by Susan Kelley
A muscle twitched near Ben’s left eye, a sign of his anger she’d seen before. She pushed a little harder. “Where are we? Some deserted army outpost? Are those fellow criminals soldiers you brought with you?”
Ben’s eyes narrowed, but his voice remained even. “None of them are wanted by the law. They’re men who served their time and learned they could earn more money as private contractors.”
“I think they are considered criminals since they’re helping one of the most wanted lawbreakers in the universe. Maybe they should turn you in for the reward.” She tried to capture the gaze of one of the guards but he ignored her. “I would gladly double that reward to see you face justice.”
“You can’t buy them off like you did the men who helped you slip away a year ago.”
“Buy them off? I’m a grown woman, able to come and go as I please. Why do you use words like slip away as if I had to escape?”
Ben set the AI back on the desk. “Let’s stop this dancing around. You’ll sign your shares over to me as well as those your mother willed to you upon her death. I want the accounts where you’ve hidden the assets.”
“So you can disappear with the fortune my grandfather and father made in the mining empire they founded? The one you helped Hadrason try to steal? My mother outsmarted you and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
“You underestimate the means at my disposal to gain your cooperation, dear girl. Not only will you give me what I ask, you’ll be married before this day is out to someone who will look out for your, or should I say, my interests.”
“I will never do as you want.”
Ben gave a hand signal to one of his guards. The man spoke into a small radio on his collar. The smile curving Ben’s mouth raised a sick feeling in Emma’s stomach. After a few minutes a man entered the room carrying a small tray filled with vials.
“With your education, namely your work with the human mind, you know there are many ways to manipulate the brain chemistry of humans.” Ben waved the new man closer. “Dr. First is the leading expert in his field. He was my colleague in the military until stiff-necked types thought there was something inhumane about delving into the psyche of the enemy. Geoff and I have found him quite useful in our methodical takeover of all the mining interests here on the outlying planets. You’re the last piece, a rather big piece of my mining empire.”
Fear worked its claws deeper into Emma. Mind control drugs had long been outlawed and the penalty for using them involved long prison terms. Some of the illegal chemicals caused permanent brain damage and some were designed to turn a subject into a cooperative slave. “You’re best hope is to turn yourself in and hope for leniency. Maybe Hadrason hasn’t implicated you in the worst of his crimes. You might get a light sentence in one of the kinder prisons.”
Ben laughed. “Who do you think hired the men to do the dirty work when it was called for? I found the men Geoff needed. The only reason he’s not blaming his crimes on me is because I’ve managed to keep his interests profitable. Without that income, he wouldn’t be able to live in a comfortable prison and pay his lawyers to keep fighting for his early release. But I need your half of the business to keep the money pouring in. I can outsmart the army nabobs searching for me for as long as I need to. Eventually new army and political leaders will come into power, and I will make a triumphant return as the richest man in the known worlds.”
“I think you need the care of a psychiatrist, Ben.” She knew he hated it that she wouldn’t call him father. Anger flared in his sharp eyes, and she hurried to turn his mind from the disrespect. His crazed plan indicated a true break with reality and disabusing him of his delusional plans might increase her danger. “Money can’t buy everyone. Your crimes won’t go away because some time passes.”
Dr. First picked up a vial, eyeing Emma as he did. “She looks like she weighs little more than a hundred Earth pounds.” He squirted some of the drug out of the needle. “I don’t want to make her a vegetable.”
“Just give her enough to make her cooperative,” Ben said with a touch of impatience.
Emma didn’t hear the men approaching but suddenly big hands grasped her arms and held her in place. Her struggles might have been against iron. The doctor pinched the muscle in her arm and injected the drug beneath her skin. The guards released her and stepped back. She tried to still her racing heart, knowing the faster her blood pumped the quicker it would get to her brain.
“Give it a few minutes.” Dr. First stepped back, watching her with calculation.
Emma knew she had to act now before she lost all control of her thoughts, but despair rose in her. How could she win against all these men of twice her size?
“Sir!” said the guard near the far door. “We have an incoming ship. It’s a Herbone Class Star Cruiser. We’re lucky the scanners caught it.”
“Who would be coming to this deserted hunk of space metal?” one of the other guards asked.
The first guard answered, his words sounding distant to Emma. “This place isn’t on any trade routes, and it’s dark to most ship sensors. They could only have found us by following us.”
Ben stood up, looming over Emma. “Who has capabilities to follow us here? Where did they get such a ship? No one has that type of vessel except active military.”
Emma’s vision wobbled as she looked up at him. She tried to smile, but her lips wouldn’t cooperate. Drool gathered in the corner of her mouth, and she could do nothing about it. Some strange connections in her jumbled thoughts led her to think Vin had come after her.
“Damn you, First, you gave her too much. She can’t even talk.”
Emma heard Ben shouting orders, the meaning of the words lost to her. The harsh tone grated on her ears yet she couldn’t lift her hand to block the sound. Someone picked her up and tossed her over a hard shoulder. The person ran, causing her belly to slam up and down on his shoulder. She fought against sickness but couldn’t hold off the darkness moving in from the edges of her eyes.
* * * *
A warning ping alerted Vin when the base’s scanners fixed on him but he didn’t cut his speed or try evasive maneuvers. Emma had arrived at the dark metal space station at least two hours before. He jerked his thoughts away from any speculation on what they might be doing to her.
“Are you sure this hunk is the right place?” Vannie had said little during the trip, even dozing off for a little while. Sorrow had diminished the big man in some way, leaving him haggard and weakened. “It doesn’t look like anyone is home.
“People don’t make their homes on these stations. They’re run by small crews and serve as stopovers for refueling or passenger and cargo transfers.”
“But there aren’t any signs it’s open for business either.”
“An abandoned base is a perfect hiding place for a criminal or kidnapper.” Vin powered down the interstellar drive and proceeded forward with the planetary propulsion. Such stations had dozens of bays for ships to dock. The trail he’d followed had dispersed in the artificial gravity surrounding the station, hiding the ingress point of the admiral’s mercenaries. The life sensors picked up only shadows through the multiple metal walls, all the heat signatures concentrated toward the center of the complex. The weak returns didn’t allow for an accurate count of the enemy.
Vin flew his ship into a berth directly in front of his approach. The bay didn’t light up at his entrance like such a facility normally would but his ship detected atmospheric presence. Either the people in the base meant to conserve energy with the dark or use it to hide. His ship settled to the metal floor, all alone in the hanger to his disappointment. Finding the enemy ship would have been luck alone, something Recon Marines didn’t believe in.
He gathered weapons from the locker behind his pilot’s seat. He left the long guns behind, taking one stun laser, a few percussion grenades and three different hand guns. He handed Vannie two guns also. “Shoot to kill every time. Aim center mass.”
“I know how to shoot a
gun,” Vannie mumbled.
“Yes, but I’ve found most civilians hesitate to kill.”
Vannie grimaced and nodded. They exited through the cargo bay so the length of the ship sat between them and the entrance to the living areas. After jogging unchallenged to the opening, Vin led the way through a warren of hallways, taking any turn that would bring him to the central areas.
Even a small space station like this one had dozens of rooms. During his time in service, Vin had spent hours on many such structures. He slammed through a door and found an empty barracks. As he expected, the next two doors revealed more barracks though one showed signs of occupation. Twenty bunks had bedding fixed neatly in military fashion. Officers might have their own rooms so he estimated as many as two dozen men held Emma. They wouldn’t be easy targets like the men from the mine on Merris Five.
Having Vannie at his back didn’t help Vin. The older man added another liability to his mission. The hall ahead of them curved indicating they’d found the center. Doors now opened on both sides of the hall. The doors on the inner wall would lead to the living quarters of officers and important civilians. The admiral would use one of them.
Vin leaned against the first door on the inside wall. Not even his senses could hear through two inches of metal but he might feel vibrations. Nothing. He eased the door open to a dark, empty room. The next door revealed a dining room that smelled of recent cooking but no people. The following room showed signs of occupation but again no people.
He listened at the next door and felt the vibrations of men walking and talking. He pointed to his ear and then made little walking motions with his fingers. Vannie nodded understanding, lifting both guns in preparation. The door responded to a swipe of fingers across an electronic panel.
The door hissed opened, exposing two men with weapons up but not ready enough. They wilted to the ground without firing when Vin’s shots took them in the forehead. He moved into the room as two more guards closed in from each side of the door. Vin killed the one on the left, and Vannie stepped in behind him and killed the other one.
“Stop!” a man shouted from behind a wall of four guards aiming their weapons at Vin and Vannie.
Vin flipped his left hand gun into the air, knowing the mercenaries would be distracted by it. It was only human nature. Their nature, not his. He used his free hand to flip a visual stun grenade toward the guards and caught his gun in his left hand at the moment of ignition. He closed his eyes for a count of five and then dove to the right in case any of the men remained cognizant enough to fire blindly at his last position. Hopefully Vannie got out of the way.
When Vin opened his eyes, the four enemies still covered their eyes. He slapped his pistol back onto his belt and pulled the stun gun. He didn’t want to take the chance of hitting whatever was behind the wall of men. It wasn’t a light stunner like he’d given Emma as a gift but a military grade weapon created to bring men down quickly and keep them down for a period of time. Only one of them managed to discharge his weapon before Vin hit him. The guard’s shot smacked harmlessly into the wall over Vin’s head.
Vin leaped over the twitching bodies of the guards and came to face to face with Admiral Ben Lester for the first time. The bastard held Emma up with one arm around her chest and with his other he held a syringe pressed against her neck. The point already pierced her skin. Vin held his stunner toward Lester and pointed his other gun at the doorway. “Move into the room, Vannie, and cover the door.”
Emma sagged in some level of unconsciousness. Drool ran from the side of her mouth but she didn’t look injured. Drugged then. Rage burned white hot in Vin, a heat like he’d felt only once before. He fought it back.
“Stay where you are or this dose will empty her mind forever. Who the hell are you?” the admiral asked, his head steady on the needle dimpling Emma’s skin.
“I’ve been looking for you.” Vin was surprised the man didn’t recognize him. Perhaps letting his hair grow had disguised him more than he’d thought. “You’re the last of the liars and betrayers. Do you want to join Hadrason in prison or end like one of your military friends did? He didn’t have the courage to face prison and any man who uses his daughter as a shield seems like a coward.”
Lester paled and trembling started in his hands. “You can’t be! You’re all dead or working for the bitch queen of Giroux.”
“Guess he’s a ghost then,” Vannie said from near the door. “Let the girl go, you bastard.”
Lester tightened his hold on Emma. “I think not. If you shoot me, this vial will deliver its payload.”
“I came here for you. Let Emma go and we’ll settle this between us.” Vin edged closer.
“Stop right there. Are you saying you don’t care what happens to her?” Lester laughed and dragged Emma toward the door behind him. “One of the reasons it was so easy to set you up for treason was that inability to lie engrained in your DNA. I don’t know how you came to join forces with my treacherous stepdaughter but your dog-like loyalty can’t stop me from leaving.”
Lester kept going until he reached the door. “I’m going to get on my ship. As long as you don’t follow me, my dear girl will only be groggy. Come after me and I’ll fry her brain down to insect level.” Lester kicked the door behind him and it slid open. He slipped out with Emma dangling in front of him.
No sooner did the admiral step out of the door and another big guard stepped in. Vin fired the stunner, hitting the man center mass. The man fell backward like a tree cut off at its base, and someone one closed the door. Vin ran to the door but they’d jammed it.
“This way!” Vannie started for the door where they’d entered only moments before. He tripped over one of the dead men or the volley slamming into the door frame would have killed him. He cursed and rolled away from the opening.
Vin sprinted over and crouched alongside Vannie. Another spray of shots pinged off metal. Vin reached his left arm around the door and fired back. He calculated the curving walls into the patterns of ricochet as he shot. Grunts and screams answered his return fire. He dove into the hallway and rolled to his feet. Sprinting toward the direction of the shots, Vin found one dead and two severely wounded men. He jumped over them and ran down the hallway.
Two hundred yards later he found the door the admiral had escaped through. A hallway across from it led to one of the main spokes branching out from the center of the facility. Vin cursed as he tore down the spoke, knowing it would lead to a bay. He should have set Vannie to finding the admiral’s ship.
No more ambushes waited between him and the hanger. Neither did the ship. It was gone and Emma with it.
Vin wasted no time with regret but retreated back the way he’d come. Vannie turned and started to run as soon as he saw Vin. Vin slowed so Vannie could keep up. Vannie wheezed and limped but kept up his steady pace all the way to the cruiser.
Vannie dropped into his seat as Vin took off. They found the trail easy enough as only one ship had left the station. But it wasn’t the simple cruiser Vin had followed before. The admiral had had something else waiting.
The ship they pursued was a tenth generation space racer, much larger than Vin’s agile little cruiser and capable of warp bend. They flew along its trail until they entered a cloud of gaseous vapors left behind by a warp initiation.
There was no way to follow. Even if Vin’s ship had warp bend, there was no way to know where the admiral’s ship had gone.
Vin expanded his ship’s sensors to their maximum range. Which way should he search? He’d failed Emma. Why couldn’t he keep the women he loved safe?
Chapter Fifteen
Emma’s head spun but she pushed herself up to sitting. “Vin?”
She’d heard his voice but that couldn’t be correct. Her stepfather had captured her and drugged her. The lush sofa beneath her sat against the wall of a colorless lounging room. A thick blanket covered her bare legs. Someone had taken away her old boots and replaced them with thin slippers. She snorted, the sound loud
in the soulless room.
Though bigger, this room appeared much the same as her previous prison. Her muscles obeyed her despite their rubbery feeling as she swung her legs over the edge of the sofa. After getting to her feet she swayed for a few moments before daring to walk using the wall as a brace. Three wide stairs bisected the wall across from the sofa. She paused at the bottom and heard faint voices. Possible a larger passenger area or the bridge? She retreated to the other side of the room, her legs gaining strength with each step.
One door provided her only other option. Her eyes ached as she concentrated on her mission of putting one foot in front of the other. The door led her to a small hallway lined with more doors. She slid her hand along the wall to the first one, finding a convenient sign beside it. Captain. The next belonged to the First Mate and the one after to the Navigator. No one investigated her absence from the other room or exited any of the rooms to challenge her exploration. She suspected that meant she had no place to escape to.
She had only fragments of memory from the time Dr. First injected her but she recalled being carried to a ship. And she surely was on a ship so maybe her other memories held some truth. Maybe Vin had been there. And Vannie?
The next door sign read Staff Lounge. The sound of a door opening behind her sent Emma ducking into the room. She closed the door quietly behind her, luckily, since Dr. First snored in a cushioned chair only a few steps away.
Footsteps moved down the hall and past the lounge. Looking around her hiding place, Emma saw food storage and cooking areas. Against one wall sat a row of simple computers, probably meant for the crew to stay in touch with family.
Skirting the sleeping doctor as well as she could, Emma went to the computers. She touched one and it powered up, asking for a destination for her communication. Who or where should she send it? Vin was the only capable of helping her on short notice. Her muddled thoughts strained for clarity, feeling like an obvious answer lay right out of reach.
