Chilling Effect_A Novel

by Valerie Valdes

  She must have blacked out briefly, because one second she was alone, and the next Mari was shaking her like a bottle of protein drink.

  “Ow, what?” Eva asked.

  “Seriously?” Mari replied. “I thought Schafer was bad, but you’re a whole new level.”

  “Who?” Eva asked, but Mari fell stubbornly silent. She pulled something out of her belt pouch and handed it to Eva: a nanite dose, which Eva obediently pinched a nostril and inhaled. It was a small tube, more to stabilize her injuries than repair them, but it was a lot better than nothing.

  “This way,” Mari said, hauling Eva to her feet and guiding her with a hand on her forearm. Everything felt like it was still spinning, like the horizon kept trying to move in the distance, and the nanites made her insides itch.

  They came to a landing strip not far away, other Conelians already there and shouting and hugging and crying over their victory. Did they know who made it happen? Probably not. Didn’t matter, especially since they were still at war with someone else entirely. That was war for you, like a game of musical chairs where seats kept disappearing until only one was left, and people rarely stopped to ask who the hell was in charge of the music.

  Mari released Eva and crossed her arms. “I’m going to find a place where I can make some calls, then I’ll see if I can salvage any of my stuff.”

  Eva winced. “I know you think I don’t care, but I am sorry about your ship,” she said. “I’ll give you a ride to wherever you need to go once I get La Sirena Negra back.”

  “No, no,” Mari said quickly. “Dad doesn’t know about me. He can’t know, or my mission will be compromised. Bringing you here was already a risk. I’ll find a way off-planet, don’t worry.”

  “Okay, fine, if you say so.”

  They stood in silence for a few moments, Eva scratching the scab on her neck, Mari with her eyes closed, taking slow breaths.

  “I guess I’ll see you around,” Eva said.

  “I hope not,” Mari replied quietly. “What I’m doing is . . . Please, just stay out of trouble. Please.”

  Eva smiled with her mouth closed. “You know I can’t promise that.”

  “Then at least try to be more careful.”

  “You’re the one with some big mystery mission coming up in a week. You be careful.”

  Mari leaned forward like she was going to reach for Eva, then stepped back, putting her hands on her hips instead. “I hope you find your crew. And good luck with Dad.”

  “I don’t need luck for that,” Eva replied. “Just patience, so I don’t kick his ass.” As if she were in any shape to kick anything bigger than a gasket.

  Mari laughed, raising her hand in a final wave as she turned and walked away. Within moments she had disappeared into the smoke and rubble, either hidden by the celebrating Conelians or cloaked by whatever invisibility tech she’d used before.

  Eva was still angry at Mari, and hurt, and she didn’t know if she would ever really forgive her sister for what she’d done. But love, that was there, too, nestled in the bottom of her mechanical heart like a battery that wouldn’t run out of juice. Funny how that worked.

  She’d deal with those feelings later, when she wasn’t standing in a burning city on a strange planet in the middle of a civil war. And if she could manage, she might even get in on whatever major action Mari and her bosses were planning against The Fridge within the week.

  Eva pinged Min. ((Location?))

  At first, there was no answer from her. Then a stream of coordinates popped in, and Eva mapped them with her commlink. Not too far.

  Maybe luck was on her side after all. Eva blinked back tears—caused by the smoke and dust, naturally, it couldn’t be anything else, even if she was wearing a helmet—and started to limp toward her stolen home.

  Chapter 19

  Return of the Jodienda

  Eva received no further transmission from her ship as she walked to the remains of the cargo port in the western quadrant of Conelia City. She could only imagine what Min was thinking, getting a ping from a ghost in the middle of a war zone. A year was a long time for people to rage, and grieve, and ultimately move on with their lives.

  She’d certainly had her share of doing just that over the years.

  The destruction of the fathership had cut control to all the gmaargit fighters, but some gmaarg had survived and were engaging the Conelians on foot, occasionally wasting their ammo on the ships that crisscrossed the pale blue sky above them.

  She arrived at a small clear space surrounded by blown-out buildings and impact craters. Most of the civilians had been evacuated well before the fighting began, so the remains of the city were already empty of life. It was like walking through the bones of a huge creature who was still on fire. Soldiers emerged like furry ants to sort through the wreckage for survivors and supplies, and to prepare for the next wave, whenever that might come.

  Eva climbed gingerly over debris, favoring her left leg and avoiding areas her sensors noted were more unstable. How she was going to get La Sirena Negra out of wherever it was, she didn’t know; it all depended on how badly it was damaged, buried, or otherwise inoperable.

  She found what had once been a landing platform but was now a hole in the ground with half a building on top of it. At the bottom of the hole, about four meters down, was the top of her ship, its exterior shielding shimmering as bits of debris were dislodged by Eva’s footsteps. Intact shields were a good sign; it meant the hull hadn’t been breached. She eyed the obstruction pinning the ship down and sighed, but another part of her was downright giddy with hope.

  After everything she’d been through, moving a pile of rocks was a simple logistical challenge.

  Climbing down took a few minutes of scouting for a good spot, picking handholds carefully and then cursing when she chose poorly and slid halfway down on her already-tender stomach. She landed near the airlock, but it was blocked by a thick column that had cracked in the middle, so she clambered back toward the emergency airlock and tried to open it with her commlink. It was locked down, which probably meant all power was directed at the shields and life support. With a sigh, she opened a gap in the shields and pulled out the metal key that would let her open the airlock manually.

  It took a few minutes of wrenching, but she finally got the damn thing open and climbed the ladder inside, closing the hatch behind her. The transition area was just large enough for two people; the last time she’d been in there was with Vakar, she remembered, and she scowled at herself for remembering. She stood in the cramped quarters while she waited for pressurization and decontamination to finish. It finally did, with a ding like a meal done prepping, and the door opened with a hiss. Four guns and a pair of knives greeted her on the other side.

  “Honey, I’m home,” she said.

  “Who are you and why do you have Eva’s commlink?” asked one of the gun holders.

  “I have it because it’s mine, which should answer both questions.” She squinted down the various sets of arms holding the weapons, at the faces staring into hers. With a start, she realized one of the faces belonged to her dad. He had lost at least twenty kilos, his cheeks thin and ragged as an old rug that had been beaten too many times.

  “You look like shit, Pete,” she said. “No es lo que jode . . .”

  “Sino lo seguido,” he finished. But he didn’t drop the weapon. “What’s your favorite food, Bee?”

  Second countersign. Okay. “Arroz con mango. How’s the weather up your own ass?”

  Now he did lower his arm, eyes shiny with a bit of extra fluid. “It’s a shitstorm as usual. Where the holy hell have you been, girlie?”

  She was so startled by his apparent emotion that she almost told him the truth. The lie she had rehearsed while she walked felt like sand in her mouth, but she spat it out anyway. “I don’t know, exactly, what with me being in cryo the whole time. The facility I was in got jumped by mercs, one of them let me out, and when they left I hitched a ride. Took me a while to track you
down, but here I am.”

  His face went blank, like he could smell the crap but didn’t know which shoe it was under, but he knew better than to call her on it in front of other people.

  “How did you get to us?” he asked. “There was quite a debacle outside last time I checked.”

  Eva smirked. “I might have aggressively borrowed a ship. I also might have blown up the Glorious Assbiter, since he was in my way.”

  Pete’s eyebrows shot up so high, his forehead turned into a mass of wrinkles.

  “You did what?” he asked, his tone mild by comparison.

  She ignored his question and gestured at the people in front of her. “So who are these friendly folks waiting to put something deadly in my skull?” she asked.

  Pete inclined his head, and the weapons disappeared. “My crew. Let’s do introductions in the mess. And maybe you can explain yourself a little more thoroughly.” He gestured at her head. “You’ve got blood on you, by the way.”

  Eva shrugged and kept her expression neutral. He had slid in like a hermit crab and taken over as soon as she was away, and now she had to play nice until she could take her shell back. She couldn’t show weakness, though, or the game was already over.

  “Min, you coming?” she asked.

  “I’ve been here the whole time, Cap,” came the response through the speakers. Min sounded strangely subdued. Eva didn’t like it.

  They practically marched her into the mess like an armed guard. Eva fell into her seat at the head of the table, half out of habit and half to make her intentions clear. Whether Pete picked that up she wasn’t sure, but he sat at the other end of the table with that same poker face. One of his crew stood behind him and the other two flanked him, and she began to feel like maybe she was at the foot of the table despite her intentions.

  As if she had been waiting for her cue, Mala leaped onto the table and sat down in the middle, tail curling around her feet as she settled into loaf position. She cast one glance at Eva before closing her eyes and starting a low, rhythmic purr.

  “Right, so, can I get you anything?” Pete said, breaking out his best salesman smile.

  “I’m fine,” Eva replied. “If I want anything, I know where to get it.”

  “Could be some stuff moved, but fine. Introductions, then.” He leaned back, gesturing first to his right. “This is Jaedum Caliso, from here on Conelia originally. Worked for me as an engineer back in the day and now here he is again.”

  “Engineer, weapons upkeep, building spare parts out of spit and scraps,” Jaedum said, voice raspy like he had a cold. He was a kyatto, with velvety fur the gray of an oncoming storm and big eyes as blue as Earth’s oceans. “Don’t know how you kept this heap in the sky so long without a major overhaul.”

  “My engineer was the best,” she replied, half grinning, and his ears flattened against his skull. Prick. He could go fry ice when she got Vakar back.

  “Where is your engineer, by the way?” Pete asked. “You two seemed . . . tight.”

  Eva’s grin evaporated. “Why don’t you finish the introductions?”

  “This is Sanannia T’vetari,” Pete continued, and the woman on his left inclined her head. “She’s pulling triple duty as our resident historian, appraiser and occasional medic.”

  Kloshian, almost human-looking except for her brilliant green skin and black eyes. As Eva watched, the color transitioned to a pale teal and the eyes lightened, mimicking iris and pupil even though the alien had neither. Thin tentacles that passed for hair were tied back in an approximation of a ponytail, and the smile she gave Eva was thin-lipped to hide her jagged teeth.

  “A pleasure, Ms. Innocente,” she said. “I have heard much about you, all good.”

  “That’s nice,” Eva said. “And it’s Captain Innocente.” Appraiser could be useful. And she was clearly a pro liar, dropping a line like that without batting an eye. Hearing good about Eva? Please.

  “Last but not least,” Pete said, turning in his chair. “You might remember Nara Sumas, inventory control and customer service.”

  Eva snorted to hide her disgust. “Is that what they’re calling bounty hunters now.”

  Nara stood behind Pete, arms crossed, face obscured by a smooth black helmet. “Stood” was the wrong word; “loomed” was better. Decked out in a suit of armor that would make a merc jealous, Nara was more than two meters tall and wide as a buasyr. Shorter outside of the suit, but not by much, and human.

  And the last time Eva had seen the woman was on Garilia, from the wrong end of Nara’s miniature plasma cannon. In Nara’s defense, it was richly deserved, but Eva hadn’t known that at the time.

  Eva wondered how Pete could afford that kind of muscle. Knowing him, probably blackmail.

  “Right, so.” Eva leaned back in her chair. She had questions, sure, but she found her curiosity outweighed by a more powerful desire. “Now that we’re all on friendly terms, let’s talk about how we’re going to get you off my ship.”

  Her father laughed. “Easy, my little bumblebee. We both know it’s not as simple as all that. I’ve got my bosses to worry about, and you’ve been gone a long time. Long enough to be declared dead on most worlds.”

  Careful words, those. This was going to be fun. “Long enough, sure, but you and I both know how bureaucrats like to drag ass on that stuff. Otherwise every Fulano de Tal would be faking his own death to settle debts. So, La Sirena Negra is mine.”

  “El que fue a Sevilla perdió la silla, as your mother used to say,” he said, folding his hands on the table. “The same lawyers will be happy to drag their asses about getting me evicted. Not to mention my bosses might have something to say about it, and your criminal record is still muddying the waters.”

  Damn it. To even take him to court, she’d have to settle whatever charges The Fridge had fabricated back when she was hiding on Nuvesta. Plus they might very well come after her again once they found out she was alive and obstructing their operations. Not good odds.

  Eva let her gaze wander the room, as if she weren’t interested. “Even if the ship isn’t mine, by law it belongs to my crew. I left it to them in my will.”

  “And yet they are unfortunately absent, except for Min. So right now, one of us has a crew and a job, and the other is sadly short on either.”

  That was it, then. Forget checkmate—kick the board over and fuck off. His people might be mercs, one way or another, but she couldn’t risk what amounted to mutiny all by herself, with injuries besides. Min might stand by her, but the pilot wasn’t a fighter—could only do so much to make flying the ship hazardous enough that enemies would abandon it—and Eva had a hard time picturing herself putting a gun to her own father’s head after what happened with Mari.

  Not that he seemed too troubled by the reverse. He always did look out for number one first.

  Eva let her gaze linger on each of his crew members. Jaedum’s ears were still angled back, but otherwise he studiously ignored her. Sanannia met her eyes and smiled that same toothless smile. Nara stood there like a statue, black helmet glinting in the dim light.

  Mala stretched her furry cat legs forward, arching her back with her butt in the air. Then, with the nonchalance only a cat can manage, she sauntered over to Eva and dropped into her lap, looking up at her with big hazel eyes and purring profusely.

  “I stand corrected,” Pete said. “No one is friendless if they have a cat. Though I suspect you’d have trouble maintaining a ship with just her.”

  Eva scratched Mala’s chin. “So I suppose I’m the one who has to hitch a ride.”

  “Don’t worry about that.” Pete slapped the table and got to his feet, all sunshine and lollipops now. So pleased with himself, sinvergüenza. “I’ll be happy to drop you wherever you like. Within reason, of course.”

  “Of course,” she said sourly. He knew damn well she had nowhere to go. La Sirena Negra was her home, and he had taken it from her. She’d lost her old life to The Fridge, lost her crew, and now her hopes of clawing h
er way back out of this hole were sublimating.

  But if she could get her crew back together, Pete would have to give up the ship or face a serious fight. Maybe even lawyers, god forbid; Pink’s brother, for one, or if he was too busy he might have some recommendations. It was a deep hole, but the ace was in there. Somewhere.

  “I don’t suppose you have a spare ship lying around,” she said tartly. “What with you taking mine and leaving me homeless and unemployed.”

  “You know, I might,” Pete said, rubbing his chin as if he were only just thinking of it. Eva hated his bullshit mannerisms.

  “Really,” she said.

  “It’s not on my way, but I might be able to detour. As a favor.”

  Favors were currency. Favors had to be repaid. Not only had he screwed her over, now she was going to owe him. This cycle kept getting better. With family like this, who needed enemies?

  Eva looked down at the cat. “You coming, or you staying here to keep an eye on these comemierdas?”

  Mala meowed and dug her claws into Eva’s lap.

  “All right, I’ll get you a case. Or are we bringing all your buddies, too?”

  “The cats belong to Min,” Pete said.

  “Of course,” Eva replied.

  “Cap? I want to come, too. With you.” Min spoke with her human mouth as she edged into the mess, hugging herself. She looked older, sadder, like she’d come down with a case of intestinal parasites she couldn’t clear out. Which wasn’t that far off, really.

  Eva’s jaw dropped. Speaking of hermit crabs leaving their shells, this was more like a soul leaving its body. She couldn’t imagine anyone else piloting La Sirena Negra.

  “Are you sure, Min?” she asked. “You don’t have to.”

  “I know. I just . . . We can bring the cats, right?”

  Eva nodded, swallowing a lump in her throat. It was more than she rightly deserved, after all she’d done. And she hoped Min wouldn’t regret this later. Hoped the last year hadn’t been so intolerable that this was preferable to staying.