by Jaleta Clegg
"Put him in the pod and send him to the Patrol," Tolun said. "Let them have him. He can’t tell them anything." He turned away. He expected Harris’ thugs to obey him, and they did. Harris was manhandled into the small cargo bay and shoved up through the hatch.
Tolun looked around the lounge with distaste. He settled his icy stare on me. "Dace, we meet finally. Do you have any idea what you’ve cost me? Hundreds of millions of credits in profit alone, not to mention businesses and events that were put into place decades ago. You’ve ruined them all."
I said nothing. I knelt in front of the bench, my cuffed hands in front of me, looking like someone pleading in prayer.
Tolun raised the scrambler, looking at it. "That would be too easy. Harris did have the right idea, even if he went about it wrong. You need to suffer. You need to realize just how much you’ve cost me and my associates." He tucked the scrambler into a pocket.
Tolun pulled out a tiny glass vial. Oily blue liquid sloshed inside.
I froze. The resemblance between Tolun and Harris and my memory suddenly came clear. He held Shara, the drug smuggled off of Dadilan before I disrupted the smuggling rings and destroyed the place that manufactured it. Tolun and Harris both looked very much like Leran Sevolis, the head of one smuggling ring. He had posed as a researcher on Dadilan. I’d watched him die. He had the same cold eyes. Leran had to have been Targon.
"I see you recognize Shara," Tolun said. "The most highly prized drug in the Empire. And the most irreplaceable." He tilted the vial and watched the blue liquid slide sluggishly to one side.
Shara enhanced psychic abilities in most people. It had only given me gas.
"Just one of the many enterprises you personally have destroyed," Tolun said, tucking the vial away. "You were responsible for the death of my brother, Leran. You destroyed Belliff, sent most of my people there to prison. You have no idea of the cost to get them back out again. Millions, Dace. You upset operations on Landruss, which rippled through the entire sector. You destroyed my political power base in Cygnus Sector with your kidnapping stunt. Luke Verity would love to see you again. Perhaps I’ll give you to him when I’m finished with you."
I shuddered and wished he had just scrambled my brain instead.
"And now this mess. You’ve forced me to deal with my cousin. I hate doing that to family. And you still claim you aren’t a Patrol agent. Bring her," he said, snapping his fingers at Tom. "And the Patrol agent there, her partner, I believe. Send them to my ship." He looked around my ship again, spotting the pilot in the cockpit. "Take this ship and destroy it somewhere. Haviland is a good choice. Change the beacon and sell it for scrap."
"What of the crew?" the pilot ventured.
Tolun gave him the coldest stare I’ve ever seen. The pilot shifted back, sinking into the seat as if trying to hide. Tolun turned away from him, dismissing him. He caught sight of Jerimon.
"Jerimon Pai," Tolun said, "I’ve heard much about you. You will come with me and prove your loyalty."
Jerimon nodded and went into the end cabin. "Let me collect my things."
"Strip the ship of anything valuable," Tolun ordered. He collected credit chips from where they spilled across the table.
There was a brief clang as the emergency hatch closed and the pod shot away. Tolun never even looked up.
Tom dragged me across the lounge to the hatch. He flung me through, straight into the flexible tube connecting us to the other ship. I caught a brief glimpse of its rounded hull before I was caught on the other end.
"Take her to room three," Tolun called behind me.
I didn’t see what happened to anyone else. I was picked up by two of the biggest men I’d ever seen and carried off to a small, bare room where they beat me senseless.
Chapter 28
The ship powered up and flew away. Jasyn felt the change in the engines. She sat, shifting away from Clark. "What now?" she grumbled. "I hate this! Not knowing anything. And I am so sick of this room I could scream."
"We all are," Clark said. "Did you ever consider any of this when you agreed to be partners with Dace?"
"It didn’t matter then and it doesn’t matter now. I hate to think of what they’re doing to her." They’d heard her screaming several hours before, muffled through the door of the cabin.
Habim twitched in his sleep. Parts of broken equipment were lined up neatly on the bunk beside him.
Ginni looked down from one of the upper bunks, staring with her big eyes. "It’s my fault. I’m sorry I snuck onto your ship."
Jasyn looked up at her, wondering if she had ever been that young. "It isn’t your fault, Ginni. These are Dace’s enemies, not yours."
The engines built to a whine that made Habim’s eyes pop open.
"It isn’t right," he complained.
"They won’t let you out, Habim," Ginni said.
"Why? It isn’t right. I need to fix it, to make it right."
He sat, his hands twirling aimlessly. He caught sight of the parts strewn around him and lined them up again, each part placed precisely in order, turned just so. He grumbled and muttered to himself as he worked.
The ship slid through transition. The engines still worked, but Jasyn noted the jump to hyperspace got rougher each time.
"Where do you think we’re going now?" Clark asked.
"Will we even know?" Jasyn answered. "They only let us out on that rock because they knew we couldn’t go anywhere."
"I could shoot your brother for getting us into this mess," Clark said.
"I could shoot him myself," Jasyn said bitterly. After everything she’d done for Jerimon, after all the times she’d rescued him from his messes, he repaid her this way.
"Once we get out," Clark started.
"If we get out," Jasyn broke in.
"When," Clark said firmly. "When we get out, we’d better keep Dace away from Jerimon. If you still want your brother in one piece, that is."
"I’ll help her carve him up."
The ship lights flickered, dimming to black before coming back on. Jasyn looked up.
"What was that?" Ginni asked, scared and showing it.
Habim frowned at his parts. "Don’t play with the lights."
Clark straightened, noting a change in the ship’s rhythm. "Something’s up."
The lights flashed again, on and off and on again. And again. And a third time. Then the lights dimmed to emergency levels.
"The door’s unlocked," Jasyn said. "What is going on? What have they done to my ship?" She crossed to the door and put her ear against it. "I don’t hear anything. Why do they always do this in the vids? It never works." She stood back, eying the door. "Is it a trick?"
Clark came to stand behind her. He reached around her and thumbed the door control. The door slid open, silent as always. Ginni dropped down from the bunk and peered around Clark.
The lounge was deserted and dark. Only the few emergency lights were still on. They heard muffled swearing from the cockpit. Jasyn crept out, looking up into the small cargo bay and the end cabin. They were empty.
Clark slid out behind her and quickly checked the other two cabins. The doors were open, the cabins empty. He traded puzzled looks with Jasyn.
How many? Jasyn mouthed at him and pointed at the cockpit. He peeked past the half closed door. He held up two fingers.
Jasyn paused, her head cocked to one side, listening to the ship. Clark came back to stand next to her. Ginni crept out and clung to her other side.
"The engine’s fine," Jasyn breathed in Clark’s ear. "Why the emergency lights?"
"I think they’re locked out of the controls," Clark answered. "Explains the swearing."
"What do we do?" Ginni asked.
Clark studied the cockpit door. "How loud can you scream, Ginni?"
He motioned her to the back of the lounge. Jasyn slid to the side, backed up against the wall by the hatch. She opened a cupboard in the galley and retrieved her biggest pot as quietly as she could. Clark slipped into the doorway t
o Dace’s cabin. He stood back, in the shadows to one side. Jasyn barely saw him nod. She turned to look at Ginni. The girl huddled under the table. Jasyn nodded at her.
Ginni let loose a piercing scream. The swearing in the cockpit stopped.
"What was that?"
"You check. I’m still trying to unlock the lights. What happened to this ship? Blast." The voice trailed off into curses.
One of the men came to the door and slid it the rest of the way open. He peered into the lounge. "Their door’s open. They’re loose," he added when Habim appeared in the doorway of the cabin.
Habim watched Ginni, frowning as she hid under the table. She tried to shush him and shoo him away. He only looked more confused.
There was more swearing from the cockpit. Both of the men rushed out. Jasyn caught one in the face with her pan. He went down, bleeding and moaning. Clark had the other one in a headlock.
"Who else is still on the ship?" Clark demanded. He twisted his arm.
The man yelped. "No one, I swear."
Habim bent over and peered at Ginni under the table. "What are you doing?"
Ginni scrambled out from under the table and took Habim’s hand. "Just wait, Habim, please."
Habim stared at her for a long moment then ponderously sat on the floor, right where he was standing. Ginni patted his head and sat next to him.
"Where are you taking us?" Clark asked the man.
The man tried to keep quiet. Jasyn crossed the lounge, the man she’d hit wasn’t going to do anything for a while. She clobbered the man across the butt with her pan. He squealed and jumped.
Clark twisted his head again. "I’ll ask nicely one more time. If you don’t answer, I’ll let my wife beat you with the pan until you do talk."
"All right, don’t hit me," the man said. "I’m just a navigator. I’m not one of them, not really."
"You work for them, what’s the difference?" Jasyn whacked him again. The sound of the pan hitting his rump was very satisfying.
"They wanted me to take the ship to Haviland," the man said. "Sell it for scrap. Space you somewhere. Only we weren’t going to space you. I swear." The man squirmed, trying to get out of range of the pan.
Jasyn hit him with it again. "Why? Where did they take the others?"
"I don’t know!" The man was desperate. "They got off onto another ship. I just have my orders. I don’t know anything else."
"We’ll see about that." Jasyn thwacked him again, just for good measure. "Ginni, find some rope. And help Clark tie these two up." She wanted to swear, but she didn’t have Dace’s command of the vocabulary. She didn’t know words bad enough to describe what she felt. She kicked the prone man on her way past.
The cockpit was dim. The control boards were dead, except for one blinking red light. Jasyn slid into the pilot’s seat and stared at the controls. She had no idea where to even start looking for the problem. She pushed the blinking red light. The light paused.
"Turn back on," she said.
"Voice authorization acknowledged," the ship said. The lights blinked out and came back on, at normal levels. Mostly green, she noted with relief. There were a few yellow ones, but Jasyn had no idea what to do with those. She swung around and checked the nav comp.
They were indeed on a course to Haviland. They had another twelve hours until they reached it. She called up the course and double checked the calculations. Something was funny with the ship. Why had it shut down like that?
"What did you do?" Clark asked as he sat next to her. He ran his hands expertly over the controls.
"I told it to turn back on and it did."
Clark swung around and looked at her. "There’s a message light blinking."
"What are the yellow lights?" Jasyn asked.
"Nothing serious, minor adjustments and maintenance should take care of them," Clark answered.
"Idiots almost ruined my ship." She hit the message button, the one that hadn’t been blinking a minute before.
"I know you’re mad at me, Jasyn," Jerimon’s voice whispered from the speakers. "Don’t erase this until you listen all the way through. Please. Our lives depend on you."
She moved her finger away from the erase button. Jerimon knew how she would most likely react. He sounded serious, though, more serious than he ever had in his life. And why was he whispering?
"I only have a second, before they get suspicious," he said. "I rigged the ship to lock out the controls and answer only to you, sister. If you’re listening to this, then you’re lucky. Find Lowell and tell him I screwed up. Yes, I'm working for him and I wish I'd had a different choice but his was the better offer. I’ll do whatever I can to get Dace and Tayvis out of this mess. Trust me, Jasyn. And wish me luck. I’m going to need it."
The recording ended. Jasyn sat back, chewing her thumb. She was so upset she didn’t realize what she was doing. She hadn’t chewed her nails in years.
"Habim is trying to twist the man’s ears off," Ginni said in the doorway. "Should I let him?"
"I’m tempted to say yes," Clark said. "Tell him he can sit on them all he wants, especially if they move, Ginni."
She nodded and darted back into the lounge. They heard her instructing Habim very clearly on what he could do to the prisoners if they moved. It was a lot more graphic than what Clark had suggested.
Clark grinned at Jasyn. "She reminds me an awful lot of you and Dace."
"I could kill him," Jasyn said. "Trust him? After he betrayed us?"
"I think we need to find Lowell and beat the answers out of him."
Jasyn looked at her husband. His eyes were dark, shadowed by stress. "You think Lowell is behind this?"
"Who else, Jasyn? Lowell set us up, again. I think we need to trust your brother."
"I think we need to call for help." Jasyn thumbed the playback button. Jerimon’s voice started over again. This time she hit the erase button. "Lowell won’t help us for free. He’ll want Dace in return for getting her out. It’s time I called on the Family."
The Family was the loose organization of people who called themselves Gypsies. They fought and quarreled constantly with each other. Jasyn had several not-so-friendly rivalries with other ships crewed by Gypsies, including Everett on the Windrigger. But when outsiders tried to take advantage of any Gypsy, even their enemies rushed to defend them.
"We don’t know where they took her," Clark said.
"Then we’ll find out," Jasyn said, determined that nothing and no one was going to stop her.
"We’ll find her, Jasyn," he said, promising it to himself as much as to her.
"And then we’ll hunt Lowell down and make him pay for every bruise," Jasyn promised.
Chapter 29
They woke me up by slapping my face and pouring water over my head, freezing cold water. I coughed and choked. I didn’t want to wake up. Pain was waiting for me. They didn’t give me a choice. I finally dragged my eyes open. I hurt as bad as I knew I would.
They didn’t say anything. They dragged me through the ship and into the auxillary systems room. Pipes ran across the walls and ceiling. The only console showed plumbing status and didn’t give me much hope of doing any damage to the ship. But they weren’t even going to give me the chance to reroute the toilets.
One of them flung a pair of chained cuffs over a pipe. The cuffs dangled down, barely within my reach. They jerked my arms up and snapped the cuffs around them. And then they left. They didn’t bother to lock the door behind them.
I looked up. My arms were almost straight over my head. If I stood on tiptoe, I could work an inch or two of slack into the cuffs. Not chains, I told the demons in my mind, not chains. I didn’t think Tolun cared if I went crazy and pulled my arms off. I couldn’t let myself fall into that trap. The chain was slender, interlocked twists of plastic, not metal. Not a chain, not a heavy metal chain, I told myself.
The plastic looped around a pipe overhead. The pipe curved down just enough to form a loop for the cuffs to pass through. I couldn’t g
o anywhere. I twisted my neck. I was about three feet from the wall. I tried to reach the gauges there with one foot. I was too stiff and bruised to even try. I had to keep trying, though. I couldn't let Targon win.
I yanked at the cuffs, testing them. They were tight. My wrists were barely healed from before, when Harris had tried to chain me to the wall. It hurt to pull at the cuffs. I wasn’t going to be able to wriggle my hands out that way. I couldn’t get enough leverage to pull myself up either. It hurt too much.
My hands tingled as the blood drained out of them. I tried shifting, but I had no slack. I couldn’t do anything but endure.
The door slid open. They dragged Tayvis in and dumped him on the floor. He didn’t move. The only clue they gave me that he was still alive was that they bothered to cuff him to a pipe jutting out of the floor. It curved and went back into the wall only a foot above the flooring. He lay much too still, completely limp as they jerked his arms up and clicked the cuffs around them. They didn’t even look at me the whole time they were there. They kicked Tayvis on the way out. The door shut again.
"Tayvis?" I said. He didn’t move.
I yanked on the cuffs, biting my lip against the pain. I jerked again and again. Nothing happened. The pipe was too big to budge. As if I could bend any pipe, even hanging all of my weight on it. The plastic wasn’t going to break either. I jerked and tore at the cuffs until my aching wrists started bleeding again.
"You can’t do this to me," I said. Tears of anger, pain, and hopelessness washed down my face while blood trickled down my arms. I gave up and cried, hanging from wrists that were slowly going numb.
Tayvis finally stirred. I sniffled and tried to wipe my nose on my sleeve. I left streaks of blood along it. The green of my shipsuit turned it black.
Tayvis groaned and tried to roll over. The cuffs were too close to the pipe. He looked over his head at his hands and groaned again. He saw me then. He stopped moving, just watching me.
"You look awful," he said finally.
