Doors in the fence around the pit opened, allowing the fighters and bots to exit. Miles didn’t even bother to check on Pounder; he immediately began shouting at Nara and Jei, jabbing his finger at them accusatorially. Jei frowned, his skin a shade paler than it had been, and Nara stood impassively as usual, her expression hidden by her helmet.
Eva looked up at the balcony where Hjerte had stood. It was empty. A chill ran down her back and she hoped that didn’t mean what she thought it did.
((Cover me,)) she pinged at Vakar and Pink. To Sue, she said, “Stay with Min. I’m going to chat with our friend Miles.”
Sue began to protest, but Eva silenced her with a gesture and stalked across the pit. Her armor was still sending up grumpy status signals, but at least it wasn’t freezing, and she suspected she might need the protection for a few more minutes.
Nara noticed her approach and moved into a defensive position, while Jei simply scowled. Miles was too up his own ass to even see her.
“Hey, Erck,” she said, interrupting his foamy-mouthed rant. “Time to settle up. You said you’d tell us about Josh if we won, so start talking.”
Miles glared at her as if his own eyes could shoot lasers. “Well, actually,” he said, “I don’t have to tell you anything.”
“Oh, you resingado cabrón hijo de la gran mierda.” Eva considered whether she could make it around Nara to punch him in his actual face, but in her suit she would probably end up breaking his jaw. And then he wouldn’t be able to talk even if she wanted him to.
“You made an agreement,” Jei said, his face slack with shock. Eva pitied him for a moment, but she was too pissed to hold on to any other emotions for long.
“Well, actually, I didn’t sign anything,” Miles retorted. “And I don’t care. She can’t make me do it.”
“Would you have honored our agreement if we had won?” Jei asked.
Miles shrugged. “You lost, so it doesn’t matter. I’m not going anywhere with you two.”
So that was their deal. Where had they planned to take Miles? And why? She didn’t think they were working for The Fridge; if they were, they would have just grabbed him and left.
“You’re as bad as her,” Jei said, gesturing at Eva.
“Who the fuck are you, even?” Eva asked, then she raised a hand. “No, you know what, I don’t care.” To Miles, she said, “I’d threaten to give you a concussion, but you don’t have a functioning brain to damage. Talk or I’ll kick your ass so hard you’ll need a pit crew to help you shit.”
Before Miles could choke out more than “Well, actually,” a pair of buasyr loomed behind him, carrying multiple stun batons among their four sets of arms.
“Rubin Hjerte wants to speak with you,” one of them said. “All of you.”
Eva glanced up at the still-empty balcony. “Does she now,” Eva replied. She quickly pinged Vakar and Pink with ((Stay close)) before moving to follow the guard.
Miles, to his credit, didn’t say anything at all.
Chapter 9
Continue
The two buasyr escorted them up a back elevator to a room with no balcony, and only one visible exit. It was furnished comfortably enough: chairs in various shapes to accommodate multiple physiologies, a gleaming metallic table where light refreshments had been laid out, even a holovid display that currently showed the pit. Pounder was being hauled away by uniformed attendants as the next group of fighters took their places.
Miles stared at the feed sullenly, but then he’d been doing everything sullenly for the past few minutes. Jei’s brow was furrowed, but otherwise he wasn’t reacting. Nara was Nara; her expression was unreadable inside her armor, which she hadn’t taken off.
Min and Sue had been rounded up as well, their smiling faces falling into nervous frowns as they clung to each other’s hands. Min tugged a braid while Sue bit her lip, glancing around like her head was on a swivel.
Eva considered whether she might retract her helmet to sample the food, but decided against it. She did ping her location to Vakar and Pink in case they weren’t already tracking her.
No response. The room was probably shielded somehow. That didn’t bode well.
After exactly four minutes of stony silence, the door opened and Rubin Hjerte stepped into the room. Her coat reached the tops of her boots, and a hooked weapon hung from a chain on her hip. She stood about a hand taller than Eva, which was middling height for a human, but the sheer force of her personality made her seem like she was looking down on everyone else. It was a trick Eva had never been able to master, and one she envied deeply.
Following after her were the red todyk Eva had seen earlier, and to her surprise, a familiar face.
“Baldessare?” Eva blurted out. “What are you doing here?”
Captain Orlando Baldessare was a kloshian, his face a network of scars that made Eva’s look mild by comparison. He wore a long coat, his hairlike tendrils white and kept long as well, and she had last seen him in the brig of a starship several galaxies away when he tried to kidnap an opera singer for his own amusement.
Eva had not been amused. Also, she had gotten kidnapped by The Fridge shortly after, so she wasn’t super into the whole kidnapping concept in the first place.
Captain Baldessare stared at her, unblinking. “Do I know you?” he asked.
“I guess not,” Eva muttered. She was wearing a helmet that obscured her face, of course, but that didn’t mean he’d recognize her without it.
Rubin Hjerte ignored their interaction, turning her attention to Miles. “Miles, my boy,” she said, her voice carrying the lilt of an accent Eva couldn’t place. “You assured me this would be an entertaining fight, but that you had no possible chance of losing.”
“Well, actually, it’s not my fault,” Miles said bitterly. “These two were worthless, and I was having connection issues with Pounder for some reason.”
Jei and Nara didn’t dignify his bullshit with a response. Good for them, Eva thought.
Hjerte wandered over to the table, grabbing a grapelike magenta globe and popping it into her mouth. “A good leader takes responsibility for their crew’s success or failure,” she said.
“Well, actually—”
“Speak again and I’ll have your teeth for my chest,” Hjerte said, as mildly as if she’d mentioned the weather was cool. Mercifully, Miles obeyed, despite clearly still fuming and outraged at his own perceived victimhood.
“Captain Eva Innocente,” Hjerte continued, now directing her piercing gaze at Eva.
“Present,” Eva replied, keeping her posture and expression neutral.
“I allowed this grudge match despite, or perhaps because of, your reputations.” Hjerte ate another globe, chewing thoughtfully. “Number One has been absent from the pits for several years, but her matches were quite impressive. It was a pleasure to watch her fight.”
Min inched closer to Sue, eyes wide.
Eva inclined her head. “The compliment is appreciated, I’m sure. I hope we didn’t cause you too much trouble.”
“I earned more than I paid out,” Hjerte said. “I always do, or I’d be a poor excuse for an entrepreneur. One of the prop bets was particularly lucrative, thanks to you.”