barnabas was clear that he expects me to make the hard choice.
Just keep an open mind, Nickie. Another solution may yet present itself, given a little time.
What fucking time, Meredith? Nickie snorted softly. Where are they now? Did they make it to the dock yet?
Oh, dear.
What? Are they still in the tunnel?
They’re less than five minutes away from the tunnel entrance, but they’ve got company. Company with guns.
Thanks for the clarification, I didn’t pick that up at all. Nickie set off running for the royal dock, which was over on the other side of the shipyard.
Nickie cut around the sleeping ships in the open part of the shipyard reserved for visiting merchants and traders. She gave it all she had, but even at her top speed, she was going to be cutting it fine.
She vaulted over the wall that separated the public docks from the private ones in one fluid movement and landed in a crouch on the other side.
Meredith, what’s the quickest way through here?
Nickie’s route appeared in the corner of her vision when Meredith fed it to her internal HUD.
You’re not going to make it in time. I can interact with your armor and give you a boost, but it will cost some of the charge you have saved in your power packs.
Go for it. I can’t leave Keen alone to deal with whoever is chasing John and Cynthia.
Nickie’s lungs burned with the effort of her mad dash.
One minute. Hurry, Nickie.
Fuck it all, why can’t things go according to plan just once?
This would have been the ideal time for such a rarity to occur.
I know, right? Nickie opened it up another notch as the armor’s assistance kicked in. The tech her grandmother had stuffed into Nickie’s gift worked with her body to enhance her already superhuman speed, and she all but flew across the shipyard.
She burst onto the royal dock, scaring Keen almost to death with the suddenness of her arrival. She glanced at him as he scrambled to his feet. “Get your ass in gear, Keen. They’re almost here, and they’re being chased.”
Keen drew
his weapons and sighted on the tunnel entrance. “I’m ready.”
Incoming, Meredith broadcast over the comm.
Nickie’s JD Specials were in her hands and raised to the center of the tunnel mouth before she’d finished turning to face it.
John and Cynthia came stumbling out, panting and exhausted from their escape. They spotted Keen and Nickie on the other side of the dock and forced themselves to keep running. Cynthia half-collapsed against John when they came to a stop beside Nickie.
Nickie gave them half a minute to drag some air into their tortured lungs before she made them start running again.
Cynthia’s pace was ridiculously slow. Nickie was tempted to pick the woman up and carry her like a sack of potatoes, but instead, she turned to John. “Do you have any idea how many are chasing you?”
“No,” John panted. “Sounded like at least half a dozen, but you know how sound can play tricks on you in tunnels. It could have been anywhere between three and thirty.”
Nickie found that no use whatsoever. “Whatever. Let’s just get the hell out of here before the guards catch up. Both ships are ready for a quick takeoff.” She glanced at Cynthia. “Let’s just get there and get this over with.”
John gave her a strange look and returned to helping Cynthia along.
Nickie checked that Keen was keeping up okay. The older man’s fitness belied his age and put John’s to shame. He trotted briskly behind them, his breathing regular and even as he guarded their rear. “Someone’s been working out,” Nickie teased.
Keen puffed his chest out as he ran. “Can’t be running missions with a desk jockey’s body, can I?”
Nickie winked at him. “No, you can’t. Keep it up.”
The guards appeared just as they came to the huge steel gates at the exit. There would be no easy escape this time. The shipyard was closed for the night, and the gates were secured with heavy chains.
Cynthia wavered when she saw the obstacle to their escape. “How are we going to get out?”
Nickie had jumped the wall to get in, so she hadn’t seen the chains. “Don’t stress it. I have a skeleton key.” She dialed her new JD Special up to seven, then shrugged and gave it another two levels since she had the protection of her armor. “I’m pretty sure my wrist can take it.”
I’m not sure about that at all, Meredith cautioned.
Nickie aimed at the middle of the gates where the chain was joined with a huge padlock. I guess we’ll see.
It could not.
The resulting explosion tore the gate from the surrounding wall and covered Nickie’s scream of pain as her wrist shattered inside her armor.
Sonofabitch! That fucking hurt!
I hate to say I told you so, Meredith began.
No, you don’t, Nickie snarked. You fucking love it, and nothing you say will convince me differently. She gritted her teeth and dialed her JD Special back down to six as the bone began to knit together.
The explosion may have covered Nickie’s scream, but it had given their pursuers a location to home in on. The group made a run for the public shipyard, but the guards had seen them and gave chase into the settling dust at the exit.
Cynthia screamed and ducked behind John when one of the guards opened fire on them. John covered her with his body while Keen dropped the guard who had shot at them.
“Try not to kill them,” Nickie ordered. “They’re just doing their duty.” She fired at the wall over the hole where the door used to be. The bricks collapsed, blocking the exit and cutting the guards off. “That should hold them. Come on.”
They darted between the ships, working their way across the shipyard until the Briar Rose came into sight.
The ramp descended as they approached and Nickie fell back a few steps to walk behind the others. It was time, and she was fresh out of choices. She sighed and squeezed the grip of her JD Special, resigned to her duty as the only one who understood why this innocent woman had to die.
She didn’t have to be happy about it. She just had to do it.
John took Cynthia over to the foot of the ramp and turned his head to find Nickie. He gave her a hard look and wrapped his arm around Cynthia.
“What’s wrong?” Cynthia asked.
“It’s okay,” John told her. “I just need to say goodbye.”
Cynthia nodded and kissed him. “Just hurry before Jolie and the guards find us. The sooner we’re on our way to Zuifra, the better.”
Nickie froze, her gun arm falling limply to her side. “What is this?”
John smiled at Cynthia. “We’re eloping. For real.”
Keen patted Nickie on the back. “Would you look at that! Looks like all we had to do was introduce those two. No kidnapping or assassinations necessary after all.”
Cynthia’s eyes widened at Keen’s joke. “What do you mean, assassination?” She turned to John. “What does he mean?”
John shook his head. “Nobody was going to assassinate anyone.” He looked pointedly at Nickie. “Were they?”
Nickie opened her mouth to argue and decided that fudging the truth would serve her better at this moment. “Well, no. But eloping? You’ve only known each other for five minutes.”
John shrugged. “I’ve only known you for five more. When you know, you know. You know?”
Nickie didn’t know, but neither did she care. At least she knew the reason for his rapid change of attitude now. “So, what? You two are gonna get married?”
John and Cynthia looked at each other and grinned. “Yes,” they said in unison.
Keen stuck out his hand to shake John’s. “Congratulations to the two of you.” He sniffed a little as he spoke. “Couldn’t be happier for you.”
Cynthia blushed. “Thank you!”
Nickie considered being a bitch about it, but she realized that not only did she not feel slighted, she was actually happy for John. She certainly didn’t want any of the things he and Cynthia were so happy about. “Where next for you two?”
John flashed his dimple at her and squeezed Cynthia to him. “I’m taking Cynthia back to Zuifra with me. I have to deliver the tech I picked up from High Tortuga. After that, who knows? It solves your problem.”
Cynthia snuggled in under John’s arm. “I can’t be the queen my people need. John helped me see that. I can’t keep pretending that I want what my mother wanted for me. It’s not fair to Vietania.”
Nickie would have torn Cynthia to shreds over that just a few hours ago. However, she now appreciated that the decision was not an easy one to have made. “That’s…pretty mature. Good for you.”
“What will happen here?” Keen asked.
Cynthia’s face was serious. “Jolie will take over, and the Six can join the Federation without a civil war.” She broke into a soppy smile as she looked up at John. “Besides, we have to give love a chance when it appears, right?”
John touched his nose to hers. “You’ve got that right.”
Nickie was about to throw up from the gooeyness of it all when they were bathed in blinding white light from somewhere above.
A voice came from the middle of the light.
“Lay down your weapons and step away from the queen.”
None of them complied. Nickie glanced around the dark shipyard and made out at least four guard units secreted behind the surrounding ships, possibly five.
Fuck. My. Life. She held back her sigh, then pointed her JD Special at the light and yelled at whoever was flying. “How about you land that thing, and we talk about it like civilized human beings?”
“You get away from my sister!” a new voice yelled. “You can’t get away with kidnapping her. You’re surrounded!”
Jolie sounded terrified, which worried Nickie. Fear of losing someone made people do stupid things. She should know. It occurred to Nickie that this whole situation could be down to the lack of communication between the sisters. “Cynthia, did you two ever get along?”
Cynthia looked sad. “Yes. We used to play when we were little, but Joli
e changed. She got all serious and stuffy, and all she does is nag me these days. I don’t know why things changed between us.”
Nickie dropped her gun hand and motioned for John and Keen to do the same. “Fuck it.”
Maybe the hammer wasn’t the solution here after all, which was fucking annoying since she was dressed to smash. She was a fighter, not a wet nurse. If being a vigilante meant she had to keep doing this chatty emotional shit all the time, maybe she should start charging Barnabas by the hour for it.
The light vanished as suddenly as it had appeared and Jolie landed her hovercraft. The door opened, and Jolie stepped out with a gun in her shaking hand. She aimed the gun at John with hot murder in her eyes. “You’re not taking my sister anywhere.”
Cynthia threw herself in front of John to protect him. “They’re not kidnapping me!” she raged. “I love John, or at least I’m beginning to. I’m leaving with him, and you can’t stop me!”
Jolie glared at John, not taking her eyes off him as she pleaded with her sister. “Cynthia, he’s brainwashed you. He’s from the Federation. I have proof. Look!”
“I already know, Jolie. And I don’t care! You love the Federation, so what’s your problem?”
“It’s not just that he’s from the Federation.” Jolie pulled a datapad out of her bag and shoved it roughly at Cynthia. “His people came from here originally, and now he wants to take Vietania over.”
Cynthia snorted and pushed it away. “He doesn’t want to be king of his own planet, let alone this one.”
John made a small noise beside her. “Actually, I don’t know about that. Things can always change. But whatever the decision I’ll include you in it, Cynthia.”
Cynthia wrapped an arm around John’s waist. “See?” she demanded. “I told you. We’re doing this because we want to. Because we’re in love!”
Jolie sneered at John. “I don’t believe a word you’re saying, you lying bastard. I’m arresting you all for treason.”
Deuces Wild Boxed Set: Books 1-4: Beyond the Frontiers, Rampage, Labyrinth, Birthright Page 78
