Breakout

by Ann Aguirre

  Sometimes, it was downright comforting.

  A bit later, his handheld buzzed with a message from Madame Sorush, who had been exceedingly helpful since Diamond Tours went bankrupt. He’d heard that former CEO Levin was dealing cards on some backwater space-cruise casino. So sorry, Sorush wrote. I missed signs of collusion between Quintel and Ronin. I’ve taken steps. They won’t trouble you again.

  I’ll be damned. Martine was right. We do have people for that.

  Quietly, he raised his glass to toast his friends, no . . . his family. “Here’s to us and ten more turns together, each better than the last.”

  45

  Gehenna Forever

  TEN TURNS LATER

  Dresdemona waited at the spaceport, hands white-knuckled at her side. She peered through the crowd of disembarking passengers. Though she didn’t have time for personal errands—as Chief Operations Officer she’d normally dispatch an assistant for escort duty, but this visitor was special. I’ve been looking for you for so long.

  Devos Interstellar was close to replicating the work Sci-Corp had done, so many turns ago, but without the ethical violations. She was constantly monitoring the projects, taking ownership and oversight so no engineered being would ever suffer as Jael had. There were over a hundred different projects being funded currently, not all related to biotech.

  Tam was supposed to give me the updated list this morning.

  At last, a dark-haired woman came toward her, wearing a simple black dress. Her face possessed that ageless quality that couldn’t be purchased with Rejuvenex. It was, however, exactly as Jael had looked when he arrived on Perdition. This must be her.

  “Katlin Jenton?” she asked, offering a hand.

  The other woman responded with a smile and firm shake. “That’s the name I use now. He’d remember me as JL490.”

  Finally.

  “Thank you for coming. He’s never given up hope, not for all these turns, that one of his pod mates might’ve survived, just as he did. I know you’ve both changed so much, but I hope you’ll forgive me saying that you’re the closest thing he has to family.”

  “Besides you?” Katlin fell into step with Dred, who led the way out to the waiting car.

  In the last ten turns there had been pressure to relocate to the aerie, particularly as DI became more successful. Tam was excellent at screening investment opportunities and advising which projects were most likely to demonstrate the greatest growth. They had seed funding down to an art, and the returns allowed them to pour credits into their own research departments.

  But Jael had been firm. He wanted to keep the money in the neighborhood that welcomed them initially, back when they were still fledglings in the Gehenna business world. She didn’t mind the location, and she enjoyed the special dispensation that allowed them to land on the roof instead of dealing with traffic down below.

  “Thank you for saying that.” She was curious why Katlin hadn’t brought a guest, but maybe she was between partners.

  As they flew over the city-under-glass, she pointed out a few landmarks. The face of Gehenna was ever changing, a seductive creature of twinkling lights and blood orange magic. Today, the sky beyond the dome was all drama, all slashes of smoky red wrapped around a ginger heart. Apart from the colony where she grew up, this was the longest she’d ever lived in one place. At first, she wasn’t sure about the dome—she missed fresh air and weather—but she stayed at first because it was the one spot in the universe where Jael’s rights could be guaranteed.

  One turn ago, he’d won his suit against the Conglomerate and was awarded citizenship retroactively from the point of his creation, which meant he also had a civil case for rights violations. Their team of barristers expected a weighty settlement though that couldn’t make up for the suffering. Others had come forward since, adding their own struggles to Jael’s story.

  See? You’re not alone, love.

  Smooth as s-silk, the pilot set the hover car down on the roof. Dred waited for Katlin to alight first, then she climbed out behind her. The party was already in full swing; she could hear the music even through the thick glastique and layers of cement that was supposed to soundproof the penthouse. And for most people, it probably did.

  From the tip of her head, Katlin heard it, too. “Is it strange that I’m nervous? I remember so clearly how he looked when I said we should part ways . . . does he honestly want to see me?”

  “The answer’s definitely yes. Come on.”

  She headed for the small walled garden they cultivated; Jael still loved fiddling with plants in his spare time as much as he had on Perdition. When she flattened her palm, the metal door sprang open, granting access. As ever, the peace of this space washed over her and smoothed out the kinks. It seemed to have the same effect on Katlin.

  Another touch unlocked the door to the stairs that led directly to the penthouse. The music clarified into the orchestral sort that Jael favored when he had important guests coming. When it was a smaller party, he’d crank up the bass, letting Calypso and Martine rock out. They’re probably around, wearing gorgeous gowns and quietly starting some new scandal.

  Dred recognized most of the guests, but she didn’t see Jael straightaway. She glanced at Katlin. “Let’s mingle a bit. He’ll turn up.”

  Then the crowd parted as if on cue, revealing him over by the windows. He was lean and gorgeous in a tailored blue suit, chatting with an elderly couple. Since their backs were turned, Dred decided to surprise him. She couldn’t wait to savor his reaction. He has no idea. Over the turns, this had become a competition of sorts—to see who could astonish the other more.

  There’s no way he can ever match this.

  But when she got closer, she stopped walking. Hell, she might’ve even stopped breathing. Pale blue eyes filled with tears at the sight of her, and a woman with wrinkled hands reached out, before drawing up short. But her eyes swept up and down, so avid that Dred almost turned and ran. If it’s you . . . is it you? You must be so ashamed of what I became. A sob broke free from the woman, and the man circled her shoulders with a wiry arm, more skeptical, more guarded. She’d received that look countless times during her childhood, as her dad always wanted something proven beyond any shadow of the doubt. It was the scientist in him.

  “Mum?” she whispered.

  • • •

  JAEL locked onto the reunion like a happy sniper, so he didn’t notice the woman with Dred at first. With an ache in his chest, he watched the hugging and crying. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t part of it. Seeing her family for the first time in ages, Dred had a lot to say to her parents. It took a couple of minutes before the other guest’s nervous shifting caught his eye.

  His gaze roved over her, then snapped back. Sharing his abilities meant that he no longer had perfect recall. As he aged, the memories softened, faded, and went fuzzy about the edges. But I know this face. This is probably stupid, but . . .

  “490?”

  “A long time ago,” she admitted. “I prefer Katlin now.”

  His breath went in a rush, and he stumbled toward her. “You made it.”

  “Not as glamorously as you . . . but yes.”

  “How . . .” He wasn’t even sure what he was trying to ask.

  But fortunately she took pity on him. “How am I here?”

  “That’s a good start.”

  “From what I gathered from our correspondence, your wife has been looking for me ever since you arrived on Gehenna. She seemed to think it would make you happy.”

  “It does,” he whispered.

  “I can’t imagine why. We might’ve found life a lot easier if I hadn’t been so self-serving. But I was so scared. Back then, I didn’t understand the concept of friendship or that burdens are lighter with someone else to help you bear them.”

  “Nobody taught us. How would you have known?”

  “I
only came forward after you won your suit. I suppose I’m not much for confrontation. What a defective supersoldier, right?” Her self-deprecating tone made him laugh.

  Sensing she was nervous, he led Katlin away from the party, up to the rooftop garden. “Is this any better?”

  She perched on a nearby bench, collecting herself enough to nod. “I can forgive myself now, I think. Over the turns I heard of you, mostly when something awful hit the bounce. They talked a lot about discovering you mistakenly incarcerated on Ithiss-Tor.”

  That seems like a lifetime ago.

  “The Ithtorians sentenced the wrong person,” he said then. “So that was the error, and some entrepreneurial adventurers decided to balance the scales. No hard feelings.”

  Hell, I don’t even call them Bugs anymore.

  “Where did you go from there?” she asked.

  There were a thousand answers he could have given. But only one felt completely true. Sometimes you had to walk all the way through hell to find your way. “Home,” he replied.

  Jael chatted with her a little more, but he felt guilty about vanishing from his own party. So he pushed to his feet and gave a quiet bow. “I’d love to talk with you more, but for now, duty calls. I hope you’ll stay a few days so we can . . . catch up properly.”

  “I don’t plan to disappear,” Katlin said. “After all, you’re kind of like my long-lost brother. Right?”

  Jael smiled. “Something like that.”

  When he came back to the penthouse, Dred was holed up with her parents in the corner. Her mother couldn’t stop touching, arm, shoulder, knee, and her eyes streamed tears. The other guests were politely ignoring the emotional display. Dred’s gaze met his, and she mouthed, Thank you. There would be time for more eloquent expressions of mutual appreciation later.

  A stream of new guests called his attention, so he dutifully devoted himself to smiling at the right people, laughing at their jokes. He spent a full half hour with Madame Sorush. Protecting his status as her favored protégé occupied a fair amount of his time and attention, not that Dred complained. The older woman sent him to fetch her a drink, and he nearly bumped into a couple entering late.

  Jael didn’t recall inviting them; there were no Ithorians on his guest list, but they must be VIPs, or they wouldn’t have invitations with Madame’s personal seal. The woman was small and slight, impossible to guess her age. Though he didn’t know her face, her eyes struck a chord and she . . . smelled familiar. Jael took a second look, conscious of the woman’s doing the same.

  It can’t be.

  With a flex of his mandibles, the Ithtorian took a protective step closer, a clawed hand settling in the small of her back. The woman’s scent was all over him, unmistakable and distinctive. Definitely lovers. Well, it takes all kinds. He smiled and stepped back, inviting them in with a friendly smile.

  “Did you need something?” he asked.

  “For a moment, I thought you were a man I met long ago. But . . . on second glance, definitely not. You’re someone entirely new.”

  “I suppose so,” he said, bemused.

  With a smile, the woman joined Madame Sorush, who lifted a glass in his direction. Jael scanned the crowd for Tam and Martine; he found them making conversation with a senator who didn’t seem to like what he was hearing. Martine glanced his way with an impish grin. Then he sought Calypso, holed up with Domingo Pace, who had given himself up to her three turns ago. Their courtship had seemed two parts loathing and one part violent sex, but they’d reached equilibrium. As he watched, Pace traced a hand down Calypso’s back, and she bit him.

  Katlin slipped back into the room, donning a polite smile. She seemed ready now to meet new people so he introduced her around.

  And at the end of the long night, when Dred’s parents had gone to their rented suite—with the promise to return for breakfast in the morning, he drew his beloved into his arms. “This is how I want to end every day,” he told her.

  “What’s stopping you?” She turned and kissed him with the same irresistible sweetness that always reminded him that he’d come home.

  If we can build a life like this, then nothing is impossible. Nothing at all.

  As long as we’re together, we’ll never lose the light. In the city-under-glass, the horizon shone with infinite promise, Gehenna red, Gehenna forever.

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