by Ashley West
“Something tells me that thinking that might be my downfall.”
Kratos laughed and escorted her from the room.
The room he showed her to was sparse, but serviceable, a bed, a screen on the wall, a closet set into the other wall. There were no windows since it was in an interior hall of the ship, but somehow it managed not to feel closed in. Kratos watched her as she explored the room, she could feel his eyes on her, tracking her movements.
He was unnerving and comforting all at once, and Kirstie couldn’t put her finger on why. It didn’t help that he was so big, and well, good looking. Lightly tanned skin, dark hair and eyes, muscles for days. If she’d seen him on television or a magazine cover or something, she would have been ogling him shamelessly, but this was different. She needed him to save her people, not to look good.
“I don’t understand you,” Kratos said, and she turned to look at him.
“What do you mean?”
“You just...offered yourself as collateral to a bunch of mercenaries you don’t even know. From another planet, for that matter.”
Kirsten frowned. Hadn’t they just talked about that? “This is important,” she said.
“So you keep saying. And believe me, I don’t doubt you. I’ve seen what The Grey can do to their victims, what they reduce them to. So I get that. But why you? There were at least a hundred other people in that building, and you’re the only one who came to make a deal. Did the rest of them pick you or something?”
She bristled at that, unsure of what he was implying. “I didn’t draw the short straw if that’s what you mean. They...don’t even know I’m here.”
To her surprise, Kratos laughed at that. It was a nice laugh, full bodied and deep, and his eyes crinkled up at the corners. She turned away.
“Sorry,” he said once he was done. “Just...you’re something else. I think I’m gonna like working for you.”
That sent a frisson of alarm through her. “What do you mean working for me? Technically you work for all of us, right?” Being in charge of a group of mercenaries was not what she had signed up for.
“You made the deal,” Kratos pointed out, arms folded as he leaned against the wall. His expression was smug and amused, and she kind of wanted to hit him, even though she knew that wouldn’t go over well. “So we work for you. There’s a weird kind of honor in what you did, you know? Being willing to put yourself up as payment. Mercs admire that kind of honor.”
“I didn’t think mercenaries had honor at all,” she shot back, trying to hide her shaking hands behind her back. She hadn’t done this to be the center of attention or the boss or anything like that. She’d just wanted them to help.
To make matters worse, Kratos just laughed again. Bastard.
“Oh, you’ll see how much honor we have soon enough,” he said, pushing off from the wall like he was about to take his leave. “We’ll be working closely together, after all. Gotta keep an eye on the collateral.” He winked and then slipped through the door, leaving Kirsten dealing with a confusing mess of emotions.
Chapter Eight: At Any Cost
“What were you thinking!? No wait, don’t answer that. I already know the answer is you weren’t. I thought something had happened to you. I thought you’d been taken like all the other people who go missing in the middle of the night. You didn’t leave a note or a text or anything, just poof. You’re gone. And for what?”
“So I could get The Kilan to help us!”
“We don’t need their help!”
“Yes, we do! What else are we going to do, Keith? Even the military’s weapons aren’t working against them, and you think we can hold them off with our guns and bats?”
“That’s not… We would have come up with something!”
“Oh, right, sure. You would have gone down in the basement and fiddled around until you made some magical device that could save us, right? That’s how you see this going?”
Kratos looked back and forth between the two siblings as they argued, more entertained than was probably polite. Ever since they had walked back into the building with Kirsten leading the way, she and Keith had been yelling at each other in the middle of the main room, and they had attracted an audience. From what he could tell, it seemed like things were split down the middle. Some people thought Kirsten had done the right thing, and some people thought she was being an idiot.
Keith’s position was pretty clear.
What he didn’t understand was why no one saw how brave what Kirsten had done was. No one else had been coming up with a solution, so she’d stepped in to make one herself. It was foolish and reckless, and it was pretty clear that she hadn’t thought it through, but it had worked. That was the important thing.
The arguing went on, and Kratos leaned back against the wall, arms folded in his customary position.
“How long do you think this is going to go on?” Milara asked as she leaned in beside him. “This isn’t getting anything done.”
He shrugged. “Who knows? I’m sure Kirsten will put her foot down soon enough, and we can get to business.”
Milara snorted. “That’s what you think will happen?”
“Why not? She’s got spunk. You see it too, don’t pretend you don’t. You’re the one who let her on the ship in the first place.”
“Technically that was Leto.”
Kratos snorted in return and shook his head. “Sure, Mil. Whatever you need to tell yourself.”
“Well, they’re here now!” Kirsten was shouting when he turned back in to their argument. “The deal’s done. And they...they work for me.” He watched as she drew herself up to her full height. “So we’re going to listen to what they have to say and let them help us. Because we don’t have any other choice.”
Kratos was impressed. Keith looked cowed, or at the very least like he was out of arguments, and that was good enough. Combo slid in as soon as the shouting stopped, and that effectively kept them from getting started again.
“The young woman is correct,” Combo said. “The deal has been made, so it is in your best interests to let us assist.”
Keith leaned back like he didn’t want to be near Combo, which was a common reaction, but Kirsten stood her ground. “Is there anything you can tell us that will help?” she asked.
Combo looked down at her with those fathomless eyes and then inclined his head. “Yes. If you would like to hear it.”
“We would,” she said firmly.
“See?” Kratos murmured. “Spunk.”
They went into a larger room, one with more space for people who wanted to gather and listen to what Combo had to say. Kratos was surprised at the number of people who had gathered. He hadn’t expected that many to want to hear what aliens had to say, and it was clearly a sign of how desperate they were.
For a moment, he stopped looking at them as a way to make money and saw them for what they were. A race of people who were under attack from an unknown force with no way to defend themselves. He rarely had attacks of conscience, bad things happened to everyone, after all, but somehow it was hard for him to see these people as a pay day. Maybe because of what Kirsten had been willing to do to make it stop.
He looked to her and where she was standing next to Keith, blinking in consideration. He could feel Milara’s eyes on him as he did.
Combo moved to stand at the front of the room, his usual straight backed position commanding silence, even though no one had dared to speak yet. His hands were clasped in front of him, and he gazed around the room silently for a moment before launching into his speech. “What you are, is under attack from The Grey,” he said.
No one moved or spoke for a long moment, and then Kirsten sighed. “You’ve said that name before,” she said. “What does it mean?”
Something that looked like it might be a tiny smile quirked the corner of Combo’s mouth, and Kratos and Milara both stared.
“It’s an epidemic,” she muttered under her breath.
“They are a group of...I suppose
the best word for them is pirates,” Combo replied. “They have a fleet of ships, with weapons consistent with the ones reported being seen over your own skies, and they move throughout the galaxy pillaging and destroying and generally causing more chaos than is ever strictly necessary.”
“But why would they come here?” Kirsten wanted to know. “What do we have that they would want?”
“An interesting question,” Combo said. “Your people have had much trouble with hostile groups of late.”
No one could deny that. Kratos wondered if any of these people had been hurt by the Alva and The Grey.
Kratos watched the faces of the people around them as Combo spoke, talking of how The Grey had spread their chaos through other places in the galaxy. He was eloquent and well-spoken as always, but nothing he said seemed to have any sort of placating effect on the people gathered. If anything, people were getting more and more agitated.
“And how are you going to fix it?” Keith asked, interrupting Combo.
Combo flicked him an annoyed glance. “We will defeat them. Of course. The same way we have defeated countless enemies. By gathering our resources, collecting information on our enemy, and then coming up with a plan to end this once and for all.”
“You make it sound easy,” a woman murmured, and Kratos could tell from the look in her eye that she was someone who had lost much.
Apparently Combo could, too, because his face smoothed back out into the usual blank expression he wore, and he didn’t look at her, sparing her his gaze. “It will not be easy,” he allowed. “But it will be done. We will not dishonor the bravery of young Ms. Kirsten.” He inclined his head in her direction, and she looked surprised.
Sanaal pushed off from his spot on the wall, clearly tired of all the talking and ready to move into the action phase. “First things first, though. We’re gonna keep you safe. Can someone show me your fortifications?”
Keith and his sister exchanged a glance.
“Got a good feeling you’ve already seen them, Sanaal,” Kratos pointed out.
Sanaal made a face. “Fine. Then we’ll talk about adding to them.” He strode out of the room, Milara slipping out to follow. Looking bewildered, Keith and a couple of others went after them.
Combo sighed and retreated, and Kratos saw Kirsten look after him for a moment before she sighed herself and ran fingers through her curls. He stepped closer to her, unable to help himself. “You know, I don’t think I’ve seen Combo smile in years.”
“Did he smile now?” Kirsten asked, looking startled.
Kratos laughed. “A bit. I think he’s intrigued by you.”
“Oh. I...is that good?” she asked, sounding confused.
“It is. The last thing you want is for Combo to think you’re dull. And you know, he’s not the only one who you’ve caught the interest of. You’re compelling for a human.”
She snorted softly and looked away, wrapping her arms around herself. “No, I’m not.”
From her tone of voice, Kratos could tell that she actually did believe her own words. It wasn’t his place to reassure her, so he just shrugged. “Answer me this, then, Ms. Kirsten. Do you know how to fight?”
“You can call me Kirstie,” she said. “The ‘Ms.’ thing is weird. And no, not really. Isn’t that why you’re here?”
Kratos inclined his head, acknowledging all of that. “Never hurts to be prepared. There’s only so much we can do, you know. You might have to defend yourself at some point.” The face she made clearly said she wasn’t thrilled about that, and Kratos smiled. “Tell you what. As part of the deal, I’ll teach you a little bit. Enough that you’ll be able to hold your own.”
“Seriously?” she asked, skeptical. “I’ve seen tanks fail to bring down these things. What can I do against them?”
“The point isn’t to be against them,” Kratos said. “The point is to get yourself out alive. Just think about it, alright?”
She nodded, and he threw her a smile before turning to walk out. It’d be a good idea to get the lay of the land and find out what was going on.
Of course, as soon as he stepped out of the room, Milara was there. She had her arms folded and one eyebrow arched, and was looking up at him with that look that said she knew something you probably didn’t want her to know. Kratos didn’t even want to go there.
“What?” he asked, pushing past her and glancing around.
“I thought you were against preying on people?”
He frowned. “Who am I preying on?”
“The human girl. She’s all starstruck because you’re dashing and what not, and you’re encouraging it.”
“You think I’m dashing?”
“I think you’re touched in the head. And that she doesn’t know how to defend against your attempts at charm.”
Kratos rolled his eyes. “I don’t know what you think I’m going to do, Milara. I’m here to help them, like I agreed to. Keeping her alive is in everyone’s best interest, considering she’s the one we have the deal with, remember?”
“I remember. I was there,” Milara said dryly. “And if they can’t pay up, then we get the girl. Convenient, that.”
“Should I remind you who it was who let her on the ship in the first place?” Kratos asked. “And who agreed to the deal? Because neither of those people were me.”
Milara couldn’t argue, and so they stared at each other, locked in something of a stalemate. At least until Combo came up behind them and sighed heavily, pushing his way through. “You are both bordering on absurdity,” he said. “There is work to be done.”
And, as always, Combo was right.
Milara rolled her eyes and made to go to where they could hear Sanaal’s voice booming as he talked about covering up the windows and making sure there were places to hide. Kratos just stood there for a moment, considering. It always took him a second to get into the swing of things when they had a new job, but then he got caught up in it, ready to work. Milara could think what she wanted about his motives, and no doubt she would, but Kratos was in this for the money. And if Kirstie was easy on the eyes and made things easier, well. That was just a perk of the job, and he wasn’t going to complain about it.
For all the air on Earth was heavy with pollution and smelled like it, Kratos had definitely been to worse planets. It had nothing on the swampy bogs of Hilgaga or the arid desert of Jilar. It was even nicer than the always cold and dark Horu. The day was overcast, and the weather was chilly with a breeze that whipped around him as he stood outside the building, looking around. It smelled like rain under all the smoke and smog, and Kratos was eager to experience it.
One of the best things about being a mercenary was getting to travel around and see things. He'd been to more planets than he could count anymore and seen so many exciting sights. Some people worried about job stability and how hard it would be to make a living if people didn't pay them, but Kratos was always willing to wager that being able to do what he wanted and go to so many different places was worth whatever loss of security he had to endure.
He felt odd without his sword on his back, though, as yet again, their weapons had been left behind on the ship. Showing up with Kirstie and weapons wouldn't have been a great way to kick off this new job, and so he'd listened when Combo had urged him to leave his sword behind.
But knowing that The Grey were out there somewhere and that none of the humans could protect against them, Kratos would have felt better being armed.
"What's your game?"
He turned, not at all surprised to see Keith glaring up at him. Honestly, this human was persistent. Clearly it ran in the family, but he was much less intrigued by Keith's doggedness than he was by Kirstie's.
"I don't know what you mean," Kratos replied, careful to look bored.
"The hell you don't. You show up here with my sister in tow talking about how you want to help, when you just walked out last night after refusing."
Kratos held up a finger. "We didn't refuse, you just couldn't pay."
"And we still can't!"
"Your sister took care of that."
"Yeah, by being an impulsive idiot! This isn't even like her! And if you think I'm going to let you take her when this is said and done, you've got another thing coming. I don't care what kind of deal you made with her, I'm not letting you have her."
He arched an eyebrow, looking down at him. Kratos hadn't foreseen needing to argue about this, but he supposed he should have. If he'd had a little sister and someone wanted to take her away, he'd probably do the same thing. Didn't mean this wasn't annoying, though. "I think that's not up to you," Kratos pointed out. "Your sister made the deal, and we're working for her. Whatever happens at the end of this is between us and her."
"That's what you think," Keith snapped. "She's my sister."
"And last time I checked, she wasn't a child."
"That's beside the point."
"What is the point?"
Now he was red in the face, and his hands were balled into fists at his side. "The point is that you're not slick. I know you're somehow behind making her think offering herself was the best thing to do. One of you probably put the idea in her head to begin with."
Kratos couldn't help the laugh that spilled from him. "If that's what you think, then you don't know your sister very well."
"I know her better than you do!"
"Okay." He was already done with this argument. "I'm not here to fight with you, little man. I'm here to keep you alive. It'd be a good idea for you to learn how to trust me."
"Fat chance of that happening. How do we even know you haven't been working with these...these pirates? Maybe it's all a scam."
With a shrug of one shoulder, Kratos ended the conversation. "You don't. And you can believe what you want. I'm not here to change your mind."
He walked off a bit away from the front of the building, following a hunch as he moved off to the side. Kratos was generally good at knowing when he wasn't alone, and he stepped around to the side of the building and looked up to see Kirstie tucked up on a half wall, back pressed against the side of the building.
"Snooping?" he asked, grinning up at her.