Page 62

I t’s thirty minutes to Hemos in the mercs’ Red Shift.

Thirty minutes too long. I try to put those thirty minutes to good use.

While Payton calls C.P. and reports the big skimmer hijacked, I see who I can reach.

I don’t plex Kez, because Erin might see her viewie light up.

That’s my only ace-in-the-hole and I’m going to keep it up my sleeve as long as I can.

Erin saw Payton hand Acker the eskey, so that’s no secret.

When I ping it, it bounces back. Offline.

That starts a second gnawing hole in my chest. Myhre’s offline, too, which confirms Payton’s accusation.

Gig doesn’t pick up either, not on any of the channels we’ve established.

But a few minutes after I start pinging him, his girlfriend Sylvie suddenly plexes me via the Infinity .

House taken , her message reads.

I show it to Payton. “Erin wasn’t kidding.”

“I’ve never known her to bluff,” Payton says.

Fuck.

I turn to Exeter, who’s sitting on my other side. “Can you reach Mike?”

Exeter shakes his head. “Michael took a five-man team and left at midnight last night on an assignment he classified as code red, highest security. He’s offline until the assignment is finished.”

“That assignment might be killin’ Chiara Tyng and the rest of Kez’s family.”

“I have no doubt he’d kill the family if that was the order.” Exeter chews at his lips. “But not Chiara Tyng. He failed to protect her father and that failure eats at him every day. I’m his commanding officer. I know. I don’t know what he’s doing, but Miz Tyng’s safe, I swear to you.”

I nod tightly. Try to focus. Try not to let my fear for Kez and Acker gnaw its way through my heart and into my brain.

Try not to think about Ape, Gig, Nev, Nev’s baby and the bunnies burning alive.

Try not to see this as Mike’s opportunity to get revenge on me and Kez.

He’s a pro. He’s Exeter’s man, and Exeter’s a pro.

The Warren’s well-protected. Highly defensible.

If Mike knew there was a traitor inside Tyng, if he wanted to lock down Chi somewhere safe, the Warren’s not the worst choice.

“Can you get a message to him?” I ask Exeter.

“Possibly. If he picks it up.”

“Tell him Halemano Hauser’s compromised.”

“Anything else?”

“Nope. You know your man. If you’re right, that’s all he’ll need.”

Exeter nods and works on his palmtop. “I expected you to be more of an ass about this.”

“Not going to help Kez,” I respond tightly. I want to be much, much more of an ass. But I’ve got to keep focused on doing whatever it takes to get Kez back. “Payton, anything?”

She and Mech Tyng have been multi-tasking. Coordinating with Mother Jo, Civil Patrol, and the Cloud authorities. One of the three is being helpful.

Payton shakes her head. “Civil Patrol is arguing with the Clouds about jurisdiction.”

“Mother Jo has the ship, but she won’t be able to track it beyond the Cloudline,” Mech Tyng adds .

“Anyone been able to get through to the rats?” They could be our eyes on the Clouds, but I’ve also got to tell Tiancha that Acker’s in the hands of the enemy.

“I have a line, sir,” Mech Tyng says. “It’s via Mother Jo. Seventy-five percent confidence.”

I’m liking her more and more. “Ask for Acker’s Wisdom.”

Mech Tyng’s eyes unfocus, and Tiancha’s voice comes out of her mouth. “Tiancha here.”

“Snow. This line may not be secure.”

“Understood,” she says. “No one’s listening on this end, but I can’t guarantee anything outside the Clouds.”

“Got you. There’s a Tyng ship on the way to you. Official destination’s Tiv, but we’re not sure where it will dock. Acker and Kez are on it. Same fuckers who attacked the Deeps have them. You understand me?”

There’s a moment of silence when all I can hear, all I can feel, are those twin holes gnawing, gnawing through my heart. I brought Acker into this. If Erin or B or any of their bigoted buddies kill him, it’s on me.

“Yes,” Tee says finally. “What do you want us to do?”

“You got any way of tracking Acker?”

“If he’s within three klicks of the Deeps, yes. Further than that, no, I’m sorry. Our tech isn’t as good as yours. Do you have any way of tracking Kez?”

Kez doesn’t have a tracker. Because I refused to let her have one implanted. And I turned her viewie into a fucking ghost. “No. Tee, can you get your people to the ports? A ship that big, it can’t land just anywhere.”

“I can get eyes and ears to the bigger docks, but I can’t leave the Deeps undefended. If Ojos have Acker and Kez, I can’t ... we won’t have the manpower to get them back.”

“That’s okay. Just keep eyes and ears on them. As soon as we know where they are, I’ll be there.”

“How do you intend to do that?” Exeter asks me, very low .

“The Infinity can have us on the Clouds in seven minutes.” It took Kez eleven minutes to get us from the Cloudline to Nock, but she’s only rated for Mach Three. I’m rated to Mach Five. Even if I wasn’t, C.P. doesn’t have anything fast enough to catch me.

Exeter lifts an eyebrow. “Fast ship.”

“Believe it. Payton, get the Infinity moved from wherever she is to the pad on Hemos Tower and get me clearance for the Cloudline.”

“Yes, sir,” she confirms.

“Tee, as soon as you know where they are, you let me know.”

“Will do,” Tiancha replies. “Match says he’ll meet you wherever they dock.”

“Tell him if he gets there first, not to hesitate.”

“He says, um neither.”

I blow out a long breath, ‘cause that’s the first time I’m sure we’ve still got friends on the Clouds.

“Sawhet, maintain the channel with the Deeps,” I say.

“Yes, sir,” she says in her own voice.

I check the chrono. Still ten minutes to Hemos. “Game plan when we get to Hemos. Sawhet, you’re on comms.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Payton, how are you coming with the Cloudline clearance?”

“Still working on it. Cloud Authority is reluctant after your previous departure.”

“Offer ‘em more,” I say. Fuckers are like every other bureaucracy. Just throw more credits at them.

“They’re already demanding triple the usual fee.”

“Double that and tell ‘em to stop fuckin’ around,” I say.

Payton nods and taps on her palmtop. “I assume you will interrogate Miz Hata?”

“Yeah.”

“I offer my assistance in that interrogation.”

I rub my chin with my good hand. “I don’t think you want to watch.” I glance at Exeter. “You, neither. This ain’t part of your contract. ”

He meets my eyes. Tips his palmtop to show me the screen, which contains my SAWL service record. He’s got his thumb next to the advanced interrogation training I did fifth year. He flicks his thumb to the next screen, which contains his own service record. Fucking Space Ranger.

“Fine,” I tell him. “You can watch.”

Payton clears her throat. “I didn’t offer to watch. I offered to assist.”

Gotta admire the woman’s backbone. “Okay. Whaddo you got?”

“Miz Hata is extremely bright.”

“No argument there. She’s had me runnin’ around in fuckin’ circles, chasing my tail.”

“You must consider what she wants, and what you are able to give her.”

“This ain’t a negotiation, Payton. It’s an interrogation. What she wants don’t mean shit to me an’ the only thing she’s gettin’ is dead. I got zero tolerance for betrayal. You understand me?”

“I do.” Payton nods. “You should consider that she’s anticipated this. She may have taken a pain damper to stop herself from cracking under interrogation. She may have leverage she hasn’t revealed yet.”

“That’d make sense,” Exeter offers.

“She still ain’t gonna like watchin’ me carve her up, whether or not she feels it,” I say.

“Perhaps, but I’ll go back to my original point. What does she want, and what can you give her?”

I don’t know what she wants. But I’ll give her anything to get Kez back. Anything.

There’s a full security team waiting when we land in Hemos. There’s a bad moment where I think we might not have any friends left in Tyng Tower. Then the point man offers me his hand, and I blow out the breath I was holding before I shake it .

I get a fast briefing as we walk past the Infinity , across the landing pad on top of the Tower.

They’re holding Myhre in the security offices; she hasn’t said anything.

Mother Jo hasn’t told them why Myhre was detained.

I can feel the weight of the speculation going on behind twelve pairs of eyes.

Chiara reported in this morning and left for her transport to Jielt with her security detail on schedule.

She’s not due in Jielt yet, so as far as anyone knows, she’s still en route .

I decide not to tip my hand. For now, I’ll give Mike-the-Merc the benefit of the doubt.

I delegate a dozen tasks in the lift down to the security offices and when we get out of the lift, the team peels off in as many directions, like a tegli spreading its tentacles.

I adjust the sling on my arm, feeling marginally more in control, but there’s still that hideous gnawing in my chest as the seconds tick by and Kez gets closer and closer to the fucker who plans to take her apart.

As we walk towards the security office where they’re holding Myhre, Payton puts her hand on my good arm. “A bent tool is better than none,” she says.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I growl.

“I understand how you’re feeling.” Her dark eyes flick up to mine. “How much you must want to hurt someone right now. Believe me, I completely understand. But please think before you do anything you can’t undo.”

“You see me startin’ to lose it, you say ‘live kittens’,” I tell her.

“’Live kittens’?”

“Yeah. That’ll calm me right down.”

Or maybe thinkin’ about my kitten dying at Jaxon’s hands will ramp me up to snapping Myhre’s fucking neck.

“Okay,” Payton says uncertainly. “Sawhet, when we enter the room, I want all recording terminated. Everything, even security. Relay that to Mother Jo over the secure channel.”

Guess she ain’t buying the safe word thing.

Mech Tyng nods.