him.
Jael was surprised to identify the anger he felt over the attack. Not because he was so attached to the sentries but because of what it represented. Priest and Grigor were determined to take Dred’s territory.
Not on my watch.
* * *
AFTER he sat, Tam said, “Grigor has the greater number of men whereas Priest has zealots. If he orders them to come and die, they’ll do so without protest.”
Jael nodded. “Priest will supply the shock troops. He’ll attempt to wear us down. It will be imperative to defend, as every loss will impact morale.”
“You think there’s such a thing as morale in a place like this?” Tam eyed him as if he represented a question to which there was no answer.
“In Queensland, yes. It’s better than Munya or Entropy or—”
“I take your point. And yes, it is. Dred tries to run this place like a city. A city where all the citizens are right bastards, but she keeps the torture and bloodshed to a minimum.”
“Is it better than it was under Artan?” He didn’t even know why he was asking.
Tam surprised him by answering, “Much. I was his spymaster first, but Artan was too like Grigor. No ability to plan, he only cared to take or own. There were food shortages. The hydroponics garden stopped producing, and Artan’s solution was more blood sport.”
“Why?” Jael asked.
“Because he knew we’d end up with less mouths to feed.”
“Is that when you decided to dispose of him?”
Amusement flickered in the other man’s dark eyes. “Is that what you think? I took care of Artan quietly, then deposited Dred on the throne to give the men someone prettier to serve?”
Put like that, it did sound offensive. Not only to Tameron—because it implied he couldn’t lead men himself—but to Dred, as it suggested she lacked the wherewithal to seize power on her own. He suspected neither implication was true.
“Then tell me what really happened.”
“I think it best that we focus on battle plans. It’s too good a story for me to deprive Dred the pleasure of telling you herself.”
For some reason, that sounded ominous. Jael pretended he didn’t detect the faint burr of ambivalence coming from the other man. Maybe Tam thought he posed some threat to their arrangement or wanted to stretch the triangle to a quadrilateral. That couldn’t be further from the truth. So few things had been his alone that he could never share a woman, even if she were his for only an hour.
“Fair enough.”
For the next half hour, they discussed the probable progression of the attacks and devised strategies to counter that wouldn’t end in a massive outlay of resources or in a pile of Queenslander corpses. It felt odd to play such a role, but he didn’t mind. In a way, it was nice to feel like he was fighting for his home ground.
He didn’t mean to stay, of course.
As soon as they dealt with this situation, he’d evaluate the ship and figure out a way to force himself back on one of the automated transports.
If I have to smash one of the Peacemaker units with my bare hands, then that’s how it’ll be.
He was shamed by his inability to flee the Bug planet. Mostly, that came from the absolute isolation. He hadn’t left his cell in turns. The food was delivered once a day, and the bars were too strong for him to break. He’d tried tunneling out, but after he dug through the floor, he ran into a rock face so strong, it would’ve taken a diamond drill to cut it. If the Conglomerate hadn’t extradited him, he would’ve died there.
However long it took.
“Those are good ideas,” Tam said, seeming surprised.
“You thought I was just a pretty face?”
“No. Rather that you were conning Dred.”
“Give me more credit than that,” the woman said as she entered, Einar behind. Another man followed; Jael recognized Ike, the old man with eyes that missed nothing.
“Sorry,” Tam said. “I should’ve known you only took him up because you saw real potential.”
Jael cocked a brow.
Jael was surprised to identify the anger he felt over the attack. Not because he was so attached to the sentries but because of what it represented. Priest and Grigor were determined to take Dred’s territory.
Not on my watch.
* * *
AFTER he sat, Tam said, “Grigor has the greater number of men whereas Priest has zealots. If he orders them to come and die, they’ll do so without protest.”
Jael nodded. “Priest will supply the shock troops. He’ll attempt to wear us down. It will be imperative to defend, as every loss will impact morale.”
“You think there’s such a thing as morale in a place like this?” Tam eyed him as if he represented a question to which there was no answer.
“In Queensland, yes. It’s better than Munya or Entropy or—”
“I take your point. And yes, it is. Dred tries to run this place like a city. A city where all the citizens are right bastards, but she keeps the torture and bloodshed to a minimum.”
“Is it better than it was under Artan?” He didn’t even know why he was asking.
Tam surprised him by answering, “Much. I was his spymaster first, but Artan was too like Grigor. No ability to plan, he only cared to take or own. There were food shortages. The hydroponics garden stopped producing, and Artan’s solution was more blood sport.”
“Why?” Jael asked.
“Because he knew we’d end up with less mouths to feed.”
“Is that when you decided to dispose of him?”
Amusement flickered in the other man’s dark eyes. “Is that what you think? I took care of Artan quietly, then deposited Dred on the throne to give the men someone prettier to serve?”
Put like that, it did sound offensive. Not only to Tameron—because it implied he couldn’t lead men himself—but to Dred, as it suggested she lacked the wherewithal to seize power on her own. He suspected neither implication was true.
“Then tell me what really happened.”
“I think it best that we focus on battle plans. It’s too good a story for me to deprive Dred the pleasure of telling you herself.”
For some reason, that sounded ominous. Jael pretended he didn’t detect the faint burr of ambivalence coming from the other man. Maybe Tam thought he posed some threat to their arrangement or wanted to stretch the triangle to a quadrilateral. That couldn’t be further from the truth. So few things had been his alone that he could never share a woman, even if she were his for only an hour.
“Fair enough.”
For the next half hour, they discussed the probable progression of the attacks and devised strategies to counter that wouldn’t end in a massive outlay of resources or in a pile of Queenslander corpses. It felt odd to play such a role, but he didn’t mind. In a way, it was nice to feel like he was fighting for his home ground.
He didn’t mean to stay, of course.
As soon as they dealt with this situation, he’d evaluate the ship and figure out a way to force himself back on one of the automated transports.
If I have to smash one of the Peacemaker units with my bare hands, then that’s how it’ll be.
He was shamed by his inability to flee the Bug planet. Mostly, that came from the absolute isolation. He hadn’t left his cell in turns. The food was delivered once a day, and the bars were too strong for him to break. He’d tried tunneling out, but after he dug through the floor, he ran into a rock face so strong, it would’ve taken a diamond drill to cut it. If the Conglomerate hadn’t extradited him, he would’ve died there.
However long it took.
“Those are good ideas,” Tam said, seeming surprised.
“You thought I was just a pretty face?”
“No. Rather that you were conning Dred.”
“Give me more credit than that,” the woman said as she entered, Einar behind. Another man followed; Jael recognized Ike, the old man with eyes that missed nothing.
“Sorry,” Tam said. “I should’ve known you only took him up because you saw real potential.”
Jael cocked a brow.
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