Read Assassin's Hunger for Free Online

her throat. “I have…reasons to be here.”
    “Fair enough,” Benedetta said. “But you seem to have an understanding of the local ambiance plus, apparently, an understanding for the twins. That is valuable and we’d compensate you accordingly, if you were willing. The on’Taj units were highly effective in service, and we’d be fortunate to have you, if only for a while.”
    Fortune had never been part of Shaxi’s vocabulary, nor flattery, for that matter. Since she’d never chosen her own assignments with Hermitaj, she wasn’t sure what criteria she should consider. She eyed the ship towering over her. She didn’t know what to make of the peculiar crew or the ship that had the lines of a pleasure cruiser and the scorch marks of a warship, but she needed food and shelter.
    At least until the storms came and she sent herself out into their purifying maelstrom.
    “The Asphodel has a running water cleansing unit and a one-pass, no-reclamation galley,” Benedetta said in an exaggeratedly wheedling tone, as if she was trying to sell Shaxi a used sheership. “And your official title can be bodyguard instead of babysitter.”
    Shaxi lifted her chin. “With Hermitaj, my designation was assigned with each mission. Since you’re paying, you can call me whatever you like.”
    Benedetta said, more seriously, “Hermitaj is gone. You survived, unlike many of your brethren. Don’t give up any more than you already have.”
    Shaxi crossed her arms, remaining stubbornly silent.
    The other woman let out a soft laugh. “Well, if you want the job, whatever you want to call it or yourself, follow me.”
    She pivoted on her bare heel and strode up the gangplank the way Eril had gone.
    Should she go? Shaxi glanced over her shoulder at the empty hangar. Despite the bulwarks around Levare that shielded the city from the worst of the sandstorms, a sneaking wind picked up the ever-present dust and whirled it into a hazy funnel cloud flickering with tiny bolts of lightning.
    The devastating electromagnetic properties of the rock on Khamaseen had ended the possibilities of any major developments. Those same effects could end her. Or be a new start.
    But until then, she’d have a place to be.
    She followed Benedetta up into the belly of the beast.
    The shriving couldn’t come soon enough.

Chapter 4
    Eril leaned against the bulkhead wall outside the bridge while Benedetta introduced Shaxi to the captain. He knew what the cyborg mercenary would be experiencing in there: Corso Deynah’s intense, scrutinizing stare and brooding silence would compel the guilty to spill any incriminating secrets.
    Or had that just been his own impression?
    While he waited, he updated his intel on Hermitaj. The corporation had a long, storied history creating soldiers for hire. They had experimented with completely robotic weapons systems, but in the end, using human bodies as the scaffolding for their tech was cheaper. Although there’d been occasional protests about their cyber-embed protocols and their use of indentured child labor, most federations, alliances, and coalitions along the sheerways eventually found themselves in need of paid fighters. So Hermitaj prospered.
    Right up until about a UTC-year ago when someone had blown the corporation’s enormous artificial asteroid hub out of existence.
    Considering the station had based thousands of elite warriors and some of the most advanced weaponry around, that had been a feat in itself. That the perpetrators remained anonymous was even more impressive.
    Eril’s underwriters had found nothing to report. The scope and daring of the attack was worrisome, but the universe brimmed with worrisome incidents. Since this one was so definitively over except for the cloud of debris, and there’d been no second act, they’d let it go for more pressing concerns.
    Since his covert channels proved less than satisfying, Eril had been forced to consult an even more dangerous source of information: public comm