Deuces Wild Boxed Set: Books 1-4: Beyond the Frontiers, Rampage, Labyrinth, Birthright

by Ell Leigh Clarke

  She tried to stop thinking about it, tried to get her thoughts to go blank. But her mind kept churning, toiling over every horrible thing that could happen. She wanted to go home.

  She was still curled on the ground when Gern and Belk returned, just to make sure that none of them had found a way to escape. Belk gave the chain one more tug before letting it go, satisfied that it would hold for as long as they needed it to.

  “So, which one’s your favorite?” he asked dryly, looking over his shoulder at Gern.

  “Are we calling dibs on them now?” Gern asked in return, brows rising. “Captain’s probably not going to like that.”

  “It’s an academic question,” Belk returned. “The captain doesn’t need to know. And the captain doesn’t need six of them, anyway.”

  “The small one, I guess,” Gern replied, shrugging one shoulder. “The others are too tall. It’s rude.”

  “I’m taller than most of them,” Belk pointed out with a grin.

  “Rude,” Gern insisted before he kicked a clump of dirt at him. “Not sure I actually like any of them, though,” he added. “Are humans always this noisy?”

  All six of them were crying by then, watching him and Belk like they were waiting for their throats to be torn out. They were making that idea more appealing with each passing second. Really, all that sniffling just seemed unnecessary. It was rude.

  “Pretty sure it’s just a human thing,” Belk replied, unconcerned. “We can gag them or something later on. I wouldn’t worry about it.”

  Gern gave one of them a poke with his boot, but that only made it worse. She squealed for a second and tried to skitter away from him, and it sounded like she was hyperventilating. It was all enough to make his head ring.

  “Uugh.” Gern groaned in exasperation, and he clapped a hand over the nearest girl’s mouth. “Enough with that gods-awful noise,” he snapped. Despite that, she kept sniffling and whimpering, and the rest of the girls were crying now. One of them started sobbing behind her hands.

  Gern’s free hand closed into a fist, but before he could get any more annoyed, Belk grabbed his shoulder. “Come on, we’re going to miss dinner,” Belk whined, practically dragging Gern away from the girls. “We found all kinds of good shit in a few of the basements. And you wouldn’t believe what sort of moonshine these hicks have been brewing, and I’m punting you off a cliff if I miss it. We haven’t had a good meal since our cook got eaten by a carnotaur.”

  Gern reluctantly let himself be dragged away, though he could still hear the girls whining like spoiled mutts behind him. The idea of gagging them was tempting. Or maybe just stapling their mouths shut. It wasn’t like they were going to need them, after all.

  They were going to be there for a little while, though. Long enough to come up with some fun ideas, at any rate. He could find a way to get the lot of them to shut the hell up later. He could probably even make it fun. Maybe Belk would help him.

  Belk gave his arm another impatient tug, and Gern put the girls out of his thought for the time being. He gave the back of Belk’s head a slap and declared, “Last one there gets the gristle.” He broke into a sprint with Belk shouting at him from right on his heels.

  Gern had a feeling it was going to be a pretty good night.

  Rebus Quadrant, Aboard the Penitent Granddaughter, Bridge

  For the most part, space always looked quiet and gentle. Even when things collided, it always looked as if it were happening in slow motion. When bad things happened on the ground, they were invisible from space. Like with an ant farm, most things were invisible until someone actively chose to look, and that didn’t happen too often.

  Nickie watched Swapayama get closer on the main viewing screen. Swapayama looked quiet just then. It looked gentle, with its three moons orbiting it in silence, the tides in its oceans churning, and the clouds swirling through the atmosphere like they were doing their own ballet.

  Did the Skaines’ homeworld look gentle from the vantage point of space? It probably did. Regardless of who the Skaines chose to be, a planet was just a planet, and it probably looked just as quiet as Swapayama or Themis.

  Nickie couldn’t really imagine that. In her mind’s eye, it was always on fire, with the Skaines too busy fighting everything and anything to put the fires out. She knew she could just look up a picture or a video of it, but she didn’t really want that mental image to be corrected just then.

  Swapayama looked like any other colony from so far away, but based on the reports Meredith was giving her, Nickie knew that looks could be deceiving.

  There is a distress signal coming from one of the outer villages. So far the trouble seems to be localized to that area, and it would seem that most of the village is sequestered in a bunker. However, there have been casualties and considerable structural damage.

  What are the odds of the trouble spreading to the other villages?

  The Skaines seem disinclined to head elsewhere at the present moment, but the closest villages have gone underground preemptively. These people are not combatants, and they are all aware of that.

  How primitive are these bunkers, anyway? How much abuse can they take?

  It is possible that the Skaines could break through if they put in enough effort, but that doesn’t seem particularly likely at this time. If they are just here to blow off steam before moving on to their next job, I would not put money on them expending more effort than they absolutely have to.

  Nickie wasn’t particularly comforted by that assurance. Being told “oh, they could cause as much damage as they want to, they’re just too lazy right now” wasn’t exactly what she would call good news.

  We’ll be landing soon?

  Correct.

  Nickie nodded, arms folded over her chest as she drummed her fingers on her elbows. She had made most of her preparations already, and Grim and Durq were staying behind on the ship, so they didn’t need to get ready. Durq was lurking at the communications terminal in the unlikely event that they needed to call for help. Nickie wasn’t sure where Grim was.

  As if on cue the door slid open, and Nickie peered over her shoulder as Grim stepped onto the bridge.

  “Ready for all of this?” he asked mildly, coming to a halt beside her. He watched the main viewing screen for a moment.

  “As ready as I can be,” Nickie confirmed, shrugging loosely. “Have fun holding down the fort while I’m out there.”

  He snorted out a quiet laugh. “Right.” His tone sobered after that, though, as he wondered, “Are you sure you want to do this?”

  Nickie slid him a narrow sidelong glance. “What are you getting at, Grim?”

  “Are you sure you want to go storming out there while you’re still pissed off at the universe?” he asked, folding his arms and turning to face her fully. “Just—" He sighed and shook his head. “I don’t want anything bad to happen, is all. A lot could go wrong here.”

  Nickie glowered up at him. “Relax,” she snapped, planting her hands on her hips. “I know exactly what I’m doing, and I don’t need anyone lecturing me on how to do it. Especially not you. So lay off.”

  Grim didn’t rise to the bait. He was already tired from the direction the conversation had turned.

  “Will you at least promise me that you won’t do anything drastic?” He sighed, rubbing the back of his head with one hand. “These colonists need help, but nothing good will happen if you start doing things you’ll regret later.” He put a bit more feeling into his voice as he reminded her, “You weren’t the one who landed the El’hana on Themis, and going crazy here won’t undo what happened.”

  Nickie’s eyes narrowed sharply for a few seconds before she let her expression ease back to chilly neutrality. “Considering I doubt you’ll be giving me much help while we’re here, I don’t really think any of what you have to say matters that much.” Her eyebrows rose expectantly. “Or am I wildly off-base here?”

  Before he could help it, Grim let out an incredulous laugh. It wasn’t a particularl
y pleasant sound. “Yeah, that’s kind of what I was talking about,” he mused dryly. “But if that’s how you want to play it, far be it from me to argue. Just try to remember that no one on this ship is your enemy or you won’t have anyone left to clean it up when you finish turning yourself into a bottle rocket.”

  He didn’t wait for her to say anything else, just left. Durq followed him for a few paces, then paused. Maybe he wanted to say something, but he thought better of it when Nickie punched the back of the command chair with enough force to dent it. Durq scuttled away before she could turn her ire on him, disappearing underneath his usual console.

  Nickie growled and threw her hands into the air, then turned back to the main viewing screen.

  Fuck both of them. What did they even know? They weren’t the ones throwing themselves into the fight all the time.

  Chapter 9

  Nickie

  Rebus Quadrant, Regleon System, Swapayama, Aboard the Penitent Granddaughter, Bridge

  Entering the planet’s atmosphere was about as uneventful as it could be. There were no messages or demands to know who they were or anything like that. If the Skaines weren’t expecting anyone to show up and the colony wasn’t advanced enough to have perimeter sensors, it was no surprise that no one noticed them arriving.

  The main viewing screen changed to a mishmash of reds and oranges and yellows surrounded by the darker, cooler blues of trees and bushes. The nearest village was easily visible, and farther away the Skaines were gathered around the cool blue of their ship. There was a small cluster amongst the Skaines, just a shade paler. Humans, but only a few.

  Based on the difference in temperature, I believe the Skaines have taken six of the colonists of the nearest village hostage. There will be extensive damage to the village as well, but I would recommend prioritizing those six.

  It wasn’t even remotely surprising, but Nickie could feel a surge of exasperation welling up in her chest all the same. She groaned and dragged one hand down her face. She let her head thump back against her seat, only to sit back up with a jerk when she hit her head on the newly-acquired dent.

  I knew this was going to happen. They’re halfling-sized. How do they always manage to take so many hostages?

  They are adept at attacking colonies that have limited defenses. You already know that. It’s not the colonists’ fault for getting captured.

  Nickie didn’t reply at first, scowling down at the floor between her boots. Finally, she got to her feet and changed the topic entirely.

  When we land, I want to be far enough away that they won’t see us immediately, but not so far that it will take me too long to get there.

  I will land the ship on the far side of the grove. If there are any preparations you still need to make, now is a good time to do so. I will begin landing procedures shortly.

  Nickie hummed absently in agreement and turned toward the door. She had her drones in her belt pouch already, and she could check that her gun was in working order on her way to the airlock.

  By the time the ship landed on the far side of the trees, Nickie was already standing at the airlock. Grim didn’t put in an appearance to wish her luck, and Nickie scowled down the corridor as if he would see the look on her face. With a wordless groan of irritation, she turned toward the airlock and made her way off the ship.

  The light was dim once she was standing at the edge of the grove. She could make out the hazy glow of the Skaine encampment if she looked through the trees at the right angle, but it wasn’t enough to see by—not that she really needed the light. A grid laid itself over her vision, outlining every tree, rock, and root.

  Nickie took a step into the woods, then broke into a sprint, weaving through trees. It was as simple as walking down a sidewalk at midday, and she put on an extra burst of speed after a few yards.

  There was probably a kilometer of forest between the Penitent Granddaughter and the El’hana. For anyone else, through the dark and the trees and on unfamiliar terrain, it would be at least a twenty-minute trip. Longer, probably.

  Nickie’s long strides ate up the ground like they were hungry for it, legs pounding like pistons. Within six minutes she was nearly through the trees, and she wasn’t even winded. As far as she was concerned, it might as well have been a leisurely evening jog.

  She scaled a tree while she was still hidden enough to do so, and as she got higher off the ground, the grid over her vision stretched out farther and farther. She crept to the end of the branch, balanced on her toes. But as far as she could see, nothing and no one was coming toward the woods. No one had noticed her or heard anything.

  Granted, she could hear the ruckus the Skaines were making, and she could smell their bonfires and their booze from her position. She was pretty sure she could have danced naked backed by a full brass band, and they still wouldn’t have noticed her.

  She wasn’t going to complain.

  She hopped down from the branch, landing in a crouch in the grass before straightening to her full height. She kept moving forward, and when she was close enough for the light of the Skaine encampment to give her good visuals, the grid over her vision vanished. She could hear them laughing and shouting and telling stories, and she wanted to beat all their faces. Then none of them could tell stories like nothing was wrong while they had hostages tied up on the other side of their ship.

  But that was what she was there for. Maybe she wouldn’t beat their faces in, but she would handle the situation all the same.

  She slowed as she approached the ship and the encampment. She could see a line of girls chained up in the dark, and her expression twisted into something ugly and outraged. Before she could simply leap out of the trees and break the chain holding them in place, though, a Skaine rounded the ship. He was heading toward a row of bushes.

  Well, Nickie had already known it was going to be a violent encounter. That was the entire reason they had come. She crept closer to the bushes, drawing her knife as she did. She paused for a moment a few yards from the tree line.

  Perfect.

  Rebus Quadrant, Regleon System, Swapayama

  One Skaine’s bladder could only hold so much. Gern staggered away from the table that had been hastily set up for dinner, and the only surprise was that he didn’t piss himself as he stumbled past the bonfire. Only a few charred pieces of broken furniture were still recognizable in the flames.

  He rounded the ship, and one of the girls immediately began praying under her breath when she saw him. Gern kicked a rock in her direction and found the closest bush.

  Before he relieved himself, though, he paused. Someone was in the woods, heading right toward the ship. Gern squinted into the trees. “Belk, if this is you trying to be funny, you’re doing a really bad job.”

  Whoever it was, it definitely wasn’t Belk. Gern saw red eyes flash in the darkness, and he started backing away. He didn’t make it more than a few steps before the red-eyed she-devil lunged out of the shadows. Gern had enough time to see the flash of firelight off her knife before the blade plunged beneath his chin. He had time for a single gurgling shout before she ripped the blade down, letting it follow the line of his throat until she split him from chin to sternum with a spray of blood.

  Nickie wrenched the blade free, and the body dropped to the ground in a heap.

  Gern had already shouted, though. And even when shit-faced and partying, Skaines were almost always on edge and ready for a fight. A moment later a few of them rounded the ship to see what was going on, and after that there was a mess of shouting, and soon what had to be every Skaine in the encampment was surrounding her.

  Nickie grinned.

  She was all right with that.

  She flipped her knife to a reverse grip and spun, darting out of the way of a set of claws and sinking the blade to the hilt in the temple of the nearest Skaine. She ripped the blade free as the Skaine spasmed and dropped to the ground.

  One down.

  She dropped back into a backbend, back arching as she duc
ked under a barrage of laser fire. She turned it into a back handspring, kicking the Skaine trying to shoot her in the chin with enough force that she heard his vertebrae dislocate. Make that two.

  She landed in a crouch, reached into her belt pouch, and threw her drones into the air. They whirred to life and broke off in three separate directions, ripping through Skaines like over-sized bullets. Nickie ignored them, content to let them do their thing without her input. Besides, she was a little bit busy.

  She pulled her gun from its holster, pointed it to the side, and pulled the trigger. A Skaine dropped like a sack of rocks with a hole between his eyes, but Nickie had no time to appreciate the sight. A blast of laser fire came straight toward her, and although she twisted out of the way to avoid the worst of it, it still managed to graze her thigh. The smell of cloth and burning skin wasn’t pleasant, and her expression twisted into almost comical outrage.

  She rounded on the one who had shot her and threw her knife, and it sank straight into the Skaine’s chest. He dropped backward, landing on two more Skaines behind him. Nickie took both of them out with her gun, then shot the one with her knife still sticking out of his chest for good measure.

  She felt heat on her back as another laser blast ripped through her shirt, only narrowly avoiding raking a trench across her spine. She launched herself into a somersault over the three bodies in front of her, wrapping a hand around the hilt of her knife and pulling it free of the Skaine’s chest as the somersault came to a standstill, leaving her crouched on all fours.

  She dropped to a knee and pivoted, gun raised, and shot the Skaine who had tried to shoot her in the back between the eyes. But there was no time to celebrate. Another Skaine body-checked her, sending both of them tumbling to the ground in a heap. They grappled for a few drawn-out seconds before Nickie caught his head in both hands and cracked his neck sharply to the right. She kicked the body aside, only for another Skaine to lunge at her like a rabid mutt.