Oath Breaker (Death of Empire Book 1)

by A. B. Keuser

  “If I wasn’t sure that you were Dan’s girl before, I’d be one hundred percent now. He’s one of the few men I know— knew… that could have raised a daughter to take pride in an SOS.”

  “That’s not true. There are lots of us out there still, fighting against the Pääom in our own personal way. I just had a better opportunity than most… and I took it.”

  “And now you’re working for the Mandalls.”

  Her shoulders stiffened at that and she turned away from him, looking out into the black beyond the viewport. “It was that or let my crew starve.” She pushed her tongue between her teeth to keep from clenching them. “They don’t give a rat's ass about the SOS because they think they can use it against me. I work for them because the pay is good and they haven’t tried to screw me over yet—still waiting for them to try.”

  “And they won’t until you’re not expecting it.” Si moved to sit in the Engineer on Deck’s chair, staring at her. “It’s how they work, Yella. They wait for you to get comfortable and then they hit you when you’re sleeping.”

  “Two in the brain pan, one in the gut.” She shivered as she remembered how often she’d seen that style of execution. “Theodor Mandall killed Lyz’s father in front of me. There is no chance I will ever be loyal to him, and there is no chance they’ll sneak up on me, because I always expect it.”

  “Apparently the Cholla cockiness is inherited.” Si leaned back in the chair, an amused smile on his face.

  She returned the smirk, “No, it’s learned. And you have to admit you had a hand in that. I remember a certain man… looked a lot like you, but couldn’t have been, because he’d be old by now… he told me he was going to singlehandedly defeat the Pääom, all to keep me safe.”

  “Couldn’t have been me, as you said, I’m much too young for that.” He laughed, but she could hear the weight behind his words as he continued. “Besides, whoever said that was an utter fool, who in hindsight probably deserved fifteen years imprisoned in cryo for that statement, if not more.”

  “I would have settled for an apology.”

  “Yella, I—”

  The pen comm in her pocket buzzed. “Show time.” She pulled it out and gave him a quick smile, the frown that crossed over his face was unsettling.

  “Cholla.”

  “I’ll be at the exigency room soon. We’ll want to bring her to a full stop for this. Best not to take chances.” José’s voice came out of the small speaker sounding pinched.

  “Sure thing. I’ll get that dealt with and then we’ll meet you in the rubber room.”

  “Rubber room?” Si asked as she put the pen in her pocket and turned toward the pilot’s sling.

  “Because you put on the suits…” She looked up and him and decided he deserved the whole truth, he’d read the file after all. “And because I always feel like I’ll need to go back to a sanitarium after I take a step outside… the rubber walls.”

  “Bow thrusters engaged. Engines unspooling. Full stop in T-minus three minutes.”

  “Thank you Obie, will you tell Mopeña to get back up here when he’s done eating in case we need to make a hasty departure?”

  Osiris waited for her at the door, watching her silently. She gave him a quick smile trying to decide if his sudden lack of commentary was a good or bad thing. For the moment, she’d take the blessing of no more snark and be done with it.

  They returned to the lift in an easy silence.

  “I am sorry, you know,” he said finally, as his brow creased even further in on itself. “If I could have found a way to keep that promise, I would have.”

  “No one expected you to shoulder the weight of the war, Si. We hoped you’d be the annoying son of a bitch who’d break the Pääom’s back, but no one wanted you to think you had to be the one to do it all.”

  Si’s face fell and he looked away from her. “I didn’t and look at where we are now.”

  She didn’t know what to say. It was either the most self-abusive thing he’d ever said, or the most offensively cocky.

  “Did you ever believe me?” He still wouldn’t look at her.

  She stared at him, trying to decide what she should say. In the end, she decided to tell him the truth. “I haven’t stopped yet.”

  A strange, flat smile formed on his lips as the lift doors opened, and Dani strode out, letting him catch up, or lag behind as he liked. She remembered that look all too well, the memory it dredged up of a question that shouldn’t have been asked then, an answer that produced that same smile…

  She turned back to the exigency room door and found José tightening his boots. “Took you two long enough. Stop off for anything interesting?”

  “I had a lovely chat with Nial. He’s doing well, asked me to dinner when we get in.” Dani smiled as her words turned José’s face into a mask of annoyance and he muttered something about mud wallowers.

  She stepped behind the privacy screen and pulled her suit on once more, it didn’t bother her around Si, but stripping down in front of her uncle was another matter entirely.

  “The ship is at full stop, Captain. Be advised. While we have had no contact at present, protocol dictates we should perform this procedure as quickly as possible.”

  José laughed and said, “No need to get caught with our pants down.”

  Stepping out of from behind the privacy screen Dani turned quickly away from Si. He stood in front of his locker, half dressed.

  “You don’t need to come on this trip. Pretty sure we can handle it alone this go,” she said, tightening her boots as a way of keeping from looking at him. Though she was pretty sure José would encourage it.

  “Nonsense, Danielle. He should come. Always a good idea to have an extra set of hands outside… especially one with his reach. I’ll feel better if he’s latched onto you out there. This might take a bit and I don’t want you pulling a Paddock.” José pushed her gently with the helmet in his hand.

  “Someone’s going to have to explain what that means to me some day.” Si said as he pulled on his puffy gloves.

  “When it happens, you’ll know. Just watch for her to go a little wild around the eyes. If she starts digging at the hull, get her back into the airlock as quick as possible. I can fend for myself out there.”

  “Yes, make fun of the crazy girl. Remember two things old man: I write your paycheck and I’m family. You’re supposed to be nice to me.” Danielle snapped her helmet on, twisting the seal in place and waited for Osiris to finish his transformation into a walking marshmallow with her hands crossed over her chest.

  “I’m nice. I’m trying to set you up with the guy who was, at one time, the most eligible bachelor in three systems. I’d call that nice.” José moved to tighten one of the seals on the back of Si’s torso section. “I will never miss these suits.”

  “Well, yours don’t look like they stretch.”

  Piling into the airlock, Dani sat and watched José pull the hatch closed. She noted the smile barely visible behind her uncle’s visor as Si took the place next to her. She thought about making a comment, but she might as well let the old man have his dreams for as long as she could before she shattered them.

  The indicator next to the interior hatch turned red as the air slowly sucked out into the bilge pumps. Closing her eyes, Dani let the floating feeling take over, pretending it wasn’t real.

  “Don’t fall asleep on us.” José said as she opened her eyes to a large rubber finger tapping her helmet’s visor.

  She swatted him away and turned on the helmet illumination. Si pressed in the sequence to open the hatch and José led the way out, his bag of tricks secured at his waist.

  “Let’s just get this thing off quick and then figure out where we’re going to set down.”

  “Already creeping up on you?” José laughed as he swung to the next rung. “You used to be better about that. It took you about ten minutes to start feeling it the last time we took a walk.”

  The last time she hadn’t been late for her med
s. “I wasn’t dealing with undue stress and lack of sleep when we did that job. Also, this is my second walk of the day. That was easy as picking a lock, this is… infinitely more complicated.” Her hand slipped and she felt Si’s grip around her wrist.

  “I’ll take the blame for that,” he said, pulling her back in and grabbing hold of her waist.

  She turned away, smiling though she tried not to. “And I’ll gladly blame you for it.”

  “You two really should work on getting along. Danielle, I’m not going to be around forever.”

  “Shut up, old man.” Si adopted her tone. “You’ll be around a lot longer if you conserve your air. I have all the faith in the collective worlds that you’ll be teasing her mercilessly for a few decades yet. Unless of course you suggest every one of your old friends take a pass at your niece.”

  Dani tried to wiggle from his grip, but he wouldn’t let her go. “Just hurry up and do the damn incision. I hate spacing.” She managed to get a good glare in and Si moved her back to the handhold, though she could still feel his glove at her waist.

  Moving around the squeaker, José pulled a long knife from his belt and moved his hands slowly through the bubble field. “Don’t worry, Danielle just dislikes being out of control.”

  She glared halfheartedly at Si before turning back to José. “If I could shove my fingers in my ears and shut you both out, I would right now. Focus on the squeaker and I’ll deal with you both on the inside.”

  José’s laugh coiled through her speakers as he moved around the bug. “Three quick cuts and this little guy will be history.”

  “Yeah, more comments about my love life and you will be history, too.”

  José paused, looking up at her. “Danielle Barrie Cholla, I love you like you’re my own daughter. If I tease you a little bit, you deserve it. And don’t doubt for a second that if he actually tried something I’d have this at his throat…. Unless, of course, you told me to bug off. Osiris is a much better man than that Nial Mandall will ever be.”

  Danielle couldn’t think of what to say, Si’s grip around her waist suddenly felt a lot tighter, though she was pretty sure it hadn’t changed. She had no idea how her uncle could have noticed that she avoided men?

  “I’m touched, but I think you pushing is the opposite of helpful. Also, now is really not the time.”

  “Whatever you believe, I love you both. Si, you were and still are my best friend. You know how I felt about the rift between you and Dan. That didn’t change. Hang on, one last cut and we can get her back inside. You’re looking a little green around the gills, sobrina.”

  “It’s the helmet light, I swear.” Dani grumbled as she turned, trying to get away from his scrutiny.

  “Whatever you say.” Taking the knife along the lower section of the abdomen. “The last incision of the lateral attachment claw…” He let out a low laugh and pulled the knife away.

  At the same instant the squeaker detached, twitching as it floated away.

  “Steady hands, mine. Dani’s are only steady when she’s holding a gun.” José turned back to them a look of triumph on his face. And the black erupted in a silent fiery plume.

  José flew away from them, his body bouncing off the hull and spiraling into space.

  Danielle’s heart stopped. She dropped the handhold, pushing away, reaching for him. “NO!”

  Heavy and hard, Si’s arms locked around her waist, knocking the breath from her.

  She struggled to get free. Fighting against the pressure around her as well as that forming inside her head.

  “Yella, stop. He’s gone.” His voice was cold and hollow in her ears.

  The words sunk into her as the cloying darkness crushed around her. Her eyes started to itch as they filled with tears. “Back… we have to get back inside.”

  Her hands reached for the hull, scrabbling for a hold, but Si got to them before they could find the hard metal. Osiris pulled her back to where she’d been before the recoil had pushed her away. His gloved hands guided her back over the hull as she tried to remember how to breathe, let alone function.

  He let her go as they neared the open hatch and she scrabbled across the hull trying not to remember what she’d lost—how alone she was, now.

  Si pushed her into the airlock and cycled the hatch. She fell to the deck plating as artificial gravity took hold again, and let herself lie there until she saw the green light and watched Osiris open the hatch into the exigency room.

  She crawled to her feet and pressed past him, wrenching her helmet off and sending it flying toward the door. The hollow thud it produced did nothing for her. Dani slammed a fist into the bulkhead as a strangled cry fell from her throat.

  Slumping to the bench, she pressed a rubbery glove to her forehead, her mind replaying the memories of the last few minutes. She fought against the urge to curl herself into a ball under the bench and sob until the Mandalls came looking for her.

  Her ears flooded with pressure and all the sound in the room faded away as her own throat burned with the sob she knew was there, but couldn’t hear.

  “Yella?” Si shook her. He was crouched down so his eyes met hers, and for a moment, she was twenty-five and naive again. “You have to pull yourself together.”

  As she dragged herself out of it, she noticed the open hatch, six of her ten crew staring in… at a war hero returned from the dead. Their eyes wide, in two cases fearful.

  Lyz pushed through the others, making seven. Mopeña was the only one not there, probably at the helm in case they needed to make a quick getaway.

  “Captain?” Lyz said, her voice quavering. “Where’s José?”

  She choked, the words stinging in her throat.

  “The squeaker self-destructed.” Si said for her. “It took him with it.”

  “Oh, Dani, are you okay?” Lyz sank to her blue knees in front of Dani, her hand pushing the mussed hair from her face.

  “More importantly, when did we get another crew member, and when were you going to tell the rest of us?” Quince stared into the room with a heavy suspicion etched across her dusky face.

  Swallowing heavily, Danielle stood and turned to her assembled crew. “I assume you all recognize Osiris Bowlin. His face was burned into a lot of memories during the war. As for when I was going to tell you, the answer is when I damn well felt like it. Get back to your posts, I’ll debrief the rest of you at oh-six-hundred ship time. For now, we’ve got a great deal of problems and few solutions.

  “Stugg, Gilroy, I need you to get back to the engine and ask nicely if the ship will be willing to push herself to her limits. Remember, be nice. She’s throwing around a lot more weight than you are.

  “Quince, I need you to go down to deck ten with Lyz and make sure our other frozen entrées aren’t going to pop any time soon. Kiori, I need you to get things in order in case that little fireworks display draws some unwanted company our way.”

  “I’ll help her, Cap,” Mari, who’s official job was cook and catch-all, stepped forward.

  Dani nodded, “Thank you.”

  Waiting as the meager crew filtered out. She fought with the lump forming in her throat and when they were gone, she closed the hatch and pulled at the second skin of the suit.

  “You handled that well.”

  “I don’t need a cheerleader right now, Si.”

  His hands took hold of her shoulders. “What do you need?”

  Cold swept through her body even as hot tears collected in her eyes. She tried to remind herself this wasn’t all his fault. Failed.

  “I need to go back in time and refuse to take this goddamned job.”

  SEVEN

  Yella pushed past him, her eyes hard as she yanked off the suit, throwing its components to the ground, cursing under her breath. By the time he got the torso portion of his suit off, she’d dressed and stormed out the hatch.

  He went through the motions of taking off the EVA suit on auto-pilot. His mind stuck on what she’d said. If crawling back into that
cryo unit would bring back José, he’d do it gladly. The man had been closer to him than anyone else, practically a brother among his friends, and now he was gone, too.

  Sitting on one of the benches, realizing he’d only buttoned half his shirt, he asked, “Obie, what are the chances of retrieving José’s body?”

  “Danielle has already asked me to ‘use one of my classified doohickies’ to bring his body back in. I’ve tethered it and will bring him into the auxiliary cargo bay.”

  “Thanks, Obie.” He pulled on his boots and put the suit back on its hooks. Picking up Dani’s and folding it on the bench next to the privacy screen, he placed the helmet on top, rubbing away the smudge her fingers had left when she tossed it.

  Stepping out the hatch, he paused. He didn’t know where Dani was, and he wasn’t going to ask Obie. Dani wouldn’t want anything to do with him right now.

  The anger and hurt he’d glimpsed in her eyes… that kept him from going after her. He didn’t want her to look at him like that again. Once he got used to the idea that she truly did blame him for all of this, then he’d be able to take it. And he’d take it because he probably deserved it.

  Turning away from the lift, he made his way down to deck ten.

  Lyz and the woman Dani had called Quince stood in front of the cryo capsules, staring in at Si’s remaining crew.

  They were the only three left now…

  It was pathetic. Dani and his two crewmembers on ice were all he had. Everyone else he’d known in life was probably dead—unless the Pääom had been lenient, and they were never lenient.

  Quince was a mechanic, if the grease on her coveralls and wrenches strapped in place like a garter around her leg were any indication. She was short, with close cut, tightly curled black hair.

  “You know, when they talk about the walking dead, they don’t usually look like you.” Quince glared at him, her hands gripping the rail of the scaffolding before she hopped over the side, avoiding him as though he were some sort of viper waiting to strike.

  Her dark skin glimmered in the light from the cryo capsules as she wiped yellow-green grease on her light blue coveralls.