Alisa grimaced, remembering that both of her kneecaps had been shattered in that last crash on Dustor. She had passed out before enduring the pain for long, but she vividly recalled those few minutes before she had.
“Better than their heads, I guess,” she murmured.
Mica stepped out of her cabin. “His and her models.” She waved the two pairs of metal handcuffs at Alisa. “Which do you want?”
“Well, you’re the one with short hair and a surly disposition.”
“Ha ha. If we had more time, I’d clobber you for implying you’re more feminine than I am.” Mica tossed a set of cuffs into Alisa’s hands.
“I’m not sure that statement corroborates your claim of femininity.”
A clank sounded, and an alarm went off, the warning that someone was forcing the airlock door. Alisa hurried toward the cargo hold.
“Are there keys to these?” she asked, noting the physical keyhole.
“I don’t have them anymore,” Mica said, “but if you get them lubricated enough, you can slip out.”
“Ew.” Alisa clasped one side of the cuffs around her wrist, leaving the other free for now.
“Maybe your new cyborg buddy can help you.”
Despite the direness of the situation, Alisa flushed with embarrassment. She hoped that wasn’t why Mica thought she was taking this risk. Alisa just wanted to protect her people and the Alliance soldiers.
“I can break them easily,” Leonidas said, either ignoring or completely missing the innuendo.
“You must be fun in bed,” Mica said dryly.
His brow wrinkled behind his faceplate. Alisa almost laughed, but there was no time. They had reached the airlock door, and the bangs and thumps coming from the other side promised it would be open soon.
“They’re going to burst in here with their guns on autofire, aren’t they?” Alisa asked, noting with some amusement that Yumi had found the time to stack crates all around her chicken pen and reinforce the netting stretched atop it with more layers. She couldn’t blame her and hoped nothing happened to the birds.
“Likely.” Leonidas pointed to a corner protected by a beam and more crates. “I’ll charge into them. You hide.”
“I have a better idea.” Alisa grabbed his arm. “We’ll all hide.” She tugged him toward a concealed door in the bulkhead, the same spot where they had hidden when the ship had been boarded by pirates. “Just long enough for them to come in and spread out.”
Mica did not hesitate to rush to the spot and open the door. Alisa followed her, crouching to squeeze in behind her, but she paused when Leonidas did not follow. A hiss-clank came from the airlock. The soldiers would force their way in any second.
“Leonidas, come on.” Alisa jerked her thumb into the dim storage space.
He must have objected to the tone of her voice, or the order itself, because he said, “You’re not my commander, Marchenko.”
“I’m the captain of this ship, and you’re on this ship. Look, I’m trying to save all of our butts. Get over here. Please.”
“It’ll be easier to make those kneecap shots when they’re spread out and you can sneak up on them,” Mica added.
“You can’t sneak up on a man in combat armor.” Leonidas waved to the back of his helmet, probably indicating the camera embedded there.
“Oh, I think you’ll be able to,” Mica said cryptically.
“Come on, Leonidas,” Alisa said. “I’ll rub your ears if you join us.” Maybe bribery would work better with him than commands, since he seemed to believe his former military status as a colonel meant he outranked her, even on her own ship.
After a long look back toward the airlock, he finally strode across the hold. The doorway to the hidden compartment was just large enough for his broad armored shoulders to fit through. As soon as he squeezed in, Alisa pulled the door closed behind him. Darkness fell in the cubby, a spot meant for hiding valuables in case of a pirate boarding, not for hiding people. The door did not have a peephole or any way to see what was happening in the cargo hold, though the clangs from the airlock reached Alisa’s ears.
“Despite your interest in comparing me to a cat, a bat, or some other animal, I prefer shoulders,” Leonidas said.
“Pardon?” Alisa asked.
“Shoulder rubs.”
“Oh. I’ll keep that in mind.”
“I bet you will,” Mica muttered.
Alisa might have flushed again—she would definitely have to set Mica straight in regard to her feelings toward Leonidas—but a final ominous clang came from the airlock. After that, silence fell. Alisa imagined soldiers in combat armor streaming into the hold, rifles pointing in every direction as they searched for enemies.
Something touched her hand, Leonidas’s gauntleted fingers. He gently but firmly snapped the second side of her handcuffs around her wrist. A faint click sounded as he did the same to Mica.
Soft thuds came from the other side of their door. Someone walking past—or walking toward them. Alisa held her breath. She knew the door concealed this cubby from plain sight, but she had also heard that some models of combat armor had special visual sensors that gave the wearers access to night vision and thermal vision. What if the door panel was not insulated enough and their body heat registered to such a scanner?
“Unleashing the surprise,” Mica whispered, her voice so soft that Alisa was not sure she had heard correctly.
Not wanting to make any noise, she did not ask for clarification.
A startled exclamation, the voice muffled by a helmet, came from the other side of their door. Someone barked an order from the far side of the cargo hold. Alisa, crouched with her back to the wall and Leonidas between her and the door, felt her feet lighten. A hint of vertigo washed over her as they went from feeling light to lifting off the floor.
“Your surprise was to cut gravity?” Alisa breathed, bracing herself with a hand on the ceiling of the compartment and a foot against something else.
Was that Leonidas? If so, he hadn’t moved. He still crouched in front of the door. His combat boots would have magnetized soles for fighting on the exterior of a ship or in situations without gravity. So would those of the men outside. Alisa grimaced, doubting Mica’s surprise would do anything, other than to warn the soldiers that someone was up to no good on the ship.
“And the lights,” Mica whispered. “I left power on in NavCom, but that’s it.”
Thinking of helmets with night vision, Alisa did not know how much help that would be.
“I like it,” Leonidas breathed, but did not explain further. He shifted closer to the door, almost dislodging Alisa’s foot. Maybe it would add a degree of uncertainty or confusion to the other side, and he would have an easier time sneaking up on them. And if he tackled someone, it might knock the person’s magnetized boots free from the deck.
“Did Alejandro comm the imperial ships?” Alisa murmured.
“I don’t think so,” Leonidas whispered. “He said he wouldn’t. I pointed out that any help would be useful, even that of Senator Bondarenko’s people. He may change his mind.”
Leonidas did not sound confident on that last note, and Alisa’s stomach sank with a feeling of defeat. If the imperial ships did not come over to at least make threatening noises in the direction of the Alliance ships, nothing they did on the tug would matter. Even if they managed to free the Nomad, the warships would simply recapture it.
The squawks of alarmed chickens came through the door, and Alisa imagined them floating up into the netting above their pen, terrified and confused. Poor things. As much as she had enjoyed the morning omelets, she didn’t think livestock should be riding along when the Nomad had been encountering trouble so often. She hoped none of the young idiots with guns would find it amusing to shoot the chickens.
A couple of minutes passed, and Alisa did not hear anything besides the squawks. Had the men moved to search the rest of the ship? Their cubby was near the steps, so she ought to have heard people clanging up the met
al treads, but they might be stepping carefully—softly—if they were worried about flying up into the zero gravity air.
“There are only two left in the cargo hold,” Leonidas whispered. “I’m going out. Stay here until I come for you.”
“Kneecaps,” Alisa told him, though if the soldiers were all in combat armor, she knew he would have to do more than that. “And be careful,” she added.
It was too dark to see anything, but she imagined Mica giving her a curious look.
Alisa did not hear him open the door, nor could she see anything outside, but he moved away from her foot, leaving her scrabbling for another hold, and she knew he was gone. She had barely registered it when the squeals of blazer fire erupted near the airlock. Streaks of crimson lit up the cargo hold briefly, but from her spot, she could not see anyone or tell who was firing.
The fight ended almost as soon as it had begun. Alisa was tempted to poke her head out, not that there would be anything to see in the dark, but a touch to her shoulder made her twitch in surprise.
“Stay,” Leonidas said. “The others will be here any second.”
Not waiting for her response, he refastened the door, leaving Alisa and Mica alone in the dark.
Chapter 16
The sounds of fighting had drifted away, perhaps moving up toward navigation. Alisa, her feet and hands braced awkwardly so she could stay in place, leaned her forehead against the cool metal of a bulkhead. It seemed foolish to hope or believe that Leonidas could take care of all of the soldiers who had boarded without killing any of them. Or without being killed himself. Tomich knew exactly what he was dealing with. He must have sent a couple of squadrons of his best men, and if they reported that they needed backup, he certainly had the means to send more over.
If Alejandro had been willing to contact the imperial ships, then they might have had a chance, but if he was objecting to reason, then they had no hope. Poised there in the dark, it was hard not to loathe him. Had Tomich’s people been boarding to get the orb, she had no doubt that he would have done anything within his means to start a brawl so they could slink away. But because the Alliance was here for Leonidas, Alejandro was just going to hide under a console in navigation and do nothing while they took his only ally. As long as they weren’t here for him, he didn’t care. After all the help Leonidas had given him. It was unconscionable.
“Bastard,” Alisa growled.
“Which one?” Mica asked.
“Alejandro. He’s a coward. Unless someone threatens to kick the wheels off his wagon, he doesn’t care about anything except his mission.”
“As opposed to people who needlessly get themselves involved in the affairs of others?”
“I know you’re not sniping at me, Mica, because that would be insubordination.”
“Only on a military ship. We’re civilians now.”
“Damn. I never thought I’d miss the army.”
Mica sighed. “Will you hate me if I admit I would prefer it if our cyborg passenger got himself killed and the doctor got himself captured, so we could go on our way without any more drama?”
“It’s not an illogical thought,” Alisa admitted. “Trust me, I’ve had it myself.”
“And then you imagined the cyborg in bed with you and decided to throw logic to the stars?”
“I did not imagine that. Look, I don’t know what kind of notions you’ve got rattling in your skull over there, but I’m not developing feelings for him. He’s imperial, he’s a cyborg, and he probably killed thousands of our people during the war.”
“You don’t have to have feelings for someone to want to ride him like a comet.”
“He’s not even my type.”
“Please, I saw him with his shirt off in sickbay. He’s a walking fantasy.”
“Only if you’re into ridiculously brawny men.”
“With the kind of delicious delineation of muscle and perfect symmetry that sculptors pay for in their models.”
“Maybe you’re the one obsessed with him,” Alisa said.
“He’s even less my type.”
“Right, I forgot. Yumi is the cute one.”
“Yumi doesn’t have any armies chasing after her. It’s definitely a perk.”
Alisa had thought Mica’s preferences went both ways when it came to relationships, but it wasn’t the time for that discussion. All she said was, “You’ll have to get in line with her. I think Beck is interested.”
“It doesn’t matter where his interests are; it’s where hers are.”
“Could we not talk about this now?” Alisa asked as the sounds of more gunfire drifted down from the deck above them. Her stomach was in knots, and she wished that Leonidas had not locked her cuffs. With her wrists bound together, she would have a hard time getting the door open to climb out. “I’m trying to come up with a plan.”
“Another one? We’ve barely enacted the last.”
“I’m afraid it’s not going to go well. Not unless…” An idea popped into Alisa’s mind, and she dug awkwardly into her pocket for her comm.
“What are you doing?” Mica asked, perhaps hearing the rustle of clothing.
“Kicking the good doctor’s wagon wheels.” Assuming he had his comm on him, Alisa called up his code. She’d gotten them from her passengers when they first boarded.
“Yes?” Alejandro whispered. It sounded like his airway was restricted. Either someone had a hand around his throat, or his neck was scrunched up because he had stuffed himself under a console to hide.
Alisa hoped he was sitting on his orb box, and that it was poking him in the ass. “You three doing all right?”
“So far,” he replied. “Two of them tried to get in here, but they were dragged away before they could break the lock on the hatch. We’re hiding, so they shouldn’t have seen us through the window. I assume that’s Leonidas out there—we can hear the sounds of combat.”
“He’s fighting the intruders single-handedly.”
“I’d help if you all would let me,” Beck said, a few feet away from the comm.
“Hold that thought,” Alisa said. “First, I need to know if you made that call, Doctor.”
Alejandro’s hesitation told her all she needed to know. She ground her teeth.
“No,” he admitted. “As far as I can tell, this isn’t about the artifact. I would like to keep it that way.”
“By letting them have Leonidas? The only person here who cares one iota about you?”
Distant energy blasts sounded over his comm, and Alisa winced at the idea of Leonidas by himself against all of those men. The ship had alcoves and struts and hatches one could take cover behind, but it was not designed like a warship with built-in bottlenecks and bulkheads that could be lowered to thwart intruders.
“He cares about honoring the emperor’s dying wishes,” Alejandro said. “It has nothing to do with caring about me. He would be the first to agree that I should keep silent to keep my mission safe. He would be willing to sacrifice himself for that.”
“Well, I’m not willing to sacrifice him, damn it.” The ferocity in her voice surprised her. By Rebus-de’s fiery left tit, Mica wasn’t right, was she? Alisa wasn’t developing feelings for Leonidas, was she? She shook her head. It was something to worry about later. “You comm those ships right now and get them over here, Doctor, or I’ll comm Commander Tomich on the lead Alliance warship and tell him all about your artifact and what I know of your quest.”
Alejandro hesitated again. Then he scoffed, or tried. It wasn’t very convincing. “I doubt their commander has time to listen to a civilian freighter operator when he’s in the middle of trying to subdue a dangerous cyborg.”
“Guess again, Doc. We served together in the war. We’ve already had a chat today, and he’s concerned that I’m Leonidas’s prisoner. Maybe I’ll tell him that you’re the brains and I’m really your prisoner.”
“Captain…” Alejandro groaned, sounding truly pained.
Alisa supposed it was petty to smile vi
ciously at his distress, but it was dark, and nobody could see her. That made it all right to be petty.
“You going to make that call?” she asked.
He sighed. “Yes.”
“Beck, are you still listening?”
“I’m here, Captain.”
“If our passenger has any trouble getting his comm to work, you help him, understood?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Bangs sounded, dozens of footfalls pounding the deck—reinforcements coming in through the airlock.
“Marchenko out,” Alisa whispered and closed the comm.
She leaned her forehead against the bulkhead again, grimacing more deeply as the footfalls grew louder, heavy combat boots ringing out on the metal deck. The soldiers ran straight for the stairs, clanging up them and into the core of the ship. More soldiers rushing up to help their comrades against Leonidas. How many could he defeat? The darkness and the lack of gravity would not give him that much of an advantage.
“Maybe we should sneak aboard their ship while all of their men are charging onto ours,” Alisa muttered, not truly entertaining the idea. If they were caught over there, and Leonidas wasn’t leading them, they couldn’t pretend they were prisoners.
“Or maybe we should stay in our box and do nothing,” Mica said firmly. “This isn’t our fight.”
“They have my ship.”
“And I’m sure they’ll let go of your ship as soon as they have their cyborg.”
Alisa wanted to argue, but Mica was right. Besides, what were the odds that two women in handcuffs could sneak all the way to engineering on that tug without being seen?
A soft tapping came from the other side of the door. Alisa lost her grip on the wall and spun awkwardly in the zero gravity cubby.
A pop sounded as the panel was tugged free. She groped for something to use to push herself backward in case it was one of the soldiers. Not that hiding farther back in the cubby would save her from them.
“It’s me,” Leonidas whispered, his voice barely audible through his faceplate.
Only after he identified himself did he move the panel fully. Had he expected to find them in here with their guns pointed at the door? Alisa doubted she could even unholster her Etcher with her wrists linked together.
The Fallen Empire Collection by Lindsay Buroker Page 43
