Blood and Metal

by Nina Croft

  “No.”

  Everyone else remained silent. She glanced at Rico where he slouched in a chair opposite, but his face was noncommittal. No help there.

  “Give me one good reason,” Tannis said.

  “He saved my life.”

  Tannis sighed. “Pretty good.”

  “He didn’t have to,” Daisy said, pushing her advantage. “And if he hadn’t, he would be on Trakis Five now.”

  “And he’d probably be in prison or dead.”

  “Yes, but the point is—he didn’t know that.”

  “No.” Tannis sighed again. “So what do we do?”

  “I say ignore him,” Rico said. “I think there’s a good chance he’ll be taken prisoner. But I don’t think he’ll betray us. Or he’ll grab this friend and get away. He knows we’re not far behind him.”

  At least Rico trusted Fergal. All the same, Daisy wasn’t sure she liked his take on things. In fact, she hated it. “I have to warn him,” she said. “He’s walking into a trap.”

  “And how do you plan to do that?” Tannis asked. “He’s obviously destroyed the comm unit.”

  “I’ll take a shuttle. Go after him.”

  “No way. You won’t reach him before he hits the planet.”

  She opened her mouth to say she’d go down and find him, but snapped it shut again. She’d go after Fergal alone if she had to, but perhaps it was better to keep that to herself. Tannis wasn’t above locking her up until it was too late if she thought it was the right thing to do for the crew.

  Tannis studied her for long minutes, her head cocked on one side, analyzing her, and Daisy held herself very still to prevent herself from squirming.

  “You care about him?”

  She swallowed. It wasn’t something she’d even allowed herself to think about. She was a vampire. Vampires didn’t do love. Well, at least not new ones. They were coldhearted killers. And she’d been using Fergal for sex. Nothing more. Except she didn’t feel like a coldhearted killer. And the memory of his lovemaking started a warm glow inside her, melting the coldness.

  She bit her lip, tasted blood, nodded. “Yes.”

  “Great. Just great.” Tannis turned away and paced the bridge, her movements jerky. Daisy held her breath.

  “Okay,” Tannis said at last. “We won’t blow him up, but we’ll keep to the plan. We can’t afford to go in before the other teams are in place. And we don’t have the manpower to send anyone in ahead of us. Besides, that might just alert them. So we presume your judgment is sound and he won’t betray us. When we go in, you come along, find your boyfriend, and we take him out with us. But you’d better be right, because if we lose Hatcher now, I’m going to be so pissed.”

  “But—”

  Tannis held up her hand to forestall any further comments. “That’s it and as far as I’m willing to go. And it’s a long way. If you’re wrong about him, we’re fucked. So start praying that you’re not.”

  “Praying to whom, exactly?” Rico drawled. “We’re about to attack the Church. I doubt God is going to be on our side.”

  “I doubt he’s on Hatcher’s side, either. In the meantime, do we revise our going-in strategy just in case? Start thinking, everybody.”

  Daisy sat back in her chair and let the conversation flow over her. She was itching to move. She knew Tannis had been generous; her first instinct would have been to protect the crew of The Blood Hunter and blow Fergal out of the sky.

  But however generous, it wasn’t enough.

  What did this Stefan guy want with Fergal? Was he nothing more than a giant petri dish for growing God knows what in Fergal’s brain? Maybe they didn’t even need him alive. Maybe they would kill him as soon as he showed his face and just harvest whatever it was he’d been harboring in his head.

  And what if she messed up going in? What if she caused them all to die? What if Fergal did betray them? How could she be sure? Her brain was about to explode.

  All the same, she had to reach him before he contacted his friend. She had to warn him.

  And if he really was their enemy, she had to kill him.

  She’d brought this on them.

  Now it was her job to clean it up.

  She glanced across to find Rico watching her, his eyes narrowed, and she managed a weak smile. She was trying to work out the numbers in her head. No way could she overtake Fergal now—she’d given him one of the fastest shuttles. But if she left straightaway, she might be able to intercept him as he reached the planet, or maybe he’d pick her up on the surveillance monitors and he’d know someone was following. He might even guess it was her.

  So she needed to go. And hope that they wouldn’t blast her out of the sky. She didn’t think they would, but you never knew what Rico would do if you pissed him off enough.

  She lifted a hand to rub her head, and the cuffs rattled. “I’m going to go see if I can get these things off,” she said, raising her arms and shaking the cuffs. “I’ll be right back.” Of course, they would know as soon as she was gone, but she couldn’t help that.

  A whole lot of eyes followed her as she left the bridge. She walked rather than taking the bubble—she needed to think. Plan.

  Once in her cabin, she sat on the edge of her bed and tried to pick the lock, but her hand was shaking. “Fuck,” she muttered and threw the pick across the room.

  “You need some help?”

  She glanced up to see Rico lounging in the open doorway, arms folded. He straightened and crossed the room, picked up the pick and crouched down beside her. “So you’re going after him alone?”

  She jerked out of his hold and stared into his face. “How did you know?”

  “Fucking crew has never been able to take orders. Why should anything change now?”

  “Does Tannis know?”

  “Probably. You never were any good at hiding your feelings.” The first cuff clicked and fell free, and he started work on the second.

  “And are you going to try and stop me?”

  “Honey, there’s no try about it. If I wanted to stop you, you’re stopped.”

  She sniffed but had no doubt he was telling the truth.

  He unlocked the second cuff, and it dropped to the floor. “And no. I’ll let you go.”

  “Why?” she asked, rubbing her wrists.

  “Because there are some things you don’t recover from.”

  “And you’re not going to suggest I take someone with me?”

  “No. Alone, you might slip in unnoticed. Security isn’t one of the Church’s strong points. A single person might succeed where a team of us would be picked up.”

  “And I’ve got something that might help,” a voice said from the doorway. Alex stood there, a bundle in her hands. “Here.” She thrust it toward Daisy, who grabbed the bundle and shook it out. It was Alex’s high priestess’s robes, the ones she’d been wearing when Tannis pulled her out of Trakis Five.

  “There are a lot of the sisters at the headquarters right now. These might help you get in there unnoticed. And here,” she said, handing her a small wrist unit. “I’ve programmed this with the floor plan of the inner area where Stefan Wolfe was staying.”

  Daisy blinked. “Thank you.”

  “I want you out of there safely. Just try not to smile too much—the teeth sort of give you away.”

  “I don’t think I’ll be doing a lot of smiling.”

  “And keep your eyes down—try and look demure. And hold your hands like this.” Alex clasped her wrists in front of her body.

  “I will.”

  Daisy didn’t bother stripping off her pants and shirt, just pulled the heavy robes on over the top, and an immediate sensation of suffocation swept over her. The robes were tight and a little short. Alex was smaller than she was, but she managed to do up the row of tiny buttons even if she couldn’t breathe afterward.

  “And the finishing touch…” Alex held out the black headdress, and Daisy took it from her.

  “I’ll add this later.” She stood for a
moment gazing at the two of them. “Don’t look so serious,” she said. “I’m coming back.”

  Alex patted her arm. “Of course you are.”

  It was weird; she’d always thought of Alex as the same age as her and even less mature. Now Alex was twenty years older, and while that wasn’t immediately obvious, if you looked into her eyes, you could see the maturity reflected there, and the pain. She’d been a prisoner for the last ten years, separated from the man she loved and from her children. The Church hadn’t known about Angel or Candy, which was just as well, as they would have had more hostages for Alex’s good behavior.

  “How’s the hunger?” Rico asked.

  “Fine. I haven’t even thought about it since…” Since she’d woken after Fergal knocked her out. She didn’t think she’d ever gone that long without thinking about blood.

  “Good. You’re getting it under control. Very impressive.”

  She couldn’t put this off any longer. “Okay, well, this is it.”

  They took the transporter bubble down to the docking bay. As the door slid open, she found Tannis and Devlin standing beside one of the shuttles, talking together. Were they going to try to stop her? But Tannis just raised an eyebrow as she approached. “Nice outfit. You make a great priestess.”

  Daisy flashed a fang.

  “Very unholy. You’re going after him?”

  “I have to.”

  “I think we all realized that.” She waved a hand at Devlin. “Devlin has been working on one of the shuttles, fitting the stealth device.”

  “It’s still not 100 percent, but should hold out. And she’s already set to your voice control.”

  “Thank you.” It would make getting in unnoticed much easier. She’d been planning to land a distance away from the Church’s headquarters so as not to be spotted, but with this she could land on the roof and they wouldn’t pick her up.

  Devlin shifted from foot to foot. “You want company and I’ll come with you. You might need backup. Or get hungry.”

  “I couldn’t…” She broke off.

  “Hey, don’t go all mushy. But I talked to Saffira, and she’s in agreement. You all came back for us when it meant almost certain death.”

  “We lived.”

  “It could have gone either way, but you still came. How can we do less for you?”

  Daisy swallowed and blinked back a tear. Looked like she was getting mushy after all. Then she took a deep breath and shook her head. “No,” she said. “I think my best chance is to try and stay unnoticed, and that will be easier alone. If it comes down to a fight, one more person won’t help.”

  “I think you’re right,” Tannis said. “But remember, we’re behind you.” She glanced at her wrist. “We attack in twenty-three hours. If you’re caught, try and stay alive that long, and we’ll get you out. And try not to bite anyone.”

  “I’ll try.”

  Tannis reached for her and took her in a hug. For a moment it felt tentative—Tannis wasn’t one for hugging—then her arms tightened around her. Finally, she released her and stepped back. “You’ve been with us so long. Try and stay alive.”

  “I will.”

  Her footsteps were heavy as she climbed the ramp. She couldn’t help but wonder if this was the last time she would see her friends. More than friends—her family. At the top she turned around.

  They all looked so solemn.

  “Tell Fergal the job offer is still open,” Tannis called out.

  They’d offered him a job? He hadn’t told her that. But it was too late to discuss now. She had to go. She gave a waggle of her fingers and turned her back on them.

  The shuttle woke around her as she strapped herself into the pilot’s seat. She kept herself from thinking as she went through the preflight checks.

  Five minutes later, she was flying away from The Blood Hunter. Only when the ship was far behind her did she let the tears fall. They dripped crimson onto the white skin of her hand.

  She allowed herself thirty seconds to wallow, and then she wiped her face, checked her coordinates, and set the shuttle to maximum speed. For the first time, she didn’t feel the thrill of exhilaration as she headed into the vastness of space.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “Fuck.”

  Fergal slammed his fist down on the console. Stefan wasn’t here. Or at least Fergal was as sure as he could be without going and checking out the cells himself. But something told him he wouldn’t find the scientist. There was no one listed who matched any of the information he had on Stefan’s last transfer.

  And he needed to get the hell out of there. The place was crawling with security. Much higher than he’d expected from the intel he’d pulled while on The Blood Hunter.

  Something must be going down.

  He needed to warn them. But he’d risk exposing himself if he contacted the ship.

  For a second, he stood indecisive, then slammed his fist into the console a second time. He so did not need this right now. This had to be the absolute worst time to develop a conscience. Though it was more than conscience. The thought of Daisy walking into this mess unaware gave him palpitations.

  He wondered if she hated him right now. Had she forgiven him? Had she understood? Maybe she’d be up and awake and if he commed the ship, he would get to talk to her one last time.

  Without taking any longer to talk himself out of it, he slumped down in front of the console, opened the comm unit, and entered the codes for The Blood Hunter.

  “Well, well, if it isn’t our friend Fergal.”

  Not Daisy, but Tannis. And strangely, she didn’t sound too pissed.

  “Where are you?” she asked.

  “Church’s headquarters. In the prison section.”

  “And I’m guessing you haven’t found your friend.”

  So obviously, Daisy had told them about Stefan. But how did Tannis know that he hadn’t managed to locate Stefan? “How do you know that?”

  “Because he’s not in the prison.”

  “And do you know where he is?”

  “Currently an honored guest of everybody’s favorite priest, Temperance Hatcher.”

  Shock punched him in the gut. “What?”

  “According to Alex, he’s staying in the main building, he’s not a prisoner, and he’s working on something with Hatcher.”

  “I don’t believe it.”

  “You’d better.”

  He scrubbed his hand through his short hair, trying to make sense of what she was saying. Could Stefan be working with the Church? He really didn’t believe it.

  Did he?

  Maybe they’d offered him a chance to finish his research. To Stefan, his work was everything. But in exchange for what?

  An army of mindless drones, perhaps?

  But the Church was totally opposed to the idea of what Cybercom had been trying to achieve. Even if Hatcher was aware there was an army coming after him, Fergal doubted that would sway the priest from the righteous path.

  “So, nice as it is to hear your voice, why did you call?” Tannis interrupted his thoughts. “I take it you have a reason.”

  He shook his head, trying to get his mind back on the present. “I wanted to let you know that the security here is much higher than you thought.”

  Tannis was silent for a moment. “How much higher?”

  “A lot. You’d be walking into a bloodbath.”

  “And you didn’t want that. How sweet.”

  There wasn’t a lot he could say to that. “I’m sending you an uplink with the revised security details.”

  “Thank you.”

  “You still coming in?”

  “Hell, yes. You have about ten hours to get your friend—if he’s still your friend—and get the hell out of there. Or you can stick around and mooch a lift with us. After we’ve dealt with Hatcher.” She was silent for a moment. “There’s still a job for you here if you want it.”

  There was that warm fuzzy feeling again. “Is Daisy around?” He tried to make the que
stion casual but was quite aware he failed totally.

  “I was going to get to that. No, she’s not around.”

  Why did he get a bad feeling? “Can you get her?”

  “Not going to happen, because right around now, Daisy is somewhere above your head, wandering the Church headquarters, looking for you.”

  For a second, the words didn’t make sense. “You have got to be fucking kidding me.”

  “No. When we found out your friend was working with Hatcher, she had to come and warn you. Of course, if you hadn’t destroyed the comm unit on your shuttle, we could have called. But you did. So off she went.”

  “Well, fucking comm her and tell her to get back.”

  “No can do. She’s already landed and left her ship. We might break her cover if we comm now.”

  “Cover?”

  “She’s dressed as a nun. But I’ve got to be honest, she makes a totally crap sister, so you might want to go and intercept her.”

  A vise tightened around his chest. He sat and stared straight ahead, trying to get the panic under control, slow his breathing. “Couldn’t you have stopped her?”

  “We tried.”

  “Don’t you have any fucking control over your crew?”

  “It’s what she wanted.”

  “Fuck.” He gritted his teeth together. Stupid fucking imbecile.

  “I hear you saved her life,” Tannis said.

  “So?”

  “That makes her your responsibility. Make sure she gets out of there.”

  “Yeah, right. A fucking vampire in the middle of a whole bunch of fucking priests. Shit. She won’t spontaneously combust or anything…will she?”

  “I don’t know. Wait a sec.” There was a minute’s silence. Fergal was itching to go, but he needed to understand what he was up against. What he was facing.

  “No, she should be okay,” Rico answered.

  “What about crosses?” God, they were everywhere. There was even one on the wall above his head right now.

  “Should be all right as long as the person wielding it isn’t an actual believer, and there are fewer of them about than you’d think.”

  “Holy water?”

  “The same.”

  Why hadn’t he found out all this while he was on The Blood Hunter? Because he hadn’t thought he would need it. He scrambled his brains for anything he knew about vampires. After his first meeting with Rico all those years ago, he’d looked up everything he could on the subject, but most had been conjecture. “Garlic?”