Enemy One (Epic Book 5)

by Lee Stephen

  “I could sleep on the floor. Captain Rockwell can have my spot.”

  Scott looked back at Natalie. “You all right with that?”

  “Are you kidding?” Natalie asked. “I’ve been sleeping on the floor of a quarantine cell.”

  Good point. “All right, Feathers,” Scott said, stepping aside to allow the pilot to take the lead. “Lead the way.”

  There was no doubt in Scott’s mind that he would have to address this with Valentin before the keeper found out on his own accord. Despite Scott’s bravado in talking about knocking Valentin’s teeth out, he knew that just as he’d given away Esther’s much-maligned nickname to Natalie in an effort to prevent physical confrontation, Scott needed to make an attempt to defuse the situation between him and Valentin through dialogue rather than a fight. Despite he and Valentin’s misgivings, it was in everyone’s best interest if the two of them got along, particularly with tensions already high from their situation. Scott already intended to have a unit meeting tomorrow to get the team back on track. It was also going to serve, now, as Natalie’s introduction as a working member of the group. He needed to talk to Valentin before all that happened.

  Moving ahead of Scott and Natalie to crack open the door to her room, Tiffany poked her head into the darkness within. “Okay,” she whispered as she withdrew her head out, “Cat is sleeping, but you oughta be able to slip into the top bunk without waking her up. That girl sleeps like a corpse.” Natalie nodded her head.

  “Thank you,” Scott said to Tiffany. “For everything. You’ve been more helpful than you ever needed to be.” More than the Fourteenth deserved.

  “No problem!” she whispered with enthusiasm. Stepping aside, she allowed Natalie to enter the room ahead of her.

  As soon as Natalie was out of view, Scott made a psst sound. Tiffany raised an eyebrow, leaning close to him. “Sleep in front of the door,” Scott said. “Just in case.”

  Making a face, Tiffany said, “She’s not gonna try and leave. She’s totally cool.”

  “She’s still technically a captive.” At least, until Valentin heard about this. “Just do it for me.”

  The pilot gave Scott a brief look of disappointment before offering a thumbs up.

  “Thank you.”

  Without further words, Tiffany snuck inside the room and eased the door shut. Scott was left alone standing in the hall.

  Well, this certainly wasn’t what I expected tonight. Nonetheless, it was very, very good. The Fourteenth’s numbers had dwindled. With so many of its members in the medical bay, they were at the point where they simply needed warm bodies. Natalie certainly counted as one of those.

  Glancing both directions, he saw no one else present in the hall. He looked at his watch. It was well past the turn-in time for the occupants of the forge. That meant it was turn-in time for him, too. Again.

  Scott made his way back to his quarters and bed and once again slipped under the covers. Tomorrow would be a day of refocus—of righting this ship that seemed perpetually off course. If everything went well, their next destination would be their last. There was a train in Japan with their name on it.

  It was time for the outlaws’ last ride.

  25

  Tuesday, March 20th, 0012 NE

  2310 hours

  Norilsk, Russia

  THE V2’s INTERIOR lights were off, its rear door locked from within as Jayden and Esther stood alone in the center of the troop bay. The scout’s mocha shoulders were covered in small chill bumps. Even as she exhaled, thin vapors of frost escaped her parted lips. Closing her eyes lazily, she rolled her head to the side as Jayden pressed against her back.

  Simply put, they needed this. It was more than an act of affection. It was stress relief. The events of Hami Station had hit both of them, as they’d hit everyone. For Jayden, it meant the loss of a friend to a sniper. To someone like him. For Esther, it meant not being there to prevent it. And so, as night fell on Northern Forge, the young, budding couple snuck away to a place they knew wouldn’t have cameras on them: the troop bay of the V2 that’d delivered Max.

  Under normal circumstances, the pair might have slipped into the Pariah. But after all that ship had been through—and with the thought of dead friends in the cursed transport’s troop bay—there was just no way they could have found any semblance of intimacy there. The newer model transport would have to do.

  With his arms wrapped around her waist, the Texan’s lips touched Esther’s neck. Jayden inhaled the fragrance of her skin’s perfume through his nostrils. The scout softly moaned.

  There was tension in both of them, both in their bodies and minds. Even as Jayden worked his way down her neck and behind her ears, the tightness in her shoulders remained. Nonetheless, she leaned her head back, allowing the bangs of her bob to slide over her still-closed eyes. Turning around, she lifted her hand and reached back to trace his hairline with her fingers.

  Whatever fears had existed between Jayden and Esther that their relationship would be derailed by circumstance were dashed every time the two looked at one another. There was more want in the Texan’s one eye than in anyone who’d looked upon Esther with two. As for Esther’s deep brown irises, they met that want with need, willfully exposing her vulnerabilities each time their gazes met. Even through the cold vapors that penetrated the transport’s hull from the hangar, his body made her feel warm.

  Prior to their sealing themselves in the V2, a set of ground rules had to be established to satisfy both Esther’s desire to be physically intimate and Jayden’s desire to go slow. Clothing had to stay on—though the level to which that had to be the case was left intentionally vague. Touching was restricted to the upper body, though sensuality was encouraged. Lines couldn’t be crossed, but teetering was allowed provided everything stopped when someone said the word. It was a system Esther could live with—for now—and one Jayden felt comfortable skirting the edge of.

  As Jayden brushed her bangs from her eyes, she looked up at his face. The look he gave her—that look—made her weak. For as headstrong as Esther Brooking made herself out to be, there was cradled deep within a desire to surrender. Standing on her toes and reaching her mouth for his, she closed her eyes as their lips tightly locked. She met him harder as his hands pulled the small of her back.

  Laying Esther down atop the transport’s side bench, Jayden came upon her, the Texan’s outstretched arms keeping the weight of his body off her as he kissed her neck and chest. His scent—one of the earth—filtered through her nostrils. As her fingers dug into his back, she arched her neck and lifted her chest, exposing the skin above her bosom. When his lips found it, she cried out in rapture. Her white flag arose.

  It was everything that in that moment, she desired—to have her dominance suppressed by the hold of a man. To lose to his will. Jayden Timmons was in control. On the prelude to a release, Esther called out his name.

  The Texan’s hold on her remained a moment longer—then it stopped. With her face flushed and her eyes still closed, Esther revealed more of her body for him to take. Lips parted, she waited for his warmth to grab hold of her again. But no warmth came.

  Esther opened her eyes, reaching up to brush her tussled hair from her face. Peering up at the Texan, still poised above her, she beheld the expression on his face. He was glaring in disbelief. As Esther’s ecstasy receded back into the ocean, she blinked at him with sudden concern. “Wha—?”

  “Seriously?” he asked, his drawl thick with disgust.

  Confusion struck her. “Seriously, what? What did I do?”

  “You just called me Scott.”

  The bottom of Esther’s arousal fell out. She stared at him wide-eyed. “Wait, what? No I didn’t!”

  Stepping crisply off her, Jayden said again, “You just called me Scott.”

  The scout quickly sat upright, a look of loss and confusion washing over her. “Jay! I swear, I didn’t. You must’ve heard something wrong!”

  “I’m out.”

  “Jayden
, wait!” Panic struck her as she remembered calling out Jayden’s name. Wasn’t it Jayden’s name? How could she have thought one name but said another? “Don’t leave, please! I can…” Before the word explain could leave her mouth, the thought came to her—as did the memory of a distinct threat. A bargaining chip for a certain captive’s release. “Ju`bajai,” she said under her breath. Esther’s hands shook. She looked up as Jayden punched the bay door button. “Jay!” Running behind him, she winced in pain as a blast of cold air hit her. Her eyes moistened. “I can explain this!”

  Jayden faced her, rage in his good eye. “I can explain it, too, Esther. You wish I was him.” As her tears of coldness transitioned to tears of desperation, the Texan pointed in her face. “You want him? Go get him. Have fun dealin’ with Sveta when she comes back.” Without another word, Jayden turned around, strode down the ramp, and disappeared from view. Esther was left alone in the middle of the troop bay, hair mussed about her face as she stood slack-jawed and shaken. Pushing her fingers through her bob, she pushed it back in disbelief.

  Jayden was gone.

  Five minutes later, Esther was marching down the hallway of Level-4, her brown eyes burning holes through the door to the medical bay as she drew near to it. No care was given to the disheveled way that she looked, or the fact that she looked like she’d just gone a few rounds with a man. She stormed forward with reckless abandonment. Slamming her palm against the medical bay door panel, she waited for the metal door to slide open. When it did, she marched right through the doors and inside.

  The moment her feet crossed the threshold, she was pelted with a flurry of ice and snow.

  Shielding her eyes and shrieking back, Esther ducked down as violent blasts of wind threatened to blow her clean off her feet. Against the burn of subzero Siberian temperatures, the scout looked around her. Neon red blasts of neutron were flying past her, met by the tatter of assault rifles. Two rows of buildings surrounded her; she was standing in the center of a wide, unpaved street. Through the whipping of snow flurries and explosions of ice and ammunition, she could make out EDEN soldiers diving for cover. She recognized the place instantly.

  Khatanga.

  Whirling around, the scout looked in the opposite direction, where a horde of Ceratopian warriors were creating a stronghold. Far past them, almost entirely out of view, another unit of EDEN operatives was moving into position to surround the beasts. The Eighth.

  “Look familiar, Molly Esther?”

  Esther spun back around, coming face-to-face with Ju`bajai’s construct of herself. The ponytailed doppelganger was clad from head to toe in EDEN armor, only the lower half of her face and her ponytail exposed, the latter of which was flapping in the wind. Ju`bajai sashayed calmly toward Esther.

  “We are mere moments away from your first royal disaster. You’ve grown quite accustomed to destroying everything you touch, haven’t you?”

  Blindsided by the suddenness of Khatanga, Esther stared blankly at the construct. Her heart pounded in her chest.

  Flipping out her comm from her belt, Ju`bajai held it nonchalantly at her side. “It’s a beautifully simple device, really. Only a fool could mess it up.”

  “Why are you doing this?” Esther cried through the snowstorm.

  “Ah, ah,” said Ju`bajai, holding up her palm to silence Esther. “Time to shine.” Lifting the comm to her lips, she pressed the button and said, “Their attention’s away from you, engage now!”

  Esther stared horrified as a voice she recalled all too well emerged from the other end of the line. “Are you sure?” it asked.

  “Yes!” Ju`bajai said. “You have to engage now.”

  “We are going.”

  The corners of her lips curling upward, Ju`bajai’s brown eyes practically twinkled as she winked at Esther. “Showtime.”

  Esther knew what was coming next. Turning back around in the middle of the street, she watched as the Eighth engaged the Ceratopians—who were right there waiting for them. The EDEN forces ran into a wall of neutron, the energy beams crushing in the attackers’ armor as the massive Ceratopians mowed them down. The carnage was as real as she remembered. Every detail was accounted for. Behind them all, in a fit of desperation, the Fourteenth joined the assault.

  “Do you realize,” Ju`bajai asked, “that none of your comrades in the Fourteenth have ever incorrectly used a comm? Only you managed to pull off something so catastrophically stupid. And that was after you bragged on yourself so very, very much. What a silly little thing you turned out to be.”

  As the Ceratopian onslaught continued around her, Esther’s knees weakened. She stared at Ju`bajai haplessly. She had no fight left.

  Eyes narrowing, Ju`bajai marched closer. “You embarrass everyone. You lose to everyone. And ultimately, you destroy everyone.” Pausing a single pace away, she asked, “What would Scott Remington have ever seen in you? You never had a chance.”

  There was a great gust of wind, and Ju`bajai vanished. Esther flinched as the construct appeared behind her, whispering in her ear.

  “All this will end when I am freed. Until that day comes, you will not rest, you will not have peace, you will not have a secret to your name; I will reveal to everyone everything. You will stand before them humiliated, stripped naked of every security like a quivering child in the rain.” As Esther spun around to face Ju`bajai, the construct was gone. Only its voice remained, echoing amid the wind, “Reveal me to your friends, and they will suffer.”

  Turning back in the direction she’d just faced, Esther’s eyes widened as she beheld Scott violently approaching. Tearing his helmet off as he neared her, he yelled, “What in the hell was that?”

  “Can I help you?”

  Esther blinked, the world of Khatanga fading away. Inhaling sharply, she refocused ahead.

  From beside the medical station, Inna the night nurse eyed her curiously. “Miss Brooking, is everything all right?”

  She was back in Northern Forge, standing at the threshold of the medical bay, where she’d last been. Her flustered gaze found Inna. Swallowing sickly, she murmured, “Everything is fine.” Her attention turned to Ju`bajai’s cell. The Ithini was staring at her.

  “Is there something I can help you with?” Inna asked.

  Esther stood silently for several moments before answering weakly, “No, not at all.” Taking a wobbly step back, she reached out with a trembling hand to hit the door button. The metal door slid shut. Propping her hand against the wall, the scout leaned over.

  The hall felt like it was spinning. It took Esther almost a full minute of standing there to regain her balance. Sliding a hand over her head, she pushed her hair back. Her stare was despondent.

  Esther made no further attempt to enter the medical bay. Stepping away from the door, she uneasily turned around and went back down the hall. Her eyes met no one else’s.

  26

  Wednesday, March 21st, 0012 NE

  0858 hours

  Norilsk, Russia

  The next morning

  THIS WAS GOING to be interesting. As Scott stepped out of the elevator on Level-3, Natalie in tow behind him, all he could think about was what the reaction would be when operatives saw the former Caracal captain walking into the conference room with him. He honestly had no idea how it would go. Ready or not, here we come.

  Scott had awoken at five o’clock, something which struck him as odd considering the hell they’d all been through the previous day. Nonetheless, it proved an unexpected blessing, allowing him time to start what felt like the first proper morning he’d had in ages. Quiet time with God, a cup of hot coffee in the cafeteria, then time to simply sit back and mentally prepare for what was to come.

  Though the unit-wide meeting was destined to be uncomfortable, it wasn’t his first tense encounter of the morning. That honor had gone to his meeting with Valentin Lukin. As soon as 0800 rolled about, Scott made a beeline for the keeper’s suite to relay the news of Natalie’s release. It went about like Scott had expected. Sho
uts were exchanged, saliva was spewed, and a chair was hurled across the keeper’s suite by the keeper himself. In the end, though, priority won, just as Scott knew it would. Like it or not, Antipov had given Scott operational control. If Scott wanted Natalie on this mission, it was in his grounds to arrange it. As infuriated as Valentin was—and he was—he knew better than to cross the chief of the eidola. All it took was one remark from Scott about his needs not being met and it would be Valentin’s corpse bouncing down the mountainside, never to be seen again.

  Not surprisingly, Valentin wanted no part of Scott’s meeting with the Fourteenth and Falcons. He wanted no part of Scott at all, other than to keep as much distance as possible between the normal, everyday affairs of Northern Forge and the operation Scott was running. That was fine with Scott. If minimal communication between the two of them meant minimal confrontations, then it was all the better.

  After talking to Valentin, dealing with Natalie was easy—almost a joy. When Scott knocked on her door to retrieve her, he found her showered and dressed in full Nightman uniform—something he never thought he’d see, despite the lack of any alternatives at the base. But he liked it that way. It made Natalie feel in line with the rest of them. She looked good in black.

  More importantly than how she looked was how she came across, and that was controlled. Though she and Scott would likely not be friends anytime soon, she was at minimal cordial. Considering all they’d been through and how he’d betrayed her, cordial was lightyears ahead of where he thought they’d ever be.

  And so the two of them set off in Tiffany and Catalina’s wake, lingering behind just enough to give them an elevator ride down in private to do some last minute prepping for the meeting. For all practical purposes, Scott was treating Natalie like his XO. Though the irony struck Scott that this was exactly the opposite of how things had been presented in Cairo, when he showed up as commander to her captaincy, he dared not mention it. He was sure that had crossed her mind already. Her humility shamed him. He wasn’t sure he’d have been able to summon up the courage to approach this in the way she was approaching it now. Scott was fairly certain that made her a better person—and leader—than him.