by Shona Husk
Mouthy grinned and went to stand.
Leo re-clenched his fist. “I’ll floor you again without a second thought. You don’t pick fights with men who can’t fight back.” While he was sure that Vance could’ve taken Mouthy on and won, he’d have faced time in the Box, and would definitely have lost his job. It wasn’t worth it. Worst-case scenario Leo would have to have a chat with MP Sandy, get a note on his file and a warning about hitting civvies. Which he didn’t care about right now.
“He’s a fucking white,” Mouthy snarled, as if he couldn’t believe that anyone would side with a con over him.
“He’s my friend. And if I hear a whisper that you have upset him, you will learn how long it takes to die in space.”
Mouthy started getting up. He looked around as if hoping someone would come to his aid. No one did, but they were all watching. “You can’t talk to me like that. I’m Robert Foley.”
“I don’t give a shit who you were on Earth. You’re not there anymore, and Solitaire doesn’t need assholes. The colony needs people who are willing to work and make it succeed. You really want to piss off the woman in charge of keeping your meat alive? Or her assistant, just because he happens to wear white?”
“He shouldn’t be here.” Mouthy rubbed his cheek, but the fight was going out of him.
“Actually, out of all of us, it’s you who shouldn’t be here. You’re the one who used your connections to stay on the course even though you’re failing.” Silke walked over. She touched Leo’s arm and smiled. “I bet you didn’t tell anyone that while you were spreading lies about me and Vance.”
Some of the students started whispering.
“You’re failing me because you don’t want me to have the job. You don’t want me to have the job because you’re screwing the con.”
“Think about what you’ve just said and then apologize to Silke and me.” Leo glared at the civvie piece of shit. Was he extra stupid?
Robert shut his mouth and glared.
“I’ve already told you, I only mark the practical assessments. All the quizzes are computer generated and graded. I only see the results and make my reports.” She glanced at Leo. This time there was a warmth in her gaze that she didn’t hide. He got the feeling that she did really like him. Either that, or she was a really good actress, because when they were alone there was definitely something between them. It was only in public that things became strained. He could see why. Had she been afraid that it would make things worse?
It was too late now. At least she hadn’t denied his claim.
“I’m going to check Leo’s hand,” Silke continued. “You are going to finish the checks on the goats. Unless of course you’d like to withdraw from the course?”
“I’m entitled to be on the course. My parents paid—”
“Really?” Leo shook his head. People like Robert just didn’t get it. They weren’t entitled to anything. Yet Robert had obviously been raised with the attitude that he could have whatever he wanted, just because he had money.
He could only hope that a few months on Solitaire would straighten him out. But there were others like him onboard, thinking they should get some special rights because of their old money.
“Vance, can you supervise for a moment?” Silke said as she slid her fingers around Leo’s hand.
Leo noticed Vance’s gaze dropping for just a moment. There was no anger anymore, just a flicker of pain at the knowledge that Silke couldn’t be his. It didn’t feel like a win to Leo either. She’d chosen him because she couldn’t have Vance.
No, he couldn’t think like that.
Vance nodded and most of the students turned to him as he started giving instructions. Eventually even Robert got on with it.
Leo watched for a moment. “He almost hit that prick.”
“No doubt exactly what Robert was hoping for. He’s been angling for Vance’s job.”
“Which is why he started the rumors.” Which were based on something … the students must be able to see the snap of attraction between Vance and Silke. He could certainly see it.
Silke nodded and led him into the modular lab. “Let’s have a look at your hand.”
“It’s fine, it was just one punch.” Robert was going to have a nice bruise tomorrow.
Silke ran her fingertips over his knuckles. They were a little tender, but there was no visible damage. “Thank you for standing up for Vance and me.”
He shrugged. “I needed to know what was going on.”
“And now you know, and you’re part of it.”
“I don’t mind. I like you.”
She smiled but it was kind of sad. “I know you do, and I like you. You have such a well-defined sense of right and wrong. You stood up for Vance when you didn’t have to. You could’ve let him lose the job and been secretly happy that he was out of my life.”
“I couldn’t do that.” For so many reasons. “Robert needed putting in his place. Vance loves this job, and he loves you. I can see it when he looks at you. I’m sure Robert could too.”
“Leo …” She shook her head. “We’ve been over this.”
“I know. But I get it.” And he didn’t really like that he got it, because it meant that he’d always feel like he was screwing over his friend. He’d got the girl, but it was bittersweet. There had to be a better way.
“No, you don’t. I avoided dating anyone for a reason. I didn’t volunteer for this trip. I came very close to wearing yellow.”
Leo frowned. Prisoners, the non-dangerous ones, wore yellow. “What do you mean?”
Silke looked away. “I was caught giving medical assistance to the poor. My father stepped in, and to avoid the scandal of a diplomat’s daughter being charged, this agreement was reached.”
Her words slowly filtered into his brain, but it was several heartbeats before he worked out what she was saying. “You must have known there’d be trouble if you were caught?”
“I did. I just assumed I wouldn’t get caught. I mean, the people I was helping weren’t going to say anything.” She shrugged. “But someone must have.” She lifted her gaze and looked at him. “I didn’t feel like I had a choice. They couldn’t afford to go to hospital. I grew up traveling with my father. I saw the best and worst. I’m not the only vet who provided medical care in the slums. I learned about it when I was studying.”
“Why not just study medicine?”
“I could’ve … but I love animals and I didn’t want to be cloistered in a tower treating people like Robert and I didn’t want to be in a slum hospital charging people who couldn’t afford it. I could’ve gone home and not thought about it. In the Conglomerate, healthcare is covered. But I couldn’t. Not once I’d learned about what other vets were doing.”
“You knowingly broke the law.” She’d put herself on the line for strangers.
“Yeah, and I’d do it again. My only regret is getting caught.” She sighed. “If it’s too much and you want to walk away I understand, but I’d appreciate it if you could keep it to yourself. No one, except maybe the organizers right at the top, knows.”
Leo stood still for a moment, not quite sure how to respond. He didn’t want to stop seeing her. That she cared so much was part of what he loved about her. That she’d knowingly and willingly broken the law was a little harder to swallow. While he didn’t agree with all the laws or the way the wealthy often interpreted them, they were there for a reason. What else would she casually dismiss or ignore because it suited her purposes? But she hadn’t broken the law for personal gain … she’d done it to help others. How many people were on this ship for a similar reason? He’d only spent one year in the slums and while it had been hard, he’d had a little money that his mother had left him, and kept his nose clean so he could join the military.
He glanced at Vance in his white uniform. What had he done that was so bad? Most of the whites had blood on their hands. He’d seen a glimmer of menace when Robert had been needling Vance, but the rest of the time Vance seemed like an
yone else, friendlier than some of the civvies. “Does Vance know?”
She nodded.
She’d told the con before she’d told him. As the burn started, he reminded himself that this wasn’t a contest to see who knew Silke the best, who wanted her more, or who she loved and trusted more.
Maybe not, but it felt that way. However that was his issue to sort out. She was waiting for his response. He put his arms around her and kissed her temple. “I won’t say anything.”
She hadn’t told him before because she’d thought he was from tower money. Anyone who came from the towers would be horrified at what she’d done. He could imagine the scandal that it would have caused on Earth—of course those who pushed for her punishment would’ve been the ones with money, the people who’d never counted down the days until they could sign up to the military just so they could get three meals a day.
He might’ve grown up as the poor kid in the towers, but it had been the year in the slums that had really opened his eyes. Silke was either completely fearless or completely selfless. Maybe both.
“Thank you.” She relaxed into his embrace and her arms slid around his waist.
For a moment he just held her. He didn’t want to let her go. “You aren’t going to do that on Solitaire are you?”
“No. I’m hoping that the colony will be kinder to all, since money will have little meaning.”
At first that would be true, but he suspected that it would only be a matter of time before people started trying to put themselves above others. Someone always wanted to rule the world and be in control. It was a pity that people like Silke didn’t have that ambition … instead it would be the Roberts of the colony who tried to twist it to suit themselves without thought for anyone else.
Leo drew back. He touched her cheek then kissed her lips. “I’ll see you tonight.”
She smiled. “Good. I look forward to it. I’d better check on the students …”
“Yeah, I should go and do some real work.” He’d rather spend the rest of the day in the barn, but that wasn’t going to happen. Hopefully he’d given Robert a big enough fright that he’d behave himself.
* * *
Vance watched Leo and Silke leave the lab. Both of them were smiling. He tried not to let the bitterness rise and choke him. He’d pushed her away and it was for the best. Leo had once again proven that he was one of the good guys.
If Leo hadn’t stepped in, he’d have knocked Robert on his ass and would’ve been out of here and in the Box before he could count to three. He’d almost walked straight into Robert’s trap … even though he knew that’s what the prat wanted. Anger still simmered in his blood. He’d have to run it off at the gym.
He moved away from the students and let Silke take over. As Leo reached the barn door, Vance caught up with him.
Leo turned and gave him a tight smile, as if he didn’t really want to be talking to him in public.
Vance stopped short. Out of touching range. “I just wanted to say thank you. I almost made a very big mistake.”
One he should have avoided. He knew better and he knew Robert’s type. But he’d been insulting Silke, and that had been too hard to ignore.
“Would you have done it?”
Leo already knew the answer or he wouldn’t have stepped in. He’d had no reason to save Vance from himself. Vance reluctantly nodded. He wasn’t proud of that. He liked to think he wasn’t a violent person anymore. Maybe he was wrong and he did deserve to be wearing white. The careful balance that had taken him years to attain started to wobble.
“He deserved it,” said Leo quietly.
That might be true, but Vance wasn’t in a position to make that claim. “No one has ever stood up for me before.” Leo could have just stood there and watched Vance throw the punch that would have sealed his fate.
“I did what anybody would’ve.” Leo stepped closer and touched Vance on the shoulder for half a second. “You don’t have to thank me.”
Good. He didn’t want to be indebted to the man who was stealing Silke’s heart. As he watched Leo open the hatch and leave the barn, his gaze may have slipped to the man’s ass. Vance realized that he didn’t want to only see cons for the rest of his life. He wanted more than that. But the twenty years he had left to serve loomed large and blocked out almost all hope that he’d ever have a real life. He drew in a breath and turned around. At least he still had his job. That was something. He had to be more careful in the future.
Chapter Nine
It was the end of the day when the goats started acting up and bleating. Silke looked up, but Vance was with the guinea pigs, getting them ready for the night.
Was that a pop? Or a hiss? The hair along her arms prickled to attention and the feeling quickly raced along her skin and up the back of her neck.
Something pinged across the deck of the barn.
The screech of alarms cut through the questions that had been forming.
It took a moment for Silke to realize that they weren’t the fire alarms, and this wasn’t a drill. The light above the hatch that indicated that the barn was pressurized had gone from green to orange. They were losing air.
Her heart cramped and seemed to stop. She couldn’t move as panic gripped her. This couldn’t be happening. But it was. They’d done drills. A one in a million chance, they’d said. At the time she’d thought if something hit the ship they’d all be dead in minutes anyway. She watched the light. Still orange. If it went red, that meant there wasn’t enough air to sustain life.
“Get the animals into the lab.” The lab would be secure. It was designed to be an airtight refuge … all the modules were. She hoped it still was.
Vance started packing up the guinea pigs. His gaze slid to the light, but he said nothing.
Silke raced over to the goat pen and opened it up. Then she grabbed a handful of pellets and started guiding them toward the lab. She knew she was supposed to leave the animals and save herself. But she couldn’t. They were needed on the colony … assuming that they even made it there. The goats bleated and bounced around, but they followed. She opened the lab door and was sure she felt a breeze caress her skin.
It was just the pressure differential.
She swallowed down her fear and got the goats in, then ran back to grab a crate of guinea pigs from Vance.
The light was still orange. They had time.
At least there were no students down here. Was it worse elsewhere on the ship? She’d make a report once everyone was in the lab. She pushed past the goats and dropped the crate on the counter, then ran back for another.
All her careful breeding control was going out the window.
It didn’t matter.
She and Vance placed more panicked guinea pigs in crates on the counters, but he stopped her from going out again. “You can’t risk it.”
“I’ll use a breather.”
He shook his head. “Every time this door opens we lose pressure in here.”
Half of the guinea pigs were still out there. He was right, though. They’d saved half. Maybe it wasn’t that bad. Should she grab a breather and a patch kit and try to find the holes? She glanced at the emergency box that she’d thought they’d never need. Her heart thudded hard as fear coursed through her veins. Before she could decide, Vance sealed the lab door.
It was enough to make her move. She hit the comms button in the lab. “Silke Rask reporting loss of pressure in the barn. Repeat, the barn is depressurizing.”
They must know that. It would be flashing on the consoles on the bridge.
No one replied. Had the bridge been hit? Were they all dead? If they were, then who would fly the ship? They’d die halfway between Earth and Solitaire. Panic squeezed harder.
She forced herself to breathe, slowly inhale, slowly exhale. She was not going to have a panic attack. That wouldn’t help anyone. After what felt like hours, but was probably less than a minute, the comms came to life with a quick burst of static.
“Acknowledged. W
e are experiencing multiple decompressions across the starboard side of the ship. Teams are being deployed. Are you in the module?”
“Yes, Va— 1113 and I are in the lab, and so are the goats and about half the guinea pigs.” Vance was moving things around so that they wouldn’t prove tempting to curious goats. Satan had her front hooves on the bench and was looking around for something to destroy. If she wasn’t careful, she’d be getting kicked out of the lab.
Silke glanced at the light above the lab door. It was still showing orange. She’d never really paid much attention to the warning lights above any of the hatches or modules since she’d been on the ship. They’d always been green and kind of invisible—just a part of life. It was only when they changed color that they stood out and became sinister.
“Acknowledged. A repair team will be down shortly.”
“How long is shortly?”
Silence. Several heartbeats later the man was back on the other end. “I can’t say. There are multiple decompressions and priority is being assigned. Damage reports are still coming in.”
What he meant was there was a lot of damage and they were on their own for the moment. “Should we evacuate the barn?”
“Negative. Remain where you are. The barn is high priority, but it could take time.” She heard other voices in the background. “Can you see any of the breaches?”
Vance moved around the lab looking out the windows. He shook his head. She hadn’t seen any either.
“No. Do you know what happened?”
“I have more damage reports coming in. Please leave the comms open for instructions.” Static returned. The man was gone.
Silke released the button. In other words, “get off the line, I don’t have time to chat,” coupled with “I have no idea and I’m not willing to admit that to you”.
“So we’re on our own.” Vance leaned against the counter. He had one hand on top of Satan’s head, in an attempt to stop her from climbing up. Satan turned her attention to Vance’s sleeve and started tugging at it. He glanced down but didn’t tell her off.