“You’re one of the royal guard?”
I turned to Mack.
“She’s one of the royal guard.”
I watched his eyes darken.
“Where is your queen?”
This time, I heard the wasp’s voice in my mind.
“She escaped. We did not.”
Its gesture included the other vespis, and the weavers in the room.
“The others of our cohort did not survive as long.” It turned to me. “Your captain has said he will do his best to return us to our homeworlds, but that he has an errand to run, first. We will assist you in this endeavor.”
I caught the brief shake of Mack’s head, and was about to convey his refusal, when the wasp raised its clawed forehand.
“You have to let us repay,” it said. “This is not too much for us to ask—and you are in need of assistance, if you are facing a force of arach.”
I saw Mack open his mouth to argue, and then close it again. Instead, he lifted his head and surveyed everyone in the room. Everyone. Because they were standing as still as statues, their heads cocked as they caught the wasp’s words in their mind, and I realized the damned thing had broadcast the entire conversation.
It tilted its head towards me, amusement in the angle of its antenna.
“Of course. This is not a decision for us to make on our own. All should be given the chance for thanks or revenge.” It gestured to the nearest wolf, and I realized he was in hybrid form, his ears cocked forward, his eyes eager. “See? This is Pack Leader Angravine. He seeks vengeance.” Its mind voice softened with what might have been sympathy. “...and a new pack.”
I looked at Angravine, and the wolf slid me a yellow-eyed glance. He gestured towards the cub holding Mack’s hand.
“I will see if that one’s father would consider my membership.”
At Mack’s side, the cub stood taller, his eyes bright and alert... and assessing. Honestly, the little bugger was already sizing Angravine up and deciding his worth. I wanted to shake the shit out of him.
“Don’t,” Mack said, and I curled my lip.
Clearly, the dampeners didn’t work on him.
His mouth twitched, and I thought he might actually have smiled.
“Captain’s privilege,” he said, and I stared at him, but he was talking and very pointedly ignoring anything I was thinking. “You wanta turn around so you’re not standing with your back to our guests?”
I turned, but this brought me face to face with the vespis, again, so I took a step back, and ended up against Mack’s chest. The vespis stepped to one side so I found myself facing everyone gathered in the caf. I can’t say I found that an improvement.
For a long moment, I stared at them, and they stared back, and then Angravine surveyed the gathered wolves, a low snarl rippling from his lips. I held my breath, pretty sure the lupar pack leader had just claimed his right to lead them, and an all-out brawl was about to ensure.
It didn’t. One by one, the wolves walked across to look him over, and then stand behind him. He stood head and shoulders above most of them, in much the same way as Pack Leader Rovan had stood just a little taller than his squad. There were two exceptions, both female, and both standing nearly as tall as he did. They waited until the others had made their choices.
When they were all that was left, they came to stand before Angravine, but not directly in front of him. In fact, if I hadn’t known any better, I’d have said they were setting him up for a pincer attack. Even the captain’s cub drew a sharp breath as they came to a halt.
“We are Outliers,” said the female who’d led the way across the deck.
She, too, stood in human form, her hair a thick, luxurious chestnut in contrast to her companion’s more silvery hue. Angravine made a show of looking her up and down, and she looked back, her ears tilted forward, her tail stiff and still. When he made to take a step towards her, both Outliers snarled.
Around them, the caf stood still. Vespis and Weaver watched the exchange with wary curiosity, and the few humans among them stood poised for action—although whether it was to fight or flee, I could not tell. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, when Angravine stopped moving forward, and held up one hand in placation.
“Will you run the edges for me?” he asked, and I thought I caught a touch of pleading in his tone.
The two she-wolves exchanged glances, their eyes gleaming amber. After a moment’s silence, they both looked towards him, and dipped their chins in assent.
“We will run the edges for you... Pack Leader,” the chestnut female said, and the room breathed once more, watching as she and her partner moved to stand on the outer edges of Angravine’s newly formed pack.
When they had taken their places, Angravine looked towards Mack, and me.
“We are ready to help you,” he said, “and, when we are done, I ask that you will speak for us.”
Mack gave the pack leader a very lupar dip of the chin in agreement.
“I will speak for you.”
The pack leader’s eyes shifted to me, and I met them, equal to equal. His body tensed, his fur bristling as the usual lupar response to that rippled around us. I smiled, but refused to drop my gaze. The sonofabitch could accept me as an equal or he could chase his tail out an airlock. I was pretty good with either. Still...
“I will speak for you,” I told him, and he subsided.
I surveyed the rest of the room, then gestured to the captain’s son.
“How many of you want to be included on our mission to return this cub to his father?”
I had half expected the room to erupt into shouts. Instead, I received a quiet show of hands, backed by angry determination. I glanced up at Mack.
“We’re gonna need Doc.”
“Yup. I’ll ask him to assemble a team while we eat. Looks like it’s gonna be another long day.”
25—Return to Alpha 9
It was a long day, but not as long as the days that followed as we did our best to get the Shady Marie to haul her ass back across the systems to Alpha 9. There was training, and trust exercises, and recording everyone’s skills and attributes. Doc’s team was run ragged—but that didn’t mean he forgot about me.
Oh, no. He took the time to chase me down, and make sure my ribs were healing to order—and then he took Mack aside, and made sure his legs were mending according to schedule. I wanted to laugh, but one look at Mack’s face warned me against it. We spent time on the mats, and time on the range... and what had passed between us when he’d gotten me back aboard the ship faded.
...Until we were coming into the Alpha 9 system.
I was standing on the observation deck studying the station and its beanstalk tether, when Mack came in behind me. He moved with enough deliberate sound that I knew I was no longer alone—which was more courtesy than Tens had given me. Him I only noticed when I turned my head to look at Mack and discovered Tens standing at a point out of range of my peripheral.
Still, he hadn’t bothered me, either, so maybe the man had just wanted to be alone, too. Tens cocked his head, acknowledging us with a slight nod, before leaving the room.
“I’m not the only one who wants a bit of privacy,” he said, closing the door behind him—and I swear I heard the locks engage.
Mack had turned to watch him go, his eyebrows rising as the door closed.
I watched him stare a moment longer, and then blink. There was no point in drawing it out.
“So,” I said, “You wanted to be alone?”
He swung his head towards me, his eyes dark, his face brooding.
“That’s not what he said.”
I waited. He was right, that wasn’t what Tens had said, but I wanted to hear what Mack had to say.
“You’re a piece of work, you know that?”
I crossed my arms, half-turning away from the view, and feeling uncharacteristically unsettled and angry.
“Get to the point.”
“I wanted some privacy...with you.”
Mack stilled.
“You okay, girl?”
I leant on the window, and closed my eyes. He was standing two meters away and he was still far too close. I took a breath, and he waited until I opened them, again. When I did, I didn’t give him a chance to speak.
“This is easier when we’re trying to beat the crap out of each other,” I managed, and he smiled.
“I’d say I was sorry, but that’s not my style...and I’m not. You can be a right sonuvabitch.”
And I couldn’t help but smile.
“Speak for yourself.”
We were both silent for a moment, and I turned back to the window.
“So, what do you want, Mack?”
This time, I felt the air move as he closed the distance between us, moving as quietly as any ghost. I felt the heat of him pass behind me, and the solidity of his presence come to rest at my side.
“You know I have feelings for you.”
It wasn’t a question, and I nodded, feeling my lips curve into an involuntary smile as my face heated. Again, I felt my throat go dry, couldn’t figure out why speaking was so difficult.
Mack seemed to be having the same difficulty, for he rocked on his feet, and then cleared his throat, reaching out to lay an awkward hand on my shoulder.
“I just wanted you to know that, before...” He gestured at the station before us, and I nodded.
“Yeah, Mack. Thanks for that.”
My reply came out clipped and short, and I wanted to kick myself. In truth, all I wanted was to feel his arms around me, to lean into his warmth as we both stared out into the dark... I just couldn’t find the words, or discover how to unlock my limbs to move an inch closer to him.
For fuck’s sake! It was just like being thirteen, again...only a million times worse, because I liked the guy... Okay, more than liked the guy, and I just couldn’t bring myself to say so. What in all the fucks was wrong with me?
“Nothing,” he said, and did exactly what I couldn’t.
He moved, engulfing me in his arms, pulling me into the warm shelter of his chest and holding me tight. I waited for him to say I was broken, but he didn’t—and, as that thought crossed my mind, his arms tightened around me.
“Not broken,” he said, and I felt his lips press a gentle kiss to my hair. “Bent, perhaps. Maybe too badly dented for the marks to ever polish out, but not broken. Not to me.”
And a tiny hiccup of laughter bubbled out of me. I pressed my head into his chest, and wound my arms around his waist, pulling him close, and he rested his chin on my head, both of us sighing contentedly at the same time. We stood like that for what seemed to be an eternity of peace, and then I lifted my face, and he bent his head to mine.
Our lips touched, and I felt his hands moving over me, even as mine were seeking how to free his shirt from its moorings. Half-turned to the view, we both caught sight of it at the same time—a flash of light, angling up from the planet.
And, just like that, the moment was gone.
“Tens!” Mack was roaring in my head, even as I dragged him down, accessing the Marie’s controls and activating the deck’s extra shielding as I did so.
We hit the floor, and Mack rolled over me, pinning me to the floor, just as Rohan fired in our defense.
“Incoming!” he shouted, and Mack and I swore in chorus.
Honestly, it might have been funny, if either of us had been wearing suits, or if the shields had fully closed. I elbowed him, and looked towards the emergency lockers. Tens had locked the door and there weren’t nobody coming for us. We were going to have to deal with this, ourselves.
Catching my thought, Mack lifted enough for me to flip, and crawl out from under him, and together we scuttled across the floor to the locker set into the opposite wall. It wasn’t hard to open. I hacked it, and Mack pulled two suits clear.
I had a brief and funny vision of what we must look like, each trying to wriggle into a suit as we lay side by side. Mack caught it, and snorted.
“Yeah. Real funny, Cutter.”
But neither of us were laughing when the Rohan took out the next missile at a proximity that buckled the shields and sent the first hint of a crack running through the window.
“Crap.”
Well, that was one way to put it.
“You have another?”
“It’s a motherfucking inconvenience, and we need to go kick someone’s ass for throwing that shit in our direction.”
“Smart ass.”
I didn’t bother gracing that with an answer, but slunk over to the door, and poked it with the implant. Yup. Tens had locked us in but good.
“Tens!”
“Kinda busy, Cutter.”
“Door, asshole.”
“One kiss, and you think you rule the world.”
And it was Mack’s turn to interrupt.
“Don’t even go there, shit-for-brains.”
I couldn’t have put it better myself.
“Nice to know,” but the door popped open at that moment, and stayed long enough for us to roll through, before sealing shut behind us.
Seconds later, there was a soft boom, and the light above the door started strobing orange. I guessed that meant there’d be no observation deck for a while. Mack hauled himself to his feet, and started running for the control room.
“Get your shit, and meet me in the teleport center!” was tossed back over his shoulder, as he vanished around a corner. “Get mine, too!”
Well damn! There was just no arguing with the man when he was like this. My heart leapt with excitement, and I bolted in the other direction, down a couple of decks and half the length of the ship. Stepyan’s stand-in had our gear sitting on the counter. Mine was laid out so I could tool up right then and there, and Mack’s was in a duffle right beside it.
“Now, Cutter!” rumbled through my implant, and I rolled my eyes, stuffing the latest Glazer into its holster, before wrapping my hand around the duffle’s handles and dragging it off the counter.
“Gotta run!” I said, by way of goodbye and hauled the duffle over my shoulder as I jogged for the door.
Mack met me half way to the center, and opened the bag as he fell in beside me. I guess the man really was in a hurry, because he started hauling out kit as we ran, stuffing it into holsters and belt pouches, and slinging extra harnesses over his shoulders as he went.
By the time we got to the center, the bag was empty. I tossed it towards the control bench as we jogged over to the teleport station and found ourselves a square.
Tens didn’t need to be told to hit it; he just did—and we materialized in a shudder of silver, to the sound of hard slugs rattling into the wall nearest our heads. Mack and I rolled, splitting up and going two ways to put something between us and the unexpected shooters.
Well, fuck me sideways! The boys could at least have warned us we were coming into a hot zone. And Tens’s response to that thought was as sarcastic as they came.
“What? You couldn’t work it out for yourself?”
“Don’t make me come back there and get you.”
“Like you could ever. Mack, that’s the advance party. You take them out, and you’ve got a chance of holding the station.”
More rounds whistled past us, impacting the walls behind which we hid.
“How many?”
It was a good question, and I was already hacking my way into the station’s security system. I figured it wasn’t going to be manned, and I wasn’t subtle.
“Why don’t you use a fire-axe, next time?” Rohan snarked, slipping through my implant, followed by Cascade’s bounding presence. “Here, you focus on shooting, and I’ll get the doors.”
“You are such a gentleman,” I snapped, but I was already pulling my head out of the station’s systems, and getting it back in the game.
To be honest, I don’t know what we would have done, if Case and Stepyan
hadn’t returned from their little hunting trip. One minute, Mack was pinned down, and being forced slowly back down a side corridor, and I was wondering just how long it would be before the partition I’d ducked behind would cease stopping bullets, and start letting them through and into me.
It was not a nice thought.
I turned my head, trying to find another piece of cover to get behind, but this was the landing lounge, the place where people came to wait for a passenger car down the bean-stalk to the planetary surface. All around me was an open space dotted with rows of lounges and low tables. There was a counter not far from the entrance to the passenger cars, and there were tall windows that would have given a magnificent view of the solar system or the planet if they hadn’t been covered in heavy shielding.
Me? I didn’t miss the view so much. I wasn’t fond of being reminded just how thin a barrier lay between me and a horrible death in the vacuum. I kinda liked the shields, particularly in a firefight... which didn’t mean I wanted to get any closer to them. I looked for another corridor, something that would take me deeper into the station. Stars, even an elevator door or stairwell would be a good option.
“Your wish is my command,” Tens said, and I couldn’t help but think how nice it would be for him to say that more often and mean it.
“In your dreams, kiddo.”
But a door slid open a scant meter from where I stood. The shooters saw it at around the same time I did.
“Fuck.”
I started running as I bitched, really hoping I didn’t get stitched by something that either ended me, or put me in a tank.
“Good luck with that.”
“Thanks a lot, Tens.”
But, before he could respond to that, Mack was making his own set of requests.
“What about one for me? I’ve got four of the fuckers coming down the corridor, and a room with no exits.”
And just like that Tens was gone. “I’ve got you, boss.”
Well, I sure as shit hoped he did, because I was going to need some back-up. Turns out that two meters was one meter too many, and some bright spark got lucky with a solid to the knee joint on my armor, while my ribs took a pounding from several well-sprayed rounds, and another lucky shot hit me in the point of my shoulder.
Mack 'n' Me: The Wolves of Alpha 9 Page 21