Hostile Legacy, page 3
part #2 of Afterwar Saga Series
“Get the rifle out of the case,” I said, struggling to keep my voice even as adrenaline exaggerated my actions. I’d drawn the pistol while we’d been running and returned fire. My opponent must have expected a response because he disappeared after firing.
“Got it,” Cassius answered a moment later.
“Can you get me up there?” I asked, pointing at the ledge a meter and a half over our heads.
“You’re nuts!”
“Can you?”
“Frak.”
Cassius placed his back against the rockface and bent with his hands clasped together in front of him. I nodded and picked up as much speed as possible in the short distance between us and jumped onto his hands. With strength I couldn’t imagine, he propelled me upward, his hands never breaking apart, even when I leaped.
As soon as I eclipsed the edge of the cliff, I saw two very surprised figures, both with weapons drawn. I had to decide in that split second what it was going to be. I could struggle to gain purchase on the rocks or take them out of the action and fall back down. I made the worst choice for physical comfort and steadied my aim, squeezing off a total of three shots, hitting one of my targets twice, and the other a single time.
“Hey!” Cassius wasn’t particularly eloquent on impact. My legs careened to the wall and hit jagged stones as I bounced around in gravity’s predictable grasp. I ended up knocking both of us down. If the thugs that had pushed us into this hole had rushed us at that moment, they’d have found a couple of sitting ducks. As it was, they’d mistaken the gunfire as coming from their compatriots. Or maybe they were just lazy. Either way, Cassius and I managed to untangle ourselves. We were both bleeding from various impacts, but those were just scrapes and abrasions for as bad as we looked.
“I called the constable,” Addy called over comms. “What’s your sitrep?”
“They tried to trap us in,” I answered. “I knocked down two. There are at least three next to the dome’s opening. I can’t see them, they’re undercover.”
“We’re close,” Addy said.
“Let’s see if I can get someone’s attention,” I said. “Stay here, Cass.”
From the shots coming at us when we’d run, I knew right where they’d take their next shots. I was careful not to stick my head out from a previous position but jumped into the open a bit back, figuring they’d use that corner as a marker. This time, when someone fired, I saw the movement just in time to deflect the heavy blaster bolt.
“Sonnovagun!” I cried out, jumping back to cover.
“Did you get shot?” Cassius asked.
“Sort of,” I said, shaking my hand. While the hand shield worked great for smaller blaster fire, it stung like a dozen bees when deflecting heavier fire. “Addy, heavy blaster rifle.”
“Liv sees them. She’s getting set up. Stop acting like an idiot, already.”
“That’s cold.”
“Can you give us a little distraction?” Olivia asked. “Preferably not with your body at risk.”
“See, Addy, even my sister can be nice.”
With a good sighting before, I didn’t need to look to get a line on our opponents’ positions. I blindly squeezed off several shots. I’m sure I missed as they were likely moving, but if I was close enough, that would cause them angst.
The sound of a far-off rifle that I didn’t recognize caught my attention. “Addy? What was that?”
“Constable just showed up,” she said. “You’re clear, they’re running off.”
“Be nice if we got to keep a couple of them,” I said. “You know … criminal prosecution for attempted murder and all.”
“Not my call,” Addy reminded me.
“Tell him we’ve got casualties,” I said.
“We do?” Cassius asked.
“Remember the whole, give me a boost thing?”
“Right.”
3
HAPPY FACE
“You shouldn’t have been in a remote location by yourselves,” Celina said, her arms crossed, her feet firmly planted, a stance that informed us of her disgust. “You could have been killed.”
“We had guns,” Cassius replied. I winced. It was not the right answer for a concerned aunt who’d nearly lost her younger sister to the same people who’d been shooting at us.
“What are we going to do, Cel?” Jennifer asked, walking carefully over to hug Cassius. I hadn’t known Cassius’s mother before rescuing her from a Miristan oligarch, but she was slow to anger and hugged a lot. “We can’t lock them in a closet.”
“This problem might solve itself,” I said. The room quieted and all eyes turned toward me.
“What do you mean, Quinn?” Jennifer asked, picking up my hand. Like I said, I’d only known her a couple of months and I found it disconcerting that she often wanted to hold the hand of whoever might be speaking.
I glanced at Cassius, who shrugged, giving me permission to push forward. “Togan is after me. I killed his brother.”
Jennifer started to interrupt. We’d had a conversation where I’d offered to leave town if it would bring peace. This was different and I raised my free hand to keep her from breaking my train of thought.
“We have business on Curie,” I said.
The room was quiet until Celina picked up the conversation. “What possible business could you have on Curie? Does this have to do with that strange visitor you met with after rescuing my sister?”
“I don’t think so,” I said. “At least, we’re unaware of her involvement. Olivia and I are a little different. I can’t go into details, but we came to Grünholz because of … I think the best word is probably a calling. I know it sounds mystic. It’s not. A lot of science sounds like magic if not well explained. This is that sort of thing.”
“You’re saying you’re being called to Curie,” Celina said.
“I am.”
“Well, actually, that’s me,” Oliva said. “Quinn, you don’t have to protect me. And thank you. We leave early next week, and hope you could push up the timeframe on selling those gems.”
“How much do you need?” Celina asked.
Liv looked to Addy, who was the best at all things financial. “The amount we raise will change our approach. Ideally, we’d raise enough to top off Bandit’s fuel reserves. Lay in enough food for a few weeks and have enough left over for a couple of Limited race entries. Between sixty-five hundred and seven thousand would be comfortable.”
“That’s a big ask for the gems you showed me. Realistically, I can get twenty-five hundred to three thousand within a short timeframe. People are afraid to deal with us right now. They’re worried about retribution.”
“I didn’t know it was that bad,” Cassius said. “I mean, sure, not everybody’s talking to me, but I have new friends. It’s not that big of a deal.”
“You can see it from their side,” Celina said. “People don’t want to stick out their necks. The diner’s occupancy is down by almost fifty percent. We’re tapping into savings to get by.”
“Geez, Aunt Cel, I had no idea,” Cassius said.
“No reason for you to know. Besides, I’d work as a bartender in the worst place imaginable to have my sister back. This is temporary. We’ll get by just fine. We’ve had ups and downs before.”
“You need to talk to them, Cass,” Olivia said.
The look on Celina’s face was clear. In that instant, she knew where the conversation was headed. You didn’t need to be Olivia to know that it meant trouble.
“I forbid you from going, Cassius,” Celina said. “I know you think you’re in love, but the Hoffen family is a magnet for the worst kind of trouble. I can’t allow our family to be drawn into it. I’m sorry, Olivia. You’re a lovely girl, truly a friend to all of us, but we’re barely holding on. We can’t lose Cassius.”
“I’m sorry for your pain, Celina,” Olivia said softly. “We do head toward danger and there is no promise that we will return. I can only say that I know that we must try. A great wrong must be addressed.”
“Why is it you Hoffens believe every problem is yours to solve? Call the authorities on Curie. Tell them of this so-called great wrong. There’s no reason you have to endanger yourselves.”
“Like we did for Jennifer?” I asked, annoyed by Celina’s tone.
“Don’t you even dare …”
“Stop it!” That Cassius yelled was surprising enough that Celina, who’d pissed me off, and I just stopped. That Addy had to close my mouth by pushing my lower jaw up was a little emasculating, but we were still in that stage of our relationship where she could touch me as often as she wanted and I liked it.
“No, Cass.” Celina was faster to the punch than I was. Tears darn near squirted from her eyes and her face became bright red. “No. I can’t lose someone else. Please. No. We need you.”
Well, hell, that wasn’t fighting fairly. I could have argued all day that Cassius needed his independence. He needed to strike out on his own and become his own man. Celina, however, had a long history of losing family, starting with her parents. The steam I’d built up dissipated.
Surprisingly, Jennifer spoke next. “You have my blessing, Cassius. Mine and your father’s. Ever since I’ve been back, I’ve watched you and Olivia. There is no question as to your commitment to each other. I will not force your relationship to mature more quickly than it needs by creating unreasonable constraints. If she is the one for you, that will become clear to both of you if you are given time. Also, sister, you know Cassius is wasted on Grünholz. There is nothing for him here.”
“But … he could be killed,” Celina argued, her chest shuddering as she tried to take a breath.
“He could have been killed this morning, or two months ago when they came for me,” Jennifer said. “But his new friends cared for and protected him. Quinn Hoffen, Olivia Hoffen, promise to me that you will value Cassius’s life as your own.”
“I don’t know …,” I started to say that I didn’t know what they thought we were doing but that I wasn’t about to try to get any of us killed. Of course, Olivia wanted the floor, and I didn’t have a chance to finish.
“You already know how we care for each other. How Quinn and Cassius have felt the bonds of brotherhood within days of coming to know each other. We will care for Cassius as if his life were our very own. I promise you this. We do not set out on this venture with an expectation of failure, but we do not know what our fates hold. Cassius will be with people who care deeply for him.”
“Jennifer?” Celina asked, clearly struggling with her sister’s reversal.
“Addy, Quinn, let’s give them time to speak as a family,” Olivia said. “Cassius, we will be in your room.”
Cassius nodded.
The three of us took the back stairs to the living quarters over the diner.
“That was kind of rough,” Addy said, squeezing my hand as we sat on the edge of Cassius’s bed. “I know they’ve had tough times. I didn’t think Celina would be that angry, though.”
“She is right to be scared,” Olivia said, taking an overstuffed chair next to Cassius’s desk. “I get a sense of great trouble ahead.”
“I could use fewer of the scary warnings,” I said. “We’ve had people shooting at us already today. No reason to add drama.”
Olivia managed a small grin in my direction. “It’s not drama, Q. This will be something new for us. I sense apprehension from the Iskstar. They are concerned it might be too much for us.”
“Seriously? Did I not just tell you to knock off the whole fortune teller thing?”
“Why are you so grumpy?” Addy asked, swatting my arm. “Getting information about where we’re headed is a good idea.”
I nodded. I wasn’t going to win this fight or conversation, or whatever it was we were doing.
“That’s all I have Q,” Olivia said. “I need you to know that there is danger so you can keep us safe. If I learn more, I will share it, but not today. Cassius is coming. He is upset.”
“Addy and I can roll, maybe you guys need some snuggles,” I said, trying not to make it sound like a joke, which it wasn’t, but I had a hard time not grinning as I said it.
“We should go get a pizza and just hang out,” Addy said.
“Did someone say pizza?” Cassius asked, stepping into the room. Given Olivia’s description, I’d expected him to look more upset. While I could tell something was up, he didn’t seem in that bad of a head space.
“Addy and I were going to give you guys some time,” I said.
“Or we could have dinner with them. Your choice,” Olivia said, perkily. I wanted to roll my eyes. With me, she wanted to bring drama. For Cassius, we got a happy face. Worse yet, as this rolled through my brain, she must have felt my emotions because she quirked an eyebrow at me, even going so far as to dart her tongue out a couple of centimeters.
“Real mature.”
“I see why you guys pack those meal bars,” Cassius said, setting a stack of cooled crates into the hold. “This stuff is heavy.”
“You could have waited for me to free up the grav palette,” I said.
“My fault,” Addy said.
“How?” I asked, confused.
“I told him that Liv and I ogle his big muscles when he’s carrying heavy things,” she said, grinning. “And don’t worry, space boy, I like ‘em tall and lean, too.”
Cassius gave me a look of concern like he thought I’d be mad at Addy’s lack of boundaries. I just smiled. “Buddy, you can tell she’s getting comfortable with you when the stuff she used to think in her head finally starts being said out loud.”
“Most of the girls on Grünholz don’t like big muscles,” he said.
“How is that a thing? It’s like saying you don’t like big …”
“Stop right there,” Addy interrupted. “This isn’t a conversation we both get to have.”
“Berry-filled donuts,” I finished, changing the word at the last moment. “And why do you get to say what you want but I don’t?”
“Because I get jealous and pout.”
Cassius and I laughed, and I had to hug Addy to make sure she wasn’t getting too worked up. She was a jealous type and even I knew better than to make comments about other women in her presence. That she’d noticed Cassius’s oversized muscles wasn’t a huge surprise. We didn’t have a lot of that back home. “Wait, why don’t Grünholz girls like big muscles on men?”
“Back in the day, the cities didn’t have gravity adjustment, so all the people were gnarly because of the heavy gravity. People who lived in the cloud cities were generally smaller, thinner, and more refined. Having muscles suggests you’re one of the original Grünholz people.”
“That’s dumb. Your family isn’t even from this system,” I said.
“Quinn.”
Even before I heard Olivia’s voice, I knew something was up. I stepped around Addy and had my pistol in hand.
“What, are you going to shoot an unarmed man?” Togan Prince asked, holding up his hands.
“You have a lot of nerve coming here,” I said. “Especially after what you did last week.”
“I can’t always control my boys,” Togan said. “Looks like you’re packing for a trip. I heard you were running, and thought I’d come to see for myself. I never figured you a coward.”
“I’ve called the constable,” Olivia said, stepping into the hold, weapon in hand.
“I won’t be long,” he said. “Didn’t want to miss you. This thing between us isn’t done. You killed my brother. I’ll never forget that. I’m on the rise and you’ll wish you’d dealt with me when you could.”
“Get out of here before I shoot you and deliver you to the constable myself,” I said.
“If you do that, you’ll never make it off of Neo Firma alive,” he said. “Every pirate who calls Grünholz home will be gunning for the bounty on your head.”
“If that works so well, why haven’t you already done that?”
I knew the answer to my question before I even finished the sentence. Togan saw the understanding on my face and leered at me. “That’s right. It’s because I want to be the one to kill you. I want to see the life drain from your eyes, just like I saw when my brother died.”
“Are you going to make a run at my family while I’m gone?” Cassius asked. “They didn’t have anything to do with your brother.”
“You big dumb ape,” Togan said. “I saved your mother. I fished her out of the Gnard Sea because I felt guilty. I made deals with bad people to get her a place to live, but you couldn’t handle it. No, I’ll just kill you. It’ll make Jennifer sad, but tragedy happens, doesn’t it.”
“Man, you’re one messed up concha,” I said, borrowing a Felio translation for a child who’s acted poorly.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Togan said and then turned and jogged off. Watching him go, I saw that he was joined by half a dozen younger men, some I recognized, others I didn’t.
“We need to up our schedule,” I said. “I know we were planning tomorrow morning, but we need to go. He’s got something up his sleeve.”
“Aunt Celina was going to give us a big send-off. Most of the diner’s regulars were going to be there,” Cassius said. “She’ll hate canceling it.”
“Have her keep her plans. We just won’t be there,” I said. “It’s good cover.”
“She’ll be crushed,” Cassius said.
“Talk to her,” Olivia said and then nodded out the hatch. I followed her lead and saw the constable coming our way.
“Hey, Constable,” I said. “You just missed our friend.”
“I’m glad you didn’t use that,” he said, pointedly looking at my weapon. “We don’t need a war starting in Neo Firma. Tell me those boxes mean you’re leaving town.”
“You don’t need to sound so pleased,” I said.
“Look at it from my side. If the right thing happens and Prince gets what’s due him, there’ll be blood in the tubes. Innocent blood. If you leave, maybe we’ll have peace.”
“You don’t believe that,” I said. “You know as well as I do that Togan Prince is going to make more trouble if he continues unchecked.”
