by Lauren Dane
She sat up, tucking her feet beneath her, and it made her look small, something she wasn’t. Fragile even. “I can wait. Thank you. For everything. I know you’re risking your life for me.”
The tug in his belly told him they’d begun the first leg of the trip, passing through the first portal to the next ’Verse. Thank the gods he had something else to do now.
“Comes with the territory. It’s my job. And if you have what you’re supposed to have, you’re risking your life, too.”
She swallowed hard and nodded. “All you have is my word that I do. But we’ve helped you before, so that has to be enough.”
“Fair enough. We can talk more about it later. Are you tired?” Gods, what was he doing repeating himself like a half-wit? She was his job! Why was he petting her and asking after her this way?
She exhaled softly, squaring her shoulders. “I don’t know what I am.”
“I have something to help you sleep, if you like.” He told himself he offered because if she slept deeply she’d be easier to control and keep track of as he sat across from her on his bunk.
All that went out of his head when he took in how miserable she looked. “I know this is hard. Leaving your mother behind. But she did this for you. She’s making a sacrifice not only for you but for everyone across the Known Universes. It doesn’t make it easier, I’m sure. But not all parents are as caring as your mother. She’s doing the right thing, as are you. It’s very brave.”
She nodded, blinking quickly to keep the tears back, and he found himself wanting to touch her, to reassure her. Instead, he pushed to his feet and busied himself setting up a few internal alarms in the small room. He needed to work, even just busywork, to keep from his imaginings about her.
With his back to her, he made sure he had his alarm keys and that all his weapons were in place before turning to face her again. “I’ll be back shortly with something to eat, and then you need to rest. Don’t leave the room. Don’t answer the door. If anyone tries to force inside, pull this here.” He pointed to a small string near the doorway. “It’s an alarm, and I’ll come running. Understand?”
Pale, she appeared to have reined in her upset, but it edged all around her.
“I understand.”
“Do you know how to use any weapons at all?”
Her fear morphed into annoyance, and he relaxed. Maybe if he kept her annoyed, he could avoid tears.
“Of course I do. You know what I am, who I am. I’ve been trained extensively since I was very young. Knives and blasters. I’ve got some hand-to-hand experience. If I’m attacked here in this space, a blaster would be useless. Have an extra blade?” She cocked her head in his direction.
Quickly, he pulled a blade from his ankle and handed it to her, still in the sheath. “Here. Don’t cut yourself.”
He left before he found himself wiping the tears off her face or singing her a lullaby. He didn’t stop his smile at her annoyed huff.
She ate the modest meal he brought back and tried not to think beyond that moment. Everything felt wrong, like she was in clothing that didn’t fit. She looked down and realized that was partially true.
Daniel sat on the bunk across from hers and ate efficiently, like it was an assignment, too. She wondered if he ever let go. His go-to personality so far had been an efficient annoyance. And while that was comforting to a certain extent, did he just turn everything else off when he worked? Was he always this way? Did he get mad? Did he laugh? What was he like when he wasn’t on a job?
Once he finished shoveling all that food into his mouth, he wiped his lips and took a deep breath. “I’m going to get some rest. I sleep lightly enough, so please don’t worry about your safety.” He told her this as he moved his cot to block the door. “They’ll have to go through me to get to you. That won’t happen.”
He reached into a pocket and handed her a pill. “To help you sleep. Let go and let me do the worrying.”
Consternation rippled through her. Why did he have to be so nice just when she’d worked up all that annoyance at him for being so aloof? At least it kept the tears away, and maybe he planned it that way.
She took it from his palm and swallowed before she could overthink it. She needed to trust him, and he was right; rest would be integral if she meant to keep her wits about her.
He turned and stripped out of his shirt, boots and pants. Well, now she hoped the pill didn’t work too fast, because this would be too good to miss. Until he stopped at his undershirt and long underwear.
Was he really going to just stop at that? Stingy. Probably just to spite her. She might have felt a little better if she caught sight of the beauty of his body. Not that she’d been thinking of the glimpse she’d received earlier that day. Constantly.
With a stifled laugh, she finished her meal, though it tasted like nothing. She shoved the energy into her body and carefully put the wrappings into the refuse chute.
He burrowed under a blanket and turned his back to her, facing the door. She’d seen how he tucked a weapon next to the cot and still wore a knife or two. Her fear lessened enough that she didn’t feel like clenching her fists every moment.
“You should sleep, Rina,” he murmured, using her fake name. “You’ll need the energy, and we have a long way to go yet.”
She sat heavily, managing to toe her boots off and slide beneath the blankets. She left her clothes on for warmth and a sense of control. The pill began to work, edging away her angst and bringing weight to her limbs. She let go, trusting him to stand between her and any threat that came at her.
Just knowing that warmed her and let her accept the sleep she needed so much.
Chapter 7
Daniel came awake as the static on the frequency he’d been monitoring cut out and terse orders began to filter through. He got dressed quickly and moved the cot closer to hers. He set more alarms and eased himself out into the hall, listening carefully. He hated to leave her, but she was resting, and it was safer to go alone.
The transport’s hum had lessened, and Daniel knew they’d entered the outermost edge of the portal, preparing to arrive in the destination ’Verse. At the end of their hallway, he slipped into a communications room, the kind used by traveling businesspeople to keep up with comms from home without the high cost of a personal comm capable of cross-’Verse transmissions.
Though Daniel had such a personal comm, he needed to access the transport’s communications system to tap into the locked channels. He could do so at this node. A quick jamming of the door panel and some magic with one of his electronic toys, and he was in. The orders on the less secured channel were exactly what he thought, a minor shadow of what the secure channel held. Carina’s absence had been reported, and every ship stopping at every portal was to be boarded.
Accessing the evacuation routes noted in a ship’s map, Daniel managed to plot out three ways to get off the transport should they run into trouble. And hoped for the best. He’d figured a higher troop presence into his original plans. He’d expect Fardelle to send troops out to search transports and most likely a total sweep of all buildings in Caelinus. The time they had before they’d discovered her missing gave him an edge, got them farther out. The area Fardelle would have to search would be so great it wouldn’t be possible, especially early on, to thoroughly search every transport. It didn’t solve all their problems, but it gave them more room to avoid detection. He needed to explain to her that it would be far more dangerous from that moment on.
He arranged for several contingencies via coded message to his team, undid his work and quickly returned to their berth.
For the second time in as many days, Carina found herself awakened by Daniel standing above her, his fingers against her lips. Once she relaxed, he leaned down to whisper in her ear.
“We’re nearly finished with the arrival process. Within a short time, they’ll make the announcement that we’ve arrived in Philos. We’ll be exiting here. Imperium troops are waiting at the decks to enter the other end
of the ship.”
The transport’s captain announced their arrival as fear flushed through her system, leaving her woozy. She willed herself to get up, and she did it, scrambling to get into her boots.
He already held her pack, which she took without a word.
“Do you still have the weapon?”
A quick check in her bag confirmed that she did, so she nodded.
He took her hand and squeezed it, the harsh mask he wore softened. “Focus on details. On the small mechanics of the larger things you do. Break it down, and don’t give yourself any reason to think about anything but what you need to. That’s how I hold it together sometimes.”
It surprised her, but she grasped on to his advice like a shield.
Letting go of her hand, he turned toward the door. “I need you absolutely calm. Keep the weapon with you at all times, but don’t use it unless I order it so or I’m not there to give that order and it’s live-or-die time. They have no reason to believe they’re looking for you and me; let’s not give them one.”
Calm? She wouldn’t be. None of the people on this vessel would be if troops had boarded. That’s not how it worked in the Imperium. People feared authority.
She shook her head and pretended her knees weren’t weak. “Everyone out there will be jittery. If we act calm, we will make a target of ourselves. Troops being here would mean people would be taken away.”
He paused. “That’s an excellent point. You’re absolutely correct. You’re afraid, and that’s normal for Rina. Be calm inside as you wear your fear appropriately, yes?”
Warmed by that small praise, she buttoned her cape but left the hood down until they got outside.
“Shall we go then, Sister?” he asked, opening their cabin door and stepping into the hall.
She followed, and he stuck to her carefully as they made their way through the knot of people moving toward the exits. The troops were behind them somewhere; she felt that as he hurried her out. She sent up silent prayers that they’d escape without anyone on the vessel being involved or getting hurt.
Even the slightly acrid air of Philos filled her with joy as they stepped onto the platform. She followed him, trusting he’d know what to do. Hoping he did.
The muddy streets were filled with police and military. Her fear didn’t have to be feigned. He stuck to side streets and alleys, she was sure to avoid detection. The noise from soldiers entering buildings and of doors being pounded on began to well all around them.
“Hold there.”
Daniel froze, bringing them both to a stop. A soldier stepped fully into their path from where he’d exited a building just ahead.
“Where are your papers?” The soldier looked them both over carefully. Carina hoped he’d have some sort of explanation as to why they’d exited the transport three ’Verses early.
“Here.” Daniel pulled them from his bag. He took a few steps to the side, bringing the soldier with them.
“What is your business here? Where did you come from?”
“We boarded the transport two days ago in Birrden. We’re stopping here to meet my sister’s intended and his family. I have business with a number of shops here. I make boots.”
Carina digested those details, along with the scorpion insignia on the soldier’s lapel. Her stomach cramped.
“This code is more than four standard months old.”
“I booked our transport when the bride price was accepted at the end of last year. It was part of the nuptial contract.” Daniel seemed to have a good grasp on the basics of how things worked in the Imperium, thank goodness.
“You both need to accompany me to the portal security complex.”
“Sir, we’re already late. Can we not handle any problems with our code at another time? There is a security station just a short way from the guesthouse where we are staying. I can handle this before evening, once I get my sister settled.” Daniel kept his eyes down.
“You’ll do what I tell you, when I tell you. Until I can verify your story, you’re both going to wait in lockup.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” Daniel stepped forward, and before Carina had even registered what was happening, he had dragged the soldier into the narrow space between the buildings. Carina hurried after them, looking around in what she hoped was a surreptitious manner.
She heard the sickening crunch of the soldier’s neck breaking. The body slumped to the ground.
“Keep watch,” Daniel murmured to her as he dragged the body back behind a trash recycler.
What the seven hells she’d do if anyone actually discovered them, she didn’t know. But she held on to her bag, her fingers touching the edge of the blaster, just in case.
“Let’s go. It won’t be long before they discover him missing.” Daniel took her arm and hustled her away at just shy of a run.
She wanted to panic but concentrated on each step they took. Kept her gaze on the street and walkway, taking in details. She needed to keep herself together and help him get them out of danger. Anything else was unacceptable.
Finally, he relaxed his spine a bit, waving to a group of men standing near a conveyance just across a small square.
“Well met, Neil. I see you have Rina with you, good, good. Come along, there are brigands about. The soldiers are on the hunt, and I wouldn’t want to be one of them once the troops catch up with them.” The large male laughed, but it didn’t reach his eyes.
She hopped up and into the cab, followed by Daniel, and they sped off.
Daniel handed them a packet of papers, and the shorter of the males handed him another. “Updated with better codes.”
Daniel made no comment as he looked through them and she over his shoulder. She was to have a new name and they were married, not siblings, residents of Philos, water runners.
Each time they had to stop at a checkpoint and hand over their papers, she thought for sure they’d stop them and toss the whole lot of them into lockup. To her relief, no one questioned their papers overly much. Soon they were away from the portal and deep into the canyons where the locals worked to make building materials from the mineral-rich mud.
She started to speak once, but he sent her a look that quelled the urge. If he didn’t want her to say anything, he had his reasons. No one spoke either, after the last checkpoint. Until the sun was fully up and they’d reached a wide canyon.
Once the conveyance had gone, there was no sound other than their breath and the soft shuss of sand and dirt shifting.
He perused a sheet of paper and then crumpled it up until it dissolved and there was nothing left. “Come on through here.” Daniel indicated a cleft in the cliff just ahead.
They hiked for long enough that even Daniel felt it in his thighs. But finally, as the pale sun stood straight above them, he led her into a small space, barely large enough to crawl through. He hoped to the gods that she wasn’t claustrophobic as they wended their way through stiflingly small, nearly airless passages, sometimes on their belly or hands and knees. For long minutes, with dirt caked in the sweat on their skin, they crept toward their destination.
“Are you all right?” he asked softly.
“Of course. I do this sort of thing every day.” She snorted in-delicately. “This is horrible, and I want to harm you severely for putting me in this position,” she panted from her place just behind him. Luckily he heard the humor in her tone, liked her a bit more for it.
“I’m the only one who knows the way. Don’t kill me just yet,” he said back to her as they kept moving.
At long last they were able to slide through what looked to be a natural gap in the wall, but what was revealed just beyond was unexpected.
Living quarters. Not overly large, but lit by glow globes. It had a kitchen, a rough-hewn table and a sleeping area.
“I . . . is this someone’s home?” She turned in a circle once he’d put the pack down and slid a panel forward, and the gap was now gone, replaced by solid rock.
“Hope you’re not claustro
phobic.”
She shuddered. “This is far more tolerable than that tiny crawl space we just went through. I’m afraid I have dirt in every part of my body. What is this place?”
“It’s a smuggler’s den.” He shrugged. “They hide here when things get hot. Make yourself comfortable; we have to lie low for a while. We can’t get off ’Verse until the soldiers go away.” He looked at a pocket comm. “My contact says the ’Verse is crawling with Skorpios. Not that we needed that information; the one I killed was one. That will cause some trouble, I imagine. I tried to make it look like a robbery.”
Skorpios were her father’s private militia. They were his secret police. His right hand of death. When something very bad happened, Skorpios were there. She shivered a moment. There was no going back, and they wouldn’t stop until she was captured or dead.
He must have seen her fear, because he touched her cheek and then drew his hand away quickly. “I know. But I’m better than they are, Carina. Do you believe that?”
She didn’t know why she should, but she nodded because she did. “They know I’m with you. Or with the Federation. They won’t stop until I’m dead.”
“Or I kill them first. That’s my preferred outcome. We’re getting out of here, Carina. Not today. But we will get back to Ravena. I promise you, I will get you away safely, or I will die trying. I’m sorry you had to see that back there; I am. But you can’t go back now.”
“There’s nothing for you to apologize for. We would have been captured and discovered. You would have been tortured and killed, and I would have been sent back home. I believe you. I trust you.” Still, Carina worried for her mother. Wondered if they knew it had been her who’d helped her escape. “My mother? Any word about who found me out?”
“I don’t have that much detail about anything inside the compound. We managed to get several cycles away before they discovered you gone. And then they sent shock troops. To have them out this far so fast means they must have burned out a good number of private portals to get here. If they’re burned out, he can’t use them again. Slows him down.”