by A. B. Keuser
She followed him to the elevator and then off again when they’d reached the ground floor.
“We’ll pick up a folder from the outpost on Breena,” Banks said, as they settled into the ground car.
The moon was—for most people—the closest thing to an open space field as any of Capo’s citizens could get. And while she had a small hangar on the planet, and the permissions that went with it… a commercial flight to Breena before continuing any journey was worth avoiding the exorbitant fees, and nightmare of paperwork. Most of the time.
They’d still have to go to Breena, but this time, she’d pay to not have to wait to get there, and she’d pay to get ahead of the line for the few folders who worked outside the Colarium’s military control.
It was a short ride to the private airport terminal she owned. Her ship waited, bathed in the harsh white of the overhead lights.
The flight deck was empty. The ship’s lights were all green.
She didn’t think Banks had lied to her, the man was simply a magician. And if he hadn’t managed to orchestrate a flawless preflight prep, she might have to fire him in favor of whoever had.
“Anything you want to tell me?” Banks said as he settled down into the chair beside her, clipping his folding straps down.
“Geo’s gotten himself into real trouble this time.”
“He’s not dumb enough to go after the guy alone. He’ll let his boys do all the dirty work.”
She wished she could trust that, but she was beginning to doubt her brother had any sense left at all.
And the Great Mother, it seemed, had decided to give her a lesson in patience.
Given the chance, Sophia might have shot the Colarium official standing in her way.
Given the prison sentence that would come from such actions, she kept her hands stuffed in her pockets. It wouldn’t do any good to throw a punch either.
But Great Mother, how she wanted to.
He leered and smiled and crumpled his lips in the patronizing half frown that was too often given to children. Ten minutes in his presence and he hadn’t said anything of substance. But after meeting Paige, it was easy to guess where he was headed.
“I would have thought…” he said with a smile that slithered across his face, “that you’d know where all those you’re responsible for are. It’s a good business practice after all.”
“Giuseppe is not one of my employees, and he’s not a child. He doesn’t have to check in with me.”
“Maybe not, but he does have stake in your company and you are the only one listed as his emergency contact.”
“I have not seen or been in contact with my brother for over a month. As far as I know, he’s flown off to Oblivion and has been drunk on the island experience this whole time. His actions aren’t any concern of mine.”
“Even when he’s acting on behalf of your company?”
“If that is the case, please provide me with proof of the instance so that I can begin to take legal action against him.”
The official only showed his suspicion for a moment. “You’d sue your own brother?”
“One does not get to where I am by allowing others to do as they please in my name. I won’t allow anyone to do that. Ever.” Even the Colarium. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have a great many things that need to be done. Good business practices, as you say.”
“And what about your brother?”
“If he’s a problem, I’ll deal with him. People who stand in my way, don’t remain standing for long.”
Sliding a glance at Banks, acting as though her threat had been an immediate one, the official took two steps back, lengthening them enough that he didn’t seem like he was running away.
“If he contacts you, make sure you get in touch. I know you wouldn’t want to do anything to put the Colarium at risk.”
The official didn't turn his back on her until he was half way out of the hangar, and then, he walked a little faster than could be considered a casual stroll.
Banks scowled after him. “It looks like your golden garbed friend was right. Someone high up the chain of command might be gunning for you.”
“Then it’s a good thing I employ a small army of lawyers.” She watched the doors close behind the official. “I’ll have my assistant let them know to expect questions, and to prep those in positions to get us in trouble. I’m not the only one they’ll try to use to bring us down.”
“Should we let Paige know they’ve approached us?”
Walking up the boarding ramp, Sophia stretched out the new tension in her neck. “Do we really want her knowing our business? Are we sure she presents a better option?”
“Ma’am?” The pilot poked his head out the bridge doorway. “I’m sorry, but we missed our departure window.”
“Not your fault.” She’d like to chase the official down and knock him around a bit. “How long until we make it back into the queue?”
He glanced nervously behind him and confirmed with the copilot. “Six hours.”
Cursing behind her, Banks turned right back down the boarding ram. “Alright. We’ll make sure we don’t miss that one.” She could have called in a favor, or thrown money at the problem, but she wasn’t in a mood to give the Colarium anything more that morning.
She followed Banks back into the hangar and went to the ground car that hadn’t yet returned to her garage.
In the quiet dark of the tinted interior, she leaned her head back against the seat and tried not to repeat Banks’ curses.
“He did that on purpose.”
“Of course he did.” Banks glared at the passing buildings.
“Contact our new friend. As much as it pains me, I think we’re better off keeping her in the loop if others are going to stop us from doing our real work.”
“Are you sure you want to put that much control in the hands of a devil we don’t know?”
“The only devils we do know don’t have the power to do anything about what we’re working with now.” She wasn’t sure if she truly knew what they faced.
Or how many sides they were coming at her from.
“How’s Maggie progressing?”
“She’s got a lead and is chasing it down.” Banks blew out a long breath. “Apparently the advertised mining job ships out of Beta Five.”
“Why the hell would they do that?”
“She asked the same question.” He met her questioning gaze. “But if anyone can figure out the answer, it’ll be her.”
It had started to rain. She pressed the backs of her fingers against the cold glass and watched the water stream along the pane.
“I need a moment to collect myself. It’s been too long since I’ve sat alone with the Great Mother.”
Banks didn’t say a word. If he disapproved of her involvement with the sisterhood—and he did—he was careful to hold his tongue.
In minutes the driver had changed direction and pulled up outside the temple steps.
Again, he left her at the interior doors, and took up a watch.
Someday, she’d drag him inside and show him his superstitions were ridiculous.
The temple was quiet. Not empty—on planets as densely populated as Capo, no temple ever was. But the peace served her purpose.
She sat in the front row of the pews, closed her eyes and reclined against the hardback. If she slid a little lower, she could almost used the heavy wood as a head rest. But slouching as much as she already was was unconscionably rude.
And she would only stay like this a few minutes more. Once the Great Mother had leached the immediate tension from her, she could return to a proper posture.
“What troubles you, daughter?”
The sister who sat next to her had moved silently and Sophia flinched back to an upright position.
“Apologies, Sister. What I needed from the Great Mother....”
“I understand. Perhaps she sent me to you because you need guidance more than silence?”
Sophia watched the woman’s lip
s. They were soft, full. The smile on them was natural and the corners of her eyes crinkled with that same inward joy.
It was the reason Sophia didn’t want to ask what needed to be asked.
“How involved with the Lazarai is the sisterhood?”
The silence was sharp as a flinch and the sister drew away a moment before she caught herself, forced herself to relax.
She shifted and glanced toward the dark portal that lead to their living quarters and offices.
“I swear to the Great Mother that I am not trying to trap you or any of your sisters into something. It is like I’m in a river and the current is pulling me under. Everyone who is offering me a bratch with which to drag myself out is suspect.”
“The Lazarai want to help?” Even she sounded suspicious.
“I don’t know if I can call whatever they’ve yet to fully offer ‘help.’”
Taking her hand the sister said, “The Great mother has given you this path because you are the only one who can walk it.”
That wasn’t a comfort, but she didn’t voice her worry. That the Great Mother, who knew everything had to die, was leading her on a path that might very well result in her demise—or ruin.
“But she has also given you us. We are here to help you. It is what the Great mother commands us to do. And if we refused to heed her call… we would be no better than those our red sister comes to claim.”
It was on the tip of Sophia’s tongue to ask about the woman who was no more than a whisper. But the sister in front of her was distracted.
Bowing her head for a moment and taking a long, deep breath, the sister finally looked up, a sad smile on her lips. “The Lazarai have, and have always had, their own agenda. We work with them as we work with the Colarium. Ours is a harmony we always wish to preserve…. That being said, there are some paths on which the Lazarai diverge. What is happening at the moment may be one of those.”
“So you can’t help me.”
“I didn’t say that. My implications should have been that it will not be easy.” She took Sophia’s hands in her own, leaving faint traces of green along her skin. “And I can’t be the one to tell you.”
“Then who can?”
“Consider what is at the center of your struggle.”
Grimacing, she dipped her head. She wouldn’t curse inside the temple, no matter how much she wanted to taste the words.
“Blessings.” She said, squeezed the sister’s fingers. “Thank you.”
“Blessings of the Mother. She will guide you where you need to be.”
Leaving the too-quiet temple, she didn’t look at Banks as he joined her on the steps and held open the door to her car. Great Mother save her, she was going to play a devil’s game.
Twenty-One - Flynn
Flynn was just finishing up lunch when Henri pushed through the doors to Susan’s. She glanced at the barkeep, a fleeting smile touching her lips before it disappeared and she turned on him.
Funny how he was getting used to that.
“What did I do this time?”
“It’s not what you’ve done, it’s what I need you to do.”
She looked at Chadrick beside him. “Think I can borrow him? I need someone who knows his way around a gun, and who’ll draw the least amount of attention.”
“I suppose I could loan him out.”
Flynn slid his friend a glare. But Henri, if she noticed, didn’t comment.
She just pulled a gun and belt from where she’d had it slung over her shoulder, dropped it on the table in front of him. “I knew you wouldn’t be carrying the one you’re cleared for, so I brought you a present.”
Her heel creaked as she turned, and she motioned for him to follow.
He shared a glance with Chadrick as the doors swung shut behind her, and together, they followed her out.
By the time they made it to whatever Henri had in store for him, he’d gotten the gun belt threaded through his loops, and was looking at a rundown… building?”
“What the fuck are we doing here?”
Chadrick and Henri scowled at him as though whatever had brought them to this place was his fault.
The half-fallen down shack—on level ground—wasn’t a place he’d bring anyone. Not even someone he wanted to kill.
“Why are you looking at me like I should know what’s in there?”
“The temple informed us of a theft… and our investigator tracked them down to this building.”
“So, why aren’t your peace officers taking care of it.”
“There’s only one thing to steal from the temple on this planet,” Chadrick looked at him and then back to the shack. “And that is just an entrance to an old storage facility. The peace force isn’t equipped to handle the kind of people who’d go after mad milk.”
Before Flynn could ask why the hell not? Henri added, “And we’ll be going in one at a time.”
“So it’s a ‘me first’ situation, then?”
“We’re not paying you to stand around and look pretty.” Henri didn’t smile as she said it. She didn't even look at him. Instead, she pulled her gun and checked the cartridge.
She’d swapped out her normal long skirts for a pair of wide legged pants and a duster. They’d get in the way just as easily, but he wasn’t going to be the one to tell her to go home and change.
“What’s it like inside?”
“Small room, staircase down. Below, it should be an anteroom leading to the storage space. That’s just a cavern they found while doing seismic studies.”
“Secondary entrances, exits?”
“None.”
He should have asked for more. Didn’t.
Flicking his gun to wide scatter, he dropped it to minimum power. He kept it low and his finger off the trigger. If he had to kill someone else on this planet, he’d rather not do it with witnesses.
Inside the shack, the fractured light from the door was the only thing that broke the darkness. His shadow was a distorted giant on a splintering wall.
The stairs, cut from heavy stone and spiraling down with a rough plaster wall on his right, were thick with dust on their outer edges, but dark footprints marred the centers. Smudged and duplicated, Flynn couldn’t guess how many might be waiting for them below.
He waited only long enough for his eyes to adjust and then started down the stairs—slow, keeping his gun up in case there was someone waiting around the next curve.
The stairs were old, but solid. And he thanked the Mother for that.
The anteroom Henri had mentioned was little more than a cube meant to provide an opportunity to block off the cavern, but the doors had been broken, their pieces piled in the corner. Only the knob and hinges assured him of the original purpose.
Pressing a finger to his lips, he motioned for the other two to stay back and ducked into the room, pulling back as quickly as he peeked in.
Four men sat at a table, empty bottles littered their card game. None of them wore guns, but there were three knives between them. In the far corner, a figure slept on a pallet. The white sheet over them masked any identifying marks, but the long hair and narrow shoulders led Flynn to guess it was a woman.
He only counted her as less dangerous because she was alone.
Without giving Henri or Chad warning—he was, ostensibly on this mission alone—he swept into the room and let confusion work as his partner.
They saw him, but it took too long to register, and by then, he was close enough that the dawning understanding didn’t matter.
Chairs scraped, and Flynn kicked the first man off his feet. A boot to the back of a knee, followed by his face slamming into the edge of the table… he wasn’t going to be an issue.
The others, he took down by throwing a chair. Whoever they were, they weren’t fighters. He didn’t know the details of their theft, but he guessed it had been done at night, under cover of darkness, and with no one to get in their way.
“Keep them alive for questioning,” Chad said in the tone o
f an impatient mother as he moved to the woman in the far corner.
“No promises.”
They looked at the gun in Henri’s hand, and one of them that would have surged forward was caught, held back by the others… those who had already seen the gun he wore and knew the spray pattern would take them all out if he needed to take down one.
Smart men.
Henri slapped cuffs on them and directed them to sit against the wall, hands on their knees. No chance she’d let them work their way out of their restraints.
By the time she was done and he could reholster his gun, Chadrick was back with them.
“I couldn’t get a name, but I know where she’s from.” He waved a hand by his shoulder.
Grimacing, Henri didn’t look at her. “NEU?”
“NEU,” Chad said, sharing a glance with Flynn. “They’ll want her back.”
“And we will give her back, just as soon as you’re sure she’s stable.”
The woman—girl. If she was over seventeen, he’d turn himself in to the Colarium—held a sheet tightly around her, as if to conceal her fully clothed body. Milky brown eyes darted between the three of them as her mouth opened and closed, but no words fell from her dark, stained lips.
“Get her up and out of here,” Henri said, her words quiet and directed only at Chadrick.
“We’ll deal with the rest.”
The rest—those who hadn’t risked Flynn’s gun fire—went timidly. Almost as though they’d expected to be caught.
Flynn didn’t trust them, but they never once struggled, never tried to make a break for it. And before he knew it, Henri had herded them into the town’s jail. He didn’t follow inside.
His neck had just begun to dully throb when Henri rejoined him.
“The girl?” He asked, looking to where Chadrick slowly helped her through the med cube’s front door. “Do you think she was in on it?”
“Maybe. You saw her eyes. The dark veins at her wrists. She was about an ounce from overdosing.”
Mad milk was hallucinogenic and highly addictive. Excreted from an ugly species of creatures called madris, Flynn had dealt with them on the Lazarai homeworld where they were indigenous. The influence of the drug had spread throughout the Colarium systems, and the so-called benevolent government entity had embraced it because they could tax it.