Page 118 of Star Claimed Omega
‘Fine,’ she breathed, then added, ‘Just tired.’
He grunted and trudged off, leaving her to exhale through her teeth.
She exited, walked briskly back toward the elevators, only to stagger as a bolt of pain sliced through her wrists.
She veered and stumbled into a narrow utility alley, hand clapped over her mouth to muffle the cry.
The anguish ebbed just enough for her to breathe and extend her forearm before her wrist holo burned and flashed.
Revealing his face as his voice, oil-slick and amused, uncoiled through the byway.
‘Well, well. Top of the morning, doll.’
Vern’s projection shimmered like static in front of her, his cruel grin unchanged.
She grit her teeth and straightened. ‘What do you want?’
He clucked his tongue. ‘Where are you going?’
‘Home. It’s after work, I’m tired asfokkand need to shower, eat, and sleep, in that order.’
‘Oh no.Nada, my girl. You’ve got an errand to run.’ His smile twisted. ‘One of the most important ever, and should you refuse to do it? Well -’ he tapped the side of his temple, a visual tic that sent fire lancing through her wrists.
She gasped, doubling over as pain lit her nerves like acid.
‘I’ll blow you and that pretty little payload of yours and turn you into a fine scarlet mist,’ he chuckled.
Her hands clenched into fists. ‘You bastard.’
‘You always say the nicest things. This time I’m not signing off. You’ll hear me in your ear the whole time, sweetheart.’ He winked. ‘Now head due left, for level sixteen, and the CVIQ conduit.’
He transferred his voice into her neural node, a disgusting slide of his presence into her mind like grease into clean water.
Shaking, Soleil pressed her lips together, braced, and began to walk.
The echo of her footsteps across the metal grates of the maintenance corridor sounded like a funeral drumbeat.
Every step carried the question she didn’t dare articulate out loud.
Is this how it was to end?
Her insides trembled, but she kept walking anyway.
SANTIAGO
On theCrimson Widow, drifting in the shadow of a dying star, Santi’s patience was worn down to a threadbare wire.
He loomed over the bound and bloodiedRed Skulllieutenant, arms crossed, mouth tight, deciding which of his more creative interrogation methods to employ next.
The dim emergency lights cast a scarlet glow over the cargo bay, eerie and pulsing like a heartbeat.
Zev and Boaz stood guard at the sealed exit, Kaal crouched nearby, calibrating a vibro-dagger with ominous indifference.
A ping sounded in his neural cortex.
A private call from Miral.
Santi,she said, her tone clipped and urgent, after you flagged down that we might have a problem, I can confirm that we do.
