Wings of Retribution (88 page)

“An orphanage wouldn’t wear Wei Tei,” Ragnar pointed out.  “Isn’t that a little pricey, Dallas?”

“How’s it look?” she asked.  She pulled the real-wool hat over her head, beaming.  “I got it in blue, too.”

Athenais rolled her eyes.  “It’s your money, Fairy.”

“That’s ‘Captain,’” Dallas corrected.

The old ba
t
stiffened like she was going to retort and Dallas raised a single brow.  Then Athenais’s face twisted in a grimace.  “Fine,
Captain
.  It’s your money,” the old broad said.  “Now hurry up and pack that stuff on the shuttle.  I wanna check out The Shop ‘fore they move it again.”

They rode the shuttle to the Forgotten District and Athenais paid the shuttle driver extra to wait outside.  Dallas found it hard to tear her eyes off of her purchases, perched precariously in the back seat of the shuttle.

“What about my stuff?” she asked as they were entering The Shop.  “What if he drives off with it?”

“That fat old bastard couldn’t even fit his fist into one of those blouses, Dallas,” Ragnar said.  “Don’t worry about it.”

“But what if somebody
steals
them?  Knocks him out and runs off?  That’s four months worth of—”

“
You son of a whore!
”  The shout silenced the entire Shop, bringing all conversation to an abrupt halt.

Dallas blinked, staring at Athenais.  The pirate’s gaze was fixed on someone in the back of the room.  She stepped out of the way as Athenais brushed past her, stopping at a table in the far corner.

“How’d you get out of there, you little weasel?”

Dallas took another look at the utterly placid little man in the corner.  Her heart fluttered.  “
Rabbit
!” she cried, gleeful.

Rabbit scanned the silent room and cleared his throat.  “Stowed away in one of their drug shipments as soon as I realized Juno wasn’t going to listen to reason.”

“You just
left
us there?” Athenais demanded.

“I knew you could handle yourselves.”

The space pirate slammed her hand down on the table in front of Rabbit.  Rabbit looked up and held Athenais’s gaze, unwavering.  A tense moment of silence followed before Athenais bellowed, “Giggles!  Beer for everyone.  On me.”  The Shop roared with cheers and spacers shoved each other aside getting to the bar.

“But I wanted Scotch,” Dallas muttered, watching the line form.

“You ready for this?” Athenais asked, glancing from Dallas to Ragnar to Rabbit.

“More than ready,” Ragnar said, his eyes cold.

“Then let’s do it.”  Athenais raised her weapon and shot the lock off the door.  Then she kicked it in, eliciting a feminine scream from the other side.

Governor Black stood in his sleeping robes, a toothbrush still in his hand.  Ragnar rushed him and shoved him to the ground, pressing the barrel of his pistol to the Governor’s skull.

“Watch the door, Captain York.  You won’t want to see this.”  Athenais walked up to Black and squatted in front of him.  Leaning in close, gun to his temple, she smiled and said, “Remember me, Governor?”

“I don’t know who you are!” the Governor whimpered.  “Please, take anything you want.  Just don’t hurt—”

Athenais, furious that he didn’t even remember her, hit him with the butt of her rifle.  “It’s Athenais, you stupid bastard.  You killed my crew and sent me to Orplex.”  She narrowed her eyes.  “Or maybe I need to jog your memory.”

“Athen…”  The Governor’s voice dropped away as Ragnar pushed his face further into the carpet.  “Oh, God.”

“That’s right,” Athenais said.  “Make your peace now.  You’re not going to survive the night.”  She stood and walked over to an exquisite carving of a duck in blue stone.  “This is good.  Did you buy it with my money?”

“Please, just listen,” the Governor whimpered.  “I can explain—”

“Shut up!” Athenais snapped.  Ragnar mashed the Governor’s face deeper into the floor, stifling further comments.  She moved to the window and glanced out the curtain.  “Did you know, Governor Black, I worked as an assassin once?  Was good at it, too.”  She moved away from the window and walked to the bookshelf, taking an ancient text from the shelf and examining it.  “
Gone with the Wind
.  You’ve got good taste, for a backstabbing viper.”  Then she recognized the little crack in the spine and her eyes narrowed.  “I should’ve known.”  She held up the book.  “You took this from Howlen, didn’t you?”

“I’m sorry,” Governor Black cried.  “Please, I’m so sorry.  I didn’t know—”

“Didn’t know I’d come after you?” Athenais interrupted, waving the book at him.  “Didn’t know I’d get off of Erriat?”

“It’s not as bad as you think!” the Governor said, his voice muffled by the carpet.

Athenais’s face contorted and she charged over to him and ripped his head from the floor by his hair.  “Not as bad as I think?!  So you
didn’t
backstab me, destroy my ship, kill my crew, and send me to the biggest Hell in the Quad?!”

“No!” Black whimpered.

Athenais yanked harder.  “No what?!  Am I missing something?”

“They’re
alive
!” Governor Black sobbed.

“
Who’s
alive?!” Athenais shouted into his ear, threatening to tear his head from his spine.

“Your
crew
!  Oh God your crew!”

Athenais dropped his head and stood.  “He’s lying.  Shoot him.”

“
No
!” the governor screamed.  “They’re all alive, I swear!”

“You lying
bastard
.”  Athenais lifted her rifle, aiming at Black’s terrified face.

“
Please
!” Black screamed.  “I can take you to them!  Right now!”

“I
saw
you blow up
Beetle,
Governor,” Athenais said across the length of her rifle.  “How stupid do you think I am?”

“I thought you might try to betray me,” Black cried.  “I had
Beetle
boarded and took your crew as collateral.  Then I realized I could make even more off of the shifters.  I needed the money.  I’ve got gambling debts, a mortgage, a
family…
”

“Good thing they’re on vacation or they’d have to watch their daddy’s brains get splattered across his designer nightgown,” Athenais said.

“Oh God,” Governor Black whimpered.  “Please.  They’re alive.  I can pay you back for your ship.  Just let me
show
you!”

“You’re a damned moron if you think that’s gonna work on me twice, you two-bit sleazebag!  There’s one place for people like you! 
Underground
!”  She pressed the barrel of her rifle against the Governor’s temple, furious.

“Attie.”

Athenais took several long breaths, sighted down her gun on Governor Black’s skull, then lowered her weapon, scowling at Rabbit.

“What if he’s telling the truth?”  Rabbit was frowning at the Governor, who was now sitting on the floor, hugging his knees and crying.

“Oh, come on,” Athenais scoffed.  “You don’t actually believe…”

“What if it’s true?”

Athenais scowled down on the huddled form, then bent and grabbed his hair in a gloved fist.  “You listen to me, Governor.  You’re about twenty seconds from an energy blast between the eyes.  If you don’t answer every question to my satisfaction, I
will
kill you, you understand?”

“Yes!  Oh God yes!”

Athenais released his head roughly and the Governor collapsed into pitiful sobs.

“Now,” Athenais said, “Where are they?”

“The city jail,” the Governor whimpered.  “They’ve been there ever since I blew up
Beetle
.”

“I
saw
the bodies you showed me, Governor.  Explain that.”

“Reproductions,” the Governor whined.  “I boarded
Beetle
illegally and kidnapped people.  Elections were coming up!  I couldn’t get involved in a scandal!  Five missing spacers…  My publicist told me I had to cover it up, make it look like an accident.  We hid them, got rid of you, and fudged the Docking Authority report, made it look like that stubborn S.O. officer did it.  That gave us an excuse to board his ship and confiscate the shifters.  It was great publicity.  The people of this planet love to see the Utopis brought down a peg.”

Athenais glanced up at Ragnar, desperately fighting the surge of hope that was rising in her breast.  “Take us to them.”

“Yes!” the Governor cried, jumping up.  “Thank you!”

“Keep in mind,” Athenais warned, “If you try to run, try to get help, alert the guards,
anything,
I will kill you first.  Understand?”

“Yes, I do, thank you!”  The Governor hurried to the door.

Athenais and Ragnar followed him, guns at ready.

“Why’s he not dead?” Dallas demanded in the hallway outside.

“He’s taking us to my crew,” Athenais said.

The Governor nodded vigorously.

“What,
Beetle’s
crew?”  Dallas gave her a look of disbelief.  “And you
believe
him?”

“He’s dead if he’s lying,” Athenais pointed out.

“He was dead as soon as you two walked into the room,” Dallas said.  “What’s he got to lose?”

“Nothing,” Ragnar said.  “Let’s go, Governor.”

The Governor had them all pile into his shuttle and drove them into the heart of the city.  He stopped outside the city jail, babbling his gratitude.  Athenais left her gun with Dallas in the shuttle and Ragnar followed the Governor, his pistol pressed into his back.  He led them up the stairs and into the front of the building, where the weapons-detector went off at Ragnar’s gun.  There was a tense moment where the guard drew his pistol and demanded that they surrender their weapons, but it passed when the Governor claimed that she, Rabbit, and Ragnar were his bodyguards.

“They’re down here,” the Governor said, leading them down several flights of stairs and through dark mazes of cells.

“I don’t like this,” Ragnar muttered to Athenais.

Athenais was also feeling uncomfortable.  The rows of bars were making her hair stand on end.  She hated prisons.  She’d had too much experience on the wrong side of the bars.

“Here we are,” the Governor said.

Athenais stiffened as he flipped on the light, expecting a trap.