Athena's Ashes (23 page)

She’d spent one memorable summer there with an ambassador’s aide. He’d been a fantastic tour guide. Among other things. Renna had gotten to know all the secret access ways and hidden rooms in the facility. Her job had gone off without a hitch.

But the embassy wasn’t her destination today. She headed toward the Bank of Conyara at the far side of the sector. She had a safe deposit box there with a little nest egg, in case of emergencies.

This certainly qualified as an emergency.

She pushed pashed a group of chattering Delfine dressed in their traditional loose-fitting gowns. Right now, it felt like she was drifting through space in a disabled lifepod, alone and without power. Which was stupid since, until a month ago, she’d done everything on her own.

Bitterness seeped through her.
Everything was going to be different
. Right. She should have known better.

Renna ducked out of the stream of aliens and accents and headed down a narrow alley between two squat buildings. Her bank wasn’t one of the fancy ones—the Conyara kept to themselves for the most part—but that made it an excellent hiding place. And the manager owed her a few favors after she’d taken down a con man who’d stolen millions from them in a scam.

Renna pressed a finger to the cool metal pad beside the door. It slid open silently into a dark, shadowy lobby that stunk of sweat and money.

“Well, if it isn’t Mae Carson. It’s been too long, my girl. Welcome back.” The Conyara alien’s ridged skull had a several tufts of dark hair that bobbed as he smiled up at her.

Renna stooped slightly to shake his hand. “Nice to see you, Syd. Just passing through to take care of some business.”

“Of course. Go on back.” He gestured to an arch at the back of the lobby, and Renna ducked through to a long, narrow hallway. Doors led off both sides to small storage rooms, and Renna counted down to the fourth door on the left.

The room’s walls were lined with small boxes, each stamped with a number and boasting another fingerprint scanner. Syd had pretty good security for a second-rate storage operation. And since she never visited more than once a year, there was little chance that anyone knew who she really was.

She pulled out the drawer and set it on the small table in the middle of the space. Inside was a credit chip with a hundred thousand on it, a stack of forged IDs, and a shiny new blaster. Renna took the money and the pistol, then shuffled through the IDs until she found one that would work.

Juley Talley, human engineer working for Taylor Corp, would have to do. She didn’t think MYTH would broadcast that they were looking for her by name, but it didn’t hurt to be cautious. And if she needed to hire a transport ship, she didn’t want her real identity pinging on anyone’s radar.

She carefully locked the safe behind her and waved to Syd on the way out. “See you next year,” she called.

“Always a pleasure, Mae.”

Outside the bank, she carefully blended back in to the mass of people. The Phoenix district cleared out at the end of the day, but right now, it was full of people on their way to their various destinations.

She hadn’t been to Forever Station in, well, forever, and she’d forgotten how full of life it was. The Trezians had built it as a monitoring station almost seven hundred years ago, but it had grown until it was some kind of technological monstrosity, expanding outward and upward every few years until it looked more like a floating mountain than a space station.

She’d spent plenty of time here when she was younger. It was easy to lose yourself amongst all the people, a must in her line of work. And since it was both a trading hub and a political hub, she’d found plenty of work stealing secrets as well as credits.

Her stomach growled, and Renna wandered toward the center of the district, a circular hub where vendors set up food carts and people hawked cheap souvenirs. Forever Station was like a carnival, with visitors coming in and out to play, buy, or sell. But the backbone residents never changed—the maintenance people who kept the station running, the security guards, the merchants.

She inhaled a lungful of recycled air and the scent of the food from a hundred different cultures. It smelled like home. She loved the confusion and energy, and hiding in plain sight was the best way to stay off MYTH’s radar. Unfortunately, it wasn’t going to help her find Samil.

She needed someone else for that.

Carrying a cup of strong coffee and a bowl of noodles, Renna found a table at the edge of the chaos. She sipped the bitter drink, letting it slide down her throat in a burning rush. Real coffee was hard to come by, but this would do the trick. At least it was full of caffeine.

Across the hub, she spotted a woman in a long, dark skirt, her jet-black hair woven into dozens of braids down her back. She carried a briefcase and walked with a purpose toward one of the food vendors.

Kara Dezal.

The woman ordered a plate of noodles and sat down at the table next to Renna’s without looking around. She tackled her food like a starving woman, shoveling in great mouthfuls. For someone so tiny, the woman could eat.

Renna pulled out her tablet and scrolled through her newsfeed, carefully ignoring the other woman.

“You going to tell me what you need, Renna?” Kara finally asked, still concentrating on her food. “I can’t sit here all day.”

“Information. But you already knew that.”

“Of course I did. That’s the only reason you ever contact me.” Kara studied Renna’s unusually pale face and shadowed eyes. “You look like shit.”

“Thanks. That’s exactly the look I was going for. You look beautiful, as always.” Even back in the tenement, Kara’s exotic looks had spared her the worst of the beatings and famine. After her mom died, the pimps all wanted to groom her to take over the business side of handling the prostitutes. Kara’s mother had been Japanese, if Renna remembered correctly, and her father had been an Ileth, so her skin had a gorgeous amber tint to it. A stunning combination and one she’d used often to get what she needed from both the politicians and info dealers alike.

“So tell me what you need, Renna. It must be big if you’re here on the station again.”

“I need information on someone. A Dr. Thana Samil. She works—or worked—for an organization called MYTH.”

“I’ve heard of it. The government’s worst-kept secret.” She took a bite and chewed deliberately before responding. “What’s so special about this woman?”

“She’s a traitor. Even worse, she’s framed me for something and I want her silenced.”

Kara nodded. “Understandable. A thief’s honor is her life. For old time’s sake, I’ll put my other clients on hold and see what I can find. But it’ll cost you.”

“Of course it will. How much?”

Kara grinned at her. “Straight to business. I always liked that about you, Renna.” Her smile was gone as quickly as it had come, her expression turning serious. “When’s the last time you were back on Earth?”

Renna froze, fingers curling into her tablet. “It’s been a while. Why?”

“I saw your mother the other month. She wasn’t looking good.”

Dread curled sharp claws into her gut, and Renna shook off the feeling she was walking into another trap. “What was wrong with her?”

“Too much clay. Not enough food. Probably an STD. She was never the same after you left. Didn’t take care of herself at all. Took the worst jobs. I’m surprised she’s lasted this long.”

“Don’t fool yourself, Kara, my mother was ecstatic when I left. No more bastard kid holding her back. I haven’t talked to her since that day, and I don’t plan to, no matter what you say.”

Kara shrugged, brushing her long braids back from her shoulder. “Just thought you’d want to know. You know us tenement rats always stick together.”

“Tell me what you want for the info, Kara. I need to get moving.” Renna watched a station guard patrol the edge of the crowded marketplace. She’d already been sitting here too long.

Kara took another bite of her food before responding. Renna was pretty sure it was to piss her off. Kara had always enjoyed seeing how far she could rattle her clients.

“I need a favor. Something only you can steal,” she finally said.

“Kara, I don’t have time for that.”

“Oh no, I don’t want it now. This is a favor to be redeemed in the future. At a time of my choosing.”

Renna chewed her lip. In any other situation, she’d turn the woman down flat. Getting involved in Kara’s business was…unhealthy. But she was running out of time and options. “Fine. It’s a deal.”

“Good. I’ll get you your information. Usual dropbox?”

“You know the one. I need it tonight.”

“It’ll be there.” Kara pushed the plate away and got to her feet, her long skirt swirling around her ankles. “Watch yourself, Renna. I have a bad feeling about this.”

“You’re not the only one.”

“Maybe you should visit your mom one of these days, too. Before it’s too late,” she suggested softly as she passed Renna’s table.

“Maybe you should mind your own business,” Renna snarled.

Kara stopped and put a hand on Renna’s shoulder. “We all know you’re not that same kid. You don’t have to prove anything to anyone. But locking away your past doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. Visiting your mom might help you come to terms with it.” Her gaze dropped lower, to the scar that slashed across Renna’s neck from ear to chin.

Renna touched it with a finger. “There’s nothing left for me to come to terms with. But thanks for the concern. I’ll see you later.” She shoved her chair back and jumped to her feet, disappearing into the crowds before Kara could respond.

No matter what the woman thought, there was nothing left for Renna back on Earth but pain. Her mother was an adult—she was responsible for her own choices, just like Renna. And Renna’s choice was to track Samil down and prove she wasn’t a traitor. Whatever the cost.

TWENTY-SEVEN

Viktis’s safe house on Forever Station was a tiny apartment overlooking the casino district. Even behind the closed curtains, lights flashed and danced from the signs and billboards lining the area. But despite the noise and lights, it was a smart location. In the hive of other apartments, his would be difficult to find. Always a plus when trying to stay under the radar.

Renna finished her plate of hastily radiated ramen, then leaned back in the rickety wooden chair. “You going to tell me what the hell is really going on?” she asked, pinning Viktis with a pointed stare.

He paused, fork halfway to his mouth. “What do you mean?”

“Why are you helping me?”

“Why wouldn’t I? I don’t owe anything to Finn or MYTH. There’s no reason for me to help them.”

“There’s no reason to help me either. You tried to kill me once, remember? You wouldn’t help me now unless there’s something in it for you.”

Viktis pressed a hand to his heart. “Do you really not know me at all, love?”

“I know you far too well,” she said with a smirk. “That’s the problem.”

He chuckled and leaned back in his chair to mirror her pose. “I’ll be honest. I’m just happy to get off the
Athena
. If Finn flashed me one more of those smug looks, I was going to shoot him.”

“So I’m a convenient excuse?”

“You’ve never been convenient, love.” He grinned around his bite of noodles, and Renna shook her head.

After he swallowed, he pushed the plate away. “MYTH deserves what’s coming to them if they actually think you’ve betrayed them. However, you do not deserve to spend the rest of your life on a prison ship for something you didn’t do. So if I can help, I will.”

“Very altruistic of you.” Renna frowned. “I still don’t believe you, but I appreciate the intent.”

“Just go with it.” He shrugged. “I’ve got a shiny new ship, a pilot, and a woman who wants vengeance. Life doesn’t get much better.”

Renna tapped her finger against the worn plastic tabletop. “I don’t get it. Why would Finn and Jayla believe I’d betray them? I’ve done everything that stupid organization has asked and then some. I could have left at any minute, but I’m still here. Why believe Samil over me?”

“Once a thief, always a thief, I guess. Some people can’t see past the noses on their faces. Especially those great, honking human noses.” Viktis patted her hand. “Finn’s not worth another thought, love. Especially since you’re here with me.”

Finn’s betrayal sat like a heavy weight on her chest, making her lungs ache. Even worse, she hadn’t stopped caring about the stupid man just because he’d sold her out. Being hurt like this was unacceptable, especially since she’d spent so long guarding her heart against this very thing. What the hell was she supposed to do now?

“What about you and Lieutenant Keva?” she asked, changing the subject. “What’s up between the two of you? I saw the looks you were giving each other.”

His voice softened and his eyes got a faraway look. “The lieutenant and I became…close while we were here last week. She’s an amazing woman.”

Renna’s eyes widened. “By the gods. Are you in
love
with her?”

Viktis’s face flushed dark amber and sat upright. “No! Of course not,” he spluttered. But the way his gaze slid away told Renna he wasn’t exactly telling the truth.