He didn’t even bother turning on the simulation this time. He just sat across from her in the darkened room. “What job?” He asked.

  “A job on her ship.”

  “Weren’t you dead set against serving?” Tony reminded her. “What about your principled no kill policy? What about all your worries, and not entirely unfounded ones, that Captain Arden and the president will get you killed? They won’t stab you in the back or have one of our people shoot you, Alanna. They’ll just keep sending you on the most dangerous missions they can find, until you actually die. Because until you’re dead, you can change your mind about James. You can’t be seriously considering this. It’s a mistake.”

  Alanna shrugged, and drank more of her tea.

  “You let him get in your head.” Tony said, accusingly. “I knew you would. I told you he would try. And you let him.”

  “Bernard didn’t say a single word that wasn’t in my head already.” Alanna said. “Well except the part about something being on the Sarayan station. No idea what the hell that was. Where is he, by the way?”

  “Dead. Bit through the veins on his wrists and bled out during the night.”

  “Creative.” Alanna said.

  “Maybe I shouldn’t have told you. Might give you ideas.” Tony responded, somewhat sourly.

  “I have a gun now Tony, I can take the civilized way out.”

  “Sure. Or you can just sign up to fight on Captain Arden’s ship. Because why rush? Why are you doing this?”

  Alanna shrugged, looking down at her feet as they stretched out in front of her, the still unfamiliar black Tundran uniform encasing her legs. “Did you tell James what happened?” She asked. “With the interrogation?”

  “Of course I did. I sent him the video.”

  “Ah. Thanks for that, Tony. Thanks a lot.”

  To her surprise, Tony’s response was a grin.

  “What?” Alanna asked with a frown.

  “You care.”

  “I care about what?”

  “You care what he thinks.”

  “Well.” She shrugged, looking back down. “I might care some.”

  “Why are you considering this?” Tony repeated. “You know it’s insane.”

  “It’s not anything Bernard said.” Alanna replied, somewhat defensively. “It’s what James said.”

  “Because he threatened to kill people?”

  Alanna hesitated. “He scares me.” She admitted reluctantly.

  “Alanna, everyone scares you. I scare you, Gregory scares you, Sean. The captain definitely scares you, as well she should. Hell, you hid it well, but Dev scared you.”

  “Dev plays the young and innocent better than most, but he’s a prison guard. He’s faking at least half of it.”

  “I know he is.” Tony shrugged. “Dev was special forces before he left the army.”

  “Of course he was. And I was a POW in a Tundran prison. You’re all scary. What did you expect?”

  “You’re not a POW now. Tell me Alanna, back when you served on your beautiful Saraya, no one scared you then?”

  “What’s your point?”

  “You have to trust someone, sometime. Don’t make a mistake.”

  Alanna nodded, avoiding his eyes.

  Tony shook his head. He’d done what he could. “Come on.” He said, getting up and holding out his hand. “We have to get the head.”

  Alanna looked at his hand doubtfully. “I’m not sure what that means.” She said.

  “It means, I have to go get a bone drill from the doc and cut off the damn head. I promised Danil.”

  “You’re not serious.”

  “Of course I’m serious. Promises made have to be kept, Alanna.”

  “You don’t have a pike!”

  “Danil already said he’ll accept a pipe. And the captain said not to let it drip on her ship.”

  “It’s a human head Tony, it’s gonna drip.”

  “That’s what I said!”

  “What did she say?”

  “She said we’ll think of something and she has full faith and confidence in our abilities, or some shit to that effect. God damn but I miss James.”

  Alanna laughed. She couldn’t help it. “What will you do with the head on a pipe once you have it?” She asked.

  “Well, the Sarayans are in the docking bay. So we’re going to send the head out to join them. You know, give Bernard a chance to return to his people.”

  “You could space the head.” Alanna offered. “It won’t drip for a while, not once you freeze it down to absolute zero.”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “See, that’s why we like having you around, Summers. You bring good ideas to the table.”

  “I try.”

  ---

  “It’s obviously going to drip when you mount it on the pipe.” Greg said, taking the leading role in supervising operation Bernard’s head on a pipe.

  “This is why, traditionally, we used a pike.” Tony said.

  “Will the doctor’s bone drill cut the pipe?” Alanna asked. She was drinking more ginger tea, and trying very hard not to look. Tony had already cut off the head, but apparently, their work was far from over. The logistics of this operation were surprisingly complex.

  “Hmm, cut the pipe into two sharp points?” Tony nodded. “I like it, let’s try that.”

  Alanna closed her eyes as the screeching noise of metal on metal filled her ears.

  “It worked.” Tony said a few very long minutes later. “But it’s still dripping. Like I told the captain, it’s a goddamn human head. It’s gonna drip.”

  “Maybe we should have cut it off inside the airlock.” Gregory said helpfully.

  “Yeah.” Tony said sharply. “Yeah, maybe we should have. Thanks for that, Gregory. Really helpful shit. You might have mentioned that earlier. What the hell do we do with it now?”

  “Also, someone has to carry the pipe.” Gregory pointed out. “The damn thing won’t stand on its own.”

  “Where’s a nice castle wall when you need it?” Alanna mused out loud.

  “This was your idea, girlie.” Gregory snapped. “There’s a reason we don’t do this on spaceships. Goddamn Sarayan barbarians.” He added, not at all under his breath.

  “I didn’t mean it literally!” Alanna yelled, her back still resolutely turned to the entire scene. “Only Tundrans would be crazy enough to take it literally and…”

  “I took it literally.” Danil said.

  “Shut up, Danil.” Everyone said nearly in unison.

  “Why don’t you just put it on an antigrav platform, heat up and twist the base of the pipe to keep it stable, and use a towel to soak up the blood?” Danil said, quite unexpectedly.

  There was a collective pause.

  “That might work.” Gregory admitted reluctantly.

  Fifteen minutes later, they were all sitting by the air lock. Bernard’s head, somewhat precariously balanced on a pipe and a makeshift base that resembled a macabre Christmas tree, floated in the opened airlock behind them, exposed to the near absolute zero temperature of open space.

  “How long is this going to take?” Gregory asked, stifling a yawn. He was getting less of the good drugs, and his stomach wound hurt like a bitch.

  “How long do you want to leave it up?” Alanna countered.

  “We can space the head again, can’t we?” Danil asked. “It can be re-frozen.”

  “No.” Alanna said firmly. “No, we cannot. You heard the captain, once it starts to drip, it’s gone.”

  “Then let’s leave it out for a while.”

  They all sat back down.

  “Who’s James?” Danil asked.

  Alanna shook her head.

  “Come on lieutenant.”

  “Lieutenant commander” Tony and Gregory said in unison, with Danil correcting himself close on their heels.

  “Why don’t you tell your young friend about James Hawk, Alanna?” Tony raised an eyebrow at her.

  “The president?” Danil asked in confusion.

  “He’s not the president.” Alanna snapped.

  “Not yet.” Gregory muttered.

  “Who is he, then?” Danil asked insistently.

  “He’s just… someone.” Alanna shifted against the wall. “I’m hungry.” She said.

  Tony reached into his pocket and tossed her a ration bar. “Your Sarayan friend got paid.” He said.

  Alanna shrugged. For all she knew, Tony was lying. The captain hadn’t mentioned it, apparently leaving it to Tony to be the messenger.

  “He says five hundred grand is five hundred grand. I don’t actually know what that means.”

  Alanna smiled. “It means he got paid.” She said. And made sure she knew about it. Some things, the Tundrans couldn’t fake.

  “You two sure have a lot of inside jokes.” Tony observed.

  “Who…” Danil began. “Oh, never mind.” He finished, closing his mouth in response to the deadly look Alanna shot his way.

  “Danil knows who it is.” Gregory said. “Why is it a secret?”

  “Because if Saraya finds out what he did…” Alanna shook her head. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “Then it’s Bernard brig time?” Gregroy asked helpfully.

  “Yeah, it’s a lot like that.” Alanna said grimly.

  “I got paid too.” Danil announced. “And not just the head on a pike. I got the money.”

  “Good.” Alanna said, somewhat mollified.

  “And I gave you half.”

  “You what?”

  “I gave you half. Call it a finder’s fee. That’s what your ‘Sarayan friend’ would call it.”

  “Did the captain suggest you do that?” Tony asked, his voice deceptively mild.

  “No. She just told me what Alanna did. That she negotiated for me. Best negotiator in the solar system, right here.”

  “I can give back the money.” Alanna said, looking over at Tony. “What’s your problem?”

  “No problem.” Tony said. “Just an observation. You know what she’s doing.”

  “Giving me options?”

  “You know what they’re doing.” Tony repeated. “You’re too valuable to kill.”

  Alanna nodded. There was truth there. Tony had told her to prove her worth. And he had been right. If she tried to run and hide, President Hawk would have killed her. And if by some miracle she survived, no one would be offering her any jobs. Now, she was too valuable to kill. So, captain Arden and the president were quietly giving her other options, to get her away from James.

  “What’s he like?” Gregory asked. “This special Sarayan friend?”

  Danil shrugged, looking away. Alanna was right, and he wouldn’t put anyone back on Saraya in danger.

  “Come on. Give uncle Gregory one hint.”

  “Just tell us if he’s someone Alanna’s other special friend James Hawk needs to worry about.” Tony said.

  “Good looking sort of guy, is he?” Gregory asked.

  Danil choked slightly, and began coughing.

  “I think it’s time to pull in the head.” Alanna said, ignoring him. “It’s gonna get mummified if we leave it out too long.

  “It’s perfect.” Danil said, looking at the head a moment later, with bloodthirsty delight.

  Alanna turned slightly to make sure her back was to the head. She had zero interest in seeing it.

  They were getting ready to return Bernard’s head to the Sarayans when Tony stopped them. “James is calling.” He said. “You need to talk to him.”

  Alanna shot a confused look in his direction, but before she had the chance to say more, Tony enabled the holographic function on his wrist comm, and Alanna was looking at James, his now familiar gray eyes looking back at her.

  “The time delay…” She began.

  “Less than two seconds.” Tony said.

  Alanna swallowed. James, was close. Very close. “Hi.” She said eloquently, finally looking back at his image.

  “You’re alive.” James said, staring back at her.

  “Well, you know.” Alanna shrugged awkwardly. “Orders.” The blinding smile James shot her in return warmed her all the way down to her toes.

  “Bravery and valor in the line of duty.” James said. “As always. I like your new uniform.”

  I didn’t choose it. Alanna thought. I didn’t even want to wear it. And I hate you. But she didn’t say it. Looking at the glow of approval in his eyes, the words stuck in her throat.

  “Darling, is that a human head behind you?”

  Alanna gasped in horror, turning around to find Bernard’s head staring back at her. One of the eyeballs had exploded, but the other one was still there. “I…”

  Gregory clutched his stomach. “Stop.” He grunted as his body shook with laughter. “Stop, it’s a stomach wound. I need… I need the doctor.”

  “It’s a long story.” Alanna said, turning away from both Gregory and the head.

  “Will you tell me all about it?”

  “Does it have to be now?”

  “Soon. I want us to talk in private. Tony will set it up.”

  Alanna just stood there, uncharacteristically lost for words.

  “Really?” Danil said somewhat drily, looking over at her. “You’ve been celibate for what, a decade?”

  “Danil, for the thousandth time, shut up.”

  “Sicaro.” Gregory gasped, still clutching his gut. “Leave the Sarayans to their fun and walk me to the medbay, will you?”

  Tony hesitated, looking somewhat less amused as he glanced over at Alanna. “Come find me as soon as you’re done. We need to talk.” He said, before turning off to follow Gregory as he headed towards the medbay.

  “She doesn’t know, does she?” Gregory asked as soon as Alanna and Danil were out of earshot.

  “I don’t think she knows.” Tony admitted.

  “How is that possible? Everyone knows. The entire planet knows. Hell, most of Saraya probably knows they’re engaged. Everyone in the solar system knows.”

  Tony scratched the back of his neck and shrugged. “We’re working on it.” He said.

  “Work fast.”