the sensor pad. “You and me and Big Bill.”
His eyes darkened and his hair stilled. “That’s not ...”
“We were heading in anyway, might as well make it a party.”
“Heading in? No one goes in to see Big Bill without an invitation.”
“Got one.”
He shook his head and laughed. “Oh, trin, you forget I’d know if you . . .”
The lock disengaged with an audible clang, probably for effect. The hatch swung open.
“Let’s go.” Torin stepped past him, over the lip. When only Alamber remained in the first section, she paused, and turned toward him. “Well?”
“Strange, but it seems I just don’t want to share you. So ...” He spread both hands. “. . . I’ll pass.”
Torin had spent enough time with new second lieutenants to know when a confident smile was a fake. To recognize when bravado twisted the curve and softened the edges. And fuk, the kid was young. What the hell was he doing here? “I won’t mention this to Big Bill.”
“You don’t share either. All right.” This smile was the real thing. The fingernails on the hand he waved had been painted black. “When you realize I’m the best thing that could happen to you, you can find me in Communications. No surveillance on the surveillance; sets up a feedback loop. You can do what you want with me, trin. Go crazy wild.”
As the hatches slammed shut, Torin sighed and said, “Don’t push it, kid.”
“At least he only wants to get into your pants,” Mashona pointed out as they moved toward the only open hatch in the corridor. “Whole lot simpler than Darlys wanting to deify you.”
Torin snorted. It was a nice change.
The open hatch led into a large outer room dominated by a wall of vid screens all playing a news feed, and the Grr brothers sitting together on a heavy, black leather sofa.
As she stepped over the threshold, one of them looked up, eyes swollen nearly shut over visibly bruised nose ridges. His lip curled as Werst, Ressk, and Mashona followed her into the room. “Boss wants your people to wait here.” He nodded toward an inner door. “You go on in.”
“They’re watching you, Gunny,” Ressk said quietly.
“Yeah. I noticed.” All of the screens were playing one of Presit’s reports. Torin shifted so the camera she wore could catch it. It never hurt to stroke Presit’s ego. “Don’t let them provoke you into a fight.” This mostly to Werst. “You take the first swing, and it doesn’t matter if I ate their souls on toast. It’s on.”
“How do you know so much about a freak cult most Krai have never heard of?” Werst demanded, curling his toes under and cracking the joints.
“I used to be a gunnery sergeant.” Torin squared her shoulders and headed toward the inner door. “And I still know everything.”
The walk back to the storage pod became extended torture. Every time the heel of his left foot hit the deck, the impact sent a jolt of pain up his leg. By the time Craig got to the air lock, the muscles of his back had knotted. By the time he got to the pod, every other muscle on his body had knotted; his back had moved on to spasms.
Nadayki had gone to his knees in front of the seal, his eyes now at the same level as the tiny screen. He shuffled around when Craig lifted his injured foot over the hatch lip, the muscles of his other leg trembling with the effort.
The slow sweep of Nadayki’s hair stopped. When it started moving again, it flipped around his ears in short choppy arcs. “I’m not sorry. It was your own fault. You shouldn’t have been fukking around.”
Somehow Craig managed to get enough air into his lungs to snort. “Yeah. So I’ve heard.” Sweat dribbled down his sides. His skin was cold and clammy under the overalls. “And I heard you say . . . you don’t need my help . . . anymore. So I’m just going to park my ass over here . . . and put my foot up like the doctor ordered.” Everything from his left hip down throbbed and burned. He didn’t so much sit as collapse to the deck. It still stank a bit of chunder, but that was a minor inconvenience compared to being horizontal.
When he finally turned his head toward the armory, Nadayki was staring at him, eyes dark.
“What?”
Nadayki’s eyes lightened. “Nothing. This coding is complete crap. Don’t get comfortable because I’ll be through any minute