Victorious Dead (The Asarlaí Wars Book 2) Page 20

  He looked down at her, one eyebrow lifting and a slight tilt to his head. Classic Deven. Vas spun away before the pressure she felt in her eyes came out. Damn him.

  “I didn’t know. It explains the spotty memories though. How did Marli bring me back?”

  Vas still couldn’t face him. “She managed to kill the other two yous and bring them into this you.”

  Deven stood closer. “No, how did she bring me back from the dead? My people do have the ability to do that, but we need a body. From what you’re saying, I didn’t have one of those.”

  Vas wiped her eyes quickly and turned. He was close. Too damn close.

  She shook her head. “She said that as well, but had no idea how you did what you did. Do you remember me coming to you, after you died? I was dying, and you sent me back from wherever you were?” The prime Deven had referenced it, but Vas wasn’t certain what happened when all of them merged into this one.

  This time he looked away. “No. I have memories of the ship, of jobs, of Marli. But nothing recent. At least I don’t think the memories are recent.”

  “That’s why we thought you might need some more down time,” Vas said then stalked around in front of him. “Your brain is a little scrambled and an immortal Asarlaí doesn’t even know how you did what you did.”

  The worry that had appeared on Deven’s face lasted a few moments, then he shrugged. “However, since no one has done this before, then we have no idea what the proper protocol is, do we? This”—he held his arms out wide, demonstrating whatever happened to his head hadn’t interfered with his muscles—“could be exactly how I need to recover. I was split into three people, each with their own experiences from the months they existed. The cognitive issues are probably due to three sets of memories trying to fight for dominance up here.” He tapped the side of his head.

  Vas opened her mouth to argue, then surrendered. Deven could be more stubborn than her if he tried—especially if he had a good point and knew it.

  “Ya know, I am not even going to respond to that. But as it turns out, your replacement is incapacitated and not able to do his job right now.” Vas stepped closer. “But I will shoot you myself if you start having problems because of your condition and your stubborn-ass refusal to rest. Understood?”

  “Tranqed if I collapse.” Deven folded his arms and flashed a smile. “Understood.”

  “I didn’t say I’d use a tranq gun.” Vas glared at his bare wrist. “That’s another thing. You need your bands on.”

  “We’d have to go back to Galacian, and from what I saw in the news vids, the Commonwealth has sort of shut down and you’re trying to avoid them. I doubt you want to go to their capital,” Deven said with a shrug. “I was downloading the ship’s actions and news when Terel thought I was sleeping.”

  Vas rubbed the side of her head. There needed to be a bar, preferably one that was seedy and messy, in her near future. “Luckily for you, I had an extra set of bands made.” Vas went to her hidden wall safe and coded it open.

  That Deven didn’t say anything about the secret set brought a smile to her face. The bastard didn’t know everything. And in this case, it probably wasn’t something he’d forgotten since she’d had them since they got the first set.

  “Lookie here, all shiny and new.” She turned around to see a very good impression of the pirate Deven right after she kneed him.

  He shook it off, but it was still chilling. She’d have to ask Terel if she had a clue as to how long it would take for those memories to merge back into each other. Although she was glad the gahan one wasn’t showing himself—right now Vas couldn’t deal with an amorous Deven who didn’t recall what they’d said to each other right before and after he died. Vas had never told a man she loved him—at least not when she meant it. That he didn’t remember it was cause for pulling back.

  “I can’t believe you had an extra set with you,” Deven said. “And it sounds weird, but I know I didn’t know that before. There’s a difference between things you’ve told me, and this.”

  “Good. Now hold out your wrist.” Vas coded the slim metal bracelets and they sealed in a tight link. In theory they were required by all telepaths and short-circuited their esper skills. Vas wasn’t completely sure she trusted them, but there were enough esper sensors on most planets not to test it.

  Including the planet below them.

  “Do you recall anything of those other memories? You were down on the planet Mayhira for who knows how long, and possibly with Empress Wilthuny even longer. If the gahan version of you had triggered an esper alarm she would have fried you.”

  Deven rubbed his wrist. “You know, those others weren’t me. They might have had a part of me, but they weren’t me. You said he was a gahan?” He shook his head when she nodded. “No way a telepath above a level one could have become a gahan. I’d guess that one wasn’t a telepath of any strength.” A level one still could have swayed the other gahan to his side, especially one as charming as Deven could be.

  Vas pulled up her chair. “I hadn’t thought about it, but if the pirate you had been an esper, I would have been in trouble. I take it you had your gifts before I slapped those on?”

  He smiled. “How do you think I caught up on current events and got out of med lab with no alarm being raised?” He raised his wrist. “But I’m under control now.”

  Vas narrowed her eyes. She was sure she didn’t completely believe him. There had been times she’d sworn he was using telepathy even with his bracelets on. But since there was no way in hell she would ever run him in to be tested, it was pointless to worry about it.

  “Captain? I wouldn’t disturb you two, except there seems to be some activity on the planet below.” Gosta’s voice was far more excited than his choice of words.

  “What kind?” Vas was going down there, but not until she got this situation with Deven resolved—at least as well as it could be for now.

  “There is some seismic activity exactly where that compound had been. It’s spewing molten something in the air.”

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  Deven stopped fussing with his bracelets and looked up at Gosta’s comment. Vas knew why. Gosta never used words like ‘something’. Every item was a specific thing, often more specific than most people wanted.

  “Could you repeat that? What is molten and where is it going?” She’d seen the silver buried in the ground better than anyone else had, and Marli had confirmed it had to do with what her people had done to the planet eons ago. But Vas seriously doubted that Marli would have taken off like she did if she knew spewing was going to be involved.

  “I can’t get a good reading, Captain. There are news shuttles and more around it. And some security cruisers are trying to clear us out of the airspace.” He paused, and Vas heard an agitated Xsit chittering in the background. “And we’ve been ordered to leave by the planetary government unless we have commerce or cause to be here.

  “Have Xsit tell them we have a job and are working for Vizier Ramoth. My second-in-command and I will be planet side to show them our credentials in less than an hour.” She looked over to Deven but he was already heading for the door. So much for waiting to see how he was going to hold up. But getting back to work might be the best thing for him right now.

  Vas loaded her cover credentials into one of the hand-helds and followed Deven to the deck. On any non-merc job they took, Vas always made sure there was a cover job that would fit what they were really doing.

  In this case, Ramoth’s family actually had some holdings on this planet. Vas had checked them out, and to be honest, most likely Ramoth didn’t even know he was the owner of the sad, run-down storefronts. His great-aunt had been the last active owner and they’d remained unused since her death thirty years ago. If she was feeling generous, she’d tell Ramoth about them when the job was done.

  The cover story was that Ramoth had hired Vas to investigate the properties and a few new ones on the other side of town—where the storage unit was that Vas needed to break i
nto. Vas passed the hand-held to Deven. It was risky taking him; he wasn’t completely recovered, and someone might recognize him as the gahan.

  “Wait a minute. Lift your hair up,” Vas said and stopped Deven in front of the lift.

  He pulled up his hair showing a nice un-tattooed neck. Vas briefly wondered why both of the other Devens had tattoos but the original didn’t.

  “I don’t think anyone will be looking for a supposedly dead gahan to be roaming around, but before we go, change into something that shows a lot less skin, and pull your hair all the way up. Look more deadly mercenary and less sex worker.”

  Deven dropped his hair and looked down at his clothes. “What’s wrong with these? They’re comfortable.” He finally sighed. “Fine. I’ll catch up on our cover, change, and meet you at the shuttle bay.”

  Vas waited until the lift closed behind him, then turned to the rest of the crew. “I know it’s odd seeing him back.” She’d seen sideways glances from everyone as she and Deven came back on deck—even Gosta. If she noticed them, Deven would have as well. “I think the best thing for him is if all of us treat him the way we did before he died. Be aware there are more than a few things he’s forgotten, including a good chunk of time from before his death. Give him space, and let him sort it out. Tell the rest of the crew.” She called up the lift, then turned. “And someone warn Home he’s alive. Just what we need is him making a call to them before they know.” Grosslyn, the man who kept Home running, was damn good at his job. He also hated things being out of order. Having a formerly dead crewmember calling in for supplies would be very out of order.

  Vas looked down at her own clothes, then changed levels and got out of the lift near her quarters. She’d been through a lot and was still wearing her workout clothes. If she was going to pretend to be an investigator, she should at least look a little respectable.

  Nothing fancy, just a clean pair of pants, a long tunic, and her duster. She actually hadn’t been wearing it much since Deven’s death—he’d been the one who’d bought it for her a few years ago. It didn’t fit anyone’s idea of a mercenary captain, and that was why she loved it.

  Deven was laughing with Marwin in the shuttle bay when she got down there. He’d been as good as his word. The pants he wore were looser than before, and a heavy jacket and shirt kept the rest of him covered. His hair was up in a knot that left his neck free in case anyone was looking for a gahan mark. He still looked sexy as hell, but unless she wrapped him in a giant bag, that wasn’t going to change. Hell, he’d probably even make the bag work.

  “They are awaiting us, Captain,” Deven said and bowed in front of the shuttle steps. Marwin nodded and left. Vas had no idea what they’d been talking about but the ease between them was a good sign.

  “I have studied the plan and communicated with the officials on the ground. They indicate they sort of believe us, but want to confirm everything.” He slid into the pilot seat before Vas could and deftly readied the ship. He might have forgotten events a few months prior to his death, but some things were still in place.

  “Nice coat. Is it new?”

  He didn’t even look up as he spoke, but Vas didn’t think he was joking. Damn it. She needed Nariel to come out of her hibernation and find out what was in his head, or not in it as the case may be. She was trying to accept that everything they’d gone through in the past six months was gone, at least for him. But he’d given her the duster over five years ago.

  “No.” She didn’t want to go into more. She needed to get whatever was in that damn storage unit, find out what Ramoth was really up to, and give Gosta and Hrrru time to figure out what was erupting out of the ground where the gahan had been. There was an equal chance the silver could be valuable, or it could bite them in the ass since someone out there knew they’d been around when the building was destroyed. Either reason was good enough for her to add it to their current list.

  Gosta had been working with Hrrru to get past all the screens. Local news had no information even though he’d reported more than a few news shuttles and scouts hanging out in the area above.

  He was hoping that he’d be able to sneak a small drone down into the area.

  Unfortunately, they were now burning up two of their extra drones and without merc jobs, they wouldn’t be getting more. It never failed to surprise Vas how loose some people were with their tech. Anything that escaped from Vas was designed to self-destruct. Thanks to Gosta’s refurbishment program they had a dozen drones that would cause questions of others—not Vas. They needed to stop burning through them so fast.

  “Warrior Wench shuttle, requesting clearance,” Deven had been silent on the way down, something new and unusual.

  Vas looked out as the landing field came up before them. Mayhira wasn’t a huge planet, but had always been a very well-off government. Like most of the more powerful worlds within the Commonwealth, they had a mostly self-contained government. They only dealt with the Commonwealth when needed and paid the proper taxes to keep the Commonwealth out of their business. Places like this one probably hadn’t even noticed the two-month hiatus from the Commonwealth.

  “Warrior Wench shuttle, hold position, please.” The voice on the comm didn’t sound like an average bored landing guard. The tension was clear.

  Vas leaned over and tapped the shuttle’s comm. “Is there a problem, control?”

  “Just a higher priority landing, stand by. Please.” The please was stressed and not meant at all.

  Vas shut off the comm, then used her own to call her ship on a secure channel. “Gosta, any new and important ships come within range in the last few minutes?”

  “No, Captain. Wait. Someone is coming out of the gate. Empress Wilthuny, it’s her warship.”

  Vas toyed with asking Xsit to try reaching Marli. Like all of the high-ranking royals, nobles, and power players, Empress Wilthuny had her own fleet. But none of them ever pulled out their warships unless they were having a pissing match with one of their cohorts.

  Without a word, Deven pulled up the approaching ship on visuals. Specs ran along the left side in case the sight of it wasn’t enough to get the point across.

  It was a class-nine warbird, about twice the size of the Warrior Wench and three times as powerful. Or rather would be three times as powerful if the Warrior Wench had the usual complement of weapons for a galaxy-class starship. Her illegal and prototype weaponry meant the Flaxen Gusset was only twice as heavily armed as her ship.

  “How many people on board?” That number was harder to get, especially if the ship in question didn’t want people to know if they were being invaded or not.

  “Not good, Captain. They have over the full complement. Seven hundred life signs were picked up before their blockers kicked in.” Deven only called her captain in official situations or when he was upset. Considering he’d been calling her Vas since he came back, this wasn’t a good sign.

  Deven pulled the shuttle up higher, as crafts that had been landing, or recently landed, all lifted up.

  Whatever Wilthuny and her warship were up to, they obviously had the full support of the Mayhiran government.

  “Gosta, did you get the drone down there?” This might be a short trip. Ramoth could go get his trinket on his own if this went too sideways. And it was definitely leaning that way.

  “I was going to call you,” Gosta said. “The distraction from the empress’s arrival has pulled away a lot of the ships from over the other area. The drone is there and pulling in data as fast as it can. It hasn’t been spotted yet, but no idea how long that will last.”

  “Get all the information you can, and self-destruct the drone if it gets compromised.” Normally she wouldn’t worry about it. The thing was untraceable to her ship, and no one could even see where its data had gone. But there was something big brewing and she didn’t want to leave anything to chance.

  “Xsit, are you picking up any open chatter about what’s going on?” The communications for her ship were as secure as Gosta coul
d program them, with the codes changing every few minutes. But most ships, especially shuttles and scouts like the ones hovering around them, would not be so tight.

  “Some, Captain. No one seems to know what’s going on either and there is a lot of complaining going on. The scouts who had been over the exploded areas are all silent though.”

  That was something to take note of. Either they had nothing to say, or they knew what was coming. “Keep monitoring, go out wide if you need to. And track those silent ships.”

  Vas watched as a pair of shuttles descended from the empress’s ship. At least it was only two, but still a ship like that could cause a lot of damage from above. Not to mention, they were class-twelve shuttles. For a short trip, fifty people could fit in each. More if they really liked each other.

  “Warrior Wench shuttle, you are requested to land.”

  Vas and Deven shared a look. The direction should have been allowed to land—requested wasn’t promising.

  “Control, will do,” Vas said then cut the line.

  “Mac, keep the engines ready to go, and make sure we have a clear path to the gate. Or around the gate if we need to.” Vas scowled at the shuttles making their approach. The request to land didn’t come from shuttle command—there had been ships closer to landing than she and Deven had been when they were pulled up.

  “Do we run?” Deven was calm as his hands rested on the controls. Shuttles weren’t fast, nor heavily armed—but Vas knew Deven would find a way to get them out if she said run.

  Vas drummed her fingers on the arm of the chair. They didn’t have many options. The people on the planet below knew what ship this shuttle came from and had weapons tracking it. Hell, they could even have someone tracking the Warrior Wench. They needed to go down there, but they didn’t need to be themselves. There was enough confusion running around about who currently owned the Warrior Wench, she might as well use it to their advantage.