At least Habib had ordered the use of non-deadly force. Nalini hoped that meant someone wanted her captive instead of dead.
“Who’s paying you, Sergeant?” Nalini, deciding there was little to be gained from pretending to still be unconscious, shifted as much as she could to look around.
She spotted Tristan, strapped to the deck in the aisle behind her, his wrists also pulled behind his back with flex-cuffs. Farther back, a floating leg sticking out of the doorway of the lounge made an odd sight. It was Killer’s, judging by the size, and presumably attached to the rest of him. He appeared to be floating free, unbound, and that made unease swirl in her gut. Would Habib stop those two men if they tried to kill Tristan? Or molested her? She didn’t think she had done anything to make an enemy of Habib over the years, but she hadn’t interacted with him that often. He might have a grudge against royalty and those with wealth and simply include her in his list of people that he wouldn’t help.
“One of your father’s rivals.” Habib looked down at her. “I do apologize for this, Your Highness. I don’t blame you for your father’s machinations.”
“Why blame him? He’s paid you well over the years, hasn’t he? My father isn’t a bad man.”
“He’s making a bad choice. My entire family are miners on his outposts. Many of them are genetically engineered. That’s forbidden in the Kingdom. What do you think will happen to them?”
“My father won’t change his way of governing simply because he marries off one of his daughters to the Kingdom.” Nalini grimaced, not liking to talk about herself that way, as if she were some pawn and didn’t have a life and career and destiny of her own.
But would that still be true if she married the prince? Or would she be expected to live in the Kingdom as some baby maker for their royal line?
No, she wouldn’t give up her freedom and independence, not for some man she’d never met. Not for any man.
“My father’s children have all been modified,” Nalini added, “or at least gene-cleaned.”
“The Kingdom is insidious,” Habib said, ignoring her argument. “You’re naive if you don’t think they’ll influence your father and try to put one of the children you and the prince have in charge of his holdings after his passing. They’ll claim the Middle and Far asteroid belts as Kingdom territories. They’ve wanted a toehold in the Miners’ Union for decades. Everybody knows that. Jager is out there, trying to quietly make deals with governments throughout the Twelve Systems.”
Nalini shook her head as much as her confined position allowed.
A thud and a groan came from the back of the yacht. Killer had woken up.
He pushed himself along the ceiling handholds toward navigation, his face swollen and bruised, making him even uglier than before.
The unease in Nalini’s gut shifted to outright fear as he activated his magnetic boots and came to stand in the aisle, one leg to either side of her pinned body. The last time she’d been kidnapped, she’d been too young and stick-like to interest anyone sexually, but this time…
She glanced at Tristan, her protector thus far, but even if he was awake, he wasn’t in a position to do anything. Would Habib stop Killer if he tried to paw up her or Jenna?
Jenna was also looking warily back at the big man. Habib was looking… at the comm console. Because he expected someone to contact him and ask if the yacht had been secured?
Nalini silently cursed herself for not realizing earlier that he had to be in on this scheme.
“We’ve almost reached the Middle Belt,” Killer said. “How much time do we have before the rendezvous?”
“They haven’t made contact yet, but I’m expecting it any minute. There are lots of ships nearby on the scanners. Mostly automated mining ships, but I’m sure our contact is out there in the haystack.” Habib lunged forward and thumped his hand on the console. “I don’t know who you were thinking of comming, Jenna, but I’ll stun you if you don’t cooperate.”
“Just my manicurist back in the palace. I want to let her know that I’ll be late for my nail appointment.”
Habib snorted. “Not necessarily. They just want Nalini. They might even want someone to take the yacht back to the palace and hand-deliver a message. If you don’t try to screw us, maybe that can be you.”
“How about you stop trying to screw us,” Nalini said, “and we continue on to Oceanus? I’ll pay for nail appointments for all.”
“Sure you will, rich bitch,” Killer said. “The children of wealthy sultans are known for their generosity to the poor. Not that we’re going to be poor much longer, eh, Gutshot?”
The silent man was also standing in the aisle now.
“I reckon we got time to have some fun with our captives before our contact shows up.” Killer nudged the side of Nalini’s chest with his boot.
Habib frowned at him. “Captives? You interested in the bodyguard too?”
“Her first. I could have some other kind of fun with him later.”
“Nobody’s having any fun with anyone.” Habib had a DEW-Tek rifle as well as a stunner, and he pointed it toward Killer. “Go back there and sit down. You’ve done your part.”
“Same could be said about you.” Killer, who also had a rifle, shifted toward Habib. “You got us out of the palace, so we don’t need you anymore.”
Since they both wore the sturdy and protective galaxy suits, they could take a few hits, but Nalini and Tristan would be in the middle if a fight broke out. Neither of them had their helmets up, so they couldn’t take a shot to the head. Nalini almost said something, but if her kidnappers started fighting with each other, it might be worth the risk of injury to let them. Jenna could slip out of her seat and free Nalini—or better yet, Tristan.
“I’m their contact,” Habib said.
“I’m sure they’ll pay whoever has the girl. And I intend to have the girl in all senses of the word.” Killer grinned. “You see that bedroom back there? Posh. Lots of room. You can watch if you want, but you will stay out of the way. Nothing but cheering allowed from you.”
“Knock it off, you degenerate super-villain wannabe,” Habib growled, “and go sit down. You’re getting paid to—”
Killer lunged at him, grabbing his rifle and stepping on Nalini’s back.
In the zero-g, it didn’t hurt much, but a rifle fired, and she gritted her teeth in anticipation of a lot more pain. Gutshot dove over her for Habib. Jenna cried out as someone clubbed her with a weapon. Another boot landed on Nalini, this time kicking her in the temple and mashing her nose into the deck.
Nalini wished she could roll out of the way, or at least cover her head.
Habib screamed, and something hot spattered the back of Nalini’s hands. Since they were still locked behind her back, she couldn’t see what it was. She didn’t want to know. She squinted her eyes shut, praying for some intervention, that an asteroid would hit them, anything.
A roar came from behind her, and someone pushed off the deck and dove toward the others. This new combatant didn’t kick her on the way by.
Confused, Nalini turned her head as much as she could. It was Tristan. Somehow, he’d freed himself. His cuffs dangled in midair above the aisle where he’d been.
He hurled Killer into the bulkhead, then grabbed Gutshot from behind and wrapped his arms around his neck. The two men grappled briefly, struggling for leverage as they thrashed in zero-g. Then Tristan flexed his powerful arms, and a snap echoed through the cabin.
He released Gutshot, the man’s neck broken and body limp, and spun himself to face his other foe as Killer pushed off a pod with loathing in his eyes. Tristan met that fury with a barrage of punches that halted Killer’s momentum. The bigger man tried to block and kick and gouge, but he wasn’t as fast, wasn’t as effective. Tristan landed a punch to the nose that sent him spinning head-over-feet.
Killer twisted in the air, a pistol appearing in his hand. Even as he spun away, he aimed it at Tristan and fired. The bolt caught him in the shoulder.
That was all it took. Killer hadn’t had his helmet up, and the energy bolt slammed into his eye, blowing it out and scorching a hole in his brain.
Nalini slumped in her restraints, her forehead resting against the cool deck.
“Are you two all right?” Tristan asked calmly.
“Yeah,” Jenna croaked. “I’m tied to my pod so I couldn’t help. Sorry. They just left my hands free for flying.”
“I’ll release you in a second.” Tristan angled himself and pushed down so that he knelt on one knee by Nalini, with the magnetic sole of his opposite boot locked to the deck. He touched her back gently. “Your Highness?”
“I’m fine. Just useless.”
“You’re bleeding.”
“Yes, uselessly.”
His fingers brushed the back of her head, though he didn’t touch the spot where she’d been kicked. She appreciated the solicitude. Some ridiculous part of her mind thought that she wouldn’t mind him touching her head more often, but then she remembered there were bodies floating around them and pushed the thought away.
“Is Sergeant Habib…?”
“The bastard cut his throat,” Jenna said. “I’m glad your knight killed them.”
Tristan sighed and grabbed a key fob out of the air. Where had that come from?
“I would have preferred to take them prisoner,” he said, “but I couldn’t risk getting fancy, not with two men trying to kill me. To kill us.”
He pressed the electronic fob to Nalini’s flex-cuffs, and they sprang open, relieving the discomfort of having her arms twisted behind her back. He found a knife and cut the makeshift binding that had held her to the deck, then moved to Jenna to free her from the pod.
“Killing us isn’t quite what they had in mind,” Nalini muttered. “Thank you for your timely help, Tristan. I thought my day was about to get a lot worse. How did you free yourself?”
She looked down at her hands, flexing her fingers, and grimaced at the blood drying on them. Habib’s blood. The man who’d served her father for five years now hung limply near the ceiling above the co-pilot’s pod, his throat cut open, globules of blood floating out.
Nalini was aware of her hands shaking before she realized she was on the verge of a breakdown. This was too gory and too surreal. Why had Habib made this decision before he’d even known that the wedding was a sure thing or what the ramifications would be?
“Your Highness?” Tristan rested a hand on her shoulder. He’d cut Jenna free and returned to Nalini’s side. “Do you want to rest in the back?”
“No.” Nalini took a bracing breath and lowered her hands.
If she didn’t look at the blood—which was hard when round droplets were floating all over the place—she would be all right. Besides, Jenna was holding herself together. She was checking the scanners and frowning at something on the console.
“I’ll be fine.” Nalini forced a smile and looked at Tristan’s wrists. He hadn’t yet explained how he’d escaped. “Are you avoiding answering my question because your freedom was a result of some Star Kingdom knight trick that you can’t divulge?”
“No. While we were grappling, I saw that Killer had cuffs, so I pickpocketed him for the key.”
“Well, that’s some kind of trick.”
“Not really. It wasn’t an elegant pocket picking. I almost got my hand caught in his belt on the first try and grabbed his dick on the second. That’s not something that knights teach their squires.”
“Dick-grabbing?”
Tristan threw her a startled glance, as if he hadn’t believed a princess would say that, but he recovered as he maneuvered himself up to the console. “Pickpocketing. Rarely that other thing either.”
“Yes, I understand same-sex relations are frowned upon in the Kingdom, along with genetic engineering. Prince Jorg may be in for a surprise when he visits the palace. We’re a touch more liberal.”
“Pro dick-grabbing, then?” Tristan touched the scanner display. “There’s a supposedly automated mining ship heading straight toward us. Any chance that belongs to your family?”
“It should if it’s in the Middle Belt,” Nalini said.
But Jenna was shaking her head. “I checked the ident. It’s one of Dubashi’s.”
“Will one of you comm your people while I clean up the mess?” Tristan waved at the bodies. “If the sultan has any help he can send, it would be appreciated.”
“I’ll do it.” Nalini squeezed past him to reach the comm station, longing to be useful. Right now, she was babbling to avoid dealing with the reality of the garish situation around her. At least they were safe, for the moment. So long as…
“That ship is accelerating. And powering up a…” Jenna swore. “That’s a maglocker.”
“What’s that?” Tristan asked.
“A tool for bringing in pieces of asteroids that have been cleaved off,” Nalini said. “It’ll be strong enough to haul in small ships too.”
“Like star yachts?”
“Yes. Jenna, any chance of getting away before they’re close enough to use it?” Nalini tried to comm back home, but an error popped up on the display. “Did those idiots disable the comm?” She groaned.
“Can you message your people chip-to-chip?” Tristan asked.
“I’m not getting a signal right now. All the asteroids in the belt tend to block satellites, so network access is always sketchy in here. We need to move for more reasons than one.”
“Working on it,” Jenna said. “They had us drifting, so I’m firing up the engine that controls the maneuvering thrusters from a cold start. The good news is that there aren’t any life signs on that mining ship, so unless we’re going to be kidnapped by robots, it may just be a coincidence that it’s heading this way.”
“Robots—and androids—are perfectly capable of kidnapping people,” Nalini murmured.
Even though Nalini didn’t have a signal, she composed a message to her brother, Samar, knowing it would go out as soon as it could. She trusted him most to let their father know that she was in trouble.
The yacht thrummed as the main engine came back online.
“That ship is definitely coming at us.” Jenna brought up the rear-camera display and magnified it, showing a long, fat, cylindrical mining vessel with retractable excavating tools folded into niches all along its hull. The big ship spun as it flew toward the yacht, creating artificial gravity for its robotic crew and interior machinery. “I’m not sure yet if we’ll be able to outrun them. They’ve had longer to build up speed, and they’re still accelerating.”
“How close to the nearest station or habitat?” Tristan asked.
“Stella Seven is on the far side of the belt,” Jenna said. “Almost a day away.”
The yacht accelerated, and a semblance of gravity returned. The blood droplets spattered to the deck. Nalini kept her focus on the display showing the mining ship to their rear. And how quickly it was gaining on them.
“We’ll never make it, will we?” Nalini murmured.
Jenna glanced at her. “Sorry.”
The yacht jolted, and Nalini gripped the edge of the control console to keep from tumbling away.
“That was sooner than I expected.” Jenna tapped a few controls, and the thrum of the engines grew more intense, but their acceleration disappeared. “I’ve never seen a maglocker with that kind of reach. Prince Dubashi must have upgraded the hell out of that ship.” She leaned back from the control console. “They have us.”
Nalini slumped.
“They who?” Tristan asked. “You said the mining ship is automated.”
“Robots? Androids? Vacuum cleaners?” Jenna lifted her hands. “Whoever they are, they’ve got us.
”
“Thanks to the delightfully high-tech universe we live in,” Nalini said, “robots can handle space travel and picking up asteroids a lot better than we can.”
A clunk emanated from the hull. A mechanical grasping arm had wrapped around the yacht, as if it were valuable ore to be pulled in.
“And picking up princesses, too, apparently,” Jenna grumbled.
“I’ll be surprised if there isn’t a human crew aboard it,” Tristan said, “no matter what your scanner display says. Kidnapping a princess sounds like too important a job to delegate to robots.”
“I’m not sure whether to hope for a crew or not,” Nalini said. “In theory, people would be easier to negotiate with.”
Jenna tapped the comm. “Still down. I wish I could send out a general distress call. Just in case there are any ships full of heroes nearby.”
Tristan lifted his chin. “That’s my job.”
“Sending distress calls?”
“Being a hero. Whatever is waiting over there, I’ll deal with it.” He headed back to collect his weapons. “You two should hide.”
8
Tristan crouched by the airlock hatch—a boarding party would have to come from that direction—with his pertundo gripped in both hands. He had the telescoping shaft extended partway, wanting as much reach as possible but aware of the tight confines of the yacht corridor.
The deck had been vibrating fiercely, with the engines pushed to max as the craft tried to escape the mining ship’s maglocker. Now, it grew still, silence filling the yacht.
“They’re pulling us in,” Jenna said from the pilot’s pod, her voice thick with defeat. “I’ve tried everything to twist away, but that’s a powerful maglocker.”
“Given the size of the ship, they probably pull in asteroids the size of small moons and break them up inside.” Nalini, not following Tristan’s suggestion to hide, stood in front of the co-pilot’s pod, her hands pressed against the console as she stared at the display.
Knight Protector: a Star Kingdom novel Page 8