Jeffers is probably going to be nervous about the OSG being so close, so I’ll need to explain to him that it’s not meant to get him in trouble. And who the hell knows what’s up with Macon or Lucinda. Probably both of them would rather shoot me than look at me. Macon will probably freak, thinking I’m going to give him up to the OSG. There’s no way I can hide him away, though. Those OSG bastards are going to be all up in my butt as soon as we’re docked together.
Gah! Everything is awesome on the DS Anarchy! So glad I won this ship in a card game! If I ever see Langlade again, I’m going to kick him in the balls. I’m starting to think he lost on purpose.
Chapter Twenty-Six
I’M STANDING IN THE CARGO bay with Jeffers on my right and Baebong on my left. Gus is with his brother, monitoring the heart/lung machine he’s hooked to, the only thing keeping Tam alive right now. The airlock is open, thanks to Lucinda. The girl with short, black hair I remember seeing from the last time we were boarded by the OSG appears on the WS Baltimore’s end.
She waits until two of her armed crewmates are behind her before she steps over to our side. Courtesy says they should leave their weapons in there, but of course they aren’t into the whole manners thing. They board my ship with their firepower strapped to their legs and slung over their backs.
“Where is the patient?” she asks.
I nod at Jeffers before looking at her. “Nice to see you again. My man Jeffers will show you the way.”
Her eyes flash annoyance, but she nods and follows behind him, one of her crewmates joining her. The other remains at the entrance to the airlock on our side.
Baebong leans in closer. “You want me here or in there with Tam?”
I turn to face him so the guy at the door can’t read my lips and whisper in his ear. “You stay here. If anything happens to me, you’re in charge. Go meet up with you know who, you know where, and continue on as planned.”
He frowns, trying to speak low without looking too suspicious about it. “I’m not leaving here without you or Tam.”
I shrug and glance over my shoulder just in time to see Overshine appearing at the far end of the airlock. “You might not have a choice.”
I separate from Baebong and walk over to meet the captain of the WS Baltimore at my door.
“Captain,” he says, stopping and giving me a slight nod. His eyes roam the cargo area, taking in details most people would probably miss.
“Captain,” I say back. “Thank you for your assistance.”
“Haven’t given any yet,” he says, his eyes back on me. “You cleaned your ship.”
“Just a vacuum cycle.”
“Any reason you were hanging around out here in the middle of nowhere?” He puts his hands behind his back, standing at military rest, but I know better. He’s on high alert, waiting for me to do something crazy or for some big surprise to come out at him.
I shrug. “Just conserving energy, not looking for trouble. Cleaning up.” I sweep my arm around the area. “As you can see, we still have some work to do.” I rub my throat, hoping he’ll get the hint that I don’t exactly feel like being chatty.
The guy behind him glances at me and then stares straight ahead again.
“What happened?” He gestures at me with his forehead. “To your face. And your throat.”
“Some guy, a pirate …” I rub my throat again.
“That his rig out there?” Overshine turns slightly to recognize the PC that’s still strapped to the ship, albeit farther down the hull than it was originally. We had to move it back to make room for the docking maneuver with the WS Baltimore. Baebong’s ridiculous lasso system is working well enough that we can use it as a temporary sling holding the PC to us.
I nod.
“And he just showed up out of nowhere?”
I shift my weight to my other foot and then wince.
He frowns at me.
Hoping to distract him from his last question, I hold out my foot. “Managed to break a toe or two.” I life my hand. “And a finger.” I smile. “Not so great for the balance.”
His eyebrows go up. “Sounds like you took a beating.”
I nod. “He had some AI going for him. It wasn’t a fair fight.”
A jaw muscle twitches out at the side of his face. “You should be looked at.”
I wave him off. “Nah, I’m fine.”
“I insist.”
I open my mouth to protest, but he’s already turning away. “Corporal, see the captain to our infirmary.”
“Yes, Sir,” says the guy standing at the doorway. He turns sideways, expecting me to just do what I’m told.
I try like hell not to lose my temper. “In case you haven’t noticed, I have a ship to run here.”
Overshine’s smile is tight. “Not to worry. We won’t let anything happen to your ship while you’re otherwise occupied.” He holds a hand out and gestures for me to go ahead to the airlock. “After you.”
“I need to wait for my crewmember, Tam, to be taken care of.”
Overshine puts his hand on his chest. “I will personally see that he is escorted onto the ship and treated. You’ll be of more use to your crew when you can walk, talk, and flip a bird properly, trust me.”
My jaw goes off kilter as I consider the fact that he just tried to be humorous. I’m pretty sure that’s what he was doing, anyway. I don’t remember him being the type to crack jokes, though. The confused expression on his crewmate’s face tells me I’m not alone in this.
“I have two hands, you know,” I say, walking past him. “Two birds.”
It’s not going to do me any good to argue with him on this, so I act like it’s my idea to go through the airlock and into the belly of this beast of a warship. The footsteps behind me can only belong to him. He acts like he owns the place instead of just captaining it. I smirk. I own my ship, asshole. You’re just piloting one.
“Take a right,” he says.
I limp to the right as instructed, but go as fast as I can so he won’t be inspired to try and help me.
“Tell me why you’re really out here,” he says. His voice is closer. Really close. I’m surprised I can’t feel his breath on the back of my neck.
“I already told you. Cleaning up.”
“You’ve made some modifications to your cargo area.”
“Noticed that, huh?” I knew he was scanning the space. He probably thinks he’ll find clues of my plans hanging on the walls or something. He always did underestimate me.
“Kind of hard to miss. You missing your Level workouts?”
I snort. “Yeah. Right.”
“You could always come back, you know. All would be forgiven.”
I slow down so he can catch up. Then I stop and he does the same, standing next to me. “Don’t think for a single second that I have any interest in being involved with the OSG,” I say in a low, but serious voice. With the problem I’m having in my throat, I sound like a wounded animal or something.
“You might not have a choice. It would be better if you came back on your own decision, before…” He glances up the hallway in the direction we came from.
“Before what?”
He holds up a hand and then straightens, backing away from me by two paces.
A shadow stretches along the wall coming toward us, and then I hear sounds. Two seconds later, the girl appears again. She’s striding fast, but slows when she sees us standing there.
“Sir.” She looks at him and then me. Then back to him. Her left nostril flickers annoyance.
“Corporal. What’s the status of the engineer?”
I frown, trying to remember if anyone specified it was an engineer down.
“He’s on life support.”
“Can we help him?”
“I believe we can. Medical is arranging transport.”
“Excellent. And?” He towers over her, making me shake on her behalf just watching it. I hope she has a good answer for him, because I’m getting nervous not knowing what he w
ants.
She glances at me for a fraction of a second before she responds. “Arrangements have been made for the other.” She looks at the ground. I get the distinct impression that she’s ashamed. That’s weird. What did she do on my ship that would make her feel that way? I’m getting really, really bad vibes about this, but I don’t want to challenge his authority in front of this girl; I know there’s no faster way to get on Overshine’s bad side.
“Report to your station and await further orders.”
Once she’s gone off in the other direction, I fold my arms as best I can with my broken finger and fix him with a stare. “What was that all about?”
He puts his hand on my elbow and tries to urge me forward. “Nothing you need to worry about.”
I refuse to go, wincing a little when his efforts to get me moving hurt my toes. “Actually, I am worried. Anything you try to keep a secret from me is going to make me worry.”
He smirks at me. “Then you’re in for a hell of a trip.”
“Trip?” My eyebrows go up into my hairline. “You think I’m going somewhere?”
He shrugs, his eyes flicking to the right before settling on me again. “Yes. To the infirmary, remember?”
I shove his arm off me. “Don’t play games, Overshine. I’m not in the mood.”
“This has nothing to do with your mood and you know it. You’re not in any kind of physical condition to go anywhere but to the infirmary, so stop delaying, stop being afraid, and just go.”
He moves ahead and acts like he’s not going to wait for me.
“Afraid? I’m not afraid.” I hobble, trying to keep up.
“Sure you’re not. That’s why you’d rather hang out with a broken finger and a crushed windpipe than have a doctor look at you.”
“I’m not fan of the laser, but that doesn’t make me afraid.”
I can hear a grin in his voice as his words drift over his shoulder. “I still remember you yelling your head off after your Level Six contest.”
“That guy cut half my ear off!” I yell at the top of my lungs, wincing when it feels like I just stripped my windpipe of a layer of skin.
“You always were a big crybaby.”
I glare at his back, thinking how if I didn’t have a broken toe and a broken finger, and he wasn’t the captain of a bigass warship, I would totally run over there, jump on his back, and gouge his eyes out. He’s so lucky, he has no idea.
He turns around and chuckles. “I knew that’d piss you off. You should watch out for that ego of yours. Gonna get you in trouble someday.”
I snort. “Ha. That’s a good one. Still nursing that wound Macon gave you in Eights? Is that what your problem is?” That was the best challenge ever — when Overshine got stabbed in the dick. No one ever screamed like he did on that day.
Overshine stops suddenly and turns around, his face going red. His voice drops so low I barely hear it. “Don’t make me sorry I helped you out.”
I keep hobbling, only stopping when I’m really close. “Why not? You going to break my other bird?” I hold up my good middle finger right in front of his face.
He grabs it and acts like he’s going to break it, but then he doesn’t. He just holds it.
We both look down at it and then up at each other.
“Let my bird go, asshole.”
“Don’t put your bird in my face.”
A speck of spittle hits me right in the eye. I close it and stare at him with the only good one I have left. “Say it, don’t spray it, dude.”
A very slow smile creeps up onto his face. Then he starts to laugh. “You are so … ridiculous.”
I try not to smile, but I can’t help joining him. “I’m not the one holding someone’s only bird captive.” I look down and so does he.
His laugh and smile disappear and he lets out a long sigh, his shoulders going up and down with the effort. “Cass.”
I yank my hand out of his. “Yeah, Overshine?”
“I have a name, you know,” he says. “A first name.”
“Yeah.” I back up a step. “I know. It’s Captain. You have something to say to me?”
He looks up, his face once more a mask. “Yeah. I do. Don’t hate me for what’s about to happen.”
A cold wave comes over me and goosebumps break out across my body. “What are you talking about?”
It’s then that I hear several sets of boots clomping down the hallway toward us, from the direction we just came.
“No!” yells a voice I recognize. “No! I don’t want to go with you! You can’t make me!”
I’m instantly nauseated. “What did you do?” I ask Overshine, my voice turning into a plea.
“I had no choice.” He moves to the side of the corridor and shoves me over to join him.
I lean on the wall as a group of uniformed personnel go by, Macon held in the middle of them, his hands trussed together and attached to a ring around his neck.
He sees me at the same time as I see him.
“Cass! Why?!”
“Ma… Rollo! What’s going on?!” I try to yell. It comes out more like a goat’s bleating.
I turn my ire on Overshine. “What are you doing?! You can’t take my crew in custody like that?!”
“He’s part of your crew?”
Macon’s looking over his shoulder at me as he’s being dragged off. I look from him to Overshine, stuck between a rock and a hard place. I know the rule: Admit he’s mine, and I’m culpable for whatever he’s done. And I know at the very least, he’s escaped the OSG without authorization. At worst, he’s committed some capital crime that calls for a floating. No way do I want to get caught in the middle of that.
“No, actually,” I finally say, my voice displaying my defeat, “he was a stowaway.”
“Good thing,” Overshine says, taking me more gently by the elbow than before. “Come on. Let’s get you to the infirmary.”
I decide not to say anything else, lest my emotions get the better of me and cause me to reveal more than would be prudent. But later? That’s a different story. I’m definitely going to find out what they want with Macon and what they can do for Tam. And as soon as that’s all wrapped up, I’m outta here. I’m getting back on my ship with my crew and my stowaway with me, and I’m heading to the nearest Alliance reunion.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN MY ship is gone?” I’m sitting on the exam table flexing the newly mended bones in my hand and foot. My voice is back to normal after only thirty minutes in the sarciossis capsule. Thank goodness, because I hate that thing; it makes me feel like I’m being buried alive or cryonized. It doesn’t matter how many peaceful sounds they try to pump in there; all I ever hear is the sound of my approaching doom.
“Your second-in-command was given the opportunity to leave the area, and he took it.” The girl who was helping Overshine take Macon and Tam off the ship is apparently also in charge of overseeing my recovery — a jackass of all trades. She’s staring at the readings produced by the machine I’ve just gotten out of.
“Who gave him the opportunity?”
She looks up at me. “We did.”
“We? Are you in charge here, then…?” I look at her collar and see only one bar there. “…Corporal?”
Her face takes on a hint of red, but she doesn’t say anything in response. She goes back to staring at her readouts.
“I want to get back on my ship now. I have things to get done there.”
“Like I said,” she doesn’t bother to look up, “your ship’s not here anymore.”
“Where did they go?” I hate that I suddenly feel so lost. So … abandoned. So dependent on this chick to know what’s happening in my life.
“How am I supposed to know?” She raises her gaze to me again. “I’m not in charge around here.”
I make a face at her, which has her smiling just the slightest bit before she goes back to her work.
I shove myself off the edge of the machine and land on my bare feet. ?
??Give me my boots. I need to get dressed.”
She taps her finger on the keypad in her hands over and over, entering some data for something, I have no idea what. “You’ll get your boots when we’re done here.”
“We’re done.” I walk over to the door and wave my hand in front of the keypad. Nothing happens.
She ignores me, acting like I didn’t just try to do my grand exit.
“Seriously. Open the door.”
“Buuusy,” she says in a singsong voice as she puts her instrument down and moves over to the array attached to the capsule. She actually has the nerve to whistle as she goes through the cleaning process. When she pulls out the disinfectant mist from a cabinet behind her and uses twice as much as necessary, heat starts to rise up my neck. The angry kind.
“Sucks being low ass on the totem pole, doesn’t it?”
I’m not disappointed when her misting hand hesitates. Then she starts her spraying all over again, acting like I brought an alien plague in there with me.
Bitch. Saying I stink? I don’t think so. I showered yesterday. Or was it the day before?
She’s still not answering me, so I prod some more. “Yeah … and with Overshine as your boss … must be real bad.”
She stops her misting and looks over at me. “He’s a great captain. You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
My eyebrows go up at her obvious fan club status. “Really? Do tell. Because when I knew him, he was a ruthless cheater willing to do anything to win.”
She’s scrubbing the capsule now, cleaning the old school way with germ-killing towelettes. I guess my microbes are too hardcore to let the mist and the machine do all the work.
“He never cheats. Ever.”
“Is that what he told you?” I laugh. “Okay. If that’s how he wants to play it.”
She grits her teeth but says nothing.
I hope I’ve given her something to think about, though, because one day, I predict she’ll be sorry for putting all her faith in that guy. He’s too focused on making it to the top to be doing the right thing all the time. The OSG does not reward recruits with the job of captain for being all shiny and clean. He had to take some people out at the kneecaps to get where he is today. I’d be willing to bet pretty much anything on that.