Rebel (The Cat Star Chronicles)

by Cheryl Brooks

  “Mine, either,” Ganyn said. “But I got here.”

  Rashe snorted. “Yeah, with me riding piggyback and telling you which way to go.”

  Kim barely covered her mouth in time to stifle her giggle. Ganyn already seemed a bit testy. Getting a Darconian truly angry seemed like a very bad idea.

  Onca put up a hand. “Okay. Tell you what, Draddut. Take that tracking beacon off and throw it as far as you can.”

  “Sure we won’t need it to lure them into a trap?” Rashe asked.

  “Why bother? Obviously they know who we are—well, me, anyway. With my picture smeared all over the Damenk Tribune, we hardly need it. Seems to me the best thing to do is to give myself up.”

  “You’re kidding, right?” Rashe said.

  Onca grimaced. “No. Think about it. With me giving statements to the press and making a big stink, they’ll do anything to make themselves look innocent. They might even close the other brothels and turn the girls loose. It won’t totally eliminate the problem, but it will draw attention to what’s been going on.”

  “And if they’ve got Shemlak,” Ganyn said, “they might let him go too.”

  Onca tapped his chin. “We need to find ourselves a gutsy reporter who’ll make sure what we have to say doesn’t get hushed up.”

  Roncas’s sudden burst of laughter sounded like a flock of angry birds, and tears streamed from her china blue eyes.

  Onca glared at the viewscreen. “What’s so damn funny?”

  “Boss, you’ve probably fucked enough reporters to fill a space cruiser. I’m sure one of them would be willing to listen to your story.”

  “Tell you what, then,” he said. “You and Val go through our records and find some likely candidates. In the meantime, keep those girls happy and do not let them out of the Palace. They’re the only evidence we have.”

  “What are you planning to do?” Roncas asked.

  “Read that article and figure out how to refute it.”

  “Good luck,” Roncas said. “You were a customer at the Den. How are you going to avoid that rap?”

  “That’s where the girls come in,” Onca replied. “I never touched a single one of them.”

  “Maybe not, but you did rough up that Herp.” Roncas snickered. “He’s charging you with assault.”

  Onca rolled his eyes, grumbling. “Great. And I don’t have any visible injuries to prove he did anything to me. First time being a Zetithian has ever put me at a disadvantage.”

  “Guess we should’ve taken pictures,” Rashe said. “Right now, it’s your word against his.”

  “I’m guessing most people would believe me over a Herp, but you never know how public opinion will go.”

  Kim knew which one she would believe.

  Even if she was a bit miffed with him.

  Chapter 24

  Onca watched as Kim toyed with her fork, her eyes never meeting his. “I can see talking to a reporter,” she said. “But turning yourself in? When the police are apparently as corrupt as the people running that brothel? Seems like an unnecessary risk to me.”

  “Going public first will help,” Onca insisted. “That way they can’t stash me in a jail cell and forget about me.”

  “We won’t let it drop, either,” Rashe said. “We’ll keep hounding them. They can’t ignore a revolution.”

  “Revolution?” Onca repeated the word, wondering where in the world all this had come from. He had planned his retirement with the prospect of leading a more normal life. And now he was spearheading a revolution? It was out of character for him—so much so that the authorities would have a field day with the idea. Not that he’d ever broken any laws, but he had never cared much about anything or anyone. He had friends, of course, but he was by no means a crusader.

  Nor had he ever been in love. Something had happened to him the moment he laid eyes on Kim. Something deep and everlasting. Life changing. And for the first time ever, meaningful.

  Maybe that was it. His life heretofore had lacked meaning. For the first twenty-five years of it, he’d simply been biding his time until Rutger Grekkor’s death would set him and his fellow refugees free. After that, he had used that freedom to enter into a highly paid, intensely pleasurable career. Even so, it was a lifestyle that didn’t provide him with much in the way of freedom or purpose—or credibility.

  Not long ago, he would have said that a life didn’t need to have a purpose other than to survive and reproduce. Those were the basics. Anything else was gravy. Truth be told, he hadn’t seen his life as meaning anything—aside from the reproduction part—and he’d said as much when questioned as to why he was so willing to risk it. Perhaps risking his life was what made it worthwhile. Or was he risking it because of his feelings for Kim? Did he have to prove himself to her by possibly winding up in prison for the rest of his—

  No. Even beating up a Herp wouldn’t get him imprisoned forever. He would be released at some point. But without Kim waiting for him, why would it matter?

  “Dude, are you okay?” Rashe asked. “Scared, freaked out, or what?”

  Onca shook his head. “No. None of those things. Just…thinking.”

  Thinking about the loneliness that had crept into his soul over the past two years. He knew it had been that long because he could pinpoint the precise moment it began. That moment in the aftermath of Jerden’s wedding when their Davordian neighbor, Salan, had abandoned her attempts to seduce Onca and had gone off to fuck Dax’s Norludian navigator, Waroun. She even ended up marrying the guy.

  Salan had given up on a Zetithian and taken a Norludian. Onca had never understood why until now. She had done it because she didn’t want to spend the rest of her life alone—taking affection where it was offered rather than pursuing a man who rejected her.

  That vision he’d had earlier—and he knew that was what it had been—unnerved him when it should have given him hope. The setting of that vision had to be Terra Minor. To his knowledge, there were no wilderness areas on Rhylos. The entire planet was either cultivated or populated. Sure, he’d enjoyed spending time at Jerden’s ranch, but he’d never seen himself as the type to live in the country.

  He could have said the same for Jerden prior to Audrey’s murder. Jerden had returned to Terra Minor mainly because it had been designated as the new Zetithian homeworld. Onca was beginning to question why he’d ever left it himself. He had a guaranteed place there—a home among his own kind. Trading that security for the brash, anything-goes life on Rhylos had been sheer stupidity.

  But if he hadn’t gone to Rhylos, he never would have met Kim or Rashe or any of the people who surrounded him now.

  Rashe set a plate of food in front of him, and Onca ate it without hesitation. He wasn’t terribly hungry, but it gave him something to do. A glance at Ganyn revealed the concern in her eyes.

  “No one will think any less of you for not turning yourself in,” Ganyn said. “We all know you acted in self-defense. I’m sure an honest judge would agree, but—”

  “It’s not that,” Onca said. “I’m thinking about something else entirely.” He didn’t elaborate—wasn’t even sure he could without sounding like a fool.

  Kim’s plate was empty long before his. “I’m going to go get cleaned up a little, if that’s okay with you.”

  Why would it matter to me? Then he realized she hadn’t been speaking to him, but had spoken to Rashe.

  “No problem,” Rashe said. “Ask Tom-tom if you need anything.”

  She gave Rashe a quizzical look at first, then comprehension struck, showing plainly in her face. “Oh, right. You mean the droid.”

  Kim pushed her chair back and left the kitchen. Onca listened as her footsteps faded. Until three days ago, the only footsteps he’d ever heard in his house were his own. The silence was deafening at times.

  Rashe poured himself another cup of coffee. “Dude, you’re playing with that girl like a fuckin’ yo-yo. And trust me, she’ll only take it for so long before she rips you a new one worse than tha
t Herp would’ve done if he’d gotten hold of you.”

  Onca couldn’t help wincing. “What makes you think—?”

  “I know when a woman’s been fucked. Especially a woman fucked by one of you cat boys. I watched plenty of them wandering past my place after you nailed them. Most of ’em could hardly walk, and they ignored me completely.”

  “But Jack said—”

  “Since when have you ever listened to Jack?”

  Onca hated to admit it, but he had probably paid more attention to Jack’s admonitions than anyone gave him credit for. Following her advice went against his nature. However, Jack had begged him to close the Palace—and had cited some damn good reasons for doing so. The fact that he had stopped taking appointments right after their last meeting was solid evidence that he’d heard at least part of her rant.

  “Yeah, well, on rare occasions, she’s right. This is one of them.”

  “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t see how this is any of Jack’s business. Strikes me that this ought to be between you and Kim and no one else.”

  “Me and Kim and the whole fuckin’ universe.” Onca wanted to slam his plate against the wall, leave, and never come back. Walk out into the street and let them take him. He didn’t want to care anymore. Life had been so much easier when he didn’t give a shit. That was what was wrong with him. He cared now. He never had before.

  He wasn’t the only one orphaned by the destruction of Zetith. Yet the others seemed to have coped with it better. They all shared the same values and beliefs. He didn’t value much and didn’t believe in anything. He swore at the gods because everyone else did it, blaming them for the evils that befell him—which was pointless because for him, those gods didn’t exist. He had no faith. No foundation upon which to base his life. The life he should have had was stolen from him, obliterated along with his homeworld, by a man who was already dead.

  Anger welled up inside him until he could no longer contain it. Leaping to his feet, he strode to the door. All his hatred and righteous indignation came to a head. No one should have the right to dictate the life of another—especially to end it. That was what made his blood boil. That and the horrors those girls had endured in the brothels.

  For the first time in his life, Onca was truly angry. Not irritated, not mildly annoyed.

  Furious.

  Angry people didn’t accumulate friends or followers. Anger only begat more anger. He knew that. But at the moment, he didn’t care. He wanted to lash out and punish, which would make him no better than any of the others.

  But there was such a thing as justice. And accusing him of inciting a fuckin’ riot was a blatant injustice if he’d ever heard one, if not a flat-out lie.

  Was this their intent? To make him mad enough to show his face? If so, their plan was about to bear fruit. But perhaps not the way they expected.

  “Get on the link to Roncas and tell her I’m on my way over there,” he said. “I assume my speeder is still here?”

  Rashe nodded. “In the garage.”

  “Good. I need to talk to those girls. I might be back, and then again, I might not.”

  ***

  Kim stood beneath the spray of hot water, remembering the shower she had taken under the waterfall at Onca’s house. So much had happened since then; she had a hard time wrapping her head around it. Perhaps when the drama was over she would be able to sort it all out and determine why Onca was so changeable. She knew exactly how she felt about him, but he seemed to vacillate an awful lot.

  Maybe that was simply a man thing. A Zetithian man thing—although she couldn’t recall her father ever being afflicted by indecision. Then again, she hadn’t known him for very long, nor had she been privy to his thoughts.

  Not that she was privy to Onca’s. He might simply be trying to maintain his focus on the job of rescuing slave girls and saw her as a distraction. She didn’t like to think of herself in those terms, but it was beginning to seem that way. Shivering despite the warmth of the water, she tried to imagine going on through life without him.

  She reminded herself that she was young. Many would have teased her about her first love, her first crush… He was more than that, wasn’t he? Was she truly acting like a foolish, lovesick teen? His experience went so far beyond hers there could be no comparison. But to behave the way he did when they were caught up in the throes of passion and not feel any of it? She didn’t understand that. Not even for a man who fucked for a living.

  After rinsing off and drying herself—with an actual towel, rather than the breeze that surrounded her in Onca’s bathroom—she discovered that Tom-tom had replaced the clothing Roncas had loaned her with something more suitable. Plain underwear, jeans, a pink T-shirt, and a pair of white running shoes. She wouldn’t fool anyone into thinking she was older than her years in that kind of garb. There was nothing sophisticated about it at all. It was simply the sort of clothes a humanoid girl of her age would normally wear.

  A glance at the mirror proved it. She looked like a typical teenager—perhaps even younger.

  It’s because of my hair. That mop of curls made her look closer to twelve than twenty-two. Perhaps she should let it grow longer so it would be more like Onca’s. His was beautiful—its rich, auburn shade so much more interesting than her plain brown locks—and it didn’t look as though it had ever been cut.

  She gave herself a mental slap. Dalmet was the one she should be thinking of, not herself. Who knew what torment she was enduring at the moment? And now Jatki was missing. Kim had never felt quite so conflicted before. For the first time ever, she had a future. Money and a home awaited her on Terra Minor. She could have stayed at Onca’s house until Jack picked her up and skipped all of this. If she went to Terra Minor and actually met other Zetithians, would she still feel the same way about Onca?

  Maybe. That might be what was holding him back. He knew a lot more than she did about how Zetithians mated. He’d grown up among them. She hadn’t. However, he hadn’t said a damn thing, which meant the inner workings of his mind were as much of a mystery as they’d ever been.

  She went downstairs to rejoin the others only to discover another problem. “Where’s Onca?”

  Rashe shrugged. “He took the speeder and went over to the Palace. Said he needed to talk to those girls.”

  Kim’s jaw dropped. “But why now?”

  “He’s acting damn strange if you ask me,” Ganyn said. “He tore out of here with a look on his face I’ve never seen before.”

  Kim wasn’t sure how well Ganyn knew Onca. Beyond having sex with him at least once, she doubted he had spent much time with her. “Tell me he’s at least flying it cloaked.”

  Rashe nodded. “I didn’t see him leave, so he must have.”

  Kim’s heart settled back into its normal pace—for about a second. “Seems like the Palace would be the most risky place for him to be right now. Wouldn’t the police be watching it?”

  “Probably.”

  The fact that Rashe didn’t elaborate beyond agreeing with her made her even more wary. “Can he get inside without getting caught?”

  Rashe nodded. “Security’s pretty tight on that building. It’d have to be, what with all the women who would kill to get access to him. He can go in the back way without ever getting out of the speeder.”

  Considering what had happened to Audrey, Kim knew he wasn’t exaggerating the dangers. “How long has he been gone? Would he be there yet? Can we call Roncas?”

  “She was supposed to call us when he got there.”

  “And…?”

  “Haven’t heard a word yet.”

  “How far—?”

  “Not very.”

  “Which means?”

  “Either he’s taking the scenic route or he’s done something really stupid.”

  ***

  Onca flew into the open garage at the rear of the Palace, keeping the cloak engaged until the door closed behind him. He hadn’t detected any sign of a surveillance team watching the place,
but he was taking no chances—aside from the fact that if they were any good at their work at all, he wouldn’t see them. Captain had tried to contact him, but he refused to acknowledge the hail. The more he thought about it, the more he realized how dangerous it was to call anyone at that point, particularly on personal comlinks. Shemlak might have been careless enough to forget about Jatki’s tracking beacon, but he also might have realized how dangerous it was for them to contact each other now. Links could be tapped, and with Onca’s involvement made public, the cloaking capabilities of his speeder and Rashe’s house were the only advantages they had.

  Popping the canopy, he climbed out and went in through the employees’ entrance, something he hadn’t expected to do quite so soon after his retirement. Already, the place looked different. The trees were still standing and the birds and butterflies still fluttered about, but it had never been so crowded before. Girls of all ages sat in small groups on the grassy banks of the creek that wound its way across the earthen floor from the waterfall.

  He spotted Roncas behind a table where she was serving up bowls of soup to a line of the thinnest, most ragged bunch of waifs he’d ever seen—quite a few of which weren’t female. The moment she waved at him, a cheer went up from the crowd. He made his way through the throng, receiving everything from pats on the back to kisses on his cheeks.

  “Where did all these other kids come from?”

  “Beats the shit outta me,” Roncas replied. “They started showing up right after I talked to you. Said they’d heard we needed help and that this was a safe place.”

  Onca wasn’t sure how safe it was, but obviously stealth hadn’t been required for him to enter. He only needed to look hungry and wander in with the rest of them. “You didn’t lock the doors? I wouldn’t have thought—”

  “Val spotted them out front the last time he flew in. Said we should feed them along with the others.”

  “That wasn’t very smart,” Onca remarked. “They could be undercover agents trying to infiltrate our gang and uncover incriminating evidence.”