Planet Killer (Star Kingdom Book 6)

by Lindsay Buroker

  I’ve wondered that myself. Do you think someone like Dubashi would know anything about Bjarke’s secret-agent status?

  I can ask him, but I don’t know why they would have crossed paths before.

  I believe I’ve figured out my new plan. I just need—

  The door opened, but the four crushers swarmed it before Casmir could see who was trying to come in.

  “And here I thought one was annoying,” Rache growled. “Let me in, Dabrowski.”

  Casmir exchanged a look with Kim, wondering if they should be worried or glad that Rache had come to see them.

  “Step aside, please, Zee and other Zees.”

  Tristan had no weapons, but he stood with his fists ready as the crushers moved to let Rache in.

  Rache barely glanced at him, instead focusing on Casmir.

  “I got a message from Dubashi,” he said. “The meeting has been moved up, thanks to Jorg heading to his base. Dubashi said he wanted to get contracts hammered out before the Kingdom ships arrived, presumably so he has a bunch of mercenaries willing to fight them.”

  “Will you fight them?” Kim asked quietly.

  “Do you really need to ask that?” Rache asked, equally quietly.

  “I suppose not.”

  “So I came to tell you,” Rache said, switching back to Casmir, “that there’s no time for your rendezvous with that freighter. You’ll have to come along.”

  “Are you inviting me to the meeting?”

  “No, I’m inviting you to stay locked in this cabin and out of trouble while I go to the meeting.” Rache eyed the crushers.

  “Can I posit an alternative?”

  “What now?” Rache asked in exasperation. “I’m already sparing your saboteur’s life.” He flung a hand toward Tristan.

  “Are you? You’ve just said you’ll fly into war with us locked in here. What if you lose? We could all die.”

  “I’ll weep terribly as my own death finds me.”

  “Or—” Casmir waved his hand with a flourish toward the rear of the ship and the Dragon trailing behind, “—you could let me, Tristan, and all the crushers borrow one of your shuttles—that one that has been painted to look anonymous, perhaps—and we’ll get out of your hair completely. Doesn’t that sound delightful?”

  “You out of my hair? Yes.”

  “I’m noting the complete lack of hesitation. Does that mean you agree to the loan?”

  “Why would I give you a shuttle?”

  “To get us all out of your hair. Kim, too, if she wishes. It sounds like you’re not sufficiently displaying your ardor to her.”

  “I didn’t say that.” She frowned at him.

  Casmir lifted an apologetic hand. He shouldn’t interfere with—or make fun of—their relationship, even if its existence distressed him.

  “I could accomplish that by punting you out the airlock,” Rache said.

  “I believe you’d find that difficult.” Casmir waved at Zee, who loomed next to Rache’s shoulder. “I’m sure you would rather focus on your upcoming meeting and battle with the Kingdom than deal with my squad of crushers.”

  Rache fell silent, and with the mask on, Casmir couldn’t tell if he was glaring at him or closing his eyes in meditative contemplation.

  “What are you going to do with my shuttle?”

  “Use it to get to the Dragon.”

  “That’s it?”

  “Yes.” Casmir’s left eye blinked. “At first,” he amended. “And then I’ll take it to the base so Bonita doesn’t have to get close and endanger her ship.”

  “And remind me what you’re doing on Dubashi’s base,” Rache said flatly.

  “An errand for Shayban.” Casmir smiled. That one was the truth.

  Rache stared at him for a long silent moment, and then he looked at Kim for just as long of a moment. To see if she would nod or plead on Casmir’s behalf? She merely gazed back, her expression neutral.

  “Who would fly it?” Rache looked at his misaligned left eye, though he probably also knew Casmir didn’t have piloting experience.

  “It has an automatic system, doesn’t it?” Casmir snapped his fingers. “Oh, and I can have Zee download the necessary software in case there’s a hiccup.”

  Rache dropped his chin to his chest and shook his head slowly.

  “Do you promise not to puke in it?” he asked.

  “Why does everybody ask me that before lending me equipment?” Casmir asked Kim. It wasn’t as if he could roll down a window and stick his head outside if he got sick.

  “Because they’ve traveled with you,” Kim said.

  “Hm.” Casmir extended his palm toward Rache. “I don’t know how long it will last, but I haven’t been experiencing much motion sickness since taking your potion. If that changes, I promise to clean any messes I make.”

  Rache turned toward Kim. “Will you go with him? Or stay?”

  “Stay,” she said quietly and without hesitation.

  Casmir kept himself from shaking his head. As he’d pointed out, he wasn’t here to be her chaperone, and she could take care of herself. And if he was honest with himself, he doubted Rache would let anything bad happen to her, if it was at all in his power to keep her safe.

  That didn’t keep him from messaging her. Can I leave a couple of the crushers to act as bodyguards for you? If you’re going onto the station, you’ll need help.

  Kim eyed Zee a little dubiously, and then considered Rache. No. I’ll be fine. Thank you.

  He thought that might be a mistake, but she’d never warmed up to the crushers as much as Casmir had, so he didn’t push it.

  “Pack up, Casmir.” Rache headed for the door. “I’ll have the shuttle prepped.”

  Qin stood in the cargo hold, her boots locked to the deck, as the Dragon extended its airlock tube to link with the shuttle Casmir and Tristan had borrowed, stolen, or begged from Rache. She hadn’t gotten the full details and wasn’t yet sure.

  Even though they were supposed to be getting Casmir, Tristan, the crushers, and nothing more, she wore her full combat armor and carried three weapons. Just in case this was a trap. She didn’t know why it would be, but she still didn’t trust Rache.

  Boots rang on the rungs in the ladder well in the corridor on the other side of the hold, and Qin inhaled, catching Asger’s warm, pleasant scent along with the tang of blade-cleaning oil. He was also armored, with his pertundo in hand, as he walked across the hold.

  “Expecting trouble?” He nodded to her weapons.

  “When accepting a shuttle that was sent from Rache’s ship? Always. You?” She nodded to his weapons.

  “Always.”

  He smiled, holding her gaze. “Maybe we’ll get to fight together soon.”

  “Does that mean playing with my pop-up puzzle palaces was too sedate for you?”

  He’d come by her cabin the night before, asking if she wanted to play a game of cards or dice. She’d been delighted. Even though he was dour whenever his father was around, he’d been much more open and prone to smiling at her since their talk on the treadmills. Unfortunately, she hadn’t had any games. Her childhood hadn’t involved such things, and all she’d been able to offer was a puzzle book that Bonita had given her as a gift because of the unicorns and dragons in it.

  “It was a little sedate. Very unmanly. I felt the need to go polish my pertundo after braiding that unicorn’s tail.”

  “That’s one of the best puzzles. You were surprisingly adept at it.”

  “Surprisingly? I’m athletic, competitive, and determined to win at all costs. That makes me adept at many things.”

  “And a little haughty.”

  “You saw how quickly I braided that tail. You can’t deny my skills.”

  She smiled at him. “I like you when you’re making jokes.”

  He raised his eyebrows. She blushed, not sure she should have said that aloud. It had popped out, unedited.

  “I guess I’ve been a little humorless lately.”

  “
Humorless, grumpy, surly, glowery.”

  “Glowery?”

  “Definitely.”

  “He just makes me crazy.” Asger extended the shaft of his pertundo, pressed the butt to the deck, and leaned on it. “For the longest time, I thought it would be nice to spend a few days with him and get to know him now that I’m not a kid anymore. Now I know better.”

  “I’ve barely seen you talk at all.”

  “Exactly. I thought if we had time together, maybe we could do that. Talk. As adults. But he doesn’t see me that way. He sees me as a child and a screw-up. He—” Asger shook his head. “Sorry, I told myself I wasn’t going to complain about it anymore. I already got drunk and blathered about my feelings to Casmir.” He curled a lip.

  “I’m a girl. It’s okay to blather about feelings to girls.”

  “Is it?”

  “Sure, we like it. Especially from grumpy, surly, glowery men with big weapons.”

  He gazed thoughtfully at her. Did he think she wasn’t being honest? Or that she was teasing him?

  She smiled, hoping to convey her sincerity. She hadn’t had that many opportunities in her life to be someone’s confidante, and she wouldn’t mind it, not with Asger.

  “I didn’t say it before, back when we, uh—” He waved to the spot where they’d been standing when they kissed. “But I really appreciate it that you think I’m a better knight than my father. I can’t honestly agree that it’s true, but it’s nice to have someone believe it.”

  She reached out and rested a hand on his cheek. He grew still at her touch, his gaze holding hers.

  “If I say he’s a jerk who doesn’t deserve such a loyal son, will you kiss me?” She meant it as a joke, but she forgot to smile as she brushed her fingers from his cheeks to his lips.

  His eyelids drooped half shut. “Yes. You don’t even have to say it.”

  He stepped closer, but a clank came, and the control panel beeped to announce the airlock tube was fully hooked up.

  Qin jumped, dropping her hand.

  Asger smiled ruefully.

  “Maybe later,” he offered as more sounds came from the tube. Casmir’s crushers or a pack of Rache’s mercenaries striding over?

  “Only maybe?”

  “Definitely?”

  “I hope so.”

  A knock sounded on the hatch, and Qin forced herself to focus on it. She peered through the little porthole to see the top of Casmir’s head and a bunch of crushers lined up behind him. She unlocked the hatch, and they tramped in. Tristan came in at the end of the queue, without armor or weapons, and appearing rumpled and tired.

  Several of the ship’s robot vacuums appeared out of nowhere and whirred toward Casmir. A few of the crushers stepped forward, as if worried they represented some menace. The vacuums skittered back, somehow sensing the looming threats.

  “They’re fine, my friends.” Casmir patted the air. “They’ll clean your toes if you let them.”

  “Crusher toes are self-cleaning,” one of them announced—was that Zee?

  Casmir came forward and patted Qin on the shoulder as the vacuums whirred around his legs. “Thanks for meeting us.” He gave Asger a similar pat. “I have a plan.”

  “I’m worried,” Asger said.

  “Me too,” Qin said.

  “It involves your father,” Casmir told Asger.

  “Then I’m definitely worried.”

  “Can someone ask him to come down?”

  “I can ask.” Qin had last seen Bjarke in navigation with Bonita, so she sent a message to her.

  Bonita said they were on their way down.

  “You all right, Tristan?” Asger asked. “You look rough.”

  Qin noticed bruises on Tristan’s neck.

  “I tried to sabotage Rache’s ship,” Tristan said. “He didn’t appreciate it.”

  “I’m surprised you’re not dead,” Asger said.

  “I almost was.” Tristan touched his neck. “Kim and Casmir showed up and talked him down from, er, murder. I haven’t quite figured out why they have that ability to influence him.”

  “It’s more Kim than me,” Casmir offered.

  “Nonetheless, I feel that rescuing the two of you wasn’t needed.”

  “Just be glad all he said when we left was for me to keep my knights out of his hair.”

  “Your knights?” Asger asked.

  “I’m collecting them, you see,” Casmir said. “It’s handy to have large, muscular, well-trained men around me.”

  “The crushers aren’t sufficient?”

  “They’re also nice. They have those self-cleaning toes.”

  “Yes,” Zee said with his chin up.

  If he’d had feathers, he would have preened. Qin was sure of it.

  “How did you get one of Rache’s shuttles?” Qin asked. “It is one of his, isn’t it? When Bonita checked, it didn’t have identifiable markings, and its ident was registered to System Cerberus.”

  “It is,” Casmir said. “He gave it to me because I promised not to throw up in it.”

  “Is that generally enough to prompt people to give you expensive things?” Asger asked.

  “No. It’s a long story.” Casmir brightened when Bonita and Bjarke walked into the bay. “Just who I need to see.”

  “Casmir,” came Viggo’s voice from a speaker. “I thought you were here to see me.”

  “Naturally, and I’ll be happy to fix or upgrade any of your parts while I’m here. But it’s Sir Bjarke Asger—technically Johnny Twelve Toes—who can help me with my plan.”

  Bjarke eyed him dubiously. Qin didn’t think they’d spent much time together.

  “What can Johnny do to help?” Bjarke asked. “And what’s your plan?” He looked toward the airlock hatch. “Is Scholar Sato in the shuttle?”

  “No. She stayed with—uhm, Rache kept her.”

  “Damn it.” Bjarke clenched a fist. “I’m ready to ram my pertundo into that bastard’s chest.”

  “Would you settle for kidnapping Dubashi, stopping a war, and returning peace to the Kingdom?” Casmir asked.

  Bjarke squinted at him. “You’re a civilian advisor, who, last I heard, was assigned to manufacture robots on Stardust Station. I’m positive you haven’t been given orders to do any of those things.”

  “No, but don’t you think Prince Jorg will be appreciative if we accomplish them?” Casmir smiled charmingly. A robot vacuum whirred between his legs.

  “We?” Bjarke turned his suspicious squint briefly toward Qin and Bonita, but he let it settle longest on Asger.

  Asger lifted his hands.

  Qin doubted he knew anything more about this than she did. She wanted to step forward, growl, and protect him from Bjarke’s unfair glare, or at least clasp his hand in support, but Casmir drew Bjarke’s attention back first.

  “You and I, Sir Knight.” Casmir pointed to Bjarke’s chest, then his own. “Dubashi has had a bounty on my head for weeks now. I want to be bundled up and delivered to him—with my twelve crushers here. If he’s waiting to greet us in his shuttle bay, the crushers can snatch him up. If he’s not, once I’m in his base, I’m hoping I can hack into his system and find him. Then we’ll snatch him up.” Casmir waved toward the shuttle linked to the Dragon. “I think I’ve been seen in Rache’s and Bonita’s orbits too often for it to be believable that either of them would be bringing me in to collect the bounty, but an opportunistic Drucker pirate might be a plausible captor who would turn me in.”

  Bjarke stared at him as if he’d hatched robots out of his nostrils. “My orders are to bring Kim Sato to the prince.”

  The man had a singular mind, didn’t he? Qin rolled her eyes.

  “Perfect.” Casmir’s smile broadened. “She’ll be there.”

  “Where? The moon base?”

  “With Rache, who’s going to the meeting for mercenaries. At the moon base.”

  “He’s taking her in there with him?” Bjarke asked. “Is there a bounty on her head too?”

  “A
ctually, there is. It came up on the network recently.” Bonita waved toward navigation. “Casmir is wanted dead. Kim is wanted alive and uninjured.”

  “So Rache is taking her to turn her in and gain favor with Dubashi?” Bjarke curled a lip.

  Casmir spread his hands, as if he had no idea. Right.

  Asger glanced at Qin, but he didn’t say anything. Neither did she. If Bjarke hadn’t yet figured out that Kim and Rache’s relationship wasn’t antagonistic, it wasn’t Qin’s place to mention it.

  “You’ll help me find her if I take you there?” Bjarke asked Casmir. He glanced toward the airlock tube. “Is that why you brought that shuttle?”

  “So we can go in without endangering Bonita and the Dragon, yes.” Casmir nodded.

  Qin was glad he’d acquired a ship. She worried that their freighter would be too obviously out of place among powerful mercenary warships, and that someone might notice it, shoot it, and try to loot them.

  “And I will absolutely try to get back together with Kim while we’re there,” Casmir said. “She’s my best friend.”

  Bjarke returned his squint to Casmir, then considered the crushers. “You actually did build some. Huh.”

  “Oh yes. And I believe the complete complement of one hundred that Prince Jorg ordered will be ready by the time we return to Stardust Palace. I automated the manufacturing after doing my first run.” Casmir waved at his troops.

  Bjarke’s lowered brows gradually lifted. “I admit I didn’t think you would actually do it. When you sneaked Scholar Sato off the Osprey with you, I doubted your loyalties and commitment to the mission.”

  Casmir touched his chest, his brows raising in an innocent “who, me?” expression.

  Again, Qin kept her mouth shut. She wouldn’t do anything to get Casmir in trouble, though she’d learned by now that, while his loyalty to his people might not be in doubt, his willingness to strictly obey orders from his king was. But he wasn’t a soldier. Why should he have to follow some dubious military chain of command?

  “Do you really believe they’ll be enough to overcome Dubashi’s defenses?” Bjarke waved to the crushers. “He likely has cybernetically enhanced security men and robots of his own.”

  “The crushers are very effective, sir,” Tristan said. “I can attest to that.”

  “I’m also hoping that Dubashi won’t have an entire platoon of troops waiting to meet us,” Casmir said. “If we leave promptly, we can arrive about the time that meeting is starting up. He should be distracted.”