The Hunt for Red Fluffy Page 8

  At approximately the right point along the circumference of the landing site, Ness took to the air again to gain the shelter of another tree tangle. Fluffy joined them no more than five minutes later, looking altogether too pleased with herself.

  With Julian wrapped up in Ness's coat and Fluffy obligingly curled around him, Ness used the scope on his own rifle to spy on their hunters. They milled about the base of the last tree where Fluffy had left her present but didn't seem to connect the dots far enough to figure out that the nanites were above ground level. Their apparent inability to move from searching for a cloaked ship to searching for a rather more moveable cat gave Ness and his companions the advantage still.

  Torn between watching the hunting party and keeping an eye on Julian, Ness pulled the assassin into his lap to accomplish both. Julian's color had improved from a distressing gray nearly back to his normal mahogany. That was encouraging.

  "Please don't die," Ness murmured, stroking Julian's hair in a distracted fashion. "I know some nightmare part of me wanted you dead, but not anymore. And how in the world would I explain it to Shax? You're one of his oldest friends out here. I know he'd be heartbroken." Ness sighed and risked a glance down at that almost elfin face with its narrow, regal nose. "I'd be sad, too, Julian. I truly would be."

  Sprinklings of white salted the hair at Julian's temples, either the result of more years than Julian admitted to or simply because of a human life lived on a razor's edge. Even with Corny as part of the crew, Ness rarely considered normal human mortality. With some intervention, humans lived easily past two hundred, but it was still so brief. So terribly brief.

  Julian hadn't stirred.

  "We have to get you back. I don't know what's wrong or how to help you." Ness slid his arm under Julian's knees again, preparing to take flight with him.

  Quick as a snake strike, Julian's hand shot out and gripped his arm. Shocked, Ness looked down into dark eyes that had opened but wandered badly.

  "Not yet." Julian patted at him. "Not yet. I'm…better. Won't be ready. Brimstone. Need us out here."

  Ness did his best to look stern. "Like hell we do. You need the sickbay."

  "Getting better at the cussing." A hint of a smile tugged at Julian's mouth. "They need a little more time. We have one last trick." A wheezing cough interrupted, followed by another ghost smile. "Or Nic does."

  Three Arms Circling had consumed five tofu cubes and half a cinnamon bun, then waved any other food away. Either their guest was on a diet or the octopus spacers ran on super-efficient metabolisms. Shax was betting on the latter, certainly the case with other beings he'd known who spent much of their lives in space.

  Now, though, his son and Three Arms had returned to their visual communications, passing what appeared to be a star chart back and forth. Shax sat on a nearby crate, near enough to keep an eye on proceedings but far enough that he wasn't looming. As far as he could tell, Leopold didn't need his interference.

  Plenty of things he could have been doing. Helping with repairs, for instance. Though Mac was handling all of that better than Shax ever could, and he had Heckle and Corny helping. Much more practical, of course. Heckle was perfect for helping in small spaces, and tools never flew out of Corny's hands.

  But he didn't want to be alone with his worries, either. Ness and Julian still hadn't called in. Yes, yes, he understood about the need for radio silence. All the levels of hell, yes. Something, though. A tapped-out signal. A half-second communication to say, We're fine.

  He'd do everything in his power to find them if they didn't return. Tear the planet apart to find his love, his…friend, and the first cat he'd had in decades.

  Distracted nearly to the point of anguish, he didn't notice Leopold in front of him until his son cleared his throat. He held out the tablet to Shax in both pink paws.

  "They want to go home. This is the asteroid field. The one where we were."

  Shax took the proffered tablet. "Yes. All right. Is Three Arms Circling indicating that this is home?"

  "It is not quite home. But it's where home could find them. If we go back there."

  "I see. Maybe. So if we return to the asteroid field where the cutter attacked, their ship or crew or family, however they think of that lovely wedding-cake colony ship, will find them?"

  Leopold nodded, holding out his paws to take the tablet back. "I do not know how. Trying to find that out still. Perhaps they have comm."

  "I'd imagine so. The suit seems to have everything else." Shax put a hand on his son's spiny shoulder. "I can't make any promises, and there's probably no way to communicate that. If we have to run, we're concentrating on running."

  With a sad peep, Leopold gave another nod before trundling back to the tank where Max was singing to Three Arms Circling. They had surfaced as far as their eyes, watching Max intently where he perched on the edge of the tank. Shax tensed, fully prepared to snatch Max away when an arm came out of the water toward the millipede.

  Hell's gates, I hope they don't think Max is food.

  But no, the octopod arm reached over with great care to touch Max behind his head and pet gently. Max responded with a happy trill and launched into a Bach cantata.

  "No."

  Startled, Shax glanced up at Verin. "How long have you been there? I thought you were sleeping."

  "Couple seconds. I was. Too much banging and shit with repairs." Verin stood with his arms crossed, glowering at the tank.

  "No, what?"

  "You can't keep the ET, you little shit. I see that look."

  "I was thinking no such thing. Not a snowball's chance." Yes, our visitor is adorable and would make an interesting addition to the… No. Stop that. "Though I was pointing out that getting them back to their own might get sticky if we're running."

  "Don't know how we've survived all the shit we've been through, Shaxy, with you turning into such a fucking softie."

  The insult was a soft grumble, though, without sparks to back it up. I'm not the only one squishy on the inside.

  "Now you're thinking about going after them, you pebble-brained shithead."

  Shax managed to keep his double take internal. "Stop reading my mind."

  "Centuries, your pain-in-the-ass highness. Centuries. Don't even fucking tell me you don't know what I'm thinking, too."

  "You're thinking of telling me off some more." Shax heaved a put-upon sigh. "That's not difficult to guess. And you're thinking that I need to trust the galaxy's best assassin I sent out there with a full-grown hunting cat and the capable battle angel who went after them."

  "Well…yeah." Verin side-eyed him. "Not in those words, but yeah."

  "And it's insulting and condescending of me to want to go check on them."

  "Give the boy a fucking prize."

  Shax chewed on his bottom lip, his voice a good deal smaller when he said, "But it's Julian and Ness and my new cat."

  "Yeah. Sad. Those Duomo boys and girls don't stand a rat shit's chance." Verin actually had the gall to flash him an evil grin before he wandered away again.

  Maddening. Shax hated it when Verin was right.

  Three more changes of location—Julian thought it was three. Unable to do much more than drift in and out, he might have lost count.

  "Time?" he croaked out when Ness's face swam more or less into focus again.

  "Hello." Ness gave him a smile that kept twitching downward. "We're about four hours out from Ms. Ivana's two days now."

  "Hmm. Secure for now?"

  "We are." Ness shifted, settling Julian's head in the crook of his shoulder, comfortable without the hard lines of the coat. In any other situation, Julian would have encouraged Ness to remove the black wing-tailored shirt, too. Lovely thought. "We've moved position three times, and Fluffy has left a…deposit each time. The nanites she leaves behind are causing a useful bit of confusion."

  "Depos—oh, I see. Brilliantly clever."

  Ah, there was a real smile. "Thank you. It's so close to time now. I really think
we ought to be getting you back."

  "Not much longer. Any more of them down?"

  A visible shiver ran through Ness. "Fluffy got hold of one more. She's, ah, efficient."

  "And quiet." Julian closed his eyes as pain rattled through him. He'd bet on the planet's high arsenic content when he'd selected an antidote. The results were looking partially right, since he was still breathing. He opened a pocket on his jacket. "Nic? Ready for shenanigans?"

  The little pink rat's nose emerged first, whiskers twitching as Nic tested his surroundings. The rest of him soon squeezed out, the height of rat couture with his camera pack attached.

  "Julian…"

  "No danger to Nic. Just need him to leave some tiny presents for me." Julian lifted Nic in one shaking hand so they were eye to eye. "Just like we practiced."

  "What did you practice? If you're sending him to the cutter, we're at least two kilometers out now. Not far for us, but that's too far for Nic's little legs."

  "He'll have transport." Julian glanced over at Fluffy.

  "I think you might be delirious," Ness murmured with obvious concern. "You can't send Fluffy toward their ship."

  "Counterintuitive, yes."

  "I don't really want to leave you for any length of time, but I could get Nic close."

  Julian shook his head, squeezed his eyes shut at the knifing pain, and took a long, slow breath before he could answer. "Put us all to shame being brave and selfless. But your lovely wings are too visible against all the green. Fluffy's the better choice. She knows how to sneak." He coughed, breathed again. "They're hunting at least four of her now for that extra dash of confusion."

  "But I'm armed…" Ness trailed off with a huff. "Yes, I know. So is she. Just tell me what needs to be done. I don't think you should be talking this much."

  If he'd had the energy to spare, Julian would've laughed at Ness's contradictions, but breathing took concentration. Annoying when autonomic functions weren't so autonomic any longer. Having an angel fumbling around inside one's jacket was nice, but Julian retained some pride. He waited until his hands were steady enough to retrieve the palm-sized net full of tiny discs from an inside pocket.

  Nic reached for the parcel, cheeping.

  "Not yet, littlest saboteur." Julian pulled a scarf from another pocket, the snowman one from the Brimstone's most recent Yule party. What a wonderful evening that had been. Ness had even danced with him—stiff and perplexed at Julian's invitation, yes, but they'd still danced. "Too far for you to carry this. When you get there, take one at a time." He handed scarf and bag off to Ness. "Around Fluffy's neck, please. And tell Nic again? Not always certain he listens to me."

  A frown creased Ness's perfect forehead as he took the net between thumb and forefinger. "I'm afraid to ask. And you practiced with Nic? With these…?"

  Not falling for that, beautiful Fallen. "Yes."

  "I…see. More or less." Despite the skepticism, Ness secured the net to the scarf and the scarf around Fluffy's neck. It looked good on her. "Nic, you are to leave these alone until you and Fluffy reach the bad ship, understood?"

  Rubbing over his whiskers with both front paws, Nic gave a sullen cheep.

  "You'll get to play with them when you get there. One at a time. And…and Julian and I will tell you where to place them?" Ness waited for Julian's nod before he went on. "So take one, place, run back to Fluffy. Take the next one and so on."

  Peep.

  That sounded more cheerful.

  "Good." Ness stroked the spacer rat's head with one finger. "Go on, then. The sooner you get back, the sooner we can get home."

  Fluffy watched with avid interest as Nic climbed her foreleg and settled on her back where he could cling to the scarf. With a quick nuzzle for Ness, she took off down the tree trunk at dizzying speed.

  "Ness?"

  Immediately, Ness's full attention turned to Julian. "Are you all right? Is it worse?"

  "No worse. It's nice being held in your lap, but could you sit me up, please?" Julian tried for his best smile. From Ness's expression, he failed miserably. "Easier for us both to watch Nic's camera that way." Over the years, Julian had been shot, thrown, burned, sliced, and squashed, but nothing had felt as awful as that simple act of sitting up. Fire seared through his bones. The blood-hum in his ears blocked out all other sounds. I am not going to throw up. Absolutely not. Alone? Maybe. But not in front of Ness.

  "Julian?"

  "I'm all right." He grimaced at the quaver in his voice and hid his discomfort by propping his arm on Ness's bent knee so they could both watch the image above his comm unit. For now, the image only showed leaves rushing past as Fluffy raced through the forest. Every few yards, the leaves stilled when she must have stopped to listen, making sure of their surroundings before she dashed off again through vegetation that appeared to sense her passage.

  "Strange planet," Ness murmured.

  "Mostly because it's not ours." Julian risked skimming over sensitive waters as he went on, "I've heard that Shax found you on a stranger one."

  To his amazement, Ness didn't bristle or jerk away. He just shook his head. "So I've heard, but I wasn't conscious to remember it. Shame, too. I would have liked to have watched Shax fighting off red-licorice vines."

  "That would've been quite a sight. I would've paid to see it. Nothing like first meetings, at any rate."

  And still there was no bristling. Julian didn't have any illusions, of course. Protective, nurturing Ness had roared to the forefront the moment Julian had been bitten…proboscified? It had nothing to do with him personally. He'd take the odd closeness while he could, though. It was nice, except for the suffering-from-symptoms-of-venom part.

  "Were you, um, also new?" Ness's wings rustled behind them. "When you met Shax?"

  "Was I new? Hmm. Hardly a baby agent at that point. I'd gone into the field as a teenager, so I'd enough years in to be a cocky little shit by then. But young…yes. I was still young enough to think I knew everything."

  The silence that followed had a heavy quality. Julian waited.

  "Could I ask you something? That is…if it's too personal, please just tell me."

  Julian's head was suddenly too heavy to hold up, so he leaned it on Ness's shoulder. "I won't know until you ask."

  "Oh. Yes. Of course. How old were you? When you started training? Do you remember your parents at all?"

  That sort of question. All right. "You're looking for childhood trauma. I can tell." Julian stopped to cough, which ruined his rakish smile, damn it. "I have no idea who my parents were. Nor have I ever felt curious. Planetary Children's Services shuffled me around until I was five. Then I went to boarding school until I was eight. Then the Agency came for me. Okay, maybe the boarding school was a bit hard on me, but it wasn't long."

  Come with me to begin your real life, Julian, the recruiter had said so long ago, when adults had still been giants.

  "You didn't have a childhood, then," Ness said in a voice so soft and sad it nearly cracked Julian's heart just to hear it.

  "Hey. Don't look at me in that tone of voice."

  "You can't see how I'm looking."

  Julian chuckled and patted the knee on which his arm rested. "Not every human has a tragic childhood. Once the ISE found me, I had a great childhood. My own room, plenty of food, playmates with my interests, good teachers. They don't push agents into the field before they're ready." He shrugged. "I was ready sooner than most."

  "Do you ever have regrets?" The sad tone had turned inward, and Julian wagered that Ness was having memory cascades. "About killing?"

  "The weapon has no regrets." Good thing you're an expert liar, Parallax. "The people I'm assigned to kill are the worst of the worst, you know. The ones too elusive or too powerful to be brought in for the courts to deal with."

  "Many of the demon soldiers were so young."

  "War's different, lovely fallen. And so often stupid." Julian made certain every grain of cynicism and irony were absent as he said, "I respect
your choices. They were ones of conscience."

  Ness let out a hard breath and moved Julian between his legs so he could better lean against Ness's chest. Apparently, question time was over.

  In the view, Fluffy continued her stop-and-start journey with the occasional odd bit of wildlife hopping or helicoptering across the image. Julian put his head back and napped, sure that Ness's reactions would alert him to any changes.

  The nap devolved into deeper sleep, complete with distressing dreams involving faceless beings chasing him, shouting, Julia! Julia! He woke disoriented and displaced to Ness shaking him gently.

  "Julian. The ship."

  "The what now?" Julian blinked at the blurs in front of him, alarmed that he couldn't immediately place himself in time and space, while reassured that Ness's arms were still around him.

  "Fluffy's reached the ship."

  Right. Yes. "Good. Could you ask Nic to tilt his head up?"

  Ness relayed the request, and the image followed a landing strut up to take in the port side of the ship where the ident code was painted. Extra confirmation never hurt.

  "Perfect. Do you see the little opening next to the landing strut?" Julian turned his head so he could see Ness nod, his eyes glued to the image with laser-beam intensity. "Right. That's where Nic needs to go with one of the little discs. I'll call out when he needs to place it."

  "How does he do that?"

  "Nic knows."

  Ness let out a huff that might've been some sort of laugh. "Oh, yes. You practiced. Of course you did."

  "We did. I'm sorry I commandeered your rat, Ness. I really thought he was Leopold's."

  "They do spend a lot of time together." Ness hesitated as they watched Nic leave Fluffy to run through the vegetation. "Nic isn't really mine, either, if I'm honest. He came to me when Ver had frightened him and, I suppose, he agreed to live with us. Shax hasn't always approved of the arrangement."