Dark Horse

by Michelle Diener

  “I noticed that. How were you reassured?”

  Rose smiled. “I liked the look of you.”

  “You liked the look of me? Iʼm half a foot taller and I had a gun pointed at your head.”

  Roseʼs smile widened. “I know.”

  Appalʼs comm chimed, and she shook her head, perplexed, as she answered it. “I have to go,” she said when she tapped off.

  “Trouble?” Rose had to force herself not to look toward her Tecran handheld.

  Appal shook her head. “The United Council is being taken around the Class 5, and I need to arrange security.”

  “Okay.” Rose walked her to the door and when it shut behind her, she closed her fist around the crystal at her neck, and did look over at her handheld.

  She couldnʼt dance on this fence much longer. She either had to get Sazo into the system, or sell him out.

  Neither option appealed.

  “What did you do to them?” Appalʼs eyes were on the councilors as they walked down the runnerʼs ramp into the launch bay, her words soft.

  Dav took up position beside her, standing smartly to attention with shoulders square, hands behind his back. He gave each group a courteous nod as they passed by.

  “I think the reality of those cells was more than they were prepared for.” He realized his hands were back in fists, just as they had been on the Class 5. He needed to stay away from the stark evidence of Roseʼs abuse if he wanted to keep an even temper. Although just the thought of it seemed to be enough to put him on the edge of rage.

  Each councilor had had a similar reaction, except the Tecran, who, if anything, had seemed even more shocked than their colleagues. Councilor Fu-tamaʼs expression had given away nothing except anger, he was all but vibrating with it by the end of the tour, and some deep-seated instinct told Dav there was something more to it than outrage over sentient being abuse.

  Admiral Hoke was the last one off the runner and she joined them, her eyes following the councilors as Dimitara shepherded them out. “Whatever stunt that liaison officer pulled this morning to light a fire under you, sheʼs certainly redeemed herself now. Her forcing the councilors to watch some of the lens feed while they were in the cells was a stroke of genius.” She tipped her head in Fir and Nuuʼs direction. “The Tecran donʼt know what to do now.”

  Dav had already noticed that the Tecran were keeping themselves slightly apart, their heads together, shoulders hunched.

  No one tried to bridge the gap and join them.

  “Theyʼre already feeling the chill.”

  Dav turned at the rich vein of satisfaction he could hear in Hokeʼs voice. “Is that a good thing? Do we want a rift in the United Council?”

  Hoke held his gaze. “We do when weʼre trying to hold on to a very advanced piece of their technology.”

  “Is the Class 5 worth a split? Worth a war?”

  Hoke raised her brows. “Hopefully it wonʼt come to that. I know itʼs harsh, but the fact that they so flagrantly contravened the SBA makes them pushing the issue as far as war unlikely. Theyʼll have no allies, not after what the councilors saw today. The chances of them risking fighting us when we have the moral high ground is very small.”

  Appal made a sound and Hoke turned her attention to his commander, which was a good thing, because it meant she didnʼt see the disgust on his face. He took a deep breath.

  “So, Roseʼs loss is our gain?”

  “I canʼt go back in time and change what happened to Rose. But if I can use what happened to her to secure a Class 5, then I will do so without a qualm.”

  Dav knew he would have been in agreement if he didnʼt know Rose. And he couldnʼt fault Hokeʼs logic but . . . “If youʼre going to use what happened to Rose as leverage, sheʼd better be guaranteed a place in Grih society.”

  “You making demands, Captain?” Hokeʼs tone was suddenly cool.

  “You want to use Rose and then abandon her?” Dav countered, equally cool.

  Hoke blew out a breath. “I havenʼt thought that far ahead. But your point is made. If sheʼs no danger to us, of course weʼll look after her. I gather sheʼs small and unaggressive.”

  Appal snorted out a laugh.

  “Something amusing, Commander?” Hoke turned her annoyed expression to Appal again.

  “You obviously havenʼt met Rose,” Appal said. “Or you wouldnʼt be talking about her as if describing a new species of animal.”

  “I need to remedy that as soon as possible.” Hoke said. She flicked at her sleeve for the time. “I have to brief Battle Center, and then Iʼll go find her.”

  Dav narrowed his eyes. “Let me know when youʼre ready, and Iʼll take you to her.”

  “I donʼt need a minder, Captain. And I want to see this Rose without outside interference.” Hoke narrowed her eyes right back at him. Then she turned on her heel and walked away.

  Dav looked down, saw his fists were just as tight as they had been on the Class 5, back in Roseʼs old cell.

  “Letʼs go somewhere private,” he said to Appal, and she didnʼt say anything, she just nodded and led the way to her room.

  Two guns lay on the large, low table between the two couches in her suite, and she picked up the cloth sheʼd been cleaning them with and got back to work.

  Dav flopped down opposite her, closed his eyes and tipped back his head.

  “Let me guess,” Appal said, her voice without inflection. “Youʼre trying to work out whether warning Rose that Admiral Hoke is about to descend on her would be a technical breach of orders or not.”

  Dav didnʼt open his eyes, but he smiled. “You know me so well.”

  “Yes.” She had gone serious now, and at last he lifted his head, opened his eyes. She was looking at him, gun forgotten in her hand. “I do know you, and youʼve been by the book ever since we met. Ambitious, not quite a suck-up, but respectful of your superiors, and a real team player.”

  “So?” He frowned at her, but he knew where this was going.

  “Whatʼs happened?”

  He blew out a breath, and realized he couldnʼt answer.

  “Iʼll tell you.” Appal set the gun back on the table. “Rose McKenzie happened.”

  “Itʼs not just Rose,” Dav told her, sliding his hands over his knees. “Itʼs the Class 5. This whole situation.”

  “Yurve. Shit.” Appal shook her head. “Youʼre all over that Class 5, just like Iʼd expect you to be, but when it comes to Rose . . . you have got to know there is something sheʼs holding back. Sheʼs the worst liar Iʼve ever met. Why isnʼt she in interrogation? Why arenʼt you coming down harder on her?”

  “Youʼve seen the lens feed. Do you want us to go into the same category as the Tecran?”

  Appal winced at that, then shook her head. “Iʼm not saying torture her, Iʼm saying ask her some hard questions, and if she canʼt answer them, donʼt shrug and then give her the run of the ship.”

  “She doesnʼt have the run of the ship.” Dav rubbed a frustrated hand through his hair. “Sheʼs been watched since she arrived, and now we have guards on her round the clock. Do you genuinely think sheʼs a danger?” He knew there was too much uncertainty in his voice. He was second-guessing himself way too much. Not his usual style. Appal had that right.

  She blew out a breath. “No. Sheʼs no danger to us. But sheʼs in the middle of something that is, and for some reason she isnʼt sharing.”

  Dav watched her, wondered if now was the time to put forward his hypothesis on that. Then she stood, turned her back on him and walked over to make them grinabo.

  “She asked me what the accepted stages were for us, in getting into a relationship with someone.” Appal kept her back to him.

  “What?”

  His commander looked briefly over her shoulder. “What the stages are. How we deal with personal space. She was trying to understand where something was going, between herself and another Grih, I presume, and didnʼt know how to interpret the signals.”

  “Who?” He kept his voice steady. Forced h
imself not to stand. “Who the hell is making moves on her?”

  Appal turned with a cup of grinabo in each hand. “Well, to be honest . . .” She set his mug down in front of him. “I thought it was you.”

  Oh.

  He tried to fight the heat rushing to his cheeks.

  “Why did she discuss it with you?” Thank the stars she had, was all he could think. If there was one person on board who would take his secrets to the grave, it was Jia Appal.

  “I donʼt know. Kila would be the obvious choice for questions on social interactions, but it seems that while Rose is happy to cooperate with her, she doesnʼt really trust her.”

  “Sheʼs liked you since the very first moment she saw you. I remember wondering why she gave you that big smile when we first pulled her out of the cave on Harmon.” Dav remembered feeling annoyed by it. Heʼd wanted that smile for himself.

  “Yes. She told me that seeing me put her at ease in a stressful moment when she was surrounded by big, mean-looking aliens all pointing guns at her.”

  He choked out a laugh, realizing thatʼs exactly what had happened.

  “But you were one of the big, mean-looking aliens holding the guns.”

  Appal nodded. “I pointed that out to her, and she just gave me that sweet smile again, and said: exactly.”

  They sat in comfortable silence for a while.

  “Iʼm running in the dark here.” Dav didnʼt know where that had come from, but it was true, he realized.

  “Just be careful.” Appal lifted her shockgun, sighted away from him down the barrel. Blew away a little piece of grit. “Weʼre in the middle of something very dangerous.”

  He would be careful. If only he knew how.

  24

  The officersʼ gym was full of interesting equipment, but Rose chose something that looked like a treadmill to start with, just to get warmed up. There was a hologram option and she fiddled around with it, choosing a random Grihan planet, Nastra, as the setting.

  “Whoa. That looks chilly.” She looked sideways at Halim and Xaltro, leaning, hands on the stocks of their shockguns, against the gym wall, then back at the white, wind-swept landscape.

  After five minutes, the all white background got boring, and she switched to another Grihan world, Calianthra. It was better. Massive trees stretched high above her, and the ground was thick with fern-like plants. She settled in to it and power-walked for another fifteen minutes before she decided to try another piece of equipment.

  She chose to avoid the sneering expression she was sure sheʼd find on Jay Xaltroʼs face if she asked how to work the . . . thing . . . that snagged her attention. It was a square platform with an eight-foot metal pole on each corner. There was a button on the side, and she pressed it and then stepped up into the square. Pressure swirled around her, and she was lifted up. She moved her legs and arms and finally got it.

  There was strong resistance to everything she did, as if she was deep underwater. She had fun punching the air, kicking invisible enemies, running as fast as she could.

  When she stilled, she sank down and stepped out, breathing hard. “That was awesome.” She gave a laugh, walked over to grab her towel, and realized that the feeling sheʼd had when she first stepped out onto Harmon, and had felt ever since, of having more power here, was intensified after her resistance training.

  She blotted the sweat from her brow and eyed the far wall. It was padded, and the floor looked pretty padded, as well.

  Time for a Matrix moment, she decided. Why the hell not?

  She dropped the towel and ran full tilt at the wall, only peripherally aware of Vree Halim stepping toward her in surprise.

  She jumped, higher than she ever could have done on Earth, angling her body so her feet hit the wall as if she was planning to walk up it, then she pushed off and flipped, landing on the sprung floor with so much excess energy, she bounced.

  Seeing she was airborne again, she flipped herself again, did a full somersault and landed with knees bent, hands out.

  She let out a whoop, hands on her hips, her head thrown back. “Woohoo!”

  “I take it you werenʼt sure that would work?” Vree Halim asked her.

  “Well, I jumped pretty high on Harmon, higher than I could on Earth, and it felt like I could do that here, but I hadnʼt tried it ʼtil now. What a trip.”

  She turned and looked at the wall, walked backward until she was standing back where she started.

  “You going to charge the wall again?” Jay Xaltro shifted her weight from one hip to the other.

  “Itʼs not called charging the wall.” Rose looked over her shoulder and gave Xaltro a wide grin. “Itʼs called having fun.”

  Vree Halim snorted out a laugh, but Rose was already running at the wall again. She jumped higher this time, and her flip was smoother, more elegant. She also pushed straight into a second somersault when she landed, and then a handless cartwheel, just for good measure.

  She laughed again, bent over at the waist. She couldnʼt see this ever getting old.

  “Much though weʼd hate to break up the party,” Xaltro said with a smirk, “you have a meeting in thirty minutes in your room.”

  “With whom?” Rose asked as she grabbed her water and her towel and let her guards usher her out.

  Xaltro and Halim exchanged a look, and then Xaltro shrugged. Neither of them spoke and they walked back to her room in silence.

  “You need to give me your login now, Rose.”

  Sazo spoke to her the moment she stepped out of the shower.

  “No matter what, I can kill them already.” Sazoʼs voice was calm. Absolutely serious. “I can kill them all right now. If Iʼm in their system, I can disable them, lock them in their rooms, all manner of less deadly options.”

  Rose sighed and dried her hair, then pulled out another of her hyr fabric outfits. She chose trousers again, this time making them straight and loose.

  “Youʼre right. Itʼs just that by giving you the login, it is me, actually screwing them over. Not you, doing whatever you do without help from me.”

  “I wouldnʼt be here without help from you,” he said, and she gave another sigh, and a nod.

  Time to take responsibility. No matter what, if she told Sazo the login or not, she was in part responsible for everything that had happened. Sheʼd agreed to Sazoʼs terms without thinking further than her own escape.

  She looped the towel around her shoulders and gave Sazo the login for the Grih handheld.

  He obviously didnʼt hesitate to dive in, because there was no sound from him.

  “You okay?” she asked.

  “It isnʼt an easy in, even with the login,” he said. “Itʼs better than nothing, but itʼs a solid wall. Theyʼre serious in their fear of thinking systems.”

  That was just great.

  Sheʼd be the one to open the gate to their most feared enemy, why not? She rubbed her forehead. She would be lucky to walk away from this alive, let alone with a place among them.

  It occurred to her that Sazoʼs answer had been distracted, half-mumbled even. An affectation, she realized, because he had the capacity to answer succinctly and work on hacking into the Barristʼs system at the same time. More than the capacity.

  She decided to let the thought cheer her. After all, why would he be affecting her mannerisms if he wasnʼt thinking himself more like her, less like a machine?

  Her door chimed, exactly half an hour to the minute since sheʼd been summoned back to her room, and her internal comm system chimed at the same time.

  She answered the comm first. “Hello?”

  “Itʼs Dav.” His tone was clipped, his face on the screen completely blank. “Admiral Hoke intends to speak with you, and could arrive at any time.”

  “I think the admiral is at my door right now.” Rose understood a warning when she heard it.

  “Rose . . .” He hesitated, and as the silence stretched out, her door chimed again. “Well. Thatʼs all I had to say.”

  “Thank you, Captain.
” She murmured the words, and halfway through, he cut her off. It was with bemusement, and a little frisson of fear, that she opened the door.

  Admiral Hoke was an older, fiercer version of Commander Appal. Her cheekbones were sharper, her eyes harder, her hair silver white.

  The admiral paused as she lifted her hand to push the chime a third time, and her eyes widened at the sight of Rose.

  “Rose McKenzie?” She frowned.

  “Yes.” She bowed her head in the way sheʼd picked up from most of the crew, and presented her palms, hands together. “Pleased to meet you.”

  The admiral started, and slowly covered her hands with her own. Rose felt the movement was more one of investigation of the feel of her skin than a reciprocation of the greeting, though.

  “Your Grih is excellent.”

  “Thank you. So Iʼve been told.” She didnʼt remove her hands, watching the admiral. Waiting for her to introduce herself.

  When she realized Rose wasnʼt moving, or inviting her in, Hoke drew back, clearing her throat.

  “Iʼm Admiral Hoke. May I come in?”

  “Of course.” Rose moved aside. “Can I get you anything to drink?”

  The admiral shook her head. Turned around to look the room over, and then went back to staring at Rose.

  “This is the first time youʼve seen me? I thought there was lens feed.” Rose said, and the admiral blinked.

  “Yes. It doesnʼt really give the full impact, though.” She narrowed her eyes, and cocked her head. “You are quite a surprise.”

  “In what way?” Rose lifted the towel again, and went back to drying the ends of her hair.

  “You look very similar to us. And your voice . . .”

  Rose lifted her shoulders. “Convergent evolution, perhaps?” She pursed her lips. “Although I think that definition includes a common ancestor, and I donʼt think we have one.”

  The admiral watched her with hawk eyes. It was a look that reminded her of the Tecran, and she shivered. Stared right back.

  “Iʼll come straight to the point. You disturb me. Everything about the circumstances of your arrival disturbs me. And I donʼt trust you at all.”