by K. Gorman
Karin stood up, her breath short and shallow, filled with adrenaline. “They’ve been all right, actually. You’re late, by the way.”
“Had a small problem with transport. We fixed it. I’m here now.”
She narrowed her eyes. A small problem with transport? “Did you break my ship?”
“Technically, no. Cookie broke your ship.”
“What?”
“And technically,” Nomiki continued, turning from where she’d been keeping an eye on Baik to make a gesture toward the opposite end of the room. “It’s his ship, not yours.”
With her back turned, Baik made an attempt to grab her, his right arm coming up.
Nomiki slammed it down with a snarl. It hit the wall with a sickening crunch.
Karin jumped forward, one hand rising. “Clio’s bounty, woman, ease up. They really treated me just fine.”
“Your heart is too soft,” her sister said. “He’ll be fine. See? His quicksave’s already active. He’s also got a medic patch and a reflex booster, since I gather you didn’t know about those.”
And your heart’s too psychotic. She decided to drop the argument, instead glancing to the other two who’d followed them in. Ares had moved to cover Colahary. Colahary hadn’t moved from where Nomiki had dropped him.
He didn’t have a quicksave.
“I see you’ve made some friends,” Karin said, making a gesture to Ares and the woman she’d never met, who’d looked up from the opposite side of the room and fixed her with a stare that was a touch too intense to be anything normal. “And that you’re talking to people now.”
“Yeah, I took your advice. That’s Lenora, by the way. Project Skogul. Picked her up along the way.” At her blank, uncomprehending look, Nomiki rolled her eyes. “She’s a Valkyrie, Karin.”
Ah. That explained the spear, she supposed. Actually, no. That didn’t explain anything. In fact, there was a lot that needed explaining.
She cleared her throat. “Do you have a plan for getting us out of here, or were you just hoping to turn a high commander into a shishkebab and run with it?”
“I have twenty plans for getting us out of here.” Nomiki beamed her a smile. “Twenty seven, actually. None of which will be needed, however. Fallon’s got seventeen cruisers inbound to Nova, and the planet surrendered about five minutes ago.”
“Er… Then why are you here?”
“Bloodsport, mostly.” With a swift jerk and a pained yell from Baik, Nomiki pulled her blade from his arm and stepped back.
Karin’s jaw slackened. Bloodsport? “You are psychotic.”
“Whatever feeds the soul.” Nomiki tipped her sword up to her in mock salute. “We didn’t kill anyone, if that’s what you’re wondering.”
“I…” Across the room, Marc caught her gaze. He had a similar expression on his face.
Karin shook her head and threw her hands up. “You know what? Never mind. What the hell are you doing here, other than rescuing me and making sure I don’t end up as some sort of weird, hidden-away hostage?”
Nomiki threw her a wide grin. “We’re going to Earth.”
Considering they were already on Nova Earth, there was little doubt as to which Earth Nomiki was referring.
“Old Earth?” she confirmed.
“Yes,” Nomiki said. “Old Earth.”
Amusement laced her eyes as she watched Karin understand this. Standing there, with Baik broken against the wall, Colahary broken on the floor, and Seras the only Alliance-aligned person to have made it out of the skirmish with less than a broken bone, with not one but three genetically altered Project Eurynome survivors around her, it seemed absurd to comprehend the extent the old planet’s name affected her.
Old Earth. The compound.
She fixed Nomiki with a look. “What the hell?”
After another scrutinizing glance to Baik, Nomiki sheathed her weapons and strode forward. She patted Karin’s shoulder as she joined her, then steered her toward the door.
“Come on. Reeve’s got the Nemina on the ground outside. I’ll explain everything on the way.”
To Be Continued…
Author's Note
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