Cold Revenge

by Jaleta Clegg

"You don’t look very good yourself," I answered. He did look good, though. Even with a black eye and a split lip and cuffed to a sewage pipe.

  He looked up, above my head at the plastic link keeping my arms up overhead.

  "I already tried," I said before he could ask.

  "I can see that. They don’t want you dead, yet."

  "They want me alive and suffering as long as possible."

  "You really made someone mad," he said and tried grinning. He winced as his lip split.

  "You’re as much at fault. They’re mad about Dadilan. They want your blood, too."

  "Then we’ll have to figure out a way not to give them any of it." He squirmed around until he could sit. His arms were twisted to the side. "Any ideas?"

  I shook my head and closed my eyes. If I’d had any ideas, I would have used them already. My arms were numb. They were going to hurt, bad, when I finally got the circulation in them again. I shifted, my feet ached.

  "Any ideas where they’re taking us?" Tayvis asked.

  I shook my head again.

  "Don’t give up, yet."

  I tried shifting my weight to one leg, it helped a little. "Why are you wearing black again?"

  He looked away.

  "You’re back with Lowell," I said quietly and knew I was right. The niggling doubts Jerimon had planted in my mind about Tayvis started whispering to me. He was Patrol, he would never give it up for me. He’d gone back to Lowell. Because he wanted to?

  "You left me little choice, Dace. Suweya would have spaced me as a mutineer and then blown up your ship if I hadn’t."

  "And what are you going to do when your enlistment is up?" I had to know. Was Tayvis able to give up the Patrol?

  "Right now, I don’t know if I’m going to live that long. Why are you asking me?"

  "Because I don’t want to spend what’s left of my life watching you walk away from me," I said hoarsely. "Can you choose between me and the Patrol? And Lowell?"

  "That’s a very unfair question right now." He jerked at his cuffs. The pipe was almost as big around as one of his legs. "I did what I had to, Dace."

  "And what about when your enlistment is up? Are you going to have to choose Lowell then, too?"

  He turned his back on me. I’d hurt him again, I knew it. He braced his feet on either side of the pipe and heaved. Nothing happened, except he started swearing.

  "Who’s been filling your head with lies?" Tayvis said abruptly. His voice was rough, angry and hurt. "I gave up my career for you."

  "And took it right back at the first opportunity." I couldn’t stop the words.

  "For you, Dace." He yanked again. Nothing happened again.

  "Is that an excuse, Tayvis?"

  "Would I be sitting here ripping my wrists open if it were just an excuse?" He turned around to face me again. "Lowell backed my lies about you. Otherwise, Drummond and that prig Jenoshi would have sent in an entire Fleet. You and your ship would have been dust. Would it matter which side shot you first?"

  I looked down at his wrists, coated in blood, like mine. "I don’t want to live like this."

  "Neither do I. What happened to finding a nice, quiet trade route? Why do you keep picking fights with people a lot bigger and stronger than you?"

  "I don’t do it on purpose."

  "I really wonder about that." He shifted his hands, wincing at the cuts on his wrists. "I think you just like to have me come rescue you."

  "It’s the only way I ever get to see you."

  "That isn’t true. What about Parrus?"

  "You left before we could go anywhere."

  "I didn’t want to fight with Lowell on your ship. I would have been busted clear back to janitor if I’d tried."

  "What about Darus?"

  "After he put me on report for using bad table manners, we worked things out. Your father is a decent person, when he wants to be. He’s almost as bad as you are at getting into trouble, though he hides it better. He told me what you did on Vallius."

  "I bet he lied about it." I shifted my feet again. I wanted to sit. I wanted to be in any position but the one I was in. It didn’t seem to matter what I wanted, I wasn’t going to get it.

  "The stories sounded true enough, knowing you. Have you heard from Wade lately?"

  "Not since he left Parrus. Are you still jealous?"

  "A little. He got to rescue you from that one."

  "Wade’s nice enough." But he isn’t you, I wanted to say. The words stuck.

  "And what about Jerimon?" Tayvis asked.

  "He’s going to die, slowly and painfully, when I catch up with him." I sounded bitter and angry because I was.

  "Don't be too hasty about that. Lowell put him up to it. What did you do to your hair? I liked it longer."

  I bit my lip. I didn’t want to think about that.

  "What, Dace?"

  "Harris did it, he likes to play with his force blade." I turned my head away, ashamed for some reason.

  Tayvis muttered under his breath. He yanked at the cuffs and finally kicked the floor in frustration.

  The door slid open. Jerimon sauntered in. He wore dark clothes, expensive ones that resembled the outfits Harris wore. He gave Tayvis a wide berth and came across to me. He spread his arms. "You like it?"

  I spit in his face.

  He pulled out a cloth and wiped his face. "You shouldn’t have done that. I could have talked to Tolun for you. I could have convinced him not to sell you to Luke Verity."

  "I don’t care what you could have done," I snarled. "You could have left me and my ship and your sister alone. Where is Jasyn? What have they done to her?"

  I had the satisfaction of watching him wince.

  "You’re a snake, Jerimon," I said.

  "And you are going to pay for those words." He stepped closer, so close I could feel the heat of him. I tried to kick him, but my legs were numb and wouldn’t move. He cupped my face in his hands.

  I tried to spit again. He leaned in close and kissed me, holding my head still with his hands. I tried to fight him, but I had nothing left to fight with.

  Something metal pushed against my split lip. Jerimon held my head and kissed me harder. He pushed something into my mouth, something small. I froze, wondering what he thought he was doing. He stepped back half a step and smiled. It was a key, he’d passed me the key to the cuffs. He leaned back in, breathing in my ear.

  "Port pods, one hour," he said barely loud enough for me to hear. He kissed my cheek and stepped away.

  Tayvis kicked at him. Jerimon laughed and kept out of range. He swept out of the room. The door slid shut behind him.

  Tayvis swore, staring at the door. He finally turned back to me. "What was that about, Dace? You could have kicked him at least."

  I felt the key with my tongue, still not quite sure what Jerimon was up to. He’d told me several times to trust him. Was I fool for considering it?

  "Dace?" Tayvis searched my face. I saw the uncertainty there.

  I smiled, showing him the key in my teeth.

  His eyes widened. "That sniveling little weasel. Did you really have to let him kiss you?"

  I rolled my eyes. I had a key. Now I had to find a way to use it. I looked up, at my dead arms hanging limply in the cuffs. Even if I could have gotten the key up there somehow, there was no way I was going to be able to even hold it, much less use it. I looked back over at Tayvis. If I could get the key to him, he could reach his cuffs.

  I puckered my lips, pushing the key right to the front. I had one chance. I had to spit it at least ten feet. And get it accurate. I took a deep breath, pulling it in through my nose, and shot the key out.

  It clattered to the floor only halfway to Tayvis. I sagged, swearing at myself.

  "It probably isn’t even the right key," I said.

  Tayvis stretched full length on the floor and felt for the key with one boot. He couldn’t quite get it. He wriggled up, bending himself almost in half to reach his foot. He squirmed his back around to me and manage
d to get one boot off. He stretched out again, twisting his arms to try to see what he was doing. His foot wriggled over the floor, reaching for the key. He had on a black sock with a hole in the toe.

  He got the key and tried to drag it with his foot. It skidded to one side. He swore under his breath.

  I twisted my hands, trying to wake them up. My heart raced. What if someone heard? What if they were monitoring us? What if Jerimon was setting me up even worse? What if this were some new kind of torture Tolun had dreamed up to use on us?

  "Will you stop muttering?" Tayvis complained.

  I clamped my mouth shut and silently cheered him on.

  He reached one leg to the side, stretching with his naked toe, and managed to just barely touch the key. He dragged it towards him, inching it carefully over the floor. He stopped when his leg wouldn’t bend any farther. He lay down, panting. "If only I’d been built to be a contortionist."

  I giggled. Blame it on stress, but I found the comment hilarious.

  He looked at me and frowned. "Did they drug you?"

  "That’s the one thing they didn’t do," I said, the humor wiped from the whole situation.

  He shifted until he was belly down on the floor. He squirmed sideways until he was over the key. He stretched until his arms popped in their sockets. He came up with the key in his lips. He squirmed close to his hands.

  The key chimed as it hit the floor. He muttered and bent his head again. How much time had passed? Jerimon said one hour. How long had we been trying to open the cuffs? How long had I been watching Tayvis squirm? I'd lost track.

  He had his head close to his hands again, twisting one arm through the pipe to give him a better angle. He wriggled his lips until the key pointed the right way. He tried to get it into the lock. It slipped and he almost dropped it. He wriggled it straight again and patiently stuck it back into the lock. This time it slipped in. He took it in his teeth and turned. The cuff clicked open.

  He shook it off and picked up the key in his freed hand. "Did you forget to bring your lockpicks this time?" he asked as he unlocked the second cuff.

  "I’ve still got them. I just can’t reach them."

  "You just didn’t try hard enough." He stood then crossed over to me.

  He was big, much bigger than me. I leaned against him. He put his arms around me. He was warm and strong and we were going to get out of here. He reached over my head and unlocked my wrists. My arms fell down, dead weights. My numb legs wouldn’t hold me either. I sagged against him.

  "He said port pods in one hour," I whispered. "I can’t walk."

  "You’ve got a few minutes." Tayvis lowered me to the floor and started massaging my legs. I gasped at the pain as circulation began to return.

  "Wiggle your toes, it will speed it up."

  I didn’t know if it would help or not, but I did it. One toe twitched, and then another. My legs were on fire. My arms tingled, warning me that they weren’t far behind. Every bruise ached.

  "We’ve got a few more minutes. Stand up."

  "I don’t want to," I grumbled, but I tried to get my feet under me. I managed, with a lot of his help, on the third try.

  "Walk," he ordered as he dragged me across the floor. It hurt worse than anything yet. I bit my lip and stumbled beside him.

  He finally paused near the door. I was still numb in places, and tingling in others, where my muscles weren’t screaming in pain. The only thing keeping me on my feet was his arm around my waist. I turned to lean into him again.

  "We’re going to get out of this," he said, rubbing my back. He hit a tender spot and I flinched. He pulled back. "How bad are you hurt?"

  "Mostly bruises, on top of other bruises, which are on top of more bruises. They didn’t break any bones."

  He turned my face up to his, running one finger along the scabbed cut on my cheek. A muscle twitched in his cheek, a sure sign he was upset.

  "You aren’t going to kill them," I said. "I’m going to kill them first."

  He grinned at that. I couldn’t resist. I reached up with my still numb hands and pulled his head down so I could kiss him. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed me back.

  "And don’t ever think anyone else could ever—" I said when he let me go.

  He stopped me with one finger on my lips. "One thing at a time."

  He slid the door open and stuck his head out. The hallway outside was empty. We were near the back of the ship. It was a big one, fast and sleek as a Patrol Hunter. I looked out the door and changed my opinion. It was a Patrol Hunter, only slightly modified. I wondered what weapons it carried.

  "Port," I said and slipped out to my left.

  Tayvis followed me, walking so silently I had to keep looking to make sure he was behind me. We didn’t meet anyone in the hallway.

  At the end was another hall, a long one that ran the length of the ship. I stuck my head around the corner. Doors stood open at the far end, near the nose of the ship. The other doors were dark or closed. We were alone, for the moment. I hurried out, passing the doors until I came to the escape pods.

  They were tucked away, five clustered in one short dead end hallway. They were two person pods, not the larger ones standard on actual Patrol ships. The whole ship was enough like a Patrol ship that I began to wonder if someone had stolen the plans and was building them illegally.

  Tayvis broke into my thoughts by prodding me deeper into the alcove. "Someone’s coming," he breathed down the back of my neck.

  I slipped in farther, trying to hide to one side. We were exposed standing there. The door to the pod behind me slid open. I backed against it.

  Whoever was coming was whistling. Tayvis pressed against me, trying to hide. The whistler stopped just short of our hallway. He said something to someone, I was too nervous to hear the words. The whistling started up again, a jaunty tune that pulled at my memory. Who had whistled like that and why did I think of grass and night when I heard it?

  "It’s Jerimon," I whispered to Tayvis, sure of it.

  Jerimon slipped into the hallway, stopping dead just out of Tayvis’ reach.

  "I should kill you for this," Tayvis whispered.

  "Jasyn and I get to first," I said and pushed Tayvis out of my way.

  He dropped his hands and stepped to one side.

  "What game are you playing this time?" I demanded of Jerimon in a fierce whisper.

  "The same one, Dace." His face was set and hard and older than I’d ever seen it. He jerked around quickly and stared down the corridor. "Someone’s coming. Get inside."

  Tayvis didn’t wait to be told, he slid into the open escape pod. Jerimon muttered a swear word and squirmed in after him. That left me to squeeze down between them. I slid in feet first and tried not to notice where they grabbed to haul me in. Tayvis finally put his hand on top of my head and pushed me in the last foot.

  "Ow," Jerimon whispered as my foot caught him in the knee on its way past.

  "Serves you right," I muttered.

  "Hush," he said.

  We all shut up. We could hear the footsteps now, clicking faintly on the metal floor outside. They paused near the escape pods.

  "Indicator lights," I breathed.

  Jerimon understood. He swore silently as he pushed the button to close the hatch. It slid shut, no louder than a breath.

  "What if they come check?" I asked, barely a whisper of sound.

  "They won’t," Jerimon said. "Things have been acting up on this ship for a day or so now. The computer was incredibly easy to break into. I programmed it to randomly open and shut things, turn things on and off. It’s driving them crazy trying to figure it out."

  "And they don’t suspect you?" I was amazed he’d carried it off.

  "Me? I’m just a stupid pilot," he said and grinned. It was a nasty grin that wasn’t very happy.

  "Now what?" Tayvis asked. "We just sit here until they find us or Dace gets hungry and eats the ship?"

  I elbowed him.

  "I’m sure they have ins
ects in here somewhere. I know how much you enjoy eating bugs," Jerimon said to me.

  "Get them a cat and hope it scratches all of them," I muttered.

  "Have them actually clean something and it would help," Jerimon muttered in return. "The ship is filthy."

  Just like the Phoenix, I thought. But I didn’t want to think about the state of my ship. If I still had a ship. Not here. I had other problems to solve first.

  "What now?" Tayvis asked again.

  "We wait for a while," Jerimon said. "It was only a few hours to reentry, last I checked."

  "Great," I muttered. A few hours crammed into a pod designed for two small people? I bet with myself who was going to lose their temper first. It was a three way tie.

  Tayvis put his hand on my hip, Jerimon glanced down at it and grinned past my face at Tayvis. Now they were going to play territorial games, just like they had on Serrimonnia.

  "Stop it or I’m going to lock myself back in the pump room," I said. I didn’t move Tayvis’s hand, though, it felt warm on my hip.

  "He’s Patrol," Jerimon whispered.

  "And so are you, now," Tayvis whispered back.

  "That explains a lot," I said. "Did Lowell make you buy your get out of jail card?"

  "He told me I had to sell you off to Targon," Jerimon said. "It wasn’t much of a price to get out of scrubbing any more toilets."

  "If I could move my arm, I’d hit you for that," I said.

  "It was the only way, Dace," Jerimon said. "I am sorry. It didn’t turn out the way Lowell planned. They were supposed to pick you up at Cygnus, not Shamustel. He had agents waiting there for you."

  "But we never showed up."

  "It wasn’t supposed to include the ship or Jasyn or anyone else," Jerimon said.

  "And you believed Lowell? Just how stupid are you?"

  "Targon is much bigger than he believed," Jerimon shot back. He was angry, I watched his eyebrows merge. "They cornered me in prison and threatened to kill all of you unless I helped. Targon promised to keep my sister alive if I gave them you. Lowell promised he'd get all of you away from Targon. It wasn't much of a choice, Dace."

  "This isn’t getting us anywhere," Tayvis said. "I’ll hold him down while you beat him, but later. Right now we still have to figure out how to get off the ship."