Harry slowed for a moment, putting a hand to his ear. “You got ‘em? Yes ma’am.” Then he tightened his grip on Sukeza and headed with long strides towards an archway. “Come on, they’re watchin’ the show at midway.”
Sukeza wasn’t sure what that meant but kept her mouth shut. These men knew their work and since she had no clue what she was doing, she was going to have to trust them. She was sure they would get the job done. If only she was so certain about her own capabilities.
They entered a large, round, domed room ringed with news screens. All of the screens were currently displaying the spectacular indigo wildfire that Bella had created in the docking area. Harry didn’t pause, leading her through the crowd. As they moved along, Sukeza heard many comments and grumbles about how the damn firebugs were taking their sweet time putting the fire out. She wondered if Bella had anything to do with the delay and guessed that she almost certainly did. The woman didn’t seem to leave anything to chance.
They were approaching the group of Collectors before Sukeza even noticed their presence. She balked a little, shock and fear making her want to slow down, to take a breather and assess the situation, to get used to the idea of what she was about to do. But Harry didn’t hesitate and his grip on her arm forced her to move with him. Her heart was drumming in her chest so loudly that she was certain everyone could hear it. She couldn’t hear anything else.
The other two men fanned out to either side of the group as they approached. Sukeza’s stomach flipped when she caught sight of Stryker’s back. He was clothed in nondescript gray and standing still and silent next to his captors at one end of the group. Harry pushed her ahead of him while one of the other conspirators—Sukeza thought it was Barker, though she wasn’t certain about which was which—reached the group of Collectors on the side furthest from Stryker and exclaimed in a loud, somehow cheerful voice, “Mother fuck, that’s a nasty one! Feel sorry for the poor bastards who—” Right on cue he drew a whistling breath and then barked, “Kessu’s nuts, you’re Collectors!”
All the Collectors turned their heads to look at him. Looking away from Stryker.
Feeling faint and dizzy, Sukeza slipped up next to Stryker and whispered in his ear, “Come with me,” taking his arm and tugging frantically. She was terrified that he would ignore the order, but he moved without hesitation. As smoothly as if the whole thing had been choreographed and rehearsed, Harry slid into Stryker’s place, his body going still and patient at the Collector’s side.
Hyperventilating and watching spots float across her vision, Sukeza kept a tight grip on Stryker’s docile arm and moved as fast as her trembling limbs could carry her through the crowd. Her third companion Speed (unless she had them backwards) fell into step behind them, his massive body hiding their retreat.
The crowd began to move with her. The rumble of alarm at Barker’s revelation rushed around them like a wave and people dispersed with many a backward glance at the authorities. It covered their retreat even further and according to Bella, the knowledge of Collectors in their midst would cause a mass exodus from the post, making it that much easier for the twins to escape undetected with their hot cargo.
But Sukeza had to get him to the twins first. She sent an uncertain, terrified glance over her shoulder at Speed, who nodded her in the right direction. When they had gone through two corridors and were well on their way to the docking areas, Speed came abreast of her.
“Boss told me to tell you she sent your stuff to the twins already. Bastards won’t get your ID.” Sukeza gulped, horrified that she hadn’t thought of that, but Speed continued, “She says don’t count on the C’s bein’ confused for long, though. Tell the Maltby brothers they gotta shake a leg once you’re on board.”
Sukeza nodded, tightening her grip on Stryker and nearly skipping to keep up with the two longer-legged men.
“You know where you’re goin’ from here?” He ignored her nod, continuing without pause, “Take the left up there to the small-craft docks. Twins’ll be third one out. Gotta peel off now. Good luck.”
“Thank you,” she gasped, but he was already turning away and melting into the crowd. Sukeza felt an alarming sense of loss and helplessness, but she clenched her jaw and stiffened her resolve. Bella’s men had gotten her this far, gotten her through the really sticky part. All she needed to do was get Stryker to the ship and the twins would take it from there. She glanced up at him but quickly looked away again with a shudder at the vacancy in his strong face. “Come on,” she muttered. “Let’s get you out of here.”
The twins were not waiting at the airlock to meet her. She hit the signal three times before they cycled the airlock and appeared at the threshold. They were small, dark men with square, husky bodies and nearly identical rough-edged features. And true to Bella’s word, they were pouting. “Yeah?” one of them rasped in a sulky voice.
She stared at them for a second, nonplussed, before she said, “I’m Sukeza. This is Stryker. Bella sent us. She said we needed to hurry…”
The one on the left sneered. “What’s the password?”
“Th-the what?” Sukeza stared from one to the other.
Both men smirked. “Password, y’piddy! Ev’body knows you gotta have a password.”
“She didn’t—I didn’t—” Sukeza sputtered, but Stryker interrupted her. He turned on his heel and began walking back the way they’d come. “Chase!” she yelped, lunging after him. She caught his arm and pulled to no avail. “Stop! Come with me!”
He ignored both orders.
“Shit and shiggers,” one of the twins snarled while they converged on Stryker. They were both husky men, but Stryker was stronger. He continued making slow headway even with the two of them holding him back.
“What’s wrong with him?” Sukeza cried, panting as she fought Stryker’s forward momentum.
“Recall,” one twin grunted. “C’s callin’ him back.”
“Chase, stop!” she nearly wailed, panicking at the thought of being dragged all the way back to the Collectors.
One of the twins swore and broke away, running to his ship. Sukeza would have cursed him and demanded that he get his ass back there to help, but she didn’t have the breath. He returned a moment later and clapped something around Stryker’s wrist. Stryker slowed to a stop, swaying in place for a long moment.
Then he fell.
Sukeza cried out when he tore from her grip, but the twins caught most of his weight before he hit the ground. While they dragged him unceremoniously toward their ship, Sukeza recognized the thing on his wrist as a hiber-cuff and stumbled after them, weak with relief. He was asleep now, no longer tormented by his imprisonment. She hoped.
“Can you take the band off?” she asked after they pulled him aboard the small vessel and secured him in a sleeping cubby that was too tight for his big frame.
The twins gave her identical looks of vast contempt and didn’t answer. They left her by his side, climbing with swift efficiency up a narrow ladder to the flight deck. Sukeza knelt next to the cubby, watching Stryker’s sleeping features and praying that they got out of there in one piece. Her mind tried to sneak forward in time to the moment when Stryker found out what she’d done, but she reined her wayward thoughts in with brutal discipline. One dangerous step at a time.
The ship lurched under her when they broke away from the outpost, but this was her only indication of their progress for several long, painful minutes. When she couldn’t stand the suspense any longer, she climbed the ladder, poking her head out onto the flight deck.
“Cargo stays below,” one of the men snapped. They flanked the ladder opening, each in a seat and staring ahead with grim faces.
“How are we doing?” she asked, intimidated by the hostility humming in the air but unable to resist the question.
“Fragger’s titties in a twist,” one of them snarled.
Sukeza blinked at him for a moment, not knowing whether this was a curse or an answer. When he said nothing further, she persisted, �
�Are they following us?”
“Not yet,” the twin on the right said in an ominous tone.
“Can’t believe Bella sent us out with a fuckin’ C-pop,” the other one grumbled.
“She don’t love us no more,” the right one sighed piteously.
Sukeza felt obligated to speak up. “I really appreciate you guys helping us out. I can pay you for your trouble—”
Both men brightened considerably. “How much?” they asked in unison.
“Well, I don’t know the going rate—” she started to say but stopped when the two men shared a grinning, greedy glance. She sighed, sensing a fleecing in her future. “How much?” she repeated with a resigned air. They named a figure that made her choke and splutter, “That’s extortion!”
One shrugged, looking cheerful and nonchalant. “Could always drop you off next rock we pass. Say hi to the C’s for us.”
Sukeza pressed her lips together and stared from one to the other. Then she rallied. “Bella wouldn’t be happy if you did that.”
Her gamble worked—both men wilted, sending her resentful glances. One named a lower price in a sulky mutter.
Sukeza caught her bottom lip in her teeth, worrying at it for a moment before she came to a decision. “I don’t have that much with me. But I can give you about half of it now and my family will be good for the other half when we reach Kaska.”
They shot her identical shocked looks. “We ain’t goin’ all the way to Kaska!”
“Yes, you are,” she said in her best stern voice. “If we try to go through an Exchange, we’ll get caught. Besides, you’ll get immunity from my people once we get there, which wouldn’t happen if you just dropped us off somewhere.”
“Immunity?” the twin on the left asked in a dubious voice, glancing down at her.
“Yes,” she said, holding onto her patience with both hands. “The Collectors are bound to find out that you helped us. I assume they won’t be happy about that. My people can make sure you won’t be prosecuted.”
“How?” the other twin asked, looking even more dubious than his brother.
“You’re returning a Kaskan citizen. The Kaskan government will make sure the Collectors understand that.”
“Yeah, well, they ain’t gonna like us transportin’ a C-pop.”
“I’ll make sure the blame for that rests solely on my shoulders.”
“How?” they asked together.
Sukeza sighed, shifting on the ladder rung. “That’s Kaskan business. Trust me, you won’t be held responsible.”
“Trust you,” one of them snorted, turning his moody attention to his screens. The other one muttered something derogatory that Sukeza pretended not to hear. She waited, feeling her heart thump with nervous tension.
“She’s lyin’,” muttered Lefty.
“I am not,” she protested, but they acted as if she’d ceased to exist.
“Pro’ly,” muttered Righty.
“Bella’d kill us, though.”
“Won’t love us no more.”
The two men shared a grim glance before Righty said in a glum voice, “Cargo stays below.”
Sukeza took that to mean they were agreeing to her plan and heaved a sigh of relief. “Thanks, guys. You won’t regret this. By the way, what do I call you?”
“Maltby,” they said in irritable unison.
“Yes, but what are your first names? I can’t very well call you Maltby One and Two.”
They didn’t answer.
“How do I get his band off?”
They didn’t answer.
With a sigh, she backed down the ladder and returned to Stryker’s side, looking him over anxiously. He seemed in one piece. His wrists even looked better. But she stroked his hair carefully away from the silver band running across his forehead and fretted. She didn’t want to just pull it off. She had a feeling it wouldn’t be that easy. She wracked her brain, trying to remember what his record had said about how he’d gotten it off the first time. All she could remember was something about an accident and minor head trauma.
Chewing on her lip until she tasted blood, she traced the cool metal across his forehead and down to his temple. Bending close, she inspected the spot where the band injected itself into his brain. His skin was slightly swollen around the area, but she could still see the silver gleam of filaments burrowing into his flesh. She shuddered. Her stomach turned over and she straightened away from the sight, swallowing heavily. She was going to have to leave it for now and hope that his sleep was dreamless until they reached Kaska.
Lowering her forehead to his chest, she whispered, “I’m sorry. If only I’d thought of this before they put that damn thing on you.” If she had, he wouldn’t have had to suffer the band and they wouldn’t be on the run. But it had all happened so shockingly fast and her brain had seized up with panic. She hadn’t even considered the option until they’d taken him. On the other hand, before the Collectors came and he was still free, he would have rejected the idea immediately.
With a heavy sigh, she turned her head until her cheek rested on his chest. His heart beat a steady, solid song in her ear. “Please don’t hate me,” she whispered and closed her eyes.
Chapter 8
Their run to Kaska had only one really terrifying moment to relieve the tedium of endless, nervous waiting. Their saving grace was the size of the Maltby vessel, too small for the Collectors to see before they noticed the big, authoritarian ship. They’d scurried like mice to a hiding place within a nearby ship graveyard, watching with pent breath as the stately vessel passed their location. The terrifying moment came when the Collectors paused, scanning the vast field of wreckage like predators who can hear their prey’s thrumming heart but can’t see them.
When they moved on, Sukeza shared the twins’ almost telepathic rapport by sighing in unison with them. Then she had to deal with their renewed resentment and hostility for a while until they calmed down again. Even after days of being in close confines with one another, the twins had yet to give her their first names, so she’d taken to calling them M-One and M-Two. They didn’t seem to mind, but it was hard to tell.
They were a strange pair. They were almost manic in their mood swings, one moment sulky and the next cheerful. They never fought with one another but often engaged in a contest of crude insults aimed at her undeserving head. They gave her plenty of privacy, staying mostly on the flight deck and seeming both belligerent and hesitant whenever they made a rare appearance below. She tried to win them over by bringing them food and drink while they tended to the ship’s navigation, but they treated her gestures with uniform distrust. On the other hand, they responded very well when she would lose patience and speak sharply to them.
The strangest thing about them was how little she feared them. They were strangers, possibly criminals, definitely shady characters, and they were all stuck together on a very tiny ship. She had caught them staring at her a time or two with masculine interest in their eyes, so she knew they were oriented toward females. Yet she never once feared for her virtue or her safety.
By the time they closed in on Kaskan space, she’d decided that their gruff exteriors hid very shy, juvenile individuals who had no idea how to express themselves beyond insults. Like a couple of boys in a schoolyard who could only show they liked the girl by throwing spitballs at her. No wonder Bella held them so riveted. Listening to them talk, she’d come to the conclusion that they were deeply in love with the stunning, golden woman, which is why they did anything she asked of them. After some fuss and bother, of course.
When Kaska came into view, glowing and beautiful as only her home could be, Sukeza risked serious verbal assault to kiss each of them on the cheek, tears rising in her eyes. “Bless your little cranky hearts, guys. I can’t thank you enough.”
“Other half of the scrib’d do it,” M-Two muttered, but his face had darkened with a blush.
“Women,” M-One snorted, which by their standards was a very weak insult indeed.
As
they approached the mid-station orbiting the planet, the com jangled and a brisk voice said, “Welcome to Kaska. This is Solaire station. May I have your ident and ship class?”
M-One threw her a grim look and Sukeza leaned forward to answer. “This is Sukeza bet Marish. I’m a Kaskan citizen, returning from my Guidance cycle. I have a—” Sukeza paused, took a deep breath, then continued as steadily as she could, “I have a candidate with me who has been banded by the Collectors.”
Both Maltbys jerked as if she’d stabbed them and glared at her. They began whispering insults but she ignored them, waiting with grim resolve for the controller to answer.
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