God, that’s the best lie you can come up with? She would have been a child during that raid!
And, of course, Vengeance immediately pointed out the fallacy in her lie.
“She couldn’t have been one of the pirates, Olivia. She’s far too young.”
Liv bit her lip as she scrambled for a better lie and hastily added, “True, but she had their ship. She probably knows something about the pirates who destroyed my colony.”
“I’m bringing her to the brig for now,” Ven told her. “My interrogation will likely take far longer than it should if her temperament is as bad as I think it is. If you’d like to speak to her, it’ll have to wait until morning or perhaps after your shift tomorrow night.”
Ven’s sentinel began walking again, dragging Amelia beside him, and Liv’s heart beat wildly. How would she be able to help Amelia once Ven threw her in the brig? Her friend would be brought back to Teutorigos, the home planet of the Spire, and put on trial. And then, she’d almost certainly be executed. Or they would discover she was a telepath and that not all of the telepathic girls lost on Nualla were truly as “lost” as they’d thought. They were both painfully aware that being forced to link with an AI was far worse than death.
Liv followed closely behind Ven’s sentinel, and when he reached the end of the hallway, he stopped again and twisted his head around so those red optical sensors could blink at her. She swallowed and stood up straighter, challenging the sentinel, which she already knew could land her in the brig as well.
“I could watch the interrogation from the sidelines,” Liv pointed out. “I won’t interrupt or be a distraction.”
“You’re exhausted and hungry,” Ven countered.
She was, and Ven already knew that, but Liv was convinced if she lost sight of Amelia, she’d lose her forever. “With all due respect, I might sleep a lot better if I knew whether or not she had any information about the pirates who killed my family.”
Sentinels couldn’t actually sigh, but she could have sworn Ven sighed quite loudly at her. “Fine,” he relented. “Follow me to the brig. I’ll even let you be the first to speak with her, but don’t expect much. She’s shown herself to be nothing but hostile and uncooperative so far. You can have ten minutes.”
Ten minutes. Ten short minutes to determine why Amelia had raided a Spire space station and how she would rescue her friend.
Chapter Eleven
After prisoner processing, Liv watched helplessly as guards led Amelia to a small cell that contained nothing more than a toilet, lavatory, and a small cot to sleep on. Her stomach soured as she stared at the dull gray ground, remembering the seven-year-old girl who had held her hand as they’d entered a hell beyond their worst nightmares.
Much to Liv’s horror, Ven didn’t leave. His sentinel returned to the doorway at the end of the hallway and stood there… waiting for her.
She wouldn’t get the semi-privacy she desperately needed. If she used her telepathy, Ven might sense it, and if he discovered her secret and turned her into the Spire, she’d be facing the same fate as Amelia.
Liv cleared her throat and approached the cell, but the captain refused to look at her. “Whatever you want,” Amelia spit out, “I don’t have it.”
“I recognized your ship. I realize you weren’t a crew member at the time, but your ship attacked the colony world of Hebrides 4,” Liv replied. She’d been memorizing her fake origins for twelve years and could recite every little detail in her sleep. Her survival had depended on it. Now her freedom hinged on Amelia playing along. “Even if you weren’t a member then, you are now. I want all the names of those responsible for the attack.”
“No idea. Before my time.” Amelia tossed her chestnut brown hair over a shoulder and lifted her chin in the air: defiant, angry, unafraid. “But if you want, we can talk about traitors,” her old friend added silently along a private link.
Liv had to lower her eyes because she had broken the pact. She hadn’t revealed her telepathy, but she’d come to work for a Warship of the Spire regardless. However, any admission of guilt would have to wait. They had bigger problems—like finding a way to free Amelia. Liv decided she was only bluffing anyway and called her on it.
“You can give me your name, pirate,” Liv said as she jerked her chin toward the sentinel. “Or he can drag it out of you, which I might enjoy watching.”
“Harper,” Amelia finally answered. “And I’ve got no business with a journeyman engineer.”
“Harper,” Liv repeated quietly. “My name is Liv. And I’m just…”
Just what? She was completely out of lies. She glanced at Ven’s sentinel, which kept his attention on her. Liv took a deep breath. She couldn’t talk to her friend aloud. She had no choice.
“Please,” Liv begged. “They’ll kill you. Let me help you escape.”
Amelia’s eyes grew wide, and she sucked in a quick, hissing breath. “Have you lost your mind?”
“Probably,” Liv admitted. “I already interfered with Ven’s engines so you could escape, but he fired his weapons and crippled your ship before I could do anything to stop him.”
Amelia backed farther away from her, narrowing her eyes at her old friend. “Ven? You already have pet names for each other? I don’t need help from a traitorous bitch. But thanks.”
“I’m not a traitor. But we don’t have time to argue about this now. You need to play along if you want to get out of this alive.”
Liv continued her pretend-interrogation aloud. “When pirates killed two-thirds of the colonists of Hebrides 4, my family was among the dead. Your ship has the same identification marker as the one who attacked us. Are you sure you don’t know anything about that?”
“I’m not talking to an ass-kissing guild-brat,” Amelia hissed. “The thug over there will just have to torture whatever he wants out of me.”
The sentinel stormed forward and in a thunderous voice ordered, “Do not speak to my engineer that way again.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize she kisses more parts than just your ass.”
Vengeance’s holographic form shimmered into being next to Liv. He glowered at Amelia for a moment before giving her one last chance to correct her behavior. “My engineer is one of the best to ever serve with me, and I can assure you, Liv has never kissed any part of me. You will answer Engineer Hawthorne’s question, or my thugs will take over this interrogation.”
“Fuck you, and fuck your little engineer, too,” Amelia snapped.
Liv arched an eyebrow at her and silently retorted, “Is this an act? It had better be. You should know better… you do know me better. And you’re not getting rid of me that easily.”
“And you should know this is going to get us both killed. You promised, Hayley. How can you work for one of them?”
“Vengeance is different,” Liv insisted, but Amelia didn’t give her the chance to plead her case.
“None of them are different! They’re sociopathic machines, and they can turn on you at any minute. We had a pledge!”
“I know, but I was worried about him,” Liv admitted. But that wasn’t the whole story, and Amelia knew it.
Truthfully, she’d missed him, and no matter what else she’d attempted to do since their escape from the rogue AIs, she’d felt like a part of her was missing. Like she’d left something behind on Nualla, and it had been irretrievably lost.
“Journeyman Hawthorne,” Ven’s sentinel said. “This confrontation has escalated far enough. Go to the mess hall and get something to eat. My drone will be along later to teach you chess as promised.”
Liv gaped at him for a moment before snapping her teeth together. Only an AI would want to play chess after a day like today. But he’d humored her, bending more than a few rules, so she owed him. Still, she hesitated.
The sentinel stepped closer, and his massive hand came down on her shoulder briefly in a companionable pat. “For what it’s worth, this woman may really be clueless about the attack that killed your family. S
he’s a pirate, after all. She probably stole the ship from other pirates because that’s what they do.”
Liv shot her childhood friend an apologetic glance and nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“Yes, sir,” Amelia mocked. “You’re a slave, and you don’t even realize it.”
Liv looked around the small cell and that old habit she’d never quite managed to break erupted again: She spoke too quickly and too thoughtlessly. “Strange… because it looks like you’re the one in a cage.”
Liv turned on her heels and marched away from Amelia’s cell, already regretting her actions and already planning a way to free the woman who used to be her friend.
Ven’s drone, the handsome man she was trying desperately not to be attracted to, moved his rook in front of her king and warned, “Check.”
Liv bit her lip so she wouldn’t tell him he might as well add “mate” to that because she’d lost interest in their game half an hour ago. Instead, she picked up a pawn and blocked the rook from taking her king.
Ven looked up at her and instructed, “You should’ve moved your king. You’ll still be in jeopardy of losing once I take your pawn.”
“Ven,” Liv groaned. “Please just take it already. You probably figured out how to win this game after my first move.”
“Of course, but how does that help you become a better strategist?”
“Why does an engineer need to be a good strategist?” Liv retorted. “I repair things. I don’t wage war.”
Ven plucked her pawn from the game board and set his rook in its place. “Check.”
Liv squinted at him and folded her arms. “I’m not moving my king until you answer me.”
She thought his lips twitched as if he were trying not to smile. He probably had a terribly sexy smile… the kind that could get her into serious trouble if she weren’t careful.
Damn it, Liv, get a grip.
“You have far more potential than just repairing things, Journeyman Engineer Hawthorne. With study and hard work, you have the potential to become an officer, and any officer of mine should be a master strategist. Now move your king.”
“You’re assuming I want to be an officer,” Liv muttered as she moved her king out of his rook’s path.
Ven’s hand, already poised above his chess pieces so he could make his next move, froze in the air, and he peeked over at her again through his dark lashes. “Why wouldn’t you want to advance your career?”
She’d done it again—spoken too quickly without considering the potential consequences. And Ven’s question was entirely fair. Liv shrugged and pretended it wasn’t a big deal. “I like being an engineer, that’s all.”
“You’re happy with your job now,” Ven said. “But ten years from now? When your peers are all surpassing you even though they don’t have the same level of skill, will you still be happy?”
No, Liv thought. I would have been happy as your link as I was supposed to be. But you never came for me.
“I suppose I never thought about it,” she lied. “It’s your move.”
Ven slid his bishop across the board and announced, “Checkmate. Reset the board.”
“Again?” Liv complained. “Ven, it’s late. Some of us actually do have to sleep.”
“I’m aware of that, Olivia. Just as I’m aware that you don’t normally go to sleep for another two hours. Reset the board.”
Liv gaped at him then plucked her king from the board, holding it ransom until he leveled with her. “Have you been spying on me?”
Ven’s cheeks actually seemed to darken as he stammered, “No! That’s not what I meant. I just… the entire crew… I keep a log of everyone on board and you’re on board, and you’re part of the crew, so I’m aware of your normal routine. I don’t spy on you. I don’t spy on anyone, and you’re anyone so no, I’m not spying on you—”
“Ven,” Liv laughed. “I think you’ve got a bug in your programming.”
His cheeks definitely seemed brighter as he bit his lip, but this time, his attempt not to smile didn’t work. He lifted a shoulder and asked, “Should I send you to check out my language processors instead of playing chess then?”
Why did she have to be right about his smile?
“That’s a job for your links, not an engineer,” Liv responded then felt completely stupid for pointing out the obvious. He already knew that, of course, and had only been teasing her.
Ven kept smiling at her and reset the chessboard himself. “So it is,” he said, attempting to keep his voice humorless but failing.
Her own cheeks flushed, and she hastily put her king back on his square, which only knocked over half the remaining pieces he hadn’t captured.
Ven caught most of them before they could hit the floor and placed them on the table. “Are you all right, Olivia?”
“Liv,” she corrected. “Please. And yeah… just tired. Been a long day.”
She didn’t need to remind him he’d woken her up ridiculously early with that drill and was now keeping her awake to play chess.
“Okay, Liv,” Ven said. “We’ll pick up with a new game tomorrow. For what it’s worth, this was… entertaining. I hope you found it informative and entertaining as well.”
Liv tilted her head at him, and her mouth formed words before she could stop it. “Why do you do that? You’re perfectly capable of speaking like a normal human.”
Ven sat back in his chair and studied her, and Liv squirmed in her seat. Why had she said that? And when would she learn to keep her mouth shut? Liv couldn’t even lie to herself and knew exactly why the words had tumbled out. She missed the conversations she’d once had with him when he’d let his guard down and felt comfortable just being himself.
“And how do you know what I am and am not capable of doing, Journeyman Engineer Hawthorne?”
“Speaking to Renee… earlier… that’s all,” she mumbled, although her lie was almost certainly as transparent as it sounded.
Ven tapped one of his pawns against the table as he continued to study her then pushed his chair back. “Get some rest, Liv. I’ll see you tomorrow. I’ll save you some of those fried relays. I know how much you love fixing them.”
Liv kept her eyes on the table but nodded.
If Ven kept insisting on these lessons, he’d uncover her secret, and at this rate, he’d uncover it soon.
She needed to get Amelia off this ship… not only to save Amelia’s life, but to save her own.
Chapter Twelve
Ven knocked on Renee’s door even though he knew she wasn’t asleep yet. It slid open with a soft hiss, and she arched an eyebrow at him, giving him a look he interpreted as, “Disappointed you’re here and not in bed with Olivia, aren’t you?”
Or maybe he was just projecting his own surprising feelings onto his link.
Ven cleared his throat and pointed to his favorite chair in her room. “Are you going to invite me in or are we going to stand here staring at each other?”
Renee stepped back and waved him in. “How did your… chess match go?”
Ven rolled his eyes and collapsed into the chair. “I won three games, as expected.”
Renee sat across from him, yawning as she tugged on her robe to keep it closed. “Ven, it’s not possible for you to lose. And she’ll quickly grow bored with losing all the time. You should let her win a few matches.”
“I think she’s already bored with me,” he muttered, picking at a loose string on the arm of the chair.
“Oh? And what makes you think that?”
Ven peeked over at her and lifted a shoulder. “She didn’t seem at all interested in the games or in conversing with me.”
Renee sighed heavily so Ven stopped pulling at the thread and looked up at his link, giving her the full attention she obviously wanted. “What exactly were you conversing about?” she asked. “If your idea of attempting to talk to the girl was lecturing her on chess strategy then yeah, no wonder she didn’t seem interested.”
Ven crossed his arms defensively an
d shot back, “That wasn’t all I tried to talk about.”
“You’re your own worst enemy,” Renee teased.
“I just don’t think she likes me very much,” Ven pouted. He knew he was pouting, too, but couldn’t seem to stop himself. Why did this woman have so much power over him? It had been a long time—a really long time—since a woman had any power over him at all.
But something was different about Olivia Hawthorne. He was inexplicably drawn to her, even more so than Jillian, the last woman he’d fallen in love with.
Renee tilted her head, studying him, and he didn’t need a telepathic connection to tell what she was doing. She knew something he didn’t, and that always drove him crazy.
“I think,” she said, “she likes you more than you realize for reasons you can’t even begin to imagine.”
Ven snorted and reminded her, “I’m over three thousand years old. I’ve probably seen it already. What could possibly be so different that I can’t imagine it?”
Renee sat up straighter and grinned. “You’ll have to figure this one out on your own. Just like every other man in the universe.”
“You’re really not going to tell me?” Ven blinked at her then shook his head. “Ridiculous. You’re a terrible friend.”
Renee arched that same eyebrow at him. “So now I’m ridiculous and a terrible friend?”
“Depends,” Ven joked.
“On?”
“On whether or not you tell me whatever you’re hiding.”
“Ven,” she warned.
“Come on, Renee. You tell me everything.”
“Not this time.”
“Huh. During our next link, we’ll see how long this secret lasts,” he pretend-threatened. As much as her secret annoyed him, he wouldn’t really betray her trust.
“You really can be a pain in the ass,” Renee retorted.
Ven nodded seriously. “I know.”
“Look: I think you and Liv need each other more than either of you realize. And I think you need to be particularly patient with her. You don’t know her full past or what she’s been through, and you may not want to know. Give her some time… and give yourself some time, too.”
Vengeance (Warships of the Spire Book 1) Page 8