Breakout (21 page)

26

Conspiracy Theory

When Dred woke, she felt as if she had been asleep for at least twenty-four hours. The awful, debilitating weakness had passed, and her skin looked much better. She'd passed the point of deathly pallor and was back to prison pale. Though she had a few scabs left, most of them had healed to the pink of new skin. She stretched and sat up, glancing over to see Jael lounging on his back, arms crossed beneath his head.

“Feeling better?” he asked.

“Much. You?”

“I think we're out of the woods.” He rolled onto his side and got the handheld, an expression she couldn't interpret kindling his features. “Watch this.”

“Holy shit,” Dred said, after Jael played the last two logs.

“Exactly. Rebestah Saren is Silence. I don't think she was ever sentenced here. I think she must've hidden when Monsanto abandoned the place.”

A chill went through her. “So she was here alone while they finished covering up their crimes and then the Conglomerate repurposed the facility.”

“Yeah. They chipped her, drove her mad, and—”

“Those assholes are responsible for her crimes. So much pain and suffering, just so a couple of rich scumbags could avoid prosecution for embezzlement.”

“This changes everything,” she said.

“How so?” From his expression, she could tell that Jael hadn't come to the same conclusion.

“Don't you think we should try to save her?”

“What happened to her sucks, but she's not Rebestah anymore. She's been Silence for so many turns . . . her brain's a mess, love. Even if we subdued her, we don't have the equipment to get that chip out of there. And even if we did, that doesn't mean she'd revert.”

Unable to argue, Dred sighed. “I doubt the others care why she's here, either. They would never agree to bring her with us.”

“She'd probably blow up the ship,” Tam said.

Shifting, Dred saw the spymaster hovering on the other side of the junk wall. “I think we're safe if you feel like risking it. Or we can talk from here.”

Tam played it safe by taking a seat just inside the perimeter. “You look like you're recovering.”

“How's the ship coming?”

“Vost and I nearly have it ready. Well, as much as it can be, given what we have to work with. The problem is . . .” Tam hesitated, lowering his voice.

“Don't be coy,” Jael said.

“With Keelah gone, our supplies will last better. But even on subsistence rations, we have too many people. There's also some risk that our production of CO
2
will tax life support.”

Sickness roiled her belly.
After everything we've gone through together . . .
“You're saying we have to cull the herd.”

Tam nodded. “The fewer people on board, the more likely it is we'll last long enough to get out of the system.”

Jael rubbed a hand over his face. “Vost is a lock. We need him to get the doors open.”

“Would anyone miss Duran?” Tam asked. “I could do it quietly.”

Dred chewed her lip. It wasn't that she cherished Duran especially, but . . . “Vost is a good commander, he wouldn't let us bullshit him. Plus, we're locked in. It's not like we can say Silence did it. He'll know it was one of us.”

Tam leaned forward, his expression dark. “You think too highly of him.”

“Explain,” she said.

“I thought from the beginning that Keelah's death was suspect, but I couldn't investigate while Vost was awake. So I stayed close to him while we worked on the ship. I made sure he didn't include any questionable installations.”

“You
really
don't trust him,” Jael noted.

“For good reason, as it turns out. Once he went to sleep during down cycle, I checked Keelah's body thoroughly.”

“What did you find?” Dred knew it must be bad, from Tam's grim aspect.

“A scratch beneath her fur, just below her rib cage. It wasn't deep enough to cause harm in and of itself, but—”

“If the blade was poisoned, it could've killed her,” Jael finished.

“Silence.” Dred couldn't believe what she was thinking. “You suspect Vost went to her with the same deal he presented to us?”

“It would be prudent,” Tam admitted.

She turned the ramifications of that over in her head. “So he may start picking us off.”

“He can try,” Jael snarled.

Tam went on with his speculation. “Say he made a bargain with Silence. He gets our help constructing the ship because, let's face it, her followers are not operating at full capacity. Vost knows he needs skilled help.”

Dred took up the narrative then. “Accidents happen, people die. He expected our numbers to thin out more, but we're stronger than he knew.”

Tam smirked. “You two in particular are almost impossible to kill. Did you see how stunned he was that you made it back in one piece with all those parts? We didn't need half of what he asked you to retrieve, by the way.”

Jael curled one hand into a fist and smacked it into his palm. “You've no idea how much I want to kill him. Slowly.”

“We can't. He's untouchable,” Tam said.

“Only until we get off the station.” Dred smiled at their expressions. “What, did you forget I can be ruthless? It's kind of my thing.”

Tam steepled his fingers. “I admire that about you. But back to my theory . . . I expect something to ‘go wrong' now that we're nearing the end of construction, something we'll have to leave the bay to deal with.”

“And we should expect Vost and Duran to strike then, trying to pick us off.” Dred wasn't asking; she already saw how it would play out.

Tam confirmed, “Probably an attack coordinated with Silence. Vost is good with computers, they may be communicating.”

“If she has poison blades in reserve, they could take out you three pretty fast.” By which she meant Calypso, Tam, and Martine.

He nodded, not taking offense to the truth. “They'd have more trouble with you two—”

“But they don't need to kill us directly,” Jael said. “Doubling back to the ship and stranding us? Same thing.”

“How does this story end?” Dred asked.

Jael was wondering the same thing.

“For them?” Tam questioned.

Dred nodded.

“They proceed to the docking bay while you and Jael are elsewhere. Duran and Vost turn on Silence, and the mercs take off with the ship, plenty of food and water on board for two. At least, that's what I'd do in their shoes.”

“Remind me again why I trust you?” she joked.

Jael studied the other man's face and decided not to kill him. Tam didn't have to open this discussion. He could've let shit explode and done his best to survive it. Instead, he was helping them prepare for the worst.

“Because he's proven,” he said.

Dred nodded at his words. “True enough. So what strategy do you recommend? We can't wait for them to manufacture an emergency.”

But something was bothering Jael. He thought of Rebestah's mad-faced desperation in the vid and her long turns of isolation. “Dred, you think she actually
wants
to leave?”

“Silence?”

“Yeah.”

Tam glanced between them, and he took the time to show the spymaster the logs. It might alter his hypothesis because for everyone else, Perdition was a life sentence, a place they'd do anything to escape. Once they finished watching, Tam tapped his fingers lightly against his knee.

“I had no idea.”

“None of us did.”

Then the spymaster came to the same conclusion. “If she accepted Vost's offer, it's only because she wants him to deal with
us
. I suspect she has no intention of ever leaving this place.”

•   •   •

JAEL
said, “So she'll be prepared for a double cross. You think Silence can take the two mercs?”

“Probably. Vost is injured, and Duran isn't as brave as one might wish.”

Kind way of calling him yellow,
Jael thought.

Dred appeared to come to a sudden decision. “For now, we pretend we don't know any of this, especially that Vost murdered Keelah.”

“He's not getting away with that,” Jael said, low.

She nodded. “You can snap his neck as soon as those docking-bay doors open.”

“But why Keelah?” Tam asked softly. “What did he stand to gain?”

“Maybe she caught him communicating with Silence?” Jael suggested.

“She was quiet. Easier for her to sneak up on someone and overhear important info.” Dred seemed to think that was the probable answer.

Possibly.

In all honesty, he wasn't a big thinker. He'd spent so much time following orders, first in the labs, then as a merc, that analytical thinking didn't come natural to him. Yet he wanted answers as much as they did.

Before he could say anything else, Martine slipped inside, curling up next to Tam. “Private party, or can anybody join?”

Damn. We didn't finish talking. Are we killing Duran or not?

“You're always welcome,” Tam said.

His eyes, however, indicated that they were done talking about treachery, murder, and secret bargains. Jael understood why. While Tam might be cold and calculating, Martine was exactly the opposite. Her temper might provoke her to stab Vost in the neck, then nobody was getting off station. Jael took the hint, as silently requested.

“We should help with the ship if we can,” Dred said.

“How's it coming?”

“Just a few more pieces. Vost is working on it now.”

Shit,
Jael thought.

He saw alarm reflected in Tam's and Dred's faces, too.
What if he installs some kind of fail-safe? Like if he doesn't input the code every so often, the ship goes boom. Good way to make sure we keep him around.
Being around Tam was infectious, it seemed; now he had conspiracy theories popping into his head without prompting.

Martine went on, “Once it's done, then we can start running some stress tests, make sure it's strong enough to hold together.”

“Let's go take a look,” Jael said.

“Aw.” Martine mock pouted. “I thought I was settling in for a long chat.”

“We'll have plenty of time to talk after launch, bright eyes.”

A happy smile lit Martine's features. “You got that right. I'm already planning to get some crowns to cover my prison dentistry, so I don't scare the nice civilians.”

“You're making plans for what you'll do outside?” Tam asked.

“Definitely. Aren't you?”

The other three traded looks, then Jael said, “I guess I'm cynical. Though I've been talking escape since I got here, I won't believe it's true until we're actually out.”

“Well, lighten up.” Martine smacked him on the shoulder as she pushed to her feet and rushed back out to the main part of the bay.

Jael, Dred, and Tam followed at a more leisurely pace, mostly to cover the unease that had taken root. When he got to the ship, it didn't look any different than it ever had, but admittedly it was a hodgepodge mess. He had a hard time believing the thing would actually run, but as he thought that, the engines powered up, firing a jet of superheated air toward him. Dred tackled him and knocked him away from the stream. She helped him up, wearing a fierce scowl.

“Idiot,” Calypso yelled. “You have to give us some warning.”

A few seconds later, Duran stumbled out of the shuttle. “Sorry. I thought the area was clear.” He protected his face with his arms while Calypso pummeled him.

Did they just try to kill me?

“That's why I installed a comm system,” Vost said, stepping out.

It was hard as hell not to react, so Jael totally got why Tam hadn't told Martine.
Bide your time. Wait for the right opportunity.
He even managed a half smile, hoping it looked like his usual sardonic greeting.