by Rachel Caine
The ship circled, hoping to catch Typhon unaware. Now, Zara-self thought, and we slipped out of camouflage and all weapons fired on the spot where the new ship had been. It almost escaped, but some of the missiles landed their marks, and the Leviathan rolled visible, groaning in pain. We knew the song: anger, sadness, determination. Colors rippled through us, acknowledging that this fight would be difficult and damaging for all of us. Fighting another Leviathan felt wrong, very wrong. Leviathan were not aggressive to each other under normal conditions, except for displays of dominance like the ones Typhon had used to subdue the younger ships. But this was a real fight, not his so-called discipline.
And we had to bring it.
Explosions rocked the other Leviathan. It let out a cry of pain that shivered through all our bodies. Our opponent rolled away, trying to gain dark run again, but before it could slip away, we struck again and again in that vulnerable spot, driving our nose in hard.
We spun in a graceful roll to avoid Typhon’s armored tail as he smashed the spikes into the plating again. There was no sound here, but the humans in the bond imagined the crushing metallic sounds. A huge section of plating broke off and floated away in slow spins, caught by the gravity of the planet below.
Too close, our Bea-self warned, but the fight was here, right at the edge of the planet’s gravity well, and until our opponent moved, we could not. We felt the mindless pull of the planet spinning below, like an open mouth hungry for prey. We resisted. We focused on the fight, the merciless attack, until the newcomer Leviathan withdrew from the battle, wounded and trailing silvery blood.
But our opponent wasn’t done. Not yet. The Leviathan arced in a wide loop and came back hard—at us, not Typhon. But we were ready, dropping, skimming along the lower surface of the newcomer. Where we touched, we delivered a stunning shock—harmless and diffused over our armor, but fiercely strong on the other ship. Our fin skimmed bare flesh, and the shock anchored and spread from there beneath the ship’s protective plate, which made it all the worse.
Stunned, it floated motionless for a few seconds before sluggishly turning and trying for us again. We easily avoided the attack.
And we predicted the move before it happened; a feint for us, a sudden burst of weapons at Typhon.
We came up behind and fired at an angle on the weapons array, taking out most of the opponent’s remaining guns. Typhon finished it with another decisive tail blow, and the rogue Leviathan drifted away, silent and inert.
Did we kill it? We asked in real fear, and stretched our senses. But the Leviathan was still alive, just unconscious and injured.
A call came in on the console, and I shook myself out of the bond to hit the button to answer. I expected Chao-Xing, but I saw a stranger—a young man with pale skin, ginger hair, and a matching beard. He was wearing a black Honors uniform. A Journey uniform, not a trainee one, like Bea and I still had in our closets. He looked tough, this one, and angry as shit, and I couldn’t blame him; I’d be just as pissed off if Nadim was hurt even if it was our own fault. Presuming he’d been bonded to this ship, of course.
Or maybe that anger came from something else.
“Zara Cole, you are under arrest,” he said. “And you will surrender to our custody for immediate return to Earth for trial.”
“You might want to check yourself. One of us lost the fight. Here’s a hint—wasn’t us.”
“I repeat,” he said, baring his teeth like he wanted to bite my head off. “You are under arrest by authority of the United Nations of Earth and the Honors Council. You will open your docking bay and allow our Hopper entry. Immediately.”
“Or you’ll what? Yell at me?” I shook my head. “Your ship is injured. You have no shot at taking us in. Plus, you should care about your Leviathan’s welfare, you asshole. I would never hurt Nadim. Not ever.”
Something was bothering me, though. Hadn’t Nadim said there were two cousins singing? Yet we’d only fought one. Did that mean reinforcements were on the way?
“You’re a disgrace to the uniform,” said Ginger Beard.
“No shit, I’m not wearing one.” Somehow, I was still in the caftan I’d borrowed from Bea, and I almost started laughing. Swallowing the near-hysterical humor, I added, “Look, man, whatever they told you, it’s lies. We didn’t steal Nadim. We’re his bonded crew. You understand what that means? It means he’ll fight to keep us, and we’ll fight to stay. You’re not splitting us up.”
“Well put,” Nadim said. “And I agree. I will not surrender my crew. Who are you?”
Nadim was talking directly to the new guy. I approved of this assertive approach. Our three-way bond was good for him.
“My name is Honor Jon Anderson,” he said, “and my Leviathan’s name is Quell. I greet the ships Nadim and Typhon on her behalf.”
“Yes, we got her greeting.” Chao-Xing joined the party, and the screen split to display her as well. “And you have one chance to save yourself. Just one. Make the smart move.”
Jon didn’t seem bothered in the least. “I don’t answer to you, Zhang Chao-Xing, though I respect you. My mission is my own. And you may stay out of it unless you want to add your name, and that of your Singer, to the list of the accused.”
“Since neither Marko nor I have committed even the slightest crime that Earth could charge us with, I find that unlikely,” Chao-Xing replied. “On the other hand, you and Quell have attacked us without provocation or warning. I’m fairly sure that’s not an approved tactic for apprehending a nonviolent fugitive.”
“Lodge a complaint.”
“Stuff your complaint,” C-X said, utterly unruffled. “I’ll settle for you and Quell limping off back home and telling them we said no to your polite request to surrender.”
Beatriz muted the comms on our end and said, “Zara. Why is he talking so much?”
“What?”
“I think he’s stalling. Nadim, you said there were two cousins coming. Where’s the other one?”
“Unknown,” he said crisply. “I did not detect an approach. Perhaps it was left behind.”
“Are you sure he’s stalling?” I asked Bea. “I mean, his ship’s injured . . .” But somehow I knew Bea was right. Something was off here. But clearly, Quell wasn’t going anywhere; I could see her hanging limply in space. Through my link with Nadim, I could feel her there.
The console screen flashed repeatedly, a stark grainy red, and then we lost contact with Jon. Another face appeared. One that had me staring. Rubbing my eyes.
It was Derry, the boy I’d left Earthside with his bad chem habit and his betraying ways, and here he was, sharp dressed in a fucking Honors uniform.
The shock came hard, and I knew Nadim felt it along with me. Maybe Bea too.
“Surprised to see me, Zara? You shouldn’t be. We have unfinished business.”
“So you’re Honors crew now? Shit, Derry. Did you kick the chem for this?” I couldn’t imagine that they’d send him out tweaking, but he didn’t look healthy like the other Honors; more like Marko, who was currently wrestling some bad demons.
His face was all sharp angles, and his hair wasn’t that lovely copper anymore. Did I know he was blond before? A dirty blond that looked a bit greasy too. I couldn’t believe I’d ever thought he was handsome, that he ever made my heart beat faster. Right now, I could only remember how he’d sold me out without hesitation after the way I’d busted my ass to take care of him back in the Zone.
Rotten bastard.
“Surprised I got a job you qualified for?” I heard the contempt in his voice, clear as day. And who the hell was he to hate on me?
“Being an Honor isn’t a job,” I told him. “It’s a privilege. And what are the odds that you’d end up getting picked?”
“About as good as yours,” he replied. “The Leviathan decided they needed more street in the mix, and here I am. Hey, don’t be mad. We’re gonna have so much fun together, just like old times.” His tone gave away the fact that he was on some shit, powerful b
y the looks of him, and I didn’t trust the shine of his eyes, even through the screen.
I’d been burned by him before.
I dropped into our bond and used it to send a message to Bea. He can’t come at us while he’s talking, right? Scan for his ship.
Bea made eye contact and I took that for affirmation that she’d understood, but she spoke to cover her motions on the console. “You know this person, Zara? Is he a . . . friend?”
“Unfortunately, I do. From the Zone,” I said. “And no. Not hardly.”
“That hurts,” Derry said, blowing me a kiss that made me want to rip his face off. “I thought we had something, baby.”
“Fuck you.”
“Been there, done that.” His sneer said it hadn’t been worth the effort.
Nadim made a sound I had never heard, something like a growl. “I think this is . . . rage?” He sounded surprised. “I have never wanted to kill a thing in quite this way before just from listening to it speak.”
Derry didn’t like that. “Who are you calling a thing, you shit-eating space whale?”
Before this could escalate, I nudged Bea, asking, Anything? with my eyes. She gave a slight shake of her head. While we weren’t reading another Leviathan close, maybe they were hidden? We had to figure this out before Quell healed or Derry stormed in. Both Nadim and Typhon were hurt from the prior scrap.
“Hey, Derry? I suppose you think it’s romantic you stalked me across half the universe,” I said. I wanted to keep Nadim—whose anger was a crushing force around me; even the lights had changed colors to reflect it—out of this. I sent him more calming vibes, which I didn’t have in damn abundance because Derry was the last person I expected or wanted to see. “It’s not. Why don’t you take your awful self home and get out of my sky? We are not together. Not going to be together. And if I had to testify, I’d say I don’t even know why I stayed in the first place.”
That hurt him. It wiped the grin away, anyway. I recognized the look in those eyes. I’d once mistaken it for strength. It was just a kid’s temper tantrum. Derry was not a grown-ass man. And deep down, he knew that.
“Don’t piss me off, Z,” he said. “You’re not going to like it. You really, really won’t.”
“Honey, I don’t like anything about you anyway, so it doesn’t much matter. I’m not coming with you, if that’s what you’re here for. And you’re not going to be able to take me. Don’t embarrass yourself. Just cut your losses.”
Bea was making urgent gestures to me, so I put the call on mute and she blurted, “There’s something on his ship. A mech of some kind. It’s heading straight for us!”
“Is it a bomb?”
“No, it’s—” She didn’t even try to put it into words, just pulled up a holo image of the exterior space.
“Is that . . .” I cocked my head and studied it. “Is that a robot?”
“I think it is,” she said.
“Does it have some kind of bomb?”
“No explosives I can detect.”
What the hell was he doing tossing a robot at us? That was just plain strange. But I sure didn’t like it. “Well, let’s go ahead and shoot at it.”
“I can’t,” Nadim said. He sounded pissed off. “It’s too close.”
“Well, the armor should keep it off, whatever it’s supposed to do.”
Derry was mouthing off on the screen, so I took him off mute. “—chance to surrender, Z. Because once that thing is locked on you, there’s nothing I can do. Surrender now, and I can call it off.”
“I’ll take my chances,” I said.
“What about your friend there? You want to see her die too? And what about your ship? I promise you, I’ll make sure it’s ripped apart in chunks so small I can make sushi.”
I slapped both hands down on the console, leaned forward, and said, “Listen up, Derry. You come for us, I will kill you. That’s a damn guarantee. So save your own life, get your windup toy back, and run home to whoever your new daddy is. Tell him you can’t. Because you can’t.”
“It’s latched on to the docking bay doors,” Bea said. “Zara, I can’t direct a shock there. I can’t knock it free.”
“The doors are closed,” Nadim said. “I won’t let it inside.” He sounded confident, but all of a sudden I didn’t feel so good about this. Derry’s grin told me I’d better not. What were we missing? The damn thing surely couldn’t shoot the bay doors open.
Unless it could.
I felt the hammering through my feet, and Nadim’s sudden burst of surprise and alarm. Whatever was happening, it was brutal. I grabbed Bea to steady her and felt pain pulse through Nadim. Dropped into a light bond to pinpoint the damage.
Docking bay doors have been knocked open. I couldn’t imagine the frightening strength it would have taken to do that, but I didn’t have time either. Whatever this thing was that Derry sent for us, it was effective as hell.
“Docking bay!” I yelled, and ran for the point of entry. Weapons were in the locker, and I got there first; I gave Bea a hand weapon and grabbed two for myself. We headed for the breached bay. I trailed fingers over Nadim’s skin to try to pinpoint where the intruder was. “Connect me to Xyll, Nadim!”
“Communications open,” he responded, and Xyll said, “Hello, Zara Cole.”
“Intruder,” I said. “I don’t know what we’ve got incoming, but you need to defend.”
“Yes, I understand,” Xyll said.
As we rounded the next corner, just one turn from the docking bay, Nadim’s corridor changed color, a pulse of warning red. I stopped Bea where she was, and we both aimed our weapons at whatever was coming.
It looked just like what it was. Killer robot, all shiny and chrome.
Great.
The thing was at least six feet tall, human-shaped but not human, and it ran like an athlete, smooth as silk; it was coming fast, and when both of us fired, our shots bounced off without effect.
Our weapons weren’t even penetrating its body armor.
Then I caught sight of black chitin dropping down from the ceiling behind us, and Xyll was there, bounding past us and straight for the robot.
The Phage cell hit the robot hard, knocking it back. Its stinger plunged down, but the plating on the robot’s chest blunted the impact. In the next second Xyll was clawing at the armor, finding weak spots. Xyll was hurt, leaking ichor.
Oh shit. The robot wasn’t down for the count, despite what we’d dealt it; it grabbed that injured leg and twisted, and it ripped off. Xyll let out a scream that raked every nerve in my body, and I clapped my hands over my ears in a futile effort to block it out. Xyll thrashed, the bot countered, and they threw each other around. Xyll’s shed ichor was causing Nadim pain too. Dammit. We had to stop this. But I couldn’t get a good shot at the robot either, and no way was I wading into that hand to hand.
Xyll backed off, limp, bleeding, staggering. The robot had punched it hard somewhere vital, and it was really wounded. Then the robot froze in the act of reaching to finish Xyll off, and I aimed for its neck, but before I could fire, the bot’s eyes flashed red. A mechanical voice boomed, “Catastrophic damage sustained. Per mission parameters, beginning self-destruct sequence. Complete annihilation in thirty seconds. Uninvolved civilians should stand clear.”
Numbers rolled out, a verbal doom clock, and I glanced at Bea. “We’re all going to die?” I didn’t realize Derry was still connected to us until his voice popped out of my handheld, still clipped to my belt. “Surprise, Zara. You really think I got up here without help? Deluca sent me . . . and this is your farewell party.”
I cut the connection quickly.
I only had twenty-five seconds to save everyone on board, but my knees were shaking. Bea grabbed my hand, trembling as well.
“Do not panic!” EMITU’s order caught me by surprise; the med bot sounded authoritative and impatient as he rolled past me. I hadn’t even known he was aware of the problem. A series of lights flashed between him and the killer robot.
“Shh, let me work.”
Bewildered and terrified and fighting to keep those feelings from Nadim and Bea, I stepped back as the numbers counted down. Ten. Nine. Eight . . . I wrapped my arms around Bea and closed my eyes. I dropped into the bond with Nadim. Six. Five. Four.
“Yes!” EMITU sounded elated. “Now I have control. This poor creature needs help. It has such a limited scope of—Ahh, I’ve found the problem . . .”
The countdown ceased.
Xyll didn’t fall. Instead, it spun, and looked straight at me. Rushed me and I couldn’t tell if it was maddened with pain or attacking. As the Phage cell hit me, Xyll’s black, shiny carapace split, revealing wet, red, squirming tissue, and the chitin fell away. The red stuff was an oozing substance that coated Xyll as the rest of its shell broke off, and then it wrapped its limbs around me like it wanted to hug me to death, and I felt something probing at the back of my neck, something slick.
Bea saved me. She fired a steady stream of stun shots, disabling the Phage cell so that it curled up on the floor. I sank back into Bea’s arms, breathing hard, trembling, wiping goo frantically from the back of my neck and checking to make sure the skin was still intact underneath. I had no idea how we were supposed to treat these wounds. Xyll had helped us enough and taken damage trying to protect us from the killer robot, but what the hell could we do for the thing now?
“Done!”
EMITU’s sudden, cheery voice, accompanied by a metallic chime sound, made me flinch. I glanced up at it and saw that the robot was moving again. Testing its arms and legs. I aimed my weapon at the bot.
“Please don’t shoot.”
That wasn’t EMITU. That was a perfectly pleasant, modulated voice coming out of the beaten-up killer robot. It bent down and picked up its weapon from the floor and quite courteously slid it across to me. I slammed a foot down on it, glaring.
“EMITU? What the hell did you just do?”
“My job, of course,” he said, and audibly sniffed even though he didn’t possess a nose. Or lungs. “I saved the lives of everyone on board.”