Queen

by Timothy Zahn

  “Bull,” Bungie said flatly. “I’ve seen you do stuff by yourself. You don’t need Pretty Boy or anyone else.”

  “You’d know better if you’d done any actual work,” Jeff said.

  “One more word and you lose your other leg,” Trake said. For a moment he continued staring at Jeff, silently daring him to step over the line that had just been drawn. But Jeff remained silent, and almost reluctantly Trake turned his eyes to Nicole. “We’re going to the teleport room,” he said. “You’re going to fix it, and you’re going to send us back to Philadelphia. Work with me, and you can come back with us.” His eyes narrowed. “Screw with me, and you die.”

  “And Pretty Boy here dies first,” Bungie added.

  “Take it easy,” Nicole said, dropping into the voice and face and body language that had always been her best hope of talking Trake and the others out of something horrific they wanted to do to her. “You’ll get what you want. But not yet. The ship is in danger. Earth—Philly—is in danger. The Koffren have battleships on the way, and we need to stop them.” She gestured over her shoulder at the Core door. “To do that we need to fix something in there.”

  “Sure you do,” Trake said. “You go in there and shut the door, and we’re screwed? Yeah. Not a freaking chance.”

  “I’m telling the truth,” Nicole insisted, frowning. Something here wasn’t adding up. “But I don’t understand. We had you locked in the hive, and the Koffren got you out and gave Bungie back his gun. But then they just let you wander around loose?”

  “Who says we’re wandering around loose?” Bungie countered. “This is a big job—”

  “Shut it, Bungie,” Trake growled, cuffing him across the back of his head. “You wouldn’t know a big job if it tore your face off. It’s simple. The Koffren said you might send someone here, and they told us to watch and kill whoever showed up.”

  “Keeping the rest of your gang as hostages,” Nicole said, nodding. “I guess that makes sense. But then how do we get them back after I fix the teleport?”

  “We don’t,” Trake said. “They’re dead.”

  Nicole felt her eyes widen. “They killed them?”

  “They’re not dead,” Jeff put in. “They’re—”

  “They’re dead,” Trake snarled. “That’s how it is on the freaking streets. You’re not useful, you’re dead.”

  Nicole looked at Jeff. “What happened?”

  Jeff’s lips compressed briefly. “The Koffren didn’t know much about human physiology,” he said, his voice now as dark as Trake’s. “Took them a little practice to figure out how to inflict just the right amount of disabling damage.”

  A chill ran up Nicole’s back. “And that practice was on the other four?”

  “Yeah.” Jeff made a face. “Like I said, the Koffren are stupid.”

  “Yes,” Nicole murmured, looking back at Trake. “Okay. Well, here’s a news flash. The Koffren are done, all of them dead or captured. So there’s no rush on this. Let us fix the Core, and then I can put the teleport back and we can get the others and send all of you.”

  “You weren’t listening,” Trake said. “I don’t want them. Keep them, or feed them to your bugs there or whatever you want.”

  Nicole glanced at the three Thii. They were standing rigidly, their bows still slung over their backs, their quivers still at their sides. “Fine. Whatever you want. I’m just saying the teleport can wait. First we need to fix the Core so that—”

  “You’ll fix the damn teleport!”

  Reflexively, Nicole flinched back. “Trake—”

  “Kill him,” Trake said, pointing at Jeff. Bungie lifted the gun—

  “No!” Nicole gasped, taking a long sideways step, trying to get between the gun and Jeff.

  The Thii were faster. Nicole had barely started moving before Nise and Sofkat stepped squarely into the line of fire, Misgk right behind them.

  “Trake?” Bungie asked uncertainly.

  “I wouldn’t,” Jeff warned before Trake could answer. “That’s a Colt 1911, with a maximum load of eight rounds.”

  “And it’s already used up at least one of them,” Nicole said, her mind flashing back to when Bungie had stumbled into her room in Philadelphia, holding the gun in his bloodstained hand. “That’s the gun you took from Jerry, and you told me you took it away from him because his next shot might have hit something.”

  “Do the math,” Jeff said. “Three Thii, two Wisps, one me. Leaves you one round max, maybe even completely dry. Not a good shape to be in when Levi and the Ghorfs come charging up behind you.” He craned his neck, peering down the empty corridor behind Trake and Bungie. “As a matter of fact…”

  “Cute,” Trake bit out, giving Bungie another head cuff as he reflexively started to turn to look. “And you.” He cuffed Bungie again. “I swear, Bungie, if I’d had the choice I’d have kept Sticks and let them cut you up instead.”

  “Trake, I’m sorry—”

  “Shut up,” Trake cut him off.

  “You know, Bungie, you don’t have to take this kind of crap,” Jeff said. “You’re the one holding the gun. All he’s got is a bloated sense of his own importance.”

  “And a death wish,” Nicole said. “If we don’t beat the Koffren here, even if you get back Earth won’t be safe for long.”

  “Bungie, if you’re even thinking about listening to this freaking pile of crap, I’ll slice your gut open and feed you your own liver,” Trake warned, his voice a low, threatening rumble.

  “I’m not listening, Trake,” Bungie hastened to assure him. “Really. I’m just—”

  “Bungie, if I need to knife you right now I’ll do it,” Trake said, his voice going even deeper.

  Bungie flinched. “No, Trake, you don’t have to do that. Really. You don’t.”

  “Good,” Trake said. “Good soldiers obey their general. You’re a good soldier, aren’t you, Bungie?”

  “Sure,” Bungie said. “Always.”

  And with that, Nicole saw with a sinking heart, the small embers of doubt and self-preservation Jeff had been trying to breathe life into had gone out. Bungie was back squarely under Trake’s thumb, and he would never even think of leaving that spot again.

  “Good,” Trake said. He smiled at Jeff, a smile of smugness and triumph. He’d seen what Jeff was trying to do, but he also knew Bungie. A little abuse, a little kicking of the dog, and the dog had gone whimpering back into line.

  Nicole had spent a lot of time afraid of Bungie. She’d felt a lot of that same time hating him.

  Now, all she had left was pity.

  “So where were we?” Trake continued. “Right. We were going to kill Pretty Boy if Nicole didn’t get her ass in gear and take us to the teleport.” He raised his eyebrows. “Or maybe we should just blow his kneecap off. Lot of damage you can do with seven bullets.”

  And then, with a sudden blast of hot air, the door into the heat duct in the corridor behind Trake and Bungie slid open.

  Bungie reacted instantly. He spun around, hunched his shoulders, and fired a shot into the opening.

  Nicole flinched as the thundercrack hammered into her ears. A second later, Bungie went sprawling onto the deck as Trake snatched the gun out of his hand and slapped him hard across the back of his head. “You damn freaking idiot,” he snarled as he turned to face into the wind. He lifted the gun into firing position …

  And through the opening floated Cambria, its wings spread, its body already turned toward the group gathered by the Core door.

  Wrapped securely in its arms was Allyce.

  “Don’t shoot!” Nicole shouted. In front of Jeff, the Thii were grabbing for their weapons—

  Trake spun back around. “Drop ’em,” he snapped.

  “Do it,” Nicole said, feeling her last flicker of hope fade away. She’d hoped it was Kahkitah or Wesowee or one of the other Ghorfs, or even a whole swarm of Wisps. But Allyce wouldn’t be of any help at all.

  In fact, her arrival just made things worse. Bungie’s
gun was down to six shots, but now he and Trake had an extra hostage to hold against Nicole’s cooperation.

  The vent door closed, cutting off the flow of hot air, and Cambria opened its arms. Allyce’s feet settled onto the deck, her body slumping a little as the paralysis disappeared. “I’m here, Nicole,” she called as she walked slowly and carefully toward the group at the Core door. “Cambria said Jeff needed a doctor.”

  “Yes,” Nicole said with a sigh. “He does.”

  “You know this bitch, Bungie?” Trake demanded, glancing once at Allyce, then turning back and pointing his gun again at Jeff and the Thii. “Bungie?”

  “She’s a traitor,” Jeff snarled before Bungie could answer. “She’s the one who betrayed us back in the Q1 arena.”

  “But she—” Nicole clamped down on her tongue as she belatedly realized what Jeff was doing. If he could convince Trake that Nicole hated Allyce, he might not try to use her as a lever. “But she didn’t succeed,” Nicole continued. “We won, and I kicked her out to go live with the green work crew. I thought I told you I never wanted to see you again, Allyce.”

  A look of surprise and hurt crossed Allyce’s face, quickly replaced by understanding as she realized what Nicole and Jeff were trying to do. “I’m sorry,” she said stiffly. “But I told you then what side I was on. The reasons for that decision haven’t changed.”

  “Bungie?” Trake prompted.

  “Yeah, she helped us,” Bungie said, pulling himself into a half-sitting position, as if afraid to stand all the way up in case Trake decided to hit him again.

  “So what’s she doing here?”

  “I came because Nicole said Jeff needed me,” Allyce said. “But never mind him. Do you two need anything?”

  “Not from you,” Trake said. “No, wait. Come here and pick up these toy bows and arrows. I don’t feel like getting any closer to those freaking bugs than I have to.”

  “She’s injured,” Nicole said. “Your Koffren friends beat her up.”

  “So?” Trake countered.

  “So it’s going to take forever for her to walk all the way here,” Nicole said as Allyce began limping toward them. “Be faster if I have Cambria pick her up again and bring her.”

  “You think I’m stupid?” Trake said scornfully. “This place is already too crowded with these damn overgrown butterflies. Tell the damn freaking thing to stay right where it is.”

  Nicole sighed to herself. With three Wisps close at hand, she might have been able to launch an attack that wouldn’t get too many of the creatures killed. No chance now. She looked at Cambria, still standing just inside the heat duct where it had landed, its gloriously colored wings nearly filling the corridor.

  She caught her breath. Its wings filling the corridor? But Wisps never spread their wings except when they were floating in the ducts, teleporting someone somewhere, or under orders from Nicole to do so. And when they were out of the ducts they always closed them down.

  Only Cambria hadn’t done that.

  Nicole focused on Allyce, still making her slow way along the corridor, halfway now to Trake and Bungie. She’d told Cambria to obey Allyce, so presumably it was Allyce who’d ordered the Wisp to keep its wings up.

  But why?

  And then, abruptly, Allyce gave a little gasp and stopped. “Bungie, help me,” she said, wobbling like she was ready to fall. “I can’t—my knee—”

  “Trake?” Bungie asked, starting to push himself to his feet.

  “Did I tell you to move?” Trake snapped. With a last look at the Thii he swiveled his gun to point at Bungie. “I swear to God—”

  Without warning, Allyce’s legs collapsed beneath her, sending her sprawling to the deck. “Agony!” she screamed.

  Trake spun the rest of the way around, shifting his gun from Bungie to Allyce. “Get up, you damn freaking bitch. Get up!”

  In the corridor thirty yards behind her, Cambria finally folded its wings.

  Revealing Moile and Teika standing behind the Wisp, their bows bent and ready in their hands. The butterfly wings were barely clear when both Ponngs fired, sending a pair of arrows flashing through the air to slam into Trake’s cheek and forehead.

  Trake bellowed with pain and rage, his head jerking back from the impacts, the gun in his hand barking out a round that sizzled past Teika and ricocheted off the corridor wall behind him. Cursing, he slapped the arrows off his face with one hand as he swung back around toward Nicole and the others. His gun settled onto Jeff and the Thii, and Nicole saw his finger start to tighten on the trigger.

  Abruptly, he staggered, the gun sagging in his hand. He tried to bring it up.

  And collapsed to the deck, the weapon dropping from his hand and clattering onto the floor.

  For a moment Bungie stared at Trake, his eyes wide with disbelief. His gaze shifted to the gun lying on the deck—

  “Don’t,” Jeff warned quietly.

  Bungie looked at him, lying helpless on the deck. He looked at the two Ponngs walking stiffly toward them, their own walk as unsteady as Allyce’s, toy arrows nocked into toy bows. He looked up at Nicole, gazing down at him.

  And with that, all the stiffness and anticipation drained out of him. “What the hell?” he muttered.

  Nicole looked at Allyce as Cambria glided forward and offered her a supporting arm. “Your cyanide mixture?” she asked.

  “Yes,” Allyce said, her voice weary. “I told you Moile and Teika had asked for some.”

  “I remember,” Nicole said, eyeing the Ponngs as they limped forward on their half-crippled legs. “I’m just surprised…”

  “That we were able to make the journey again to the treatment room?” Moile asked. “We weren’t.” He nodded toward the Thii. “Fortunately, our allies were both willing and able to do so.”

  “Ah,” Nicole said, looking at the Thii as they retrieved their own bows and arrows. “Thank you.”

  “We were pleased to serve,” Nise said. “We understood that the Ponngs wished to take the battle back to the enemy.”

  “Yes,” Nicole murmured, turning back to the Ponngs and their damaged legs. Damage that Trake and Bungie and the others had inflicted on them.

  The leader of that attack lay dead in front of them. But Bungie was still alive.

  And the arrows nocked in the Ponngs’ bows were undoubtedly also poisoned.

  Unconsciously, she held her breath. If the roles had been reversed, Bungie would probably have taken revenge. Trake certainly would have. Would the Ponngs?

  To her relief, Moile and Teika passed Bungie without a second look. “But how did you know we needed you?” she asked. “We didn’t even know ourselves that Trake and Bungie were here until they jumped us.”

  “We didn’t know,” Moile said. “But you had given us the task of protecting Allyce. When Cambria suddenly came into the medical room and picked her up, we feared she was under attack. We hurriedly gathered our weapons and followed.”

  “But your legs.”

  “We told you we could walk as much and as far as you required,” Teika said.

  “I didn’t know they were back there until Cambria opened the vent door,” Allyce said. “They jumped in right behind us, landing on Cambria’s back and hanging on to its wings.” Her throat worked. “Did you know that if there are three people connected to a single Wisp they can hear each other’s thoughts?”

  “No, I didn’t,” Nicole said, looking at Cambria with new eyes. “That could be very useful.”

  “It’s also rather … unpleasant,” Allyce said, a shadow of something crossing her face as she let go of Cambria’s arm. “I told the Ponngs I hadn’t been abducted, that you’d just called for me to treat Jeff and ordered Cambria to carry me. They apologized for intruding, but by that time we were in the duct and there was no way they could leave me until we landed.” She looked down at the gun. “And then Cambria said you were a prisoner.”

  “Cambria said that?” Nicole asked frowning. “How did it know?”

  “The
re’s some kind of telepathic communications system the Wisps can use,” Allyce said. “I don’t know if it’s just this area or ship-wide. But they can use it to talk back and forth.” She nodded toward Jessup and Lehigh. “One of them told Cambria, and Cambria told us.” She hunched her shoulders. “But we didn’t know they had a gun until one of them shot at us.”

  “No, the Wisps probably wouldn’t recognize it,” Nicole murmured. The Fyrantha had told her that the Shipmasters’ communications setup had been added in after they took over the ship. Did this mean the Wisps had been the original system?

  Maybe. Running all the ship-wide communications through the Wisps would explain why there were so many of them aboard the Fyrantha.

  “We quickly formulated a plan,” Moile said. “We would all come in and Allyce would find out what was going on while we stayed hidden behind Cambria’s wings. At the right moment, she would call out the signal—agony—and Cambria would drop its wings.”

  “Simple and elegant,” Jeff said.

  Moile bowed his head. “Thank you.”

  “But why did you wait so long?” Nicole asked, turning to Allyce. “They must have had their arrows ready as soon as they were safely on the deck. Why didn’t you signal them faster? What if Trake had decided to shoot Jeff?”

  “We hoped that wouldn’t happen,” Moile said. “Perhaps we were indeed a little slow.”

  “I don’t think so,” Jeff said. “Nicole—”

  “It’s of no importance,” Moile interrupted.

  “I think it is,” Jeff said. “Nicole, did you notice what happened just before Allyce gave the signal?”

  Nicole thought back. “She dropped to the deck, right?”

  “I’m talking before that,” Jeff said quietly. “Trake’s gun had been pointed at you, the Thii, and me. And you saw that even cyanide doesn’t act instantly.” He nodded at the Ponngs. “I think they’d specifically told Allyce to wait until the gun was pointed at them.”

  Nicole felt her stomach tighten. “Allyce?” she asked.