Samael's Fire Read online

  Within half an hour, they’d loaded about five percent of the annex’s produce, the agronomist’s protein packs, the seed, and five hundred gallons of water. Plenty to sustain them in orbit until they found safe harbor.

  As they neared the docking bay Durga ran ahead to see the matriarch. She came back immediately. “It’s gone, it’s gone! The little space ship.”

  “There.” Jake pointed at the air above the Space Junque.

  Mike had the orbit runner up inside the docking bay. He flew it behind the Junque, and they all ran around to watch him put it down neatly in the hold. Because of the Tesla power source, there was no heat or exhaust.

  Mike popped the canopy and jumped out. “You never know. We might need a runabout. The photovoltaic net can power this little ship too.”

  They rolled the plats into the hold and secured the supplies in storage bins.

  “You should ride with me like before.” Jake’s face turned red the minute he said it. “I don’t mean like before. I mean would you please ride in the cockpit and tell me more about what this goddess wants.”

  Char wanted to say she wouldn’t at all mind riding with him like before.

  “I forgot the compad.” Durga ran past them out to the control room. As she retrieved the compad, her head jerked around. She peered down the open corridor then dashed back to the docking bay. “They’re coming! The bad people are coming!”

  As Durga reached Char’s side, two men in space suits entered the docking bay. Their helmets hung from their belts and they carried guns. Char put her arms around Durga.

  “Look what we have here,” said the shorter guy. A sunflower patch was stuck off-center on the chest of his space suit. Must be stolen. “The Space Junque, complete with Imperial links, I do believe. Supplies already loaded, I take it. Very accommodating.”

  “There’s only two of you and twenty of us,” Jake said. A lie, but who cared?

  “You and nineteen girls?” The big DOG laughed. Then he was on the ground, his body jerking in agonized spasms.

  “I guess a girl can aim as well as the next fellow,” Rani said. She’d come around the back side of the Junque with Jake’s stunner. She kept it aimed on the little DOG and moved between him and Durga.

  Without warning, the little DOG shot Rani. With a sickening cry she fell to the floor. The sound of movement came from the corridor, and the DOG smirked. “There’s twenty more of us, mate. Twenty men.” He seemed to think better of his brag. “Mostly men.”

  “I’m only one man.” Mike came down the cargo ramp with another stunner. “But I can take you out before your twenty get here.”

  The DOG held steady, but he didn’t fire.

  Rani groaned. She sounded weak.

  “Here’s the choice,” Jake said. “We can all die or we can all live. My friends and I were just leaving. You can have the whole place to yourselves.”

  “We already have the whole place to ourselves, and we’ll have your ship too.” The DOG’s smirk turned to a grimace, and it was his turn to fall down. He slumped to his knees then fell forward, lifeless.

  While gloating over being such a manly man, he forgot to keep his eye on the little girl. Durga had fired Rani’s stunner, a direct hit to his heart.

  Jake and Char helped Rani to her feet. Her eyes looked like they were on fire, but Char couldn’t see any wound.

  “Let me take her.” Mike hoisted Rani over his shoulders. She was a foot taller and heavy with muscle mass, but his enhancements were for performance as well as cosmetic. “Get us out of here, Jake. This is just a graze.”

  Rani’s barely suppressed whimper sounded worse than screams of pain.

  Durga picked up the weapons without being told and followed Mike up the ramp. It was a mistake to see her as a child. She had the heart of a warrior.

  “Let’s go, Jake.” Char was already at the galley lift. She hit the button to close the loading ramp as Jake jumped on beside her. Waist high into the galley, she heard yelling in the cargo bay.

  The instant the Junque had airlock, Jake opened the docking bay doors. The shuttle was evacuated into space with everything that wasn’t anchored down.

  The DOGs were sucked out too, and Char wasn’t sorry.

  Emperor Augustine

  The Space Junque drifted with the DOGs’ bodies and unsecured rubble that had spilled out of the annex like scattered toys. Jake called up life support and the artificial gravity, but he didn’t touch navigation.

  “Don’t we need to get out of here?” Char asked.

  “Let’s wait until Mike does some scanning on the subnet before we make any noise.”

  Mike. The mention of the name resurrected the wall between them.

  Jake avoided eye contact. “I’d like to know how things lie before going any further.”

  How things lie. He could be talking about Char and Mike as much as orbital hazards. How obtuse she had been. Jake needed to know how things were before going any further.

  Char had never been aggressive in love. She’d expected love to find her, choose her. Mike had come to her with love—with desire, anyway. But she didn’t want Mike.

  She and Brandon fell in with each other in school and found it easier to stay together than not. Had he lived and the world not imploded, they’d be married by now. Happy enough. No idea of anything missing.

  She had loved Brandon, if not with any great passion. She’d been surprised how much his death hurt. After losing Sky so quickly afterward, Char had hidden away in her apartment and become a kind of ghost herself.

  Now she was coming back to life, and the whole world was dying. She wanted Jake, and there wasn’t time to wait for him to figure things out.

  With the AG on, he released his harness and left his chair. At the cabin door he hesitated, and the sign above the galley lift caught the corner of Char’s eye: Mind the Gap. That’s exactly what she had to do, mind the rift that Mike had created between her and Jake.

  She followed Jake to the door and put her hand on his arm. He didn’t say anything. He just looked at her with a mixture of pain and desire—or was she reading her own emotions in the mirror of his eyes?

  “I kissed Mike,” she said. She couldn’t deny it, and Mike would probably tell Jake anyway.

  Jake didn’t look surprised. He sighed and held her gaze. “Well, that makes me feel bad.”

  “I’m glad it makes you feel bad.” There was no way to explain it. “It was an accident.”

  “I’m glad it was an accident.” There. The beginning of a smile.

  “Yeah.” Now she was babbling. “It was.”

  He faced her squarely and put his hands on her shoulders. “I’m going to kiss you now. It won’t be an accident.”

  His voice was warm and his eyes were kind, and he was real. So what if it was the end of the old world and there was only a minuscule chance of a new world to come. As long as she could stand in this galley with Jake’s arms around her and his lips on hers, none of it mattered.

  She wanted nothing. She had everything.

  Jake was some long-missing part of her that had been restored. This wasn’t a bad time to fall in love. It was the best time. Love was more necessary than ever. To make life bearable. To have hope without feeling ridiculous.

  She could live in Corcovado. She could live anywhere as long as Jake was in her life.

  “I need to check on Rani.” Jake let her go. “But once I’ve got my Junque in order, I want to show you the captain’s quarters.”

  His stupid joke sent a tingle of anticipation through her. How strange and unexpected to feel so happy.

  Jake almost ran into Mike standing at the door. It had been ajar, but Mike seemed to have just arrived. He showed them a drive in the palm of his hand. “I copied the subnet protocols from the runner to install in the Junque’s com system.”

  “Great minds think alike.” There was a hint of triumph in Jake’s comment. Men could be so territorial, but it was kind of nice when you wanted them to feel that way. �
�Let’s know what’s out there before we make ourselves too obvious.”

  “I’ll install it now and search after we eat.” Mike stepped through into the cockpit. “The old lady suggested we all sit down together for a meal, and now Durga is insisting on it. That one is a natural leader.” He didn’t hide his admiration. “An irresistible force.”

  That sounded good; Char couldn’t remember when she last ate. Dessert in the captain’s quarters sounded even better.

  —o0o—

  “Corcovado is desecrated ground.” Rani popped a few more blackberries into her mouth. “When I left, I made a vow never to return.” She pointed to her chest. “A vow to myself.”

  They were all sitting around the table in the dining room. Char had forgotten the Junque was a commercial shuttle that offered meal service. They’d prepared the food—fruit salad, vegetable salad, and protein packs—in the modest but well-outfitted kitchen.

  Mike sat at one end of the table. He’d just reintroduced the idea of going to Corcovado.

  At the other end of the table the matriarch said, “Then we must consecrate the ground. We will rededicate it to a higher purpose and drive out the demons that haunt you.”

  Rani’s eyes widened. Now that Char was used to those irises, she thought they were beautiful and intriguing. She’d noticed they changed color slightly when Rani felt strong emotions. The phenomenon was barely noticeable—except when Rani got mad and they seemed to light on fire. Char had only seen that once, and it was pretty scary.

  “You think I’m afraid?” Rani said. “No. I am appalled. The ‘aldos destroy whatever joy could be in the world. Your girls won’t change them. But they will change the girls.”

  Durga scoffed. “What are two men when the world is full of monsters?”

  The other girls all brightened and looked at each other like they were bursting with a secret. Chita said, “Durga killed a monster once.”

  From the satisfied expression on Durga’s face, Char believed it.

  “A giant bird came when we were on a picnic. Durga stuck it with a knife.”

  “Girls, don’t tell stories.” The matriarch sighed as if she’d stopped the telling of this tale a hundred times. “There is no such thing as giant birds.”

  “She cut out its heart,” Chita added.

  Durga didn’t correct the matriarch, but she didn’t stop the girls talking either.

  “It was exgusting.” The youngest girl, Maribel, grinned and wrinkled her nose. The others laughed and said eww and made noises in keeping with their gleeful approval of the “exgusting” deed.

  “All I meant—“ Durga stood up. “—was that monsters are everywhere. If they try to kill you, you kill them first.”

  Rani’s irises flickered and she seemed to consider. “You are a warrior worthy of your name, Durga. If I am to be grounded, if I must leave the Space Junque, then I make a new commitment. I will be your protector always.”

  Char hadn’t known Rani long, but she appreciated how huge that was. Jake kept his eyes on his empty plate. Soon the Junque wouldn’t be able to fly. It wasn’t just a matter of no fuel. There wouldn’t be anywhere to go.

  Would it break his heart to never fly again? Char wanted to know. She could spend a lifetime learning everything about him.

  “Corcovado won’t be bad at all,” Mike told the girls. “The land all around is so clean you can eat fish caught in the bay.” He had been unusually cheerful throughout the meal, and with Rani’s decision he was almost giddy. “I’ve heard of a waterfall in the hills that runs warm, pure water all year round. Before he died, the Emperor invested a fortune getting the place ready for…”

  Char suppressed a smile. How could Mike possibly end that sentence? Getting the place ready to house breeders for the world’s elite families? Exgusting!

  Durga had no problem with the subject. “Asherah says we’re going to make babies in our tummies like dogs and cats. People used to do it that way.”

  Char felt a twinge of jealousy. Asherah sure talked to Durga a lot.

  “There won’t be very many of us,” Durga continued, “so Asherah says any girl who bleeds will live a hundred and fifty years.”

  Bleeds. Char had forgotten about that. Like most females, she’d had menstrual bleeding during puberty. That’s when her eggs had been harvested for future use. Like most girls, the bleeding had stopped before a year had gone by. She didn’t miss it.

  But living a hundred and fifty years would be good. She looked at Jake. Maybe not. “Did Asherah say men would live longer too?”

  Durga shook her head. “Only bleeders.” She opened another protein pack, oblivious to the effect of that little piece of information. “All their children will live longer than baggers. Not a hundred and fifty though.”

  “I don’t know if I’d want to live so long after everyone I loved…” Char didn’t finish her sentence either. The room went quiet. Chita buried her face in her hands.

  “Don’t cry,” Durga said, as if commanding sorrow away could make it so. It had just sunk in that everyone at the table was an orphan now. Except Jake, if his mother was still alive.

  Rani’s face was in her hands too. She looked up. “I don’t feel so well.” Her normal gorgeous brown complexion had gone sickly pale as a—as a ghost.

  “You should take some antibiotics,” Char said, “just as a precaution.”

  “They’re stored in the cargo hold,” Jake said. With another sickening moan from Rani, he was up and at the door. “I’ll be right back.”

  Rani refused a drink of water. “Tell Jake I’m going to my room,” she said. After two steps she fell to the floor.

  “Rani!” Durga cried. She ran out of the dining room and came back carrying cushions from the passenger cabin. Char and Mike put one under Rani’s head and the other under her knees.

  “I’m going to check your wound,” Char said. She loosened Rani’s flight pants and eased the top down a little. Rani groaned and went paler.

  Mike knelt close to Char and examined Rani’s skin. “This bruise is not good. That shibdung used the disruptor.” He outlined a faint discoloration on Rani’s hip and said in Char’s ear, “Let’s hope it didn’t clip her intestine.”

  “Don’t die,” Durga said.

  Rani managed a weak smile. “That is not my plan, little warrior. Char is right. I only need to let the antibiotics do their job.”

  “I’ll start the subnet search,” Mike said. “Rani probably does just need antibiotics, but we should get her to an infirmary on the surface.” At the door, he gave them all a thumbs-up.

  During dinner, Mike had been genuinely upbeat about something—probably Rani’s capitulation over Corcovado—but Char was positive he wasn’t happy about her and Jake being together.

  She couldn’t expect him to be thrilled about it, but she wanted to be sure he had no hard feelings. She decided to keep him company while he worked on the subnet.

  Entering the galley, she heard him talking to someone. That was quick work.

  “I suppose it’s sentimental,” he said. “They want to reward me for saving the children.”

  A pause, then he said, “Of course I think it’s ridiculous. But if it means restoring order after all this chaos, I suppose it’s my duty.”

  Another pause. He was using an earpiece. But who was he talking to? And taking credit for saving the girls was pretty audacious.

  “Well, yes. I suppose I was an exceptional governor. I’ll be an exceptional emperor too. I don’t mind saying it.”

  Did she hear that right?

  “All the CEOs are on board. Even Garrick.”

  Emperor. That’s why he was so bubbly at dinner. She thought back over the last few days. She’d never heard him talking to anyone, but now she realized he’d intended it that way.

  When Geraldo made contact, Mike had immediately cut him off. Maybe it hadn’t been about security at all. Maybe Mike had wanted to make sure Geraldo didn’t say anything about their plans.

  “
I’ll drop the Michael, though. Emperor Augustine sounds more impressive.” He laughed at his own joke.

  She had suspected he was lying to her just before the Space Junque arrived at the annex. He’d closed the orbit runner’s canopy. How did she miss that? Why would he do that unless he was hiding something?

  She had to get back to the others. She had to tell Jake and Rani.

  “They want you as much as they want me, Sky. Your Tesla units will save civilization.”

  What the hell? Char wheeled around. Her throat went dry and she could hardly breathe as it dawned on her just who was on the other side of that conversation.

  “You’ll be my empress,” Mike said. “The world will adore you.”

  “You bastard!” Char stormed into the cockpit. Mike was sitting in Tyler’s chair. When he saw her, he pulled the drive out of the com and stuck it in his pocket. “Sky’s alive?”

  He stood up and eased into the galley. Char flew at him and pounded on his chest. “How could you? You said Tesla was cut off. You let me think she was dead!”

  “It’s not like that,” he said. “I didn’t know what to do.” He grabbed her wrists. “Look at me.”

  “Let me talk to her.” God. Sky, Sky. “Put it back in.”

  “Maybe I made a mistake.” He ignored her plea. “I thought if I told you and things went wrong, it would be like losing her twice.”

  “Liar!” She struggled against his grasp, but he was too strong.

  “Yes, I’m a liar, Char. I have to be. The truth is Sky and the others can never come out of the vault. She doesn’t know it. I let her think plans are being made to bring them up. It’s a kindness, Char.”

  “Oh, my god.” He was a monster, and he didn’t even know it. “Why did you bring me up here?”

  “You’re the closest thing to Sky I’ll ever have. Beautiful, intelligent. Naïve, but that can work to one’s advantage. Chemical-free. You have many good qualities, Char. The rabble will love you. And a man in my position needs an official wife.”

  A monster, and insane. “I don’t love you.”