Kaistril hadn’t sent her away, it was his brothers—that bossy Kyler and that scary silent brother with the hair all slicked back, and the focals…they wanted her out of Kaistril’s life.
Sirn might still be alive…she’d heard that rumor. Perhaps that was why they’d sent her away. She was still a married woman. But Kaistril said his mother could annul the marriage. Or maybe their information wasn’t current and they didn’t know about the coupe…maybe they thought she was loyal to Sirn.
Sabralia couldn’t think of anything else to do except wait for the guards to quit looking for her. Kaistril…a tear slipped down her cheek. He would be all right. His brothers did care about him, even if they were unkind to her. Her credits would last for a long while. There was enough to get on a transport to anywhere. Not to Coloun, though. If Sirn was alive, harboring her would be a death sentence for her cousin. Not that Sirn cared. It was just a matter of pride.
She would take a transport to New Prague. From there perhaps she could get a message to Kaistril, letting him know where she was.
She paid to get the Goldshawk Hub com access, then searched for transport packages to Yonder. She stayed up long past her sleep cycle, researching various immigration packages, trying to decide what would work for her. Many came with a skill training course. She would definitely need one of those, since she had no life skills. A transport to Yonder would be boarding in three days. It might even be the same one Daveed and his family were on. She could hide from the New Prague Military until then. At least they were easy to see in their uniforms.
I will probably never see him again. There was war and more war, and she would be on a remote world, sewing tough work clothing for farmers, or growing herbs for harvest. Kaistril would be with his Tier fighting for freedom.
It was a long time until she slept.
Kaistril awoke in a medbed. It took a moment before he remembered Kyler and Karvar. He was on his way home.
He stood up, expecting to feel weak and dizzy, but he felt great.
Karvar suddenly burst into the room. “You’re awake. How do you feel?”
“Great. Not dizzy. Normal. I probably lost some muscle mass, but that will return.”
Karvar smiled. “Since I’m not familiar with the appliances you wore, we were worried.”
“Where’s Sabralia?” He could hardly wait to see her. He could hardly wait to get her alone…
Karvar pushed up his focals and Kaistril frowned. That was a nervous sign…
“Well, the thing is, Kyler decided…I decided too, that she should return to her home planet. She is Sirn’s wife, you know. A security risk.”
Kyler joined them.
“She’s one of Sirn’s wives. He has dozens. And Sirn’s probably dead. There was a coupe at his pleasure palace. We managed to escape.” Kaistril frowned at them. Fury roared through him. They’d sent her away, into danger?
“She mentioned something about a fight or something.”
“You didn’t ask her about what happened?” Kaistril stared at his larger brother in disbelief.
“No. We were concerned about getting you stabilized.”
Kaistril raised an eyebrow. “Really? You attended Karvar in the surgery to remove the appliance inside my head?”
“Well, no, but-”
“So, what did you talk to her about?”
“I didn’t talk to her, all right? We ran a bio on her. We knew she was married to Sirn. I figured she was a security risk. Then we searched her belongings and found films. Dozens of them, with Sirn’s Forces’ encryption.”
“I knew they were there. We were bringing them to you, you idiots.”
“We thought she might send information back to Sirn.”
“About what? A cybot getting appliances removed? That she had a lot of his high-tech military secrets?” Kaistril shook his head in disgust. “So find me a transport to Coloun. I’ll meet up with her there.”
Kyler and Karvar exchanged quick glances.
“What?”
Kyler took a deep breath. “She didn’t make it onto the transport. Apparently, she paid a couple glider vendors to glide her off the walkway. The escorts I sent didn’t have floaters on. She got away.”
Kaistril burst out laughing. “My plump little queen outwitted your ensigns?” He stared them down for a moment, then knew what he had to do. “I want my cybot appliances. Right now.”
Karvar looked confused. He pushed his focals back up his nose.
“They are in my lab. I wanted to look at them-”
“Get them. And get me some quick food and clothes. Not a uniform.” Then he turned to Kyler. “So do you have soldiers out looking for her?”
“Yes. But it appears she has many credits, enough to rent a room and find different clothing.”
“Of course she has plenty. We sold half of the harem’s jewels.”
Karvar came back with a tray holding the cybot appliances.
“So you got that inner piece out?” Kaistril asked.
“Yes. We also ran your blood through a filtering process to clean out the nanos that were keeping you asleep.”
“Good.” Kaistril grabbed the temple appliance and went to a small mirror over a lav.
“Well, study up those films, little brother. From what I could see, they hold most of Sirn’s campaign notes, cybot mechanics and weaponry specs.” As he spoke, Kaistril activated the temple appliance and slapped it onto his head.
“What are you doing?” Karvar stared at him in horror.
“I can find her with these appliances. They are keyed to her.” He pushed the arm com on over the neatly healed wound and did the same with the thigh appliance. Their lights flashed as data poured into his mind. Just like old times. Only not. Now they would serve his purposes, he wouldn’t be serving theirs. He smiled.
“I need clothes. Not a uniform. Now!”
“What are you doing? Are you crazy?”
Kaistril raised an eyebrow at his little brother. “You removed the remainder of the failsafe and the nanos, right?”
“Y-Yes,” Karvar sputtered.
“Then it’s all right.” He searched data on his arm com. “Since you idiots lost my woman in the sphere, I’m going to go find her. With my appliances, I can track her. I need my weapons, too.”
“We wanted to research those,” Kyler protested.
“Then some of your weapons.” Kaistril’s words were clipped. He was losing what little patience he owned. If he wasn’t so glad to see his brothers, he would have pounded them by now. Putting Sabralia in danger, alone in a hub!
He looked up at his astonished brother. “I want those items now. If I don’t get them in five minutes, I’m leaving without them. You can tell Maman that you let me go out into a Hub with no weapons.”
“I’ll get some men to accompany you,” Kyler said.
“No thanks. If I get close and she sees your men, she might take off. You didn’t exactly make her feel welcome, did you? It will be quicker if I go alone.”
“I’ve got clothes you can wear,” Karvar said.
Karvar left and retuned with a small bag of clothing. Kaistril dressed in New Prague clothing—syntho skin leggings, a blue tunic of brushed cloth, and a wide belt that held several compartments. Karvar had the knee-high boots of treated eth skin, which molded to his feet just right. “I’d forgotten how good it felt to be dressed like a Protectorate,” he said. “It is good.”
“You look fine.”
Afterwards, they led Kaistril to the dock, trying to dissuade him the whole time. Giving up, Kyler offered him a small blaster and a small credit stick.
“Don’t need the stick, I have lots of credits. Got a floater vest?”
What if she decided to hop some transport to somewhere? Surely she wouldn’t do anything crazy. Hopefully she’s holed up somewhere, expecting to hear from me.
He tapped a message to her.
He hadn’t purchased a transmitter code for this sphere, so the transmission wouldn’t go tho
ugh. He wondered if Sabralia knew you had to buy a transmitter code unless you were calling a local business.
There were so many things she didn’t know, going from her agricultural homeworld to Sirn’s Harem. The sooner he found her, the better.
After Kaistril left the ship, he searched for her signal. The sphere had many areas where magnetism interfered with his signal search, and he would need to be quite close to her in distance to find her. This could take some time. He found a small glider that would move him faster than his float vest.
“I’m coming with you.” Kyler was dressed in non-military clothing.
“Yes, because she won’t possibly recognize you without your uniform.” Kaistril felt sarcastic, still put out with their highhanded behavior.
“I’ll stay back.”
“Good.”
“Her signal is weak. I have to be within a mile to register her. That was never a problem in the Harem. Here, it could take awhile.” He got access to the Hub com and tried to contact her, but she didn’t answer her com. She probably thought Kyler and Karvar were trying to get in touch.
Several hours later, Kaistril located her signal on a large plaza in the midsection of the sphere. It was crowded with vendors, traders, small hoppers, and youngsters on gliders and floats.
He looked for her floral cloak, but didn’t see it. She probably covered it with something drab.
Then…he found her.
She was tucked into the side of a tiny eatery, which seemed relatively quiet. She was wearing a dull brown cloak over her floral one, just as he suspected, and she’d had her hair done in an elaborate coiffure of tiny braids and ribbons. She also wore face paint, quite heavy. She looked different, pretty in an exotic way, older and more sophisticated. Good disguise.
“Sabra,” he called.
She looked up and her eyes opened wide.
“Kaistril? Are you all right?” She flew toward him, and then she was in his arms, soft and sweet. Right where she was supposed to be, and he was never letting her go again.
He laughed, relieved she was safe. “I’m great. Better than ever. You look wonderful. I was worried about you alone on the Hub.”
“I’m fine. I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.” Her eyes were bright with unshed tears.
He pressed his lips to hers, anxious to taste her, threading one hand into her expensive coiffure. Her arms slid tight around his neck and her mouth was as hungry as his. He slid his hands slowly down her back to her bottom, cupped her, and pulled her up tight against his already hard cock, so the juncture of her fit over his swollen member.
She pushed back, giggling. “Kaistril!” she chided.
He grinned. “Come. We’ll take a slow transport to the ship.”
She giggled again.
They walked with arms around each other to a small dock.
“Are you wearing these so you could find me?” She tapped on his arm com.
“Yes. You can’t hide from me when I have these on.” He pressed a swift kiss on her lips. “My brothers are idiots, but they’ll figure it out. Don’t worry about any of that.”
“I’ll bet they were shocked when you put the appliances back on.”
He nodded. “Yes. But I do like the enhanced capabilities they give me. Quite a good addition for a warrior.”
A transport docked, and as they turned to enter, the door slid open where several men in white uniforms held small blasters pointed at them.
Sabralia froze, but Kaistril yanked her off the platform into a fall, while blasters fired all around them.
“Float!” he yelled as they dropped, and their fall slowed as the vest activated.
After they descended down, Kaistril dragged her behind a strut, and then they were both sliding down it.
The transport couldn’t move as swiftly as they did and the soldiers had no floaters on.
“Under here.” He pulled them under a walkway, close to the top, so they were hidden from view. “We’re gong to slide across the top here, then try to get to that plaza.” He indicated a very busy plaza. The transport was on the other side of the walkway. It would have to cross a busy transport route to get to the plaza, which was jammed with transports, hoppers, and people on floaters and glide rides.
“They are up there. Hurry.”
They rushed toward the plaza, and threaded through transports and people, finally entering a crowded store.
“We’ll be much harder to track on foot. Except…” He paused.
“Except what?”
“If they are from Sirn, they could have your id chip code.”
She swallowed hard. “I have a chip?”
“A small one. It only transmits a short distance, so I thought it was benign. I should have taken it out. They must have more sensitive equipment than I do. It took me forever to find you.” He took a deep breath and hugged her tight. “At least I found you first. We’ll be all right. I think if we follow this down we can take one of the high-speed glides.”
They took a down glide. Far above her she thought she saw the uniformed men.
Kaistril was speaking into his com. “We’re taking the zed level glide. A transport from the ship should meet us. They’ll be well-armed.”
A transport, larger than most that flew through the interior of the Hub, pulled right up to them, scattering gliders and pedestrians. Kaistril grabbed her under the arms and pulled her to the platform. They leaned back against a building, and waited.
A transport came to a fast stop and Kyler, looking angry and frightening, jumped out. “Are they following her code or her appearance?”
Kaistril looked at his com. “Both, actually. Her code is scrambled here. Too many magnetics in the area.” Kaistril pulled her out of the way. The door of the transport zapped open and Kyler leaped in. “Get in. Trouble.”
Kaistril practically dragged her inside.
“Strap down.” That was Karvar, who was also in the transport.
Sabralia strapped herself into a harness with fumbling fingers. What now?
The transport took off, braking and speeding through the traffic.
Afterwards, they pulled into a small, empty loading dock. Karvar leaped out of his seat and approached Sabralia with a med bag.
“She is being followed by Sirn’s men. They think she stole classified information. Very classified information.”
Sabralia looked at Kaistril. “The films?” she croaked.
He nodded. “We need to get them back to New Prague. They will be a great help.”
Karvar cleared his throat, then turned to Kaistril. “I thought I could remove the id chip here in the transport. Then we can get her onto the ship and off-hub without being detected.”
“Good plan.” Kaistril got out of his seat. “I’ll hold your hand, Sabra. Karvar can give you an anesthetic so it doesn’t hurt.”
Karvar popped a capsule under her nose, and she got dizzy immediately.
“It is in your upper arm, did you know?” She shook her head.
“I knew, but I thought its signal was so weak it wouldn’t matter, so I didn’t remove it while we were on the ship.” Kaistril lifted her arm and pulled up the loose sleeve of her dress. He showed her a tiny hard spot on the back of her upper arm, something she’d never noticed before.
“Hold her still.” Karvar pressed a small device against the spot. She felt nothing. They applied a newskin over the small wound.
“Commander, we have been detected. Shall I begin evasive maneuvers?” the pilot asked.
“Affirmative.”
The brothers leaped back into their seats, and the transport took off with a jerky, hard turn. Weapon fire rained upon them for a short burst.
“Head for a busy plaza!” Kaistril barked. “I can jump with the emitter, lose it, then return to New Prague on public transport. You get Sabralia to the ship and get off-hub.”
“Public transport? Why don’t we just lose the chip and all leave together?” Kyler protested.
“The chip has
to be kept at body temperature, or they’ll know it has been detected.”
Kyler snorted. “Give it to me. You’re still underweight and need your rest, you idiot.”
“You’re right.” Kaistril smiled. “I’d rather be with Sabra, anyway, to make sure you two don’t think up some other stupid scheme.”
“Sorry, Kaistril.” Karvar, cheeks red, held a small tube to Kyler’s arm and struck a button. He then sealed the small wound. “Just dig it out with your knife when you want to. It’s shallow.”
“Give me your cloak,” Kyler said to Sabralia. She shrugged it off and he threw it over his clothing. It looked ridiculous, being far too small, with feminine ruffles along the bottom edge.
“Don’t say a word,” Kyler said to his brothers with a scowl.
The ship jerked to a halt and Kyler leaped out the door into a thick crowd below, the cloak flapping. “Go!” he shouted as they pulled up. Two levels up, they left the transport at a trade station and scattered into several small transports. “Do some sightseeing, return to the ship in an hour.”
Chapter Ten
Sabralia couldn’t keep her hands off Kaistril, and he didn’t seem to mind, pulling her into doorways and along the side of buildings for kisses. Her heart was full of delight at being with him, at his health and vitality, so different than when she’d last seen him.
“I explained everything to my brothers. They thought you were a security risk.”
“What did you tell them?
“That you were my woman.” He pressed a hard kiss to her lips and she melted against him, blood churning. “I wish we could be alone,” Kaistril whispered into her ear. “We have nearly an hour before we need to grab a transport.”
Sabralia slid her hands up his chest, relishing the feel of his hard body under her fingers. “Come with me. I have a room. Plus, I want to get my belongings.” She dragged him by the hand to her micro sleep room a few plazas away.
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