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On the other hand, it looked like both his legs were factory originals. Dyson prodded Matt, sending him on ahead. James was already moving out.

Back at the small camp, Miz snorted angrily at them, horse boogers flying. Apparently Beni had been giving her trouble. Beni was the picture of innocence, of course. Very suspicious.

“Ooooh,” she breathed as they slipped into the stand of pines and underbrush. “A
man
.”

James snorted in disgust. Dyson stopped like he’d hit a wall, and stared at Beni a second. “Uh, you’re the nun?”

“
Former
nun.” Her tone was a little bit snippy, and a lot firm.

“Sorry, Beni. He’s batting for our team.”

Beni’s shoulders slumped and her lip poked out. Now she snorted in disgust. It was a snortfest. “Shit,” she muttered.

“There are two more guys on the other side who are probably going to be interested,” Matt added quickly, hoping to avoid a tantrum. “It’ll motivate you to swim faster when we cross.” He decided not to mention Van’s current location.

Beni got a look of total confusion on her face. “Swim? We aren’t taking a boat?”

“Not very covert.”

“Oh.” She gave him a mildly troubled look. “I can’t swim.”

“Is that extenuating enough?” James asked Dyson dryly after a short silence.

“Dammit, Beni, I told you earlier. You could have mentioned you can’t swim then.”

“I don’t remember that.” She shrugged nonchalantly. “When was it?”

“This
morning
,” Matt snapped.

“Oh. I was thinking about the men you promised me.” Beni sniffed and flipped her hair. Then she inspected her nails.

“All right, let’s just figure this shit out.” James sat down. Matt could tell he’d about reached his bullshit threshold. James turned to Dyson. “She doesn’t need to really swim, just kick. But how do we get her past the spillway? The current’ll be strong there.”

“We have an underwater cable run across. Leondri did it this afternoon with a submarine-bot.”

“Under
water
?” Beni’s voice got high and quavery. Matt and James looked at her a second. James turned to Matt and nodded sharply.

Lovely. She wasn’t faking it. She was fucking terrified.

“Fuck this,” James growled. “Do I outrank anyone over there?”

Dyson grinned. “Pretty much everyone, First Lieutenant. ’Cept Laslo. And Holland, but he’s piloting the skimmer.”

James started grumbling, but Matt was grinning. He turned to Beni. “Start packing up our shit. We’re going home.” Beni looked at him, bewildered. She’d never packed any of it in the first place. Or unpacked, for that matter.

Dyson laughed. “Laslo wanted to send the skimmer instead of me, Lieutenant. All I have to do is com and he’ll have her moving. ’Bout fifteen minutes out.” Dyson got on his com while Matt started breaking down what little was out. James must be calling Miz back, since he was staring off into space. She’d wandered off.

Dyson no sooner sent his message to Laslo than someone clicked in to him. Three clicks.

Fuck, even Matt remembered that one. “Who is it?” He could see Dyson inspecting his readout.

“’S Van.” Dyson was trying to get more info, like direction and number of who was coming at them. Van wasn’t answering. How the hell had they snuck up on them?

“Leave whatever isn’t critical. Us out, Beni in the middle.” James was using his command voice.

Matt’s cock kind of liked the command voice. He ignored it, for now.

“Where th’fuck’s Beni?” James sounded pissed. Matt looked around. She’d disappeared.

“I swear to fucking God, if she went to find a little girls’ tree right now, I’m gonna—” Matt broke off when they heard a screech. Not a terrified screech—a pissed-off screech.

“I was
peeing
!” They heard Beni scream at someone. “Don’t you know any better than to give a nun privacy when she pees?”

They had just long enough to get their weapons out and move into a small group facing out before three soldiers in RIA militia insignia appeared. Bearing weapons. And full body armor. With blast helmets.

The guy at three o’clock was, like, a mountain man, huge and hairy. At least, he looked hairy from the little Matt could see. His blast helmet was on, but his face shield was up, his beard leaking out. Matt shifted to face him directly.

He looked over to see the guy facing James. It was, somewhat predictably, Kandy Melore. She’d taken her helmet off, and was sneering at James.

Matt could sense more than see that there was a third guy at about eight o’clock. He could feel Dyson shift, probably to face Bachelor #3. James pushed in closer on Matt’s wounded shoulder, just barely touching him.

“There’s a fourth,” James subvocalized. “With Beni.” His expression was his stony mask, but Matt could tell by looking at him James was pissed and worried as hell. He flicked a look at Matt. Reassurance. Either for himself or Matt. Maybe both.

“What about Van?” Dyson asked from their backs.

“They knocked him out with something long range. I think that’s all.” I.e., he wasn’t dead.

The soldier with Beni came into the clearing. Beni was surprisingly cooperative. Maybe it was because the guy was hot. Or because he let her get her pants up.

Funny, Matt would have thought she’d be more cooperative if he’d let her keep her pants down.

This soldier had taken off his helmet, too. And oh, fuck, it was Tech Specialist Johnson who had Beni by the arm. Matt swore if that fucker betrayed them, he would haunt the bastard for the rest of his afterlife.

“’S’okay,” James subbed.

“Well, well, well, looky what we got here.” Melore seemed to be in charge. And doing her best to sound like a redneck bigot. “It’s the escaping faggot, and his faggot friends.”

What an original line. Matt felt like rolling his eyes.

James made no response. Matt could feel the tension in his body, and in Dyson’s. He could use a beer himself.

“Oh, my saviors!” Beni suddenly started in. “I’ve been the prisoner of these horrible men for days, now, and finally someone has come to rescue me!” She batted her eyelashes at the men, ignoring Melore.

“You didn’t run voluntarily with these criminals, Sister Benigna?” Melore asked. Of course she knew who Beni was.

“No! Why ever would I have done that?” Beni could really pour on the affronted virgin when she wanted to. “What are you suggesting? Just wait until I tell the Mother Superior what you’re insinuating, you dirty soldier!”

Jesus H. Christ.

“’S’okay,” James told Matt. Again.

“No offense, Sister. But you seemed to be interested in going with these guys when we met at the convent. It’s not clear to me that you were taken against your will.” Without looking back at Beni, Melore dismissed her. “On the other hand, Specialist Johnson seems to have you under control.”

Matt sincerely hoped this was Kandy Melore’s first mistake. Of many.

“So.” Melore turned back to them. “You, Ayala, are expected back in RIA custody as soon as we can get you there. I understand they’re setting up a lab you’ll be very comfortable in for the rest of your life.” She sneered. Clearly, if it were up to her, James would be dead already. Then she gave a nasty grin. “But your companions? They’re about to become collateral damage.”

Beni gasped. Kinda what Matt felt like doing. He could feel James tense even further next to him, preparing to jump Melore. “When I go,” James said.

“What about the guy with Beni?” Dyson asked.

“Think he’s taken care of. One way or another.” Matt crossed his fingers. Beni was on their side (he was pretty sure), and Johnson hopefully was too. He hoped Beni had a clue how to incapacitate him, even briefly, just in case. She could do a lot of damage with a hairbrush, after all.

“’S’okay,” James said.
Again
. Was every-fucking-thing okay with this man? Because it didn’t seem like that so much to Matt. “Just chill.” The guy across from Matt took a menacing step forward.

“No talking!” he barked, aiming his weapon at Matt’s forehead.

“Oh!” Beni exclaimed. “You’re going to
shoot
them? That’s so… barbaric.” What, she wanted them burned at the stake? “Maybe I should give them last rites? Pray for their souls?”

Someone’s mama made her go to church, because Melore hesitated, then said, “Well, Sister, I guess someone oughtta pray over the poor bastards. And yourself. But we’ll need to disarm them, first. For your safety,” she said mockingly.

“How are you gonna do that, Kandy?” James asked calmly. Matt got the feeling he wasn’t really that interested, just playing an expected role.

“Well, the way I see it, we have body armor, you guys don’t.” She held up one finger to illustrate her first point, waving her laser pistol a little in the other hand. “Two, we’re all gonna aim at your little boyfriend, there.” She moved her pistol to Matt, her aim steady on his head. “And three, we got a disruptor.”

Shit. So she could pulse it and their weapons wouldn’t work. But neither would theirs…. Matt opened his mouth.

“And it’s directional.” Melore grinned at them, as if she’d just given them some kind of gift.

Bitch. Beyond bitch. This went into C-word territory.

James didn’t say anything, just threw his weapon out in front of him about two meters. Reluctantly, Matt followed suit. After another second or two, he could hear Dyson’s hit the ground.

“And your com.” Melore said, taking a couple of steps toward Matt, aiming the pistol directly at his forehead. Matt could feel sweat prickling out on his back.

As he heard Dyson’s earpiece make a soft thud in the dirt, Matt remembered. The skimmer. It was already scrambled. How much longer did they have before she just went ahead and shot? They were going to kill him, she’d said. Was James trying to stall until the skimmer came?

He couldn’t figure out what James wanted from him. If only they had a way to communi—

Oh, shit he was a dumbfuck. Matt opened his mind to James, and instead of knowing intellectually James was connecting, he could actually feel it this time. And he got a message in return. Not so much words, but feelings. Confidence, worry, a little bit of fear, an effort to be calm, and underlying it all, how much James felt for him.

It was fucking amazing. What the hell had he been worried about? James had a plan, or something, because he seemed… anticipatory. Waiting for something. Matt relaxed a tiny bit. James had it all under control.

At Kandy Melore’s go-ahead, Beni stepped forward. Johnson took a small step sideways, putting him slightly behind Melore. His weapon was now aimed more at Melore rather than them.

Could Beni actually give last rites? She stepped forward to Matt and started mumbling something authentic-sounding. Everyone was utterly still. He still had two pistols aimed at his head, maybe three. Beni mumbled in his face, making esoteric hand gestures. He could feel his heart pounding in his ears. And a cricket. No, that stupid insect that just droned along on late-summer days. What the fuck was it called? He looked around for a second, just moving his eyes. It really had been a beautiful, mid-fall day. If he was going to die, at least he’d had one last nice day.

Beni was still droning. Kinda like the insect. Just as repetitive too. Slowly, Matt’s mind clued in. She was trying to tell him something. He listened closely.

“… disruptor grenade, two minutes….” He gave a slight start when it penetrated. James had a disruptor grenade? Beni had been starting to look a little exasperated with him, but she caught his widening eyes, finished up, and moved on to Dyson.

Matt started counting the seconds in his head, his mind whirling. When had she slipped a grenade to James? Disruptor grenades were big, hard to conceal. Matt didn’t think she could hold one in her hand and completely conceal it. And they were fucking expensive, still not standard equipment. Where did she get one?

And she wasn’t even “praying” over James; she was with Dyson. They didn’t have a minute to go, did they? He checked in with James, mentally. He got nothing but calm and love.

Love? Did James love him? That’d be nice. Fantastic, actually. Ideal. But not really something he ought to be focusing on now, since once that grenade went off, they’d all be fighting hand-to-hand, and he had Mountain Man to take care of.

Matt refocused, his brain and his mind, and looked at Private Mountain. Shit, the guy was big. Maybe he could trade James for Melore? He glanced over to the woman still holding a gun to his head, and caught movement. Behind her.

It was Johnson, and he was slipping an arm out from behind his back. In it was a blue-gray metal cylinder, just longer than his grip. As Matt watched, he saw Logan move his thumb, arming the grenade. Then he let it fly. Three seconds to explosion. Everyone froze.

Fuck, was it the simple disruptor kind, or a disruptor-frag?

Two seconds.

“Th’fuck?” asked a bewildered Kandy Melore. That thing had come from behind her. She whirled around.

One second.

Melore swung back around and re-aimed at Matt.

That fucking bitch’s gonna kill me
. Matt watched her finger on the trigger, and behind her he could see Logan bringing up his pistol. Dimly he was aware of bodies hitting the ground. Taking cover? Hmm, might be smart.

Three seconds. Johnson aimed at Melore, but Matt knew he was too late. The grenade exploded just as she pulled the trigger, and then there was a blinding flash of light.

Chapter 22