by Liza Probz
Nojan wanted to frown, but he kept his expression neutral. “I’m just as boring as she is,” he replied. “I’m a scientist.”
“But science isn’t boring,” Sanri said, bending forward to put her elbows on her knees and in the process showing him an excessive amount of cleavage. Nojan was beginning to wonder if hitchhiking was indeed the crime she’d been picked up for. “It’s interesting. Tell me what you’re working on.”
Nojan shrugged. “I’m working on a translation of a book we picked up. It’s in no language I’m familiar with.”
“Could I have a look?” she asked, coming to stand behind him and peer over his shoulder. She put a hand on his back and leaned in close. Nojan obligingly held the book up for her inspection.
“Huh,” she said.
Nojan chuckled. “Do you know what it says?”
Sanri laughed, shaking her head. “Nope. I can barely read Contemporary Common. It’s all Greek to me.”
“Greek?” Nojan hadn’t heard the expression before.
“Uh, yeah,” she said, her hand sliding over his shoulder and onto the top of his chest. “Say, this science looks fun and all, but I know something even more fun that we could be doing right now.”
Nojan stood, causing her hand to drop. “Look, Sanri, you’re a very attractive female, but I’m not interested.”
She cocked a dark eyebrow at him. “You telling me you’re shacking up with Miss Meatbags out there?”
“Miss Meatbags?” Nojan wasn’t sure whether to laugh or to get upset.
“Yeah,” Sanri said, cupping her hands a few inches in front of her breasts to pantomime Mayra’s prodigious assets.
“That’s not polite,” Nojan said, trying to keep his expression neutral.
“So you’re not into her,” Sanri said, drawing closer and sliding her hands up his chest. “Then what’s the problem?”
“The problem is, I’m not accustomed to sleeping with random females I rescue.” Even as he said the words, he realized they were false. That was exactly what had happened with Mayra. But in her case, it was something special. He had no desire to repeat it with the overly aggressive Sanri.
Sanri laughed, a throaty sound that nevertheless caused his hackles to rise. “Come on, Nojan. No need to play the morals card with me. I know what you like. And it will never be that red-headed whore in the other room.” She stood on her tiptoes, attempting to pull him in for a kiss.
Nojan pulled back out of her grip. “Looks like you’re not going to make it to the space port after all,” he growled. “I’m going to put you out on the next inhabited planet.” He stormed toward the door.
“Hold on, cowboy. Don’t get your chaps in a bundle. I was only fooling around.”
She followed behind him as he strode out of the bed chamber and into the main cabin. Mayra was sitting there, looking lost. He passed her to take a seat at the console.
“Looks like Ursa Minor Beta’s only a few light-miles away. You can get off there.”
Sanri dropped into a seat, hooking one leg over its side. “UM Beta’s little more than a general store and a couple farms. I could be stuck on that heap for months waiting for another ride.”
“Not my problem,” was his response. He hit the control to bring them out of hyperspace.
“What’s going on?” Mayra asked, her voice soft.
“Our hitchhiker has decided to try her luck with another ride.”
Sanri sighed. “I’m hurt, Nojan. You don’t want to tell her what’s really going on?”
“There’s nothing going—” Before he could finish speaking, a proximity alarm started blaring.
“What’s that?” Mayra asked, moving over to stare down at the console.
“Fuck,” Nojan growled.
“Looks like we’ve got company,” Sanri said. “How interesting.”
All eyes turned to the viewscreen where a distinctive ship grew larger. It wasn’t huge, the ship itself. It consisted of a central portion shaped like a classic rocket with spokes radiating out to a wheel that encircled the center. The entire thing’s surface was reflective, meant to disguise it by making it look like an ordinary area of space. Like everything else around it.
It was Evar Kange’s ship.
How did he find us? The bounty hunter was good, but Nojan’s software should have hidden their tracks. Nojan punched up the display and then slapped himself on the forehead. The blast from the interstellar police cruiser’s destruction had knocked out his cloaking system. They’d been exposed for the last forty-five minutes. Apparently, that was all the time Kange needed.
He tried like hell to bring the cloak back up but it was a lost cause. Besides, they’d already been spotted. There were only two options remaining: talk their way out of this, or fight. And he had the feeling that in a fight, they were heavily outmatched.
Nojan glanced at Mayra, his mind running a thousand miles a second. She was the focus of Kange’s search, if his brother was to be believed. That meant the bounty hunter couldn’t find her here. He leapt from the console and grabbed her, pulling her out of her seat. “Time to hide you,” he said, pulling her toward the rear of the ship.
“Hide me?” Her eyes were glazed, her movement slow. Nojan wondered exactly what had put her in this mood. Then he thought he knew the answer. It seemed like their hitchhiking guest had a negative effect on the both of them.
“Yes, from Kange.”
“Is that whose ship that is? The guy your brother said Rantel sent after me?”
“Yep.” Nojan pulled her along until he reached a corner near the rear. He stepped up, putting his feet on the two smaller consoles that ostensibly served as their communications backup and rudimentary science station. He reached up, hitting the hidden lever that caused a compartment to open in the ceiling.
“Give me your hand,” he said, reaching down to Mayra.
She shook her head. “I’m not getting in that thing.”
“We don’t have time to debate this,” he growled, then felt immediately guilty as she saw the hurt that flashed over her face. He didn’t have time to apologize however. Nojan reached down and picked her up by the waist, lifting her as easily as a doll. “It won’t be terribly comfortable,” he said, “but you should be able to hide out here until I can convince him to go away. This compartment will mask your life signs if he comes looking for you.”
“Please don’t make me do this,” she whispered. “I hate confined spaces.”
“It’s only for a few minutes, I promise,” he said, his heart breaking at her tone. With a deep breath, he closed the compartment and jumped down.
“You want to tell me what’s going on around here?”
Shit, he’d almost forgotten Sanri. It was her fault they were in this situation. Still, he couldn’t hold it against her, as much as she grated on him. Sanri would have to participate in the deception he was about to attempt on Kange or it would be for naught.
“Rantel thinks Mayra has done him wrong. He’s sent the bounty hunter to bring her back to Vanfia. I can’t allow it.”
“Just what makes her so special,” Sanri grumbled, “that’s got all the eligible men in the galaxy fighting over her?”
Nojan snorted. “If you want Rantel, you can have him. I wouldn’t have thought smelly cat kings were your type, but to each her own.”
Sanri rolled her eyes. “It doesn’t make sense to insult me if you want me to play along with your little charade. Or should I tell the bounty hunter what you’re hiding?”
Nojan rounded on her, getting into her space. “You will keep your fucking mouth shut. If you think you’re going to give Mayra away, you’ve got another think coming. If you so much as say her name, I’ll toss you out the airlock before Kange can get close enough to save your miserable hide.”
Sanri scowled, poking her finger into his chest. “I don’t respond well to threats, partner. But I do like money. If you promise to pay me ten thousand Territhian credits, I’ll help you pull this thing off.”
<
br /> “Ahoy there, vessel.” The deep voice crackled over the comm system. “I wonder if I could have a word with you.”
“Deal,” Nojan hissed. He turned back to the console and pushed the button to allow the transmission. The large form of Evar Kange showed up on the viewscreen.
“Salutations,” the bounty hunter said.
“Greetings,” Nojan replied. “How can we help you?”
“I’m looking for a girl,” Kange replied. “A Territhian. Red hair, blue eyes. Supposedly hard to look at, but I’m not sure if I trust my sources on that point.”
Nojan shrugged. “Sorry, pal, haven’t seen her.”
The bounty hunter stared at them. His appearance was unnerving. The skin of half of his face was horribly twisted, scarred by some battle that had left him altered for life. “Is that so? What about you, princess? You seen anyone fitting that description?”
Sanri gave Kange a smile. “An ugly human? I know plenty of them. But I don’t think I’m acquainted with the one you’re looking for.”
“That’s too bad,” Kange said. “I’d hoped you’d be able to point me in the right direction. I’m sorry for disturbing you.”
Nojan let out a deep breath, amazed at how easily the bounty hunter had given up. Perhaps his reputation as the best in the galaxy was artificially inflated.
“Oh, just one more thing before I go,” Kange said, his eyes dark. “Call it curiosity. My readings showed three life forms on your ship when it came out of hyperspace. Now there are only two. Did someone disappear?”
Double fuck. Nojan laughed. “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean. Your equipment must be malfunctioning.”
Kange nodded. “That could be it. Then again, your ship matches the description I was given of the so-called linen merchant who somehow convinced Rantel to turn the human over to him. I wonder how you did that. Care to share?”
Nojan hit the button to end the transmission. It was no use. Kange knew this ship was the one he was looking for. He also knew Mayra was on board. Talking wouldn’t gain them anything but wasted breath.
“Looks like someone shit the bed on this one,” Sanri said with a chuckle. “Got any other good ideas for getting out of this?”
Nojan shook his head, evaluating their options. His ship had advanced weapon systems, but he doubted they would be much of a match for Kange’s own weaponry. And once this turned into a pissing match, they’d both get wet.
You certainly are doing a great job of protecting her, he thought. You couldn’t even get her to Vartik.
That might be true, but it didn’t mean he was giving up. Even if he had to crawl through space to get to the bounty hunter, he’d tear the man limb from limb if he thought he was going to take Mayra away from him.
Chapter 23
She’d started hyperventilating the moment he closed the hatch. Mayra lay in the tight box, her heart about to beat its way out of her chest. The compartment was too small for her to be able to reach her necklace so she couldn’t even activate its light. Instead, she sat in the dark, panting, panic about to drive her mad.
Mayra didn’t know where her fear of tight spaces came from, but since the first time she’d been locked in a small cell as punishment for accidently breaking one of the princess’s porcelain dolls, she’d hated tight spaces. She remembered those few hours only vaguely, having passed out not long after being locked in.
Shadows were playing at the edges of her mind already, letting her know that unconsciousness lay right around the corner again. She couldn’t catch her breath, couldn’t stop her pulse from climbing… climbing… climbing…
How could Nojan do this to me? How could he lock me in here?
Right now, he was in the main chamber of the ship doing gods knew what while she sat there, likely breathing her last. She wondered if the compartment was airtight. If she would be using up all the oxygen even more quickly because of her panting. It was possible, she supposed. The thought just made her breathe harder.
What made it worse, he was out there with her. Sanri had been like all the others, quick to see the lay of the land and exploit the situation at Mayra’s expense. She wondered what they had been doing in the bedchamber. Sanri said Nojan was hiding something from her.
Probably the fact that he only fucked you to activate your powers. This time, the inner voice that spoke up was more insidious than before. Colder. Almost foreign. But she couldn’t deny the power of the words it spoke. He’ll string you along for now to keep you docile, but once he’s used you to accomplish his mission, you’ll be out on your ass faster than a slave who could no longer work.
Mayra wished she could contradict the voice in her head but she thought it was most likely correct. She was being used. Then a thought came over her that left her cold. What if all of this has been an elaborate trick to activate her powers?
Rantel could have hired Nojan, could have even forced Terap to warn her that a savior was coming. To ensure that she came into her powers, he could have set up this whole thing.
Logic suddenly inserted itself. But how would he have known I was going to stab a guard?
The cold voice replied with chilling calm. Maybe he wouldn’t have needed to. Maybe he’d set the guards on you to threaten rape, expecting you to try and escape and then planning to have Nojan meet you as you fled. They’d adapted the plan on the fly once the crime had been committed.
Rantel giving me to him should have been a dead giveaway, she agreed. Why would he just hand me off like that?
Once she started down this path, everything seemed to fall into place. Nojan had filled her head with lies, starting the slow seduction that had led to her eventual capitulation. They’d even gone so far as to hire a human to play her long-lost mother. Anything to break down her walls and earn her trust for the eventual betrayal.
Part of her denied the logic, trying to point out flaws. How could they have known about your vision of the lunar colonies? Only you were able to locate your mother’s tent. But Mayra silenced these rational thoughts ruthlessly in favor of what seemed to be the only possible truth.
It was after that meeting that she’d succumbed to her desire. She’d all but begged him to relieve her of her virginity, believing that if she were the oracle, she could work her way back to her mother, back to the family she’d never had. And maybe, just maybe, the handsome male would stay by her side.
It had been enough to let her guard down and let him in. And once he’d achieved his goal, he’d pulled out of hyperspace to rendezvous with the interstellar police cruiser. Maybe there really had been a malfunction, though, throwing a wrench into their plans. It wouldn’t explain why he’d insisted on rescuing the woman, however.
Sanri was probably his girlfriend. She’d been waiting with the police to rejoin her man. Once the cruiser exploded, they’d gone to Plan B, heading toward the bounty hunter on the premise of dropping off the supposed hitchhiker. It all made too much sense to ignore.
Yes, that sinister voice whispered. You’ve been expertly played. And you always thought Rantel wasn’t this clever. Still, he got the better of you.
“No,” Mayra moaned. The thought of being dragged back to Vanfia and forced to act as the king’s oracle for the rest of her miserable life was enough to bring on hysterical sobs. She thrashed, beating her hands and feet against the compartment to no avail.
She’d known from the start that Nojan was a dangerous temptation. She’d wanted him from the moment she’d laid eyes on him. He was the perfect choice to deflower her. Perhaps rape would have been easier, but no one would have known if sex against her will would in some way interfere with her abilities. So they’d found a way to seduce her that she couldn’t resist.
The knowledge of his betrayal hurt. Over and over in her life, she’d learned the hard lesson of not trusting anyone. She’d put her faith in someone again, and it had only led to her suffering. This was the worst betrayal of all, though.
She’d sworn that she would guard her heart, but she
’d let it slip through her fingers. Now Nojan held it in his hands. When he turned her over to the Vanfians, he would crush it so that she would never love again.
Mayra would be a broken woman, a willing oracle who’d been ground down until she was nothing.
The danger of hope was that it made people do stupid things, made them believe that things could get better when all it did was make things worse. Mayra would never let hope deceive her again. She knew what kind of a life she was in for on Vanfia, and she would rather die than return to that life.
The thought of death made her curiously calm. It slowed her breathing, allowed her to relax just a bit in the confines of the compartment. Death would provide the gentle release she’d been seeking all her life.
As soon as this compartment opens, the sinister voice whispered, you must find a way to end it. Before they can imprison you again.
Mayra nodded. The voice she’d once considered cold had become the voice of reason. She would find a way to end her life at the first opportunity.
Until then, she would wait and try to imagine the peace of the grave.
Chapter 24
The bounty hunter’s ship was closer, and he could see the ring around the center start to illuminate with a blue light.
“Looks like he’s getting ready to do something,” Sanri said, her voice sounding almost bored.
Nojan’s brow furrowed. He thought she would be more concerned about her own skin. But nothing seemed to ruffle the dark-haired hitchhiker. “Keep running your smart mouth and I’ll shave you bald and convince him that you’re the one he’s looking for.”
Sanri laughed. “I’d like to see you try.”
“I don’t have time for this,” Nojan muttered, making sure his defensive shields were at maximum. They weren’t. “What the fuck is going on?” He brought up the readings, and if he would have eaten lunch, the readings would have made him lose it.
It turned out that the cloak malfunction had taken out part of their shield’s power. He was down to forty percent. It was barely enough to survive a few hits at best.
