Capital Games (Audacity Saga Book 2) Read online

  Capital Games

  Audacity Saga Book 2

  R. K. Thorne

  Iron Antler Books

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Afterword

  Also by R. K. Thorne

  About the Author

  Prologue

  Lord Regent Jun Il Li straightened as the broad, white silk drapes parted, revealing his hosts. He had settled himself as comfortably as he could on one of the low white ottomans that surrounded a glass table laden with decadent-looking food, little of which he recognized. The older woman ushered in the younger, a kind and gentle hand guiding by the waist a blond girl in a stunning blue gown. The girl’s eyes stared off as if into nothingness, as if she saw neither him nor the room. Nor any of it. She was perhaps eighteen or nineteen, but young by comparison.

  “Dr. Arakovic,” he said, standing. Standing was not strictly necessary, as his rank was far above a civilian, but she had been an excellent client for his labs. And hopefully would continue to be.

  “Welcome, honored Lord Regent,” the woman said smoothly. She guided the girl to another ottoman, where the shining gown flowed gracefully around her as she sat, like a fairy settling down on a cloud. “We’re so happy to have you join us. Have you met my daughter Cassandra?”

  “I have not.” He bowed deeply to her, and the girl, still not looking at him or meeting his eyes, gave a muted bow of her own. Perhaps her mental faculties were not quite functional at the moment. “A pleasure to meet you, Cassandra. Unless she is a doctor like yourself?” He smiled warmly.

  Arakovic smiled warmly back. “No. Her pursuits have always been of a more… interpersonal than scientific nature.”

  The doctor gestured for him to sit, and the two of them sank to the ottomans in near unison, the doctor beside her daughter and Jun across from them. The daughter had a certain beauty and likely could have been a candidate for complete Enhancement had she so chosen. Or had she been selected. Hair color was easy to change. But she did not seem to have acquired these features from her mother, whose hair was tucked in a bun of silky auburn and whose eyes glittered with intelligence that somewhat made up for their flawed brown color. She was much too far from the standard template, and of course too old, but he was surprised that he found himself liking something about her that he couldn’t quite name. Nearly treasonous, but it was what it was. He needn’t speak of it to anyone.

  He of all people would certainly never question the perfection of the template.

  “This is a fine room,” he said, rather than sharing any of these thoughts. “I didn’t know this hotel had such pleasant arrangements. What brings you to Desori?”

  Arakovic smoothed the soft grass green of her skirt with a palm. Surely she couldn’t be nervous. He was a scientist of plenty renown, but she was at the very least his equal, and privately he thought her work to be far superior in many ways. If only she could be convinced to contribute to the template, to perfection, to Enhancement. But such efforts had been tried and failed long ago.

  And of course, whatever renown he had achieved in the past was no longer relevant now. He’d been relegated to—of all things—a fate almost too awful to imagine.

  A salesman.

  “Well, you know there aren’t many places one can pursue one’s scientific interests without interference anymore.” She shrugged. “And we’ve been reviewing the work of your labs. Excellent progress.”

  “I’m glad you are pleased. Do you think the research shall continue?”

  “Yes, I think so. There are many variables I have yet to isolate. I—”

  Even the mention of variables made his thoughts fuzz. Curse it all. Chaos would have been kinder than this embarrassment. “Sadly, Dr. Arakovic, I must admit I cannot contribute to your work, as my work—and my ability to do it—has been stolen from me.”

  Her brow furrowed. “By whom?”

  “Of that, we are not sure, but we are doing our best to find out.”

  “What happened?”

  “My personal lab on Helikai was attacked, and although I survived, my brain was permanently altered to avoid all thoughts of my former work. Or science at all. We have been working on a cure.” Privately, he held no hope. His scientists Enhanced the human genome. They weren’t practiced at examining injuries or flaws on this level.

  And part of him also knew they were entirely unmotivated to do so. In secret, he had probably been deemed much too far from perfection now to be worthy of such resources. And he couldn’t say he disagreed with that assessment.

  “I’m so sorry to hear that,” said Arakovic, folding her hands in her lap. Her nails were neat, trim, unpainted. “I don’t know how I’d live without my work.”

  He didn’t know how he would either. He didn’t entirely intend to continue doing so. But he kept himself from saying that.

  She reached down and picked up a delicate white cup. “Would you care for some tea? Sushi?”

  “Certainly.”

  Arakovic poured three cups. She handed the first to him, took one for herself, and handed the third to her daughter. Strangely, the girl perked up at this. Until that point, she’d only stared out the wide windows at the skyscrapers. But now she took the tea, her eyes clearing.

  She glanced at him for the first time, but the coldness, almost black in her eyes, made him catch his breath. Had they been so dark when she entered the room? He could have sworn they hadn’t been.

  Perhaps not a candidate for Enhancement after all.

  The girl let out a nonsensical giggle.

  “My dear Lord Regent. If you would do us the honors of starting the meal.”

  Arakovic held up a small plate of delicacies, including a small cookie, something pureed on a cracker with a vegetable-looking garnish, and a pat of rice with something like a white frill of tentacles on top of it. An octopus of sorts?

  “Of course.” An odd tradition, the starting of the meal, and he’d never lived in a culture that subscribed to it. But there was no reason not to oblige. He wouldn’t be much of a salesman to offend over such a small matter.

  He stared at the offerings. None looked appetizing. He ought to start with the riskiest first. He took the rice tentacle and in one fell swoop popped it in his mouth and bit down.

  The tentacle moved.

  He started, bumping the ottoman back a bit, then froze. How embarrassing. It surely must be his imagination. Only absolute barbarians ate live food—

  It moved again.

  The girl’s black eyes were boring into him, and he met her gaze, almost involuntarily. She was grinning.

  He screamed.

  Or he tried to. He covered his mouth with his hand and tried to spit, wretched, gagged. But the tentacles seemed to be latching on. Expanding. His mouth filled with liquid. To his horror, black liquid dribbled from his mouth, across his robes, and onto the white, immaculately carpeted floor.

  “What—what is the meaning of this?” he tried to say.

  The words were unintelligible. Liquid, black as ink, dribbled everywhere. Perhaps it was ink.

  Arakovic smiled now too. Calm. Unalarmed by his display. “The meaning for you, Lord Regent, is over. The meaning for us is just beginning.”

  He sputtered and tried yet again to spit out the vileness to no avail. Again, again. He was retch
ing, but nothing came out but darkness.

  Without warning, the creature slithered down his throat like a mole digging a tunnel, and then the sensation was gone. He sat still, frozen, staring. Was it over? He clutched at his throat—or tried to. His arm didn’t respond.

  The girl’s head tilted a little to one side.

  Of its own volition, his head tilted with her.

  Her head tilted the other way. To his horror, his own followed. She smiled brightly, the movement a touch mechanical. Like a doll trying to look happy.

  “Good work, dear,” said the doctor, patting her daughter on the shoulder.

  “Where is the empress?” the girl said, directing her words at him.

  Now she spoke? She had a sweet, girlish voice that didn’t match her eyes; he imagined she could be very persuasive. What was happening? What girl or demon was this?

  “My name is Cassandra.” She pursed her lips. “Learn it. Or our use for you could very quickly run thin.”

  A chill ran through him. A Natural. She was a telepath, wasn’t she? And Degora had always lectured him to take precautions…

  “Tell us, dear Lord Regent,” said Arakovic, her voice as polite and sweet as it had always been. “Before we grow bored. Where is the empress?”

  Never. He wouldn’t tell them anything. Couldn’t.

  “I-I can’t tell you,” he sputtered instead. He couldn’t remember even thinking of speaking.

  “You have her,” said the girl—said Cassandra. A sudden savage rage bubbled underneath her words. “Where? Tell us.”

  “I don’t have her.” It came out entirely undignified—a plea, a cry, a wail. “I thought I was going to die.”

  “How did you lose her?” Arakovic’s voice was harder now, the kind of voice he’d use on an idiot.

  “In the raid. When I lost my work. When they damaged my brain.”

  “Who took it?”

  “No one.”

  “He gave it to someone,” Cassandra snapped.

  “Tell us. Who did you give it to?”

  He gritted his teeth. “A… a Theroki.”

  “His name. Now.”

  “I-I don’t remember.”

  “Try harder, Lord Regent.”

  “I never used his name. I’m sorry, I—”

  Cassandra’s eyes narrowed. Try harder, Lord Regent. The words echoed viciously, sending shooting bursts of pain through his skull.

  “I will—I will! Uh, it was something—something of the Faros cluster type. It was Tridelphi…”

  “That’s a rank, not a name.”

  “K! It was something starting with a k,” he shouted, an unaccountably huge wave of relief flooding him.

  “Hmm. I don’t know if that’s enough to let him live.” Arakovic looked down at what had seemed her marionette a bare few minutes ago. “What do you think, Cassandra?”

  “We need a name. A full name,” Cassandra said coldly. “And you’ll find who’s the marionette in this show soon enough.”

  He dredged every memory, his brow furrowed. Sweat beaded across it, and his body shook. Then at last the memory sprang forward, clear as crystal, and he shouted it out, relief sweeping his lungs with the words.

  “Sidassian! Kael Sidassian!”

  Chapter One

  Ellen ducked down into a crouch behind the shipping crate as laser fire slammed the cliffside above her. Melting bits of stone rained down.

  She let her back fall against the crate’s metal casing, still crouched. The crate would have been hot, even blazing in the noonday twin suns, if not for her armor. Instead, she had the familiar smell of battle—clear, filtered, and exactly sixty-eight degrees.

  Smoke from a destroyed pirate’s lander wafted past her visor and obscured her view for a moment. The display still showed three hostiles highlighted and waiting behind her, their red-gold squiggles swimming at the edges. It also showed Levereaux and Zhia and the others glowing aqua at her sides. The display was a new invention of Xi’s to try. So far it had only made Ellen dizzy twice.

  They hadn’t counted on a serious altercation on this mission, or she wouldn’t have had the new mode on. It was just a supply drop-off. A quick drug donation to a fairly well-staffed but under-supplied state hospital had seemed so—

  Laser fire sliced at a bizarre angle into the rock before her. “Hey! Whatcha, scared?” a pirate shouted from behind a rotted-out shed, another burning lander parked beside it. “Come out, come out, wherever you are!”

  Two targets down, three to go. Especially that one.

  She shifted forward onto the balls of her feet and twisted back toward the enemy, preparing to reengage.

  “Howdy, Commander.” Simmons’s voice suddenly cut in over the comm.

  She stilled, brushed some of the dust from her visor. “Little busy here, Doug.”

  “Too busy for details on your next mission?”

  She rolled her eyes, raising her head just enough to get a look at their attackers. “I haven’t even finished this one yet.”

  A combination of pirate laser and ballistic fire peppered the crates, as if to reinforce her point.

  “I thought you were just delivering medical supplies,” he shouted over the din.

  “Medical supplies—a.k.a. drugs!” Levereaux shouted beside her. Ah, apparently the doctors were on the line as well. Ellen ignored the two of them and lined up her next shot.

  “A.k.a. chems. A.k.a. things people like to steal, Doug,” Ellen muttered. “I know this may come as news to you, but painkillers can be used for recreational purposes.” Wait for it…

  “Oh, okay—I mean I patched through ten different star systems to get this connection, but I can just try again tomorrow—”

  Boom. Her ballistic hit one pirate in the eye. He crumpled.

  “Fine, fine. Shoot.” She needed a fresh ballistic magazine anyway.

  “Literally or figuratively?”

  She could hear the silly grin on his face as she ducked back down. “Don’t test me, Simmons. As if you’ve ever held a gun.” She smacked the magazine in and locked it. Battery was getting low too.

  “Do water guns count?”

  “I’m giving you ten seconds to get to the point.” She rose carefully and lined up her next shot.

  “All right, all right. I’ll give you a hint—”

  Boom. Another pirate went down.

  “Ten. Nine. Eight—” She took a quick breather, twisting to a seat as she checked the status of Levereaux and the others.

  “Josana’s gonna like it.”

  “Oh, no,” Levereaux groaned.

  “Oh, hell,” muttered Dremer, back on the ship.

  “Not Capital. Really, Doug?” Ellen turned back, rose to a crouch, and aimed with fresh malice.

  “You guessed it! You ladies are good. I need you to get there pronto.”

  Boom. Another down.

  Three down to her, Nova had taken another two, and Zhia had gotten the far one in heavy cover. Looked all clear.

  “Zhia—give me a readout. Any remaining hostiles? Our patron has me a little… distracted.”

  Doug snickered. “Oh, I think it takes a lot more than my mumbling to distract you. But I’m sending more mission details to your desk. You can think of it as a little vacation! I know the last few missions have been hard on you all.”

  “A vacation, huh? Yeah, right.” Ellen sighed. “Well, at least maybe the little minx will cause less trouble on her own, bigger hunting grounds.”

  Levereaux shook her head. “Not likely. We’ll be lucky if she only gets into trouble we don’t have to deal with.”

  “You read my mind,” said Ellen.

  Zhia cleared her throat. “All clear, Commander.”

  Ellen nodded. “Let’s get these supplies to the hospital. Search these hostiles for idents and affiliation. Kael and the others have to be waiting for us already, so get moving. Talk to you back on the ship, Doug.”

  She straightened cautiously, scanning the gory scene. Could never be too care
ful. Computers and sensors were great. Then other computers learned how to outsmart them over time. The cycle continued.

  “Cheerio, Commander! Or what is it that you all say?”

  She frowned. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “I know! It’s roger, right?”

  Suddenly Jenny’s voice cut into their line, sending Ellen’s adrenaline pumping. That only happened on the urgent channel. “Team A, we’re taking heavy artillery fire here at the hospital. Estimate three, maybe four heavy guns. Mortars, maybe? They ain’t fancy, but they still hurt. Front entrance is buried. We have one injury, requesting urgent backup.”

  Simmons swore. “I’ll go. Roger, over and out.”

  “On our way, Jenny,” Ellen said, her heart pounding as she lurched toward their flyers to get them restarted. There was only one reason Jenny would be comming and not Kael. “What’s the status on the injury?”

  “I’m stabilizing him, and I’ll be able to do it better and faster when you’re here and I’m off the line.”

  She shoved down her irritation. “You’re in a hospital. Make use of it.”

  “I’d call it that in name only, ma’am.”

  She sighed as she hit the lander into gear, leaving Zhia to finish the ident checks.

  Xi painted three mortars on the helmet overlay. “I cannot locate a fourth target, Commander. They are unfortified from your direction.” A small inlay photo jumped up—a shot of two of the guns from Mo’s top of ship surveillance.

  “Mo—take target one.”

  “Got it, Commander.”

  She set the flyer to auto, which was risky since it didn’t have road maps to follow here. She just aimed it for the grid of the second gun and crossed her fingers. Because she was busy configuring the multi’s laser for range, standing, and aiming it over the windshield. They didn’t have enclosed flyers—or fully automatic ones—for just this purpose.