2-58: Turncoat
"Just what do you think you're going to accomplish here, Tmors?" I asked, leaning in close as we made our way up through the veritable rabbit warren that was the Undercity.
He'd fallen back from talking with the Spider. They’d had a pretty heated conversation before he apparently gave up and decided to join the humans. Not that he seemed much happier back here with us.
“What are you trying to accomplish?” he asked, glowering at me. “Because so far nothing you’ve done here makes any sense.”
I looked all around to make sure nobody else was listening in. Finally, I looked to Arvie in the simulation, and he merely shrugged. The meaning was clear: the coast was clear. At least as far as he could tell.
"Okay," I finally said, turning back to Tmors. "I'm going to let you in on something."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Varis asked.
"I don't know if it's a good idea, but we are going to need somebody's support at some point."
"I knew it," he said, smashing his fist into his hand. "I knew the two of you were up to something."
"I wouldn't say we're up to anything," I said. "Like that's giving entirely too much credit to me and my plans.”
"Then what is going on?" he asked, his eyes darting up to the Spider, who was now in the middle of arguing with a different livisk.
This one was big and muscular and had a massive gun strapped across his back, the kind of weapon that looked like it packed the kind of bullet that could tear a person in two. Like we're talking it could even tear a livisk in two, which was saying something considering how tough their hides were.
"Look, we're kind of just making stuff up on the fly here,” I said. “And it’d be good to have friends while we’re making that shit up.”
"What does that even mean?" Tmors asked.
"He's making it up as he goes along," Varis said. “And he wants your help.”
"Is that supposed to make me feel better about what you're doing?" he asked, his eyes darting between me and Varis.
Varis, for her part, merely grinned at him. Which didn't seem to do anything to help his mood. If anything his glower got more dour.
"Of course that should make you feel better," she said. "I've been going up against him when he's making things up as he goes along for at least a year now, and so far he's managed to best me almost every time."
“Almost?” I said.
She blew a kiss at me and winked.
"Again, I don't know that this is supposed to make me feel better," Tmors said, looking between the two of us.”
"Look, this is pretty simple," I said, lowering my voice on the off chance someone was listening in and Arvie hadn’t caught it. "How long do you think it's going to be before she decides you've outlived your usefulness and it's time for you to die?"
Tmors stared at me. His mouth worked. He looked indignant. Like he didn't for a moment think the Spider would kill him. Then I could see acceptance rolling across his face as he let out a sigh and his shoulders fell.
Reality was reality, after all. He had to know his days were numbered, even if he didn’t want to admit it to himself.
"You really think she’d do that?" he asked.
"Search your feelings. You know it to be true,” I said.
I was cribbing from some of the classics with that one, but I figured the classics were the classics for a reason. Besides, he probably didn’t realize I was quoting Star Wars. Though the line did earn me a snort and an eye roll from Arvie in the simulation.
"Yeah, you're right," he finally said. "I don't like that you're right, but you're right."
"That does happen sometimes," I said.
"Almost as often as one of your crazy plans manages to work out," Varis said, grinning at me.
"So anyway, I figure you have a choice here," I said.
"What choice do I have?" he said, sighing in utter defeat. Which was kind of where I wanted him. It was good to get somebody in a nice pliable state of mind where they were willing to do anything to save their skin, but I also didn't want him so defeated that he’d be utterly useless to us.
"You have a choice between continuing to work for the Spider, or working for new management."
"What you're talking about is something that will get me killed right away," he hissed, looking to the Spider. She was smacking the big burly guy she was chatting with. "What did you even tell her to get her to come out here on this wild chase anyway?”
"I told her we were going to be hitting the empress where it hurts," I said.
"That isn't going to be enough to get her to launch a full-on attack where she brings along most of our forces.”
“Most of their forces. That’s interesting,” I said to Arvie in the simulation. “Could you please detour one of our surprises to hit the Spider’s camp?”
“I can, yes,” Arvie said. “Are you sure you want to risk that?”
“Have them scout it out first,” I said. “If it looks like they’re running on a skeleton crew then make it happen.”
“On it,” he said. Meanwhile, I turned my attention back to reality and trying to convert Tmors to our cause.
"Okay, so I might've also told her there was something valuable being held in this prison."
"And is any of that true?" Tmors asked, his eyes darting back and forth as he stared at me with a hunted expression.
"What do you think?" I asked.
He let out a resigned sigh. "I was afraid you were going to say something like that."
"Tmors, my friend," Varis said, putting an arm around him. It was familiar, but in a friendly sort of way. Not in the sort of way that would've sent jealousy raging through me under other circumstances.
Plus the link was there to tell me she was purely schmoozing here. Bullshitting him. Trying to get him over on our side. Not that she was interested in the guy in any way, shape, or form beyond manipulating him to make our job easier down here.
She didn’t know about the surprise I was working up with Arvie, but from the way she kept glancing at me and the feelings coming through the link? It was clear she knew I was up to something and she was backing me up on it.
"The thing you need to remember is I’m a high noble. I'm sister by marriage to the empress,” Varis continued.
"An empress who's trying to kill us," I said.
"Doesn't matter," she said, grinning at me. "I'm still sister by marriage to the empress. That carries weight. Not to mention the empress is always trying to kill one relative or another. It's hardly considered too much of a mark of dishonor."
"You say so," I said.
"She does speak truth," Tmors said.
"I do speak truth," she said. "I'm a high noble. I'm a general in command of my own army. I'm sister by marriage to the empress, and you are forgetting the most important thing of all."
"What's that?" he asked, looking somewhat sick to his stomach as he stared between her and me.
Now her grin had turned downright predatory. Like we're talking even I wanted to take a step back from her or tell her to take it easy.
"I'm also linked to a Terran who has been fighting the empress, and so far he's done far better against her than anyone who has ever fought her prior."
"I've heard rumors, but I scarcely believed them," he said, turning to stare at me. “We hear lots of crazy stories from topside.”
"Well, you'd best believe those rumors," she said, still grinning at him. "Because they're true. He defied her, and he's killed several of her prince consorts. He also has at least one prince consort who's come over to our side."
Tmors turned to look over his shoulder. Jeraj and Yana were were walking back there behind us. Both of them looked supremely bored. Which was an interesting look for a couple of livisk who could turn into a whirling cloud of death at any moment if they so desired.
"So you have to stop and ask yourself who you're really going to support. Somebody who’s been down here in the Undercity doing her thing and ineffectively eking out a meager existence hiding from all the other people who make their lives in the Undercity, or somebody who quite literally controls her own military and is defying the empress."
"It seems to me that defying the empress is the sort of thing that would result in my death sooner rather than later," he said, again looking slightly sick to his stomach. Livisk didn't quite turn green, though I'd always thought that was a weird turn of phrase to describe a human who was having stomach trouble, but he did turn a darker shade of blue that almost seemed to border on purple as his reservations about this mixed with his blood under the surface of his cheeks.
"That might be true," I said with a shrug. "But then again, the empress has been doing her best to kill me for a while now, and like a poor marksman, she keeps missing the target.”
"Yes, but that's you," Tmors said. "It seems to me that I have three people trying to kill me now, and somehow you've managed to bring the empress into that equation as well."
"Perhaps we have," Varis said with a shrug. "But you're faced with three people who want to kill you immediately. Us and the Spider up there. You have to ask yourself which one of the three of us do you think is more likely to be able to actually kill you in the near future if you don’t help us out?”
If he looked sick before, that was nothing compared to the look that passed across his face now.
"So I'm going to die no matter what," he said.
"You're not going to die no matter what," I said, throwing my arm around him as well and giving it a squeeze.
He was a slight livisk. Not at all the muscular type I'd come to expect from fighting them, and more importantly he seemed to be a sensible livisk. Maybe all the muscle is what prevented them from thinking critically and kept them doing stupid things like charging fortified human positions when it was clear the only thing they were going to accomplish by doing the alien equivalent of an old-fashioned banzai charge was dying gloriously for their empress.
"Fine," he said, taking a deep breath and letting it out. "I didn't like working for her anyway."
"That's the spirit," I said.
I quickly pulled my arm away from him as the Spider turned around to have a look at us. Her eyes narrowed when she saw Varis's arm around him. Varis gave the Spider a wave, which had her frown deepening.
"I should probably go and talk with our men," he said.
"About that," I said, glancing to Varis. I'd been hoping we might have a chat with him. I'd been hoping we might find a way to get him to prod the people working for the Spider into do something stupid, and I figured this was our opportunity now that he’d seen the wisdom of working for us.
Assuming he didn't try to double-cross us.
"Is there any possible way you could give the Spider’s people some special instructions for when we reach the detention center? Like maybe get them all worked up and ready to do a glorious charge for their honor?”
"Why would you want them to do that?" he asked.
"Ours is not to reason why," I said.
"Ours is just to do and die," Varis said, finishing the quote.
She'd been enjoying some of the martial works from Earth. That was a phrase she'd picked up on and really seemed to enjoy. Not that I was surprised at a livisk getting excited about somebody talking about dying gloriously.
"Very well," he finally said, still looking a little sickly as he contemplated what he was about to do. "What exactly is it you want me to do?"
And so I leaned in close, and me and Varis both started talking in hushed tones. I just hoped he’d go along with everything. Almost as much as I hoped the plan we were improvising here came together instead of blowing up in our faces like so many of my plans had been doing since we paid the reclamation mine a visit to liberate my crew.