As she reached the right deck, she cocked her head. “Do you hear . . . combat?”
Jael nodded. “Fucking Silence—”
“And her two-pronged attacks. It’s not as much fun when we’re the target. Judging by the smell, we’ve got Mungo’s monsters all over the place, too.”
38
Chaotic Crush
Queensland was in chaos.
Fifteen meters from the checkpoint, Jael spotted the first of Mungo’s cretins, only five of them, hardly any opposition. They didn’t turn as he and Dred approached. He was good and pissed at the incursion, but when he came up to the group, he saw what occupied their attention. They’d killed one of the sentries and were busy sawing him into shareable pieces. One cannibal had an arm; another was working on separating thigh from hip. Jael had seen some horrific shit in his time, but this—
“No fragging way,” he bit out.
He launched at them and opened two throats in a rapid sweep of his blade. Those two dropped, leaving the other three to charge him with deep-throated growls. Like Silence’s crew, this lot didn’t talk much either, at least not that he’d heard, but these things were more like animals than humans. It was like they’d forgotten their words along with all sense of moral compass. Not that I’m a saint, but shit, I never ate anyone.
Dred laid one open with a slice of her chains. The links whipped past Jael and glanced off his arm, but the pain didn’t stop him from breaking another’s neck. Blood spattered from the last one’s mouth; he and Dred took the brute together, leaving only the chunky meat and bone remnants of their victim.
No time to deal with the dead. Have to save Queensland first.
“I’m afraid we’re the only ones left,” she whispered. “You, me, and the monsters.”
The promise burst out of him like a river too long dammed. “Doesn’t matter, love. I’ll keep them from you, even if it is just you and me rattling around this place. The only way they touch you is if my head’s on a pike, and somebody’s eaten my heart.”
“Smooth talker. But . . . you’re not as tough as you used to be.”
“Better men than Mungo have tried.”
She smiled. “Thanks for the pep talk. Let’s go kick some ass.”
It was a cesspool of a station; Perdition always hovered on the brink of disaster, with shit being stolen, people shanking each other in the dark, transports exploding, and mercs arriving to execute all the meat bags incarcerated within. Jael wouldn’t change a minute of it, so long as he got to fight at her side.
They hit hostiles almost as soon as they rounded the corner, a barrage of shots coming in hard and hot. Jael dove for cover. Through his enhanced senses, he identified merc armor, but these guys didn’t seem to be shooting to kill. More like they’re just adding to the confusion. He could respect Vost for capitalizing on Silence and Mungo’s joint assault, if it wasn’t so damned inconvenient. The VI was crackling with some old propaganda announcement, the first time he’d heard that, some shit about the Monsanto Corporation.
“Is this new?” he asked Dred.
She nodded. “Someone’s been in the mainframe.”
“How do you know?” Jael asked, ducking low to move along the wall toward the common room. He thought the shots were coming from around the corner, but he couldn’t be sure. His hearing was scrambled with all the competing noises.
Battles all over the fragging place. I don’t like it.
“Stands to reason. And I’d bet money that it was Vost.”
Jael sniffed. He smelled a number of things, including Mungo’s mongrels, along with burning wires, hot metal, carbon and cordite, sweaty prisoners, and melting durasteel. The air was a melting pot of interesting stink, most of which meant they had a long fight on their hands. It wouldn’t be an easy run to save Queensland, but he hadn’t expected it to be, either.
“Huh.” Dred vaulted over a pile of junk. Head down, she went in a graceful run and slid under a slash of laser fire.
Dammit. He hated when she did that; only skin and bone stood between her and a splatter fest. But she was fearless. If they needed to push, she ran for it, and it was up to him to keep up. Jael sprang after her and pressed on.
“They got past us,” he heard a merc say. “Orders, boss?”
Vost answered, “Let them go. We’ll get to a safe distance and watch the festivities.”
“Asshole,” he and Dred said at the same time.
Despite himself, Jael grinned. “I could get used to sharing certain things with you.”
“Just some, not all?”
He didn’t answer; it wasn’t the time. But on the whole, as long as she let him watch her six, he had no complaints. They fought through a host of cannibals before coming up on Cook decimating the enemy. He didn’t turn when they reached the battle. He just kept fighting, his chopping knife a blinding silver arc. By the look of him, he had hard-core battle experience, though he seldom showed it. None of his assistants seemed to have made it; Cook alone was holding this part of the zone.
“You all right?” Dred asked him.
The chef nodded. “It’s worse farther in.”
Taking that as an indication of numbers, Jael glanced at her. She beckoned with a jerk of her chin, and he readied his weapons. Past the tumbled barricades, the common room was a wreck of a place, with broken chairs and tables, and it was full of crazy, man-eating loons.
Whatever Mungo was trying to accomplish, he couldn’t be permitted to succeed. Jael didn’t think the nutter had a master plan, actually. He operated on the kill, kill, kill managerial style, just as Silence brainwashed her people and cut out their tongues.
No wonder Dred didn’t try to talk me into joining up.
“Mother Mary,” Dred breathed.
“Where are the others?”
“No fragging clue.”
Jael hoped they were holed up somewhere, waiting for the right time to strike. The cannibals didn’t give him a chance to say as much, however. They rushed in a mob, no finesse or battle tactics whatsoever. There had to be twenty of them in here, and they all looked hungry. A few gnashed their red teeth as if at the promise of the grisly feast to come.
“I don’t think so,” Dred said.
She slammed her chain away from her body, nailing the closest monster in the face. The blow broke his nose and knocked out some teeth. Since he needed those for chewing human flesh, the enemy let out a scream of pained rage. Around him, the others responded, pressing closer until Jael had them all snapping and grabbing at him. It was hard to fight in close quarters, so he opened things up by wrenching free and flipping backward. Dred covered his movement with another lash of her chains, and two of the prisoners went down. She stomped on their faces even as another one sank its teeth into her arm.
Funny, “it,” not him or her. They don’t even look human anymore.
Some of them had film across their eyes, open sores oozing pus, and others were losing their hair, like their grotesque habits had imprinted on their flesh. He shuddered and rushed back into the fight, before they surrounded Dred. Their grasping nails dug into her arms, gouges that healed before his eyes.
She’s stronger, I think. Good. She needs to be.
Jael dropped another one as Tam and Martine burst into the room. Calypso was close behind, along with some of Katur’s aliens. Relief surged through him; he was happier than he expected to see the others. What the hell’s wrong with you? Do you like these misfits? But the cannibals didn’t turn. Like animals, once they focused on their prey, they didn’t think about the odds of winning. These things were wholly driven by hunger and impulse.
“How does it look elsewhere?”
“There’s fighting everywhere,” Tam answered.
“Help us with these, and we’ll get to work clearing the place.” Dred sounded confident, exactly what her people needed to hear.
/> “My pleasure,” Calypso said.
The mistress of the circle was a dervish of death, bare-handed, and she snapped two necks by the time Jael took down his next one. It’s because of the poison, he told himself. In truth, it was a pleasure to watch the woman fight. He doubted there was anyone who could counter her rapid-fire strikes and sweeps. For her height, she was incredibly agile, one moment before, the next behind, and she ended her next brief fight by strangling one of the brutes with her bare hands.
Strong, too. Good to know.
Martine and Tam fought as a unit. Since they were both small, they assisted each other and took out targets with brutal efficiency. Reassured, Jael went back to killing, and soon Mungo’s mongrels lay dead on the floor, along with the rest of the rubbish. Dred held out her hand briefly; nobody else would’ve noticed that it was shaking. To cover, she curled her fingers into a fist and propped it on her hip.
“We saw Mungo’s men coming in. Is Silence here, too?”
Martine nodded. “They’re ambushing us left and right. Strangled two men right in front of Tam and me and took off.”
Dred muttered a curse. “You won’t get them to face you straight up, so make sure you have someone to watch your back. They’ll probably strike in dark hallways while we’re fighting Mungo’s people.” She sighed. “It’ll be tough as hell to clear them all out.”
If it’s possible at all. Everyone wore an expression that suggested they shared his skepticism regarding the impossibility of this task.
But nobody spoke his or her doubts aloud. Like Jael, they’d follow Dred until the end.
39
Honor Among Thieves
Dred split off with Tam and Katur. Jael didn’t like it, but he seemed to understand her reasoning. They needed to spread their strength around and clear as much ground as fast as possible. Otherwise, Queensland might never recover. The fighting went fairly well for a while. Despite her weariness, it was no trouble to kill cannibals or Silence’s killers when they stumbled on them. The room they stepped into next, however, held three mercs, all fully armored, geared up with heavy weapons.
She froze.
The distance between her and the merc group was such that she could get away, but she was less sure about her companions. Tam and Katur stood at her back and neither of them wore armor. If the mercs opened fire, she’d survive, most likely. The other two would not. Slowly, she lowered her weapon.
“Why don’t we settle our grievance, Perdition-style?”
“What did you have in mind?” Vost asked, flipping up his visor so she could see his face . . . and he could read hers, human instincts replacing technical assessments. She’d heard Vost’s voice crackling through the old emergency announcement system now and then, but in all of their encounters, she’d never seen his face. He was older than she’d expected, square iron jaw and lines about his eyes, black-and-silver hair shorn down close to his skull. Old bruises dotted his face in various hues from blue to green; cuts had scabbed over on his left cheekbone. He had hazel eyes with crow’s-feet radiating outward; they spoke of long turns squinting into the sun, not smiles or laughter.
She didn’t like realizing that she was looking into the eyes of a decent man. “Grudge match. Usually, it’s to the death.”
“It’s smarter for me to kill you all.” His men raised their weapons.
“You could try. The rest of my people will likely be here at any moment, and there’s so few of you, unless you’re hiding the rest. Wonder how many mercs went boom . . . I suspect it was all of them but you three.”
A flicker in his eyes told her she was right. Dred repressed a smirk. This wasn’t the time to muck up the negotiations by being an asshole. The fact that he was talking instead of shooting told her he might be amenable to an alliance if she gave him the right opening and an opportunity to save face.
He wore a hard look. “The fact is, those men made their choices.”
Her eyes widened as she realized what happened. “They betrayed you. They were stealing the ship, stranding you here. That must really piss you off.”
“Nothing I can do about it now.”
“It’s smarter to face me than deal with everyone in Queensland. You can trust me to keep our agreement. The rest? Not so much.”
He hesitated, glancing at his surviving men as if trying to take a quick census. “If I accept, I set the terms.”
“I’m listening.”
“If I win, you grant us clemency for past offenses.”
That sounded dangerously reasonable. “And if I do?”
“You can kill me, if you promise not to harm my men.”
“Boss, no.”
But Vost held up a hand, eyes steady on hers.
Dammit. His actions sprang from a desire to protect the soldiers loyal to him. Vost had to know he was in a tenuous, disastrous position, stuck on a station where the natives hated and wanted him dead. Yet he was trying to buy his men a better position with the currency of his own life.
“As long as they’re willing to take orders from me, they can fight for Queensland. But the penalty for disloyalty is high here. Infractions start with flogging, continue to castration, and end in death.”
“Iron fist,” one of the mercs muttered.
She ignored him. “Well, Vost? It’s a limited-time offer. I hear others approaching.”
“Yes. Bring it, Dresdemona.”
It had been a long time since anyone called her by her full name. Probably the last time she’d heard it, her mother had been aggravated with her about something. Likely, his knowledge was meant to rattle her and put her off her game. But she had been looking forward to this moment since he arrived on station, talking about how he controlled the facility. Wrong, you bastard. This is my house.
“Armor off.”
His men started to protest, but he waved them away, and there was an oddly ritual air as they stripped the plated segments and piled them nearby. He was strong and fit, better built and nourished than most of the men in Perdition.
This won’t be easy.
Ordinarily, there would be a bigger audience, Calypso holding court in the circle, but this would have to do. She felt a twinge of guilt over the fact that he was offering his life as a bargaining chip, but it wasn’t enough to stop her from raising her chains in challenge. One end wrapped around her wrist with a length hanging loose between her hands, and the other tail sat in her palm, waiting for her to flick it outward. The comforting weight of the blade in her boot reminded her that she could repeat the tactic that took down Grigor, if necessary.
Vost pulled two knives with long, wickedly serrated blades, superior to any shiv crafted in here. By the gleam of the metal, they looked like durasteel. I’ll have to be fast. She wasn’t afraid of pain, and unless he opened a major artery, she should be able to heal any incidental injuries. Good thing he doesn’t know that. It felt like cheating, but her hidden resilience meant she’d finally get to kill him.
Dred smiled. “Call it, Tam.”
“Before these witnesses, the terms are set and the battle is joined. Begin!”
She lashed out, but he was faster than he looked. Vost ducked, whirling, and came in with his blades. Dred leapt to avoid the slash at her knees. While that strike might not kill her, it would’ve crippled her. She snapped her teeth at him as she danced back a few steps to give herself more room to work the chains. His mercs called out encouragement, whereas Tam and Katur were silent. Remembering the friends Vost had killed added to her resolve, and she already had strength and speed from Jael. Dred whipped the chain at his head, but somehow, she missed him again. She cocked her head, puzzled, because with any other man, she would’ve already knocked him down, at least once. He was quicker than he should have been.
“Should I have told you? I’m augmented,” he said, as they circled.
Behind her, Tam drew in a b
reath, which told Dred that he knew the answer. “What does that mean?”
“Fortified bones, reinforced joints. I’ve had supplements to my reflexes as well.”
“I didn’t even know they were doing that.”
“They’ll do anything for sufficient credits,” Tam muttered.
She didn’t let the merc disrupt her focus though she gave him credit for trying. “So you’ll be a little tougher to kill than anticipated. I’m not afraid of hard work.”
“Not according to your dossier. I’ve been curious, though. Did they tally up your body count? I’ve always thought it seemed low.”
She slashed a chain toward him, but he was already sliding to the side, and it slammed into the wall behind him in a cascade of sparks. “Sorry, not telling. I have my secrets.”
If I can’t fight him the normal way, then I need to shift my attack strategy.
“You can trust me.”
Dred laughed at that. “The only person on station I trust less than you is Mungo.”
“That’s the one who eats people?”
“Then you understand your place in the hierarchy.”
“That’s harsh. The crazy one with the bone chair doesn’t seem as if she could be relied upon in a crisis.”
The conversation made it hard for her to focus on killing, doubtless what he intended. He had been circling, watching her defenses, and soon he’d go on the offense. Since this fight could not end in clemency, she had to figure out how to take Vost out.
“He drops his shoulder when he’s considering a strike,” Tam said softly.
“Unfair,” Vost chided.
She smirked. “It’s not interference. It’s an insight.”
“Thanks for the tip.” Vost etched a mocking salute at Tam, and then he slashed toward her, each knife slicing the air until she swore it made a sound.
She whipped her chains around as a defensive measure; it would take someone stronger and faster to get inside her defenses when she was braced for a strike. A lesser opponent would already be bleeding from half a dozen cuts. If I used blades instead of chains, I don’t think I could keep him at bay. She feinted a blow, and he dodged, allowing her to land the true snap at his ankle. He flinched when metal slammed into bone, but he was tough enough to shake off the pain. The strike left her off-balance, and he slashed a cut down her left arm. Hot blood trickled from the wound, slicking the metal length of the chain.