by A. B. Keuser
KaDen was silent once more.
“I know you’re not a fan of humans. Hell, I don’t like half of them either. But we’re not all the same. You can’t judge us as a whole. And I may know nothing about the Kas, save for whatever the Fleet told me, and who knows how wrong that was, but I love Kenzie. Her being Ka won’t change that, and if she’s Ka, then I know you can’t all be that bad.”
He would have sworn the Ka laughed.
“Let me help you, between the two of us, I’m more qualified to deal with Maeltar.” The thought of her attacking Kenzie had him clenching his fist. “And I have no problem putting her down.”
“Fine.”
It wasn’t a glowing endorsement, but he’d take it.
Raza stared at him, her eyes narrowed as she picked at her thumbnail. “You really do love her, don’t you?”
“For longer than you’d imagine.”
“Well damn, now I have to do the gentlewomanly thing and bow out.”
“You never know… she might not want me.” He didn’t add that he might not survive his own plan.
“Well, what’s the deal? If that one sided conversation told me anything, it’s that you just got ‘carte blanche,’ so…?”
“Now, we go on a rat hunt. Maeltar is our first priority.”
He slipped out of the closet-like space with Raza on his six, stalking down the hall, they followed the trail set out by KaDen.
The corridor curved away from them and Cable moved quickly behind the voices. Clearly no one had taught them silence was the best policy when hunting. Then again, maybe they were arrogant – or stupid – enough to believe no one else could possibly be on board.
Cable was more than happy to prove them wrong.
Clicking off his gun’s safety, Cable nodded for Raza to take the lead, as he stuck to the outside curve of the wall. He’d see their quarry first, and keep her less exposed.
Left.
Flinching at the order that sliced through his mind as though it was a bolt of lightning, Cable stopped.
The corridor ended at a fork, and the dark paths looked identical. Cable was sorely tempted to turn right.
There are things you need not see.
Places within a kazahan that are dangerous to humans.
Death is all you will find there.
Not just your own.
The whole ship was dying.
He knew Raza and Stacy felt it too. No one needed the abomination on his hand to know that. Whatever KaDen wanted him to steer clear of was worse than what he saw here. And that was troubling.
Ahead, movement caught his eye, and he raised his gun a moment before two of Maeltar’s goons rounded the corner.
It was difficult to say who shot first.
A bullet ricocheted off his gun and into the wall, its brittle surface exploded, sending dust and debris into the air.
“I thought you said no one had been down here.”
The sensors must be wrong.
Cable dodged behind an enormous, fallen piece of corridor while Raza stood her ground in the middle of the corridor and Stacy stood as close to the opposite wall as possible.
If his Raza hadn’t been damned near invincible, he would have dragged her down too and given her an earful.
Instead, he took aim with his secondary weapon, and fired into the hazy corridor.
In the firefight, Cable could only hear his heartbeat, and the vitriolic whispers of the Ka in his brain.
Muzzle flash, the copper tang of spilled blood, and the choke of the smoky discharge from the corridor walls had him on his knees.
The last bullet spent from his gun, Cable threw himself at the nearest one of Maeltar’s goons, shoulder to knees and dropped him. He hit the hard floor with a spine cracking twist of his neck.
Cable pushed to his feet, and it took him a good ten seconds before he saw through the smoke clearly enough to know that Raza and Stacy had dealt with the rest.
“We need to talk about your ammo conservation, boss.” Stacy checked her gun, and Cable saw the blue charge flicker.
KaZie should not be alone.
Cable didn’t disagree, but the fact the Ka in his head was not giving him any more information was a bad sign.
She slipped through the opening their gunfire had blasted in the wall and Cable nodded for Raza to move ahead too.
They were at the dead men when movement in the smoke pulled them up short.
The man that turned the corner didn’t see them. Even when Raza’s gun whirred with an unfortunate pitch, he kept walking. It wasn’t until clanking from the other side of the wall echoed around them that he noticed them.
He stopped, gun still slung over his shoulder, eyes wide.
Gaping at the bodies between them, he didn’t pull his gun down to aim at them, he just ran.
Turning on his heel he raced for the doorway, but as his foot fell over the hatchway, the butt of a rifle slammed into his nose and he fell backward, blood smearing his upper lip and dribbling down his chin as his skull bounced off the bulkhead.
Stacy peered out of the compartment and surveyed the man who was no longer breathing.
“Maeltar’s people can run!” She jerked her head back the way she’d come. “Took out two others when they high-tailed it for the exit.”
“I didn’t say to kill anything that moves.”
She shot him a smile. “You didn't have to."
Raza shook her head and asked, “Are you sure this is going to work?"
“Which part?”
“The part where we’re safe to dock with the other ship again.”
"KaDen has more use for you alive than dead. I'm willing to trust that."
"Alright. Tell me what Phase two is."
“You two go back to Kenzie’s ship. We need to keep that avenue of escape open. I can deal with Aaron and what needs to be done here.”
“Sure you can,” Stacy said from behind him. “We’ll just help you along until we get back to that bubble room.”
“Doesn’t work on this end.” Cable said, relaying the information KaDen sent him. “There’s a shuttle in the bay three levels up. You’ll be able to take it without drawing too much attention to yourselves.”
“You know how much I like attention.”
He shot Raza a brief glance and headed toward the spiral.
KaZie is only able to do so much.
She hesitates to do what is needed.
“You’re asking her to kill her brother.”
I’m asking her to save millions of lives.
“It’s not as simple as pulling a trigger.”
They came out of the spiral into an empty, but well-lit corridor.
Cable swung his gun around the corner, not trusting his ears. The ship was a cacophony of sounds - none of them pleasant. And he knew Maeltar too well to think she'd bypass a sector and make assumptions.
With Raza on his six, he moved cautiously down the corridor, finger ready on the trigger. A screech echoed down an intersecting path and he stopped abruptly, waiting for whatever it was to stop or show itself. He hoped it was just the dying Ka ship, and not something more sinister. Something like an angry crassicau looking for fresh meat.
"God that sounds awful." Raza's muttering behind him was barely audible, and he took a chance, stepping forward cautiously.
He signaled for her to take the path leading away from the direction the sound echoed to them from. On a count of three, they swung into the square of the intersection and Cable swept his gun across an empty hallway. Behind him, Raza quickly and quietly gave him the all clear.
"It's like we have the run of the place." Stacy’s gun was still up, her jaw set as she turned a quick sweeping glance around the room. "When the cat's away, we mice will play."
"I don’t think anyone's ever referred to me as a mouse before."
"Of course not, you'd knock their faces in." Raza shouldered open a door and glanced inside.
"But I wouldn't do the same to you?"
&nb
sp; “We both know I’m not afraid to hit back.”
Stacy snorted. "Not so long as your girlfriend likes us. You wouldn't do anything to hurt her favorite squad mates."
"You sure about that?" He turned back to the hall they'd come from, making sure they weren't being followed. "I did leave her brother for dead, and now I'm going to kill him."
"That's different. Aaron's a tool.” Raza said in complete deadpan. “I'm the plucky friend she can experiment with when she gets bored of you."
"Right. Well, you might want to make sure she's down with that first."
Raising her hand in a mock salute, Raza spat a clipped "yes sir" and they continued straight on. The Ka in his head was not particularly amused by the small break they'd taken, but he was smart enough to keep quiet.
Three more enemy-less intersections, and Cable was starting to get a bad feeling. "Where is everybody?"
"I don't know. It'd be nice to actually get to shoot one of these bastards."
"Hang back. I'm going to go ahead... just in case. It feels like we're walking into a trap."
"And if you get caught? How are we supposed to finish the job? I don't have a ship in my head."
Nodding, Cable looked over his shoulder, and then bent close, telling her what she had to do if he was caught. Telling her how to get to the hangar even if he didn’t.
"Get back to Kenzie’s ship, and make sure you don't get caught too."
"You make it sound like it's an inevitability for you."
He smiled to himself as he walked away. "All a part of the plan, Raz."
Turning the corner, he waited for the Ka to tell him he was being foolish, but there was nothing.
"You still bouncing around up there? Or have I killed you with boredom."
Your brain is not that depressing.
It has some very interesting thoughts.... Especially about KaZie.
I no longer have a body of my own.
But I can certainly appreciate what yours is feeling.
"That is so beyond not okay."
Keep your mind elsewhere and we won't have that problem.
Wandering the halls of the ship was not the best way to get himself captured. He wasn't sure why he'd thought it would be. But as he rounded his ninth corner, he couldn't be sure where he was on the ship anymore.
“They have undoubtedly returned to the sections of the ship Aaron has desiccated with his abominations.”
"Yeah, well, I guess I should get climb—"
The cold press of metal to the base of his skull halted him from saying any more.
"What do we have here? A fleet commander where he shouldn't be?” Bezzon’s words were laced with contempt. “You’re like lice. You need to be exterminated."
"You could do that, and see how Aaron deals with you."
"He'll thank me."
"He'll throttle you. He wants to kill me himself. I mean, I did leave him for dead on a back sector planet. And then I took his promotion."
When Bezzon didn’t react, he added the lie that would set his teeth on edge. “And there’s the fact I’m sleeping with his sister.”
"You are not fucking Kenzie." The gun's muzzle dug into the skin. "If you were I'd kill you myself, right now. Drop the gun, don't think I missed it. You're not going to get the upper hand on me. I’ve studied your mission reports. I know all your tricks"
Cable let the weapon fall to the floor. It clattered on the metal deck plating and he let out a silent thanks that the damned thing hadn't gone off. Ricochets didn't care whose side you were on.
"Good boy. All you fleet cronies are alike. A master says sit, your but is on the ground."
Ignoring the impulse to lump Bezzon in with them, he waited.
He pushed Cable forward and shoved the gun into one of his kidneys. "Walk. I'm going to put you somewhere for safe keeping until Aaron gets back and decides what to do with you."
"Somehow, I thought you’d be working for Maeltar?"
"That idiot? She's not running this show. Aaron is just letting her think she is because she has the money to back his venture. Once Kenzie helps him finalize the changes to the ships, Maeltar’s a loose end. And she’ll be snipped."
There was a disgusting longing in the man's voice when he said, “And then, Kenzie will finally be mine.”
Cable clenched his fists to keep from turning around and killing the man. He could have done it. The idiot wasn’t paying enough attention. If it wasn't for the fact he was about to be taken to the very place he needed to be, he would have torn the bastard's head off.
There would be time for that later.
He moved wherever Bezzon told him to, managing to keep himself from too many prods.
The upper levels - the abomination - were dimmer than he recalled. Flickering from the retrofitted fleet lights gave the deck a near-strobe quality, and Cable wondered if his captor was leading him through looking for a reason to shoot him. Bezzon was giving him ample time and opportunity to escape. He was either an idiot--and knowing the subbie, that was likely--or he had a trick up his sleeve.
"I thought the brig was that way."
"I'm not taking you to the damned brig. You're going right to Aaron. He’s set up in the control room. He'll want to see you himself."
Cable bit his lower lip to keep from smiling. The idiot played right into his Ka covered hand.
Thirty-Four
Mack kept up as best she could. A difficult task with Aaron dragging her by the hair, her head near the level of her bellybutton. Each step jerked her more sharply forward and she bit her tongue to keep from crying out.
Though Nrog had said she’d be taken back to Aaron’s ship, it appeared her brother had changed his mind.
“What are you doing to my ship?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I haven’t done anything!”
“If you’re going to be this useless, I may give you to Maeltar after all! She’s proving to be far more loyal.” He threw her into a brig cell and closed the rib-like doors. “You’re wreaking havoc on my ship, causing power failures, ventilation backups, Hell! You’ve even got my systems thinking there are gremlins running about.”
Kenzie knew exactly who his gremlins were. “I haven’t touched your ship since you sent me away.”
“If you’re not going to tell me what I need to know, I’ll find out for myself.”
Snapping his fingers he left with Nrog close on his heels.
Dread flooded through her. If she didn’t stop him, Aaron was going to do to KaDen what he’d already done to the other kazahan.
Her head resting on the bars of her cell, Mack looked at the control panel across the room. The cell was designed to hold Ka prisoners, she wouldn’t get out of this one easily, unless…
“If you can hear me, we need to do something about my brother or you’re going to be next on his destruction list.”
The door opened, sending her tumbling forward and she saw the control panel blinking softly. She went to it quickly and pressed her hand against the softness of it, but instead of falling into the ship’s mind, a voice filled hers.
If he destroys me.
The others will not have time to help you.
Without needing a second motivator, Mack ran from the brig, her heartbeat in her ears as she wound her way through the ship toward the command center.
The doors fluttered open, just enough to let her through, like slipping through a keyhole, and she kept to the wall, to the edges of the room that KaDen had left in shadow.
Aaron stood with his hands on the console, glaring down at the scrolling lights that meant nothing to him. She could see that much in his frustration.
If she gave him much longer, she was certain he’d start an assault that would leave more than just this Kazahan damaged.
But before she could move, the wall caught her in a suction like grip and the fluttering hatch opened.
I’d like to know,” Maeltar said, stepping in behind her brother, “why that man thinks you
’re giving your sister to him.”
Aaron didn’t turn though his irritated eye roll told Mack he’d heard her. Annoyance rather than surprise.
“Have you ever dealt with the fleet?” He laughed harshly. “What a ridiculous question. But since we both know you have, you know that they beat loyalty into a person. We walk away from that because we realize they’re more corrupt than the corruption they claim to fight… or because of a lure that is simply irresistible. My sister is that lure for Bezzon. I needed him to do what I asked, and fall in line.”
“So you sold your sister to him, and to me.”
“No, I dangled her in front of him. And I offered you a captain and a ship if you helped me in this. If you want Kenzie’s affections, you’ll need to earn them yourself.”
“And you don’t plan on soothing the way for me?”
“I’ll put in a good word, but my sister is like me. She knows when someone is trying to get on her good graces for… less than genuine reasons. If you tell her you want her… you’d better make sure you mean it.”
“Oh, I do.”
“Then get things sorted out so that we can break up this fleet before someone finds us and tries to do it for us.”
Maeltar glowered at his back, and for a half second, Kenzie thought she might pull the knife from her belt and drive it straight into her brother’s back.
Instead, she turned on her heel. “Don’t make me regret helping you, boy.”
The wall loosed its hold and she moved forward, the knowledge of what she needed to do a cold weight in her chest.
Whether he could sense her, or if she’d made a noise, she didn’t know. Whatever it was, something gave her away.
He swung around, gun pointed at her. If he wanted to kill her, all he had to do was pull the trigger.
As soon as he saw it was her, he relaxed.
“I thought you’d come looking for me.”
His words were bored, as though he hadn’t just dragged her to the brig. As though there was nothing wrong with what he’d done. What he was doing.
“How could you do this?”
Aaron looked at her and rolled his eyes. “You know what kind of a person she is. You don’t need my opinion.”