eimarra | Serial: Bodyguard of Lies, episode 51: Making a Drop

Bodyguard of Lies is a serialized science-fiction novel updating once a week on Tuesdays. If you missed last week’s episode, Balark Mercs, it can be found here. You can catch up on the entire serial on this page with a description of the story and links to all published episodes.

Bodyguard of Lies
Episode 51
Making a Drop

“I won’t do it,” Sabra said. “My place is here, guarding you.”

“It’s our best option,” Leo replied, staring at his damned fish. “The mercs will be the target; whoever’s after the drug will assume they have it.”

“And whoever’s after me gets a free shot, and if they’re after you as well, the same is true.” Sabra grabbed his shoulder and spun him around. He glared down at her hand but didn’t try to free himself.

Sabra kept talking. “It’s too high risk. There has to be a better way to do this.”

She hadn’t argued in front of the mercs. They didn’t like her as it was, and anything she said, they’d argue with on general principles. Jimmy would probably insist that she go solely because of Mick’s death.

Her hand dropped from Leo’s shoulder, and she stepped back. She deserved to be a target, deserved whatever happened to her. Much as she hated herself right now, though, she had a job to do, and she would do the best she could.

“Can you think of one?” Leo asked. “None of the mercs had any options, and they’re the first ones on the firing line.”

“Yeah, as if you hired Jimmy for his smarts.”

“Believe it or not, he does his job well. He’s not Mick, but no one is.”

“No. They’re not.” She leaned against the glass. No one ever would be. “It’s still idiocy. The mercs get attacked for no reason, no one’s covering me, and you’ve got nobody here with you. Just let the mercs do their job and let me do mine.”

“If this works, we cement the deal, get Balark shut down. I can go back to business as usual.” Leo met her eyes in her reflection. “I’ll dissolve the contract. You can return to the arena.”

“Pretend like it never happened?” She didn’t care if she sounded bitter.

“I know you could never do that.” His tone was gentle. “I thought it might be easier for you if you weren’t here, always aware that he isn’t, either.”

She looked down. She wanted to be done, wanted change. “You might be right. I’ll do it, but I still think it’s a stupid plan.”

“Fine. Anything happens, you can say, ‘I told you so.'” The vid chimed. “That’s probably the chems.”

It was. The reikatine was ready. Sabra sighed. She wasn’t ready for this. “Tell the mercs I’ll leave in five. They should probably get a head start.”

Sabra scrunched the package under her left arm. No, she didn’t look conspicuous at all, lugging around something larger than most of the mercs’ weapons. Nope, no one was going to give her a second glance. She wished she’d argued more against this plan. Sticking to Blue initially, she traveled about a half mile from Vuest before she switched to a bus. The bus dropped her at the edge of Blue; she caught a lift down to Yellow to keep going.

The Wan neighborhood looked the same as it had the day before, except less populated. No sign of the riot. She was crossing the street toward the religious group’s building when someone called out to her. “Sabra! Hey, Sabra! Can I get an autograph?”

The fem speaking looked like she’d been eliminated brutally from the arena. Scars crossed her face in every direction. If that had happened, surely someone would have paid for reconstruction.

Sabra rested the package on her hip. “You got the ink? I’m not carrying.”

“Actually, you are.” A man stepped up behind her. “We’d like the reik, please.”

The fem had stepped closer, and others were closing. She’d been ambushed, and she couldn’t set the package down. She’d have to use only one hand, though it would make her less effective. No worse than an injury in the arena, except there she faced a single opponent at a time.

The man grabbed at the package. Sabra twisted to the side and kicked him in the back of the knee, dropping him to the ground. Her twist brought her closer to the fem, who bared a knife blade. Two more men edged in.

Sabra jumped backwards and landed off-balance on the first man’s back. She stumbled, and the fem charged. Sabra thrust up her right arm, remembering too late that Gareth had slashed it open the other day. The fem’s blade caught the edge of the cut and drove deep.

Sabra brought her knee up into the fem’s stomach, then extended her leg to pry the fem off. The fem tripped over the downed man (now trying unsuccessfully to regain his feet) and knocked over one of the others. Sabra turned her attention to the one still on his feet.

He had a longer reach than her, and he wasn’t rushing in. She circled to get open space behind her. She could probably beat him if she raced away. The metal point of a knife touched her neck.

“You’re getting sloppy,” Gareth said. “I can’t believe you didn’t see me there.”

She should have. She should have expected him, been watching specifically for him. He hadn’t stayed in jail very long at all.

He pried the package from her. “But then, you haven’t been yourself lately, have you? You didn’t see me last night, either.”

“Last night?” She went still. “You were there?”

That meant one thing. The fire had been arson, and her brother had been there. He had killed Mick.

He probably wanted to kill her, too, but he’d screwed up.

“I’m afraid I’m going to have to beat you now,” she said.

She leaned away from his knife, and he pressed forward. She caught his arm and pulled him, using his momentum to drive him downward. Releasing his arm at the last second, she stomped his wrist into the ground. He released the knife, but the other mercs were on their feet now.

“You’re taking this awfully personal. I didn’t mean to kill the mug, you know.”

“Not helping yourself.”

“Would it help at all if I said that I was just testing the security of your home?”

The fem had her knife ready again. Sabra spared a glance for the guys. One had some kind of club, but the other two didn’t appear to be armed.

She grabbed Gareth’s knife. It shook in her hand, but she could keep him from cutting her again. Others had crowded in now, to see the entertainment — small time crooks, members of the religious group, clerks who wanted to escape from work for a while. They limited her options; she wouldn’t endanger the bystanders.

A police siren shrilled through the crowds. Someone had called in the disturbance. She couldn’t kill him now, angry as she was; she’d never taken the merc oath. Or was she just making excuses? She hadn’t taken the oath before fighting back at Vuest, and no one had batted an eye.

If she killed Gareth, though, then he had been right all along about what it took to get by in the world. If she murdered him now (and no mistake, it would be murder, premeditated with his knife in her hand), then he won.

Maybe, just maybe, he was right, but she wasn’t ready to admit it yet.

She backed away from him. He stood, smirked at her, and sauntered away with the package tucked casually beneath one arm, the other mercs behind him. She lost sight of Gareth as the police cut between her and the mercs. She didn’t recognize any of the cops, but they clearly recognized her. She let them bundle her into one of their vans. Some of Cole’s mercs got tossed in with her, but she didn’t see Gareth. Perhaps he was in the other van; she’d look for him at the station.

Click here to continue reading with Episode 52, Unexpected Rescue.

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Originally published at Erin M. Hartshorn. You can comment here or there.