Utterly defeated now, the Princess gave a small sigh and appeared to faint, sagging against Estrada's arm. The knife moved away from her throat just a fraction and he looked down at her in disgust. At that moment, Rigondal reached up with both hands and grasped the wrist that was holding the knife, forcing it away from her and moving her head to one side.
Hal shot Estrada between the eyes and he hurtled backwards, dragging the Princess with him. She disentangled herself from the corpse and stood up, but all eyes looked to Hal, who had for some reason, fallen to the floor. He had dropped his gun and grasped his left leg above the knee with both hands in a vain attempt to stem the flow of blood that seeped between his long fingers.
"Estrada must have shot him," murmured Raan, on one knee by Hal's side.
"At the same time as Hal fired," continued Starfire, gently prising the gunman's fingers from the wound. "It's gone right through," she exclaimed. "Del, have a look at this." The android had already opened his shoulder bag and rummaged through it. While he was doing this, the others eased Hal into a sitting position and he leaned against Raan, who supported him against one knee. Delta Ten cut the black cloth from around the wound and pushed a hypo against the blood splattered skin. Hal relaxed slightly and raised a trembling hand to wipe the tears of pain from his eyes.
"It was a reflex action," he explained. His finger must have tightened on the trigger as he went backwards."
"You are fortunate. It was only a small charge," explained Delta Ten, cleaning the wound and binding it securely. "It has gone through the fleshy part of your thigh and has hit nothing vital."
"Can he walk?" asked Erion.
"Not fast, and not far."
"Damn it!" muttered Rigondal. "Why couldn't you have leaned out of the way or something?"
"I just got myself shot to ruin your day, Princess," gritted Hal.
"Those guards will be here soon," said Erion, quietly. She stood with her ear to the door and looked concerned. "We must get away from here." Princess Rigondal stepped forward.
"I can get you out of here, but we must move quickly. There is a secret panel in the bay window that will hide your friend until we can come back for him, but we must move now." All eyes turned to Hal.
"Leave me," he grunted. Denials sprang up from all sides and Erion made her decision. Hal could not travel with them and would have to be left behind. His wound would need attention and Delta Ten was best qualified for that, but he was a machine, admittedly a very special android, but he was not capable of the free thinking that could plan and carry out any necessary action to get Hal out of the Palace on his own, should Hal become unconscious. Raan was the next choice, but she knew she might need his able fighting skills outside the Palace, for they would have to take possession of their ship somehow. Starfire was the better pilot, but Raan could also fly the Grennig if there wasn't anything fancy to be done. All these options flew through her mind in a second and when she spoke, the others accepted her decision without question, for she was the best tactician among them.
"Starfire, stay with Hal. Hide until you can escape." She turned to Rigondal, her eyes asking the question.
"Go to the inn on the edge of the square," said the Princess. "They support us. Ask for Raemond."
"Can you make it?" asked Raan. He spoke from the double doors, where he had just jammed a gold, ornate chair under the handles. Hal watched Delta Ten as he finished dressing the wound and looked up as Raan spoke.
"Sure," he said. They helped him up and, leaning heavily on Starfire, he limped over to the huge bay window. Rigondal pressed a hidden switch and a large panel slid open. It revealed a dusty compartment that would hold one person in comfort, but there was room for two. At that moment, heavy booted feet reached the doors and they banged slowly and repeatedly, as if someone on the other side was trying to break them down.
"The guards are here," gasped the Princess. She all but pushed Starfire into the hole after Hal and said quickly, "Just press this catch when you want to come out and the panel will slide open."
"Come on, out the window!" ordered Erion. She was the last to leave and whispered a quiet 'Good Luck' to Hal and Starfire as she shut the large panel, then whirled to the window and climbed onto the sill. She hung from her hands and let herself drop, to be caught by a waiting Raan and Delta Ten in the gardens some three metres below them. They ran towards the comforting darkness past the flood-lit fountains and a voice could be heard calling from the windows.
"There they are, in the grounds!" Shot after shot was fired at them and they all swerved and dodged without conscious thought. They decided afterwards that the Palace guards must have been shooting at them, for Federation troops would have at least managed to bag one of them.
Rigondal, dodging and weaving like a professional marine, led them quickly to a high, stone wall, with tall bushes in front of it. She disappeared into the foliage and they followed her, turning quickly into a small tunnel that emerged on the other side of the Palace grounds. As the last of them was through, she and Raan slammed shut a heavy oak door and Rigondal pressed her palm against the autolock. They stood for a moment to get their breath back.
Unless Farrell or my father is with them, they will not be able to open the door," she explained. "They will have to go the long way round through the Palace gates. Come on!" She led them off at a brisk jogging pace, down towards the woods at the rear of the Palace. "We have a long way to go tonight."
Chapter 10
"Are you okay?" asked Starfire quietly. "Del left me some more pain killers."
"We might need them later," answered the gunman softly, adjusting his stance so that most of his weight was on his right leg. At that moment, there was a loud crash, and the huge double doors of Estrada's room burst open. Starfire and Hal stood listening inside their hiding place, silent but hearts thumping with tension. Feet pounded to the window and one of the guards shouted something, then the room began to fill with the sound of rapid firing. Starfire bit her lip anxiously, sure that some of the bolts would hit one of her friends. The sounds ceased abruptly, and a voice they recognised as Farrell's boomed out,
"Stop that senseless firing, idiots. They have gone from sight. Get out into the grounds and find them."
"Your highness," another voice broke in, "there is fresh blood on the floor here."
"It isn't Estrada's; too far away," mused Prince Farrell. "One of them must be wounded. That will slow them down. Well, go on, after them, imbeciles!"
"I can see that you have everything well in hand here," grated a flat, metallic voice that Hal and Starfire recognised.
"Commissioner Rimek," began the Prince hastily. "They will not escape."
"But they have escaped, haven't they?" the low, tinny voice droned on. In the dark cupboard, Starfire unconsciously moved away as the huge robot's heavy feet clanked in their direction. He must have leaned out of the window, then turned to face the Prince with his back to their hiding place, for they could hear his words clearly.
"I can see no sign of their presence in the grounds. Where would they go to hide?"
"Rigondal has many friends in the outlying villages. She could go to one of them. There are the caverns behind the woods, but they are known to us both. She would not take them there."
"Listen to me your highness." The robot's voice took on a firm tone. "Your Palace Guards are ineffective and, I suspect, deliberately unco-operative. Those traitors must be caught and anyone hiding them must be killed."
"But Commissioner, the wedding must go ahead for me to be crowned King instead of my sister. Then the people will follow me what ever I say. They will be willing subjects of me and the Federation."
"You are an idiot!" the robot droned on. "Do you think the Federation cares about this planet and its insignificant little people? We needed your co-operation to trick Dubois and her treacherous crew onto this planet and we are grateful for that. But now they are here, you will do as I say, and maybe I will let you stay on to rule this miserable grass
patch of a planet with your life intact."
"What do you mean?" snarled prince Farrell. All traces of the gentle young Prince had gone, leaving a scared but mean individual in its wake.
"We want that ship and its crew intact. High Commander Roland wishes them to be taken alive and mind turned to betray the Rebel Alliance and work for us. The machine worked well on that love sick Estrada and it should work well on them. It took a long time for our tactical computers to come up with the plan of involving this planet. If you had not been agreeable, then we would have simply killed you and found another way to lure them here. However, now that we are here, I think this place will make an excellent new base for our relay station, since the one on Castillon was destroyed." Rimek walked away from the window and his voice became faint. Starfire and Hal leaned forward so they could hear the horrible electric monotone more clearly. "Your people value their privacy. They will still have it. Their lives will not change, other than the fact that they will have five thousand Passers to cater for. Any that object will be taken from here to our mining camps, where they will serve in other ways."
"I see," mused Prince Farrell. He started to pace up and down, clearly thinking as he walked. "And er.....where would I fit into your plans?"
"As a figurehead. The people of this planet will follow you as King."
"What about the prophecy?"
"We do not set store by such drivel," droned the robot. "And in any case, when Rigondal is dead, there will be no need to fulfil any prophecy. The people will have you, or nothing."
"First, we must find my dear little sister."
"My troops will find her when the time is right, but I do not wish for panic in the town. I would like you to make an announcement. I want you to tell your people that Princess Rigondal is a traitor and is planning to overthrow you and take over as Queen. I want you to tell them that you have called in the Federation to save your planet from rebels and usurpers."
"They will never believe this of her," Farrell was pacing up and down again. "She is a spoilt, spiteful brat, but for some reason, the people prefer her to me."
"Really," the metallic voice grated on at the same level, "I cannot possibly understand why that could be."
"She is my stupid father's favourite!" snarled the prince. "These people are like sheep and they would follow the old fool if he jumped off a cliff."
"I see." Rimek placed his big, black head on one side as if in thought. "If the people value her life, we will use it to our advantage. When she is found, we will place her in the dungeons here and let it be known that any disrespect to the Federation will result in her death."
"Yes Commissioner."
"Good. It is time for my troops to make their presence known. There is no need for secrecy, now that Dubois and her team know we are here. And from now on, there must be no more attempts to kidnap Princess Rigondal or harm her in any way. I do not want to hear you say one single word against your dear sweet sister. Do you understand?"
"No Commissioner,"
"No matter, Farrell. I do not need you to understand, only to obey. Not one unkind word about your sister."
"Yes, Commissioner."
"Good. Now, come with me, we have other things to discuss." Footsteps faded off into the distance and the room was left in silence.
"Did you hear all that?" asked Starfire. Hal grunted an unintelligible reply, but he nodded and she could make that out in the dim confines of their hiding place. "Where the hell is that switch?" Starfire fumbled about, and a bright shaft of light filtered inside the dusty cupboard. "Come on, let's get you out of here." She looked him up and down. "Damn it Hal, you're a mess!"
"Thanks a bunch," he muttered, sinking gratefully onto a heavily padded chair and stretching his wounded leg out straight. As Delta Ten had predicted, the temporary clips had not held and the sides of the wound had come apart. The once white dressing was now stained a dark rusty red and Hal's face looked pale and haggard. Starfire searched the room, and found a couple of night shirts in Estrada's closet.
"This is going to hurt," she announced cheerfully, as she carefully removed the old dressing. Delta Ten had left her a spare hypo, and she loading it with anti-infection and gave him a shot. Next came another pain killer, and finally a shot of blood substitute. She quickly re-bandaged the wound, and produced a pair a maroon, wide bottomed pantaloons from Estrada's closet, which Hal shrugged into. They easily covered his tight legged black jeans and the bulky dressing. She helped him into the matching tabard and put a long, hooded cloak around his shoulders. She rummaged about inside the big cupboard again and found another tabard and pantaloons, this time in pale blue, which she shrugged into herself. The pantaloons were much too big for her, so she rolled the waistband over, put the tabard over the top and used a curtain tie back to make a tasselled belt, which she tied twice around her waist. She pulled down a large carryall from on top of the wardrobe and put their jackets, gunbelts and some spare nightshirt for bandages inside it.
"Over there," murmured Hal, pointing to a row of decorated walking sticks in a rack.
"Here's a pretty one." She produced one of the plainer ones with a carved bird's head inlaid with silver for a handle. Stepping over Estrada's prone body, she risked a peep outside.
"Because you're so weak and feeble, going out the window is out of the question and anyway, the grounds are crawling with guards."
"Looks like we'll have to walk out the front door," sighed Hal.
"And we had better be quick," agreed Starfire, looking out at the night sky. "I don't know when the sun rises; it could be within the hour for all we know." Starfire opened the door of Estrada's room and stepped straight out, with Hal close behind her. Deciding that stealth was a sure way of being noticed, they decided on a bold approach. Several of the party guests were still in the process of leaving by the front entrance, and had apparently not taken much notice of all the activity at the rear of the Palace, assuming it had something to do with the bomb attack on the ball room.
"This way," hissed Hal, grabbing Starfire's elbow and steering her around a corner. They boldly walked out into the huge main hallway, where several families were waiting for their coaches to be brought round. A few glances came their way, but no one seemed to take particular interest in them. Starfire inwardly cursed Hal's injury as it made him walk slowly, but she showed no sign of impatience as they reached the top of the steps and began to descend them.
"Have you a carriage, Miss?" asked one of the Palace grooms.
"No," she answered. "We were brought by his Lordship's father. He is meeting us at the Palace gates." Starfire gave the groom a smile and a sigh, as if this was usual in the mad family that employed her. Hal had the hood of his cloak pulled high, and tilted his head down so that his features were in shadow.
"Daisy!" he snapped, "don't stand there flirting, get a move on."
"Yes, your lordship," she sighed, and made a great pretence of struggling down the steps with a heavy case in her hands.
"We made it," she gasped as they walked slowly out of the gates and down the hill, leaving the lights of the Palace behind and descending into the gloom.
"Yeah," murmured Hal, shrugging out of the tabard and throwing it behind a tree. The other clothes and the case followed, after Starfire had taken theirs gunbelts and coats out of it. Hal couldn't walk very fast and it was over an hour later that they knocked at the back door of the tavern they had sat in that afternoon. Soon, a dishevelled young girl in a long pink nightgown opened the door and peered out into the darkness.
"Rigondal sent us," whispered Starfire. "We need your help."
"Come in," answered the girl, "I'll fetch my father." They followed her through a little passage and turned right, into a comfortable sitting room. Hal eased himself onto a chair by a large oak table and let out a grateful sigh. The girl had left the lamp on the table and Starfire walked over to him. He fumbled in his breast pocket for a cigarillo and she moved his hand away, noticing how cold and clammy it was. He
hadn't the strength to fight her and submitted while she extracted a cigarillo, twisted the filter band to silver, lit it and handed it to him.
"You don't look so good," she said. "If these people let us stay, I'll change that dressing again."
"Who are you, and what do you want in my house?" asked a booming voice. Starfire spun round to stare at the massive looking bore of an old laser rifle that pointed straight at them. The holder of it was a fat, middle aged Aurian man with a startling head of thick copper hair, streaked with grey. It sprouted out from underneath his striped night cap and under other circumstances, it would have been funny, but the man held the old rifle in an unwavering grip and his expression showed he would not be afraid to use it.
"Rigondal told us to come here and ask for Raemond," said Starfire. "She is taking our friends to some sort of hide out, but Hal was wounded and couldn't keep up. She hid us in a secret cupboard and told us to come here until the heat died down. And here we are."
"Father?" began the girl. Starfire guessed she was about fourteen or fifteen. "This man is wounded. We cannot turn them away."
"But they are the strangers, Landa; the ones the Palace guards are looking for." The rifle still aimed at them and the muzzle drifted toward Hal. "This one has an appalling reputation. According to the local news, the Palace Guards have been told to shoot him on sight." The young girl turned a wide eyed stare from her father to Hal, who leaned back in the chair with the cigarillo hanging out of the corner of his mouth. Starfire bent down, took it gently from him and muttered through her teeth,
"Look vulnerable for frag's sake!" Hal looked blankly at Starfire and she realised that he didn't know how. She prodded him viciously on his wound and he gasped out in pain and winced. The look he gave her promised serious revenge later on, but Starfire's instincts were correct and the young girl turned large, pleading, amber eyes toward the fat Aurian.
"But, he's been shot, father." Landa could see the her father wavering slightly and changed tactics. "They are Rigondal's friends. She told them to come here and ask for Raemond. Strangers would not know that."
Starfire and The Planet Killer Page 12