Mack 'n' Me: The Wolves of Alpha 9

by C. M. Simpson

  Well. Fuck. Me.

  I did one of the least elegant reverse-full-thrust maneuvers I’d ever pulled, and backed up several hasty steps, pulling my blaster, as the thing bolted into the open. I tried to fire, and realized that Easrick and his boys had stored the damned blaster properly—with its safety on. I kept my eyes on the multi-legged beast as I thumbed the safety off. And, that was all it took for things to go from not-so-good to bad.

  At first, the new arrival seemed focused on me, but then it noticed the ants, and swung towards them, sending out a series of curious chirring clicks as it did so.

  It wasn’t alone?

  “Well, fuck,” Tens said. “Get back to running, Cutter, or you’re lunch.”

  Lunch, huh? Well, wasn’t this like the old times we’d had on K’Kavor.

  “You have no idea.”

  And I didn’t want one, either. I quit backpedaling, and turned around—just in time to catch a glimpse of movement further down the crevice. Funnily enough, those shapes were human. I wondered if I could be that lucky, but didn’t stand in one place while I did it. Friendly or not, humans were something I could actually deal with.

  If they decided to help, or just let me pass, then great, but if they decided to try and take a piece of me? Well, that was fine, too, even if I wouldn’t be sticking around to play with them. They’d be going down just as hard and fast as I could make it happen. Who knew how long, Mr. Blurry Legs and Attitude was going to occupy the ants?

  More stinky stuff squashed underfoot, and I really hoped it washed off and wasn’t corrosive. I liked these boots, dammit! A rock rolled underfoot, and I rode the shift, even as I sprung off it. That had been close, and I really didn’t want to be turning an ankle, or falling on my face, right now.

  A screech echoed out behind me, but I didn’t look back. The screech was followed by a several others, all sounding like they came from different parts of the crevice wall. Also behind me. That was a good thing. I ran, my feet sliding and skittering over the rough terrain, my fist wrapped around the blaster’s grip.

  It made it awkward to run, but I wasn’t going to be caught without it in my hands and ready. The next thing to try eating me was going to find itself rapidly dead. The humans, on the other hand...

  “Don’t shoot first,” Case said, as if I needed to be told... Actually, she might have had a point, there.

  I kept the weapon angled away from the oncoming humans, except for when I had to shift my arms to help keep my balance, and I kept running towards them. It took me a few meters to realize they were running towards me, too—and they didn’t seem the least bit fazed by the blaster I was holding. Behind me, the screeches were accompanied by clicks, and high-pitched squeaks that rang through the tunnel. The sound of claws scrabbling over rock was a constant, rattling shuffle in the background, but at least it didn’t sound like it was getting any louder.

  I kept an eye on the incoming humans, and an ear on the battle raging behind me. It sounded like the creature from the hole wasn’t alone, and that the ants had their claws full. I figured I’d put as much distance as I could between us, and hope the ants found multi-legged-aggressor bugs an acceptable hunting outcome.

  The humans ran past me, and then stopped. When I looked back, I could see them pouring something from the flasks pulled from their waist belts, onto the ground between them and the fight raging further back. I kept running. None of them looked like the woman I was looking for, and none of them were trying to do me harm. That was a novelty in, and of, itself.

  I might have stopped to see who they were, but I figured the bug fight wasn’t going to last forever, and I didn’t want to find out what the victors would do to any stray humans who stuck around. This might have been a good plan, if the stray humans who’d arrived had had any intention of letting me go off on my own.

  The ones that were following the first rank, turned and followed me. One reached out and grabbed my arm, pulling me to one side of the crevice, and down another tunnel I hadn’t seen. This one was a bit wider than the hole I’d been going to hide in—and it didn’t seem to be occupied by anything more than the people rescuing me. It also got me out of sight of the battle, which was a good thing.

  “This way,” he yelled, letting go of my arm, and running slightly ahead like he expected me to follow.

  It seemed like a good option, so, of course I went after him. After all, he knew the tunnels and I didn’t. It also crossed my mind that I could stop following Barangail’s dodgy tracker, and just ask if anyone had seen the concubine. I wondered if Case and Tens had found a name for her, yet.

  “Celia,” Case said, “but I don’t think you should go asking after her just yet. We don’t know why these people were in the tunnel to start with. They might have been waiting for someone, and I doubt it was you.”

  I hated it when Case was right, but that still didn’t mean I could try a different direction. There was still a bunch of angry ants and antsy aggro bugs somewhere behind me, and I was nowhere near far enough away from to be sure they wouldn’t track me down. I figured I’d follow the humans for a bit, and then maybe break away and head out on my own until I found a quiet place where I could reacquire the bracelet’s tracking signal.

  “Don’t worry about that, yet,” Tens said. “It looks like you’re running in the right direction, so you’re not going to lose a lot of time getting back on track.”

  If I hadn’t been focusing on keeping my feet and keeping sight of my guide, I might have sworn a blue streak. As it was, I didn’t even have time to think a blue streak. The ground in this tunnel was just as uneven as the ground in the last one, although I was no longer kicking over squishy stink bombs. It took another few minutes to register we were going downwards.

  I worried about how long Case and Tens would be able to maintain their connection. We hit another open cavern, and my guide ran through. There were others running with us, but he was the only one that had spoken—and the others didn’t look like they were about to start trouble.

  This cavern was lit by some kind of phosphorescent rock that ran through the walls in wide veins, and a variety of mushrooms and lichen grew in its dim light. It screwed with the goggles, blurring what I was seeing until they adjusted. The altering vision me stumble. In an instant, one of my running companions came alongside, reaching out a hand to steady me.

  “Thanks,” I managed, just as my foot hit another rock, and I went down.

  It made me doubly grateful for the hand wrapped under my other bicep. It tightened, pulling me up before I could hit the floor. My ankle gave a gut-turning wrench, and I hoped there were enough nans left from the last stim pack to put it right. In the meantime, I was going to have one Hell of a limp.

  “You right?”

  Stupid question.

  “Any point in being otherwise?” I retorted, but the jolt of pain that arced through me the next time I put my foot down, made me falter.

  I rode through that first wave, and tried to roll through the second, but didn’t quite manage it. Another hand grabbed hold of my other arm, and my two assistants helped me make it to the other side of the cavern. I tried to keep going, but they stopped me, pulling me into a walk.

  “It’s okay. We’ve gone far enough.”

  “Yeah, you can take a break.”

  They guided me out of the cavern and round a corner into a small chamber. I was still registering the rough stone table, sided by two benches, and the plassteel door in the opposite wall, when there was a low hum, and static curled over my skin. Glancing back towards the source of the sound, I saw a faint haze dance to life across the door, and realized half a dozen other humans had come into the room with us.

  My helpers settled me on a bench with my back to the table, and sat down, one on either side of me.

  “How you feeling?” one asked, but I didn’t answer straight away.

  I turned my head, eyeballing the hard-eyed faces of those with me—and, suddenly, I had a very bad feeling about things. I
tried to push myself to my feet, still holding the blaster in one fist.

  “Not bad,” I said, “but I have to get going.”

  It wasn’t really a surprise when I was shoved back onto the bench, and the blaster taken out of my hands. Honestly, I’d thought I was holding onto it better than that. I watched as the safety was checked and left off, and the blaster was pointed back towards me. Well, that was interesting. I cocked an eyebrow and looked up at the guy holding my gun.

  “I’m gonna want that back,” I said, and he backed up a step and smirked.

  “Not gonna happen,” he retorted, mimicking me. “You introducin’ yourself?”

  I rested my elbows on the table behind me, doing my best to look relaxed.

  “This is your house,” I told him. “Why don’t you go first?”

  He looked around, and more weapons appeared.

  Now, why was I not surprised?

  “What are you doing down here?”

  I crossed my good left leg over my bad right and tried for nonchalant. Pain shot up my right leg as my boot brushed my ankle, and I uncrossed them, again, all too aware that I was the center of attention. The dude asking the questions was not amused, but he didn’t push. He just waited for me to get settled, and raised an eyebrow.

  I raised one in return, and decided today wasn’t a great day to start being cooperative. I waved my hand, inviting him to continue.

  “Like I said, it’s your house—and I didn’t know I was expected. What was with the welcoming committee, upstairs? And thanks, by the way.”

  I heard movement on the other side of the table, but I didn’t take my eye off the guy in front of me. After all, he was the one most likely to hurt me. The dudes sitting on either side of me hadn’t made a move—and whoever had come in on the other side of the room, hadn’t come near the table.

  I wondered where Tens and Case were, and why they were so quiet.

  14—Varian, Arc and Hammer

  “You weren’t expected,” said the man holding my blaster, and I took a good long look at him.

  Dark-haired, brown eyed, a little taller than most, and pretty well built, he stood like a fighter, not a soldier. I was willing to bet he moved more like Tens than a Marine. And I was pretty darned sure he’d be hard to drop on his ass...and that was without the blaster. With the blaster, I had no chance, because he’d shoot me first.

  His eyes told me that, and his face backed it up. I waited for him to get on with explaining what he meant. He seemed to be waiting for me to ask him something else. That was not how I was going to play the game.

  It took him a minute to get the message, but then, he sighed.

  “I don’t suppose you’ll tell me what you were doing down here...”

  I looked at him.

  “Like I said... It’s your house.”

  His lips twitched, but he wasn’t amused.

  “You’re the guest. Why don’t you introduce yourself?”

  He made a fair point, except...

  “I didn’t ask to be invited.”

  Someone sighed behind me, and I was up and out of the seat, before I’d turned round.

  I almost made it.

  Two sets of hands grabbed hold and pulled me back onto my ass. This time they didn’t let go, and the holds were painful. A third person came into view. She was carrying an auto-injector that she slapped hard and fast into the base of my neck.

  “Don’t be uncooperative,” she said, as my feet tried to run.

  I looked at her, as she stepped back, and then around the table and out of view.

  Uncooperative? Me?

  “Lady, you have no idea,” I told her.

  She came back into view, and held the auto-injector up in front of my face.

  “You’re afraid of needles,” she said, as my body tried to get away, again.

  I hit the floor with an unceremonious thump, and one of my escorts sat on my chest. My head was spinning, and it wasn’t from the rough handling. She stepped forward so I could see her face, but not her hands.

  “Why don’t you answer Varian’s questions, okay? That way you and I won’t have to visit.”

  It made perfect sense to me. I nodded, fear still curling through my chest, even as rebellion mingled.

  The guy, sitting on me, got up and offered my hand. Frowning, just a little, I took it, and let him help me to my feet.

  “Sit,” he said, “pointing to the bench.”

  “Sure,” I managed. “Why not?

  Varian? That was the name of the guy with my blaster? Weird ass!

  “So, why don’t you tell us about yourself?”

  As an opening to an interrogation, that was not a question I expected.

  “Tens?” I asked, keeping it to my comms.

  To my surprise, he came back.

  “You’ve stuck your head in the lion’s den,” he said. “You might as well tell them who you are and why you’re there. I don’t think they’re going to take anything else.”

  Case added her ten-cents’ worth.

  “That, and I think they might have hit you with some kind of truth drug. Just tell ‘em why Barangail sent you, kiddo.”

  Now, since when did Case ever... And how did she know I’d been hit with whatever it was. Truth drug? As in I couldn’t lie, would have trouble lying, or what? I closed my eyes and tilted my head back.

  Great. I leant forward, putting my elbows on my knees as I covered my face with my palms. No one made a sound, so I sighed, rubbed my face with my hands, and looked up at Varian.

  “My name is Jocelyn Cutter, and I am a retrieval specialist. I’m down here on commission from Lord Barangail the Asshole”—oops, that was a little more candid than I’d intended to be—“to find a bracelet that he said was stolen by a maid, the lying bastard.”

  I stopped. It was hard. Whatever they’d given me made my mouth want to keep going, and I thought I’d shared quite enough. It was time to turn the tables.

  “So, who were you waiting for upstairs?”

  Varian looked momentarily surprised, and then ignored the question.

  “Who are you looking for?” he asked, and I answered before my brain could censor anything.

  “Not a who, a what. I just want the bracelet.”

  “Do you know where it is?”

  “It is being worn by Celia the concubine.”

  “So, you’ll be taking Celia back to Barangail.”

  “No. Just the bracelet. Not the person.” I shuddered, remembering Barangail ordering Mack’s legs be broken, the beating.... “Never the person.”

  “Will you kill Barangail?”

  “Not the mission.”

  “I could make it the mission.”

  “No, you couldn’t. I’m not the assassin—”

  “Don’t go there, sweetheart,” Case said, and pain spiked through my skull.

  I screamed, vaguely aware that Tens was shouting, and he wasn’t very impressed. Not at me, though. He was mad at someone else. Oh...good.

  I let my head clear, and then realized I’d grabbed hold of it with my hands and was doubled over and rocking. I froze, before slowly straightening up. Varian waited until I was sitting upright.

  “Who is the assassin?”

  And my head rang with more pain. This time, I kept the reaction down to a gasp, but it was enough to cue him in. He handed off the blaster and came and knelt before me, resting a hand on my shoulder. Looking carefully into my eyes, he spoke—and he wasn’t speaking to me.

  “Riders,” he said, and I wondered what the fuck they were, but what I wondered was nothing. “This is Varian of the Alpha Nine resistance. We have a commission for an assassin. Terms are as follows...”

  I listened as he rattled off the terms for a darn fine contract, not trying to break the eye contact he seemed to find so important. Tens stopped shouting, and Case was silent. Stepyan surprised me by being the one to answer.

  “Tell him Arc and Hammer agree to his terms, and will carry out the termination, once yo
ur contract has been honored.”

  I blinked, and Varian stopped looking into my eyes, and drew back a little. This time his attention was completely on my face.

  “What did they say?” he asked.

  I licked my lips and met his gaze.

  “They said to tell you that Arc and Hammer agreed to your terms, and would carry out the termination, once my contract has been honored.”

  He snorted and patted my shoulder.

  “Arc and Hammer,” he said, pushing to his feet and taking my blaster back. “Even I have heard of them. The Shady Marie carries an interesting crew.”

  He resumed his position, and aimed the blaster at my head, while I sat and stared at him. Part of me was horrified that he’d rumbled the name of the ship, but another part of me was too busy agreeing with him to care.

  “Yes,” my mouth was saying. “Yes, she does.”

  Which was rapidly followed by, “Fuck it! When does this shit wear off?”

  Even he found that funny.

  Inside my head, though, Case, Stepyan and Tens were far from amused—and I didn’t have anything I could say to make it any better. I didn’t even have time to try and work something out, because Varian wasn’t finished with me.

  “So, how do you intend to fulfil the mission without delivering Celia to Barangail?”

  I shrugged, figuring there was no point in concealing the folk roaming about in my implant, seeing as he’d worked them out already, and seeing as my mouth was racing to give him the answer...

  “Link to the ship. Tens will see what he can do.”

  “Tens?”

  “Comms guy,” said my mouth, while my brain was screaming ‘shutupshutup. Shut. The. Fuck. Up!’

  “More...”

  “Oh, Hell to the Hells, no! No. No. Nononono!”

  “Stars, girl. You keep that up, you’re gonna break something. I can see why Mack likes you.”

  I gasped. That was not what I needed to hear from Stepyan, or, maybe I did. Either way, I was grateful for the distraction, even if his mention of Mack and his likes had me blushing redder than a blood beet. I was even more grateful for his next words.