“What happened to you?” Aaron repeated. He was still pointing the gun at Thomas’s face, but he no longer felt he would need it. Thomas looked like a man who had been beaten to within an inch of his life.
“Trouble,” Thomas said slowly.
Thomas was talking slowly and a bit awkwardly. Aaron suspected he had been right about the missing teeth.
“Trouble,” Thomas repeated, “men came for us. They got Eric.”
Sighing now, Aaron put the Oliver away in its holster. Then he reached down and grabbed Thomas’s shoulders and heaved him to his feet. Thomas swayed and for a moment, Aaron thought he might collapse. But the moment passed and Thomas remained standing, although he did lean against Aaron for support.
Aaron took a step closer to the door and unlocked it. He pushed it open and helped Thomas inside.
Thomas sat down gingerly on the edge of the bed. He looked like he might be sick at any moment, but Aaron didn’t much care. He didn’t know what they had done to get into trouble with the law, and he rather resented Thomas coming here.
Aaron froze with his hands outstretched to open the small safe. He desperately wanted the feel of the Horace handgun on his hip, but a new thought had penetrated his stressed-out mind.
“How did you know where I was?” he asked.
“What?” Thomas asked, looking up.
“How did you know I was here?” Aaron repeated.
Thomas shrugged. “Saw you that first night. You know, that first night when we made planetfall. Saw you heading into this hotel. Didn’t think much of it, as I had other things on my mind.”
Aaron snorted. He remembered the “other things” that had been on Thomas’s mind that first night. He seemed to remember the “other thing” on Thomas’s arm had been blonde.
“Anyway,” Thomas continued, “when I got here, I threatened the receptionist and he told me what room you were in.”
So why didn’t the sick bastard call the cops? was Aaron’s first thought, but even as it crossed his mind he thought he knew the answer. Most of these hotels that catered to spacers wanted the cops to steer clear. Cops were bad for business. The sickly receptionist didn’t know what was going on between Thomas and Aaron and he probably didn’t much care, as long as it happened quietly.
Aaron turned back to the wall and opened the safe. He removed the Horace and checked the charge, pleased to see that none of the charge had slipped away. Sometimes plasmics would lose their charge over time. It tended to happen more with older or cheap guns. The Horace was neither cheap nor old and was still fully charged.
He turned back to Thomas, strapping the gun on his waist as he did so.
“So what did you do to get into trouble with the law? Is it serious?”
Thomas looked confused. “What do you mean?”
Now Aaron was confused. His first thought was that perhaps Thomas had a concussion or something—it was certainly possible with the way he had been beaten.
“You said you were in trouble,” Aaron prompted.
Thomas nodded his head vigorously one time, winced, and then held his head still. “Yeah, we’re in trouble, but it’s not with the cops.”
“Then who?” Aaron asked, his eyebrows pulling down in confusion. I don’t have time for this! he thought.
“I don’t know who they were,” Thomas said, “but they weren’t really looking for us.”
Aaron shook his head and shrugged. “What does that mean?”
“They took us, but they asked us about you.”
The words made Aaron’s skin go cold, and chills danced up and down his spine. “Me?” he said dumbly.
Thomas nodded, grimaced, and began rubbing his neck. “Yeah, you, Susan, Adam, Russell, and the doc.”
Each name was like a kick to the gut, and his mind whirled through the possibilities. Woodson’s people was the first thought but, of course, it wasn’t them. Even if Woodson had known about Aaron, he wouldn’t have known about the rest of them.
Could it be Locke’s people? he thought. Could one of them be betraying us?
The endless horrible possibilities were flowing through his thoughts now and then the really bad one came to mind. Oh God! Could it be the Miram Union?
“Describe them,” Aaron commanded, and then he started at the sound of his own voice. He was surprised at how steady it sounded.
“I saw five of them,” Thomas said. “Three men and two women. They burst into our hotel when we were alone and took Eric and me.” He shrugged, looking confused. “They took us several days ago. I’m not exactly sure when, three or four days ago.” A haunted look stole over Thomas’s features and his eyes went glassy. “There was something strange about them. When they came through the door, I was standing near the table. My gun was on it and my mind was screaming to grab the gun up, but I couldn’t move. One of the men seemed to move funny. It was weird. He would be standing in one place and then he would be somewhere else. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Aaron stared at Thomas, and it felt like his stomach was being twisted into knots. The people that Thomas described did sound strange, but in a way they also sounded familiar. They sounded vaguely like Aaron and his group from the Commonwealth army.
Aaron’s mind was a panicky jumble of thoughts, but there was a flash of insight and he asked, “How did you get away?” Once again he was astounded at how normal his voice sounded.
Thomas looked up. Once again he looked like he might be sick. “They questioned me for hours this morning.” His face left little doubt as to the means they used to get answers. “I don’t think I told them anything—I was still managing to resist.” He paused and looked embarrassed. “I don’t know how much longer I could have held out, though.” He shrugged and looked away. “Anyway, when they were returning me to my cell, I managed to hit the man over the head.” He shrugged again, “I didn’t know what else to do. I had no idea where Eric was, and I didn’t want to wander the halls until they caught me, so I climbed out the first window I saw and ran.”
Anger welled up inside Aaron, and he stepped closer and pulled Thomas to his feet. He held him by the front of the shirt. “And you came here?” he demanded.
“I needed help,” Thomas said quietly. “There was nowhere else for me to go.”
It was at that moment that the floor outside Aaron’s hotel room creaked. It wasn’t much, but it spurred Aaron to action. He threw Thomas backward onto the bed and then fell back toward the bathroom door. Aaron almost made it. The door was kicked open. It flew into the opposing wall and bounced back, shaking. Aaron lay on his back partially in the open bathroom doorway.
A man and a woman charged through the open doorway. Aaron was quite sure he had never seen either of them before. In the blink of an eye, the Horace was in his hand and he was raising it to shoot. His arm, and the gun, froze about halfway up. He couldn’t move it anymore; he couldn’t even pull the trigger. He lay there on his back, straining to raise or lower the gun, but it wouldn’t budge. But it wasn’t just his arm. Aaron quickly realized he couldn’t move at all. He couldn’t turn his head, crawl, or even stand up. He was helpless.
Chapter 24
“Check on him,” the woman said, and she motioned toward the far side of the bed at Thomas.
Aaron’s throw had been more powerful than intended and Thomas had gone off the far side.
The man who accompanied her hurried over and bent over Thomas.
Aaron studied her for a moment. He was quite sure that he had never seen her before. She was slim and wasn’t wearing much makeup. Her dark brown hair was bobbed and she looked rather masculine.
“He’s alive,” the man called out. “He’s unconscious though. Must have hit his head on the nightstand.”
The woman smiled at Aaron. “You won’t be needing that anymore.” She stepped closer and pulled the Horace from his hand. “Quinton, shut the door.”
The other man, who Aaron assumed was Quinton moved quickly to the door and closed it.
“Now then,” the woman said, “let me introduce myself. My name is Terra Bowe, Captain Terra Bowe of the Commonwealth army. And you are Colonel Aaron Walker, formerly of the Commonwealth army.” She tilted her head, studying him. “Nothing to say? Here, let me help you with that.”
Just like that, Aaron found his head and neck working again. He blinked his eyes and swallowed. He had been completely unable to move, and that included swallowing his own saliva. He had been on the verge of drooling on himself. He took a deep breath, his eyes never leaving the woman’s face. “Why are you here?” he asked.
The woman laughed. “Why? Why? We’re here to capture deserters, deserters who killed countless volunteers on the research moon. Those volunteers were the only hope of ever rescuing the Commonwealth, and you killed them when you escaped.”
Aaron wasn’t sure how she knew that it was him who had destroyed the moon where the medical experiments had taken place, but somehow she did. But she didn’t quite have all of her facts straight.
“Most of those volunteers were already dead. The doctors were killing us.”
“Bullshit!” Quinton said from near the door. “You’re a liar.”
Aaron’s eyes flicked to the young man. He was slim, clean-shaven, and blonde. Actually, slim was being generous; the boy was downright scrawny. He looked young, even younger than Adam. Right now he looked angry.
“Lieutenant,” Terra said quietly, “be quiet.” She kept her eyes on Aaron even as the young man lapsed into silence. “Now, tell me where the rest of your murderous, deserting group is.”
“Deserters?” Aaron repeated and he grinned. “Exactly what is it you think we deserted from? The Commonwealth is gone!” Despite the grin, Aaron’s heart was beating fast. There had to be a way out of this, but he couldn’t imagine how he was going to escape without being able to move.
Terra took several steps closer. “It’s gone because you killed the only people who could have changed things!” she shouted. She stopped and glared down at him, her hands balling into fists and then relaxing.
There was a brief silence and then a new thought occurred to Aaron. “So who are you taking orders from?” he asked.
Terra’s face went blank. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“Are you working for the Unionists?” Aaron goaded.
Terra snarled and took another step closer. She jerked her right foot back and delivered a very painful kick to Aaron’s leg. Even though Aaron couldn’t move, he could still feel. Her boots had sharply pointed toes and the kick hurt like hell.
“Watch your mouth, asshole,” Terra said.
Aaron coughed and said, “So, I take it it’s not the Unionists.” It was slightly amusing to see Terra’s reaction to his words and he thought for a moment that she might kick him again.
Terra opened her mouth to speak, but Aaron beat her to it. “So it must be some second-rate politician, who’s now a collaborator with the Unionists. Am I right?”
Terra took a deep breath. “We all do what we must to survive, even if we personally find it disgusting.” She paused and studied him for a moment. “You don’t have to talk to me if you don’t want to.” She bent down and looked him in the eye. “We have a telepath with us. We’ll ask you these same questions again and we’re sure you won’t be able to hide the answers from her for long.”
At this exact moment Aaron wasn’t exactly fearing for his own safety. He didn’t think he was in any danger of dying in the immediate future, not at least until he had given up his friends. At this moment in time, his worry was what was about to happen to Thomas. They no longer needed him, so it would follow that he was about to have an unfortunate accident. Aaron cast around for anything to say, anything to keep them from deciding it was time to go. He asked the only thing that came to mind, “So what exactly is your special talent?”
Terra tilted her head to one side. “Kinda personal, isn’t it?” When Aaron didn’t answer, she continued. “If you haven’t figured it out, I can interfere with a person’s brain impulses. Make it where they can’t move. Which is why you’re lying here on the floor, dumbass.”
Aaron’s eyes flicked to Quinton. “What about tiny over there?”
Terra’s eyes never left Aaron’s face. It was a bit unnerving the way she watched him constantly.
“He was not so lucky with his talent. It seems that some of the abilities we picked up can harm us when they’re used.”
Aaron’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t say anything. He didn’t know what to say. He glanced past her to Quinton but the young man would not meet his eyes.
“You see,” Terra continued, “Quinton’s newfound ability allows his brain to send signals to his muscles and makes them contract and expand unbelievably fast. It allows him to move almost faster than your eyes can follow. The drawback is that every time he uses this ability it tears his body up a little bit more.”
“Tears his body up?” Aaron repeated, horrified.
Terra nodded. “You see, a human body just isn’t made to function like that. Quinton’s a patriot. He uses his ability to help the Commonwealth, even though it’s slowly killing him. He’s willing to die for his country, which is something you were unwilling to do.”
Aaron whipped his head forward and he felt the veins standing out on his neck as he strained to get at the woman. “Don’t insult my patriotism,” he shouted. “How dare you?”
Terra jerked back. She wasn’t really in any danger. Aaron could only move his head and neck and she was too far away for him to even touch her. Her movement was more in surprise than anything else.
“I gave up everything and was betrayed by the fucking politicians,” Aaron bellowed. “The very same fucking politicians you now serve. And who do they get their marching orders from? From the fucking Miram Union, that’s who.”
For a moment, Terra just stared at Aaron, her eyes wide. Then she laughed. “Nice try,” she said. “But we’re not believing your lies, no matter how good an acting job you do.” She tapped Aaron on the leg. “Don’t worry though. Once we catch your four friends, we’ll put you all in stasis and ship you back to the Commonwealth; that fucking politician that we work for wants to see you personally.”
Aaron laid his head back against the floor. He was getting desperate now. He didn’t know what else to say to keep them talking and he feared what they might do when they were ready to leave the room.
Frantically, Aaron’s thoughts bounced around the woman’s strange talent. He’d never heard anything like it before, but then again he’d never heard of anything like Jessica’s newfound ability to generate sights and sounds either. There had to be a way to beat it, but how? He thought back on the strange way the woman watched him unblinking. Could that be it? Did she have to maintain eye contact the entire time. He had little enough to lose; time to try an obvious diversion.
“Kill him,” Terra said, motioning toward the far side of the bed. “Be quick about it.”
Despite the horrible situation, Aaron chuckled. Terra and Quinton both paused, watching him. “Don’t you get it?” Aaron asked. “You just asked speedy-boy over there to kill a man and be quick about it.” He looked from one to the other, “I’m guessing the pun was unintentional.”
Terra continued to watch Aaron, but spoke to Quinton. “Go on. Get on with it.”
Aaron could see Quinton step past the door on his way to kill Thomas. He swallowed hard and then looked at the closed door. He forced himself to smile and his face brightened in relief. “Oh, thank heavens!”
As one, both Quinton and Terra turned to the door. Quinton drew his gun, which he had re-holstered. Terra pointed Aaron’s gun at the door.
With Terra’s eyes now off of him, Aaron tried to throw himself to his feet; tried to jump up and hit the woman over the head. Nothing happened. Even with her eyes off him, nothing changed—he still couldn’t move.
He raised his eyes and the two of them were looking at him.
“What was that about?” Terra asked in a flat vo
ice.
Aaron sighed. Probably no reason to lie; after all, it hadn’t worked. “I assumed that your ability was tied to your strange bug-eyed way of watching me. I thought that maybe if you looked away I could move again.”
Terra moved closer. “Maybe my strange buy-eyed way of watching you is because I can’t believe a Commonwealth colonel would betray his country and destroy their only possible salvation.” She kicked him in the leg again. She glanced back at Quinton again, and Aaron thought it was just to mock him, just to show him that she could look away and there still wasn’t anything he could do. “Go on. Kill him.”
“There’s no reason to kill him,” Aaron said. Terra turned back to look at him and Quinton paused, having only taken a step.
“You’re concerned about him?” Terra asked.
“Sure,” Aaron answered. “What’s it to you?”
“If you’re concerned about him,” she said, “that’s all the more reason to kill him. My orders are to bring you back alive, and that’s the only thing keeping you breathing. Killing him brings you discomfort and that makes me so happy.”
Aaron’s head slumped back against the floor. Damn, that bitch really hates me! he thought.
In the panic of the moment, Aaron’s thoughts were all over the place. It occurred to him, dully, that a couple of weeks ago he had nearly killed Thomas himself; that thought was not in the least comforting.
How do I break free! he screamed silently in his head. The answer came not as words or thoughts but in a series of flashes.
Aaron’s heart skipped a beat and his breathing stopped momentarily. The idea that had just occurred to him was horrifying, but it also might be the only chance Thomas and any of the others had at surviving this. In truth, he didn’t think it was his own idea but rather a suggestion of the organic computer.
With barely a hesitation, Aaron threw himself into this new plan.
Take over, he thought, frantically. Take over and kill the woman and the scrawny bastard. Kill them and then let me have control back!
Kill Shot: A Remnant of the Commonwealth, Book Two Page 18
