“You can’t take Queensland,” she shouted at the mob. “You’re not even close to our borders, and there are defensive measures.”
They can’t take your territory, but they can gut you.
It was just bad timing that they’d managed a strike as her squad limped away from a battle with Silence’s assassins. There weren’t many aliens left though they were fighting valiantly all around her. The last Rodeisian roared in challenge and took out two mongrels in one blow. Dred was close enough to catch the snap of bone.
Mungo’s orders came as a snarl. “Cull the Dread Queen. Then kill her.”
His cannibals responded at once, surging toward her in a massive wave. There were a lot of men fighting, and now all of them wanted her head on a pike. Keelah and the Rodeisian stepped into their path, then the rest of the Queenslanders followed suit. The sight might’ve been unlikely, but they were set on defending.
“Go. We’ll hold them here.”
“I can’t,” Dred protested.
Keelah snapped, “If you fall, Queensland is lost. It’s your will that holds the place together, and my people will have no refuge. This madman is clever enough to know that if he can take your head, he wins. So go.”
As Mungo snarled in frustration, Dred sprinted for the hallway. The chains weighed her down, but she didn’t let them slow her. At this moment, she felt every sacrifice that had carried her to this point, as if they were etched upon her skin. The battle rang out behind her, and she put distance between herself and Mungo’s red tide. Memories haunted her of what she’d seen in Munya: necklaces of teeth and the knives sharpened from human bones, cups carved of the skulls of their victims, red blood drunk down from the grisly goblets while laughter rang out.
Maybe we’re wrong to fight. Maybe it’d be best if the Conglomerate ended us.
But she couldn’t make that choice. Not now. Not when so many lives had already been dashed on the cliff of impossible hope that some of them would survive. We have to beat the odds, or it’s all been for nothing. She had faith that the Queensland force could defeat Mungo and his goons now that she wasn’t there as a target.
Should make my way back to Queensland. I think it’s—
Dred skidded around a corner, her boots loud against the metal flooring. So it wasn’t noise that gave the other woman away, but more of a feeling. She whirled low, just in time to avoid the garrote. Silence sprang at her, undeterred by the near miss. Dred read death in the other woman’s eyes. She’d known the bill would come due for the way she’d rejected the Handmaiden’s offer of alliance.
“Fine, let’s have this out now.” She lashed the chains before her, keeping the other woman at bay.
Dred scanned Silence from head to toe, checking for poisoned blades or other hidden threats, but the length of wire was the only weapon she spotted. That doesn’t mean she’s not dangerous. She was ready for the fight of her life. The woman hadn’t earned the title of Death’s Handmaiden by letting her enemies live. Then Silence’s gaze flickered over Dred’s left shoulder. It was obviously a ploy—and she thought so until the other woman sprang away, putting some distance between them. Her retreating footsteps were eerily quiet.
Fear quickened her heartbeat as Dred turned to greet the new menace. Vost stood with two of his men. All three of them were armed, laser rifles trained on her chest. Mary curse it. But there was nothing to do but feign composure. If they wanted her dead, they’d have opened fire when they came upon her and Silence.
“It appears the odds are in your favor.” Sounds of combat came from a few corridors away, where her people were fighting Mungo. It was a few paces to the cover of the corner. Chances were good that she’d take at least one hit, but the armor might compensate. But if she retreated the way she’d come, she had no way to be sure how the battle was going. She might end up crushed between Mungo’s forces and the mercs from behind.
They like that tactic.
“Appearances can be deceiving, especially here. For all I know, this is a trap, and your men will unload on us in a few seconds or bomb us from above.”
“Anything is possible,” she said.
It was a bluff, obviously.
“What the hell’s going on?” a merc demanded.
Vost held up a hand. “There’s a reason you’re not in charge, Duran.”
It was a handicap not to be able to see their faces when they could read hers, so she tried to maintain a neutral demeanor, hoping they’d assume this was a trap. “Why don’t you find out my intentions? Take one step closer. Just one.”
“Bullshit,” the other merc said. “You’re alone. You only have those chains.”
Dred smiled. “Bet your life on it? Your transport made a beautiful boom.”
“That was clever,” Vost said. “Ruined the docking bay, too.”
“Why are we talking?” she asked.
I’d give a lot for the rifle I gave to Martine. But even if I were better armed, my chances wouldn’t be good against three. I barely made it out of that first fight with Vost.
“I’m taking your measure. And you’re taking mine.” There was a grudging respect in the merc commander’s tone. That surprised her. “But we have unfinished business, don’t we? Weapons down, men.”
Damn. I’m in no shape for a rematch.
The soldiers lowered their rifles without bitching. She supposed they didn’t see her as a serious threat, but snap judgments like that had gotten their unit in serious trouble over and over during this conflict. Time to gather some information about their intentions. Dred would be surprised if the grunts knew what their commander was about.
“Did you drive Silence away on purpose?”
He parried with a question. “Did you need saving?”
“Hard to say. I’ve never fought her. I’m competent, but death is her specialty.”
Vost inclined his head, as if she’d said exactly what he expected. “Yes, I intervened, though not out of altruistic motives.”
“Welcome to Perdition.”
“Hey,” a merc snapped. “We don’t belong here. We’re not scum like you.”
The commander sighed. “Did you even read the dossier I put together before we dropped on site?” The two mercs looked at each other, then they both shook their heads. That made their commander ball up a fist. “If you had, maybe we’d have fared better in here.”
That sounds like he knows it’s over for them. Interesting.
“Why? What did it say?”
She listened as she crept incrementally closer to the wall. From a better position, she could definitely spring to safety before they unloaded on her. Vost was aware of her shift, though the other two weren’t. Clear to see why he was leading these men and that they were lucky to be alive. When she spotted Tam behind him, along with a half dozen Queenslanders, she didn’t give it away, unlike Silence.
“I ranked the prisoners according to threat level. I went over their criminal jackets and provided a list of those we needed to take out first. What the hell were you doing on patrol? The dossier had pictures. Old ones, but—” Vost caught himself. “It’s irrelevant now.”
“It’s so frustrating when a mission goes bad due to personnel issues,” she murmured with a half smile.
“I think you’d agree that you owe me—”
Ah. Leverage. She jerked her chin, interrupting whatever offer he had been about to make. Her men surrounded the three mercs, and most of them had rifles. Funny how that worked out when Tam was planning the battles.
“That might be a strong word,” she said softly. “You did me a good turn with Silence. It could be argued that I saved your ass during the riot, before, and that we’re even now. But I’ll go one better, which means you’ll owe me. So find a quiet place to hide. If you come hunting my people, it won’t end well.”
“We both know I don’t have the manpower to go on
the offensive, and there’s nobody here I could recruit.”
She nodded at that. “Mungo and his monsters will be dead before the day is out. That only leaves Silence, and her people would die before helping you.”
“They’ll die anyway,” Tam said.
Dred aimed a quiet smile at the spymaster. “One problem at a time.”
Vost didn’t need to think long. “Very well. We’ll talk another time. I’ll accept your offer of safe passage and withdraw.”
“I hope mercy wasn’t a mistake,” Tam said, watching the mercs move off.
She shrugged. “Me too. But he could’ve shot me in the back. The fact that he didn’t makes me wonder what he’s plotting. And how I figure in.”
“Seems like he’s trying to build up some goodwill,” Tam observed. “The only question is why.”
Keelah caught up to them then, along with a few surviving men. Beside Dred, Tam froze, his whole body locked in a posture of regret. Shit.
Then to Dred’s astonishment, the spymaster dropped to his knees and bowed his head. “I’m so sorry. It was my failure. My life is in your hands.”
Before Dred could snap at him for being hasty, Keelah pulled Tam to his feet. “I knew. The bond between life mates is such that I felt him go. Whatever happened, he fought beside you of his own choosing. I hold you blameless.”
“I don’t.” Tam’s voice broke. “I wasn’t cautious enough or sharp enough. I make mistakes, and people die all around me.”
Keelah inclined her head, somber and grave. “That’s the nature of this place.”
42
Death of a Cannibal
There was no time to waste. A few hours ago, they had gotten word of Katur’s death, but nobody could spare a moment for a service right now. Too many attackers, not enough defenders, and still more coming in. Dred had put Jael in charge of some Queenslanders, kissed him hard, and gone to fight on the other side of the territory.
Dred could look after herself; she’d managed fine before his arrival. It was hubris to imagine she needed him to protect her. Especially now. She’s as tough as you are.
That thought filled him with both reassurance and unease. What need would she have for him once the fighting stopped? Like a magician with one poor trick, now that he’d taught it to someone else, the demand for his services was sure to drop. Deeper in the station, he heard sirens blaring. Things had gotten so chaotic that he was no longer sure where the main battle was. The fire-extinguishing system engaged, spraying the corridor with water, though this wasn’t where the fires were burning. Men lay lifeless at his feet, but this was a momentary respite. The ones Dred had assigned to him were all dead.
Someone stepped out of the smoke, and he brought up his blades. He dropped them when he recognized Keelah. The female had been grim and uncommunicative since her mate’s death. Blood matted her fur, but he didn’t think much of it belonged to her. The water dripped through her pelt and came out tinged pink, running off down the faintly sloped metal floor.
“You all right?” he asked.
He told himself Dred was fine. Don’t worry about her.
She ignored the pleasantries. “Just mopping up. But there’s a group ahead that’s too big for me to handle on my own.”
“Is it what’s left of Mungo’s mongrels?”
Keelah nodded. “They’re quite mad. Even more than they were if you can fathom.”
“Pretty hard to believe. I’m with you. How many?”
“About twenty, I think.”
“You think the two of us can take them?”
“I’ve seen you fight. As long as they don’t have rifles, we should be fine.”
“Now there’s a terrifying thought.”
“You’re not afraid,” Keelah said. “For that, you’d have to fear death.”
He stared at her, astounded by her perspicacity. “You’re wrong, I do fear death.”
Her liquid eyes held a weight of unwelcome knowledge. “Just not your own. It’s worse when you lose someone you love.”
I don’t love her. But the words stuck in his throat, and there, they fluttered like the wings of panicked birds. Surely there was another name for the prickly barbs that twined him ever closer to Dred. Yet he couldn’t bring himself to speak the repudiation aloud. Keelah turned away, apparently losing interest in the conversation.
“We should go mop up,” he finally said.
The mongrels were looting. They had found one of the stashes that had belonged to the Warren and were rooting through the crates like animals. Jael found them disquieting because they had devolved to the point that they mostly communicated in gestures and grunts. He’d heard a few of them form actual words, but most didn’t bother. Their time in Perdition had turned them into lower primates.
Jael brought his rifle up and dropped two of them as quick as breathing. That alerted the others, and they spun as a mob, charging with primitive snarls. He shot another one as Keelah readied her weapons. His rifle beeped, indicating an imminent venting of heat, so he hurled it at the charging cannibal. The others bared their yellowed teeth in aggression and surrounded Keelah and him in a slavering pack. This group had sharp, untended nails with blood and filth caked beneath them, so long that they’d started to curve. A glimpse he soon regretted at their bare feet revealed toenails in the same state. And the smell alone was nearly enough to kill him. The plus side of these beasts was that they didn’t waste time with threats.
One snapped at him with fetid teeth, while two more lunged. He’d seen how they operated before. Two held the prey while another tore out its throat. But that wasn’t happening here today. He avoided the two grabs, then slammed the mongrels together. As one stumbled, Keelah’s small blade lashed out and sliced from throat to thigh. Blood gushed from the wound, and the man fell. His comrades kicked his corpse out of the way.
They’d eat you later, mate. But that’s not happening, either.
Jael had been afraid Keelah would get in his way, but she proved an able partner, finishing up when he disabled one. Her blade flashed again and again in swift, accurate kills.
Jael lashed out with a kick and followed with a wheeling blow that ended with a broken neck. Another enemy hit the ground. Though his reflexes weren’t what they had been, it was child’s play to anticipate their strikes. They seemed to be moving in slow motion, and Jael was everywhere. His hands and feet blurred into endless death, and when he finally stopped moving, there was a pile of bodies at his feet.
“You have the battle madness,” she said.
“I have all the madness. Shall we see if we can find the others?” He considered for a moment, wondering about something belatedly. “Why were you on your own?”
“I thought it would be better to die in battle,” she said quietly. “I miss Katur.”
“I don’t think he’d be very pleased if you just gave up.”
Her muzzle pulled away from her teeth. “What do you know? Our faith teaches that lovers are reunited in death. He would be happy to see me.”
That seemed backward, but Jael had been courting death for a long time, enough to understand where she was coming from. It had taken being sent to a place like Perdition for him to learn how to live. Now he was fighting, not just to find a way out of here, but to do something other than kill people who deserved to be put down. That was a tempting idea, actually, but playing judge, jury, and executioner had gotten Dred sent here in the first place.
To Keelah, he finally said, “Then I hope you find a worthy death if that’s what you’re seeking. Do you know where the others are?”
She shook her head. “Dred was fighting on her own when I saw her last.”
Dammit. Despite himself, he remembered what had happened to Einar. The Dread Queen might have half of his healing ability now, but neither one of them was invincible, and Vost had given them a hard fight; Mungo and Silenc
e hadn’t made it any easier. She had to be exhausted since she still possessed a full human’s need for sleep.
“Hurry.” He tried to pretend he wasn’t worried, but from the sharp look the female sent him, she wasn’t fooled.
“I hear something . . .” The alien cocked her head.
Jael listened, but he detected nothing besides common station noises. It was unusual to find someone with sharper senses than his own. “What?”
“Combat. It seems there are a few stragglers who don’t mean to surrender.”
“They’re animals,” Jael muttered.
“I’ve heard your people say that about mine, more than once.”
“My people?” He smiled slightly. “You’re mistaken. I have none.”
“You’re human, aren’t you?” She stepped closer, as if he’d piqued her curiosity, and she circled him, whiskers prickling as she investigated by scent.
“Not exactly.”
“Interesting. There’s another layer.”
Do I smell different? Cleaner than Mungo or Silence’s lunatics, definitely. In any case, it wasn’t the time for explanations. “We should move.”
Keelah led the way since he couldn’t hear the battle. They ran two hundred meters, then the sounds reached him. Jael closed his eyes, listening for Dred’s voice, but he heard nothing that made him think she was nearby. Then a muttered curse rang out. That’s Tam.
“It’s Mungo, with the last of his holdouts,” Keelah said, as they closed the distance.
“You know what Mungo smells like?”
She shivered. “I could never forget. His people hunted us for food. With Grigor, it was hate . . . and sport.”
Before he could reply, the hallway opened up. This was abandoned territory, claimed by no one, and Mungo’s crew had already soiled it. Scraps of flesh, bits of skin, and gnawed bones littered the floor. I’ll be so glad when this asshole dies. At the moment, however, Mungo had a hand around Tam’s throat and was squeezing the life out of him. Four of his men looked on with slavering anticipation. They were so focused on the kill that they didn’t spot Jael or Keelah.