“Where is my bracelet? I understand you wanted to destroy the tracking device, but the bracelet is special to me, and I want it back.”
“I’m sorry. We had to destroy it.”
“You had to destroy everything. Didn’t you? All you’ve left me is my baby. I have no other reason to live. You’ve taken everything else from me even the happy memory that bracelet gave me each time I saw it. It was a reminder to me that I mattered.”
Knife might be a strong telepath, but he wasn’t strong enough to dispel the pain he’d caused. He turned, and the door closed behind him. Opening the bag, I found diapers and wipes. I changed Neema’s diaper. Someone else had joined Knife in controlling my emotions. Hours later the door opened. Another Laconian with solid black eyes entered carrying a tray. He placed it on the bed. Then, he left. He had brought me a bowl of fruit, pieces of cheese, bread, and a glass of water. I ate it all for Niklos and Neema. They may have taken Nico from Abbie and me, but I had to try and save our child. I was overcome by another crippling wave of sadness and despair, but I wasn’t allowed to feel it for long. The man came back and took the tray. He didn’t speak.
Sometime later, Knife returned. He had brought with him another bag. He put it down and left. I carried Neema over to the door. I tried it, but it was locked. I looked in the bag. It contained ugly nightgowns for Neema and me. Looking down at my dress, I noticed what my terror had caused to happen to the front. I carried the bag into the bathroom. Then, I undressed Neema and myself. I turned on the shower and adjusted it to a safe temperature. I put the sprayer on the shower floor along with the bottle of shampoo. Carefully, I lowered myself down with Neema and sat on the shower floor. I sat Neema in my lap and rinsed her with the sprayer. It cheered her up a little. I got my hair wet. I used a small amount of the shampoo on Neema’s tummy and rinsed her off. I was afraid of getting her slippery. I used caution when washing my hair and the rest of me so as not to get soap in her eyes. I managed to turn off the water from where I sat. Opening the shower door, I laid Neema down on the towel I had spread out for her on the rug and wrapped her up. I wrapped another towel around my hair and dried off with a third.
Bending with my knees, I picked Neema up and placed her in the baby bed. I put her in a new diaper and the clean gown. Along with a gown, there were clean undies in the bag for me. The gown was too long, so I tied a knot at the hem, so I wouldn’t trip. I folded our towels and placed them on the floor near the shower. Then, I collected our dirty clothes. As I folded them, I noticed where blood had splattered onto each of us. My hands trembled as I added the clothes to the towels. I used the waste unit. I saw a toothbrush and toothpaste on the sink and used them. My hands had begun to shake so hard that it was difficult to rinse the toothbrush. I sat on the edge of the bed near Neema’s crib. I looked above her bed. There wasn’t a web there. Thunderdrop wasn’t with us.
The door opened admitting Knife. He kneeled down in front of me and held my hands still. He was too late. The panic had me. I couldn’t breathe. Yukihyo wasn’t here to save me. Thunderdrop wouldn’t be wrapping himself around my throat. I woke up in the little bed. Yukihyo wasn’t under my cheek. Nico wasn’t snoring softly at my back. Quaid wasn’t trying to sleep on the other side of Yukihyo. Eri wasn’t spying on us from the veranda outside. I cried until Neema woke up. I concentrated on her. The door opened, and a different man with solid black eyes entered with a tray. He placed it on the bed and left. I drank the juice, but couldn’t force myself to eat. Neema and I didn’t even have Papa or Abbie. Kaoti wasn’t here to give my back an awkward pat. I wanted Grandmother and Mrs. Tereas. What if we never saw them again? I made it to the bathroom in time to lose the juice in the sink. I never should have left Parvac.
Neema began to cry. I rinsed my mouth out and went to her. I held her and rocked from side to side. The man came back. He had the one who had been injured with him. I sobbed afraid he would hurt Neema. He held his hands up with his palms toward me. I backed away from them toward the bathroom. My throat had closed up, and I couldn’t breathe. Rushing inside, I closed the door. I turned the lock. I remembered Scar, the Parvac soldier who had broken the lock on the bathroom door on Naxa with his hand. I heard them arguing in Laconian. Neema had stopped crying. I smelled her hair. She was warm and soft. Everything was okay. No one was going to hurt us. We were safe.
The bathroom door was tugged. Then, Knife opened the door. He held his hands out to Neema. She laughed and went to him. He sat down with her on the floor and let her crawl. The other man had gone and a different one was in his place. He smiled at me. His lips were moving, but he sounded far away.
“You’re hungry and your back hurts. You want to sit down.” I nodded. He pulled the covers back. I was sitting up in the bed with the pillow behind my back. Neema laughed from where she played on the floor. “Open up.” I opened my mouth and tasted oatmeal. “After you eat all of the oatmeal, you want something to drink. What is it?” I thought the door opened, but I couldn’t pay attention to it. Then, a cup of coffee was in my hands. I sipped at it. Then, I looked in the cup, and it was empty. “It’s time to get dressed.” Knife changed Neema’s diaper and dressed her in a light green dress of a warm looking fabric. He wrapped her in a blanket and held her. My gown was gone, and a light blue dress of a similar construction was being pulled over my head. “Time to put your arms through.” I lifted my arms. The hem fell to my ankles, and the dress was loose. “Sit down.” I sat. I felt a tugging in my hair. It wasn’t Thunderdrop. My thoughts vanished. My hair was being brushed. I liked having my hair brushed. That was all that mattered right now.
I felt it when the ship landed. Knife placed Neema in my arms. She sent me her feelings of hunger, so I fed her. Then, we were being led out of the small room and down a narrow corridor. Knife and the other man walked us into a lift. Then, we were stepping from the ship and into the strangest looking port I had ever seen. It seemed like we were in a cave. Turning my head, I saw a wide opening in the rock and stars beyond it, the black stars of space. An asteroid came toward the opening and was pulverized by a defense grid. Trying to stay calm, I counted each time my right foot touched the ground as we walked. When I got to fifty, we turned. I started over. When we got to a hundred, we went through a door and into an apartment. It had tan carpet and blue couches and chairs. A man in an expensive suit had been waiting for us.
“Welcome, Princess Teagan. I have longed to meet you. Please, have a seat,” he said as he gestured toward the couch. Knife led me over to it. I sat. “Yes, my men have reported to me that the trip was difficult for you. I’ve read motion sickness can be terrible.” The man was young. I thought he might be my age or a little older. He had black hair and eyes. He seemed familiar in some way. “You know me. Deep down you know me. I’m familiar to you, Teagan, even though we just met. Do you know why?” I shook my head. “It’s because you were meant to be mine. You were stolen from me, but now I’ve rescued you. You’re safe now.”
He looked at Knife and the other man. “The two of you can go. Good work. Well, go.” He had grown impatient. The men bowed to him and left. He turned back to me and smiled. “Look what I have for Neema. Bring her over here.”
He smiled and motioned for me to follow him. Standing slowly, I followed. At the end of a second couch, a blue playpen with a light blue stuffed monkey and a toy rattle waited for Neema. I put her down and sat on the couch beside her. She picked up the rattle and shook it.
“Don’t worry. I have a bed, clothes, and supplies for Neema. I also have things for you. You will have everything that you want. You are my princess as you were meant to be. See? You were stolen from me, but I stole you back.”
I nodded. He smiled at me. He was Laconian and like my abductors the same race as the Bosh family. His face darkened in anger. “My love, don’t think of them. In our home, the Bosh name is forbidden. I don’t even want you thinking it. Okay?”
I nodded and looked down. I had made this stranger angry. I moved closer to Neema.
What could I do if he became violent? I thought maybe we might me on a moon. We had nowhere to run. The stuffed monkey wasn’t going to protect us. My hands started to shake.
“Hush, my darling. I’m not angry with you. You didn’t know that name was against the rules. Look at me. Look up.” I lifted my eyes to his. “I’ve made you afraid. Don’t be afraid, my love.” He sat beside me on the couch and took my hand in his.
I whispered, “Why is that name against the rules?”
He whispered back, “They stole you from me. Then, they stole my father. Now, I have to take everything back.”
I looked at his black hair and eyes. “You’re Arlo Dano.”
He beamed at me. “You know me. I didn’t even have to tell you my name. That’s because your soul recognizes mine.” Arlo lifted my hand to his lips and kissed my fingers.
“After Consul Dano arrested my brother and cousin, my Papa told me he had refused a marriage contract from your father. I thought I was told it was an offer from Cleto.”
“You didn’t even know. Emperor Probus rejected the offer without even asking you? Then, you suffered because your family was taken from you. It makes me angry that they don’t allow my princess to make her own choices. Father thought to give you to Cleto since he is the oldest. Cleto gets everything because he is the elder son. I’ve learned not to wait to be given anything. I can take what is mine.”
“But you didn’t let me make my own choice either. You made me come here.”
“Yes, my love, but that is only because they have made you so confused. I had to rescue you. I would have saved you sooner, but I had so much to plan. Attacking warships requires strategy.”
“You must be very smart, Arlo.” He beamed at me and kissed my fingers again. “Were the ships destroyed?”
“No, my love. They have been rendered inoperable. I couldn’t allow anyone to follow you. I’m sorry about your bracelet. My soldiers told me how upset you were that they had destroyed it. I can make it better. Stay right there. I’ll be back.” Arlo stood and walked out of the room. I saw a kitchen and bedrooms. The other doors were closed. I didn’t see a vid-screen.
Arlo returned. “Close your eyes.” I closed my eyes. I felt his hands on my wrist as he fastened something around it. “Open them.” Arlo had attached a bracelet of thick gold links around my wrist.
“Thank you. It’s beautiful.”
“See. You liked what you had before, but this is better. My love, that is how you will come to see your life with me. Everything will be better now that we are together.” His black eyes twinkled at me with a maniacal gleam. Arlo sat and took my hand in his. I jumped when he sent a weak feeling of pleasure into my hand. I was glad it had so little effect. I blushed and pulled my hand from his. “There is no need to be shy. I didn’t mean to frighten you. Have I overwhelmed your senses with my touch?”
I nodded and kept my mind blank. “Arlo, I remember seeing lots of pretty lights in the sky before your men rescued me. What caused them?”
Arlo smiled proudly at me. “See. That was part of my plan. It pleases me that you noticed. I bought every thermo-resonator missile in the Galaxic Expanse, Laconian Sector, and beyond. Then, I had my soldiers aim them at the warships that were keeping you from me.”
“I thought those were illegal.”
“Oh, they are and very expensive. However, they were worth the cost since you enjoyed how pretty they were when they exploded.”
I smiled at Arlo and said, “It seems you are as rich as you are smart. Can you explain to me how the bombs work?” Arlo puffed out his chest.
“It’s simple. When the missiles strike, they heat through a ship’s defensive shielding. Then, the impact and heat activate the resonator which contains substances which are chemically attracted to the metals in the ship’s hull. They begin to react, and the ship appears to shake apart with the force. In space, such a blast causes the slow destruction of a vessel. Unfortunately, the ships, who held you hostage, were able to land.” Arlo seemed distraught.
“They don’t matter anymore. I’m safe here with you.”
“Right. Let me show you our home. It’s only temporary. Once I control the sector, we will reside on whichever of our planets you would like.”
Arlo helped me up. I looked at Neema who sensed my cautious mood. She had the stuffed monkey’s tail in her mouth. “It was thoughtful of you to have toys for my baby.”
“Yes, you will find me to be very thoughtful.” Arlo gave me his arm and walked with me across the living room. He showed me the kitchen and the bedroom meant for Neema and me. All of the clothing he had selected for us was white. I touched one of the dresses. “They please you. I can tell. I’ve watched every piece of news coverage of you over and over again. I had one of my men piece them all together in chronological order.”
“Your men are highly trained. They seem different in some way.”
“They aren’t the average mercenaries for hire. Someone genetically modified them as children. Now, they work for me. They are referred to as hybrids.”
Shocked, my eyes grew large. Nathan Green had told me stories of hybrid soldiers at night when I was little to scare me. A few of the stories had frightened me so badly that I had been too afraid to get out of bed during the night to use the waste unit. Afterwards, Nathan Green had told me hybrid soldiers were unable to follow good children into bathrooms. I tried really hard to be good. “Arlo, they’re dangerous. They could go berserk and kill us or take over our minds and make us do things. They already have. They took over my mind on the way here. What if they are controlling you, and you don’t even know it?”
Arlo stroked the side of my face. “You are concerned for me already. You are as sweet and kind as I knew you would be. I’m safe. Don’t worry. I have a neuro-stabilizer.”
“Arlo, how many of those hybrids do you command?”
His face darkened with anger. “You’re trying to get information out of me.”
I scowled at him and turned to the closet. I pulled the dress I wore over my head and dropped it to the floor. I turned my head and found Arlo’s eyes on me. “Don’t be angry with me. I’m merely concerned and curious.” I took a white dress from the closet. It had silver buttons down the front. I began unfastening them. “I’ll be even more afraid if you don’t tell me how many of them there are.”
In a distracted voice, Arlo said, “I have seven of them remaining. I lost three of them rescuing you.”
I slipped the dress over my head and put my arms through the sleeves. I was relieved it fit. While I fastened the buttons, I said, “I’m sorry, Arlo. Were you close?”
“No, I pay them to do what I want and nothing more.” His eyes followed me into the bathroom where I found a brush. In a drawer, I found hair ties. I put my hair up in a high ponytail.
“It must be terribly lonely for you here all alone with only those dreadful mercenaries for company.” I walked to him, put my hands against his chest, and gazed up at him.
“You’re here now. Soon, my father will join us. Will you be alright for a few hours? I have plans to make. I need to think.” His eyes took on a faraway look.
“The baby and I will be fine. Don’t worry about us.” I gave him my sweetest smile. He kissed my cheek. I moved away from him and went to Neema. “Does Mommy’s pretty girl want to put on a new dress? Let’s go see.” I smiled adoringly at Arlo as he left.
Chapter Nine
I kept my thoughts closely guarded. Arlo could sense my thoughts, and I knew his hybrid Laconian mercenaries could control both my mind and my emotions. How else could they have surprised Yukihyo? I changed Neema’s diaper and dress. I tossed it on top of the one I had worn. I wanted to leave the dirty clothes on the floor to make a statement, but I couldn’t do it. I picked the clothes up and placed them in the basket in the bathroom.
“Do you want to go exploring with Mommy?”
With Neema on my left hip, I began snooping through everything. I searched the living room and kitchen. I
tried to gain entrance into the two rooms with closed doors. Each room required a hand scan. I couldn’t find any sign of a vid-screen or any type of communications device. I went into Arlo’s room. Everything was in impeccable order. When I turned to leave, I saw the wall. It was covered in pictures of me. Each one was in a frame. He had a copy of my identification badge when I was a reclamation worker on Earth. He had pictures of me that had been taken on Parvac. He had printed out a shot of me from the news program Phillip had talked me into calling. He had a picture of me looking up at Jin-an as she sat in my fighter ship.
“What are you doing?” Arlo asked. I jumped at the sound of his voice.
“I toured my new home. You have so many pictures of me. I’m flattered.”
“You are supposed to ask permission before entering a private room.”
Neema began to cry. I walked past him to the couch. He followed and stared at me. I sat with Neema and began to slowly unbutton the top of my dress. It distracted him enough to forget his anger. He watched as I nursed my baby. “Don’t be angry with me. You left me here with nothing to do. I was bored. There isn’t even a vid-screen for me to play with.” I pouted at him. “Did you finish planning your father’s escape already?”
“No, I forgot something in my office.” Arlo stood and went to the first closed door. He placed his palm against the scan pad, and the door opened. The room had everything I needed. He put something in his pocket and came out. He had a vid-screen in one hand. “Here my love. You can play with this while I’m working.”
The Parvac Emperor's Daughter (The Space Merchants Book 3) Page 15