“You have no idea what you’re talking about. You’re just a pawn getting pushed around the board. It’s my job to deliver you. That’s it. Your behaving like a child will get us both killed.”
I laughed in his face. He’d just called me a pawn, as if that knowledge would upset me. Try again, idiot. Tell me something I didn’t already know.
“Wrong,” I said, deciding to toss out my pet theories just to see what would stick. “I think you’re working another angle. I think you know about the luck gene and have a new way to exploit it. Or you think you do. Guess what. Luck doesn’t like being exploited, unless it’s on its own terms. Do you think you can sell me? Or harvest my organs? Or clone me and sell those clones as slaves? Or enslave my family and put them to work for you? Or do you have customers lined up ready to buy us? Trade us?”
“Listen, girl, I don’t have time for your bullshit. Get back inside before we both regret this,” he practically snarled.
“You’re going to make time for my bullshit, because I see through you, Caleb Dekker. I’ve handled bigger fish than you, and I always come out on top. Do you think we’ll serve as your personal power base so you can take over the tri-system? Believe me, that won’t happen. You can try, but you’re probably going to fail. No, let me make a prediction—because my predictions are always right—you’re definitely going to fail.”
There was nowhere I could go. Caleb was almost on me. If rage was heat, he would have been a blast furnace. When he reached out to snag my arm, I was too cold and slow to stop him, both my hands and feet numb. In fact, the numbness traveled up my elbows and knees, making it feel like my outer extremities didn’t belong to me anymore.
“You’re so like Monique,” he ground out, squeezing my arm in a grip that shot daggers of agony through me. “Maybe not as beautiful, but you have the same arrogance and conceit. Fuck, I hated that about her. Acting all lofty and superior, and so fucking smug, as if she was better than the rest of us.”
I stared at him, wide-eyed. “You knew Monique?”
“Who do you think told her about the luck gene in the first place? Who convinced her how valuable it could be if we found it? We were partners, until she decided the research was too groundbreaking to sell for gold notes. She’d say it wasn’t about the money. It was the pursuit of knowledge that mattered. Gold notes just made the science less pure and ruined its elegance. God, I hated her lectures on the purity of knowledge. It made me want to puke. And when I told her there was no point if it didn’t make you rich, she kicked me off the project.”
My brain was still boggled. Probably the cold. “You were my mother’s research partner? You worked with her at TransWorld?”
“Before TransWorld. Before you or your father, and the luck gene was little more than a theory and not hard science. When we disagreed over how to apply the research, she used her family connections to push me out of the way and make herself disappear. She left me fucking high and dry.”
“But you kept researching?” I asked through chattering teeth.
“Did you think I’d let that sanctimonious bitch stop me? And in the end, looks like I was the one on the right path, not her.”
With a yank, he pulled me out of my alcove. I tried to fight him but I was just too cold. The wind buffeted us, gusting me into him. His hand gripped my hair and yanked my head back hard. I shrieked out in pain at the savage tug, but not even that could stop me from being a smart-mouth.
“So my mother screwed you over. So what? You decided to carry a grudge for the next thirty years? Get over yourself. Do you know how many people that woman pissed off? The list of people wanting revenge on Monique could stretch around the block. Don’t think you’re special, because you’re not. You’re just another sucker she used along the way.”
I sneered the words at him, too angry to be afraid. Gods, my mother had caused this fuck-up—again! How long was I going to live in that witch’s shadow? How many damned enemies had she saddled me with? Would I be cleaning up her messes for the rest of my life?
“When we get to the surface, we’re going into hiding so deep, no one will find us. Don’t think I can’t do it. I out-sniped the CN-net prodigy and genius Alexei Petriv. That fucking arrogant Russian got caught in every one of my data traps. Because of him, people died. I’m not the mass murderer. He is. The reboot is all on his head, not mine.” Caleb shook me a little when he spoke, punctuating his words with violence.
Gods, why were the sociopaths always flocking to my door? It was like I had to beat the crazy away with a stick!
“No, this is all on you.” I spat the words at him. “Those people are dead because you thought you could control something you had no right to touch. You spied on me, my family, and have been harvesting our DNA. Everyone that died is because of you.”
“Is it, or is this the way the luck gene wanted? Didn’t Monique claim there were rules? We wouldn’t be here now if luck hadn’t plotted this course.”
My eyes narrowed. “You have no idea how luck works.”
He peered down into my face, looming over me, wrenching my head back farther. “Don’t I? It’s just you and me left. There’s nothing else in the way. No Monique. No Alexei Petriv. No One Gov. No family. Time for the luck gene to come out of hiding. It wants to be used to its fullest potential. It knows I’m the one who can do it, and it’s placed you at the top of the food chain. It’s up to me to take the advantage luck wants me to have. And for the right amount of gold notes, so can everyone else.”
“So you’re going to carve me up and sell me as spare parts?”
“You have no idea what’s possible. Don’t worry. I’ll show you. By the way, did you like the vid from Venus?” he said, the tone mocking. “Like seeing how helpless your father was? Monique had such a thing for him. Talk about polluting the science. Taking care of Julien was more enjoyable than I thought.”
Gods, he had wanted to taunt me with that feed! “You sadistic bastard! You tortured him because you were jealous?”
“I hadn’t thought of that, but maybe you’re right. I did hate him, after all. He was the beginning of the end with Monique. But don’t worry, I didn’t waste the DNA. His organs were dissected, and the cells cloned and integrated into the Renew program—because that’s where it all goes. It’s all overseen by One Gov. Has been for a while now. Years, actually. You’d be amazed what people will pay to get a little something special added to their genes.”
I stared at him, aghast. The luck gene was part of the Renew program? People were, what…bathing in luck? “How? Where did you get the material?”
He looked smug there. “Your mother conducted thousands of experiments with your DNA when she worked for TransWorld. She was obsessed with perfection, so the number of clones she discarded was…substantial. And once the rejects were out of sight, she stopped noticing what happened to them. So long as she could research without interruption, nothing else mattered. It was easy to cut a deal with the right parties and channel the goods into their hands. Frankly, I think brokering the deal with One Gov for the Renew program was one of the most creative and lucrative ideas I’ve ever had.”
He’d been selling Monique’s clones to the highest bidder? To One Gov? Those poor little clones! I still had nightmares about their terrible deaths in Brazil. And now to realize that wasn’t the worst of it and they’d endured so much more at Caleb’s hands…Gods, he was a monster. Into my horrified speechlessness, Caleb kept talking, as if the cold squeezed the words out of him the way it stole my heat.
“Know what else I liked? How you stripped for me, and how fast you came. All for me. I can’t stop thinking about it. Monique was one more icicle up her ass from being permanently frigid. But not you. At first I couldn’t understand what Petriv saw in you, but I do now. You were so alive, it forced him to live in this world and deal with it. I bet he couldn’t keep his hands off you.”
“You’re not going to get away with this. I won’t let you,” I whispered, disgusted, repulsed, and root
ed to the spot with horror.
“I think I already have and there’s nothing you can do. I played Tanith off Arkell. Arkell thought he could use your luck gene to secure his power. Tanith thought I could get you away from Petriv. It took forever to get into this position, but it was worth it. Now I’ve got the luck gene and I know how to use it.” He yanked at my arm then, pulling me after him. “It’s fucking freezing out here. Time to get back inside.”
“What happens when we get to the surface?”
“Like I said, we hide. After that, don’t worry. The Renew enhancements are just one of my projects. I have others. There are buyers lined up around the tri-system, all wanting their piece of the luck gene, and now they can have it—from you or anyone in your family. Maybe I won’t give you up. You were Monique’s pet project. It might be nice to have a reminder of her by my side.”
“Are you delusional? Do you think I’m going to stay with you?”
“Brainwashing is easier than you think. It won’t take long to break you.” He said it so conversationally, I stared at him. Then he reached out to pat my stomach with crude familiarity. “And when my customers get a whiff of what’s in here, I’ll be drowning in gold notes.”
That got me moving again. I clawed at him with my hands and fingers that had turned to ice.
“You will never lay a hand on my baby!”
He shook me and I fought harder, motivated by fear and rage and desperation. We scrapped furiously, our pushing and shoving made that much more dangerous and reckless by the wind that rocked the carrier under our feet. But Caleb was stronger and I was so damned cold. He held my hair and my arm, dragging me across the roof back to the ladder. I also got a crack across the head for my trouble, one that made my ears ring and had me seeing stars. None of it deterred me. I refused to go back inside, knew that if Caleb got me into the carrier, it was over. So I fought harder, clawing at him like a wild thing. I didn’t care what happened to me next, nor did I even think that far ahead. It didn’t matter that I might fall or freeze or gods knew what. All that mattered was I couldn’t go back inside.
We were almost to the ladder when everything changed. There was a noise, so much louder than the metal-on-metal sound of the spindle legs along the carbon nanotubing. And the wind. It came from all directions. Pushing down on my head. Up from under my feet. That new noise swatted the air with booming waves and wrestled it with the same force.
I looked up through my hair. A warbler jump jet swooped by before returning and hovering close, but I wasn’t sure because I’d never actually seen a warbler in person. It was big and black and came so near it knocked me off my feet. It knocked Caleb down with the same force, startling him enough to let me go. The warbler banked quickly as if realizing it had come too close and would sweep us both off the carrier.
Caleb recovered first and stood. He was also closest to the ladder. Closest to the edge. When he reached for me again, I scrambled faster and launched myself to my feet. I sprang with all the force my frozen legs had left. Without thinking, merely following the luck gene’s directive as it urged with a steadiness I couldn’t ignore, I thrust forward with both hands. My palms connected solidly against his chest, and I pushed.
Caleb went over the edge with a scream. A scream that went on and on, one like I’d never heard before, filled with rage and terror and disbelief. I listened until I couldn’t hear it anymore. All that remained was the clattering of the spindle legs, the howling wind, and the cold.
It was over. Caleb was gone. More than gone. He was dead, because no one could survive a fall like that. I had no idea what was going to happen next, nor did I care. Caleb had lost. I’d won. That knowledge gave me grim satisfaction.
Try to play with the luck gene, asshole, and you’re going to lose.
* * *
I knew I should climb back inside the elevator carrier but I was too cold to move. Instead I sank to my knees and wrapped my arms around myself. The metal felt like ice under me. It should have made me feel colder, but I’d passed the point of shivering. Not good.
The sky was brighter, as the sun lit up Mars with daylight. I could see Elysium City now, spread out in all its glory. For right then, I was oddly at peace. I’d handled the situation. My family was safe. My baby was safe. Of course, when I got down to ground level, I had no idea what to expect. One Gov troops positioned to arrest me seemed the likeliest bet. Could Tanith get me out of that? Her man had double-crossed her. He’d double-crossed everyone, and that betrayal nearly brought down One Gov and exposed the corruption and rot at its core. What was the tri-system going to do now? Not my problem, I decided. Mine was surviving the trip down.
When the warbler swung back, it startled me all over again. I’d forgotten about it. I blinked stupidly when I saw a hatch pop off and a figure climb out. And when that figure dove through the air like some kind of acrobat, landed in a light crouch, then rolled until it was back in an upright position, I wondered if I should clap. Amazing and impossible. I stared, uncomprehending, and said the first thing that came into my frozen brain.
“Holy shit. How hard is it to kill you anyway?”
“My wife called me a cockroach once. I understand they’re impossible to kill.”
Alexei, dressed in formfitting black stealth gear, dropped down beside me and wrapped me in a hug so hard, it hurt. I wanted to return it but couldn’t seem to lift my frozen arms around him. Instead I stayed where I was and let it happen, soaking in his warmth and solidness.
“I’ve got you,” he said into my hair, running his hands over me, pulling me away from the ladder, the edge, and a potential fall whose consequences I didn’t even want to think about. “You’re safe.”
“He’s dead?” I asked between chattering teeth.
“Yes. It’s been confirmed.”
“I got your message with the cards. It worked and clued me in about Caleb.”
“If I’d known it would send you crawling to the roof of the elevator, I never would have sent it.”
“It was the luck gene’s idea. I just followed orders. He was a terrible King of Swords.” I tried to decide if I regretted what I’d done, and realized I didn’t. I would do whatever was necessary to keep those I cared about safe. I’d killed Caleb Dekker; I could live with the consequences. Maybe Alexei had rubbed off on me. Or maybe this was the ruthless Monique side of me coming out.
My thoughts churned with awful sluggishness, the cold muddling my brain. I suspected shock was making me stupid. I managed, “Why are you still alive? Are you a clone?”
“No, not a clone. And your aim is terrible. You missed everything vital.”
“Sounds like my aim was perfect,” I whispered, my face pressed against his throat.
“We can discuss your aim later. Right now, we need to leave. We’re tracking One Gov war hawks headed this way. The warbler is a decoy to give us time to get away. Can you hold on to me?”
“I don’t know. I’m so cold. Nothing’s working the way it’s supposed to.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
I watched him move with brisk efficiency. There were two black packs lying behind him, though I’d no idea how they’d gotten there. From one, he pulled a series of straps. The other had arm slits and he placed it on his back. It secured itself to him, producing a resin that ensured he and the pack couldn’t be separated. Then it opened and what looked like black sails snapped out and unfurled. While I watched this happen, he pulled me against him and used the extra straps to connect our bodies together. They slithered about us on their own, binding us from midthigh to my shoulders. It brought my face to the hollow of his throat.
When his hands pressed near the base of my spine, I whimpered at the shock of pain. The numbing spray I’d used on the implant sites had worn off while I was freezing to death. What a shame I couldn’t appreciate the irony.
“Where are you hurt?” he asked, hands stilling.
“The implants. I had to cut out them out.”
“You cut th
em out?” he repeated slowly, as if he couldn’t believe it. “By yourself? Why?”
“I didn’t want Caleb to keep using my body like it was his personal toy.”
His expression turned murderous. “What else did he do?”
“Not now. I can’t…I…Just save it for later. Please.”
“All right. Later.” A hard kiss was pressed to my hairline and he placed my arms around his neck. “We’re going to free-fly out. The wind is making conditions difficult at this altitude, but I’ll keep us stabilized. Hold on to me, but keep your arms clear of my back and away from the glider. Close your eyes and that should help reduce any vertigo and dizziness.”
Free-fly? Was he serious? “Shouldn’t we have more equipment?”
“No time to suit up. Not with war hawks on the way.”
A thought occurred to me out of nowhere. “Feodor! Is he okay?”
“He’s fine and waiting for you.”
The relief I felt at that news was so overwhelming, my knees buckled. Only the straps kept me upright. “I was so scared about Feodor, and you. I was afraid you were dead. I thought I’d killed you and I’d never see you again.”
“I know,” he murmured. “I was afraid for you too. I’m still afraid. We need to get you away from here and warmed up.”
Being someplace warm sounded like a dream come true and I wanted to tell him that. Instead, talking felt like an impossible task. And I was so damned tired. I could barely keep my eyes open.
Alexei shook me a little. “Stay awake, Felicia. It’s important you not fall asleep. Do you understand?”
“I’m trying, but I’m so tired.”
“I know, but I need you to stay with me. Tell me you love me.”
“I do. I love you.”
“Keep saying it. I need to hear you say the words.”
So I did, as best I could. I told him I loved him even as I stopped wondering why we were strapped together.
“We need to go. Are you ready?” he murmured, lips at my ear.
“Yes,” I said into his chest.
The Game of Luck Page 34