Dragonfly (33 page)

“The battle was not over!” Tears misted my vision, burning, and hot compulsion seared through my blood. I ached to fire. I didn’t care about one more murder. I’d be shooting Imperial lies, not Shadrin. I’d be blowing away the bloody mess they’d made of my life. “The battle’s not over until the last soldier’s safe—isn’t that what you taught me?”

“Grow up, Caroline!” He jerked his head around despite my weapon, malice flashing in his eyes. “The Empire uses you! It uses us all, and when it’s finished it throws us away. What kind of adolescent arrogance makes you think you’re any different?”

“This kind.” I jabbed the flash back into his temple, kinking his neck to the side, and closed my eyes at the stink of burning hair. I tightened my thumb on the warm metal contact, feeling the spring tighten, the resistance increase. My pulse thudded in my ears, blotting out the shrieking alarm, strong, unstoppable, matching the thirst for justice that boiled in my soul.

Fuck. You.

***

“Carrie.”

His soft voice penetrated my throbbing skull.

“Carrie, don’t.”

Gentle fingers wrapped my juddering forearm, trying to ease my aim away.

The evacuation alarm faded back in. I opened my eyes, hot tears spilling, blinding me. I tried to shake his hand off, still aiming at Shadrin’s head.

“Go away, Sasha. I’m not done.”

I didn’t ask how he’d gotten in through the lockdown. He wasn’t the insurrection’s most infamous thief for nothing. I could see him now, his hair matted with sweat and grime, his lashes smudged with polymer dust from his explosives, his skin streaked with black dirt. His presence slashed at my heart, so close yet so far away, and my aim faltered.

He cupped my straining hands in his and steered them gently downward, levering the atomflash from my grip. “Let him go. Killing one man solves nothing.”

I whirled away, frustration and grief burning my soul. “And killing a couple thousand does? Fine. Let’s do it your way.”

“That’s up to him.”

He flicked the contact to power the atomflash’s charge down, and tossed a little round micro-ether transmitter onto the desk. Its silver contacts shone. A remote detonator. He’d set his explosives already.

Efficiently, he shackled Shadrin with smartcuffs, the living metal band wrapping the general’s wrists and flicking out like a snake to fuse itself to the metal desk frame. Shadrin cursed at him, but Sasha ignored him.

“You set off the alarm,” he accused me.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because I can’t let you do it. You’re better than they are. Don’t sink to their level.”

He glanced at the silver Axis stripes on my collar and didn’t reply.

I hadn’t wanted him to find out like this. Hot shame skewered my guts, and my mouth dried. “I’m sorry. I know you’ll never forgive me. But—”

Metal bounced on the carpet. My throat corked tight. He’d dropped my atomflash in astonishment.

“Forgive you?” he said with a dumbfounded laugh. “Do you think I even care?”

My brain muddled wet. “What do you mean, you don’t care?”

He bent to retrieve the flash and, to my surprise, handed it back to me. Automatically I reached for it, and he trapped my fingers in his, warm and damp.

“I trust you, Carrie. You. The real person I fell for in that neurospace. Not the person you’re pretending to be.”

“But—”

“Stop it. I don’t care if you turn out to be the Emperor’s daughter. I said I trusted you and I meant it, but you didn’t believe it.
You
don’t trust
me
. Not enough to tell me the truth.” He sighed, weary. “I’m sorry for what I said back there. I’ve thought of nothing else since I left you and it’s chewing me to bits. I just couldn’t face it that you’d lied. I—”

He broke off when he saw more tears misting my eyes.

All those times he’d baffled me, when I’d wondered about his game. The answer was elementary, only I’d been too wrapped up in cruel Imperial intrigue to notice. His game was honesty. He simply meant every word he said.

I swallowed, wanting to sob with delight as well as terror. No way could I ever deserve this man. He was far too good for me.

“They sent me after you,” I admitted at last, still holding his hands. “To kill you, or just to bring you back. I’ve been confused as hell over whether to betray you, help you or fall into bed with you. I guess I did all three.” I shrugged, the strange sting of truth sweet in my mouth. “And now I can’t go back to what I used to be. That’s all I know.”

Sasha brushed back my sweaty hair, cautious, but his eyes sparkled. “Thank you. It’s nice to hear it. You’re a good liar. I really thought you hated me for a while.”

A smile curled my lips despite everything. I leaned into him, enjoying his touch on my face. “I wanted to,” I whispered, and brushed my lips against his, sweet warmth. “But it’s too hard. I give up.”

I felt him smile, and then he kissed me, tangling my hair in his fingers so I couldn’t get away.

Shadrin interrupted with a bitter laugh. “I should have known, Caroline. You didn’t make up that bullshit on your own. You screwed it, and it poisoned you.”

Sasha pulled away and leveled the atomflash at Shadrin, flicking the sizzling charge back on. “Let’s talk about bullshit, shall we, General?”

I shoved my hands into my jacket pockets. Delight still bubbled through me, but an oily film of discomfort slimed the surface. Sasha couldn’t win. I recalled Nikita’s words:
Even if they blow the station to static and splinters, the annexation will still go ahead
…

Shadrin tugged uselessly at his bound wrists and glowered at Sasha, his face tight. “Whatever you people want, you can go to ob—”

“Tell him, Valodyi,” I interrupted. “About you and Luis Alvarado. What’s in the fix for you this time? Real estate? Resource stocks? A juicy cut of those billion sols?”

Shadrin frowned, doing his best to look mystified. “I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.”

“This entire negotiation is corrupt, isn’t it? It was a done deal from the beginning. You get rich, Alvarado gets richer, plus his own personal Imperial protection force. And the lucky colonists get the Empire and no say in any of it. Right?”

“Think what you like.” Shadrin’s voice rang steady, but the cruel curl of his lip told me I was right.

Sasha stared, his face draining of color. “I know Luis,” he said softly. “He’s a decent man. He cares about his people—”

“You’re not just a filthy terrorist,” Shadrin interrupted, hate flashing in his eyes, “you’re a fucking idiot. Everyone has their price. Luis Alvarado’s was money. Offer enough and a man will screw anyone over. Don’t you realize that yet?”

Sasha’s gaze didn’t fall. “Not me.”

“You think not?” Shadrin sneered. “We’ll see. Look to your lady friend, scumbag. A man will do all kinds of stupid shit when there’s a woman involved. See how steelclad your principles are when she’s screaming for her life.”

My skin crept cold. Was I to be Sasha’s weakness? Was a new vulnerability all he got for caring about me?

“Enough.” Sasha jammed the atomflash under Shadrin’s chin, leaving a scarlet welt. “Fact is, if I kill you now, nothing changes, does it?” His voice was gentle, dangerous. “The annexation can’t be stopped?”

Shadrin shrugged as best he could, smug. “Not a chance.”

“Wrong answer.” Sasha leaned closer, his thumb caressing the contact.

My heart twisted. I could call out to him, beg him not to fire. But this decision he had to make on his own.

Shadrin averted his face, sweating, but Sasha dragged him back around by the hair, forcing him to keep eye contact. “See, your death does change things. If I kill you, I give your life meaning. Dead, you’re a valiant Imperial warrior slain by the insurrection. Alive, you’re just another greedy flunky on the take and you don’t mean a damn thing.”

Shadrin scowled, and Sasha shoved him away, powering the atomflash down once more. “I think I’ll spend a while on the pirate newscasts instead. Make sure every last person on Santa Maria with a weapon and a grudge knows just what you’ve done. See how your career flourishes when your latest acquisition erupts in a howling rebellion.”

I stared, breathless, but Sasha just shrugged wearily. “You were right. This is one battle we can’t win.” Despite his sorrow, that sweet little smile crept onto his smudged face. “Thank you.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake. Will you just get on with it?”

The new voice prickled my spine, horridly familiar, and I spun around, scrabbling for my back-up pistol.

But a shot already rang out, and Shadrin’s head imploded in a puff of scarlet steam.

36

Nikita stood in the doorway, grinning. He puffed an imaginary wisp of hair from his deep blue eyes, his aim unwavering as he switched it to me. “Never liked him anyway.”

He looked gorgeous, elegant, flawless, his black Axis uniform fitting him like body paint. But it didn’t stop me leveling my pistol at him.

He widened his eyes, pretending to be hurt. “What’s the matter, Aragon? That’s Axis money Shadrin was skimming to line his own pockets. Or have you gone totally soft?”

Beside me, Sasha tightened his fingers around the remote detonator’s silver casing. “Perhaps we should play tarocchi for old times’ sake,” he murmured. “What’s the matter with this guy?”

“Everything.” I advanced, my aim steady. “Sasha, this is Nikita, codename Malachite. If you ever see him again, shoot first and ask later.”

Nikita laughed. “Good advice, coming from you. Lyudmila was right,” he added airily, cruel, daring me to ask what he meant.

I circled toward the emergency exit hatch, keeping him in my sights, but my stomach churned. “I don’t care—”

“About Urumki, when your boyfriend bit it. She said you’d lost your nerve, wanted to cut you loose. I should have let her.” He sighed. “Fuck. To think I told her this would never work. That Boy Genius here would never fall for it. I'll be buying her drinks for the rest of my life.”

I wiped sweat from my temple, my nerves jittering. He never talked this much unless he’d planned something. “So what now?”

“You know that answer. I’ll miss you, Aragon. We had good fun.” He thumbed the power level on his pistol, increasing it to full heat, and flicked an icy blue glance at Sasha. “You can look away, if you like.”

My blood jerked hot. I swallowed on a dry mouth, my hands shaking. Watery heat spilled through my intestines, and the alarm blared in my ears, uncaring. I could fire, but I wouldn’t kill him before he shot me. And if Sasha fired, I was just as dead.

My legs weakened. I wasn’t ready. So much more I wanted to do. Cruise the Minsk supernova fields, go solar-flare jumping, learn to cook. And Sasha.

A lump swelled my throat, stopping my breath, and I wanted to cry. Fuck.

Sasha flipped his remote slowly in his fingers, diodes flashing green. “Never.”

Nikita raised his perfect eyebrows. “No? Suit yourself. Step back if you don’t want her all over you.”

He tilted his head to sight the shot, and I wanted to close my eyes, but I couldn’t.

Sasha squeezed the remote softly, and the silver contacts flashed scarlet. He’d primed his detonators. “Two minutes. Or now. It’s your choice, you fucked-up son of a bitch. Move that pretty finger and we all die.”

Nikita glanced at Sasha’s hand and laughed. “Micro-ether? Shit. I was having such a nice day. I suppose it’s rigged to squeal if I melt it out of your grubby little hand?”

Sasha didn’t blink. “Do it and find out.”

Nikita swung his pistol to point at Sasha, his eyes burning frigid and empty. “Disarm it, or I melt your stubborn ass to mist.”

“No.” Sasha jerked his head toward Shadrin’s emergency escape hatch. “Carrie, get out of here.”

I blinked away stinging sweat, my thoughts racing. Shadrin had a ship, or at least a floating distress pod. Two minutes less small change might just be enough. But there was something I had to do first. And amid all the lies, there was one tiny fact about Agent Malachite that I could always rely on.

Nikita wanted desperately to live.

He was reckless and thrill-seeking, but unlike Spider, he wasn’t suicidal. He firmly believed he was the most important thing in existence. He’d do anything to save his own life. And that meant he wouldn’t shoot us. Not yet. Not while we had explosives in our grasp.

“Not me, Sasha.” My steadiness surprised me. “You. Prep the ship—”

“It’s a Shard-class chi variant,” cut in Nikita slyly. “With a specially calibrated navset. You might not like where it takes you.”

“He’s bluffing. Give me the remote, Sasha. I can cover you. Prep the ship. I’ll be there.”

Silently, Sasha slid the remote into my hand, the metal hot and slick with his sweat. The heady comfort of his trust warmed me like sunshine, but I couldn’t look away from my pistol sights and Nikita. Sasha’s footsteps clanged on the metal escape gangway, and faded.

Nikita cocked his head, bemused, and lowered his weapon. His eyes glinted, appreciative. “Nice play. Guess I won’t shoot you. Now disarm the fucking thing.”

“I can’t. It’s encrypted.”

My arm ached from holding the heavy pistol, but I didn’t let it drop. I sidled toward the escape hatch, my boots catching in thick carpet, until I stood within the narrow blast door. Warning lights flashed red and white on its rim beside the twin sets of levers for blast and airlock, one set inside, one out. Sasha’s remote buzzed quietly in my hand. One minute to go.

I inhaled, deep. “Come with us.”

“What?” Nikita laughed, but strange softness kindled in his eyes. “You and Boy Genius in there? You’ve got to be kidding.”

Compassion pierced my heart. It wasn’t his fault he didn’t understand, that he acted like this. For a while, he’d been my only friend, and he’d shown me the best time of my life. He deserved better. If I could save just one person from the Empire’s deceit, the last six years might not have been wasted.

But seconds slipped by like fast-flowing plasma.

“Leave all this behind,” I said desperately. “They lied about Urumki. They’ve lied about everything. You can be better than they are. I know it. Please, Nikita. Come with us.”