Mack 'n' Me: The Wolves of Alpha 9 C.M. Simpson (top 10 inspirational books txt) đ
- Author: C.M. Simpson
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âOf all the self-licking, auto-gyrating, fuck-twisted, love-nutted, ass-wiping paranoid fucktards in a universe of paranoid self-licking fucktards!â I muttered, keeping my voice down to an outraged whisperâand even then it felt too loud in the tunnelâs confines.
âWhat,â but Tens wasnât asking a question, and I couldnât hear his voice echoing through the dark around me.
âThe map doesnât match.â
âWhat?â Now, the man sounded upsetâbut at least he was upset for me, and not at me.
âThe map doesnât match,â I repeated, glad I could keep the realization in my head, and the outrage I felt firmly behind my teeth and out of the dark. âThe fucking map doesnât fucking match the fucking tunnels. The fardnardling fuck knuckle gave me shit, and now Iâm fucked six ways to stardust and havenât got a fucking clue as to where the fuck I am!â
There was a momentâs silence, and then Tens spoke.
âThat was rather uninspired.â
âSo, shoot me. Iâm having a bad day.â
âHoney, you donât know the half of it,â and there was a phrase I didnât need to hear.
âWhat is it, Case?â
âI can barely get a scan off the level youâre onâand even then itâs dirty with the levels above it, so I canât be sure of what Iâm seeing. Tens is doing his best to calibrate it, but itâs still going to be a bit dodgy round the edges...â
âAnd...â I couldnât help it; I was drumming my fingers on my arm, again.
âI know from his lordshipâs maps that the mines go down at least another twenty levels, but the next levelâs a complete blank. Weâre trying to hack a path through one of the satellites that passes over the Carafakt, but, unless we get the right angle, youâre going to be running blind as soon as you go down.â
âWho says I need to do that?â I asked, pushing aside the double meaning that layered her words. I was pretty darn sure she hadnât meant to add it inâand if she caught that thought, Case didnât try to enlighten me.
I took a moment, closing my eyes to block out the tunnelâs darkness, and taking in a long, deep breath. Letting the breath out just as slowly, I thought about what I had to do next. âDownâ was pretty obvious, since that was the way the servant woman had taken, and it was sure as shit the way the tracker pointed.
âWell,â I said, out loud and quiet, as I opened my eyes, âsucks to be me, then, doesnât it?â
Neither of them had an answer for that, so I kept talking.
âJust tell me if the teleport lock gets wobbly.â
This time, I didnât wait for a response. I pushed off the wall, and checked the tunnel for company. It stayed as empty as it had been, before, so I stepped out and followed the trail Barangail had given me, all the while, trying not to think of exactly how much heâd lied to me. If the trail heâd laid was false, if the tracer heâd tagged the maid with wasnât working, then I was just as much in the dark as she was.
Maybe even more so, since she had seemed to have half a clue as to where she might be going. Which reminded me... I stopped, again. This time, I didnât bother finding a duck-in, since it wasnât like Iâd have to get out of anythingâs way. I tapped Tens and Case, again, sending them the image of the woman in the image Barangail had supplied.
âThis is the woman who stole the bracelet,â I said, and then passed them up the image of the bracelet, âand this is the bracelet. Why donât you see what you can pull on both of them, since our patron doesnât seem to have a good relationship with the truth.â
Turns out it was a good question to ask.
Iâd been trotting through the tunnel, towards the slant-wise cutting that would take me down a level, when Tens and Case called me back.
âThat wasnât the maid,â Tens said. âIt was the concubine.â
âFigures.â
I slowed to a walk, found an alcove, checked it for creepy crawlies, and stepped inside.
âGo on.â
âAnd itâs a slave bracelet.â
âA what?â
âYou heard the man,â Case told me. âA slave bracelet. You know, the kind of thing that stops folk from running away, or lets their masters track them.â
âUh huh. So why does he need me, then?â
âThat would be the thing to ask.â
I huffed out a sigh.
âNo point. He probably wouldnât tell the truth, anyway. What I want to know is why he hasnât sent a squad after her, and why he needs someone from off-world. And it would be good to know I wasnâtâ going to be retrieving a person, because you know the contractâs breached nine ways to Hell, if he expects that. Iâm not taking anyone back to slavery under that asshole.â
âLiterally,â Case said, and I rolled my eyes.
Not what I needed to hear.
She snickered.
âThat was not intentional.â
Uh huh, sure it wasnât.
âIt wasnât, but whatever,â Case grumbled. âThe thing is, if we want to take the bracelet back to his lordship, weâre going to have to work out a way to remove it, because I think it might still be attached.â
The thought had already crossed my mind, but I didnât need to point it out. We had to find the bracelet, first.
âIâll keep looking. Letâs hope the tracker he gave me is actually what we need.â
âNope,â Tens said. âThatâs the real deal. Iâve checked the bracelet model. It looks pretty, but the tracking waves are unique, and the trace youâre following is the right kind. Now, I just have to hack his lordshipâs database to match the waves on record to the waves your trackingâmake sure youâre following the concubine, and not someone else. If they donât match, heâs in breach.â
I was
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