Mercenary Instinct (a science fiction romance) (27 page)

“Sorry I’m late,” Zimonjic said. “I was
treating those girls, so they could be returned to the brig.
Something odd happened though. Cutty said he was taking them to
some new lab that’s being set up on B-deck?” She looked at Viktor
as she spoke, her eyebrows elevated.

“Yes.” Viktor waved her to the empty seat.
“There’s been a change of plans.”

Tick, who was chomping cheerily on his gum,
elbowed Hazel. “Here it comes.”

He looked like a man anticipating an
entertaining show. Hazel, her face guarded, didn’t respond.

“Since we captured those women—Markovich,
Keys, and Flipkens—I’ve learned that they haven’t committed any
crimes—” Viktor thought of Ankari’s pickpocketing of his key, but
that hardly counted, “—so Lord Felgard’s bounty is a rogue one. The
law isn’t going to touch
him
over it, but we would be
walking the edge of a cliff if we turned these people over to
him.”

Commander Borage pushed a hand through his
scruffy mop of gray hair, taking the lack of a dress code to the
extreme, as usual. His face hadn’t seen a razor in days, and there
were enough coffee stains on his shirt that it looked like a
diorama of Mondor’s seventeen moons. “We’ve walked along that edge
before, sir. You’ve been known to take a particular interest in
figuring out how far we can push GalCon without becoming targets
for retribution.”

“But I haven’t turned innocent civilians over
to petty finance lords with some secret, illegal agenda, either.”
Viktor spoke the truth, but he hadn’t always taken a stand on
issues of morality—sometimes a man couldn’t afford to out here, not
if he wanted to keep his ship flying and his crew eating—and he
watched the faces around the table warily, wondering if anyone
would call him a hypocrite. He demanded military courtesy and
respect around the rest of the crew, but these people all knew he’d
always expected them to speak openly to him in private.

“The whole crew’s anticipating that bounty.”
Borage looked around, probably wondering if he had the support of
the others. He received a few nods. “We’ll get more for them than
we got for destroying all of Sisson Hood’s men and turning his head
over to the magistrate on Sturm. And, Captain, we need a lot of
repairs after the Fallow Station Battle.”

Viktor nodded. He knew that all too well.
They were on their way to Recon and Repair at the Dock Seven space
station now.

“We’re out of at least a dozen spare parts in
the engine room right now, what’s installed is cobbled together
with spit and tape, our weapons are depleted, and the fuel tanks
are running near empty.” Borage folded his hands on the table and
studied them. “I’m not just trying to pad my retirement account
here with my concerns about bounties. It’s going to be an expensive
repair bill.”

“Retirement account?” Tick grinned. “Who told
you that you’ve got a retirement account, Borage?”

“Well, I get this quarterly report.” Borage
managed a faint smile. “It all looks very official.”

“Lies, it’s all lies. The job’s designed to
kill you before you ever get to draw on it.”

That drew a few snorts. Viktor couldn’t deny
it. He doubted he would make it to retirement. How many mercenaries
ever did?

“We’ll have enough,” Viktor said. “We got
paid for Fallow and with the bonus of Sisson Hood’s bounty, we’ll
easily... break even.”

There was no way to spin that more
positively, and this round of snorts was expected.

“It’d be nice to come out ahead once in a
while,” Lieutenant Sequoia murmured wistfully.

That might be as good of an opening as he
would get for discussing their new business partners, but Zimonjic
spoke first.

“Captain, these women... do you have solid
evidence that they’re not criminals? I wouldn’t expect you to
simply take a person’s word for it, but I just wanted to make
sure.” There was nothing antagonistic or suspicious in her
expression; she looked like she simply wanted to know the answer,
and was perhaps hoping Viktor might have overlooked something and
that Ankari and her partners would indeed be proven criminals.

“I had doubts from the beginning, and I had
Thomlin dig around. None of them has a criminal record, nor are
Felgard’s claims substantive.” True enough. He had been hounding
Thomlin for that information since returning to the ship. He would
have preferred to personally handle the preparations of Ankari’s
lab, but he had known he would need evidence, or as close to it as
he could get, before sharing his decision here.

“Just because something couldn’t be dug up on
the net doesn’t mean there isn’t something there,” Zimonjic
said.

Tick nudged Hazel again. “Sounds like
someone’s bitter that one of her syringes was stolen.”

“Not at all,” Zimonjic said. “But it is
because of how easily that happened that I question Ms.
Markovich’s... wholesomeness. Just because a criminal hasn’t been
caught and doesn’t have a public record doesn’t mean he or she
isn’t a criminal.”

“Nonetheless, I’m not going to punish someone
without some proof that she deserves it,” Viktor said. “It’s my
fault for not doing more due diligence ahead of time.” Not that he
ever had when browsing the wanted posters around the system. And if
Ankari were male, would he have bothered to look deeper? Maybe. But
he had admittedly found her compelling. Best to move on and not
give the others time to linger on his words. “We’ll still be going
to see Felgard. It’ll be an incursion rather than a delivery.”

Eyebrows flew up around the table.

“As you already know, Felgard double-crossed
us on the bounty. I intend to make it clear to the rest of the
system that Mandrake Company is not to be crossed.” Viktor let that
sink in before continuing on.
That
, at least, would sound
like him, the influence of a woman notwithstanding. “I would have
shot Felgard for that alone, but I’ve struck a deal with Markovich.
We’ll be taking care of him for her and will receive a twenty
percent share of their company in exchange for our services.”
Viktor didn’t mention that there would be ongoing services and that
the women were setting up camp on the
Albatross
. Those
details could be explained later. As could the fact that he had
tasked Thomlin with hunting around to see if any rogue bounties
might be out for the finance lord himself. Someone like that had to
have enemies or at least competitors who would be happy to see him
gone—and might pay for that to happen. Viktor could hardly bring
this up when Felgard himself wasn’t a criminal and his main
argument for not turning in the women was that they weren’t
criminals, either.

Tick’s ever-present gum chewing had come to a
halt, his jaw hanging slack.

“You want us to break into Felgard’s compound
and kill him?” Garland asked. “How many times did you get hit on
the head down on that Moon, Viktor?”

“He’ll have the best security money can buy,”
Borage said. “Not to mention powerful allies. We’re good, but is
this a war we want to fight? Sneaking in and trying to kill a lord
of finance?”

“We won’t have to sneak in. We’ll walk in the
front door under the guise of delivering his bounty. And Markovich
doesn’t demand that he be killed, only that he ceases to be a
problem for her company. Since we’ll own a share of that company,
we’ll naturally want to protect our interests.”

“She doesn’t
demand
that he be
killed?” Borage asked. “Wasn’t she a prisoner yesterday? How the
hell did she turn into our employer?”

That had been a poor choice of words. Viktor
wasn’t used to having to explain himself. “Business partner,” he
corrected.

Tick and Hazel were exchanging long looks,
and he braced himself for a contribution that might theorize
exactly how Ankari had come to be... making demands. He hadn’t been
flaunting his new relationship, but he hadn’t skulked around or
hidden anything, either.

“Sir,” Hazel said carefully—apparently she’d
lost the silent argument as to who should broach the subject. “In
all the years I’ve known you, you’ve never let... feelings for
someone influence your command decisions. I’m—we’re—concerned that
might be the case now, and that it might be to the detriment of the
company.”

This time a lot more jaws than Tick’s fell
open. Zimonjic looked particularly apoplectic, even if she soon
rearranged her face into a more neutral position. Viktor understood
why, but he didn’t know what to say to her. He never had.

“You’re wrong, Sergeant,” Viktor said, though
he was speaking to all of those in the room, all of those staring
eyes fixed on him. “I’ve let my feelings influence my decisions
from the beginning. There are a lot of people here—” he spread a
palm toward the table, “—who didn’t know much about their jobs and
had no military experience when I brought them on board. I chose
them over more qualified individuals because we share an ancestry,
roots we could trace back to the first colonists who landed on
Grenavine.”

Several people looked down at the table or at
their hands. Viktor hated to use their common history to try to
take advantage of past favors like this, but the truth was he
needed a favor. Who else could he ask?

“Sometimes, you have to trust that people are
worth more than their résumés,” he said, “and that they can grow
into the responsibility you give them.”

“But, sir,” Lieutenant Sequoia said, “they’re
not applying to join the company. They’re... I don’t know what they
are. I’m not sure I can trust them.”

“I understand,” Viktor said, “but I hope you
can trust
me
. I won’t put the company at more risk than is
necessary. I can go down with a small team and deal with this. If I
get myself killed, Garland can rename the company, steer the
Albatross
off to distant stars, and likely avoid any wrath
my actions might draw.”

The expressions around the table ranged from
sullen to glum. He hadn’t expected more. He could only hope he
could prove them wrong, prove that he wasn’t doing this because
Ankari had a talented mouth. That it was because she was like them,
like him, someone worth putting trust in.

“I wanted you all to know what the plan was,”
Viktor said. “I’d prefer the rest of the company didn’t, not until
after I’ve confronted Felgard. There are those who might take it
upon themselves to attempt to collect the bounty on their own,
stealing the women and sneaking away in a shuttle once we’ve made
orbit. Two hundred thousand is a lot more than anyone’s salary
around here, so I’m sure it’s crossed some minds. I’ll be
increasing security in case anyone is considering that or other
mutinous intentions.”

Borage flinched at the word mutinous. He
wasn’t the only one.

“But as long as people believe they’re
getting a share of the bounty, that might be enough to keep them in
line. The women will be busy in a lab rather than staying in the
brig for the rest of the journey. I want twenty percent of a viable
and profitable company, so that’s what I’ve got them working
toward. If anyone asks, let them believe... whatever they want.
That we’re using them to make us intellectual property to sell
after we turn them over. I don’t care what they think, so long as
it’s not the truth. Not yet. I’ll explain everything afterward. I
believe I can make everything work out in the company’s favor in
the end—” Viktor hoped he wasn’t being delusional in saying that,
“—but it’ll be easier if I don’t have people second-guessing me at
every step. There’s much to be done before taking a team into
Felgard’s stronghold. I want to concentrate on that, not on damage
control.” He looked around the room, trying to gauge people’s
reactions, their feelings. Nobody was happy about this, but would
they make trouble for him? Nobody spoke during his pause. “I’ll
consider it a favor from each of you if you help me maintain this
ruse for a few days and let me know if you hear of anything
troubling.”

There were words that would never be spoken
within a captain’s hearing that other, lower-ranking soldiers might
be privy to, and he knew it. That was a big part of why he had
shared all of this with them. He might have clammed up, explained
nothing, and gone on pretending to everyone that the women were
prisoners until the end. But he needed a team to take down with
him, and he would need a good pilot and some good fighters. He had
all of those in this room. And Garland and Borage could keep the
ship together, the crew under control, until he returned
victorious. That was the meaning of the name he’d taken, after all.
Any other result was unacceptable. It always had been.

He thought about asking if there were
objections or concerns, but if he asked, there would be. Better
just to be the captain in this, make the decisions and not invite a
discussion.

“That’s all I have for you right now,” Viktor
said. “I’ve got an incursion team in mind, but I’ll talk to people
individually about that.” He hoped he could select most of it from
the people in the room, but he planned to ask for volunteers, not
force anyone. “Dismissed,” he said.

People slowly got to their feet. Tick,
Zimonjic, and Borage all looked like they had something to say, but
when he made eye contact with each of them, they simply sighed or
shook their heads and looked away. For the first time in some
years, Viktor found himself wishing for the counsel of Doc
Aglianico. His old friend had been somewhat outside of the regular
chain of command and had never feared speaking bluntly or offering
advice. Zimonjic was a capable medical officer, but she had never
filled that particular role for him.

Commander Garland was the one to linger after
the others left, standing at the foot end of the table, stroking
one of the old cedar boards. His expression said he would miss
those boards if something happened and he was no longer able to
visit that table. It had a special meaning to all of them. Viktor
knew that, but he tried not to read too much into his
second-in-command’s expression.