by Leslie Chase
Oops. Lilly wasn't proud of herself for having left her friend in that state. "You're right, but... well, things went complicated. I'm okay, but there was some trouble."
"Sit down and tell me all about it. Were you right about him?"
Lilly sank into a chair and sighed, trying to work out what to tell Margaret. On the one hand she deserved the truth, but on the other hand, the truth was unbelievable. Suddenly Lilly felt a lot more sympathy for Jaranak's decision to lie about his origins. It would make everything so much simpler.
But she couldn't do that to the friend who'd helped her this far, could she? Lying to Margaret was a line she wasn't able to cross. That didn't make it any easier, though, and she struggled to work out where to begin.
"It's a long story," she said eventually. "And, um, let's just say that some parts of it are rather unbelievable. It started at Delmonico's..."
Telling the tale took longer than she'd thought, but Margaret was a good listener. Even when she was obviously skeptical about the whole affair, she kept quiet and listened intently. Lilly did edit the story slightly, leaving out the details of what she and Jaranak had done in the ship. It wasn't that she didn't want to share with her friend, but that was too much too fast.
By the end of her story, Lilly was yawning and half-asleep, and Margaret leaned over to put a hand on her forehead.
"No fever," she said dubiously. "Well, there goes the most likely explanation."
"I didn't hallucinate it," Lilly said, annoyed at the implication. Margaret just grinned.
"Maybe not, but you have to admit it was worth checking. After all, what do you think is more likely — that you were taken to dinner by an alien, then attacked by some kind of mobster, and then... well."
Summarized like that, Lilly could hardly blame her friend for doubting the story. "I promise—"
"You don't have to," Margaret said. "I'm not completely convinced, but I know you better than to think you're lying to me. If you were going to try and lie about it, you could have come up with something much more believable. I suppose congratulations are in order."
Lilly blushed. Of course she'd left out a few details of the night, there were some things that didn't need to be discussed right away. Not even with her best friend. But the state she'd come home in, she had to admit, didn't leave much to the imagination.
"Oh come on," Margaret said with a laugh. "I'm not judging you or anything. That man, whoever he is, he's handsome and you say he's clever and charming. And if he did save your life too, well, who wouldn't?"
That didn't do anything to make Lilly feel less embarrassed, and she wondered if this was Margaret's revenge. She could have brought it up in the morning, or better yet, never. But if this was her punishment for worrying her friend, Lilly decided that she'd pay it gladly.
"Can I be serious for a moment?" Margaret asked, leaning forward in her chair. Lilly nodded.
"I'm happy for you, but worried as well," her friend continued. "This is dangerous stuff you've gotten mixed up in, Lilly, and I don't trust it. A man who says he's cured your illness? That's a big claim, and a dangerous one. Especially from con man. What if he's just selling you snake oil? Promise me you'll keep your medicine close, just in case. At least until you can see Dr. Allen and let him check you over."
"I promise," Lilly said, crossing her heart solemnly. Even the mention of Dr. Allen couldn't dampen her enthusiasm. "But I've never felt better, Margaret. I can breathe properly! It's wonderful."
"Sure," Margaret said, skepticism in her voice. "Just don't get carried away, alright? Maybe it's just temporary. There are plenty of people who'd sell you a miracle cure, and some of them do work for a little while. Or people think they're cured. I don't want you to get hurt, that's all."
Lilly stood and hugged her friend fiercely. "I know, Margaret. Thank you for looking after me."
For a moment they were silent, and then Lilly yawned suddenly. All the stress and activity of the night seemed to land on her at once.
"I've got to get to bed," she said. "I feel like I've been up for a week."
Margaret giggled. "Of course you do. Unexpected exercise will do that."
The glare that Lilly shot her would, in a just world, have struck her dead. It glanced off Margaret's good cheer and sweet smile, and then the two of them laughed.
"I'm just glad that you're safe," Margaret said as the two of them got to their feet. "The rest — I'm not sure what to believe, but it can wait till morning."
The sound of someone hammering on the apartment door brought Lilly blearily back to her senses. She didn't know what time it was, only that sunlight was streaming in through the window and blinding her as she sat up and reached for a robe. It was too soon for her to disentangle her dreams from the events of the night before, and she couldn't be sure what was real and what wasn't.
Yes, yes, I'm coming, she grumbled to herself as the pounding continued. Whoever it was, they weren't taking no for an answer. Maybe it was Jaranak, finished with his enemies already? That thought was enough to wake Lilly up and make her smile. But by the time she'd pulled on a bathrobe and made it out of her bedroom Margaret was ahead of her, already dressed and answering the door.
"Hello?" Margaret asked, peeking around the door frame. Lilly saw her friend's shoulders tense as she looked outside. "Can I help you?"
"We're here to see Miss Hardridge," a gruff voice replied. "Is that you? We've got important news from Prince Jaranak."
The man mangled the pronunciation of the name, and there was nothing friendly about his tone. Lilly was suddenly sure that this wasn't someone that Jaranak had sent. He wouldn't have sent anyone, she thought. Not when he could come himself.
Margaret seemed to have reached the same conclusion, or at least she wasn't opening the door. "If you give me the message, I'll pass it on to her when she gets home," she said.
Lilly took the hint and ducked back into her bedroom, wondering what she should do. Perhaps she wasn't as safe as Jaranak had thought when he'd sent her home. But she certainly wouldn't have been safer by his side, and she'd had to tell Margaret what had happened. What else could she have done?
Doesn't matter. That's a question for later.
Outside, she could hear the man's insistent voice, but she couldn't make out his words. Margaret's answer was clear, though. "Sir, I said she's not here at the moment. Perhaps if you come back this afternoon?"
There was a brief pause, and then a crash and a scream from Margaret. Lilly didn't pause. Grabbing the poker from the fireplace, she ran out to her friend's rescue.
There were two men in the hallway, one holding Margaret by the wrists and pinning her to the wall. Another stepped past him, his eyes going wide as he saw Lilly's wild charge. Both men were big, tough, and rough-looking, a match for the men who'd ambushed her and Jaranak the night before. And neither seemed to have considered the possibility that she might put up a fight.
Her first swing hit the man's arms as he shielded his head instinctively. The impact ran up the iron poker and numbed her arm, but she didn't let that stop her from attacking again. Cursing, the man tried to back away, but in the narrow hallway he tangled with his companion. Lilly's second swing aimed low, smacking into his shin and making him howl.
But the men were both tough, and the second one didn't hesitate to drop Margaret in order to throw a punch at Lilly. Her self-defense training kicked in this time, and she managed to duck out of the way. A wild swipe of the poker connected with the man's arm and he yelled in pain.
That didn't stop him from rushing her, though. The charge caught her in the midriff and the two of them tumbled to the floor in a heap, Lilly trying to swing the poker at his head. The angle was all wrong and each blow glanced off, but the thug roared in rage.
Behind him, Margaret came charging in with a scream, only for the other thug to pick her up and throw her aside almost casually. Then there were two men pinning her down, and Lilly stopped struggling. It was pointless.
"Which
one is it?" the thug who'd grabbed her asked. His companion looked from Margaret to Lilly, confused, and then shrugged.
"Take 'em both," he said. "Let the boss sort it out."
Margaret picked herself up and looked around warily, as if preparing to flee. Wincing, one of the thugs pulled out a pistol and leveled it at her.
"Lady, I don't want to have to kill anyone," he said, sounding more tired than anything. "Bodies attract attention, see? But we're only being paid to bring one of you back, so don't push your luck."
"Let her go," Lilly said quickly. "I'm Lilly Hardridge, I'm the one you want."
Whatever it is they want me for, she thought, there's no need to drag Margaret along. But the two men looked at each other and shook their heads.
"Don't trust you," the other one said. "Not gonna let you trick us into bringing back the wrong girl. So get up and move."
"Can I at least get dressed first?" she asked. A jerk of the pistol's barrel was the only answer, and with a resigned feeling she made her way outside to a waiting car. The two men stuffed her and Margaret into the back seat and followed them in as the driver started the engine. It sounded loud and violent after the electric cars of the night before, but it accelerated away with a speed they couldn't have matched.
Sharing a look with her friend, Lilly tried to send her a wordless apology for dragging her into this mess. Margaret's return look was calmer than she'd expected, and the anger in her eyes didn't seem to be aimed at Lilly. Which was better than Lilly expected, or thought she deserved.
The drive North was long but silent. The men glared at both of them, nursing their injured limbs, and Lilly couldn't help feeling glad that she was apparently needed for something. If not for that, these thugs would surely have taken a terrible revenge.
Eventually, some distance from the city, they came to a small industrial area on the shore of the Hudson. They'd passed a few on the way, but unlike the others, this one had a fortress-like look to it, with armed guards at the gates in the high fence that surrounded it. The guards let them through without fanfare, and Lilly wondered what this place was. The lack of signs confused her: she didn't go to many places like this, but she expected that most of them announced who they were owned by. What they were for. Something.
Here, the purpose of the buildings was a mystery. But their owner wasn't, not for long. As the car pulled up beside one of the larger warehouses, Ambrose Cooper and his son walked out. Ambrose smiled like the cat that got the cream, though Michael looked a little less certain.
"There you are, my dear," Ambrose said as Lilly tentatively stepped out of the car. "But what the fuck is your friend doing here? Well, Jackson?"
His tone moved from avuncular good will to an angry bark with frightening ease, and though his question wasn't directed at her it still made Lilly jump. One of the thugs who'd brought them shuffled in place,
"Sorry, sir," he said, sounding sheepish and nervous. "They fought back and we weren't sure which one was Hardridge. Figured we'd bring 'em both."
"Fucking morons," Ambrose snarled, turning back to Lilly. "D'you see the incompetence I've had to deal with? I've had to spend my whole life fixing my employees' messes, and now this! It's a wonder I've had time to get anything done at all. Come with me."
He turned on his heel and marched away, muttering under his breath. Lilly and Margaret exchanged glances before following him inside, the thugs falling in behind them. Michael walked beside Lilly, trying an uncomfortable little smile as he sidled closer.
"Don't mind father," he said, practically whispering. "He's had a lot on his mind. Just, um, just go along with him and everything will be fine, okay?"
Lilly favored him with her best withering glare and he stepped back, crestfallen. Even now it was hard not to feel a little sympathy for him — he seemed so earnestly to want everyone to get on. How can he not see what's happening here? How can he expect me to go along with it?
Probably by carefully ignoring everything he didn't want to see, she thought. Michael might not be bright, but he wasn't that stupid.
"Why are we even here?" she whispered to Michael as they walked towards an unassuming warehouse by the water. He looked flustered by the question and took a moment before answering.
"I think father wants leverage over, ah, the alien prince," he said. "And, well, I knew your address so..."
He trailed off, but Lilly could fill in the rest. Of course Michael would want to be useful to his father, and of course he'd pick that over helping her. If it wasn't for Michael's infatuation, it would at least have taken Cooper a little while to work out who she was, and Jaranak would have dealt with him by then.
But Michael had given him the connection he lacked, and now here she was. A playing piece in Cooper's game against Jaranak.
From the outside, the warehouse didn't look like anything out of the ordinary. As soon as they were in the building, though, Lilly knew that was camouflage. The inside was a brightly lit space, full of technicians in lab coats and more men in ill-fitting suits standing guard. Half the warehouse was walled off, but the area they were in contained lab tables and equipment that Lilly didn't recognize or understand.
Some of it looked normal, or at least as close to normal as she could imagine. But then there were the parts that looked like nothing on Earth. Above one desk, a black sphere hung suspended in space, crackling with energy and warily watched by technicians. That had to be alien technology.
Cooper turned, beaming, and beckoned the two women closer. "Now this is my little secret, and you're going to have to agree not to tell anyone about it, understand? Otherwise it might not be possible for you to leave."
Margaret and Lilly nodded, not sure what was happening but not wanting to give him an excuse to be angry with them. He nodded, smiling wider, and gestured to a chair. A quick glare at Michael and he brought another over.
"I suppose you're wondering what's going on, ladies?" Ambrose asked as the two of them sat down. "Perfectly reasonable, of course. You're part of the elevation of mankind, that's what. Today we leave this shitty little planet behind and become masters of the stars."
Around them, work continued frantically, as though the technicians were used to their boss’s rants. He seemed a little put out by the lack of applause and Lilly wondered if that wasn't part of why they were here. Ambrose needed his audience.
"All we need is that goddamn alien spaceship," he continued, his cheerful tone at odds with the crude language he used. "And you get to help. Well, Miss Hardridge, you get to help. Miss Jones, I can only apologize. I have no fucking clue why the idiots I hired brought you along too."
He shot the men behind them another glare before continuing.
"I wish I could just send you back home to your life, but that's impossible of course. You'd go to the police, and if there's one thing I don't want to have to deal with today, it's the damned lawyers. So you get to be my guest too, and I suppose that means you'll get to be a part of it all. Well. Sort of a lottery win for you, then, which may make up for the kidnapping."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Lilly demanded. It might not be wise to antagonize him, but she'd had enough. More than enough. Being attacked, dragged out to this place, and stuck listening this smug lecture had eroded her patience, and she hadn't much to start with. "I don't know what you think is going to happen here, Mr. Cooper, but you're playing with fire. Jaranak knows who sent the thugs after him last night and—"
"Playing with fire?" Ambrose interrupted, grinning hugely. "I like that, Miss Hardridge. How else does Prometheus steal fire from the gods? Anyway, him knowing who I am doesn't change anything at all. I'd have had to tell him sooner or later, but you being in my care gives me a negotiating position I'd lacked. These aliens seem to care a great deal about their lovers, I'm given to understand."
Would threatening her stop Jaranak? She didn't know. Maybe Ambrose was right, and it would. Maybe not. Either way, things were likely to end badly for her.
"It won't
work, you know that don't you?" she said, speaking softly and trying not to make Cooper angry. "However much Jaranak cares about me, he's not going to give up his spaceship and his only chance of getting home. And he's certainly not going to help you take over the world."
Cooper laughed, a hard and angry noise. "Maybe he will, maybe he won't. I think I know him and his people better than you do, Miss Hardridge. What I am sure of, though, is that it will bring him to the fucking table and we can talk. Like we could have done last night, if he hadn't killed my man rather than coming with him."
The snarl that crept into Cooper's voice showed how angry he was about that act of defiance. Killing his employee he'd have forgiven in an instant, Lilly was sure, but not coming when called was an unforgivable sin to a man like Cooper.
"Now he's going to come and speak to me, and he'll bring his ship unless he wants the meeting to go very wrong. Don't worry, I'm quite certain he'll see reason and you two can be together in comfort and wealth."
"While you go on to what, conquer the world?" Lilly asked, regretting the acid in her voice instantly. This man was unstable enough that, even as his valued hostage, she wasn't sure that he wouldn't just have her shot if she annoyed him.
But he just laughed. "God, woman, you don't give up, do you? I'm going to make you fabulously wealthy — and, once I understand the technology, there's no reason why Jaranak and his men shouldn't go home. All I want is access to their ship to study it, is that so unreasonable?"
"If it's reasonable, why didn't you just ask? You tried to sneak aboard, you tried to kidnap Jaranak at gunpoint, and now you're going to threaten me to make him go along with your plan. You're a thief, that's all."
Cooper's face darkened and he stepped forward, raising his hand to strike her. Lilly resisted the urge to flinch away from him, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of knowing he frightened her.
Just before his hand came down, a shout rang across the laboratory and Cooper stopped short. Lilly stared up at him, not daring to look away, but beside her she heard Margaret gasp.
