Shit. She shook her head, walking toward Nature Enhancements.
It didn’t take long to get to the rusty metal door guarding the Gaian hideout in the Bazaar. No doubt, any who escaped the massacre would be on high alert. She couldn’t deal with her emotions right now, so she stuffed them down into some dark corner of her psyche for later.
Her hand drifted into her pocket and grabbed another kalkoa cube of its own volition. She had it half-way out before she realized and shoved it back in.
Gotta be on my guard, she thought, almost walking into the door when it failed to move itself out of her way.
Closed? We’ll see about that. PLIA, hack it.
[Affirmative. Initiating interface.]
The door hissed and slid to the side.
“That’s better,” she said aloud and entered.
She didn’t really know what she was expecting from a Gaian gene-mod business doubling as a hideaway, but a natural wood floor and a dusty desk wasn’t it. The lights flickered to life when they detected her presence. In their pale glow the place looked faded. The smell of dust and mold slid down her throat with every breath like the place was abandoned long before the attack on the ‘dome.
Maybe it was.
There was a door behind the desk with an actual knob and hinges. She hadn’t seen that outside of historical Cyberweb dramas and old-Earth revivalist hotels in a long time. The Gaians and their notions of what was “natural” tended towards the antiquated, but it never ceased to amaze her how willing they were to put up with inconveniences for the sake of their beliefs. How was an old wooden door any more natural than a hydraulic one? The only difference she could see was that the former simply took more effort to—
She stiffened. Her olfactory sensors detected faint traces of Biren’s pheromones along with those of a second individual. Her heart started to pound.
She took two deep breaths before approaching the door. The cool, metal nob pressed into her palm. She twisted it and pushed into the corridor beyond. The pheromone concentration in the air rose as she walked forward with deliberate steps. It was strongest just outside the last of four doors at the end of the hallway. She listened.
The quiet went on long enough that she began to question if her olfactory sensors weren’t out of calibration. The pheromone levels were constant, which wouldn’t be the case if he was no longer there. She hadn’t engaged the filters in her nostrils, just in case they could interfere with her nasal sensors, and she was already starting to feel the deep ache for his presence. Was he there? Was the edge on the familiar sensation due to the second presence? She’d never been around two Evolutionaries at the same time before. She would have to watch herself once she found them or she might wind up agreeing to something she would regret later.
The door jerked open without warning. Biren looked down at her with smoldering dark eyes and her knees quaked with sudden weakness.
“Please don’t be mad with me,” she blurted out and cursed herself. Those damn pheromones of his turned her into a foggy-brained, hormone-saturated idiot every time.
“We smelled you coming,” he said, reminding her that he had genetic enhancements that were just as good as her cybernetic sensors.
We? She wrenched her eyes off him and looked past his muscular physique. The room was small, with a old-fashioned upholstered love-seat, a short metallic cylinder on a night-stand, and a single bed. Sitting on it, to her surprise, was a blue-eyed, curly-blond woman in a brown, knee-length wrap-around that clung to her curvy body. Her slipper-like shoes were placed beside the bed. The toenails on her pale feet were dark-red. Cygni’s PLIA identified her as Heiress Olivaar, but she already knew the woman from the meeting with Dorsky at the Barony. Her eyebrow cocked upward.
“Um,” Biren said, looking back at her.
“Heiress Olivaar is a Gaian?” She didn’t mean it to sound like a question. Her gut boiled until the thought of what this meant reached the forefront of her mind. “And you’re sleeping with her?”
“Whoa, what?” he stepped back, raising his hands. It gave her an opportunity to push into the room and glare at the other woman.
“Is this where you’ve been the last few days? Fucking her?”
“Um, yes—no—I mean—”
“Fucking her?” Cygni wasn’t entirely sure where her gut got the idea that these two were in bed together. Maybe it was the reaction Baron Keltan had to Biren’s presence. Maybe it was his sudden exit and disappearance after their argument, or maybe it was both. This type of behavior was what she associated with cheating, and it outraged her. She just wasn’t sure if she was angry for herself or Ila.
“No! By the Goddess’ left tit, no!” He stammered.
“Don’t blaspheme, Biren.” Heiress Olivaar rose up on her bare feet. The floor was filthy but the Heiress didn’t seem to notice. “Hello, Cygni. How are you?”
The calm greeting took her by surprise. She took a step back in time with the heiress’ movement.
[Elevated levels of epinephrine detected. Engage combat protocol?] her PLIA asked. She was tempted, sorely tempted, to tear into the doughy bitch; though it wasn’t like Biren was hers. Some part of her knew she was being illogical, maybe even hypocritical, but the sensation of outrage refused to go away.
“You’re cheating on Ila? And you? You’re cheating on Baron Keltan?”
“Cygni, it’s not like that.” He moved toward her. She stepped back past the doorway. He was literally backing her into a corner. “We’re friends, that’s it.”
“Really?” She looked him up and down, then did the same to the heiress. Was her gut wrong?
“Yes, really. Cygni, are your nasal filters on?” Biren asked.
She licked her lips and engaged them, though it would still take hours for the effects of their pheromones to fade. Her eyes darted between them and the logical voice in the back of her mind, the one her gut had shoved out of the way, started to get louder. Maybe she was wrong. They were both so calm, and not at all acting like a couple that had just been caught.
“Cygni,” Biren said in a low voice. “Don’t do to us what Shkur did to you.”
She flinched as his words hit home. Goddess, she was acting like a lunatic, wasn’t she? She gritted her teeth so her stupid mouth couldn’t embarrass her further. Goddess, did she want him. If only that hussy would leave—No! That’s the pheromones talking, Cyg. Get it together.
“Forgive her, she’s had a rough week,” he said.
Heiress Olivaar smiled in a warm, parental way. “It’s okay. I understand her feelings. You two have history just like you and I do. Sometimes these feelings can’t be helped. I understand that.”
He nodded.
“Cygni, why are you here?” she asked.
“I was looking for him. How about you?” she snapped.
“We meet here to talk.”
“Really? Just talk?” She leveled a look at the heiress. Goddess, what am I saying?
“Yes, just talk. How did you find this place?” The heiress moved toward her. The motion was fluid, almost predatory, and belied her soft appearance.
Cygni felt her upper lip twitch.
“Why are you here?” He asked.
“We’ve been worried about you.” She didn’t take her eyes off the heiress. The other woman’s gaze was sharp, but not worried. For some reason it offended her that she wasn’t considered a threat. As an Evolutionary, the heiress would be able to tear a metal plate in half with her bare hands. Even with her new enhancements Cygni probably wouldn’t stand a chance, but she sure did want to try to rip the smug look off the bitch’s face.
“Your sister isn’t doing well. She needs you, Biri.”
He frowned. She knew the look. She saw it on his face every time they argued.
“Tell her I’ll be along soon. I still don’t think I’m interested in rejoining your little group.”
“Biri, I’m sorry about what I said. I was wrong. We need you.” She looked at the heiress again. “Something is
going to happen.”
Her words had an effect, but it wasn’t the one she wanted. He put his weight back on his heels and crossed his arms before his chest.
“I know.”
“You know?”
“Are you going to do it? Murder the Cronuses?” He leveled his gaze at her.
She licked her lips and looked at the heiress. “You know?”
“We were just discussing how to stop you.” Heiress Olivaar’s smile faded into a look that made her feel the weight of the gun beneath her coat. “We’re not going to let you do it.”
“We don’t want to, but—”
“You don’t have a choice?” The heiress looked incredulous.
“Dorsky will hand us over to Baroness Sophiathena if we don’t. Did you tell her what that could mean? Biri, you know what she’ll do.”
He nodded. “She’s afraid of being enslaved to the Khargs.”
“Understandable, but not an excuse. I’m not going to let you get near the Cronuses.” Lina bent her knees a few degrees in Cygni’s direction.
Her PLIA calculated the woman was about to lunge at her and plotted paths of evasion within her UI overlay. She took a step back again and felt the walls on her shoulders.
“I know, and none of us want to do it, but the threat is real. I can’t let them get enslaved. The things the Khargs will do to Sanul, Ila, me… Biren, you have to realize this. Aside from a short life of torture, we’ll never get to release the information about Baron Revenant and Siren. Everything we’ve worked for will be for nothing. Everything we’ve suffered will be in vain. You have to realize that.”
He shook his head. It made the shells in his dreadlocks click. “We can’t let you assassinate the only barons who are willing to get justice for my mother.”
“I don’t want to, as I keep saying, but none of us can oppose either Dorsky or Sophiathena. I’m not a baroness. Giselle is not a baroness. Ila is not—”
He held up his hand. “You’re saying you have to kill these women because you fear for yourselves, but they’re the only hope we have left.”
“And with them gone, my sister gets even more power. She already has Shiragawa. Did that not occur to you?” Heiress Olivaar shook her head, making the ringlets of her golden hair dance about her ears.
“I… May have thought about it, but again, what choice do we have? Either she crushes us or Dorsky does. I guess our only hope is to live long enough to get the word out about what is going on. I know that won’t happen if we refuse the Premier. The Abyssians are against us. How long do you think we’ll last if we lose Dorsky’s protection? Even if we released all we have now, and Ax’Xoa publishes it, we’d still wind up tortured to death.”
Heiress Olivaar nodded and turned to the side. She paced back and forth with her fingers on her lips before speaking again.
“You want to stop Zalor, my sister, and Caspian?”
She nodded.
“Then maybe there is a way.”
Biren looked up in surprise. “There is?”
“Cylus and Caspian don’t get along, even with him agreeing to the treasury deal. Cylus knows about the plot to kill his step-aunts, thanks to my sister.”
“What?” Cygni was shocked. “She told him? Why? It was her idea.”
“It was?” The heiress looked shocked. “Hers?”
“Yes. She’s the one who said Baron Keltan had to be isolated. She has some idea to get Baron Revenant and Baron Keltan to fight each other when he gets back. She wants Dorsky to say Baron Keltan forced him to sign off on stealing the treasury. Without the Cronus’ support, he expects Baron Keltan to lose and leave him in the position of the leader of the Confederation.”
The heiress frowned. “What he isn’t thinking about is what my sister will do to him in the meanwhile. She’s playing both sides and she will turn on Dorsky, I can guarantee that. With IntelSys, Shiragawa, and Elthroa hers she’ll have the power to move on him and the other co-conspirators. She’ll gobble them up, just like our father does to his rivals, and then she’ll go after the big fish.”
“Big fish?” She cocked her head to the side.
“Clever little bitch,” Heiress Olivaar whispered with a far-off look. She blinked and returned her attention to Cygni. “She’ll be strong enough to take the Barony from her father.”
Cygni felt her blood freeze.
The heiress and Biren exchanged a look.
Cygni licked her lips. “We have to stop the assassination.”
“I’m glad to hear you say that. The first step is to not kill the Cronuses,” Heiress Olivaar said.
“I told you—”
“I can get Cylus to protect you.”
“What?” Biren’s eyes widened.
“We’ll get you to save the Cronuses instead of killing them. We can’t tip off anyone that this is coming. No one outside of this room can hear of it or this won’t work out for you. Got it?”
She shuddered. “I have a feed showing that Baron Keltan is being controlled by the VoQuana.”
“No.” The color drained from her face at last. Cygni took a moment to relish the victory.
“I do. It happened on the Queen Gaia. We can’t trust him. The VoQuana are working with Baron Revenant. I can prove that, too.” Her heart was pounding. She didn’t know how the heiress would react, but what choice did she have? Dorsky, Sophiathena, and the rest had her in an impossible position.
“No, that can’t be right.” The heiress looked at Biren for a moment, then down at the floor.
“I have the feed. I can send it to you.”
“Are you sure?” the heiress asked.
“Cygni has the proof. She showed me everything,” Biren said.
“And you didn’t feel the need to share?” The heiress glared at him.
“I was getting to it.”
“Fuck.” She resumed pacing back and forth. She looked like a caged predator. “You should have told me sooner, Biren. I—goddess dammit. Okay, we can deal with this. If you’re right—”
“I am,” Cygni said.
“—we can still deal with this. It just means we have to work a little harder than expected before the election, and Cy can’t be Zalor’s replacement anymore. I’ll work on that.” She crossed her arms, stopped pacing, and tapped her foot. “Shit. Okay, we’ll deal with it. I can still get Cy to protect you and your team. Bring the Cronuses back to Keltan Tower alive. He will do anything you need him to after that. He loves them. They’re his only family.”
“He’ll protect us unless the VoQuana want us dead,” Cygni said.
“This is the best deal you’re going to get. If you don’t do it, I’ll kill you myself. Understand?”
She felt the heat of the heiress’ glare and shuddered.
“If you have a way out for us we’ll take it. I want nothing more to do with you barons and your politics. We do this, and you promise to let me release what I have on Revenant. I also need you to promise you’ll get us off world and far away. Can you do that?”
“Save the Cronuses, give me what you have on Zalor, and you have a deal. I’ll make sure it gets put to good use. You have my word.”
“No. I release what I have myself once he’s back. Baroness Sophiathena has this info already, so does Dorsky. Both of them took it from me and offered me servitude in return. I’m done with that. I release it myself and you get me and my friends out of here.”
Heiress Olivaar’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t have any leverage here. We know you’re coming for Cy’s aunts and so does Cy. Your options are take the deal or run back to Dorsky and tell him we know. He’s a smart man. He knows you are a liability to him just like your team.”
“What do you mean by that?” She frowned, trying to keep her hazy brain focused.
“You may not be a Gaian, but Biren is. His sister is. Your friend, what did you call nium? Ila? Niu is, too. Dorsky has been hiding you all. He knows that Cy can go to Praetor Prime Augusta at any time and it’s over for him and the rest of you. If
I were Caspian, and I found out my masterstroke was compromised, I would cut you all loose and tie off the ends. Dead Gaians and their sympathizers tell no tales.”
“Hey!” Biren snapped, but Heiress Olivaar didn’t flinch.
“You are a Gaian, too.” Cygni felt her palms grow sweaty. “Won’t the Praetor be after you?”
“I have some cold reality for you, honey. I’m an heiress. I wasn’t on-planet when the attacks happened, and the Praetor Prime already told Cy I’m off the hook. You are a co-conspirator, and you lack the significance to be accorded special treatment. You will be made an example of like the rest of your friends.”
She ground her teeth. The bitch was right. When did the barons ever suffer when there was an ordinary citizen who could do so instead?
“Biren will get hurt if you allow that.”
“He might.” She shared a look with him. “But I can get him off planet just as easily as I can get you and your people away from danger. The way I see it, you don’t really have much of a choice at this point. I’m your only chance.”
She closed her eyes, imagining the faces of her team when she repeated what Heiress Olivaar said. She was right, without a baron’s protection they were all as good as dead. Goddess dammit! The bitch was right about her choices, too.
“You trust her?” Cygni asked Biren.
“All the way. We go way back.”
“So do you and me,” she said in a bitter tone. “All right. You win. I’ll agree. We’ll get the Cronuses and meet you at Keltan Tower, but you better get us off this planet and as far away as possible after.”
“You will give me what you have on Cylus and Revenant, too,” she said.
“I will. Fuck.” She nodded with reluctance. Her stomach rolled over and she grew dizzy. So, this was how it ended, her career, her botched attempt to save the Confederation, everything. By the Will did she hate this woman for being her only choice.
“Cyg, it’s the right thing to do. Lina knows what she’s doing,” Biren said in soft tones.
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