In Service

by Mima

  commander, not her lover, not a friend. He nodded, turning, and she grabbed at his hand.

  “Shon, I’m sorry. I meant it to be snappy and cute, not to push you away.” He nodded, touched her chin with his fingers, and moved over to Vel. She swallowed.

  She did as he asked, feeling better when she was clean and dressed. Sitting with her vid, she saw that a bit more detail had been added to Radha’s building. There was also a great deal more intel on the security. She nibbled a piece of dried fruit as she reviewed.

  Shon and Grady had already been to the coffee shop and met with the other team,

  Kappa 49. They were going to go in first, as a distraction, through the sewer route Char had been working on. Char, Ahmed, and Cris, who was currently just sleeping, were going to be taken to another location where they would be set up by Grady to sabotage the

  communications across Dunru, particularly in Radha’s building. The chaos and false trails they’d lay in the system would further disrupt Radha’s captors from organizing an effective block to their escape, Stage F.

  Malla thought of how hard it had been to get to this point, although Char had come much easier than expected. How had Vel characterized Stages A through D? Playtime? And Grady had laughed and called it a warm-up. But Kor had shouted that it was all a walk in the park until Stage F, the escape. Then, he predicted, the shit would hit the fan.

  Entering Stage E, the rescue, first they had to let Kappa 49 lead as a distraction. Then Kor and Vel would rendezvous and phaze in, while Shon was covered by Grady as he scaled the building and entered the third floor, leaving an unexpected exit point for retreat. Malla was with Grady, stationed here, across the street from the Duke’s building.

  Over the next hour, as all of that fell into place, Malla took sips of water and practiced her sight lines to main target points like doors, one balcony, and several cameras. When it was almost the appointed time, Grady looked at her, powering on his gun. She turned on hers, too.

  “Malla.”

  “Yeah?”

  “You should know about Shon, if Kor’s holding our link open.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean if Kor has us linked, and Shon loses it, it will feel like you want to kill everything that moves around you. The hate that wells up can almost seem like it’s choking you. Ride it, shape it. Don’t fight it, focus it.”

  “Hate?”

  “Shon doesn’t call it his Fury for nothing. He’s furious. He’s out of control, and he’s pure violence. He seems to hold his first target in his head, so he tends to get close to finishing the mission, and he also tends to gravitate to whoever of us is closest if all hostiles are down. But you need to be aware that when he goes under, he can’t hear you. He won’t respond, and he doesn’t understand, not even the word ‘No.’ Actually, the word ‘No’ seems to piss him off. He’s not himself, that’s for sure.”

  Malla frowned. “He is so. He’s Shon, in the throes of his gift. You all build it up to something shameful, fearful.”

  Grady looked from the window to Malla. “Don’t for a second go thinking that some gentle feminine touch from you will calm him, reclaim him. The Luo have lived with bestial tendencies for our entire history, as something we’ve learned to deal with in times of hunger.

  Shon’s gift is not a warrior form, Malla. It’s a madness form. Kor calls it, ‘getting his crazy on.’ You need to stop nipping at him and face the fact that when Shon goes under, he’s off limits, one breath away from being a hostile at our backs.”

  “He wouldn’t do that!”

  “He told me that he told you.” Grady pointed to his armor-covered arm. “Why are you denying the proof on my skin? I held him back with both hands on his throat, and it took all my strength. Vel had one of his arms, and he got one arm free from Kor and almost took my hand off. If Kor hadn’t gotten that arm back, I would have been shredded. As it is, we had to restrain him. Sometimes he snaps out of Fury immediately, sometimes he stays gone for hours, leaving us one man down.”

  Grady opened the blinds, then opened the window. He frowned at her. “And that was just one of the times he attacked us. Malla, it’s not that we disrespect his gift. We understand the power it brings and the responsibility. But you can’t keep thinking he’s being over-cautious. He’s managed to live this long by holding it off as much as he can. Every time he goes to Fury, he loses the ability to fight with finesse and control. When is a gun going to get the best of him? When is his rage going to lead him into a bad tactical spot?”

  Malla blinked rapidly. Her throat was tight, and her heart beat like crazy. She felt confused and defensive and terrified. Grady looked out the window. She did, too, but she was blind to all the details. Shon, out of control, attacking Grady. Shon, out of control, attacking her. No. She didn’t fear their hunger, didn’t fear their need. She wouldn’t fear their gifts. They were honorable men, to their very core. They were hers, every bit of them.

  “He’s at our forty-five degrees.”

  Malla sharpened her gaze and saw Shon. He was dressed in a ridiculous hat, three colorful ponchos, and a long dress. The bag he carried as if it weighed a ton had his helmet and a stretcher in it in case Radha couldn’t walk out on her own.

  Grady fired at the first of the cameras and it exploded in a hail of glittering shards.

  Malla shot out another and it rained sparks, dripping ion plasma down the building in a smoking, toxic mess. She blinked her eyes again to clear the last of the tears. Her men were coming back to her. And she’d be waiting, unafraid.

  * * * * *

  Shon was pleased. Everything was going to plan, but that didn’t mean it was easy.

  Radha had been five floors up, with only six guards. Vel had phazed Kor and him through the building after Kor had pinpointed Radha. Such a long phaze carrying both of them had seriously sucked Vel’s energy away. They’d acquired her in a vicious hand-to-hand. She wasn’t at all well, but she’d been alert.

  Two small firefights and a chase later, it was all Vel could do to keep the shivering, drugged woman over his shoulder and stay on his feet. But of course he was cool as ice, pistol ready. Shon was hit in three places. Kor was hit in two. Their armor had held, but it hurt like a bitch, the burns seeping through the seams.

  Grady had taken out an entire contingent of reinforcements with his gift. Shon

  disabled the transport shafts, and the guards focused on the stairwells while he led his men out his secured line on the side of the building. He was the last out, and breathed a sigh of relief to land on the reverberating composite of street level. There’d been no organized resistance as they exited the building. A glance across the street revealed Grady and Malla waiting in the shadows. A spike of pleasure burst in him to see her there, closely followed by the near-constant muttering of Fury. It had been hard, but no harder than a normal extraction. This luck couldn’t last.

  Kor, let the link go. To the ship, route A.

  Kor dropped the link on his command. Shon shivered, losing the touch of his team.

  Grady took up Malla, Kor took Radha, and he paired with Vel, who was still woozy. They all double-timed it to the ship. Rounding the first corner, they took on their first firefight.

  Grady braced himself against a building and shouted. Half of the enemy dropped, unmoving.

  Grady bent, bracing himself on his knees.

  Malla fired at the same moment Shon did. All he could do was stand, cursing, trying to stay calm as he watched three hits sizzle over her armor. He saw the exact moment when some of the charge made it through. She staggered, dropped to one knee. Grady roared, his face inside his helmet monster-mean. Kor brought up the link, and they all managed to finish out the firefight, but by the time Shon had finished confirming the bodies as down via head hits, he knew they weren’t going to make the ship. This was going to be as shitty as they had all feared.

  He motioned them into the nearest building. Taking an ion web from his belt he traced it hurriedly across t
he entrance to the street while Grady did the rear. Kor set Radha on the ground.

  “Five minutes. Malla, status.”

  “I’m all right. Just a little singed.”

  He stood for a heartbeat, drinking in the swirl of her chocolate hair bound in pretty court braids as she took off her helmet. His knees trembled from the adrenaline of watching her take the hits, of the ambush, so much closer than he’d planned.

  “Grady, we need you on deck.”

  Grady had been braced against one wall, Vel wrapped in his arms. He nodded in

  return. Vel staggered away to collapse on the floor.

  Grady took a chair out. At a glance, Shon realized the shop was some sort of café, hurriedly abandoned during the firefight. Sitting, Grady undid his pants and motioned to Malla, who worked her pants down over her hips. Kneeling, she surprised all of them by taking Grady’s soft dick in her mouth and thrusting her hand between her legs.

  “What…what is going on?” Radha’s teeth chattered, and she convulsed, her hands

  clutching her upper arms tightly. Her face was gaunt, her hair dark with filth, but there was intelligence to her despite her inability to focus on any one thing, her gaze distant and flitting. “Kor?”

  He moved up to her. “Hey, pirate princess. We’ve got you now. Can you hang in there for a rough run out?”

  Malla hummed and Grady moaned. His dick was hard now, and she could only fit a

  small portion of the fat bastard in her mouth, her lips stretched wide.

  “What is… Is she a server?” Radha shivered.

  “Yeah, that’s our Malla.”

  “My team…didn’t come?”

  “Sweet, they’ve been here since you were taken. They’ve tried to get to you twice.

  They’re all in a bad way, although a recent feeding from Malla patched them up a bit.

  They’re still not well. Desperate to get to you, though.”

  “Oh!” Radha licked cracked lips, shifted her feet restlessly. “She’s…going to feed you now.”

  “Yeah.” Kor’s eyes were between Malla’s thighs, opened as much as possible with her pants on. He watched her hand shuttle and swirl in her folds. Watching Kor watch Malla made Shon feel calmer. He wasn’t going to have to take a punch this time from the possessive man, now that it was just them.

  “I can, too.”

  Shon looked at her in shock. So did Kor and Vel.

  “Radha, that won’t be necessary,” Shon hastened to assure her.

  Vel explained, “She can harmonize. We’ll be fine.”

  Kor hesitantly held out his hand, and when Radha didn’t flinch away, cupped her

  elbow. “Radha. We wouldn’t ask that.”

  “Well, you might as well drink, because in about thirty seconds, I’m going to go off.”

  Kor frowned. “You’re drugged.”

  She laughed, high and wild. “Yeah. A little bit.”

  Grady gritted out, “Time’s up over here, too, guys. Decide where you’re going to drink.”

  Shon moved to Radha, touching her shoulder. She was burning up under the thin blue dress. He recognized it as a prison issue. “I’ll stay with her. Kor, go.”

  Shon watched Vel move beside Grady, laying a hand on both Grady’s and Malla’s

  heads. Kor knelt behind her, putting his hands on her hips. She twisted, shook, her shout muffled by Grady’s cock. The men jerked as if they’d been struck. His team, together, entwined. He was on the outside, watching. It was the way it should be. With the stress piling up from watching Malla in danger throughout this mission, he was a seething coil of anger and fear.

  A moment later, Radha went off, tossing a glittering wave of energy. He took it, and drank it in. It was cold, and flat, like stale water instead of the finest scotch. Taking a deep breath, he opened his eyes and looked over at the tableau of his team, faces still etched in ecstasy. He swallowed, crouching by Radha.

  “Do you need a suppressant?”

  “No. It’s not a sex drug. The orgasm was because of them. It’s…complicated.”

  “You’re an empath?”

  “I’m something.”

  “But you are drugged.”

  “Yeah, but it’s just crystal. I’m higher than a kite. Could probably run until my heart burst. What’s wrong with my team?”

  “You’ll see them soon.” He stood, watching Kor finish dressing Malla. “Vel, you up to speed?”

  “Gather round, peasants.” He grinned, giving Grady a quick kiss on the lips.

  They took him at his word, and minutes after they’d entered the shop, they were

  exiting by phazing through four sets of walls. They caught a break in the rear of that building, going to route B via a stolen hovercraft. They made it half way to the hangar pads when they got in their second firefight, this one almost an accident of surprised thugs taken aback by the Luo armor.

  The third firefight was a small group hurrying toward the hangars, and the fourth was a large, well-organized squad. Grady took most of them, but it was still a close fight because they all had the best, newest ion weapons the front lines needed. Just as they had dropped the last man, another group came in from the side, and in the middle of that fight, a small group came up from behind. Kor called the warning on that one, but before they’d managed to quell that wave, an airborne arrived. A fucking airborne. Designed for Luo backup at major breaches like the bug gate at Fanata.

  Lava washed through Shon’s veins. They couldn’t take on an airborne, and they were already all so drained. Malla’s feeding at the café seemed a day ago. He tried to push the heat of his growing Fury back, believing in his team, believing they’d come this far and he’d hold it together. The risk of the airborne was still less than Shon lost in his gift. All he had to do was keep his men together, and retreat from the airborne’s attack.

  Grady and Malla turned their ion bolts on the airborne gunning systems. Kor and

  Radha were firing from behind the thin cover of a potato bin. Vel phazed away and shimmered into view behind a trio who were pinning him. As Shon watched, two pairs of men leaped from the shadows behind Vel, taking him to the street. At the same time, the airborne’s ion cannon fired into Radha and Kor’s position, blowing them through the air like kindling.

  Shon looked over as Grady screamed in Vel’s direction and Malla screamed in Kor’s.

  And that was all he knew, as the Fury pumped through his veins, sending a rush of power to his limbs, dimming his sight.

  Chapter Twelve

  Malla sat, sobbing, against an alley wall papered with flyers. She was tired. She was hot.

  She was thirsty. She was also bleeding, alone, and terrified. Her ion rifle had been dropped when the battery died, and she’d lost one of her midrange guns somewhere. Her short-range was in her left hand and a midrange in her right. She tried, for the fiftieth time, to mentally summon Kor or Grady. Not that she was a strong enough psychic, but she thought the Spirit might hear her prayers and queue them into her. She knew they’d be trying…if they could.

  She was even half-braced to feel a spiking headache from contact with Grady. So far, nothing.

  The firefight at that intersection was bad. There was lousy cover but they were

  swinging it their way until that air ship showed up. Until Vel was kidnapped. Until Kor blew up, and Shon lost it. Everything after that was a blur. She had only images, like moments from a disintegrating dream.

  Grady’s black helmet reflecting her own little bubble head back at her, his voice hoarse, “Stay with Radha and Kor. This is a defensible location. Hold it as long as you can and then leave them. They’re too valuable to kill. If I’m not back, run, Malla. Try for the ship.”

  Shaking, trying to stop crying, because it was useless, she told herself her team would be disappointed if they knew she got taken because she’d been weak. She tried to recall alternate routes to the hangar. Her vid plate was shattered in the same volley that had left her right leg burned and bleeding.
She needed to see the landmarks at the nearest intersection, but she was too scared to leave her hidey-hole between garbage bins.

  Kor’s slack, white face visible through his shattered helmet. Shon leaping off the top of a building into the air ship’s open cargo door where the soldiers fired di

  rectly into him.

  r

  Coming around a corner afte she’d left Kor, left Kor, left Kor, and tumbling over a pile of smoking, crumpled bodies, landing on one, putting her gloved hand in a pile of intestines as she pushed to her feet, running from the soldiers that were bending over Kor…

  Shouts and pounding feet sounded in the street, and she gasped, shrinking back, pulling her knees in tight. She held her breath, but they didn’t come down the alley, and eventually she breathed again, sniffling. The kick of adrenaline dried her tears. She raised her hand to wipe her eyes and laughed when she knocked into the helmet. Where were her men ? They needed her. Kor had needed her, and she had left him. And Radha. All that to free her, and she’d just let the woman be retaken.

  Malla pushed to her feet. She had to get to the ship. She had allies. She could rally, organize, and go back out -- she shuddered -- into Dunru to get her men. Taking gulping breaths, she eased around one of the bins, and back against the wall. She stayed low and crept to the edge of the street. She dodged her way up toward the intersection, and studied the stores, glancing wildly behind her all the while. Her Luo armor marked her as an outsider, a target. She needed to discard it and acquire other clothes.

  When Malla saw the jewelry store and the brothel, she sagged in relief. She knew this intersection from her pre-mission drills. She was perhaps four blocks from the hangar. She blinked her damp lashes rapidly. Four blocks. She swallowed against the bile rising in her throat. She scanned the street, and dashed up and into the brothel.

  The women were clustered around a comlink in the corner. The color scheme was red and orange. Malla dropped her weapons and threw off her gloves. She fumbled with her helmet as the girls screamed and scattered, while two drew weapons and ordered her hands up. Malla swung the helmet off and put her hands up.