Chapter 10 Varok
VAROK
It took an eternity to get away from the females who’d circled me like scavengers waiting for their meal to die. That wasn’t fair to them, and I knew it—the human had flung them into my path like oil in a car chase. She was the one I should be angry with, not her pawns.
I’d pay her back for that trap, I promised myself, and my hands itched at the thought. I had to catch up with her to get my revenge, though. She’d given herself quite a head start.
I stepped into the maze-like interior of the Hive, careful to make no sound as I retraced the route I’d taken to Driin’s gallery.
It shouldn’t matter if I got caught. No one would question my decision to visit my sculpture and ensure its correct placement.
But the less suspicion I raised, the better.
Without a guide, the tunnels became a claustrophobic maze, and my battle-instincts came to the fore. Prowling forward, I crouched, teeth bared and every sense alert.
It was the smell that made me so uneasy. Hints of blood and crisp ozone, and something unidentifiable under that, wafted on the chill breeze like a warning or a threat. I was an intruder here, it told me, and not welcome.
I took my time, though every second lost to her grated on my nerves.
Whatever she had planned, it would disrupt my heist, and that I would not allow.
I had to reroute twice, slipping my way around Collectors focused inward on whatever they thought about when they were alone. Each time, I resented the lost time.
What if she’s gone before I catch up? I asked myself. Will I ever see her again?
I stopped short in the tunnel. Where in the Void did that come from? I needed to catch her to stop her fucking up my escape, not because I wanted to see her.
Though I did want to see her. I snarled at the thought and pressed on, allowing myself to move faster and less cautiously, risking discovery in order to make up for lost time. A gamble that I won, reaching the gallery without incident.
There’s a strange atmosphere in an empty gallery, almost as though it’s haunted.
I’d never felt it as strongly as I did in Driin’s hall, and I shivered as I stepped inside.
I am not superstitious, and I don’t believe in ghosts.
Still, the itch between my shoulder blades as I approached my ‘artwork’ told me someone was watching.
I looked around, slow and careful. Nothing looked out of place. Nothing moved. I growled and shrugged. What could I do? Waiting for the feeling to pass just invited a disaster. If someone was watching, let them come and challenge me.
The release button on the sarcophagus clicked under my finger, killing the stasis field.
The metal case split open with a hiss of escaping air.
White fog spilled out, washing across the crystal floor, and if the sculpture had been made of anti-ice as advertised, that was the moment I’d have killed every living thing on the planet.
Since it was nothing more than frozen water, I lifted it out and placed it against a display case containing a delicate porcelain bowl. That done, I turned to the reason I was here. The one truly irreplaceable object on display.
It had pride of place, of course. Even a person’s weight of antimatter couldn’t compete with The End, an artifact so old that no one knew its origin.
Xenoarchaeologists recovered it from the ruins of a dead world, and whoever had lived there, they’d had it in a museum as an object of unknown origins.
The sweeping curves drew the eye along, creating a feeling of dread that made my heart race. Faster and faster, it pulled me in, until at last my gaze found the one point of perfect darkness in its center.
Holograms didn’t do it justice. Beautiful, terrible, and tragic all at once, it had to be seen in person. Nothing else would do.
“It would be an awful waste to let this vanish into the Void,” I said aloud. My voice broke the stillness.
“True.” Penny’s response came as a complete surprise. “Unfortunately, we’ll have to live with that. Step away from the stasis chamber, please.”
I turned, keeping my movements slow and deliberate. The temptation to leap into action was overwhelming, but I didn’t know what needed to be done.
She stood behind me, a primitive weapon held in both hands. Some kind of pistol, all ornate metal and polished wood, too large for her to grip properly. Behind it, though, her eyes were hard as steel, and her hands were steady. I refused to make the mistake of underestimating this human.
My heart raced, but not from fear. Instinct demanded that I leap on her, disarm her, and then…my instincts got confused. Someone threatening me with a weapon? Kill them. Penny, eyes narrowed and hair tangled, improvising a threat with a literal museum-piece weapon? Kiss her. Ravage her. Claim her.
I wanted to rip her clothes off, take her then and there, and damn the plan.
Let the Collectors find us in the aftermath, amid the remains of our clothes—the sight would be greater art than anything in this gallery.
I’d rip the gold fabric from her and feast my eyes on the curves beneath.
Feast all my senses, touch and taste and sound, as I flung off her silver cloak—
Wait, she wasn’t wearing that at the party.
The realization hit like a bucket of ice.
Is that whisperlight? If so, it was worth more than most of the art surrounding us.
The pause as my brain caught up gave me time to push my urges away and focus.
I held my hands out to either side, palms up in a gesture for peace.
“We’ve each put enough effort into getting here, human.
Don’t fuck it up for us both now. You do your thing, I’ll do mine, and we both walk out of here rich. ”
Her eyes flared and her mouth twisted. Half smile, half grimace, her expression was both frustratingly hard to read and enticing. “I’m not playing games, and we’re both doing my thing. Perhaps you haven’t noticed, but I’m the one with the gun.”
A smile tugged at my lips, and Penny’s glower intensified. “True. But how are you going to steal anything while keeping it pointed at me the whole time? It seems like you’re as much its prisoner as I am.”
A muttered curse told me that remark hit home.
This was an impulsive stunt, not a cunning plan—how could it be, when she’d obviously had no idea I’d be on the planet?
Which left some awkward questions hanging there.
“You’ve got talent, I’ll give you that. Too much talent to waste as a snack for the arena monsters. Come with me—I’ll help you escape.”
“Or…you come with me.” She was improvising, and out of her element. Frustrating as it was, I admired the way she didn’t let that stop her from trying. “We use your exit plan, steal my target, everyone wins.”
I smiled, baring my sharp teeth. “Whatever you’re here to steal, The End is more valuable. Come on, human, your plan has failed. Accept that, escape, and live to try again. Any heist you walk away from is a good one.”
Her response was to pull back the hammer on her oversized firearm. The loud click-clack as it locked into place was ominous, and the steel in her gaze uncompromising. I wouldn’t talk her out of her plan.
“This isn’t about money, is it?”
Penny nodded. “This asshole stole a painting from Earth during the war. Now it’s going to vanish into the dark unless I steal it back. The Night Watch might not be as valuable as The End, but humanity deserves it back. And we’re going to steal it.”
“Oh, are we now?”
Despite myself, I found the quiet confidence in her voice intriguing, and to my surprise I realized I was considering her plan.
What in the Starless Void am I doing? The point of this was to do an impossible heist. To show off to my siblings, prove once and for all that I’m the best thief in the family.
Stealing a random human painting won’t do that. Should I throw everything away to impress a girl?
Before today, I’d have said no. I’d have laughed at the idea.
Now? I looked at Penny, and heat rose inside me.
It wasn’t just her beauty, though she was the most beautiful female I’d ever seen.
The confidence with which she moved, the strength in her eyes, the ferocity and stubbornness that got her this far, all called to me.
The way her curves filled out her golden dress was undeniably delightful, but it was also the least of her qualities.
Fine. I can at least find out what she’s trying to achieve. “And what is it your clever plan failed to steal?”
Anger flickered across her face, but she had the strength of will not to indulge it. Without lowering her weapon, she stepped out of the alcove she’d come from and nodded for me to look inside.
I stepped around the corner and stared. Blinked, and looked again. No, it was still there. I opened my mouth, realized I didn’t know what I wanted to say, and shut it again.
The painting filling the back wall had several interesting qualities. One, it was huge, filling the wall, taller than I was. Two, it was old, pre-spaceflight—there was no chance the artist had used ultra-light materials we’d be able to carry.
Three, it was beautiful. The dark canvas let the humans depicted on it glow with the warm colors of their costumes, and they looked as though they’d been frozen in mid-motion. At any moment, it seemed, time could resume, and they’d step down from the painting to join us.
The artist’s skill was incredible given the primitive technology he’d had to work with. I tried to say something useful, but all I managed was a strangled curse.