Under A Winter Sun by Johan Dahlgren (ink ebook reader txt) 📕

“We did …” I turn my eyes back to the screen again.

“How is he? Is he back there?” There's a sudden eagerness in her voice.

“Perez, get out here,” Jagr calls over the intercom.

Saved by the bell. “The boss calls. Gotta go.”

“Is he here, Perez?”

“Later, Braden. Keep us flying.” I slap her shoulder.

“Will do, Mr P.”

She flicks her wrist, and the music starts pounding again.

I leave in a hurry.

* * *

Jagr and Soledad sit hugging each other. Wagner is asleep or sedated, buckled into a seat. The priest hovers over him, waving miscellaneous items in the air. I'm not sure if they are medical instruments or religious totems. Considering he's a priest, I'd bet on the latter. Hildr and her brother nod to me. They have also strapped down. The Goliaths look like adults in kid seats.

“Well, boo fucking hoo people, I'm sorry and all that for your man, but we've got to get this ship patched up and leave this snowball.”

Jagr looks up from the hug and wipes her tears. “Leave? Why?”

“Duh. There's nothing for us here anymore. Your contact is dead, this moon is about to fall into civil war, and I need to pee.”

“I didn't take you for a quitter, Perez.”

“I'm not, but we lost our only clue when they killed your agent. And I drank a lot of mead at that party.”

Soledad disentangles herself from Jagr. “We didn't lose our clue.”

“What, you can commune with the dead now?” I glance at the bundle on her lap.

“No need.” Soledad wipes the snot from her face. “He had a tracker chip implanted in his skull. I scanned it when we got him back on board. Then I cross-referenced the location trail of the chip with the biometric data to get his position at the time of death.”

I nod, impressed. “Clever. So that's where we're heading.”

“Yes,” Jagr says. “We're back in business, Perez.”

Shit. I thought I could go home.

Soledad wipes more snot from her face. “If only we could have said goodbye to Father.”

Jagr nods, deep in thought. “There might be a way.”

Soledad blinks and pinches her lower lip. “Are you saying …?” She rests a hand on the bundle on her lap.

“I am.”

“Shit.” Soledad rubs her face with both hands. “Shit. OK.”

She takes a deep breath. “OK. Let's do it.”

I don't know what they are up to, but I want in on the fun. “What are we doing?”

Jagr sighs and gets to her feet. “A resurrection.”

“Are you kidding?” I look between Jagr and Soledad. They are not kidding.

“Father was one of us, Perez. An immortal. Old-school. He didn't have the nanites or the augmentations, only the original biology.”

“He was one of them?” I can't keep the contempt from my voice.

“Yes, but he was not like them. He was a decent man. He believed in everyone's right to a free will. That's why he volunteered for this mission. He wanted to find out if the comms-spikes pose a threat to the people in this system. He died for something he believed in.”

“Good for him, but how are we doing this resurrection? Don't you need like a body and a thunderstorm for that?”

Our new friend the priest does the sign of the cross where he fusses over Finn. I bet he wonders who his newfound companions are. “Oh, yeah.” I snap my fingers. “That's right. We have a priest now. No problem then. He can do it.”

The priest shines up. “If we put our faith in Jesus, he will provide.” We ignore him.

“You watch too many church propaganda feeds, Perez.” Jagr takes the bundle from Soledad and removes the blanket. “We've got everything we need right here.”

The head is a horrid thing, all shrivelled and crusty, and it smells worse than it looks. Jagr motions for Soledad to join her, and they both roll up one sleeve. Oh, I see.

The priest crosses himself again and mumbles something under his breath.

Soledad pulls a packet of hypodermic needles and some transparent plastic tubes from a first-aid kit on the wall.

The Sundowner rolls to starboard before righting herself again, and we all stumble.

“Sorry about that,” Braden calls. “We lost power on one engine.”

The grating sound from the engine has stopped.

“Is that bad?”

“My girl can handle it.” Soledad sounds much more confident than she looks.

“Focus, everyone. We have to do this now.”

Jagr attaches the tubes to the dried blood vessels of the severed head and sets it on the seat left by Soledad. It sounds squishy for such a dry thing.

She looks at me. “Want to contribute, Perez?”

“Nah, I'll stand back and watch for now.” I cross my arms and lean against the wall next to the sleeping Finn. This should be entertaining.

Soledad snorts. Jagr turns back to her work. “Suit yourself.”

The girls attach needles to the tubes and push them into the soft flesh of their arms. They barely wince. Soledad grabs Jagr's hand, and they watch their blood trickle down the tubes toward the head. It's both sad and horrible at the same time.

The blood reaches the head.

Nothing happens.

I realise I'm holding my breath, and I let it out and laugh. “You had me fooled there for a second. I almost believed something would happen.” I watch the head, just in case.

“Shit like this takes time.” Soledad doesn't take her eyes off the head. “He's been dead for a while.”

“And you think a transfusion will bring him back?”

Blood leaks from the head's torn arteries and pool on the seat. “Immortal or not, once you sever the head, the brain dies. Believe me, it works every time.”

Jagr and Soledad stare at me like they just recalled who I am.

“What?”

“Watch it, Perez.” Soledad bores her gaze into my head. “We have not forgotten who you are. Give me one reason to end you, and I will.”

“Didn't go so well the last time you tried.” I glare back at her.

Jagr squeezes Soledad's hand. Hard. “Not now, Pip. Not now. Father must come first.”

Soledad tears her eyes away from me and sighs. “You're right.”

“Oh,