“No,” Riecka said. “You are too important, if something--”
“They are right,” Layalina said with a shrug. “We have no skin in this game. I wish my father dead, and I wish to be a queen and to have an opinion that matters.” The red-eyed woman turned to me and stared into my eyes. “They say you are fair and pleasant to your women. The ones gathered around you seem supportive of you. I wish for you to be successful.”
“That’s a step in the right direction,” I said as I pointed to the knife on her belt. “Now, you will need to submit to me.”
“Submit?” Layalina asked with surprise.
“Yeah,” I said. “Right now.”
“No,” Riecka said.
“Why not?” I asked.
“If you die during the fight, I will be dead,” Layalina said carefully.
“I thought you said there wasn’t going to be much of a fight?” I asked. “Isn't he in the middle of the orgy?”
“Accidents do happen,” Layalina said. “I am willing to take the risk once my father is dead, but not before.”
“Hmmm,” I said, as I looked to my wives. I didn’t need to have Eve’s power our emotion connection to know exactly what they were all thinking.
“What about drones,” I said as I pointed to the two metal wolves at her side.
“Do you have someone that can pilot these?” Layalina asked with surprise.
“Yes,” I said. “How many can you get us?”
“A few,” she said.
“I hope that means four or more,” I replied.
“Yes,” Layalina said as she patted the drone at her side, “I can get four. Do you need the piloting rig?”
“Nope,” I said after I noticed Paula shake her head slightly.
“It will take me about ten minutes to get some from the castle’s supply.”
“That’s fine,” I said. “I’m guessing that the three crew members from my ship are in the dungeon beneath this castle?” I asked.
“Yes,” Riecka answered. “They are two floors beneath you. We will have them released as soon as you kill--”
“No,” I said. “They will be released now. I will need them to help kill Uffe.”
“But that will be next to impossible for me to--”
“Then figure it out,” I said, “Or give me directions there, and I’ll get them out myself before I kill Uffe.” My words were a bit of a bluff, but I was going to need all the help I could get for this attack.
“I will call now and work to get them released,” Riecka said with a heavy sigh. “Layalina, I will have to release them into your custody.”
“That is fine,” the red-eyed woman said. “Should I head down there now or find my future husband his drones?”
“Drones first,” Riecka said. “Then head to the dungeon, I should have it all sorted by then, and if not, you might need to use those drones to give King Vaish what he wants.”
“I am fine with that,” Layalina said as she smiled at me. “You all should wait here. I will be back in ten, perhaps fifteen minutes.”
“Hurry up,” I said. “Every minute makes my job harder.”
“I know,” Layalina said as she ran her gloved fingers across the tattoos on her chest. “I will give you what you want. I was about to call you ‘crow,’ but it appears that your people are ‘tiger’ now.”
“Yeeessss,” I growled, and the red-eyed cyborg nodded before she moved to the door from which we had entered the room through.
“I will work on the release of your people on my end,” Riecka said once Layalina had walked out the door. “Please remain in this room. There will not be a new shift for three more hours, and you will be our new king long before that.”
“I’m looking forward to it,” I said as I nodded to her, and the screen turned off.
“Check for surveillance,” I hissed to Paula, Kasta, and Zea. “Be really fucking quick about it.”
“I’ll help,” Juliette said, and the four women began to search through the closest terminals. It took them half a minute to go through each row, and then they spent another minute to go through the main terminal at the front of the room. The hacker and two engineers turned back toward the rest of the group after a minute of searching the main computer, and they shrugged.
“I can generate some white noise,” Kasta said. “It might not help cover our voices, but it won’t hurt.”
“Do it,” I said, and the android nodded. Then we stood staring at her for a few seconds.
“What?” she asked.
“Are you going to do it?” Zea asked.
“Oh, I am doing it,” Kasta laughed. “It’s subsonic.”
“Alright,” I said, but I still gestured for the women to step in closer to me so we could huddle and whisper to each other. “Here is the plan--”
“You know they are going to betray us, right?” Zea asked.
“Yes,” Aasne growled. “Jotnar cannot be trusted.”
“I’m assuming that they are going to betray us,” I said. “That’s why we are going to do what we came here to do right now.”
Chapter 15
“Right now, right now?” Zea asked.
“As soon as we can,” I said. “Zea, I need you on this terminal at the front. You are going to wreak havoc on all their security systems and lock all the doors.”
“Uhh, that’s gonna take me at least half an hour to figure--”
“You have five minutes,” I said.
“I’m on it,” she said as she turned to go, but I grabbed on her arm.
“As soon as I’m done, my wife,” I chuckled.
“Oh, right, hah.”
“I also need surveillance on Uffe’s suite. There has to be cameras in there. There also have to be drones somewhere; look--” I gestured over to the end terminal where there were obvious controls set up for piloting drones. “Paula and Kasta: that’s your job. Layalina went to get us some, but I think she was bluffing. There had to have been some locally these guys were controlling.”
“Might just be hidden guns set up in walls,” Paula said. “We can figure it out, especially if Zea can help us get through their software.”
“Yeah,” the hacker said, “I’m going to get started.” She moved back toward the computer at the front, but I still had my hand around her bicep and I gently pulled her back into our huddle.
“As soon as I’m done, my wife,” I repeated.
“Ohhh gawd,” Zea moaned. “I’m champing at the bit here! We don’t have time!”
“Juliette is going to stay here to guard you three,” I said. “Eve, Aasne, Elana, and I are going to head down the elevator and deal with Uffe, his women, and his guards. As soon as Layalina gets back, you are going to keep her in this room. She’ll be the ruler of Jotnar once Uffe is dead, and I suspect she’ll try to escape and just have us killed off.”
“What about her wolves?” Juliette asked.
“I might be able to do something about that if I can get close to them without her suspecting anything,” Paula said.
“You four are going to take on forty?” Kasta asked with a raised eyebrow.
“We have Eve,” I said, “and they won’t expect her abilities. However, I’m expecting that Zea has the security figured out, can control the doors, and you and your sister have figured out the drones.”
“This is crazy,” Zea said. “Can I go look at the terminal now? I’ll feel a lot better once I can figure out my way inside.”
“Yeah,” I said, “we’ll leave as soon as you get inside.”
“But that won’t give me enough time too--”
“Zea,” I growled. “I know you can do this. You are the best hacker in the galaxy, and we’ve never needed your talents more than now. You will make it happen.”
“You got this, Blondie,” Juliette said, and Zea gave her a quick look of surprise before she sprinted to the main terminal with Paula and Kasta.
The rest of us walked over to stand behind Zea as she plugged her cord into her skull. She kept her eyes open as she flicked her fingers across the keys of the terminal, but I could see her pupils dilate wide. After a few moments, her hands almost became a blur as they danced across the keys and their clicking noises sounded like one heavy rainfall.
“I’m in,” she said calmly.