Dark Horse (34 page)

“You could have left the screen running, Iʼd have created a simulation of you.”

“Theyʼd have guessed soon enough it wasnʼt me. The drone?”

“Go out the back door and run into the woods. Iʼll talk you through it.”

“Good.” She looped a bag over each shoulder and strode toward the kitchen.

“You seem calm.” Sazoʼs comment was almost a question. “Arenʼt you upset at the way theyʼve betrayed us?”

Rose drew in a deep breath of cold, crisp air as she closed the back door behind her, enjoyed the crunch of the frost-bitten grass under her feet. “To be honest, theyʼre behaving just the way Iʼd have expected them to back home. Only maybe on Earth theyʼd have been a bit more violent. And looked a lot less guilty about it.”

“Really?”

She smiled, trying to work out why she
was
so accepting of all this. “Really. Iʼm feeling quite at home.”

Sazo made a noise, a sort of snorting laugh, and she laughed with him.

“Letʼs go bust Dav out.”

F
orty-seven

R
ose crouched
deep within the trees, and looked between the small temporary cabin a half kilometer ahead of her, and the close-up of the same cabin Sazo was providing on the handheld sheʼd taken from Davʼs house.

If Dav was inside it, as Sazo thought from eavesdropping on the comms, he wasnʼt going to be easy to rescue, but also, would rescuing him solve their problems?

Rose had the feeling it would make things worse.

“Sazo, how do you feel about working with the Grih after this? Are you okay with it?”

Just because she could understand their wanting to keep their people as safe as possible, and that they didnʼt consider her and Sazo part of their people yet, didnʼt mean Sazo would, too.

“Well, the Tecran are out, and so are the Garmman. That leaves the Bukari, by far our best bet, and the Fitali, who I donʼt really have any idea about.”

“I agree, the Bukari are our next best option, but do we want to settle for second best?”

He thought about that for a while, and soft, slightly blue-tinged snow began to fall around her. She was crouched on a thin layer of it, and was amazed at how her hyr fabric clothes were keeping her warm, despite being thin and light. There were seriously good reasons for this stuff being the most expensive fabric in the universe. She wondered what a hyr spider looked like.

Or maybe she didnʼt.

“You still fine with their betrayal?” he asked at last.

“Not fine with it by any means. Understand it? Yes.” She crouched a little lower as she saw a soldier walk the perimeter of the cabin on the handheld. He was harder to see from this distance, but she could just make him out if she tried. He was in reflective camouflage mode. “Iʼll want an apology, and maybe some heads to roll, and obviously Dav reinstated, and as Iʼve had some time to think during the jog from Davʼs house to here, I donʼt know that our rescuing him will be to the long-term benefit of his career. Breaking out of jail makes you look guilty, even if you arenʼt.”

“What do you suggest?” Sazo sounded relieved, and Rose thought heʼd also been having doubts about how they were going to get Dav out without spilling some blood, something they could not do if they wanted a place in this society.

“How about I take the drone up to you, and we very deliberately and openly reach out to the Bukari. But we shield what we say, which could simply be a hello and catch-up with Filavantri Dimitara. And maybe a request for some more yuiar.”

“So theyʼll think weʼre getting ready to make a deal to move to the Bukariʼs territory?”

“Yep. Around about then, I hope theyʼll be on their knees to Dav, asking for his help, and if they arenʼt weʼll refuse to speak to anyone but him when they contact us.”

“
If
they contact us.”

She gave a snort. “Theyʼll contact us. To have an offer on the table from us of full cooperation which they then totally blew? If they donʼt salvage this, itʼll be the end of their careers, and they know it.”

“The deal going forward is no one but you is allowed on board, though.”

“That goes without saying.” Not that they had any hope of re-caging Sazo, heʼd completely overwritten that code, even if they knew he was the crystal on the necklace she used to wear, or where to find it on the Class 5, something she highly doubted. Even she didnʼt know where Sazo had hidden himself.

“You think your moving back to the Class 5 and calling the Bukari will be enough?”

“I think it will, but if not, weʼll explore other options. Letʼs see how they react to this, first.”

“Okay. Iʼve landed the drone two thou from here. Thatʼs the closest I could get it and be absolutely sure they wouldnʼt spot it.”

Rose peered through the thickening snow at the cabin one last time, and then turned. “I wish we could find some way to contact Dav. Let him know what weʼre up to.”

She started walking as fast as she could away from the Battle Center camp, putting as many trees between her and them. Good thing Sazo had taken out their monitoring equipment, or she couldnʼt have gotten this close.

“There are too many guards for you to get an earpiece to him, even if you had a spare with you.” Sazo sounded philosophical about it.

“You canʼt hack into his current one?”

“I already tried that. He doesnʼt have it with him, they took it.”

“His handheldʼs gone too, then, I suppose?”

Sazo gave a grunt of confirmation.

She didnʼt want to give up. If he didnʼt know what they had planned, he may think sheʼd abandoned him. That didnʼt sit well. At all.

“Is he still in uniform?” He had been when heʼd left her earlier.

“Yes.”

“Then what about . . .” Her words caught in her throat in her excitement. “What about the built-in watch thing on his sleeve?”

“The smart fabric digital time insert?”

She grinned. “Yes. That.”

“That doesnʼt have an audio component.”

“It doesnʼt have to. We could send him a written message. How many characters are there on it?”

“Five. Space for two digital numbers on either side of a dash.”

“Before I get too worked up about this, can you hack into it?”

“Please.” Sazo laughed in her ear. “It doesnʼt even have a rudimentary shield. A child could hack into it.”

“Woohoo.” She wanted to shout it, but she whispered it instead.

Sheʼd sped up as sheʼd gotten more and more excited, and as she stumbled out of the treeline she realized too late she was on the edge of a steep incline. She went over, arms windmilling.

It was a soft landing. A deep drift of snow must have built up in the small dip over the last day.

“Iʼm okay.” She stood, dusted herself off, and then looked up.

Right at an equally startled soldier in reflective camouflage.

“Damn.” She pretended to keep dusting herself off, slipped her hand into her pocket and held the light-gun loosely in her hand.

“Rose, what is it?”

“You canʼt see the soldier standing right in front of me?” Rose used English, so the Grih wouldnʼt understand, and she sang it, too, as a distraction.

The soldier shifted in surprise.

“No. I canʼt see anything.”

“Who would have guessed their camouflage works on you and not on me? I feel less useless, all of a sudden. Itʼs good to have some super-powers of my own. Not all side-kicks are that lucky.” She smiled at the guy as she sang, and he took a step back, completely confused.

Time to get jumpy again.

She bounced on her knees, gave him another smile, and leaped, sailing over his head and landing lightly behind him.

It really did never get old.

She jumped a second time, angling slightly so she wasnʼt going in a straight line, and heard a dull thud just to the right of her.

“What the hell was that?” She twisted slightly and a shockgun blast clipped the top of her arm.

Pain blinded her, blue-white, like the snow around her, and she landed hard, the breath knocked out of her.

“Rose, turn! Turn and shoot him. Heʼs approaching. I can read the heat in his shockgun after he fired, even if I canʼt see him.” Sazoʼs voice was a faint buzz in her ears but she tried, managing to push herself onto her side so her right hand was free.

“Remain down or I will shoot again.” The Grih soldier edged closer. Heʼd retracted the faceplate of his helmet, and he looked nervous. Because, sure, she was the bogey man. Sheʼd forgotten that.

Time to make that a self-fulfilling prophecy.

“Please,” she said in Grihan, lifting her right hand in supplication. “Donʼt hurt me.”

He tapped his ear, lifting his gun again to point it at her chest. “This is Grigo, checking in.”

Rose slid down the button on her light-gun and closed her eyes, grateful for the fact his face was uncovered. She didnʼt know how well the light-gun would work with his helmet on.

As it was, he didnʼt even make a sound. When she opened them again, it was to find heʼd simply collapsed.

“I hope they donʼt expect more from his check-in than that.”

“I reviewed his earlier transmissions, recorded his voice, and told them all was well.”

“Sazo.” She made a kissing noise. Pulled herself to her feet, right hand rubbing her left arm. Damn it all, getting shot really
hurt
.

She turned to go, light-gun still in her hand, and then stumbled to a stop.

Someone was waiting for her on the other side of the small dip.

Something about the uniform was familiar . . .

“Admiral Hoke. How did you find me?”

The admiral jerked, as surprised as the soldier had been. “You can see me?”

“Perfectly.” She decided she might as well keep walking. She was a sitting duck in the tiny gully anyway, and she would have to get past Hoke to get to the drone. She wasnʼt sure how much the admiral had seen, but even if she did know about the light-gun, Rose could use it before Hoke could take it off her.

“I saw the report that you could, but I didnʼt really believe it.” Hoke retracted her faceplate as she spoke.

Rose shrugged, edging left so that she could sidle past the admiral.

“Where are you going, Rose?”

“None of your business, Admiral Hoke. Iʼm armed, and I wonʼt hesitate to protect myself from you.”

“I thought you might try to break Dav out, so I brought a small team and weʼve been sweeping through the woods from Davʼs house with a handheld monitor. It doesnʼt have the range or the detail of the equipment at the camp, but it does have the benefit of being portable.”

Hoke looked down the hill and then leaned forward. “Is that one of my team? What did you do to him?”

Rose realized the admiral was having trouble seeing him because of the camouflage. “He shot me. Only in the arm, but he was trying for my torso. Funny thing is, I really, really donʼt like getting shot.”

Hoke whipped around, faced her. “If he did shoot you, heʼll be disciplined. They were to stop you, not hurt you.”

“Donʼt know if I believe that, Admiral. He was certainly quick on the trigger.”

Hoke shook her head. “Iʼm not here to harm you, Rose. Iʼm not even here on a sanctioned mission. I argued against what they were planning with Jallan. It was the wrong strategy, and I told them it wouldnʼt work.”

“I really donʼt understand it, Hoke. Why wouldnʼt they want a cooperative ally rather than a resentful slave?”

“Fear. It makes people do stupid things. This is what happens when powerful people have to make difficult decisions too quickly.”

Rose raised her brows at that. Looked down the hill at the soldier. “You got that right. When did I become such a monster big, bad soldiers are so frightened of me they feel threatened enough to shoot?”

Hoke shook her head again. “My fault. I told them you might be able to see them in full gear, that you had some immunity to shockguns.” She sighed. “My apologies.”

“So what was the purpose of hunting me down?” She didnʼt want to turn her back on the admiral, but it was time to go.

“To stop you from rescuing Jallan. If you want him to keep his job, itʼs a bad idea.”

“Iʼd already worked that out for myself.” She edged back, hoping more of the admiralʼs team werenʼt right behind her. “That would be why Iʼm heading away from where heʼs being held.”

She shuffled back another few steps.

“We keep underestimating you.” Hokeʼs words puffed out into the cold air.

“Well, are you going to try to bring me in? Raise the alarm?” Rose was far enough away now to get a good shot in with the light-gun, and she shifted it a little in her hand.

“No. I thought more along the terms of letting you slip quietly away and creating a diversion if you need one.”

“Why?” She had see the dismay on Hokeʼs face, the fatalistic grimace, when sheʼd shut down the screen. Could Hoke really have come round?

“Dav Jallan saved the fleet when he went with you. I knew it then, which is why I didnʼt even protest when he left. Sazo may not have harmed us, but there was certainly a high chance of it. I donʼt believe we should betray officers like him.” Then she gave a practical shrug. “And also, because when the dust settles, Iʼll come out of this looking like the long-term visionary that I am, and that will not hurt my chances of being head of Battle Center.”

“Youʼre not worried about Sazo? About his volatility?”

Hoke gave a half-laugh. “Of course I am, but Iʼve seen for myself that heʼs not like that when youʼre with him, safe and sound. And Iʼd rather have a slightly volatile Sazo on my side than on anyone elseʼs. So would Vulmark and Krale.” She tapped the watch panel on her sleeve and looked down at the time. “Something theyʼll be thinking about quite a bit around about now.”

It reminded Rose of the time herself. And of her fiendish plan.

“Right, well then, Admiral, nice doing business with you. Iʼve got to go.”

“Wait.” Hoke stepped forward, hand raised, and Rose half-lifted her own hand in response.

Hoke blinked at her. “Whatʼs that?”

“Nothing.” Rose gripped the light-gun a little harder. “You were saying?”

“Youʼre not really leaving Jallan to his fate, are you? Youʼll let Krale and Vulmark beg you to come back?” She lowered her arm slowly, eyes on Roseʼs fist.

“I intend to make them prostrate themselves at Davʼs feet, begging forgiveness, but yes, Iʼll eventually agree. But to do that, Iʼve got to go, so . . .”

Hoke waved her on, and she turned and forced herself not to stumble at the sight of five silent soldiers in full camouflage standing behind her. Now sheʼd really see if Hoke was lying. “Good afternoon, boys and girls.” She looked at each of them in turn as she jogged past them.

“What did she do to Grigo?”

She heard the question from behind her.

“Iʼm not sure, but I think . . .” Hokeʼs tone was almost reverent. “I think she used a
light-gun
.”