by R. M. Olson
“I’ll get Lev and Galina,” said Ivan, standing quickly and putting a hand on Tae’s shoulder. Tae nodded, and Ivan slipped out of the room.
Jez caught his eye. “Look, tech-head,” she said, just loud enough to be heard over the sudden chaos. “It’ll be fine. We’ve done it once, we know what we’re doing now.”
He managed a brief nod, and then she was gone as well.
Tae glanced down at the notification on his com again, something hard and tight in the pit of his stomach.
There was only one reason he wouldn’t have seen this coming earlier. Considering the tracking he had on every communication coming to or from Gregory, there was only one way.
These were Grigory’s people, he was certain of that, but it wasn’t Grigory who’d sent them.
And he knew damn well who it had been.
Zhenya.
When he reached the lobby, it had transformed into an organized chaos. Galina was waiting for him at the base of the stairs, Lev beside her.
“Tae,” she said shortly. “We don’t know who’s coming, do we?”
He shook his head grimly. “But it was Zhenya who sent them. Whoever they are, they’ll be looking for the slightest thing out of place.”
Galina nodded, and he knew from the look on her face that she understood the consequences of failure as well as he did.
“The tech is set, right?” she asked briskly. “Then I want you in costume. We’ll have you start out in the back room, but if there’s an emergency, I need to be able to call you down.”
“Yeah.” He tried to fight down the sickness in his stomach. “Yeah. I’ll be ready.”
She nodded, then turned and strode towards the centre of the chaos, calling out orders over the noise.
He bit back a curse.
“Tae?”
He spun. Ivan was there, already in his server’s uniform, a small smile cutting through the worry on his face.
Ivan had spent years in prison, and Tae had seen the look on his face when he talked about what put him there. If Ivan hadn’t seen friends killed or tortured, Tae missed his guess. But even so, there was something about the way he smiled that made Tae believe that maybe things would turn out after all.
“I think we’re about ready,” said Ivan. He paused. “You OK?”
“I’m—fine,” said Tae, swallowing down his panic.
Ivan watched him for a moment, then squeezed his shoulder sympathetically. “Good luck,” he whispered.
Something fluttered in Tae’s stomach, and he only managed a flustered nod before Ivan turned back to his work.
He took a deep breath.
This was ridiculous. He had things to do, and he had plenty to worry about. He shook his head sharply to clear it, and made his way out of the crowded lobby.
He’d barely gotten into costume—fine, high leather boots, a pair of soft trousers, and a shirt and vest that were so heavily embroidered they were stiff to the touch—and dropped into his seat at the table in the command room, pulling up his holoscreen, when Jez’s voice came over his earpiece.
“Hey tech-head. They’re here.” She paused a moment. “It’s not anyone we’ve seen before. At least, it’s not anyone who I cheated at gambling, and it’s not anyone who tried to kill me, so I think that basically covers everyone who was on Grigory’s ship. So they shouldn’t recognize us. And if you wiped the vid feeds on Grigory’s ship like you said, they won’t have pictures to go by either. Masha said that’s a good thing.
“Thanks, Jez,” he said shortly.
His stomach was a tight knot. He pulled up his holoscreen again and expanded the screen, then pulled up three more screens so he could monitor all the feeds.
Behind him, a door opened, and he glanced over his shoulder as Lev stepped into the room. Tae gestured to the seat beside him. “Jez said they’ve arrived.”
Lev joined him and frowned at the screens as Tae hooked them into the cameras.
They heard the murmur of voices off-screen, but it wasn’t coming through nearly as clear as it should be—
He frowned, feeling suddenly slightly sick.
Damn it.
Damn it to hell.
Damn Zhenya to hell.
“What is it?” asked Lev quickly.
“Shielding. On their coms. It’s messing with my feeds.” He stood quickly, hitting his com. “Galina. I’ve got to get in there. They’ve got something on their coms that’s disrupting my feed. It’s going to mess with our emergency systems.”
“Give me a sec.” Galina’s voice was tight with strain. “OK,” she said after a few moments. “Come down on the third-floor lift, the one on the right side. You’ve been here since the night before last. You’re not hungover or drunk, so don’t worry about that, just act the part of a bored government brat.”
He blew out a quick breath.
Easy. Just act the part of a bored government brat. Someone who’d never gone hungry a day in his life, who saw people as objects for his personal entertainment.
And if he screwed up, his friends died.
Nothing simpler.
His palms were sweating by the time the lift doors slid silently open, heart beating out a rhythm against his ribcage.
Galina lounged in a corner by the cages, and hardly glanced up as he stepped out into the lobby the hard soles of his boots clicking off the polished stone of the floor.
He kept his eyes on his destination, a chair in the corner, because that way he didn’t have to look at the cages.
If he saw them, he might actually vomit.
Thank goodness Galina was spreading rumours about him, anyways. He could just pretend it was boredom, not disgust, that influenced his choice of seat.
A small cluster of people stood at the front desk, and Masha was playing the part of hostess.
“As you can see,” she was saying, “we provide only the very best in entertainment.” She turned, and let her eyes linger on one of the entertainers, a younger man with pale skin and light hair, his outfit clinging to his body, his wrists manacled.
Tae looked away quickly.
“I can see that,” said the woman, smiling. “Well. I’m so glad to have met you, Masha.”
“And I’m delighted to welcome you,” said Masha, returning the smile. “Please. Take your leisure. We have servers who will bring you whatever you ask for—your chip will summon them. There’s a gambling hall through that door, fully staffed, as well as a wide selection of intoxicants. This isn’t a house with disposable entertainment, so weapons stay outside the room.”
“Of course,” said the boyevik, with a slight, knowing smile, and Masha handed each of them the necklace containing the control chip.
He slouched in his chair in the corner, and pulled up his holoscreen.
Lev. What’s the plan here? he tapped in pilot’s code.
We’re going to try to get as many as we can into the gambling hall. Jez will keep them busy. We can’t use Tanya again—too much of a coincidence—but all the entertainers are people who can take care of themselves. The plan is to keep the boyeviki distracted for long enough to get Ysbel’s emergency protocols in place before they take the entertainment up to the rooms.
Tae gritted his teeth and glanced quickly through the specs on his screen. He’d been right—there were blockers set into the coms of all the newcomers.
He cursed again under his breath, and typed in a command, delicately prodding at the system.
This had to be Zhenya’s work. Which meant he had to be absolutely certain that getting through the blocker would leave no trace.
He hesitated.
There was no avoiding it. He’d have to get close enough to one of them to get a physical scan of their com system, and to do that, he’d have to be inside the radius of their blocker.
He took a deep breath and stood.
Most of the boyeviki had moved towards the gambling hall, but three of them were still in the room, standing near the cage and watching with unbridled salaciousness.
“She’s right,” said one of the women, letting her eyes run across one of the caged women. “You can always tell the higher-quality entertainment when you see it.”
The man beside her grinned, but there was something about his expression that made Tae’s stomach twist. “Come on, Branka. We all know you like the houses with disposables.”
She raised her eyebrow at him. “Well. Sometimes you need class, and sometimes you need the dregs. That’s just life.”
He laughed loudly.
Tae bit down hard on his teeth and stepped closer, pretending interest in what was inside the cages.
The man turned on him in annoyance. “Who are you?”
Tae ignored him.
“I said,” the man began, his voice gaining a rough edge.
Galina’s smooth voice interrupted him. “I’d be careful,” she said lazily. “That’s Nikita. His mother’s a minister. Not really the kind of person you want to offend.”
Tae managed to bump the scanner on his com surreptitiously, hardly deigning to glance towards Galina. He glanced instead at the man who’d addressed him, letting his eyes run dismissively from his hair to his boots. “What do you want?” he asked at last, trying to keep his tone bored instead of horrified.
The man glowered at him. “Nothing. I was—mistaken.”
Tae raised an eyebrow. “Good.”
“He was one of the model citizens a few years back,” Galina continued in a languid whisper. “They say he had a boyfriend on every planet, and about fifty others who wished they were his boyfriends. Masha’s been running herself ragged trying to find something that will impress him.”
The light on his com was still blinking. The scan had to be close to done. How complicated was this damn blocker?
He turned back to the cage, fighting back the sudden, urgent need to vomit.
The boyeviki were casting curious glances in his direction.
“So,” said the woman. “Which minister’s son are you?”
He shrugged and turned to her, grateful for the excuse to look at something other than the cages. “I try to keep my mother out of things like this.”
The woman laughed. “You don’t think that something like this would drag her name through the mud, do you? You of all people know how many officials visit this place every year.”
He gave a one-shouldered shrug. “She pays me enough to keep myself busy, and I promise her I won’t give her a reputation. That’s the only arrangement we have.”
His heart was beating so quickly that he almost couldn’t hear them speaking through the pounding in his ears.
“So,” said the woman. “You’ve gone through all the entertainment here, and none of it impressed you? That’s unfortunate.”
He shrugged again, and forced himself to meet her eyes.
He didn’t recognize her, but he recognized the hardness in her face. He’d met plenty of people like her, in his years on the streets.
This was a person who killed for fun. Who enjoyed causing pain like he enjoyed a warm jacket on a cold evening.
She was watching him too, and he let his eyes narrow slightly. “Honestly, I didn’t see the point,” he said, gesturing with his chin towards the cage. “They’re all attractive, if that’s the sort of thing you like, but if you’ve seen one of them, you’ve seen all of them. Nothing new. I was hoping with a new house they’d have found a way to bring in something fresh, but—” He lifted a shoulder again. “I’m sure Masha’s doing her best.”
Something flashed on his com, and he had to fight the urge to glance quickly down at it. He brought his hand to his mouth as if covering a yawn.
The light on the scanner was a solid green.
Done.
He managed a slight smile. “Best of luck. Perhaps you’ll find something more to your taste,” he said, turning to go. “Take your time looking. They don’t bring in the quality stuff until later in the day, usually.”
“Wait,” said the woman.
Reluctantly, he paused.
“You know,” she said thoughtfully, studying him. “I’ve been where you are. Jaded about the state of the system. It’s always more fun if you can find something unexpected. And I think you’ve inspired me, honestly.” She smiled, and something in her smile made him shiver. She reached down and tapped her pendant.
“What are you—” the man said.
She smiled at him. “Calling in a server. Of course.”
Tae felt suddenly cold.
Damn.
Damn, damn, damn, they hadn’t prepared for this.
From the corner of his eye he saw the door swing open as one of the servers came though, their gait quick and professional.
“Yes? How can I help you?”
Tae’s head jerked up at the familiar voice, and he felt his insides turn to ice.
Ivan stood there, head lowered deferentially, his posture the picture of graceful professionalism.
Tae’s palms were damp with sweat, and he thought his legs might give out.
Ivan hadn’t looked in his direction, but Tae knew him, and he was certain Ivan had been the one to come because he wanted to make sure Tae, of all the damn people in the system, was alright.
Damn him. Damn Ivan to hell, why couldn’t he bloody well look after himself for once?
“You,” said the woman, placing her hand on his arm. Ivan was too much the professional to jerk away, but his posture stiffened slightly. “I’d like you. You’re certainly a quality specimen, at any rate.”
“No.” Tae’s voice came out harsher than he meant it to.
The woman turned to stare at him.
“That one’s mine,” he said, stepping over.
This couldn’t happen, he couldn’t let this happen. This woman would kill Ivan for fun, and happily pay the fine afterward, and they didn’t have a contingency plan for this—
The woman looked down at his hand on Ivan’s arm, right above hers, and then up into his face. She arched one eyebrow in amusement. “Really. You’ve laid claim to one of the servers already? I suppose I’m not as original as I’d thought.”
“I paid for him. This morning,” said Tae tersely. He didn’t meet Ivan’s eye, because he couldn’t. Because if he looked at him, he’d panic.
Tae.
The word came through his earpiece, tapped out in pilot’s code.
He cut his eyes quickly to one side to see Galina, leaning back on one of the thick couches. She was watching the scene, her fingers tapping casually against her com as if considering what her next move should be. She caught his eye and gave a small shake of her head.
You can’t put up a fight. She’ll get suspicious. You already told her there’s nothing here that interests you.
He could see the strain on her face, under her lazy expression.
She was as worried about this as he was. But he couldn’t—
Tae. Listen to me.
Somehow, he forced himself to turn back to the boyevik.
She was giving him a slightly triumphant smile. “Well, I see I’ve found something that you want. That wasn’t hard, was it?”
He couldn’t stop himself from glancing at Ivan. His friend’s face was strained, and there was fear behind his expression, but he gave a quick shake of his head. “Go,” he mouthed.
Tae made himself raise his eyes meet the woman’s gaze once more, forced his grip on Ivan’s arm to loosen.
Galina was right. There was no way out of this without someone he cared for getting hurt, but they had a chance, at least, to save Ivan. Caz and Peti would be dead the moment Zhenya suspected something amiss.
“Well,” he said with a shrug. “You can’t say I didn’t try to warn you. This one isn’t worth much as far as entertainment goes.”
“I see,” said the woman, watching him. “You don’t mind if I try him, then?”
Tae managed a scoff. “You think this would hold my attention?”
He tried to ignore just exactly how much Ivan managed to hold his at
tention.
“Take it, if you want. But I did warn you, if it’s excitement you’re looking for, this isn’t going to qualify.”
The woman turned back to study Ivan, and the way she looked at him made Tae’s skin crawl. “Maybe I’m not as picky as you are,” she said at last, turning back to Tae with a knowing wink. “It’s not really the entertainment’s job to provide the excitement, after all. I can make my time with him as exciting as I’d like.” She paused a moment. “You’re welcome to come watch. You might learn something.”
Tae’s pulse pounded in his ears, but somehow he managed a slight, world-weary smile. “Oh, I doubt that. Disposable entertainment just doesn’t excite me, to be honest.”
She gave a small shrug. “Suit yourself. But I’ve found my morning’s activities, at least.”
Tae managed to stay upright until he reached his chair, and then he collapsed into it.
Why the hell did it have to be Ivan?
He yanked up his holoscreen, looking over the scan feverishly.
Behind him, he heard a voice he recognized as Masha’s.
“No,” she was saying, “I don’t sell the servers, unfortunately. I use only the best, and they’re hard to come by on this forsaken planet.”
He bit back the desperate hope rising in his chest, because right now he needed to figure out this blocker, and he couldn’t afford to be distracted by anything else.
“I want this one,” said the woman. “I’ll buy it from you right out.”
“It’s not for sale,” said Masha. “I appreciate your generous offer, but—”
“Why in the system not?” The woman was beginning to sound annoyed. “I told you, I’ll pay market price for him.”
“It’s not that simple, getting someone in—” Masha was clearly wavering.
He swore under his breath.
She was only wavering because she was on the edge of risking suspicion herself, and one wrong move could bring this whole plan down. But somehow it felt like another damn betrayal.
There. He was almost certain he could see it now, a way in.
He had to get this working, he had to. There was no other option.