by T. G. Ayer
But Nerishka didn’t have time to ponder Sigurd’s strangeness as Gilit drove her fist into Nerishka’s ribs again. The blow knocked the breath out of her, and had she still had natural bones, several would have been fractured.
“Speak, you bitch,” the major spat, a vein in her temple pulsing. “Who do you work for? What did you think you’d achieve?”
Nerishka grunted. “You want the truth?” she asked the furious major.
The woman blinked. “Tell me.”
“We took him. Yeah. And sorry about giving you the shits,” Nerishka sneered.
Gilit growled but said nothing, curiosity momentarily superseding her need for vengeful torture.
“But I didn’t intend to kill him,” Nerishka confessed, her expression sad.
“Then why did you?”
“He killed one of my team. And he was endangering our lives. It was…it just happened.”
“So, let’s say I believe your crap. What in Marduk’s light were you after?”
Nerishka let the bomb drop. “We were after the people who were working on the jump gate.”
Gilit froze. She didn’t answer immediately, confirming Nerishka’s suspicions that Azag had his confidantes surrounding him.
“You were in on it, huh?” Nerishka asked, eyes darting to Sigurd to see the woman’s expression well-schooled.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Sorry. I do. Azag was working on a gate. It blew. People died. I’m here to find the assholes responsible.”
“Who do you work for? Septhia?”
Beyond Gilit’s shoulder, Sigurd shifted, her eyes narrowing a millimeter. What was up with the blonde?
Nerishka shoved her concerns out of her mind, focusing the now dire need to free herself. She’d grown bored with Gilit’s interrogation techniques.
A microsecond later Lyra replied,
Nerishka shook her head at Gilit’s question. “I need to speak to the people responsible. Not to the underlings.” As she uttered the words, the skin on Nerishka’s left shin split open, the muscles peeling apart as her secreted blade slid out of the compartment within her tibia.
It wasn’t visible to either of the women, and Nerishka kept her leg twisted to ensure they wouldn’t spot the thin hilt sticking a centimeter out of her skin.
Gilit growled her anger and landed another punch on Nerishka’s face, then straightened, her expression smug.
Blood dripped from a long gash on Nerishka’s cheek, and from the split in her lip. She swallowed hard, tasted copper, and shook her head.
“You’re a fucking idiot,” Gilit whispered harshly. “We’re going to show you what the Ayra System does to assassins. And Septhia will get what’s coming to it eventually.”
Nerishka met the woman’s eyes and shook her head but didn’t say anything. Ayra must have been more worried about Septhian expansion than the Hand had known. Perhaps that was why they were working so hard on gate tech—a way to make a preemptive strike against their enemies.
“President Inanna would very much appreciate your cooperation,” said Sigurd, her words calm and precise despite the nature of the interrogation.
Nerishka merely blinked, still maintaining eye contact with the furious major.
Gilit shook her head. “For Septhia to think they can send their agents to come blasting in here, take out the head of our military…it’s a bit reckless.”
Nerishka lifted her chin defiantly. “The people responsible for the gate research need to be stopped. I can’t leave until that happens.”
Gilit chuckled. “Rest assured, you will not leave here alive.”
Lyra crowed with delight.
Gilit stiffened, likely due to the restraints reporting their now-offline status to her. But before the woman could blink, Nerishka grabbed the blade protruding from her leg, and in a smooth move drew it across the major’s neck in a single, smooth motion.
Gilit’s throat split, spilling blood and revealing bone. The major’s eyes went wide and she grasped her neck, her expression perplexed as she dropped to her knees, staring at her bloodied fingers.
She let out a bubbling gurgle and then collapsed.
Nerishka grabbed the woman’s hair and yanked her backward, holding the blood-spattered blade across Sigurd’s neck.
“One wrong move and you’ll meet your Marduk soon enough.” Sigurd froze as the blade’s edge cut lightly into her throat. “You’re coming with me, disable the grav field, or take your last breath.”
Sigurd wordlessly complied, and Nerishka pushed her captive out into the corridor, stopping at the outer door which required access codes.
Nerishka swallowed hard and took a breath.
Stars, I hope you’re right, Lyra. I hope you’re right.
DRESDEN
STELLAR DATE: 10.21.8948 (Adjusted Gregorian)
LOCATION: Ishtar Station
REGION: Ayra System (Independent)
Several hours earlier…
Dresden’s heart pounded as his nano monitored Kelem’s vitals. The man’s heartrate had dropped to near zero, but he was still picking up a heartbeat, so minimal that it wouldn’t have registered even on a medical heart monitor.
One slow pump, every minute.
Dresden had to admit that he’d nearly shed a tear or two, joining Judith in expelling the pent-up fear that had grown within his gut over the last half hour.
“Can we do it?” whispered Judith, her eye’s shifting up to scan Dresden over Kelem’s still form. The vestibule was tiny, and the three of them were a tight squeeze. Add in a dollop of fear and drop or two of desperation and you had a recipe for disaster.
Dresden took a slow breath and nodded, and he didn’t miss the worry etched into Judith’s face. He sighed. “Look, he’ll be fine. We just need to get this thing off him and get back to the ship. Nerishka will meet us there and everything will be fine.”
Judith smirked. “I know all that. You repeating it all for me or for you?”
Pursing his lips, he considered her question. “Both.”
“Not like you, Boss.”
Dresden glanced down at his man. “Not like us to get so close to losing one of our own.”
“Not in a long while.” Judith’s words were another kick in the gut. A reminder of a team member they’d lost. Time certainly does nothing to heal wounds.
Dresden swallowed and jerked his chin at Kelem. “Ready?” When she nodded slowly, Dresden said, “Hold onto him.”
Dresden reached for a scalpel and a pair of tweezers from their medkit. His nano had located the device which had burrowed into Kelem’s body, connecting to
the energy lines at the back of the man’s neck.
Without looking up at Judith, Dresden pressed the scalpel to Kelem’s skin and sliced. The nano’s readings proved accurate and the scalpel teased against metal within a centimeter of cutting.
He handed the scalpel to Judith then leaned close with the tweezer. Inserting the narrow tips into the opening, Dresden felt his way deeper until the nose of the tweezers touched the device. He adjusted his angle and gripped the bomb, retracting it slowly. The process was surprisingly easy but made all the more daunting by the activity on his HUD.
“She’s going to get herself caught,” muttered Judith. “Stupid woman. She goes racing off without thinking things through.”
Dresden glanced up at the redhead, catching the worry in her eyes. He didn’t comment though, knew better how to communicate with his crew. Instead, he removed the device from the opening in Kelem’s shoulder and dropped it on the floor beside Judith.
They both stared at it for a moment, and then Judith lifted a boot to step on it.
“Stop!” Dresden whispered hoarsely. “It’s a fucking bomb!”
Judith’s eyes went wide. “Shit. Not thinking straight.” Then she sank onto her haunches and let out a puff of air. “I called her a bitch.”
The vestibule remained silent for a few seconds as Dresden cleaned Kelem’s wound and applied a layer of healing gel. While he worked, he confirmed that Raz was on the way to bring the shuttle to meet them in the FlatIron District.
“I can’t say the word doesn’t suit her at times.”
Judith’s eyes widened, as if offended by his comment. “I judged her. I honestly believed she doesn’t have a single loyal bone in her body. I had her pegged totally wrong.”
Dresden grunted. “Sounds like you think she’s…not a bitch, then?”
Judith snorted and shook her head. “Where the hell is she?” Judith asked, half squinting as she studied the details on her HUD. “Bait. The stupid woman made herself be the bait.” She would be seeing the same thing as Dresden: red dots slowly disappearing down tunnel after tunnel, and no sign of Nerishka.
He nodded to himself. “Let’s get out of here. That’s the best thing we can do right now. Nishka knows how to take care of herself.”
Judith said nothing. The pair gathered Kelem up and as they hurried along the corridors they grabbed cloaks from the downed soldiers, throwing them around their respective shoulders. With the ASF soldiers on the hunt for Nerishka, their path was clear, and with only a few minutes of struggle, managed to get Kelem’s unconscious body up through the hatch and into another maintenance tunnel that led them into the FlatIron.
They’d barely stepped out onto a dark street when a shuttle settled down a few meters away, turning to align the doors with them. A few moments later, they were aboard and Raz was lifting off, taking a circuitous route to a dock on the far side of Ishtar, where they would transfer to another shuttle and fly out to the Teshub’s dock.
Dresden gritted his teeth. He’d just heaved a sigh of relief having removed the bomb from his friend’s body, and now he had to face the very real possibility that Nerishka was compromised.
“Fuck,” he said, his voice turning into a growl.
“What? You okay, Boss?” asked Raz, shifting in his seat to study Dresden’s face, his leonine eyes gleaming.
“It’s Nerishka,” Judith answered. “She’s not responding.”
“We going back for her? I brought weapons just in case,” asked the pilot.
Dresden shook his head. “Much as I want to, we need to get this guy to the ship before they lock this whole area down. No point in running into what could be a trap. We’d probably end up getting caught only to find out Nerishka is waiting at the ship for us.”
Despite the incongruity of his words, Dresden knew that the possibility was likely.
Just as likely as Nerishka going headlong into trouble without a hint of hesitation.
An hour later, Kelem was safely within a med-pod, his vitals maintained and monitored. Dresden was pacing the bridge while Judith studied scan and news feeds when Lyra’s garbled voice stuttered in his ear.
LAST FLIGHT OUT
STELLAR DATE: 10.21.8948 (Adjusted Gregorian)
LOCATION: Ishtar Station
REGION: Ayra System (Independent)
Just as Nerishka and her blonde captive stepped into the outer hall, the lights flickered then brightened. A second later, they died, leaving Nerishka in total darkness.
Nerishka nodded then shoved Sigurd in the direction of the door where the control panel shone with instructions. “Open it.”
Sigurd shook her head. “You won’t get away with this.”
Nerishka snickered. “Sad that you don’t have any faith in me. Guess I’ll have to prove you wrong. We’ve already been over this. Now open the door or I use the blade.”
She pressed the knife harder, knowing the sharp edge would be cutting into the woman skin.
The need to respond evaporated as Sigurd palmed the access panel and the door slid open.
Nerishka entered the dark room and spotted her weapons laid out on a table in the middle of the chamber. She shoved Sigurd into the far corner where the woman flailed in the darkness before colliding with the wall and righting herself.
Nerishka grabbed her lightwand, engaged the beam and pointed it at the blonde whose eyes had widened at the sight of the weapon, her features ghoulish from glow of the weapon.
“Don’t move a muscle.”
Nerishka hurried, drawing on her armor as she swapped the gleaming wand from one hand to the other. She holstered her weapons as she went, one eye on Sigurd who still stood in the corner, her eyes on the lightwand.
“Let’s go.” Nerishka beckoned the woman with the glowing blade. With her free hand she looped her trusty hairsticks around a length of hair and twisted it into a topknot, jamming them securely into place. “You’re coming with me,” she said to the blonde.
Sigurd shook her head, her gaze never leaving the lightwand. “You don’t need me. I’m sure you can find your way out of here alone.”
Nerishka snorted. “Sorry. Your codes make things easier for me. Besides, you’ll be a good shield if I ever need one.”
The woman smirked, her expression darkening. “You’ll find I’m not a very valuable bargaining chip. Inanna’s guards won’t hesitate to shoot through me to get to you.”
Pursing her lips, Nerishka shrugged. “That’s fine with me. If anything, you’re like self-propelled ablative armor. Now, let’s move.”
Sigurd pushed away from the wall and obeyed, leading the way out of the room. Nerishka grasped the woman’s arm as she passed, guiding the blonde while following the directions Lyra had placed on her HUD.
Low tones of distant alarms and announcements filled the halls, warning about the security breach and the outage, all while still requesting calm and assuring everyone that the power would be back up within minutes.
Nerishka didn’t care. She reached a lift, passed it and tugged open a lift hatch instead, peering down into the shaft.
“You first.” Sigurd’s eyes narrowed. Nerishka reached out and traced her fingers along the woman’s cheek, the movement deliberate and ominous. “Don’t get any ideas. You must know Gilit had a problem after our encounter at the military school.”
Sigurd choked on a laugh. “You gonna give me the
shits?” she said with a smirk.
“No. When I grabbed your arm, I gave you something much worse than that.”
“Huh?” Sigurd’s skin paled and her eyes widened. “What did you….”
Nerishka smiled. “Just a little something to ensure you get me to Bay 7B as expediently as possible. The poison is short acting though, so if you want the antidote administered on time, you’d better stop arguing and get climbing.”
Sigurd stiffened, her eyes narrowing. “How do I know you’re not lying to me?”
“You don’t. But feel free to check in with Gilit. All she did was touch my hand back at the academy….” Nerishka waved a hand at the open hatch.
Without further protest Sigurd slid inside the shaft and began to climb.
Nerishka replied as she hurried down the ladder after Sigurd,
Lyra sniffed.