Slip Point Read online

  She looked at him for the first time and saw that same pain in his expression. She couldn’t help herself from reaching out and touching his face, trying to ease away the hurt.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “I was happy for you. But you’re right, I was jealous too. When we raced as kids, you’d usually win, but we’d just end up hanging out together afterward. That wasn’t going to happen this time. I thought I was trying not to ruin your moment, but I was really running off to nurse my pride.”

  “With pirates?”

  His voice was so comically dismayed that she laughed. “I wanted to fly, and the Corps wasn’t an option,” she said. “I didn’t even think about commercial pilots and the like. And I wanted to meet my father.”

  “What’s he like?”

  “Nothing like the sort of person you’d think my mother would be with,” she said, and it was his turn to laugh. She could feel it as much as hear it, pressed near his chest as she was. It was soothing to be curled around his warmth.

  She was usually indifferent about whether her lovers stayed the night, but she didn’t want Jayce to go. “Tell me about the Corps.”

  He tucked one hand behind his head, the other stroking her hair. “In a lot of ways it was like Centuris.” He glanced over, saw her disbelieving expression, and chuckled. “Really. All that discipline. Chores to do, speaking respectfully, that sort of thing. But there was so much they didn’t teach us that I had to catch up on—I didn’t even know the names of all of the Hub worlds. And, of course, there were the other recruits. They were merciless at first.”

  “The Rim accent?”

  He grinned. “You got bashed for that too?” He tapped her nose. “I slip back when I’m talking to you. It’s nice.”

  Her accent did return in full force around him, too, she realized with dismay. She’d worked so hard at ridding herself of it. But it was true that the familiar cadences from her home planet somehow put her more at ease. “Yeah, everyone assumed I was a backcountry idiot whenever I opened my mouth.”

  “Same here. Until I proved I wasn’t stupid. Then the women decided the accent was sexy.”

  She sat up, indignant. “Why didn’t the men think that about me?”

  He pulled her back down and pressed a kiss to her temple. “I think it’s incredibly sexy.”

  “Hunh.”

  “Even your grunts have an accent.” He nuzzled her ear. “That’s hot.”

  Amused despite herself, she slathered on her thickest Centuris drawl. “Hotter than repairing a barn roof in midsummer?”

  “I must have you now!” he declared, rolling over onto her. But he wasn’t just acting, she noticed. His erection nudged her.

  “I don’t think we have time,” she said reluctantly.

  “Tease.”

  She grinned up at him. “Arrogant bastard.”

  His mouth covered hers in a brief but fierce possession, and then he moved off of her. “Witch,” he said softly, and she couldn’t imagine any endearment more tenderly spoken.

  She’d slept with him so she’d have no regrets. Perhaps her plan had backfired.

  ***

  Shayalin had never quite shaken her admiration for the clean lines of military ships, loaded with weaponry and outfitted with the latest technological upgrades. But she rarely had the luxury of getting a close look at them—usually she was running away, making frantic slipspace calculations.

  Here, now, they slowed their approach. There was a downside to Swallows, Shayalin discovered. It was impossible to pace in their tight confines.

  The comm chirruped. Shayalin toggled it.

  “Carrier Paradigm’s Commander Chodere Amas. Identify yourself.”

  “Pilot Jayce Dietrich of the Atian Corps, flying Shdai on detached duty.”

  His voice seemed a stranger’s, crisp and respectful. Shayalin looked at him askance, but he was focused on the exchange.

  “What brings you to the Paradigm, Pilot? Your spoke’s under quarantine.”

  “I’m aware of that. I have a criminal in custody, and as I’m unable to turn her over to the Atian justice system, it seems best to leave her with you,” he said. He made her sound distinctly unglamorous.

  “You’ve captured the dread pirate Lin Bailey, scourge of the shipping lanes,” she said, sotto voce. “At least act like it was easier than trapping a rat.”

  He set his hand firmly over her mouth. “I’d like to turn her over for proper processing and get some repairs done to my ship before I return to my command unit.”

  “Who is this criminal?” The commander’s voice held a trace of curiosity.

  “She’s known as Lin Bailey.”

  Someone else’s voice exclaimed in the background, “Lin—?” and was cut off by an abrupt muting. Shayalin grinned as she imagined the sudden uproar.

  The commander returned. “You may dock. We’ll send you coordinates.”

  “Thank you, Commander.”

  “See, they’re excited about getting their hands on me,” she said, but as soon she said it her stomach dropped. She was letting herself be captured.

  Jayce pulled her in close. “Trust me, I get plenty excited about getting my hands on you,” he said. He tipped her head back and kissed her, his mouth warm on hers, a little teasing but not urgent. She felt herself relaxing into it.

  “I’m ready,” she said.

  He took up her hands and snapped restraints around her wrists.

  They weren’t physically uncomfortable but they still chafed at her. Even so, she raised her gaze to Jayce’s and said again, “I’m ready.” Only then did he guide the Swallow into the Paradigm’s dock.

  They had an escort, of course, a pair of soldiers who checked Shayalin’s restraints and drew up sharply at attention in front of Jayce.

  He gave them a sly grin after introducing himself and said, “Sorry for the ever-so-exciting duty,” and they immediately relaxed.

  “Better than recalibrating all the company’s rifles,” one of them said easily.

  “So what’s the story?” the other soldier asked.

  “I was detached for a special mission,” Jayce said. “Nabbed a pirate.”

  “You were sent off solo to chase after a pirate?” one of the soldiers asked in disbelief.

  Jayce leaned toward them, as though in confidence. “She’s Lin Bailey.”

  She gritted her teeth as their heads swung toward her and they stared. Then one of them let loose with a hoot. “You got Lin Bailey! They’ll have you up for promotion for this.”

  “They’d better,” Jayce said. “I hear I missed out on a lot while she was leading me her merry way across the Wheel.”

  “How’d you do it?”

  “A chance encounter at a bar and a couple of Blue Pythons,” he said with a straight face.

  They laughed.

  Shayalin glared at him, not acting at all. What was he trying to do to her reputation, rip it into shreds?

  “No, really,” one of them said, and she couldn’t help feeling better that he doubted her easy capture.

  “I’ll tell you about it over a drink after I get her safely in your brig,” Jayce promised.

  She decided this was her cue and slammed the back of her head into Jayce’s face. Although he was expecting the attack, he grunted in surprise. Still, he managed to haul her down on the floor before either soldier could react, which she was grateful for. Jayce didn’t really want to hurt her. She couldn’t be sure with the other two.

  He rose and toed her in the stomach. “Don’t try that again.” He hauled her to her feet and she cried out, letting her ankle roll in. From the way Jayce’s hand tightened convulsively around her arm, she’d fooled even him for a moment there. “Can you stand?”

  “Get your paws off me,” she snapped, loosing her Centuris accent in full force, even as she lurched away on the ankle she’d decided to sprain. Anything to make them underestimate her.

  Jayce’s face was a mess, streaked with crimson and already bruising. She’d given
him a beautiful nosebleed. He wiped away blood with his sleeve and turned to the soldiers. “Which way’s the infirmary?”

  “It’s a different direction than the brig. We could take her into custody while you get patched up,” one of the soldiers suggested.

  Jayce just looked at him steadily.

  “…or not,” he muttered.

  “Not for me,” Jayce said. “For her. Look, I appreciate you guys rendering assistance and all that, but it’s hard for me that the pinnacle of my career is taking place on another spoke’s ship without a proper debriefing and recognition. The last thing I want to do is turn over a prisoner who could claim she was brutalized on my watch.”

  The soldiers looked awkwardly understanding. The one who had made the suggestion earlier cleared his throat. “Of course, sir,” he said. “This way.”

  A military ship was nothing like a private medical facility. Shayalin knew better than to think they could take these men down with the same ease. She hobbled and cursed her way along gleaming metal corridors to the infirmary, but there were always uniformed people passing who had trim builds and alert attitudes. The soldiers were fussy about procedure, waiting for each door to slide securely closed behind them. Shayalin had jimmied the Adannaya’s public doors to stay open out of convenience, and there weren’t even half as many as she passed through now.

  They finally went through a final door and reached a room arrayed with the telltale examination table of a medical bay. The area was empty except for a woman rapidly tapping a tablet.

  “Doctor,” the soldier called to her.

  “I’m not on general duty for bandaging your scrapes,” she said irritably then looked up and paled.

  It was Keaton.

  She didn’t seem to know whether to trust the tableau before her, with Shayalin in restraints but Jayce free. “Pilot Dietrich?” she said uncertainly.

  The soldiers exchanged glances.

  Jayce’s smile was a little dangerous. “It’s good to see you again, Doctor Rossi.”

  “We should go,” one of the soldiers said, clearly sensing tension. “We’ll just take her with us.” He reached for Shayalin, who tried to judge the best place to kick him.

  “She stays with me,” Jayce said without looking at them.

  They deflated. “We’ll be right outside,” one offered.

  “Don’t want to intrude.”

  “Didn’t realize you’d know each other—I mean, of course, you’re both Atian—”

  As the soldier backed out of the room still babbling, the other punched him in the shoulder. “That’s an entire spoke, man!” he hissed before the door closed all the way.

  “They’ll come right back if they hear me yell,” Keaton said, which halted Shayalin in her tracks. She thought she could take her even with her hands tied, but not before she’d have the chance to raise an outcry. The doctor had a high-strung look Shayalin recognized—she’d been running too long on nothing but adrenaline. It wouldn’t take much to set her off.

  “But we’re just going to talk, aren’t we?” Jayce said.

  “Right,” Keaton said. “I suppose I should explain what happened.”

  “We’ve got a good guess,” Shayalin said. “You’re a Purist.”

  “I’m a scientist,” Keaton said. “A medical researcher. You can’t tell me the premier arranged for a human clone to be born in secret and expect me to sit by.”

  Shayalin took a step toward her, wishing her hands were free so she could threaten to wrap them around Keaton’s neck. “You didn’t kill the baby, did you?”

  “No! But it needs to be studied. People have a right to know about this.”

  “What did you tell the people on this ship?” Jayce asked, quiet and intense in contrast to Shayalin’s menacing stance.

  “I didn’t tell them who she is,” Keaton said.

  “You think they won’t find out eventually?” Shayalin demanded. “They’ll want to know whose clone she is. You’ve just neatly created the whole hostage scenario we were trying to stop. Who knows if Quynh will ever see her wife again. And you think there aren’t Purists on board who won’t murder that child and her mother?”

  Keaton said, “I thought—” and stumbled to a halt. “It’s a medical breakthrough.” Her voice sank.

  “It’s a baby.”

  “Ease up, Shay.”

  Shayalin turned on Jayce. “She’s an idiot!”

  “You panicked once too,” Jayce said. “When you learned about something that didn’t really affect anyone but yourself.”

  Shayalin flinched, recalling the revelation about her father and how she’d reacted. “I didn’t abduct anyone when I ran off, though.”

  “No,” he agreed, but unspoken was the fact that she’d inflicted her share of hurt anyway.

  The door opened and one of the soldiers leaned in. “Pilot,” he began to say to Jayce then saw Shayalin standing easily on her uninjured ankle. His hand dropped to his holster. “What’s going on here?”

  Shayalin rammed her shoulder into his gut, cursing the restraints that kept her from doing anything more effective.

  Jayce caught her shoulder and pulled her back. “Get Quynh,” he said as he delivered a hard blow to the soldier’s jaw.

  “I don’t know where she is!”

  And to her amazement, Keaton caught Shayalin’s eye and jerked her head toward a door.

  Shayalin ran through, more because she knew she’d be useless in a real fight than because she trusted Keaton.

  Quynh was in a room with a glass wall, lying on a berth. They were keeping her under observation even while she slept, Shayalin noted with distaste. Perhaps she was considered an experimental subject and not a human being entitled to privacy. Or maybe it was thought that whatever was in Quynh’s womb was something better placed behind a barrier. There’d never been an image of Nala Zakiyah in the newsfeeds, and they’d never said exactly what mutation she had that allowed her to produce alien speech.

  But Quynh loved Zakiyah as a partner. That made the Speaker human enough. And Jayce had met the Speaker, and hadn’t seemed horrified by the experience.

  She tapped the panel for the door and it slid aside. “Quynh,” she said softly, shaking the woman’s shoulder.

  Quynh’s eyes opened, then widened. “Lin!” She sat up.

  The name disoriented her for a moment. She’d gotten used to Jayce’s nickname for her.

  “Are you all right?” She made her expression exaggeratedly concerned.

  Quynh nodded.

  But there was a slight hesitation that made Shayalin pause. The other woman was holding herself very still, as though trying avoid drawing attention, or tensing to bolt. No, she wasn’t imagining it. Quynh was wary of her.

  “Come on,” she said, gesturing, almost as much to test her theory, only to have it confirmed when the other woman didn’t move.

  Quynh shook her head and held out one hand as though to ward her off. She said a few words, none of which Shayalin understood.

  “Well, this is awkward,” Shayalin said in exasperation.

  A small smile flickered across Quynh’s face. She suppressed it quickly, but Shayalin was caught by a sudden suspicion.

  “There’s a spider on your shoulder,” Shayalin said.

  Quynh began to lift her hand, but then she laughed and pressed it to her mouth instead of brushing off the imaginary spider.

  Shayalin supposed the ruse had been too obvious, but it had still gotten a reaction. She raised her eyebrows. “Sure, we can pretend you laughed for no good reason.”

  Quynh faced Shayalin squarely, apparently knowing better than to keep up the act any longer.

  “So you can understand me, at least.”

  The other woman nodded slowly.

  “And you don’t want to go with me.”

  Another nod.

  Shayalin sighed and perched on the edge of the bed, ignoring Quynh’s flinch. “All right, what did Keaton tell you?”

  Quynh gave her an exaspera
ted look and let loose a torrent of words Shayalin couldn’t make any sense of. All right, so it had been a bit thoughtless to ask when there wasn’t any graceful way for Quynh to answer.

  “I’ll try guessing,” Shayalin said. “Is it something medical? About the premier? Me?”

  Quynh pointed at her accusingly.

  “Me. Did she tell you I’m a Purist?”

  The other woman shook her head and sliced the edge of her hand across her throat.

  Shayalin let out a sigh. “She told you I’m a pirate.” For all she knew, Quynh’s family had been killed by pirates the same way Shayalin had once thought her father had been. Or the supplies her colony had needed had been on a hijacked ship. But they didn’t have time for this. “Listen,” she said, “do you know anything about the Steaders?”

  The other woman nodded and pointed to the console on the wall, then made a wiping motion.

  “We don’t avoid all technology, just the advanced forms,” Shayalin said, having encountered this misconception before.

  Quynh looked stunned.

  “Yeah, I used to be one. I grew up in a Steader colony. That’s actually where I met Jayce, and as far as I know he has no black marks on his record besides trying to escape waste duty as a kid.”

  That surprised a laugh out of Quynh.

  Encouraged, Shayalin went on. “I wanted to go offworld. And the only reason I became a pirate was because I flunked the other way to do it.” She grimaced, the memory still like a burr. “The Corps wouldn’t take me. But that’s why the premier chose me, I think. They still have records of all my tests, and they think they know me even now. They chose me despite my background. Keaton, I think, they must have chosen mostly because she was a doctor with the right specialization and language skills who wasn’t caught in the quarantine.”

  Quynh chewed her lip.

  “Look, do you trust Jayce?”

  The other woman nodded slowly.

  “I do too,” Shayalin said simply. “He’s the guy who took you to Cuoramin so you could have your daughter. And he went back to get you when it wasn’t safe for you to stay there any longer. And I left my ship—” her voice hitched, and she steadied it. “I left my ship to help him come get you again.”