Chapter 11

ELEVEN

W atching Theo and Zed eye each other, their faces expressionless and their bodies tight with tension, made Elias wonder if Round Two was imminent and how he was going to explain to Fixer that his current boyfriend had beat the shit out of his ex. Twice.

Because Fix was going to wake up. And he was going to be so fucking mad when he found out…

Please.

Elias leaned against the wall, out of the line of fire, as Theo and Zed faced off. He felt disjointed, disconnected—the fact that Fixer was fighting for his life on another deck kept intruding, butting into his reality. He trusted Ness to ping them with news, as soon as there was any. Qek stood next to Zed, and Elias considered encouraging her to back away, stand beside him instead, but then decided that she might be the only thing keeping Zed from going all Zone-y.

"Rescue and recovery is underway aboard the remains of the stin vessel," Theo reported, all business. Elias had seen pictures of what was left of the Gorekka —a couple of pieces that could hardly be recognized as once belonging to a spacefaring ship. "Ambassador Ryrrk and her guard are among the casualties."

La-dee-fucking-da. The universe got something right for once. Elias prided himself on going with the flow in most things—bending with the wind of fate and chance—but his philosophy abandoned him at the thought of the stin asshole who'd broken Fixer. He'd gotten nothing less than what he'd deserved.

"Scanners show the shuttle that retrieved Gleams and the resonance unit from the Jitendra made it safely back across their border."

Zed nodded, the gesture tight. "They told me. Gleams said that the injuries of her unit were minor—a pair of broken spines, nothing that wouldn't heal—and that they would be unavailable for a short time as they resonated. I think that means re-bonding. I'm not sure."

"Right." Theo took a breath. "The stin also recovered the body of your pilot, Corporal Gareth Anderson. What was left of him, anyway."

"Where?" Zed growled.

"In the area where the explosion originated."

Shit, that was not good.

"His background indicate he'd do something like this?"

Theo shook his head, looking as baffled as he sounded. "He wasn't an overachiever, but not a slacker, either. No commendations but solid performance reviews. Served in Hub space during the war, never saw action in a hot zone. He has a large family back on Earth and no previous indications anywhere that he might harbor a grudge against the stin."

"In addition, we could find no suggestion that he might have associated with the Church of Omega. His last shore leave was on Hemera and roughly ninety percent of his time is on record," Qek said.

Right, because Hemera Station had cameras everywhere. That was one of the reasons Elias hated it. If you picked your nose, someone analyzed the image to make sure you weren't hiding illegal substances.

Qek clicked, a wrinkle appearing in her forehead. "He is as clean as a whistle."

Damn it, Qek used an idiom correctly and Fix wasn't around to praise her. That was their thing . The way her face smoothed almost immediately illustrated that she missed it too.

Zed's expression remained cold and distant. And wasn't that just like him? It reminded Elias of the cold asshole who'd first stepped aboard his ship and insisted Fixer couldn't be real, because he was supposed to be dead. As if the AEF hadn't fucked up before.

"So we're assuming he smuggled the explosive on board and, what? Died when it went off accidentally?" Zed asked.

Theo nodded. "That's the picture."

"How did he get the explosives through AEF and stin scans? Fuck, how did he get the explosives, period? Do we know what was used?"

Qek's large, unblinking eyes found Theo. She seemed almost…accusatory, an expression that Elias had never seen on her before. "Tricalvanide hexogorite."

Zed straightened and stared at Qek. "I thought that was banned. Too unstable."

"Not banned, just highly restricted." Theo sighed. "I served sentry duty on Vorean for one of my postings during the war."

"The planet Vorean is the source of tricalvanide hexogorite," Qek said, but it was clear from Zed's expression that he already knew that.

"An average corporal with no cult ties and no bone to pick with the stin decides to acquire some highly restricted explosives, figures out how to hide them from sensors, and then fucks up when he plants them?" Zed folded his arms. "Not buying it."

"Sounds like a sacrificial lamb to me," Elias said. He didn't react when Zed's cold gaze and Theo's worried one turned to him. "Just sayin'. Someone set him up."

Qek stared at Theo, her clicks growing in tempo and intensity. "I find it highly suspect that there is a connection to the explosive standing right beside us."

Theo lifted his hands in a hold-on gesture. "I was on Vorean five years ago. For six months."

"You're a smart guy," Zed said. "You'd keep track of useful people."

"The explosives didn't come from me!"

For the first time, Elias caught a flash of panic on Theo's features. Humanity's ambassador turned away, one hand rising to scratch behind his ear before he spun back to face Zed.

"Why would I jeopardize peace with the stin? Why would I endanger you and the resonance? Why would I endanger Felix?" His voice broke on Fix's name.

Zed remained impassive. "Revenge. Jealousy. Professional and personal."

Damn. Elias wanted to tell Zed he was out of line, but he couldn't. The evidence was circumstantial, but it was there—enough to make him doubt his earlier insistence that Theo wouldn't take the chance of hurting Fix. Maybe Theo was more broken than he appeared. Maybe all his smiles were hiding something.

But…fuck, was antagonizing him really the way to go?

Theo recoiled as though Zed had slapped him. "Fuck you, Anatolius. It's been ten years. Ten years . If I'd wanted to pursue anything with Felix, I could have any time in the last four, when Felix was back on this side of the galaxy and you were out of the picture. I didn't. Doesn't that say anything?"

"That you were busy with the war."

"I was. But that wouldn't have stopped me sending certain messages—" Theo bit back the rest of what he was going to say. Probably a good thing. "My point is that Felix broke it off and I respected that. I still do," Theo concluded, his voice quiet.

"So the presence of this explosive is a coincidence?" Zed growled.

"No such thing as coincidence," Theo said. "You know that."

"If there is no such thing as coincidence, then we must conclude that the explosive was chosen deliberately." Qek clicked softly. "The question then becomes, by whom?"

Zed nodded. "We need motives for the attack."

"To kill the stin, to reignite tensions between humanity and the stin, to kill the resonance, hell, to kill you ." Elias counted off the motives on his fingers. "Pick one."

Theo regarded the floor for a moment, his hands on his hips. "If the goal was to kill the resonance, it would make more sense to try to take out their ship or their shuttles, not attack them while aboard the stin vessel. Too many variables."

"Not to mention what would possibly prompt such an attack," Elias pointed out. "We don't even really know them."

"Fear, particularly of the unknown, is a strong motivator," Zed said.

"Agreed, but the specifics of the attack still don't fit a focus on the resonance." Theo looked up. "It had to be an attack on the stin. Or maybe you. Maybe this was a statement about you interacting with the stin as a neutral party."

"Then why wouldn't Anderson just smuggle a gun aboard and put a round between my eyes? Why use an explosive in an area across the ship from my location? Too many variables, like you said—and if he was smart enough to figure out how to smuggle the shit on board, he was more than smart enough to realize that."

"So we are back to it being an attack on the stin, but by whom?" Qek clicked. "It is clear that Corporal Anderson was not working alone. His file shows no previous flashes of initiative. He was an adequate soldier, not a stellar one."

"The Church?" Elias said.

"I do not believe they would knowingly put Zander in danger. They want his attention, yes, and I surmise that is why they revealed the time and location of the original meeting between humanity and the resonance."

"Like kids looking for approval," Elias said.

"Exactly."

Zed lifted a hand to rub at the line etched between his brows. "The only firm lead we have on who is the explosive."

"Zed, I swear to all the gods, it was not me." Theo's voice shook with sincerity.

Or maybe it was fear.

A wallet pinged. Elias froze, his throat closing—until he realized it wasn't his wallet, or Zed's or Qek's. It was Theo's, and Ness wouldn't send a message to Theo.

Breathe, damn it.

A holo hovered over Theo's open wallet. An AEF officer, or maybe Theo's aide, who the hell knew. "Ambassador, the stin are calling. They are…upset."

"Shit," Theo said. Elias watched Theo weave his mantle of officiousness around himself again—wouldn't do to show weakness to the stin, nope, assholes that they were. "Put them through."

A stin face replaced the young human one. "Paredesss. I am Ambassador Krenikk," the stin said, in Standard. An overture? Or maybe the new ambassador wanted to make sure he was understood.

Theo inclined his head. "Ambassador. I was sorry to hear of Ryrrk's passing. I would say it is a pleasure to meet you, but under the circumstances…"

Krenikk hummed. God, Elias hated that sound. "Have you found the parties responsible for this attack?"

Theo's gaze flicked to Zed, who remained out of view of the stin. "No."

"No?" Krenikk's hum intensified. " Was this an act of war, then, Ambassador?"

"No! I assure you, this was not?—"

"Was it the emissary's work? Another kick from the Guardians? It was not enough that they stole our victory."

Elias caught Zed's gaze and shook his head. The man was smart—he'd know getting involved at this point would be a bad idea—but it never hurt to reinforce shit.

"No." Theo's mantle was fraying, letting the frustration seep through. "We don't know who is behind this, but we're investigating?—"

"Insufficient."

"And what of your own investigation?"

"Evidence points to the perpetrators being human, or, alternatively, the resonance. Convenient that they are the puppets of the emissary, is it not?"

Theo gritted his teeth. "Ambassador, you may wish to reconsider how you speak of your fellow galactic inhabitants. Accusations?—"

"And now you're suggesting I'm accusing them?" Krenikk growled. "I expect an update in forty-eight of your hours, Ambassador, or we will be convening a war council."

Elias's mouth dropped open as Krenikk blinked out of view. Oh fuck. Oh… fuck .

Theo swiped a shaking hand through his hair and looked up at Zed. "It was not me," he said, his voice ragged. "I would never do anything to put us at the brink of war again."

Zed turned his head, finding the wall suddenly very interesting, and said nothing.

Theo called up the AEF officer or assistant or whatever who'd notified him of the stin's call. "Get Speaker Tamboli on the line, Viv."

"Right away, sir."

"Arrest the leader of the Church of Omega," Zed ordered, turning back to Theo. His expression said he and Theo weren't square yet, but at least Zed hadn't attacked him again. Small mercies.

"You really think they're involved?"

"Fuck if I know. But we've got to start somewhere." Zed swallowed. "I need?—"

Theo nodded. "Go, check on him. I'll let you know when we're ready."

Zed leaned his forehead on the window of the intensive care unit room. A few feet beyond, Flick lay motionless, his form dwarfed by the machines hovering over him—lines carrying fluids, sensors to monitor each one of his systems, a separate apparatus to protect and cushion the stump of his left arm. Someone—a doctor or maybe a nurse—had told Zed it was smaller now after surgery, trimmed back almost to his shoulder.

The thought turned Zed's stomach. He swallowed hard and closed his eyes.

He knew the footsteps approaching belonged to Elias. Nessa's were lighter, Qek's lighter still, and Theo—well, Theo probably wouldn't be coming near him anytime soon.

"How's he doing?" Elias asked softly, reaching Zed's side.

"Same. Unconscious. They don't think there was any permanent damage from the blood loss, nothing they can see on scans, anyway."

The trauma and hypovolemic shock had caused Flick's body to shut down the systems that weren't essential to try to keep him alive. Getting him back was not going to be a quick or easy process, and it might fail altogether. No matter how advanced medical techniques got, sometimes nothing could reach a patient. Everything was in place to help Flick recover. He should recover. But he might not.

Don't go there.

"What about the poison?"

Zed clenched his teeth at the memory of Harrar's claws sinking into Flick's flesh. The scream that followed. "Bleeding as much as he did probably saved his life. Stupid as it sounds."

"They used to do that in the old days, if you were bitten by a poisonous snake. Bleed it, not…" Elias waved a hand at the window.

"Yeah."

"Yeah."

Tension rode the single-syllable word, more than Zed thought possible. He looked at his friend and captain, only to find Elias's gaze directed through the window, his jaw tight, his brow furrowed.

"What?" Zed prompted.

Elias stared at Flick. "I keep thinking…things were good a year ago."

Before Zed had hired the Chaos for a job. Before he and Flick had reunited.

"Things were good ," Elias repeated. "Maybe a little boring, but goddamn it, I would take that over this ." His voice broke on the last word.

Zed turned away to watch Flick's unmoving form, unable to continue looking at Elias. "You trying to tell me something?" he managed, his voice rough.

"Part of me wants to go, fuck yeah, we're making a difference. But most of me…most of me, right now, wishes I'd told you and your wallet of creds to fuck off."

Zed sucked in air, but it couldn't make it past the invisible knife Elias had just stabbed him with.

"The shit he's gone through. Because of you ?—"

A nurse rose from behind the desk down the hall. "Mr. Anatolius, you can go in."

He gave her a nod, then looked at Elias, hesitating. He wanted to deny Elias the chance to spend time with Flick—after what he'd just said…but he couldn't. God, the words hurt—because they were true. Zed was man enough to admit that. Hadn't he thought the same, months ago, when he and Flick had first found each other again? He'd been bad news then, and now?

Now, clearly, he was worse news.

Zed swallowed. "Do you want?—"

"Yeah." Without another glance in Zed's direction, Elias made his way into the decontamination scan, leaving Zed confused and so very fucking alone.