Wings of Retribution (70 page)

Stuart was so cold by the time the last person picked him up that he didn’t understand what was happening to him until something began cramming him inside a sinus passage.

And it
was
a sinus cavity.  Not a test tube or a beaker, but a flesh-and-blood sinus cavity.  And warm.  Blessedly warm.  It felt like heaven.  Feebly, Stuart crawled forward, barely able to summon enough energy to wriggle.  Somewhere in a corner of his mind, he knew that as soon as he began to bore his way into the brain, the host would change his mind and rip him back out.  Without a proper way to paralyze his host, Stuart didn’t have much hopes for success.

Thus, he was surprised when the painfully rough, salty fingers started aiding his progress by
stuffing
him upwards.  He was even more surprised when he made his first bumbling press through the sinuses and the host jerked, but never tried to remove him.

This left Stuart with a feeling of dread.  What if Juno was giving him a captive body?  A prison to hold him for more torture?  Stuart slowed, horrified at this idea.  He would rather die than risk living like that again.

What should he do?  Choose the brave death and slide back out into the open?  Or choose the coward’s death and live for a few more minutes?

“Hurry up, you damned maggot!” Athenais said from between clenched teeth.  The feeling of the little worm just sitting there in her sinuses like a cold little lump of flesh was excruciating.  It was all she could do not to sneeze.  “Finish it or die.  Don’t just lie there.  Pick one!”

Apparently, the
suzait
chose to live.  She cried out and fell to the floor, her back arcing against her will as synapses were crossed and destroyed inside her head.  She had felt this once before, in a
suzait
colony on Odan.  It brought back a rush of the old helplessness and fear, almost blinding her with sudden panic.

What are you
doing
, you fool?
her logical side screamed. 
You are the perfect host.  He’ll ride you forever…

Somehow, she forced herself to remain still.  Not that she had much choice in the matter, anymore.  Unless she could get to a pair of needlenose pliers in the next two seconds, her body was about to become another being’s property.

Athenais’s limbs gave a jerk as the
suzait
cut her connection to her motor nerves, then she waited in bitter paralysis as it situated itself.

She should have known the
suzait
wouldn’t treat her as it had treated Fairy.  The little brat didn’t have an immortal body. 
She
did.  And Stuart knew it.  He’d been planning this all along.

She waited in silence for what seemed like hours before a single, startled word shook her consciousness.

Athenais?

Her thoughts must have been venomous, because she felt him recoil.

Why?

Because you’re part of my crew, you slimy bastard,
Athenais tried to say.  Her lips never moved, but the
suzait
picked up her thoughts anyway.  She picked up disbelief, hope, even a flash of greed.

Ball’s in your court,
Athenais thought bitterly.

A long moment passed.  Then another.  Then, like someone released the Athenais Owlbourne Remote Control, she regained use of her limbs.  Slowly, she stood, not trusting her legs.  She tried not to show her relief, but it must have gotten through because Stuart brushed her thoughts again.

Thank you, Athenais.

Athenais grunted.  “You
did
fight your way through Orplex to help me.”  At that, she grabbed Juno by the shirt and dragged her body inside the first door she saw.  Inside, she shot the corpse a few more times, concentrating her attentions on the head, chest, and spinal area.  Then she locked the door and began stumbling down the hall, looking for some poor sot to dump the parasite on.

We don’t have time.  Ragnar triggered a beacon.  Uploaded Juno’s central mainframe straight back to the Utopia.

Athenais stopped walking.  “He did
what
?”

They killed his family.  He was out of his mind.

“
That damned moron!” Athenais cried.  “The
last
thing we want is for the Utopia to get mixed in with this mess.  Where is Ragnar now?”

Dallas’s room, sleeping.  He’s back in his original form…I had to put him under when he attacked me.

Athenais felt a stab of curiosity and hesitated.  She’d never seen Ragnar in his natural state before.

It’s not pretty,
Stuart said. 
You don’t want to see him right now.  Just take my word for it.

Athenais grimaced.  “Fine, but I’ve got news for
you,
Stuart.  We need to find you a host, and we need to do it now.  Juno’s been threatening to dump me in the deep ocean with weights on my ankles.  The pressure would pop you like a stuffed maggot.”

Please don’t say things like that.

Athenais chuckled.  “Someone’s got to keep you humble.”

Believe me, after today, I don’t think I’ll ever have the capacity to be anything but humble, ever again.  All I have to do is think of a cleaning bucket and I might throw up.

“Speaking of cleaning buckets, that soap burns, doesn’t it?  I wonder what they use in it.”

Lye, most like.

“Ouch.  Sorry.  I dunked you thinking it would help clean you off.”

It’s not a problem.  I was too numb to feel it.  Besides, I’m more worried about it poisoning your brain.

Athenais scowled.  “Then let’s hurry.  I want to get on the roof and signal Fairy before Juno wakes up.”

Why?  Where’s Dallas?

“Fairy took
Retribution
right before we came across your little debacle with the cleaner-boy.  Really pissed Juno off.  I think she was angry at herself for not realizing her parlor tricks hadn’t worked on Fairy and was taking it out on you.  Ironically, I guess she had the right victim.”

You said Dallas is on
Retribution? 
How’d that happen?

“Don’t know.  Somehow Fairy got hold of the ship.  Probably because of the storm.  Makes me think Juno’s gotten complacent, all these years running this place.”

There was a long pause.  Then,
You know, Dallas would like you a lot more if you stopped calling her Fairy.

Athenais snorted.  “And I’d like to have
Beetle
back, but that’s not going to happen either.”  She stopped, spotting an elderly Stranger tugging a handcart through the hall.  “There we go.  Hold tight a sec.”  Athenais jogged forward and, with a lightning-fast roundhouse to the chest, she flattened the Stranger.  As the stunned old woman was staring up at her, she dropped to her chest, grabbed the woman’s head by her tattooed chin and said, “Time to shine.”

The transfer went smoother than she would have thought.  The old woman had only begun to scream when Stuart cut her off with a choking gasp.

Athenais stood up, letting Stuart’s head fall to the floor.  “Now get out of here.  Go get Ragnar and get to the roof.  I’ll meet up with you later.”

Stuart reached out and caught her arm and she was walking away.

“Thanks, Athenais.”

“And don’t talk,” Athenais said.  “You sound drunk.  They kill drunkards, here.”  At that, she turned and trotted down the hall toward the spaceport.  Behind her, she heard the
suzait
stumble away in the opposite direction, dragging the cart out of sight of the main hall before he made his escape.

Athenais jogged down several flights of stairs, not even knowing which floor she was on until she reached the bottom.  Ahead of her, dark waves thrashed against the windows, thundering down the hall, making the floor shake.  Briefly, Athenais wondered if Taal was out there somewhere, waiting for her to come back for him.

Scoffing, Athenais shook her head.  Some people were so gullible.  Especially when they wanted something.

Stuart opened the door to Dallas’s room and crept inside.  The bag was still in the corner, the shifter inside.  He breathed a sigh of relief—he wasn’t sure what he would have done if Ragnar had been awake.  He was incredibly weak—it was difficult just to walk straight.  Stuart went to the sack and hefted it over his shoulder.

The motion almost threw him backwards.  Stuart dropped the bag, uncomprehending.  It was so
light.
  Had Ragnar eaten that much of himself already?  He bent down and prodded the sack.

Bedding.

Stuart flipped the sack over and stared at the hole in the bottom.  Oh, no.  He got up quickly, wondering how he was going to find Ragnar fast enough.  Maybe the shifter had gone to look for Dallas.  Stuart went to the door at a trot, hoping he got there before Ragnar got himself killed.

He hadn’t taken three steps when something caught him in the throat, knocking him back against the wall hard enough to jar Stuart inside his host’s brain.

“We’ll finish it later, eh, Stuart?” Ragnar’s voice was an animal growl.  “How about we finish it now?”

Stuart tried to respond, but the grip on his throat was choking him.  He reached up and tried to pull the shifter away, but the muscles holding him in place were inhumanly strong.

Ragnar released him suddenly and stepped back while Stuart gasped for air.

“I can’t believe you threw me in a sack.”

Sucking in a lungful of air, Stuart managed, “You wouldn’t listen to reason.”

“Where’s Dallas?”  Like any good L’kota royal, he was a master at changing the subject.