End Game

by Lindsay Buroker

  No. But I can get in touch with my people without going far. I don’t think—wait, I thought too soon.

  What?

  Two androids just came out the wrecked gate. I think they may have been sent to look for me.

  Get back to the ship. Let Mica know what happened. If you and your friends could stage a rescue, we may be in a position to appreciate it. Leonidas was no longer visible on the camera, but Alisa thought of his unconscious form draped over the android’s shoulder and tried to share the image with Young-hee so she would know how much trouble they were in.

  I… see. I will.

  “Money means little anymore,” Henneberry said. “What matters is creating a dynasty.”

  “You don’t think you’ve done that already?”

  Henneberry snorted. “Nothing that will last once my squabbling children and grandchildren are done with it.” For the first time, she looked at Alisa, as she stroked her chin thoughtfully. “You tried to deny me that staff, but in the end, I shall have something better, an alliance with the person who has it.”

  “That’s lovely for you. I’d love to talk further about it, but I have a hard time concentrating when I’m dangling in the air.” Alisa looked down. “Also, my fingers are going numb.”

  Henneberry kept stroking her chin, no hint of sympathy in her expression. She looked like someone contemplating the death of a pest. Alisa liked it better when the woman had been ignoring her, though she was starting to get an inkling of who this was, at least insofar as it related to her.

  “You’re not the kind of person who likes to deploy android treasure hunters, by chance, are you?” Alisa asked.

  “I thank you for the drink, Solstice,” Henneberry said, once again ignoring Alisa. She set down her glass and rose to her feet.

  Alisa flexed her own feet. Maybe she could get a nice kick in if the woman walked past.

  But Henneberry headed for a back door rather than toward the elevator, perhaps because the elevator was inoperable. Casually, as she walked by Solstice’s lounge, she said, “I want that one dead. And her brawny friend too.”

  “Of course, Ms. Henneberry,” Solstice said.

  Alisa couldn’t keep from gaping at her. She wasn’t surprised that Solstice would kill her, but Leonidas? Just like that? Like he meant nothing to her?

  Solstice sipped from her drink, ice rattling in the glass. An android detached himself from a guard position and escorted Henneberry to a back door. Solstice touched the diamond-and-gold earstar hooked over her helix.

  “Beta Seven?” she asked. “I told you to bring the cyborg up here, right?”

  Judging by her frown, an answer did not come right away. Alisa hoped Young-hee was doing something to fiddle with the workings of the security androids, even though she knew Ostberg would have been the better Starseer when it came to machines and computers.

  “Beta Eleven,” Solstice said.

  “Yes, ma’am,” the android gripping Alisa by the arms said.

  Solstice pointed at her. “Kill h—”

  A boom rattled the building, and a gout of fire spewed forth from the broken elevator doors. The android dropped Alisa and threw itself toward Solstice, dragging her to the floor and covering her protectively. The two other androids in the room raced for the elevator shaft.

  Alisa found her feet and darted for cover behind a display case, the art-filled shelves inside rattling. Another boom erupted, this one not as loud and from the other direction. Something slammed into one of the androids, lifting him from his feet and hurtling him back several meters. The other one whirled toward the door that Henneberry had gone out. The airborne android exploded before his feet touched back to the floor.

  What in the suns’ fiery hells had that been? A rocket?

  The android still by the elevator shaft dove to the side as another rocket hurtled through the air, buzzing as it passed near Alisa’s hiding spot. This time, the android was fast enough to move out of the way. The rocket slammed into the back of the elevator shaft and exploded. A shockwave hit the android, hurling him to the side, even as the floor quaked underneath Alisa.

  Debris flew out into the room, hammering the furniture and ricocheting off the display case. She pressed her back to it and kept her hands up to protect her face as other cases crashed down all around her. Smoke hazed the massive room, but she saw Solstice shouting and trying to squirm out from underneath her android protector. Alisa’s battered eardrums couldn’t make out the words.

  The smoke near the back door swirled as a figure strode into the room. The android protecting Solstice jumped to his feet. Alisa patted herself, hoping to find her stun gun, but it had fallen to the floor in the chaos.

  The smoke-shrouded figure raised its arm and fired a huge weapon. The android tried to leap away, but the rocket caught him in the shoulder with enough force to send him spinning. Solstice flung her hands over her head. The rocket exploded in a blast of fiery orange and yellow. Alisa’s display case toppled, and she sprang away as it crashed to the floor. Other furniture slammed down all around her, statues and ceramics shattering as they struck down.

  The android’s arm and half of his torso hit the floor, and the rest of him tottered and fell backward like a dead tree toppling in a windstorm.

  Solstice lifted her head, but could only stare as the figure strode out of the smoke. The haze cleared enough for Alisa to make out a fitted T-shirt, bare legs, mussed hair, and a rocket launcher the size of a small vehicle.

  “Leonidas,” Alisa rasped, smoke trickling down her throat and making her cough.

  He flicked his fingers in acknowledgment, but his focus remained on Solstice. She tried futilely to scramble away, but he caught her and one-handedly hoisted her into the air. As someone who had recently received the same treatment, Alisa smiled in appreciation.

  “Better add a few more androids to the repair bill you’re sending that woman,” Alisa said cheerfully. “And an elevator shaft.”

  She picked her way through fallen furniture and shards of ceramic toward Leonidas. She wanted to give him a hug, but that would be awkward when he was holding an enemy in one hand and a rocket launcher in the other. There were cuts and bruises on his face, and his T-shirt was ripped in several places, but he appeared far fitter than he had in that video footage.

  “Colonel Adler,” Solstice said, her voice remarkably calm considering she was dangling a foot above the floor. “It’s good to see you again.”

  He grunted and looked around the room, as if searching for a hook or something to hang her from.

  “I hope you’ll forgive me for luring you here under a pretext,” Solstice said, trying to twist in his grasp so she could beam a smile at him. “I had little choice in the matter.”

  “I’ll bet,” Alisa muttered. “Who was that woman who wanted us dead?”

  Leonidas looked at her, his eyebrows drawing together. He must not have run into her in the hall. Too bad. Alisa would have liked for her to be hanging on a hook somewhere.

  “Beatrice Henneberry,” Solstice said, as if that should answer all questions.

  Again, Alisa thought the name familiar, but she couldn’t place it. Was it one of the mafia leaders?

  Leonidas did not appear any more enlightened than she.

  “It sounded like it might be the lady who owned Captain Echo’s ships,” Alisa said. “Someone trying to get ahold of the staff for a private collection, perhaps.”

  Solstice rolled her eyes. “She’s the founder, majority shareholder, and current CEO of CargoExpress, you idiot. What kind of business woman doesn’t keep abreast of the economic news?”

  “One that spends a lot of time being harassed by the mafia.” Alisa scratched her jaw. So that was Captain Echo’s wealthy owner. Now that Solstice had shared the intel, she did remember hearing the name in the news over the years, usually in stock reports. CargoExpress was a large and frequently traded company, so fortunes were made and lost on the rise and fall of its stocks. She looked at Leonidas. “I sup
pose it’s too late for you to look into an alternate carrier for Beck’s shipment. I don’t believe I want to support that woman’s business anymore.”

  “I would check,” he said, “but one of the androids stepped on the inside of my helmet and damaged the comm.” He narrowed his eyes at Solstice, as if breaking his armor was a greater crime than trying to kill him.

  “I am sorry about that, Colonel,” Solstice said. “I would never have betrayed you, but in a recent chat with Ms. Henneberry, it came out that I knew you, and that she was rather put out with all the meddling you and your captain have done.” She flicked a hand dismissively at Alisa. “She applied some pressure, and I have no wish to make an enemy of the woman, so I let myself appear to comply.”

  “Appear,” Leonidas said, looking down at his near-naked state.

  Alisa hoped his armor would be repairable.

  “I wasn’t truly going to have you killed,” Solstice assured him.

  “When that elevator blew, you were in the process of giving that android an order to kill me,” Alisa said.

  “Well, of course. You’re mouthy and annoying.”

  Alisa propped a fist on her hip. The only redeeming part of that comment was that it caused Leonidas to glare ice daggers at Solstice. He must have tightened his grip on her, too, because she squirmed.

  “Ow, argh, Colonel, love, would you mind putting me down, please? So we can discuss this in a civilized manner?”

  “Colonel Love?” Alisa mouthed. “Did your superiors ever address you so, Leonidas?”

  “None that are left alive.”

  Leonidas took pity on Solstice, or, knowing him, felt guilty about hurting her, and lowered her to the floor. Though he must have felt confident in keeping her from escaping, he patted her down for weapons before letting her go. Probably not a bad idea. Alisa wouldn’t underestimate her.

  He found a couple of vials that she kept in her bra, withdrew them, eyed the bluish green liquid inside, and set them on a high shelf out of her reach.

  “Really, Colonel,” Solstice said, adjusting her bra, “I was imagining your touch being less brusque.”

  Alisa did not want to dwell on Solstice imagining Leonidas’s touches. Instead, she said, “The CargoExpress woman is associated with the mafia?”

  “Not at all,” Solstice said. “Oh, she does business with all of us, the same as everyone else—who doesn’t need packages delivered, after all?—but she doesn’t have ties to any of the mafia families. I believe she was an orphan actually, and that her business and fortune are entirely self-made.”

  “Then what are these meetings about?” Alisa looked to Leonidas. “While I was here, dangling from an android’s grip, she and her husband were invited to a meeting. It sounded like a lot of the mafia heads were. It also sounded like it might have something to do with the staff.”

  “So amazingly observant you were, Captain,” Solstice said, “for a woman who was on the verge of being killed. Colonel, love?” Solstice pointed at the couch she had been sitting on earlier, which now lay on its back with soot coating half the cushions. “Will you set that upright for me? I need to sit down. My home is in terrible disarray, and I feel fraught.”

  This time, Alisa rolled her eyes. She hoped Leonidas would ignore the request, but, without setting down his rocket launcher, he hefted the couch into the appropriate position.

  Solstice smiled, watching the play of his leg and arm muscles as he lifted the substantial piece of furniture. Alisa couldn’t resist another eye roll.

  “Thank you.” Solstice approached the couch and made a hmm as she eyed the sooty cushions.

  “I’m not dusting for you,” Leonidas said.

  “No? Not even when you were the one who left my home in such disarray that the cleaning robots are too alarmed to come out?”

  “We shouldn’t stay,” Alisa told Leonidas. Solstice’s calm made her think she had backup on the way. Would someone in the mafia-equivalent of a police station have heard the explosions, or have been warned when the androids didn’t report in? There could be troops heading into the building even now.

  “I’d be quite delighted if you left, Captain,” Solstice said. “But Colonel, let’s talk.” She sat down and patted the cushion beside her. “I feel bad for the ruse I was forced to enact. I am, however, delighted that you’ve returned. My offer of a security position is still open, in case you were wondering.”

  “Yes, he stays up nights, worrying about whether your job offer is open,” Alisa said.

  Leonidas walked to her side instead of joining Solstice on the couch. He stood close and patted her back, lifting an eyebrow. Alisa wasn’t sure what the gesture meant, but had a feeling it might be a silent chastisement for being petty. Given Solstice’s rudeness in trying to kill her, Alisa did not believe she deserved chastisement. Still, she was pleased that he stayed close and didn’t rush to lower his hand.

  “Are you all right?” he asked quietly.

  “Yes. I apologize for running and leaving you back there. I was hoping to burst in here, which I did do, and stun the masterminds responsible for the ambush, which I did not do.” She spotted her stun gun among the debris and pointed to it. “Ah, yes. There it is.”

  “I wanted you to leave. That’s why I forced open the door.” His tone turned dry. “The outside door. You were supposed to go out, not in.”

  “I couldn’t have stunned anyone from outside.” Alisa was glad when he didn’t point out that she hadn’t managed to stun anyone from inside either. “Young-hee went out. She’s clearly a less obtuse partner.”

  “Clearly.”

  Remembering that Young-hee was on the way back to the ship to gather reinforcements, Alisa patted Leonidas and left his side. She needed to find her comm unit. It, too, had fallen out somewhere in the chaos.

  “Since I did lure you here with deceit,” Solstice said, resting her elbow on the back of the couch and ignoring Alisa as she grabbed her stun gun and poked around for her comm device, “I won’t punish you for the destruction you’ve done to my home. Especially if you set some more of my furniture upright.” She waggled her eyebrows at Leonidas, smiling not at his face but at his pectorals.

  “And we won’t punish you for trying to kill us,” Alisa said, “if you tell us all about this meeting to which you’ve been invited.” She found her comm unit and dusted it off as she mouthed to Leonidas, “See if she knows about Thorian.”

  She almost said Tymoteusz and the staff, but believed that he cared more about the boy.

  Leonidas nodded at her. Alisa moved away to use her comm. Solstice would be far more likely to give information to him than to her, and as much as she liked snooping, she suspected that information would more likely come out if she was out of earshot.

  “Mica?” she asked, comming the ship.

  “Captain,” came Mica’s prompt and exasperated response.

  “That’s me. We were in trouble—”

  “Yes, I gathered that from the Starseer who collapsed on the deck in front of me, followed by the security androids that tried to board our ship.”

  “Er, did they board the ship?”

  “Not yet, but only because we closed the hatch. I’ve got Bravo Six in NavCom in case we need to fly, but I doubt we’re getting out of the dome without that woman’s permission.”

  Alisa grimaced at “that woman,” who was sitting on the couch, thrusting out her chest as she spoke to Leonidas, her gaze skimming up and down his body as she did so.

  “I hope you weren’t planning to leave without us,” Alisa said. “I don’t think Solstice is going to lend us a ship again.”

  “We thought we could pick you up on the way out. And not pick up the others. I gathered you wouldn’t mind leaving Durant.”

  “I wouldn’t, though I’ve gotten used to Abelardus, and wouldn’t mind keeping him around. He’s useful now and then.”

  “If you say so. Look, what do you want us to do? Right now, the androids are milling about outside the ship, but I
wouldn’t be surprised if more showed up with blowtorches and tried to cut their way in.”

  “Stand by for a few minutes. Leonidas is having a chat with Solstice.”

  “Oh? Is he making her sensitive places tingly?”

  “Even as we speak.”

  “And that’s not bothering you?”

  “She can tingle all she wants. He’s mine.”

  Leonidas looked over, his enhanced ears apparently allowing him to listen to two conversations at once in addition to hearing at great distances. Alisa thought he might raise an eyebrow at her claim, but his eyes closed partway in a look that seemed to convey agreement. It made her sensitive places tingle a bit.

  “Have you heard from Alejandro or Abelardus?” Alisa asked, hoping the fiasco here wouldn’t affect Ostberg’s treatment.

  “Not yet. I’ll check on them.”

  “Thanks, Mica. Out.”

  Leonidas left Solstice on the couch and joined her.

  “Did you get what we needed?” Alisa asked, watching Solstice as he approached and wondering if he’d heard the part about the androids guarding the ship.

  “I got… something. I’ll tell you back at the ship. We may not want to linger in the area.”

  “No kidding.”

  “I don’t think Solstice will bother us further, but if Henneberry is still in the city, she may not be pleased if she finds out we haven’t been executed.”

  “I don’t think her feelings on the matter are fair, considering that her androids attacked us. Twice.”

  “The second time, they were just following us.”

  “So they could steal what we found. That’s unacceptable.”

  Leonidas wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “Let’s find my armor and get out of here.”

  “You don’t want to roam the city like that?” She slipped an arm around his waist, patting his butt in the process.

  “Not particularly, though I may have to, since those androids damaged my armor as they tore it off me.”

  “How did you get away from them? And where did you find that?” She pointed to the rocket launcher he hadn’t relinquished yet. He seemed fond of it. Maybe he would start taking it to bed with him.