“It saved your life,” shrugged the native.
“What’s your name, anyway,” Bogart demanded frowning fiercely, “I can’t go around calling you grease monkey and thinking of you as that glass-jawed native anymore, now can I,” he grumbled swaying on his feet.
The former Lancer didn’t move a finger to help him, which was how he wanted it, but also said something about the other man at the same time.
“Heirophant,” shrugged the native.
“Okay, grease-monkey, let's get out of here,” said Bogart, stumbling forward using one hand on the wall to help keep him upright, “ye-space gods, it's been a while since I used Combat Heal. Almost forgot how it felt… almost.”
“Supposed to go to medical after using the Combat Heal,” said Heirophant with a shrug.
“Supposed to do a lot of things. Doesn’t mean they actually get done, now does it, grease-monkey,” Bogart said shaking his head.
The native frowned, “Thought you wanted to know my name and not call me grease monkey anymore.”
“No, I wanted to know your name so that when I called you grease monkey, I wasn’t still thinking of you as that Murphy-crazed, uppity native,” Bogart said matter-of-factly.
The Lancer scowled at him.
Bogart turned forward to continue his limping course down the corridor, as well as hide the smile on his face. “Whatever happened to that sonic grenade,” he asked as the thought popped into his head.
The overgrown grease-monkey grunted, “Kicked it down side corridor so it was out of the way.”
Bogart wheezed a laugh but didn’t comment further.
For his part, the Lancer followed him without a word or offer of assistance. Too proud to ask, the Gunner limped and staggered his way out of enviro-purgatory under his own power.
Chapter 32: Expedition Infirm-um
“I’m surprised you agreed to come. I would have thought from your previous refusals that you had no desire to see my world or city again,” said Akantha, a familiar chill in her voice. At least it was better than the stony silence I’d been dealing with up to that point.
“The crew seemed excited at the chance to visit with family. Both Lancers and regular crew,” I said referring to the fact that most Lancers were natives, while both Promethean and Caprian Royalists which had family on the planet were all colonists. There wasn’t a native Tracto-an among the ship's regular crew, at least not yet.
“Yes, they were quite happy. As is only to be expected when a person is given the chance to visit those they care deeply for. People who may be far in body but close in spirit,” she said. I knew this was probably some roundabout dig at me for not agreeing to visit earlier, but I didn’t care to get into it. Better to let her have her little pound of flesh.
We’d see if she was still happy I’d come after some relative challenged me to yet another battle to the death. Although in fairness it might not be a relative, perhaps it would be another one of her formerly hopeful yet now jilted and violently spiteful suitors looking to claim my head and a place in her bloodthirsty heart.
“You never said why you refused to come for a second visit,” she said with a sharp sidelong look. “Since we have entered an era of truth at your urging, perhaps this is a good time for you to tell me,” she said with a sweet smile that was anything but genuine.
I clenched my teeth, closing my lips to produce fake a smile of my own. On second thought, she might actually enjoy it if I ended up fighting another one of her former suitors. The longer this went, the less eager I was for this little planetary diversion.
“I wanted some time for things to settle in Argos before risking a return,” I replied casually, looking off to the side.
“So my homeland is too big a risk for the mighty Prince of Capria,” she sneered. “Are you a man, or some gelded steer? Because a ‘real’ man fears not a little risk.” She rolled her eyes in a deliberately mocking manner.
I jerked. That barb actually stung for some reason. Who was this native wench to speak to me in this manner? “I didn’t say that,” I snarled. I couldn’t help myself, she’d finally gotten under my skin. It was all I could do to keep my face blank and the hurtful words I wanted to lash out with in return bottled up.
“If you don’t want to tell me how you really feel, then let's end this sham now...” she said shortly, deliberately letting her words trail off. The implication was clear: if I wasn’t willing to tell the truth, at least in her eyes, then our deal was done.
I glared over at her, outraged at the way she was forcing the issue. There was no benefit for either side to gain from the whole issue. What was she looking for, another reason to yell at me and call me names?
“I didn’t want to be forced to kill anymore of your relatives,” I said truthfully enough, but the disbelieving look on her face pushed me over the edge. Throwing caution to the wind along with the last threads of my discretion, I went on the attack. “But after the way you just tried to kill my cousin when she hadn’t even lifted a finger against you, I no longer care.” Akantha gasped. It was a quick half breath, quickly cut off and mastered, but the blow was telling. I knew I shouldn’t take such satisfaction in the reaction, especially since what I had just said was pretty awful. But if she wanted the full, unvarnished truth, and was willing to say I wasn’t a man, well let's see how she liked it when I put the worst possible spin on things. I was tired of the way she ran around doing whatever she wanted and then insulting me when I showed the least bit of concern, or asked for a small amount of discretion.
“So not only do you think I’m trying to get you killed by asking you to come to my home city, but you would take the side of your cousin over me as well,” she said with icy precision. “I thank you for the truth. I believe I am done with this conversation now.”
I felt my blood pressure soar through the roof. She had demanded, not asked but literally demanded that I talk even after I had politely requested the subject be dropped, but as soon as she got what she wanted it was time to stop the conversation.
That was the final straw, and the last vestiges of my control snapped.
“Where was my dear wife after my oh-so-beloved cousin stabbed me in the back? Literally, she stabbed me in the back,” I leveled a shaking finger at her and raged. “Oh, that’s right,” I roared, “she was too busy having another in a series of hissy fits to care whether or not I was about to die!”
Akantha stared at me, shock temporarily overriding her mask of icy disdain. For a moment I almost hesitated, since the knife had been really small and I wasn't even aware I’d been stabbed until the Lancer Colonel discovered it. Then my face hardened. She wanted the truths she was after and nothing more. Let's see how she felt about taking the truth by force next time, after I shoved the rest of this particular truth down her throat.
“I didn’t know…,” she said almost hesitantly, “I wasn’t aware-” but I was too hot to listen, and cut her off just as everyone seems to cut me off.
“Not only did I almost die, but I can’t even do anything about it,” I yelled hoarsely. “If she hadn’t stabbed me, then after the way you attacked her I’d have no leverage and the Provisional Assembly could even demand I turn you over to them for trial! When I refused, they’d then have the perfect grounds for relieving me of command and taking away the Lucky Clover. Which, I might add, is the only ship in the sector with a prayer of stopping the Bug invasion of your world,” I paused to recharge slightly before continuing on. It was time someone told her the way things were in the larger galaxy. She couldn’t keep running around trying to kill anyone who ticked her off. “Not that they don’t already have grounds enough after the way my ‘wife’ attacked their official Representative. Come on Akantha, I all but guaranteed her safety. How could you do this to me!?”
I was breathing hard and Akantha looked like some of this was almost getting through.
“She had no right to speak to me in such a fashion,” she said stiffly, “and threats do not excuse cowardice.” I
t took me a moment to realize she was still harping on the fact that I hadn’t come back to visit her people since my first abortive foray to the surface. Showing up to meet the folks only to be battered into unconsciousness and have your hand cut off will tend to make any guy leery of a return visit, at least in my opinion.
“And another thing, my dear Sword-Bearer: if I’m some gutless, gelded wonder for not jumping at the first opportunity for another death ride down to your world, especially after the way I was almost killed last time, then what are you? Some bloodthirsty, would-be genocidal savage? A savage who doesn’t even care enough about her own people to restrain-” the crack of her hand against my face knocked my head to the side and had me seeing stars. It was only for half a second but still, that woman was strong.
I felt around inside my mouth with my tongue and discovered where the force of the blow had cut the skin on the inside of my mouth on my teeth. I spat up some blood on the floor before deciding that was uncouth, and swallowed the rest.
Maybe I deserved that one, I decided. Although in fairness, it was pretty telling that when she lost her temper, I was the one who got stabbed in the back. But when I was the one losing my temper, once again I was the one bleeding and getting slapped. Clearly our relationship was based more along the lines of the 'Jason Montagne is a punching bag' show. It was all me, all the time.
I was reminded of the first time I met her. Again I was the one burned and battered to the point of unconsciousness while she just got to stand there looking pretty for the cameras. In the back of my mind I knew that wasn’t an entirely fair assessment, but thanks to her I had been burned, stabbed, dismembered and in all other ways physically battered into unconsciousness. Not just once, but twice! My reward was to be called names and physically assaulted, all while I was doing my very best to save her and her world from annihilation.
The threat to her world was a problem not of my making and strictly speaking something that was very much not the concern of a mere Prince of the Caprian Realm.
To top it all off when I showed concern for her, like during her recent visit to sickbay, I was the one who was pushed away. When I advocated for truth…well, I kind of did mess that one up. Still, I liked to think I’d put myself to the hazard often enough to have earned a little leeway but it looked like, according to the book of Akantha, that was not the case.
Akantha was the first to break the stony silence that had settled between us. “No Protector should speak to his Mistress so,” she said, her face as hard as a thousand year old glacier, her eyes focused on the forward wall.
I drew in a deep breath for an angry retort, but I just couldn’t do it anymore. The wind went out of my sails along with the knot of fury in my belly. In its place, all that was left was exhaustion. “Yeah. You’re probably right. The genocidal savage comment was way out of line,” I admitted with a sigh, “I apologize for that. But, Lady,” I said looking over and watching her face until I caught her eye, “when I was over there in sickbay with a hole in my back, and forget about looking after my stated intentions regarding treatment options, I woke up to a sour-faced medical professional. You couldn’t even be bothered to pay a visit to the man who took a knife for you? Or sit by my side until I woke up?”
“Oh,” she said, the color slowly leeching out of her face, her mouth making a small circle. Despite the fact the color in her cheeks was from anger, I had to say that little bit of extra color made her much more attractive. Something noticeable now by its absence.
“Yeah, 'Oh,'” I said not quite softly and not quite under my breath, but somewhere in between. Leaning my head back in the crash chair I was sitting in for the shuttle ride down from orbit to the surface, I couldn’t help it. Maybe I was emotionally exhausted, or more likely I was still recovering from my trip to sickbay, but whatever it was, my eyes felt exceptionally heavy and despite the gee forces, I was soon fast asleep.
Chapter 33: All Things Messene
The shuttle setting down brought her Protector back to wakefulness with a lurch. As she watched, he shook his head and looked around blearily as he reached over for the straps that chained him to the chair.
If she hadn’t still been furious with him, she would have reached over to help him release the ingenious little catches that helped keep a person safe during the trips to and from the ship
He fumbled around for long enough that she grew tired of waiting for him and reached over to pop the release. His look of surprise was almost gratifying, until it wasn’t and her fury with him returned. Akantha abruptly got out of her own crash chair and turned away.
“Let’s go see the family,” he said.
She stiffened before deliberately forcing herself to relax.
“We are stopping at Messene first,” she said coolly. She had asked the pilot to go to the island first in the hopes that Messene would be a better first stop. A hopefully neutral location, with sights and surroundings more familiar to a Warlord and Admiral of the Stars than Argos. Hopefully, this would help overcome his trepidation.
“Why are we here, I thought we were going to Argos,” he asked, clearly puzzled.
She frowned at him. Was it so hard to imagine that she desired to make his trip here as pleasant as possible?
“I instructed the pilot to take us here first,” she couldn’t help glaring at him, as she was clearly still furious with the man. How dare he insult her like that and then make her feel as if she was somehow in the wrong, when he was clearly the one at fault here!
He raised his hands. “Whatever you want, Akantha,” he said, shaking his head and looking to the side.
She narrowed her eyes, suspecting yet another backhanded insult. When she didn’t find one, only a studied look of disinterest, she suppressed a twinge in her stomach and held fast to her righteous anger instead. If only he would take that attitude more often, things would be fine.
“What I want is for your Cousin to suffer as she deserves,” burst out of her mouth before she could stop it.
She could see the anger clouding his feature and braced herself for another fight. She hadn’t meant to reopen the subject like this and so soon, but now that it was here she was more than ready for the fight.
She watched closely as he drew in a deep breath and that pleasant mask he used to hide his feelings crept over his face. She hated it when he did that.
Surprisingly, he didn’t immediately wade back into the recent conflict but instead paused. She was taken aback by the wry smile that crossed his face.
“I couldn’t agree with you more,” he said, sounding affable for once.
“She does deserve it,” Akantha responded in equal parts surprise and agreement.
Jason nodded. “Now there’s a woman that’s needed a comeuppance ever since she was a child,” he said, waving his hand and looking off into past and something she couldn’t see.
They way he said woman had her suspicious, but she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. She instead focused on another thing about him that was irritating: the man just couldn’t seem to keep his hands still. Most of the time she found it mildly amusing when she stopped to think about it, but not today. Today it was just another reminder she was tied to a stranger. Strange in every sense of the word.
She wanted a good fight, and here he was trying to be semi-reasonable. At times she wondered what kind of man was produced out here in the stars. No man she knew of in Argos would just stand by while his woman slapped him and carry on as if nothing had happened. True, she was a Hold Mistress and not just an ordinary homemaker, but most men led with their fists and apologized later, if ever.
She couldn’t imagine he was a physical coward, whatever she might say in the heat of the moment. He’d faced the Sky Demons without flinching and slew her mother’s Protector, Uncle Nykator in a duel. True, he had a suit of this magical power armor, but even so he’d lost a hand and still carried on. She’d also heard tale of his exploits against the Imperial Marine Jacks. Everyone she’d talked with said the
fearsome Jacks had superior weapons and armors, and in his role as Warlord, Jason Montagne had done better than hold his own. He’d fought and led his men to victory in the face of a superior opponent fighting in their own fortress.
She was actually more than a little bit jealous she’d missed out on that particular boarding action. She was also a little irked, but reminded herself it was only to be expected that he would have a more fearsome battle reputation. It was one of the few ways in which he actually met her expectations of a Warrior and man. The rest of the time, all this talking and arguing, it was more like being back home at mother’s court than being part of a war-band.
She shook her head to clear it.
“Speaking of childhood, did you really secretly rename all of your cousins after snakes,” she said, a hint of a smile playing around the edges of her mouth.
She could tell right away from the look on his face that as far as he was concerned, this was the wrong thing to ask about, but after a moment of reconsideration she decided she didn’t care. She knew so little about his life before they met, it was time to change that.
“Is it true that your family is holding your Mother hostage for your good behavior,” she asked, softening her voice slightly.
“Yes and yes,” he said abruptly.
She frowned at him, feeling more than a hint of anger rising at this uninformative answer. The whole point of talking was to convey information and communicate, not to shut things down.
“You really did name all your cousins after poisonous reptiles,” she said, more amused than anything. She could relate, as she also knew what it was like to have relatives you feuded with as a child.
“Yes. I did,” he said with a sigh.
“See, was that so hard?” she demanded, rolling her eyes at one of the few ways he really was like the males of her own people. One of the few ways in which she would have actually been happy to find him completely different. But it seemed that this would have been asking too much, even of the Gods. Still, at least now they had one more thing in common than they did before.
Admiral's Gambit (A Spineward Sectors Novel:) Page 34
