Oath Breaker (Death of Empire Book 1) Read online

  The wall intercom chirped and José moved to answer it. “Captain’s quarters.”

  “Captain, I need you down here now.” Lyz voice was distorted as it came across the comm.

  “Please tell me the other two aren’t melting.”

  “They aren’t, but the ship’s telling me weird things and won’t give me a straight answer. Everything is “classified” or needs Bowlin’s approval. I don’t like being threatened by a ship.”

  Yella shot to her feet. “We’re on our way.”

  As José moved his hand from the intercom, Yella twisted her still wet hair into a bun and reached for her coat. “Listen, José: I need you to do something for me. For us,” she nodded to Osiris before continuing, “Don’t trust the ship. There’s something going on here that I don’t fully understand yet, but whatever you do, tread lightly around Obie and make sure you’re always polite.”

  “What’s she going to do? Kill me?” His smile slacked to a thin line of understanding as he looked from Yella to Si’s scowls.

  “Anything’s possible, old friend. Especially when it comes to Obie.” Si shook his head as the memory of his gathered crew in the hold hit him.

  “Let’s go make sure nothing’s going awry down below. Lyz isn’t good with people, I can’t imagine how she’s going to deal with the ship.”

  “Lyz gets along with people.” José’s smile had returned and Si marveled at the things that hadn’t changed. The lopsided smirk was the same one that had graced his face whenever he won a game of lawn darts.

  As Dani snorted at her uncle, Si remembered that José’s friends were undoubtedly all gone.

  “Lyz hides behind flirtation.” She straightened the short collar of her coat and moved toward the door. “If you hadn’t noticed, the ship chose to take on the persona of a woman. We have our advantages”

  The door slid open and the three of them headed through the halls to the waiting elevator.

  The drop was silent. As José and Osiris leaned against the back of the lift, Dani stood in front of them, hands on her hips. Si did his best to keep his eyes from wandering down to where her coat split into two wide tails.

  The doors slid open to the bottom deck and a shiver ran down Osiris’ spine as he looked at the cryo chambers for the first time since he’d been forced into once.

  “Gloomy down here,” José said, following Dani along the floor. “Though, I guess they aren’t meant for daily visitation.”

  “Obie, turn on the lights.” As he requested it, the hold flooded with unnatural light and three pairs of eyes turned to him.

  “Hell, if I’d known that was all it took, I wouldn’t have been working in the dark all this time.” Lyz pulled the flash band from her head, tossing the round ring of light to Dani and turning back to the panel.

  From José’s—very accurate—description, there was no way he’d confuse her with someone else.

  “When it comes to Obie, it’s always worth the risk to ask if she can do something for you.” He moved past them, standing in front of his two remaining crew members’ tubes. “God, did I look that ghoulish too?”

  “You looked worse.” Lyz tapped away on the pad as she spoke. “Elyzabeth Reisz, lovely to meet you while you’re conscious.”

  Si nodded and turned back to Adi and Ric. “Are they okay, José? I didn’t have a chance to find out what went on with them before I ended up in there. I guess I should have asked sooner.”

  José stood at the panel next to Lyz, “Don’t worry, it’s a lot to process, coming out of cryo, finding out the galaxy kept moving without you.”

  “But not in the direction you wanted it to….” Si looked to where Yella stood, her head turned away inspecting the newly illuminated hold.

  “I’m not sure I could have changed it even if I’d managed to keep out of this.” He tapped the glass front and turned away from the capsules. “Got a verdict, Doc?”

  “They’re both healthy far as I can tell, though Ric… huh. Lyz, check out line B13 for me. Make sure I’m not seeing things.”

  “What the— Why would she prime these ones, instead of just popping them out like she did with you?” Lyz tapped on the screen some more. “They’re in a slow state of reanimation, depending on various factors, they could come out now, or in twenty years…. they’re three keystrokes away from being pulled out, and two from being put back under completely.”

  “Why?” Danielle looked up to the ceiling, “Why put these ones on a slow defrost, Obie?”

  Si cleared his throat and waited for all three to look at him. “Because I asked her to.”

  SIX

  Lyz and José stared at her. She could feel their gazes prickling the back of her neck. Her eyes were locked on Si’s. They glowed from the inside in the light emitted by the cryo capsules. Biting back her first retort, she shot him a quick glare, and turned away to her best friend and uncle, managing to keep her voice in a tone of indifference for Obie’s benefit.

  “In the event that we have to deal with the Mandalls’ people on our own, it’s not a bad decision.”

  José opened his mouth, but snapped it shut, his eyes darting to the ceiling as the full implications of what she’d said sank in. There were four crew members on board she couldn’t trust with this knowledge. Four crew members she might have to detain—or possibly kill—to keep Si alive. Closing her eyes, she realized her priorities had shifted.

  Si was a dangerous man… he always had been.

  “What do you want me to do, Dani?” Lyz looked up at her from the console, uncertainty narrowing in her unnaturally violet eyes.

  “Make sure they’re prepped but not melting just yet, and maintain them at that level of animation.” She stopped abruptly and grabbed hold of the scaffold railing, leaning over to her. “What I mean is, we don’t intend to bring them out until we’re on friendlier ground… or we’re in dire need of them.”

  “We’re not going straight to… our employers, then?” Lyz asked mildly as she typed in a series of commands.

  “That’s a stupid question.” José looked pointedly from her to Osiris.

  “Leave her alone.” Dani turned back to Si, her eyes tracing down the scar on his lips. “They’d kill him the second they set eyes on him, and none of us wants anyone else getting shot. Besides, those double-crossing bastards would bundle us up in a package deal.”

  “Two in the brain pan, one in the gut.” José muttered the words, sending a shiver down Dani’s spine and a flash of a memory sliced through her mind… blue hair in a puddle of blood.

  “They’re still doing that?” Osiris shot a quick look at her, a look that said “And these are the people you work with?”

  José answered his spoken question. “Not so far as any of the bereaved can prove….”

  “How much longer are you going to need, José?” Dani focused her attention on Lyz, wishing the bright colors bleed through her retinas.

  “Probably another ten?” She looked from Dani to the console with a less than hopeful wince. “Maybe fifteen?”

  Nodding to José, Dani said, “Fine, when you’re done here, give me a ring and we’ll meet you in the exigency room.”

  Dani stalked toward the lift waiting to hear the sound of bootsteps behind her. When the rubber tread echoed off the deck plating she let out a slow sigh. At least she wouldn’t have to turn around and try to order him to follow her. She didn’t feel up for another confrontation.

  Stepping into the lift, she stuffed her hands into her pockets and leaned against the back wall. Her teeth clenched to keep from saying something foolish. She hoped he felt the icy daggers she wished were flying from her eyes.

  “I was going to tell you,” he said as he stepped in beside her.

  The frown he wore was not what she expected. It made him look like a little boy—one that had been the product of a gigantism experiment, but a boy none the less.

  She waited for the doors to close before turning to him. “Anything else you want to disclose before I f
ind out about them the hard way? I know you’re still in the ‘I’m in charge mode,’ but I don’t need you undermining my authority to my crew. It’s one thing in front of my uncle and best friend. It will be entirely other in front of one of Mandall’s people. So if you want to tell me what to do, that’s fine. It’s your ship. I get it. But I don’t need to find out about things like that in such a public way. Now, is there anything else I should know?”

  “Nothing that I can think of off the top of my head… other than that José’s joking is starting to get to me. If his less than subtle jab to the ribs just now was any indication… I think the guy is going to do some serious damage if I don’t start putting the moves on you.” He rubbed the back of his neck still staring at the ground.

  “I know what you mean.”

  He snorted a laugh and leaned back against the lift wall beside her. “Yeah… I don’t think you do.” The gaze he turned on her prickled at her skin and she turned away. She did not need her body’s betrayal right now.

  “You’ve been keeping secrets, too. Were you planning to hand me over to the Mandalls? or do you think you might have eventually told me who your employers are?”

  She ignored him, thinking about what else she needed to do. “Obie, take me to the bridge. I need to make a phone call.”

  Pulling the wrist watch from her pocket, she checked the time. “I’m almost an hour late. Nial’s going to be worried.”

  “Boyfriend?”

  She shrugged. “He’d like to be.”

  His jaw stiffened as she said it and he his eyes took a faraway look, focusing on the numbers ticking up on the lift display. “I’d imagine there are lots of those out there.”

  She glanced carefully at the ceiling before she leaned in to whisper harshly. “Listen, you don’t get to be snarky with me right now. I let you read those files, you’ve got a better glimpse of my past than most anyone on board and you had a head start to begin with. You want to start getting snippy, fine. Next time something you haven’t told me comes up, I won’t act so calm about it.”

  She stepped out of the elevator as the doors opened and found her way through the bridge hatch as quickly as she could. Part of her wished Osiris would take the hint and go back to his quarters. The other part hoped he’d come after. Whether she wanted a true fight or something else… she had no idea. An hour late for her call, half an hour late for her meds.

  “The man, the legend!” Willy said, standing up to shake Si’s hand. “William T. Mopeña, ready to take on the bastards who’ve ruined our galaxy as soon as you give the word.”

  Si laughed and shook his hand. “Glad to meet you.”

  “Get out,” She said as she stepped over the hatch. She was in no mood to play nice.

  Though Willy didn’t deserve the harsh treatment, he was going to get it. She stopped herself with a hand on the hatch door. “I’m sorry. It’s been a stressful day.

  Mopeña turned, startled as she entered, his eyes wide with surprise. “You taking over, Cap?”

  “For the moment. You know how Nial gets if I don’t check in. Go down and see if Mari will get you some grub.”

  “I mourn your impending conversation. One day, he’ll figure things out. Until then, keep up the good fight.”

  Willy rose from his seat, a giant smile sprouting across his face. “I hope Mari has some Peking duck ready. I could eat a whole flock right now.”

  She watched him scramble off the bridge and then turned her attention back to the man standing stiffly by the door. “Si, I need your help here. My job was get the Breaker and get her back to the Mandalls in one piece. No stops. No cargo. No problems. Any guesses as to what made my life super-complicated?”

  “Me.” He looked like he wanted to say more, but she didn’t let him.

  “Gold fucking star. I’m going to find a place to get my crew off this boat. I’ll find a reason. Something that makes her unflyable, and I’ll set her down. I’ll send those that I don’t trust off on an errand, we’ll defrost your friends, and the rest of us will step off. And you can head off to finish what you started.

  “I can’t hand you over to the Mandalls, but I can’t tell my people I’ve signed them up for some sort of a crusade. Because that’s what’s going to happen, isn’t it, Si? You and this ship, you were both built for war. Something that’s been gone for a decade is still fresh in your mind…. Hell, maybe you’ll even win this time.” She sucked in a deep breath as the small ember of hope that remained buried deep inside her caught flame. Try as she might, with Osiris standing in front of her, she could not stamp it out. They’d made him a savior… it was a hard thing to forget.

  “I hope you do, but I can’t ask the people on this ship to sacrifice themselves for ideals that just came off ice.”

  “Would you stay?” He stared at her, his eyes locked on hers, his jaw twitching, and she could tell he wanted her to say yes.

  She let her gaze drop and linger on the skeleton tattoo on his forearm. Trying to rationalize her answer. In the end, she gave him the only truth she had—a clear sign her meds were wearing off. “If you asked me to.”

  His face relaxed as she said it, forming what she could only guess was relief. She was silent for a long moment, watching his reaction to what she’d said, waiting for some sort of a response. When he gave her none, she turned to the communications console. “Now, I have to make a call. That means I need you out of sight and silent as a cryonically frozen war hero.”

  She pressed the initialization sequence and waited for the connection, pulling her hair from the bun and running her fingers through it. She shrugged off her jacket and readjusted her shirt so her cleavage showed just enough. It never hurt to look nice for Nial.

  She ignored the odd look Si gave as he walked to the other side of the console and sat down. His eyes pierced through her as the console pinged and she dialed in the comm-code.

  She gave Si a long glare, “Don’t say a word, or so help me God I will jump across this console and pummel you.”

  A low bubbling noise sounded on the screen angled in front of her and the thin face of Nial Mandall appeared, smiling in a toothy grin. She always forgot that he was an attractive man. The monster who fathered him had done so with a strikingly beautiful woman, and Nial had won out when the genetic lottery settled his fate.

  “Dani girl! It’s great to see you. I swear, every time I see you on a vid screen you’re prettier than the last. When you bring that tub in what say I take you out to dinner and we can talk about how much prettier you are in person?”

  “You never stop trying do you, Nial?” The smile glued to her face was going to start to hurt if she spent too much time at this.

  “You’ve never said no. One of these days you’re going to have to stop coming up with excuses and give in.”

  “Maybe next time. You’ll be on your way back to Pääoma by the time I get there. Delays, route changes to avoid patrols, you know how it goes.” She waved a hand instead of giving an actual answer.

  His face fell, as he leaned toward the camera, his voice hushed as he spoke. “Dani, I know people. I could see about getting your files cleared. I hate that you’re out on the Rim. You shouldn’t be blamed for your parents’ association with a cri—”

  As she cut him off, she forced herself not to look up at Si, “I don’t need you to fight my battles, Nial. But thank you, it’s nice to know I have friends out there willing to help.” She glanced to Si without meaning to, silently cursing her lapse in control. “Let your father know I’m going to be two days late. We got the Breaker but she’s giving us some problems. The previous owner didn’t do anything in the way of upkeep, so we’re having to do more to keep her together. I’ll transmit a full report when I get the chance.”

  “Take care of yourself, Dani. And know you don’t have to say it back, you never do and never will have to, but I love you. I sincerely hope you’ll find that you love me too, some day in the not-too-distant-future.”

  She felt the sad smil
e come to her lips as she cut the transmission and swiveled the chair around, looking at the wide expanse of the bridge. She should have expected it. But somehow, she hoped he’d stop saying it. She didn’t need to see Si’s face.

  He hadn’t had fifteen years to move on. She hadn’t had cryo. She didn’t love him anymore—couldn’t.

  “Not all the Mandalls are bad, you know Jarrod was a good kid… might be worth it to take him up on his offer.” Si’s voice echoed through the empty space around her, she hoped she was right when she thought he sounded sad as he said it.

  “Not worth the price. He wants me because I’m the first thing he’s tried to possess that can’t be his. He was a spoiled child who grew up to be a spoiled man. If he’s not, he’s an amazing actor.” She paused looking out the view screen.

  “Besides, I’ve been redacted. Once he found that out, he wouldn’t want me… even if he did still, redaction means you can hold out on love. No impending need to pop one out before you reach a certain age.” She shook her head and pressed her finger to the bridge of her nose. God that sounded bitter. “Sorry, I’m running on next to no sleep right now.”

  Si looked at her with a grimace. “You of all people on this boat have the right to be angry.”

  “Says the man who just watched me pretend to flirt with the son of the man who destroyed his entire planet.” Her hand went to her necklace in her pocket and she put it on, rubbing the copper dragonfly’s thorax.

  “Your mother used to do that, you know.”

  “José brings that up a lot… if it weren’t for him, I’d probably have forgotten by now. I barely notice I do it, myself.”

  “So, I couldn’t help but wonder… is your SOS designation because I was friends with your father?”

  “No,” she laughed, and then pulled herself back together. “It might be the reason my family went through so much hell, but that’s not your fault. My SOS is my own doing, and I wouldn’t blame it on anyone else, even if I had the option.”