by R. M. Olson
But the sick knot that had been there since he’d pulled up his holoscreen on Grigory’s ship and discovered what Masha had done, still sat heavy and cold in his stomach.
CHAPTER THREE
JEZ TAPPED HER fingers restlessly against the controls, her whole body tight.
She was plaguing flying her ship. She should feel more comfortable than she’d felt in ages. But somehow, the tight unease wouldn’t go away.
“Jez? Are you alright?” asked Galina.
Jez glanced over at her. Galina was seated on the edge of the copilot’s seat, like she wasn’t entirely sure where she should be sitting.
“Yeah,” Jez said, managing a small smile. “Yeah, I’m good. Just a bit—” She gestured vaguely.
“I know. You hate waiting for things, don’t you?”
Galina had dimples, which should have been sweet, but on her were actually ridiculously hot.
“I—” Jez swallowed, and Galina’s smile deepened.
It wasn’t like they were actually in a relationship or anything. When Jez had staggered out of the gambling hall a week ago, she hadn’t actually expected to see Galina again. And when Galina had called the next day, asked if she wanted to grab lunch, she’d mostly only agreed because she couldn’t handle being in the same room as Lev right then. And she and Galina’d had a very long talk that evening, and Jez had made it clear that relationships weren’t her thing, and this would only last until she had to leave in a couple days. And Galina had just gotten out of a disastrous relationship of her own and wasn’t looking for anything long term anyways. So that had been that. But then Galina mentioned she knew people who’d gotten out of the pleasure planet, and when Jez had brought her aboard the Ungovernable and told the others, Lev had asked Galina, surprisingly politely, if she would be willing to come along to help.
And anyways, now here they were, at least until this job was done. And Galina was smiling up at her through her lashes, and the thing was, Jez might have been absolute crap at relationships, but she knew a come-on when she saw one.
She wasn’t exactly sure how long they’d been kissing, but they were both in the pilot’s seat and tangled together so thoroughly that she wasn’t sure anymore where Galina left off and she began and also wasn’t sure it mattered, when someone cleared their throat behind her.
Reluctantly, she pulled away from Galina just enough to glance over her shoulder.
Masha stood in the doorway, one eyebrow raised.
“Kinda busy here,” Jez drawled.
“I can see that,” said Masha, disapproval and amusement mingling in her tone. “However, I was wondering if you could spare the attention to tell me when we might arrive.”
Jez winked at her and turned to the holoscreen, pulling Galina a little farther onto her lap, one hand settled firmly on Galina’s very nice butt.
Galina didn’t seem to mind in the slightest.
“About—” Jez frowned and peered closer at the screen.
Five red dots, that hadn’t been there a few moments before, were coming in fast.
“Just a sec, Galya,” she murmured, tapping the holoscreen and enlarging it for a closer look.
Short-haul ships, and they looked to be heavily armed.
Galina glanced at the expression on her face and slid off Jez’s lap. Reluctantly, Jez let her go.
“I’ll get out of the way,” she whispered. “I’ll wait for you on the main deck when you’re done.”
She gave Jez a quick smile and slipped out the cockpit door.
Jez looked after her fondly for a moment.
Galya was a surprisingly good friend, even without taking the kissing into account. And the kissing was a definite bonus.
“Those are Olyessa’s ships,” said Masha quietly, coming to look over her shoulder.
“Yeah? Well, I thought we were coming out into that bastard’s airspace so it would be nice and peaceful while you chatted with her. Doesn’t look like that’s going to happen. So these plaguers better hope their ships are fast, because I’m about to do a hyperdrive jump.”
“Wait,” said Masha, putting a hand on her arm. “I think perhaps it would be best if we spoke with them. Olyessa clearly sent them, and we can’t afford to lose her support.”
Three other ships had appeared on her other side. Jez gritted her teeth.
“Paging Masha Volkova,” came a harsh voice over the com. “Please stand by.”
Jez mashed the com. “You’d best stand by your damn selves, you plaguers. Or else I’ll ask my gunner if she wants to use something as ugly as you for target practice.”
In response, a shot cracked out from the lead ship. Jez swore through her teeth and jerked back on the controls, and the shot skimmed the edge of their shields.
No using the hyperdrive, then. Couldn’t risk an off-balance jump, not a second time.
She slapped the internal com. “Ysbel, get—”
Masha hit the com as well. “No,” she snapped. “Stand down. We can’t risk shooting at Olyessa’s ships.”
“Well, they don’t seem to be playing by same damn rules,” Jez growled, yanking the ship out of the way of another shot. “You want me to just play hopscotch with them while we sit around and talk this over?”
Three more ships appeared on her holoscreen, then two more. Jez closed her eyes for half a second, letting her fingers go loose on the controls.
Her heart was pounding, because hell, she’d been flying crap with people shooting at her for her whole life, and honestly, this was usually the part that made everything worth it.
But there was an unfamiliar tension in her muscles, a tight knot in her stomach. Because the last time she’d been shot at, she’d almost lost her ship, and honestly, she wasn’t sure she could handle that again.
Another shot cracked out, and she shoved their nose down, letting it pass just over their heads. Then she spun the ship lightly and punched the accelerator, and the Ungovernable shot through the narrow gap between two of the ships.
If she couldn’t fight back, she could damn well make them work for it.
“Whenever you feel like it, Masha,” she said. Even with the nausea churning in her gut, there was a grin spreading over her face.
They weren’t shooting to kill. The blasts weren’t strong enough for that. They were trying to disable her.
Well, they could damn well try.
There were two more ships in front of her, and she spun the Ungovernable and aimed straight for the nearest of them. They fired off panicked shots as she dove at them. She dodged, and at the last second twisted between the two ships, the Ungovernable’s body almost scraping their hulls. The other five ships were after her, but they weren’t firing, because at this point, any shot risked taking out one of their own.
She spun and dived back into the middle of them, and as they scattered in panic, she tipped the Ungovernable on its end and shot upwards.
“Masha, coordinates,” she said through her teeth. “Or else I’m just going to make us a path for deep space.”
“Pilot, stand down. You’re surrounded,” The voice through the com snapped.
She hit the com. “Yeah? Well from what I can see—”
“Jez, please,” said Masha, sliding into the copilot’s seat. There was a faint tension under her words. Honestly, Jez was aching to either run or fight right now, she didn’t even care which, but—
She took a deep breath and loosened her hands on the controls, and Masha hit the ship’s com.
“This is Masha Volkova,” she said blandly. “I was intending to speak with Olyessa, as she and I discussed earlier. We have an arrangement.”
“She’s changed the arrangement,” came the rough voice. “And she’d like to speak to you in person.”
Jez glance down at her screen.
With Ysbel in the gun tower, she was pretty sure she could give them something to remember them by, because there may be a lot of them, but hell, she was flying a ship that had Tae’s shields and Ysbel’s guns, and
her as a pilot, and anyways—
Masha shot her a meaningful look that clearly meant ‘please keep your damn mouth shut.’
“If you will put her on the line, I’m happy to discuss matters with her,” Masha said, voice still bland.
“No. You’ll follow us in.”
There was a moment’s pause, and then Masha said, “As I said, I’m happy to discuss the issue with her on a private com line—”
“You’ll do as you’re told,” the speaker snapped. “You’ll come, or—”
A shot flickered out from one of the ships, but hell, Jez had cut her teeth flying smuggler runs for Lena, and she’d been watching for it. She bumped the control stick lightly, and the ship dipped gracefully beneath the bolt of energy like a dancer taking a bow.
“Shall we show them what Ysbel can do?” asked Jez in a low voice.
“I don’t think that will be necessary, Jez,” said Masha pleasantly.
A moment passed, and then another. Jez’s foot was tapping a beat again the cockpit floor, her fingers smoothing the control panel, and she almost wished they’d just damn well shoot again.
“If you’d like us to come, I suggest you send the coordinates through to our ship,” said Masha, voice still calm.
“You’ll follow us.”
Jez opened her mouth to respond, caught Masha’s quick glance over her shoulder, and somehow managed to shut it again.
“Very well,” said Masha at last. “We’ll follow.”
Jez clenched her hands into fists as the ships gathered around them, hemming them in.
She could still get out if she wanted to, she was pretty sure of it anyways, and if she could use her damn guns—
“Lock onto my ship, pilot,” said the voice.
Masha gave her a meaningful look, and finally, gritting her teeth and muttering curse words, Jez did as she was told.
“I damn well hope you know what you’re doing, Masha,” she said.
“As do I,” said Masha, her voice still pleasant. “But it appears Olyessa is highly motivated to meet us in person. That may end up working in our favour.” Masha gave her a sharp glance. “Jez—”
Jez rolled her eyes. “I know, I know. You don’t want me to call Olyessa a bastard or anything. Fine. But just saying, if someone needed a picture of an absolute damn bastard, I’m guessing she’d be their model.”
Masha’s lips twitched slightly. “I don’t necessarily disagree. However, working under the assumption that both you and I want everyone on this ship to survive this encounter, I’m asking that you refrain from stating that in front of her.”
Jez grinned. “Just for you, you bastard, I’ll give it a try.”
“Thank you,” said Masha, a small answering smile on her own face.
There was a tap at the door, and Lev stepped inside. Jez looked away quickly, but she caught the tightness around his eyes and the corners of his mouth.
“Masha,” he said quietly. “You agreed to bring us onto Olyessa’s base.”
Masha nodded, but her posture had stiffened slightly. “Yes, Lev. Considering how badly we need her cooperation, I thought it best to acquiesce.”
“Without consulting the rest of us?” he asked, in that same quiet tone.
“There was not a opportunity for consultation.”
Lev raised an eyebrow, and Jez glanced between the two of them, her stomach tightening.
Because—well, Lev was right. Masha had used them once already. And Jez had tried not to think too hard about the fact that she and Lev had killed fifty people, blown them to shreds, because they’d trusted Masha and she’d lied to them, but it still woke her up at nights sometimes.
And she should probably agree with Lev, and hate Masha like everyone else in the crew did, but—but somehow, she couldn’t seem to. Because she couldn’t bring herself to believe that the damn plaguer didn’t care about them, didn’t care about Tae and little Misko, and—well, and her. She couldn’t believe that Masha would actually hurt her. At least, not on purpose.
Despite everything, somehow, she actually trusted that Masha was trying to do the right thing.
And so instead, she swallowed down the sick feeling that came every time she thought about what Masha had done, and the sick feeling that came every time the others discussed how to protect themselves against her, and she tried to pretend that everything was fine, and honestly, that may have been the reason why sitting still, even in her own damn cockpit, was making her completely crazy.
“I’m coming with you when you talk to Olyessa,” said Lev at last, his voice still deceptively calm. “You’re playing a game with us, Masha. You planned for this, and I intend to find out why. And when I do—” he let his words trail off.
There was a moment of strained silence.
“I would never have believed you would do otherwise,” said Masha at last, her bland smile returning, but there was a tension behind it that hadn’t been there before.
CHAPTER FOUR
LEV CLOSED HIS eyes for a moment as the ship lowered gently to the floor of the massive hangar bay. He couldn’t actually pinpoint the moment when they landed—Jez was far too skilful a pilot for there to be any sort of a jolt—but he kept his eyes closed for a few seconds even after he was certain that they must have touched down.
Masha was waiting by the loading dock. She didn’t say anything when he approached, just gave him that bland smile, and he found his heart beating faster than usual, a heady mixture of anger and worry.
Either Masha had planned for Olyessa to bring them here, and she wasn’t going to tell him why, or else she hadn’t planned for it, and Olyessa had found a way to throw her own wrench in their plans.
He wasn’t sure which possibility was worse.
But at least he could keep an eye on Masha. And if he didn’t know what she was planning, at least he could get enough information to hopefully make a contingency plan.
He smiled at her in return, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Masha. I’m almost surprised you waited.”
She raised one eyebrow at him. “I certainly hope I’m not that much of a villain.”
“Well. I had also hoped you wouldn’t play us for fools back on Grigory’s ship, but then, we don’t always get what we hope for.”
Her smile didn’t falter, but he thought he detected a flicker of something in her eyes.
If it had been anyone but Masha, he might have said it was regret.
She watched him a moment longer, then turned back and hit the loading ramp controls. The ramp hissed, and steam from the releasing pressure curled around the edges as it tipped open. It lowered gently to the ground, and he followed Masha out.
The hangar bay was large, the air hot and so dry he had to choke back a cough as he stepped off the ramp. As in Grigory’s ship, there was a loose half-circle of boyeviki waiting for them. The colours of their jackets were brown and orange, as opposed to Grigory’s blue and gold, but their expressions were an identical grim.
The leader gestured to two of the boyeviki, and they stepped forward, patting Masha and Lev down for weapons. When they were satisfied, the leader stepped forward. “Follow me,” she said.
Lev glanced at Masha, and they followed the woman through the hangar bay doors and into the attached compound.
The compound itself was breathtaking. The floor sloped gently downward, while the ceiling sloped up. The result was a massive, airy room, that felt almost like being out of doors. Small ponds dotted the grounds, and running fountains made a low, soothing murmur, filling the air with the scent of water and warm growing things. Plants lined the ponds, and although the few skylights were nothing but grey masses of whirling sand, the artificial lights glowed with the pleasant tinge of sunshine. Flowers bloomed on trees and bushes, and the smell was light and sweet.
It should have felt refreshing. But the hiss and whine of the blowing sand against the skylights grated on the edge of his hearing, and the strangely-shifting shadows from the natural light were a constant reminde
r that this entire place was one crack, one mistake, one miscalculation away from a force that would rip it to shreds.
It set his teeth on edge.
He shook his head, and tried to force his thoughts onto more practical matters, tried to ignore the way the boyeviki had moved closer around them, not even pretending to hide their weapons now.
He couldn’t imagine Masha making a miscalculation grave enough to get them both killed, and he assumed she still needed him, at least for the present.
He glanced around again. The amount of credits it would take to maintain something like this on what was clearly a desert moon was almost unthinkable. How much of this had come in the past two months, he wondered, since Masha had first declared war on Grigory and the government by double-crossing them both and blowing up their relationship with Lev’s weapons-dealer uncle?
They walked down a winding path, then through a smaller doorway that led to a hall with polished stone floors and an arching ceiling painted in airy colours. They must be underground now, because the whine of blowing sand and the eerily-shifting shadows had been left behind. But he could still feel the palpable sense of unease.
He smiled to himself wryly. Of course, that could potentially have been influenced by the fact that he was completely defenceless, and surrounded by armed guards who looked distinctly unfriendly, and walking straight into the compound of a woman who could order his death with the raise of an eyebrow or the gesture of a hand.
When they reached the door, the man leading them touched his com and muttered something into it, and the door slid open almost soundlessly. Their guide beckoned them inside, and for the first time since leaving the ship, Lev was suddenly, acutely aware that both he and Masha were unarmed.
It hadn’t escaped his notice that Masha hadn’t protested when they’d been asked to disarm.
Masha hesitated for the briefest moment, and for just that moment he saw the stiffness in her posture, the strain under her casual expression.
Whatever it was she’d planned here, she wasn’t a hundred percent certain it would work.
