Poisoned Pawn

by Jaleta Clegg

  I closed my eyes, praying to whatever god existed that Lowell was out there, looking for me. And that he would find me very soon.

  Luke gave his men their orders, walking out with them on the patio and talking to them where I couldn’t hear. Luke came back in alone and walked past me, preoccupied with whatever plans he was making.

  “Go to your rooms, Miya,” he ordered me. “And remember that it displeases me to see you in such a state.” He continued out the door of the dining room, disappearing in the mansion beyond.

  I sat for a moment, gathering my courage before I got up and left.

  Rinth was nowhere in sight. I started along what I thought was the right hallway. I spotted an open door halfway down the hall. I crept close. I heard voices raised in anger. Luke was upset. I leaned against the wall, listening.

  “Find the traitors and eliminate them,” his voice came through clearly. I couldn’t hear the reply, he must have been talking on a com. “I want a full report on that ship, then. And send someone I can trust to Kiju. Keep an eye on Lopei. He’s developing ideas.”

  His voice stopped. I panicked at the thought of him discovering me in the hall outside his office and hurried back to the wide foyer where the hallways met. I picked a different hallway and hurried down it. It was the right one. I found my rooms and let myself in.

  I gripped the door, unwilling to let it close and lock behind me. It took every ounce of self-control I had to let it swing shut. I knew an escape attempt right then would be futile. I needed a diversion and a plan to get through the grounds and over the wall. I couldn’t just run and hope for the best. Luke would find me too easily. And then I would pay for my attempt. I shuddered as my imagination created all sorts of horrible ways Luke would exact his payment.

  I went to the bedroom and pretended to sleep while I tried to find a way out. I had no resources, other than a very full closet. Sometime during my planning, I drifted into real sleep.

  I dreamed. I walked along a very busy street calling for help, but no one saw me. I was invisible, a ghost, a forgotten thing discarded. It didn’t take a psych tech to tell me what it meant.

  I woke as sunset gilded the sky out the windows. I thought about hiding from Rinth. It wouldn’t do any good. I had to dress for dinner. I had to keep Luke as happy as I could stand to make him. I had to keep him from suspecting me. Until I found a way to escape. Or until I went mad and gave in. It wouldn’t take much longer.

  I picked through the dresses and found one with sleeves. It was a slim sheath, with a very high slit in one side, a pale yellow color. I swallowed what little pride I still had and dressed in it. And then used the cosmetics and combed my hair. It wouldn’t do to displease Luke. I tried to make myself numb inside. I forced myself to wait near the door for Rinth.

  Lopei came to fetch me. He leered openly when he saw the dress. It didn’t matter. I let him take my arm and walk me to the dining room. Luke was frowning as he stabbed a handcomp with his finger. He glanced briefly at me and dismissed me as not worth his time.

  I ate as quietly as I could, trying to melt into the shadows where I wouldn’t attract any attention. I may as well not have bothered. Luke spent the meal grumbling at his handcomp. Lopei spent the meal leering at my leg, fully exposed by the slit skirt.

  When the meal was finished, I rose from my chair, thinking to escape back to my rooms. Luke looked up and snapped his handcomp shut. I stopped, standing next to the table. He looked me up and down. When his eyes met mine again I could see the beginnings of suspicion there.

  “Why is your father hesitating?” he asked. “Could it be his daughter is not worth what I’m asking? Perhaps he is not as rich as people believe he is. Or is there something else I don’t know, Miya?” He waited, he wanted an answer from me.

  “What ransom are you asking for me?” I knew what the news had reported. I wanted to hear him say it.

  “If he chooses not to pay the full amount, I will take my payment from you. In full.”

  “He can’t take all of the cash from his businesses,” I said, relying on my own experience as a trader. Money was rarely lying around, it was tied up in inventory and merchandise. “He would go broke. It takes time to liquidate assets.”

  “Perhaps,” Luke said. His eyes were still watching me, too closely for my comfort. “He has had time. And I wish him to go broke as quickly as possible.”

  “You are trying to bankrupt him,” I said.

  “You, or his businesses. It’s the choice I’ve given him,” Luke agreed, then smiled a very cold smile. “I have been neglecting you, Miya, when I should have been spending time with you. Tomorrow, you will be at my side all day. It will be a pleasure for us both.”

  The last statement was not speculation, it was an order. It would be a pleasure for me, or at least I’d better pretend it was, or I would suffer. I forced a smile. It seemed to be what he was waiting for. He dismissed me with a wave of his hand.

  “Lopei, take her to her rooms,” Luke said as I reached the door. “She seems to have lost her way without Rinth.”

  He knew I’d been wandering earlier, it was a veiled threat that I wasn’t to do it again. I waited by the door until Lopei took my arm. At least he didn’t try to take anything else.

  I woke sweating and screaming from nightmares that night. Over and over, I dreamed I was choking. I tried to block the rest of the dream but it didn’t work. I dreamed Luke kissed me again. I felt tendrils exploring my mouth. And woke gagging and choking, screams building in my throat. I curled up in a ball on the bed. I was close to breaking. I couldn’t stay here and stay sane.

  Luke hadn’t done anything physical to me other than that obscene kiss. Everything else had been a form of calculated mental and emotional torture. I thought I was tough, I thought I could handle anything after surviving the orphanage on Tivor. I’d been finding out ever since that I was weak, that I hadn’t even begun to experience pain and suffering.

  I started to cry, unable to stop. I sobbed until I was too exhausted to move. And then I lay with my eyes wide, afraid to sleep, and watched the night turn slowly to day.

  I moved slowly, dragging myself from the bed as the sun poured light through the windows. Luke was waiting. Luke would be angry with me if I was late. Or if I was not dressed properly.

  I went through the motions of getting dressed in a fog. I was like a sleepwalker, one trapped in an endless nightmare. I put the last touches of cosmetics on my face, then stood by the door to wait.

  Rinth came to fetch me. His expression, what I could see around the fur, was as bland as usual. He moved the same. I saw no evidence of punishment. But then Luke was a master at tortures that left no physical evidence. I should know by now.

  “You will come now,” Rinth said.

  “I will come now,” I agreed. “I am sorry you were punished, Rinth.”

  He shook his thick hands in an odd gesture. “You will come now?” he said, inflection making it a question.

  “Yes,” I said.

  Rinth took my arm in a carefully gentle grip and led me through the halls to the dining room.

  “Miya,” Luke greeted me with a broad smile, one that didn’t touch his eyes.

  Rinth let go of me. I walked across the room to stand in front of Luke. It seemed to be what he expected. He studied my face, lifting my chin with one finger. I suppressed a shiver at his touch. And hated the part of me that responded to him.

  “You are pale,” he said, softly. “Are you not sleeping well?”

  I didn’t bother to answer. He knew. I read it in his cold eyes.

  “Fresh air does wonders,” Luke said. “Let’s dine outside this morning.”

  He stroked my chin a final time and turned away. I closed my eyes, fighting a surge of nausea at the caress.

  “Are you coming, Miya my sweet?”

  I made my feet move, made myself step through the sliding door onto the wide patio. It was in shade, the morning sun poured over the far side of the house and bathed the ga
rdens below in light. I caught sight of a black shape, vicious and muscular, slipping through the far bushes.

  “Lopei!” Luke called. He sat himself at a table and waved a hand at a chair near him. “Sit here, next to me, Miya.” It sounded like an invitation. It wasn’t, it was an order.

  I sat in the chair. He draped an arm casually around the back of it. I shifted away from his touch. He smiled, knowing full well how he affected me.

  “Lopei!” he shouted again.

  Lopei came around the side of the patio. He had his hands in his pockets and was trying too hard to appear casual. “Yes?”

  “The cruik are still out. Go fetch them and lock them in their pen.”

  Lopei went pale. Luke waited, cruel smile mocking the other man’s fear.

  “Their handler is out in the garden. I should fetch him. You know they respond best to him.”

  “I asked you, Lopei,” Luke said, his voice low and dangerous. “You should have chosen friends more wisely.”

  Lopei swallowed hard and moved away, down the steps off the edge of the patio and into the garden.

  “Watch closely, Miya,” Luke said, his hand brushing my shoulder. “A lesson for you.”

  Lopei walked on into the garden, shoulders slumped. Every step spoke of fear. A low growling rose in the garden. Lopei froze. He turned back to look at Luke, eyes pleading. It was too late. Bushes around him trembled, the growling rising in pitch. Black shapes erupted from the bushes, leaping at Lopei. He screamed as he went down under the creatures.

  The screams went on for a long time. The smell of blood drifted over the patio. Luke watched and smiled. His hand caressed my shoulder. I fought the urge to vomit.

  “Those who betray me suffer,” Luke breathed into my ear. He raised his other hand and signaled someone.

  A short creature in black scuttled out of the garden. I think it was human, but I couldn’t tell for sure. It stopped a short distance away from where the cruik were still eating. It started a low crooning. The cruik paused, ears raised. Their savage faces, dripping red, turned to the creature. They loped over to it, dancing and making happy squealing noises. It crossed the garden again, the cruik jumping and pawing around it. They disappeared around the side of the mansion. Luke moved his arm.

  Breakfast was laid out on the table. He helped himself. I swallowed bile.

  “Eat, Miya.” He brushed his hand across my cheek.

  I jerked away.

  “Try some of this melon.” He speared a piece on his fork and held it in front of my face.

  I made myself open my mouth and take it. He leaned close, his hand closing on the back of my neck. His hot breath stirred my hair.

  “Good, Miya,” he said. “You will come to beg for my touch.”

  His hand caressed my shoulders, fingers toying with the back of my blouse. I swallowed the melon, trying not to gag on the overly sweet taste. His handcomp buzzed. He tapped it then stood, walking away from me, his handcomp out. I was temporarily forgotten. I smothered a sigh of relief.

  He kept me next to him during that entire day. I was not allowed to move more than a few steps from his side. He took care of his business. I made myself memorize the names of everyone he talked to, on his handcomp and in person. I memorized faces of those who came. I memorized every detail of everything he did. I was a robot, moving on automatic. If I let myself start thinking, I would start screaming and wouldn’t be able to stop. I deliberately avoided looking at the garden where blood remained even after a gardener removed what had been Lopei.

  Luke sent me away in the late afternoon, to change for dinner. It was a relief to have Rinth take my arm and lead me up to my room. With every step away from Luke, I felt lighter. I knew I’d have to face him again. I pushed that thought away. I was out of his presence, for a while. It was enough. For now.

  Rinth opened my door and pushed me in.

  “Thank you,” I said and patted his furry head.

  Rinth blinked his gray pebble eyes. His hand rose and twisted in a weird gesture. He pulled the door shut. I heard the locks click into place.

  I spent an hour standing as close to the wide window as I could get, watching the late afternoon sunlight sliding over the tangled forest beyond the walls of the garden. The flyer was out there, tiny in the distance. I envied its freedom. I turned reluctantly away as the sunlight stretched into evening. Luke would be waiting. Luke would expect me to dress for dinner. I had to please Luke.

  I bit back tears. I saw no way out.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  The camp bustled with activity. Lowell leaned in the doorway of the kitchen hut and watched his men. They moved with purpose, knowing what they needed to do. Lowell trained them well. They had a lot of experience, unfortunately. Lowell watched as two men disassembled the missile launcher and packed it away into two packs.

  “Is that necessary?” Trey asked him, for the dozenth time.

  “Possibly,” Lowell answered. “We’ll try to keep the damage to a minimum.”

  “What is it you’re trying to do? There isn’t anything out here except for a few summer mansions. But the rich keep to their grounds. They don’t bother with us or the wilderness because we don’t bother with them. Except for their hunting excursions. Those disrupt all sorts of natural rhythms.” Trey slipped into his lecturing mode.

  One disadvantage of working with crusaders, Lowell thought. They tended to stick with their own agenda. And they defended it passionately. If Trey hadn’t known exactly how much money and support he got from Lowell, he would never have allowed his camp and his project to be used as cover. Lowell had used him several times before. The last time hadn’t gone as planned. He felt bad Trey had lost his grant, but it was a small price to pay. Lowell made a note to make up for it with more money and quiet support from the Planetary Survey arm of the Patrol. Trey was useful, it wouldn’t be good to alienate him.

  “Most of the rich people aren’t even there most of the time. You should leave them alone, Lowell. They still have plenty of influence. They won’t like it if you damage their property. We have strict orders not to approach any of them.”

  “We’re going to bother one of them,” Lowell said. “Have your people got the survey pictures of that valley?”

  “The one with the mansion overlooking it?” Trey shuffled through his clipboard. “The house and grounds are on a hill. The valley with the river is down below.” He pulled out a thin sheet and handed it to Lowell.

  Lowell pinched the controls in the corner. The page lit up. Aerial shots of a large mansion surrounded by green gardens and a stone wall appeared on the page. Lowell flicked one with his thumb. It enlarged to show a wide stone patio and what appeared to be several years worth of leaves piled along the edges.

  “Land records show that it was sold recently.” Trey consulted his clipboard. “Before that, it wasn’t used very often. Which is why we picked this area for our studies. The previous owners were very quiet, only stayed for a week or two every year.”

  “And the current owner?” Lowell asked, moving on to another picture of the mansion.

  “Up until a month ago, no one was there. Then all of a sudden hordes of gardeners and cleaning crews and all sorts of other people show up and start working on the estate. The noise drove the bushies away and disrupted their spring mating season.”

  “What now?” Lowell asked, stopping the building tirade. He really didn’t have time to listen to Trey spout about the bushies. He made a mental note to have Trey brief his men about the local wildlife before they left.

  “Now?” Trey slapped his clipboard against his leg. “Flitters in and out, several of them at once. All the time. And loud parties at night. They shot off fireworks last week. Geren said he saw them shoot down a flitter at the same time, but Geren was also pretty drunk.”

  Lowell thumbed to a new picture.

  “Who are these people? Why are you after them?” Trey eyed the pile of weaponry one man was tucking away. “This isn’t like last time. I
’ve never seen you use so many guns.”

  Lowell patted Trey’s arm. “You won’t have to worry about loud parties soon.” He moved to another set of information in the sheet. “Do you have somewhere we could talk with Sector Chief Querran? Away from your people. I wouldn’t want to upset them.”

  Trey’s face paled. “There’s a table under the trees. I use it for compiling notes.”

  “Good. Will you please find Chief Querran and have her join us there?”

  “The table’s that way,” Trey said, pointing. “Are you sure you want me there?”

  “Of course,” Lowell said. “I need your expertise.”

  Trey slapped his clipboard on his leg again and nodded. Lowell watched him walk through the camp, looking for Querran. He listened to Jasyn bang pots behind him in the kitchen. He caught a few of her comments and lifted an eyebrow. He needed to do something about her situation, before she caused problems. Perhaps he should have left her on the ship, ordered her to stay. No, he wanted her under his thumb, where he knew what she was up to. Dace’s choice of friends proved very interesting.

  He stopped one of his men and gave him instructions to find Clark. He could help Jasyn. Lowell had noticed the situation between the two of them and approved.

  He found the table, a round of wood resting on a fat rock with several flimsy chairs sitting lopsided in the grass. A tree, gnarled and huge, hung over it, providing shade. Lowell picked a chair and shifted it to a more level spot before he sat. He put the sheet on the table and thumbed to a new setting. The terrain around the house was going to be a problem.

  Querran and Trey joined him under the tree. Querran looked harassed and tired. Her tan uniform was rumpled.

  “Remind me not to volunteer for field assignments,” she said as she sat in a chair. “I’m getting too old for this.”

  “You chose to come,” Lowell said, his attention mostly on the map now showing on the paper. “Political hot potato, remember?”

  “Have you heard from Hom Daviessbrowun yet?” she asked, fanning herself with one hand. “Is it always so hot here?”