Nickie paced the floor of the cargo hold with her hands behind her back. “Grim, Keen, you’re coming with me in case Prince PITA is followed. Adelaide, Durq, you stay here and get the ship ready for a quick exit in case it goes tits-up.” Nickie looked at the nervous faces. She grinned and clapped her hands. “Well? Get to it! And don’t worry, we’ll get John back.”
The crew hustled to get ready.
Nickie took the box with her Jean Dukes Specials out of the safe and brought it over to the extra crate Sofia had sent over with the rest of their gear. She still wasn’t sure she was ready to open it. The implications of what she’d been gifted with were too huge to deal with while she was in the middle of the mission, so she had stowed the crate in the hold and put it in the back of her mind until now.
The crate contained a smooth lacquered box. Completely smooth. She ran a hand over the lid and then felt around where she thought the join should be.
Maybe she should have done this a little sooner. She considered the puzzle for a second. If Grandma Jean had made this, the locking mechanism was keyed to her DNA.
She smirked and pulled her belt knife. A drop or two would do. She made a short, shallow slice on the heel of her hand and smeared the blood along the place she would have placed a hand on the old-style box before the cut healed over.
There was a click, and the lid lifted fractionally.
Nickie peered into the box. There was a note on top of the packing materials inside.
She picked it up gingerly, hardly daring to see who it was from.
Dearest Nickie,
Bethany Anne instructed me to send you this gift as a token of her recognition of how far you’ve come. She sends her love, and her hopes that you will be ready to return to the family soon, as do we all.
Your loving uncle,
Barnabas
A small sob escaped Nickie’s lips when she removed the layer of foam protecting the treasure beneath.
Grim looked over from where he was adjusting his armor. “What’s up, boss?”
Nickie was too choked up to speak. She pointed at the box wordlessly and started stripping down to her underclothes.
“What? What is it?” Grim hurried over and looked into the box. “Oh. Oh, my.”
The others came over, and they all stood around the box while a half-undressed Nickie unpacked her armor. It was flat-black, her favorite, and sleek as hell. The plates were thinner than any armor Nickie had seen in a hell of a long time, and there were no visible locking mechanisms for them, which sent a thrill up Nickie’s spine. That meant the armor was stuffed with nanotech. She’d missed a lot in the time she’d been away, but she would lay money on this being one of her grandma’s latest designs.
Her Aunt Bethany Anne was good like that. If you pissed her off there was nowhere you could hide from the beating she would give you, but if you pleased her? You probably still got a beating come training, but you got cool shit, too. It was almost worth the hassle of the mission ahead just to get to wear it for a while.
Nickie kicked off her boots, almost falling over the overalls around her ankles in her rush to get the armor on. “Grandma Jean really outdid herself. Watch this shit.” She got into the armored boots and pressed the lower left leg plates into the ankle of her boot to activate the self-locking mechanism. The two plates merged and locked onto her boot. She grinned. “Guaranteed to be a perfect fit. Every fucking time.”
Keen’s eyes shone as she held the torso plate up to the light before putting it on. “You don’t say. Quite frankly, that armor is the most beautiful thing a grizzled old Space Marine like me has ever seen.”
Nickie grinned and held up the backplate. “I know, right? My grandma is the fucking bomb when it comes to this shit. A hand?”
Adelaide took the plate. “It’s not sticky like ours. What do I do with it? There are no clips or buckles.”
“Just press it to my back,” Nickie told her.
Adelaide gasped when the armor’s back and sides moved to interlock seamlessly.
“Cool as fuck, huh?” The armor moved with Nickie like a second skin as she twisted from side to side. She held the pieces to her hips to join top and bottom and fitted her JD Specials to the belt.
Addie grabbed Nickie’s arm and lifted it to get a better look at the join. “I need to know how that works!”
Nickie grinned as she attached her arm plates. “Family secret.”
Addie’s mouth twitched. “You don’t know, do you?”
Nickie laughed. “Not a fucking clue.” The last piece clicked into place, and she rolled her shoulders as the armor made the final adjustments. She picked up her coveralls to retrieve her Aunt Tabitha’s badge from the pocket and cursed softly.
“You lost something?” Adelaide asked.
Nickie shook her head. “Just left it in my quarters. I won’t be long, so be ready.” She grabbed her helmet and hurried to leave the cargo bay. The armor felt so fucking good.
Nickie reached her quarters and headed for the bathroom, where she’d hung her aunt’s badge on the hook before showering that morning. It wasn’t like her to leave it lying around, but she’d been in the shower when John was arrested so she would forgive herself just this once.
She dumped her helmet on the sink and unhooked the badge. She caught sight of herself in the mirror as she slipped the chain over her head. Fuck. She looked like… Like a female version of her grandfather. Like she’d just stepped off the ArchAngel.
Like a fucking Grimes.
Your brain chemistry is doing some very interesting things right now, Meredith remarked. Are you feeling okay?
Nickie stared at her reflection. I haven’t got time for your fluffy psych bullshit now. We have a mission. She gave her reflection one last disconcerted glance and left the bathroom. Has Cynthia freed John yet?
No. The guard still has a little time before the shift change. That gives us a bit to go over the plan again if you need to.
Nickie’s doubts bloomed for a brief moment. Mere, am I doing the right thing?
Where did that come from? Meredith asked.
She ran a hand down her armored stomach as she walked back to the cargo hold. I dunno. What if I’m making the wrong choice? Cynthia is the rightful heir, after all. Maybe John was right. Maybe I am pushing my own agenda.
Are you sure it’s not something else that’s touched a nerve?
Like what?
Maybe the possibility of returning home? Of your uncle being proud of you for doing a good job?
High Tortuga isn’t my home, Nickie argued.
But Barnabas is your family. It’s only natural that you would want his respect.
Well, he’s like me. He can’t stand to be constricted by the fucking Federation either.
That could be nice for you. Barnabas was always a father figure to your Aunt Tabitha in Michael’s absence.
Nickie screwed up her nose as she pushed the door to the cargo hold open. I don’t think so. I can see myself hanging out with him sometimes. Maybe. But none of that bonding shit. My life is already full with these guys.
Keen approached her when she entered the hold. “I’m not sure about this. If John gets caught…”
“That’s why we’re going out there to help him.” Nickie could tell that wasn’t all he was worried about. “Spit it out, Keen. What’s really bothering you?”
Keen shuffled uncomfortably. “It’s just… Cynthia. It doesn’t feel right, treating her like this. She’s just a kid.”
Nickie patted his arm awkwardly. “If she were a real leader, she wouldn’t leave her people. We’re doing them a favor.”
Keen’s shoulders dropped. “I guess that’s true. Only, what does that say about me? I left my people behind to go gallivanting with you.”
Nickie frowned. “It’s not the same. You left Reynard in charge, and he’s going to do just fine. Fuck, you didn’t have to give them the rest of your life.”
Keen nodded, unconvinced.
She punch
ed his arm lightly, wincing when he stumbled. “Oops, forgot the armor adds a bit of oomph. You’ve got nothing to feel guilty about, Keen. Now come on, we’ve got a queen to kidnap.”
Keen ambled away, and Nickie carried on with her prep for the extraction. She hadn’t considered that the former Marine would struggle with relinquishing his responsibility to the colony. She assumed he would be glad to get his life back, to leave the never-ending responsibility of the top job to someone with the will and energy to do it. If anything, he had done what was best for Themis.
Nickie couldn’t pretend to understand what it was to walk away from that kind of responsibility. She had only recently come to accept responsibility for herself, let alone anyone else.
She had no way of empathizing with Keen. Or Cynthia, if she were honest. Maybe the young queen wasn’t just avoiding her duty. Maybe she was making the ultimate sacrifice, doing what was best for her people by running away from her birthright.
It was a little harder to stay objective when Nickie looked at it in that light.
Well, fuck.
System of the Six, Planet Vietania, Plomerilia, Palace Dungeon
John heard footsteps, then a nervous giggle.
Cynthia was here.
He got up from the unforgiving platform and waited by the door for her. She appeared at the bars a moment later and unlocked the door to John’s cell with fumbling fingers.
John hesitated when she pushed the door open. “You came.”
“I couldn’t leave you down here.” Cynthia blushed as she held out a familiar bag. “Your things. I took them from the guardroom when the guards fell asleep.”
John opened the bag and was relieved to see that his weapons were still inside. He fastened his pistols to his hips and slung the bag on his back. “Are you sure about this? It’s not too late to change your mind.”
Cynthia threw herself into John’s arms and kissed him thoroughly. “I’ve made up my mind. I’m getting you out of here, and I’m coming with you.” She let go and tugged his hand to get him moving, her eyes bright with mischief. “Quick, we need to hurry. I drugged the guards, but I don’t know how long it will last.”
They laughed breathlessly as Cynthia directed them through the twists and turns of the passages, running hand-in-hand through the palace underground. John took over when Cynthia began to tire. He pulled her along behind him, his heart thundering in his chest as the feeling of freedom and the excitement of his escape flooded him with adrenaline.
Twice they had to duck into the shadows when they were almost discovered by the palace guards. The second time, John kissed her to stifle their nervous giggles as the guards passed by not ten feet from where they clung to each other in a recess.
As soon as the coast was clear, they ran on again.
They stopped to catch their breath when they reached the door to the ground floor atrium. John looked around to ensure the way was clear. “What’s the quickest way out of here? We need to get to my ship.”
Cynthia screwed up her nose. “Let me think. The fastest way is straight out of the palace and through the city, but we would get caught in the city. We’ll have to go through the tunnels. There’s a passage nearby that we can—”
Just then an alarm sounded, and they heard many pairs of boots approaching the atrium.
Cynthia gasped. “Looks like Seamus and Paul woke up. Jolie must know you’re not in the dungeon.”
John squeezed her hand gently. “Then we’d better get out of here before she finds us. Where is the passage?”
Cynthia looked around wildly for a moment.
John touched her cheek. “Hey, it’s okay. We’ve got this. One step at a time, and we’ll be on the Briar Rose before you know it.”
She nodded. “Follow me.” She ducked behind a plinth with a large bust of a bald man on it. “It’s this way.”
Cynthia dashed to a row of potted plants in front of a huge wall tapestry and waved John over, then pressed one of the slightly discolored stones beside the tapestry. “Under here.”
They ducked under the tapestry as the guards trooped into the atrium. The wall slid back silently to reveal a dark and dusty passage and they slipped inside, safe for the moment.
Cynthia indicated John’s bag as the wall slid shut behind them. “There are flashlights in there.”
John rummaged until he found them. He passed one to Cynthia, and they set off down the passage. “Does your sister know about this?” he asked as they dashed through the hanging cobwebs. He remembered Jolie using the tunnel to the throne room on a few occasions while he’d been at the palace.
“No, it’s an escape tunnel.” She paused at a split in the passage, then nodded and took the left branch. “Jolie knows about the service tunnels, but not the emergency ones. There are bolt holes and escape tunnels all over the palace. Only the ruling monarch knows about them, though. My great-great-great…a lot of great-grandfathers ago had them built, then had everyone who built them killed to keep the secret safe.”
John grimaced. “Nice.”
Cynthia shrugged. “It’s prevented a few assassination attempts from succeeding over the years. My father and I used to play hide-and-seek down here when I was a child.” She became quiet for a moment. “The tunnel to the shipyard is in his old office.”
The passage brought them out in the courtyard in the center of the palace where Cynthia had thrown a party on his second night here. The courtyard was split by topiaries and vine-covered trellises situated around intimate seating nooks and elaborate statues.
It was perfect for entertaining. Perfect for sneaking, except…
John pulled Cynthia under the wraparound walkway and pointed at the guards patrolling the balcony above. She stepped out of sight, and they waited for their chance to dash over behind the nearest trellis. They worked their way across the courtyard in this way, using the dividing features as cover to remain out of sight of the guards on the balcony.
John half-expected Nickie to interrupt at any moment and demand he tell her what was taking so long but his comm was silent. He and Cynthia crept across the courtyard at an agonizingly slow pace, or so it seemed to him.
They paused to wait in the blind spot behind a hideous carved marble statue of a multi-winged beast being slaughtered by an armored figure when they reached the edge of the courtyard. John was surprised to see that the patrolling guards he’d spotted had only made it halfway around the balcony. He and Cynthia had moved a lot faster than he’d thought.
Cynthia dragged John behind the statue when a quartet of guards pounded through the courtyard. She looked at him, her face flushed with exertion and adrenaline. “The entrance to the administration wing is over there.” She pointed to an elaborately carved double door at the opposite end of the walkway, then turned and indicated another door, this one was much plainer. “We’ll use the service entrance, then we’ll get to Daddy’s office without alerting Jolie. She’ll be in the security office down the hall with her guards.”
When the coast was clear, they dashed from behind the statue to cover the open ground between them and the service entrance under the walkway. Cynthia led John through the small door into a long red-carpeted hallway.
They came out in a recess about halfway along the hallway.
John glanced up and down the hall. “Which way now?” he whispered.
Cynthia headed for the righthand door at the end of the hall.
John glanced at the full-sized oil painting of a man in full regalia on the wall opposite the door. “Is that your father?”
Cynthia smiled at the painting. “Yes. Daddy hated this painting. He always said it made him look stuffy.” She took his hand. “Come on, we’re nearly there now. We have to be careful near the security office. Jolie will be directing the search from there.”
John looked back uneasily. “Where next after this tunnel?”
“We get aboard your ship and leave.” Cynthia stuck a hand down the front of her top and pulled out a key on a necklace.
“The tunnel will take us all the way to the shipyard.”
She bent to the ornate doorknob and jiggled the key in the lock. “This silly thing always sticks.”
John kept watch while Cynthia worked the key around, and there was a soft snick as the mechanism finally engaged. John moved to follow her through the door, but Cynthia froze as the door at the other end of the hall opened and Jolie came into the hallway.
Cynthia’s sister dropped the stack of paperwork she was carrying and let out a scream at the sight of John. “Guards!”
John jumped into action. He snatched the key from the lock and bundled Cynthia through the door to her father’s former office. He had the door locked behind them before Jolie’s guards had even made it out of the security office.
He turned to Cynthia, who was crying a little from the shock. “Hey, are you okay?”
Cynthia sniffed. “I’m scared.”
John took her in his arms as the guards began to pound on the door. “I’ll ask you again. Are you sure you want to come with me? I can leave, and you can stay here. I would miss you, but I would understand.”
Cynthia gazed at him blankly for a moment before pulling herself together. “No, Jolie will rule better than I ever could. She has the passion.”
“So do the guards by the sounds of it,” John joked as the pounding grew louder. “I think they found something to use as a ram. We need to get going.”
Cynthia nodded resolutely. She rushed over to a bookcase by the fireplace and jumped to reach a book on the third shelf, knocking the others off the shelf in her hurry to open the passage.
The bookcase swung inward, and they ran into the passage as the guards broke the door down and rushed into the room with their weapons drawn.
“Don’t shoot!” Jolie cried from behind them. “He’s got Cynthia!”
Cynthia dragged John behind her. “There’s a nexus up ahead. If we get there, we can lose them and head for the shipyard.”
Birthright Page 17
