Fractured Families, Chapter 14 (Patreon)

Don’t freak, Victor told himself, his mental voice at the edge of hysteria. By all that’s holy, don’t freak out. Why had the officer sent a message? Why was he glancing at it now?

They’d been made. It was the only thing that made sense. He’d requested reinforcement. How could Miranda be so calm? Well, maybe not calm—she was scowling, but he’d sort of decided that was her usual expression, unless she was mocking him.

He didn’t get her problem with dressing like she was now; it suited her.

She tensed.

What?

The officer was reading. Now he was frowning. Yep, they’d been made. Any minute now the doors were going to open and— 

“Alright, everything’s in order,” the officer said. “If you’ll follow me.”

“Huh?” was Victor’s clever reply. The officer was already walking away. Miranda shoved him forward and when he glanced at her, she was glaring at him. Right, mission.

He fell into step behind the officer, Miranda next to him. He tried to make his walk confident, like hers, but he could hear the uncertainty in the way his boot clacked on the floor. He was sweating so hard he was surprised no alarms were going off. Didn’t anyone here have a sense of smell?

Stop it, he told himself. Stop focusing on the fact you have no idea what you’re doing. You’re an officer of the Law, you took courses about going undercover. Sure, fifty years ago, when he had an actual career. How was he expected to remember any of that? He could barely recall what he was expected to do right now.

Act like an officer. He knew how to do that, right?

He had to start by not thinking about how he was going to screw this up. How he, Miranda, and Alex were going to be captured. Tristan was going to remain a prisoner. Oh Holies, they were going to take on a prison. He was insane, why else was he here?

He was here to prove to Alex he was worthy. Worthy of Tristan—there was an insanity right there. What did he think would happen? Alex and Tristan would just invite him into their lives? That would be kind of hot, he had to admit, the three of them bringing order and justice to the universe, celebrating their victories in the bedroom.

Holies, what was he thinking? Sex? With him? He knew how much of a distraction Tristan was. How often had he ended up with the boner to end all boners at work because his mind had drifted there? He had to think of something else, something boring.

The walls. They were boring white, featureless except for the doors, but they were also white. How many had he passed? Crossed? Where were they? Damn it, he had to pay attention. What if he had to run back to the ship? How was he going to do that if he didn’t know the way? It was too late anyway. If things went bad, he was fucked. He hoped Miranda knew how to get back.

They entered a lift, also white and featureless.

How did people live this way? Hadn’t the top of the ship been open? How come they weren’t walking along streets with well-manicured trees and a cool breeze? What did the people look at? There was no sky, no colors. This felt more like a tomb than a city. Why didn’t the city he’d seen on top of the ship extend down this far?

The doors opened to more white corridors.

He was going to go insane if he saw more corridors. There had to be something else here, wasn’t there? People lived here for a reason. The lack of laws, that was the main attraction to these ships. Scientists could experiment as they wanted, no matter how immoral their research was. Then there was the sex. If the stories he’d heard were right, there was one of the sovereign families for whom that was the thing. Sex in all its flavors, orgies that never stopped.

Why had he thought of that? Now his boner was coming back.

Okay, so maybe he could see the appeal of being part of the sovereign families, but couldn’t they do something about these walls? Was it too much to ask for a hint of color? A flower at an intersection? A painting? How many people here just killed themselves to alleviate the boredom?

The officer stopped and Victor almost walked into him. The door opened and Victor couldn’t think what to do.

Miranda bumped into him and apologized softly.

It was enough to reengage his brain. It had been a while since he’d done a pickup, but this, he knew how it went.

He entered the room—a laboratory by the scientific equipment there. The only occupant, a woman, was seated in front of a terminal, focused on it.

“Mary Holiander?”

She motioned to the basket on the counter. “Whatever you need me to make, leave the chip in there and I’ll get to it when I’m done with the rest.”

“Mary Holiander?” Victor said more forcefully.

She turned. “Damn it, what is it with—” She froze on seeing them.

“Mary Holiander,” Victor said, in as an official tone as he could. “I’m Detective Barstone, with the Bramolian Law Enforcement. You are being transferred into my custody by Prian’s World so you can be brought home to face justice for your crimes.”

She looked from one to the other, confused.

“Miss Holiander, I need you to come with me.” Victor motioned for her to approach.

Mary backed away. “What’s going on?”

Miranda stepped forward, but Victor stopped her. “Miss Holiander, don’t make this any harder than it has to be.” Why was she making it this hard?

She looked at the officer. “You can’t let them take me! I have to stay here. I work for you. You have to protect me.”

“You’re not in danger,” Victor said, trying to figure out if there was a way he could tell her to stop acting so they could get out of here without alerting their escort. “You will receive fair and just treatment on your way to the courts.”

“No! I’m not going with you. I have to stay here. Tell Lady Prian about this, tell her I’ll do anything she wants me to, but I can’t leave.”

Prian was the ship’s name. “Is that someone who can interfere?” Victor heard himself ask and wanted to hit himself.

The look the officer gave him confirmed they should do just that. “The Lady is the master of the ship, but she won’t bother with someone like her.”

Victor nodded. “M—Beckie, please restrain Miss Holiander for…” His voice trailed off. Restraints. He didn’t have any, but did she?

Miranda took bracelets from a pocket and strode toward Mary, who looked for an escape. She darted to the left and tried to get around Miranda, who caught her easily.

Victor winced as Mary hit the wall. Miranda turned her, forced her arms behind her back, and put the bracelets on. As soon as Miranda released her, Mary ran.

The officer moved out of the doorway, so Victor had to step in to catch her. Before she made it three steps, Mary tensed, then fell on the floor, twitching.

She became still, other than her panting, and Miranda pulled her up. “Did you enjoy that? Run again and you’re getting worse.”

Mary looked dazed.

“That isn’t a department-issued model,” Victor said, angry that Mary had been hurt, and that Miranda didn’t seem to be bothered by it.

“Unlike you, Detective, this isn’t my first time retrieving someone. Running after their scared ass gets old really fast. It was this or knocking her out and throwing her over my shoulder. I didn’t think your sensitive constitution could stand that.”

Victor gritted his teeth. As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t scream at her. She was right. He hated it, but it had been the better of the options. So instead of screaming at her, he did what any officer did. He turned and directed his anger at someone else.

“What the fuck was that? You left the doorway open for her to run out. If my colleague hadn’t stopped her, she could have escaped.”

“Yes, sir,” the man replied, clearly amused.

“It’s your job to make sure she doesn’t escape.”

“No, sir.”

“Excuse me?”

“The prisoner became your responsibility the instant the transfer was confirmed. No Prian World officer is to interfere in the execution of the duties of visiting representative. If she had escaped, it would have been your fault, as would have been any damage she caused.”

“Detective,” Miranda said, “I think we have better things to do than argue who’s at fault here?”

Victor glared at the officer, but swallowed his anger. “Right. Let’s get Miss Holiander back to the ship.”

The officer took the lead. They made it halfway to the lift when a woman saw them and ran in their direction. Victor placed a hand on Mary’s shoulder to stop her. Miranda placed a hand inside her jacket, on the butt of her gun.

The woman stopped before them. “Where are you taking her?” She sounded worried, almost scared.

“She’s going back to her planet,” their guide said. “She’s something of a crime lord there.”

“What?” Mary cried out in pain as Miranda clamped a hand on her other shoulder.

“But…” The woman looked lost. “She’s supposed to make my batch.”

“Her work is going to be reassigned. There’ll be a delay, but you’ll get it.”

“No, you don’t get it. She’s the best. I’ve never had the high her stuff gets me.”

Victor eyed Mary. Really? She was in here where she could do anything, and she was still making drugs?

“Look, it’s out of my hands.”

“Can’t they at least wait until she’s made it? I’ll pay them.”

The officer sighed and turned. “It’s your decision.”

“How much?” Miranda asked.

“No,” Victor stated. He glared at Miranda’s questioning look. “We don’t work for pay, we work for justice. She’s wanted on Bramolian Six. We’re taking her there without delays.”

The officer faced the woman. “There you have it. Sorry.”

“But—”

“Look, this has been cleared by people higher up on the ship than both of us put together. If you think you have the pull, take it up with one of them.” He moved her out of their way.

The woman looked like she’d just watched her kitten get trampled to death. It was just drugs, and she’d be getting them at some point. Back on Bramolian Six, she’d have to find a way to get the money, not just a bit of patience. Fuck, these people had no idea what suffering was like.

Once the lift door closed, Mary tried to get out of Miranda’s hold. “What’s this about me being—ouch! Let go of me! You can’t treat me this way, I have rights.”

The officer snorted.

Miranda leaned close. “You have the right to keep your mouth shut. If you want to keep talking, I have the right to inflict pain.”

Mary looked at Victor, her expression outrage and anger. “What happened to procedures? I know how this goes. I’m going to sue the department for mistreatment.”

“Girl.” Miranda shoved Mary into the wall. “Procedures don’t mean shit when you go hide off-planet. If you wanted the kid-glove treatment, you should have stayed home.”

“I didn’t choose to come here. I was kidnapped!”

“I don’t care.”

Victor caught the officer watching the interaction, licking his lips.

“Like it rough?” Victor asked.

The officer startled. “What? No! I—” He looked Miranda over. “Fuck, that’s a woman.”

Victor didn’t care for Miranda’s behavior right now, or her attitude in general, but he had to agree, she was quite a woman. 

The doors opened, and they exited to another white, boring corridor, but this time Victor didn’t feel it was quite that bad. Miranda was keeping a hand on Mary, the ship was close by, and everything had gone well. Of course, they weren’t in the ship yet, so there was still plenty of time for him to screw things up. 

What was it with him and this need to talk down to himself? Didn’t enough people do that already? Did he really have to add to it? Yes, he was out of practice, he’d been sitting at a desk for decades now. That didn’t make him a failure, just someone who needed to brush up on things, get some training in. 

He was still a good officer, right?

They entered the hangar and Victor went on high alert. “Too easy” flashed in his head, shone like a star. The ship was visible. They were almost out of here; so what was wrong? Why couldn’t he shake the sense it was all about to come crashing down?

He studied everyone walking in their direction for signs they weren’t the mechanics they pretended to be. Even the gray-haired woman with black goo up to her elbows looked suspicious to him now. He was certain the only thing keeping his heart from outright exploding was the rejuv treatment he’d gotten.

He froze halfway up the ramp. The officer had said something, but he’d missed it. Shit, it might have been important. Keep going? Acknowledge he’d missed it?

He turned. “Sorry? I was lost in thought.”

The officer smiled. “Just wishing you a good trip.”

“Oh, thanks. You too.” He caught up to Miranda.

“Did you just wish him to ‘have a good trip’?” Miranda asked as she tapped the control and the ramp started going up.

“I’m a wreck, okay?” he said, waiting for the ramp to finish closing. When it resounded shut, he leaned against it. He’d made it. He’d done the job, and he hadn’t screwed up at all.

“Welcome back,” Alex said, glancing over his shoulder. “Hey, Mary.”

“You…” Mary snarled and launched herself out of Miranda’s grasp at Alex.