Tray sat on the bottom step of the catwalk, head in his hands, the situation growing more impossible by the moment. Layna’s arrival had prompted a call from the Palace and a quick agreement to the prisoner exchange, but given Corin’s refusal to be a part of the exchange, he didn’t expect it to go smoothly.
Morrigan stood in front of the bay doors, refusing to let him open them until he agreed not to surrender Corin to the people who had thrown him in the river. Tray hadn’t heard from Saskia since the blast, and he was worried sick.
“This won’t work unless both hostages go out there,” Tray argued.
“There has to be another way,” Morrigan insisted.
“What way? Tell me!” Tray cried. “Amanda can’t tap into a dead half-breed. That plan’s out the window.”
“Let me speak to my father. He’ll listen to me,” Corin volunteered. He and Hawk sat on the floor by the lower deck hatch. Hawk wore a sleeveless shirt that made it impossible for Tray to ignore the brutality both men had faced.
“I haven’t spoken to him,” Tray said. “Chief Torrance is in charge now.”
There was a knock at the door and Tray swore, accidentally firing the shock-dart in his hand. Corin cried out, throwing himself against Hawk for protection, agitating his broken ribs in the process.
Muttering angrily, Morrigan peered out the tiny window on the inset personnel door. “It’s Torrance. And I’m guessing the glowing thing behind him is Layna. This can’t be good.”
“How many guards with them?” Tray asked, shifting his shock-dart from hand to hand. His body was twitching from the Nolan drugs, and a part of him wanted to shoot everyone.
“They’re forming a perimeter, but Torrance is the only one at the door,” Morrigan replied. “He has a clunky device with a speaker. May be the radio thing.”
Tray tapped his Virp, calling up an external view of the ship and tuning into the radio frequency he’d been using. “Chief Torrance. I don’t see my brother,” Tray said.
Torrance stood straighter and frowned at the device in his hand. It was the size of a coconut and looked about as sophisticated. “I will speak with you first, Ambassador,” Torrance replied. “I have come in person as a gesture of trust.”
“Corin, how likely is he to shoot us?” Tray asked.
Corin shook his head, beads of sweat on his face. “I don’t know.”
“Is he likely to hurt you?” Tray asked. “Is he one of the ones who hurt you?”
“He was never around when it happened,” Corin said, shifting closer to Hawk, covering his arms to hide the scars. “I need sleeves. He won’t talk to you if he sees I’ve been branded with this mark of shame.”
“I think he’ll know we didn’t write those words. They’re not our language,” Tray said.
“But he’ll judge Corin the moment he sees them,” Morrigan said, understanding Corin’s dilemma, draping her cardigan over his shoulders. Corin couldn’t move his broken arm into the sleeve and didn’t look any more confident than Tray felt about the Chief’s arrival.
“Tray?” Morrigan asked, positioning herself by the door.
“Ready,” Tray said. There was a bulkhead near the lower deck hatch where he could fire at anyone coming through the door and also hide, in case they shot first. He usually let Danny handle the fighting. Tray nodded to Morrigan and Morrigan opened the door.
Nothing happened. Torrance waited outside, keeping a steady distance from Layna’s glowing body. Layna was limp in the arms of the man who carried her, and her purple glow made it impossible to see her injuries. Beyond them, he saw a few service officers in green uniforms. Tray wasn’t about to walk into that firing squad.
“Are you coming in?” Morrigan asked.
“I’d prefer not,” Torrance grumbled. He set a box just inside the door, then backed away from it. “The antidote for the Festival wine. Please take these so we can negotiate rationally.”
“We’re not going out there. You have us outnumbered and out-gunned,” Morrigan huffed, kicking the box inside, then moving to close the door again. The Chief looked appropriately nettled.
“It’s all right, Chief. They’re inept. Come in,” the Magistrate called from the upper catwalk. Amanda had tied her to the railing, staying high to defend her prisoner and cover the people in the bay. But the Magistrate was right. Five officers storming the door could have easily overwhelmed them.
Grumbling, Torrance motioned the man carrying Layna into the bay, then followed reluctantly.
“Torrance, this looks nothing like my brother,” Tray said. “He’s far too old.”
“Prince, you will step away from that man,” Torrance said, his nose wrinkling at the closeness Hawk and Corin displayed. “They’ve injured you?”
Corin started to speak but Tray intercepted and grabbed the Chief’s collar. “I will injure you, too. I want my brother. I told the Magistrate—”
“The Magistrates are compromised,” Torrance interrupted. “I am in charge now.”
“I’m growing impatient,” Morrigan said, putting her hands on her hips. “Why are you stalling? Have you already killed our people, like you killed this girl?”
“Do you know why she glows?” he asked. His face got pale and his pink and orange tunic stank of sweat. “Your brother told us to speak to you if we wanted answers.”
“Spirits don’t die, Chief,” Amanda said. Tray could tell she wanted to abandon her post to help the half-breed. “You may think you kill them, but they just take a new host. There are always more Questre, aren’t there? It’s the same spirits. You have been trying to kill the same spirits over and over for decades. What did you think would happen when you killed a corporeal one?”
“She was able to remove a spirit from a person. We know it’s possible now,” Torrance said.
“I don’t see how killing her helped your plan to repeat that process. You’ve hardly gained her trust,” Tray sneered.
“Your people found her. You knew where to look for her. Can you help us find others in the city?” Torrance asked.
“No one is helping you do anything while you’re still holding my brother hostage!” Tray shouted.
“What will you do when you find them? Kill them? Drive them out? You shouldn’t,” Morrigan added.
“They take us against our will,” Torrance argued.
“Layna wasn’t taken against her will. The Magistrate hasn’t been taken at all. She simply inherited a gift,” Morrigan pointed out.
“Don’t compare me to that thing!” the Magistrate spat.
“Why?” Morrigan smirked, delighted that she’d provoked the Magistrate. “You inherited the same thing. She just expresses it differently. But I suppose you’re right. Hybrids are not half-breeds. They don’t need spirit parents. The gifts are arising naturally in the human population all over Aquia and Terrana.”
“You’re lying. I did not kill my mother in vain,” the Magistrate said. “She was Questre. How else would I have this gift?”
“Food source,” Amanda said. “There’s a natural food source. On Terrana, it’s that glow in the tunnels. Here, it’s at the river.”
“Don’t speculate. You’ll only fuel their paranoia. That river’s contaminated enough,” Morrigan interrupted. Her smile returned and she looked at the Chief. “If you’re that concerned, there is a test to see if one carries a hybrid power.”
Tray shot her a look, and Morrigan looked back with the power of a woman who knew just the right lie to tell. “It is simple. It requires only a few drops of blood. My family has used it for decades.”
“Morrigan!” Tray hissed.
“You see, they have an incredible gift. The Questre are endowed with long life and good health. But it is a gift they cannot share. It is a gift my people once killed to possess,” she said. “It is strange that your culture views it as a curse.”
“And with our blood, you can tell whether a spirit has infected someone?” Torrance asked.
“Bring our people back if you want to discuss trade,” T
ray said.
“Show me that it works on this Questre first. We cannot allow their disease to spread,” Torrance insisted, pointing to the man who had carried Layna in.
“Gossard is a Questre?” Collette sputtered. “You’re one of them!”
“We will not trade in commodities until we have traded prisoners. I want my brother!” Tray hollered, swinging his fist.
Torrance hopped out of Tray’s way. “Ambassador Matthews, what is there to negotiate? The Magistrate indicated that you did not intend to return the Prince of Textiles to us. The Prince of Law has read your memories and confirmed your intentions.”
“The Price of Law conspired to have me burned. When that failed, he allowed his officers to beat me and drown me,” Corin said. He shrugged off the cardigan, crying out in pain as he did. The sight of the words carved into his skin hit Chief Torrance like a bag of rocks. “He would do this again. Are you going to stop him? I am not a prisoner here. I choose to stay.”
“Your father is out of his mind with grief. I promised I would bring you home,” Torrance said, nervously tugging the frayed ends of his frizzy hair. He took a ragged breath, but he made no promises to Corin. Instead, he looked at Tray. “My people will come with me now.”
“They will not. I dove into reptile-infested waters to save his life. He’s not leaving until he asks to go. As for your Magistrate, you will get her when I get my brother!” Tray shouted, opening the door again. “If he’s not here in five minutes, I will drop the diced remains of this half-breed over your land, over your herds, and in your water, until your entire city is contaminated. Now do something before I kill you and talk to the next leader in line.”
Chief Torrance hustled out, then spoke into his radio. The word hit the public broadcast channels within moments.
“He says we have reached a truce. They have a test for the evil,” Hawk translated, his shaking hand rubbing his bruised neck.
“Corin, if you do not walk out there with me, your new friends will be killed. The Prince of Law is looking for an excuse, and you are giving it to him,” the Magistrate warned.
“Corin, I did not pull you out of the river to deliver you to your death,” Tray countered. “I think the Prince of Law will try to blow up this ship whether you’re on it or not.”
“As long as you are compromised by these people, both your father and I are discredited. We won’t be able to stop Festival. We won’t be able to enact protections for Fotri. For my voice to mean anything, you must come home,” she urged.
“It won’t matter,” Corin said. “Our people are paranoid. With this new test, they’ll have one more reason to kill. We are both being delivered to our death.”
“We’re not that stupid,” Morrigan said, picking up the box that Torrance had come with. “Do you think this is a real antidote?”
“I prepared it myself,” said the man who’d carried Layna inside. Tray didn’t know if that was a yes or a no.
“What are you still doing here? Go home,” Tray ranted.
“I can’t now. She exposed me,” the man said, nodding toward Layna. “I must leave the city.”
“Great,” Tray groaned, lying on the ground and covering his face. “You all come up with the next plan. I’m done.”
38
Danny and Sky flanked Chase, helping him walk. An armed escort led them out of the city. The Prince of Law carried a pole with a noose, but Chief Torrance had ordered him not to use it.
Today’s parade was louder than yesterday’s, with spectators shouting, spitting, and throwing cups of urine. Chief Torrance came to walk beside Danny, and none of the refuse seemed to land on him.
“I’m glad you’re feeling better, Captain. Perhaps once your brother recovers, we can have that table discussion,” Torrance said quietly.
“You can’t be serious,” Danny scoffed. He felt numb now that he’d had the antidote, but he couldn’t believe Torrance was proposing reconciliation.
“You’ve been pardoned for the assaults,” Torrance said. “The kidnapping was clearly a lie. Dr. Gossard will be—”
“Killed?” Danny interrupted. Torrance seemed surprised by his bluntness. “He is a Questre. That is what you do to them.”
“We were hoping you could cure him. You seem to have knowledge of the spirits that exceeds our own. Your doctor offered…” Torrance trailed off. He may have assumed authority, but he hadn’t formulated a plan yet.
“You killed that girl, Torrance. The Prince of Law was happy to do it, but you gave the order,” Danny reminded him.
“That wasn’t a girl,” Torrance said. “That animal mauled two people. And your wife. Girls don’t make guns disappear, and they don’t glow when they die.”
“And you dumped her on my ship with the rest of your garbage,” Danny muttered. “Layna didn’t hurt Sky.”
“Captain—”
“You’re so afraid of these spirits that you’re willing to overlook the fact that my brother blew up your Palace?” Danny asked, raising his voice so that the Prince of Law could hear from the sidelines. The Prince tucked the noose pole under one arm and brought his assault rifle around.
“Perhaps I am delusional,” Torrance said, backing away from Danny.
The bay doors opened, exposing Oriana to weapons fire, and Tray stood confidently at the head of the ramp. He made a motion and his two prisoners came up beside him. Corin was beaten so badly, he couldn’t stand up without his mother’s help. Danny scanned for Saskia but didn’t see her in position.
“Let’s do this, Torrance!” Tray hollered. He carried a shock-dart, but he looked more likely to drop it than fire it.
Danny pushed Chase onto Sky’s arm, but Chase took off at a jog as soon as the ramp hit the ground. He wasn’t going to let a pulled muscle stand between him and safety.
The Madame Magistrate kept her arms around the Prince, and he leaned heavily on her as he limped down the ramp. Hawk helped them to the edge of the ramp, then kept a pulse rifle on the crowd as he scanned for danger. Danny stayed behind Chase and Sky, walking quickly back to the ship. There was no way he’d match the Prince’s sluggish pace.
The Sir Magistrate pushed through the crowd, screaming for his family, only to be held back by his own people. As soon as Danny hit the base of the ramp, he ducked behind Hawk, guiding him backward so that the other man could keep his weapon on the crowd.
“Let’s go!” he ordered. Hawk’s hair had been sheared off unevenly, and the scars on his skin spoke volumes, but Hawk didn’t want to leave Corin behind. “Amanda, Chase, get to the bridge. Tray—”
“Saskia’s gone,” Tray whispered.
“What do you mean, gone? When did you last talk to her?” Danny asked.
“Fifteen minutes before the last explosion,” he said. “She was hurt in the first blast. I don’t know how badly.”
“Saskia, talk to me,” Danny said, tapping his Virp.
“Don’t you think I tried that?” Tray cried.
“Get to the wardroom. See if you can track her Virp,” Danny ordered. “Hawk, inside! Sky, close the door.”
“They’re going to kill him,” Hawk said, his voice shaking. He stayed on the ramp, in full view of the Nolans and their weapons.
“That’s not our problem,” Danny said.
“Let me finish,” Hawk insisted. Danny noticed his fingers twitching. He was using his hybrid power to jam the guns. “I want him to be able to say good-bye to his father. He wanted to say good-bye.”
“They think we’re morally compromised and possessed by spirits. They’ll kill his mother, too, because we touched her,” Sky said.
“Then what was the point of that stupid kit I put together?” Morrigan asked. Danny shot her a look and she quickly explaining the ruse of the spirit test.
“Stunner,” he said, motioning for her weapon. “Close the ramp as soon as we’re clear and cover us as best you can. Hawk, let’s go save your Prince.”
Danny was keenly aware of the weapons in play as he and Haw
k approached their two hostages. The Magistrate seemed nervous about the crowd, and Corin looked terrified. The noise of the ramp closing did little to strengthen their position. “How are we doing on guns?” he asked.
“Mechanical weapons don’t glow like energy ones. If I don’t see it, I can’t stop it,” Hawk replied. “And I drowned this morning, so I’m still pretty weak.”
“Well, we have Sky and Amanda watching our backs. Let’s get these two back on the ship and take off before they figure out how to unjam their weapons,” Danny said.
“I don’t want Corin to be in my situation—unable to return home on threat of death. The Magistrate believes she can make things right. She promised to protect him,” Hawk said.
“That’d be great if her people weren’t trying to shoot her, too,” Danny said. He kept a few feet back, letting Hawk take the lead. The crowd murmured, and Danny realized there were far more civilians than service officers around.
“Translate, bébé,” Hawk said, taking the ‘spirit test’ box from Corin and showing it to the crowd. It looked like one of their bread containers.
“My people offer this as proof we are good,” Hawk said loudly. He said it again in Rocanese, then he looked to Corin, and Corin repeated it in Nolan. The Sir Magistrate calmed his wails to listen, and the Madame Magistrate kept her eyes locked on the Prince of Law—the one most likely to kill them before they finished this attempt at diplomacy.
Hawk opened the box and lifted a tube that glowed orange. “This is the blood of the corporeal spirit. She was born of your Festival. Of hidden Questre, who could not reveal themselves to each other, and thought the worst they would create was a cursed child.”
He handed the tube to the Magistrate and she seemed reluctant to touch it. Corin translated, but half-way through, he clutched his side and dropped to one knee. The crowd gasped, and his father struggled to get closer.
“It hurts to speak,” he whispered. His mother put a hand on his head and took on the role of translator.
“Keep going Hawk,” Danny urged. He could feel the pressure in his head as the Prince of Law tried to read the truth of the situation. The test was real, as was their ability to steal the powers of hybrids and sell them for profit. All Danny had to do was think of his mother, and the Prince of Law would get his confirmation.
Premonition: A Space Opera Adventure Series (The New Dawn Book 7) Page 26
