"My Queen . . ."
"I'm sorry, Dartan, but I have places to go and things to do." She stood up and started out of the room with Arcadia and Facto following behind her. She stopped at the doorway and turned to look at them as a group."Ah, nothing personal, but you guys need to get out of my office. You know . . . I'm leaving, you should leave."
Dartan nodded."It will take us a minute."
"Lock up when you go."
Drew stopped the disk and turned towards her sister."See, you see, now I think someone owes someone else a little thing called an apology."
"Zarco's still dead, Drewcila. No, you didn't actually kill him, but you wanted him dead. If you had brought him with us, he might still be alive. You heard what Atario said, if you were dead he wouldn't have killed Zarco." Stasha, who had stopped crying, started all over again.
"Screw you then. I give up. There's no pleasing you. You'd rather I was dead than Zarco? What a hateful thing to say. Why, if they were talking to me—and if they didn't love you better—I'd call our mother and father and tell on you," Drew said nodding her head. She was trying to sound flip, and hoped she had succeeded, because it was in fact bugging the living shit out of her that Stasha was so mad at her, that she had said she hated her. To add to her problems, Van Gar had been very suspicious when she had asked him to stay in orbit instead of landing, and Arcadia was trying so hard not to look like she was pouting that it was obvious to everyone that she was. Although she hadn't told Facto her plans, it was obvious that he'd figured out from her speech that she was planning to bolt, and he just kept giving her this 'very disappointed' look, which seemed to have the ability to make her want to confess to crimes she hadn't even committed.
Everyone seemed to be hell-bent on judging her for something, and the truth was that she really didn't understand why. Maybe when they were taking out the part of her brain that held her previous memories, they had also removed the part that was able to comprehend why everyone she had any personal relationship with immediately became completely and totally unreasonable.
She found that their obvious disapproval, anger, and indignation was making it incredibly difficult to be wantonly selfish and self-serving, which was putting her completely off her game. She had this strange, unusual urge to somehow try to please them all, and that just wasn't like her at all.
It must be some residual effect of the poison.
An uncomfortable silence had fallen over the room. Everyone seemed to be looking at her, as if waiting for her to rationalize and make excuses for her actions, both in recent and ancient history. Except she didn't think anything she had done was really wrong, and even if it was she certainly didn't care . . . except that it was driving her crazy that they were all varying degrees of pissed off at her. She glared around the room at them for several minutes, daring one of them to say . . . well, anything at all. Nobody said anything. They just stood there, silently bombarding her psyche with varying degrees of displeasure till she could stand it no longer.
"Screw all of you!" She threw up her hands and stormed out of the room. Arcadia and Dylan followed her out and ran to catch up with her as she stomped down the hall. She stopped suddenly and turned on them, causing them to crash into each other."You can only come with me if you think you can quit judging me."
"Judging you? Shit, Drew! What the fuck are you talking about? I ain't judging you," Dylan said in a confused tone. She glared at him as if trying to read his mind, then she swung on Arcadia."But you are . . . !"
"I think maybe you're judging yourself, Drew," Arcadia said calmly.
Drew spun back around and started back down the hall with purpose."What the fuck is that supposed to mean? Why would I judge myself? I'm not doing anything wrong. This operation has become unprofitable. At any moment we could be bombarded. I'm leaving, and I'm taking my money with me. There's nothing bad or evil about it. It just makes good plain sense."
"I didn't say it didn't. I also didn't say that I was the one with morals and ethics. I implied that perhaps you were," Arcadia said, a hint of laughter in her voice.
Drew stopped and spun on her abruptly. She stood nose to nose with Arcadia, and punched Arcadia's shoulder with her forefinger."You wash your filthy mouth out this minute."
"Sorry," Arcadia said with a smile and a shrug.
"Come on, let's get this show on the road," Drew said spinning back around and walking faster this time.
"If you say so," Arcadia said.
"Damn it, Arcadia! Quit doing that," Drew said over her shoulder."I don't care. I don't care about my stupid sister or the stinking country. All I care about is my money and my empire, and I'm not going to let these idiots ruin all that I have worked and grifted to get."
"I know that."
"I said, knock it off!"
"All right, I will."
"If you keep it up, I'm going to leave you here."
"If you have to."
"Dylan, smack the shit out of her," Drew ordered hotly.
"No, she'll hurt me bad. I don't know what the hell you're actually even fighting about, so leave me the hell out of it," Dylan said.
Drew ignored them both. She knew what she had to do. If her sister knew her "secret" vault was at Hepron Station, so did other heads of state. If other heads of state knew, it was a sure bet that the Lockhedes knew. And if they knew, they'd figure out she was here, and they'd aim every bomb they had at them. She and her money weren't going to be here when that happened. None of this was her fault. She hadn't caused any of this shit, why should she have to suffer for it?
Putting the vault in her chambers would have been too obvious. The vault was hidden under a sliding panel in the farthest of the six loading bays of the station.
She ordered the area cleared, and by the time they got there they were alone. She opened the secret panel and punched in a code. The floor opened, and when they had walked through, it closed behind them. Six doors and six codes later they were standing outside the main vault.
"How does it open?" Arcadia asked, seeing no recognizable panel.
"Ah! Now you see, people, that's the beauty of it." She found the secret panel, flipped it open, and punched some buttons on it, which caused a long thin panel with thousands of points of light to pop out."A retinal scan can be very easily duplicated, finger prints are the same way, and voice activation is a joke. But did you know that each tongue has its own unique signature?"
"I knew yours did," Arcadia answered with a smile.
Drew smiled back, then continued to explain."You can get a cold in your eye. A scar can screw up your fingerprints, but what the hell could happen to your tongue?" She stuck her tongue on the pad, and nothing happened.
"Oh, I don't know, Drew," Dylan said angrily."Some idiot drunk could let some alien whore paint God only knows what on it."
"This can't fucking be happening!" Drew tried it again and again and again, until her tongue was completely dry, and still nothing happened. Then she went completely ballistic. She started kicking the vault door and screaming, "You stupid worthless forty-hundred-thousand iggy piece of crap! Give me my fucking money! You hear me? I said give me my fucking money!"
Arcadia turned to Dylan as they both ignored Drew's rampage."Look on the bright side, now you can continue to try to bed Stasha."
"Oh, I am sooo over her. I tried to help console her after she heard about Zarco's death, and she called me a perverted pig. Hell, I might be perverted, but I ain't no pig."
"How were you trying to console her?" Arcadia asked with a knowing smile.
"I dove between her legs."
"Hell, that always works with Drew."
"Do you think you two assholes could stop with your little tête-à-tête and come help me?" Drew yelled.
Arcadia and Dylan looked at each other, shrugged, then walked over and started kicking the safe and cussing.
Drewcila was less than amused.
"I'm not leaving without my money, Van Gar!" Drew screamed at his picture on the viewing screen.
"Any idea when that crap on your tongue is supposed to go away?"
"None at all, but I'm pretty sure it's fading."
"Well, I hope the shit at least did what they promised it would," Van Gar laughed.
"It's not fucking funny, Van, and for the record, no. Not as far as I could tell. What a fucking mess!"
"New game plan?"
"Yeah, meet us in Capital. We'll be leaving here within the hour and taking up residence in the castle. After all, that's the last place those Lockhede bastards will think to look for me. I've got to find a way to win this fucking war. Quick."
"Tell the truth, Drewcila, you're sort of glad you have to stay there and save the country," Van Gar needled.
"I wish everyone would just get off my back!" Drewcila spat back angrily.
"So you're alone now. No one to show off for. Did you miss me at all?"
"When did I have time?"
"Ah, come on, Drew . . ."
"All right! Damn! What the hell is happening to me? Yes! Yes, I fucking missed you."
"And do you love me, Drew?"
"You're pushing your luck, Van Gar." She closed the transmission.
Van Gar looked at the blank screen and smiled.
"So?" Shreta asked from behind him.
For answer he addressed the com."All hands, prepare for entry. We're going planet side. We will be landing in the Barion capital port Ionan."
Drewcila moved quickly now. Her ship was fueled and ready to go. A short planet hop was a simple maneuver, and she'd be piloting.
Stasha pitched a bitch and said she was not going back to the castle with Drew, so Drew had her sedated. Stasha, Margot, and Facto were already on the Garbage Scow. Drew left final orders for the station, grabbed her computer, and she, Arcadia, Dylan and Jurak followed Dartan and the news team, who were filming their departure.
Arcadia stopped suddenly and grabbed Drew's arm."I hear something."
"Everyone stop!" Drew ordered.
Arcadia's head swung around and up to their right. As they followed her movements, everyone saw the missile coming through the clear domed ceiling above them.
They ran, scattering in different directions. Drewcila, Arcadia and Dylan dove behind a huge rock planter as the missile hit. The dome held against the impact, but blew into a million pieces with the explosion.
Drew covered her head to protect it from the debris that rained down on top of them. She yelled into her comlink."We are under attack! Repeat. The station is under attack! Man all battle stations! Stomp these fuckers' asses!"
She pulled her side arm, although she wasn't sure what she thought she was going to do with it. This was an air strike, so there was really nothing to shoot at. Still, how could you feel battle ready if you weren't armed? Arcadia and Dylan must have felt the same way, because they had both pulled their weapons as well.
She could hear the sounds of the station's defenses as the anti-aircraft guns started firing steadily.
"They must have sent everything they had," Drew said.
Arcadia nodded.
Drew looked around at the devastation, looking for a safe passage way to get them to her ship, and saw Jurak lying amidst the rubble. She ran up to him with Arcadia and Dylan following behind her. They grabbed him and pulled him into a more protected area. He didn't look good. In fact, it looked as if his chest had been flattened. He didn't seem to be in any real pain, which was of course the worse sign of all.
"Hey, Jurak, what were you trying to do? Catch that thing?" Drewcila asked, moving a bloody strand of hair away from his face.
"I'm dying."
"No, no, you're not, Jurak. You're a little squished, that's all. Here," she reached in her pocket, pulled out the hat, and stuck it on his head."There. Now that ought to do it."
"Not this time." The life left his eyes, and his body went into spasms. Drew tried to hold him still. When he stopped jerking, she was still holding him.
"Drew," Arcadia said putting a hand on her shoulder."He's gone. We have to get out of here."
Drew nodded, let go of Jurak and stood up."Now I'm pissed off! This way. Let's go!" She took off running through, around, and over the debris. Arcadia and Dylan followed with Dartan and the news crew not far behind them.
"Incoming!" Arcadia yelled, and again they scattered and hit the floor. This time the devastation was immediate since the dome was already broken. As soon as the dust began to clear, Drewcila screamed.
"Move! Move!"
"Drew, I don't see Dylan."
A quick search found him lying unconscious with his right leg stuck under a large piece of fallen ceiling. The whole place looked like it could come down with one more direct hit.