by M. D. Cooper
Juasa shrugged. “It was nice to get out, as well.”
Malorie stood and stretched. “I wouldn’t go so far as to apply the word ‘nice’ to any outing that involves a meeting with Lara.”
Juasa nodded silently. Malorie had been moody in the extreme since they’d left Lara’s office. Even eating at a restaurant that she claimed was her favorite was not enough to cheer the woman up.
Korin hadn’t said a word the entire time, but Juasa periodically tried to get Malorie to laugh or smile. It had worked a few times for a minute or two—but it had also backfired more than once.
Korin shot Juasa a significant look, and she took his meaning. ‘Shut up’.
They followed Malorie into the castle in silence, walking as quietly as possible down the empty corridors to the main lift.
Only a few servants were in evidence, and Malorie muttered something about laggards getting a tongue lashing in the morning.
Juasa was glad the night was almost over. Malorie would have a drink or two, demand a massage, and then go to bed, while Juasa would make her way to the kitchens for a snack and some conversation before calling it a night herself.
They stepped off the lift, and the guard at the door gave them a stiff nod that Malorie ignored as she pushed her way into the room, Juasa following on her heels.
The room’s lights were low, and Malorie stopped. “Something’s wrong; the lights won’t come on.”
“I’ll try the manual switches,” Juasa said, walking over to the panel.
“Don’t bother,” a voice said from across the room, near the bar. It was a voice that Juasa recognized all too well.
“Verisa?” she asked.
“No,” the voice said as the lights slowly came on. “It’s Katrina.”
“What? What are you doing here?” Malorie turned back to the door as Korin came in.
“Something’s wrong with Stu…” he announced.
“I don’t care about Stu,” Malorie said and pointed at Katrina. “Verisa’s free. Secure her.”
Behind them, the door slammed shut, and the sound of its lock engaging echoed through the room.
“Malorie,” Katrina said. “Weren’t you paying attention? My name’s Katrina.”
Korin drew his gun, but Katrina’s was already in her hand, aimed at his head.
“I’d drop that, tough guy. Why don’t you go sit on the bed? The women have to have a chat.”
Korin didn’t move, and Juasa gasped as Katrina fired a shot at the guard. The bullet clipped his arm, and Korin grunted.
“On the bed!” Katrina yelled. “Your little slug throwers are quaint; it’ll probably take quite a few rounds to put you down. But I can tell that you don’t have a reinforced skull; the next one goes through it.”
“What is going on!?” Malorie yelled, turning to Juasa. “Why is she saying she’s Katrina?”
Juasa sighed. “Because it’s her name.”
“The only one, from here on out,” Katrina added.
Juasa walked toward Katrina. “Are you OK? You sound…rough.”
Katrina gave a coarse laugh. “That about sums it up. Yeah, things have been on the rough side. But they’re about to get a lot better.”
Juasa could see that something was different about Katrina’s face, that there was something wrong with it. Then it clicked. Her skin was smooth; there were no burns, cuts, or med-patches. Her hair fell down her back in a wavy cascade.
It looked perfect—too perfect.
Katrina continued speaking while Juasa looked her over. “It’s been a hard day. Got the crap kicked out of me—again. Got free, killed Anna and Liam. Threw out my old skin—which was ruined, thanks to these bastards—for this improvement here.” Katrina pulled her coat aside to reveal what appeared to be form-fitting, light combat armor.
Juasa opened her mouth to speak, but couldn’t find the words.
Malorie, on the other hand, was not at a loss. “You what? Liam? You just killed him?”
“Juasa,” Katrina said, gesturing to the ground. “Can you pick up your guard’s gun and bring it over here? I don’t want Malorie getting any ideas.”
Juasa turned to grab the gun, and saw the roiling rage in Malorie’s eyes. “Sorry, Mal. At least you don’t have to worry about Lara anymore.”
Malorie’s lips were twisted into a sneer as she answered. “The only way that happens is if you kill me, and then you’ll have to worry about her.”
Juasa scooped up the gun and walked across the room to Katrina’s side. “What do you mean that you replaced your skin?” she asked, looking at what she could see of Katrina’s body within the long coat.
“It was done for—would have taken days to repair. It was rife with infection and cancerous. I didn’t have time for that, so I had it removed.”
“Shit,” Juasa whispered as she turned to face Malorie and Korin. “Does it hurt?”
Katrina didn’t reply, but reached out and touched Juasa’s collar. She heard a small snick, and the hated collar split in two and fell away.
“I don’t remember what it feels like to not be in pain,” Katrina replied. “Every nerve in my body has screamed for days now. It’s become…comforting.”
“Shit,” Juasa whispered, beginning to wonder about Katrina’s state of mind.
“How did you do that?” Malorie asked, her brow furrowed. “There’s nothing in the castle that could replace your skin with armor like that.”
Katrina pointed past the lady of the castle, toward the autodresser. “That can. You have a lot of interesting materials for the printer. You use them for foppery, but they can print armor just as well. Nothing heavy, but it’s enough to keep my tender insides safe for the time being.”
“Seriously?” Malorie looked more impressed than angry. “I didn’t realize it could do things like that….”
Katrina snorted. “Yeah, I bet you didn’t get all the specs when you stole it—or Jace did, I suppose. Either way, I had to upgrade it to make it properly useful. Don’t get any ideas though, it won’t work for you.”
“Did it anesthetize?” Juasa asked.
Katrina clenched her jaw and shook her head.
“So what now?” Malorie asked. “You going to take off? Blackadder will chase you; Lara will too.”
“Lara’s the—” Juasa began.
“I know who she is,” Katrina replied. “I control the castle now, I’ve looked over the data on Midditerra.”
Katrina’s mental tone was terse.
The time in the fields had broken something in her lover.
“We’re not leaving,” Katrina reiterated aloud. “I’m taking over the Blackadder. I doubt I’ll stop there.”
Malorie snorted. “Good luck with that. Jace will eat you for lunch.”
“We’ll see about that,” Katrina said as she sighted down her pistol.
Juasa realized that Katrina was going to kill Malorie, and she put her hand on Katrina’s arm. “Kat, no, not like this.”
Katrina’s brow furrowed and she glanced at Juasa, then at Korin. “Why didn’t you make a move, muscle man?”
Korin still sat on the bed and gave a slight shrug. “I don’t know what you did to Stu, but I don’t want to find out. I’m not a big fan of Jace, Malorie, or the Adders. Curious to see what sort of alternative you’re going to propose.”
Malorie glared at Korin. “You’re a fucking dead man.”
Korin chuckled and interlaced his fingers behind his head. “I’m gonna play along, Malorie. You should probably do the same.”
“There’s no ‘along’ for her to play,” Katrina said as she stalke
d toward Malorie, her gun still aimed at the woman’s head, finger on the trigger. “I just want to know one thing. Whose idea was it to have Juasa beat me?”
“You didn’t ask Anna?” Malorie sneered, straightening and staring into the barrel of the weapon. “Just fucking do it already.”
Katrina’s voice held no emotion as she pressed the barrel of the pistol against Malorie’s forehead “I smashed her head like a melon before I had the chance. Now whose fucking idea was it?”
Malorie cocked her head and sneered at Katrina. “It was mine,” she said in a whispered hiss. “I wanted to destroy her. Crush her spirit so I could rebuild her as my creature.”
“So you could use her against me,” Katrina growled.
Malorie snorted. “You’re an operator, Verisa—or Katrina, whoever the hell you are. You know how the game is played.”
Katrina nodded. “I do. The next move is the one where you die.”
Juasa’s pulse quickened. She wanted to cry out, to tell Katrina to stop, that this wasn’t the way. She opened her mouth, but her terror and sorrow stole her voice.
Katrina’s shoulder rose a centimeter, and her finger moved off the pistol’s trigger guard. Juasa did the only thing she could think of: she shot Katrina in the back.
The round ricocheted off Katrina’s armored skin and hit the wall, shattering a mirror.
“What the hell?” Katrina said as she spun on Juasa.
Juasa took a step back, and Malorie lunged at Katrina, who swung a fist back, smashing it into the other woman’s face. As Malorie crumpled to the floor, Katrina took a step toward Juasa, the expression on her face a combination of anger and confusion.
“I—” Juasa struggled to find her voice. “I had to stop you. You can’t kill her.”
“Why not?”
“Because she’s collared too!”
A look of surprise came over Katrina’s face. It was the first time her new visage had looked anything like the woman Juasa had come to love.
“Shit,” Katrina whispered and looked back at Malorie, who was cradling her jaw. “You. Sit,” Katrina barked a moment later.
Juasa realized Katrina was talking to Korin, who had risen off the bed at some point during the commotion.
“I think Juasa is right,” Korin said as he held up his hands and slowly sat back down. “You said you want to take over the Blackadder. Well, no one knows the intricacies of their operation like Malorie. Besides, if you want to get Jace down here so you can kill him—which I’d really like to see—you’ll need his wife alive.”
Katrina ran a hand through her hair and turned to look at Juasa. “I don’t see a collar on her.”
“It’s the choker she wears,” Juasa said. “Probably has internal components, too.”
Malorie was looking up at them with a new expression, one that appeared to contain legitimate sorrow, on her face. “How did you know?”
“It was what Lara said,” Juasa replied. “How angry it made you—the bit about Jace having you on a leash. Once I heard that, I realized that you were always wearing a choker. Its appearance had varied over the days, but I realized it was the same choker.”
Malorie laughed and shook her head. “I guess you’re smarter than I gave you credit for.”
Juasa sighed and walked toward Katrina. “Why do you want to take over the Blackadder? They’re pirates. Scum.”
Katrina drew a deep, rasping breath. The sound of it made Juasa consider the pain Katrina must be feeling, both physical and emotional.
Up close, she could easily see that the skin on Katrina’s face was artificial; it was too stiff, every movement too muted or over exaggerated.
Nevertheless, Juasa reached up and stroked Katrina’s cheek. “Kat. My dear Kat, what are you doing?”
Katrina’s steel-sheathed fingers rose to touch Juasa’s face as well. “I’m doing what we need to survive. The word’s out, I’m a Streamer. The Blackadder, Lara and her sick regime she runs here…they’ll chase us across space until they catch us. And if it’s not them, it’ll be someone else. What we need now is strength. Power. If the Intrepid ever reappears, it’ll do so near Bollam’s World. I need to stay close, but I don’t plan to be prey for whoever decides to take up the chase.”
Juasa saw the cold certainty in Katrina’s eyes—the only organic piece of her that was visible—and knew there was no changing her mind.
She wondered how well she really knew Katrina. They had only spent a few days together aboard the Havermere before ending up on Persia. That short time had been intense; a lovemaking-filled rush.
But is this who Katrina really is?
Then Juasa remembered that Katrina could have run when she had been captured by Jace, how she had cared for her in the fields, in the pain-filled nights in the cell.
No, Katrina is a good woman. I can’t abandon her.
She had to make Katrina remember that caring and compassion were her greatest strengths. Though, given what they’d been through these past weeks, that would not be simple.
She drew a deep breath and nodded. “OK, what’s next?”
ACCEPTANCE
STELLAR DATE: 01.20.8512 (Adjusted Gregorian)
LOCATION: Revenence Castle
REGION: Persia, Midditerra System
Relief flooded through Katrina to hear Juasa say those words. A part of her knew that she appeared to be acting irrationally—or maybe insane—but this was who she was now. This was who she had to be to survive.
She hoped Juasa could make the transition as she repeated her mantra.
I am Katrina. Daughter of the despot Yusuf, friend of the Noctus, liberator of the Hyperion, wife of Markus, president of Victoria, lover of Juasa, survivor of the fields.
I am all of those things; together, they are me. They form my foundation; they give me purpose. My memories are my strength, the proof of my convictions.
I am the steel fist that crushes my enemies, I weather the light and the darkness, I persist, I thrive on the agony. I touch all these things, I live in their worlds, but they are not me, and I am not them. I am still Katrina.
Katrina looked into Juasa’s eyes as the beautiful young woman waited for her answer. “If Malorie really is collared, then we can use her. Korin is right. We need to draw Jace down here.”
Juasa turned to Malorie. “Admit it. You’re under Jace’s thumb, aren’t you?”
“It’s where I belong,” Malorie whispered. “I was a wild animal; I needed to be controlled.”
Korin whistled. “Well I’ll be damned. Jace just gets worse and worse the more you know.”
Katrina approached Korin and looked him over. “You have no love for Jace?”
“Do you think I was born looking this way?” Korin asked. “Sure, its work, but there are other things I’d rather be doing.”
“Jace forced it on all the guards down here,” Malorie said from her place on the floor. “They need treatments, or the mods kill them.”
“And you?” Katrina turned back to Malorie, considering her options. “You like being collared? How long has it been?”
Malorie shrugged. “Fifty years, give or take a bit. He did it to me on our wedding night.”
“And you just accept it?” Juasa asked.
Malorie rose, working her jaw and wincing. “You adapt, right? I made it so that he didn’t need to use it on me. Became just who he wanted me to be—turns out I like being what I turned into.”
Katrina ignored the personal meaning the words had for her and walked over to Malorie, examining the collar. She touched it gently, sending a passel of her nano into the device as well as into Malorie’s body.
“It would seem you’re not lying. This thing hasn’t triggered in years. Why does Jace still make you wear it?”
Malorie shrugged. “I like it. It makes me feel protected. Like I said, I used to be wild, careless. Jace made me understand my place, and I grew into it.”
“Yes, look at you,” Katrina said with a shake of her head. She triggered the
collar’s pain stimulation center, and Malorie shrieked. “Still works.”
“Katrina!” Juasa’s voice was both sharp and worried. “Stop, don’t do that to her.”
Katrina sighed and turned to Juasa. “You realize what she was doing to us, right? Repeated punishment and pleasure? She was breaking and training us.” Her eyes narrowed as she regarded Juasa. “Was she successful with you?”
She could see Juasa considering her words.
After a few moments, Juasa’s shoulders slumped.
“I could tell she was doing it…I thought I had resisted. Maybe I hadn’t as much as I thought.”
Malorie’s expression began to harden once more. “You barely put up a fight, Juasa. I had you wrapped around my little finger in a day.”
Katrina sent a command to the collar Malorie wore, and the woman fell with a scream, writhing on the floor. Then she turned it off.
“I’m not going to play cat and mouse with you, Malorie. I’m going to play hammer and anvil. Understood?”
Malorie whimpered and nodded.
“Good. Your quality of life from here on out has a lot to do with how well behaved you can manage to be. I suggest that you begin with not speaking unless I tell you to.”
Malorie nodded and remained curled up on the floor.
“You’re pathetic. Go sit on your bed,” Katrina ordered. “Korin, come over here.”
