Apounding wakes me inthe night. We’re still three days out from Io, but I assume they’ve found us. That Obsidians are in the halls. Ascomanni are peeling Lyria and Aurae in zero-G. My traitorous braves are laughing as they stomp on Cassius with their boots and drink from Sevro’s skull. They look like grinning beetles in the dark, their armor heavy as they drag us before the throne of Fá to make us into Blood Eagles.
No.I wake screaming.
The room is still. The bed warm. The alarms quiet. But someoneispounding on the door. I grab Bad Lass and crank open the door to find Lyria standing there with a crazed look. “It’s Sevro! He’s torturing the prisoner.”
Lyria’s already sprinted back down the hall. I rush after her, ducking my head to avoid the bulkhead partitions. I’m not the only one to hear Lyria’s shout. I collide with Cassius as he comes from his cabin bunk with alpine on his breath. Gin.
How many varieties of booze does he have on this heap?
We scramble off one another. I push a little more aggressively, annoyed he’s drunk, and lead the way to the medBay. We find Lyria and Aurae in the hall outside the door trying to hack the smashed controls. Aurae looks sick to her stomach.
“He’s crazy,” Cassius replies. “I told you.”
The door is thick. I peer through the duroglass viewport to see a murky image of Sevro hunched over Diomedes with cables in his hands.I beat on the door but Sevro either doesn’t hear me or doesn’t care. “Lyria, those controls are fragged. You remember how to initiate the fire protocols?” Cassius asks.
“Yeah. Oh, it’ll demagnetize the lock,” she says with a burst of inspiration.
“Go to the bridge, initiate them, then override the oxygen cutoff protocol.” He gives her his access password and she takes off.
“Go with her,” I say to Cassius. He ignores me, and I do my best to put myself between him and the door. “Cassius, don’t pour gas on this flame.” I look to Aurae for help. She puts a hand on his shoulder, but he brushes her off. “He could kill him.”
Cassius misses the desperation in her voice. I don’t.
“Someone has to get him in line,” Cassius says.
The hall floods with fire alarm lights and a clunk comes from the door. The door hisses open and Cassius swims past me with a kravat move. He’s first through the door. I follow, then Aurae. It’s a brutal scene. I’ve encountered worse: nothing will beat the abattoirs Atlas leaves in his wake. But seeing your best friend taking out a man’s teeth with pliers and then electrocuting the exposed nerves is more than a little jarring.
Cassius is at a loss for words. “You…goblin.”
“Go away. I’m working,” Sevro says.
“Sevro, stop,” I say.
“Stop? What? You gave me the look,” he deadpans. “Ain’t this why you brought me? Ain’t this why you always bring me? I don’t mind the dirt. Gotta keep you shiny.” He turns with a sneer. “I asked about Athena’s ships. Had to know they were real.”
I can’t help myself. “And?”
Sevro turns around and smiles at Cassius’s look of disgust. “He’s quiet on the subject. Want me to ask him about Kalyke?” He has a tooth between his pliers.
“Get away from him,” Aurae snaps and shoves Sevro so hard he almost moves. She hurts her wrist, but Sevro steps aside like a courtier to let her pass. Aurae rushes to Diomedes. Cassius, Sevro, and I watch. Cassius looks crestfallen, but not too surprised.
“Cassius, I want you to get out. Aurae…clean him up, but his bonds stay on.” She looks back at me and nods. “Sevro, meet me in my quarters. We need to talk—”
Sevro hurls the pliers at me. I catch them, infuriating him. “I didn’t come out here to slag around. You said you wanted answers. This Raa’s all bluff. Twenty minutes and I’ll give you a diagram of Kalyke. And see if this one’s full of shit.” He stabs a finger at Aurae.
“Not like this,” I say.
“Fine.” He dusts his hands off, and waltzes out of the room.
Cassius is about to go after him. I stand in his way. “You’re enabling him.”
“You want to kick his ass?” I sniff his breath. “Go on then.”
Cassius is off like a bullet. Aurae stares back at me in disbelief. “It’s either now or when we can’t afford it,” I say. “They’re grown men. Let them sort it out.” I look at Diomedes and say to Aurae. “Do you and I have to sort something out?”
She stands and turns. One of her fingers is clearly broken from pushing Sevro. “I am a Daughter of Ares,” she says. “But I am also a person. You would know better than anyone.” She points out the door. “Now go make sure they don’t kill each other.”
I lock eyes with Diomedes. “Fair enough.”
