Oath Breaker (Death of Empire Book 1)

by A. B. Keuser

  “Call him off. Tell him I order him to stand down.”

  “I’m afraid I can’t do that, sir. He’s in an area of high noise, he wouldn’t be able to hear me if I tried.”

  “Then warn whoever he’s after!” Dani screamed at the ceiling.

  “Engine room,” Osiris said as he pulled open the hatch to the ladderway.

  “Forewarning would constitute an act of treason. Those conspiring against the Abolitionists or any of their agents must be terminated with extreme prejudice if they cannot stand trial. We have no judge on board.”

  “According to Abolitionist mandate, a Captain can serve as Judge aboard his ship. Call him off!” Si barked the order from above her as they hurried down.

  “I’m sorry, Captain. It is too late.”

  Dani pushed through the hatch into the glaring light of the engine room, and felt as if she was about to suffocate as steam poured over her.

  Gilroy was backed into a corner, a pair of heavy goggles over his eyes as his head jerked toward a new stream shooting from one of the pipes.

  “Gill!” Dani yelled, waving her arms to get his attention.

  “What the hell is going on, Dani? First we have ghosts popping up, then there’s some weird guy running through here in the same uni… Did we bag a haunted ship?”

  “No, it’s another one of the ones from down on cryo level. He ignored you? Didn’t try to kill you or anything?”

  “No, took one look at me and kept going. He looked pretty bad, I don’t know if he’d be capable of hurting anyone.”

  “Thanks, Gill.” She turned to Si. “He’s either after a woman, or Obie told him where to find them. Why would he cut through the engine room?”

  Si cursed under his breath. “He’s headed for the weapons locker.”

  She felt like a weight dropped into her stomach. “Then we need to figure out where he’s going from there. And hope to hell Kiori changed those pass codes.”

  “It won’t matter, Obie will open the door for him.” Si paused, turning back to the engineer. “He’s not after Gilroy. Even if he didn’t have a weapon, there’s enough in here that he could have used… He wouldn’t have bothered heading for the locker first when his prey was in sight.”

  “Quince and Mari.” Dani said their names as a whisper.

  “What?”

  “They’re who he’s after. They’re both from the Mandalls’ approved subcontractor’s list, they share a bunk, and Mariposa is really outspoken when she gets a beer or two in her. If they were off shift, spinning theories in their bunk…. would Obie have been able to hear them?”

  “Probably. As far as I know my quarters are the only ones that don’t have microphones through which she could listen in. She probably can’t hear everything we’re saying now, because she’s shooting steam out at us to keep us from going after Richter.”

  “Damnit, she’s having him kill them for something that could have been spitballing.”

  She turned back to the ladderway and climbed as quickly as she could, coming out on the fourth level, the hatch to the mess was open. Dani stopped next to it, listening.

  “You know there are two more of them down there? I don’t know what’s going on, but I don’t think this is what Theo expected.”

  “Do you think she’s called to tell him about it?” Mariposa’s fluttering voice echoed through the open hatch.

  Something heavy dropped, obscuring the first words, but Dani would know Quince’s voice anywhere, “…called him at least once. I don’t know if she let the cat out of the bag.”

  Mari’s response was quiet. “Quince… what do we do if he tells us to—”

  “Shh, I heard something.”

  Dani heard it too, a clatter beyond them, in the mess. “Would Richter be that careless?”

  “You said he’s pretty messed up… he might have fallen over, or he might be drawing them out. They aren’t expecting someone on board who wants to kill them.”

  “Mari, Quince.” Dani said their names in a hushed plea. She pushed the hatch open and moved in slowly. She saw Quince, turn to her quickly, her hand flying to her chest.

  “Get away from there, hurry.”

  “Dani, what’s goi—”

  Mari stood in the door, half in half out as the laser pistol’s charge scorched through her shoulder.

  The whimper that accompanied her as she fell tore through Dani. Then, almost as soon as her heart clenched, the pain was gone, replaced by a flood of dopamine afforded by those blessed orange pills.

  Grabbing a handful of kitchen towels, she helped Quince pull Mari back into the galley. The doors swung back and forth on their hinges, squeaking against the silence. The only other sound Dani heard was the soft gurgle as Mari desperately gasped, her eyes unseeing on the ceiling.

  “You’re gonna be okay,” she said, her voice barely a whisper.

  The eyes the met hers told her Mari didn’t believe her. As Dani and Quince tried to stem the blood flowing from the hole through her shoulder, Mari choked, tears streaming from her eyes. Her good hand went to Quince’s face, and the mechanic grabbed hold, pressing it to her cheek.

  “Mari, you can’t leave me here. Not here.” As Quince said the words, Mari’s breathing stuttered.

  Quince crumpled over Mari, sobs echoing off the metal cabinets behind which they crouched and Dani pushed herself away, pressing her back along the cabinet as she distanced herself from the slowly pooling blood.

  “It’s just shock.” Dani said, trying to pull Quince away. “Keep pressure on it, she’s going to be okay.”

  “If she dies, I will kill you.”

  “I promise you, she won’t,” Dani said.

  A hand latched on to her bicep and she flinched away, but the deep brown eyes that met hers weren't those of the grim reaper she expected.

  Si glanced past Quince and Mari, his lips set in a hard line. “Richter, this is Osiris. Put the gun away and stand down. That’s an order.”

  “They’re plotting to kill you, Cap. Or hand you over to the Mandalls,” He coughed violently, choking on the words, “Same fucking thing.”

  “Ric, listen. I brought you out of cryo wrong. It’s my fault. You’re paranoid. You’re sick” Si shifted to his feet, his head peeking over the small window into the mess.

  “No, Cap. Obie told me the truth, she wouldn’t lie to me.”

  “This is bad isn’t it?” Dani asked low, her heart slowing as a dull pain permeated her sternum. She’d forgotten that side effect.

  “It would be better if he wasn’t the only one in the room with a gun.” Si sank back down, his eyes trailing along the magnetic strip above the opposite counter.

  A long row of knives shone in the garish light.

  Dani glanced at them and said, “I don’t see a way to change that just yet. A butcher knife isn’t going to stand up to a laser pistol.”

  Si moved to the side and reached up, pulling a paring knife from between two longer blades. He tucked it into the back of his pants pulling out his shirt to hide it. “Just in case,” he said, turning back toward the window to shout. “Ric, I’m going to come out and talk. Just me. I’m not armed. You know me… so don’t do anything stupid.”

  “Don’t do anything stupid?” Dani stared at him incredulously. “Isn’t it a little late for that? I think shooting our cook qualifies as stupid, don’t you?”

  Si looked down at the hand she’d wrapped around his wrist and she pulled it away, too fast. “Ric’s not going to hurt me. I’m just being careful.”

  “Si, be more than careful. I don’t want anyone else dying.”

  His mouth screwed into a hybrid of a frown and a smile. “Of the four of us in this room right now, I’ve a feeling I’m going to be the one who lasts the longest if he’s gone off the deep end.”

  Before she could object further, he pulled her forward, kissing her forehead and then stood, his hands above the counter where Richter could see them.

  Dani hunched closer to the floor, screwing
her eyes shut. She didn’t want to watch as the laser pistol’s energy bolt sliced through some part of him.

  “See, Ric? Just me.”

  Dani opened her eyes and her gaze locked on his boots. The black leather, military regulation shine, the zigzag lacing, anything to distract her from what she knew was coming.

  “Come out of there so I know you don’t have a sight on you.”

  Dani’s hand balled to a fist in the fabric of his pants. Her eyes met his as she silently begged him not to go.

  “I pulled you out of cryo and didn’t get the med officer to you in time. Your brain isn’t getting enough oxygen.” He nodded to Dani and pulled his leg out of her grasp, moving slowly toward the doorway through which Mari had been shot. “Have you looked in a mirror? You’re blue.”

  The door clattered, swinging in and out of the kitchen in a rhythm offset by the pace of her heart. She heard muffled voices, angry at first, followed by strong firm tones. Her muscles tensed waiting for the sound of the laser pistol firing.

  Instead a long, low beep sounded from her pocket. She pulled out the pen comm and twisted it to adjust the volume down.

  “Cholla,” she said, her voice a low whisper.

  “Weapons locker’s open.” Kiori said in her usual low tone.

  “Kiori, one of the old crew was unfrozen, he’s pulling a Paddock. Shot Mari. I need you to get up to the mess hall—discreetly—and provide backup. Osiris is trying to talk him down.”

  “On my way.”

  The clipped way Kiori spoke could be irritating, especially when looking for a detailed report. Right now, Dani could imagine the sort of trouble she’d get into if their tiny weapon’s specialist was longwinded.

  Slipping the pen comm back into her pocket, she moved toward the door. If Si wasn’t in control of the situation, she’d need to think up a new plan.

  She pressed her ear to the door and listened: nothing. Her eyes traveled back to Quince, still pressing the towel to the wound. They needed to get her up to the infirmary.

  The door hit her in the back as it swung open, and a hand caught her as she began to sprawl forward.

  “He’s willing to see a medic,” Si said, pulling her up from the floor. “I haven’t told him you’re also the captain, the real one in charge here…”

  “Got it. Is he going to think it’s weird I don’t have any tools?”

  Si looked to her hips and grabbed the med kit off the galley’s far wall. “If he does, I’ll explain it away.”

  She stepped into the mess and saw the man seated on a table, his uniform mussed. Shirt open and hanging over his pants, his blue skin displayed the red bruise of sucker marks from the diagnostic tags. His black hair looked more ruffled than she remembered in the medbay, dust flecked the ends gray. The gun he held leveled at her chest was new too… though not to Mari.

  She blew out a breath as the meds flushed through her again, responding to her own body’s chemical reactions.

  “How are you feeling, Ric?”

  Ric glanced at her, eyes narrowed, and responded dryly. “I’m having a wonderful day, how about you?”

  “You’ve got a sense of humor, that’s a good sign.” She did her best to ignore the dull throb in the base of her spine—the orange pills might have been a bad choice. “I need to check your vitals, is that okay?”

  His eyes flicked to Osiris and then the gun moved away. She stepped in close, her fingers finding his pulse as she looked to the clock on the wall.

  “Well, it’s not a military grade crew you’ve got here, Si. No doc this pretty would sign up for a run with the likes of us.”

  “Why not?” She didn’t mention the Pääom service mandate. He wouldn’t react well to that.

  Si’s answer was stiff, and his focus remained on Ric and the gun. “Because you’d have too many oafs, like Richter here, ogling you. I’ve heard it gets pretty boring.”

  “Nice work,” Ric said nodding to her chest, eyes roaming freely. “The lock’s an interesting choice.”

  Goose pimples sprouted on her skin as she realized what he’d seen. She kept her smile steady as she ran the light from her pen comm in front of his eyes. “You’re making a good recovery, but you really do need to get back on an IV. Right now it probably feels like your brain is in the middle of a thruster after hard burn, and food is not going to agree with you for a few days.”

  “Nothing about this situation agrees with me.”

  “I get that. Things aren’t going the way I planned, either. I prefer my patients stay in the medbay.” She forced another smile to her lips.

  Si moved nervously behind her. “Ric, I know it’s hard to adjust to, but we are going to have to learn how to live in a new time… We skipped fifteen years, it’s not like taking a nap.”

  “Yeah, well, hopefully your goals haven’t changed.” Richter turned to Dani, his eyes falling on her neck. “What did you say your last name was?”

  “I didn’t.”

  “Fifteen years ago… you would have been what? Twenty? Do you even remember what we fought for? Did it even matter to you?”

  Dani had to forcibly unclench her jaw before she spoke. “I was not that young, and no. The war is not something I will ever forget. As for whether it mattered to me… if you’d been awake these fifteen years, you’d never ask me that.” The flare of anger ebbed as the pills shut down her body’s chem-reaction again.

  “Are you sure you can trust her, Cap? Are you sure you can trust any of them?”

  “She has an SOS from the Pääom. If there’s anyone on this ship I trust, it’s her.”

  “You don’t trust me?” Ric actually looked surprised.

  Shrugging, Si looked back to the kitchen. “I don’t know, you plan on killing anymore cooks?”

  “If they plan to do the same or worse to you.” He laughed as he cracked his neck. “I didn’t think fifteen years of cryo would rot your brain, Cap. I’m your man. If I see a threat to you, I’ll take it out.”

  Dani let herself absorb the cold glare Richter sent her way. “I guess, then, you’d have to shoot yourself, Ric.”

  A clatter echoed out of the kitchen, and Ric pulled the gun back up, his muscles tensing. “Who else is in the kitchen?”

  “The mechanic, and the body of our cook.” It was better if he thought Mari was dead.

  “Tell the mech to make her way out. I don’t want anyone in the back thinking about getting brave.” He waggled the gun at Dani, his eyes darting from her to the kitchen door and back.

  “Quince. Come out. He’s not going to shoot you.” Dani turned a cold glare on him. “He knows it will make his life very painful.”

  The door behind her scraped across its jamb before its hinges sent it careening back and forth across the deck lip.

  “Why are you patching him up? He should be dead. I want him dead.” Quince’s free hand clenched and unclenched.

  Dani looked pointedly to the knife in Quince’s hand and then back to her. “We don’t do eye for an eye on this ship, Quince. You know that. His brain got fried coming out of stasis and he’s been given some bad information. You two weren’t conspiring to take Osiris back to the Mandalls and see what kind of a price you could get for his head, now, were you?”

  Dani waited for a reply, but it didn’t come. She turned to see the mechanic’s eyes locked on the man seated behind her, her face contorted in a mask of rage and frustration. She broke off her glare to turn it on Dani.

  “Obviously someone had to think about the big picture, Cholla. You’re too busy hiding him from the rest of us. I think the Mandalls would be interested to know about the course change, and the messages you’ve sent to the remaining abolitionist cell.”

  “Obie…?” Si said quickly, as if the ship’s explanation would calm the mech.

  “I am only acting upon a strategy you yourself concocted. I am programmed to be proactive in cases such as these.”

  “Glad to know you’re listen—”

  As the words left Dani’s mou
th, Quince charged at her… at Richter… it didn’t matter who the intended target, Dani was in the way and she wasn’t about to get out of it. She did the only thing she could, diving for the mechanic, hoping her bodyweight and momentum would be enough. The pills made her reaction time slower, but she managed to hit the woman.

  Her shoulder collided with the mechanic’s ribs and sent them both crashing to the floor.

  Quince’s fist balled as she looked to Dani with a mixture of grief and hate Dani knew all too personally. “It’s not worth it. Killing him isn’t going to make you feel better. Don’t throw your life away for something you don’t have to.”

  She stood up, her eyes locked on Quince, daring her to stand.

  Richter swung the gun to her. “Not a step further, Cholla. I don’t know what you’re trying to pull here. I want answers, and I want them now.”

  Glancing at the gun, Dani let out a long sigh and put her hands on her hips. “You want answers? How’s this for answers: you’ve been a popsicle for fifteen years. Things change. When you’re brought out of cryo, you need a specific mix of fluids in your system within fifteen minutes or your brain starts to die. You went two full hours without any form of actual medically knowledgeable treatment, so I’m guessing you’re about on par with a trained chimpanzee. At least that’s how it looks to me.

  “You have a gun and you’re ready to use it. Great. Congratulations! If you keep on like this, you’re going to kill yourself. Your brain needs time to repair itself, and you’re not giving it any. You’ve decided you’d rather go out with fifteen minutes as a deranged lunatic, instead of trying to recover and maybe finding a way to actually do something important.

  “The war is over, you missed out on that. But the things you fought against are still out there, they’re still happening. So unless you really just want to pop off a few of my crew and then die a horribly painful death as your brain continues to necrotize, be my guest.”

  “If you’re this other crew’s captain,” he waggled the gun at Quince, still on the floor. “I don’t think you have a clue about what’s happening to my brain right now. You’re bluffing.”