Landfall (The Reach, Book 2) (7 page)

“Good.  Now listen, Talia, and listen well.  I’m going to ask you some questions.  It’s in your best interests to answer those questions honestly.  I won’t take kindly to anything less.”

“Yeah, okay.  What do you want to know?”

Capper placed the gloves down neatly on the bench, then turned and began to walk back toward her.

“My friend Crumb here saw something very interesting several days ago.  He said he saw you walking through Link with a man over toward Grove.”

Knile
, Talia thought.
Is this about him?

Capper waited for her to respond, but when she said nothing, he continued on.

“Crumb said the two of you made your way over to Grove and then you went inside.  Is that true?”

Talia nodded.  “Yes, it’s true.”

“What were you doing there?”

Were these guys hunting Knile?  That must
be
it.  Knile had racked up quite a tally of enemies over the years, and now they were trying to find him to settle the score.  Why else would they have any interest in her?

“He’s gone.  The man you’re looking for is gone.  He already escaped off-world.”

Capper frowned and gave a little wiggle of his shoulders as he loosened his neck, struggling to keep his patience in check.  Those thin lips pressed together again.

“You’re not doing as I asked, Talia.  Answer my question.”

“We were going to see an old friend–”

Capper’s hand lashed out and smacked across Talia’s cheek, causing her head to jolt backward painfully.  Her vision swam for a moment, and she bit her lip to stifle a cry of pain.

“This is not going to end well for you, Talia,” Capper said quietly.  “Not the way you’re headed.”

“What do you want to know, then?” she gasped.

Capper leaned in
close.  “What were you doing in
Grove?”

She thought of Knile’s return, how she’d helped him get inside to visit Giroux.

“Visiting an old friend.  That’s all.”

Capper’s eyes widened, incensed, and he lifted a hand as if he were about to strike her again, but then he seemed to think better of it.  He straightened abruptly and began to walk back toward the bench with slow, deliberate steps.

“I didn’t want to do this to you, Talia, but you’re leaving me no choice.”  He began to rummage in the toolkit and brought out a pair of pliers that were stained with a dark fluid.

Possibly grease
, Talia thought. 
Or possibly something more sinister.

“It’s the truth,” Talia said quickly.  “I know people in Grove.  I know Giroux.”

Capper turned and began to walk back toward her.

“How?”

“We go back a long way.  I used to run errands for him, things like that–”

“You’re a bad liar, Talia,” Capper said menacingly, lifting the pliers.

“No, it’s the truth!” she practically screamed at him.  “I swear!”

“Not good enough.”  Capper extended the pliers toward her face.

“I’m his whore, okay?” she lied.  Capper stopped with the pliers poised and waited.  “I’m Giroux’s whore.  Is that what you wanted to know?”

Capper digested this information thoughtfully, half turning back to Crumb to gauge his reaction.

“I didn’t know she was no whore, Cap,” Crumb said.  “Always thought she was too upmarket for that kinda business.  But it make sense.  Give her a look.”

Capper turned back to Talia and ran his eyes along her slender form, pausing at the pulsing mound of her breasts as she breathed in and out rapidly.

“His whore, is it?” Capper said, still mulling over the revelation.

“Yeah.  It’s a secret arrangement.  He’s my only client.”

Capper tapped his lip.  “He pays you that well?”

“Sure.  He owns Grove.  He’s loaded.”

Capper nodded, finally swallowing the lie.  “Of course.”

Talia’s eyes darted toward the door.  “Is that all you wanted to know?”

“No, Talia, that’s just the beginning.”

She swallowed involuntarily.  “What else?”

“We need to get into Grove.  You’re going to help us.”

Talia frowned.  “Is that what this is about?  You’re just trying to get into Grove?”

“There’s a fortune in there,” Crumb said over Capper’s shoulder.  “If we could steal some of Giroux’s loot, or even some of those teeny little plants and grow ’em ourselves
, we’d be rich.”

Except they’d probably die within days of you bringing them out of the habitat, you idiot
, Talia thought, but she held her tongue.

“Not to mention the creds that bastard must have,” Crumb said.  “If we could get a slice of that, we’d be set for life.”

“You kidnapped me so you could get into Grove?” she repeated, dumbfounded.

“I want to know how you did it,” Capper said.  “I want to know how you got inside.  How did you make it through the security?”

“I have ID.”

A look of disappointment fell across Capper’s features, and then he reached out suddenly and forced her mouth open.  Talia screamed and tried to thrash her head, but Capper’s grip was firm.  She felt the pliers clamp around one of her upper incisors.

“Stop,” Capper said calmly, and Talia went rigid, breathing hard.  “I’ve lost patience with you, Talia.  You think I’m an idiot but I’m not.  Now you’re out of chances.  Do you understand?”

She nodded, her wild eyes staring up at him.

“Crumb was watching you.  He says they didn’t scan you or the man you were with for ID.  So how did you get in without it?”

Talia worked her mouth as she tried to talk, and in response Capper took the pliers out and held them just above her face as a gentle reminder of his intentions.

Hildi got Knile and me through the entrance
, she thought. 
But they’re not going to accept that as an answer either, are they?

“We’re not leaving here until we get what we want,” Capper said.  “Even if I have to pull every tooth out of your skull, Talia.”

Talia blinked. 
We’re not leaving here until we get what we want
…

That was it.

Capper’s words had stirred an idea within her, and finally a plan began to form in her mind.  She knew what she had to do.  She had to tell them what they wanted to hear.

“Okay, we didn’t have ID,” she said.  “I was let in because I’m a regular.  The man I was with got in by using a password.”

Capper arched an eyebrow and drew back the pliers.

“See, I knew it,” Crumb said, edging forward eagerly.  “I knew there’d be somethin’ such.”

“Who can use this password?” Capper said.

“Anyone.  As long as you have the password
,
you can get in.  It’s for visitors that Giroux wants to keep under the radar.”

“And the guards won’t question it?”

Talia shook her head.  “No.  They’ll let you through.”

“What is it?” Crumb said.  “What’s the password?”

Talia hesitated for a moment.  “Pumpkin seed.”

“Pumpkin seed?” Capper said, adopting that thoughtful look again.

“Well,
that’s two words, ain’t it?” Crumb said.  “Shouldn’t it be
passwords
if they–”

“Shut up,” Capper said sharply, and the other man fell silent.  Capper looked pointedly down at Talia.  “Is that all?”

She was about to nod, then thought better of it.

Wait.  Use more details.  Convince them.

“There’s two guards at the entrance.  You need to speak to the one on the left.  He’s the only one who’ll accept the password.  That’s how they know you didn’t just steal it.”

Capper nodded.  “Clever.  What else?  Will they stop us if we try to take anything out of the habitat?”

“Just use the password again.  That’s how they know you’ve got clearance from Giroux.  He does under-the-table deals all the time.  The guards are used to it.”

“Good.”

“And you should also know that they change the password every four days,” Talia said, surprising herself with the amount of bullshit that was spilling from her mouth.  “The one I gave you will work today, but it’ll expire tomorrow.  You’ll need an update if you want to go back again.”

“Can you get that for us?”

“Yes, I could get that, as long as you let me go unharmed.”

Capper worked his jaw as he considered this, and Crumb was so filled with excitement that he seemed on the verge of humping the other man’s leg.

“We’re gonna be rich, Cap!” he hissed under his breath.

“Not so fast,” Capper said, holding up his palm.  Crumb slunk backward sheepishly.  “First we have to make sure that this is the real deal.  I’m not going to start celebrating until we’re sure that the plan works.”

“Sure, Cap,” Crumb said, bobbing his head.

Capper walked back to the bench and replaced the pliers, then began to pull his gloves back on.

“Crumb, you and I will go to Grove to see if the password gets us through,” Capper said, wiggling his fingers into the glove on his right hand.  “Between us we should be able to carry out some valuables, enough to get us started.”

“Our own garden?” Crumb said.

“That’s the plan.  We’ll talk to Felicia, she used to work there.  She can help us get the plants established in our own plot.”  He returned his gaze to Talia’s face.  “If all is well, we’ll come back here and negotiate our arrangements going forward.”

Talia nodded.  “Yeah.  That sounds all right.”

“Winny, keep an eye on her,” Capper instructed as he headed toward the door.  “We’ll be back soon.”

The young man nodded, saying nothing, and Crumb gave him a companionable clap on the shoulder as he went past.  Then the two of them disappeared down the corridor, and Winny was left alone with Talia as the sound of
their boots on the concrete began to recede.

Talia took a deep breath.

She had maybe an hour before Capper and Crumb returned from Grove.  When they arrived, they wouldn’t be happy.  They would know that everything she had told them was a lie.

Within that hour, she had to get the hell out of there, because there would be no escaping the pliers – or whatever else Capper had stashed in that tool bag – for a second time.

8

Knile was back in a maintenance uniform, back in an air vent.

Story of my life
, he thought.

He pushed forward and stared out through the horizontal slats in the vent cover for maybe the hundredth time that day.  He’d been here watching the entrance to Honeybul’s apartment for some time.  The door to the place was a broad slab of mahogany that had been carved in ornate patterns, recessed behind a pair of marble pillars.  A spherical stone water feature
glinted in the centre of the broad path that led up to the door as thin rivulets of water cascaded over its sides and into a shallow basin beneath.

Knile was waiting for the crowd to thin out.  The old man had been hosting yet another social event
,
and Luxites in their finest garb had been coming and going in great numbers.  There were far too many present for Knile to have a chance of seeing Honeybul one on one, so he’d
hidden in the only inconspicuous place he could find – this nearby vent.

Although he was aware of the time constraints he was working with, Knile knew that it would be unwise to rush into a confrontation with Honeybul while others were present.  The last thing he needed was for one of them to sound the alarm and send more Enforcers his way.

Knile sat back again and wondered, not for the first time, if there was a way he could expedite the departure of Honeybul’s guests, perhaps via a fire alarm or some other warning.  However, every option he’d so far considered had been discarded.  Such a ploy might get Knile inside quicker, but it would also draw unwanted attention.  There was no clean way of getting rid of the guests, so he decided to wait and continue his vigil for a while longer.

Knile slumped back against the wall.  As he watched the light from outside filter through into the dark confines of the vent in long glowing stripes, his mind began to wander, and a memory from almost a decade ago suddenly pushed its way into his thoughts.