Kill by Numbers: In the Wake of the Templars Book Two

by Loren Rhoads

  The low-tech attack caught him entirely by surprise. She pushed him away with her feet as he struggled to seal his suit with his off hand.

  When the crates tumbled over again, Raena saw the Veracity swooping toward her. Haoun was aiming the cargo door toward her.

  Raena scrambled to unhook her tethers so she wouldn’t be crushed beneath the pallet when it landed on the Veracity’s deck.

  CHAPTER 10

  Mykah glanced down at the comm bracelet on his wrist. “Trouble,” it read. “Wait in the elevator vestibule.”

  Coni was standing in line at the bartending machines, waiting to get them some drinks. Vezali was out on the dance floor somewhere. As Mykah stood to look for them, he saw Coni’s head turn his way and knew she’d gotten the message, too. Vezali stretched two of her tentacles up to the lighting rig above the dancers in the low-ceilinged room and swung herself out of the crowd, to applause and a roar of approval from below.

  “Are they okay?” Vezali asked when she reached him.

  “We know Raena knows what she’s doing, so we’ll have to trust she has it handled,” Mykah said.

  “Either she had some warning or it’s already over,” Coni pointed out. “The message came from Haoun.”

  They edged their way through the packed club toward the corridor outside. Clubs, bars, and restaurants filled this part of the station, one up against the next. People desperate for a good time jammed the walkway.

  “How do we get to the elevator?” Vezali asked.

  “I left my handheld with Raena,” Coni said.

  “There’s a transit hub up the way. Climb on,” Mykah told Vezali. She wrapped enough of her tentacles around his torso that she could hold on. The other tentacles she curled into little spirals that she held close to her body. Vezali hid her eye against his shoulder. She seemed to weigh almost nothing.

  Mykah launched himself sideways up a storefront, grabbed a railing, flung himself forward, kept moving. He’d missed this. Capital City didn’t have the intoxicating heights he’d enjoyed free-running on Kai, but it had plenty of interesting things to catch hold of or jump off of. He didn’t look behind, knowing Coni would keep up.

  The metro platform bustled with revelers heading home. Unfortunately, once Mykah, Coni, and Vezali got onto the train, it emptied out as it drew nearer and nearer the elevator. Mykah wasn’t liking the quiet, but he wasn’t sure what else they could have done. They couldn’t have run the whole way; taking a cab seemed like putting too much faith in a stranger. Mykah was pretty sure Raena wouldn’t have done that, but he couldn’t guess what she would have done.

  When the train reached the terminal station, the three of them were the only people to get out. Mykah waited for the attack to come down as they passed through the echoing station, but no one accosted them.

  Faced with the empty plaza outside the elevator’s waiting area, Mykah realized he had no idea what to say to the guards. He couldn’t very well admit that they had an exit window in two days’ time and just planned to hang around until then. He wished Haoun—or Raena—had given them more direction.

  Three Dagat—Vezali’s people—flowed toward them across the plaza. “I told my siblings why we’d come to Capital City,” Vezali explained. “Vezari is the Planetary Consul for our homeworld.”

  Once they got closer, one of the Dagat said in a high-pitched girlish voice, “We came as soon as we heard.”

  “Heard what?” Vezali asked.

  “There was an explosion at Mellix’s apartment in the Heights,” another said.

  “Oh, no,” Coni said.

  “Anyone hurt?” Mykah asked.

  “They haven’t said yet. It may have been an accident. Security hasn’t blamed terrorists so far.”

  Coni took Mykah’s hand, but didn’t say anything.

  Vezali introduced her siblings, but their names all sounded so similar it was difficult for Mykah to pick up the nuances.

  “How did you know to come here to meet us?” Mykah asked.

  “We have been monitoring our sibling to ensure zir safety.”

  “When you are arrested,” another of them said, “we will go with you.”

  “Will we be arrested?” Coni asked.

  “Assuredly. It is this local government’s practice to blame, rather than take responsibility. If the explosion was not caused by terrorists attacking Capital City, then there is a fault in the design of the station. People are already very close to panic. Terrorists are less frightening than the station falling apart around us, because terrorists can be caught.”

  And who better to blame than a human, Mykah thought. He hoped Raena had gotten out safely.

  Raena picked herself up off the Veracity’s deck and began tethering the pallet down. Haoun commed back, “All right in there?”

  She ran through the switches in the unfamiliar suit until she found one that let her respond. “Thank you. I’m good. Can you find the pallet outside that contains Coni’s handheld? I set its beacon for you.”

  “Got it locked. I can get over to it, but you’re gonna have to get out there with a jet pack and push it in.”

  “I can do that.” She found the correct locker and pulled the jet pack out.

  As she was shouldering into it, Haoun added, “We’re in trouble. They’re threatening to scramble fighters unless we move away from the station.”

  “We need that pallet. Get us over to it, then stand down. We need to get Mellix onboard to sort this out.”

  “All right. It’s coming in slightly above us.”

  Raena blasted out to get it. She got it turned and aimed toward the ship, tucking it inside like a ball into a pocket. She tethered it, then closed the hatch. The other two pallets would have to wait.

  As soon as the atmosphere had settled, she pulled off her helmet and drew a deep breath.

  “They’re coming,” Haoun warned.

  “Stand down,” Raena repeated. She opened the crate with Mellix and the kiisas. “Wake up, Sleeping Beauty,” she told him, helping him to sit up.

  “Where … ?”

  “You’re on the Veracity,” she said. “We’re in trouble again. The air force is on its way to accuse us of attacking Capital City.”

  Mellix rubbed his face with his paws. He looked faintly ridiculous in his pale blue pajamas, but Raena didn’t point that out. After an enormous yawn, he asked, “I assume you have video of what really happened?”

  “Haoun?” she said into the air.

  “Yes,” he answered over the comm. “I haven’t played it back yet, but the cameras did record something.”

  “Good,” Mellix said. “Can you put me through to Station Security?”

  Raena guided him to stand in front of a screen. As Haoun made the connection, Raena leaned back against the wall beside Mellix: out of view, she hoped. He nodded like he understood her. She guessed he must be well used to dealing with shadowy figures.

  “Mellix!”

  “Good to see you, Commander,” Mellix answered.

  “What happened? There was an explosion in your apartment.”

  “We’re sending over the video now,” he said. As Haoun complied, Mellix watched it for the first time himself. “As you can see, a team of assassins attacked my apartment. Luckily, I was prepared for them. I’m now aboard the ship you arranged to remove my things from Capital City. We are in the process of collecting my possessions.”

  “Were,” Haoun corrected over the comm. “We’re surrounded by fighters now.”

  “Commander?” Mellix asked.

  One of the kiisas bounced over, leaping up into Mellix’s arms. Raena fought not to laugh. He stroked it calmly, completely at ease as he stared at the screen.

  “You’re safe?” the station commander asked.

  “Yes. Now I’d like to collect the rest of my things and get out of your way.”

  “I’d like nothing more,” the commander assured. “However, we have the movers who packed your things in custody.”

  “Whatever
for?”

  “They are being charged with planting the bomb that destroyed your apartment and damaged Capital City.”

  “You can see that they were not responsible,” Mellix argued.

  “We’re investigating …”

  Mellix’s good-natured voice turned steely. “Of course, they will be released, all charges dropped, and escorted to the elevator for the next available window out. Or, you understand, everyone will see that they were not responsible for the damage to Capital City and there will be accusations that Station Security is not adequate to its task, in addition to allegations of a cover-up.”

  Raena was impressed by how easily the threat left Mellix’s lips. She’d seen the companies and governments he’d faced down in the past, but now she could reconcile the amiable squirrel with the fiery journalist.

  “I will confer with Elevator Security and Flight Control and find out what your window at the elevator will be.”

  “Thank you, Commander. In the meantime, can we continue to retrieve my possessions before they all float away into space?”

  “Go ahead,” the commander said. “Just be cautious flying so close to the station.”

  After the connection was severed, Haoun huffed, “Cautious? I was born cautious.”

  Raena laughed at him. But before Mellix could turn away, she said, “Thank you for keeping me out of trouble.”

  Mellix swept forward and pulled her into a hug. “Thank you for saving my life. Goodness. I can’t believe anyone would send so many soldiers against me.”

  One of the kiisas launched itself at Raena. She caught it, fumbling just a little. It was buzzing as it snuggled up against her.

  “Just doing my job,” she assured. “Can you collect up the kiisas and clear the hold? I’ll go out and gather up the rest of your boxes so we can go rescue my crew.”

  Raena didn’t mean to fall asleep, but after she’d stowed away all of Mellix’s crates, she made the mistake of sitting down in the lounge. Apparently, that was all it took.

  She was a teenager, not yet fifteen. She was traveling with Ariel and her father on a sales call to Nyx. The girls spent the day shopping, Ariel’s favorite pastime, looking for jet bike helmets in a mall near the city center. Ariel wanted a night-vision helmet, but it had to be stylish without being silly. That was proving to be a tall order.

  Dissatisfied, they had returned to the street, headed to retrieve their rented jet bikes. Without warning, the sky platform overhead exploded. Bodies and debris rained down.

  Raena dodged right as large pieces of the platform crashed onto the mall behind them. The skyscraper collapsed, spilling shattered masonry into the street. In the dusty chaos that followed, Ariel got separated from Raena.

  From her hiding place, Raena watched Ariel mount up on the surviving jet bike. Ariel raced off without a look behind. Her father had been supposed to be on that platform, meeting with city fathers and an Imperial delegation. Ariel must be confirming that he had escaped the destruction.

  Raena’s first thought was relief that Ariel was safe. She started to jog after her mistress, then halted abruptly. She’d been left behind, abandoned like a broken toy. Ariel didn’t know if she was alive or dead, but her priority had been her father, not her slave.

  On Nyx, slavery had been outlawed. In order for Ariel’s dad to bring Raena along to guard Ariel, he’d had to register Raena as a bodyguard instead of a possession. He’d taken off her collar. If she stayed here, no one owned her. No one could. She could only be hired, not purchased.

  Free.

  She’d be able to choose her own work. All she needed to do was to hide until the Shaad family returned to Callixtos without her.

  The realization was so overwhelming that Raena felt lightheaded. Oblivious to the screaming and chaos around her, she sank down on a broken hunk of skyscraper to absorb her good fortune and decide how to celebrate.

  A bearded old man appeared, climbing over the broken building down the street. He called her name.

  Raena froze where she sat, certain that if she moved, he would see her. She stared hard at him, trying to figure out who he was, but nothing about him—from his tangled white beard to his spotted bald head—looked the least bit familiar.

  As if he felt her gaze on him, his face swiveled her way. Raena watched his eyes lock onto her. A smile split his face. He looked like Death to her.

  She raised her left hand to wave at him.

  When he waved back, she shot him in the chest and knocked him back off the pile of rubble.

  Raena opened her eyes, rubbing at the headache lodged over her right temple. Enough with the shooting Gavin dead, already. Now that she was awake, she knew that was who the old man in the dream had represented.

  Enough dreams. Enough death. She had more pressing concerns now. She pushed herself up off the banquette and crossed to the comm. “What’s the status, Haoun?”

  “We’re docked at the elevator, waiting for the crew to come up. There will be a slight delay before we can take off. Apparently some lunkhead confiscated Mykah’s groceries, so they’re having to find us replacements.”

  “Thanks to Mellix,” Raena guessed.

  “Exactly.”

  She smiled, then changed the subject. “I didn’t get any chance to enjoy the view earlier, when I was working outside. Do I have time to go out for a little walk?”

  “Don’t see why not. I’ll let you know when it’s time to go.”

  Raena retrieved her new spacesuit from her cabin and climbed back into it. She eased the gloves on as she walked to the airlock.

  It had been a while since she’d felt the need to get out for a spacewalk. Now, with Mellix aboard, the Veracity felt claustrophobic. She had to get out.

  Not that the journalist had been the least bit unfriendly. If anything, he’d been too friendly. The last thing Raena wanted was to be friends with anyone who asked questions for a living.

  She knew she could lie persuasively. She’d spent a great deal of her life doing just that: protecting her mother, placating Ariel’s father, pleasing Thallian. It was exhausting, all that lying.

  She stepped into the airlock and closed the hatch behind her, waiting for the air to vent back into the ship before she opened the outer hatch. This hatch faced away from the station, out into space. The stars overhead twinkled in the blackness, their lights disrupted by the Veracity’s energy shields.

  It was so lovely out here. She masked the hiss of her breathing, then cancelled out the beating of her heart. Blessed silence enfolded her.

  Raena closed the outer hatch and moved away from it. Her magnetic boots connected solidly to the Veracity’s hull so that her hands could drift free. She felt tension evaporating from her. Too bad she couldn’t just stay out here in the quiet all the time.

  She sat on the hull and clipped herself down with a second tether. The stars drew her gaze.

  When she and Ariel were teenagers, they used to play a game with Ariel’s friends that they called Kill by Numbers. It was kind of like tag, but played in the target range. Everyone chose weapons from Ariel’s father’s shop, locked them on stun, then entered the range. The computer assigned each player a number—and a numbered player they were supposed to “kill.” Every time someone was eliminated from play, the numbers scrambled and you got a new target. When you played the game, alliances were temporary. Truces were fleeting. The only way to end the game was to be the last person standing.

  Once the game had come down to Ariel and Raena, the last two players left. Ariel tried to boss the computer, order it to end the game and let them out. Instead, the computer mobilized drones to come after them.

  Ariel fired until she’d drained her gun, but there were too many drones for her to take them all down. Worst of all, the drone shots stung. Ariel was crying in anger and frustration as much as in pain when Raena turned her own gun on herself. Unfortunately, the computer didn’t accept that. You couldn’t win by giving up.

  In the end, she’d crawled over and
shot Ariel point-blank.

  Afterward, Ariel told her not to worry about it, that it was only a game, but Raena never played again. She knew that, when it came down to it, there were always only two choices: suicide or murder.

  These dreams with Gavin reminded her of Kill By Numbers. No matter when he turned up or what he looked like, she had his number. He had to die.

  She sat for a moment longer, wondering whom she had to kill to make the nightmares stop. Killing Gavin over and over in her dreams hadn’t given her any peace.

  No answer presented itself. All right then, she told herself, back to work. She pulled Coni’s handheld from the thigh pocket of her spacesuit and began scanning the hull. For all she knew, Mellix’s assassins had had the presence of mind to bug the Veracity when they saw it come to the rescue. She wanted to be certain that no one would follow, wherever the Veracity headed next.

  The others were in high spirits when she came in from her walk. They were so giddy that she wondered if they’d ever been arrested before. The volume and excitement were enough to make her really feel the difference between her age and theirs.

  She cautioned them to check everything they brought on board for tracking devices: “To make sure no one is following Mellix,” she said. That was enough to make them eager and cautious.

  While they were busy, she slipped away to her cabin.

  Some time later, Mykah tapped on her door. Raena looked up from the computer, where she had been trying to sort out her memories. She knew she couldn’t have shot Gavin on Nyx—that just didn’t make sense—but the dream seemed as certain as any of her memories now.

  Grimacing, she forced herself to stand up, stroke her hair up into its staticky splendor, and answer the door.

  “We’re getting everything unpacked and put away, but I thought you would want this sooner rather than later.” Mykah handed her the small glass carafe of sleep drops.

  Raena felt lightheaded from relief. “What do I owe you?”

  “I paid for it out of the fund for ship stores. You’re covered.”

  “Thank you. Really. Thank you. Do you need me for anything now?” She cradled the flask delicately in her hands. “I might just take a nap.”