Poisoned Pawn

by Jaleta Clegg

  “A real experience. You ought to try it sometime.”

  “I’ve managed to avoid it so far.”

  He eyed my jacket. “Planetary Survey is a step down. What happened to that Enforcer you were following around? He dump you?”

  “That’s none of your business.” I closed my eyes, pretending to sleep.

  “It’s all my business.” He crouched in front of me. He grabbed my chin and pulled my face up. I opened my eyes and wished I hadn’t. His eyes were mean and promised me pain. “If Luke doesn’t show up soon, maybe I’ll keep you myself. I know half a dozen slave traders who will pay me well. And then they’ll make you wish you had died instead. They’re very good at keeping people alive.”

  “Go away, Dysun,” I said, using every ounce of self-control I had to keep my voice from shaking. It didn’t work.

  He grinned, which didn’t improve his looks. “Maybe I should give you to my men, as a reward. A few days of that should cure your attitude.” He let go of my face. “And don’t count on your Patrol friend to save you. Planetary Survey couldn’t find their own heads if they weren’t attached. We left a few surprises.” He shoved me back against the tree and left, laughing to himself.

  His comment made me feel better. If he’d left boobytraps behind, that would be a clear message to Tayvis that I hadn’t left on my own. I just hoped Tayvis knew enough to follow the trail Dysun and his men had left.

  The sound of a flitter landing nearby sent the local animals into a screeching frenzy. The flitter sounded bad. Half of the engine had to be not working. The breeze brought a whiff of burnt plastic and oil. Dysun hauled me to my feet.

  “Time to go, Dace,” he said.

  I stepped wrong on my foot and gasped at the pain. Dysun laughed and pushed me ahead of him. I stumbled into the clearing around the waterfall, Dysun right behind me. He stopped me a few steps out by grabbing my hair and yanking me to a halt.

  The flitter parked upstream was a luxury model that had seen much better days. Dents marked the sides. Black smoke drifted lazily above the exhaust ports. The hatch on the side slid open. Luke climbed out. He looked disheveled and angry. His eyes locked on me. He stopped just outside his flitter.

  “Give her to me, Captain Farr,” he ordered.

  Dysun gave my hair a jerk. “You give me and my men your flitter and the codes to get into the spaceport, and you can have her.”

  “Nice try. What prevents me from shooting you and taking her anyway?”

  Dysun waved one hand. His men appeared all along the edge of the trees, guns reflecting the afternoon sunlight. “What prevents me from shooting you and taking everything?”

  “You don’t have the codes.” Luke smiled, deliberately casual. “Besides, my men are inside an armored flitter. You don’t stand a chance.” Gun ports in the flitter opened. “Give her to me and I might consider allowing you to work for me.”

  “Come take her.” Dysun sidestepped into the stream, dragging me with him. The cold water was swift, swirling around our ankles. The rocks were slick. Dysun dragged me to the middle of the stream, close to the waterfall lip. “Shoot me and she goes over the falls with me.”

  “Don’t tempt me,” Luke snarled. “Hand her over, Captain Farr. No more games.”

  “It seems to me we both have a problem.” Dysun yanked my hair again. I slipped to my knees in the cold water. “You need my ship and I need your flitter and codes. And both of us want a piece of her.”

  Luke came to the edge of the stream. “I don’t think you have much of a position, Captain Farr. I don’t need your ship.”

  “You do if you want to avoid the Patrol.” Dysun’s hand in my hair tightened. He pulled me up against his leg.

  “Come out of the water and we’ll deal,” Luke said.

  “I’m not that stupid,” Dysun said.

  I wanted to dispute that, but decided I was too much at a disadvantage. Besides, Dysun’s grip in my hair hurt almost as much as the new scrapes on my knees.

  “Then at least come closer to the edge.”

  “Afraid to get your feet wet, Luke?”

  I squirmed around enough to get back to my feet. Dysun gave my hair enough slack so I could without ripping open my scalp. Luke stood not far away, in a very shallow spot. Water skimmed around his shoes. My brain was telling me to run away as fast as I could. Dysun shifted his hand from my hair to my shoulder, twisting in Tayvis’ jacket.

  “Hand her over, Captain Farr,” Luke said, as if we were still at one of his dinners.

  “Give me the codes, first,” Dysun said.

  “I do regret this.” Luke lifted his hand away from his side. He held a neural disrupter, a very small, very illegal weapon. He fired it and caught Dysun full in the face. I got the fringe of it. Pain ran down the side of my face. Dysun screamed and convulsed. His hand tightened on Tayvis’ jacket and pulled it off. He stumbled back and tumbled over the falls. His scream echoed for what seemed forever. I slipped, waving my arms to regain my balance. The pain in my face throbbed, sending bolts of fire through my neck.

  “And now, for you.” Luke turned his attention to me. He waded the few feet between us. He twisted a hand in my hair. There wasn’t much else for him to hang onto. Without the jacket, I was barely covered by the remains of the dress. He pulled my face close to his.

  I jerked back, fighting him. He slapped me across the face, on top of where his disrupter had caught me. I saw stars, the world spun. Luke yanked me against him. He shook my head, his hand buried in my hair. I gasped and lost my footing. My feet were numb, I couldn’t feel the rocks. I grabbed at the only thing available, Luke’s arm.

  “Let her go!” The shout echoed up from the gully below.

  I almost cried with relief. Tayvis had finally arrived.

  “Why should I?” Luke shouted. He shoved me around, facing out across the drop. Water washed over my feet, spilling over the rock and falling to the pool far below.

  “Because if you don’t, I’m going to kill you.”

  “And if you try, she dies with me.” He pushed me; one foot slipped over the edge.

  The flitter behind us lurched into the air, smoke pouring from the engines. Luke shouted curses at it, stepping away from me. I saw the glint of a gun below. Luke jerked, a trank dart hanging from his arm. He barely had time to look at me before his eyes rolled up and he fell face first into the water.

  His hold in my hair pulled me down. I slipped on the rock and fell into the stream and scrabbled for a hold. The rocks were too slippery. I went backwards, over the falls.

  I had a timeless moment of looking up into blue sky, feeling air rush past. I hit the water on my back. Pain exploded in my back and ribs. I couldn’t breathe. My vision went red and black. The water rolled me over and over, tumbling me deeper under the falls. I couldn’t make my arms move, I couldn’t save myself. Water filled my mouth and nose. I kicked feebly. Darkness closed in.

  The familiar grip of a thick fingered hand, like rubber over steel, closed over my arm and pulled me from the foaming pool. Rinth picked me up like a doll, tossing me over his wide shoulder. He loped away, up the steep hillside without slowing down. He plunged into the forest, with me slung over his shoulder.

  Shouts rang out behind me, growing quickly dim. I tried to fight off the gray fog around me. And lost. I passed out.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Jasyn slammed a pot into the sink of sudsy water. Bubbles spilled over the side and ran onto the floor of the hut. She attacked it with a brush, pretending it was Lowell as she scoured it clean.

  “Go cook lunch. What good is that doing? Why isn’t he out there looking for her? Why are they all just sitting around talking?” She wiped her face with the back of one hand. “Stupid.”

  “Who’s stupid?” Clark asked, walking in. The hut was marginally cooler than outside, due mostly to an ancient fan that creaked as it stirred the air.

  “Everyone and everything here.” Jasyn hauled the pot out of the sink. “What are they doing,
while I’m in here scrubbing things that have never been cleaned before. Any news?”

  He took the pot from her and rinsed it under the barely trickling tap. “Trey finally heard from his lost agent. Lowell had a laughing fit for some reason when he called in.”

  Jasyn paused, another pot raised above the bubbles. “Why would Lowell laugh over something like that?”

  “Who knows? He said he’d found Dace. They sent a flitter two hours ago to pick her up.”

  “Then where is she?” Jasyn drowned another pot. “Two hours is a long time.”

  “They didn’t tell me anything, but I think something else went wrong. The other flitter left an hour ago with some of those new Patrol Enforcers Chief Querran called in.” He put the clean pot to one side. “They had some pretty sophisticated tracking equipment. Trey told them it would be junk out here.”

  “I hate that no one tells me anything.”

  “You’re worried.” Clark pushed a strand of hair to one side and rubbed her neck. “So am I.”

  “So let’s do something. I’m sick of waiting around.”

  “You just hate cooking and slaving away in here,” Clark teased.

  “I’m billing Lowell for this,” Jasyn promised. She lifted her hands from the sink, wiping off bubbles. “It’s ruining my hands.”

  “That’s a matter of opinion,” Clark said, moving behind her and taking her hands.

  “Clark, someone might see,” Jasyn said, nudging him with an elbow.

  “So?” He kissed the back of her neck. She melted against him. “You’re making it very difficult to stop,” he said into her hair.

  “Do you know where they’re looking? There’s one more flitter sitting out there.”

  “What are you thinking, Jasyn?”

  She turned in his arms. “Finding Dace isn’t Lowell’s priority. I doubt he’s even started looking for her. You know where she was found. You can fly a flitter. I can look.”

  “I think you’re underestimating Lowell and that is not a smart thing to do.”

  “Then I’ll fly myself. I’m not going to wait around here any longer.” She pushed away from him, grabbing a towel to dry her arms. “Are you coming or not?” she asked, pausing at the door.

  “Lowell’s going to nail my hide to the wall,” Clark muttered as he hurried to catch up with Jasyn.

  No one looked twice as they climbed into the flitter and started it. The two of them had been flying back and forth from the mansion for most of the night and morning. Clark lifted up, pulling the flitter around and heading out as if making another run.

  “The air currents in that area are tricky,” he said to Jasyn once they cleared the camp. “And half the instruments don’t work right.”

  “So we fly low and look,” Jasyn said.

  “Through trees?”

  “Are you trying to talk me out of this?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then land and you can walk back. I’m going to look for her, Clark. You can help or you can go away.”

  “I’ll help. I’m just warning you that it’s not going to be easy.” He stopped talking as they crested the ridge.

  Another flitter rose from the valley below the mansion. Black smoke trailed from its engines. It lurched drunkenly into the air.

  “That’s not one of ours,” Clark said.

  “Get closer.”

  Clark lifted them higher, trying to avoid the crosswinds just above the ridge. The other flitter turned in their direction. White smoke erupted from a front port. Clark swore and twisted the flitter down and to one side. A missile screamed past, exploding behind them. The blast knocked their flitter half around. Clark straightened out.

  “Gun controls are under your left hand.” He reached for the com, hoping it would work.

  “Guns?” Jasyn asked, eyes wide.

  Clark leaned far over and flipped the panel open. The other flitter circled around, trying to get above and behind them. Clark sent their flitter racing down the valley, flying low and fighting wind.

  “Targeting sights,” he said, tapping a screen that glowed blue. “Hit the button to fire. There isn’t much of a charge but maybe it’s enough to discourage them. Ready?”

  Jasyn nodded, moving her hands nervously over the controls.

  “Then hang on.” Clark pulled the flitter into a steep climb. The engines whined. He leveled it off and shoved the throttle forward. The flitter shot ahead. Clark swung it to the side, carving a wide curve through the air.

  They caught the other flitter’s tail as he finished the turn. Smoke poured from the engines as it fought to gain altitude. The targeting screen lit up red. Jasyn stabbed the button in front of her. Red bolts of light shot from their flitter. The other flitter swerved, firing back. Clark dropped altitude and the bolts passed overhead.

  The other flitter slid to the side, dropping down into the valley. Clark turned the flitter on its side and followed them down. Jasyn swiveled the controls, aiming the guns. She shot again and missed, hitting a tree instead. It went down in a shower of sparks.

  The other flitter lifted, twisting around to get behind them. Clark spun up and away in the opposite direction. They both turned and ending up facing each other and racing forward. Jasyn bit her lip in concentration and hit the firing button. One bolt glanced along the side of the other flitter. The engine burst into flames. The flitter spiraled away. Clark followed it down. It fired a single burst as its spinning turned it in their direction. One bolt hit, cracking the windshield and sending them into their own spiraling descent.

  The other flitter fluttered down, skipping across the ground, tearing up trees, before finally coming to rest crumpled against an outcrop of rock at the far end of a long clearing, smoke billowing. The bare ground that showed was mostly rock. Clumps of hardy plants clung to pockets of soil. Clark fought the controls and managed a slightly more controlled descent into the other end of the clearing. The flitter settled tilted to one side.

  “Now what?”

  “You keep calling.” He handed her the headset to the com.

  She reached past him and hit the emergency beacon. “I come with you, if you’re going to go running out there and get shot at. Let that signal them.”

  “There should be guns in the back,” Clark said, knowing he wasn’t going to win any arguments with Jasyn. “Just be careful.”

  “You, too,” she answered.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  “Sir?” The young ensign stood nervously in the shattered doorway.

  Querran looked up from her makeshift war room. Maps and photos were strewn over a table. A breeze wandered in through the shattered outside wall. “Yes?”

  “We just picked up an emergency beacon, from one of the Survey flitters.”

  “Location?”

  “About twenty miles southwest of here.”

  “Which flitter?”

  “It left base camp about fifteen minutes ago,” the ensign answered. “I checked and they said they thought it was just another run out here.”

  “Do I need to ask who was flying it?” Querran asked, putting aside her stylus and rubbing her head. “Major Clark?”

  The ensign nodded. “He had the cook with him.”

  “I rather suspected that. Find Commander Lowell and send him to me. And get a team ready to go rescue them.”

  The ensign saluted and left.

  “What next?” she muttered.

  Trey had received a call early that morning. His last surveyor had finally checked in. He claimed to have Dace waiting. Lowell had laughed himself silly when the man identified himself. Querran still hadn’t figured out why. She’d sent a flitter to pick them up, only they weren’t where the man said they would be waiting. Instead, they found a nasty bomb rigged from a blaster. But Lowell was convinced that the man had told them the truth.

  And now this. More of Lowell’s people breaking orders and getting themselves in trouble. Querran didn’t think she could take much more of Lowell’s quick, easy solution to h
er problem.

  “Sir?” The ensign shuffled his feet in the rubble.

  “What now?” She rubbed her eyes with her hands. She was getting too old for this.

  “Lowell is on his way, and the team is assembling outside.”

  “Is that all?” she asked when he hesitated.

  “There’s another flitter on approach. The beacon identifies it as private.”

  “Tell them this is a restricted zone, under Patrol authority.”

  “I did, sir. It’s Hom Daviessbrowun. He said he and his daughter had a right to see what was going on here.”

  She said a word that she had washed her own children’s mouths out for using. She was very tempted to lock up the Gentle Hom Daviessbrowun. The repercussions of doing so were too big.

  “Have him land outside and detail… Who’s available?”

  “No one. Half of them are scouring the woods nearby. You have two squads flying search patterns over the valley south of here. The last squad is still searching the house.”

  “What about Lowell’s crew?”

  “Last I saw, his two commanders were in the kitchen, playing dice.”

  “Send them to deal with Daviessbrowun and his daughter.” She smiled wickedly. “Let Lowell take the heat for a change.”

  “Yes, sir.” He hesitated. “They aren’t going to like taking orders from me.”

  “Tell them Lowell authorized it.”

  “I authorized what?” Lowell surprised them both as he stepped into the room. The ensign snapped to attention. Lowell waved him down.

  “The Gentle Hom Daviessbrowun and his daughter are arriving any minute. I need someone to escort them around and keep them out of our hair. Your men are the only people available right now.” Querran shot Lowell a look that said she was out of patience.

  Lowell repeated the word Querran had used. “You did try to warn him off?”

  “My people have tried. Hom Daviessbrowun is not known for listening to other people, unless they are saying things he wants to hear.” She looked at her ensign, still standing in the doorway. “Don’t you have orders, Ensign?”