Havoc (Dred Chronicles 2)

“You don’t relate well to people. You’re not a charmer.” Martine’s expression was unexpectedly shrewd. “That tells me you grew up lonely, not much company. So I say the second fact is true. Calypso?”

“No rebuttal.”

In answer, Dred downed her shot. “You two are good at this.”

“When you grow up on the streets, you learn pretty fast to read people. Who’ll feed you, who’ll report you as a vagrant, who’ll try to take you home and chain you up.” Martine rubbed a hand across her face. “Man, this shit is strong.”

The game went on for a while. Eventually Dred and Calypso fetched more booze. It was the middle of down-time, so only the sentries moved in the hallways. Dred was feeling the effects slightly by then, though not as much as the other two. That’s probably because of Jael. And where the hell is he anyway? After the fourth bottle, Martine was bleary-eyed and Calypso was singing. Dred enjoyed the warm buzz as she settled in her quarters again.

“You’re terrible guessers,” Martine mumbled.

“Maybe you’re just an excellent liar,” Calypso said.

“That I am. Always have been.”

“I like that you’re proud of it. A woman should celebrate her strengths.” Dred closed her eyes.

Calypso let out a snore. It was the first time anyone had passed out on the floor since before Einar died. Casting back through muzzy memories, she realized Tam had been avoiding her quarters for quite a while, and that it had become a haven for her and Jael. She weighed her reaction to that, as the closeness had crept up on her. Between the rotgut and the surprise, a queasy feeling roiled in her belly. Attachments were the surest way to get hurt in here. They offered leverage to her enemies.

And there’s a fragging lot of them at the moment.

“I was a free bird during your trial,” Martine said unexpectedly.

“So you know more about me than I do you.” Her trial had been a circus, with coverage all over the bounce.

“I know what the talking heads reported. But that’s probably not true.”

“Are you asking to hear my side?”

“Your call.”

Dred wasn’t drunk enough to tell the whole truth. So she said, “I was hunting killers. The authorities take it badly if you do it without proof.”

“But you got caught up in it. You fancied the rush, or you wouldn’t have done your last victim in front of his little girls.”

“I just didn’t want him to get away.” But their faces haunted her, even now. To them, she was the monster, and it was in that moment that she realized she hovered on the knife-edge of turning into exactly what she hated most. That was when she knew she had to stop and take whatever punishment they doled out.

“Lie to yourself if you want, queenie. Don’t bother with me.” Martine rolled onto her side and lifted her feet until they touched the ceiling above the bunk. She swiped her feet back and forth, as if she were running. The motions were rhythmic, almost hypnotic. “We’re all some shade of devil up in here.”

“You, too?” Dred closed her eyes and collapsed more than lay down beside Martine. If either woman wanted to take Queensland, now was the time. She was too tired to fight. In fact, in this moment, she’d happily step aside so the mistress of the circle could take over.

But Calypso seemed to be out cold. If anyone had asked, she’d have guessed that the tall woman had a better head for liquor than Martine. And I’d have been wrong. The little sharp-tooth was full of surprises. Jael calls her “bright eyes.”

“Me especially. Oh, am I supposed to whisper what I did now?”

“Do you want to?” Dred murmured.

“Evidently so. Pour me another drink, and I’ll tell you a story.”

In reply, Dred emptied out the jar into the other woman’s mug. Martine knocked it back and closed her eyes, as if that would make it easier to speak. “It starts with a man.”

“Usually does,” Dred said.

Martine smiled wryly. “Unless it’s a woman. And in my case, it was that, too.”

“Sounds fascinating. And complicated.”

“The best things are. I mentioned I grew up rough, yeah?”

“You said something about learning quick on the street.” It was a prompting line, providing a place for Martine to start.

“I was thief early in life. Had to be. If I failed, I didn’t eat. My skills called me to the attention of a powerful underlord, the man who ran Novus.” Martine paused, then added, “That’s a neighborhood in Ankaraj on New Terra.”

“Thanks. I’m not from there.”

Martine aimed a pat at her arm. “I can tell by the accent. Anyway, Darak’s goons dragged me into his office. I expected to be executed.”

“Obviously, that didn’t happen.”

“Instead, he offered me a job. Those were good turns actually. I stole what he told me to, received a fair cut, and had protection.”

“So what happened?”

“I fell in love with an honest man, a lieutenant in the New Terra militia, and I was young enough, crazy enough, to enlist, so I could stay close to him. But I wasn’t cut out for that life. Darak offered me a certain amount of freedom as long as I got the job done. He cared about results more than procedure, so I wasn’t good at following orders, especially when they were stupid.”

“Doesn’t seem like you,” she said, curious how Martine had gone from thief to rebellious soldier to Perdition.

“Things didn’t last between us. He was too gung ho on protecting and serving. I was too ho hum on the propaganda. But I tried to stick out my term because by then, I was head over heels . . . for my commanding officer’s wife.”

“Are you making this up as you go along?”

The other woman grinned. “Sounds that way, huh? But no. Truth is stranger than fiction, or some shit.”

“Was it mutual?” she asked.

“Unfortunately, yes. It didn’t start out personal, though. She came to me because I’d been vocal, complaining about her fascist husband’s policies.”

“Came to you with what?”

Martine’s dark eyes were grave. “Proof of Conglomerate atrocities, incursion on civilian civil liberties, and evidence that they were ignoring due process.”

“Shit. War crimes?” This wasn’t what she’d expected at all.

“Exactly. Against Nika’s wishes, I went public with the information, and they labeled me a traitor. She was taken into state custody, detained indefinitely.” The other woman took a deep breath, as if the memories hurt even now.