Dark Matters (Class 5 Series Book 4)

by Michelle Diener

  Those who had that kind of power would be a small, select group.

  And he didn't see anyone that looked like they had that kind of clout around.

  Maybe he and Lucy would get a visit later, but Dray doubted it.

  They'd try to keep their hands clean and stand at as much distance as possible.

  Which meant they'd put everything on hold until they either lost their nerve and killed her, or waited it out to see if producing her would somehow mitigate their crimes.

  Lucy moved ahead of him, her stride stiff after two hours on the hover in the cold and wind.

  But she didn't hesitate, turning into a room behind the leading two soldiers as if she did it every day.

  Maybe her facility and this one had a similar design.

  “In.”

  Dray saw one of the Tecran soldiers who'd gone ahead was opening up a door to what looked like a prison cell. The door he was holding open was translucent from halfway up, so they could be monitored.

  “Restraints,” she answered back in the same tone, coming to a stop and holding her hands out behind her from underneath her cloak.

  The soldier glanced over Dray's shoulder, to Virn, and then flicked the cloak back, released her hands, and pushed her inside.

  Dray didn't like seeing the Tecran's hands on her; something rose up in him that was tightly coiled, hot and focused.

  It must have shown on his face, because the Tecran took a tiny step back.

  He forced himself to turn his back, like Lucy had, and lift his arms up, and after a moment's hesitation, the guard complied.

  He stepped into the cell before anyone could lay hands on him, because he didn't know if he could take it without a violent response.

  There was a bunk bolted onto the wall on both sides of the narrow room, and Lucy was sitting in the middle of one of them.

  She watched him as he settled in opposite her with those expressive eyes, the skin below them dark and bruised.

  She leaned back, subtly tapped her ear.

  He shook his head, then tilted it toward her.

  She shook her head as well, miming a boot crushing something underfoot.

  That was a blow. He'd hoped they wouldn't check her for an earpiece. Hoped that Bane would be still in the loop.

  The thinking system would be working out a way to help them. That that was a comfort, rather than cause for alarm, given what Bane was, was a surprise in itself.

  Bane's very existence was everything he'd been taught to fear.

  But right now, he was as grateful for the thinking system as for anything he could ever remember.

  He and Lucy made themselves a little more comfortable, neither speaking.

  A soldier watched them from the other side of the door, and Dray could see the lens, which he guessed had audio capabilities, in the corner of the ceiling.

  After a few minutes, Lucy leaned back even more, tipped her head against the wall, eyes closed, and started tapping the side of the bunk with her open palms, humming.

  After a few moments of doing that, she started singing softly under her breath.

  He rose up slowly, until he was on the edge of the bunk, his gaze riveted.

  It was . . . extraordinary.

  He'd heard the Earth women, Rose McKenzie, Fiona Russell, and Imogen Peters, sing, both all together and individually, but only through comms, never in person.

  And that had been spectacular.

  This was something else again.

  The air vibrated with the sound, and he felt something inside him clench.

  He'd been suspicious that all three Earth women were such amazing music makers, but now here was Lucy, blowing him away. They seemed to be made of music.

  She opened her eyes, and then jerked up, the song cutting off at the sight of him.

  “What is it?” Her voice was low, frightened.

  He blinked. “Nothing.”

  “It's something,” she hissed. “You were looking at me as though . . .” She waved a hand. “I don't know what, but it was intense.”

  “Your singing.” He wished she hadn't opened her eyes. That she hadn't stopped.

  “What about it?” She frowned.

  “I--” He didn't know how to describe it. “It was . . . good.”

  She shook her head, as if he had lost his mind. “Allll riiight.” She drew the words out. “Thanks. Nina Simone never disappoints.”

  “Nina Simone?”

  “The original composer and singer of that song.”

  “Will you finish it for me?”

  The look she sent him was startled, but as she opened her mouth to reply, the sound of footsteps had them both looking out the door.

  Dray stood, but Lucy stayed seated, affecting an insolence he hadn't seen in her moments before.

  She was deliberately antagonizing the Tecran soldiers.

  He worried she would go too far, but it was too late to talk to her about it now.

  The Tecran who came to the door and looked in was definitely in charge.

  Virn stood to attention behind him, smug but respectful.

  The door opened.

  The officer hesitated, his gaze going to Dray.

  Lucy had gotten their restraints removed, and the officer was suddenly remembering that Dray wasn't an untrained Earth woman. He was a commander with Grihan Battle Center. Unarmed or not, he was dangerous.

  To make things easier, Dray lifted both hands and sat.

  Something flashed in Lucy's eyes, a quick spark of amusement, but she didn't say anything.

  It seemed she knew when to provoke and when to keep her silence.

  The officer stepped in, but Dray caught the flash of movement as Virn lifted his shockgun. He said nothing, just looked between them.

  “What to do with us, right?” Lucy said, and folded her hands across her stomach and stretched her legs out a little more, almost touching the officer's boot.

  He snapped his head to look at her. Stared.

  She smiled sweetly back. “To kill or not to kill, am I right?”

  He frowned, and even Dray knew the Tecran sentence construction she used was incorrect. She either didn't notice or she'd done it on purpose.

  He suspected the latter.

  “That's right.” The officer watched her, and Dray could see the fascination, and also the edge of condescension in his gaze.

  She must have been putting up with this for months. No wonder she had an edge to her when she dealt with them.

  “Sucks to be you.” She smiled, but there was nothing nice about it now. “You'll be the fall guy, no matter which way you jump.”

  The officer went still.

  He must have figured it out for himself, but he was surprised that Lucy had, Dray realized.

  He watched the officer readjust his view of her.

  “I'm simply doing what's best for my people.”

  She laughed, and even Dray's control couldn't help the escape of a bark of incredulous amusement.

  “What's best for the criminals higher up the chain of command who broke the law and then lied about it, you mean?” Lucy sat up a little straighter.

  “The ones who aren't here themselves to sort out the mess their orders created, but sent you instead.” Dray kept his voice quiet.

  The Tecran officer glanced at him, and there was definitely worry in his expression.

  “Unless he's one of the people who's responsible. Maybe he's one of the big shots?” Lucy mused.

  Dray knew he couldn't be. He'd studied Tecran military insignia before he got here, and while there wasn't much on the uniform the officer was wearing, the markings across the breast were those of a lieutenant. Not nearly high enough to have had any part in the theft of the Class 5 plans, the building of them, and then the abduction of advanced sentients. Just high enough to follow the orders and help.

  When they should have sounded the alarm.

  In response to Lucy's taunt, the officer turned back to her. “You seem to be very sure of your f
acts.”

  She shrugged. “I've been out and about for a few days. Wasn't hard to find out that you and your colleagues have dragged your people into a situation where their choices are an unwinnable war or being supervised like children. No wonder they hate you so much.”

  There was a flicker behind the officer's back, two of the soldiers sharing a look, and Dray had to give Lucy points. She had a very good grasp of divide and conquer strategy.

  “They don't hate us.” The officer looked affronted.

  “Have you heard some of the chants in the square in Fa'allen? Have you listened to the conversations?” She tilted her head to Virn. “He must have, seeing as he was part of the group hunting me down in the city.”

  The officer looked back at Virn, but the soldier's mouth was shut and his eyes narrowed. He said nothing.

  The silence stretched out.

  “So, what is it? Kill or no?” Lucy asked into the dead air.

  The officer snapped to attention. “No. For now.”

  “Ooh. Lucky us.” Lucy clapped her hands together.

  The officer was obviously as much at a loss as Dray was with her demeanor. His face was neutral as he turned back to Virn. “Get them out of here.”

  Virn tilted his head. “This is the only cell we have.”

  “I mean, out of the facility.”

  Virn took a step forward, and even on his hard-to-read Tecran features, Dray saw his shock. “Why?”

  “Because this facility isn't secret, it's part of the military, and if they're found here it would do exactly the opposite of what we're trying to accomplish.” The officer kept his tone reasonable, but everyone in the room was still, their full concentration on him.

  “Where will we take them?” Virn tried to recover.

  “Somewhere else. Use your initiative. Somewhere no one would suspect. Check in daily, but when you communicate with me or whoever is assigned by head office, make sure you don't mention where you are, and keep to the code.”

  Dray thought Virn was going to walk.

  Just throw down and leave.

  He could see the thought go through his head, and the tension in his body.

  Virn didn't like having to take any initiative. Because that meant he could no longer claim to be just following orders.

  “The UC could send a team here.” The officer's voice was coaxing now, as if he realized how close he was to losing his main scapegoat. “They're looking for him,” he tilted his head toward Dray, “and for the Earth woman. They'll start searching the facilities near Fa'allen. And there can't be a trace of either of them anywhere that's associated with us, or every accusation against us will be that much more credible.”

  “Why can't someone at head office come up with a place to stash her?” Virn wasn't letting that go.

  “Because they're being monitored. The UC is looking hardest at those at the top. The way to do this is for you to source a good place and hunker down. No one can give away what they don't know.”

  Virn stared at him for another long moment. “I expect a promotion.”

  “Everyone involved in this will be promoted. That's not even a question.” The officer's answer was fervent. Sincere.

  But Dray called yurve shit.

  There was no way this wasn't a hands-off deniability exercise.

  If Virn and his crew were caught, they would take the full consequences.

  It hadn't gone unnoticed to him that the officer had not once introduced himself, and no one had mentioned his name.

  Virn and his team were being cut loose, with a hope that if they were caught, they'd look like fanatics.

  With the facility Lucy had been kept in destroyed, he guessed a lot of the top conspirators thought they'd got away clean, but they also couldn't afford to let her talk.

  Dray couldn't see the end game, and maybe there wasn't one. Maybe they were just in reaction mode.

  Some of the soldiers in the room looked like they'd come to the same conclusion.

  “I expect confirmation of promotion within the day,” Virn said. “And we'll need to get provisions and supplies from the stores.”

  “Of course.”

  Dray noticed the officer relaxed a little, now that Virn had agreed.

  What would have been Virn's options if he'd refused? What could the military have done?

  “You should leave as soon as you've stocked up.”

  Virn started issuing orders to the five soldiers in the room. They left to do as ordered, but at least two of them looked close to refusing.

  It was something to work on. A crack to exploit.

  Dray looked over at Lucy, who'd been watching the exchange with singular focus.

  As the door closed on their cell, she changed the angle of her legs and tapped her boot against his own.

  It was a gesture of solidarity.

  He slid a little lower, and tapped back.

  Chapter 23

  She was miserable.

  Lucy had longed to be free of the facility, had almost lost her mind in its artificially lit corridors for the two months she'd been conscious, but when she'd thought of the world outside, it hadn't been sleeting.

  “Why do they have open hovers?” she asked Dray. “Why aren't they enclosed? Like sane people would have?”

  Dray was standing beside her, his hands secured in front of him like her own, and also like her, sipping from a cup of lukewarm grinabo.

  A piece of ice plopped into her cup as she gestured, and she actually felt like screaming.

  She hunched over the cup a little more, so the stinging ice hit the back of her head and shoulders instead.

  “Something about their culture and heritage. They like the wind and rain in their faces.”

  She had guessed as much, but his answer was no comfort. “What about the Grih? They have enclosed hovers?”

  He smiled against the rim of his cup. “Most are. Some aren't.”

  “And what's your weather like?”

  “Depends on which Grihan planet you're talking about.”

  She lifted her gaze to his. “There's more than one?”

  “There are four Grihan planets, plus a few vassal planets, like Balco, which fall in our space boundaries.”

  “Which one's the warmest?”

  He smiled again. “The planet I'm from. Xal.”

  “Are you going to take me to your home to lie in the sun, Commander Helvan?” She didn't know why she asked him that. He wasn't obligated to take her anywhere, but she liked the idea of it.

  He'd been nothing but a quiet, strong presence beside her. And behind his eyes was the same focus on escape she knew was in her own.

  “If you like.” He finished his grinabo with a final gulp. “Xal would be honored to have you.”

  She sent him a sidelong look at that, very skeptical of the truth of it, but he seemed sincere enough.

  “I'd be honored to go,” she said at last.

  He nodded, his gaze going over her shoulder suddenly.

  With an internal sigh, she took the last sip of grinabo, guessing it was Virn coming to say they were moving again.

  They'd been traveling for three hours, not exactly inland, but to the west, with a slight inland trajectory.

  It was deserted out here.

  The Tecran really seemed to think the only address worth having was on the cliffs.

  “Is it just the people who live in Fa'allen who are obsessed with the cliffs?” she asked. “Or are there different Tecran cultures on different parts of the planet who do things differently?”

  “They're all like this.” Dray held out his cup for Virn to take, but the asshole didn't take it.

  “Put it away yourself.”

  The words were short, and Virn's featherlike hair was clumped together it was so wet.

  She saw Dray nod and walk to the back of the hover, and it was only because she'd spent time watching him that she noticed the sudden stillness in him. The spike of anticipation.

  He'd wanted an excuse to
rummage in the storage hold of the hover. Virn had just given him one.

  To give Dray a bit more time and less scrutiny, she turned, cup in both hands, and held it out imperiously.

  “You can take mine. I'm done.”

  Virn flicked the cup out of her hands and stomped on it.

  It cracked audibly under his boot.

  “Temper, temper.” She let her eyes laugh at him, even though she felt a frisson of fear.

  He'd had time to think about what he'd been ordered to do. And the other members of his team had had a chance to express their frank views, none of them positive. He was starting to feel a little trapped by circumstances.

  It was not completely out of the realm of possibility that he'd decide the easiest way out was to murder her and Dray and bury their bodies on this endless, foggy, forsaken moor that would have given even Heathcliff and Cathy pause.

  “I won't put up with your disrespect.” Virn stomped on the cup again, so it broke into two pieces.

  “You want to calm down.” Dray was suddenly back, standing beside her. “If all Tecran soldiers are as undisciplined as you, I'm sorry we didn't choose to go to war. We'd have won it in a heartbeat.”

  He was drawing Virn's ire, making him focus his aggression on Dray, not her.

  It settled something in her.

  Because although she knew it was crazy, that no one from Earth could come save her, she had still felt abandoned.

  She didn't even need someone to save her. She just needed someone to try.

  He was trying.

  Although she worried he was trying a little too well, and that he'd push Virn too far.

  Virn reached out, grabbed the part of Dray's restraints that drooped between his wrist and jerked him forward. “I would watch what you--”

  Something sent up a howl, a long, wavering note that rose her hackles and caused every hair on her arms to stand up. It seemed to be coming from somewhere close, although in the thick mist it was impossible to even tell the direction.

  Virn dropped his hold on Dray. “Time to go.”

  He moved to the hover, not wasting a moment, and the other members of his team moved just as fast, just as quietly.

  She didn't argue. Even though she was dying of curiosity, she didn't ask what was making the noise. She jumped up and had to lean back against the back hoop for balance, because Virn didn't stop to retie her hands behind her, or even tie her on.