He was a thin man with a narrow mustache that hung in long tendrils on each side of his mouth. He stood on the outside, directing his handlers. His attention fixed on Vega and her stomping the three...no four men trying to hold her down. The door opening wand hung on his belt.
I leaned back to whisper to Binary and motioned McKenzie to listen. “Be ready.” It was all I could say. I didn’t have a real plan. She hunched down slightly, centering, as did Kenzie.
One of the wranglers enclosed Vega’s wrist and yanked her arms up hard behind her. She yelped out and tried to donkey kick backward but missed.
The brander approached with his wand. He’d knock Vega out and brand her, and those wounds would never heal.
I stoked my courage and pulled my shoulders back.
I was in the Hub. I was breaking protocol. Might as well take it old school. I made a running jump at the man and brought up my fist, connecting with the underside of his jaw. He hadn’t expected any violence, not in that crowd with his comrades all around. His head jerked, and he toppled backward.
The wand flopped against his body and rebounded upward. I grabbed the device, but it was tethered to his belt so tight the force only pulled me forward. I fell on him, lying on him face-to-face.
His teeth bared, he swatted at me with his hands curled into hooks. I batted him away and twisted. The wand released.
I popped up and tossed the wand at the door.
The blue screen exploded. People screamed and scattered. Two of the thin man’s security agents descended, but Binary and McKenzie leaped into action, blocking their path. I sprinted through the door and found Vega. I snatched her by the hand.
“How did...where did...?” She coughed through the thickening smoke.
We were pushed forward by the mass of slaves rushing the exit.
“Come on. We have to run and find somewhere safe.” If such a place existed in the Hub.
Chapter Fifty-Six
Amelie
My fingers were numb, and my ankles were raw. The plastic vines the hellspawn had wrapped my wrists and ankles with were tighter than necessary to hold me.
These girls were real Blue Stones of Ealish, worth their weight in titanium. Sarcasm wasn’t going to get me out of these bonds or out of the Hub. Dax was seriously injured. Didn’t they care?
“Dax needs help. Why don’t you check on him?”
“Keep it down! Do ya want someone to snatch our prize?” The mother made a hissing sound that must have been a laugh. They gathered around my shopping bag filled with the dress and the remaining guzzle chips. The rail-thin girls had ripped open three bags and were going for four when their mother slapped it out of their hands.
“Enough! We gotta have something to sell.”
One of the girls stood a bit taller than the other, but both seemed young. The smallest one’s hands shook as she placed the guzzle bits back into the shopping bag.
I felt a tiny rip in my heart. Dax had been correct. No child should have to live in these conditions.
But before I could care about what happened to them, Dax was in clear and present danger. I had to figure a way out. I had to be Vega in this situation and think of something. Anything.
The knife.
The knife I’d used to jab Dax with was within reach. I walked my fingers out, raising my back enough to pull the dull blade under me.
“We’ll get a week’s worth of belly fillers and MR for this. And the dress!” She pulled out my dress—the horrible white party dress that my mother had probably spent a thousand credits on—and twirled it around in a circle.
She and the girls were distracted. I could feel the seconds slide.
What was the tensile strength of the plastic bonds holding me? Would a knife of this diameter and sharpness cut such dense material? Unlikely.
I forced my shaking hand to snag the knife. My fingers wrapped around the hilt, and I jostled the blade into position.
Slowly, I rubbed the edge against the plastic, but it was impossible to get the right angle. I nicked my wrist and grunted.
The sound in front of me stopped. I looked up to find three sets of eyes looking at me.
I had been too slow. By Ezra Minor and Major, I was terrible at this.
“You think you might leave us girly? Naw. The dress is just the beginning. I’d lay odds your family would pay to have you returned.”
“My mother would only pay to save face.” Oh, I said it out loud—bad, bad Amelie.
The light intensified in her eyes as if I were a Sol sunrise. She basked in the glow of all the credit she would get from my ransom. Dropping the dress, she approached me, clenching and unclenching her hands.
My throat closed, but I was no coward. I frantically pushed myself to make some progress before she caught me. I attempted to find some leverage that I could use to break the bonds.
“Leave her alone.” It sounded like Dax but not Dax. It was a hollow voice, coated in sadness and poison. Dax’s mother turned and lowered into a crouch.
“She's mine. I don’t care if you found her. You got your big fancy job in the big fancy military. I want something for me.”
What was this woman thinking? What kind of world had Dax lived in? People kidnapped each other, and mothers and sons talked to each other like this. Not that my parents and I had a loving relationship. But at least it was civil.
Dax attempted to rise, but his body trembled. He was hurting himself...for me, and I wasn't going to let him.
I stayed upright and shifted to my knees, knife in hand. The smallest girl stood nearest to me. I stared directly in her eyes.
“If you want your brother to live and continue to send credits home, you have to help me. I have to get him to a medic.”
How I was going to do that, I wasn't quite sure, but there had to be a myriad of different ways to solve that equation. I just had to figure out the factors.
For the first time, her face softened, and her eyes darted between Dax and me. Then her brow lowered, and her lips pressed.
“Why should I believe you?”
“Because I came here to help him. And he came here to help you.”
She seemed to waver and grasped the hem of her ill-fitting plastic-cotton dress.
“Dax doesn't look good,” the little girl said.
“Stop talking to her,” her mother barked. “Put a gag in her mouth.”
I could try to appeal to her logic. I could give her a line of facts about why helping me was the best path, or I could just try to appeal to her love for Dax.
Emotion had never been my strong suit.
But I put everything I felt for Dax, everything I felt about this whole situation into my face and voice. “Please, he needs help. He means a lot to me.”
The girl tilted her head and looked at her sister. The mother had turned and closed in on Dax. I heard more voices, but my full attention was on this interaction. If I could get the sisters to help me, maybe I could still escape.
Shuffling feet approached from the end of the alley. Our time was up.
The mother hissed something at Dax that I couldn’t hear.
The small sister ran at me as if she were going to tackle me. I sucked in a breath and braced myself, waiting for the impact. Instead, she snatched the knife out of my hand and cut my bonds. Another practiced stroke, and she unbound my legs. The older one came over and helped her. Both of them pushed me to my feet.
The bigger sister looked at me with eyes much older than mine. “You help our Dax. Stay here and pretend you're tied up.”
She ran and snatched the dress and the rest of the guzzle chips. With her sister in tow, they sprinted by her mother. The woman had good reflexes. Her arm flashed out and almost grabbed the little girl’s tattered dress. But they were too fast and already past her.
More footsteps from behind me. The sound made my skin crawl on my back. Whoever was bearing down on us would be there soon.
The mom dashed after the girls.
Her behavior sh
owed a lack of forethought and strategic planning, which at the moment I appreciated. Once they were far enough away, I shook off the bonds and ran over to Dax. His eyes fluttered. Blood oozed from his side, soaking his clothing, and he dropped to the ground.
“Dax! You have to get up. We have to get back to the train.”
He pushed himself to a sitting position and looked like he had aged ten years in a few hours. “Am, you just gotta go without me. I don't think I'm going to make it out of here. They won’t take me back.”
“You don't know that. We can find a way. I can coms for help!”
“No! Don’t do that. I can't even stand. And if any patrol sees me and records my location? I’m AWOL, Amelie.” He took a labored breath and swallowed so hard I could see his throat undulating. He closed his eyes for a second longer as if fighting through a wave of pain.
There had to be something else I could do, some other resources I could pull on.
If only I could think.
“I’m not leaving you.”
Someone or something or some method had to be available. If I couldn’t call the Mil-station or medical assistance, what could I do? The situation was a Gordian’s knot, and maybe all I needed was a simple answer. If I couldn’t move him, and he couldn’t move, I needed someone else, someone stronger.
My military com wristlet was down, but my back-door com connection was still online. If Vega was within com distance, it should flag her. She was supposed to be at the humbleball game. Maybe I could reach her. Maybe.
I pressed the coms unit and held my breath.
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Vega
My arm blazed. The next time I was home and dad was branding the moonyas, I’d have a word to him about exactly how painful it was.
Ethan pulled me through a maze of smoke, flashes of weapons, and shouts of angry people. I saw glimpses of Kenzie and Binary beating on anyone who dared to cross our path. It looked like Binary had snatched a laser rifle. Fewer attackers approached now that we were armed.
And we were running. Where? My mind wasn’t clear after being dosed.
I’d fought. God, how I’d fought and run and smashed, but even my strength hadn’t been enough. A sick feeling ran through me.
What would have happened if Ethan hadn’t found me? What new horrors awaited? Or could still await if we were detained. I prayed to Sol and all the Corp gods that he knew where the Hell we were going. My breath came in pants as we made time.
The walls and housing were becoming more spaced, and the outline of the transport station appeared ahead.
The feel of Ethan’s hand in mine gave me a sense of security. He led with confidence that uncinched the tight band around my chest.
He’d come for me. That meant something.
The throbbing indent in my skin twisted my stomach, not just from pain. I hated the way they’d drugged me. Overpowered me. I’d always counted on my planetborn strength. My physical power had been one of the few good things about coming to the Axis. One of the things that had made me feel safe. And now a chill like a river after the thaw radiated through me.
I shook. We’d made it. By Sol, I’d made it. I’d come so close to being lost. To never seeing my family or friends again.
We closed in on the entrance, and Ethan pulled us to a stop.
“I think we’re safe now. We should go to the main entry.”
A constant buzzing noise kept ringing in my ears, probably the aftermath of the drug. I shook my head, trying to clear it. The sound increased, and my wrist vibrated.
“What the Hell?” My com glowed red and blasted an increasingly loud siren. I rapped my knuckles against it. It was probably as beat as me and malfunctioning. The alarm just got louder. We all stopped. Everyone stared at me and my possessed communication device.
“It’s not supposed to do this? Right?” I rapped it again.
Ethan shook his head. Eyebrows lowered, he reached for my arm.
The com device sizzled, and without further warning or action, a small image displayed a 4-inch rendering of a girl.
It looked like Amelie, but a frizzy-haired, soiled version of Amelie. Her brow was creased, and her lips tight.
“Vega! Vega! Please answer. Over.” Her voice sounded pleading and high. I couldn’t make out where she was, but it was dark and grungy. Not the military barracks for sure.
I jammed my finger against the com. “Am, what’s wrong? Where are you?” The others gathered around me, focused on the projected image.
“Dax needs you. I need you. Come to...gods of OE, where am I? Try to follow the locator. We’re deep in the Hub and Dax... It’s not good.” She would usually have more detailed information. Her brain carried a full map of everywhere she’d ever been. For her to flounder meant she was in very deep.
“I’ll be there as soon as I can. Stay put.”
“If I can.” Amelie’s holo nodded. Her eyes flickered up as if she’d seen something terrifying. The image dissolved.
Ethan shook his head, ran his fingers through his hair, and looked to the sky. “We can’t. We’ll never make it out again.”
I snorted. “Dax and Amelie are our friends. Well, my friends at least. How could you consider not helping them?”
Had I just been having warm, fuzzy forgiving thoughts about Ethan? Why had he come for me and wouldn’t help them?
“Does being an officer mean you can’t help your friends?”
“I have responsibilities. We have to get back to the base. Maybe we can get assistance from Gleason.”
“Gleason? The same Gleason who tried to put my head through a wall? No, thank you. And did it seem like they could wait for help? I’m going.” I turned and started walking, my head spinning more with every step.
I trotted away from the group and flicked the com, trying to pull up a location.
Lines and dots and names I didn’t know. I was no Amelie when it came to using the locator, and the contraption didn’t work right outside of the Mil-station.
How had Amelie added secret coding when I could barely use the thing?
But that was Amelie. And Dax was with her. From her expression, he wasn’t in good shape. What had happened?
My trot transformed into a slow stomp, and my breathing became labored.
I could handle this. I’d handled a lot more. But suddenly, it felt like too much.
Like if one more bad thing happened, I might just shatter like I did when my brother didn’t return home.
Someone approached me quickly from behind.
“Hey!” I stopped and looked behind me. Had they changed their minds?
But no. It was one of the burly guards from the bazaar. The one I’d elbowed in the neck.
“We ain't got our credits for you yet. Come peaceable, and we won’t hurt you.”
I was usually ready for a fight, any kind of fight. But a slick, slimy vine of unease grabbed my chest and made me want to run. The brand on my arm beat with my pulse, and my heart thundered.
Still, I rolled my hands into fists and crouched. “I’m not the one who’s going to be hurt.” My voice sounded confident, ready. But tremors still racked me. I had to hold it together for Am and Dax. For them, I would fight. I might not win, but Sol damn it, I would fight.
Chapter Fifty-Eight
Ethan
Illogical. Emotional. Sometimes Vega was too much.
“Why doesn’t she take time to examine the facts and figure out a plan?”
“Her friends are in trouble,” Binary replied.
I hadn’t been expecting a reply or for both of them to come with me to follow Vega. But here we were, on her tail again. Even with a black eye, arm burned, and limping, Vega made time.
I shook my head and ran on, my legs on fire. I’d lost her in the shuffle of humbleball fans exiting the game. Now we roamed in the general direction she’d taken.
There was so much that could happen to her. We were ill-equipped to go back into the deep Hub. I could still call Gleason.
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No, it would end in more violence. We’d made it this far. All I had to do was get Vega back to the train, and then we could find a way to help Dax and Amelie.
Their faces came into my mind—especially Dax. We’d been roomies, shared jokes and guzzle bits, but my mission wasn’t to help people I liked.
My mission was to get information from Vega, and I couldn’t do that if she died in a back alley in the Hub.
“There!” Binary pointed.
Vega squared off with a Hub goon. He charged. She growled like a wild thing and stood her ground.
No matter how long I was around Vega, her strength always surprised me. Half of me had expected her to fly backward. Someone twice her size would’ve had a hard time with the burly oaf, but she dug in her boots, leaving divots in the plasti-metal steel as he plowed into her.
“Binary, how good a shot are you with that rifle?”
She was crazy good with the ship’s weapons, but handhelds were different.
“I spent my eighth birthday on a gun range.” She brought up the rifle and targeted his head. He fell before I even realized she’d pulled the trigger.
Blood dripped from Vega’s mouth.
Her expression slack, confused. But her fists stayed raised as she panted and blinked.
“You...came. I...thought that was it. Damn.” She dropped to her knees and closed her eyes.
Binary stepped over the unconscious monster and scanned the crowd. “There might be more of them. We shouldn’t stay here.”
McKenzie nodded but didn’t add anything.
It fell to me to figure out our next steps. I knelt next to Vega and put a hand on her shoulder.
“Vega, I want it on the record that I think this is a terrible idea. But if we don’t want to be corralled and branded, we have to figure out where Dax and Amelie are.”
Her eyes came open and stared at me as if she didn’t know me for a heartbeat. Her sharp intelligence muddled. This whole excursion had done a number on her.
“You good?” I asked.
I had to take the lead. The station was still in view. The proper military Phantom Ops procedure would be to gather our forces and retrograde to a safe location.
Cadet: Star Defenders Book Two: Space Opera Adventure Page 28
