by E J Frost
under the nail of her middle finger
thoughtfully. “Not out of the question.
Nothing is out of the question with Kison. He
has no boundaries. Keep that in mind before
you decide to play on his chessboard. But
like killing her, maiming her would be a
waste of resources.” She flicks at the tip of
her nail with my knife. “And it would be
over too quickly.”
I ignore that. She’s as much of a sadist as
her boss. “So what’s behind door number
two?”
“Oh, I expect he’ll make Kezzy work for
him. He does that with people who impress
him. Or enrage him. What’s the old saying,
‘keep your friends close, but keep your
enemies—”
“Closer,” I finish for her. “If she works
for him, he can torture her to his heart’s
content.”
“She won’t enjoy working for him, that’s
for certain.” She keeps her expression flat,
and it’s the dead-face that gives her away.
She doesn’t enjoy working for Tyng
anymore. But he won’t let her go. Maybe
that’s why she was hiding in Zhonnys.
I open a packet of yokan while I
contemplate this. Chew the first cube and
enjoy the sweet green tea flavor. “Anything
more important to him than revenge?”
Erin smiles viciously. “You can’t save
her.”
“That’s not an answer. You reneging on
our deal?”
She looks up at the ceiling thoughtfully.
“Mmm, maybe I want to renegotiate.”
“Waste my time and you’re walkin’ the
rest of the way.”
“Oh, okay then.” She rolls her eyes.
“Yes, there are probably some things more
important to him than revenge. The lives of
his other children and grandchildren, maybe.
But you’d be a fool to threaten him. He’s
relentless. He might back off for a time, let
you think you’ve gotten away, but he’ll never
stop. He never stops. He’ll find another way
to get to her. You can’t save her.”
Said like someone who has tried to get
away from Tyng, and failed.
“Relentless only works if you got time.” I
pop another cube of yokan. “Way I hear it,
he’s dyin’. And if Chiara’s his youngest, he’s
no spring chicken anyway. How much time’s
he got left?”
She taps the flat of my blade against her
lower lip. “The Little Princess talks too
much.”
I shrug. “Answer the question.”
“He’s never told me. He doesn’t talk
about his condition.”
“Best guess.”
“I honestly don’t know. I’ve heard
rumors. A few months. Maybe a year. Maybe
twenty if they find a cure.”
“What’s he got?”
“I told you, he doesn’t talk about his
condition. I’ve heard it’s genetic. He’s G2,
so maybe it’s L.T.R.E. I don’t know. I’m not
a medtech.”
L.T.R.E. Long-term radiation effects.
Common on planets settled in the last
century, when dirty reactors powered the
terraforming plants. The first generation after
settlement died young from exotic cancers.
The second generation died young from
chromosomal aberrations. The third
generation’s got a mutation or two, but
they’re mostly clean. Kez is fourth generation
at least. If Tyng’s second gen, he’s much
older than I guessed, and his disease could
easily be something I’ve never heard of.
There’s not much point in treating L.T.R.E.
in G2s, or even studying the various
syndromes. Like G1s, G2s are going to die of
something, sooner rather than later. That
Tyng has lived this long says something for
his constitution, and his financial resources.
“How long’s he been sick?”
“Since I’ve known him.” She shrugs.
“But he’s worse recently.”
If Tyng recruited her straight out of the
Academy and she’s a few years older than
Kez, that’s a decade at least. Long time to
suffer from L.T.R.E. I pop the last cube of
yokan, crumple the packet so it dissolves in a
puff of moisture, and tear open the next one.
“How recently?”
“A few weeks. Maybe a month. His son
died, I’m sure you heard. That will take a
toll on any man.”
Sokun Tyng died doing something
mysterious in the tunnels of Kuus. Where Kez
and I recovered a crate full of adrenal glands
that went to Tyng’s lieutenant. “Yeah, but
was he worse before or after his boy was
killed?”
“Who says Sokun was killed?” she asks
archly.
“Sounded like I said it. Answer the
question.”
“Before.” She picks the nail of her pinkie
finger with my knife. “I don’t think I want to
play this game anymore, Manny. It’s boring.”
‘Cause she’s given away more than she
wants to. “We’re done when I say we’re
done.”
She flicks the knife at me. Aiming for the
padding between my knees. I gauge her
throw. Just before the blade sinks into the
cushion, I pluck it out of the air. Roll it over
my fingers until the tip is pointed at her.
“Wanna try that again?”
“I have blades of my own.”
“Are you any better with ‘em?”
“Should we find out?”
I nod. “In a minute. One last question.”
“In the public toilet at the dock, while I
was waiting for you and Kez.”
She has a sense of humor. Drier and
edgier than Kez’s, but it’s there. She could
even be likable, if she wasn’t such a bitch.
“I’m not interested in where you took your
last dump. I want to know if Kez is right.
Why’d Tyng send you after Kimpler?”
“Does there need to be a reason?” She
smiles, and that smile is pure psychopath.
Something in me responds to that smile. But
it’s a left-over piece. From before Marin.
Before Kez. That left-over piece is dying,
and the rest of me’s turned off. “He gave me
instructions. There doesn’t have to be a
why.”
“Yeah, but is there?”
“Maybe. Kison takes loyalty very
seriously. If Stou betrayed him in some way,
even a small way, that would be enough. I’ve
heard—” She lifts her shoulder. “It doesn’t
really matter what I’ve heard. Kison wants
him dead, so I’ll make him dead. The
reasons don’t matter.”
“Maybe not to you.” I finish the last of the
yokan. Tuck the shiv back into my wrist
sheath. “Bet they do to him. What’ve you
heard?”
“I heard that Stou double-crossed the
Kuus Pack. I don’t know how, and I don’t
care. That’s all I’ve heard.” Erin waves her
hand languidly. The gesture looks strange on
her. Affected. It’s not something Kez would
do. It’s something Erin’s picked up from
someone else. Someone she admires. Tyng
would be my guess.
I rise slowly, keeping an eye on her in
case she tries a parting shot. She fidgets
again. Really doesn’t like being watched.
And something hits me. Something I
wouldn’t have understood without knowing
Kez. Erin has never felt safe. Not ever. Kez
doesn’t bat an eye when I watch her. If
anything, she grows more relaxed. Because
she feels safe. Erin’s never known any kind
of safety, and her defenses are cranked up so
high that she goes on hyper-alert when she’s
even in the presence of another predator.
I almost pity her for a moment.
The vicious smile she gives me as I move
towards the door kills that sensation before it
has time to take root. “I’ve enjoyed our little
chat, Manny.”
I chuckle. “No, you haven’t. Neither have
I. But we both got somethin’ out of it. Enjoy
my ship.”
“Enjoy my sister. While you can.”
“Yeah.” I pause for a moment, lean
against the metal doorframe. “I wouldn’t bet
on Tyng, if I were you. Take my ship and
leave Kuseros in your wake. When I bring
Tyng down, his empire’s gonna collapse.
Lotta people’ll be lookin’ for payback. I
wouldn’t be around then, if I were you.”
The vicious smile dies and she stares
hard at me. “Are you testing me? I’ll tell
Tyng the first opportunity I get.”
“Ain’t a test.” She lives in a weird,
fucked-up little world if she thinks Tyng sent
me to test her. “I’m tellin’ you ’cause you
started off as Kez’s sister. She hates what
you’ve become, but it wouldn’t bother her if
she didn’t still care. You dyin’ in the middle
of all this will just fuck her up.”
“So it’s really all about Kez.” She shifts,
not fidgeting this time, but turning her body
away from me. Rejecting what I’ve said, and
the motives behind it.
“You ever think it wasn’t? I can walk
away any time. Only thing keepin’ me here is
Kez.”
“She’s not yours,” Erin says, and there’s
a lot of bitterness in those few words. The
bitterness of someone who has never been
everything to anyone. I recognize that
bitterness because I’ve felt it, too. “She
never has been. She’s his.”
“We’ll see. Not long to Golden Sands
now. Buckle up.” I nod at the flight webbing,
which she’s unwisely removed and left slack
in the cradle. If Kez decides to practice her
inversions, it won’t just be Erin’s lunch that
ends up on the ceiling.
Kez twists in her chair as I stroll back
onto the flight deck. Her eyes are so wide, I
can see the whites all the way around the rim
of blue. “You have a plan, right?”
I lift an eyebrow at her. “Don’t I
always?”
“For how to get your ship back – you
have a plan? You’re not really going to give
it to her!”
I squat beside her chair. Take out the
packets of yokan, open one and offer her a
cube. Her jaw firms and her mouth
compresses into a narrow pink line.
Stubborn kitten. “Say ahh.”
“Ahh-fuck! You’re not giving her your
ship!”
I turn the cube around in my fingers and
regard it seriously. “I don’t think she’s gonna
eat you,” I tell it, before popping the cube in
my mouth and chewing contentedly.
Kez looks like she’s about to spit fire.
I hold up my hand. “First, don’t think I
missed the fact you were eavesdroppin’.”
Her expression grows ever more mutinous. If
she really was a kitten, all of her fur would
be standing on end by now and the claws
would be out. “Second, I brought you yokan
so you could eat while I talked. But if you’re
gonna mouth off at me, I’ll eat it all myself.”
She opens her mouth. I place a cube of
yokan on that pink kitten tongue, without
letting my fingers stray too near her teeth.
She might decide to snap. I love how fierce
she gets when she’s pissed. “Better,” I tell
her, when my hand escapes injury. “I don’t
give a fuck about the ship. Plenty other ships
to be had. Might even buy one together, you
an’ me.”
That has the intended effect. The anger
drains out of her like I’ve opened a stopcock.
Everything softens. Her pupils dilate. She
glances at the front viewer again instead of
keeping her eyes locked on me. When she
looks at me again, I’m holding another cube
of yokan and she accepts it readily.
“It was worth it,” I tell her. And it was.
Kez wants me to find a way out of this
without killing Tyng. I might have to do that,
despite my preference for ending it bloodily.
Erin’s given me a couple of pieces to move
on Tyng’s chessboard. A few more, and I
might be able to check-mate the old bastard.
“Whatever Tyng’s got, he doesn’t have very
long. That alone’s worth the ship.” I offer her
another piece of yokan. She leans toward me
to take it. Lingers close enough for me to
smell the sweet soap scent of her hair. I
stroke her cheek with my hand. Let my
fingertips trail over the soft skin of her neck.
She leans into my touch. “Kimpler’s gettin’
his ticket punched ‘cause he had some part in
Tyng Junior’s death. Junior died in Kuus,
playin’ with the rats. Your sister says
Kimpler double-crossed the rats somehow,
and I’m bettin’ it was over a box of glands.
Either the one we got outta there, or a
previous shipment. Put that together with
Tyng’s illness, and we’ve got ourselves the
beginnings of a theory.”
“Tyng needs the glands for himself? What
does he have?”
I shrug. “No idea.” And I don’t give a
shit. What I care about is that, finally, I’ve
got some leverage. “He needs them. Doesn’t
matter what for. We got them for him. So if
he needs more, he might be willing to
bargain.”
She shakes her head against my hand.
“That’s not worth your ship.”
I feed her the last cube of yokan.
Straighten and pop my knees. Kiss her fuzzy
head before sinking into my chair. “No?
Should I go back in there and tell her the
deal’s off?”
Kez grumbles and fusses with the flight
controls. “Why? Do you want another chance
to check out her boobs?
”
I chuckle to myself. Jealous kitten. “You
saw that, huh? Notice anything else?”
Kez shrugs one shoulder. “I noticed
they’re not real.”
“Yeah, I noticed that, too.” I spend a
moment checking her course. Let it sink in
that I wasn’t impressed by her sister’s
cleavage. “There’s a better approach to
Golden Sands.” I plot it for her. “You can
ride the thermals rising off the desert almost
all the way in. See? Saves fuel.”
She scans the course avidly. Nods. “Got
it. Does that always work over a desert? Did
you do that going into New Brunny?”
“No. Tell me why.”
She thinks about it for a moment, her
brow furrowed. Eyes flicking over the
navigational display. Then she grins. Her
full, mischievous grin that’s more of a turn-
on than her sister’s bare tits. “It was night.”
That’s my smart kitten. “That’s right. By
midnight, desert’s cooled off. You’ll get a
little lift comin’ over a desert at night, but
nothin’ like right now. See how to go in?”
When she nods, I ask, “Notice anythin’
else?”
“About flying over the desert? There’s a
lot of dust. I had to switch to infrared.”
“Durin’ my conversation with your
sister.” Now that she’s thinking logically
again, she might be able to focus on
something other than her sister’s tits.
“Oh. Well, she wasn’t lying. At least not
that I could tell. Maybe she’s gotten better at
it since we were kids.”
“She lie a lot when you were kids?”
Kez shakes her head. “She’d rather cut
you to pieces with the truth.”
“Yeah, that hasn’t changed.” Her constant
reminders of Tyng’s plans for Kez had some
sharp fucking edges. “Anythin’ else?”
Kez scratches her dreads. “I’m not sure.
Maybe.”
“C’mon. Out with it.”
“Well, she doesn’t seem all that crazy
about working for Tyng anymore.”
Kez’s peopleometer is still in fine
working order. “Uh-huh. Seems like she
might be lookin’ for a way out.”
Kez stares fixedly out the viewer at the
desert. “She doesn’t deserve one. I know
what you’re thinking.”
I bet she doesn’t. Has nothing to do with
her sister and everything to do with how
much I’m gonna enjoy teaching her to fly in
space. Whole different set of rules. And then
there’s the whole humping-in-zero-gee thing.
That’s really something to look forward to.