Salvaged Destiny

by Lynn Rae

  She saw all of this as she was shoved toward her family, Lazlo silent behind her. Feeling dizzy and overwhelmed, she tried to get to her mother, but the deputy next to her objected and pushed hard on her bruised back. The hot bolt of pain that burst through her blanked her mind for a horrible moment.

  The next thing Del knew she was huddled on the decking, yet again at someone’s feet. There was a low grunt from behind her and she turned her head to see Lazlo lashing out with his elbows at the deputy who had failed to restrain him.

  He landed several solid blows that made terrible crunching sounds and the other man fell hard on the decking, harder than she had, and Del was glad for an enraged second. Lazlo leaned to reach her and help her up when a hollow boom filled the air and he stiffened and fell, shot by a stunner, unconscious and limp on the deck next to her.

  Dragging herself up, Del leaned toward him and everything went black.

  Chapter Ten

  “Lieutenant, I thought I requested you come to me this afternoon?” Major Sekar asked quietly after he opened the door to the tiny cell Lazlo had woken up in about an hour ago.

  During the course of that hour, he had berated himself for yet more personal failures, worried incessantly about Del and her family and paced until the dizziness and ear ringing from the stunner had finally worn off.

  He also tried not to touch anything—the small cell was filthy with layers of lumpy paint peeling back to reveal synthboard walls. It smelled damp and fungal and the corners of the room weren’t even square because of the accumulated grime. Despite a few bruises, he was ready to fight when he saw the door start to open, but luckily his commander had spoken up before Lazlo could slam into him.

  “You did, sir. I apologize.”

  “It seems you had some sort of an excuse,” the major replied with a perfectly straight face as he tapped on the door lock keypad, then gestured for Lazlo to exit into the narrow hallway of the grimy Sheriff’s Department lockup. “I have to apologize as well. As soon as your transponder alerted we tried to track you, but since you were out here the signal wasn’t clear. Citizen Rupti worked very hard to magnify it so we could find you.”

  He had been in the last cell in the corridor—all the other doors were open as they walked by. Lazlo assumed they had held assorted Browens until recently. An armed port security officer waited for them at the end of the hallway, nodding as they passed her and emerged into a large waiting room. Here stood the exhausted-looking Browens—Nige, Dee Dee holding up the younger girl, two boys he hadn’t met. But no Del or her mother.

  “Sir, where are Del and her mother?”

  Sekar frowned. “The elder woman is being transported to medical. Her condition wasn’t good. But Del Browen was not in any of these cells.”

  “She has to be here somewhere. She was with us when they stunned me.” Lazlo moved over to her father. “Citizen Browen, what happened to Del?”

  “I don’t know, I can’t find her. They stunned her and threw her in the cart next to you when they brought us here, but I didn’t see what they did after.” The older man looked lost and in shock, turning away when a medical officer reached for him and whispered to him.

  Lazlo turned back to the major, his anxiety humming in every nerve. Del had been stunned and helpless with all of those deputies intent on revenge for his arrest of Harata. Terrible things could have happened to her.

  “Sir, she has to be here somewhere. Is there another cell or holding area?” Major Sekar looked even grimmer and called for two officers to report and start searching the other areas of the sheriff’s office. People bustled in and out of the barren holding area, now less crowded as the Browens had been led out and apparently freed. The major’s datpad squawked and he gestured for Lazlo to follow him down another narrow corridor where one of the officers pulled on a sticky door.

  “Looks as if she’s in there, sir. I’m trying to move the door—” The officer struggled until Lazlo reached for the handle and pulled it with all of his strength, the mottled door screeching wide as he moved inside the dark room. It seemed to be a storage closet holding a few dusty boxes and the crumpled, unmoving form of a slight woman lying on the floor.

  Recognizing the robe Del had been wearing earlier, he approached her and crouched down, touching her shoulder and arm. It was hard to see in the dark, but he could make out her eyes opening as her body tensed with a shiver. He stopped touching her, worried that she might have been assaulted and be frightened by the physical contact, but she reached out her small hand toward his and he grasped it, relief that he’d found her filling him. He took a deep breath, the first in what seemed like hours.

  Lazlo murmured that it was all right, he was there to help, and with a sobbing moan Del turned and clutched at him, pressing her face into his chest and crying. Cautiously avoiding touching her injured back, Lazlo stroked her arms and head, trying to calm her and keep her still for a moment. All he could think was she’d been hurt again, damaged while he had done nothing to help her.

  Lazlo sensed Sekar standing at the doorway but not moving into the tiny room, for which he was grateful. The fewer people crowding Del the better. After a moment she caught her breath and sat back, blinking and looking completely exhausted.

  “Are you hurt?” she asked, touching his arm. “I saw you stunned.”

  “Just a few bruises, probably from when I fell.” Lazlo tried to be lighthearted about it. Del narrowed her eyes and touched his forehead, which hurt.

  “You have a bad bruise,” she whispered, then looked as if she were going to cry again. “How is my mother? Where is everyone?”

  “Your mother is headed to medical. It seems as if everyone else is all right. We had a hard time finding you, Del.”

  Del glanced around her shabby cell. “I want out of here.” Nodding, Lazlo stood and helped her up. She leaned on him and kept hold of his arm as they walked out into the hallway. Major Sekar nodded and let them precede him down the hallway.

  “Casta, take Citizen Browen to medical and have yourself evaluated as well. Report your medical status to me, file an initial incident report, then take the remainder of the day off. I will reschedule tomorrow.”

  “Yes sir.”

  Del stopped and turned her head. “Major?” At the man’s acknowledgement, she continued. “Lieutenant Casta has done a good job.”

  “Yes ma’am,” Sekar replied with a flash in his eye. Lazlo had a sinking feeling his commander didn’t actually share that assessment. But Del gripped his arm again and he looked down at her disheveled head. Circling his fingers around hers and giving them a squeeze, he helped her out of Harata’s dirty domain.

  *

  “Hi, Pa,” Del said as she walked slowly and painfully into her mother’s room at the medical center. She’d spent the last few hours being evaluated and treated and now that she was debrided, disinfected and on more pain relief, she’d been allowed to find her parents. Her mother was gray and unconscious in the bed and her father was gray and exhausted in the chair next to her. Del reached out and rubbed his arms, unwilling to be hugged. He looked at her with sad, red-rimmed eyes.

  “It doesn’t look good, pet. She hasn’t woken up.”

  “What does the doc say?”

  “Give her time, she’s stable, just the usual waiting nonsense.”

  “Pa, what happened?”

  “From what I can gather, Harata managed to reach one of his people from the port jail last night and set this raid up as revenge against you. They probably felt lucky catching that Casta fella at the same time.” Del had told her father a little of what had happened the previous day, leaving out the secret parts, but wanting him to know Harata had been arrested and Avo Kirk had hurt her.

  When she’d mentioned what Avo had done, her father grew quiet and thoughtful and when she’d said the sheriff’s name, he’d shaken his head.

  “I speculated that something like this might happen, just not so soon. Harata’s the type to want to do it himself and for that he’d
have to wait for release.” Her father turned to look at his injured wife and Del was struck with another dose of guilt.

  “Has he been released?”

  “No idea.” Nige reached out and patted his wife’s hand. “They got a lot of our equipment, pet.”

  “Pa, I’m so sorry the family has been hurt by what I did.”

  “You did nothing but take a job. It’s not your fault those fellas were sneaking around and forced you to defend yourself. I’m just glad Casta was there. Hate to think of what would have happened to you otherwise.”

  “I know. I’m glad he was there too. But, Pa, how are we going to replace everything?”

  “We’ll manage. The Paxes have already messaged me about getting the gates secured and putting out the fire.”

  “What fire?”

  “Those noodleheads started a fire in the paper stacks. Burned up most of them before the Paxes could put it out.”

  “Thank stars for their help.”

  Nige nodded and rubbed at his eyes. “Haven’t been back, not wanting to leave your mother.” He looked at her. “How hurt are you?”

  Not shrugging as she wanted, Del rolled her eyes because that didn’t hurt. “Other than being dizzy from the stun and getting some bruises on top of bruises, I’ll be all right.”

  “Good then.” He sighed and she patted his arm yet again. He’d been through so much. She wasn’t sure where he was going to find the stamina to handle these current crises.

  “Pa, would you like me to stay so you can check in at home? Or would you like me to go back there and let you know what is happening?”

  “Stay with me a bit longer, pet, then you should go home and rest. The cousins will take care of things. Dee Dee has already reported all the messes.” Del settled herself on the arm of his chair as he patted her knee once. “Are you going to be able to tell me what you found out there?”

  “Who says I found anything?”

  “I do. I know you, my girl.”

  “No, Pa, I can’t tell you.”

  “But it was good, wasn’t it?”

  “Yes, Pa, it was good.”

  “Get paid well enough?”

  “It seemed well enough at first, but now it’s a pittance compared to what we’ll need to fix things.”

  “Now no, that’s your marks earned. Funds for the business come from the business. There’s insurance, after all.” He leaned back a bit and shifted his stiff leg. Del didn’t say anything, but knew she wouldn’t be able to spend her reward on what she had planned. She’d have to find a way to funnel it to her family. “And this Casta fella, what’s the word there?”

  “He hired me to find things.”

  “That’s all?”

  “That’s all.”

  “According to Dee Dee it’s not all.”

  “Well, with Dee Dee explaining, everything is more exciting than it is, isn’t it?” Not really answering the question, Del peered down at him, noticing his thinning hair and deeper wrinkles. Her father was growing old.

  “Sometimes. So why was he coming out to see you today?”

  “Just checking on me before those deputies hit.”

  “Wrong place, wrong time for him then.”

  Del nodded. It always was the wrong place and wrong time for anyone who was near her. Starting with her first mother, who had left her and the entire planet of Sayre as soon as she could after Del’s birth. Forty-eight days was all the time her infant self had had with her mother. Then she had been killed in an accident on another planet and Del never had the chance to see her again.

  She didn’t know why she’d thought of her birth mother just then, other than that she might be losing the only real mother she’d ever known.

  Her father watched his wife and peered at the display winking next to the bed. Del couldn’t tell if anything was of concern, but he leaned back without making note of anything. “In any case, he seems a decent one. You could do worse.”

  Del’s mind whirled around, trying to understand what he meant. Then she did and felt a chill. “Pa.”

  Del tried to sound repressive—she didn’t want to have this sort of conversation with him in these circumstances, or any circumstances. Yes, Lazlo was an impressive-enough man, but she wasn’t interested in trying to develop something with him or anyone. He would be leaving the planet soon enough and she never could. Sayre was where she was born and where she would stay. She’d be buried in the small cemetery on top of the cliff, dry land holding the bodies of the lost. Where else would she go?

  “You have done worse, pet.” Nige glanced up at her and his eyes gleamed with amusement for a moment. It was likely he was remembering some of her less-than-successful dates and semi-relationships. “You could make a nice baby with him, give me a grandchild.”

  Shaking her aching head slightly, Del rolled her eyes again. Her father loved babies and his hints for grandchildren had grown louder over the years. They were nearly shouts now. She guessed that was one of the reasons her mother had felt free to leave her behind—Pa was the best caregiver on Sayre.

  If she ever did have a child, he would undoubtedly maneuver the situation to allow himself to take on most of the raising. She’d had as lovely a childhood as he could manage to give her. He’d waited to marry again until he was sure he’d found a woman who could be as good a mother to her as she would be to her own.

  And that good woman was now brought low because of Del’s actions. But his brushes with death today were undoubtedly making him want to see his children settled and carrying on to the next generation. It was only natural.

  “Pa, enough. Making a baby is the last thing on my mind and I’m sure he is entirely uninterested.”

  “You never know until you ask. Just want you to know I approve.”

  “There’s nothing to approve, Pa.”

  “Don’t be so unromantic.”

  “But I’m not romantic. I’m practical. I have my work and I have my family. I don’t believe I’m capable of more.”

  “That’s a pity. Your baby would be part of your family automatically.”

  Del held her tongue then. Her pa’d had a terrible day and it wasn’t over yet, so it wasn’t appropriate for her to argue with him over such a non-issue. And anyone who knew her could be sure romance and impulsiveness and passion were in no way part of her personality. Determination and reliability were, not unlike a well-used cart.

  Nige sighed and patted his wife’s hand again. “You go on now, Del, get to your home and see how much is left. One of the cousins will help you secure the door if those bad fellas broke it.”

  Wordlessly, she leaned down and hugged him, then patted her mother’s hand and left the room, weary and blankly anticipating nothing for the immediate future other than discovering how badly Harata’s men had hurt her family both physically and financially. Despite her father’s assurances, she was entirely responsible for attracting the thug’s notice and she felt as guilty as she could considering her level of exhaustion and pain.

  *

  “Oh Dee Dee, what are we going to do?” Del contemplated their family’s destroyed property. Her cousins were at the barely repaired gate, looking vigilant and ready to tangle with anyone who so much as frowned at them. All Del could take in was that everything she saw, from their carts, to their stored salvage, to their garages and apartments, was damaged in some way.

  The smell of burning paper and resin was still heavy in the air, although there was no smoke in evidence. Thanking her cousins, Del began to walk around with Dee Dee, who had escaped captivity with no serious injury and a burning desire to clean up as much as possible before Ma and Pa returned home. Every cart needed new tires, two had obvious damage to their cells, most of the apartment doors had been pulled off their hinges and drifts of personal belongings had been pulled out and thrown on the dirty decking. A few stacks of crates of glass were tipped over, leaving shards over a large area of the compound.

  When they thought to check, she and Dee Dee found some en
terprising deputy had also managed to break the windows in the greenhouse. Breezes whistled through the open frames, drying out all of their tender plants like tomatoes, peppers and melons. They’d probably lose all of their fresh crops. At least armored port security were roaming about the roads in the agricultural section. Del only wished they’d been around earlier that morning. And that made her wonder about Lazlo and wish that she could catch a glimpse of him striding around in his uniform with a large weapon at hand.

  Despairing, Del finally stopped looking and took a deep breath. “How long were they here to do this much damage?”

  “According to the cousins, they noticed the transport pulling away about an hour after I remember them busting in our gate.”

  “All of this in an hour?”

  “Yes, it’s almost as if they have a talent for this. Or took a special class.” Dee Dee scowled as she looked around their ruined home. “I have to find us an advocate. There’s going to be some crash-up legal fight ahead.”

  Feeling dreadful, Del headed for her apartment to find the door completely missing, most of the contents scattered over the stairs and her beloved quark spectroscope smashed. Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked the complicated piece of equipment over. She had saved for seven years to buy Toots fourth-hand from a small geoanalysis company that was upgrading. Seven years of no indulgences or new clothes or pricy food. Could she do that again, deprive herself for so long, go without all of the analysis she was used to being able to do?

  She couldn’t sleep here tonight, even factoring out not having a front door anymore. Knowing those thuggish bullies had touched her things and destroyed her possessions was repulsive. Del slowly gathered up some of her clothes and unbroken kitchenware, stowed them in her apartment and then wandered back down to the main section of the property looking for Dee Dee, whom she found busily counting broken windows. Del was confident Dee Dee was efficiently organizing exactly what they would need to repair all of this damage. She might seem to be frivolous, but her sister was a hard worker.