Overshine nods once. “Of course. We determined that you had help leaving the ship.”
I shake my head. “I didn’t.”
“Found that out eventually, didn’t we?” Drake chuckles, hitting Overshine with his napkin. “Tell her the rest. The waiting is killing me.” He looks over at me, his smile positively evil. “I never get tired of hearing this story. Really. It’s so suspenseful.”
All I can do is look at him with disgust. Whatever is coming will be horrible, there’s no doubt about that. Drake always did find joy in other people’s pain.
Overshine continues with that droning tone to his voice. It lacks some of its earlier strength, though. “We brought in the usual suspects. Friends. Family. Everyone denied any knowledge of your plan to leave.”
Drake holds up a finger, smiling his head off. “Except…!”
“Except Macon,” Overshine says. His gaze finally drops; now it rests on my plate. “Macon knew.”
My heart spasms in my chest. I can’t look over at my friend, no matter how badly I want to, but he has to be dying inside with the memory of whatever they did to him. I don’t know what happened to Macon when I left, but I know now that there’s no way I’ll ever make up for it, because he had nothing to do with me getting out of there. They’re lying about him giving them information, of course. I never said anything to him about actually leaving. Sure, he knew I wasn’t happy, but I never had a solid plan for how I was going to escape, so there’s no way he’d have any details to share.
And an escape is exactly what it was. Fuck that leaving shit. You don’t just leave the OSG. Not without also leaving a limb or two behind.
“Macon?” I say, trying to sound as confused as possible. “Macon who? Isn’t he dead? I killed him.”
No one says anything. I shift my gaze from Drake to Overshine. Drake looks annoyed. Overshine is a robot. I finally turn my attention to Macon and notice that his chin is quivering.
“What the hell,” I say, trying to laugh. “Overshine, is this some kind of joke or what?”
Overshine sighs. He finally looks me dead in the eye. “Macon wasn’t dead, since you spared his life. And everyone knew how close you two were. So logically, he was the one who would know where you were and how you’d managed to leave.”
“Funny, isn’t it? How you waited to ask him any questions?” Drake says to Overshine. There’s a challenge there and he’s not trying to hide it very much.
Overshine glances at his superior. “He had his throat slit. It was a little difficult for him to talk.”
“Pretty convenient, eh?” Now Drake is looking at me.
I’m horrified by the implication. “You think I slit my opponent’s throat to keep him from talking?” I shake my head. “Wrong. That’s ridiculous. I did what I was trained to do.”
Drake slams his fist down on the table. “You did no such thing!” His eyes are bugging out of his head, going redder and redder. “You were taught to kill your opponent, not spare his worthless hide!”
Drake’s empty glass falls over and breaks against his plate. He ignores it, too busy glaring at me.
I shrug. “Guess you should have trained me better.”
Macon looks up, pleading with me silently to shut up.
“Finish the story,” Drake says in a low voice.
Overshine looks across the room, staring maybe at the photograph of himself and my father. I don’t know what he’s seeing though; probably not that picture.
“Macon was questioned. When he indicated you had expressed dissatisfaction with the training program, we knew you had left on purpose, but we never figured out how. All scheduled transports on and off the ship were retrieved and searched. Macon had no knowledge of a specific plan.”
I nod. “You’re right. He didn’t. There was no plan.”
“How did you get off the ship?” Drake asks, leaning in.
I smile, so happy that I have this over him and Overshine. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“I would.” Drake reaches over and puts his hand on the back of Macon’s neck. “I really would.”
I don’t even look at my friend. I have to pretend I don’t know who he is, or they’ll use him against me even more than they already are. Of course they know who he is; they probably did a DNA scan on him as soon as he boarded. But if they think I don’t realize it yet, maybe he’ll live long enough for me to get us out of here.
I lean in too, smiling because I know my answer will piss him off, but will make him curious enough to keep me alive for a little longer. “Fine. You want to know? I’ll tell you. I made myself invisible.”
Drake shoves Macon so hard, he flies out of his seat and lands on the floor.
I sit back in surprise, but then look at Macon. He stays where he is.
“Who’s this guy?” I ask, gesturing at Macon. “Your latest failure?”
“Don’t play games,” Overshine says, sounding tired. “You know who he is.”
“No, actually, I don’t. Should I?” I stare at Macon, pretending to be clueless. He looks so pitiful down there, it’s breaking my heart all over again. I’m going to work the rest of my life to try and fix this with him. He deserves that. He certainly doesn’t deserve what’s happening to him now.
“Maybe she’ll remember when we put them back in a familiar setting together.” Drake turns to Overshine. “But you haven’t finished the story yet.” It’s kind of sickening how he’s simpering now, acting like a young girl whining to get what she wants. “Tell it. Give her the coup de grace.” He reaches over and takes Overshine’s glass, draining the drink inside.
Overshine looks right at me. “The punishment for losing a recruit and not figuring out how she left is death.”
I feel the blood leaving my face. Swallowing takes effort. “But you’re still alive.”
He nods. “Yes, I am.”
“But he’s missing some parts!” Drake says, laughing his ass off. “He’s only half the man he used to be.” He has to wipe tears from the corners of his eyes before he can finish his thought. “Oh, that’s a good one. Get it?” He whacks Overshine with his napkin. “Half the man?”
Overshine nods. “Yes, I get it.”
I stare at Overshine in horror. “What did they do to you?”
Drake stands. “We made him captain of his own warship, didn’t we, Overshine? Come on. Time’s a-wasting.”
I look up at Overshine as he stands too. He’s waiting for me to join them. I’m getting no explanation about what happened to Overshine as punishment for my leaving, and the cowardly part of me doesn’t ever want to know. It’s going to make me sick. It’s going to make me wish I hadn’t done what I did. I know that, and yet, I also know I will ask Terrick what they did to him one day. Hopefully, he’ll tell me without killing me.
“Up!” Drake yells at Macon. His attention comes to me next. “You too.” He points to the door.
“What? Where are we going?”
“Come on.” Overshine grabs the material of my flightsuit at my shoulder.
I yank myself out of his grip. “I haven’t finished my dinner.” I pick up my fork and act like I suddenly have an appetite, which I don’t.
“Too late.” He pulls me out of my seat, and I use my free hand to flip the edge of my plate up, sending it crashing across the table and the food flying all over the place. The confusion allows me to slide the fork up into the sleeve of my suit.
As Overshine pulls me away from my seat, I make sure to grab the tablecloth and pull it out too. No one can do any cutlery counting when the meal is piled up in a mass in the center. All the glasses and plates crash together and slide in my direction. It’s only when Overshine slaps me across the face that I finally let go.
I glare up at him with murder in my eyes. “You’re going to pay for that.”
“I already am,” he says under his breath as he reaches up into my sleeve and yanks the fork out of its hiding place before shoving me toward the door.
Drake hauls Macon to his feet and p
ushes him into me. Together we stumble out into the corridor where the girl who fixed me up is waiting.
“Take them to the pit,” Overshine says.
That’s when I finally figure out what their plan is for the after-dinner entertainment.
Chapter Thirty
IT’S RIDICULOUS. MACON IS ACROSS from me assuming a ready battle stance, and I’m standing barefoot in a stinky, sweaty flightsuit. A crowd of fifty or more crewmembers of the Warship Baltimore have gathered around the pit we’re expected to fight in, talking loudly among themselves and whistling when the spirit moves.
Bits and pieces of what they’re saying float into my space. My father’s name reaches my ears several times. The phrase death match arrives too. A few think I had this coming to me, others think I’m the favorite to win.
I’m disgusted at them and myself. Why did I ever think there were winners in this game? We’re all losers — not just the people in the pit, but the ones watching, too.
Fighting and training, I can understand; it’s a necessary evil when people aren’t always peaceful. Our universe needs a group willing to keep things from getting out of hand when hotter heads want to take control. But to kill? To draw a blade across the neck of someone who’s an asset? A friend? In no world, in no universe should that ever be okay, let alone something to be proud of.
Macon moves to his left, acting like he’s sizing me up. The crowd cheers in response.
I stay put. “Macon, I’m not going to fight you.”
“Shut up.” He’s angry, maybe even angry enough to take me down for good.
“No, I’m not going to shut up. I never should have fought you in the first place, but I’m sure as hell not going to do it again. I learned my lesson the first time.”
“Fight me or you’re going to die.”
“No.”
“I’ll kill you, you know,” he growls. “I should have killed you before.”
“Maybe you should have.” I smile sadly. “Hell, maybe you’d be captaining a warship by now if you had.”
He’s bitter now. “Like that’s what I wanted.” He looks as if he wants to spit.
The crowd is yelling louder now, calling for the start of our match. Macon responds by jumping up and down a few times, like he’s warming up. I do nothing because I’m not going to let them goad me into making another horrendous mistake.
“What did you want?” I ask, watching as he stops and switches direction, now stepping right. I realize that I never really bothered to find out what he wanted to do with his life before. I guess I just assumed he was part of the OSG machine and that’s all he had planned for himself. We were close, but not close enough to share ideas of mutiny.
“What do you think I wanted, Cass?”
“I have no idea. You seemed happy.”
“Happy? No one’s happy at the OSG. I wanted to leave too. But you left me behind. And you left with them thinking I’d helped you.”
My heart drops to my knees, or that’s how it feels, anyway. My chest cavity has gone really cold. “I’m sorry about that, Macon. If I’d known that would happen to you, I never would have left.”
“That’s your problem, Cass. You never stopped to think about who you were going to hurt that day. All you thought about was yourself.”
I nod. “I know. But I’m done with that. Everyone comes before me now. I’m captain of the DS Anarchy. I have responsibilities.”
His fists come up in front of his face, and he laughs behind them. “Ha! What a joke. That piece of shit? It was a setup. You’re not meant to go anywhere but where they want you to go.”
He does some shadow punching, aiming for my face. The crowd loves it. They’re getting louder with every jab.
“What are you talking about?” My head and heart are filled with dread. “Who set me up?”
“Just shut up and fight.” He takes a step in my direction and acts like he’s going to hit me.
I just stand there and don’t move. He jumps back, feinting left and then right.
Several people jeer at me. Someone throws something, and it bounces off the side of my head. I blink, but nothing more.
“I’m not going to fight you, Macon. Kill me if you have to.” I put my arms out at my sides and turn around slowly, giving him my back.
The crowd goes wild, screaming and jeering. Crap comes flying out from all sides, hitting me everywhere. Something sharp catches me on the side of the face, cutting my skin open. Blood trickles down to my neck.
“Turn around!” Someone in the crowd yells. Then all of them pick the sentiment up, and it becomes a chant that rocks my eardrums with its intensity. “Turn a-round! Turn a-round! Turn a-round!”
I slowly turn and face Overshine and Drake. They’re in the head box, staring down at us. Drake is smiling, and Overshine is glaring. I hold my arms out and lean back, opening my mouth really big so they’ll be sure to hear me.
“Fuck you, OSG!”
Macon comes running at me with the intent to tackle me to the ground.
I let him.
We both grunt with the force of his attack. Then we go down hard, a tangle of arms and legs. For a moment, I go numb, the shouts of the crowd carrying me up like a thousand hands, lifting me into the Dark. I’m ready to let go, to let Macon get the retribution he so deserves. Hopefully, he won’t kill me past the point of no return. I could probably live with a little AI in me.
Then, all of a sudden, the shouting just peters out to silence. And the noise that follows that quiet is like nothing I’ve ever heard before: fifty people or more, all of them hitting the deck at the same time, not a single peep coming from their mouths.
Macon’s fist is frozen, hovering over my head as he prepares to deliver a blow that’s sure to knock me out. He lifts his head and looks around the room at the same time I do, trying to figure out what the hell just happened.
A hauntingly beautiful voice starts singing out of nowhere, filling up the space around us. “Hallellujaaaahhh … Halleluujaaah … Hallelujahhhh … Halleluujaaah….”
Macon’s gaze shifts to the entrance of the pit along with mine. There, we see Lucinda, with the schlafhammer disk held high in her hand and a grin splitting her face from ear to ear.
Chapter Thirty-One
I PUSH MACON OFF ME, and he lands with a thump on the ground. Jumping to my feet, I run over to Lucinda and envelope her in the biggest hug I’m capable of giving another human.
“Ew, stop, gross, get off me. You stink, Cass!”
I let her go and grab her face, kissing her right on the mouth. When I’m done I beam at her. “You just saved our lives, you crazy bitch.”
She wipes her lips off with the back of her hand and tries to act like she still hates me. “Whatever. Come on, we have to go before they wake up.”
“How did you get it to work so fast?” I’m staring at the disk peeking out from between her fingers. I didn’t see anyone getting sick before they passed out; one second they were yelling and the next, unconscious.
“You don’t want to know. Come on.” She leaves the pit arena and walks swiftly away.
I run back to grab Mason by the shoulder and drag him up onto his feet. He stumbles along next to me as I hurry to catch up to our savior.
“This is going to end so badly,” he says, losing his breath within ten strides.
“No, it’s not. Come on. Stop being such a wuss.”
“I’m not a wuss. I’m a realist.”
Lucinda seems to know her way around the place. She turns left and right, and left again, bodies of OSG personnel littering the path we’re taking. Sometimes she steps over them and sometimes she has to shove them to the side when there are too many in the way. It barely slows her down.
“Damn, they have a big crew on this ship,” I say.
“Yeah. Looks like they’re ready to go to war, doesn’t it?” Lucinda stops at a turn in the corridor. “We need to leave, but before we do, is there anything on here you think we should take?”
&nb
sp; I lift a brow. “Unused assets? Things that need to be repurposed?”
“Exactly.” She’s not even trying to hide her inner Romanii, and I’m totally cool with that.
My eyes light up. “I’d love to get my hands on that sarciossis capsule.”
“They’d miss that too easily. But Jeffers is in there now seeing what other instrumentation they might not. Not right away, anyway. Come on.” She starts jogging again, and soon we’re at the airlock connecting our ships. Baebong is waiting on the other side.
The first thing I do when I get there is hug him. “I thought you’d left me.”
“And have nightmares for the rest of my life? Bad karma to boil my bones in? No thanks.”
I lean back and look at him. “It’s not like you missed me or anything.”
“Hell no. It was a nice Cass-free vacation while it lasted.”
“I was only gone for a few hours.”
“You were gone for half a day, and it was fun, but we’ve gotta go.”
“What about Tam?” It’s the first thought I’ve given to my engineer and friend, and I’m ashamed it took me so long to get there. But I’m also glad I thought to ask before we were on our way out. Baby steps, Cass. Baby steps to becoming a better person.
“He’s already onboard, in recovery. He’s going to be okay.”
I lower my voice so no one else will hear. “They said some strange stuff about him on the Baltimore.”
“Oh yeah?” Baebong matches his tone to mine. “Like what?”
Lucinda is moving in closer, so I back up. “Tell you later.” I turn to her. “So, get anything good for yourself back there?”
She looks at me funny. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
I reach into her coat pocket really fast and come out with a handful of dirt. I hold it up to her face.
She snatches it back from me and shoves it into her pocket. “Don’t touch that. You’ll contaminate the sample.”
I smile. “Yes, Ma’am.”
“Captain.” She nods and walks off, putting her hand in her pocket. I’d be willing to bet she’s fondling her stupid dirt ball in there. Weirdo. Weirdo who saved my bacon.