Dark Matters - Michelle Diener Page 0,96

confirmation.

“Toss you off. I'd rather you not be around to talk about how long we had you and how badly you were treated, even though I know we're going to win this. The UC might be more difficult to negotiate with if you're around to blab.”

The scientists at the facility hadn't actually treated her that badly. Lucy had long had a suspicion they exaggerated the cruelty of the experiments they were conducting.

It was sad that they thought the military would approve more if she was harmed.

“The Tecran military really has lost its way, haven't they?” She tried to see if Bane was in trouble above, but the lights shining from Karn's eyes made it difficult to even make out how many Tecran battleships were attacking him.

She heard Silius make a sound of disgust. It sounded a lot closer than before.

She took out the pen again, opened her eyes to narrowed slits to see a little, and realized that she would have to aim as far down the arms as she could, because just landing below the beak was as easy for Silius as it would be for her. She didn't even need the pen for that.

Another sound came from her left and she bent her head and opened her eyes a little more, saw Silius's hand reach up for a handhold.

She pointed the pen toward Karn's fingers, and engaged.

Her sight was too limited to work out where the magnet had attached, and as Silius pulled his head up in line with her feet, she was yanked off her perch.

The metal arms seemed to rise up at her, and she twisted onto her back so that when she hit, it wasn't face first.

She felt the air slam out of her lungs and then she was sliding to the right, flying off the edge of Karn's sleeve into space. She screamed as she swung out past the hands held out in supplication like she was on a crazy fairground ride, and then she was hauled up, so she was pressed against the knuckle of Karn's right thumb.

She coughed and gasped, trying to breathe, a roaring in her ears. It masked the sound of Silius who was suddenly above her, reaching down to haul her up.

He had trouble with it, letting go and then trying again as she hung, shivering, miserable at being so high.

He swore viciously, and seemed to finally get a good hold.

“I see your ships are losing to Bane,” she called up to him, saying the first thing that occurred to her that would make him stop, even for a moment, and look elsewhere.

Silius stopped pulling at the cable and she swung gently as he released it.

She could just make out where he crouched on one knee above her.

He said nothing, and she blinked back tears of relief because maybe her guess had been right. She was sure he'd take pleasure in correcting her if she wasn't.

“Maybe they are, maybe not,” he said at last. “Hard to see from here with those lights you set in Karn's eyes. But if I can't see properly, neither can you. You're just delaying the inevitable.”

She tried to look up, realized he was right about the visibility, and then looked down, instead. She was directly above the square, she realized. She heard a faint whine, and tilted her head up. Silius stood above her, pulling his shockgun from his holster.

He would shoot her. He didn't even have to pull her up. If he aimed directly at her head, she'd die. She didn't doubt that for a moment.

She thought she heard her name being shouted from below, and looked down again.

Dray?

She hoped so.

Silius raised his shockgun, and she ran her finger down the side of the pen.

She dropped as shockgun fire seared the air above her head.

It felt as if her stomach was left behind in Karn's hands, an offering to the gods, as she plummeted down.

She wanted to scream, but the sound caught in her throat and choked her.

Another flicker of purple shot past her, and she drew her arms and legs together, trying to make herself a smaller target, and then there was a flicker coming up from below and even with the wind roaring past her, she heard Silius scream.

She ran out of cable about twenty meters from the ground.

Her descent was slowed, so she wasn't wrenched back up when it came to a sudden end, and she ended up twisting gently and continuously, a worm on the end of a line.

“Lucy.”

She