Page 67 of Phoenix's Last Heist
“Are you planning on complying or will I need to assist you with your preparations?” he asks, the disgust in his voice materializing in the twist of his lips.
“Try it and I’ll assist you with a foot up your ass,” I snarl.
Rage rolls off him and he slams his fist against the forcefield of my cell. He opens the small portal where my food and water sit untouched, and spits on them. Sticky, faintly yellow saliva dribbles down the glass and he smirks. He drops two capsules ofhaggraonto the tray and gestures to them as he turns.
“The next time I come down here, we’ll be disembarking. Take the pills. Your blood will be tested before you’re brought to him. Be ready, or bleed your way to his office,” he hisses.
The threat would be more ominous if he knew how to deliver Kailorian colloquialisms, but I catch his drift. Being led naked and fully doped through the busy compound in the late afternoon is another attempt at humiliating me, but I’m long past caring at this point. Brill’s going to do something beyond my worst imaginings, I’m sure, and I know I should be frightened, but…
What’s the point?
Orion’s got the idol. By now, I’m sure he’s safe on the other side of the galaxy, busy forgetting about me and all the ways I did him wrong. Evie will probably be better off without me dropping in and fucking up her hard-won and much-deserved career. And Ada…well. It’s probably a little too depressing to consider the fact that my best friend was a digital figment of my imagination, who’s now gone on to that big ol’ computer in the sky.
There’s no one left to mourn me. There’s no one who will miss me. Brill’s probably going to snuff me out, and no one will ever know what became of that reprobate hybrid, Lyra Phoenix.
A strange sense of peace settles over me as I take the first of the two pills and unzip my jumpsuit. As I undress all the way down to my goosebump-covered skin, I notice several smallmarks from Orion’s teeth and fingers, and my heart thumps numbly in my chest.
“Well,” I say to myself, crossing the cell to drop the second capsule into the toilet. “On the bright side, if there’s no one left to miss me, I suppose there’s no one who’ll be disappointed when I decide to do somethingincrediblystupid.”
18
orion
Love Is a Criminal Undertaking
“I don’t usually dothings like this,” I whisper. “But I’m afraid it’s a bit of an emergency. I can wire you and your boss whatever amount of credits you think is fair for the use of your cruiser.”
The plasma pistol I have aimed at the Dreller mechanic in the adjacent launch bay doesn’t seem to impress much urgency on him, and he flashes me a sympathetic frown.
“This is a pretty pathetic hijacking,” he says. “I mean, you’re just kind ofrentingthe cruiser.”
“Yeah,” I admit, dispirited by my lack of criminal mastery. “But I like Evie, and you’ve all been very accommodating. I don’t really want to steal anything, it’s just…I have to get to Epsilon-6 and I can’t risk you or Evie saying no.”
Before he can respond, Evie patches in on the bay’s holo-com.
“Oh, for the love of—just take the stars-damned cruiser, Orion!” her virtual likeness glares at me, arms akimbo on her hips. “And would you hurry? I’m pretty sure Lyra is in deeperthan she’s ever been with that piece of space trash. Ty, be a gem and make sure he’s got enough plasma cartridges and a go-bag of supplies before he takes off. Good luck, Ranger. Maybe whatever stupid thing you’re about to do will help cancel out whatever stupid thing Lyra’s probably going to do. Two stupids make a smart, or however the saying goes.”
“I don’t think that’s right,” Ty says slowly, brows furrowing. He hands me a case of plasma ammunition for the pistol and a second duffel bag.
I wave the pistol at the camera and nod at the mechanic.
“I’ll be in touch,” I say, lugging my gear in through the cramped cabin of the cruiser. It’s much smaller than theAldrin-136, but I know it can get me to Epsilon-6 in two days. I can only hope Lyra is able to hold on for that long.
I’m about to take off when Ada chimes in over my earpiece communicator.
Ranger Asterth. I should inform you that Lyra has enacted the Yanvin Protocol.
“That can’t be good,” I say, anxiety spiking as I strap into the pilot seat. “It’s not good, right? What does that mean?”
The Yanvin Protocol will wipe all memory from the systems of theAldrin-136.As we are connected remotely, this will sever our connection and my ability to assist you with your journey.
Panic starts to rise. If I don’t have Ada’s help, I’ll never find my way to Epsilon-6, let alone track down the location of the Federal agent Lyra met with.
“What can I do?” I ask. “I can’t lose you now, Ada! Lyra’s life depends on it.”
You’ll need to establish an upload link to this cruiser. When Lyra wipes my memory from her ship, I’ll need a place to upload her data. I will walk you through the process, but you’ll need to hurry. As soon as she provides her consent and voice key, everything will be gone—including her flight records,which is the only way I can direct you to her previous location on Epsilon-6.
Sweat slicks my palms as I follow Ada’s instructions, trying to save the vestiges of my virtual lifeline before Lyra can destroy all traces of our time together. Just as Ada’s about to provide me with her final progress update, I hear Lyra belting some old Earth song over the earpiece communicator. The painful tingling beneath skin buzzes uncomfortably and nausea swirls in my gut—something is obviously wrong.Hold on, Lyra.There are sounds of a scuffle, and an ominous beeping noise—then everything goes quiet. Rage colors the edges of my vision red. My earpiece is dead.
