Short Stories from the Star Kingdom Read online

  Kim waved at her temple where her chip was embedded. “A friend needs help.”

  Rache tried to tamp down annoyance, but he probably sounded peevish when he asked, “Doesn’t Casmir have bodyguards and the entire castle to help him now that he’s a Minister of whatever and dating the queen?”

  Her eyebrow twitched. “I do have other friends.”

  “One of the knights?”

  “Qin. One of her sisters is missing.”

  “Ah, the furry cat women.”

  Now, her eyebrows drew down. “They’re genetically engineered human beings. Given all the things you have enhanced, I don’t think it’s right for you to mock someone for being different.”

  “You are correct. I stand appropriately chastised.” He bowed again, realized that left his bare ass on display, and hurried to straighten. “Allow me to apologize by offering to help with the problem.”

  If he went along, maybe they could still have their date afterward.

  Kim hesitated. “Qin and her sisters are out at Asger’s estate. The Kingdom Guard is there investigating. It might be hard to keep you hidden.” She looked at his nude form. “Very hard.”

  “I can wear my armor and a mask.”

  “People would be more likely to recognize you then. You spent your entire Tenebris Rache career in that armor and in a mask.”

  “True. I could wear a sweatshirt with the hood pulled up.”

  She hesitated again.

  Rache felt a hint of rejection, even if he knew she wanted to keep him safe. “I can help. You know I can. Even without my ship and my crew, I’m formidable.”

  She knew that. He needn’t have said it. Maybe his ego wasn’t as batter-proof as she believed.

  “I know you are,” Kim said. “I just don’t want to blow your cover. Once the Guard knows you’re alive, they truly will start hunting for you.”

  “I’ll happily risk that to help a friend of yours. And to get out of this apartment. I’ve been looking at business opportunities on the network, but nothing appealing has come up.”

  “Yes, I saw the pizza and sushi kiosk on the display while you were showering.”

  “I need a mission, Kim.”

  “As do I,” came Amit’s comment from the main room.

  “All right. Just… keep your face covered.” She looked down at his towel. “And everything else. It’s unlikely the Kingdom Guard admires symmetry the way I do.”

  “I knew you liked the view.”

  She smiled. “Maybe a little.”

  * * *

  • • • • •

  * * *

  Riding as a passenger in a rented auto-flier was a strange feeling. Rache was used to having his own warship full of mercenaries with numerous shuttlecraft that he could take for errands.

  He’d given that all up when he had, completely on impulse, rammed the Fedallah into the astroshaman ship that had been firing upon Casmir. If he’d had more than a second to consider his actions, Rache might have found a better solution—a less destructive solution—but all of his men had been off the Fedallah by then, so he hadn’t been risking lives, beyond his own. Just hardware.

  Weeks later, the fact that he’d sacrificed that much to save the clone brother he hadn’t known he had until that year surprised him. He’d been prepared to give up everything, including his own life, to kill King Jager, but he had never expected to give up everything to help a relative who was more a goody-goody pest than an ally.

  “We’re almost there.” Kim sat next to him, gazing out the window at the farms and timberlands below while the automated craft flew them toward their destination. Somewhere above the cloud cover, the sun was setting.

  “Have you received any updates on—” Rache caught himself before calling the missing sister the furry woman, “—what is her name?”

  “Pounce.”

  That name didn’t make him less inclined to come up with feline-related nicknames, but he restrained himself. Since genetic engineering was forbidden in the Kingdom, the pointed-eared warrior women were probably being harassed and called freaks by strangers they encountered.

  “I know Qin is sleeping with the knight,” Rache said. “What made the others want to stay on Odin?”

  “The knight? Asger. You’ve met him.”

  “Yes, we’ve tried to kill each other several times. I hope you’ll forgive me if I use labels to distance myself from your dubious allies.”

  “Most people would consider a Star Kingdom knight a magnificent ally.”

  “Most people haven’t had knights try to kill them. Repeatedly. Even worse is the one who stowed away on my ship and tried to blow it up. He won’t be there, will he?”

  “Tristan? I think he’s gone back to Stardust Palace with Princess Nalini.” Kim pointed out the window toward grassy hills with a castle and several outbuildings. “You’ll have more to worry about from that Guard shuttle than any knights.”

  “Kingdom Guards aren’t as well trained as knights.”

  “I am prepared to protect Tenebris Rache if enemies assail him,” Amit announced from the back of the flier.

  Kim peered over the seat at him. “Did Casmir clone you from Zee? You seem to be developing some of his personality.”

  “All crushers have the same foundational programming,” Amit said, “but I am my own unique individual. My personality is shaped by my desire to fulfill my programming and also to do good in the universe for humanity and also for crushers.”

  “You should have asked for a stolid, quiet one,” Kim told Rache.

  “I didn’t expect to get one at all.” Rache suspected Casmir had programmed this one with a do-gooder streak, thus to ensure he wouldn’t use Amit to kill people.

  Rache had little need to kill people now that Jager was dead and he wasn’t employed as a mercenary. He didn’t know what he had a need to do. That was the problem.

  The auto-flier settled to the ground near the Guard shuttle. Another shuttle was also visible tucked between two buildings, a purple one that typically indicated a knight on a mission for the crown or a member of the royal family.

  “Is Casmir here? Or Oku?” Rache asked.

  “Casmir just arrived, yes. He didn’t mention bringing Oku.”

  Rache hoped she wasn’t there. Even though he’d more or less been responsible for her becoming queen, he doubted she would thank him for it. More likely, she wanted him dead for having killed her father and her older brother.

  He pulled his hood up, doing his best to arrange it to shadow his eyes. In truth, his face wasn’t well-known—he’d been masked during his entire career as a vengeful mercenary—but thanks to Casmir’s newfound fame, his face was very noticeable. And he and Rache had the same face, albeit Rache’s was leaner, and he knew how to get a haircut before his bangs fell into his eyes.

  Outside, the air was thick with the promise of rain and tinged with the scent of fallen autumn leaves. Kim started toward the castle, with Rache and Amit following her, but a parka-clad Casmir waved from a tree-lined creek between two hills a quarter mile away. Asger, two crushers, and several of the nearly identical Qin sisters were poking through the leaves along the bank behind him.

  Four uniformed Guards were searching the grounds around the castle itself. Rache was pleased to head in another direction. Even if he had no pressing need to kill people, he suspected he would spend the rest of his life dodging people who wanted to kill him. He might end up with more blood on his hands simply for defending himself.

  Was he insane to stay here simply because he cared about Kim and wanted… he didn’t even know what. A future for them? What kind of future could they have? Yes, they could have a surreptitious date here and there, but it wasn’t as if they could one day get married. Not in the Kingdom. Since she had friends and family and work that she liked here, he doubted she would leave.

  As if she knew he was thinking about her, Kim looked over at him as they trod across the damp grass. “Thank you for coming along.”

&n
bsp; “I didn’t want our date night to end before it began. Also, my crusher was bored.”

  She held her hand out toward him. At first, he thought she wanted him to hand her something—did she know he’d stuck a stunner and pistol under his shirt? Then he realized she was offering her hand for holding. They’d never done that before, but he promptly clasped it, pleased.

  Maybe one day she would be willing to leave with him. It wasn’t as if he would forbid her from coming home to visit, and her company did have labs in a couple of other systems…

  “I imagine that spending one’s days and nights with only a crusher for company could grow lonely.”

  “I am excellent company,” Amit said from behind them.

  Kim arched her eyebrows, as if to ask if that was true.

  “You can punch him if he annoys you,” Rache said, not exactly answering the question. “Crushers are combat specialists.”

  “Doesn’t punching one hurt? They’re solid metal when they’re not in their liquid form, right?”

  “That’s right,” Rache said. “I suggest wearing gauntlets for the punching. And be prepared because he punches back.”

  “Hi, Kim,” Casmir said brightly as they arrived at the first of a line of huge trees that ran along the banks of the creek. Several of them had tree houses nestled in their broad branches, one of them multi-leveled with numerous decks. It looked to have been there a long time. The rest were newer, with the smell of freshly sawn lumber mingling in the air with the fallen-leaf scent. “Thanks for coming. Qin found something that you might be able to help with. And…” Casmir’s left eye blinked as he looked toward Rache, peering under the hood. “Uhm, Rache?” He glanced around, probably making sure the Kingdom Guards weren’t nearby. “Or are you going by David now?”

  “I’m undecided on my next name. I’ve gotten so used to Rache over the years that it feels strange to think of myself as David.”

  “I am Amit,” the crusher chimed in.

  “Yes, I know.” Casmir smiled warmly at the crusher—strange that Amit got a warm smile and Rache got a wary, uncertain frown. “Issachar and Asher are back there searching if you want to help them. We’re looking for clues. One of Qin’s sisters went missing last night.”

  “Where’s your usual crusher?” Rache asked.

  “On his honeymoon with Tork.”

  “His what?” Rache couldn’t tell if that was a joke or not.

  “I thought they were just taking a trip together,” Kim said dryly.

  “They are,” Casmir said. “They’re visiting Tiamat Station to spend a couple of weeks at the observatory there, performing studies for a paper that Tork is working on. But before leaving, they had an informal ceremony where they agreed they were suitable mates for each other and would continue to play network games and discuss the curiosities of the human race for many years to come.”

  “There was a ceremony?” Kim asked. “You didn’t invite me.”

  “Would you have come?”

  “No.”

  “There was cake,” Casmir said.

  “Your crusher and your android required sweets?” Kim asked.

  “No, but the cake helped convince Oku and her mother to come. The robot toppers were made from chocolate. Also, there were dog treats for Chasca.”

  “I will assist my fellow crushers with searching.” Amit strode up the bank, apparently having no thoughts on crusher-android pairings.

  Rache had thoughts, but he decided not to express them.

  “It’s good to see you well, Rache-David-undecided.” Casmir smiled, the gesture more affable than wary this time, though his eye blinked again.

  Rache had never figured if that was a nervous tic or something related to his allergies, seizures, and myriad other problems. Though they shared the same genes, Casmir hadn’t been gene-cleaned while in his artificial womb. Rache had been. Fortunately.

  “If I’d known you were coming, I would have brought a gift.” Casmir squinted at Kim, as if to tell her she should have warned him.

  “I’m not in need of underwear,” Rache said.

  “No? Aren’t you in hiding? A fugitive from the law? On the lam?”

  “Yes, but I’m still capable of acquiring my own undergarments.”

  “That’s good to know. But FYI, my mother bought those.” Casmir rolled his eyes. “You know the kinds of gifts I give. Comic books, kits to build robots, and snacks.”

  “Yes,” Kim murmured, “we remember the fungus edibles.”

  “Oh?” Casmir brightened. “Did you eat them?”

  “No,” Rache and Kim said together.

  “Kim?” The six-foot-tall, pointed-eared, and mostly human-looking Qin waved from the fourth or fifth tree house up the creek. “There’s a vial I was hoping you could look at.”

  “Back in a minute.” Kim released Rache’s hand, patted his arm, then headed toward Qin.

  That left Rache alone with Casmir. Rache had never known what to say or do around his clone brother and found that hadn’t changed. He’d always found silence acceptable, when there was a lack of information needing to be communicated, but Casmir tended to burble when he was nervous—or any time he was around Rache. Which he promptly decided to do now.

  “How are you doing? Has anyone tried to shoot you lately? Are you in an underground lair? If so, Kim owes me five crowns.” Casmir opened his mouth, presumably to keep babbling, but maybe he was aware that he was doing it, for he stopped himself.

  “It’s a subterranean apartment.”

  “I knew it.”

  Rache looked in the direction Kim had gone and considered how long he was socially obligated to stay and converse with Casmir. They could be brothers and save each other’s lives without having to spend time together, couldn’t they?

  “Uhm,” Casmir said, “I never got a chance to say anything after the battle, because you were believed to be dead, and it was only by noticing an improvement to Kim’s glum mood that I learned that you weren’t, but… thanks for the help in the Arctic Islands. I know you could have died and that you lost your ship. I appreciate what you did.”

  “You’re welcome.” Rache didn’t mean for his tone to be dry, but it came out that way. Casmir prompted dryness from him. But it amused him—actually, it pleased him—that Casmir had observed Kim’s mood improving since Rache had made it known to her that he was alive. “I haven’t been shot at lately. My subterranean apartment precludes snipers at the window.”

  “As all good supervillain lairs should.”

  Rache squinted at him. It wasn’t that he denied that he’d intentionally taken a lot of mercenary contracts over the years that pitted him against the Kingdom—he could certainly understand why they considered him a villain here—but Casmir had just thanked him for saving his life. Did he truly still see Rache that way? As a villain?

  “I’m sorry,” Casmir said. “I’m joking. You know I read too many comic books.”

  “Kim has mentioned that.”

  “She would know. Are you going to stay on Odin?”

  “So I can date her, yes.”

  “That’s the only reason?”

  “Given that I’m wanted dead a thousand times over here? Yes, that’s the only reason. I don’t suppose you can ask your new girlfriend to pardon me.”

  “Ah.” Casmir looked down, prodding the leaves with his shoe. “I did actually bring that topic up with Oku.”

  “And she said no?”

  “Vehemently and passionately. Even if she wanted to—which, given that you killed half of her family, she doesn’t—she wouldn’t dare go against public opinion on such an explosive matter.”

  That was what Rache had expected, so he wasn’t surprised. “I should have worked with Finn.”

  Casmir’s gaze jerked up. His left eye blinked twice. “I hope that’s a joke.”

  “I suppose.”

  Casmir’s expression remained concerned. “If you want to stay here… why don’t you try to change public opinion?”

&nbs
p; “How? Kim already tried to make me sympathetic in her blockbuster bestseller, and that didn’t change anything.”

  “To be fair, I think she was trying to round you out so you weren’t a one-dimensional villain, not win sympathy for you.”

  “Either way, it was a lot to ask of the readers.”

  “Yes. But what if you started using your powers for good instead of evil?” Casmir arched his eyebrows. “You could help Kingdom citizens instead of obliterating them.”

  Rache snorted. “You want me to turn into some goody-goody—”

  “Heroic, noble protector of the common man, sweeping in to halt inimical villains that have confounded the Kingdom Guard and Royal Intelligence.”

  “You do read too many comic books.”

  “No, this is a good idea.” Casmir grinned and pointed at Rache’s chest. “If you try heroism for a few years, the populace would be more interested in seeing you pardoned. I bet Oku would too.”

  “You’re a naive fool, Casmir.”

  “That’s not untrue, but I think I’m right.”

  Rache glared icily at him.

  “Let me know if you need help choosing a superhero name.” Icy glares did little to daunt Casmir. “I’m an expert on the matter. Oh, I know. You could be the Main Event.” Casmir’s eyes gleamed with self-appreciation.

  “You’re not half as funny as you think you are.”

  “What? I’m twice as witty as you. Besides, you were the one to call yourself that.”

  “I still can’t believe you told Kim.”

  “We’re roommates. Roommates share everything.”

  Rache suspected that sharing was largely one-way. He couldn’t envision Kim nattering inanely about her day—or gossiping about a colleague.

  “You should have a cape,” Casmir said.

  “What?”

  “All good superheroes have capes. Since you’re always in black, consider something vibrant and eye-catching. Red is a popular choice.”

  Kim returned with Qin, sparing Rache from further discussions of superhero ridiculousness. Sometimes, he couldn’t believe he and Casmir were the same age. Technically, Casmir was older.