“Shiro, you lead,” Holly said, ignoring Charly.
She was tense, holding back the feeling of elation knocking on her heart. For once, she felt like they were ahead of the curve. Things were going her way. She’d nearly gotten past her fears of being in space—the terror, in fact, seemed miles away, a distant memory—and the orrery was in their possession; she could nearly see what she was about to do with the novas the stupid thing would bring in.
She looked at Charly. Her defiant brown eyes stared back at Holly.
“We had to decide, and returning the way we came seems like it’ll be the quickest,” Holly shrugged.
“No regrets, Ms. Drake, you’re the boss.” Shiro opened the heavy door and turned left up the corridor. The guards were beginning to stir. “Shall we knock them out again?”
“No, just run. We got the goods. Making it to the ship before it leaves is more important. Hurry,” she ordered.
It might have been a mistake; she wouldn’t know yet, but that was what her instincts told her to do.
Shiro led them through the passage, leaping over the men who were beginning to stir. Holly jumped over Baldy’s head, and as she did, her stomach twisted from the stillness of his face.
Get over it, she chided herself.
She tried. Her reflection bolted across the dark glass of the cabins. The metallic tip-tap of their boots rang over the spiral staircases on their way down to the bottom levels. She thought she could almost feel the hot breath of the guards on the back of her neck. It was her imagination, of course. But the sensation chased after her, forcing her legs to pump faster.
“Well, that was something brilliant we just pulled off,” Charly said as they bounded down a set of spiral stairs. “Is it too soon to celebrate?”
“That depends, lass, are you over the fact that we did the return journey my way?” Shiro asked.
“Too soon to tell,” she quipped.
Shiro laughed. “Well played, Charly. Well played.”
“I thought you’d like that,” Charly said.
“What are you talking about?” Holly asked.
“It was one of Wick’s fortunes. Anyway, I mean, it’s a dumb object, but if it brings in money, I can live with that,” Charly said.
Holly wanted to share in their excitement, but she could only think of how close they were to achieving something great. Just a few more minutes, and they’d be in a relatively safe locale, where they could call the gig a rip-roaring success.
Something buzzed in Holly’s pocket as she descended the flight of stairs. The communicator.
She pulled it out. “What?”
“Well, hello to you too,” Danielle said.
“I’m kind of in the middle of something,” Holly said.
“OK, don’t get your undies in a bunch. So, something weird is happening out here. Oh, by the way, we had to pull out.”
Holly froze in the middle of the spiral staircase. Odeon ran into her back, jostling her.
Did I hear that right? “What?”
“That’s what she said,” Danielle giggled. “I know, good joke. Didn’t I mention that? It’s fine, though. We’re still here, waiting. Still on silent. Still here for you. We’re behind the ship.”
“You pulled away?” Holly was still caught on that.
“It’s fine I said. We can connect again when you’re ready. But we were cutting it close. So we drifted behind the zeppelin.”
“When were you going to tell us that?”
Holly’s plans were falling apart. This was the end of the beginning. But she’d keep a straight face. She just had to fend off whatever came her way now.
“Now. I’m telling you now.”
She wanted to yell at Danielle. We still had time! We did this on your timetable, and you left! “So you were, what? Waiting to tell us when we were waiting in the airlock to board, and our ship wasn’t there?”
“I called to tell you. OK, you’re mad. That’s fine. I get that. Sort of makes sense.”
“Sort of?” She was fuming. If she spoke more on the matter, she’d unleash.
“But the important issue is that something weird’s happening out here.”
“Explain ‘weird’.”
“Another ship decloaked after we moved, and it took our spot.”
“Someone else is here?” Shit.
“Yes, it looks that way. Any idea who that might be?”
“Doesn’t matter. We’re going to have to deal with it. You’d better not run off. You’re our ride out of here.”
She ended the conversation and put the communicator back in her pocket.
“She double-crossing us?” Charly asked, looking up at Holly from where she stood below her on the spiral staircase.
“Double-crossing? What is this, a Western paperback novel?” Shiro asked, trying to bring levity to the situation.
Charly stared at him. “What the hell is a Western?”
“Quiet,” Holly said. “I don’t think she’s leaving us behind. We have company. Let’s focus on that. Danielle and her clown crew pulled away from the airlock, and another ship is there now, trying to get aboard.”
“They’ll be coming into the airlock, then,” Odeon said. “Where we want to be.”
“Let’s get into position in the cargo bay and be ready to take them out,” Holly said. “Those guards are going to be coming after us as well.” She glanced up at the Yasoan.
“Yes,” Odeon said. “We can handle it.”
“We should have knocked them out again like Shiro suggested,” Charly said.
“Thanks, Charly,” Holly said. “Rub it in.”
“That’s my job. Still love you, though.”
“Right.”
“Come now, we can handle this, and I’m so glad you agree with what I wanted to do, Charly,” Shiro said. “We’ll manage. I’ve been in worse positions.”
“You’ve been in other Shiro sandwiches?” Charly asked.
“Every man’s dream, Charly dear.”
“Is it?” Charly asked.
Holly listened to their banter, but her mind was on how they’d handle a battle where they were immediately flanked by another enemy.
They reached the hatch that led to the dining room. There would be another exit from it, which, based on the schematics of other zeppelins, would have another exit that would lead them to another flight of stairs down to the crew level.
Charly opened the hatch to the dining room area foyer. Holly half expected someone to be waiting for her on the other side, but nothing happened, and Charly went through, then Shiro.
“You next,” Odeon said, his intense eyes studying her.
She turned, hearing something behind her. A door to one of the rooms that branched off the corridor had just opened. Then four more did the same. Eleven, perhaps twelve—it happened so fast, she couldn’t count them all—figures emerged, carrying weapons, and turned to face down Holly and Odeon.
“Damn. Wasn’t expecting that,” she admitted to the lavender-skinned man, who ducked into the dining room with her.
32
Charly and Shiro both shot questioning looks at Holly and Odeon as they joined them in the empty dining room. Holly switched on her aether whip.
Round tables lined the floor. Large windows afforded a view of the darkness outside, the glow of Ixion illuminating parts of the ship in front of them.
“Either the idiots out in the corridor are from that ship, or we’re about to be overrun with enemies,” Holly said.
“I was thinking something similar,” Odeon said, holding his Ousaba balanced against the floor and his shoulder so he could crack his knuckles. He finished and grabbed it to spin in a warmup move.
“Someone’s behind us?” Charly asked.
“The Cocks?” Shiro asked, drawing his sword.
“I thought you’d rejected that name,” Holly said as she gave her whip some practice cracks. “Anyway, there’s twelve of them. But not Cocks—I’m not sure what their allegiance is. Didn’
t see all their weapons, but I’m guessing they’ll have aether guns. And that ship is docking—who knows who’s on that one. This will be an uneven fight.”
“It’ll be fine,” Charly said. “I’ve been itching for another battle. Got some stuff I need to work out of my system. Stress and rage and all that.”
The newcomers entered the dining room, filing in two abreast. Twelve of them, like Holly had initially thought.
“Can we help you?” Holly asked, drawing her aether whip toward her so it swirled around her feet in a gust. It sparked and fizzed as the aether caught particles of dust in it. “Just got crowded in here.”
“Hand it over,” the presumable leader said, a female human with a shaved head and dark eyeliner scrawled around her eyes.
“Hand what over?” Holly asked.
“Don’t be coy,” the leader said.
“Being coy has never been a problem for me. I don’t think I can. Have I ever been coy before, Charly? In my life? What do you think?”
“Never. Coy is for silly girls. You’ve never been silly. Or sweet, actually. Too smart. Too tough. Too badass.”
“Stop, Charly, you’re making me blush,” Holly lied.
Something had changed in her on this gig. It was like she was standing outside herself, watching things unfold. The terror of spaceflight had fled. It was a distant thing in some kind of internal atrium that she’d found where she could stand and observe herself. She was in control. She cut off the flow of emotions that ran into her heart, stopped them just outside herself. She could let them in and lock them out at will, it seemed. The blush comment was a line, and her crew knew it.
“Blushing is what coy people do,” the leader said.
“True. But have you seen these cheeks? Not blushing.” She cracked the whip to punctuate what she’d said.
“Just give us the damn orrery, and we won’t destroy you. It’s twelve against four. You have no chance.”
“Odeon, what do you think? We can take them, right?” Holly asked. “Charly? Shiro?”
Charly gave a feral grin. “I can take three or four myself. That leaves you guys two each.”
“We think we’ll be just fine,” Holly said to the leader.
She was bluffing, of course. Besides, even if they could take all twelve, they still had to get off the ship. But she wasn’t about to give up the prize.
The enemy took out their weapons in a rustle of sounds. Five aether guns—Holly would need to get them first. Three staffs. Three swords, and a human carrying two knives.
Holly knew her team was calculating who they would each fight. The leader raised an eyebrow at her.
“Still think we’ll be fine,” Holly said, but that was only if she could quickly disarm those with guns.
There were twelve of them, and she was unsure if more would show up. But she wouldn’t just give them what they asked for. They’d have to take it.
She thought of how much she owed Danielle Le Roi for the journey. Would Holly just let her goals dissolve because some thugs had shown up?
“Who do you work for?” Holly demanded. That would make a difference in how she fought.
“You don’t recognize your oldest enemy?”
“Voss. You’re Shadow Coalition.”
The leader did an exaggerated bow without taking her eyes off Holly. Then she made a slight gesture for her team.
Before Holly could think more about it, they began to fire the aether guns.
She dodged behind a table, her breath coming in short bursts. She counted herself lucky that the battlefield was in the dining room where there was cover. And space for her whip.
Once she jumped to safety, the spot where she’d been standing exploded in a burst of violet that singed and crackled.
“You idiots!” she shouted. “Keep firing those aether guns, and you’ll carve your way into a hull breach.”
That was the thing with aether guns—they didn’t respect material. They ate through any solid once their fiery power was ignited and released.
Holly looked around for her crew. Shiro had ducked behind another table, and Odeon and Charly were together behind another.
“Take out the guns, Holly,” Charly called. “You’re the only one who can.”
“I know,” she shouted. Maybe she should get her aether gun back, the Equalizer. That’s a problem for later. “Take out the others. I’ll handle the guns.”
Some of Voss’s agents had also gone for cover, though they seemed less concerned about it, since none of Holly’s crew carried such firepower.
As Holly considered the battle, she realized it was foolish to not have a gun, or at least have Iain along with them to use it. But the stakes had never been so drastic before. When she’d switched to a whip, their enemies had faded. Voss was breathing new violence into the landscape. She was merciless.
The goons wielding guns actually stood out in the open, aiming and firing at tables. Charly, Shiro, and Odeon ducked the fire and dodged behind tables that were still intact, staying just ahead of the destruction until they had flanked the gunmen.
As the barrels of the guns followed her crew, Holly stood and flicked her whip at the nearest gunman. The gun flew from his hands and came toward her. She ducked as it sailed past where her head had been.
The idiot hadn’t expected to have it ripped from his hands without warning, but the others saw what happened.
Holly leapt back and scrambled out of the path of their aether projectiles, which simmered past her in a cacophony of fizzing, violet energy. She intentionally went toward the gun she’d just seized and grabbed it. Holly kicked over a dining table and crouched behind it. She only had a few seconds to fire on them, which she did.
Almost as one, the thugs realized that she now had a gun, and they began to take cover. Her own crew began to engage the other goons without guns.
She unleashed a volley of gunfire at the thugs, hoping to draw their fire and keep them from turning their barrels on her crew. It worked.
She had no backup cartridges, so she was careful with her shots. Explosions delivered by her took out two enemies, the flames carving into the bones and muscles of at least two of them before she had to elude their return fire.
Soon the battle had swung from being a lopsided affair to one of equal strength.
Using her peripheral vision, Holly saw that Shiro was engaged in a battle with the three sword fighters. She bit her lip, taking aim at a gunman who’d just shot at her before ducking back behind his table. Meanwhile, Charly was in close-quarters combat with the knife fighter and the one that Holly had stolen the aether gun from, and Odeon was dealing with the fighters using staffs. She saw him take one out with a blow to the head. She cringed. But now it was two against one; he could survive that and possibly win.
And she had whittled her own numbers down to three.
Though her gun was about to run out of ammo.
Their leader was one of the gun wielders that she’d yet to take out. Holly had assessed that the woman was a brutal, relentless fighter. A good shot, too.
Holly held her breath as the woman glanced toward Odeon. He was dancing with his Ousaba, expertly spinning it like a windmill, bouncing from enemy to enemy, kicking chairs out of his way, launching off the bulkhead, and lunging, the end of his club connecting with the ribs of his opponents.
Holly unleashed a few shots, drawing the leader’s attention away from the others. Suddenly, she felt something press into the back of her ribs.
“Give me the gun,” a voice said.
She froze. Her attention had been all over the place for too long. She’d let her guard down.
The smirking leader emerged from her cover and strode toward Holly, climbing over chairs, broken glass, and scattered maroon tablecloths. “Well done, Number Three,” the woman said.
“Number Three? That’s your name? Number Three?” Holly taunted, trying to look at the person who’d caught her.
A Constellation, but that was all she could make out f
rom the corner of her eye. The barrel of the gun dug into her temple.
“Yes. They all have numbers. Helps when they die in battle. You killed Number Six. But that’s all you shall get. Call off your team, or they’ll die.”
“I’m not calling them off,” Holly spat.
The woman looked over her shoulder at another gunman. “Shoot one of them.”
“Shiro! Odeon! Charly! Stand down,” Holly shouted. She met the cold gaze of the leader. “Now you call off your team.”
The woman complied, then stepped closer to Holly. She put her gun in a holster on her side, and crossed her arms. “Now, give me the device.”
“Device?” Holly swallowed. It was a long shot, but worth a try.
“I know you have the galactic orrery. Give it to us.”
“Orrery?”
The woman drew her gun, aimed it at Holly’s thigh, and pulled the trigger without flinching.
Searing pain ripped through Holly. She buckled, falling to her side. She was vaguely aware of Charly yelling a series of threats at the woman. Through the noise of the pain, Holly made out a few ‘Ms. Drake’s. Even in a heightened moment, Shiro stood on formality. It almost made her laugh.
Her mind was on fire. She opened her eyes and waved her team back. “I’m OK. I’ll live, I think.”
“The orrery?” the leader demanded.
Before Holly could answer, Odeon was at her side, his opponents tailing him, their guns aimed at his head. She held onto the feelings that consumed her as she watched the way Voss’s thugs treated her crew. She bit her lip, holding back the command for Odeon to keep the orrery away from these people. She didn’t doubt they’d kill her, and she really didn’t want to die.
Odeon handed the orrery to the bitch.
She is a bitch. Holly wanted to think of worse words to describe her, but she could barely keep her thoughts straight.
“Check it, Number Three,” the woman said. “Check it quickly.”
“Yes, Magna,” Number Three said, unwrapping the layers of cloth. He presented it to her. “This look right?”
The Colossus Collection : A Space Opera Adventure (Books 1-7 + Bonus Material) Page 121