The Vigilante Chronicles Boxed Set 1

by Natalie Grey

  Crallus watched him. Reading the Torcellan’s thoughts was impossible. Was he pleased by the message he’d received, or was he angry? Was he responding favorably to someone, or threatening to kill them? His expression betrayed nothing.

  Crallus reflected once again that he should probably not be Uleq’s ally.

  Uleq looked up and smiled. “It turns out someone else is hoping to deal with the Shinigami.”

  “Who?” Crallus wasn’t surprised, only curious. Someone who tried to impose laws and Justice on the outer sectors, like Barnabas, was bound to accrue enemies.

  “A petty ship thief.” Uleq looked amused. “They sent a message looking for mercenaries, and I have alerts set up in all of the major communication systems for people talking about the Shinigami or any other human ships. I was able to contact them before anyone else could.”

  “They’re never going to—”

  Uleq gave a careless shrug. “They’ve had a few run-ins with the ship and come away alive, and they have a plan. I’ll give them some funding and see if they can capture the ship. I even have a plan for where, exactly, they can take it on.” His face darkened. “We’ll see what my sister thinks.”

  The words were bitter, and Crallus remembered with a chill that Ilia Yennai had not been pleased with Uleq.

  He wondered just what they would walk into when they got to the Yennai Corporation headquarters.

  “Five minutes.” Zinqued slammed the message printout down on the table. “It took five minutes to find someone.”

  The crew members looked at one another silently, and Paun stared at Zinqued rather than the message.

  “I assume this is some acceptance from a mercenary group, then?” Paun sounded unimpressed.

  Zinqued ground his teeth. Paun would know exactly what this was if he had read it. “We’re funded. In full. For as many mercenaries as we need.”

  “Who the hell would do that?” Paun frowned.

  “Uleq Yennai. Apparently, the humans have caused them some problems.”

  “The Yennai Corporation?” Paun’s face went stony. “Once they have that ship in their grasp, they’ll never give it up.”

  “Maybe.” Though he had some plans on that score, he wasn’t about to share them with Paun. “And maybe they’ll be really grateful that someone took care of this for them.”

  Paun wavered, but then he looked around at the crew. All of them looked back, unimpressed. It had been a long few weeks without a job.

  Without any bonuses.

  “Fine,” Paun acquiesced. He looked at all of them. “But I have a bad feeling about this.” He stomped out of the room without looking back.

  Zinqued smiled.

  They’d see who the captain was when all of this was over.

  The Yennai Corporation headquarters looked like nothing—a hunk of rock floating in outer space. There were no noticeable patrols, no buildings or visible entrances, and no emissions on any of the scanners.

  “Are you sure this is the right place?” Crallus asked. He had a sudden vision of Ilia plunging their ship into the side of an asteroid.

  “Yes,” was all Uleq said. Despite his usual arrogant expression, he seemed ill at ease. He had grown more and more withdrawn as the ship came closer to its destination.

  Crallus closed his eyes briefly and prayed that they weren’t about to be executed.

  There was a tiny, almost invisible, entrance covered by a force field in the asteroid. The ship slid through and set down in an eerily empty landing bay, piloting itself the whole way. Uleq strode off of it with his face tight and angry. It didn’t take any schooling in family politics to know that this was the worst kind of insult for him. They were humiliating him on purpose.

  For the first time, Crallus felt sorry for Uleq.

  He didn’t say that, though. He knew enough about the guy to know that Uleq would probably murder him if he did.

  They crossed the floor with their every movement echoing in the huge space, and Crallus’ worry grew with each step. When the soldiers appeared, it was almost a relief. At least something was happening.

  Uleq stopped, raising an eyebrow. “I take it my sister would like me to see her immediately.”

  The guard captain inclined his head. “In the Overlook, sir.”

  Uleq tensed, and his face went entirely flat. He did not look at Crallus, only set off with his footsteps moving quickly. Whatever was going to happen, he seemed to want it to be over with.

  The Overlook appeared to be nothing more than another cavernous room, though there was a strange, bluish glow around the back of it. Uleq frowned as they were marched across the floor toward a single figure in white robes.

  Ilia Yennai regarded them as they approached. Crallus could see the similarities between her and Uleq.

  “Ilia,” Uleq said shortly with a look of contempt.

  “Uleq.” The soldiers fanned out around her, and Ilia didn’t even give them a glance as she let loose on Uleq. “You have disgraced us. You have squandered resources on a useless vendetta.”

  “I have devoted every resource I have to our family’s greatest enemy,” Uleq shot back. “With your backing, we could have destroyed them by now. Instead, you have divided us, and our enemy has grown stronger.”

  She snorted. “The humans and their federation are no threat, brother. We will infiltrate them as we have infiltrated all other governments, and we will control them from the shadows. Had you served our interests, you would have spent your time on that.”

  “You have no idea what you are dealing with,” Uleq retorted, his voice beginning to rise. “They will destroy us. They will—”

  “I am not interested in hearing all of this again.” Ilia shook her head, bored and elegant. “You will remain here until I decide what to do with you.”

  “Don’t you mean, until Father decides what to do with me?” Uleq’s challenge was delivered with narrowed eyes.

  “Oh, no.” Ilia’s smile was supremely self-satisfied. “He’s given me complete control in this matter.”

  She took a moment to savor the look on Uleq’s face then swept out of the room with the soldiers surrounding her.

  Uleq stood frozen, his eyes wide and horrified. Crallus watched him a moment then went to look at the glow at the edge of the room. The ground fell away sharply a few feet before the wall, and he looked down to see...

  He froze.

  “The radiation can’t reach us.” Uleq’s voice made Crallus jump. He nearly lost his footing and stumbled back from the edge, cursing, his heart pounding. Uleq peered over the edge with a strange detachment. “You see the force field? It keeps the radiation in. A modified version of what’s at the end of our landing bays.”

  “Oh.” Crallus nodded. He felt like an idiot.

  “It doesn’t stop a falling body, though.” Finally, a trace of fear showed in Uleq’s eyes. “This is where they hold executions.”

  17

  The mercenaries met them on Tretoar, a station jumbled together from an old mining rig and a few cargo ships. Paun hated this place, though it was one of the best spots in the sector to offload stolen goods with no questions asked. The station managers there were some of the best paid in known space. Their cut was high, and for good reason: they never, ever gave information about who had gone through Tretoar.

  Since Zinqued wasn’t paying the station fee, he was happy to be using this place. Among other things, it showed that Uleq Yennai was serious.

  Which was good, because, after a flurry of initial details, Uleq seemed to have dropped off the map.

  All his money had cleared, though, and the mercenaries were eager to bargain for as much more as they could. As far as Zinqued could tell, he’d been given a blank check to hire as many as he wanted.

  He stared out over the sea of mercenaries, all milling around between the ten ships, and considered.

  Ten was a good number…for any other ship than this one.

  “How many more ships can you bring?” he asked brusqu
ely.

  The syndicate leader, a grizzled old Shrillexian with one eye missing, gave Zinqued a small smile. “How many do you need?”

  “Four times as many as this,” Zinqued said promptly.

  He had the satisfaction, at least, of seeing the old mercenary look taken aback. Then his face set as if he thought Zinqued didn’t know what he was talking about. “I can get you ten more,” the male said. He shrugged. “They’re all good ships.”

  Zinqed only shrugged. “It’s not my life on the line. I suppose we can try throwing twenty at it and see what happens. We’ll just use more next time. And you might do some damage, after all.”

  The mercenary and Zinqued stared at each other for a long moment.

  “I’ll find you forty more,” the mercenary said finally.

  “Good,” Zinqued said. He considered, then made his play, strolling away from Paun and motioning for the mercenary to follow him. “I have a buyer lined up for something on the ship,” he said. “An object of sentimental value—he’s an antiquities collector. You’ll no doubt have been told to hand the ship over to the Yennai Corporation, hmm?”

  The mercenary nodded impassively.

  Zinqued smiled. “The amount of money he’s willing to pay for this artifact is quite impressive. I assure you, and I do not say this lightly, that I can give you more than the Yennai Corporation for your help in keeping the ship with me.” He gave the other Shrillexian a look. “Remember, after all, that they would have sent you woefully underprepared. I am the one who is giving you a chance at survival.”

  The mercenary smiled at this and reached out one hand. “Pleasure doing business with you.”

  “And you.” Zinqued nodded and headed back to Paun.

  The mercenaries, after all, didn’t need to know exactly what on the ship Zinqued wanted to sell. He wasn’t about to dangle the exact payout under their noses just so they could steal it for themselves.

  But he would reward them for their help. He’d decided that he would certainly be a benevolent leader.

  Because after this, he would certainly have his own ship.

  “Now, remember,” Barnabas said. He checked the fit of his gauntlets and looked at Gar. “Don’t let anyone get under your skin.”

  Gar nodded. Barnabas was smiling, but Gar knew he was absolutely serious about this.

  “It wasn’t…,” he considered. “I didn’t mean for things to get out of hand on Virtue Station. I’m sorry I lost my temper.”

  “Mmm.” Barnabas slid on his holster. “Note that I didn’t say, ‘don’t lose your temper.’ I said, ‘don’t let anyone get under your skin.’ There’s a small but important difference.”

  Gar frowned. “I’m not sure I get it.”

  “Oh, it’s very simple.” Shinigami appeared, her avatar projected on top of one of the weapons lockers. She sat cross-legged, watching them with a grin. “See, he loses his temper all the time, so he’s not going to say you can’t do that.”

  Barnabas gave her a look. “I do not lose my temper all the time. I lose my temper when the situation warrants it. Which is when someone has done something unjust, to hurt others. Me losing my temper is not the outcome they hope for in that case.”

  Shinigami considered this.

  “Are you sure…” she asked finally, “that’s not bullshit?”

  Gar turned his snort of laughter into a cough and made himself very busy with his boots as Barnabas glared at Shinigami.

  “Name one time when we’ve worked together that me losing my temper has been to our detriment,” he said stiffly.

  “To our detriment, ooh, how fancy.” She hunched her shoulders with a grin. “You get so gentlemanly when you’re upset.”

  Barnabas stopped talking entirely and devoted himself to his armor, with the air of someone who is not going to deign to join the conversation. Shinigami snickered, and Gar tried to decide if he should move unobtrusively to the nearest blast door in case of a fight.

  It was a welcome distraction when Jeltor appeared with an obviously distressed Tafa at his side.

  “I’m coming in with you,” the Jotun announced. “Out into the compound, I mean.”

  Barnabas looked up in surprise. “You should not feel obligated,” he said politely. “I regret that we are bringing you with us. It is simply that time is of the essence. You have helped by giving us information. We do not need anything further, I assure you.”

  “See?” Tafa demanded of Jeltor. “He also thinks you shouldn’t do this.”

  “I would like to come,” Jeltor said patiently. To Tafa, he added, “Your concern is touching, but I will be quite safe.”

  “How?” Shinigami asked practically. “Don’t get me wrong, your suit is impressive, but the Jotun fleet has never had an infantry engagement. Unless you’re trained for combat—”

  They broke off as Jeltor activated his suit. The hands slid back to be replaced with double-barreled guns, one bayonetted. Pieces of the suit hummed with an electrical charge, a plate came down over the capsule that held Jeltor’s body, and the suit seemed to sink down into a mechanical version of a warrior’s crouch. To top it off, a panel slid to uncover a long, thin arm in the suit’s chest, with a hacking-tip at the end.

  “I am trained for combat,” Jeltor said, amused.

  Barnabas laughed delightedly, his good mood entirely restored. “Well, then,” he said. “We would be glad to have you along.”

  “Only if you don’t intend to do something stupidly heroic,” Shinigami said. “I’d hate for you to die before I could get a better look at that suit.”

  Jeltor laughed, not at all offended by her focus. “It’s made to…shall we say, confuse scanners.”

  “Yeah, I didn’t see any of that.” She was so intrigued that it took a moment before she added to Barnabas, “Sorry.”

  “No apologies necessary.” Barnabas smiled at Jeltor. “I sense the Jotun and the Federation might have quite a happy partnership, should they choose to make the trade,” he considered. “And Jean Dukes would probably enjoy a chat with some of your engineers.”

  “I would be pleased to meet your Jean Dukes,” Jeltor acknowledged politely. “There are many pieces of your technology that we have heard of and believed to be exaggerations…until I came to be on this ship. Now I am beginning to think the stories were true. It is…worrisome.”

  “Unless the Jotun Navy goes around enslaving people, or otherwise perpetrating mass injustice, I don’t think we’ll have a problem.”

  Barnabas and Shinigami had spent part of the previous night going over what they could find of Jotun history and military engagements. They had found one recurring piece of advice from a variety of sources and phrased in a variety of ways, but all boiled down to the same thing—don’t fuck with the Jotun people, and you won’t get massacred. They didn’t deploy their military often, but when they did…it was with extremely impressive results.

  Barnabas and Shinigami had decided they both liked what they saw.

  Tafa, however, still looked worried. “But what if you all get hurt?” Even a week ago she would have said that Jeltor infuriated her—and she hadn’t known Gar, Barnabas, or Shinigami. Now, however, she knew she would be devastated if any of them were to die.

  “We will not take unnecessary risks,” Barnabas promised her. “Will we?” he added meaningfully, looking around at the rest of the group. Grumbles were his only response, and he smiled at Tafa. “See? We’ll be quite all right.”

  “If you say so.” Tafa hunched her shoulders. “I just feel like this is a bit too easy. There has to be some sort of trap.”

  “There usually is,” Barnabas agreed cheerfully. “Luckily for us, Shinigami is sneakier than almost anyone.”

  “So are you,” Shinigami shot back pointedly. “In any event, we’re coming up on the base if anyone wants to get a look.”

  Vedoon was bored.

  When he’d been hired by the Yennai corporation, he’d been sure that his life would be filled with plenty of action.
After all, no one got that big and powerful without plenty of soldiers, right?

  Then he’d gotten stationed here, of all places.

  Nothing ever happened here.

  Vedoon sighed as he looked out at the ramparts and grounds. As far as he knew, the Yennai family had never even been here. Some big, secret headquarters this had proved to be. He’d thought there would be secret meetings, with him standing proudly outside the door in his armor, close to the seat of power.

  They said Ilia Yennai wasn’t bad looking, either…

  But he’d never seen her. She’d never come here. There was a small army of guards stationed here, and a ridiculous amount of gun turrets and munitions, but there was never anyone important.

  How was a guard supposed to rise in the hierarchy if there weren’t any higher-ups to impress? He’d had a plan—distinguish himself in training, get nominated as a personal bodyguard for one of the Yennai family, and make his fortune. Seducing Ilia had been one of those ideas he didn’t pin too much on. She probably had some rich husband. A guard could dream, though.

  He’d just leaned on the balustrade next to his patrol partner when they heard the boom of a ship entering the atmosphere. The turrets nearby blazed to life before they even had time to wonder if this was a Yennai ship. A moment later, the klaxons blared.

  They were under attack. A rush of adrenaline hit Vedoon, and he gave a whoop.

  Finally, he was going to have a chance to distinguish himself.

  “Ms. Yennai.”

  “What?” After her brother’s nonsense, Ilia was in no mood for more bad news—and she sensed from her servant’s tone that this message was bad news.

  “A human ship has attacked the decoy base. The name is Shinigami. They’ve taken out several of the turrets in their initial pass and don’t appear to be damaged.”

  Ilia turned slowly. “Shinigami?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Ilia’s mind raced. Was it possible that Uleq had been right? If he was, what would her father say?