Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

Jacaranda

T he comforting hum of my cockpit did nothing to alleviate my suffering. I could still smell Sarah, still feel her. Those lusty moans replayed in my mind repeatedly. The way her body rolled and moved and throbbed…what should have made for a great pomp only made me twitchy.

I need a fight. Anything to take her off of my mind because she is forbidden to me in every way that mattered.

Part of me hoped that retrieving Silence would be complicated. But I knew that it wouldn’t be. Despite Sarah’s thoughts on the matter, taking Silence from the prison would be easy. The royal prisons were in disrepair, and the guards were underpaid. With Deacon’s money, bribing them would be a breeze.

Why won’t this erection go away and why does it feel like it’s got Sarah’s name on it?

I rolled my eyes at my cock and readjusted in my seat to be more comfortable. I had never been with a woman, human or otherwise, that made me want her more after the sex. The issue was, most of the time, I didn’t get to know them beforehand. But I had stalked Sarah for days.

Deacon needed to know I had the right woman before I took her. I had gotten to know Sarah’s most intimate predilections, her patterns. The way she petted every dog that she passed in the city. The time she bought an ice cream for the little girl who had dropped hers. She was quick with a smile or a laugh. Most importantly to Deacon, she was a conduit. Most importantly to me, she was everything I’d ever wanted.

My cock ached in my fatigues. “Simmer down, fucker,” I muttered out loud.

Cocks were stupid. They didn’t know what was best for themselves and being in love with my employer’s new consort was most certainly not the best for my dick. It was a one-way ticket to an execution.

“ Sovereign , are you there?” Deacon asked on the comms.

“It’s Jac, Deacon, go ahead.”

“We need to discuss the plan. Meet me on Allegiant, in the café.”

“Sure thing.” I hung up and grumbled, “Of course you want to meet on Allegiant . Can’t imagine you stepping foot on Sovereign .”

It wasn’t his fault that he was moneyed and classed and I was not, so I tried not to hold that against him. But his union made it much easier to hold anything against him.

I knew I would get over it eventually. At least, I hoped that I would. But knowing Deacon’s plan going forward, I was at the mercy of whatever this bullshit tightening the walls of my chest cavity was.

On the way to the hullmate, I ran into Kapok and Tiger. “You got the message, too?”

“Yeah. Deacon wants us briefed,” Kapok said.

Tiger had a hard time looking me in the eye. “Yes, sir.”

“What’s the problem?” I asked him.

“No problem.”

Kapok said, “He’s disappointed he didn’t get to participate in the pomp.”

Tiger backhanded his chest. “Hey!”

But his cousin laughed. “If you want to keep secrets, keep them to yourself and don’t spill them to other people. It’s the only way.”

“Cheer up, Tiger,” I said as we passed into Allegiant , “one day, when you are officially employed, you’ll have a pomp to participate in.”

He huffed. “That could be years.”

“Yeah, it could be.” I wasn’t going to lie to the kid.

The halls of Allegiant were offensively bright, so I plugged forward as fast as I could without running. I didn’t want to see Sarah, either. The café was small and private, overly lit by the stars and the strips of lights along the walls that made them glow white. I wasn’t sure why Deacon always wanted everything so bright, but he seemed to like it. He sat at a round silver table in the center of the room with another Ladrian, one I didn’t know. She was stunning, and the coquettish way she stared up at me was vexing.

“Sarah?” I asked incredulously.

She giggled. “Um, when I’m like this, it’s Star.”

I turned my gaze to Deacon. “What the fuck?”

My employer and friend smiled, looking very pleased with himself. “Star Qvia. My consort from Yesanol. That’s the story we are using on Orhon. Down to business?”

“Yeah, sure.”

I sat opposite them, mystified by her. I wasn’t sure which way I liked her better, and I wanted to try this version out, too. But I could never ask such a thing. It would have meant too much to me and nothing to her.

“When we enter the atmosphere, we will separate,” Deacon began. “I will take Star to my family estate, where she will meet my family. You will take your crew, and any others you require, to rescue Silence. Afterwards, send a message and we will meet you at the orbit of Halla.”

I nodded, but Kapok asked, “And we’re getting paid double for this, right?”

Deacon frowned at Kapok. “Double? Why double?”

“The way I see it, we’ve gotten you a consort, and we’re about to pick up another one for you. Double consorts, double the money.”

Sarah’s hand squeezed around Deacon’s arm, in a selfish gesture.

But he shook his head. “Kapok, pricing for this job is between me and Jacaranda, your boss . Additionally, Silence is not to be my consort. She is to be treated as my father’s widow, and if you give her anything less than her due respect, Jac and I will discuss your future employment.”

Kapok shrugged. “I tried, boss.”

I chuckled and rolled my eyes. “Valiant effort.”

Deacon said, “After we meet in orbit, we will go to Halla. Once I have Silence, you are welcome to return to Orhon.”

Leave Sarah’s side? “Absolutely not.”

“Why not?” Tiger asked.

What’s a good excuse to stay with her? “Because I have too many valuable contacts on Halla who can help. People who owe me.”

Deacon brows furrowed even more. “You mean the other people you helped escape from the royal prison?”

“They’re the reason we know Halla is safe from Justice and his soldiers. They have been hiding on Halla and they don’t trust easily. You’ll need me and mine with you on Halla, at least while you’re getting her established. They will never believe that a classed person like yourself is doing what you’re doing, Deacon. You’ll need my help.”

He paused. “Very well. This is why I love working with Jac,” he told Sarah. “He thinks of all the things I never would.”

She almost smirked and said, “I bet he does.”

Why is she flirting with me? Maybe staying on Halla is a bad idea. “Uh, maybe—”

“We are approaching atmo in one minute,” Drift announced through the intercom.

Deacon smiled. “It is time.”

I shared one fleeting glance with Sarah, before I took my men back to my ship. We unmated the hulls and went our separate ways. Every speck of distance between me and Sarah felt like a wound that could never heal until I saw her smile once more. Jesus, I had it so bad for her.

Night on Orhon was my favorite time. The sky nearly black, with stars in every direction. 6400 light years from here, Earth twirled in her solar system. It formed a brilliant series of patterns overhead. They sparkled in all their beauty. It was no great wonder why our ancestors decided they had to go to Earth and to her family of planets. They were too pretty not to try to get there.

Below us, the city of Ladrille spilled out. There was not much light pollution, as most residents enjoyed the starlight and tried not to drown it out. Tall trees littered the landscape—many of the homes were actually in the trees. Bridges between the houses and families were common, like a web that connected the tree tops. The most expensive were either on the outer reaches of the city or in the canopy.

I had spent my childhood on the ground.

Until Deacon’s father made a deal with my parents. They moved up to the Midtrunk, and I became his son’s companion until I was old enough to scout. I was small and had been unhealthy, so they agreed. When I visited them years later, there was a look of mistrust in their eyes. Like I had come back as a different person. In many ways, I had.

I hadn’t thought about them in months. The feelings Sarah had dredged up…I shook my head at myself and got on with the job. Sentimentality had no place on my mission.

I clicked the comm on and warned my crew, “We will be coming around to the dump. Be prepared for the smell.”

If they weren’t used to it by now, they never would be. Meeting at the city dump made things simpler for me and my crew. State task forces tended to avoid it at all costs.

The stench hit our damaged scrubber, filling the ship fast. I could almost hear the complaints through the cockpit door. But they knew we shared the same air, and I was not exempt from it, either, so no one bothered to complain to me directly.

That first whiff was what got you—like a punch in the gut that made you want to hold your breath. But holding your breath was worse, because the next one you took would be deep and made the stench stay. Best to keep it short and light, without hyperventilating.

Piles of Ladrille garbage were stacked higher than some of the trees. I landed Sovereign in the middle of several garbage piles for cover and took Tiger and Kapok to meet with our contacts. As soon as we stepped outside of Sovereign , I caught the familiar draw and click of a Gorrk gun before it was pressed against my right ear.

The familiarity of it made me smile. “Boundless, is that you?”

“That depends,” she drawled. “You got my money?”

“I will. Soon.”

Instead of being withdrawn, the gun charged. “I told you, if you didn’t have my money the next time I saw you, I would kill you. Isn’t that what I told him, Kapok?”

“That is what she told you, boss,” Kapok agreed.

“So tell me why I shouldn’t shoot you right here and now?” Boundless asked me.

“Because then I couldn’t fuck you?”

She huffed and put the gun back in its holster. “You’re lucky you got that good dick of yours.”

I turned to her and smiled. Boundless was a former pirate-turned-garbage dump owner. It was an easy line of work for someone trying to go legit, but less so for a woman with her looks. She kept her hair dyed bright pink and had skin like onyx. No one understood why she didn’t try to marry someone classed or do something else to lift herself from such a life, but it seemed to suit her.

I kept my smile on and said, “Could be luck, could be skill. Have you seen Curse or Patch?”

“Not for a week. Why?”

“We’re meeting here tonight—”

She drew her gun up again. “I told you last time, I don’t want you meeting your mates here. I run a clean business—”

“You run the city dump,” Tiger pointed out.

“Yeah, and I keep my nose clean by stopping the criminals from meeting here. I don’t want no trouble from the Bateens.”

Slowly, I tapped the gauntlet driver on my arm. I didn’t want to spook Boundless. Getting shot by her twice had been twice too many, and I didn’t want to add a third. My gauntlet driver lit the one on her arm and she watched as the money dropped into her account.

Her smile increased by half. “That all?”

I added another thousand credits.

Her smile filled out, and she re-holstered her gun. “Strange, isn’t it, officers? I heard a ship, but I didn’t see no one by the time I got out of my house.” She turned around and headed back to her home inside the rubble.

Kapok asked after Boundless, “Ain’t you gonna take this out on his ass?”

I shot him an angry glare and muttered, “What the fuck?”

But as she walked on, she said, “The game is on. Eriffs versus Drecks. Wouldn’t miss it, not even for that dick.” She vanished between the garbage heaps.

“Come on,” I said, shaking my head as I led my men to the dock.

Traversing the garbage of Ladrille was always a sticky prospect, but this time, it was particularly ripe. Aliubock season was always that way. It was a common food for the unclassed, so it was trendy for the classed to try to make it themselves, which meant loads of half-fermented cabbage hybrids filled the dump.

Once we reached the dock, I used my gauntlet driver to signal Curse and Patch’s ship, Regal . “Should be any minute now.”

Tiger complained, “This was the only place to meet them?”

“The only place safe enough and close enough to the prison, yes.”

He huffed and stared into the sky, then jumped when he heard the large bubbles beneath the dock.

Kapok laughed at his cousin. “Trouble?”

“What is that?” Tiger asked.

“ Regal ,” I answered.

The ship rose from the sewage-filled depths of the Emerald Sea and sat next to the dock. When the door opened, Curse sprang out. He was bald, with rich bronzed skin and a set of blue fatigues that had seen better days.

“Jac! Kapok! New Guy!” he greeted jovially. “Come on in!”

“It has been a while, hasn’t it?” I asked. “That’s Tiger, Kapok’s cousin.”

“The more the merrier, that’s what they say, right?”

“You got my message?”

“We’re rescuing Silence Bateen for way more money than she’s worth—that kind of message does not get lost. The usual play?”

I nodded. “Should be sufficient.”

Kapok and I stepped toward Regal , but Tiger hesitated. “We’re riding in that thing?”

Curse slapped the side of his ship and said, “Best ship there is, boy. You’d do well to remember that.”

“It’s floating in muck.”

Curse laughed. “The kid doesn’t know much about being sneaky, does he?”

I sighed. “He’ll learn. Come on, Tiger.”

He grumbled but followed us inside.

Nothing had changed in Regal —a vessel with none of the amenities I was used to. It was designed to run with a two-person crew and host a handful of guests who didn’t mind a rough ride. We were in the cargo hold as Curse and Patch set course for the royal prison. I hadn’t seen Patch on my way in and I didn’t expect to—he was always in his cockpit.

Tiger jolted when the ship submerged beneath the surface and rambled. “So, we get there, and then what?”

“We pull up into their sewage tunnel, park about a third of the way in,” I told him of the plan. “After that, we bribe the guards we need to bribe—”

“Or pummel them,” Kapok said with a laugh.

As much as I wanted a fight, I had to suppress the urge. “Yes, but that’s an option we should avoid. Busted faces beg questions. Anyway, we bribe, abscond with Silence, and that should be that.”

“And she would agree to go with us, why? She doesn’t know us,” Tiger pointed out.

“She knows me ,” I said.

My anger at the girl on behalf of Deacon had to be pushed aside for what was transpiring. No matter how much I wanted to wallow in it.

Regal pulled up to the sewage tunnel and Patch, pilot extraordinaire, threaded the ship into the tight passage. While he drove, we changed into old diver uniforms that covered us head to toe. They protected us from making contact with the raw sewage. Being the new guy, Tiger got to wear the pack that carried Silence’s uniform and the fake body Curse had created for her. It wasn’t a work of art or anything—if someone looked closely, they would know it wasn’t her. But all we had to do was fool them for a short time, until we had Silence safely away from the prison.

When Regal stopped, the cargo hold opened, and Tiger struggled with the scent. “How does the prison smell worse than the dump?”

Kapok laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. It gets worse. Let’s go.”

We trudged through the waist-high sewage and made our way through the first and second guard stations. They were easy to bribe. But the asshole posted at her door was less so.

He puffed out his chest. “I don’t care what the others—”

I hit him just hard enough that his head knocked against the rock wall behind him, leaving him unconscious. There was a strong sense of satisfaction in punching him, but it was soured by the worry that I had made a mistake. Tiger grabbed the guard’s hand and placed it onto the palm reader. When the door opened, I was relieved.

Silence was not.

She cowered in the back corner of her bunk in the rotten little room. A bucket of her waste sat in the other corner, and a small high window would have given her just enough light during the day to not go mad. In the night, though, there was no light, save for what fell through the doorway behind us. If I reached my arms outward, I would have hit both sides at the same time.

She began to raise her hand to defend herself.

But I pulled my hood off first. “Silence, I’m here to rescue you.”

Her perfect face melted into joy. “Jacaranda? Is that you?”

“Yes.” I yanked the pack off of Tiger, pulled out the body and tossed the uniform to her. “Put that on fast. We have to hurry.”

Then, I threw the body onto the waste bucket, where Kapok slit its throat to make it look like she’d committed suicide. Fake blood spilled over the edge, and he dropped the head in, to slow the urge to confirm her identity.

She nodded and struggled to get the uniform on over her pregnant body. Once dressed, she said, “I’m ready.”

We ran through the rock halls as quickly and quietly as we could, and knew we were close to Regal by the smell. I was impressed that Silence did not complain about the sewage tunnels or the ship. She only sat quietly once we were on board.

Before we returned to the dump, I had to ask, “You don’t have questions for me?”

“You’re a mercenary, Jacaranda, so I presume you did this on Deacon’s behalf, yes?”

“Yes.”

“That is all I need to know. You’re taking me to be executed by your best friend for betraying him, and quite honestly, I am grateful for it.”

I frowned. “What?”

“The prison…” she shuddered. “It was worse than death. At least on Halla, I’ll be reunited with Valor. That’s all I can hope for now. You will burn my body there, won’t you?”

“Silence, that’s not why Deacon wants you.” I explained his plan and watched confusion overtake her.

“I…I don’t deserve any of this. You have to stop him. He will ruin his family, if he does this. My father will take everything from them, if he doesn’t execute them, which is just as likely. He can’t do this!”

“You’re worried for his family now ?” I asked incredulously, considering her betrayal.

She nodded solemnly. “I know what I am, Jacaranda. I know what I’ve done and how I betrayed Deacon. But, I love Valor Ladrang. I never want anything bad to happen to his family.”

“ You happened to them,” I said petulantly.

Kapok nudged my shoulder. “Deacon said to treat her like his father’s widow—”

“ She’s the reason Deacon’s father has a widow,” I growled at him.

He backed off to let me handle her.

She gulped and said, “No matter the past, I don’t want Deacon to ruin his family for me.”

“He has made his mind up, Silence. If I could have talked him out of it, I would have because you’re right—you don’t deserve what he’s giving to you. All I ask is that you make it worth this sacrifice.”

“Nothing is worth this sacrifice, Jacaranda.”

“I’ve been saying that for days.”