by M. D. Cooper
The sergeant laughed. “Seriously, junker, drop it. Option B is that we shoot you, take your weapons and then drag you by your stupid white hair to the meeting. No one here wants to hurt the captain or you, but we have orders and we’ll follow them.”
Must be nice to have orders followed so well, Kylie thought as she glanced at Winter and nodded.
Winter pulled out his weapon and dropped it onto the floor. Kylie followed, wondering why she had decided to try packing heat to begin with. She blamed whatever the heck was going on inside her body.
“This way,” the sergeant said and gestured with his rifle. He stayed in the lead as the other three fell behind.
Kylie glanced up at Winter and took a deep breath as she followed after.
Here goes nothing.
INTO THE FIRE
STELLAR DATE: 09.16.8947 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: GFS Satisfaction, dark layer, near Einendart
REGION: Gedri System, Silstrand Alliance
The soldiers led them through the ship and escorted them into a lift before it began to rise. At least Kylie thought it was rising. It could be hard to tell on a ship with artificial gravity.
A stabbing pain behind her eyes caused Kylie to suck in a sharp breath. Her fingertips began to tingle and she rubbed them together worried there was some sort of issue with her blood flow.
Winter glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.
There was a loaded question if ever there was one. Kylie swallowed, forcing her mental tone to remain calm.
The lift played a soft tone and the indicator above the door read Deck 17 as the doors slid open.
They were escorted down a carpeted passageway and into a well-appointed lounge.
The carpeting was thicker in here, and Kylie suspected someone would have to clean the stains their boots were invariably leaving.
Several sofas and chairs were positioned in an open seating arrangement, drinks and appetizers set on small tables beside each seat.
The walls were covered in a shimmering pearlescent material, broken only by artwork depicting pastoral landscapes and a trio of broad windows that looked out over the rear of the ship.
Which was where Maverick stood.
He was facing the window, hands crossed behind his back. Kylie couldn’t help but notice that he was dressed presentably in a crisp pair of pants and a long-tailed jacket, not his usual leather getup.
“Maverick,” Kylie said by way of greeting, noting that none of his guards were present.
Maverick turned and smiled broadly as he addressed the guards, “Gentlemen, ladies. Thank you for safely bringing me these valued members of my organization. There’s no need to linger, I’m in no danger from these two.” Maverick stepped around the seating area and shook Winter’s hand before he turned to Kylie he gripped both of her shoulders and then put his cheek to her cheek and blew her a kiss against each ear.
“You have a lot of explaining to do,” he hissed quietly before pulling away and giving his fake smile again. Something about the way he looked at her told Kylie that he was in trouble. Almost like he was a big ole damsel in distress. Well, wouldn't this be fun? Kylie was up for a little ribbing, it might even cheer her up.
“I'm glad you found us, Mav. There's a lot I need to explain to you,” Kylie said.
“Oh, I’m sure there is.”
“Sorry, sir, we have our orders,” the sergeant said as Maverick and Kylie whispered to one another. Kylie glanced at the man and noted that while his tone was respectful, he was watching Maverick through narrowed eyes.
“Very well,” Maverick said, his expression uncharacteristically well-schooled. Kylie couldn’t get a read on him at all.
Two of the guards took up positions on either side of the door, while the sergeant and another walked to the far side of the room, their eyes never leaving their charges.
Maverick had just opened his mouth to speak when a woman strode into the room. “Well, now we’re finally all here,” she said, “Let us begin.”
The first thing Kylie noticed was she was clearly not one of Maverick’s girls.
Her hair was done up in beehive-like bun, and her face bore only light makeup. She wore a well-tailored formfitting dress suit in a beautiful shade of blue. The outfit certainly wasn’t military, or something that anyone in Maverick’s organization would wear. To top it off, her blue-and-yellow striped peekaboo-toe high-heeled shoes looked impossible to walk in.
This woman likely spent little to no time on warships—her attire was far closer to what a woman would wear to the office.
“First,” the woman said as she settled onto the sofa and crossed her delicate legs, “A drink. You’ve had a long and harrowing journey and I won't discuss business until you have a chance to relax and share in a toast with us.”
Kylie gave the woman a gentle smile as she took a seat on one of the sofas, Winter and Maverick settling chairs at either end. The smile was the type she used to give Maverick when she was still his property—as unauthentic as they came. “I can't say I've ever had the pleasure of meeting you before, and here I thought I knew Maverick’s associates in the GFF.”
Maverick settled into a chair and gave her a pointed look.
“You could say I’m an up and comer. New blood, quick on the rise.” The woman’s smile was so well-practiced, Kylie couldn’t help but like it. Definitely not like any other woman she had ever seen with Maverick.
Still, she hated the doublespeak and decided to skip past it. “Who’s the new girlfriend, Mav?”
Kylie watched the woman’s expression sour and her skin redden for a moment. Kylie smiled inwardly, glad she could still get a rise out of people.
Maverick coughed and gestured to the woman. “I'm sorry, this is Vaax. President of the GFF.”
Kylie asked Marge privately.
Kylie’s gaze flicked from Vaax to Maverick and back. Maverick controlled all the syndicates on Jericho, and most of the ones beyond. He was the single largest player in Gedri, and had been for over a century. While he didn’t directly control the GFF president, they were usually deferential to him, not the other way around—but that was not the dynamic at play here.
Aloud, Kylie said, “I was unaware that the GFF had just run an election.”
Vaax smirked. “I wouldn't call it so much election as a change of hands, confirmation ceremonies are still pending, but for all intents and purposes, I’m running the show in Gedri now.”
A quiet coup in the GFF leadership. It wouldn’t be the first time that Kylie had seen it. It would have been brewing for some time. It was no wonder that Maverick had been so paranoid and suspicious when she and Nadine had tried to run their little con on him.
“This is real cozy,” Winter said. “But can we please get down to business?”
She grunted and gripped her thighs.
Vaax stood and gestured with her open palm to the tray of drinks on the table between them. “I wasn't kidding about the drinks. Both of you, help yourselves. Think of me as your friend.” Nothing made Kylie more suspicious of a double-crossing backstabbing murderous woman than when she said ‘friend’.
Still, the drinks looked good, and Kylie spotted one of her favorite blue ales. She poured two fingers fro
m the decanter as Winter poured a glassful of his favorite scotch. Kylie spotted Rogers’ favorite beer on the table too. Apparently, this woman had read up on them.
Vaax poured herself a glass of red wine while Maverick picked up a glass that was already half full of what Kylie suspected would be his favorite whiskey.
“Good, yes?” Vaax asked with a smile and sat down again—this time beside Kylie. “Now that we have the pleasantries out of the way, it's time for us to get all our stories lined up. I've heard quite a few tales from Harken and Maverick. Now, it's time I hear what really happened from the woman who was there.” As she spoke, Vaax didn't so much squeeze Kylie's knee so much as molest it.
The GFF president smiled warmly as Kylie felt herself assaulted by a cocktail of pheromones. She felt herself getting light headed for a moment and then the feeling dissipated.
Winter leaned forward and grabbed some coconut truffles from a center bowl on the table. “I guess I’m nothing more than the window dressing? How come my stories never amount to anything but a pile of shit?”
Kylie drove the heel of her boot down into his shoe. Winter grunted with an exaggerated grimace on his face that would have caused Kylie to laugh if she wasn’t so worried about what Vaax wanted, and more importantly, what she already knew.
The president leaned back and placed her arms along the back of the sofa. “Oh, we'll get to you, darling. From what I understand, you weren't even on Jericho when the battle broke out.”
Winter popped a coconut truffle into his mouth and chewed loudly. “Oh, I was there all right. I distinctly recall being chased by Maverick's people.”
Kylie's eyes widened as Maverick's face turned twenty shades of red. “My people did no such thing. Those were Harken's goons.”
Vaax smiled, “Ah, yes, the shootout in Montral. Street fights are easy to sweep under the rug. Overzealous gang members, crazies, enough of those around. But what happened that day was a little bit bigger. There’s not a rug big enough to fit all that under.” Vaax gave Maverick a pointed look as she reached for her glass.
Maverick’s face fell and his hands slid to his lap. It was uncharacteristic for him to be so docile. “I was incapacitated,” he said.
“Yes,” Vaax said, nodding. “And then Harken mobilized the entire city to search for our dear Kylie here.” At that point, Vaax patted Kylie’s knee again. “Where you and your team killed more than a few people, I might add.”
Kylie shrugged. “You new to Gedri? That’s any old Saturday night in Montral.”
Vaax chuckled, then took a sip of her wine. “Yes, but that was a Friday, if I recall.”
“It’s evidence that Harken has gone rogue, is what it is,” Maverick said.
Kylie had never seen Maverick so out of sorts. Did he really need to dance to this woman’s tune? She almost felt sorry for him.
“Well, I’m sure Maverick is telling the truth. I arrived at Jericho, like usual and dropped off my salvage at Valhalla. Then we docked at Laerdo Station and took the strand down to Montral. Maverick asked my girlfriend and me to stop by his club, The Shade. So that evening we came over.” Kylie glanced at Maverick and saw him nodding. “We partied like we usually did, right Mav?”
“Like always,” he said.
Kylie cocked her head to the side. “Then this merc showed up and tried to take us out. The merc fired and hit Maverick, then he kidnapped my girlfriend and Harken unleashed her dogs of war on me because… Well…I really don’t know why. Maybe you should ask Harken.”
Maverick let out a long sigh. “Thank you, Kylie.”
Vaax sat up straighter and uncrossed her legs. “Interesting you should say all that. I can't actually speak with Harken right now because several individuals who would like to put up their own candidate for president have Harken under their protection.”
Marge gave a tired smile in Kylie’s mind.
No one spoke for a minute, and Kylie broke the silence, feigning concern with a hand to her chest. “Sorry, I thought you were the president, can they really withhold Harken from you?”
“Damn shame.” Winter said with a shake of his head as he popped another truffle into his mouth. “Can't hire good help these days.”
Wasn't that the truth?
Vaax smiled but it wasn’t her previous beatific one. This smile was a cold grimace. “Let's just say there are…disparate factions within the GFF right now. Some of us aren't sure which horse we should be backing. I’ve hitched my wagon to Maverick, others to Harken. Chum is in the water and the families are circling. Until we get to the bottom of this and reestablish Maverick’s clear control over the syndicates, we’re going to continue to fight among ourselves. If what you're saying is true, it would appear that Harken has strong backing from the families. And Maverick is old blood, on the way out.”
Maverick stiffened in his seat, and Kylie sighed.
It wasn't exactly what Kylie had said, but there was a truth to Vaax’s words. Harken had been up to no good for some time. Maverick was so caught up in his own personal world of debauchery and drama, he barely knew what was happening with his own holdings.
Kylie didn't know what the best argument would be to help Maverick out. She wasn't even sure if she should be helping him out. He certainly looked as though his life was crumbling. He deserved it, didn’t he? The man had crumbled enough lives, perhaps it was his turn.
“And us? What do you do about us?” Kylie asked.
“Well, there’s the matter of the girl,” Vaax said, her golden eyes locked on Kylie’s. She couldn’t help but note that they matched the yellow on the president’s shoes.
“The girl?” Kylie asked, struggling to remain calm as her heartrate quickened.
Vaax smiled. “Don’t play me for a fool, Kylie Rhoads, former officer in the Silstrand Space Force. I’m not stupid, and neither are you, though you sure look like it sometimes. Harken hired the mercenary to kill Maverick, and then took your girlfriend, Nadine Devonshire, hostage.”
Vaax thought she could force her into a corner? Hardly. What was the real reason Vaax had summoned her here? So far, Kylie wasn’t buying that it was a simple line of questioning.
“Ohhh, that girl, Nadine,” Kylie said.
“No, not Nadine. General Samuel’s daughter. Lana.”
Kylie felt like she was going to feint. If Vaax knew about Lana she was surely storming the Dauntless right now, seizing her. Their lives were hanging on by a thread.
“We think Harken has her to force General Samuel’s hand in some way,” Maverick interjected. “It’s why Samuel sent you to Montral.”
Kylie didn’t know if things had just gotten better or worse. Harken and Maverick knew about Lana, they knew about General Samuel. The real question was whether or not they knew about the nanotech.
She glanced at Winter, who appeared as cool as could be. He took the cue and chuckled. “Fuckin’ Samuel. Sent us in to rescue Lana. Thought Maverick had her.”
“I’m not that stupid,” Maverick said softly. “But Harken is. Pissing off the SA is a great way to screw things up here in Gedri. Shit like that will see the space force jacking up their garrison here.”
Vaax nodded serenely. “Yes, that will be our argument. Harken is greedy and she’s already messing things up for the rest of us.”
“She’s always been greedy,” Kylie said with no small
amount of venom in her voice. “I hate your damn cage, Maverick, but she’s one who should have stayed in it.”
Maverick nodded, a pained look on his face that appeared genuine. “Live and learn, I suppose.”
“There’s just one thing,” Vaax said, an eyebrow raised inquisitively. “Why did Harken’s mercenary just take your girlfriend and leave? He could have killed you, stopped you from pursuing your mission from the SSF. But he didn’t, why not?”
Kylie swallowed. This was the lynch pin. Vaax thought that the merc, Jason, was working for Harken. Kylie knew that wasn’t the case—though she had no idea who Jason worked for. However, the fiction that he was Harken’s man played into Vaax’s narrative. Kylie didn’t want to throw a wrench into the story. It would create new suspicions with both Vaax and Maverick.
“The merc told us that we were to lead the SSF on a wild goose chase for Lana. It was our job to buy time. Once Harken had what she wanted, we would get Nadine back,” Kylie said.
Vaax frowned. “That doesn’t play. If Harken’s merc told you that, why did Harken try to kill you right afterward?”
Kylie wondered that too, but Marge gave her the answer. “Harken caught me pulling the data on her brothel in Perseverance. I tried to use it to blackmail her into giving Nadine back, but she decided killing me would be best at that point.”
“Plausible,” Vaax nodded skeptically. “So, I assume Nadine is long dead and this merc is gone. A shame. If I had him I could really put the screws to Harken. He probably knows all sorts of juicy tidbits.”
Kylie smiled. Here was her play. “Nadine’s still alive. With the merc.”
“Lovely,” Vaax clapped her hands. “But why? Harken doesn’t seem that forgiving. Especially after you tried to take Lana from her on Perseverance. Whatever possessed you to do that?”
