“Trust me, kiddo. I saw what he was doing down on Costral. He’s earned whatever’s coming, and earned it many times over.”
I didn’t want to know. Not right now. I sidled over to the door, and cracked it, just a little. I was really missing not having a live security system to tap into. The corridor was clear, and nothing moved along its length. I wasn’t sure if that was because the vespis had attacked first, or because whoever was out there had found it locked and decided the building was secure.
Well, sucks to be them, I thought, and moved up to the intersection. I thought about leaving my initial entry point unlocked, and then decided that even I wasn’t that stupid. Retracing my steps took almost no time at all, and the bolt was easy to slide into place.
I re-checked the toilets and kitchenette, and breathed a soft sigh of relief when I found them as empty as before. Looked like I’d caught a break, there. Closing both rooms behind me, I headed back to the intersection. I’d been right. There was a door at the other end of the corridor I’d come in on.
I hurried towards it, remembering to check the cross-corridor before moving into the section I planned on exploring next. Honestly, I was starting to regret not insisting on a partner, but the vespis were busy, and Mack had been assigned to the queen… and, so far, there hadn’t been anything I couldn’t handle. At least I wasn’t wasting resources.
There was only one door in this section, and I knew that Andreus’s office and living quarters were situated behind the wall on the other side. I decided to bolt the door leading outside, before opening the door in the wall. That way, if there were any nasty surprises, I’d know my back was pretty secure.
I pushed away the thought that there was still one door I hadn’t had time to lock, and I couldn’t be everywhere at once. It took me a moment to realize that I couldn’t hear anything from outside the building. I should have been able to hear the buzz of wasp wings, and the sound of Blazers and other weapons, maybe even shouts, if some of those shapes had been human.
Instead, I was hearing nothing. I hadn’t thought the processing plant was sound proof, but maybe it was—and, if so, why?
“That’s the million-credit question, isn’t it?” Delight answered.
I was tempted to look outside and see what was going on, but I knew T’Kit could contact me if she was in trouble, and, if not her, then one of the others. The vespis might not be able to talk to each other between cities, but I’d seen the queen communicate with teams on the other side of the much larger human settlement, so I knew I was in range.
I threw the bolt, and moved back to the door. Again, I stopped to listen, and then I drew the Brahms, and turned the handle. A frightened shriek rang out, as the light flickered on, and several moans of terror followed it. From every corner came stifled sobs.
I looked to the ceiling, first, but no dark shape moved across it—and then I looked along the walls, noting the stacked cages and the forms huddled within, noting, too, the prisoners shackled to their length.
“Please no,” the woman nearest me, whispered, as I walked further into the room.
“Not me, not me, not me,” prayed another, curled into a corner, her hands over her head so she couldn’t see me come. “Please, not me.”
“Delight…”
“And you didn’t want to tangle the guy,” Delight said. “I can tell you how to wake him up, if you’ve changed your mind.”
“Oh, stars, no,” a male voice groaned. “Please, not yet.”
“Leave them alone,” a woman challenged. “You, leave them alone.”
And I looked towards it. I had heard those tones before.
The voice belonged to a vaguely familiar shape hanging on the wall, but I couldn’t be sure. I moved forward for a better look.
“That’s right, you shape-shifting bastard,” and I recognized who it was, even though I’d thought Alice was stationed in a more civilized zone.
“Alice?”
Utter silence greeted me.
“Alice? Is that you?”
And, still, she did not reply.
I found her, chained bare-ass naked to the wall between two cages, bite marks at her thighs and throat and along her arms. She looked down at me, pure fury on her face, and no recognition.
“What the fuck? Alice, are you all right?” but my former class-mate did not answer.
“I wondered why she’d dropped off the radar,” Delight murmured.
“She’s why you’re out here?”
“She’s one of many reasons.”
I could feel Delight studying Alice with some concern, and waited, turning slightly so I could keep the door in sight.
“Want me to cut her loose?”
“Not until you tell her this: Many threads the weaver feeds.”
I waited, and then Delight spoke again.
“That’s all there is, Cutter. You just need to say it.”
“Alice,” I said. “Delight says: Many threads the weaver feeds.”
Alice’s body tensed, and she blinked.
“Say it again,” Delight ordered.
I glanced back at the door, before focusing back on Alice and repeating the phrase.
“Many threads the weaver feeds,” I said, and waited for her response.
She stared at me for a very long minute, and, then, just when I was about to give up hope, she replied.
“Cocoons the stars and makes them bleed.”
And Delight breathed a sigh of relief.
“Shoot her free.”
“You want me to hack her implant, first?”
“Make the initial contact,” Delight said, “and then let me do the rest. I don’t want you exploding her brain by mistake.”
It sounded like a plan to me—the contact, not the brain-exploding part. I touched the surface of Alice’s implant, giving Delight enough of a connection so she could do what she needed, and then I got out of there and let her work.
“I’m going to shoot you out of there,” I said. “Okay?”
Alice gave me an assessing stare, and then she nodded. I couldn’t blame her for hesitating. She hadn’t seen me since
