by K Bledsoe
“How can you do that?”
“By tracking along the last route and estimating how far.” Allison shot a glance at her brother. “It’s different being up here, isn’t it?”
Quinn grimaced. “At least you have something to do. I’m just waiting and watching.”
“Status, Allison?” said Diarmin as his head preceded his body onto the bridge.
“Same as when you left. Ah, there she is.”
“Good, Allison. Now,” he said behind the command console, “prepare to break orbit.”
“What?” said both kids simultaneously.
“If we maintain this stationary orbit over the area of the compound, someone is bound to get curious. We will come back when it’s time to pick her up.”
“But we can’t just leave her, Dad,” said Quinn as Allison prepped her board to maintain visual as long as possible.
“Quinn.” His father’s voice was not loud but there was steel behind it. “We can’t help her if we are discovered.” His attention was taken up with flight.
As the ship pulled away, Quinn felt it in his stomach, and it wasn’t simply the weak gravity. He knew this mission involved the slave organization, and anxiety knotted his insides. He wanted to protest more, worried that his father and sister didn’t know how horrible these people could be, but he kept quiet.
“No further, Dad,” said Allison, eyes glued to her monitor. “We need to be able to receive her signal when it transmits.”
Diarmin nodded, and Quinn left to go find something to do to distract him from his worry.
Chapter Forty-seven
It took Lenore twenty minutes to circle the compound, even climbing a tree to see inside the walls. Worth the time but perplexing. There only seemed to be two guards at the front gate. Granted, the fence was electrified and probably had sensor detection, but there should be at least one guard roaming the grounds and more at the doors to each building. Maybe they were all inside the main house. Partying in the guest house? Asleep in the garage perhaps. Some of these high-ranking criminals were paranoid, and there might be ten guards stationed in and outside of the bedroom. Well, her plans would take her nowhere near the bedroom. She quietly extricated herself from the tree and headed for the fence near the south of the compound so that the house was between her and the guards out front.
As she approached she could see the outline of the electrical field on top. Not a problem, but where are the…aha! There was one sensor and the other should be about…there. She unrolled the thin mat that would prevent electric shock and inside were two long wires with small plates on either end. She carefully placed a plate on one sensor and tossed the wire over the fence. She did the same for the other and quickly placed the mat on the fence. Lenore had only sixty seconds to make it over the fence before the sensors registered the bypass as more than a temporary blip, usually shrugged off as a random insect. She quickly scrambled up, feeling the electric vibration in her hands, under the mat, and was down on the ground in only a couple of breaths. She gave a quick yank to both wires and mat and everything was rolled up and stowed in her pack.
On light feet, she approached the nearest door, which, according to her information was the laundry. While many places had guards at the back, she had found that obscure places like the laundry or garages didn’t. Well, usually. She thought grimaced at a memory of finding three guards in the garage of an eccentric who loved his vehicles more than his wife.
Lenore mentally shook her head. Get your mind on the mission. The door was locked, but her pad showed it wasn’t attached to an alarm. It also indicated no live beings on the other side. Lenore was inside in a heartbeat. In no time at all she located the office, and she began to feel uneasy at the lack of obstacles.
The computer room was locked with a palm pad and security code, so that posed another barrier. While it would deter most petty thieves, she had dealt with this many times before. One of Diarmin’s clever gadgets picked up residue from the pad and created a false palm reading. The security code was a simple one and she was through quickly. She headed for the main terminal and pulled out of her pack the special device of Allison’s that would let her download the information at the fastest speed possible. The first button she pressed would transmit the data to the ship, and the second would wipe the memory. Lenore doubted the wipe would be necessary as she also brought out a tiny tube, smaller than her pinky finger, that she carefully set to the side.
Lenore’s fingers danced on the keyboard, bringing up the screen demanding a code. She opened the tube to slip out a rolled-up paper. She carefully unrolled the inch-long paper and quickly typed in the code before the paper, exposed to the air, caught on fire and burned from the center to the edges, leaving no residue behind. Before the puff of smoke dissipated, Lenore was into the files and downloading. She listened carefully, but still heard nothing to indicate that getting out of the compound would be any more difficult than getting in.
Lenore brow wrinkled as she thought again how incredibly easy this all had been. A man as powerful and high up as he was, not only in his various businesses but also a large player within the slave hierarchy, should have much more security to prevent exactly what she was doing. Maybe she was just so used to things going wrong that she got nervy when things went the way they planned.
The indicator showed the download was nearly complete, so she quickly checked her gear for the trip back out to the rendezvous. This time she would be going out the front gate, stunning the guards from behind. Coming in, it was important not to show anything wrong but by the time anyone noticed the front guards were not checking in, she would be long gone. A small beep and she removed the device and began transmitting to the ship. She made sure everything was exactly how she had found it and headed out the door.
Lights in the office snapped on, and she had no time to reach for a weapon as there was already one pointed at her by an old man sitting behind the desk.
“How interesting,” said the man. “From that device in your hand I am assuming that you have gotten into my files and perhaps downloaded the lot.”
Lenore silently cursed herself at her lapse. He was about ten feet away. Maybe she could toss the device to distract him, and then disarm him before he got off a shot. Despite his age, his eyes were clear, and the hand holding the blaster did not waver in the least. She decided not to underestimate him. A glance down at the device showed it was still transmitting and she could do nothing, not even hit the kill switch until it finished. Stalling would be the plan.
“Lord Timatay, I assume,” she said in a deep, rough voice, still muffled from the cloth covering.
“I should hope you know who you are stealing from, young…lady despite your attempt to disguise your voice.” He tilted his head and narrowed his eyes slightly. Lenore knew there had to be a button on his desk to call security and wondered why he didn’t press it.
“Perhaps,” she said, voice still rough. She knew her clothing hid any telltale feminine features, so she wouldn’t let his guess goad her into revealing anything. The silence lengthened, and Lord Timatay finally toggled a switch. Lenore tensed, ready to take on however many guards came through the door. A flash of light drew her eye upward into the corner of the office. He had disabled the security camera.
“Tell me,” he said in a soft voice. “Who was it? Which one got out and managed to get the code to you? Was it Evan? Miranda?”
Lenore could only blink.
“The twins. I bet it was the twins. Those girls were the scrappiest and most intelligent of the lot.”
“Twins,” Lenore confirmed though she had no idea.
“Hah! Good. I am glad they are well.” He pointed with his blaster. “I hope you paid them handsomely for that code. They deserve it after all they have been through.” His voice was thick as if holding back emotion. He cleared his throat before continuing. “Now,” he said as he rose from his desk and slowly approached Lenore. She prepared to duck, but before he got within her reach, he reversed th
e blaster and held it out to her.
“You must kill me.”
Completely taken aback, Lenore figured it must be a trick. She froze, not reaching for the gun.
“Why?” she asked.
The old man quickly closed the last few steps, shoved the gun into her hands and retreated to his chair. With a huge sigh, he sat placing his palms face down on his desk. “When the organization discovers that my files have been hacked, they will kill me, but not before they torture and interrogate me. I don’t want them to find out that I had purposely arranged for those slaves to obtain the codes, and then allowed to escape so that someday,” he clenched his fists, “someday that information could be used to take them down.” Now his voice was lower, menacing. “All of them.” Lenore could see the fire that had let this man build up his fortune. And that explained the lack of security. He wanted that information to be stolen.
She slowly approached Lord Timatay, blaster pointed at him. She half expected him to close his eyes, but they never wavered from hers. It was his turn to be surprised when she placed the gun on his desk, safety engaged.
“I am sorry, Lord Timatay. I promised the young woman that sold me the information that I would not harm you.”
His eyes softened, and his voice dropped to a whisper. “They did understand.”
His expression hardened so quickly, Lenore thought she’d imagined moisture in those eyes.
“You must. If the organization finds out about them, they will never stop until they are dead.”
“I gave my word. I will also give you my word that this information will be put to great use and…” here she paused, not sure what Raahi would say but tried to offer this man what comfort she could. “I will pass along your greeting and regrets.”
“Thank you, stranger. Goodbye.”
Lenore nodded and exited the room, emotions conflicting within her. She should have killed him, for all the reasons he said, and mostly because he might be able to identify her. But she wouldn’t break her promise to Raahi, and deep down she felt he was someone who was trying to do something good against all the bad he had done.
She knew how he felt.
The sound of a blaster shot coming from the computer room made her stumble a few steps before she recovered.
Forgetting stealth and knowing she was now under pressure, she exited through the laundry room door and ran for the front gate. She switched the transmitter to her left hand as she activated her personal shield and reached for her tiny gun that shot paralysis darts. She came around the corner of the garage and ran headlong into one guard on his way to the house. She brought up her fist holding the dart gun under his chin, continued the motion as he fell, bringing the darts to bear on the other guard and dropping him before he could unholster his own weapon.
Should have had it out of the holster when you heard the shot. She hit the buttons that opened the front gate and disarmed the security field. She grinned as she sprinted towards the tree line. Mission accomplished.
Or so she thought.
With no warning, something wrapped around her legs, and she crashed to the ground. Despite having the breath knocked out of her, she unbound the cords in a heartbeat, but not before they gave an electrical discharge to knock out her personal shields. Without looking, she stowed the transmitter in the pack and reached for her other weapon. Before she could stand up, however, she felt a dart on her neck. She tried for the adrenaline rush that would allow her to dissipate the drug, but it was no use without the bioimplant. She fell backwards, her own dart shooter still clenched in her hand.
Footsteps approached from both sides and five faces stared down at her.
“Well, well, well,” said the only one not dressed in stealth gear. “Looks like Lord Timatay has had a visitor.” He held up a stun gun, slowly, menacingly as if to taunt his captive. “Good thing we were watching for such a thing.” He waved a hand toward the compound, eyes never leaving Lenore’s. “Check out the grounds and house.” He grinned and pressed the trigger.
Lenore’s had one last thought before unconscious overtook her.
I knew this had been too easy.
Chapter Forty-eight
“Dad.”
Diarmin paused, one foot inside the hatch to the shuttle, one out. He yelled back in the direction of the speaker which Allison just paged him on.
“Yes, Alli?”
“The transmission cut out.”
“Another glitch? I thought moving closer would help?” He took the foot out of the shuttle and stood on the ramp.
“It did. I mean it’s not transmitting at all now.”
“Hold on, on my way up.” He had prepped for the shuttle launch as soon as the transmission had begun, knowing Lenore was on her way back to the meeting point. Instead he headed back to the bridge.
“Is it finished?” he asked as he took the steps two at time.
“I don’t think so. While I can’t read most of this yet without applying the decode sequence, I can recognize basic structure. It cut off in the middle of a data block.”
“What’s going on?” asked Quinn as he came up the ladder.
“Transmission cut out,” said Allison.
Diarmin saw the look of anguish on his son’s face. “Maybe it won’t transmit through the trees,” he said, more to reassure Quinn than believing that answer. Allison, however, was all about reality.
“C’mon Dad. It transmits through buildings, so trees aren’t going to do anything.”
Diarmin hesitated for only a second then punched in the code to Lenore’s personal tracker. Quinn noticed and batted his father’s hand away before he activated the program.
“What are you doing? You said to never do that. They could lock on to the signal and find both Mom and the ship.”
“I was only going to activate it for a few seconds, to see if she is on her way back. Even if someone notices the pulse, they won’t have time to trace it back any more than a general direction.” He punched the button. “And I don’t plan on staying here.”
The two held their breath as the program searched. But it found nothing. Not even a stationary Lenore. Diarmin felt his gut clench, but Quinn’s scared voice steadied him.
“What does that mean?”
“It only means that her signal is blocked, and that may be why the transmission cut off.” He deactivated the trace and started the ship moving. “I think we need to risk a clear view for a picture.”
“But—” started Quinn but Allison’s gasp startled them both. They looked up at the main viewscreen and saw a picture of a group of men carrying a body toward the compound.
“How are you getting that picture?” asked Quinn.
“I am pulling a video feed off a satellite.”
“Turn it off, now!” Diarmin yelled.
“Don’t worry. I’ve masked our identification.”
“That doesn’t matter. If they know someone is tapping into their feed, they will come looking. Turn it off.”
“Ok,” said Allison meekly. “I did copy it though, pulling video from about an hour ago to what I just saw. Do you want to watch what I got?”
Diarmin tried to put aside his guilt at yelling, but the situation was getting serious. He nodded, and Allison set the video back ten minutes, shortly before the signal cut out. They saw a quiet compound, guards in usual formation, but the camera picked up a slight flash of light from one of the windows of the house. The guards reacted, but the feed zoomed in on a door that was opening. From the mission prep, they knew it was the door to the laundry room.
The figure coming out had to be Lenore. Quinn groaned, voicing what they were all thinking.
“They were expecting her.”
They watched in silence as she took down the two guards and headed toward freedom. They continued watching, helpless, as she was tripped and paralyzed. Allison let out a tiny squeak when the man shot the gun.
“She’s not dead. That was a stun gun,” said Diarmin.
“How do you know?”
Quinn asked, his voice completely devoid of emotion. Diarmin looked at his son’s expressionless face and thought how much he was like his mother.
“Pause and magnify that, Allison. See the blue corona? That shows a stun discharge. A laser or blaster would have a single shot line.”
Diarmin sat at the command console and input commands that turned the ship around back the way they had come.
“What are you doing?” asked both children.
Quinn’s face was angry. “We can’t just leave her.”
“Of course not, but we are going to hide behind the moon while we come up with a plan. Allison, shut off all external sources of power and Quinn, I know you have been going over the map of the compound. Since we know they took her back there, that’s our best chance to get her.” He bit down on the comment that if she was taken elsewhere, she could be lost to them. “Allison, start going through the transmissions that we received from Lenore. Look for anything that might help.”
Both children nodded and began their duties. Diarmin was proud of their focus despite their fear. He knew they felt it. He did too. He didn’t tell them that in all the years he and Lenore had been together, this was the first time she had been taken.
For the first time, it was up to him to save her.
***
Lenore came awake slowly, which was unusual, probably due to the lack of the dratted implant, but it allowed her to sense her surroundings without moving. Twice before, when with the Xa’ti’al, she had been taken prisoner. She drew heavily on that experience and her training now.
The first order of business upon awakening was to assess. She was in a chair, upper body tied to it with thick black cord, her hands separately bound behind her back. Her head lolled forward. The fact that she could feel her hair swinging down in her face said that her mask was off. A small twitch indicated that her legs were also tied to the chair. Such thoroughness suggested she was completely disarmed and prepared for interrogation.
