Retribution (12 page)

“About ten minutes. Give or take.”

“The bay will be ready for your landing.”

Rave wondered at the reception he would get. If Davidson didn’t yet know about Rave’s call, he would by the time Rave arrived at his ship.

Rave had had time to think on the journey back to
Seid
II. Rave still had no idea what Fritz
or
Davidson’s beef with them was.

When all this had started, Rave had been a decorated officer with a brilliant career ahead of him. Every time he’d thought of his life, it had included the Alliance. When he’d met
Kain
, his future had been that much brighter. He’d figured the two of them would retire from the Alliance and spend the rest of their years on some quiet planet. Never had he thought he’d be a wanted criminal who had spent time on DI.

Now, if he wanted a future with
Kain
, he had to give up the past. Could he forget what had happened to him on DI? If anyone could help him through it, it would be
Kain
. Rave didn’t have any doubts about the man’s love. It was evident in his actions, but could Rave trust him?

Rave didn’t even argue the point with himself. He loved
and
trusted
Kain
. If he made it out of this alive, they were going away.
Together.

The Alliance ship loomed before him. He readied himself for what was about to happen. He’d loaded up with equipment before leaving Rock—a couple of small items that should escape the detection of Alliance
scans
. There was no way would he’d go in cold. Not after what he’d been through.

“
Retribution
pod, prepare for tractor cable.”

It didn’t take long for him to dock in the belly of the beast. He stepped out of the pod to greet his welcoming committee.

“Here to turn yourself in, Anders?”

Rave shifted so he could see the speaker.

“Why would I do that? I’ve done nothing wrong.”

“I have a warrant that says differently.”

“I don’t care what a piece of paper says. I do care about what your problem is, Seth Davidson.”

“
Ahh
, so you
do
know who I am. I wondered if you would remember me. Why don’t we go to my quarters and discuss your options.” Davidson turned to the soldier who stood at his side. “You’re dismissed. I’ll take it from here.” The man turned and left the room. “Please follow me.”

Rave followed Davison to a room close to the loading bays.

“Why are you doing this, Davison? What do you have to gain?”

“Pretty direct, aren’t you, Anders?”

“I’ve learned
it’s
better that way. Now, what’s this about? How are you involved?

“I wanted
Kain
to be here when we spoke, but I guess I’ll take what I can get.”

The man waved his hand towards a chair in the room, and Rave walked by him and sat down. No use being uncomfortable.

Davidson walked to a desk and sat down facing Rave.

“Talk,” Rave demanded.

“You always did like to be in charge, but not here. We’ll do this my way.”

Rave didn’t say anything, just nodded and waited for Davidson to continue.

“I think the question was ‘what is this about’, yes?” Seth didn’t wait for a response. “It’s about you kidnapping an Alliance Commander.”

“We both know that isn’t true. You’re setting me and
Kain
up. What I don’t know is why? I’ve been confused since the beginning.
So, the truth?”

Davidson grinned. “I like you better now. The time on DI did you well.”

Rave clenched his jaw. He didn’t want to mess up his chance to take care of the problem. “Are you only going to play with me?
If so, I can leave now.”

“That isn’t going to happen. Not this time. You won’t leave here alive.”

Why? What had he done to this bastard? Fuck him.

“Is this animosity directed at me or
Kain
?” Rave’s anger was barely contained.

Davidson laughed. “You should have taken me up on my offer all those years ago. Now both you and your lover will die. And it’s your fault.”

“How am I at fault here?”

“If it wasn’t for you, I never would have crashed that damn pod and been sent back to the academy. They made me a laughing stock. My family all but disowned me.”

What a nut job. Seriously, how was he to blame for the man’s accident? What right did this asshole have to be his judge and jury?

“You can’t blame me for an accident you caused. That was years ago. That’s a long time to hold a grudge.”

“I had to wait until I could come after you in a position of power. Now, I have all the power and you have none.”

“Did you send me to DI?”

“I wish I could take credit for that, but that was all Fritz. I’m done talking and you’re going to the brig while we wait for
Kain
to get here.”

“
Kain
isn’t coming. I left him unconscious on another planet.”

“He’ll be here. Get up, and let’s go.”

Rave stood and followed Davidson out of his quarters.

Well shit, how am I going to get out of this? Guess I should have worried about that before going off half-cocked.

Davidson pushed him into a cell and left without another word. Rave wondered why Davidson was so confident that
Kain
would show up. Maybe Rave could talk to Fritz and see what his deal was in the drama. They might have a better chance getting out of this alive if it was a military issue and not a personal one like with Davidson.

Rave settled back to wait. That’s all he could do now. At least, he was alone. The small space wasn’t so bad when empty. Maybe he could keep the flashbacks at bay. Luck didn’t hold with him as the walls closed in. Rave backed into a corner and hugged his knees to his chest.

This wasn’t a good idea at all.

* * * *

“
Kain
, stop pacing. It won’t get us there any quicker.” Se sounded exasperated.

He stopped his movement. “I can’t help it. Anything could have happened in the time it’s taken us to get here.”

Worry ate at his gut at the thought of Rave out there on his own.

“We’re almost there, and the Alliance is right behind us. Rave will be okay. He has to be.” She whispered the last words.

He pulled Se into a hug. “I know. He’s already been through too much. When we’re out of this, I’m going to take him somewhere and pamper him for the rest of our lives.”

“Can I come, too?” Se laughed.

“Do you think we’d leave you? We’re family. It looks like you could have company, though.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Oh, I don’t
know,
a certain gun runner you can’t keep your eyes off of.”

Se pushed away from him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. And anyway, he’s gay.”

“I don’t think so. He’s looking back.”

It was nice to laugh, even if it was only briefly.

“You’re bad.”

“And you love it. Would you like me to ask him about his preference? Or you could just go up and kiss him. See what comes…um…up?”

Se started for his head, but she must have remembered his injury and switched to hitting his arm.

“We’ve reached the outskirts of
Seid
II. We should be coming up on the Alliance ship in a couple of minutes. Are you two finished goofing off over there?” Rock’s gruff voice interrupted them.

Kain
asked. “He does know we’re cousins, right?”

Se shook her head and smiled at him.
“Stop!”

Kain
walked over to where Rock stood. The brief reprieve with Se was nice, but the worry over Rave seeped back in. It was his time to step up to the plate and do right by his man.

“How close is the cavalry?”
Kain
inquired.

“They should be here within the hour.”

“Good. I don’t think we should wait.” He knew he sounded impatient, but
Kain
needed on that ship.

“I’m not waiting.”

“Somehow I didn’t think so.
We going
in with a plan?”

“Shoot first, questions later?” Rock loaded up with guns.

“While I like that plan, there could be innocent people onboard.”

Rock grunted. “You got a better one?”

“Not really. I could just go in. Officially, they have nothing on me. I’m not sure how Fritz and Davidson will react.”

“Let’s just walk in, but I’m keeping the guns.”

“Fair enough, I’ll be packing heat as well. I’m going to contact the ship and let them know I’m boarding. That way it’s on the official record. Oh, and you know Se and I are cousins, right?”

“What the hell does that have to do with anything?” Rock didn’t stop reaching for weapons.
Kain
wasn’t sure where he planned on putting them all.

“Nothing really, but I thought you should know. I mean, if you swing that way.”

Rock paused with his hand on a gun clip and turned towards
Kain
, “Does she know you’re talking to me about this?”

“Probably not.
I did tell her I would ask. She thinks you’re gay, but I see how you look at her. Why does she think you’re gay?”

“Not that it’s any of your concern, but I made a play for Rave.”

The man paused as if to gauge his reaction.
Kain
should have been shocked, hell, he should have been jealous, but he wasn’t. Rave was his now, and the past was past, but he hated himself as his curiosity got the better of him.

“How did that go?” he asked calmly.

“Shot me down.”

“So, you
are
gay.”

Why was Rock being evasive? Of course, it really wasn’t any of
Kain’s
business which way Rock swung as long as it wasn’t towards Rave.

“I didn’t say that,” Rock said with a small grin on his face.

If
Kain
wasn’t so concerned about getting to
Rave
, he might have more questions.

“Okay, then. I guess enough with the small talk, let’s go get Rave back.”

* * * *

Kain
and Rock were allowed on to the ship with minimal fuss, but he didn’t expect anything less, at least not yet. These subordinates probably knew nothing of what was really going on, but
Kain
still rested a hand on his weapon as the two of them were escorted to a conference room onboard the Alliance ship. They’d left Mel and Se on Rock’s vessel so they could get word to the Alliance. This should be over soon. At least,
Kain
hoped so. He wouldn’t feel better until he saw Rave.

They didn’t have long to wait before Fritz walked into the room.

“Where’s Rave?”
Kain
didn’t even wait for the door to close behind the general.

“Calm down, Sims. There was a misunderstanding. Davidson will bring up Anders in a moment.”

“A misunderstanding, huh?
More like a setup.”

“I’m not sure I understand.” Fritz seemed confused.

“Oh, you understand all right, and you won’t get away with it.” He wanted Fritz to tell him the truth.

“And what is it I won’t get away with?” Fritz cocked his eyebrow.

“Why don’t we wait for Rave to join us?
And, my father, of course.”

That made the man pause. The General didn’t have time to comment. The doors to the room opened and Davidson walked in with Rave.
Kain
stared at his lover. Something looked off. It took him a moment to see the look in his Rave’s eyes.

Rock got to him before
Kain
could, and Rave collapsed in the man’s arms.
Kain
never wanted to see Rave look this way again, and if he had anything to say about it, he wouldn’t. The man’s bruises had bruises. Half of Rave’s face had turned purple, and he had an arm cradling his ribs.

Kain
used a calm he didn’t know he had. “What did you do to him?”

“We locked up a kidnapper. He’s been detained since he turned himself in,” Davidson responded.

“Let’s cut the shit. We all know that you two set us up. Rave and I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the two of you.”

Davidson drew his gun and trained it on
Kain
. “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the two of you, but I don’t have to worry about that anymore. Once I kill you both, I’m in the clear.”

“Davidson, put the gun away. There are better ways to handle this.” Fritz looked worried, and that scared
Kain
.

Davidson turned and fired. Fritz fell to the floor, dead before he
landed,
a round hole in the centre of his forehead.

“I thought he would never shut up. I hated working with that moron with his stupid plans,” Davidson said as if he hadn’t just shot someone in cold blood.

“His plan did seem odd. Why did you go along with him?”
Kain
wanted the focus on him. If he had to die to save Rave, he would.

“He was the easiest way to get to the two of you. I signed up to be one of his drug runners and found out about his plan. If it was up to me, I would have killed you both years ago.”

“What did we do to you?” He had to keep the man talking.
Kain
signalled behind his back, hoping Rock got the message to protect Rave by any means necessary.

“You fucked up my life.”

“We don’t even know you. Hell, when Fritz gave us your name we had to do a search. You were nothing to us. Get a life and move on.”

“Not an option now. It never was. You’re dead anyway. Why does it matter?”

“I don’t think so.”

Kain
turned at the sound of Rave’s voice. Rock supported Rave, but he had a laser in his hands.

“You won’t use that. It’s not in you to kill someone.” As Davidson spoke, his finger twitched on the firing pin of his own weapon. That was all it took. Rave pulled the trigger but missed.

Kain
watched in horror as Davidson lifted his gun towards Rave and fired. The shot went wide, and
Kain
tackled Davidson. The two struggled for the gun.