I kept my face blank at his jab, and waited. I even managed not to keep looking over at Mack. Once he’d given his orders, Barangail turned back to me. I kept my face in its blank state, and waited. So, did he. We must have stood like that for almost a full minute, before he finally realized I didn’t have anything to say.
“So?” he said. “Aren’t you supposed to be following Bardot?”
Bardot. I looked around, figured Barangail must be talking about the soldier standing near the open door. I drummed my fingers on my bicep, and tapped my toes against the floor. Barangail made a point of staring at me, and I decided I wasn’t going to play the bastard’s game. I waited, picking a point just beyond the lord’s left shoulder to focus on.
It was an old trick, and one calculated to irritate, but Barangail didn’t rise to the bait. We both waited, until Foksall shifted his feet uncomfortably, and the lord looked in his direction.
“What is it?”
“The captain, your lordship,” Foksall said, obviously working out what I was waiting for. “What do you want us to do with him?”
It was an effort to keep all expression off my face, but I managed it, and Barangail quickly tired of the game. I guess we must have been holding up his schedule.
“Take him back to his ship, and hand him over. Have his crew send Cutter confirmation.”
It wasn’t easy keeping my face blank, when his gaze flicked back to mine.
“Happy?”
I managed a solemn nod.
“Thank you,” I said, and waited.
This time, his mask slipped, and he gave an impatient sigh.
“What else is there” he asked. “You have your task, and I have matters of estate to attend. What is the delay?”
“We have not yet formalized the contract.”
Momentary disbelief crossed his face, and then he whirled away from me, pulling his blaster from his hip and heading for Mack’s tank. I started to move after him, only to find Foksall grabbing hold of the back of my neck, and pressing his blaster into my ribs. The soldier on the other side of me drew his weapon and stood two paces off from me, his aim centered on my chest.
Damn. Someone knew to shoot at the biggest bit, and me without my corset.
I tensed, and the grip on my neck, tightened. When Barangail stopped beside the tank, I froze. he tapped on the clear plassteel top, and looked at me.
“I’ll send the paperwork up to the ship, but the basics of your contract are that I get my bracelet, he gets to live, your crew get to remain free, and he gets to keep his ship.” He wandered back to me, and I stayed wary. Just because he needed me, right now, didn’t mean he wouldn’t shoot me.
After all, we both knew he had the technology so I could grow it back.
My best hope was that he needed the job done sooner, rather than later.
I met his eyes, and he flicked a glance at where the soldier named Bardot was waiting at the door.
“When you’re equipped, Bardot will escort you to the elevator. I trust you can take it from there.”
“I can,” I told him, and wished Mack could see me not knocking this guy’s teeth down his throat ’cos I didn’t think he’d believe me when I told him.
“I’ll play him the footage, later.” Tens voice came through the implant loud and clear, and I was glad Barangail was in no position to hear it. “Now, get your head in the game.”
Well, fuck you, very much, I thought, but Tens did not reply, and, ten minutes later, I was standing in the elevator, trying to keep it together enough to go over the map and memorize the maid’s route through the mines. I sure as shit hoped Barangail had put his men in the picture, since I had no desire to have to try and explain my presence to a bunch of trigger-happy guards.
When the elevator doors opened, I realized that wasn’t going to be a problem. A small squad was lined up and waiting for me, when I arrived.
“Contractor?”
I made a point of looking back into the elevator.
“I don’t see anyone else,” I said. “Who were you expecting?”
It was fortunate I had business down here, because these guys weren’t as stupid as I’d hoped.
“Why don’t you tell us why you’re here, and we’ll decide if you’re what we’re waiting for,” shot back the reply, and half the squad took a step back and raised their blasters.
Well, shit. Weren’t these guys particularly toey, today? I guessed I’d better answer the guy waiting there looking about as impressed as Mack on a really good day when I’d sassed him.
“I am Cutter, a retrieval specialist, hired by Lord Barangail to find and bring back a bracelet that was stolen by one of his concubine’s maids. Good enough?”
The guy stared at me a moment, and I wondered which part of my statement he’d thought was a lie, because he sure as shit wasn’t happy with something I’d said—and if I was wrong, I wanted to know which piece of the information Barangail had fed me was wrong. Curious as I was, I waited, and the guy came to a decision.
I don’t know, maybe he thought the bits I’d gotten wrong were exactly like something his boss would say. Made me want to know even more, what they were and why I’d been fed a line. It also made me wonder if something I’d been told was gonna end up killing me. I really, really hoped not.
“This way, Contractor. We’ve been sent to make sure you reach the mines proper unscathed.”
Now, why I’d need protecting, I... oh. Giant ants. Yup, that would do it.
“Thank you,” I said, realizing only half the squad were facing me. The others were facing outwards, and their
