by Skyler Grant
“While I can’t say I’m a fan of the style, I don’t believe the Imperium Marines are actually driven off by testicles,” Quinn said.
Dela didn’t answer at once. She was moving from statue to statue along one side and by all appearances fondling them.
“Check that side. Try to uh, turn them. The ones we’re looking for will have a swivel,” Dela said.
“You’ve got to be fucking with me,” Quinn said.
“If what Monk said is true, it gets worse. Ah, got one,” Dela said.
Quinn had to admit, it looked like she had. Whatever this was, he didn’t have any better ideas. He started going down the line. The first four statues got no response, but the fourth swiveled as if he were turning a faucet.
“Two. I’d really like an answer,” Quinn said.
“Governor loved his secret little rooms. You heard about his little prison and torture chamber. This is sort of the guest entrance to somewhere altogether different, his love nest,” Dela said.
Dela found the third movable part and as soon as it was in position the floor dropped out from underneath them. Quinn was plunged into darkness, very wet darkness, and a dizzying sense of movement that made him think he was on some kind of waterslide. The fall ended as he was ejected from a chute and tumbled onto a mattress and into bright light, Dela crashing into him a moment later and the two rolling in a tangle of limbs.
What already might have been an awkward situation was made several times worse by the fact that both were now largely naked. Quinn’s holster and gun belt were intact, as were his boots and anything metal he’d had on—such as his wrist communicator.
Dara hadn’t fared any better. Although trying not to stare, Quinn saw enough to note her small and dark nipples, and that she kept herself well trimmed, body tanned and lithe.
Dangerous thoughts, those. Quinn made himself try to focus on the room instead. He and Dara were on a waterbed at least twenty feet wide that filled the entire place except for a steaming pool of water—a hot tub placed right in the middle. Walls and ceiling were all mirrored and it was too damned bright.
“Dara, why are we naked?” Quinn asked.
“Something gets added to the water. Doesn’t dissolve flesh, but does a number on organic fibers. Governor kind of gave people a scavenger hunt and would be here waiting for them to solve it and drop in naked from the ceiling,” Dara said, working to disentangle herself. “Stop poking me!”
Quinn was doing his best. Together they finally managed to get free of each other and the floor beneath Quinn wobbled as Dela stood up to have a look around.
“How do you stay so tanned?” Quinn asked.
“I’m on a moon where it’s daylight a month at a time and there is a serious cultural lack. I’ve got time to catch some rays,” Dela said, having completed a circumference of the room before plopping back down. “No dimmer for the lights. Not that we haven’t already gotten our eye full. You work out.”
“Are we really having this conversation?”
“You started it,” Dela said.
“My life depends on my reflexes. Staying fit is a good idea. I don’t see an exit. Behind one of the mirrors?”
“The hot tub. There’s a trigger that activates another of those water slides. Monk said it spits you out of some giant fish mouth fountain in the gardens,” Dela said.
“I thought you and he …” Quinn said.
“This was before my time. Monk told me about it later,” Dela said, as she sprawled out on her side. “I really don’t like the lack of pillows and sheets. Think it’s so someone couldn’t cover up? It’s so creepy.”
Quinn was wishing for a bit of covering up right now. A pillow would have done wonders for making this whole situation less awkward. Dramatic displays of arousal made the whole “not interested in that way” thing difficult to pull off.
“I suppose the governor figured if nothing else he was going to get an eye full. Least it isn’t a dungeon,” Quinn said.
“How long do you figure we should wait. An hour? Two?” Dela asked.
“Two to be safe. That will be enough time for them to finish sweeping the estate and hopefully let down their guard. We get back to the shuttle, I evade them, and hopefully we get back before Melody and Monk have torn the place apart looking for us,” Quinn said.
“Monk doesn’t care about me that much. I’m convenient, and useful, but I’m not more than that. He wouldn’t do like you are to get your girlfriend back,” Dela said.
“Taki isn’t my girlfriend. Just a friend,” Quinn said.
“You sure? Monk seems to think it’s more than that,” Dela said, rolling over.
Why were there so many damned mirrors? Quinn couldn’t even look away without getting a good look. There was literally no escape except for closing his eyes and that seemed even worse.
“It’s complicated,” Quinn said.
“Hey, you want to come over and make out instead, I’m happy to have a go, but given the way you’re trying to look everywhere except at me I’m thinking you’d prefer to talk. So talk,” Dela said.
“Lost my wife three years ago. Real ugly situation and Taki was one of our best friends. I know she’s ready to move on, but I’m not. I’ll never have what I had before and I’m not much interested in trying,” Quinn said.
Dela stared at him for a long moment and grunted, “And I thought my love life was a mess.”
“It really as bad as you let on?” Quinn asked.
Dela gave a weak smile. “Monk can be a gentleman, but I know I’m just not the right team to make him really happy. I’ve tried more than I like to admit. You always think you can change them, right?”
“Not just convenience on your end then?”
Dela shrugged. “I was a dumb as hell graduate trying to hitch-hike my way to the Rim and found a lot more trouble than I knew how to handle. Monk saved me. Robbed me blind afterward, but saved me first.”
“And you followed him asking for a job?” Quinn asked.
“The robbed blind was a real thing and he was the one somewhat friendly face I knew. I was useful and the rest just kind of happened. I don’t regret it, but it’s not love. Not for either of us. And like I said, no thought in my head he’ll be breaking down any doors playing rescuer. He’ll be urging that engineer of yours to lift off,” Dela said.
“Mel won’t,” Quinn said.
“You sound sure of that. You trust her that much?”
“Melody is one of those people in the wrong business. Kindest heart and most loyal spirit of anyone I’ve ever known. She isn’t with us because she loves the work, she loves the ship. And we got her out of a nasty spot once and, like I said. Loyal,” Quinn said.
“I’m having trouble figuring out if you’re a bad criminal or a bad hero,” Dela said thoughtfully.
Quinn had to laugh at that. “I’m just someone who tries to live free as he can in a galaxy full of people lining up to tell a man what to do. If I can do that honest, I do. If I can’t, I figure out a way.”
Dela was giving Quinn such a hard look that he thought he could almost hear the gears turning in her mind.
“Need an appraiser?” Dela asked.
“Monk would not appreciate that,” Quinn said.
“Do you care? You’re already doing him a favor getting him off-world. I’m hungering for a little adventure and I think you might be okay.”
Taki had wanted the Kathryn to get more crew for some time, but Quinn was wary. The ship being full of people was other days. Dela was obviously a capable appraiser, not afraid of a little crime, and if she could be believed had some skills at both gunplay and piloting. It was a useful skill-set. Most people who wanted to sign up were dumb as rocks and too quick on the trigger. There was also the fact that as much as Quinn hated to admit it, Taki might not be coming back, not unless he could figure a way to get her free of the Imperium.
“We can give it a go,” Quinn said.
10
At least Quinn and Dela’s w
ristcomm had survived when their clothes hadn’t and so they knew exactly when two awkward hours had finally passed.
The hot tub worked exactly as Dela thought it would. A switch along one side flushed them down another waterslide and water forced them out until they finally erupted out of a fish’s mouth in the garden.
Fortunately, they didn’t bump into any Marines on their way back to the shuttle. Quinn kept low and went fast. Had the governor’s security still been manning their stations the sensors would have likely picked up their exit. Instead they got away clean and Quinn was soon docking the shuttle with the Kathryn.
“Stopped to ditch your clothes, but you couldn’t call in, boss? Monk here has been telling me we should lift off for over an hour” Melody said, arms folded as she glared at them disembarking the shuttle.
Dela gave Quinn a ‘I told you so’ look.
“Statue room? What happened?” Monk asked.
“Your old friends in the Marines killed the governor and took their prisoners. I’m working on a new plan,” Quinn said.
Ten minutes was enough to get him some fresh clothes from his cabin and then he was hitting the streets. It was almost dawn local time, but the sun still blazed high overhead. The Crooked Goat would be open though—catering to spacers, it never closed.
The last time Quinn was here, the lawyer Tamara approached him and she seemed desperate. Hopefully she still was.
There, at a table in the corner and showing almost as much flesh as Quinn was a short time ago. Quinn moved over and settled into the seat across from her.
“Captain Jade? How unexpected for you to finally realize the value of a good offer,” Tamara said.
Quinn forced a smile, reminding himself to keep this civil.
“One of my crew members has been taken into custody by the Imperial Marines. I need your help.”
Tamara arched an eyebrow at that. “Charge?”
“They don’t have one, yet, as far as I know. The governor was holding her prisoner and when they took over his estate they took her,” Quinn said.
Tamara drummed her fingers on the table. “You accept my original offer then, of course. That goes without saying, but I do insist you say it.”
“I accept your original offer if you can get my crew person free,” Quinn said.
“Regardless of if I do or not. That point isn’t negotiable,” Tamara said, her voice like ice.
In another situation Quinn might have negotiated harder. Tamara was desperate too, there was room to push her, but there wasn’t time.
“Agreed. We’ll get you where you’re going, you have my word,” Quinn said.
“I’m not done. There will come a day in the future I’ll ask you for something more. Illegal, unreasonable, I don’t care. You will say yes with a smile on your face,” Tamara said.
That was pushing it too far. This mission of hers already put the lives of him and the crew in danger and he’d already agreed to it.
“No deal,” Quinn said. “No extras.”
Tamara shrugged, a negligent gesture. “Then no legal counsel.”
Just because he hadn’t pushed what leverage he’d had, she was now doubling down on hers.
“You are a really unpleasant piece of work lady,” Quinn said.
“Yes, Captain Jade. And I can be one on your side, if you agree to my terms,” Tamara said.
Quinn supposed if worst came to worst he could always throw her out the airlock when they reached her destination.
“If you can get my crewmember back alive and well before we depart, you have a deal including extras,” Quinn said.
Tamara gave him a sunny smile he was sure was entirely fake and Quinn felt a bit like he’d just sold his soul to a devil. Lawyers were close enough.
“Excellent. Name?” Tamara asked.
“Taki Ona.”
Tamara tapped a spot below her ear and leaned back. Quinn could only hear her side of the conversation.
“Authorized legal council for one Taki Ona on Corono. Identification code incoming,” Tamara said, her arms folded. “Not so pleasant a day, Administrator, no. My client was taken by Imperial Marines without charge or being read her rights. I’m sure if you check the records you’ll see irregularities.”
Thirty seconds passed and Tamara’s expression barely flickered in that time. The woman really was made of ice.
“No, Administrator. I am not willing to wait for an investigation. If your soldiers wished to charge my client they should have done so before taking her into custody,” Tamara said, and after a few seconds more said, “That will be acceptable. There is an Imperium vessel at the Corono docks in Berth One, you can release her there.” Tamara tapped the spot below her ear again.
“That is it?” Quinn asked.
“I realize it looked easy, Captain. It was not. Knowing the right people to call and having the credentials to get them to listen is a valuable skill and I suspect whatever demand I make of you won’t be worth anywhere near what I just made happen. We also need to move. It registered my credentials in the system.”
Meaning that whoever and whatever she was hiding from would soon be tracking her down with their equally impressive credentials. They had a head start, but not much of one.
Word must have gotten out about the governor’s death. The people in the streets had a cheery look they hadn’t had before.
Tamara stopped a few buildings down, slipping inside for a few minutes before she emerged with another woman. This one was a few years younger than Tamara. If she broke twenty it was barely. Blue-eyed, blonde, and busty.
“This is Captain Jade. Captain, you may call my client Jinx,” Tamara said.
Quinn gave her a nod that was returned and they hastily made their way to the docks.
Taki was already waiting for them, an Imperial Marine watching over her. She had two black eyes, a split lip, and a medpatch on her thighs.
“The Marines do this?” Tamara asked coldly.
Taki shot Quinn a questioning look, but answered, “Uh, no ma’am. They’ve been decent.”
Tamara gave a curt nod to the Marine and swiped a finger across a datapad they held out as she took possession of their prisoner.
As soon as they were clear of the Marine ship Taki asked, “What is going on, sir?”
“Later,” Quinn said, as he helped her up the ramp of the Kathryn. Dela ran for a medkit as soon as she saw the wounds.
Quinn called, “Melody? We’re about to launch. I need you on engines. Dela, help Taki. Tamara and Jinx, if you follow them Taki can show you to cabin space on the way. If it doesn’t have a name on the door it’s vacant. We’re going to burn in ten minutes. Get yourselves comfortable.”
The launch went smoothly, it was nice that something did for once. The ship held up and nothing exploded, they’d had worse.
Quinn opened a comm to the cabins. “Tamara, if you’ve got a destination I need to know it.”
“Perseus Sector.”
That was far, too far. Interplanetary travel had been slow until the advent of Runestone gates providing instantaneous jumps across the galaxy. Large, floating obelisks in space, the impossible for physics proved easy for magic, but there were still limitations and the fuel required for jumping through the Runestone gates such a distance took a lot of liquid mana. More than they had.
Melody had stocked them up on fuel, but they only had enough for two jumps. Even cutting through the Core it would be five jumps and the Core was about the last place Quinn wanted to go, given recent events.
The Corono Runestone only had two destination sigils engraved on it—two places their fuel reserves would allow them to reach. Tovoko, which was further out on the Rim and truly uncivilized space, or Semara, a thriving industrial system that had been colonized a good century before Corono and showed it.
Fuel could be hard to find on the Rim, it wouldn’t be the case in Semara. It felt like heading in the wrong direction, but Quinn didn’t see where they had a choice. He set course.
The Runestone was located between the second and third planets in the system. The Kathryn pulled into range and Quinn triggered the activation sequence. Mana from their tanks began to pour into the Semara sigil until it was lit with a dull blue glow and then in a ripple of energy the ship jumped.
They very nearly jumped right into a firefight.
Ships were shooting at each other near the Semaran Runestone.
Not just ships, Imperium vessels.
The Kathryn wasn’t in range of their fire yet, but sooner or later someone was going to win that battle and start looking for anything else to shoot.
11
Quinn wasted no time and set a course away from the fight. With their limited fuel supply that just seemed a bad idea, but hopefully by at least circling around they could stay clear of the combat.
“We jumped safely?” asked Tamara, poking her head into the bridge. She was certainly making herself home around the ship quickly.
“We did, but there are a few Imperium cruisers going at it. I’m taking us around the conflict to Semara station so we can take on more fuel. You’re buying,” Quinn said.
“Two Imperium vessels?” Tamara said, frowning. “Does your ship have a remote data access port?”
“I’d rather not have my data where disreputable sorts can go looking at it,” Quinn said.
Tamara wasn’t deterred, taking a seat in the copilot chair and beginning to go through the sensor scans.
“Did I invite you to sit down?” Quinn asked.
“You invited me aboard and you’re taking my coin. I’ll sit where I like, Captain. I was afraid of this. There is nothing on the official news channels yet, but there wouldn’t be. The succession to Emperor Octavius isn’t going to be straightforward,” Tamara said.
“You mean someone else wants the job of Emperor? Shocking,” Quinn said.
Tamara gave him a wry look. “Or Empress. A lot of people have been waiting a very long time for their chance. If they’d slapped the crown on Constantine fast enough they might have avoided a struggle, but instead people had time to get ambitious.”