Diamond Sphere Read online

“I’ve run out of anything sensible. The world’s totally gone off its rocker for me now,” he said, and then he strode away.

  *

  For the rest of that night, I tried not to think about the days ahead, I tried not to think about the dangers. But it didn’t work. They rushed through my mind, even when Tan and I were finally lying in bed.

  We both stared up at the dark ceiling. And I said to him then, “I don’t think I’ll ever sleep well again.”

  “That makes two of us.”

  A long pause. I could hear his soft breaths. Then I heard his quiet voice, “I like that ‘two of us’. We work well together when things are going well.”

  My head shifted his way. “And when they aren’t going well?” Which was, like, most days lately. And which would almost certainly be the case in the coming days.

  “Then we work well together-squared,” he said now, surprising me.

  I shook my head, laughing softly, and his hand closed around my hip; he pulled me closer till we were both on our sides and our bodies were pressed against each other.

  “I love you. Just keep remembering that,” he said. Then his hand slid under my pajama top as he began proving his words to me.

  *

  The Main Moment was approaching fast.

  We were supposed to be picked up in the same place I’d met Hu at yesterday. Roberto was supposed to drive me and Tan there—well, it was supposed to be only Roberto, but he ultimately showed up with Jamie in tow.

  Jamie extended his hand to Tan then, but Tan wouldn’t take it, which annoyed me. But I didn’t hassle Tan. We were both so anxious. We hadn’t gotten enough sleep, especially after our much-needed strenuous sex session.

  We began the final preparations needed for leaving the house; then we loaded our stuff into Roberto’s car.

  At one point Tan went back into the house to do something and Jamie said to me, “Damn. Your boyfriend only just met me and already he hates me.”

  “It’ll pass,” I told him. “Tan can be pretty goddamn grumpy.”

  Now Jamie laughed a little. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  “It’s the hotel room on Hera,” I said.

  Jamie’s dark eyes just stared at me.

  “You could fix that,” I added, pointedly eyeing him back.

  When Tan came outside again, Jamie said to him, “You know, Tan, Pia told me a lot about you. How you started in the security academy here and worked your way up into a great security career.” I had told Jamie no such thing; Roberto must have. I glanced at him but he was bent into the car rearranging our bags.

  My eyes moved to Tan again. His face hadn’t softened but at least he didn’t look any grumpier as Jamie continued talking.

  One thing about Jamie: apparently because of his languages gift, he was also good at small talk. He made some about our Heran adventures. Then he said in a relieved voice, “I’m glad we both got out of that nightmare in one piece.” Tan slowly nodded in agreement then. “I just don’t know about my mom.” Jamie was frowning now, and this time it didn’t at all seem like an act. “Yesterday I contacted the home and they said she’s okay. But I still don’t know about leaving her….”

  “By the time this week’s over, you might be glad she’s there,” Tan said cryptically then.

  Jamie just flashed him a confused frown; I hadn’t informed Jamie of the risks here. And I certainly wasn’t going to do that now.

  “It’s time to get going,” I said.

  *

  A few minutes later when we were seated in the back of Roberto’s car, I told Jamie, “I should be able to line up a job for you.” Provided I survive these next days, I added in my mind. I had a feeling that would become my new punctuation to every sentence.

  In the front seat, Tan’s head shifted our way for an instant.

  Jamie sat forward a bit, grinning at me. “Wow—thanks so much, Pia!”

  “Well, nothing definite yet, but we’ll see. Roberto says you’re really handy. Right, Roberto?”

  Roberto’s nodding head shifted my way as he said, “Mm-hm, yep.”

  But Jamie didn’t seem to notice my little exchange with Roberto; Jamie’s eyes were fixed out his side window, at something only he knew. “You’ve got to be handy when you’re mostly on your own.”

  “I know exactly what you mean,” I replied.

  *

  I made Roberto stop before we got too near the pick-up spot; Tan and I would go the rest of the way on foot.

  Tan took our two big bags and our one suitcase out of the car, and I took my usual special case, which I had strapped to my back inside a larger backpack. We said our goodbyes. And then we headed for the woods.

  It was pretty warm out that day, and with the heavy bags, the walk seemed longer than yesterday’s, the distance longer.

  “We should have asked her for door-to-door service,” Tan said dryly, breathing a little heavily.

  I snorted. Then I reached for him. “Let me take one of the bags….” He shook off my hand. Technically, I was stronger than he was. But he had he-man insisted on carrying so much. This was unlike him. He was nervous. I could tell.

  The woods thinned, and now I could see a large black transport’s outline through the trees and the brighter field surrounding the vehicle.

  When we finally stepped into that sunny grassy area, no one was waiting for us. And the transport’s workings were silent.

  “Well,” Tan said, his eyes on the big machine, his mouth frowning as he shifted the stuff in his arms into a more comfortable position. I hadn’t thought to make a back-strap for the suitcase at least; that had been short-sighted of me….

  I heard a noise—a mechanical sucking and squeaking, and then three people emerged from the transport’s other side: Hu, Shayla, and Chuck. They were all wearing their usual long heavy-looking robes. I wondered how they could stand such heavy clothing beneath this hot Sun.

  Tan and I walked up to them now, and Chuck immediately growled, “What’s he doing here? I hope he’s just dropping you off.” He turned his eye-ire onto me for a moment; then his eyes went back to stabbing Tan.

  Now Hu said in a tight voice, “Pia—”

  But I cut her off as I spat, “Either he’s coming with me or I ain’t going.”

  Hu sighed and her head turned to Chuck now. “I think Pia needs some familiar support.”

  “We don’t need to take her,” Chuck said on another growl. “We could get the coordinates out of her.”

  Tan dropped one of the bags; his brow lowered, then his whole body stilled. At least from my side’s view. On his other side, the side I couldn’t see, I knew he had a gun in his jacket. And now he warning-like said to Chuck, “Are you threatening her?”

  Tan’s gun must have come out because Chuck suddenly yelled, “Hold it,” and both he and Shayla whipped out guns as my heart jumped into my throat. I had my own hand on my gun beneath my jacket, but I froze because I was so worried about endangering Tan further. Two guns pointed not really at him, but not far from him either….

  I watched as the three of them engaged in a battle of angry stares.

  Goddammit. Only five minutes in and already this was going terrible!

  The Sun beat down on us all, I began shaking, and I could feel sweat trickling in tiny tickling rivers down my neck….

  “Calm down, everyone!” Hu finally commanded, but no one seemed to listen to her.

  Chuck spoke again. “People like him—cushy life, cushy job, at all our expenses. He hasn’t lost any limbs…yet.”

  Now Tan said in a loud quick voice, “So you’re missing an arm—you’ve still got a dick.”

  There was a tense silence…and then there was a sharp laugh—from Chuck. “Too right,” he said, his narrowed eyes seeming to consider Tan.

  “Can we end this macho showdown right now?” snapped Hu. “And that was actually an order. Next time I say something, including the next time I say to calm down, DO NOT IGNORE ME.” She looked on the verge of saying something
else, but then she just waved a quick disgusted hand, spun around and walked fast toward the transport—fast but somehow a bit awkward, as if she were having trouble moving her legs so fast.

  Chuck’s head spun in her direction; I thought I saw worry in his brown eyes. Lowering his gun, he rushed after her.

  Shayla slipped her gun back beneath her robe and sighed. She said to me and Tan, “Come on inside.”

  It was Tan’s turn to growl. “I’m not going anywhere until I get some goddamn reassurances. That sounded like a threat, like he’ll force something from Pia. Or me or both.”

  Shayla just rolled her eyes and sighed even harder as she walked away.

  Tan and I turned to each other. “Omigod,” I said. I couldn’t think of anything else to say. I was still shaking a bit.

  He dropped the other bag to the ground and waved his gun away from us as he spoke to me. “And you think we can last days around these people? They’re violent, they’re coarse. What the hell are we doing?”

  “We’re doing something for Diamond. I mean, Tan, we could get on a ship and get off here for forever. Is that what you want? We could. We could run away. End of story.”

  “No, there’s no need,” I heard Chuck say, and we both spun around toward his voice. “I’m sorry for before. I let my passion get the better of my brain. I don’t like you,” he said bluntly to Tan. “But I’m not going to kill you. I just want you to know that I know. And you better not try anything.” From the way he was looking at Tan, I took his statements to mean he knew about Tan and Hu. As if Tan would go with her again…. I felt my face flushing; I shifted on my feet a bit uneasily.

  “Whatever,” Tan said, looking less angry now. “You could kill us but then you won’t get anything.”

  “There are ways, you know,” said Chuck.

  “What—torture?” I shot out. “Threatening one of us so the other will talk? Is that what you’re all about? And we should trust you with anything?”

  Chuck sighed. “It doesn’t matter. I know some geology and cartography. By whatever means, if I got the coordinates, I could definitely get us there without you. But, honestly, we’re minus people here. We need you. We need your help. We can’t trust too many of our people with this information….” His voice trailed off. I wondered if he was thinking of his cousin John, whom I’d shot…oops. I wasn’t about to reveal that.

  I had no idea of John’s health status since, but, whatever the case, I didn’t know if Chuck hated the guy or loved him. And it wouldn’t help either Tan or me if I also made Chuck’s I Don’t Like You list. Though his cousin was certainly on mine after he’d tried to kill me….

  What the hell confusing crazy mess had I gotten myself into this time? Though not just me now because, this time, Tan was directly involved too.

  *

  We decided to keep going: we followed Chuck onto the transport. It didn’t look like the same one as the last time with Hu. For one thing, this one was a lot larger; for another, this one was colder inside….

  We moved through a hall, closer to a room at the end. Inside that room, the walls were metal-silver and midnight-black, and the light coming from there seemed very bright. I spotted Hu inside with someone else—an older man. She was seated in a metal chair, and he was bent over her as he did something to her bare thigh.

  Her head shot up and she spotted us coming toward her. The older guy pulled back; her gray robe fell down to cover her leg again. Chuck walked into the room now, and I followed…and realized the older guy was the same damn doctor from the cave that time. He snapped his red doctor’s bag shut as he raised his head to me.

  “Well-well-well, the gang’s all together again. Isn’t this heartwarming,” I said, my sarcastic voice covering up my pounding-too-hard heart.

  Hu ignored what I said; she waved a hand at the man. “This is Doctor Dave. He sticks around for whatever we need.”

  My voice was a rabid growl now. “I don’t fucking need anything from him. Keep him away from me.”

  “You look all right now,” the doctor said, carefully eyeing me up and down.

  Tan’s twisted face seemed both annoyed and incensed. It jerked between me and the doctor. “What the fuck is going on?”

  “Pia and I need to talk alone,” Hu said.

  “We do?” I asked, ending on a half-sneer.

  “I’m not leaving her here, so forget it,” said Tan to Hu.

  “We need five minutes alone together. Then you can come back here to get her.” Her voice sounded like impatient little slices through the cold air. “Go bring your things to the bunk room. Chuck will show you.” She was looking at Tan, but her eyes were hard; they held their usual dead look. I wondered what it took to make them look alive. I wondered if Chuck ever did that for her and, also, if Tan ever had….

  He exhaled loudly now as his questioning eyes looked at me, but I just shook my head fast, frowning. He shot out the doorway; then both Chuck and the doctor followed him.

  Hu was off her feet now, shutting the door behind them. “Do you know who tried to kill you on Hera?” she asked me.

  At first, I just looked at her. Then: “Yes.”

  “Well, what have you learned? You’re here now. We need to discuss these things.”

  I didn’t answer her directly. “I wouldn’t trust anybody. That is, I don’t think anyone can be trusted. Someone seems to think they’re going to make a mint off what Amy Castano learned. I think she was working on something else for someone else, then she stumbled onto this. And the people she was working for felt they owned this too.”

  “I’d really prefer more specifics about who.”

  “What does that matter now? We’re on the way, and maybe we’ll get all the answers we need there. The battling-people part—I don’t know. That’s your thing.”

  The transport motor had started up and we must have lifted off; I could feel the rumble of turbulence beneath the floor.

  And unless I’d begun imagining things, Hu seemed to be flinching with every jerk of the transport. Now she said, “I don’t like being in the dark with respect to information.” She must have seen my staring at her uncomfortable face. “I also…don’t like flying. I’d rather be on the ground. Or beneath it.”

  I snorted.

  Then she said, “We’re going to make a few detours along the way.”

  My brow lowered. “What kind of detours.”

  She raised her right hand, palm forward. “Nothing nefarious. They’re necessary. First we’ll fly over The Razor Grasslands to take a close look at—”

  “But that’s wasting time! I don’t want to prolong this because it’s dangerous and I have a life to get back to. And, frankly, I don’t understand all this. Like, for example, why didn’t Lori tell you the location on Julianne’s map piece?”

  “What makes you think she didn’t?” Hu replied. “You know first-hand the map doesn’t tell you anything about exactly where the danger points are. The Astral Mountains cover over a thousand square-miles of mostly forest. That location told me nothing…except now I know whoever has that map piece knows about that general area too.”

  I didn’t want to think about that right now; I didn’t want to think that someone could be waiting for us there. So I said, “I just don’t understand why you didn’t at least do the grassland flyover sooner.”

  “Number One, we did. Number Two, YOU didn’t have the specific coordinates then, but you do now. Number Three, I don’t have unlimited resources to keep traipsing across Diamond. I’m combining trips to save money….”

  …I could never figure out where she even got any monetary resources—probably from sympathizers….

  “…And finally, as I said, I don’t like flying. The less I do, the better. Now I need the coordinates for The Grasslands.”

  I stared at her pale face. “You’ll get everything when we get close to the places.”

  She eyed me curiously. “Still suspicious, eh?”

  Someone banged on the door; Hu walked over and
opened it up. Tan stood in the hall, with Chuck not too far behind him.

  “So now what do we do?” Tan asked, but in a mocking uninterested voice.

  Hu shrugged and then abruptly motioned at me first and at the door second. “Whatever you normally do. We won’t reach our first stop for hours. This meeting’s over. If either of you need anything from now on, ask Chuck. Go on then,” she finished, her left arm motioning for me to leave now.

  So I did.

  *

  Chuck had disappeared down the hall, leaving Tan and I alone as we walked.

  “Where the hell are we headed in this thing?” he asked me in a lower voice.

  “We’re supposed to be flying to The Razor Grasslands.”

  He stared at me for a silent moment, his face looking more than a little worried.

  “One of the spots is there, Tan. We’re not going in, so don’t worry. We can’t. It’s impenetrable. But I think she wants to make sure.”

  “What about what we want?”

  We had stepped into our designated sleeping area. The room contained four beds, but only two frames had mattresses on top. This room was smaller than the one Hu had been in, and though I saw lots of silver here, the room felt warmer. I dropped my bags onto the floor as Tan shut the door behind us.

  He came up to me then, very close, close enough to whisper in my ear, “You think they’re watching us—listening in to everything?”

  I hadn’t even thought of that, which had been stupid of me. I stilled. “I don’t know.”

  “Better not talk about anything too private then,” came another whisper, but this one was punctuated by a kiss on my ear and then my neck as Tans arms closed around me. “Let them get a look at that.”

  Bristling a little, I moved slightly—but pointedly—away.

  His arms dropped to his sides. “What’s wrong?”

  Quickly I slid back over to him, very close, started saying, “How do I know—” Then suddenly, I didn’t want to finish my thought out loud. My lips snapped shut.

  Tan’s mouth twisted and a muscle in his jaw twitched…maybe a little sadly? “Just say it please.”