John shut his mouth and swallowed. “I…um. I don’t know where to start now that I have someone to listen.”
Nickie sighed. It sounded like he needed exactly the kind of emotional maintenance she didn’t accept she too needed. She wasn’t going to take it on for Prince Precious. “Start with this quest your family said you were on. What the fuck is going on with that? Quests are for stories.”
“Not on my world. I have to complete these tasks, or my whole planet will be at war within the year. My father is sick, really sick, and the vultures are circling. So instead of spending what could be my father’s final days with him, I’ve roamed the sector like a damn nomad. I’ve killed a mythical beast, which made me feel like shit since it was one of the last of its kind, rescued a maiden—who, it turned out, didn’t want rescuing—from the Skaines.”
“She didn’t want rescuing?”
“No,” John replied. “She was less of a damsel in distress and more like their damned harridan business manager.”
“The galaxy is a freaky place.”
Nickie got out of the shower with her towel wrapped around her and closed the bathroom door while she dressed. She came out a couple of minutes later, drying her hair with the towel. “Sounds like a regular Tuesday morning for me. What do you want, a medal?” She scraped her damp hair into a ponytail and pulled her boots on.
John shook his head. “That was all pretty easy to do. For my final task, I have to obtain a rare medicinal plant from the center of a volcano.” He explained before Nickie could interrupt. “I need to get the plant because it will heal my father and prove my worth as a leader in the eyes of the people. Then he can take a back seat without war breaking out. I’ve located the planet the volcano is on, but I really don’t fancy my chances alone. So here I am, asking the prickliest woman I have ever met to help.”
Nickie scoffed. “Seriously? I’d kinda assumed you were dicking around on a treasure hunt or something.”
“So I gathered. Nickie, I have never met anyone as abrasive as you, but I have to hope that with a name like Grimes you have the skills I need to get this done.” John’s tone was deadly serious. “The future of my people is at stake, and I wouldn’t be here asking for your help if I could see any other way around it.”
Nickie chose not to respond.
John sighed and rested his head in his hands. “I need a partner, Nickie.”
Nickie balked. “Yeah, no. I don’t do partnerships.”
John noticed the way she tensed with her reply. He softened his voice. “You do helping, though, don’t you? That’s what you’re doing here, isn’t it?”
Nickie turned away. “What would you know? Maybe I’m just hiding. Don’t assume you know me or my motivations.”
John shook his head. “Hiding from yourself, maybe. You don’t think you’re up to the task.”
Nickie sneered. “Stick your reverse psychology up your ass. I’ve been conditioned against that shit by smarter people than you, and I’m perfectly capable of doing whatever I need to do. I just gave up fighting other people’s battles a long time ago.”
John smiled. “I don’t believe you.”
Nickie shrugged. “I don’t give a fuck if you believe me. It’s the truth. It’s too much effort to give a shit about anyone.”
John’s smile deepened, making his dimple wink. “Like these colonists? Are you really telling me you’re not here to help them?”
Nickie scowled. “That’s different. I owe them, and I pay my debts.”
John shook his head. “I think you’re lying. I think you do care underneath all the attitude. The snarky remarks. It’s all a front.” He fixed her with a searching gaze. “You have fire in your eyes. You were born to war, just like I was.”
Nickie burst out laughing. “That’s priceless! You were just telling me how you want to avoid war.”
“I want to avoid it because that’s what’s best for my people. I never said I didn’t feel most alive in the heat of battle.”
Nickie was thrown again. What was it with this man? She wasn’t sure whether she wanted to kiss him or punch him repeatedly. Mostly the second. Maybe just a little of the first. It was too bad she wasn’t going to find out. She sighed and headed for the door. “Come on,” she commanded.
John’s face lit up. “You agree to help me?”
Nickie laughed as she strode down the corridor. “Fuck, no. Your ten minutes are up. I’m taking you to get some breakfast, then you can get your princely ass on that shiny ship of yours ‘cuz I’m sending you on your way.”
John hurried to catch her again before she left the ship without him. “Cool. I could definitely use a meal. Besides, that’s like, what? Another thirty minutes or so to change your mind. I’ll take it.”
Chapter 9 Nickie
Rebus Quadrant, Themis Colony, Mess Hall
Adelaide stopped in the middle of telling Raynard her plans for the day and frowned at his distant stare. “So then Keen proposed, and I said yes, of course, as long as we can have Grim officiate.”
Raynard snapped out of it. “Huh?”
“Oh, so you were listening.”
Raynard rubbed his stubble with a hand. “I’m sorry, Addie. My mind is on the meeting this morning.”
Adelaide tutted. “Your mind is always on council business these days. You take no time for yourself.”
Raynard stared at her. “What do you want me to do? Abandon everyone?”
“No, just don’t abandon yourself.” Adelaide nodded at the lines that had appeared recently around his eyes. “You haven’t slept properly in weeks, and you’re barely eating. You can’t keep running this hard forever.”
He looked at her as though she’d lost her mind. “Addie, there isn’t room for me right now. I have a duty to the people of this colony. If I stop…there just isn’t time.”
“What about us? Is there time for that?” She tried to keep the quiver from her voice as she reached for his hand to comfort him.
Raynard pulled his hand away. “I can’t, Addie. I just can’t.”
Adelaide’s heart broke for him. “We’re all hurting. That’s no reason to isolate yourself. I miss you.” She tried to capture his gaze, but he looked away. “Raynard. Please.”
“Addie… I… I have to get to work. The meeting is in half an hour, and I have things to prepare still.”
Adelaide let out a small choked sob. She wiped her eye with the corner of her sleeve and stood up just as Nickie entered the mess hall with a strange man. “Then go. But don’t be surprised if one of these days you come looking for me and I’m not here.”
Nickie strode ahead so that John had to hurry to keep up with her. No point in letting him get comfortable since he wouldn’t be around for more than a beat.
She pushed open the door of the mess hall and went inside without waiting for him.
Adelaide and Raynard were clearly in the middle of something. She looked around the mess hall for Grim and Durq and headed to the breakfast line when she spotted them sitting with Keen.
“This place is nice,” John remarked as he joined her. “I’d love to know how a Yollin and a…is that a Skaine? How the hell did a Skaine end up living with humans?”
Nickie rounded on him. “You leave my Skaine alone.”
John’s eyes widened. “You keep him as a slave? That’s extreme. Hang on, that’s not why you’re out here, is it?”
“What?” Nickie scowled. “No, you dumbass, he’s on my crew. And he’s sensitive, so if you upset him you’ll have to deal with me, okay?” She held her tray out with a little more force than necessary to receive her scoop of eggs.
John held up his hand in apology. “Sorry, I just assumed.” He snickered. “How does it feel to be on the receiving end?”
She ignored him and went to sit with Grim and Durq. John followed and sat across from her at the table. “Grim, Durq, this is my new shadow Prince Pain-in-the-Ass. He’s only staying for breakfast, so don’t get too attached.”
Joh
n grinned and leaned over to offer his hand to everyone around the table. “John Deblanc of Reinek, at your service.”
Grim craned to get a better look at John’s outfit as he pumped his hand. “Cool cape,” he marveled.
Keen was similarly entranced. “You know, I don’t know why capes ever went out of style.”
John soaked up the attention. “My thoughts exactly. There’s no reason a man can’t go questing and look good at the same time.”
Nickie laughed. “You’re joking? I see the cape, and all the ways I could use it to incapacitate you.”
Grim waved her off. “Ignore her, John. She’s terminally grumpy. Tell us about this questing. What is it?”
Nickie ate her breakfast in silence while John launched into an explanation. Grim, Durq, and Keen hung on his every word, but she’d heard it already. She had more important things to consider.
Like…
Shit, like what? She couldn’t think of a single thing.
Nickie zoned out completely. Despite her earlier protests, what did she actually contribute here that couldn’t be done by someone else? Maybe Prince Perfect was right, and she was hiding from herself. She’d been here a few weeks. Long enough to get involved, but she’d done what she always did—kept herself on the periphery. She’d avoided being roped into meetings, and skipped almost all of the community gatherings.
Not that she wanted to be involved. She wasn’t cut out for management. Still, although she’d avoided all that tedium, she hadn’t exactly filled her time with anything that broke the monotony of the routine she’d fallen into without even noticing.
John was drawing a crowd with the animated retelling of his quest so far. She listened along with the others and actually, this time around it didn’t sound quite as ridiculous as when he’d told her in her quarters.
It could have been something to do with the energy he put into his narration. She couldn’t help but smile as he reenacted his battle with the beast. He told it so well she began to wish for a good fight herself. But as she’d told Meredith, that wasn’t a likely outcome as long as she was here.
John jumped up onto the bench and planted a foot on the table as he slashed the air wildly with his imaginary sword.
It did look like fun.
Nickie scowled as she ate her food. Maybe this John showing up could be a break from the monotony of the routine she’d found herself in. A kick in the ass to get her back in the saddle.
A pang of guilt hit her when she caught sight of a drawn-looking Raynard and Adelaide at the edge of the crowd. What if she went on John’s quest and something happened to the colony while she was gone? She wasn’t sure she could handle that happening a second time. She could almost admit that she liked Adelaide. The woman had hidden depths, and her perkiness wasn’t too unbearable.
Raynard worked his way over to John and introduced himself. “I admire your dedication to your father, and to your people. What brings you all the way out to Themis?”
John explained about the plant. “I’m hoping I can convince Nickie to help me get in and out of the volcano safely.”
“Volcano?” Adelaide asked. “Sounds dangerous.”
John nodded. “It is. The only way to the center is through the Labyrinth of the Dead, and they don’t call it that for nothing, I can tell you.”
Grim leaned in. “Labyrinth of the Dead? Why the dead?”
John’s shoulders dropped. “Because there’s no record of anyone coming back from it.”
Nickie piped up finally. “Maybe they just decide they prefer living there and never want to leave.”
“More likely that they’re dead,” John shot back.
There was an uneasy silence around the table. Nickie spread her hands wide. “Wouldn’t you say that’s a pretty good indication to stay away from there?”
John shrugged nonchalantly. “Sure, if you’re a scaredy cat.”
Durq whimpered. Nickie patted him awkwardly on the arm and glared at John. “What did I tell you about upsetting him?”
John held his hands up. “Sorry, didn’t mean to.”
Keen stepped in to save John from further rebuke. “So you get this plant and take it back for your father. Then what? What is the point of all of this?”
John sat down heavily. “So he doesn’t die. And if… If he does, the succession will be smooth since any rivals to the throne will have no grounds to lodge a claim against my own. There must be no question of my fitness to lead, no room for a power vacuum to form. That is of the utmost importance. I understand that to the rest of the Federation we’re eccentric...”
Nickie snorted. “You aren’t even top ten of the weird shit I’ve seen. So what you’re saying is that completing these quests is how you prove yourself.”
John nodded solemnly. “Yes.”
“I’ll help,” Keen offered. “I’m no young man, but experience plus youth can often win the day.”
“It does sound interesting,” Grim murmured with a pleading look at Nickie.
Nickie sighed the sigh of the put-upon and got up with her tray.
Grim looked up at her. “Where are you going?”
Nickie shrugged. “To run a systems check. We don’t want to be undertaking a mission on a faulty ship.”
John grinned, and Grim and Keen exchanged excited glances. Even Durq made a little fist pump when he thought no one was looking. Adelaide had a far-off look, and Raynard looked worried.
He got up from the table and touched Adelaide’s arm. “Are you coming, Addie?”
She looked up at him, still half in her daydream. “Um…no. I’m going to stick around for a while.”
Raynard dropped his hand. “Okay. Well, I’ve got to leave for the meeting.”
“Uh-huh…”
Raynard sighed and left. He looked back at Adelaide when he got to the door, but she didn’t notice. Keen, however, did.
He got up from the table and hurried over. “Hey, Raynard. Can I have a word with you? It’ll only take a minute or two.”
Raynard could see from his mentor’s posture that it was going to take more than a couple of minutes. “I have to get over to the council meeting, but I can walk and talk.”
Keen nodded. “It’s the council I wanted to talk to you about.”
Rebus Quadrant, Themis Colony, Airfield
Nickie stamped her foot impatiently while she waited for the ramp of the Penitent Granddaughter to inch its way down to where she stood with the large crate of kitchen supplies Grim had given her to take aboard. Keen drove up in a pallet truck, which distracted Grim. He took a break from ordering her around like a freaking house bot to direct Keen to the loading bay access on the other side of the ship.
The ramp finally touched down. She was going to have to get that looked at when they got back from the mission. That and a few other things. The ship would be fine for now, but it would be good to get the kinks ironed out.
Nickie made her way through the ship to the galley with vague thoughts of where she could start with improvements to the Granddaughter. She dodged around Lefty and Lucky in the narrow corridor, lifting the crate above their heads as she passed. She dumped the crate in the galley and made her way back outside to the airfield to take the next load Grim had organized. She passed Brandy on her way to the exit ramp, which was for some reason retracted.
“Why is the ramp up?” she asked Brandy for lack of anyone else around. Meredith was still sulking.
The bot swiveled to turn its screen to her. The ramp is under repair. There is a fault in the retraction mechanism. Adelaide is fixing it as we speak.
“Adelaide? Huh.” She peered out and saw the younger woman outside the ship with a screwdriver clenched between her teeth and her hands buried in the guts of the ramp’s mechanism. Lefty pootled around near her feet, zipping back and forth to Adelaide’s toolbox between the discarded parts that littered the ground around her. “Hey, Adelaide, whatcha doing?”
Adelaide looked up as Nickie’s shadow blocked her light.
She took the screwdriver out of her mouth and used it to wave at Nickie. “Oh, hey! Meredith told me there was an issue with the ramp.” She continued to work as she spoke, slotting the various parts back in with practiced movements. “I’m about done here. Give me a minute.”
Nickie smiled at her and leaned against the open door. Guess I owe you an apology.
Are you talking to me? Meredith’s tone was icy.
I suppose I deserve that. She half-shrugged. But yeah. I should have listened to you about John. He’s not so pampered. I still don’t have to like him, though.
I accept your apology. I was getting bored, anyway, just like you were. It’s a good thing you decided to join Prince John’s mission. I would have been forced to take drastic action if you’d kept stewing for much longer.
Are we back to the whole you ‘driving me like a meat-puppet’ thing again?
It’s always an option, Nickie.
Like you ever let me forget.
“All done,” Adelaide called up.
Nickie stepped onto the ramp as it began to descend smoothly, much to Adelaide’s pleasure. She tucked the screwdriver away in her toolbox and grinned at Nickie. “What do you think? Much smoother, hey?”
Nickie nodded. “It is, thanks.”
Adelaide shuffled nervously. “So, um…I’ve been thinking. Can I come with you? On the quest?”
Nickie was thrown. “Huh?”
“The quest,” Adelaide repeated. “I want to help. I have all these skills I’ve been developing, and the ship could definitely use some love.”
Nickie laid a hand on the Granddaughter. “What are you saying about my ship?”
Adelaide raised an eyebrow. “Want the full repair list, or just what’s going to need doing soon?”
Nickie shrugged. There was no need to get defensive. She hadn’t exactly had the ship overhauled when she’d liberated it. “Fair enough. You just surprised me, that’s all.”
Labyrinth (Deuces Wild Book 3) Page 10