Besides being the favela of the RAL, Brazil had one more embarrassing claim to fame. “The Amazonian Woman’s Wrestling League.” Doc wore a huge grin as he said it. “That shit was the bomb, right?” Tina sighed. She looked back down the alley to check on the soldiers still ransacking houses. Was he really talking to her about this crap right now? Tina didn’t even want to remember it, much less talk about it. “Look, that was a long time ago. And no, it wasn’t the bomb. It was a pretty stupid idea, okay?” “What? Giant female wrestlers? Are you serious?” Tina rolled her eyes. What kind of shithead was this guy? “Well, I thought it was a pretty good idea.” Doc then gestured at her. “You did too, apparently.” “It ruined my life, all right, smart ass? Now, what do you want?” “The hell you talking about? You girls got rich off that shit.” “No, the AWWL got rich. I got medical bills.” Not to mention all the nanite treatments they needed after every fight. Decades’ worth of resentment reignited as the memories churned. The bastards . . . “They made us pay for the enhancements ourselves. We were broke half the time!” “Naw, I don’t believe that.” Doc shook his head, still grinning. “I saw the reality shows. Those custom houses with the super high doors and giant bathtubs. You bitches were loaded.” “The AWWL owned all that, asshole.” Geez, he sounded just like one of their reps! “They made us pay to live there. I was three million in the hole when they cancelled the League. Then they turn around and make a whole new League in the states to replace us?” Her mind reeled. “And who the hell are you calling ‘bitches’?” Doc was silent for a moment. “Whatever happened to you all, anyway? I used to love that one chick, with the red hair? Cherry Bomb or something?” “She’s dead . . .” “Oh. . . . What about—” “Most of us are dead now, okay? There’s just a handful of us left.” Why the hell was she even talking to this idiot? She checked the alley again to keep an eye on the soldiers. Luckily, they still seemed a good distance away. “That’s too bad. That bitch was fine.” “What?” Tina turned back to him sharply. “I tell you my friend is dead, and all you can say is ‘that bitch was fine’?” Doc shrugged. “Well, she was.” Tina clenched her fists as her irritation peaked. “I’m trying really hard not to hit you right now.” “Look, let’s change the subject and get down to business. The facts are this: I was on a three-man op, and you went and killed my backup. So now, you have to replace them.” “Like hell I do.” Tina took a step forward, moving into his personal space. “There’s no way I’m helping you blow up some damn spaceship.” “Not spaceship. Starship.” “Whatever.” “Whatever? I said ‘Starship’. . . like the one’s they’re building to get to Helios? This is a big deal.” “Not to me. I don’t even know what the hell Helios is.” His eyes narrowed. “You been living under a rock or something? Helios!” He stressed it like it was something she ought to know. “Wormhole? The Infinity comet? None of this shit rings a bell?” “Look, I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. So how about I just hand you over to those guys over there, if you’re the one they’re looking for?” She jutted her chin toward the soldiers. “That’d solve all our problems. Or at least mine.” “Do I need to remind you that the reason they’re here is because of you?” “What?” “When you killed my guys, word got out that I was here, thanks to your dumbass associate. And now, they’re looking for me.” “What associate?” “Raul.” Tina didn’t appreciate any association with that scumbag whatsoever, but she supposed it was true, by strict definition of the word. Something else was bugging her, though. “Why did your men attack me in the first place? I was there to collect drug money from Raul. That’s it.” Doc cleared his throat. “Yeah, that was another screw-up by your associate . . . and a bit of a miscalculation by mine. Raul convinced my guys that you needed to be taken out in order to keep our cover. Had they known about the Amazonian League, now,” Doc said with a sly grin, “they probably would have thought twice. Did you know you guys were grafted with military spec biomods snuck out of the states?” So Raul had suggested they kill her? “How do you know that for sure?” “Saw it on the History channel.” “No, not that! I mean about Raul convincing your men to kill me.” She remembered the silent conversation they’d seemed to be having. “How do you know? Were you there, listening in? Communicating with them on Neural Lynks or something?” “Nah, I don’t even have an implant. Raul fessed up afterward, when I caught up with him. Said he was trying to kill two birds with one stone. Apparently, he didn’t like you too much. Said he was tired of you being a pain in his ass.” “More like me kicking his ass.” She huffed. So it was personal, after all. The stupid bastard—this whole thing wouldn’t have even happened if not for him. “Where is he now?” “Dead,” Doc said. “I killed him. He couldn’t keep his mouth shut.” Tina’s skin grew cold. Whatever visions of revenge she’d begun to concoct for Raul evaporated instantly. “Seriously, I should have worked with your boss from the start. Much smarter guy.” “My boss? Marcos?” “Yeah, him.” So Marcos wasn’t involved. Which meant he really had run because he was afraid. But of what? Had he found out this Doc guy had offed Raul and was now looking for him? “Oh, and by the way,” Doc added, “he’s no longer your boss.” “What?” “I am. He sold me your contract. So, technically, you work for me now. Which means you don’t actually have a choice in whether or not you help me blow up this starship.” “He what?” Anger sparked adrenaline, and her nostrils flared. This wasn’t happening. He couldn’t do this to her! Now Tina knew why that bastard had fled and left her there alone. He was running from someone all right. Her. “I’m going to kill that son of a—” “Hey, take it easy. It’s just business.” Doc reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a green ampule, tossed it casually into the air. “Speaking of which, you know I have much better stuff than this. Use it myself. They got nanomachines with half-life’s lasting over a century now. That’s the kind of insurance I like to buy for my investments. What’s this crap got? Like five, six days duration, max?” “Four. . . .” He laughed. “That’s a lick above shit. Surprised you haven’t dropped dead right in front of me by now.” Tina looked down at Doc as he continued to laugh—tossing that ampule like he was God, pulling her puppet strings, exerting his control. Fire lit in her gut as she thought about it. Her entire adult life, wasted away in this hell hole, a freak of nature, controlled by sick men with those damn strings. Men like Marcos. The AWWL. And now this bastard? No. Glands fueled adrenaline as the rage crept in. No more. Tina curled her hands into fists so hard her palms nearly bled. She was sick of it. “I’m damned well sick of it!” Tina screamed and let loose a punch. The shout and attack seemed to take Doc off guard, and she connected solidly with his jaw. Pain snapped through her knuckles and arm as Doc went flying across the alley and into a wall. His body hit with a spray of concrete that left a large crack as he slid down to the alley floor. Tina charged at him. Doc recovered quickly and moved at the last second. She careened into the wall. It shattered as she fell through, landing on her side. She grabbed a chunk of the wall as she pulled herself back up, then turned and flung it at Doc. She caught him in the middle of rubbing his jaw, and the cement smacked him right on his arm. “Hey!” He glared back at her, gray eyes blazing. He bent down and picked up the concrete. “You really want to start throwing shit?” Doc whipped his arm and a blur left his hand. The concrete hit her in the head so hard she saw stars. She caught a sudden motion, heard a swoosh of leather. A sharp pain cut into her thigh, accompanied by the vip of metal slicing air. The sound and pain repeated itself several times as her other leg and arms caught fire. Something hot and wet ran down her face, obscuring the vision in her left eye. A quick check with her palm confirmed it was blood. Glands kicked in as her body rallied to reject the damage and pain. She fixed on Doc, her breathing increasing. She felt her body begin to swell and grow as the thought of breaking him into little pieces settled in her mind. “Don’t even consider it.” Doc regarded her coolly, a slim, black-bladed katana dripping with her blood in his hand. “That body of yours has got power, Queen, I’ll give you that. But you were trained to be a wrestling clown, not a killer. You don’t want to go up against someone like me.” “Screw you.” Doc flicked his katana to the side, ridding it of her blood before concealing it within his trench coat again. He then gazed up at her and seemed to relax somewhat. “Look, I get it. The world screwed you over. But so what? People get screwed over every day. The question is, what are you going to do about it? Keep scumming it in this cesspool, trying to pay off some slum lord so you can get some magical ticket back to suburbia? You think you’re going to make someone a good housewife? Give him a family?” Tina clenched her jaw, heat rising in her stomach as she glared down at him. To her surprise, a trickle of wetness ran down her face from the corner of her eye. “That’s not fair . . .” “Maybe not. But it is what it is. I can’t give you back your old life, Queen. No one can. You sold that when you signed up for the League. But what I can offer you is a better life than what you’re living now. You’ve got abilities I need, and I’m willing to make it worth your while if you help me.” She focused on him again, blinking back the tears. “What do you mean?” “I can give you a treatment that’s permanent. You’ll be free of the side effects for life. You’ll even live longer. You won’t be chained to anyone. And when I go, I’ll take you with me. I’ll train you. I know you’re pretty smart to have survived down here this long. Honestly, you’ve got great potential in this line of work—so long as you can get that temper of yours under control.” Tina thought about it. A chance to leave São Paulo. Free of constant treatments metered out by creeps like Marcos. A chance to leave all this mess behind. But at what cost? Would it really be any different following someone like Doc around? Did she really want to turn into something like him in the end? “I still need to do this job,” he said. “And I still need your help to do it. I have some important clients in West Africa who will be highly upset if their competition doesn’t experience unfortunate setbacks during next week’s tests.” Shouts rang out from the end of the alleyway, and Tina turned to see a group of RAL soldiers standing at the entrance with rifles in hand. Another shout came, and the popcorn sound of gunfire erupted as their muzzles flashed. Tina shielded herself instinctively. A bullet stung her in the arm and side. She doubled over with the force of the hit, but her endorphins kicked in immediately, dulling the pain. She saw Doc take a shot to the shoulder, but he didn’t seem to react to it. He then whipped open his trench coat and a foot-long orange flame leapt out with an ear-shattering brap! The soldiers at the end of the alleyway fell, near instantaneously, leaving a red mist hanging in the air. “Looks like this party’s over.” Doc concealed the smoking barrel of the multi-shot pulse cannon as more soldiers began closing in on their location. “Don’t take too long to make your decision, Queen. You know you don’t have much time, especially with those wounds.” He pulled out the ampule to show her again. “I’ll be seeing you in four days.”