Ninefox Gambit (The Machineries of Empire, #1)

by Yoon Ha Lee

Cheris froze. She had broken her own rule, talked to someone, security lapse. Sereset might live with medical attention. But then he might give her away: drunken mutters, drugged mumblings, thoughtless malice. You could never trust anyone. Her hands flexed. She looked at him, then looked away. “I know what you’re thinking,” Sereset said. His voice shook. “Do it.” “I can’t,” Cheris said, closing her eyes in shame. “You have a chance.” “I’ll be a cripple even if I make it,” Sereset said. “And life’s cheap anyway –” “Don’t say that,” Cheris said violently, “it’s not true. It’s never true.” “Besides,” Sereset said over Lharis’s repeated message, “you have a plan. Hell of a long shot, but you never know. Go topple the heptarchate for me. Make my death mean something. Hurry, before the lieutenant strands you here.” His voice sounded very weak. “I won’t forget,” Cheris said. She kissed his forehead. Then, in a single quick, decisive motion, she snatched up the coat and covered Sereset’s face. After Sereset stopped struggling to breathe, she said into the relay, “Shuos Jedao, shouter team five, to Lieutenant Lharis. One for pickup.” “What happened to the other?” Lharis said. “Stray Kel bullet. He didn’t make it.” “Pity,” Lharis said. “All right. Two hours and forty-six minutes until I can come get you. Stay put.” For the first time since Ruo’s suicide, Cheris had found a moment’s furtive camaraderie, and because of it, she had had to murder. Because she had been weak; because she ...