Heller did and Jace closed the door behind him. He plunked the plate to the table and nodded to it.
“You can eat it or not, Heller, I don’t really care. I’m here to ask you one question. Will you follow my orders or not?”
Ready with his fork in his fist, Heller threw it aside and glared reproachfully at Jace. “Ain’t fair if it changes every day.”
“No, but if it does, will you follow my orders or not?”
Heller kicked back from the table. He flexed his arms and his legs, showing off the power of his young body. In his prime at twenty-two, seven feet and three hundred pounds, Heller embodied fierce male pride. “I won’t sit back and let a woman lead.”
Jace flexed his body. Older, slower, even more so with the wound. He realized the absurdity of competing, on a physical level, with Heller. “Even if she can take you from garbage cans to credit vaults?”
“She turned on her own, for that IWOG transport job, and that attack ship. She’s no better than an alley cat.”
“Kraft saved you.”
“No—”
“Who knew how they’d attack?”
Heller remained silent.
“Kraft knew.”
“Because she’s IWOG scum!”
“Because she was once IWOG. She turned on those who crafted her. She made it so we could live, Heller.” Jace slapped the table. “Look at me. We are alive, right now, debating this because of her. I will not argue another fact with you until you grasp that one.”
“She turned on her own.”
“So did you.”
“Because I wanted—”
“And that makes what you did okay? Tell me, Heller, when is committing mutiny okay? When Kraft did it or when you did?”
“Ain’t a fair question.”
“Because you’ve got no answer. It’s not so black and white, is it, Heller? Right and wrong takes on all kinds of shades of gray. Kraft may have gone against the IWOG, gone against her roots, but in the whole of the time we’ve known her, she has not crossed us once, has she?” When Heller crossed his arms and folded into himself, Jace slapped the table hard. “Has she? Don’t you shy away now, Heller. You answer up.”
“No, she’s not crossed us.”
“No. Kraft hasn’t. What seems a lifetime ago, on a derelict Basic, Kraft could have hacked my head off.”
“I could have killed her first—”
“If you had pulled the trigger do you honestly think we’d be alive debating this right now?”
“Jace, that ain’t a fair question—”
“Why not? Seems damn fair to me, Heller. Know it then or know it now, that was the biggest haul we’ve ever taken. Ever, Heller. And we can thank—” that crazy wonderful and strange woman, “—Kraft. You grasp that now or I’ll kick you free.”
Heller locked his arms around himself, clutched himself hard. “Why, Jace? IWOG gives no favors.”
“Then you acknowledge Kraft gave us a favor.”
“She wants Mutiny.”
“Really? Why would she wait until now?” He shook his head and realized he used the same argument Kraft had given him. “You took her money belt to my bunk. You looked in it, didn’t you?”
“She said she had 500K and I—”
“Wanted to make sure she wasn’t lying. You looked, you counted it. Kraft did indeed have over 500K in that money belt, didn’t she?”
“So what if she did?”
“She had that money ready to go buy her own ship. She doesn’t want my ship, she wants her own.”
“Kraft read that table at the Den of Ishtar. And at the Double Whammy. She’s a reader, Jace. She cheats at cards and everything else.”
“Did she cheat when she took you to your knees?”
Heller hissed out breath between tight lips. “She tricked me.”
“How? My understanding is she told you she would take you down with two fingers. Did she lie?”
“No.”
“Tell me one lie Kraft has ever told you.”
Heller thought about it long and hard. “Kraft didn’t lie, but she never told the truth neither.”
“And now you can ask her every question in your mind and she’ll answer it.”
“’Cause you told her too?”
“Because that’s the way she is. Ask her. She’ll tell you. Ask her to show you how to drop an opponent with two fingers. One will get you ten that Kraft will.”
“Why would she show her enemy—”
“That’s it right there, Heller. You are not her enemy. You are part of her crew. And Kraft would die defending you. She damn near died trying to save us all. She had no idea that you wanted to leave her to die on the floor like a stuck pig.”
“She lived, didn’t she?”
“Not with your help.”
“I wanted you to live.”
“At her expense.” Jace slapped the table hard. “You thought you had to choose when you didn’t.”
“Kraft isn’t—”
“What?” Jace stood away from the table. “Tell me, Heller. Blast her hard and fast, because that woman made it so my crew lived. Kraft made the wind turn to me against fifty hard-core fighters. We fought off an IWOG attack ship because of her. If you look to blast her, you best have something spectacular.”
“You make me compete against—”
“You make yourself compete against her, not me. Kraft has proven herself, again and again, and I can’t fault you for not seeing it when I’ve had such a difficult time.”
“You love her.”
“And if I do, what does that mean for you?”
“Jace, you’re asking me to give up—”
“What?”
“I would have killed them if not for her—”
“Fifty IWOG? How good do you think you are? Kraft took out, by her blade, over twenty, and you and I and Garrett and Payton took out twenty with automatic weapons. She got up close and personal, not us. Who wiped the ship, Heller? Who wiped that fucking ship?”
“You’re swearing, Jace, you don’t do that—”
“I do now. I’ll swear up one side and down the other if that’s what it takes to make you see the light. Kraft saved us, Heller. I don’t care how you carve it, we are alive because of her. You accept it or I’ll kick you free.”
“So she’s staying.”
“I don’t know, but for the time she’s here you are going to get along with her, and everyone else too. Now, do you want to stay locked in here or eat with the rest of us?”
“As long as she doesn’t think she can boss me—”
Jace shook his head. “What’s the chain of command?”
“You, then Garrett, then—Kraft—then me.”
“Grab your plate and let’s go.”
They went back to the kitchen and everyone made a point of greeting Heller warmly, even Kraft.
“This is really good, Garrett,” Heller said.
“Thank you, Heller,” Garrett said, “Kraft helped me.”
“That’s a good idea, you teaching everyone how to cook something.” Heller barely managed to make eye contact with Kraft before his gaze darted back to his plate.
“I’d be happy to teach you to make your favorite, if you want.” Kraft took another bite.
A long pause spun out.
“I like that chicken thing, the spicy one.” Heller glanced up at her then away.
“Kung Pao Chicken.” Kraft nodded, licking gravy off her lips. “That’s a good one.”
“And beer.”
“Okay. I’d be happy to show you how.”
“This is so sweet I think I’ve got a mouthful of cavities,” Garrett said, rolling his eyes and clapping his hands to his chest. “It warms the cockles of my heart.” He wiped an imaginary tear from his cheek.
“What are cockles, anyway?” Bailey asked Payton.
Payton searched her memory. “It’s not a medical term.”
“I think it’s a clam from Earth,” Kraft said.
“
Then why would you have them in your heart?” Jace asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe Garrett’s just a clammy guy.”
The conversation degenerated into a discussion of weird idioms from Earth and everyone tossed out their favorite, then the conversation became a discussion of oxymorons. What could have been a terribly awkward moment wasn’t because everyone tried very hard to get along. Jace could see it took tremendous control for Heller to refrain from making his usual nasty comments and Jace was proud of him. When he offered to do the dishes, you could have knocked the rest of the crew down with a feather. But Jace knew Heller was trying desperately to atone for what he’d done.
“I’ll help,” Kraft offered.
Heller gritted his teeth, but said, “Thanks.”
Everyone left, but Jace, still not trusting Heller to be alone with Kraft, eavesdropped from the bridge.
“They told you what I did,” Heller said.
“I grasp it, Heller.”
“Gonna get back at me?”
“No.”
Jace couldn’t hear what they were doing but he imagined they passed dishes. “What you did is between you and Jace. I was just the catalyst.”
Heller grunted. “I don’t know what that word means.”
“A catalyst starts a chemical—actually, it’s not the best word.” Kraft sighed. “I’m not holding a grudge against you, Heller. I don’t want to fight with you. I think it’s unlikely we’ll ever be friends in the full sense of the word, but if we both try, I think we can get along. I’m willing if you are.”
“That’s what Jace wants.”
“Well, Captain Lawless has a good reason for it. It’s hard to run a crew when two of them are fighting. It’s harder still when one of them has a death wish on the other.”
“Yeah. Does that mean you’re planning on sticking around?”
Jace’s heart seemed to stop beating for a moment then thundered in his ears as he waited for what she would say. He heard a loud crash.
“Shit howdy!”
“I got it,” Kraft said.
Heller continued to swear.
“Don’t worry about it. Soapy water is going to do this floor a world of good. You finish up the dishes and I’ll swab the deck.”
They worked silently for a while.
“If, uh, you’re gonna show me how to make beer and that chicken thing, could you also show me that finger thing?”
“Finger thing?”
“Yeah, that thing you did to my hand.”
“Sure. I’ll also show you how to get out of it.”
“There’s a way out of it?”
“For every trick, there’s a treat.”
Jace didn’t have to see her face to know she’d just made that slow, lazy and sexy smile.
Chapter Twenty-eight
“We’re about a day off from Borealis,” Jace said, entering the kitchen where Kraft sat drinking a foamy beer and playing solitaire. “Should you be drinking that in your condition?”
Kraft sighed. “It’s one beer, Captain Lawless. Why don’t you grab one and see if it can improve your sullen disposition?”
“No, thanks.” He dropped her money belt on the table.
Kraft flinched back and stared at it. 500K in script. Enough to buy a ship, a crew, a whole new life. But she knew she’d never touch it again. Heller, filled with hate grasping it when he took it to Jace’s room. Jace too had touched it when he’d been filled with loathing for her. They tarnished it in a way that couldn’t be undone.
“Don’t you want it?”
Kraft looked up and realization came. Jace didn’t want her on his ship anymore. He couldn’t forgive her for being an IWOG assassin. He expected her to get off at Borealis and make her own way in the Void. “Sure I do. I’m just in the middle of a game here.” It took all her control not to burst into tears and run. Instead, she laughed. “Besides, it’s not going anywhere.” She kicked out a chair. “Why don’t you sit down a play a few hands of poker with me?”
“So you can keep your skills up for Borealis? What’s the name of the hell there?”
“Robber’s Roost. I’ve never been there, but I hear it’s got a high-roller table. Which means no scans on the door.”
“You’ve never been on Corona?”
“Nope. That’s why it’s a safe place for all of us to go.”
“Safe?”
“You realize—” Kraft stopped herself. He didn’t know what she had done and she should probably tell the whole crew when they were together. “Is everyone still up?”
“I think so.”
“Could you call them in here?”
“What’s this about, Kraft?”
“Your new lives.”
Jace called the crew into the kitchen and everyone sat down with an expectant air.
“Well, there’s no easy way to say this so I’ll just get right to the point. You’re all dead.”
Everyone exchanged puzzled glances.
“While I was on that IWOG attack ship, I used their Tasher link to make some history. I entered that they easily overtook Mutiny and killed everyone on board. And then, a freak accident destroyed both ships. In order for it to stay true, I had to create new bonafides for all of you, and a new commission for your ship, Captain Lawless. Or should I say Captain Baxter of Prospect.”
“We all have new names?” Garrett asked.
“New names linked to your old fingerprints. These are bonafides that will get you onto any IWOG planet. You’ll be able to go legitimate.”
“You mean Prospect is a registered transport ship?” Jace asked.
“Yes. I had enough time to create a rather short but easily verified resume. You’ll find several opportunities on Corona.”
“What about our new names?” Charissa asked.
“Well, what I did was give you new last names and new birthplaces, but your first names stay the same.”
“Isn’t that a little dangerous?” Garrett asked.
“You all have fairly common first names. It’s not going to raise any eyebrows or red flags as long as when you deal with folks you make a point of using your last names. But one caveat: you can’t ever go back to any world where you’re known. Not ever. It’s too risky. Folks like Trickster would turn on you in a flash.”
“Hell, I won’t miss dealing with that fetch,” Garrett said.
She gave them all their new names. “One last thing I managed to do for you. Under the commission Prospect, sits a credit account with 150K in it as a bond.”
“We’re bonded?” Garrett’s eyebrows rose so high they almost rolled off the back of his head.
“Yes. That way you can get high script jobs with minimal risk.”
“Handing it all to me on a silver platter,” Jace said. No one but Kraft noticed how cutting his voice was.
“With a very nice bow too,” Garrett said.
“I aim to please. Any questions?”
“What’s your new name?” Bailey asked.
Kraft stared down at the table and sighed.
“She didn’t bother to make herself one,” Jace said. “Even if she did, she wouldn’t tell us.”
“I couldn’t.”
“You didn’t expect to survive, did you?”
“It ain’t that.”
“Then what is it?”
“My fingerprints are always gonna be hot. Even though I’m listed as dead, the IWOG will keep them on file. Just in case. I’ll never be free of them.”
“I do believe that is the first bold-faced lie you’ve ever told,” Jace said.
“You don’t know how the IWOG works.”
“No, but you do. You want me to believe that you crafted six new bonafides, with fingerprints and all, but couldn’t manage to wipe yourself from their computer? Did I wake up with idiot printed across my forehead today?”
“I did the best I could in the time I had.” Every word out of her mouth sounded more defensive than the last, even to her own ears.
“That I
believe. You did your best to save everybody else, but managed to find a way to keep punishing yourself.”
“Hell, Jace, what is your problem?” Garrett asked.
“My problem is I’m sick of this!” He slapped the table hard and stood. “Let me guess, Kraft. As soon as we land you’re gonna go out, deck yourself in black, get a ship, then find yourself the most dangerous jobs you can.”
“What does her fashion sense—”
“It’s mourning, Garrett. And I’m wondering if she’s ever going to come out of it.”
“I’m not mourning anything.” Kraft looked out the window in the ceiling. It was easier to concentrate on the vast nothingness than see the disappointment and the crushing reproach in Jace’s eyes.
“You treat life like it’s a damn punishment!” His voice rose in concert with his fury. “And how great this must be for you. You can punish yourself for being an IWOG assassin, you can punish yourself for the loss of your crew and now, now you can add the death of fifty IWOG to your mighty burden. You know what I think? You’re more afraid to live, but you won’t die either because then your punishment of yourself would stop, wouldn’t it?”
“I am not punishing myself.” Kraft stood. “And I’m not going to sit here and let you yell at me like I’m a wayward child.”
“The moment your life gets anywhere near happy you find a way to destroy it.” Jace stood as well and faced her. Not once in her life had any man called her out so directly, not even Fairing.
“Happy? When has my life gotten anywhere near—” Kraft cut herself off when the one time she’d been truly happy flashed in her mind. Those three incredible days with Jace. She had been happy then. So happy. And she’d gotten sucked into what might be. But she hadn’t been the one to destroy it. “You think what you want, Captain Lawless. You either take what I gave you or not, it doesn’t matter to me. Go back and deal with Trickster or Kobra again. I don’t care.” Oh, but she did care, way too much, and that was the problem.
“Right. Because you’ll be on your way soon enough.” Jace picked up the money belt and threw it at her. “Don’t forget your ticket to a new start at bigger and better punishments. I guess you really are a masochist. You seem unsurprised that I won’t be your sadist.”
The money belt flumped to the floor at her feet like a dead snake. Kraft did not want to touch it with her bare hands so she kicked it into the hall and picked it up using the cuff of her shirt, Jace’s shirt, to block her fingertips from making direct contact. When she got to her room, she dropped the mass of money on the table and left it there.
Thief: Fringe, Book 1 Page 28
