Daughter of the Dragon by Ilsa J. Bick

Author:Ilsa J. Bick [Bick, Ilsa J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: sf_action
ISBN: 0451460340
Google: WcnISAAACAAJ
Publisher: Paperback
Published: 2006-09-15T13:51:19.859000+00:00

21

Pirate Jump Point, Proserpina Space

Prefecture III, Republic of the Sphere

10 May 3135

Marcus had flayed the muscles of his upper body, stopping only after two hours left his arms screaming. Then Marcus had ordered lights off in his gym, and now, weightless, he stared into space, literally. He palmed sweat from his cheek, gathering the salty water into a shimmering globule that undulated like something living. He turned his hand this way and that, fascinated as always that the globule simply hung there.

Marcus had big hands, larger now with exercise, though they’d always been powerful; so strong, in fact, that he remembered the first time he’d killed a man by snapping his neck. That quick twist and jerk, the small bones crackling as if he’d popped his knuckles. They were hands that had never known the intimate hollows and valleys of a woman but were, nonetheless, useful hands. Killing hands.

A stray thought levered into consciousness, unbidden: If necessary, could they kill Jonathan?

He was surprised that he wasn’t upset, and he gave more thought to that than the idea itself. The question wasn’t whether he should kill Jonathan. They were brothers; Marcus needed him to carry out their plans, no question about it. Despite Jonathan’s flair for the dramatic, things were going precisely as they’d hoped. Only Ramadeep Bhatia knew, or suspected, that Kappa, the Little Luthien Killer, and Subhash Indrahar’s Son of the Dragon were one and the same. Doubtless, Bhatia believed he had a cunning weapon in his own ISF double agent who operated under the cloak of the Keeper’s O5P while masquerading as one of Dragon Fury’s O5P contingent.

Yet neither Bhatia nor Emi Kurita suspected that the go-between both had employed not only fed misinformation to both camps, but knew what both were plotting because the man they’d never met but both employed was—Jonathan.

So, Bhatia’s best-laid plans were for naught. For example, that ISF agent he’d sent to masquerade as a tamago vendor and sanction McCain was certainly dead by now; truly, a bad egg. Jonathan’s warning Drexel ahead of time not only reassured her that her source was unimpeachable but virtually guaranteed that Dragon Fury’s O5P would use him again.

Sleights of hand and feats of magic: Jonathan was talented enough to play any role. Oh, Marcus was important ; money and what it bought—discreet pilots, tight-lipped couriers, a cadre of JumpShips—were essential. But, without Jonathan, Marcus was nothing more than a very wealthy, very bitter man.

Because here was Jonathan’s masterstroke: murdering the Bounty Hunter and assuming his identity, then using that identity to muddy the waters. Infiltrating Katana Tormark’s camp, warning her of turncoats in her organization, while turning around and tipping off the ISF agent Bhatia had inserted into her O5P himself. Yes, it was brilliant because little Katana would work herself into knots, wondering who the traitor was.

Marcus’ mouth tugged into a reluctant grimace—part smile, part frown. Yamata might’ve been a better code-name than Kappa. Yamata was a vengeful god, a serpent with eight heads and as many faces.

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