Supremacy's Outlaw: A Space Opera Thriller Series (Insurgency Saga Book 3) by T.E. Bakutis (top 100 books of all time checklist .TXT) 📗

do,” Kinsley said. “Stay here and tie Jan up. I’ll see what I can salvage from the maintenance bay. Shout if he starts thrashing around early.”

And tie him up with what? Emiko wondered. She hadn’t brought her purse, in which she kept zipcuffs for emergencies, and it wasn’t like the people doing maintenance on this tunnel just left restraints sitting around. Unless the maintenance staff was a good deal more kinky than was generally known.

As Emiko watched Jan’s chest rise and fall, emotions warred inside her. They hadn’t seen each other in five years, and she’d thought, four years ago, that she was done with him. Yet here he was, back in her life and causing problems. Making things exciting.

Working for a ruthless crime lord wasn’t Emiko’s dream job. Sure, Ryke paid her well, kept her safe from anyone who might wish to harm her, and let her work the books at her own spa. And yes, getting a free massage whenever she wanted was a plus. Yet Emiko would much rather be doing her own jobs, with her own crew.

Emiko had loved numbers from the moment she learned what they could do. She could count the people better at laundering money than her on one hand. Her life had become comfortable, but that might be why she’d jumped at the chance to help Jan.

Comfort made her restless. Whenever her life became too easy, whenever her challenges went away, Emiko always longed for something else to do. Of course, Emiko would be the first to admit that taking on a Supremacy senator, Elena Ryke, Truthers, and the entirety of the CSD was absolutely bonkers.

She’d have preferred to start Jan’s next job with a bit of light stock manipulation, a casual honey trap or, perhaps, a pyramid scheme. Emiko had always enjoyed pyramid schemes. Still, here she was. Covered in lizard spit.

Minutes passed in agonizing silence as Emiko waited for Kinsley to return, hopefully with some rope. She kept her flashlight busy, scanning the tunnel behind, above, and ahead for more angry lizards. Just the thought of those scaly, slimy, smelly monsters made her shudder. She’d rather fight a knife-wielding thug, naked, than face another spitting lizard.

Emiko checked her wrist chrono. Did five minutes remain? Less? Jan’s breaths remained even, and his eyes remained closed. What if he’d been wrong about the time he had left? What if Bharat had lied about when the nanos would kick in?

In the distance, an all too familiar whine rose.

“Oh boo,” Emiko said, shoving her arms beneath Jan’s shoulders. “Move, you big lug!”

That low whine was the sound of repulsor jets, a constant, even tone that suggested a hovering vehicle. There weren’t many repulsorcraft on Ceto — such craft were expensive, fragile, and hard to maintain with all the dust in Ceto’s air — but there was a repulsorcraft heading their way, which suggested two possibilities. Either Ceto Security Division had tracked them into these tunnels — or Senator Tarack’s Supremacy commandos had.

Emiko didn’t dare call out, but she spotted Kinsley sprinting back her way. With Kinsley’s help, they dragged Jan away from the rail. They settled Jan’s still-unconscious body behind an abandoned crate as headlights filled the tunnel.

Emiko’s ragged breathing and pounding heart sounded deafening in her ears, even over the whine of the repulsors. She tried to tell herself whoever was out there couldn’t hear her. She tried to tell herself they’d cruise right past.

The whine of the repulsors lowered as the craft approached. That whine faded as the repulsorcraft coasted to a stop. Behind the crate, bright lights lit the tunnel down which they’d walked.

Had the driver spotted them? How could they have done so? Emiko got Jan behind this crate before that repulsorcraft turned the corner!

Kinsley tapped her shoulder, waving the makeshift spear she’d used to kill a giant lizard. Emiko slipped out of her way to allow Kinsley to press up against the side of the crate. Beyond the crate, in the bright lights, Emiko heard boots impact on dirt, then the crunch of consecutive footfalls.

Someone was approaching the crate. That someone must have seen them go behind it, or had Wi-Vi in their ride, or was, perhaps, a tad psychic. Emiko was no slouch in unarmed combat, but there was a whole lot of open tunnel beyond this crate.

If the person now walking up on them wasn’t a moron, they’d round the crate with their weapon drawn and several meters to spare. Yet as each boot crunched closer, Emiko realized the approaching person was a moron. That was something.

A tall, slight figure rounded the crate, holding a flashlight, then shrieked as Kinsley swung. He cowered, and Kinsley grunted, as her makeshift spear swung by a mere finger’s width above his head. It snapped his head back as it impacted his tall pink fauxhawk.

The near miss sent the newcomer stumbling backward, thin, pale arms windmilling. Rafael Garcia slammed onto his ass, eyes wide as headlights. Emiko couldn’t help but gasp.

“Shit!” Rafe blurted. “Kinsley!”

“Rafe.” Kinsley lowered her spear and disapproved. “You are very lucky I managed to alter the direction of my strike. It would be unfortunate if I made your face concave before you explained why you abandoned us.”

“I didn’t!” Rafe scrambled up and brushed off his dirty pink pajama pants. “It was the CSD. They picked me up!”

“And left us unmolested?” Kinsley frowned. “Unlikely.”

“They didn’t know you were there! I cut my connection and blanked my drive when they busted in on me, made sure they couldn’t trace me to you. I didn’t want to be responsible for Jan going to jail again!”

Emiko felt a tinge of alarm. “Again?”

Rafe blinked.