“I never had any influence over him, and the sooner you accept that, the happier we'll all be,” Lin retorted.
“If we knew who they were talking about, we'd have half the problem solved,” Arin muttered.
Bain nodded and gestured for his friend to be quiet. The conversation stayed in that vein for nearly a minute, each of the three men insisting that Lin had influence and Lin denying them. They grew loud and angry while her voice grew more quiet and icy and controlled.
“Get out,” Lin said.
“You can tell him to let us through the blockade,” Trevnor insisted. “What man can refuse his own blood?"
“Blood?” Her voice cracked. She laughed, a harsh, bitter sound. “What makes you think we're blood kin?"
“The whole sector knows how his father courted you for years, even after he took a wife."
“Caderi,” Bain whispered. “They think Lin has power over Caderi."
“Maybe over his father, once,” Trinia whispered back. “From what you told us—"
“Sshhh."
“I've told you repeatedly,” Lin said, “and this is the last time I will tell you—I don't like what you want to do, and I certainly won't ask him to let you through the blockade. Even if we were blood-kin, which we aren't, he wouldn't listen to me over something like this. Where money and power and territory are concerned, he listens to no one. All the Caderis are that way and they always will be that way."
Silence rang through the recording for several seconds. Then Bain heard footsteps moving across the deck plates of the bridge.
“You can all leave now,” Lin continued. “Don't come back. I haven't told him what you've been asking me, because I know what kind of punishment he'd inflict on you. If you keep pestering me, I will tell him. He'll likely laugh, then he'll be offended. You won't like what happens when a Caderi is offended."
“Captain—” the whiny-voiced man said. He had been identified as Mushnar Kail, Trevnor's right-hand man.
“Ganfer, if they aren't out the hatch and down the ladder by the time I count to ten, send a message to Haddan Caderi with the recording of the entire conversation—"
A loud thud startled Bain, so he almost dropped the recorder playing the conversation.
“Now,” Trevnor said.
“Gentlemen,” Ganfer began. “I am in contact with spaceport authorities and—"
A muffled thump, followed by the sound of ripping metal cut off the ship-brain's words. Then static for two seconds. Then the recording ended.
* * *
Chapter Eight
“Down here,” Colwayn said. He gestured into the gaping black mouth of an alley. A damp stone odor drifted up to greet them. “There are steps down to the old river at the back of the alley. Then we take the tunnel directly to the factory."
“They thought Lin was kin to Caderi,” Rhiann whispered. “They thought she had influence over him."
“The only way she could be kin...” Bain shook his head. “Hold on a second, will you?” He waited until Colwayn nodded, then tapped his wristband and opened the link with Gorgi.
The Scout tactician reported Caderi and his men were still getting into position, surrounding the building. Gorgi reported that two of Caderi's men were placing small black bundles by the doorways and windows of the building.
“They can't be planning on blowing it up if Lin is still inside,” Bain said.
“I say we get there as fast as we can, so we don't find out what they are planning on doing,” Colwayn said.
“Agreed.” Bain nodded to his companions. They trooped single-file into the alley darkness behind Colwayn and the spaceport security guards.
Silence surrounded them, as thick as the dampness in the air. Luminous moss and slime lit their way in pale blue, glistening on the black water of the underground river. Colwayn led them along a ledge nearly three meters wide along the side of the river. Damp, rotting ropes strung along the rock wall offered a little support when the footing grew slippery and treacherous.
After five minutes of walking, Colwayn led them into a patch of blackness in the wall to their right. The ground sloped upwards gradually. Water trickled down the rough walls of the tunnel, feeding more luminous moss that glowed greenish-yellow in sporadic patches.
“We're avoiding bad traffic, the marketplace, and about ten turns and switchbacks along the streets,” Colwayn said. He kept his voice down, as if expecting to be overheard. “There's no such thing as a straight street, or even one that runs longer than twenty meters, in this part of the city. I think sometimes the tunnel system was put together just so people could go in a straight line from one point to another,” he added with a soft chuckle.
The sound echoed up and down the tunnel, squashed after a few seconds by the low shuffling of their boots on the damp stone.
“How much longer?” Bain asked.
“Nearly there."
Bain checked in with Gorgi again. His friend reported that Caderi's men had finished placing their little black packages and were now scaling the sides of the building. Some had taken perches in second and third and fourth story windows, on ledges and narrow balconies, while nearly a third of his men, including Caderi himself, had continued up to the roof.
“That's good,” Colwayn said. “They'll come from the roof, and we'll come up through the floor. Trevnor and his men will never know what hit them."
“What's to keep Caderi from shooting his allies?” Arin asked.
“We have to find Lin first and get her out of there,” Bain said. “That's all."
“That's all,” one of the Piller brothers muttered. He let out one bitter chuckle. The sound bounced back and forth in the tunnel.
“Here,” Colwayn said.
In the yellow-green glow coming from a thick, scraggly patch of luminous slime on one wall, Bain saw a rough set of stone steps leading up to a moldering wooden trap door in the ceiling. He climbed up and found he had to crouch to avoid hitting his head on the panel. That was good—he wouldn't have to struggle to get up through the floor of the building above.
A low rumbling sound filtered down through the stone. Bain hesitated for one second. He glanced down and met Colwayn's eyes. The security captain nodded and leaped up the steps to Bain's side. Together, they heaved on the wooden panel.
It stuck for two heart-rending seconds. Then, with the damp-swollen wood groaning and screeching against its frame the panel lifted. Bain closed his eyes against a shower of dirt and grit. He pushed hard, flinging the panel back behind him and leaped up into the room. One hand stretched out to help him balance and the other hand drew the multi-dart from its holster.
Darkness met his eyes, except for a thin bar of light along the floor, maybe five meters away.
“Storeroom,” Colwayn whispered.
Two more explosions shuddered through the building, louder now without the muffling effect of half a meter of rock.
“What is he doing?” Bain snarled under his breath. “Door?” he said, gesturing at the bar of light. He didn't wait for Colwayn to answer, but started across the dark room. Bain prayed there was nothing blocking his way.
The door thudded open. Bain averted his eyes, momentarily blinded by the flood of light.
“Take her down now!” Trevnor shouted, accompanied by another explosion. “As long as she's still alive, we have leverage."
Lin was alive! Bain nearly whooped for joy. He flung himself out of the bar of light coming through the doorway and watched as two ragged men dragged Lin through the door, directly toward the open trap door in the floor. Neither man noticed it was open until they were almost on top of it.
“Hey,” one began.
Bain leaped, knocking him to the floor. Colwayn followed half a second later, sending the second man sprawling.
A whimper escaped Lin. Eyes wide, she stared at Bain over the thick gag tied around her mouth and half her face.
“It's all right.” He wrapped his arms tight around her. Bain didn't know if the trembling h
e felt was from Lin or himself. He didn't care.
“What—” Trevnor stopped short in the doorway. His mouth dropped open at the scene before him.
Bain kept one arm around Lin, holding her up against his side as he turned to face the head kidnapper. Slowly, he raised his multi-dart and trained it on the man's head. Colwayn stepped back and drew his own gun, keeping it aimed on the two men who cowered on the dirty floor.
“Who are you?” Trevnor demanded. His voice squeaked and cracked. He was a fat man, with greasy blond hair and a long beard, dressed in maroon robes with smears of dirt and food and oil all over them.
“Commander Chobainian Kern of the Commonwealth's Scout Corps. We don't like our Spacers being kidnapped.” Bain nearly jumped out of his skin when someone touched him on the leg.
He glanced sideways and saw Trinia climbing up out of the trap door. When she held out her arms, he passed Lin over to her. Trinia removed Lin's gag immediately. Bain hadn't been able to do that with both hands full.
“You're not with Caderi?” the kidnapper asked. He sagged against the doorframe, visibly trembling, and smiled.
Another explosion rocked the building. Men shouted somewhere in the distance. Bain thought he heard the sharp thuds of wooden beams falling to the stone floor.
“That is Caderi,” he said, pointing upward. Bain grinned when the fat man cringed and glanced over his shoulder into the rest of the factory. Clouds of dust billowed up, obscuring whatever damage was occurring.
“Please,” Trevnor begged, “if he finds me and she isn't with me...” He pointed at Lin, opening his arms as if expecting her to run to him.
“How many times do I have to tell you?” Lin rasped. She leaned against Trinia's shoulder and rubbed at the bruises on her face. “I'm not Haddan Caderi's mother."
“No, she's my mother,” Bain growled.
The next moment, he nearly burst out laughing when Trevnor slowly slid to the ground. This was the feared smuggler chieftain? The man who had badgered Lin to represent him before Caderi? The man who had bombed Sunsinger and nearly destroyed Ganfer?
Bain almost felt sorry for the quivering pile of pale flesh.
“Caderi will be here any moment,” he said. “You can either surrender right now to me and trust to Commonwealth justice, or you can beg for his mercy."
“You!” Trevnor blurted.
“Caderi doesn't even know how to spell ‘mercy', let alone what it means,” Lin muttered.
* * * *
They went back the way they had come. Bain supported Lin on one side. Rhiann took her other side. Colwayn led the way and his men brought up the rear. Arin and the Piller brothers guarded Trevnor and his two henchmen. Trinia struggled to open the medic kit and try to treat Lin's bruises, what was visible in the shadows and pale light of the tunnels.
“They weren't very consistent,” Lin said at one point, as Trinia and Rhiann both exclaimed over the dark bruises on her face and arms, and the tears in her shirt. They had come to a point in the tunnel where the luminous moss was thick, casting enough light to get a really good look at her condition.
“Consistent?” Bain found it a little hard to think through the angry thumping in his head.
“They couldn't kill me because they were afraid of what Caderi would do when he found out they had taken me. But they didn't think what he would do if I was hurt until after they threw me around the room a few times.” She grinned, which opened two cuts in her swollen lips. “Your mother is one stubborn, tough old woman, Bain."
“It runs in the family,” Rhiann muttered. She dabbed at the thin trickle of blood trying to escape down Lin's chin as they kept walking.
“Too stubborn to give them what they want, or give in and just curl up and die. I nearly escaped four times."
“That must have made them furious,” Trinia said with a chuckle.
“They didn't know what to make of me.” Lin chuckled, but ended on a tired sigh. “Old women are supposed to sit back and wait graciously for someone to rescue them."
“You'll never be old, Lin,” Bain said. “I said that on our first voyage together, and it'll still be true when—"
A cracking roar echoed down the tunnel after them. The rock under their feet vibrated with the explosion. The damp aroma of the tunnel was momentarily overridden by the hot smell of burning wood and scorched stone, and dust gushed down the tunnel behind them to fill the air.
Choking, their group picked up its pace, escaping around the corner onto the ledge along the river's edge a moment later.
“I guess they discovered Lin wasn't there after all,” Colwayn remarked. “Nobody will ever use that tunnel again."
“Caderi will be in a lot of trouble with the smuggler's guild for that,” one security guard remarked. That earned a few chuckles from his fellows. Bain suspected no one believed Caderi could ever get in trouble with anyone for long.
After a moment of thought, he believed it, too. Then he thought of Caderi's fury when his men had searched the factory and found no sign of Lin. Or worse, they found signs Lin had been there and had been taken away. Trevnor's life wouldn't be worth the ammunition it would take to kill him, if Caderi had his way.
For a moment, Bain toyed with the idea of letting Caderi take his revenge on Trevnor and his cronies. Then he mentally shook his head and abandoned the idea. Scouts had to uphold justice and protect lives, even the lives of the guilty. Personal revenge had no bearing on what was right.
* * *
Chapter Nine
“Bain,” Ganfer said. “Haddan Caderi is approaching the ship."
“Thanks.” Bain turned to Lin, who was settled comfortably in her cubicle now, washed and bandaged and sipping a big cup of herbal tea. “Ready?” He glanced at Gorgi, Trinia, Arin, Lissy, Dan and Don, who had waited on the bridge for this moment.
All six Scouts nodded and trooped down the access tube to the cargo hold. In seconds, Bain and Lin were alone.
“As ready as I'll ever be.” She smiled, then winced a little and touched the swollen corner of her mouth. “Remind me to duck next time someone swings a chair at my head, will you?"
“Nobody is ever going to hurt you again, Lin.” He dropped to his knees next to her bunk and took hold of her free hand. “I should have been here. I'm never going to—"
“Going to what? You can't give up your dreams to watch over me. Be sensible.” She managed to smile with the undamaged half of her mouth. “You've been the best son any woman could ever want. My only regret is that you aren't my flesh-and-blood son. Bain, I had to learn to let go and let you grow up. You have to learn to let go of me, too. I may be an old woman, but I still have my common sense and Ganfer and a lot of wanderlust left in me. You can't surround me with guards for the rest of my life."
“Yes I can,” he returned.
A plan immediately sprang into his mind and Bain grinned as he realized instantly that it would work. Even better, Lin would agree to it if he explained it properly.
“Bain—"
“Caderi is here,” Ganfer announced, just two seconds before a loud hammering began on the hatch.
Bain felt a great temptation to leave Caderi outside, perched on the chain link ladder, pounding on the outside of the airlock hatch. Just for a minute or two. Long enough to propose his idea to Lin and have her accept. Then he knew that wouldn't work. Caderi was probably ready to explode already from his failure. It wouldn't do to irritate the man any further. That wasn't part of the Scout creed, either. Bain wondered if he had created an impossible ideal to live up to, and if he was going to betray his beliefs the first time he acted as Scout commander in a truly delicate, dangerous situation. He said a quick prayer for endurance and control of his tongue and temper, and walked over to the hatch to open it.
“What is taking you so long?” Caderi burst out before he stepped through the hatch onto the bridge. “I've had my men assembled for hours. How are we going to go out there and find Lin if you're sitting here, wasting—” He stopped short and
his eyes threatened to bug out as he caught sight of Lin through the open door of her cubicle.
“Wasting time?” Bain said. “That's funny—I could make the same accusation against you. When I had my Scouts and the security guards assembled, you were nowhere near the portmaster's office as we agreed. Colwayn knows the city backwards and forwards, above ground and below, so he led us."
“Below?” Caderi took two steps toward Lin, then stopped again. His mouth moved without any sound escaping.
“It's amazing how quickly you can move through the city if you go through the tunnels below ground."
“Tunnels.” The man suddenly whirled and gaped at Bain. “You took her out through that smuggler's tunnel?"
“You nearly buried us with your little temper tantrum."
“Bain,” Lin chided. “Isn't that stretching things a little?"
“He didn't need to bring the whole factory down to the ground and chasing after us."
“No,” she admitted, smiling a little. “He didn't. Caderis are known for their vicious tempers. That's one of the many reasons why I couldn't marry Mordor."
“Where's Trevnor?” Caderi demanded. The growl had returned to his voice.
Caderis didn't stay off balance for very long, Bain noted. He would have to remember that in future dealings with the man and any of his heirs.
“He's in the brig on board the Star Arrow, along with his two henchmen."
“I want—"
“My Scouts caught him, Caderi. Fair and square. You already gave me a good idea what you would do to them when you caught them. Revenge and justice aren't the same."
“Revenge is a very weak word for what I intend to do,” the man growled.
“Why?” Lin asked.
“What do you mean, why? Look what they did to you!” He crossed the rest of the open space to Lin's cubicle and towered over her.
It was rather odd, Bain thought, that Lin still seemed the stronger person despite her bruises and her paleness and the fact that she sat while Caderi stood.
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