Jim Baen's Universe Vol 2 No 4 by Eric Flint

Author:Eric Flint [Flint, Eric]
Format: epub
Published: 2009-10-01T03:00:00+00:00

It took several minutes for me to realize that I hadn't died. To be honest, the news came as a bit of a disappointment. A small lance of pain shot through my gut every time I breathed in, and I felt a little nauseous. Pretty soon men would come looking for me. The ones I owed money, plus the new friends whose contract I'd broken. In the past I could've counted on Benny to think of a Plan B. Now I didn't even have that.

Bad. Worse. Worst. To be honest, hitting rock bottom didn't feel as bad as I thought it would. It even felt a little good, and then the entanglement-com on my wrist vibrated.

Benny.

A fresh wave of nausea hit me as I switched her back on.

"Dex? Are you there? Still alive? Can you hear me, Chief?"

"Yes. Would you shut up already?"

"One of these days you gotta tell me how you did it. It looks like something cooked off the torpedo room. I can see some fires inside. How'd you get in there?"

I sat up against the life pod's wall. "Torpedo room?" Realization dawned on me a moment later. I closed my eyes and laughed. "Benny, you wouldn't believe me even if I tried to explain it."

"Oh . . . Okay." Benny's sullen tone brought a smile to my face, but also a twist to my stomach.

"Have you collected our pay yet?" I asked before either feeling could get stronger.

"Yup. I just finished certifying the deposit."

"And our markers?"

"Settled. We're back in the black, Chief."

In the black. I'd dreamed of those words for longer than I cared to remember. I thought when I finally heard them I'd feel elated, on top of the world. Instead, it felt like a bit of a letdown.

"Hey, Dex . . . I'm sorry." Benny's voice sounded off. Flat, dull, not like her at all.

I opened my eyes and took off my helmet. "What are you talking about, Benny?"

"You were counting on me and everything, and then I couldn't get the job done when it counted the most. I guess you really don't need me after all."

"You're not an idiot, so don't act like one. I don't want you around any more than I want a few extra holes in my head, but I do need you."

"Don't patronize me! I know I messed up. I don't need your pity, okay?"

"No, I was wrong."

"Huh?"

"I was wrong," I said in a louder voice. "I'm sorry. I know you only did what you had to do. I . . ." I hesitated, because even though something's true doesn't mean it's not galling. "I shouldn't have said any of those things. I'm sorry."

"Yeah, but you didn't need me to blow up that ship." Benny's voice quavered. I wondered what she looked like, what she was thinking. I always thought of Benny as confident to the point of blissful arrogance, but at that moment I didn't know what to think.

"It was your idea," I said.

"Huh?" Benny asked.

"I took your idea for sabotaging the air vents and rigged a fuel-air device.

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