Redmond nodded. “Will do. Let’s go, D.”
Once the men moved out, Vost peeled the broken armor away from his skin. It had taken every ounce of his self-control not to show how much pain he was in. He hissed in reaction as he studied the lattice of bruises and the slice on his side. The light trousers and shirt he wore beneath had holes revealing the damaged flesh. Even the air hurt. His men didn’t know that the acid from the strike had chewed through to his skin or that the wounds were festering.
The medibot beeped in dissatisfaction. “Running low on antibiotics. Less than 10 percent of pain medication remaining.”
Vost made a fist, but he didn’t slam it into the wall. Every particle of his being objected to their next move, but it was the only play he had left, and he couldn’t let anything prevent him from getting out of here alive. Everything hinged on the Dread Queen’s response to his proposal, and he hated how powerless that made him feel.
Survive. Whatever it takes. He’s waiting.
41
Unexpected Favors
It had been two days since Dred let the merc commander get away. Things had gotten worse since then, with raids more or less constant from the surviving cannibals while Silence led kamikaze strikes when Queensland could least afford it. The madwoman seemed to think this was her chance to wipe everyone else off the station.
And she’s not doing a bad job of it. But she wasn’t the primary threat at the moment.
“Is it true eating human flesh drives you mad?” Keelah asked as she slashed a small blade across the enemy’s gullet.
Dred killed another before she replied. “Sometimes. But Perdition does that, too.”
A normal group of murderers would retreat.
Dred found that thought macabrely amusing as she fought. While Mungo had the numerical advantage, Dred’s people were better equipped and trained. But the cannibals were utterly insane, and Mungo was the worst of the lot. It was a miracle his own men hadn’t killed and eaten him turns ago. But maybe that was the method to his madness.
“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.”