He tried to rub the dirt off his hands. It didn't come. He tried anyway. "My C.O., he told me to pack it in. It'd been two months and the closest we'd come were candy wrappers he left behind. He was ahead of us, every step of the way, and my C.O., he could tell it was wearing us down. Wearing my men down."
He stared at his palm. At a scar on his palm. "I said we'd try harder. We'd find another way. So we doubled up, worked twice as hard, moved twice as fast, went radio silent and stayed off the grid so we could think like he thought, react the way he'd react. And two weeks later, we found him, hiding in a shepherd's flock, pretending to be a goat."
He made a shooting motion with his fingers. "Bang. Mission accomplished. Went and called it in... our greatest victory." He inhaled sharply. "They'd been waiting for me resurface. My, uh... my wife had been driving home from work, and a, uh, drunk driver crossed the median, hit her head on and she, uh..." He could barely speak anymore. "She went quick, they said. She probably didn't even... she... she went quick."
He took another breath, then another, like the doctors had told him to. It didn't work then, and it didn't work now. "And I missed it. The grieving, the funeral, the... I missed her. I went dark for two weeks to catch a monster, and when I came back up, my life was over."
Another breath. Another awful breath. "When you wait, when you find another way, the world fucks you. The only way to survive is to keep on moving, stay ahead of it, do the unexpected, make yourself hard to pin down." He looked at the Empress, her mournful stare. "I will die on my feet. I will never die thinking about the walk."
She nodded, slid over closer to him, wrapped her arms around him, her head on his shoulder. "I can't tell you you're wrong," she said. "But I'm begging you: don't go to the bunker. Please. I can't do this without you. I need you here. Please."
"I can't just sit here and wait."
"Then don't. Just—"
"Tell me another way out. Tell me a plan that keeps the Empire from bombing the shit out of Kgego over an assassination that didn't really happen." He was stern, but sincerely asking for a way out.
Her hand rested on his bicep and stayed there. "Fine," she said. "We tell Piro the truth."
"What?"
"We tell him who we are. Who I am."
"That's just stupid. You know he'll—"
"We let him ransom me. Trade my life for... for whatever he wants. Give him a reason to tell the Empire we're still alive."
Colton shook his head. "No. You do that, and you're undermining the whole concept of Imperial power. Every crackpot in the galaxy's going to come gunning for your head, because they'll know it works. And that's assuming Piro doesn't just kill you on the spot, and carry your head around like a trophy."
"He wouldn't do that."
"Your Majesty—"
"Ilina," she said, very seriously, and he paused, recognizing the weight of the moment for her. It wasn't a ruse anymore, it wasn't a play... she was shedding her title for him, the man; not him, the bodyguard on a mission.
He put his hand on hers. "Ilina," he said, "it doesn't matter how good Piro seems in this moment. Good men do bad things. Especially when they think they can."
She kissed his cheek, smiled. "We have to try," she said. "To do the unexpected."
"It's a bad idea."
"It's a better bad idea than yours."
He laughed the laugh of a man headed to the gallows. "If it goes sideways, I'm saying I told you so."
"And if it goes right," she said, giving him a kiss on the mouth, "you will owe me."
He grinned. "Owe you what?"
She kissed him again, turned herself over and floated up closer to him. "Many things."
"Maybe I should get a head start?"
She nodded, hands searching his body until they found what they were looking for, and tucking herself even closer. "Yes," she breathed into his mouth. "Yes you should."
29
It was late, very late, when Colton gave up pretending to sleep. He moved the Empress' arm off his chest and carefully lifted himself out of the blankets. He felt around in the dark until he found his clothes, and dressed in the main room, using the dim moonlight as best he could.
The vine staircase swung as he descended, creaking gently with each footstep. By the time he reached the bottom, he had a wonky sense of "solid ground" — pitch black darkness had a way of messing with your head.
He peeked out the front door, scanning the horizon for signs of any Kgegans out and about. He had no idea how long it was until dawn, or how tight a ship Piro ran, but he had to assume at least some men would be on patrol, and he would have no good excuses for being out at night.
The building across the way was still strewn all across the boulevard, making for dicey footing in places. He did his best to retrace his steps back to the cave... it was hard when everything was so different and he constantly had to keep checking over his shoulder to be sure he wasn't being followed.
Down a winding road, up a set of steps with a hard turn in the middle. Past a building that was made of the smoothest rock he'd ever felt. Out into a courtyard, and then it should be a straight shot to—
He saw the cave. It was hard to miss, at this elevation, thanks to the floodlights that kept it lit. There were only a handful of Kgegans around, but they were all armed, and very obviously on the lookout for anything suspicious. Colton ducked low, taking cover while he worked out some kind of a plan.
There were three main roads leading to the cave, and each had checkpoints. The space between the roads seemed to be unrefined rockface, with boulders to hide behind, but also holes to fall into. And something told him Piro would have those areas boobytrapped somehow. He needed another approach.
The right side of the cave — closest to his position — was being used as a landing zone. He saw one of the helicopter-type vehicles parked there; lean wingspan, powerful rotating engines, a double canopy and bulky midsection. He had no sense of whether or not it had any communications capabilities beyond a simple radio, but couldn't take the risk.
So he was left with the far end, at the left side of the cave. Cast mostly in shadow, it seemed to be a storage area, with containers stacked high and bits of machinery laying about, waiting to be put into service.
Not a good choice, but the only choice.
It took him a solid hour to work his way around to that side of the cave, because he kept getting lost in the side-streets. The city wasn't built with even a single straight line to it — every road twisted or doubled back on itself, and he found himself going in circles more than once.
When he finally came to a spot that was within spitting distance of the cave's left side, he nearly cheered aloud. He was on a little raised patio, about six feet off the ground, but it didn't matter: it meant he was done getting lost.
He watched to be 100% certain none of the patrolmen were looking anywhere in his direction, and then carefully lowered himself off the patio and into the shadows below.
It was about ten yards to the closest of the containers — big tough bins big enough to hide three or men in. The trick was, about halfway to the container, he would be visible to anyone inside the cave... but until he got there, he couldn't see if there was anyone to notice.
He let out a long bracing breath, and ran.
Closer, closer, closer, and then he saw around the corner, saw a Kgegan with a machine gun turning his way, and he dove back, tucking himself around the lip of the cave, flat against the wall.
The Kgegan didn't make a sound, which was not a good sign. Guards at their ease shuffle, sniffle, cough. Guards on the prowl are silent as the dead.
Colton held his breath, didn't move a muscle. He knew these fox-men had sensitive noses, and he figured their ears weren't just for show... so his only chance was to wait it out. To not exist for as long as it took.
A shuffle of a foot on the gr
ound, and he squeezed his eyes shut, praying for a miracle. A click of a finger at the side of a gun. A slight sniff, smelling for...
"You busy?" came a voice, and the foot-shuffle swivelled hard in the grit. Colton kept holding his breath, listening carefully as the voice repeated: "Need a hand with the gliders. Got a second?"
He heard the sigh of a man who was being roped into a crap job. "Yeah, I can help," said the closer guard, and walked away, grumbling to himself.
Colton waited until he couldn't hear them anymore, and dared to peek around the corner. No one. Not a soul. Further away, the soldiers were carting heavy crates to a spot near the helicopter-ship, and dropping them loudly. Evidently gliders were not their favorite things.
With one eye watching the guards, he dashed inside the cave, keeping tight to the wall, ducked low, moving faster than he could process what he was seeing. There were cables running along the floor, weaving this way and that, but heading deeper inside. If nothing else, it told him where something led in this place, which was better than he started.
The cables turned a sharp corner, but he paused to listen: voices, beyond, muttering about something he couldn't quite make out. The way they echoed, it didn't seem like they were close enough to worry about, but he still took his time scoping the area.
No one in the hall beyond. Not that he could see.
He continued, staying as tight to the cables as he could.
Finally, after what seemed like far too long, the cables veered right, into a room that was dimly lit with blue light that flickered on and off at random intervals. Colton listened for anyone inside, and then took the plunge.
It was a control room. Or a computer room. Or something else entirely... but the key thing was: it had equipment, and equipment was what he needed. He scanned the racks of flashing lights, trying to find something that looked familiar — even though, at a minimum, none of the writing was anything he stood a chance of reading.
But then something caught his eye: stock atop one of the racks was a strange contraption... two triangular wedges held together by a short, curved metal tube. It took him a second to figure it out, but when he did, it was brilliant — the wedges went inside a Kgegan's ears; the tube held them together along the top of the head. Headphones. He found headphones.
He took them off the shelf, jabbed one of the wedges into his ear as best he could, and followed the wire that dangled from them to a box nearby. He had no idea how to use it, but one thing he did recognize was a slider with a small pictogram on the right, and a large pictogram on the left... and the larger one looked a lot like a planet. He dialled the way up and said:
"Mayday, mayday... request urgent extraction for Empress Ilina—"
"Earth-man," came a voice from behind, and Colton turned to find Ugero standing there, mouth hanging open in horror. He was connecting the dots, and it did not create a pretty picture.
Colton didn't have time for niceties. He kept speaking into the headphones: "Repeat, request urgent extraction at... whatever coordinates I'm at. ASAP."
Ugero started forward, and Colton dropped the headphones, held his hands out to warn the big fox off.
"It's not what you think..." he said, but Ugero wasn't in a listening mood.
"We trusted you!" he snarled, and made two meaty fists.
"I need to get Ilina out of here before—"
The first punch sent him reeling. He smacked into a rack of equipment, and almost collapsed instantly. But he got his senses back, got his footing back, and stood, holding out his hands again.
"Ugero, listen—"
The second punch really didn't help. He stumbled, barely catching his footing, and spat blood on the floor, shaking his head for a pause.
"I don't want to hurt you," he wheezed.
Ugero laughed. "You think you can hurt me? Give it your best shot, Earth-man."
Colton sighed, nodded. "OK, but only a little."
Ugero didn't see it coming. A sucker punch to daze, then a blow to the gut to double him over. Colton kicked the big lug's leg out from under him then twisted one of his arms around his back, yanking it high to keep him immobilized. He wrapped his arm around Ugero's neck, tightening his grip just enough that he could feel his muscles constricting the air flow.
Ugero made a valiant effort at escaping, but it was really too much. His arms went limp first, and then his head rolled to the side, and he was unconscious.
Colton patted his back gently. "Sorry, big guy," he said, and set out tidying up... he had to buy as much time as he could... because all hell was about to break loose.
30
He shook the Empress awake, still panting from the sprint he'd made across town. It took her a moment to understand what she was seeing, when she saw him there, over her, dripping sweat and fully clothed.
"C-Colton?" she asked. "What's going on?"
"Get dressed," he said, pulling the covers off her. "We're leaving."
She pulled the sheets back, covering herself. "I don't understand. Going where? What's happening?"
"I made the call," he said, eyes wide with energy. "We have to get to the roof so they can spot us. I don't know how much time we have before—"
She slapped him — right on the spot Ugero had hit him. He wanted to say very nasty things, but he didn't want to wake the neighbors, so he just gave her an angry look instead.
"We agreed to do it my way," she hissed.
"No, you agreed to do it your way, which was stupid, so I did it my way first. And it worked. They're coming."
"You spoke to them?"
"Well, no, not exactly."
"Then how do you—"
"I decked Ugero. He knows. So, really, if we don't get the hell out of here soon, we're fucked. So can we stop talking, and get you dressed?"
She snarled at him, threw the sheets off, and snatched her dress off the ground. He started throwing his shit into his pack, making sure he wasn't leaving anything behind, but spared a look as she re-bound the side of her dress again.
"I was so scared they'd get here before me," he told her with a grin. "Catch you sleeping naked, and I'd show up and get shot."
"You deserve it, you impulsive fool."
He shrugged. "If it works, it works." He finished packing, took her by the arm, and paused: "Once we get back to the palace... how's this gonna—"
"It's not," she said curtly, and pulled her arm free. "And don't forget, telling anyone about what happened on Kgego is tantamount to treason."
"Well then," he said. "Better get one last kiss in for the road."
He leaned in, but she wasn't interested — at first. But she couldn't resist: she took his face in her hands and kissed him so long, so hard, so completely, it took every last ounce of discipline he had in him not to tear the dress off her all over again, and lose himself in her.
But instead, when the kiss ended, it ended for good.
He gestured to the door. "Your Majesty, this way please."
She nodded, and proceeded on, without being touched, or touching him back.
Out the door, up a small passageway that wound around the edge of the building, and then up onto the roof, which was half-finished and windswept to the point of being unsafe. The Empress grabbed for support, and Colton got ready to catch her if she fell. They made their way to the middle of the roof, ducking low when they got there, eyes locked on the black sky above.
The Empress shivered as a strong wind blew past. It was warm out, but something about the breeze was chilling on a molecular level. Or maybe she was just nervous.
He pulled off his jacket, handed it to her. "Here," he said. "Take this."
She shook her head, but he insisted. Shoved it at her.
"I'll be fine," she said.
"If you catch a cold up here—"
"The doctors will cure it," she said. "Try to remember
where you are, Captain. This is not some backwater planet, this is the Boundless Empire of—"
"An Empire that's in such great shape, its Empress has been the target of, what, eight different assassination attempts?"
"It's—"
"In two weeks!"
She bared her teeth at him, pointed a menacing finger. "And how many of those were on your watch?"
"And how many of them were because you refused to listen to guidance from your security professionals?"
"Professional?" she laughed. "Like leaving me alone in the dead of night to run a suicide mission?"
"Not very suicidal if I'm still alive, is it?"
She laughed bitterly. "You think charging head-first into danger is brave?" she said. "It's not. It's foolish. And the tragic thing is, the only way you're going to learn that lesson is by dying, and which point—"
A high-pitched whine cut her off, and they both tried to figure out where it was coming from before, out of nowhere, a thunderous roar filled their ears, and lights shimmered on, and just off the edge of the building, a sleek silver spacecraft seemed to materialize out of nothing.
Colton couldn't make out much about the ship, but what he did notice was the Imperial crest on the side, glimmering despite the darkness.
A door opened on the underside, and two security personnel braced against the wind, calling in to the pilot to maneuver closer. Each one held tight to straps near the doorway, and reached their other hands out.
"Your Majesty! This way, please!" they shouted.
The Empress looked to Colton, gave him a business-like nod. "After this, Captain, you're fired." He opened his mouth to protest, but she wouldn't have it. "I can't be the cause of your noble death. I can't. So after this, it's over."
He reached out and let herself be lifted onto the ship. She caught her footing, nodded to the closer of the two security personnel, and disappeared inside.
The Galactic Empress' Bodyguard Page 12
