Of course, my mind was not one to let contentment go unchallenged. I soon thought of how Diane must have been like that doctor, projecting on me all these heroic ideals of who I was that were simply false, a lovely sheen on an empty vessel. I also considered the new idea that maybe I was doing the same, projecting some idea of who Diane was that wasn’t real either. It was then that I looked up at her face and noticed a tear sliding down her cheek.
I lifted my head up and touched the tear. “What’s the matter?” There was no internal debate over what the social convention was; I asked the question with genuine interest and concern.
Diane smiled and sighed. “Don’t try to get in my head right now, Rico.”
The next question did take a little mental work from me. I settled on, “Is there anything I can do to help?”
“You’re killing yourself trying to save the universe from tyranny,” Diane said. “I think that’s enough for now.”
I shrugged. “But I don’t actually care about any of that.”
We heard Sylvia’s voice through the door. “If you two are done doing ... whatever it is you’re doing in there, we have a call from Jere on Calipa. He’s gotten into Oron-Damari headquarters and thinks he has some info on the Fathom.”
Diane got up and put on some pants that were draped over the side of the couch. I didn’t bother with any clothes myself and just went through the door.
Sylvia raised an eyebrow at my lack of clothes. “How are you feeling? You still look like crap.”
“Good enough.” Wade and Eldan were sitting in the room as well. They looked at me like they were expecting further explanation, but I didn’t see the point in it. On a screen was Jere, standing in a large office. Other Dallians walked around in the background. “So what do we have?” I asked as Diane walked up behind me.
“Is that Rico?” Jere asked. “About all of the Fathom’s forces have been chased off of Calipa. Everyone banded together after we got confirmation that you aren’t dead.”
“I’ll try to keep not being dead for as long as it helps,” I said.
Jere motioned around him. “We got control of the Oron-Damari offices. And there is something interesting in the data here. There were some expensive projects — all part of a massive spaceship commissioned over a decade ago. Almost all the details are obscured, but we have people who should be able to decrypt it. If the Fathom did work with Oron-Damari to make their ship, then maybe we can use it to trace back to who they are.”
“But nothing solid yet?” Wade asked.
“No, but we’ll have it soon,” Jere said. “I don’t want to get expectations up too much, but some of the newer executives from Oron-Damari are helping us, and they say they’ve never seen a ship order treated like this before — even from classified government orders. This is extremely unusual. I think there is something here and possibly the reason the Fathom were scared of others having control of Calipa.”
I noticed something unusual about one of the Dallians behind Jere. The face changed. No longer fur but a white mask.
“Behind you!” I shouted, but two holes burned through Jere’s chest before he could even turn around.
The white mask approached the camera until we could see the red eyes. “Hello again,” Drav said.
“I thought you’d be coming to Vesa for me,” I answered.
Drav laughed. “You’re not the most important thing in the universe, Rico. There’s business to attend to here before we come and finish off whatever is left of you.”
“There’s information the Fathom are scared of in that office,” Wade stated to Drav. “Do you understand what that means?”
It took a moment for me to comprehend what Wade was doing: He was trying to appeal to Drav’s sense of decency or something.
“I know what that means,” Drav said. “We’re going to destroy all of it. You see, the Fathom are paying us, and they pay well. Plus, they’re going to win this conflict. On the other hand, there are only lots of paying opportunities while people are resisting them, so you all keep doing what you’re doing.” His eyes fixed on me. “You must feel so vulnerable on Vesa with no weapons.”
“I’m not interested in banter,” I said. “Let’s just make sure that the next time we meet each other, it’s the last.”
Drav nodded. “Fair enough. Try to live until then.” He cut the call.
“Dammit!” Wade yelled as he slammed his fist on the table, causing the monitor to topple over.
“Finding out who the Fathom are was always a long shot,” Diane said.
Wade slumped down in a chair. “Would just be nice to bring the fight to them.” He pulled out a handheld. “I have to tell Redden.”
Sylvia looked at me. “The focus is now Mountain Fall. That’s all we have to keep the Fathom scared. So let’s not screw up our meeting with Stevens.”
“I’ll let Diane and you guys do the talking,” I said. Sylvia gave me a thumbs-up.
Eldan stared at the blank monitor. “Do you think everyone else is still safe on Calipa?”
There was the problem with caring about people that seemed like such a burden: constant worries irrelevant to the mission at hand. “I’m sure they’re safer than we are.”
CHAPTER 25
“Do I have an office here?”
We were in the capitol building. It was a human-influenced one, white with a large dome and everything. Vesa had special transportation that went right to the building and allowed us to enter without running into the press. Still, Wade and Sylvia had gone separately to make sure they weren’t seen with us and were meeting us inside. I had in my hand a bag containing a bottle of whiskey I’d bought at a liquor store near the hotel before we’d left; it was that kind of day.
“You should,” Eldan answered as we walked through a hallway. “As part of being an elected representative.”
“You want to see your office, Rico?” Diane asked with a smile.
“I never had an office before,” I said. “I’ve always just kind of lived out of my ship.”
“You want to settle down someplace and get an office?” Diane inquired.
“Be something to try,” I answered, wondering if I was implying things that maybe I shouldn’t. Eh, didn’t matter. We weren’t likely to survive this conflict, and all talk of what came afterward was idle speculation.
We walked through some back hallways that were mainly empty. We soon came to a small lobby where both Wade and Sylvia stood waiting.
“You can stay upright?” Sylvia asked.
“For a few minutes, at least,” I answered. “So who’s doing the talking? Because it sure as hell ain’t me.”
“I’ll handle this,” Wade said.
A young woman entered the room. “Representative Stevens can see you now.” She glanced cautiously at me but in the same way I’d expect most people to.
The secretary led the way to an office, where the representative sat behind a desk, and a few different aides in suits stood around.
“Huh, the cameras are turned off in here,” Eldan remarked, looking up at the ceiling.
Something was wrong. My first instinct was to assess the other people in the room as potential threats, but it was Stevens’s smile that quickly took all my attention. There was something off about it. Something predatory.
And then recognition dawned on me. My hands slid to my belt, where my holsters weren’t. I first assumed I’d made a mistake, but I glanced at Diane and by her shocked expression, she saw it too.
“Hi, Rico,” the representative cooed.
Wade stepped forward. “Stevens, we need to —”
“Shut up, Wade.” I motioned for him to back off. I finally let myself look at the other people in the room. There were five other men and women, all watching us very carefully and looking quite ready. It seemed like a trap, though they didn’t exactly outnumber us.
I took a couple more steps toward the representative’s desk. “Hello, Morrigan.” Blonde now instead of a redhead, but she was unm
istakable. This was the woman who had once ripped off my hand. The woman of uncanny strength who had beaten me to a pulp.
She laughed. “I wish I had snapped a picture of your expression just now. That was priceless.”
“Speaking of snap, I wish I had a picture of your face that one time I surprised you.”
Her smile faded as she touched her neck. “That was a neat trick. You almost killed me. I guess that’s our thing: almost killing each other.”
“What’s going on here?” Sylvia demanded.
Morrigan looked over the four people with me. “So you’ve got a whole entourage now. Great to see you’re finally a team player.”
I looked at Wade and Sylvia and the especially confused Eldan. “The criminal syndicate Nystrom has apparently taken over this representative.”
“Where’s Stevens?” Wade asked.
Morrigan shrugged. “I dunno. Maybe a landfill somewhere.” She looked at Diane. “Oh, don’t give me that expression. Like you’ve ever met a politician that didn’t deserve to be murdered and thrown into a landfill.” She turned back to me. “So are you two still a thing? Because that’s adorable.”
Diane was not amused. She was trying to conceal it, but she was seething. For a moment, I thought I might have to physically intervene to keep her from charging Morrigan, though I was pretty sure Diane had more control than that.
Morrigan frowned at Diane. “Oh, are you still mad about the whole murdering your friend and her family thing?”
Diane was very carefully controlling herself. “That’s just a joke to you? You killed children.”
Morrigan leaned toward Diane. “Whoever hasn’t murdered children, raise your hand.”
Wade nudged me. “What are you guys ... talking about?”
This had broken Diane’s calm. She was white and barely holding it together as she carefully avoided Wade’s eyes. “We have history,” I told Wade. “Just stay out of this.”
“If you’re all just murdering scumbags, can you play nice together?” Sylvia whispered.
“And who are these two?” Morrigan asked as she looked at Wade and Sylvia. “Are you the feds?”
“We speak with the full authority of the Galactic Alliance,” Wade said. “If that’s what you’re asking.”
This amused Morrigan. “As impressive as that sounds, I know right now you have about as much authority here as the average tourist.” She looked at Eldan. “And the furry guy?”
“I’m from Calipa. I’m helping in the fight against the Fathom.”
She looked at me. “Oh. He’s one of your constituents. Are you representing him well?”
“It depends on what happens with the Fathom.” I idly touched some glass award on Morrigan’s desk. “So are you going to kill us or what?”
Morrigan scoffed. “If I was going to kill you, I would have just done it.”
“No,” I corrected her, “you would have played with us first, like you’re doing now.”
She laughed. “Fine. You’re right. If I was going to kill you, I’d do exactly what I’m doing right now.” She kept her eyes locked on me as she stood up from behind her desk. She was a tall woman, matching my height. “Considering our history, the sensible thing would be to crush your skull until all the goo leaks out and I’m sure you’re dead, wouldn’t it?”
I kept watch on the other people Morrigan had in the room out of the corner of my eye. They were threats, but they weren’t the threat. “You’d better do it quick before the Shade get to me again and ruin your fun. Or is all this song and dance because you want to deal?” I motioned to Wade. “Because these guys are pretty desperate, so they’ll probably deal.”
Wade glared at me. “That’s not true. We —”
“She’s not an idiot,” I interrupted. “She can see you’re in the middle of a plan that involves me being elected to office. Obviously you’re desperate.”
“He’s right,” Morrigan said to Wade. “That’s pretty obvious. I like you, though; you’re cute and dumb.”
“I’m not ... dumb,” Wade objected.
“The only problem is,” Morrigan said, “why work with a group that’s about to be eradicated?”
“Are you talking about yourselves?” Diane said, keeping her eyes locked on Morrigan. “The Fathom united the other criminal syndicates partly by saying they would wipe out Nystrom and split up your territories among them.”
“We were almost on top, but this one’s little tantrum” — she pointed at me — “caused that to come crashing down. But I guess that was Burke’s plan. Except for the Fathom. Haven’t they been a fun little surprise for everyone?” She looked again at Wade and Sylvia. “Does everyone here know what I’m talking about when I mention Burke?”
“I don’t know anything about what you’re talking about,” Eldan said. He looked at the rest of us. “But if the Fathom are a common enemy, then we should work together.”
“The furry guy speaks wisdom,” Morrigan said. She smiled, but it wasn’t a comforting smile. “So what exactly is it you all want?”
There was a silence, which I used to better assess what we were up against. The five Morrigan had with her didn’t look particularly threatening — some were large but still a regular physical threat. Still, I had to assume she had planned for a fight and perhaps had weaponry and more people available to her at a moment’s notice. And then there was Morrigan herself, whom I knew was maybe formidable enough to take us all on at once. I had gotten the advantage over her one time, but it seemed unlikely I’d do that again.
Diane approached Morrigan’s desk. “If we tell you anything, you could just use that to betray us and try to get into the Fathom’s good graces.”
Morrigan regarded Diane with a small amount of caution. “If we thought coexistence with the Fathom was an option, that might be a good plan.”
“And by helping us, you’d be helping Burke,” I said. “Are we to believe Nystrom is willing to do that after his betrayal?”
Morrigan strolled out from behind her desk, still keeping her distance. I tried not to tense; if she wanted to kill me, she’d probably do it fairly easily in my current state, so there was no reason to worry about it. “He has a way of making himself the lesser evil, doesn’t he? You know, it’s almost worth being eradicated just to see him go down, too, but we’re not quite there yet. So again, what is it that you want? I am starting to get bored with this, and I know of a few interesting things to do with you guys if you’re of no use to me. We can disable the cameras in here when we please, and we specifically made this place so that it cleans very easily.”
“We need access to an archive that takes the authorization of two representatives,” Wade told her. “You just have to walk with us to the data archive and give your authorization. That’s all.”
She walked over to Wade with a sultry smile. “And what’s the data you need?”
“You don’t need to know that,” Sylvia answered for Wade. “But it’s part of a plan for dealing with the Fathom.”
Morrigan rolled her eyes. “Well, obviously. Fine. I don’t need to know what you’re up to. I just hope Rico is as frustrating to the Fathom as he has to been to me.” She backed off and sat on her desk, facing us. “Let’s talk price. Nystrom will help the old Galactic Alliance — even though we know the traitor Burke is behind you — because of the aforementioned desperation of the situation. But we want legal recognition by your government as a non-criminal entity and partner of the Alliance.”
Diane scoffed. “You expect everyone to just overlook all you’ve done before, including the genocide on Zaldia.”
“You have, if you’re on Burke’s side,” Morrigan said. “That was all his orchestration. Just tell everyone you were mistaken in assigning the blame to Nystrom. It was really some other syndicate. Or some plot of the Fathom. You can make up something people will buy; I believe in you. But the point is Nystrom will be like a separate nation that is your ally and that you respect, and you will help protect its legally recogn
ized territories.”
“That’s ... a big ask,” Wade said.
Morrigan shrugged. “You guys are like a lottery ticket to us. There’s a really slim chance you’ll have any payoff, so if we invest in you, that payoff better be big.”
“Nystrom is going to be destroyed if we don’t succeed,” Sylvia said. “You have no choice but to help us.”
“Maybe,” Morrigan said, standing and walking over to us. She was good at hiding her intentions, and I didn’t realize what she was up to until she was within arm’s range of Sylvia. Morrigan quickly shot out her hand and grabbed Sylvia by the neck, lifting her into the air.
“Hey!” Wade shouted, but Morrigan stared us all down as if daring us to do something. Sylvia kicked and struggled as her eyes bulged. Diane looked ready to act, but I gave her a subtle “no,” as this had to be handled delicately.
“I’m sorry,” Morrigan stated, her smile gone, “but I may have overdone the friendly banter, because this is not a friendly meeting. Either you will give us what we want, or I will kill you all because you are useless to me and, frankly, I want to kill you. So maybe I should tear apart one of you just to show you I’m serious.” She looked at Sylvia, desperately clawing at her hand. “And there is something about this one I just don’t like.”
“Let her down,” Wade said. “We can talk this out.”
“Can we?” Morrigan waved Sylvia around a little bit. “Because I —”
Sylvia struck Morrigan in the throat with her fist. Morrigan gasped and dropped Sylvia as she clutched her neck. Sylvia thudded to the floor, gasping for air, but all eyes were on Morrigan, who quickly recovered and stood up straight. Her face wasn’t angry, though; it was much scarier than that. There was no emotion there; she had gone into that void of a predator going in for the kill. Sylvia had made a fatal mistake, and there was no reasoning with Morrigan now.
“You have to do something,” Dip told me.
Sylvia isn’t an innocent bystander; she’s a professional who just made a dumb mistake that is getting her killed.
“She’s someone in peril who needs protecting.”
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