She watched his eyebrows for a reaction. She hadn’t met a lot of men who were into assisting women with repairs, but he hadn’t mentioned a mechanical aptitude or background. Maybe he wouldn’t be offended by her presumptions. If he was, he could always mash her face into the mat again.
At the moment, he was rubbing the back of his neck instead of responding. Maybe he thought her plan was too nuts to respond to.
“Once we’re there, you can of course go off to do the maiming and killing on your own,” Jamie said, hoping that would mollify him. “I don’t feel a need to be a part of that. I just want the captain to be safe. For Ankari. And because he’s been decent to me, as well. Despite all the growling and grunting.”
That elicited a faint smile. “He grunts at you? That means he likes you.”
“Oh? I know Ankari gets a whole range of grunts from him that apparently mean different things. The ones he gives to me… I think they mean get out of my way, you’re blocking the door, or get your robot off my foot.”
Sergei’s smiled broadened, and his eyes crinkled. Good. She liked to see him smile. Her first impression of him had been that he needed a friend, and that hadn’t changed much. He always seemed so morose, so glum.
He lowered his hand from his neck. “Listen, Jamie, I do appreciate you thinking up these plans. And I understand that you want to help the captain. I’m just confused by… Do you really want to go somewhere with me? After last time? I feel like I failed you and, uhm…”
“None of that was your fault. I failed myself. I was naive and drugged. I should have realized that and gotten out of there sooner. I have you to thank for taking me out of there, before something I really regretted happened.” It disturbed her now to think that she had found some of that night… arousing. That whole situation should have disgusted her, but she had woken up the last couple of nights after dreaming of being back in that room, with Sergei in his swimming suit, sweat glistening on his hard abdomen as he took the masseur’s place behind her. Her subconscious had a naughty streak.
Sergei grunted. He didn’t sound convinced by her words. And it didn’t sound like any of the three grunts the captain made that she knew how to interpret.
“It could be a good plan,” he said, “though we’d have to get some local IDs made. I would be concerned about going off and leaving Ankari and Lauren on another cloud city. I know they have Hazel, but as much as I want to blast this threat to Mandrake from the sky, I have to remember that Ankari is the mission he gave me. Protecting her has to be the priority.”
“I think Ankari would prioritize protecting the captain, but wait—” Jamie snapped her fingers. “That job fair isn’t until the weekend. The Albatross should be back with their cargo by then. Maybe Ankari doesn’t need to be down here at all. She and Lauren can stay on the ship, and we can take the shuttle down to Salt Cloud, so nobody is in danger except for us.”
“That’s… more appealing, but I’d rather you not be in danger, either.”
“I appreciate you adopting all of us as your charges, but I want to help. And I’m the ideal person for this robot-repair job. Besides, there’s something else you should know. About Laframboise.” Jamie hesitated. She hadn’t been certain whether she should mention this, but in the event that it came up during his mission for some reason, he should know.
“What?”
“She’s sixty now, but she originally paid her way through school by serving a tour in the Fleet. As… a counselor.”
His jaw clenched, and his eyes… He looked away quickly, but not before a hint of old pain flashed through them.
“I thought…” Jamie cleared her throat. “Maybe it’s none of my business, but I thought you could use a friend there, just in case things got awkward.”
“A friend,” he murmured, gazing out toward the cloud-filled sky beyond their aerial dock.
Had she presumed too much again? Maybe they hadn’t known each other long enough for him to consider her a friend.
“Yes, one can’t have too many friends,” he said more loudly, then smiled again, though it didn’t come across as sincerely as before. “I certainly don’t have too many.” He rose to his feet without using his hands, then lowered one to her. “Are you rested? Shall we resume your training?”
Jamie groaned, but she did accept his hand. “I thought I’d distracted you enough that you would forget about it.”
“Forget? Of course not. I’m looking forward to the moment when you hurl Striker over your shoulder, then stand on his chest.”
“That would be nice.”
“Do something like that and the rest of the crew will think twice about harassing you. In case I’m not around to be thorny for you.”
Jamie didn’t want to think about him not being around. She hoped he was simply speaking of the hypothetical and that he didn’t have plans to leave. They would take care of the Laframboise woman, remove the threat to the captain, and then nobody would have a reason to doubt his trustworthiness.
Instead of responding, she wriggled her fingers, inviting an attack. He started with one of the grabs they had already gone over, one that she doubtlessly needed to practice ten thousand more times before she would be competent. His hand latched onto her wrist. She twisted her arm, stomping on his foot to loosen his grip, then grabbed his arm as she stepped in, turning her back toward him.
She started to attempt the throw, but he stopped her with a warning of, “Closer. You have to get closer to your enemy for this one.”
Right, she was supposed to stick her butt right into his hip. Without releasing his arm, she scooted back, jammed herself into him, and pulled his arm over her shoulder at the same time as she thrust her butt backward. The last few times she had tried this, she hadn’t had enough momentum, so she pulled and thrust much more quickly. She was rewarded with feeling his feet leave the ground and his body tumbling over her shoulder.
He landed on the map, rolling out of the fall easily, but she grinned, nonetheless. “It worked that time.”
Sergei gave her a military salute, rather than a sensei’s bow. It pleased her even more than her successful throw.
“Jamie,” came Sergeant Hazel’s voice from the shuttle ramp. “Ankari said the store is open now if you want to pick up those replacement parts.”
“Oh, all right.” With her tablet inside, Jamie hadn’t realized what time it was. The workday had started. “Thank you, Sergei.”
As she headed for the ramp, Sergeant Hazel said, “I hope you’re not paying him for those lessons. He’s getting payment enough already.” She was looking at Sergei as she said it, her eyes hard.
“What do you mean?” Jamie asked, not quite understanding Hazel’s continuing antagonism for Sergei. He had been nothing but civil to all of them, and it couldn’t be easy, being the lone man in close quarters with a group of women. Jamie’s father, who had raised three daughters, had said as much any number of times. Maybe Hazel had thought Jamie and Sergei’s supposed plot to double-cross the captain had been in earnest? Ankari hadn’t believed it for a second, but Hazel didn’t know Jamie as well. Hm.
“Never mind,” Hazel said and waved her toward the shuttle.
Jamie walked up the ramp, but paused just inside the hatch. Sergei was folding the mat up to store, and Hazel joined him.
“You better be keeping your hands to yourself,” she told him.
“My hands have been utterly professional,” Sergei said. The mat thumped together hard.
“Uh huh. I saw your missile trying to launch in that video. I don’t know what was going on at that spa, but that’s no place for a girl like her.”
Jamie knew she shouldn’t be eavesdropping but couldn’t help herself. Girl like her? What did that mean? That Hazel thought her some rural rube who had no idea about the big city life? Or that she was some cute little virgin who had no idea about big city orgies? That… was possibly true. But still. It wasn’t as if Sergei had arranged that meeting. That had been all her own naiveté.
> “I’ll keep that in mind.” Sergei sounded like he was trying very hard not to say something snippy. Jamie didn’t blame him.
“Just leave her alone,” Hazel added. “She’s too young for you. And she’s way too good for you.”
Jamie’s mouth dropped open. She felt affronted on Sergei’s behalf. It wasn’t as if he had even implied he was interested in her. She was on the verge of turning on her heel and marching down there to say something when Sergei responded.
“Don’t worry. She made it clear she’s not interested.”
Jamie froze, her foot in the air. She had made it clear? When had she done that?
“Did she? Good for her.” Hazel sounded delighted.
Jamie didn’t know whether to go out there and say something or to wait and talk to Sergei privately later.
Made it clear? She hadn’t made anything clear, had she? She hadn’t even been thinking about him as anything other than a friend. Except at the spa. And, all right, she hadn’t been thinking of him as a friend when she had woken from those dreams, and maybe even during the day, she had dwelled on that moment when his muscles had surged, and he had shoved the masseur into the water…
But that spa had made her leery in regard to sex-related adventures too. She wasn’t sure how normal all that had been or what normal was exactly. She felt like she was too old to be so naive in such matters, but she had never had many opportunities to experiment—her father had nearly slain poor Jimmy Monroe from down the street when they had kissed on the porch, and she hadn’t wanted to get any other boys in trouble. Now she had the freedom to do what she wished, but she couldn’t imagine doing what she wished with any of the big, older men on the ship. They probably wanted the kind of woman who would be comfortable in that orgy, not some shy girl from the backwaters of Mercruse. They were all so loud and aggressive—more intimidating than attractive. Sergei wasn’t like that, but despite Hazel’s words, Jamie didn’t think he had any interest in her. Unless one counted that bizarre coffee date in the hospital cafeteria, he hadn’t asked her to go anywhere or do anything with him. They had worked together a couple of times. That was all.
“Everything okay?” Ankari asked. She had walked out of the clinic and was doubtlessly wondering why Jamie was standing at the hatch, poised to go out, but not actually going out.
“Yes. I… just thinking. I’ll go get those new parts now.”
Chapter 9
Sergei watched from behind the pilot’s seat as the hawk-shaped Albatross grew larger on the view screen. He had mixed feelings about returning to the ship. On the one hand, he would get a break from watching Ankari, but on the other, he wouldn’t have an excuse to spend much time with Jamie. Mandrake would probably give him other duties, and people would think him odd if he lurked in the shuttle bay during his free time. Not that people didn’t already think him odd. But Jamie might find it weird.
He would console himself knowing they would have one more mission together, assuming Mandrake approved it. Mandrake should agree with a mission that involved killing the person who had placed the bounty on his head. Maybe he would even want to come along. Sergei smirked at the idea of Mandrake hunched over a pile of spare parts, trying to convince some stuffy personnel acquisitions specialists that he was the perfect man to repair dishwashing robots. Sergei could play the part of obsequious servant, but Mandrake looked like a commander, even when he was wandering around in gym togs. He had perfected that I’ll-kick-your-ass-if-you-don’t-do-what-I-say-and-I-mean-now chin tilt.
The comm bleeped. “Shuttle Four, the docking bay doors are open, and you’re cleared to land.”
“Thank you, Lieutenant Sequoia,” Jamie said.
As professional as any Fleet ship, that was Mandrake Company.
“They didn’t bring any fighters to blow up this time?” a disappointed voice in the background asked. “Well, shit.”
“Sit on your thrusters, Frog. We’re carrying boxes of food logs because you blew up the last fighter.”
Sergei snorted. Maybe not quite as professional.
“That wasn’t my fault,” Frog said. “The captain said to blast that sucker. I was just following orders.”
“As I recall, the captain asked you to disable the ship.”
“Please, fighters are so small, you can’t disable them. You spit across their wings, and they self-implode.”
The comm cut off, leaving whatever reply Sequoia might have made unheard.
“Guess we’re home.” Jamie gave Hazel, who sat in the co-pilot’s seat, a crooked smile.
“Yes.” Hazel stretched her arms overhead, looking pleased that she would soon resume her normal shipboard duties.
Hearing Frog and Sequoia sniping at each other reminded Sergei of something else, that Jamie found much of the crew intimidating. Maybe she would take him up on his offer to walk at her side and be thorny for her, and he would have an excuse to spend time with her, after all. And then there were the self-defense lessons. He had already taught her some useful basics, but she hadn’t minded the judo, either, and that was an art that took years to master. Maybe she would want to continue with those lessons…
To what end, buddy? How many times had he told himself she was off-limits to him? And hadn’t Hazel, curse her assumptions, verified everything he already knew? That Jamie was too young and too… pure for him? He would be better off finding someone else to teach her and avoiding her altogether after they finished their mission.
Except… as he gazed at the back of her head, her soft blonde hair tied into a single braid today, his heart ached at the idea of distancing himself from her.
“You all right, Zharkov?” Hazel asked, frowning over at him. “You look like you lost your favorite dagger.”
Surprised she had noticed or asked, Sergei merely shook his head. “Fine.”
Jamie turned in her chair, giving him a far more concerned look than Hazel had offered. That look, the warmth in her eyes… It made his heart ache more, his throat tighten up with emotion. How could she possibly matter so much to him after such a short time?
A bleep from the control panel drew Jamie’s attention back, and the shuttle was soon swooping into the bay. Ankari came forward to sit beside Sergei. When they landed, and the red light flashed outside, signaling the return of gravity and air pressure to the bay, she leaned her elbows on her knees and peered at the view screen, toward the door just visible outside.
“Been missing those grunts?” Hazel asked.
Ankari flashed a quick grin. “They’re more endearing than you would think.”
“I’ll take your word for it.”
“None of those meatheads on board ever caught your heart?”
“No.” Hazel’s face hardened, and she faced forward again.
Maybe if she smiled at a man once in a while…
“We’re good,” Jamie said and hit the button for the hatch. “And there’s the captain. Guess he missed you too.”
Sergei stood, intending to walk out first, but Ankari jumped to her feet and jogged for the hatch. He strode down the ramp after her, figuring it was unlikely an assassin would leap out inside the ship. She ought to be safe here.
A couple of the other shuttles were gone, probably delivering the supplies to the planet, so she could run straight toward Mandrake, who was striding down the steps to the deck, with Lieutenant Chang from engineering trailing him. A panel in the wall slid open, and a few robots rolled out of a maintenance chamber, vacuums sucking and floor buffers spinning. The landing must have interrupted their scheduled cleaning.
Ankari and Mandrake came together with a fierce hug and a kiss that surprised Sergei. It wasn’t that he hadn’t believed those two were lovers, but he hadn’t quite believed Mandrake would be that… effusive. Especially in public. Maybe this was the first time they had been apart. Sergei wondered wistfully what it would be like to have a woman that enthused about seeing him after being separated. Or… ever.
Bangs sounded from the direction of the rob
ots, the noises so loud that they echoed from the walls and hammered Sergei’s eardrums. He spun toward them, his hand dropping to his laser pistol, even as he realized it had to be some mechanical failure and not an attack. Then Ankari screamed, and the captain cursed. One of the robots had its arm pointed toward them, an arm that usually dispensed soap. Mandrake pushed Ankari to the ground and ran toward the robots. Bullets flew out of that soap arm.
Sergei’s instincts reacted, even though his mind was blurting, What the hell? As the captain rolled to avoid the shots, Sergei fired, his laser blasting into the robot. The metal orifice melted shut, and he held down the trigger, slicing through the entire arm for good measure.
By then, Mandrake was back on his feet and close to the offending robot, so Sergei stopped firing. He watched the other two, though, in case either of them had untoward ideas in their mechanical brains. Mandrake grunted—or was that a pained wince?—as he reached the one with the missing arm. He slapped it on the back, turning off its power switch. He glared at it a moment, but the robot sputtered, and its remaining arm drooped to its side. Mandrake turned off the other two robots, as well, even though they had been running their normal cleaning program.
Sergei started toward Ankari, but she waved him away. “Help Viktor. He was shot.”
The Assassin's Salvation (Mandrake Company) Page 13