by K Bledsoe
“Come now. I am aware that you are conscious. Let’s not start this relationship with deception, shall we?”
The voice belonged to the man who had stunned her, so she lifted her head to stare at him, trying to appear groggy. He was sitting in another chair across from her. Laid out on the bed were all her accoutrements, lined up as if each had been inspected. They had been extremely diligent as she saw the knife from her boot and even the tiny electromagnetic generator she kept in her bra. She was impressed that she was still dressed though her gloves were laid out on the bed next to the mask. She tried not to look at the transmitting device. Did she hit the kill switch? She couldn’t remember.
The man waited for her to speak. He was dressed in expensive, but not gaudy, clothes. He was obviously the man in charge of the commandos that had captured her. His awareness of her awakening also led her to conclude that he knew his way in an interrogation.
She knew exactly which persona to play here.
“I’ve no reason to lie. What d’ya wanna know?” she asked.
He smiled, looking relaxed, but she could tell it was an act.
“Why are you here?”
“I assume you’ve already figured that out as I’m sure you’ve taken a look around.”
He nodded. “To kill Lord Timatay. You admit that?”
“Why not?” Lenore looked him up and down. “You’re not the local law and ambushed me outside of the compound, so I assume you were also heading to do the same job I was hired for.”
“Interesting conclusions. Who hired you?”
She shrugged. “Don’t know. Never saw his face. With the amount he paid me, I figured it was better to not ask questions.”
“Did he ask you to make it look like a suicide?”
She grinned. “Naw, that was all me. My own personal method so people are less likely to come lookin’.”
“How did you get to this planet? Do you have a ship?”
“Bribed a cargo ship to bring me unregistered.”
“So why the parachute?”
Damn, these guys are good. “Okay, so they didn’t know they had a stowaway until an escape hatch malfunctioned on landing approach.”
His eyes hardened perceptibly. “I thought you weren’t going to lie to me.”
Lenore shrugged again. “Force of habit.” With each shrug she felt her bonds, but they were quite snug. It would take serious distraction on his part for her to get out of them.
He stared at her for long moments. She stared back the amount she figured a tough independent mercenary would, then averted her head and looked down slightly. Her body was starting to alternate between her extremities going numb and activating sweat glands. She mentally tried to bring her reactions under control but had no idea if she was succeeding. Another side effect of no implant.
“It appears that you are not an ordinary assassin-for-hire.” She looked back at him, using all her will to keep her face expressionless as her gut clenched. Did he suspect her being a Xa’ti’al? She raised her eyebrows slightly as if in inquiry.
“This is quite a range of equipment for one quick murder.” His left hand indicated the bed and all her gear. “Especially this.” His sweeping hand stopped at the data device and picked it up to inspect it. “Most unusual.” He peered at her, pursing his lips. “What exactly is it for?”
He knows what it is for. Picking it up had been deliberate though he made it look random. She again wished she remembered if she had hit the kill switch.
“I always carry one with me in case I get a chance to download anything.” She attempted a gruff look, bold, she knew, but in her persona. “Be careful with that. Paid quite a lot for it, custom job. And it’s delicate.”
“What did you download?”
“Nothin’.” She tried to sound disgusted. “Only got into the office. Couldn’t get through the door to the mainframe room.”
“Hm.” He tossed the device back on the bed, and Lenore hissed and glowered at the man like she was expected to.
“Now, we know that you were out in the courtyard mere moments after you shot poor Lord Timatay. Not much time to try to pick a lock.”
Double damn. They have really done their investigations. Her estimate of them rose another notch, and she began to worry. These were most likely people from the slave organization, not another mercenary group as she hinted at earlier.
“I had Timatay—”
“Lord Timatay.”
Lenore filed that interesting correction for later reflection and continued. “I had Lord Timatay already paralyzed while I tried to break into the data room. Easier to kill, especially since he refused to give me the code for the door.” A small tidbit to throw them off the trail of Timatay’s betrayal.
He stared at her. “Either you are indeed telling the truth, or you are a very good liar.”
“Again, I have no reason to lie.” And here she took a shot, one that a mercenary would do. “Let me go and I will make it well worth your while. I’m quite well off or will be when I collect the other half of this reward.”
The man laughed. “Oh my, you are a bold one.” He stood and slowly walked toward her. “But this is not about money. You have killed one of our own and must answer for that.” He held up a wand, and she couldn’t help her eyes widening as she recognized the same slave device as they used on Quinn.
“Ah, I see you recognize this.” He twisted the base of the wand and her bonds shot voltage through her, lighting up every nerve in her body. Another twist and it stopped.
She grimaced. The pain was more intense than she had expected. Again, she missed that implant. But she acted tough for the persona. “One of your own? I thought you were here to kill him.”
“If we were, it would have been our place to kill one of our own, not some random gutter trash.”
They had already been suspicious of Lord Timatay. That told her volumes, but she reacted as expected. “Gutter trash! How dare you, you whore’s son, mongrel—” She was cut short as her bonds were activated again for an even longer time.
“Please,” she panted when he switched it off. “I’ll pay a fortune. Please.”
“I’ll repeat, it’s not about money.” Another twist of the wand. She felt her teeth grind against each other in spasm, and she held on. Finally, the shocks stopped, and she was not acting when her head sagged down as her muscles went flaccid.
“So kill me then.”
The man grasped her by the hair and yanked her head up. “That decision will be up to my boss. He may have something better in mind for you.”
“I’ll work for you. For free. Do anything you want.”
“Yes, that is always an option.” He reached into his pocket to pull out and then uncoil a long strip.
Are slave collars standard issue for lackeys? She knew her nerves were making her giddy, but the irreverent thought helped her focus on her next strategy.
She began to struggle wildly and said in horror, “No, please. You don’t need that. I said I would work for free. Not as a slave, please anything but that.” He reached to place the collar on and quick as anything, she bit his hand.
He pulled back and stopped his hand short of reaching inside his jacket again. Now she knew where his weapon was.
“Kill me. Better than slavery.”
His eyes hardened, and he smiled again with a sneer. He activated the bonds again and when the pain stopped, the collar was around her neck.
“Slavery it is.”
Chapter Forty-nine
“Psst, Jonah.”
Jonah looked up from the terminal to see Lavan peering into the room from the doorway.
“Well, hello, Companion. How may I serve you?” He rose from his chair and indicated with a bow that Lavan was to take it.
“Shhhh! I am not supposed to be talking to you, Hahn would not like it.” He sat in the chair, looking like a caged mouse, jittery and on edge, ready to run at the least provocation. Jonah took note of a new black eye and the fact that Lavan was
thinner than ever. He closed the door.
“It is perfectly normal for the Companion to speak with the Chief Reviewer.”
“No, no no. You don’t understand. The prince will make things very difficult if he knew I came to you.”
“Like he hasn’t been difficult?” Jonah pointed to the black eye. “And I know he has been limiting your food, after he laced that meal with berry seed, knowing full well you are allergic.”
“He wanted me out of the way for a few days,” said Lavan with a grimace. “You know how the king has improved quite a bit since you spoke with him? Well, his Majesty has now noticed that the prince is not the heir he thought he would be and has been moving to limit him from gathering any more power.” He swallowed and winced as if his throat hurt.
Jonah reached for the small refrigerator next to his desk and pulled out one of his special bottles of energy drink. He held it out to Lavan who shrank back from it. That showed more than anything how the prince had been treating him and his heart went out to him.
“This is easy on the stomach, and it looks like you need a little pick-me-up.” He uncapped the bottle and again offered it to the companion. Lavan took the bottle and took a small sip. He smiled and took a longer swig.
“Sorry about that. Been a rough road.” He drank again and started talking quickly.
“The prince wants me to procure a device that scrambles camera videos. Sound, too, although I know cameras outside of the palace usually don’t have sound. He knows he is being closely watched by the few people still loyal to the king. He is not allowed to meet with anyone privately in his unmonitored rooms like he used to, and he is becoming frustrated that his run for power is slipping.”
“Ah, I see why you would get in trouble for telling me that. I am the one that he wants to hide things from.”
“Well, you and the other reviewers. Can you get one for me, hold on,” he raised his hand to stop Jonah from speaking. “I don’t want one that works, I want one that is faulty. One that appears to work, but he can still be filmed. I think,” Lavan drew a long breath as if it were a great effort to get that message out. “I think he is plotting not only to regain his power but also to kill the king.”
“Wow.” Jonah was both impressed and afraid. Impressed with Lavan that even through the subtle tortures he was put through, he was still managing to outthink and do whatever he could to stop the prince’s plans. And afraid that the prince was thinking about a forcible takeover. Not good.
“Can you do that? I have to get him something, and I don’t want one that works.”
“I think I know someone who can procure a scrambler, and I can tinker with it. When I have it ready, I will have a messenger give you a name and place to meet so you don’t have to visit me again. And I will make it so that it works for one or two uses because Hahn will surely test it.”
“Good idea and thanks, Jonah.” Lavan took a very long drink, draining the bottle, then rose, giving the empty bottle to Jonah. “I’m glad I can count you as a friend.”
“Lavan,” said Jonah reaching a hand out but not quite touching the companion. “Why do you stay? Why not spend a few days in guest quarters or even outside the palace? No one should keep going through what you do.”
Lavan slowly shook his head as he looked at the ground. He sighed and stood there for several heartbeats without speaking. As Jonah opened his mouth to speak again, Lavan lifted his head to look directly into his eyes.
“I can’t leave. Right now, Hahn thinks I am a simpleton whose nose in always in books and completely unaware of what is going on. Things have to continue as usual or he will suspect something is going on.”
“Nobody deserves the treatment he has put you through.”
“You are right. Nobody does. Yet if I leave, not only will we lose the one person on the inside, he will need someone else to take his frustrations out on.” Lavan lifted his chin. “I will not let him torture another.”
The resolution in his voice and eyes stirred Jonah’s admiration for the tough young man. Very few people would take on such burdens. He gave Lavan’s shoulder a gentle squeeze.
“Hang in there, Lavan. It will get better.”
The Companion smiled sadly and headed for the door.
“Wait.” Jonah pulled up the cameras, found the corridor deserted, then located the prince in the Council Hall. “It’s clear.”
Lavan nodded and left. Jonah switched the camera back on and thought about how he could help the companion. Raahi was supposed to meet him at the apartment today after work with her last piece of information. He smiled. Now he had another job for her which would keep her from leaving for a little longer. At least until the Baroness, or whoever the lady was, came back with useful information.
He set about clearing any videos that showed the companion coming to him and began counting the minutes to the end of his shift.
***
“Wow, you really have been thinking all this through, haven’t you Quinn?”
“Well, Alli, you were working on the computer, and Dad was doing ship stuff. I felt useless and went over this again. In case we needed it.” Quinn frowned. “Though I didn’t think we would.”
“It’s a good thing you did, now tell me your ideas,” said Diarmin.
“I still don’t know what good we can do,” said Allison. “We are not even close to ready. All Mom taught us to do is run away.”
“Hey, Dad’s no slouch if his old stories are to be believed, and as for us,” Quinn smiled. “If running away is what we are good at then that is what we will do.”
***
The interrogation had been finished for a while, but Lenore was still tightly bound to the chair. After the shocks, the man had turned to well-placed knife cuts. Mostly stabbing in non-vital but extremely painful areas.
He does know his way around the human nervous system, thought Lenore in one of her brief moments of respite.
Her best estimate of time passed was that she had been unconscious about an hour, interrogated for nearly twice that long, and, now, left alone again for nearly an hour. She had continually stuck with her story, this not being her first torture. Although she had to admit that he was one of the more talented tormentors, maximum pain with little damage showing, typical for slavers.
So, four hours. She had missed the rendezvous and hoped her family had not tried to pick up the parachute. There would most likely be guards watching the area. But surely she would have heard if there had been another capture. Her mouth twisted. They would tell her if only to add to the torture.
It wouldn’t be much longer until this group finished tying up loose ends here and returned to wherever they had come from. It wouldn’t have been the city, or they would have simply interrogated her there. No, they were most likely from offplanet, directly from the organization. Which made her anxious to find a way out before they wished to return to their ship. Once that happened, things would be significantly worse.
So far, she was confident that she had them believing she was in a fog of pain and very weak. Granted, she was indeed weaker than she should be, but she knew she could find the strength to fight if only given an inch.
Lenore heard footsteps. She kept her head hanging limply and eyes closed. She had passed out at the end of the last session but had regained consciousness quickly. However, she hadn’t moved in order to maintain the illusion.
“Wake up.” Something nudged her left calf, probably the toe of her tormentor’s boot. Since it hit a previous nerve stab, it was enough to “wake” her as well as elicit a yelp of pain.
“I’ve thought of more questions.” The man twirled the knife.
Lenore knew there were no more questions, he just enjoyed the torture.
“Please,” she gasped, throat rough. “I’ve told you all I know.”
“Then let’s see if there’s some hidden nugget you didn’t know that you knew.”
She held her breath and shrank away as he approached, distracting herself with bets on whe
re he would use the knife next. Five credits says he goes for the ribs. No, ten that he will revisit the previous site near the ankle. Ah… eyes settling near right shoulder… fifty credits he goes for the bicep nerve.
“Sir, I need to speak with you.” One of the lackeys, now devoid of all stealth gear, entered the bedroom, pad in hand.
“You know I don’t like being interrupted, Number Four.”
“Yes, but you must see this.”
The man sighed and took a step back, holding out his hand for the pad. Whatever he saw there caused a quick intake of breath and an incredulous look turned toward his lackey.
“Yes, thank you for bringing this to my attention, Four. Continue with the extraction and clean up.”
“Yes, sir.” The young man nodded and left. Lenore was grateful for the distraction as the man perused the pad. He even appeared to forget about her, and she turned her thoughts again to escape. She was brought back to the situation abruptly when he began to laugh.
“Well, well, well, my dear. Looks like I have stumbled upon a great treasure.”
Oh, no. Did they find the information on the data device after all?
“And that treasure is now in my possession,” he said.
Lenore groaned inwardly. They did. Things couldn’t get any worse. The man turned the pad around to show her the display.
There was her picture in what was obviously a posted reward for her capture.
She was wrong. It was much, much worse.
***
Jonah almost didn’t hear the knock, busy as he was preparing dinner. He had been listening because he knew she never used the ringer that recorded her voice to announce herself. He dropped the spoon and went to see if it was indeed a knock.
He opened the door to Raahi. Her hair was completely hidden under a cap, and she was wearing a jacket with a scarf over the lower half of her face even though it was quite warm out.
“Hello, Raahi. Come in and make yourself comfortable. Dinner is almost ready.”