by Holly Ice
When I opened my eyes again, everyone had their backs to me. Ludis was here, blocking the stairs along with a dozen fighters, armed with stunners and batons.
I looked around for the patrol and found them, out cold, propped up against the food hall doors. We’d been so wrapped up in my drama, we’d missed it. Space me. What did we do now? Our back-up was unconscious, and Ludis was spearheading an armed attack with people that should be in lockers. Was this why he’d been so desperate to have my support? Was this the only alternative?
Ludis nodded, breaking the stalemate, and his fighters rushed us. We were outnumbered more than two to one. I called out for help, but more fighters rushed the stairs and the food hall. The security inside was busy. We’d be getting no help.
Siti flew straight into the fray, twisting through the fighters and disarming three. Quinn went after her, pushing two fighters back toward the stairs, away from me. But not all of them. A slim, leering woman advanced on me.
‘You.’ She was the counsellor that was supposed to help Ludis end this nonsense. Instead, she was fighting with him.
I gritted my teeth and threw the first kick. She dodged, and my training kicked in as I blocked her wild lunges and smashed her nose when she dropped her guard.
She cradled it, dropping the stunner in the process, but smiled through her bleeding hands. I risked a glance over my shoulder and cursed as a strong arm wrapped around my throat.
‘Sorry, Errai. I tried to stop this.’
‘Don’t do it.’
Ludis tightened his hold while his fighters held off my friends. A stunner sparked in his right hand, and his eyes were cold as deep space. No trace of my old friend lived in those eyes.
‘Please, Ludis.’
‘You wouldn’t let me do this the other way, would you?’
His eyes were still cold, dead, and a sharp tear in my gut made me realise this was it. I’d lost him to this madness, and I had no idea what he’d do next.
‘Think about what you’re doing, Ludis, and who you’re doing it to. I’m not the enemy.’
I swept the deck for help. My parents and Ksenia were on the ground, stunned. Siti and Quinn had made it to the stairs. Siti met my eyes and shook her head. With five or more fighters between her and me, she couldn’t do anything except get herself captured. The stairs were clear. She had to go. They both did. My eyes burned, pushing tears down my cheeks, but I kept my gaze locked on them as Ludis plunged his stunner into my stomach.
Sparks flew over my vision and I doubled over, every muscle screaming in agony as he lowered me to the floor. Black encroached on my vision, and I was out.
Chapter 15
My hand twitched as I came to, my muscles stiff and achy. It took a moment to get my bearings. I was in an awkward position, my neck tilted and squished into my chest where I’d been left against a wall, my right arm and leg asleep from how I’d lain on them.
Thoughts came back in a rush. I’d been stunned with a patrolman’s stunner, by Ludis. So had my parents. This was far more than an isolated attack. I kept my body still and my breath even as I pieced together what had happened. I had to have been here a while to go numb on one side.
Feet shuffled nearby, back and forth in a guarding motion, so I wasn’t alone. I was also warmer than I expected for essentially collapsing in a corridor. Others must be nearby.
I opened my eyes the tiniest crack and scanned the area from between my eyelashes. We had one guard that I could see. I tried to move the arm that wasn’t dead, but it was tied to the other one, and the move set off a spasm of pins and needles. I bit down hard on my lip and pulled air through my teeth, waiting for the sensation to pass. While the prickly waves deadened, I turned my head to the wider room. The layout was wrong. We weren’t outside the food hall – we were inside, dumped in a corner across from the tables.
The door opened and the pacing guard stopped. I closed my eyes and pretended I was still out.
‘Anyone awake?’ Ludis asked.
‘None yet,’ the guard said, his voice calm but not bored.
‘They will be soon. I’ll get more guards in. They put up a good fight.’
There was a pause. Then, ‘Anything else?’
‘Yes. Let me know when Errai wakes.’
‘Are you deactivating her nanites?’
‘Eventually, but I need to speak with her first.’
‘Understood.’
Ludis’s footsteps quieted and the rush of more guards approached, their boots heavy on the deck.
I bit the inside of my lip. Ludis was in complete control, which meant he’d planned this attack, maybe even the attacks on James and Siti. And for this large a group to have escaped lockers and slipped deck patrol… they must have incapacitated more guards than the ones on this deck, likely while I’d distracted the crew with the vote. I would have kicked the wall if I could have, but my ankles were as securely tied as my hands.
What to do… as soon as I opened my eyes, Ludis would be back for me. He’d probably want to sway me to his side, then rid me of nanites. I shivered at the thought of what that chemical might interrupt, but our talk might get me alone with him for a minute or two. If I knew what waited outside the food hall, I might even have a decent chance of escape.
Clothes rustled as someone else stirred. Either they’d been awake for a while and playing unconscious like me, or they’d been stunned later. They groaned, thumping the floor and cursing. I peeked. It was Rima, struggling to a sitting position. Why stun her? She hadn’t taken nanites, and if it was in the course of a fight, it wouldn’t help Ludis maintain control. She was too well liked.
Rima narrowed her eyes as she took in the heavy guard. ‘What is going on here?’
‘You’re our prisoner,’ the calm guard said.
‘Why, and what makes you think you have the right to capture the entire committee?’ She gestured to her sides. I risked a glance and saw she was surrounded by the committee’s collapsed bodies.
I bit my tongue. With the whole committee secured and under guard, this was the definition of a mutiny.
‘Enough. You’re not the one in charge here.’ The guard kicked Rima in the ribs.
She pulled in a shallow breath, her tied hands held against her side. ‘Are you?’
‘Stop asking questions.’ He pulled his leg back as if to kick her again.
Rima’s lips thinned. She said nothing else, but a few more heads rose behind her – Yara’s, and Meri’s. The sway as Yara sat and the bob to her chin didn’t fill me with confidence, but the two of them did offer trained support for a fight back. There were six guards now, and four of us awake. If we got free, the odds were looking better.
Yara pulled at her restraints, growling as the plastic cut deeper into her wrists. ‘What did you lot do with the patrol?’
The smallest guard smiled. On his pimpled face, it looked slimy. Jeremy always had been a creep. I supposed Ludis didn’t much care about the calibre of his supporters.
‘Yara, you look lovely,’ he said.
‘Why, thank you.’ She offered up her hands. ‘Care to untie me?’
Ksenia shifted on my other side, pulling up to her knees. ‘The patrol, are they hurt? I can treat injuries.’
The guard scoffed. ‘They’re deep in dreamland. Nothing to worry about.’
‘Unconscious?’ Ksenia asked.
‘Drugged.’
Ksenia huffed. ‘With what?’
‘Don’t talk to them,’ the calm guard said.
‘How the hell should I know?’ Jeremy turned to the lone female guard, Nomi. ‘Can we stun them again? They’re easy to ignore when they’re out.’
‘No.’
The woman was stacked with muscle pushing against her heavy clothing. Tattoos burst out from the neck and hands. She had to be a security enforcer. By rights, she should be on patrol. She must have swapped sides, and she would require the full attention of a healthy Yara and Meri, if not four of them, if we were to get past her. No one else was g
ood enough to help, or they were still out. If we couldn’t fight our way out, that left my escape plan.
I’d have more cover to ‘wake’ and talk to someone before Ludis came for me once the others woke up. Someone would have an idea how to get out of this and come back to free the others. So, I closed my eyes fully and settled in to wait.
* * *
‘She’s awake!’ Nomi yelled.
Space her into the sun. I’d only just fully opened my eyes. I sat up quick as she strode out the food hall doors, presumably to find Ludis. My head was woozy, but I bum shuffled over to Rima. The guards were watching all of us, not just me. Even so, I lowered my voice and twisted so my mouth wasn’t visible.
‘I’ve been awake a while. I know the patrol are out and I know Ludis wants to talk with me, likely alone.’
Rima dipped her chin the tiniest fraction. ‘You plan to escape?’
‘If I can. They’re well organised. But I need to know what to do if I succeed.’
‘2-3-8-7-9-2-1-4,’ she mouthed.
‘What?’ Had she lost her mind when she was stunned, or had she been hit with a baton rather than a stunner? The side of her head did look bloody around the hairline.
‘Remember it. 2-3-8-7-9-2-1-4. It’s the override code.’
‘Got it.’ At least, I hoped I had it. With the override, I could control most ship systems, possibly even limit the influence of Ludis’s guards, but I’d have to get to nav to do it, and they’d guard that deck heavily. Partnered with a hacker and security personnel, with the ability to drug the patrol and steal a highly protected chemical, this group knew enough to do that much.
The door opened behind me. Some guards straightened and the prisoners grew quiet. Trouble.
‘Errai, I’m glad you’re awake. I was beginning to worry.’ Ludis frowned, eyes soft, but I couldn’t believe he meant it, not when I’d seen his cool disinterest as he’d put me down. ‘Nomi, help her to her feet.’
The mountain of a woman yanked me upright, half tearing my arm from its socket. She then bent at Ludis’s snipping gesture and slipped a knife between my ankles. It snagged on the plastic and freed my feet.
‘After him, nanite lover.’ She shoved me, and I stumbled after Ludis. He rounded the long food counter, and I followed him into the kitchen. The surfaces were sterile and as shiny as ever, Benjie’s stool empty.
‘Where’s the kitchen staff?’
‘We sent them to their cabins.’
‘Under guard?’
‘Naturally.’ Ludis settled on Benjie’s stool and pointed to the food shaping machine. ‘Fancy anything to eat?’
‘No.’ My stomach was queasy after the shock. The last thing I wanted was food.
‘I would ask you to make me something, but you look angry enough to poison me.’
He was relaxed, his foot slowly tapping the ground, as if the idea didn’t worry him in the slightest. My hands were bound, but I still found that irritating. His guards were in another room, which meant I could be a threat, especially after my training.
‘I might.’
‘I’m sorry I had to stun you.’
‘Had to?’ I raised an eyebrow.
‘You refused to listen to my other plan.’
‘You mean diplomacy over mutiny?’ The only plan he should ever have entertained.
‘I did try it that way. I went to the committee.’
‘I know.’
‘You didn’t hear them. They dismissed us and our movement as foolish. They called those who dropped out of your programme whining cowards and gave us extra nav shifts for daring to question them. What choice did that leave us?’
I raised my eyebrows, as if I was thinking it through. In truth, I didn’t necessarily disagree. Those who’d fled the room that day had been scared. Cowards fit well enough. And for barging into the committee? They could have received far worse than extra work.
I shifted so my back was to the thick metal table the food machine sat on. It looked as if I were leaning against it, but I knew from painful experience during a deep kitchen clean that the underside of the table hadn’t been sanded and there was a very sharp edge just… there. Shit. I bit my tongue as I scraped more skin than plastic, and adjusted the angle. Blood made the job more slippery, but I had it now.
Ludis’s eyes narrowed. I had to say something.
‘I didn’t hear that, no.’
‘You still think they have the right to ignore crew opinion.’ Ludis sighed and closed his eyes. ‘That’s okay. We’re going to have a vote. You’ll see how people feel, why I had to do this.’
I was halfway through the plastic now, but I paused. His fists were scrunched in anguish. He truly believed what he was doing was necessary, even justified. What would he do when this all fell down around him?
‘Aina told me what was in your video.’
He opened his eyes. ‘I already told you.’
‘She filled in the details. Her death must have been awful.’
Ludis crossed his arms, expression stony. ‘It was.’ There was the slightest crack to his voice that told me he cared far more for this woman than I would have guessed.
‘Is she why you started this group?’
‘Part of it. What happened to those people was horrific and completely avoidable.’
‘Only part?’ I moved my wrists against the table again. Almost there. Just had to keep him talking.
Ludis looked away. ‘Her death hurt more than I thought it would. It’s one thing to know she died after the Courage left the solar system. It’s another thing to see it.’
‘But you didn’t really know her.’
‘She was my blood, my family.’ He came over to me, peered into my eyes. ‘You know what family means to me.’
I did. It meant a lot to me too, which was why it hurt so much to have him turn on me. But, I was free. I opened my arms, as if to hug him. He moved one step forward before his eyes widened, realising I was untied, but it was too late. I kicked him in the balls, hard. He howled. As he bent over, I slammed my knee into his face, grabbed his stunner from his belt, shocked him, and ran for the back door. It was hidden behind a large stack of dried algae. I swiped the packets aside and the door swung shut after me at a clip, but I caught it and pulled it to. I didn’t want to tell the guards where I was. Speaking of which…
I peered down the narrow alley. Even with the low lighting, I could tell the cramped space between the wall of the ship and the kitchen was clear. Either the guards didn’t know about this space, or they didn’t think it necessary to guard it. Hardly anyone came back here except kitchen staff needing the deep clean supplies, so I wasn’t terribly surprised it was devoid of human life. Still, the flicker of light at the end of the alley promised people at the other end. I gripped the stunner and hurried.
The patrol Rima had stationed on deck were still out cold but breathing. Empty food trays were on the floor beside them, one upside down as if it had fallen when they had. Neither patrolman appeared to be stirring, so I couldn’t count on patrol help to get to nav – they could be out for hours, longer with a health cocktail.
This mutiny had been well organised. They had research to get the nanite chemical, security support, drugs, and some way of getting those drugs into the food – someone in food, perhaps. I had to assume other decks were the same. They had to be, else patrols should be here, facing the threat.
I slid my gaze to Ludis’s two guards, who stood at attention on either side of the food hall doors. They’d see me the moment I broke cover and I’d stand no chance against both their stunners, but I couldn’t wait where I was. Ludis’s knocked-out body would be discovered any minute after his howl.
Yells came from the depths of the kitchen. On cue. He’d been found.
The guards turned toward the food hall and I used the distraction to dash across the deck and downstairs. A kick in the balls really was the best weapon in a girl’s arsenal.
* * *
The guard on C-7 squeaked in surprise
and hit the deck before he raised his weapon. Too slow. None of the guards wore their coveralls, but I would bet money on him belonging to civil service. The look of fear and shock in his eyes as the stunner sparked was far too innocent for a middle-aged man. Not innocent enough, though. The patrol’s trays had tumbled against the stair railings beyond him, one falling onto the steps, and the patrol weren’t in sight. Did that mean they’d got away? Even two trained patrolmen would be beyond helpful. There had to be at least a couple that ate later than their partner and had seen what had happened, right?
I headed for my room to find something to tie the guard with, but a door opened before I got there. I swung around. It was Aina.
‘I’m glad you’re okay.’ I tried to peer over her shoulder, but it was difficult to see into her cabin. ‘Are you alone?’
Aina waved at the downed guard. ‘He was the only one on deck. Come in, please.’
I double-checked. She was right, the deck was clear, and no one else was peering out their doors. Probably more sensible to stay inside. ‘Do you have any cuffs?’
‘No.’ Her eyes lit up. ‘Wait, maybe. Inside.’
‘Okay. Grab the door for me.’ I went back for the guard and dragged him into Aina’s hallway. She let the door shut behind us and disappeared into her bedroom. A minute later she came out with two sets of cuffs. I wouldn’t question it.
‘Thank you.’ I hauled the guard’s hands behind his back and tightened the cuffs so the plastic near cut into his skin, then tied his ankles to his wrists for good measure, interlocking both sets.
‘He’d need to be a contortionist to get out of that,’ Aina said.
‘I hope so. Did you see what happened to the patrol?’
‘Oh, they’re in my bedroom. That’s where I got the cuffs.’
‘What? Why are they in there?’
‘I dragged them in. Thought this lot would be less likely to check my bedroom than the main rooms. Couldn’t wake them, though. They must have taken something.’
Never would I have thought Aina would be pitching in during a mutiny, but she was as cool as an iced drink. I followed her to the men. They were propped up against the bed in a much better position than I’d been in. They’d wake in relative comfort, especially since they weren’t tied. I tapped their cheeks and pinched their arms until they bruised, but it was no good. Whatever they were on was potent and long-lasting.
