The Spider and the Fly Read online

  Chapter Twelve

  “Good news,” Markus said as the cell block door slid open. “The Council decided we don’t have to space you.”

  “Yet,” Grier added darkly, her pistol firmly in hand. “Now get up.”

  Jen grunted and stood up from the cot. “Do we get a room with a nice view?”

  “The housing here is generally pretty uniform—all the races get stock buildings designed to accommodate their physiology,” Markus said. “It’s not perfect, but it’s the only way to guarantee we have enough space for a growing population.”

  “I take it that’s a ‘no,’” she grumbled.

  Grier jabbed her pistol forward. “You’re lucky to be alive. And the moment you try anything, I will put you down.”

  Jen stopped a few centimeters in front of the other woman, and Markus could feel the quiet amusement rolling off her. Tayla was no pushover by any stretch; she’d spent her whole life with the Mire fighting against the Convectorate and had plenty of scars to show for it. But she was going to have to work a lot harder to intimidate a Spider. Even without her psionic abilities, Jen’s psychogenetic enhancements gave her the strength and speed to break a normal human’s bones with one hand.

  “I’ll try to keep that in mind,” Jen said after a moment. The door to Thexyl’s cell opened a second later, and he slipped out and stood next to her.

  Markus gestured out the door. “This way.”

  It was a ten-minute walk from the prison to the human district, give or take, and after their earlier tour the trip was mostly silent. Roughly ninety percent of the four thousand or so humans on New Keledon lived in one of the apartments here. The majority of the rooms were pressed against a rocky cliff face on a C-shaped section of the asteroid. Functionally speaking, it wasn’t all that different from living in one of the human ghettos on a major industrial planet like Praxius or Regdar. In many ways it was actually better—at least here there weren’t any carsenium dealers lurking in the alleyways or prostitutes working the street corners. And perhaps best of all, no one had to worry about slavers showing up and dragging them off to work in some Seraph-forsaken mine or another.

  “Cozy,” Jen commented as they walked towards one of the buildings.

  “The room will be bigger than your quarters on the Manticore, so you can’t really complain,” Markus said.

  “This section seems a bit more…organic than the ones we passed earlier,” Thexyl observed. “I assume that’s because the original settlers were human and the district planning wasn’t so rigid at the time.”

  Markus shrugged. “Probably. Incidentally, would you like me to try and find you a place with the other Kali? There aren’t many of them—maybe a dozen or so—but they have a small alcove deeper inside the rock.”

  “Foln wants them together,” Grier reminded him.

  “I’m sure he does; I’m asking anyway.” Markus could feel the heat from her glare on the side of his face, but thankfully he’d long ago learned to ignore it. “What would you prefer, Thexyl?”

  The Kali’s scales shimmered blue. “I will stay with Jen for now, assuming there’s enough room.”

  “There should be,” Markus said as they stepped onto one of the lifts and rode up to the fourth level. Three empty apartments were lined up in a row here, which was about as perfect an arrangement as the paranoid councilors could have hoped for. They wouldn’t have to worry about neighbors on either side, and Foln or the Council could even install some monitoring devices on the opposite walls if they felt so inclined.

  He keyed open the door when they arrived and gestured inside. “Here you go. I’ll talk to someone about getting you a piece or two of Kali-shaped furniture, if you’d like. Especially a bed.”

  “Thank you,” Thexyl said.

  “An escort will be outside at all times in case you want to walk around the city,” Grier told them. “Step out of line and you get smacked down.”

  “What she means is that the rules of the city should be obvious,” Markus said, “but you can read up on everything on the computer. It should have access to the city archive and central database.”

  Jen nodded as she glanced around the cozy L-shaped room. “Any rationing I should know about?”

  He gestured over to the wall. “Everyone has a daily power limit. It shouldn’t be a big concern unless you feel the need to take a three-hour shower or adjust the environmental controls every few minutes.”

  “If so, we could always just plug her in,” Grier suggested. “It would be a good way to earn her keep.”

  “There are no curfews or anything like that,” Markus went on, ignoring the comment, “but for your benefit I wouldn’t recommend wandering around at night.”

  Jen glanced back and raised an eyebrow at him. “Scared the local gangs might try and jump me?”

  He grunted. “No, but I’d give it some time for the locals to get used to you. No need to play into their preconceptions.”

  “Yes, the big bad Spider lurking in the shadows to get them,” she said derisively. “Fine. Anything else?”

  “Just what I said before—don’t ruin this. The people here will accept you given time.”

  “I can’t wait,” Jen murmured, dropping down onto the couch and crossing her arms.

  There was somewhere in the order of a thousand other things Markus wanted to tell her, but for now they would have to wait. He’d give her a bit of time to settle and see how she reacted before approaching her again. Eventually she’d come to accept the situation, and maybe then she would finally open up…or she’d realize she was trapped, and like an animal backed into a corner, she’d lash out and try to do as much damage as she could before going down.

  He sighed. No, Jen was many things, but suicidal wasn’t one of them. Even she wouldn’t threaten innocent civilians. She was stubborn, however, and that was undoubtedly going to be his biggest obstacle.

  “I’ll check on you later,” he said. “Stay out of trouble.”

  Predictably, Grier took the first shift watching the door. Markus fully expected her to stand guard until she passed out; she wouldn’t trust this to the Council or any of their people. She’d treated him the same way when he’d first offered his services to Foln, and it had taken her months to get over it. Here he wouldn’t be surprised if she never did.

  The city lights had dimmed by the time he made it back to his own apartment, a little trick the designers used to simulate a real day/night cycle, and he pulled out his holopad and checked the clock. It was already well into the evening, though with the schedule he’d been running over the past week that hardly mattered. It could have been the middle of the afternoon and he still would have been exhausted. He’d managed to catch a brief nap on the Golem earlier, but otherwise he hadn’t gotten a full night’s sleep in at least a week. And psychogenetic enhancements or not, it was seriously wearing on him.

  He punched in the security code on his apartment’s keypad and stepped inside. The interior lights were on their lowest setting exactly like he’d left them, and he caught a flicker of movement from his bed as Mira stirred from her nest amidst his sheets. He’d wondered if she would give him the requisite annoyed/silent treatment for having left her alone for so long, but to his mild surprise the cat let out a happy trill the moment she saw him.

  “I know, you told me I wasn’t allowed to go away anymore,” he said, smiling. “But I’m sure Selaris took good care of you.”

  “She did.”

  Few things could surprise a telepath, even a tired one, and so it was probably especially amusing to watch him hop a half-meter off the ground and then gasp in surprise. Before he could fully recover, Selaris dashed out from the shadows and leapt into his arms.

  “Hi,” Markus managed, grabbing onto her thighs to catch her as she locked her arms around behind his neck. A gust of sweet perfume filled his nostrils, and he noticed that she’d dabbed on some extra makeup.

  “Hi,” she replied with an impish smile. “I figured I
’d welcome you home.”

  “I can see that,” he managed.

  Selaris giggled, and before he could let her go she locked her lips with his. He returned the kiss as safely as he could while gliding over to the closest chair and gently setting her down on its arm. He then pulled away and forced an awkward smile.

  With a disappointed groan, she released her hold on him and settled into the cushion. It was only then he realized she’d completely changed outfits from earlier. Instead of the normal silver-blue robe of office, she’d slipped into a much fancier—and much shorter—dress complimented by a pair of shockingly impractical shoes.

  “We didn’t get to chat earlier with the others around,” Selaris said. “And I’m sure you wanted to thank me for taking care of your little angel here.”

  “I do actually,” Markus said, glancing over to Mira. She hopped onto the chair behind Selaris and walked across the back until she was within petting range. He held out his hand and she nestled her face into his palm. “Hopefully she didn’t cause you any trouble.”

  “We watched some old holovids together. You know, girl stuff.”

  “Right,” he murmured, trying to ignore Selaris’s hand as it reached up and gently brushed against the back of his arm. Just thinking about it made his heart sink.

  In a different time and place, he would have been flattered. She was quite lovely, after all, and she was probably the closest thing he had to a friend in the city. But she was also young, both in terms of years and experience. She had only turned nineteen a few months ago, and she’d lived her entire life in this city, completely sheltered from the concerns of the rest of the galaxy. And he, of course, had been stolen from his parents at a young age and forced into combat training before he was ten.

  Regardless, Selaris was undoubtedly the most powerful raw psychic on the asteroid—even more powerful than he and Jen, at least as far as he could judge potential. The problem was that for many years, her strength had actually worked against her. From the time she was fourteen she’d been trapped in a near catatonic state, her thoughts constantly bombarded by horrific nightmares. Conventional medication hadn’t helped, and even the efforts of the other Flies to try and heal the condition psionically hadn’t worked. It was only later that they’d realized the nightmares hadn’t originated from her mind at all—her uncontrolled telepathic brain had been stealing them from the dreams of those around her. Human, alien, it hadn’t mattered; her mind had plucked the worst latent fears from the city’s collective consciousness and transformed them into visions so twisted they would make a Krosian warrior weep.

  By the time the Mire had arrived two years ago, her father had feared that she wouldn’t survive much longer. Thankfully, Markus had been able to teach her to control the worst of it, and over time she’d grown into a promising student. The unfortunate side effect was that she was now convinced that he was her savior…and that she owed him everything.

  “I missed you,” Selaris said as she joined him in lavishing affection upon Mira. “I was worried you weren’t going to come back.”

  “I almost didn’t,” Markus admitted, hoisting Mira into his arms and moving to sit down on the other couch. “I know Foln didn’t mention to the others how close I was to being dragged back to the Widow.”

  “He didn’t say much about it at all, but I suspected there was more to it.”

  “I was on Briton Chalo speaking with one of the Mire contacts when Jen showed up. I couldn’t believe a Spider was anywhere near there, let alone her. She captured me and held me in custody for most of the week.”

  “Seraph’s Grace,” Selaris breathed. “How did you escape?”

  “It’s kind of a long story, but suffice to say I got lucky. Jen was taking me to the Damadus to help her loot the data crystals for the Convectorate, but I was able to signal the Mire. The Golem showed up and rescued us.”

  “And you decided to bring her here.”

  Markus nodded. “Like I told the others, I think we can convince her that she’s on the wrong side. But it might take a while.”

  Selaris shuffled and crossed her legs. “I remembered the stories you told me about her when you mentioned the name on the docks. I know you always regretted that she didn’t come with you last time.”

  “I’m hoping this is a second chance. Otherwise…” he shrugged. “Well, we’ll jump that that corridor when we get to it.”

  “She’s taller than I imagined. And prettier.”

  “She’s dangerous,” Markus warned. “For now, anyway. I wouldn’t recommend getting close to her.”

  Selaris frowned. “That’s not what you told the Council.”

  “I’m not saying she’s about to go on a killing spree or anything,” he clarified, “but I know how she thinks. She’ll be looking for anything she can find to give her an advantage and prepare an escape. I’m not sure how long it will be until she gives that up.”

  “Well, I wasn’t planning to invite her over for tea,” Selaris said mildly. “But I’ll warn the other students to keep their distance as well.”

  “Good. How have the lessons been proceeding, anyway? You’ve obviously been training if you were able to hide your presence well enough to spook me.”

  “I’ve been working on control. I’ve even learned a new trick.”

  “Oh? Such as?”

  Selaris flashed him a mischievous grin, and a second later her body lifted a few centimeters off the arm of the chair. She then slowly began to drift across the room, locked perfectly still in her cross-legged pose the entire time, until she dropped down into the seat cushion next to him.

  “Impressive,” Markus told her, and meant it. Even he didn’t have nearly that kind of control yet—he’d only learned to focus bursts of telekinetic force at an object or creature. Spider training focused far more on telepathic manipulation and physiological augmentation than raw telekinesis.

  “I tried to practice it on Mira once, but she wasn’t amused,” Selaris said, reaching out to brush against the cat’s ears. “So I decided to rearrange your furniture instead.”

  “I thought the bed was a little crooked. How are the others doing?”

  “Mostly the same, though the other day Thomas was trying to psionically power one of his new gadgets in an effort to impress me. Of course he ended up knocking himself unconscious.” She shook her head. “Standard fare for him, you know.”

  Markus chuckled. “He’s a good kid. I hope you were able to patch him up.”

  “More or less. I think his pride was hurt more than anything else.”

  “I’ll stop by tomorrow and see how they’re doing. For the moment, though, I’m exhausted—I really need to get some sleep.”

  Selaris smiled coyly. “You still haven’t thanked me for taking care of Mira.”

  “I do have a present for you, of sorts,” he said, pulling the storage case from his belt and opening it. “I need to start linking with these as soon as possible to try and find the cure. I thought maybe you could help me.”

  “I thought that maybe you’d bought some jewelry,” she chided as she grabbed onto one of the crystals. “Though these are shiny.”

  “You like history more than glitter,” he reminded her. “Don’t bother trying to hide it.”

  “I suppose so. Not much of an excuse to wear anything fancy around here, anyway.” She shook her head. “I still can’t believe you actually found it. When I read your message I almost thought it was a joke.”

  “Even I wouldn’t joke about something like this.”

  Selaris shrugged. “You do have an odd sense of humor. I just wish the Dowd hadn’t destroyed it.”

  “The Golem pounded them into dust, though I suppose that’s small consolation. Still, at least we have these, and I’m looking forward to sifting through them. With luck we’ll have enough information to develop a real cure.”

  “You sure you’ll be able to handle that many more students?” she asked wryly as she set the crystal back down. “You can bar
ely manage to spend time with the ones you have now.”

  “You’ll be there to help me. And eventually Jen will too.”

  Her smile vanished. “I guess so.”

  “How about I come by to see you tomorrow?” Markus asked as he stood, hoping it would prompt her to leave without being too obvious about it.

  “All right,” Selaris said, standing. “I guess I’ll see you then.”

  “And thank you for taking care of Mira,” he told her, squeezing her arm.

  She smiled again, though this time it lacked warmth. “No problem. See you tomorrow.”

  Selaris slipped out the door, and Markus let out a long sigh as he locked it behind her. He really did feel awful rejecting her like this, but he knew it was for the best. She was young and impressionable and wounded; her father’s death had hit her hard, especially given how unexpectedly his Landai’s Syndrome had overwhelmed him. No one had anticipated her taking over his spot on the Council before she’d even left her teens, least of all her.

  The best thing Markus could do for her was help her manage her powers and offer advice when necessary. Anything else would just make things more complicated. And right now, with Jen in the city and the cure to the Pandrophage potentially sitting right on his couch, things were plenty complicated enough.