Hold Fast Through the Fire

by K. B. Wagers

  Max kicked her, knocking Melanie back toward Nika, who rushed forward. The woman spun, as fast as Stephan, and deflected his swing to the side.

  “When you first came to Trappist, we were afraid you were after us, you know. But we soon realized you weren’t aware of Stephan’s investigation and were just on One-e for regular duty. We appreciated the distraction LifeEx provided. It was a pity about your arm.” The smile on Melanie’s face was ugly and Nika kept his mind cleared of the memories as they circled each other.

  “Nika, she’s hoping to distract—” Max was whispering over the com, but he had to shut her out. He needed to focus.

  Max was putting pressure on her right shoulder, but Nika could see the blood leaking between her long fingers. And if he kept thinking about that, he’d lose.

  He was always thinking too much.

  “Why’d you hit Jupiter Station?” Nika asked. “That was an unwise move. All it did was get the entire CHN military hunting for your heads.”

  “Calculated risk.” Melanie shrugged as she wove her sword in a figure eight. “We’d hoped to take out all the important players and pin it on Free Mars. Wars are good things—not only to distract certain people as we wrapped up our operations on Trappist, but because they would have opened up all sorts of new business opportunities. Things I could have exploited once Tieg was out of the picture.”

  “You really thought your warning on Trappist-1d did the trick,” Nika said, the realization hitting him. “That we were just going to head back to Jupiter and pretend like nothing was wrong. For someone who was in the NeoG, you don’t know us very well.”

  This time Melanie’s smile was tight and Nika knew he’d hit the mark. “Fucking NeoG, always so righteous,” she hissed. “I hated every second I was in, with the exception of Mars. Because I actually got to feel like we were doing something down there busting heads.”

  Nika conceded some ground when Melanie threw out a testing strike and made a mental note to thank D’Arcy for all those practice bouts that involved a lot of conversation. He took a quick step forward, slicing through shirt and flesh with the tip of his sword.

  Melanie stumbled back, the look she shot him full of hatred. “I was disappointed that we only just missed your sister with that bomb. Then I thought maybe we’d lucked out and put you all out of play with the news of Luis’s and Stephan’s deaths. But you just kept at it. Was it because you knew they weren’t dead?”

  “No, we thought they were dead and we knew you were responsible.” Nika parried her expected swing, countering with his own and driving Melanie back several steps with the force of the blow. “Didn’t you ever wonder, Melanie, how we knew? Where the proof came from? How we found your accounts?”

  She didn’t have time to answer as he swung at her with controlled fury. Melanie barely blocked his strike and Nika twisted his wrist so that the hook at the end of his sword locked onto Melanie’s blade. He sent it flying with a sharp movement.

  “You fucked with the NeoG and we were determined to bring you down. On your knees, and put your hands behind your back.”

  Nika glanced at Max, who nodded and approached them with her sword in her left hand, reaching for the cuffs in her cargo pocket.

  Melanie rolled away from her, spinning and kicking Nika’s legs out from underneath him. He hit the ground and couldn’t bring his sword up in time before Melanie tackled him, knocking it from his hand. Nika heard Max shout, but he caught the knife that appeared with his right hand and watched the shock flare on her face as he easily bent the blade.

  “I swear I will drive this sword through your rotten heart if you don’t roll off him,” Max said.

  Melanie complied. Max nudged her with a foot. “On your face, now.”

  Nika tossed the twisted knife aside and grabbed Max’s cuffs, quickly restraining Melanie and hauling her to her feet.

  “Listen, that’s a lot of money,” Melanie babbled. “Enough for a good life away from all this. You can take it all, just let me go.”

  Nika looked at Max, who laughed.

  “First off, your accounts are frozen again,” Max said. “We already have your money and it’ll be going where it belongs—back to Trappist.”

  “Second,” Nika added, “you know who you’re talking to, right? We’re the NeoG, and we’ve already got a good life.”

  Thirty-Nine

  Jenks sprinted across the open terrain at the edge of the canyon, Chae on her heels. “You running from a little rabbit, Grant?” She should have known the taunt would do exactly what she’d intended, but Grant moved fast, coming to a stop and lining up a shot with the gun still in his hand. “Chae, drop!”

  Jenks ducked, rushing forward and putting her shoulder into his diaphragm, lifting him off his feet. He lost his grip on his weapon at the impact, but brought his knee up into her nose as they fell onto the hard-packed dirt. Pain exploded through her head and Jenks rolled to her side, blood streaming down her face.

  “Jenks!”

  She spit a mouthful of blood out onto the ground. “I’ve got it,” she said to Luis as he and Tivo skidded to a stop. “Doge, you stop. Do not shoot.” The ROVER’s eyes flashed red and for a second she thought he was going to disobey her.

  “Come on, big guy,” she said to Grant. “You and me. Let’s go.” Her nose was throbbing, but it was nothing compared to the rage screaming in her head.

  “This isn’t your fucking cage.” Grant rasped, getting to his feet.

  “You’re right. I have to follow rules in the cage.” She gestured. “Take your shot before I let Luis here put you down.”

  He rushed her, spinning to the side. Jenks blocked his punch with her left elbow, slapping Grant across the face with her open right hand. She could see the poorly banked fury in his eyes and grinned, knowing it would push him over the edge.

  Because whatever barbs Grant wanted to throw about the cage, preparing for a fight was what Jenks was good at, and she’d been studying him since before the explosion that took Hoboins away from her.

  Then, he’d been just a target like any other. Killing Hoboins made it personal. She’d found every scrap of footage she could of Grant’s days with the Mars PK, every fight he’d been in, every arrest.

  Her rage was clarity. The coldness of space. Despite her anger, Jenks treated this like a cage match and she already knew all her opponent’s weaknesses.

  Left hook is slower than right.

  She caught the punch, pressing down on his elbow with hers as she yanked upward. Grant’s howl of pain almost drowned out the snapping of bones. She stepped in past his guard, bringing her right elbow up into his chin.

  Jenks easily avoided his fumbling grasp as he stumbled back from the blow.

  Right knee injury from time in PeaceKeepers.

  “You hurt my crew,” she said, bringing her boot down on his right knee and slipping away from him as he fell to the ground. “Get up.”

  Grant staggered to his feet. Jenks had purposefully not broken his knee; she wanted him mobile, and this time when he came at her, she dodged his swing, slamming a fist into his jaw. Grant staggered back and went down again.

  “You hurt my family.” She kicked him in the chest, knocking him onto his back. She took two steps forward and put her boot on his throat. “It would be so easy to put my full weight on you and end this.” She felt her iron control slip as she pressed down and he choked.

  “Dai.” Luis’s quiet voice extinguished her fury and Jenks dragged in a breath, glancing away for just a moment.

  Grant grabbed her leg, yanking it out from underneath her. She heard the others yelling as he swarmed over her, somehow getting his good arm across her throat and dragging them both upright.

  “You all back the fuck up now,” Grant snarled. “Or I’ll—” He broke off on a gasp of pain.

  “Let the chief go, or so help me I’ll shove this sword the rest of the way into your back and sever your spine.” There wasn’t the slightest tremor in Chae’s order and Jenks pulled
Grant’s arm away from her throat. Tivo and Luis swept in, shouting for Grant to get on the ground as Chae moved out of the way.

  Jenks pulled them into a hug.

  “Got your back, Chief,” Chae murmured in her ear, hugging her tightly with their free arm.

  “Damn right you do.”

  “Welcome back to Earth. How’s your side?” Stephan held a hand out to Nika as he disembarked from the Laika, the rest of Zuma’s Ghost behind him.

  The Intel specialist had taken the NeoG’s newest transport, the Gajabahu, on two short wormhole hops from Trappist back to Jupiter and then to Earth while the rest of them had taken the slower route on the Navy ship.

  Everything about the operation had been locked down tight, though the interrogation of Melanie and Grant on their ride back to Earth had proven more than useful as the pair turned on each other and on Senator Tieg with surprising swiftness.

  It only added to the evidence and testimony from Julia, who was still safely in custody.

  “Tamago says it’ll heal fine. After they got done punishing me by cleaning it.”

  Stephan chuckled. “How’s Chae?”

  “Still a little dazzled by how Max managed to talk her sister into supplying whatever the habitats on Trappist need as a humanitarian project until the money we confiscated from Melanie’s accounts can be assigned by the Habitat Committee.” Nika shrugged. “Other than that, they’ll settle once we’re back on Trappist. It’ll be helpful to have someone from the area involved in the work we’re going to do there.”

  “This was by no means the only group exploiting the habitats, but it was the largest. Melanie refuses to elaborate on what she said to you regarding Free Mars and the potential war there, but we’ll deal with that another day,” Stephan replied, exchanging nods with the other members of the team as they came off the ship. “We’ve got a transport over here and Senator Carmichael is waiting for us. Ready to take down Tieg?”

  Nika looked behind him at the rest of Zuma’s Ghost, the five Neos nodding in unison. “We’re ready.”

  People stumbled over each other in their haste to get out of the way of the group of Neos and Navy personnel who marched into the CHN Senate building. Max strode at Nika’s side, resolutely ignoring the twinge in her shoulder.

  “Sir, I’m sorry, you can’t—” The guard who tried to stop them fell silent when Pax appeared.

  “These are my guests.” Pax gestured for them to follow her down the hallway.

  “Senator Carmichael, the Senate is in session.” The guard at the next door frowned at Max’s sister.

  “I know that, Sergeant. This is a matter for the Senate. Open the doors.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  The doors were pushed open and Max followed her sister into the chamber. The noise level dropped abruptly with their entrance but then rose again as the protests started.

  “There will be order!” An older woman whose handshake read Speaker Quanella Watson, she/her held up her hands and the room fell silent once again. “Senator Carmichael, we are in the middle of a debate—on your habitat assistance bill, I might add. What is the meaning of this interruption?”

  “Madam Speaker, my apologies, but this has to do with my bill. If I could introduce Commander Stephan Yevchenko of the Intelligence Division of the Near-Earth Orbital Guard. He and his team have been investigating charges of corruption, theft, and dereliction of the oath sworn to the Coalition of Human Nations.”

  “Senator Carmichael, you know you are supposed to put witnesses on the roster.”

  “I do, this was a matter that required some discretion, so I hope you’ll forgive me and listen to what he has to say.”

  “We’re going to have a runner,” Max murmured to Jenks, tipping her head back toward the door. Jenks nodded and nudged Luis and Tivo. The pair followed her and Max schooled her expression into one of polite disinterest as Senator Rubio Tieg stopped edging toward the exit.

  “Esteemed senators, five years ago we began investigating rumors that funds and the supply chain for the Trappist habitats were being misused.” Stephan stepped into the center of the chamber with the same poise as any of the people in this room. “I am happy to tell you that today, almost all of those involved have been apprehended.”

  “Senator Carmichael,” Senator Watson said, “while this is amazing news, I am certain you didn’t interrupt your own bill debate just to let us all know this. Could you get to the point?”

  “Yes, the point.” Pax turned around and looked at Senator Tieg. “The man in charge of all this, who was profiting off the suffering of the very people we all swore an oath to protect, is in this very room. I am here to inform him of his conspirators’ arrests. I am also here to ask my colleagues to allow these Intelligence officers to arrest Senator Tieg.”

  The murmurs grew louder, but Pax was unmoved by her fellow senators’ protests. “You can go quietly, Rubio, or they can drag you out of here. It’s your choice. I’d remind you, though, that your actions caused the deaths of an admiral of the NeoG, a man many of these people served with and respected a great deal.” Pax smiled. “Choose wisely.”

  Interstitial

  The roar of the Boarding Games crowd vibrated the walls and floor around them as the circle of Neos stood with their hands touching. Nika shared a smile with Commander Till of Flux Capacitor and then looked at his sister.

  Jenks grinned. “We ready to win this?”

  “You know it,” Chae said with a smile of their own.

  “For Admiral Hoboins,” Max replied and the team’s response echoed back at her.

  “For the NeoG.”

  Acknowledgments

  I’d like to thank David Pomerico and Mireya Chiriboga as well as all the other folx at Harper Voyager whose tireless efforts made this novel come to life.

  Many thanks to Reginald Polynice for his gorgeous cover art and the design team for their hard work.

  To my agent, Andrew Zack, for all your hard work, your sharp eye, and your support.

  To Josh McGraw and Kelly Evans for graciously donating to the Australian bushfire relief early in 2020. I hope you enjoy the characters who appeared on the page as a result.

  To my family and friends. Thank you all for your support, your love. There’s no one else I’d rather go into battle with than you.

  To my readers, thank you for your time. I know it’s in short supply and your choice to spend some of it reading my stories is never taken for granted.

  About the Author

  K. B. WAGERS is the author of the Indranan and Farian War trilogies with Orbit Books and the new NeoG novels from Harper Voyager. They hold a bachelor’s degree in Russian studies and a second-degree black belt in Shaolin kung fu. Born and raised on a farm in Colorado, K. B. lives at the base of the Rocky Mountains with a pile of spoiled cats. In between books, they aimlessly wander the mountains, scribble down new ideas, and die in video games. You can find them on Twitter @kbwagers, ranting about politics, posting cat photos, and occasionally talking books. They are represented by Andrew Zack of The Zack Company.

  Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.

  Praise for A Pale Light in the Black

  “Wagers kicks off the NeoG series with this fun, feel-good space opera. This effortlessly entertaining novel is sure to have readers coming back for the next installment.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “If Wagers didn’t serve, they certainly got the skinny from somebody who lived it, and it shows. They spin a captivating sea story in space. As an ex–Coast Guardsman, I appreciate that what the crew lacks in gear, they make up for in heart. Semper Paratus.”

  —Nathan Lowell, creator of the Golden Age of the Solar Clipper series

  “Wagers delivers a space adventure that’s a found-family story that’s an interstellar conspiracy story that’s . . . it just keeps going! Fierce, rollicking, kind, intimate, and vast. If The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet had more kickboxing matches and death-defying spac
e rescues, this would be the book. Go NeoG!”

  —Max Gladstone, author of Empress of Forever

  “Great characters and white-knuckle tension. Recommended.”

  —Gareth L. Powell, author of Embers of War

  “Perfect for fans of Becky Chambers, A Pale Light in the Black is an energetic, unique military sci-fi with a found-family heart.”

  —Emily Skrutskie, author of Bonds of Brass

  “Wagers builds a complex and compelling mystery against a military sci-fi backdrop in a book full of diverse characters you’re going to laugh and cry with. It all adds up to the sort of book that is impossible to put down, and I never wanted to.”

  —Bryan Young, writer

  “Every character is someone readers will enjoy spending time with, and exploring the characters’ relationships is the heart of the tale. . . . Wagers’s first book in the NeoG series is an unexpected and refreshing twist on military science fiction.”

  —Library Journal

  “For readers who enjoyed Rocky or Top Gun as much as they did Star Trek, A Pale Light in the Black is a thrilling and heartwarming ride.”

  —BookPage

  Also by K. B. Wagers

  The NeoG Novels

  A Pale Light in the Black

  Hold Fast Through the Fire

  The Indranan War Trilogy

  Behind the Throne

  After the Crown

  Beyond the Empire

  The Farian War Trilogy

  There Before the Chaos

  Down Among the Dead

  Out Past the Stars

  Copyright

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.