Zimmer held out his hand, hoping for a customary handshake, but she ignored the gesture and sat down, plopping her butt in the chair before letting out an air-filled sigh.
“What the hell happened out there?” Zimmer asked, returning to his chair and sitting.
“I’m not sure, exactly. One minute we were dealing with Frost and his bullshit. The next thing I know, we’re being overrun by Scabs. Thousands of them. They were everywhere, Rod. Like cockroaches.”
Zimmer’s mind flashed a visual of what the scene must have looked like. He scooted his chair closer to hers, then leaned in and lowered his voice. “Is it true? About Edison?”
Krista nodded, her face covered in a look of obvious defeat. She changed her tone as well, using a whisper to respond. “That son-of-a-bitch Frost got to him before I could stop him.”
“How, exactly?”
“I thought we were all retreating together when all of a sudden, Frost sticks a knife into Edison’s neck.”
“For no apparent reason? He just kills him? Just like that? After all these years?”
Krista nodded. “I never saw it coming and I should have. That was on me, Rod. Me.”
“You couldn’t have known, Krista. Not with an all-out Scab attack. Everyone was distracted.”
“Well, I should have. That’s my job. My one and only job. Keep the boss alive.”
Rod put a hand on her shoulder, squeezing with light pressure. “What’s done is done. Don’t beat yourself up about it. Nirvana is going to need you. Now more than ever.”
Krista sat in silence, her eyes dropping to the table, running into a long, empty stare.
Rod took his hand away, extrapolating what must have happened after Edison was killed. “I take it you got payback.”
Her eyes came up, more energized this time. “I would have, but the Scabs got to him first. At least he got what was coming to him.”
“No doubt.”
“Just not how I would have done it. As far as I’m concerned, he got off easy.”
“There’s going to be a lot of questions. From a lot of people.”
She pushed her lips together in a pucker, holding that pose for a few beats before she spoke again. “I don’t blame them. I’ve got my share, too.”
“The people will need you to be direct and honest with them, like a strong leader does. That’s how Edison would have done it.”
“I can’t.”
“What do you mean, you can’t? You’re the most honest person I know.”
“I mean, I can’t address the people. I’m not the new leader.”
Zimmer hesitated for a moment, trying to process the words he’d just heard. They weren’t lining up in his brain. He must have misunderstood what she said. “I’m sorry, come again?”
“The Rules of Succession, Rod. Edison appointed Summer right before he died. Like you said, what’s done is done.”
“No, that can’t be.”
“It is. Trust me. Been trying to wrap my head around it ever since.”
“She’s a horrible choice.”
“Can’t argue with you there.”
“You need to bring this to the Committee.”
Krista rolled her eyes. “What’s left of it—”
“Edison obviously wasn’t in his right mind. They’ll back you.”
“Who’s ‘they’?”
“The others. I’ll make sure of it. Though you should probably know that Morse is sick.”
“What’s wrong with Alex?”
“Not sure. From what I hear, he was in medical for a bunch of tests before Liz confined him to rest in his quarters. Not sure what’s going on. But I’ll get him to agree, regardless.”
“It’s not going to matter, Rod. You know as well as I do that Edison was the Committee. The last vote. Without him, there’s no telling how any of this will go.”
“We’ll fill his spot, trust me. With someone who is sensitive to our way of thinking.”
“I’m not so sure about that. Not when I failed to protect him. His death is on me. Nobody else. There isn’t a single person in this place who will back me now.”
“Trust me, they’ll understand. If nothing else, I’ll make them understand. One way or the other.”
“What if Summer appoints herself as the head of the Committee?”
“That’ll never happen,” Zimmer said.
“You say that now, but—”
“We have to make this right, Krista. For the good of Nirvana. We can’t let her take over. We need to stop her. Somehow. Some way. She’ll change everything and we can’t let that happen.”
“Yeah, maybe, but I’m so exhausted right now, I can barely keep my eyes open. I need to hit the rack, first. Then we can talk about her removal. Like tomorrow or next week. After I get a bazillion hours of sleep. Though I have to say, technically the girl hasn’t exactly done anything wrong while she’s been in charge. You need that first to impeach. A crime while she’s in office type thing.”
“Not yet. But she will. Count on it.”
Krista let out a slow breath. “You’re probably right.”
“Can always frame her for something. Make it easy. She’s going to fuck up anyway. Might as well just shortcut the process. Probably save lives in the process.”
“So what you’re saying is the end justifies the means?”
Rod nodded with vigor. “Exactly.”
“No, Rod, we’re not going there. We play this by the book. Like always.”
“Even if someone gets hurt?”
“Look, I get that you’re just trying to help. But the rules are the rules and we all live by them. It’s what civilized human beings do. Otherwise, we have chaos and I’m just too frickin’ tired for any of that shit.”
“Okay, okay, I get it. I don’t agree, but I understand why you feel the way you do,” Rod said, figuring she’d take that stance, though he had to try anyway.
Krista was a lot of things, but she was consistent in her belief in duty, honor, and respect—traits that would make her the perfect leader of Nirvana.
Rod continued, “I heard you brought back prisoners.”
“Yep. They’re in the brig. I need to head there and start my interrogations.”
“I thought you were going to get some sleep first.”
“Wishful thinking,” she said in a downtrodden tone. “There’s work to be done and it won’t get done by itself.”
“I hear you. It never ends around here.”
“And it’s only going to get worse with little Miss Snot Nose in charge.”
“Hey, we can only do what we can do.”
“For you maybe. For me, it comes down to one thing: keeping everyone safe, regardless of who’s sitting in the big chair. In the end, Summer and everyone else is counting on me to do my job. Exhausted or not, I have to keep pushing ahead. Need to pay a visit to medical, too. Check on Liz. See how she’s holding up with Edison’s death and all. Maybe I’ll do that first.”
Krista brought her hands up from the table and put them on the armrests of the chair, then pushed to her feet.
Rod did the same. “I’ll go with you.”
Krista gave him a hug out of nowhere. Not her usual response, but she was bushed and he figured she was not thinking clearly.
Krista let go and gave him a thin smile. “Thanks for the support, Rod. I know you’ve always got my back.”
“Even when I’m wrong in your eyes?”
She nodded, her eyes returning to their full intensity. “It’s not about who’s right or wrong. It’s about the greater good.”
CHAPTER 8
Fletcher walked into Frost’s old office, closed the door, and sat in the chair next to Dice.
It wasn’t an office in the traditional sense, more like a dingy storage room in the back of some rundown auto repair shop, one filled with stacks of manuals, screws, belts, hoses, hand tools, and scraps of hardened steel. Layers and layers of grease, too, and a marred flattop surface made of metal.