Greenshift

by Heidi Ruby Miller

  Ben rubbed Mari’s shoulder and stooped over to whisper in her ear before leaving her to Soli and Sean. David could tell by the rigidity of Ben’s posture as he walked toward him that his brother was still pissed by the bureaucratic slap in the face they had all received.

  Soli was the first to embrace Mari, no doubt using the ship’s external cameras to record the event. David tried not to feel harshly about what he considered an intrusion upon this private moment. Soli had a duty to record events like this for the archives whether David liked it or not.

  When Sean gave Mari a big hug and kissed her on the cheek, she laughed. David smiled. He could finally see their interaction the way Sean saw it—as an older brother taking care of his little sister. There was still a small part of David that kept a slight jealousy in check, though, because Mari and Sean would always have a history that began well before David ever met her.

  “She’s a tough little thing,” Ben said as he approached.

  “Yeah,” David said. “Don’t let the short skirt fool you.”

  “I’m surprised you’re not over there, ripping her out of that guy’s arms,” Ben said.

  “You know I’m not the jealous type.”

  “Bull fucking shit.”

  David threw an arm around Ben’s shoulders and drew him into a quick hug. He gave his brother a kiss on top of the head before letting him go. “Thank you. For bringing her back to me.”

  “Wish I could have brought back a little justice, too.”

  “They’re really not going to charge Dale?”

  Ben’s dark look said it all. “He was remanded into contractor custody and will supposedly be questioned during his recovery.”

  “And Stavros?”

  “Nothing implicating him, short of Dale Zapona going on a live Media feed and telling the entire system what that fucker’s been doing,” Ben said. “But even then, the Embassy would find a way out for Stavros. Wish I would have questioned Dale before I turned him over. I guarantee we’d have a confession and at least enough dirt on Stavros to petition a fleet investigation.”

  David hadn’t forgotten that Stavros was not only responsible for Mari’s abduction, but also for the deaths of several good troopers.

  “Oh, you never know. Maybe you’ll have a shot at Dale one day,” David said.

  Ben said something in return, but David’s attention drifted back to Mari, who was alone now that Sean and Soli walked back onto the Bard. The warmth of her smile went straight through his chest. He’d missed that feeling. Leaving Ben in mid-sentence, David covered the distance to her in a few strides.

  “Hi.” Her voice sounded strained.

  He pulled her into a gentle hug, almost afraid that if he greeted her the way he wanted to, he’d break her. “Mari.” Her name was all he could manage as emotion took his voice. He kept rubbing her back and smoothing her hair as he fought for control. His hands actually shook, like a man recovering from shock.

  When she relaxed into his embrace and said, “I missed you,” he let the relief flood through him.

  He drew her face up to him and kissed her like it was their first kiss all over again, only this time it meant something much more. He could tell by the way she returned his intimacy that she knew it, too.

  When they finally pulled apart, David stared into those gorgeous eyes for a moment, then said, “From now on, when you leave this ship, I’m coming with you.”

  She laughed at his joke, not realizing that he mostly meant it.

  TWENTY-NINE

  “Sorry about tonight,” Mari said.

  She and David were nestled on one of the plush mauve couches in the Bard‘s lounge and stared out the windows at the lights of the Hub from their usual berth space. The scene was calming. At least from inside the ship.

  “I’m happy staying in.” David nuzzled her in his lap.

  She melted into his chest, relaxing in his scent.

  Everyone else, even Sean, had gone out for the evening, but Mari wasn’t in the mood to leave this time. Right now she just needed to look at the world from afar. And the glittering activity of Shiraz Dock and Carrey Bay provided a pretty nice view.

  “We’ll be back here in another two weeks to get our new passenger anyway,” David said. “I think she’s your age. And Sean’s already not happy about her coming on board so that should be entertaining for a while.” David squeezed her knee playfully.

  “Yeah, that will be fun.” Her voice didn’t portray much enthusiasm. Even a week after her abduction, the memories still haunted her.

  Her experience left her feeling triumphant in many ways because she had survived. Not just survived—she’d taken control out of her captors’ hands and made her escape, commanded the situation. But it had left its scars.

  David inadvertently reminded her of the physical ones as he slid his fingertips over her arms where the mender patches had healed her bruises. The darkness behind his eyes when he had first seen the other Armadan’s fingerprints imbedded in her skin was chilling.

  When she confessed how Carlos had met his death, he assured her it wasn’t her fault, that no matter what, Carlos deserved to die for his part in her abduction and the countless other women who hadn’t gotten away. She believed David was right, but she still saw Carlos’ face every once in a while when she closed her eyes. David called it post-traumatic stress and said he’d helped his soldiers deal with it before. She suspected he’d had to deal with it himself as well, though he was still rather close-lipped about his fleet time.

  That didn’t bother her anymore. He’d share everything when the time was right. Like he’d said, they had forever. She interlaced her fingers with his, enjoying the warmth of his touch. A stirring of desire passed through her body, the first since her return. They hadn’t been intimate again yet, but David slept next to her every night because she asked him to. It made her feel safe…well, safer.

  She twisted in his arms to face him. “I’m afraid Dale will come back.”

  Not until this moment had she spoken these words out loud, but the thought had consumed her, bringing on panic attacks that she tried to hide from the others. David could always tell when she was upset, though. And he was always there to comfort her. His gentle affection never wavered.

  “He’s not coming back.”

  “But they let him go.”

  He stroked her hair as though considering his next words. “The charges may have been dropped, but I promise you that Dale is never coming back. And I will always keep my promises to you.”

  The conviction in his eyes made her believe it. She kissed him and it felt good. Now all they needed were fireworks over the water.

  THIRTY

  Did he really think he’d get away with what he did?

  David cut the razor wire crowning the wall outside of Dale’s estate.

  “If this goes well,” Ben said. “I’ll be incommunicado for a while.”

  Ben didn’t need to say more. He and his team disappeared on covert operations pretty often, once for an entire year. But this time it would be personal. Ben would make sure Liu Stavros paid for all the Armadan lives he took.

  “Thanks for this, Ben.”

  His brother slapped him on the shoulder and grinned—Ben smiled more than any soldier David had ever known.

  Ben clicked an all-go signal to his team through his reporter before he and David dropped over the side of the wall. Their boots smashed into a bed of calla lilies with blooms folded and drooping now that the sun had gone down over Wright’s Landing.

  Every footfall shattered the garden’s perfection, each squashed stem and dislodged petal adding to the defacement. The brothers moved silently through the proud grounds, leaving a trail of crushed beauty in their wake.

  David held up his hand for Ben to stop.

  There it was. The hole in Dale’s defenses—quite literally a hole in the wall.

  David had noticed this scarecrow when he and Mari first strolled through the garden. Had he not seen a butterfly attempt t
o land on the stone, only to flutter straight through it, as though disappearing into the wall itself, he wouldn’t have detected this secret entrance to the house.

  “This the spot?” Ben whispered.

  “Yeah, and it’s probably mined as well as alarmed.”

  “Alarm’s down, according to my team. They didn’t detect any mines, but I’ll let you go first, just to be sure.” Ben flashed his smile.

  David knew better. Ben would lay down his life for his family, both blood relatives and those bonded to him by the call of duty. With a nod of understanding, David unsheathed his knife and tossed it through the holographic piece of wall. They each took cover to either side of the implied opening and shielded their faces.

  Nothing. No explosive mines, no blaring alarms.

  “Your team’s good,” David said.

  “The best,” Ben agreed.

  They walked right out of Dale’s garden and through the scarecrow, ignoring the cameras hovering low in the sky around them. Ben’s team had done their job and rerouted the video feed and sensors on Dale’s security system. If they worked this the right way, tonight would be a two-for-one, each Anlow brother getting his own retribution.

  David stayed low, Ben following closely behind him. They ran among the finely manicured flowerbeds, trampling delicate blooms and wispy stems with their combat boots. The pungent scent of marigolds mixed with freshly trod zinnias and nearby rose bushes. They stayed away from the central paths to avoid walking in the open and the crunch of pea gravel underfoot. David and Ben waded through thigh-high peonies, their scarlet and purple petals folded in on themselves. Feeling exposed, David picked up his pace the last few meters to the iron gate.

  He pulled the borrowed battle rifle off his shoulder and used its night scope to check out the veranda beyond the gate. Satisfied, he gave the all-clear signal to Ben. Single file they crept onto the wide, covered patio, sweeping around huge planters bulging with foliage and flowers whose colors were muted by the scant light of night. They snaked around tables and chairs of elegant metal craftsmanship, keeping as far away from the house as possible.

  Heavy curtains held the golden interior light at bay, but the possibility remained for them to cast shadows. David put up his hand for another halt as they came to a set of glass doors, also curtained. But no lights shone out of this room. David switched his scope to infrared. One heat signature inside, prone as though lying on its side. He looked to Ben for conformation. Ben glanced at his palm screen and nodded his head in an affirmative. The tracker showed that Dale Zapona waited on the other side of the glass.

  David checked the door. The handle turned without resistance. Another fine job by Ben’s tech team.

  Keeping the night scope up to his right eye, David placed one foot after the other to move soundlessly over the thick carpet. Dale lay on his side, facing David. With the muzzle of his rifle he jabbed Dale in the forehead. Dale woke up with a start, but David kept him pinned with the weapon and forced him on his back.

  “Who are you? How did you get in here?”

  David had the advantage because Dale couldn’t see in the dark. Through the green-white artificial light of the scope, David studied the last remnants of Dale’s wounds from the crash. In another week they’d be gone, but the scars he’d left in Mari’s mind would stay with her a lot longer. David swallowed his anger. They were here for answers.

  “Where do I find Liu Stavros?” he asked.

  Dale’s expression changed, as though David’s voice sparked some subtle recognition. Part of him hoped it did, though keeping Dale off-balance was better for their plan.

  “I don’t know who that is.” Dale’s voice took on a haughty tone.

  David ground the hard steel of the muzzle into the soft flesh of Dale’s brow. He felt like smashing it right through his skull, but they needed information.

  “You’re crazy if you think I’m telling you anything.”

  David increased the pressure of the muzzle, drawing a gasp of aggravated pain from Dale.

  “My security force—”

  “Was already taken care of,” David said. “I guess Carlos wasn’t so easy to replace. Sorry to hear he got sucked out into space like half of your freighter.”

  Dale’s protests stopped upon hearing that bit of news.

  Part of the effectiveness for on-site interrogations like this was stripping the target of all feelings of security. The simple idea that Dale was no longer safe in his own home should weaken his resolve, mess with his equilibrium, make him more likely to talk in his confused state. Hinting that his captor knew details about Dale’s recent incident that even the Media hadn’t reported had the added effect.

  “Do I know you?” Dale asked, fear replacing his earlier bravado.

  Yeah, you do, you piece of shit.

  “Where do I find Liu Stavros?”

  “I told you I don’t know who that is.”

  The panic was starting to rise, but right now Dale was more afraid of Stavros than the threat of a battle rifle.

  “We know you do,” David said.

  “We?” Dale’s eyes rolled around in his sockets as though that would help him penetrate the shadows and outlines of the black room. That sensory deprivation did part of their work, making the man’s imagination work over time.

  “You’ve got more than one gun trained on you right now,” Ben said from the other side of the bed.

  David slid his battle rifle into the side holster to free his hands. He forced Dale’s arm away from his body. Snatching a short blade from his thigh sheath, David stabbed the knife through Dale’s palm, pinning him to the bed. Dale cried out and tried to grab at the hilt, but David had a second blade out and jammed into Dale’s shoulder, rendering that arm immobile, as well.

  Dale shrieked.

  “I have more of those. You make me draw the next one and I’m cutting your hand off to get to your reporter. That’s the only problem with your fancy implanted kind, you can’t just take it off.”

  Dale’s screams died out into a whimper.

  “It might take us a while to decode and trace any recent communications you had with Stavros,” David continued, “but we’ll eventually get it. You can save us some time and save your hand by giving up his location to us right now.”

  Dale opened his mouth to scream again, but David pressed the edge of another knife against Dale’s cheek as a deterrent. “Are you going to take the simple way out?”

  Dale’s speech came out in a sputter. “Stavros is on Sinder Isle.”

  “Wrong answer,” Ben called out. “We were already there. Looks like he left for a little holiday.”

  “Where do we find him?” David slid the knife along a freshly healed piece of new pink skin. Dale whimpered, tears streaking down his face.

  It just made David want to cut him more. “Where?”

  “Noveopini Territory on Tampa Three,” Dale blurted. “But he’ll be under an alias.”

  “Which would be?” David pressed.

  Dale hesitated until David whipped the blade from his cheek and sliced a chunk out of Dale’s ear. “Mario Buhl,” he said through gritted teeth.

  “I have the team checking it out now,” Ben said.

  “You won’t find anything in the Embassy files about him,” Dale said.

  “So, you’re saying we just have to take your word for it?” David asked.

  Alarms blared inside and outside.

  “Time to wrap it up,” Ben said.

  “That just cost you a hand,” David said.

  With one clean cut, David severed Dale’s wrist from his arm and threw the appendage to Ben. Dale’s screams filled the room as he thrashed the stub of his arm around. “Please don’t kill me. I’ll give you anything you want…money, girls. I can get you women, any kind you want.”

  David moved away from Dale and flipped on a bedside lamp.

  When Dale’s gaze met David’s and he was sure there was recognition lighting the panicked expression, David snapped his ba
ttle rifle around and fixed it on Dale.

  “I wanted you to know it was me. You should have never taken her from me, Dale.” David fired two fast projectile rounds into the middle of Dale’s forehead.

  Promise kept.

  Continue your adventures in the Ambasadora-verse.

  An excerpt from AMBASADORA:

  Several bottles clinked to the floor as Sean hurried to grab one of his clean shirts from the stack on the couch. He doused a corner of the soft cotton shirt with cold water from the bathroom faucet. Cries from the connecting bedroom sent him straight back to Sara. She thrashed against the mattress as though fighting an invisible opponent. His throbbing lip reminded him to approach her cautiously. She’d also caught him above his right eye during her last episode.

  “Sara, it’s Sean. I’m the only one here. You’re safe.” He placed a tentative hand on her shoulder.

  She stilled. Only her chest moved, rising and falling with ragged breaths. Her eyes never opened. He didn’t know if she could actually understand him or if she was just responding to the tone of his voice. He sat beside her. Sweat beaded on her forehead and the scent of roses suffocated the room as it dripped out of her pores. He was beginning to hate the heady smell as much as she did because he associated it with her torment.

  He pressed the cool cotton of the shirt against her forehead. He could feel the heat radiating from her skin, and that worried him. Having survived a couple of full slides in his teens, he always relied on restors to put him out so he could sleep it off. He’d given Sara a double dose already, yet that hadn’t calmed her much. He was afraid she’d overdose if he gave her any more. She either had a tolerance that surpassed his own or someone had used some powerful shit to mess with her mind.

  At least she slept, though it was more like a nightmarish trance. She murmured constantly, sometimes shouted. He could make out a small amount, pleas for help mostly, which made his chest tight. And names. Some he recognized like Rainer, Chen, and Simon. He was pretty sure that last one was in reference to Simon Prollixer. Though there weren’t many familiar enough with the Sovereign to throw his first name around, except in secret and adding a punchline to follow it up.