Sam Sisavath - The Isles of Elysium

Mom always did say my timing sucks.

“You okay?” he asked.

She gave him a wry look. “You’re the one with the big cut on your forehead. Did you always look this ugly?”

“Kick a man while he’s down, why doncha.”

“Sorry.”

“You look tired.”

“I am tired.” She sighed and looked at the window. “They’re out there, you know.”

“I know…”

She glanced back at him. “So, are you ever going to tell me what happened to your face? I mean, before this afternoon. That scar looks pretty nasty.”

“The guy I told you about?”

“Pollard?”

“Yeah. He tried to carve my face with a knife.”

“Damn.”

“That was after he stabbed me.”

“Jesus, Keo.”

“No, just Keo.”

She tried to stop it, but the smile came through anyway. He returned it, because he couldn’t help it, either. Jordan had always been a pretty girl, even with the short hair that made her look less “girly” than he remembered. The dirt on her face that she hadn’t bothered to clean since the road, the worry lines on her forehead, and the dry skin-none of those things took away from her.

He must have been staring, because she wrinkled her nose at him and said, “What?”

“Hmm?”

“You’re staring. Again.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay, but at least buy me dinner first, for God’s sake.”

He chuckled, and they went back to looking at the room and the window. He expected to see them out there at any moment crawling around like spiders, but there was just the bright moonlight. Instead of being relieved, it just made him paranoid. After so many peaceful nights on the Trident , being back on land left him overly anxious.

“You didn’t know Tobias was going to do that?” he asked.

She shook her head. “I didn’t.” She sighed, then, “He’s going to kill you tomorrow.”

“He said that?”

“Not in so many words, but I’ve been around him long enough to know what he’s thinking. He doesn’t trust you, and he’s already lost too much today. We all have. He’s not going to risk it.”

“Why didn’t he put me out of my misery after he knocked me out?”

“Because I wouldn’t let him. He wanted to, but I made it pretty goddamn clear that if he didn’t at least give you a chance to explain, then I was done, too. I’ve been loyal to him, and Tobias is a man who values loyalty.”

“So I have until morning.”

She nodded.

“What time is it?” he asked.

“Around ten. You’ve been unconscious for half the day.” She looked down at him and narrowed her eyes. “Why are you here, Keo? I can’t help you if you won’t tell me the truth.”

“The guy in charge of T18 gave me a job. I wasn’t exactly in a position to say no.”

“Steve?”

“Yeah.”

“What was the job?”

“He wanted me to kill Tobias.”

Jordan didn’t say anything, and he couldn’t be sure if that was surprise or disappointment on her face. Maybe a lot of both.

“I’m doing this for Gillian,” he said.

“What’s she got to do with it?”

“In return for taking out Tobias, I get Gillian.”

“‘Get’ her?”

“He wouldn’t let me see her, or even talk to her, until I do this for him.”

“Does she know you’re here?”

“She was at the riverbanks when Miller was bringing me in. She definitely saw me.” I hope, he thought about adding, but decided he wanted to believe it, too, so he didn’t.

“And she looked okay?” Jordan asked.

“From what I saw, yes.”

She nodded. “We need to get you out of here.” She glanced across the room at the door. “There’s a guard outside. He has orders to shoot you if you try to escape. That’s why no one in here has a weapon, including me.”

It hadn’t occurred to him that Jordan was unarmed, but he saw it now. Her holster was empty, and she didn’t have the M4 he’d seen her carrying all day. Even her sheath was missing its knife.

“Tobias wouldn’t let me stay with you if I didn’t give up my guns,” she said.

“I thought he trusted you.”

“Not after I’ve been vouching for you all day.” She pursed her lips. “We had a pretty loud, knock-down, drag-out screaming match after he…love-tapped you.”

“What did he say?”

“It doesn’t matter what he said.” Her face hardened, turning serious. “He’ll give you a chance to explain yourself tomorrow, but the truth is, it won’t matter. He’s already decided to kill you.”

Keo believed her, even if she was talking about a guy who looked like Captain America.

“Keo,” Jordan said, her brown eyes still focused on his bruised face. “You need to get out of here before morning, or you’re going to die.”

“I can’t go out there.”

“You have to. In the morning-”

“I’ll talk to him,” Keo said.

“There’s no point. I told you, he’s already made up his mind.”

“Then I’ll just have to make him change it.”

“How?”

He smiled and hoped it was at least partially convincing. “I got a plan. Trust me.”

She frowned.

He guessed he wasn’t all that convincing after all.

The one that tried to take his head off yesterday, Reese, was a stout man with a bad goatee. He entered the classroom with another man around eight in the morning to collect Keo. Pita and the girl had woken up before Keo opened his eyes, leaving just him, Jordan, and the couple across from the room.

“Rise and shine,” Reese said. Then, in what sounded like an Australian accent, “It’s judgment day.”

“That’s an Australian accent, you idiot,” Jordan said.

“Huh?”

“Arnold Schwarzenegger, who plays the Terminator in T2: Judgment Day, is Austrian.”

“Whatever, close enough,” Reese said, annoyed. “Now get your asses up.”

Keo hadn’t gotten very much sleep last night, most of it spent trying to figure out how he was going to survive the following morning. Jordan had dozed off around midnight and woken up a few minutes before Reese showed up. Morning sun blazed in through the high window and washed over half of the room, making it easy to notice that both Reese and the other man, who kept a safe distance just in case Keo tried anything, were very well armed and alert. He wondered if they had coffee in the cafeteria.

“Where’s Tobias?” Keo asked, rubbing his eyes.

“He’s waiting outside,” Reese said.

“I need to talk to him.”

“Oh, you’re going to get the chance to talk to him, all right. Get up.” Reese put his hand on the butt of his holstered sidearm for effect. “Time to pay the piper.”

Not nearly ominous enough, pal.

Keo stood up, surprised he wasn’t more wobbly on his feet. Being knocked unconscious had, ironically, done him a lot of good and Keo felt refreshed, as if he had been sleeping for days. Jordan had more trouble, the day’s events showing on her face as she tried to fight through the muscle aches and sores.

He gave her a hand. “When was the last time you had a full night’s sleep?”

“Can’t remember,” she said, and gave him a brief smile.

He returned it.

“I must look like you did last night,” she said, running her hands over her face, her palms coming away dirty. “Ugh.”

“You look fine. Better than fine.”

She smirked. “You’re full of crap, but thanks anyway.”

“Let’s go,” Reese said before turning and leaving the room.

Keo and Jordan followed him out into the hallway. Reese walked in front while the second man trailed behind them, still keeping a safe distance. Keo heard voices and activity even before he stepped back into the cafeteria.