by K. B. Wagers
“No time to debate it, go! We’ll meet up outside the asteroid belt and I’ll explain it all then.” I gave Zin a shove. “Go help them finish loading, we have to move.” My fingers flew over the tabletop. I transferred money from several accounts into something more accessible while we were on the run. I didn’t like doing it, but I also didn’t want the Saxons following a money trail back here and finding my hideout.
Zin closed a hand on my upper arm. “Move.”
I’d learned a number of things over the past few hours, one of them being you didn’t argue with Zin when he used that tone of voice. I did, however, grab a few things as he dragged me out of the room toward the ship.
I trailed a hand over the lettering on the side, letting a grin slip free when the reactive paint shifted to change the ship name to the false registry we’d logged her with. I’d fought with Portis over the name, but now I was glad I’d finally caved to his suggestion.
The result of the massive credit drop before we’d left the ship here was a sleek, well-armed vessel that was safely registered as a transport for a Solarian Conglomerate interest called InJex. The name on the registry, Sakura, was slightly more sedate than its real name—War Bastard.
Cas and Dailun had finished loading boxes and my new pilot slid into his seat with wide-eyed reverence.
“Try not to get us blown up your first time flying her,” I said, and tapped out the code to open the bay doors. “Computer, prepare for departure. Code relock sequence on my authority.”
“Pursuant to Plan IF?”
“Yes, please. And set the auto-destruct to go if anyone tries to tamper with you or the doors.”
“Plan IF?” Zin asked, sounding surprisingly calm despite his white-knuckled grip on the instrument panel. “Do I dare ask, Majesty?”
I grinned at him and keyed up my smati. “Dailun, did Hao fill you in?”
“Hai, jiejie.”
“I’m reading three Saxon vessels coming in to land at the port. Hao is probably waiting for them to get on the ground before he takes off.” I buckled my belt, pleased when the others did the same without having to be told. “I’m fucked.”
“Excuse me?” Zin blinked at me.
“Plan IF,” I said. “I-F stands for I’m fucked.”
“Because WAF just doesn’t have the same ring,” Cas muttered.
I couldn’t stop the laughter that bubbled up out of me. “Precisely. I’m glad you’re here, Cas. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“I wish I could say the same, Majesty.”
“Spoilsport.” But I returned my focus to the screen in front of me, watching the alarms for signs of the Saxon ships in port scanning in our direction. There weren’t any, but I wasn’t sure if that was a cause for celebration or a reason to worry.
“There goes Hao. They don’t seem to be following him.”
“We changed the registration tag on the ship in Shanghai,” Dailun said, easing us out of the cavern entrance and watching as the doors closed behind us.
A warning bell sounded off to my right and I spat the curse out. “We’re tagged. Go.” I threw up a smokescreen of another ship registry as the Saxon radar pinged us. It was flimsy, but if they didn’t get more than a glance we’d be okay.
Thanks to the fact that the Saxon ships had landed and Dailun’s remarkable ability to leave the atmosphere of any planet faster than any pilot I’d ever seen, we made it into warp before the Saxons could get a bead on us again.
I input the coordinates into the computer for the asteroid belt that bordered the XgCD System.
“Sister.” Dailun’s quiet exhalation wasn’t quite a protest, but it was enough to alert Zin, and I resisted the urge to reach over and cuff my newest charge for it. “We should not.”
“We’re going to Santa Pirata, Dailun.”
“What’s at Santa Pirata?” Zin asked.
“An old friend’s place,” I replied with a shrug.
“Bakara Rai is no one’s friend.”
That time I did cuff Dailun, hitting him just hard enough to make it sting.
He rubbed the back of his head with a stoic shrug. “Only the truth, jiejie. I would not see you have dealings with one such as him.”
“We need information. He’ll have it.”
“Who is Bakara Rai?” Cas asked quietly.
I contemplated not answering, but Dailun would probably tell them everything anyway, so it was best if I chose how things were phrased. “He’s an associate of mine. One who deals in information. Among other things.”
Zin gave Dailun the Look, so perfectly copied from Emmory that I choked, and I swore the kid folded faster than a drunken Parisian with a handful of low cards.
“He is a gangster of the deadliest sort, honorable BodyGuard. An independent contractor. He deals in drugs, goods, people, information—whatever will make him a profit.”
“Traitor,” I muttered, attaching an endearment on the end so he knew I was joking.
“He hits harder than you, jiejie,” Dailun replied without apology.
“No, he doesn’t. Look,” I continued before either BodyGuard could interrupt. “It’s not the best of solutions, I’ll admit. However I have two very good reasons for my decision. One is that Rai will have information that will be helpful. I’ll have to pay him for it, but with him that’s a guarantee it will be accurate.”
“And two?”
“He said he had a present for me.”
26
It was almost twenty-four hours in warp to the outer reaches of the galaxy. After I’d watched the footage of the matriarchs’ executions, I spent a good chunk of that trying to catch up on my sleep.
The news reports were filled with the breaking story and it hadn’t taken me long to find some less reputable sources who’d published the images released from Indrana.
Phanin had held a sham of a trial—in public, no less—implicating the matriarchs in collusion with the Saxons in the death of the empress. It was slick; I had to give him that. There was just enough truth woven into the lies and enough confusion as to what actually had happened to keep the situation from becoming immediately clear to outsiders.
The Saxons were, of course, denying everything. Phanin may have enlisted their aid in the first place, but now he was double-crossing them in a manner that would make a back-alley rat from Southern Amsterdam proud.
None of this had saved the matriarchs. They’d been marched, one after the other, to the front of the throne room, where Wilson had unceremoniously shot each woman in the head.
A few of the women had cried silent tears; the rest were stone-faced as they walked to their deaths. Matriarch Maxwell shouted, “Long live the empress. Long live Indrana!” before they silenced her.
I threw up twice watching it the first time but made myself watch it again. Then I drank myself to sleep. My dreams were chaotic, haunted by the faces of the matriarchs Phanin had killed.
I woke, gasping for air, as Cas cracked open the door of my room.
“Majesty?”
“I’m all right,” I croaked, rolling out of the bunk and crawling for the sink in the corner. Cas helped me to my feet, holding me there as I threw up. He reached past me for the faucet.
“There’s no water.”
“There is, ma’am. We pumped some on board before we left.”
“Bless you.” I rinsed my mouth out, clinging to the edge of the sink until I was sure my legs would support me again.
“Occasionally I get things right.”
“What are you talking about?” I turned, too quickly, and had to close my eyes as the room spun around me. “You’re doing fine, Cas.”
He helped me to the low bench on the other side of the room. “That’s kind of you, Majesty. We both know the truth. I’ve been a poor replacement for Emmory.”
I grabbed his arm and yanked him down. “Listen here. You’re doing the best you can. I’m still alive, which means a lot. The fact that I’m feeling belligerent and uncooperative isn�
�t a reflection of your abilities as a BodyGuard.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I’m serious.” Taking him by the shoulders, I stared him in the eye. “You’re not Emmory, Caspian. I don’t expect you to be. I expect you to be yourself.”
He swallowed, nodding at me. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Good.” I released him with a smile.
“Dailun made some breakfast, ma’am. It’s in the galley.”
“Maybe later.”
“You need to eat.” He hauled me to my feet and led me to the door.
I heaved a sigh. “I am already regretting that pep talk.”
“I know, ma’am, but thanks anyway.”
According to the War Bastard’s computer we’d come out of warp an hour ago. In a move that was so close to something I’d have done it made me laugh out loud, Dailun had brought us out almost right on top of the asteroid belt. Most pilots floated from warp about five hours out from Midway. We were less than an hour from the way station.
The stronghold of Bakara Rai was a collection of three planets orbiting a red giant. It was close enough to the outer edges of the Orion-Cygnus Arm and far enough away from Earth that the authorities from the Solarian Conglomerate didn’t bother much with Rai.
So long as he kept his piracy to a minimum.
From what I knew of the man he was more than happy to obey, when it suited him. When it didn’t there were hundreds, if not thousands, of private contractors in his employ who would go after an SC merchant ship for the right cut of the profits.
Only one of the three planets orbiting the star known as XgCD was habitable. Aptly named Isla de la Vida, the Island of Life, it was used for growing what food the colony couldn’t bring in via trade.
Isla de la Muerta was the planet closest to the star, one that in another few million years would be swallowed by the expanding giant. It was, as the name suggested, uninhabitable, the surface a shifting mass of molten rock.
Santa Pirata floated in the middle—too close to XgCD for life to survive on the surface, but far enough away that the solar radiation couldn’t penetrate the surface. It was there, in a vast network of underground cities, that the smuggler king Bakara Rai made his home.
First you had to make it past the asteroid belt surrounding the system. If you had an invitation from Rai it was an easy two-day journey through the heavily guarded artificial corridor.
If you didn’t, you had to navigate the belt, a challenge that took longer—provided you didn’t get smashed to pieces. Hao and I had both made the run. It was a rite of passage for anyone wanting to do business with Bakara Rai.
I finished my breakfast and cleaned up as best I could. We docked the ship and disembarked into the thriving port.
Dailun closed a hand on my forearm. “This way.”
I kept my head down, hair covered by a hood, as we wove through the crowd. Zin and Cas’s presence at my back was a welcome comfort. People melted out of our way, but it was hard to say if it was my pilot’s easily recognizable hair or the grim-faced men behind me that caused their flight.
Whatever it was, we made it the length of the station and onto the Pentacost without incident. Hao was in the cargo bay, talking with Emmory.
“We’re leaving your ship here,” Hao said by way of greeting.
“Why?”
He laughed. “Because if we take yours, the chances that Rai will just blow us out of the sky are far greater, and if I’m going to die I’d rather it was in my ship.”
“And if we take yours, Majesty, that cuts down on how many people we can take with us,” Emmory said.
“You’re not well enough to go with me anyway.”
“I’ll recover on the way out there. Between Henna’s work and my systems, the worst of the damage that Fasé didn’t heal is fixed,” Emmory said. “The rest will be fine by the time we get there. You’re not making the trip without me, Majesty.”
“The War Bastard is smaller. It’ll be easier to get through the asteroid belt. Hao—”
“I’m not going to tell him no, sha zhu. That’s your job.” Hao shook his head, his barely concealed grin making me want to punch him.
I looked at Henna for support. The doctor shrugged, waving a hand in the air. “He’s better. Out of danger. He will heal.”
“You’re not helping.”
“I’m coming with you, Majesty, like it or not.”
“I don’t like it,” I hissed, and stomped up the stairs.
“Ma’am.” Stasia handed me my old pants, cleaned and repaired along with a bright blue shirt that was blank on the front. She smiled and left me alone in our quarters. I finished changing and was folding my dirty clothes when Emmory came through the door.
He didn’t say anything, just leaned against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest.
I mirrored his stance, jutting my chin out and wishing I didn’t feel like I was in a standoff with my father.
“Majesty,” Emmory said. “My place is at your side, until the end of it. I would go beyond that if I could figure out a way.”
“I’m so tired of people dying for me.” The façade cracked and the loss of everyone rolled through me. I saw the sympathetic grief surface on Emmory’s face.
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“He killed them, Emmy.” I covered my face with my hands and sank down on the bunk. “How did I misjudge him so terribly? There was no expression on Phanin’s face as they fell. Wilson—”
“Majesty.” Emmory closed his hands, absent his normal gloves, around my wrists and gently pulled them from my face. “It is not your fault.”
“Zin accused me of trying to kill myself. I’m not, I swear. I’m trying to hold it together, Emmory, I just don’t know if I can. Everyone around me is dying. I can’t keep you all safe. I should be able to keep you safe.
“I was trying to do the right thing. They suckered me into leaving the planet. And Trace? I haven’t ever, ever, been that naïve about anything. I missed this huge thing right in front of me.” I was angry, but not at my Ekam. “I left them there alone to die!”
You almost died and left me here alone.
I couldn’t say the words out loud, but Emmory heard them anyway. Concern softened his face as he knelt in front of me and tugged me off the bunk into his arms. “I’m still here,” he murmured, the words soft against my ear as he wrapped his arms around me.
“Why me? Why am I the one everyone is depending on? What fucking fluke of the universe put me, of all people, here?”
His arms tightened just like Zin’s had that night in the canyon. “I don’t know, Hail, but I’m grateful for it.”
“You’re crazy, you know that?” I pulled away with a laugh and shoved both hands through my hair.
“I am your Ekam, Majesty, it stands to reason.” He offered me a hand as he stood up.
“Oh hush.”
“Tell me about Bakara Rai.”
“He’s a dangerous man. Charming, unpredictable. He expects to get his own way, which isn’t really surprising for someone running one of the largest smuggling rings in this sector of the galaxy. He’s smart enough to stay in Po-Sin’s good graces and to keep himself strong enough that Po-Sin isn’t quite sure whether he could take him out.”
“How much interaction did you have with him? Zin said you called him a friend.”
I stared at the ceiling as I tried to figure out the best way to answer the question. “Friend is probably overstating it. We ran several jobs for him over the years, spent some time at Santa Pirata. I don’t know him all that well. No one does, except maybe Johar.”
Emmory arched an eyebrow at me and I shook my head.
“That’s all you get, Emmy. Sorry.”
“And we need to go see him why?”
“He said he had a present for me.” I lifted my hands in the air. “And Rai isn’t the sort of man you want to upset by not accepting his hospitality.”
The trip through the asteroid belt was predictably tense. It took
everything Hao and Dailun had to keep his ship—and us—in one piece during the five-day trip. They switched piloting duties like clockwork—one sleeping while the other flew. I filled in twice, but it was a struggle even for me to keep us from being crushed by the multitude of debris for those brief periods in an unfamiliar ship.
“Greetings, vessel Pentacost. You’re a long way from home.” The young woman at Port Control was pleasant enough with her wide gray eyes and easy smile, but the undercurrent of tension vibrated like a taut string.
“That we are,” Dailun replied. He plastered a smile on his face I was sure was deliberately strained. “My esteemed boss, Cheng Hao, would like to speak with Mr. Rai.”
“I’ll have someone meet you at G76. Don’t disembark until they get there.” The screen clicked off before Dailun could say anything in reply.
“We’re going to have to move fast,” I said, downing my tea in several gulps and wincing as the heat burned into my stomach. “Dai, I want you, Cas, and Hao to go see Rai.”
Dailun nodded. “Hai, jiejie.”
I suppressed the smile that threatened. Dailun’s own grandfather was the most feared gang lord in the universe, and yet the disgust in his voice over Rai’s profession was obvious.
“Hail, what am I supposed to tell him?” Hao asked.
“Make something up. Emmory, you and Zin are with me. I want everyone else to stay with the ship. We need to move, we’ll want to be off the ship before Rai’s goons show.”
“Majesty.”
Emmory was giving me the Look. I blinked at him. “What? Sorry—did you have a plan?”
“As a matter of fact, yes.”
I grabbed him by the arm. “Mine’s better. Come on.”
27
Getting off the ship before security got to our dock proved frightfully easy. Emmory, Zin, and I slipped into the darkness on the far side just as four brown-clad men marched through the doors. Hao met them at the foot of the ramp with an innocent smile plastered on his face.
I couldn’t hear what he was saying from our hiding place, but the subservient bowing from my new brother and Cas told me enough.
Our subterfuge was holding for the moment.
