Abducting the Ambassador

by Lily Thomas

  "Everything looks good. She's all yours." Zrirc passed her over with a shove to her lower back.

  Susan stumbled into the other Daen'su's arms, and he took hold of her arm.

  All Susan could do mumble around the gag in her mouth, but all that came out was a jumble of sound. Why did Zrirc have to gag her after he took her out of the brig? It was so frustrating not to have the ability to speak. There was no way she could talk her way out of this situation if she didn't have use of her mouth.

  As the new Daen'su dragged her through the hatch, Susan wiggled in his grasp like a fish out of water. She was just as desperate to get away as a fish would be from a fisherman's hook.

  Her buyer vigorously shook her and her head whipped back and forth with force. She winced in pain and stopped trying to escape his firm grasp. She'd just recovered from her plasma burns. She didn't need to experience whiplash also.

  The Daen'su leaned in, his silver hair sliding forward to create a curtain around their faces. "Where do you think you'd run if you got away from me?" His foul breath washed over her. "His ship won't be a safe harbor for you."

  He was right about that. There was nowhere for her to run. She was stuck between a hard place and a rock, and she didn't enjoy it very much. Her eyes narrowed as she glared at him over her gag.

  The Daen'su pulled away, and then roughly pulled her along as they entered his ship. Once inside, he forced her to sit down on a small bench, went up to the cockpit, and a blue force field went up.

  Was the force field essential? Maybe she should feel a bit proud that the Daen'su was afraid she might jump him and take over his super tiny spacecraft. She felt a little flattered he feared she might try something. At least she didn't give the appearance of a fragile damsel in distress.

  The ship rocked as he disconnected from Zrirc's ship. Susan turned her eyes to the view screen and watched as Zrirc's ship receded into the darkness as they left it behind. Then a tiny object shot out. It was the size of an escape pod. Susan knew it had Zoe in it, and she hoped with all her heart that Zoe would make it out of her situation alive.

  But there was nothing more Susan could do for her. She had to worry about her own life now. She still had no idea why this Daen'su had bought her, and there was only one way to find out his motive. She had to get the gag out of her mouth, which meant she had to get her hands untied from behind her back.

  The ship was so small. Couldn't her buyer afford a better ship, unless he'd spent all his money to get his hands on her?

  Glancing around the ship, a glint of metal caught her attention, and her eyes darted over to where the Daen'su sat with his back turned to her. Unless he had one of the many small screens trained on her, then she'd probably be able to get herself untied without him ever noticing.

  Susan stood up from the bench and walked over to the sharp corner of metal. She rubbed the rope against the edge of metal. Thankfully, Zrirc hadn't thought to put metal cuffs on her wrists.

  Within a few minutes of rubbing, the ropes fell away and relief washed over her shoulders as she flexed her arms once again. Her fingers reached up to her gag and did quick work of the ropes.

  Flexing her jaw, she stretched it out. Time to get to business.

  "Who are you?"

  The Daen'su's head whipped around to pierce her with his silver eyes. Then he turned back to the consoles in front of him.

  "I don't recognize you. Should I?" She was going to find out more about him and why he'd bought her. "What is it that you want? Everyone wants something." That was the one thing she'd learned as an ambassador.

  "I want you to shut up." He growled without turning around.

  Susan walked around the small space, trying to get a look at his navigation console to see where they were headed.

  "Twelve million credits is a lot of money. I thought I would know my buyer at that kind of price, but your face hasn't triggered any memories. Are you another middleman?" That could be a high possibility. This Daen'su might not yet be her buyer. Interesting thought, she just wished he would confirm something for her.

  "What do you want with me, if you are my buyer?" Susan continued.

  "I want you to shut the hell up, or I'll come back there and knock your lights out." He rose from his seat and strode towards her.

  Susan raised her hands, as she took a seat. No need to anger him. If he really didn't want to talk, that was ok. Time would give her answers soon enough. She'd just sit back, enjoy the ride, and hope she could talk her way out of this.

  Susan's head jerked up, as she heard the ship's thrusters come online. Glancing up at the main view screen, she watched as a lush planet grew in size on the screen. They were landing.

  "What planet is this?"

  "What did I say about talking?" The Daen'su barked over his shoulder.

  "Sheesh." He really wasn't a chatty person, was he?

  Maybe he was concentrating on landing the ship, which meant she didn't want to distract him. If he crash landed, there was no doubt in her mind neither of them would survive.

  Looking around she found some straps for her chair and tied herself to the chair. She'd never been a fan of landing on planets. She was always afraid something would go wrong. The chances were low, but the possibility was still there. There was a reason she'd spent most of her adult life on a space station orbiting Earth.

  Unfortunately, the planet on the viewscreen didn't have any distinctive features, so she had no idea where they were landing. She just wished she had more information, but she didn't want the Daen'su to stick the gag back in her mouth.

  The planet rose up like a giant. It's blue and green landscape looked like the old pictures of Earth. It was beautiful.

  The shuttle jerked a few more times forcing her against her restraints and knocking the breath from her lungs several times. Once they finished descending through the atmosphere, the ship settled out as he typed some more directions into one of the consoles.

  Susan unbuckled her straps and faced the force field.

  "What planet is this?" She'd given him silence, but she did want some answers from him. Staying silent wasn't gaining her anything, so she would risk angering him to see if he'd give her any usable information.

  "Be quiet." He warned her.

  "Are you the buyer? If you aren't, then who is?" She pressed. If she didn't push him, she'd never get any answers.

  The Daen'su rose from his chair. "Are you stupid?"

  Susan bristled a little, but let it slide. As ambassador to Earth, she'd been insulted worse than that. Insults slid off her thick skin.

  "Not stupid, but I am desperate for some answers. I want to know who bought me and why, because I'm at a loss for who it could be."

  "We'll be at our destination in a few minutes, and then you can find your answers. So, sit down and shut your mouth, before I do it for you."

  "Do you not know anything?" She was starting to question whether or not this man might know anything useful.

  The Daen'su reached for a screen, hit a button, and the force field went down. "I don't know how many times I have to tell you to shut up, but I'm done giving you any more warnings."

  Susan backed up until her back hit a wall, as he stormed towards her. His hand reached up for her neck. One of her arms came up instinctively to block him, as she ducked under his arm and popped back up behind him.

  The Daen'su whipped around, a fist aimed straight at the back of her head. Susan tried to duck, but in the cramped space of the small ship, she didn't get anywhere very quickly. His fist met her head, and she experienced a brief pain before everything went black.

  Chapter 5

  Susan's head lolled to the side. Her eyes cracked open, and the sight of a lush forest greeted her. They'd landed on the planet's surface and left the ship.

  Now, where was she being taken?

  Glancing down at the ground she watched as the Daen'su's boots ate up the ground below them. Lifting her head, she was able to see the area around them a little better. They
were almost to a massive compound, which had to be her final destination. Her buyer had to be waiting inside.

  Her heart rate spiked. She wanted nothing more to make a run for it, but there was still a slight throbbing where she'd been clobbered, and the darkness of unconsciousness was again calling her name.

  Maybe Zoe would try to find her. Assuming Zoe had even managed to get some help herself.

  The darkness tugged harder, and Susan passed out again.

  Susan woke to find herself in a dark, damp place. She reached back and massaged the area where she'd been conked on the head. It was still a bit sore, but she didn't think she would pass out again, which was nice.

  She appeared to be inside a cell. Again. She stood up and walked over to the metal bars. Hesitantly she placed a finger on one of them, expecting to get a shock, but to her amazement, they were just regular old metal bars.

  Did this place have any technology?

  Her hands wrapped around the bars, as she shook them, trying to create some noise.

  "Hello? Is there anyone else around here?" There could be other captives, but no one answered her. Was she not even being guarded?

  A shiver ran over her from the cold. She gave up on shaking the bars and turned her attention to the three stones walls surrounding her.

  "I can't remember the last time I saw anything made from stone." Her fingertips lightly ran over the rough wall. "Am I being held by a medieval warlord?"

  Who else would put her in a dungeon-like cell with stone walls?

  Susan turned her attention back to the cell door. Gripping the bars, she gave a few forceful pulls and pushes against it, but it wouldn't budge all that much. All she ended up doing was creating a racket that echoed off the stone walls around her.

  A padlock caught her eyes. Seriously, who used padlocks anymore? The more she discovered, the more she thought she was either in a weird nightmare or had somehow traveled back in time.

  Knowing that traveling back in time was, at least to her knowledge, impossible, she gave her arm a large pinch.

  Nothing happened.

  She was still locked in a medieval-looking cell. Reaching her hands out through the cell bars, she gripped the padlock and turned it to get a better look. Definitely, a padlock which required a physical key. Nowadays everything was done with a fingerprint scan or a retinal scan.

  Susan stuck her finger into the sizeable keyhole but wasn't able to get the padlock unlocked, which didn't surprise her, but it'd been worth a shot.

  But wait! She'd recently seen an older movie where a spy had been able to pick one of these old locks with a hairpin and hairpins were still used to this day!

  Susan dug around in her hair, found one of her hairpins used to tame her fiery hair, took it out, and stuck it into the padlock. After digging around in the lock for a few minutes, she heard a satisfying pop as the lock released.

  A smile spread across her face. This would show her captor not to imprison a human. Humans tended to be stubborn and very resourceful creatures.

  The cell door creaked open on rusty hinges, echoing off the rock walls around her. Susan cringed. If there was someone nearby, they were sure to hear the racket she was making.

  Slipping out of the cell she tiptoed down the corridor. It was dark but light enough for her to see objects around her. Other cells lined the walls of the passage. Susan leaned closer to one, and the occupant leaped forward snarling in her face, a species she had yet to meet.

  It startled her enough to send her reeling back only to bump into another cell where another occupant lunged at her. The second occupant grabbed onto a small clump of hair, yanking it free from her scalp.

  "Eek!" Susan placed a hand on her scalp, as she dashed down the corridor. Then she paused when she reached a section of the passage with no more cells.

  She'd better not have a bald spot after this, or that prisoner would see real terror. She rubbed her sore scalp and slowly proceeded through the corridor. She stayed clear of the walls, just in case there was another cell with any more unruly inhabitants.

  Susan racked her brain for who would want to kidnap her. The list was extremely long. As ambassador, she settled treaties and solved problems, so there was no threat of war, which meant some people didn't get what they wanted. Until she met her captor, she wouldn't know what he wanted from her.

  Hopefully, whatever he wanted was in the realm of possibility. There were some things she wouldn't be able to offer.

  Her footsteps echoed off the stone floor. She paused every once in a while, to double check she was still the only person walking around.

  She found her way to a T-junction. Glancing down both of the corridors, she debated about which one to take. Then she just shrugged and followed one. It wasn't like she knew how to get out of here so every direction would only be a guess on her part.

  Minutes passed as she kept on walking. The corridor seemed to go on forever. Susan paused and looked behind her. She'd gone this far, so she'd keep walking until she left the passage or ran into a dead end.

  Rounding a corner, she stopped short as her eyes landed on the Daen'su who'd paid for her and transported her to the planet's surface. Slowly, Susan backed up trying her best not to make too much sound, but the damn rock walls were against her.

  The Daen'su's head shot up as her heels betrayed her presence, and their eyes collided.

  Shit!

  Susan bolted back the way she'd come. No need to hide the sound of her feet pounding against the rock floor now.

  "Stop human!" The Daen'su roared as she heard his footsteps barrel after her.

  She pushed herself. Time to see if she could outrun a Daen'su. She enjoyed running marathons for fun, but she wasn't sure how long she could last at a wild dash.

  Susan didn't dare risk a glance behind her. She was sprinting down a dark corridor, and she didn't want to collide with a wall by accident. Seeing a corner coming up, she slowed down just a tad, rounded the corner, and then sprinted down the next corridor.

  A curse sounded behind her right before she heard a massive whack.

  A smile grew on her lips. It sounded like the Daen'su hadn't predicted the cornering maneuver and ran into the wall.

  Her arms pumped away at her sides, as Susan kept up her pace, but then she ran into a dead end and had to backpedal as fast as she could. She stopped with just a few inches in front of her nose.

  "Damn." She was stuck, turning around she saw the Daen'su barreling towards her. There was nowhere for her to run. This was the end of the line for her.

  The Daen'su stopped a few feet away from her, bent slightly at the waist as he put his hands on the top of his thighs. "Faster… then I would've… given you… credit for." He panted out.

  "I make sure to run every chance I get." She was tempted to tell him he might want to pick up running as well since he was panting so hard, but she restrained herself.

  "Come here." He commanded her with a stern tone as he straightened.

  Susan hesitated.

  "Come here. You're at a dead end with nowhere to run and don't think for a second I'll let you slip past me. I only get paid if you're here when Rylnuhn gets back."

  "Rylnuhn? Is that my buyer?"

  "It is." The Daen'su grunted as he marched towards her, his arms outstretched to make sure she didn't think about squirming past him.

  "Is he a Daen'su?" Susan asked, still digging for more information.

  The Daen'su just ignored her question, as he grabbed hold of one of her arms, yanking her forward he dragged her down the corridor.

  "Are you going to lock me back in that cell?" Susan hoped that wasn't his intention.

  "I am, and this time I'm going to make sure you don't escape it."

  "Isn't there somewhere else I could stay? Somewhere nicer than a damp, dark cell?"

  "No."

  Well, she'd tried. Here she hoped her buyer would be more accommodating and level-headed than this Daen'su.

  Within minutes, they were back in the
cell.

  "Stand still." The Daen'su commanded.

  "Why?" Susan asked warily. What did he intend to do?

  He bent down and grabbed her spent bobby pin from the ground. "Need to make sure you don't have any more of these on you."

  She was reluctant to allow him to search her, but what other choice did she have? He was stronger than her and knew the layout of this compound, so she held still as he ran his hands over her legs, up her sides, and then messed up her hair as he searched that.

  "Must you really?"

  "I must."

  "It took me hours to tame my hair…"

  "Maybe you shouldn't have escaped, and you would still have your hairpins."

  He held up a couple more bobby pins he found in her hair. With a shove to her chest, she stumbled into the cell, as he closed the door in front of her face. The Daen'su reset the padlock and then left her alone.

  She was back where she'd started. So much for her escape. Susan wanted nothing more than to beat her head against a wall, any wall. There was nothing to do, except twiddle her thumbs and wait for her buyer. He'd just better hurry up because it was chilly in the damp cell, and she didn't know she'd need a jacket when she left her quarters in search of food.

  A scream woke her. Popping up Susan scooted her back against one of the rock walls. Maybe it had just been a scream from a nightmare she'd been experiencing.

  Another ear-piercing scream echoed down the corridor, reverberating off the rock walls around her.

  A cross voice carried down the hall. "Tell me what I want to know."

  It didn't sound like the Daen'su. Was there a new player on the field?

  Susan didn't like what she was hearing. Someone was being tortured, and she had the sick feeling she might be on the agenda next.

  She never heard any response, but another piercing scream sounded throughout the hall.

  Her eyes peered into the inky darkness, but she couldn't pick out anything.

  The dungeon became eerily quiet, as she heard nothing more. Was the torturing done? A shiver ran down her spine, or had the person being tortured died?