by J. J. Green
“She only sees the bad in everything. Mother tried to persuade her to help the Dirksen cause but she wouldn’t. I tried to point out that what we’re doing is for the good over the long term. But Carina was too short-sighted to see it.”
“Are the Dirksens doing things for the good?” Parthenia asked. She’d never really understood what it was that the Sherrerrs did. All she’d known about were the meetings Father had taken her to, when he’d given her detailed instructions on what he wanted her to do. Beyond that, Sherrerr business was a mystery to her.
“Absolutely,” Reyes replied. “We’ve made enormous improvements to Ostillon since arriving here. It was a backward place before. Really primitive. But now it’s thriving.” He turned to her. “That’s the kind of thing you’d be helping us do if you worked with us, Parthenia.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Carina had been working for the labor agency for three days and she still hadn’t seen Asha. No one there could tell Carina why the woman hadn’t turned up for work. At first, Carina hadn’t been too worried. She wanted to work until the boss at the Mech Battle company arranged a fight for her so she could earn money to bet on herself. But she also had good reasons for wanting to reconnect with Asha.
Carina had expected to meet a cool reception at the agency because Asha had told her that she would pull strings so that Carina couldn’t work there. But the agency receptionist barely seemed to remember Carina.
At the end of her third day of work, Carina decided that if she couldn’t see Asha there, she would just have to go to her apartment, even if that did mean facing the vile Cavin. Carina had only been to Asha’s home once. It was deep within the warren of cheap, rundown blocks in the heart of the city. She lost her way a few times before she finally found the street that was too narrow for hover vehicles. After she passed the noodle soup shop with its child server, she knew she was in the right place.
Carina pressed the security panel next to Asha’s door three or four times and was on the verge of leaving when the door opened a crack.
“Tammy?”
“Asha,” Carina said. “I… What happened to you?”
Though Asha was looking out through a narrow space, it was still easy to see that her face was purple with bruises.
“Oh, I had an accident.”
Carina’s heart sank. “Let me guess. Your face had an accidental encounter with Cavin’s fist. Where is he? Is he here?”
“He’s here, but he’s asleep.”
“Let me in,” said Carina. “I want to speak with him.”
“No, I don’t want that,” Asha said. “I can figure this out by myself.”
“You know what?” said Carina. “You’re right. I’d love nothing more than to come in there and bash Cavin’s brains out for you, but I know that wouldn’t do any good. You do need to figure this out by yourself. But I really want to speak to him. I need him for something.”
“Oh, okay. I guess you can come in then.”
Inside Asha’s apartment everything was in disarray. It looked to Carina as if a major fight had taken place, or maybe the mess had only resulted from Asha trying to escape her no-good boyfriend. Asha hadn’t been in to work because she was too beat up or perhaps because Cavin had decided to prevent her. If the latter were the case, as soon as they ran out of money the ban on Asha working would be lifted. The idea of Cavin himself working was likely unthinkable to either of them. Carina had known many similar couples and families in the slum settlement where she’d grown up.
Cavin looked like part of the general mess. He was lying on the sofa, one leg and one arm hanging down, snoring. It was an unusual time of day for a nap. Carina wondered if he was drugged up. If he was that would make him difficult to talk to, but on the other hand, that would mean she’d come to the right person.
She pulled the sofa out from the wall. Cavin didn’t stir. Carina went around the back and lifted up the sofa, tipping Cavin onto the floor. She could have just pulled him off the sofa but she didn’t want to get her hands dirty.
“Arghhh,” he exclaimed, waking up. “Asha, what the hell are you… Oh, it’s you.”
Carina was standing behind the sofa. “I need to buy weapons and a fast hover vehicle. Something like a star racer but a little bigger.”
Cavin wiped drool from his mouth. “Yeah, okay. So what does that have to do with me?”
“You know someone who can get them for me.”
“Huh. No, I don’t,” Cavin replied, sitting up and rubbing his messy hair.
“Then you know someone who knows someone.”
“What if I do? Why should I help you? My arm still hurts, you know.”
“Because I’ll pay you a—small—percentage of the cost.”
Cavin looked as though his ears had pricked up. But then he said, “Pay me with what? You don’t have that kind of money or you wouldn’t have been working with Asha.”
“I think she might,” Asha said. She’d been standing in the corner watching the interaction between Carina and her boyfriend. She walked over to him and handed him their interface. Carina could see the screen, which displayed a Mech Battle advertisement. To Carina’s dismay, she saw herself being touted as a new challenger to the title for the fight that would take place the following night.
When the boss had agreed to let her take part, he’d made her stand with legs apart and pressing her fists to her hips while he took photographs. Carina had thought they were just publicity images to be displayed in the stadium, not across the planetary networks. She’d been stupid, she now realized. The only saving grace was that the manager had given her a mask to wear for a sense of mystery. Her stage name would be Dark Avenger and she would be fighting on behalf of Pyreco.
Although her face wasn’t visible in the advertisement anyone who knew Carina would guess it was her—anyone including Castiel, Langley, and Reyes. And the latter two had a love of the Mech Battles. They were bound to see her, and then they would know exactly where she would be the next evening. But there was nothing Carina could do about it. She had to go ahead with her plan or she would never be able to rescue Parthenia.
Cavin was looking from the screen to Carina and back again. “You’re right, Asha. It is her. And look at the odds!”
Betting on the fight had already started. As an unknown newcomer, the bookies were offering odds of twenty to one for her to win her first battle and a hundred to one if she won the tournament.
Cavin said, “So this is where you’re planning on getting your money? Ha! You and every other idiot before you. You’ll be lucky if you come out of it intact.”
“That isn’t your call,” Carina said. “I only need you to put me in touch with someone who has the stuff I want. Look, I’ll pay you even if I don’t make a deal, okay?”
Asha’s boyfriend fingered his stubble. “All right. But you pay me up front.”
“No. After the fight. I’m betting everything I have on myself.”
“No way. You’ll lose and then you won’t have anything.”
“I’m not going to lose.”
“Of course you are. What do you know about fighting?”
“More than you think. Did you say your arm still hurt?”
Cavin rubbed the aforementioned arm. He waved dismissively at Carina and sat down. “Okay. Come back later tonight. Give me three hours to set something up. I’ll try, but I’m not promising anything. And these people are gonna say no anyway. Then I’ll be in trouble for wasting their time. So you better come through with the cash.”
“She will, hon,” said Asha. “I can get her some work. She’ll pay you back.” She gave Carina a tiny apologetic smile.
Carina sighed.
Chapter Forty
When Carina returned to Asha and Cavin’s apartment later that night, Cavin directed her to another spot where she was to meet the people who could supply her with what she needed. After some bickering over how much and when Carina should pay Cavin for his service, Carina set out again. It was alrea
dy late at night, and she was grateful that Bryce was around to look after the twins and Darius while she was gone.
Cavin had told her to go to the rooftop of a derelict apartment block a couple of streets away and wait there. When she arrived at the building, she saw that although signs were posted stating that the place was condemned and dangerous to enter, squatters had moved in. The low beams of portable lamps and flickers of firelight shone from the windows, occasionally dimming as figures passed across the sources of light.
Carina wasn’t afraid of people who lived like this, mostly due to the fact that she had once been in a similar situation herself, but she wished she had a weapon of some kind. If anyone threatened her, flashing a weapon would quickly dissuade them from further action. Carina didn’t want to waste time fighting. It might make her late for her appointment. But she had no weapon, only a flask of elixir.
She passed through the doorless entrance to the building. The elevators were not only not working, they weren’t there. The open doors revealed dark, gaping shafts. Carina went to the stairs and began to climb. On her way up, she sidestepped piles of trash and jumped over prone bodies that she hoped were only sleeping. She was reminded of the new block that she and Asha had helped to clean before the decorators arrived. It was quite the contrast.
When she reached the top, she found the fire door that led to the roof was swinging off one broken hinge. Carina tugged at the door until it fully broke away, then laid it flat on the roof outside. If she needed to leave the impending meeting fast, she didn’t want to be struggling to get past the remains of a door.
The rooftop was empty. No exact time had been set for the meeting, so Carina was forced to wait and hope that the dealers in illegal arms would actually turn up. She was entirely unknown to them and had no ready cash, so their main incentive would probably be curiosity.
She went to the edge and gazed down to the ground about twenty-five stories below. If Carina’s prospective associates decided to drop her off the roof, she doubted she would be able to Cast Transport before she hit the ground. And if she did manage it, would her velocity continue with her to the new location? She didn’t know and she didn’t want to find out.
The city was quietening down, though the spaceport in the distance remained busy with the fast-moving lights of shuttles taking off and landing. As she watched the brilliantly colored spots, Carina realized that one—no, two—were heading in her direction. She watched them for several moments to make sure she was correct, and then ran over to the stairwell entrance and stood behind it to avoid being baked in the heat of the shuttles landing.
Sounds of shuttle engine noise grew louder while Carina waited. The noise grew so loud that Carina had to cover her ears, and then the engines cut out. When she heard the shuttle doors opening, she stepped from her refuge, slowly and cautiously. Spooking the kind of people she was meeting was never wise.
Only one person seemed to be in charge, Carina was relieved to see. The woman sauntered forward in front of her subordinates: two males and a female. All wore floor-length coats made of some kind of animal skin. Its patterning was intricate and beautiful, though it would have looked better on the animals, Carina reflected. The boss and her lackeys were also heavily jeweled. They wore tight gem-studded collars of a subtly glowing metal and hand ornaments that could double as knuckledusters.
Cavin did indeed know people who knew people. Carina swallowed, aware of how comparatively unimpressive she looked.
The boss seemed to think so too, from the way she was looking Carina up and down, the expression on her face souring. Cavin had probably been forced to talk up Carina as a prospective business associate before the black market weapons trader would agree to meet her. Now the woman was experiencing a considerable letdown.
Deciding it would be better not to give her time to conclude she had nothing to gain from the meeting, Carina opened the bargaining process without preamble. She stated her laundry list of proposed purchases, which included as many weapons and explosive devices as she and Bryce could carry as well as a vehicle that would seat six. “I’d prefer space-ready, but a fast hover vehicle would do if that’s all you can manage.”
The boss hadn’t spoken a word while Carina talked. Silence fell, and after a moment the woman looked over her shoulder at the others and gave a slight shake of her head. She turned to leave.
“I can pay a lot,” Carina blurted. She fingered the flask of elixir in her pocket.
The woman faced her again. “That’s what I was waiting to hear. How much?”
When Carina named a figure, the woman laughed. Then she stopped and said, “You are joking, right?”
“I can go higher,” Carina said. “What would you say is a fair price?”
“Four times what you said. That might be a good place to start for the weapons. It’ll be more for the vehicle. And I want half up front.”
The deal was impossible for Carina to fulfill. Winning the tournament and the bets she placed on herself would only give her half of what the woman wanted. “I’m not sure. I have to figure out if I’ll have enough.”
“I’ll take less,” the boss said, “if you pay it all now.”
That would have been an incredibly stupid thing to do. If Carina gave over any money she would be certain to never see the woman again. She seemed to think Carina was an idiot.
“I need time to think about it,” Carina said.
“One minute then,” said the boss.
“I’m going to take a drink,” said Carina, knowing that suddenly pulling something out of her pocket might elicit an undesirable, deadly response from the lackeys. As she’d predicted, everyone tensed up.
“Wait,” said the boss. She beckoned one of her subordinates and nodded toward Carina. The man walked up to her and patted her over. He quickly found the elixir flask and pulled it out. He opened it, sniffed the contents, and wrinkled his nose.
“Just some weird tea,” he said to his boss, pushing the flask into Carina’s hands before returning to his side of the divide.
Not hearing any further objections, Carina swallowed a mouthful of elixir. She returned the flask to her pocket, and then rubbed her forehead as if thinking. While her hand covered her face, she closed her eyes. It was a struggle to Cast Enthrall while under pressure, knowing that all her plans and hopes rode on her Cast succeeding, but eventually she managed it.
Carina wasn’t home free, however. She had only Enthralled the boss. She might have managed to affect more of those present but that would have diluted the Cast so that it wasn’t as long lasting. She needed the boss to be Enthralled for long enough to make the arrangements. Then she would be unlikely to back out, even if she couldn’t remember why she had agreed to the deal.
“I can’t pay it all now,” Carina said, “or even part of it. In fact, I can only pay you half of what you want when I receive the goods, but I can… ” She needed something that sounded at least a little convincing to the others or they would think their boss had gone mad. “I can work for you. Afterward.”
The man who had searched Carina started sniggering.
“Okay,” his boss said.
The man abruptly stopped laughing and stared at his boss. He then stared at his colleagues, who also seemed to not quite believe what they’d just heard. The man looked as though he wanted to say something, but he kept quiet.
“Thanks,” Carina said. “I appreciate it.” She explained where and when she wanted the weapons and vehicle, which would be after she’d won the tournament. If she won the tournament. If she didn’t, she would have to lie very low indeed, assuming Castiel didn’t kidnap her.
Chapter Forty-One
“Come on,” said Reyes. “You’ll love it. I promise.” He pushed the visor into Parthenia’s hands.
She looked up into the young man’s happy, eager face. Reyes had barely left her alone over the last few days, but Parthenia hadn’t really minded. His nearly constant company meant that Castiel had little opportunity to be alone
with her, and she was grateful for that, even if Reyes’ attention was overwhelming at times.
“What do we have to do?” she asked. “I don’t think I understand.”
“Come outside and put on the visor. The game will make more sense to you then.”
Parthenia stepped through the open doors that led to the lawn. It was a beautiful day, and not for the first time, Parthenia felt a little guilty about enjoying the luxury of beautiful surroundings and fine living while her siblings were probably scraping by somewhere. Although “enjoying” was perhaps too strong a word to describe her feelings about her captivity. She was confused and conflicted. Langley and Reyes constantly talked to her about all the good she could do with her powers, but they had also accepted Castiel into their midst. He was cruel and vicious, and Parthenia couldn’t understand why they tolerated him.
“Put it on,” Reyes urged.
Parthenia pushed the band down over her head and lowered the visor. The pleasant gardens were transformed into an industrial scene. She was inside an old, abandoned factory. Machines towered over her and high above a defective fan spun, its clunk-clunk-clunk echoing.
“There are code words for weapons,” Reyes said. “You just have to think of them and they’ll appear. You can think of shields too, but you have to bend down to the ground and raise them up or they won’t appear. To see the list, think the word “menu”.”
“Oh, I understand now,” said Parthenia. “Ferne and Oriana were asking for a system like this for ages, but Father would never allow it. So it’s a kind of battle?”
“That’s right,” Reyes replied. “It’s more fun with more people, but we can still have a good game with only two of us. We can go wherever we want on the estate. The game will expand into new areas. Do you get it now? Do you want to play?”
Parthenia wasn’t very keen on the idea. She didn’t much like games that involved fighting. She preferred games that tested your wits. But agreeing to play with Reyes would mean a few more hours that Castiel wouldn’t bother her. “Okay. I’ll need a few minutes to figure out what everything means.”
