Monkey's Luck

  while I drew rations. Hoping the invite would hold, I wriggled into an empty bench space at a

  table beside the trio.

  Del and her partner gave me a pair of sour nods but Awen’s full-throttle grin balanced them

  out. “Thanks for the help last night,” I told her and lifted my coffee cup in salute.

  “Yeah, well, I’m done, I am.” Paris, the dark door dragon, started to rise.

  “Sit, girl.” Del plunked Paris down one-handed, never taking her eyes off me. “Awen says our

  Aryan here is a new sister. So new she don’t know nothin’ ‘bout Impression or the Touch, or

  even her own warrior.”

  A sidelong glance showed me one of the other sisters shuffling through her pockets. That one

  settled, arms folded across her chest. If she didn’t have a blade clenched in one fist now, then I

  was a virgin.

  Del noticed me noticing. The knowledge didn’t worry her. “And maybe she don’t know what

  her name means, neither. Or maybe the Aryans have just improved their interrogation tactics,”

  she said. “Maybe Sergeant Vahrheitshit here has a real decent reason for keeping the Colonel’s

  boys away from that Lupan.” She lifted her chin enough to give me a chance to answer.

  “Yeah, maybe I have. And maybe I need to know just what in all the hells is going on here

  before I share it, too.”

  “Shit, we’re just mech corps, Sergeant,” Del said. “Don’t nobody tell us nothing. If they told

  us, we would know.”

  “Yah. And take our loaders and run, we would,” Paris added.

  “Never heard of a sister squad running from a fight.” I sipped coffee, keeping one eye on the

  knife-hiding sister. “Or is it that you all are already thinking of running?”

  “Told ya she’s the Colonel’s stooge, I did!” Paris leaned forward enough for me to catch the

  glint of steel beneath one arm. Hells. Two knives to watch for.

  “A stooge wouldn’t risk pissing the Colonel off.” Del lifted her own cup, studied me over its

  rim. “I heard he was foaming at the mouth after their little interview yesterday. I talked to your

  cousin at the stockade, too, Paris. He says she brought the Lupan a batch of sausage rollups.” She

  sipped, still studying. “Colonel’s people wouldn’t bother feeding a Lupan.” She finished the

  coffee and slapped the cup down. “Question I got is why she risked bunking down with the

  Colonel’s personal targets.”

  Oh, shit. I should’ve put it together last night. No wonder they were so hostile. The whole

  damned squad must be suffering from that incident with Tanner. Leave it to me to walk out of a

  firefight onto an artillery range. “Awen told me what happened to Tanner. She didn’t tell me the

  whole squad was under suspicion.”

  “We figured the Colonel already briefed you,” Del said.

  “He didn’t. He wanted to put me into other quarters.” That got me nothing but a three-way

  death stare. “So, you want to tell me why Kriegsman’s got it in for you?”

  “No.” Del’s expression stayed flat as her voice.

  Gobbing hells, just what kind of extra trouble had I got into? I thought about it, decided I had

  nothing to lose by sharing the basic truth. Del, at least, had probably already heard most of it.

  “Look, Lupans ambushed our freighter. They left Romeo – my Lupan – behind. I don’t know

  why. All I know is he’s the most decent man I ever met. He had plenty of chances to kill me and

  he didn’t. He could’ve spaced me, but he didn’t. He could’ve ripped me up like they say the

  Dogs did at Marg Sang but he didn’t.”

  “Odd phrase to use about Marg Sang,” Del murmured. “Never heard no Aryan use ‘they say’

  about it.”

  “Yeah, well, Romeo says they didn’t. Besides, I was on the clean-up crew. I’ve seen plenty of

  Lupan talon work in this war. Wasn’t talons ripped those women up.”

  Del shot an inquiring glance at her darker sister. The two traded a half-nod of agreement. It

  was Paris who spoke next, her eyes gone cold as the steel she clenched. Her voice dropped to a

  near whisper. “Might as well tell her, we might. Marg –”

  Del snapped fingers beneath one arm and Paris slurped coffee until a pair of grunts ambled

  past. “Lupans didn’t do that to us, they didn’t,” she said once the grunts were out of earshot.

  “Marg Sang was Kriegsman’s doing, it was. Him and his squad of scum.”

  “What squad? I thought –” I cut that sentence off quick. I thought I’d got them all. I had. Only

  Kriegsman’s kind would always find new recruits. “So how? Tell me.”

  “Whole thing started out as an officer’s party. Marg Sang was in a forward position so It was

  one of those off screen, bad boy things Kriegsman put on to impress some visiting brass asses.

  Only some of the brass asses got rough. And the girls weren’t willing to take it, they weren’t.”

  Paris dropped her gaze to her cup, remembering. “Things got out of hand. Those of us who

  caught on fast enough got the hell out of there, we did. The ones who didn’t…” She shook her

  head. “Didn’t know till afterward those bastards had killed the sisters who stayed. Wouldn’t have

  run if I’d thought the girls were in that kind of danger, I wouldn’t.”

  Del swung around to speak over her shoulder. “There’d been plenty of Lupan activity in the

  area. So Kriegsman… made the bodies look like Lupans had torn them up.” She locked in on me

  again, her eyes still steely. “Me and some of the other sisters tried to bring charges against

  Kriegsman. Only we found out too late the commanding officer we had to report to was one of

  the party goers.”

  “That’s why we’re here. Kriegsman asked for our squad specially, he did.” Paris snorted. “So

  the bastard could kill off the witnesses without raising questions, he could.”

  “That why he killed Tanner?”

  “Yeah. She was one of us.” Del jerked her head toward her sister dragon. “Only Paris and

  Awen and me left to witness now.”

  “Not for long, either, for us.” Paris chortled without humor. “Colonel’s moving launch up to

  zero six hundred, he is.” She caught Del’s eye. “Got fueling orders, I did.”

  Shit. My do or die time schedule just moved up a few notches. I chewed my lip for a moment,

  trying to think through the fear-thrill. There wasn’t anything I could do against Kriegsman

  directly. But these sisters controlled launch support. Without them, he couldn’t get his ships off

  world. I said a prayer and risked putting my hand on top of Del’s. “Look, if I can prove

  Kriegsman was behind Marg Sang, will you help me stop the launch?”

  “Oh, gob that shit!” Del shook my hand off and started to rise. “Gobbin’ trapper –”

  I yanked her back down, while trying to keep an arm between a possible knife and my ribs.

  “I’m nobody’s stooge,” I hissed. “You know this mission’s secret squirrel. Do you know the

  target is Den Lupus?”

  “Lyin’ Aryan. Tryin’ to cop us to treason, she is.” Paris looked like she was only stretching,

  but her knife thunked into my sleeve.

  Great. Now I was pinned, leaving my ribs wide open. From the corner of my eye I saw the

  second knife-wielding sister shift a bit closer to me. “Dammit, if Kriegsman was behind me, do

  you think I’d be tryin’ to trap you now? He can’t get this mission off the ground without your

&
nbsp; equipment and he knows it.” I looked from one woman to another, trying to let them see my

  desperation without announcing it to every other grunt in the area. “Think what’s going to

  happen, Del! You’re a sister, you got a Lupan man of your own –”

  “Had.”

  “Okay, had. But Lupans are tight on family. Your husband must’ve had clan on Den Lupus.

  Think what’ll happen to them.”

  “My kids, Del. They’re on Den Lupus.” That was Awen speaking. Still soft-voiced, but there

  was a shiver of fear in it.

  “Yeah, we all have.” Del looked thoughtful for a moment. Then her expression hardened.

  “And we sure as hells won’t ever see ‘em again if we let this bitch subvert us.”

  She rose, jerking Paris’ knife out in one easy motion. “Oh, by the way – Comm goes on

  lockdown an hour before a launch. She glanced at the chron embedded in her wrist. Gives you

  about ninety minims. Just in case you want to try cheatin’ somebody else before hand.”

  With that, she stepped over the bench and stalked off. The other women followed. Only Awen

  glanced back at me.

  I gave them a couple minims’ lead time before I left so any of Kriegsman’s watchers wouldn’t

  associate us. Without the sisterhood, there was no way I could stop the launch. And I didn’t have

  time to try thinking up anything fancy. All I could do was try to get back aboard that freighter

  and pray I could get Romeo out before Kriegsman shot us down.

  Once outside the mess hall my heart tried to point me toward the stockade. But Romeo

  couldn’t get me on that freighter. I couldn’t risk it on my own, either, not with my pair of pet

  polar bears lounging across the street, watching me. I headed for the sick bay instead.

  Chapter 10

  The hospital duty officer let me pass without challenge. To my surprise, Roy was in his bed. I’d

  expected him to be up and holding court. Instead, he was curled into a ball, clutching a pillow to

  his stomach.

  I dropped down on the next bed. “What happened – your love interest get rough on you?”

  Had to give Roy credit. He still clung to the slave act. “Oh, Ma’am, please don’t be angry.

  You know I couldn’t help it.” He uncurled enough to rest his cheek on one hand. His eyes were

  dark with pain. Behind the cover of his hand he mouthed ‘gob off!’

  “Don’t lie to me!” Rising, I turned him over and checked his torso. He had no bruises

  anywhere, nor any of the muscle knots that things like rubber hoses leave. Something was wrong

  with him, that was sure. I wasn’t poking, but even the brush of my fingertips earned a sharp

  intake of breath. If I’d been a real Aryan I would’ve used the pain he was in to encourage some

  answers. Instead I wound up almost feeling sorry for the little bastard. Almost. “All right, so

  maybe you’re not lying. Must be something you ate, then.”

  “Yes’m.”

  Holding him down with a palm I leaned down as if I was checking his neck. The move let me

  bring my lips to his ear. “Look,” I whispered. “Yesterday you said Sasaki sent out a pair of

  messages. Well, they didn’t go out. I saw them. They’re still in ShipMind’s message queue.”

  His eyes went horrified. “You mean you didn’t finish sending them?”

  “Why would I? I couldn’t even read them.”

  “Oh, my gods! You’ve ruined everything! We have to get back aboard! Now!”

  I yanked him upright hard enough to make him yip. I made a point of muttering about

  property damage for the sake of Kriegsman’s listeners before I peered into his ear. “What the

  hells you think I’m trying to tell you, fool? I’m going to use them to get Romeo on board. If you

  want to tag along, you’re going to have to get your orderly bud to take you there. Now.”

  “Won’t work.”

  “Then you stay.”

  I started to drop him, but he clung to my arm. For a lady boy, he had a grip Romeo would’ve

  respected. “No. Take me over as a prisoner.”

  “Say what? I already told –”

  “So? You’re Aryan. Everyone knows you’d turn your mother in if it’d get you promoted. Just

  tell ‘em you got suspicious.”

  I shifted my fake inspection to his other ear. “Yeah, about what?”

  “Oh, for…” I could almost see the little bastard roll his eyes. “Tell them you think I was in

  collusion with Romeo. If you can get him in there, then you can unlock and decode them. That

  ought to make Kriegsman happy with you.”

  “Yeah, right.” Personally, I figured Kriegsman would probably shoot us both. On the other

  hand, I was fresh out of ideas and time both. I yanked him to his feet, ignoring his yelp. “That’s

  enough, slave,” I snarled to the cams. “You’re under arrest!”

  Chapter 11

  Roy took to his prisoner role with a true Sprite’s enthusiasm. Little choom looked so scared that

  by the time we made it to the motor pool to draw a skimmer he had me feeling like a Grade A

  scuzz for prodding him along. He gave the grunt in charge of the transit pool such a pitiful dose

  of his baby browns I swore I saw the woman reach for her sidearm. I pretended not to notice -

  but I made sure I put the skimmer between that grunt and my back while I manhandled Roy into

  the passenger’s seat.

  Peering up at me pitifully he grabbed my hands, pulling me down to ear level. “Tie me to the

  door!” he hissed.

  “What?” I was so startled I banged my head on the top of the door frame.

  Roy held on, pretending to sob. “An interrogator would tie me to the door. They’ll expect it.

  Use this! I lifted it last night.” He shoved a roll of wire into my hand. I refused to let myself

  imagine where he’d stashed it in the interim.

  The idea he’d been thinking ahead along these lines made me angry and the anger made me

  rougher in tying him up than I would’ve been otherwise. I caught the mix of hate and contempt

  in the grunt’s expression as I rounded the skimmer to slide into the master’s seat. I answered her

  with a pure Aryan glare. She found someplace else to look real quick.

  Roy put on another fine show when we got to the landing field. No question, either, that

  Kriegsman’s boys had been working the freighter over. The ship’s hatch was open and the ramp

  down. I manhandled Roy up the ramp. He whimpered pathetically enough that the guards on the

  ramp never questioned that I had evil intentions. Inside the hatch it was another question.

  We ran straight into the scowl of a bull-necked woman wearing the grubby coveralls and

  sleeve chevrons of a master mechanic. “Auth,” was all she said.

  On cue, Roy went into his “Noooo, not this! Please..” act. I whacked him across the back of

  the head with the flat of my palm hard enough to stagger him. “This prisoner is my auth,” I

  snarled. “He’s got intel stored in this ship. I’m getting it out.” I shoved Roy into the mechanic.

  She belched. He bounced.

  I caught Roy before the rebound sent him tumbling down the ramp. “Listen, you –”

  “Auth,” the mechanic pulled a portable sync link out of a pocket. “Sync or chit, I don’t care, I

  don’t.”

  This time I shoved my chin up to hers. “This prisoner has intel. That intel is stashed in this

  ship. My job is to get it.” I shoved past her, dragging Roy with me. “You want to argue, take it

  up with the C
olonel.”

  My heart didn’t drop out of my throat until the bridge doors closed behind us. “Okay, let’s get

  this tub lifted.” I leaned my back against the sealed doors and panted, visions of Kriegsman and a

  sync link chilling my blood. “I want to have Romeo sprung and us airborne before that mechanic

  reports us.”

  “Oh, yeah? How?”

  The disgust in Roy’s tone popped my eyes open.

  He was right. That mechanic and her crew had done themselves proud here. Every duty

  station was torn out, leaving gaping holes where the sync panels had been. Tiny galaxies of

  glittering neurons winked within the darkness of the holes. The central bulb that was ShipMind’s

  ‘body’ looked like it had been scalped. The bulb’s upper cover had been pried off, leaving the

  main lobes of the ship’s brain exposed. Shit. There went plan B. We definitely weren’t going

  anywhere in this ship now.

  There was sound of a sort, though. I was certain I heard a whisper at a near-subsconscious

  level: ShipMind was moaning.

  “The bastards.” I stumbled forward, amazed as much at my reaction as to the damage itself. I

  hadn’t even liked the old tub, but I’d never have left even a semi-living creature in the kind of

  pain ShipMind must be enduring. The sight of the exposed lobes left me feeling like I was

  looking at the mutilated body of a battle mate.

  The whole place made my neck crawl. I marched across the bridge, found the doors to the

  galley and shoved through. Maybe there’d be something in there I could use somehow. But the

  damage to the galley was just as thorough – more so, if anything, since the grunts doing the

  checking knew they were checking an officer’s private digs. No point in even hunting around. I

  poked my head out the door to tell Roy we were leaving.

  He was in the captain’s chair, hand in the sync. “Hey, I thought you didn’t have access –”

  I caught a bright flicker at the edge of my vision. Comm station location. I twisted fast enough

  to see the second flash within what was left of the comm board.

  “What the hells’d you do? ” I yanked him out of the chair, shook him out of the sync haze.

  “I should think an interrogator of your supposed standing would have figured that out

  already,” Kriegsman’s voice said from the doorway.