The Emperor's New Clothes (Royce Ree #1)

Free The Emperor's New Clothes (Royce Ree #1) by Aldous Mercer Page B

Book: The Emperor's New Clothes (Royce Ree #1) by Aldous Mercer Read Free Book Online
Authors: Aldous Mercer
Tags: Gay, SciFi, funny, free, Heist
that propelled his limbs, faster, closing
in on the crawling half-shadowed form of Royce.
    My Emperor sent the only man I've ever
loved to kill me.
    “Close call, though,” said Royce, his
tone batting ineffectually at the uncomfortable silence in the air.
“If you hadn’t gotten your hands on it just now….”
    Les had been cleared to work in the
drive-core laboratory—albeit on an unrelated project—two months
ago.
    “I assume you’re getting off the surface
ASAP,” said Royce.
    Les made a noncommittal noise. Tonight
was the third night he held vigil in that lab, caught in the throes
of selfish indecision: to leave the drive where it was, and die, or
take it with him.
    My honour or my life, can’t have
both.
    Then, Royce Ree dropped in. And Les
picked up the drive and pocketed it, almost by reflex.
    My mother was right. Royce is a bad influence.

“ The Empire’s supposed to have two
FTL drive-variants. Except that everyone’s only ever seen the
younger one. Where’s the older, hmmm? Has it failed, like Rzmala’s?
Will the younger one fail too? …those isolated, defenceless, fertile planets…. Perhaps Trinity
itself could be breached….”
    -Transcript, Casual Conversation,
Ulebre-Belt-III

AIR EXCHANGE JUNCTION, INSTITUTE
OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, BALDESSH
    They were taking another one of the
irregularly scribed breaks called for by Royce’s escape plan. Les
sat uncomfortably close to his ex-husband, crammed into a
ventilation cul-de-sac above a ground-level laboratory.
    Royce shifted, probably trying to find a
comfortable position within the angular vent. The movement
triggered something, deep in Les’s psyche. He found himself
turning, reckless, offering his throat to Royce. If you want my
life, take it, take it please and end this.
    But Royce didn’t. Didn’t even seem to
notice, his eyes sliding away to a spot over Les’s shoulder.
    Hope whispered in Les’s ear, seductive
and terrifying. The basis for his first assumption—the lack of
professionalism in the woman who’d implanted the chip in his head,
the small hesitations in giving answers, the almost-expired
crypto-key on the “Imperial Order”…none of that had changed. The
Imperial Command could still be the work of traitors, because Royce
didn’t need an exposed throat.
    He could have killed me any time in the
past hour, left my corpse here in the vents and nobody would have
been the wiser for hours, days perhaps.
    “So,” said Royce, shifting again,
“what’s your exit plan?”
    Les didn’t reply.
    “Do you have an exit plan?”
    Les looked down and away. “I was just
going to walk out...”
    “What idiot gave you a deepcover assignment?” Royce muttered.
    “The same one that gave you yours,” Les
snapped, though he wasn’t at all sure about that. Is he really on an unrelated mission?
    “Alright, let’s move,” said Royce.
    Obediently, Les twisted, levering his
legs out of the confined outcrop, making room for Royce to drop
into the crawlspace.
    Les didn't believe in coincidences. But
maybe…maybe they believed in him. But he had to be sure. Absolutely
sure, that Royce wasn’t here for the drive.
    As they resumed their crawl, Les
fingered the small, rough patch of neurotoxin nano-fabric painted
over his right index fingernail.
    It was dangerous, to both love Royce Ree
and commit to killing him if required. Desire—addiction—was a
cunning beast. A shard of hope, that Royce was truly not against
him, and it leapt free, escaping through Les’s mouth as a giddy
smile.
    He prayed, recklessly, for something bad
to happen, something that would distract his emotions, wipe the
telltale signs of hopeless obsession from his body-language. It
didn’t help; his hearing was focused on every whisper of
cloth-against-cloth as Royce crawled.
    Cloth?
    Les’s hand darted out, closed around
Royce’s ankle in warning.
    Royce stiffened, then relaxed in the
next moment. He’d heard it too—muffled thumps, from boots

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