Nefarious, Ryke echoed.
Anguissa ignored him.
Hellemut’s eyes narrowed. “An umbro can only influence a victim to follow his or her own secret desires.”
“Is it so unlikely that I’d want to survive?” Anguissa asked. “Once the nav system and deck of the Armada Seven was destroyed, everyone aboard was condemned.”
Hellemut regarded her for a long moment, obviously considering this argument. “Don’t insult my intelligence by insisting that Ryke slipped into you on the Armada Seven, or suggest that you’re a victim,” she said softly, but Anguissa could see that she was already wondering.
“And don’t insult mine by insisting that I would board a vessel, destroy its systems, and leave myself with no means of survival, other than relying upon some member of the enemy crew to save me.” Her snakes were thrashing in anger and Anguissa knew that Hellemut was giving credence to her charge. “Someone put a worm in the Archangel’s nav system before it left the first confrontation with the Armada Seven, a worm that would ensure we met again. I don’t think that was a coincidence.”
“There are no coincidences, Princess Anguissa.”
“My thinking exactly. Someone compelled me to damage the deck of the Armada Seven far beyond my plans. Why would I put myself in such peril? No, my argument was with you, because I didn’t realize then that I’d been betrayed by someone on my own crew. I would have been content to kill your doppelganger, Captain Hellemut, and I don’t make mistakes of that magnitude.”
Hellemut chuckled. “Have you figured out who it was yet?”
Surprise is on your side here, Snake-Eyes. Ryke prompted and Anguissa knew he was right.
“Of course. What was Bond’s price?”
Hellemut scoffed. “The predictable one. Greed.” She yawned. “He’s been well compensated for his years of spying for the Gloria Furore.”
Anguissa swallowed her anger, knowing that she’d deal with Bond later. She gestured to Ryke, still limp in his seat behind her. “What’s the punishment for treason? More fire ants?”
Hellemut laughed.
“Usually it would be something like that, but things have changed. A bounty has been offered for Ryke since his flight from the Armada Seven, a reward for him dead or alive,” she provided, her voice crackling a bit through the comm. “With a bonus for delivering him dead.”
Anguissa frowned. “That makes no sense,” she said to Hellemut. “If I wanted someone dead, I’d pay extra for the satisfaction of doing it myself.”
Good to know, Princess.
“I don’t argue the terms.” Hellemut’s voice dropped lower. “You appear to be concerned for the fate of your companion, Princess Anguissa. Would you care to negotiate for his survival?”
“No, I was just curious.” Anguissa was deliberately dismissive. “I’d rather negotiate for mine, thanks, especially since he took advantage of me to try to create his own escape.” She turned her back on Ryke again, well aware that he was simmering in her thoughts as he listened. “Unless he’s worth more than the Archangel.”
Hellemut’s eyes narrowed. “The Archangel?”
“You said you want the Archangel, Captain Hellemut, presumably because you want to reclaim the virus in its hold commissioned by the Gloria Furore and stolen by its creator, a bio-chemist who died without revealing what he’d done with the prize. My ship, containing that virus, is in secure quarantine. Only I can release it.”
Hellemut was startled to silence.
Bold play, Princess.
Wait for it, Ryke.
“I’m sure your DNA could be preserved, if you died, Princess Anguissa, and any code broken over time.”
“Both reasonable assumptions, but my kind are particularly concerned about protecting our treasures. And I used my best defenses, since I intend to collect the reward for the virus myself. It’s not a biologically-based lock.”
Hellemut stared at her.
“But perhaps we could make a deal,” Anguissa continued. “Your facilitation and my code to unlock the quarantine, in exchange for shared credit.”
“What facilitation?”
“Let me out of this chart room. Away from this traitor.” Anguissa took a step closer to the screen. “It would be much smarter to negotiate details face-to-face.”
“Why should I trust you enough to let you on deck?”
“Because I’m Gloria Furore, too,” Anguissa said with breezy confidence. She smiled at the astonished commander of the vessel. “We’re on the same side, Captain Hellemut. How like our leaders to launch two volleys after the same target.”
Hellemut blinked.
And Anguissa struggled not to wince as Ryke roared furiously in her mind.
Snake-Eyes!
It couldn’t be true.
Anguissa couldn’t be Gloria Furore.
But she was a space pirate, even if Ryke had believed her to be one inclined to lesser violence than his captors had been. She had no interest in rules and charted her own course. She said she’d been piloting payloads for over three hundred years, and Ryke knew that few survived in that trade for very long.
Never mind who would be invited to a black market auction like the one where she’d bought the stolen virus.
On the other hand, he knew better than to trust her. He had no intention of being seduced by beauty again.
It would have been prudent to withdraw from Anguissa’s mind, but he wanted to know what Hellemut said to her. He wanted to know what Anguissa said and did, and he couldn’t accomplish much in his body’s drugged state. He hoped the risk was worth the reward.
Don’t abandon me now. Anguissa’s thought was firm. I’ll need help to get through the interrogation.
Because you’re not really Gloria Furore?
Don’t tell me that my feint was so good that even you fell for it?
Ryke would have smiled if it had been possible.
You’re going to need three codes and a ritual handshake. Reach for her middle hand, touch your longest finger to the tip of hers, incline your head in a bow, and then shake her hand. Cross your left hand over your right and shake her left hand.
What about her right hand?
She’ll put it over top of your crossed hands. Bow more deeply then.
Got it.
Speak first and say “Andromeda rising.” She’ll reply and your reply will be based on hers.
Sounds thin, Soul-Snatcher.
It’s a stall for time while she verifies your credentials.
Then you’d better get busy forging them.
Anguissa had to be striding along the corridor toward the deck. Ryke was aware that she could smell the canteen and tried to estimate her moment of arrival. He could share her thoughts, but he didn’t know everything Anguissa knew. He realized there had been limitations when he’d slipped before, but he hadn’t been so aware of the host’s boundaries as he was with Anguissa.
I need a little help, Ryke.
No kidding, Princess. You’re going to need a lot of help to pull this off and it’s not going to be easy to fake on any timeline. There are no files supporting your membership claim, no dossier on you...
She interrupted him. But there has to be a secured storage area in the ship’s electronic memory. It’s going to take her time to get into those files and to be certain that there’s no record of me joining the Gloria Furore.
And?
You’re a code jockey, Ryke, by your own admission. If you’re half as good as you say you are, you’ll falsify an infection alert, one that says I’m a carrier of the virus in the Archangel’s hold, and you’ll do it fast.
Have you forgotten that I’m sedated, Snake-Eyes?
Have you forgotten that you can slip, Ryke? Bakiel can be your fingers if you slip into his mind.
Ryke was outraged. I can’t slip into two minds at once and it’s not smart for an umbro to slip into his custo anyway. Never mind that I’d have to abandon you to Hellemut...
Anguissa’s response was warm
. I knew you cared, Ryke. Get me through the handshake then tell me how to get Bakiel the access he needs.
And then?
And then I’ll think of something. I’ll stall.
It’s a long shot, Snake-Eyes.
Really? I assumed your confidence was earned, Ryke, since you call yourself the best. She paused for a heartbeat. Bond could have done it, you know.
The comment about Bond made Ryke want to spit, or better, show Anguissa who was the better man.
She knew how to provide motivation, that was for sure.
Your taste for danger could leave us both dead, Princess.
We’re dead anyway, Ryke. The long shot is the only chance we’ve got.
As much as Ryke hated to admit it, she was right.
Could Ryke do it?
Anguissa seriously hoped so.
Hellemut’s suspicion was a tangible force on the deck. Even the robot Piper Twelve seemed to exude skepticism. They didn’t act against her, though, which meant they still weren’t sure. The cross-check was in progress but not complete.
Anguissa sauntered onto the deck as if she owned it and surveyed her surroundings. Where? She thought the question for Ryke.
Comm station. Ryke supplied tersely. It has the weakest security so the ship can be easily hailed by alien systems.
Anguissa performed the handshake with Hellemut, ensuring that she ended up near the comm station. “Andromeda rising,” she said when the handshake was done.
“Quasar eclipsed,” Hellemut replied softly.
Ryke chuckled in Anguissa’s thoughts. He said something in a language she didn’t speak and she repeated it carefully.
Hellemut’s eyes glinted with either surprise or satisfaction, and she lounged in the captain’s chair, studying Anguissa with much greater interest than before. “You are filled with hidden surprises, Princess Anguissa.”
Anguissa sat down at the comm station, making it look as if she had chosen the nearest seat. “Aren’t we all?” she replied easily. What the fark was that about?
You just revealed that you have a higher rank than she does. It’ll make her cautious.
Brilliant, Ryke. Remind me to reward you for that stroke of genius.
Only if we get to celebrate our survival of certain death again.
Enough chit-chat. Get busy so we can do that.
Can you put your hand on the tracking pad and glance down without appearing to do so?
Of course.
Anguissa began to shift shape, but didn’t let the shimmer of her dragon side eclipse her humanoid form. Her senses sharpened but she didn’t even have a blue light around her form. It was a trick she’d learned by accident and perfected over the monotony of long jumps, because it was so useful. Her dragon had extremely keen vision and could make sense of large quantities of information with the barest look. She barely cast a glance at the display, but her dragon memorized every line, as well as the layout of the keyboard and station. She smiled at Hellemut as the information unfurled in her mind and she heard Ryke’s inhalation of surprise.
“And so, Princess Anguissa, what do you want in exchange for the security code?”
“A reason to give it to you, Captain Hellemut,” Anguissa said smoothly. “After all, I should follow orders and surrender it to my superior.”
“But you’re in a compromised situation.” Hellemut smiled. “I don’t have to release you.”
“And see that virus lost forever? I don’t think you would be so disloyal to our order, Captain Hellemut.” Anguissa traced a lazy fingertip on the console. “It could be hazardous to your career.”
Later, Snake-Eyes. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do. Ryke’s thoughts were crisp and he was gone before Anguissa had time to reply. Her mind felt lonely. Echoing with emptiness. She realized how easy it would be to become accustomed to sharing thoughts with him. She’d never had a real partner, never had that profound trust of another person, and she felt naked in Ryke’s absence.
It was unsettling, both to miss him and to realize how quickly her dependence had grown. Was this what it was like to have a HeartKeeper? Would she ever know?
Anguissa strove to hide her reaction from Hellemut. She lifted her brows. “Unless you have retirement plans beyond the Gloria Furore?”
“Of course not. I could still steal the Archangel and force the hold open.”
“The containment unit is of excellent design.”
“I could attack and destroy the Archangel, and loose the virus on Incendium.”
Anguissa had thought of that, many times, and she pretended to be more confident than she was. “Impossible. An armed vessel would never get close enough. You would be destroyed before there was any chance of fulfilling your plan.” She shook her head and spoke slowly, hoping to give Ryke as much time as possible. There was only so far she could stretch this discussion. “It seems to be a plan that’s unworthy of your intelligence, Captain Hellemut. No, you need me, even if you don’t want to admit it.”
“Do I?”
“Oh, yes. Luckily for you, I don’t actually need the credit for delivering that payload. I’m willing to share.”
Hellemut’s eyes immediately narrowed. “Why?”
It was Anguissa’s moment to prevaricate. She spun the chair then rose to her feet, strolling across the deck as if acquainting herself with its design. “I don’t know that I need to reveal that detail.”
“You do, if you expect me to trust you.”
Anguissa laughed. “Trust? I didn’t know we were talking about trust, Captain Hellemut. I thought we were talking about ensuring personal advantage.”
“What benefit could you possibly see by letting me deliver the payload?”
Anguissa wagged her finger. “A clever question,” she had time to say before the biohazard alarm sounded.
Thank fark for that.
Or maybe she should thank Mercado.
The distinctive whoop was a universal alarm, used on all vessels, legitimately registered or not. Hellemut paled, staring at Anguissa’s cool smile. She spun in her chair and scrabbled at the closest console. “Report!” she barked, then fixed a glare upon Piper Twelve.
The robot had plugged his fingertip into a port on the closest comm. “Level seven biohazard detected on deck. Toxin is highly infectious, organic and threatening to one organism currently on deck. Evacuate. Evacuate.”
“One organism?” Hellemut echoed.
Anguissa shrugged. “You can’t catch a virus you already carry. Apparently, dragon shifters have a longer incubation period but the virus remains very infectious. Good to know, don’t you think?”
“You! You brought the virus from the Archangel!” Hellemut fell backward, her hand over her mouth.
“I volunteered to test it,” Anguissa lied. She saw Hellemut stagger, then straighten, purpose filling her features. “That’s why I don’t need credit for delivering it. I’ve got more credit with the Gloria Furore than I can use in this lifetime.”
“You lied to me!” Hellemut cried and Anguissa laughed.
“While you’re always honest? I don’t think so, Hellemut.”
Hellemut ran toward the portal, moving as quickly as she could.
“Don’t go!” Anguissa said. “Not when the conversation is just getting interesting.” Hellemut didn’t stop, but Anguissa wanted to make sure she kept running. She summoned the change, feeling the fire charge through her body and reveling in its power. The shift was liberating, potent, and truly wonderful.
This time, she didn’t attack the nav system. She did however exhale a long hot breath after the fleeing Hellemut. Anguissa recognized that Ryke had slipped into Hellemut by the change in her posture. Hellemut moved with Ryke’s decisive purpose. The former captain didn’t even bother to secure the door, as she strode toward the hold.
Ryke managed to propel her even more quickly than she would have gone herself.
Anguissa understood. Hellemut wanted to leave now, so Ryke could expedite her departure. And then
what? Would Ryke feast on Hellemut? Devour her soul, the way umbros were rumored to do, and feed his own strength with that of another? Would he feast until Hellemut bled to death, alone in her Starpod? Could he refrain from doing what was his nature to do? Could he stop once it had started?
Anguissa shuddered, feeling that it had been foolish to let him into her own mind. It had been a question of survival—and she wouldn’t do it again.
She turned off the display, not wanting to watch.
Piper Twelve was motionless, clearly uncertain of how to proceed. He hadn’t been programmed for this situation. Anguissa recognized that Ryke had left the robot to her while he eliminated Hellemut.
“Release the docking mechanism and open the hold, Piper Twelve,” she commanded.
The robot hesitated.
“I’m taking command of the Magnetawan, in the absence of any other authority.”
“Yes, Captain Anguissa.” He did as instructed, and they watched in silence as the Starpod left the ship and sailed into the void.
Had Hellemut lost her mind yet? From what distance could Ryke slip back to his own body? Anguissa didn’t know. She feared then that he might not return and found that an unsettling possibility—even knowing what he was.
He was an unsettling man with a disconcerting effect upon her. Anguissa couldn’t blame it on the scent of the Seed anymore.
Miss me, Snake-Eyes? Cocky, convinced of his own charm and sounding suspiciously more vigorous. He had feasted.
Even so, Anguissa was glad to hear his voice.
Nice timing, Ryke.
So you didn’t miss me. His tone was wry, and Anguissa took a chance.
She provoked him by letting him see her horror of what he was.
Next time, I’ll go for good. His thought was soft, almost a threat as well as a promise. Anguissa wished they could talk about it, but she sensed Ryke’s resistance. He was the one isolating his thoughts now, hiding his impressions and feelings from her.
She might as well have been alone.
They were too different. Their kinds would never get along. They’d survived Hellemut and that was the only common ground they’d ever had.
She wouldn’t think about their child.