High Flyer (Verdant String)

by Michelle Diener

  The runner that had taken out his Sig had landed behind them, just over the ridge, and someone would be coming to scout the area soon enough.

  “Think they saw us?”

  “They were coming from the opposite direction, and they hit the Sig before they landed, so chances are no.” Hana fell into step with him again, and they took the sudden, steep descent to the stream, which was deep and fast, and cut into pure rock.

  He waded in, wincing as the icy water climbed to his waist. Hana followed him without speaking, without so much as a squeak at the cold. She looked like calm competence personified, and as swift and brutal as the water battering at him, he felt something give way in himself.

  He caught her eye, and as their gazes clashed she stumbled, throwing out her hands to get her balance. She didn't cry out, though, and when she got her footing, she didn't raise her head again.

  Yes, whatever was between them, there was no putting it back in the box now.

  Chapter 3

  The last glow of dusk lit the rocks in the gorge a radiant red, reflecting off the water and dancing across the wall in the little hollow just above the waterline that Iver had found them.

  The tiny cave sat snug beneath the river bank, but the water was low enough to give them a dry place to sit, completely hidden from above.

  Quarters were cramped though.

  Iver's wet trousers stuck to her bare legs, and Hana shivered as the air cooled. Not for the first time since she'd shimmied out of her fire suit, she wished she hadn't pulled on shorts this morning. There were soft, warm hiking trousers in her pack, but that would mean getting out of her shorts with Iver literally pressed up behind her, which wasn't going to happen. The rushing sound of the stream was probably loud enough to cover most noises they made, but she wasn't prepared to risk unzipping her pack and rustling clothes, or stripping down in front of her boss.

  Above them, the sound of people walking and calling to each other was clear, and Hana guessed there were three of them.

  There was a fourth man, though. By the sounds of the grumbling above, he was directing proceedings from their runner.

  So far, he hadn't bothered to join the search.

  “Is he serious there are no bodies in that Sig? How can he tell? It's a ball of flame.”

  “Don't ask me, man. If they did make it out of there without injuries, then they have a portable sky lane, because they aren't here.”

  “A portable sky lane? Think there is such a thing?” The first man scoffed.

  “Don't know. But if anyone's got one, it'd be Sugotti, right?”

  There was silence, and eventually the footsteps moved away.

  Hana closed her eyes, waiting, and another shiver ran through her.

  Iver made a small sound of . . . impatience? Exasperation? His arms came around her and he pulled her back against him. She stiffened in surprise, then relaxed into his hold as the contact with him warmed her back. Sharing body heat made sense. She just wished it didn't involve her being literally in Iver Sugotti's embrace.

  It was still quiet up there, but the searchers had to know the stream was the most likely place she and Sugotti were hiding. They hadn't been tramping up and down here for the last fifteen minutes for fun, but so far they hadn't tried to wade into the stream itself.

  Sugotti shifted behind her and she opened her eyes and tilted her head as she turned to look up at him. He was watching her, his face so close to hers she could see each thick dark eyelash framing his dark gray eyes.

  She forced her gaze forward.

  Iver Sugotti was dangerous.

  He noticed things. Things she wanted to keep hidden.

  He'd been watching her intently since the first time she'd flown for him.

  When she'd worked at HRP, some of the execs had taken her for an automaton, barely registering that she was there. There had been an anonymity to that that had been relaxing.

  If only the job hadn't been so boring. And if only the job with Sugotti hadn't come with benefits her new self couldn't easily dismiss.

  Now, however, Sugotti was moving from frank admiration to putting his hands on her. And that was breaking the rules.

  Something of her frustration must have shown in her body language, because she sensed him give a smile. His hands brushed over hers, and then gripped them.

  “Think they're gone?” He whispered directly into her ear, and she jerked in surprise, just narrowly avoiding hitting his jaw with her head.

  She shook her head. Leaned back and twisted to whisper: “They aren't gone 'til we hear their runner leaving, and even then, they'll probably hover at high altitude and watch for our heat signatures.”

  He nodded, his hands still holding hers.

  When she tried to pull loose, he wouldn't let her.

  “If you do have a portable sky lane, now would be a good time to haul it out.” She breathed the words right into his ear and she felt him hold back his laughter.

  He dipped his head, his lips brushing her skin. “I wish.”

  She could feel his arousal now, snug up against her, and automatically started shifting forward, but he tightened his grip.

  “So, tell me.” He dipped his head again. “Why?”

  She was silent for a moment, wondering whether to pretend not to understand him.

  “Don't,” he said.

  She sighed. He was right. That was insulting to them both. “It's complicated.”

  “You're telling me.” His voice was wry. “Why did you pretend you weren't interested?”

  “What good would it do?” She hated that she had to whisper so quietly, it came out breathless. “I didn't plan to act on it.”

  “Humor me.”

  “No.”

  She felt him smile against her cheek, the scratchy brush of his chin making her shiver again.

  Sounds above them had them both going still and swiveling their heads.

  “Get in the water,” someone said, and Hana drew in a quick, surprised breath.

  “What?” Iver's voice was almost too soft to hear.

  She shook her head, listening harder.

  “Fuck that. I can't swim, and it looks deep and fast.” The person responding was one of the men from earlier. “We've walked along a fair stretch of the stream, and they're not in there.”

  “Face it, they're dead.” Another of the voices from before.

  “No. If Hana Farwell is involved, they're alive. She's never met a deadly situation she hasn't walked away from.”

  Oh, she knew that voice.

  Knew that suspicious, backbiting voice.

  Sub-lieutenant Linnel.

  Hana's mind went blank for a moment in absolute panic, and then Iver's hand was on her back, rubbing in comforting circles, which put a hitch in her breathing.

  What did Linnel know?

  She forced her lungs to work, trying to be quiet as she drew in air. And the reason for her fear and her survival hummed in her system, doing the job for her, so she was back to normal in a blink.

  This really must be a low magfield area.

  “There's nothing left of that Sig, and there's no sign of them. No footprints, nothing. They're dead.”

  “Hana's in the mix, so they're not, but we've run out of time. They'll have to make an appearance sooner or later, whether back at Sugotti's or Touka.” Linnel's voice faded as he walked away.

  After a minute, she heard a Dynastra lift off. She would recognize that engine sound anywhere. She tracked it as it rose and with the help of her systems upgrade, as she thought of her new self, she could swear she caught a faint hint of it hovering high overhead, just as she guessed Linnel would do.

  Maybe she was lying to herself. Maybe she only thought she could hear something, but why take the chance?

  She almost gave a shrug, then remembered Sugotti, plastered up against her, and kept herself still.

  Finally the sound faded to nothing.

  “They're gone,” she said, then wished she hadn't opened her mouth.
<
br />   “I thought they'd gone five minutes ago.”

  She let herself shrug now. “If they were in a hurry to get away, they might have stayed up high to see if they could catch us, but they'll know someone's coming, so they couldn't do it for long.”

  “You recognized the boss.” Iver didn't make it a question.

  She nodded. “Sub-lieutenant Linnel. As you heard, he knows me.”

  “He still with the military?” Iver asked.

  She shook her head slowly. “I don't know. He's not at my old base, but he could have been transferred. Wherever he works now, this isn't a military op. Those other people on his team weren't under military orders or there'd have been none of the backchat. And they'd have gone into the water.”

  “What did he mean, that you never met a deadly situation you hadn't walked away from?”

  She hesitated. “During the war there were plenty of situations where we were lucky to walk away unscathed. Soldiers get weird about luck.” She fluttered her hands.

  “Weird, how?”

  Her lips twisted. “They thought I'd save them. That there was something about me, some twist of fate, that made me indestructible. So they would always try to get me as their pilot. I was their lucky charm.”

  “You've certainly been mine, so I can see how that would be.” He sounded thoughtful. “You're an exceptional pilot. Almost unbelievably so.”

  She went still. Frowned but said nothing.

  “How you evaded the missiles and then got us down was the most amazing flying I've ever seen.” Iver ran a hand down her arm. “If that's how you handled yourself in one of those old Dynastras the military were using in the war, I can see why they thought there was something special about you.”

  She relaxed a little, although not all the way. She didn't know what was normal anymore. That was the fear lurking at the back of her mind since that fateful day she'd crashed in the Spikes and stumbled onto something she still didn't understand. That she'd forget what was normal and what wasn't, and give herself away.

  That's why she wanted to go back. Look around where she'd come down and hopefully find some answers.

  “I'm a good pilot,” she conceded. “That's why Lancaster hired me.” She cocked her head. “Speaking of whom, reinforcements should be coming any time now.”

  Iver shifted behind her again, and her skin prickled in awareness.

  Lancaster couldn't come soon enough.

  Chapter 4

  Lancaster should be here already, but he wasn't.

  Iver leaned back against cold stone, miserable to the bone.

  They'd gone back to Hana sitting between his legs, leaning against his chest. It was the most comfortable position for both of them in the confined space, except it wasn't comfortable at all.

  He stared down at the curve where her neck met her shoulder. It called to him. He wanted to put his mouth there and . . .

  She shifted, and he closed his eyes briefly, because of course his erection was poking her in the back again.

  Fuck it. “You want to go back up? See what the hell's happening?” Because something damn well should be. It had been over an hour since Linnel and his crew had left.

  They'd decided it made sense to stay hidden in their little scooped out cave until they heard the Sig Lancaster would most definitely send, but it did them no good if Lancaster couldn't find them.

  “Even if Lancaster can't find our heat signatures, he would land, check out the scene.” Hana said what they both knew went without saying, but even so, she scooted away from him and jumped into the water, turning to take her pack from him.

  She must be at breaking point with their close quarters, too. Although he hoped it was uncomfortable lust, rather than dislike, that had her moving with such alacrity.

  He remembered how she'd looked at him when they'd first jumped into the river and calmed down a little.

  Lust it was.

  He followed her out.

  They waded back upstream, the water splashing up his chest as he powered against the current.

  It took much longer to get to the point where they'd originally gone in than he would have thought, and he realized the crew sent to kill him hadn't understood how fast the current was, and that's why they hadn't bothered to go into the water. They hadn't believed he and Hana could have gotten to the narrow ravine in the time they'd had.

  He said as much.

  “Amateurs,” Hana agreed. She shielded her eyes against the last light of Faldine's sun, and frowned. “Do we stay and wait?”

  “It just isn't possible Lancaster hasn't been able to get any kind of runner since I called him. Even if he couldn't get a Sig and a pilot to fly it, there are other options.”

  Hana turned to him, and the way she watched him had the hair standing up on the back of his neck.

  “What?”

  She hesitated, then lifted her shoulders. “If I'm wrong, you'll probably fire me for this.”

  His mouth fell open, because it was the last thing he expected her to say. “You have my word I won't.”

  She shook her head. “Doesn't matter, you can do what you think is right. I'll say it anyway.”

  He didn't think she understood how unlikely it was that he'd do anything that would get her out of his life, but he simply inclined his head.

  “It's just something I saw on Lancaster's face when you boarded the Sig today.” She worried her bottom lip. “He looked as if he wanted to take out a SAL and shoot you.”

  Iver's first instinct was to deny it, but she wasn't in the habit of gossiping. He barely got a word out of her, usually, let alone on something personal about his closest member of staff. If she said she had seen something, she had seen something.

  “You said you told him to stay behind to deal with an issue. Could this be linked to it?”

  He shoved his hands into the pockets of his wet pants and fisted them. “Did you hear the news about what happened on Veltos?”

  “Those military officers on the Veltos Trail uncovering some illegal Caruson activity?” She nodded.

  “Turns out the Caruson had inside help, from one of the Trail guides. He's from Faldine, which isn't surprising as Veltos is closer to Faldine than any other VSC planet. When he was taken in for questioning, he admitted there was a resurgence of rebel activity here.”

  “Credible evidence?” She raised her eyebrows.

  Iver nodded in sympathy, because there were always rumors that the rebels were reorganizing. “Credible enough they sent me a report about it.”

  She tilted her head. “And you asked Lancaster to look into it?”

  He thought about it. Shook his head. “Not exactly. I asked him to find a person of interest mentioned in the report and question him.”

  They both considered that for a few minutes.

  Iver shifted. “You think Lancaster is involved.” It was a stupid thing to say. She wouldn't have told him what she'd seen on Lancaster's face otherwise.

  She looked at him with something close to sympathy in her eyes. She reached out as if to touch his arm, then thought better of it and dropped her hand to her side.

  “Lancaster, more than anyone, would know you were going to Touka today, and the route we'd take.” She shrugged, matter-of-fact. “He also looked ready to kill you himself when he thought you weren't looking, and even though he should be here right now, getting us out, he's nowhere to be found.”

  There wasn't much more to say about it.

  It was just a hard, jagged pill to swallow.

  She held out her hand for her pack, which he'd taken from her and hitched over one shoulder as they'd walked up the stream.

  He gave her a bland look, and slid his arm through the other strap.

  With a barely concealed eye roll, she turned away from him and started walking along the river bank, in an upstream direction toward Touka.

  He took one last look in the direction of the downed Sig and the horizon beyond it, still empty of any runners, any sign that help was coming.<
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  Then he turned on his heel and followed Hana.

  Sitting beside Iver Sugotti was like flying a Sig at full speed over the worst Faldine magnetic fields.

  Hana felt slightly out of control.

  She didn't know whether to shift closer or away, unsure how they'd come to be sitting so close beside the fire she'd got going when they'd finally stopped walking.

  One of them should probably be on watch, but they'd set a perimeter warning, a standard, off-the-shelf one she'd bought for camping in the Spikes, not the more sensitive, more reliable ones she'd had access to in the military. The low-tech solution should be fine, though. The only thing to really worry about out here other than people trying to kill them was an usinian, and they were so big the alarm would pick one up without a problem.

  She scooped up a bite of creamy dyr from the bowl she was holding, which had a sprinkle of sanita in it for crunchy, spicy contrast, and was really glad she'd packed everything she needed to hike the Spikes before she'd picked Iver up. Her pack would make their walk to Touka much more bearable.

  Behind them sat the narrow tunnel tent Iver had set up while she'd gotten the fire going.

  Despite its low-slung profile, it seemed to loom.

  There would be no room inside it to do anything but curl up against each other.

  She tried to shrug the tension at the thought out of her shoulders.

  “What's wrong?”

  She turned her head to look up at him.

  The eyes watching her were knowing, with a little uncertainty mixed in.

  That didn't compute with what she knew of Iver Sugotti. The head of Verdant String Coalition operations on Faldine was the person in charge of the whole planet.

  She'd never seen Iver Sugotti unsure in the six months she'd worked for him.

  “It doesn't make sense.” She wasn't really avoiding the question--more than one thing was wrong, and her reaction to Sugotti was only one of them.

  He kept his gaze on her steady.

  “Even if Lancaster is involved with the rebels, all he had to do was go interview the person you asked him to check out, or tip them off to hide before he could get there. Someone else will follow up on that report eventually, even if they had managed to kill you.”