Black Hearts, Part Five
Feb. 8th, 2007 08:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jeriendhalTags: Vorkosiverse, Terinu, Matt, Mark (and Grunt, Gorge, Howl and Killer). Rated R for language and bad thoughts.
The familiar nausea of stunner shock was enough to push Mark to wakefulness in time to roll over to the cell's toilet before the inevitable happened. Which pleased Howl somewhat, but left Gorge annoyed at losing dinner. He had enjoyed last night's meal, and the cheerful exercise with Kareen in their passenger cabin's float bed afterward had certainly made Grunt happy.
Kareen, oh God. Damnit, he shouldn't have protested when the pirates had separated them. That had earned him a shock stick in the back of the head and his new quarters. Well, at least he was alive.
I could have protected her, Killer said.
“Shut up,” Mark muttered to himself. “They were wearing battlesuits and all we had was a lousy stunner.” Where had those damned pirates come from, anyway? Sergyar's wormholes were supposed to be guarded.
He took a moment to look around his new quarters. Four carbon composite walls painted battleship gray, with an integrated toilet/washbasin in one corner and a mattress on the floor in the other. The cell door was made of a similar material, except that it was transparent to let the guards view prisoners without obstruction. A small hatch, just wide enough to allow a dinner tray through, opened at the bottom of the cell, too small and too far from the door controls to allow a prisoner to escape.
Was Kareen somewhere similar? Was Kareen even alive? No, she had to be. Had to be alive. If she wasn't...
If she's not, they will pay. They will pay, and pay, and pay, until they no longer have the strength to scream.
Shut the Hell up, Killer. Mark gritted his teeth in frustration. It was bad when Killer chose to speak. It was really bad when Mark couldn't persuade him to lie down and be quiet. Listen, all of you, he told his Black Gang, Kareen and I are hostages right now. Unless they're total idiots, they're going to try to ransom us. If one them actually has a functioning brain, they may let us both go when they recognize my name, before Barrayar's navy comes down on them like a fucking sledgehammer. That means Lord Mark has to be the one in charge, to handle the diplomatic stuff. Though at the moment he rather wished he could borrow one of Miles' personalities to delegate that bit. Admiral Naismith would be a damned useful fellow to have around right now, preferably with all five thousand of his mercenary friends right behind him.
He heard the sound of a heavy door unsealing at the end of the corridor, and all five of him came to full alertness, even as he dived for the mattress to feign stunner sleep like most of the other men he could see through the doors of the cells across from him. Soft footsteps padded down the corridor, stopping in front of the cell next to Mark's.
“Terinu? Teri? I brought you some food,” a young man's voice said. Mark opened one eye a crack. From his vantage point he could just see a boy in his late teens with shoulder length blond hair, wearing mismatched clothes that didn't quite fit him, kneeling in front of the cell, looking intently inside.
Oh, he's pretty, Grunt commented cheerfully.
You even think anything like that again and the next time Kareen and I make love it'll be Howl's turn to play, got that? Grunt settled back with silent annoyance, and Mark strained his ears to listen.
“Matt? Huh? Oh, fragg no, go 'way,” another young voice said, again male. It sounded tired, beaten. “Fragg, y' don't want Brooks catchin' ya.”
The blond boy, Matt, glanced nervously up and down the corridor. “Brooks ain't here right now. Come on Ter, you gotta eat. You know what's going to happen to you if you don't.”
“Fragg it. Y' seen Blake?”
Matt shook his head. “I haven't seen her. They're keeping all the women separate from the men, and just letting the females serve 'em. Guess Lady Mavra is trying to keep things from turnin' into a another rape party.”
“She wouldn't be keeping Blake with them neither. Chan'll have something special planned out for her, I know it.”
“I'll keep looking. Now eat, won't ya?”
The unseen boy snorted. “Matt, my fraggin' hands are cuffed behind my back. Ya think I'm gonna lap it up like a frellin' cat?”
“Just lay down and put your face up to the pass slot. I'll feed you though it.”
“This is fraggin' stupid,” the boy grumbled, but Mark heard the thump of a body awkwardly dropping to the floor, and Matt began spooning the bowl of stew on his tray through the slot. After a few bites, he asked, “Y' doin' okay?”
The pretty blond boy grimaced. “Okay. I think Lady Chan is gonna want me to go on raids soon. They been giving me weapons training.”
“Aw, fragg, 'm sorry, Matt.”
“She also... Terinu, this is important. I think something happened when we hit that gravity anomaly. Captain Anish and the whole bridge crew have been locked in Ops for days. Scuttlebutt is that the nav computer got wiped somehow and we're way lost.”
“Didn't they grab the nav programs off the liner they just hit?”
“Yeah, but we still ain't back on course.”
The other boy chuckled, then coughed weakly, as if he was in pain. “Heh, Chan's got a whole ship full of hostages, and she can't find her way to ransom them off. Couldn't happen to a nicer bitch.”
“Yeah, but she can't get 'em off her hands soon, they're gonna be dead weight to her. We're gonna have to resupply soon and all those mouths have gotta be fed. Or not.”
“Fragg, fragg, fragg! I'm not gonna let that one-eyed bitch space Blake.”
“We'll figure something out. I'll help you get out of this, get you both out, I swear it, Teri.”
The other boy growled. “Don't do anythin' stupid, okay. Just don't. Rufus and Gwen are followin' us, I'm sure about that. Rufus will have some kinda plan.”
Matt looked away from the cell door, biting down on his lip.
“What?!”
“Teri, I'm sorry,” he said. “Word is that the Marauder was attacked by a Vulp fighter when it hit the liner. They blew it away.”
There was a long pause.
“Get outta here, Matt. These dopes in the other cells are gonna be wakin' up soon. Y' don't want them telling nobody that you fed me, right?”
“Teri...”
“Just go!”
Matt ducked his head. “I'll be back with more food, I promise.” He picked up the tray and headed through the corridor hatch, slamming it shut behind him. When he was gone, Mark opened his eyes wide, trying to catch a glimpse of the other boy the reflection of a cell door opposite them both.
He saw a child, no more than fifteen, with green eyes, silky blue-black hair that fell over his shoulders, and....
...gray skin, horns, and a tail.
What the Hell?
TBC
The familiar nausea of stunner shock was enough to push Mark to wakefulness in time to roll over to the cell's toilet before the inevitable happened. Which pleased Howl somewhat, but left Gorge annoyed at losing dinner. He had enjoyed last night's meal, and the cheerful exercise with Kareen in their passenger cabin's float bed afterward had certainly made Grunt happy.
Kareen, oh God. Damnit, he shouldn't have protested when the pirates had separated them. That had earned him a shock stick in the back of the head and his new quarters. Well, at least he was alive.
I could have protected her, Killer said.
“Shut up,” Mark muttered to himself. “They were wearing battlesuits and all we had was a lousy stunner.” Where had those damned pirates come from, anyway? Sergyar's wormholes were supposed to be guarded.
He took a moment to look around his new quarters. Four carbon composite walls painted battleship gray, with an integrated toilet/washbasin in one corner and a mattress on the floor in the other. The cell door was made of a similar material, except that it was transparent to let the guards view prisoners without obstruction. A small hatch, just wide enough to allow a dinner tray through, opened at the bottom of the cell, too small and too far from the door controls to allow a prisoner to escape.
Was Kareen somewhere similar? Was Kareen even alive? No, she had to be. Had to be alive. If she wasn't...
If she's not, they will pay. They will pay, and pay, and pay, until they no longer have the strength to scream.
Shut the Hell up, Killer. Mark gritted his teeth in frustration. It was bad when Killer chose to speak. It was really bad when Mark couldn't persuade him to lie down and be quiet. Listen, all of you, he told his Black Gang, Kareen and I are hostages right now. Unless they're total idiots, they're going to try to ransom us. If one them actually has a functioning brain, they may let us both go when they recognize my name, before Barrayar's navy comes down on them like a fucking sledgehammer. That means Lord Mark has to be the one in charge, to handle the diplomatic stuff. Though at the moment he rather wished he could borrow one of Miles' personalities to delegate that bit. Admiral Naismith would be a damned useful fellow to have around right now, preferably with all five thousand of his mercenary friends right behind him.
He heard the sound of a heavy door unsealing at the end of the corridor, and all five of him came to full alertness, even as he dived for the mattress to feign stunner sleep like most of the other men he could see through the doors of the cells across from him. Soft footsteps padded down the corridor, stopping in front of the cell next to Mark's.
“Terinu? Teri? I brought you some food,” a young man's voice said. Mark opened one eye a crack. From his vantage point he could just see a boy in his late teens with shoulder length blond hair, wearing mismatched clothes that didn't quite fit him, kneeling in front of the cell, looking intently inside.
Oh, he's pretty, Grunt commented cheerfully.
You even think anything like that again and the next time Kareen and I make love it'll be Howl's turn to play, got that? Grunt settled back with silent annoyance, and Mark strained his ears to listen.
“Matt? Huh? Oh, fragg no, go 'way,” another young voice said, again male. It sounded tired, beaten. “Fragg, y' don't want Brooks catchin' ya.”
The blond boy, Matt, glanced nervously up and down the corridor. “Brooks ain't here right now. Come on Ter, you gotta eat. You know what's going to happen to you if you don't.”
“Fragg it. Y' seen Blake?”
Matt shook his head. “I haven't seen her. They're keeping all the women separate from the men, and just letting the females serve 'em. Guess Lady Mavra is trying to keep things from turnin' into a another rape party.”
“She wouldn't be keeping Blake with them neither. Chan'll have something special planned out for her, I know it.”
“I'll keep looking. Now eat, won't ya?”
The unseen boy snorted. “Matt, my fraggin' hands are cuffed behind my back. Ya think I'm gonna lap it up like a frellin' cat?”
“Just lay down and put your face up to the pass slot. I'll feed you though it.”
“This is fraggin' stupid,” the boy grumbled, but Mark heard the thump of a body awkwardly dropping to the floor, and Matt began spooning the bowl of stew on his tray through the slot. After a few bites, he asked, “Y' doin' okay?”
The pretty blond boy grimaced. “Okay. I think Lady Chan is gonna want me to go on raids soon. They been giving me weapons training.”
“Aw, fragg, 'm sorry, Matt.”
“She also... Terinu, this is important. I think something happened when we hit that gravity anomaly. Captain Anish and the whole bridge crew have been locked in Ops for days. Scuttlebutt is that the nav computer got wiped somehow and we're way lost.”
“Didn't they grab the nav programs off the liner they just hit?”
“Yeah, but we still ain't back on course.”
The other boy chuckled, then coughed weakly, as if he was in pain. “Heh, Chan's got a whole ship full of hostages, and she can't find her way to ransom them off. Couldn't happen to a nicer bitch.”
“Yeah, but she can't get 'em off her hands soon, they're gonna be dead weight to her. We're gonna have to resupply soon and all those mouths have gotta be fed. Or not.”
“Fragg, fragg, fragg! I'm not gonna let that one-eyed bitch space Blake.”
“We'll figure something out. I'll help you get out of this, get you both out, I swear it, Teri.”
The other boy growled. “Don't do anythin' stupid, okay. Just don't. Rufus and Gwen are followin' us, I'm sure about that. Rufus will have some kinda plan.”
Matt looked away from the cell door, biting down on his lip.
“What?!”
“Teri, I'm sorry,” he said. “Word is that the Marauder was attacked by a Vulp fighter when it hit the liner. They blew it away.”
There was a long pause.
“Get outta here, Matt. These dopes in the other cells are gonna be wakin' up soon. Y' don't want them telling nobody that you fed me, right?”
“Teri...”
“Just go!”
Matt ducked his head. “I'll be back with more food, I promise.” He picked up the tray and headed through the corridor hatch, slamming it shut behind him. When he was gone, Mark opened his eyes wide, trying to catch a glimpse of the other boy the reflection of a cell door opposite them both.
He saw a child, no more than fifteen, with green eyes, silky blue-black hair that fell over his shoulders, and....
...gray skin, horns, and a tail.
What the Hell?
TBC
