by M. D. Cooper
“Ma’am?” Tom asked.
“You heard me,” Malorie said without raising her voice, or changing her tone. “Get her up.”
The guard reentered the room behind Malorie, and the two technicians removed the Link connection, then the intravenous line, and released the clamps.
Her access to the Link disappeared, and she felt the collar return to its full strength.
Shit…just when I was getting somewhere.
“Question,” Katrina said, her steady gaze meeting Ainsley’s. “The collar just stops me from using my tech, right? Any other stuff has to be manually triggered.”
“Yeah, stopping you from using your tech is the point,” Ainsley replied. “So don’t try anything stupid.”
Katrina straightened her arm in a lightning-fast strike and slammed the heel of her hand into Ainsley’s sternum.
The woman screamed, and the guard took a step forward, but Katrina held up her hands and smiled. “Just thought I’d give an object lesson in actual stupidity. Next time you heal a dangerous person, you probably should exercise more caution around them afterward.”
Malorie gave a soft laugh and shook her head. “You’re a hell of a woman, Verisa.” She looked to Tom—Ainsley was at the sink, running cold water over her face—and raised an eyebrow. “How long to crack what you pulled out of her head?”
Tom looked far less certain than he had a moment before. “Uhhh…a few days, probably.”
“Good,” Malorie nodded. “Then she can go back to the fields while we wait to see if your way works at all. I hear her girlfriend collapsed earlier. It took no small amount of beating to get her working again.”
Katrina’s eyes narrowed as she sucked in a breath.
Malorie took a step forward, her gaze locked on Katrina’s. “Yes, we can play more than one game at a time with you, Verisa. My husband has his plans, his toys down here, but I know how to get to your heart. It wasn’t his idea to put you in the fields, you know. Now come.”
With that, Malorie turned and left the room. The guard gestured for Katrina to follow.
Katrina walked out into the hall and caught up to Malorie. “So what’s your game, do you want my tech too?”
Malorie snorted. “Of course I do, but I think there’s a use for you beyond what my husband wants.”
Katrina cast a glance at Malorie. “That’s a rather nebulous statement.”
“Yeah,” Malorie said with a laugh as they turned the corner and headed back to the lift. “It was meant to be.”
“Well, I meant what I told your husband earlier. No deal while Juasa is out there in the fields.”
They stepped onto the lift, the guard taking a position behind Malorie. The pirate leader’s wife let out a long sigh. “Jace won’t hear of a change on that front. Not unless you tell us something. Where would your ship have gone?”
“If I give you the system, what does Juasa get?” Katrina asked.
Malorie tilted her head and gave a sickly sweet smile. “Why, she can be my handmaiden. She’ll eat well, wear clothes—” At that statement, Malorie looked down over Katrina’s naked body, “and stay out of that very bright sunlight we have out there.”
Katrina lowered her head and considered her options. Getting Juasa out of the fields so she could heal would increase their chances of getting away. Now that Katrina knew for sure where they were and had some intel on the planet, they could make a break for it.
Just as soon as they got the damn collars off.
“Medtable too. She gets healed up,” Katrina said at last.
Malorie gave a curt nod. “That’s a given. I don’t want her oozing around me all the time.”
“Fine. I’m holding you to this,” Katrina said. “You bring her in. She gets healed, eats, clothes.”
“You have my word,” Malorie replied. “Name the system.”
Katrina picked one close, but not too close. Her hope was that if it were nearby, Jace would go himself to investigate. Too far, and he’d just send a crony.
The lift doors opened, and Malorie walked, out, Katrina following her. The guard shoved her in the shoulder, and for the first time in days, her skin didn’t scream in agony.
“Fine,” Katrina relented. “The Ventra System. They’ll have gone to Kora Station; that was our fallback location.”
“Ventra, Ventra, yes, there it is,” Malorie said, her eyes darting left to right as she read something only she could see. “Kora’s a big station. I’m going to need some other detail—something we can verify.”
Katrina didn’t reply, and Malorie stopped in the middle of the hall they were walking through.
“Bringing your lovergirl into the castle can be better for her, or worse. A handmaiden could be anything from a living footstool to someone who brushes my hair. You decide.”
Katrina didn’t speak for ten seconds, trying to make it look like she was putting up a fight. “Fine…they’ll be registered as the Memphis Sun.”
“I knew you could be reasonable,” Malorie said as she turned and walked back down the corridor. “Shift’s about over in the fields. We’ll bring her in and patch her up. You two can spend one last night together, and then she’ll move into my quarters.”
“And me?” Katrina asked.
Malorie laughed. “You’re such a good worker. Liam would hate to lose one of his best producers.”
A FINAL NIGHT
STELLAR DATE: 12.31.8511 (Adjusted Gregorian)
LOCATION: Revenence Castle
REGION: Persia, Midditerra System
Katrina waited impatiently for Juasa to arrive, pacing back and forth in the small cell. It felt like ages since she’d first awoken on this cursed planet, and days since she and Juasa had been able to touch one another without feeling pain.
Tonight, they’d finally be able to enjoy the feel of one another once more. If Malorie kept her word, that was.
Katrina was still naked, and her body was a gruesome patchwork of blazing red skin, adhesive sealant, and temporary artificial skin. She looked like something sewn together out of spare parts, but at least it didn’t burn like a stellar inferno anymore.
There was a sound at the door, and Katrina spun to see it open, revealing a blinding blue light on the other side.
“You know, Anna, you don’t really need to do that all the time,” Katrina said as her eyes adjusted.
“I don’t,” Anna countered, a smirk visible on her face as the light dimmed. “I just do it for you because you’re such a haughty bitch.”
“Pot, meet kettle,” Katrina muttered.
“So you got Jace to patch you up, I see,” Anna said, ignoring Katrina’s comment. “I’ll just have to make sure Liam gets you back into shape tomorrow…or out of it, as the case may be.”
Katrina realized that Anna was not escorting Juasa; she’d come to see her for some other reason.
“You’re a real dear, you know that?” Katrina asked. “What are you getting out of all this, anyway? Why attach yourself to the Blackadder pirates?”
Anna took a step forward and placed a finger on Katrina’s chest, pushing her fingernail into Katrina’s skin. “Because you haven’t given up all the goods yet. Until that happens, all I get is a small payout and a trip to buy some new clothes. But once we get your ship—or whatever secrets you have in that beet-red head of yours—I’ll finally get what’s coming to me.”
Katrina clenched her jaw. She could see one of the massive guards beyond the doorway, impassively staring at the scene before him. She thought of ways she could kill Anna before the guard could make it into the cell.
There were at least seven.
Instead, Katrina slid a hand along Anna’s arm, running it over her shoulder and down her back. She stepped close to the dour woman, pressing her breasts against Anna’s own and brushed her lips against Anna’s ear.
“Or I could tell you and you alone. What I know could make you far more powerful than Jace and his Blackadder pirates. Why be the servant when you could be the
master?”
Anna didn’t respond at first, but neither did she move away. Katrina continued to stroke the woman’s back so that the guard would assume that was the reason for their proximity.
Eventually Anna spoke. “I’ll admit, that does sound enticing. What exactly are you offering?”
“You get the codes to release this collar, and I’ll grant you access to nanotech you’ve never even dreamed of,” Katrina whispered.
“Do you need your ship for that?” Anna asked, pulling back and looking Katrina in the eyes. “I heard you told Malorie where to find it.”
Katrina nodded. “I did at that, and when they find the ship, will they need me anymore? They’ll kill me, and dole out scraps to you.”
“And Juasa?”
Anna’s disdain for Juasa was conveyed in no uncertain terms by the tone she used to utter those two words.
Katrina didn’t miss a beat before replying, “She’s expendable. A convenient fuck, and having her around makes Jace think he can control me, which helps me take less abuse. But when the time comes…”
Anna’s eyes narrowed. “You’re a hell of a bitch, Verisa. And here I thought you were a cold fish on the Havermere; turns out that was just a show. You’re really much worse.”
The words hit Katrina hard. She hadn’t repeated her mantra in some days and knew how easy it was to lose herself in the personas she played.
She’d wondered more than once if the person she had been at The Kap—throughout her years with Markus—was the lie. Maybe she had always been this calculating; weighing lives against goals.
“I can run hot or cold,” Katrina replied, placing both her hands on the small of Anna’s back and pushing their bodies tightly against one another. “I see a kindred spirit in you, and I can tell that I attached myself to the wrong woman aboard the Havermere. Hindsight and all that.”
Anna raised an eyebrow. “Yes, things could have gone much differently if you’d made the right choice.”
“There’s still time to course correct on that front,” Katrina replied. “I’m a survivor. I’ll ally myself to make it through this. The only question is who with.”
Anna laughed and shook her head, still speaking softly. “So all you want is the codes to your collar. Juasa stays in hers, and I get what exactly?”
“Nanocloud tech.”
Anna’s eyes widened. “Shit…no one has that.”
“I do…when this collar isn’t on me.”
“The codes aren’t going to be easy,” Anna replied.
“Get the collar off, or disabled, and I’ll take this entire place down,” Katrina said. “Hell, you can have the Blackadder after that.”
Anna nodded slowly, and Katrina could see that she’d found the key. Anna wanted power. The woman craved it, and would take any road that would take her up the mountain.
Good.
Anna pulled away from Katrina, but drew a finger down her chest as they parted. “I can see this working out very nicely. I’ll talk to you soon.”
Katrina smiled as Anna left, but sagged against the wall once the door closed. She closed her eyes and whispered, “I am the soft reed that grows along the shore. One foot in the river, one on land. I bend in the wind, I weather the flood, I persist, I survive. I touch all these things, I live in their worlds, but they are not me, and I am not them. I am Katrina.”
She sat down and began to perform her stretches, repeating her full mantra over and over. The process calmed her, and she felt the stresses falling away—as much as they could. Worry over Juasa still lingered in her mind: worry that Malorie would not heal her, or would not let them spend one final night together, worry that they’d do something horrid to Ju—
The sound of footsteps echoed down the hall without, and a moment later, the door opened. Juasa stood framed in the dim light, and Katrina hastily rose to her feet.
“Get in,” a voice grunted from the hall, and a boot hit Juasa in the back, propelling her forward.
Juasa let out a small cry, but Katrina caught her, crushing the woman in a passionate embrace as the door slammed shut.
“Stars, I was so worried about you, Ju,” Katrina whispered.
“Me too…when they took you…” Juasa’s words trailed off, and her body shuddered. They held one another for a minute, swaying side to side. “Why did they heal us?”
“Well, they did me because they were going to probe my mind and wanted to make sure I wouldn’t go into shock—which I was close to doing. You they fixed up because it was a part of the deal I made.”
Juasa pulled back. “Deal? What deal?”
Katrina locked eyes with Juasa, trying to get her real meaning across. “I told them where the ship was, where to find it in the Ventra System.”
Juasa’s eyes widened with surprise and then they narrowed. “But Carl, my team…!”
“They’ll be OK if they cooperate,” Katrina replied. “I just hope they don’t do anything stupid.”
Juasa gave a short nod. “Me too, I wouldn’t want to screw this up…they’d better be careful.”
“Yeah,” Katrina replied with a sigh, glad that Juasa caught the hidden meaning and was playing along. “Very careful.”
“So what happens now?” Juasa asked.
“Well, I got you transferred from the fields,” Katrina replied. “You’re to become Malorie’s handmaiden.”
Juasa cocked her head to the side. “What the hell is a handmaiden?”
Katrina chuckled. “A personal servant. Bring food, brush her hair; whatever else they do in a castle like this. Fluff the linens.”
“Thank stars,” Juasa replied. “I thought it was some sort of sexual thing.”
“Well, it can be, but I don’t think Malorie has those intentions.”
“You don’t think?”
Katrina sighed. “It’s not like I can take her word on anything. I figured it was better than burning to a crisp in the fields.”
Juasa nodded slowly. “I know I feel fine now, but if you’d come to me in the fields today and told me I had to suck fungus off someone’s toes to get into some shade, I would have said yes in a heartbeat.”
Katrina laughed a real laugh. Stars that feels good. “Yeah, I was pretty close to that, too.”
Juasa wrapped her arms around Katrina’s shoulders. “You? I saw you out there; you worked slow to draw their abuse from me to you…but you were never cowed.”
Katrina leaned in, and her lips met Juasa’s. They were soft again, and her skin was cool, though it was rough in patches where the welts and cuts had been sealed up.
“I have something to fight for,” Katrina replied softly after a moment, tracing a fingernail down Juasa’s side. Then she reached around and grasped Juasa’s ass, pulling her off the floor.
Juasa wrapped her legs around Katrina’s waist and threw her head back as Katrina’s lips brushed her neck. “Don’t stop fighting. Don’t ever stop.”
A NUDGE
STELLAR DATE: 01.01.8512 (Adjusted Gregorian)
LOCATION: Revenence Castle
REGION: Persia, Midditerra System
Anna walked through the dank passageway under the castle, mulling over Verisa’s words.
The woman had an agenda, that was clear, but she had made a good point. Eventually her secrets would come out; the question was only who would get them first.
Then the issue became Anna’s ability to capitalize on Verisa’s willingness to share, without running afoul of Jace or his conniving wife, Malorie.
That woman had been a wrinkle and a half—she had not expected the burly, crass pirate leader to be married at all, let alone to a woman like Malorie. She was as refined as he was brutish—though he played at being more proper while here at Revenence.
Anna walked past the guards at the end of the corridor and climbed the stairs, avoiding the lift. She didn’t know why, but for some reason, a fear had set in that the pneumatic elevators in this old castle would give out while she was on one, and send her plummeting to the
sublevels deep below.
Once on the main level, Anna made her way toward the kitchens. Dinner was long over, but she wouldn’t mind a snack. Perhaps some of the pastries from the meal were left over.
Additionally, the servants all congregated in the kitchen in the evening, swapping stories and spreading gossip. There were a few that were tolerable, and Anna was slowly forming a bond with them.
She pushed the door into the kitchen open and breathed in the smells that waited within. It surprised Anna how much she liked the earthy notes of the vegetables, fruits, and meats that were staples here at Revenence.
They reminded her of the home she’d left long ago. One that Anna thought she no longer felt any attachment to. Perhaps a little nostalgia was nice every now and then.
Sure enough, a tray of the cream-filled pastries that she loved was sitting on one of the counters. Anna strode toward it, pushing past one of the serving women on the way.
“Hey, watch it,” the woman said as she steadied the bottle on her tray.
Anna turned to deliver a withering remark, when she recognized the bottle’s label. It was one of Jace’s favorites—a vintage he did not share with others.
“You taking that to Jace?” Anna asked.
The woman nodded. “Yeah, and if you broke it there’d be hell to pay.”
Anna snorted. “For you, maybe. Give it to me, I’ll take it up.”
The woman hesitated—probably glad for an excuse to avoid Jace, but also uncertain as to whether or not Anna would actually deliver the wine to the castle’s master.
“Look, I want to have a chat with Jace, and the wine will come in handy,” Anna said in the most conciliatory tone she could muster. “I’m not going to drink it or spill it or anything.”
The serving woman sighed. “OK, but be careful. My ass is on the line if you don’t get it to him. He’s in his study.”
“Deal,” Anna said, as she snatched the wine off the woman’s tray and then leaned back to grab one of the pastries. “I’ll behave as though I give a shit about what happens to you.”
The woman paled, and Anna waved her hand at her. “Get lost.”
