by Anthea Sharp
“I don’t think so,” a deep voice said.
A meaty hand grabbed her shoulder and swung her around to face an immensely tall man.
“Looks like we got us a prize,” he said.
Shade let out a hiss, the fur of her tail bristling up through the mesh of her carrier.
“Unhand the lady,” Squire Kenwick said, though his voice shook.
Liza couldn’t fight; not carrying her valise and Shade.
“Here,” she cried, thrusting the carrier at the squire, then dropping her valise.
She grasped the bounty hunter’s arm with both hands and pulled, but there was no leverage for her to use against him. He stood rooted like a tree, holding her fast and laughing at her efforts.
Then the woman arrived and, quick as a blink, clapped a pair of restraint bracelets around Liza’s wrists.
“What is this nonsense?” the squire spluttered. “You can’t just—”
“Galactic Enforcers,” the woman said, flashing a badge that was likely counterfeited. “This young woman has a price on her head.”
Damnation. Liza ground her teeth. She couldn’t believe she’d been caught so easily. A year of living in safety had made her too soft.
Squire Kenwick took a step back, blinking at Liza. “I only just met her, I swear. I’ve nothing to do with it. Whatever it is.”
Liza looked at him, widening her eyes in entreaty. She glanced down at the carrier, then back to him, hoping he could read her message. And that he’d take pity, if not on her, then on her cat.
The large man grinned. “If you do, we’ll find out—never fear. Now hand over the carrier.”
“Open it!” Liza yelled, then barreled forward, using her shoulders to force her way through the gathered onlookers.
Her blasted skirts hampered her movements, however, and she knew she couldn’t escape—but that wasn’t her aim. If she could create enough of a distraction…
The bounty hunters grabbed Liza, and the woman sent a stun-shock through her that made her stagger. She was well and truly caught, now.
With a yowl, Shade shot into the air, wings pumping furiously.
Thank you, Liza mouthed at the squire as the bounty hunters slung her back around.
“I couldn’t help it,” Squire Kenwick protested as the woman stalked over to him. “It ripped open the closure, see? And look at my hand! Nearly torn to shreds.”
There was a single red line going down the back of his hand. It could have been made by a desperate cat—or the edge of a plasmetal zipper.
Shade, still meowing, flapped in circles over their heads. The tall bounty hunter jumped, but Shade was clever enough to soar out of reach.
He lunged again, and his female companion scowled at him. “Leave it. There’s no mention of a cat.”
“Look at it, though.” He stared up at Shade. “That’d fetch a pretty penny.”
“Not worth it. We’ve drawn too much attention already. Bring the girl.” She pinned the squire with her gaze. “If we find you’re involved, you’re next.”
He gulped, and refused to meet Liza’s eyes. “I was just leaving.”
“Good.” The bounty hunter scooped up Liza’s valise, her companion scooped up Liza, and they quickly made for the nearest exit.
“Go,” Liza called up at Shade, though her tongue was clumsy from the effects of the stun. “Don’t follow me.”
Her last sight was of the cat turning to wheel away, soaring high above the crowds until she was lost in the shadows.
The bounty hunters took Liza to a cavernous warehouse full of cargo containers. She read the destination readouts as the man lugged her past: Palatio, New Scotia, and someplace simply designated as TR-14.
There was little hope that she might escape and smuggle herself out, unfortunately. In addition to the wrist restraints, the bounty hunters had fastened strictors around each ankle.
“Like having your feet cut off,” she’d overheard an old miner say once, and it was true.
Even if she could somehow overpower her captors, she couldn’t run. Crawl, maybe, but with her arms pinioned in front of her, it wasn’t a very feasible idea. Plus, once she’d gained the corridors outside, it would be clear she was some kind of escapee.
Being picked up by redcoats wouldn’t be any better than the bounty hunters. The end result would be the same—shipped back to Earth to face her family’s justice.
She shivered at the thought. The duke would not go easy on his runaway daughter, despite the handful of years that had passed. Indeed, he would probably be all the angrier that she’d managed to avoid detection for so long. One did not lightly cross one of the highest-ranking men in the galaxy.
Still, after being deposited in a corner of the bounty hunters’ makeshift camp, Liza couldn’t help but watch, and try to plan. No matter how hopeless her chances.
Even if she could overpower her captors, the woman had the restraints keyed to her handheld. Which was retina-locked, so stealing it would be of no use.
The hours passed. The bounty hunters didn’t bother feeding her, and Liza wondered what their plans were. Her father wanted her back alive, she was certain of it. Trying to find a comfortable position—hard to do when propped against a wall with useless limbs—she closed her eyes and pretended to sleep.
Perhaps she did sleep, for when she was next conscious, she realized the bounty hunters were talking.
“Transport’s at oh-three-hundred,” the man was saying. “They’ll have a berth for us in Medical, as arranged. Should we put the girl on the medicot?”
“Not yet,” his partner said. “There’s only so much knockout in the IV. Don’t want her coming to before we’re on the ship.”
The man snorted. “What’s she going to do, even if she does wake up? Sic her killer cat on us?”
“That creature’s long gone,” the woman said.
I’m sorry, Shade, Liza thought, regret surging through her. It’s not the future I planned for us. She hoped the cat would find a refuge somewhere. Maybe Squire Kenwick would take her in.
A faint movement overhead made her glance up to the high ceiling. Something fluttered in the shadows atop one of the metal girders, and her heartbeat thudded with hope. And worry.
If Shade had followed her, what could the cat possibly do? One small feline and one girl in restraints were not the most formidable of foes—especially against two hardened bounty hunters.
A shape glided from the girder to the top of a nearby shipping container. The silhouette was unmistakably that of a winged feline. Oh, Shade, what are you up to?
“What are you going to do with your half of the reward?” the male bounty hunter asked, but didn’t wait for his partner to answer. “Me, I’m going to open a bar somewhere. Maybe on the planet they give us.”
The woman let out a snort. “It won’t be a planet, fool. Probably an over-mined hunk of moon that’s no use to anyone.”
Privately, Liza agreed with her. The nobility were good at making empty promises.
“Don’t care,” the man said. “It’s got to be livable, right? I’ll build a place, and people will come. Why, my bar could be the hub for mercs everywhere. I can see it now—Lugash’s Tavern, in ten foot holo letters.”
Big dreams, and for a moment Liza felt a bitter ache at the thought of all she’d lost.
Selina. The name echoed through her, though the searing pain had blunted a little, with time.
Being hauled back to Earth would be the death of everything they’d hoped for. Liza’s heart twisted at the thought. She couldn’t give up. Not yet.
Atop the container, Shade shifted.
“Hey,” Liza said, hoping to distract her captors. “I’m thirsty.”
“Same here.” The man grinned. “A nice pint of Deneb, now—”
“You and your ale,” the woman said, shaking her head. She grabbed a dented thermobottle and brought it to Liza. “No tricks.”
Liza held up her bound wrists, illustrating her helpless position.
It was beyond awkward, trying to bring the bottle to her mouth with her arms restrained. For every sip Liza managed of the flat-tasting recycled water, she spilled twice as much on her woolen traveling dress.
Two pinpricks of bright purple shone from the dark atop the shipping container. Soft as a whisper, Liza heard the rustle of Shade’s wings. Whatever foolish, ill-fated rescue attempt the cat planned, it was about to happen.
Liza took a last gulp of water, then made to hand the bottle back. At the last second, she flicked her wrists. The container clattered away, rolling in a lopsided arc over the stained concrete floor. A dribble of water left a dark line in its wake.
“Sorry,” she said.
“You will be.” The woman stalked over to retrieve her bottle.
If Liza hadn’t been prepared, she never would have sensed Shade’s attack. As it was, the cat glided overhead on silent wings. Something hung, glinting, at her neck. With one swift paw, she batted it to the floor, where it shattered in a tinkle of glass, right in front of the man. A faint yellow mist rose up.
“What the devil?” he exclaimed, bending over to examine the broken vial.
The woman strode over, caught a whiff of the mist, and backed hastily away. “Don’t breathe it!”
Too late—at least for him. With a crash, the bounty hunter toppled over.
The woman whirled, stumbling slightly, and drew her taz-pistol.
“Come out,” she called. “I know you’re there, Vim. Trying to steal our catch, are you? Well, I won’t stand for it!”
She wove back and forth on her feet, and Liza desperately hoped she wouldn’t, in fact, stand much longer.
“Go for her eyes,” somebody yelled in a shaking voice.
With a piercing yowl, Shade plummeted down, wings folded tightly against her body. She made straight for the bounty hunter’s face, twisting to evade the taz bolts the woman shot at her.
A figure raced forward, and with surprise Liza saw it was Squire Kenwick, a stunrod in his hand. He took aim at the woman and fired a sizzling arc at her.
Liza grimaced as he missed, the edge of the stun just grazing the bounty hunter’s shoulders. She whirled, teeth bared, and leveled her pistol at the squire.
No. Liza refused to let this rescue end in disaster.
She flung herself onto the cold floor, using that brief momentum to roll forward. Her arms ached and her feet, well, she hoped she wouldn’t accidentally break her ankles.
With a thud, she collided against the bounty hunter’s legs, just as the woman let out a bolt. It went wide, and she kicked Liza in the ribs.
“Stun her,” Liza cried, gritting her teeth against the stab of pain.
“I’m trying.” Squire Kenwick sounded on the verge of tears. “It has to recharge.”
At least he had the sense to duck around the corner of the shipping container.
The bounty hunter aimed another kick at Liza, but she managed to jackknife away before the boot landed in her ribs again.
“I’ll deal with you, later.” The woman glared at Liza, her voice harsh with rage. Then, pistol at the ready, she crept to the edge of the container.
“She’s coming,” Liza called.
Damnation. How long did that stun rod take to prime, anyway? What a useless weapon.
The bounty hunter leaped around the corner, firing, and Liza bit her lip. She wouldn’t put her credits on Squire Kenwick in this fight, unfortunately.
Speaking of whom, he crept around the far side of the container. The stun rod trembled in his hands, and he shot Liza an agonized look.
Overhead, Shade let out a yowl, her gaze fixed on the corner where the bounty hunter had disappeared. Urgently, Liza jerked her head at the squire to get back under cover. If the stakes weren’t so high, the whole thing would have been amusing, in a darkly comic way.
The bounty hunter sidled around the edge of the container. She frowned when she saw that Squire Kenwick had given her the slip.
Clank. Something shifted atop the container. The woman glanced up, then yelled and dodged out of the way as a metal bar plummeted down, smacking the concrete where she’d just been standing.
Shade crouched atop the container, peering down like a petite gargoyle.
“Damned cat,” the bounty hunter said, lifting her pistol to fire at Shade.
“Look out,” Liza called.
The air lit with the blue taz bolt, just as Squire Kenwick barreled back around the corner, stun rod glowing. With a determined expression, he pointed it at the bounty hunter and fired.
This time, the arc connected, and the woman slumped unconscious to the floor, pistol clattering from her grasp.
With a graceful swoop, Shade left her perch and landed delicately on the ground, putting herself between the bounty hunter and her gun.
“Oh, well done,” Liza said. “The both of you.”
“Mrow.” Shade sounded rather pleased with herself.
Squire Kenwick wiped his perspiring forehead with the back of his sleeve. “I wasn’t sure we could do it, frankly.”
Neither had Liza, but she didn’t stop smiling. “Grab that pistol, then let’s get me out of these restraints before the bounty hunters wake up.”
“How?” The squire scooped up the gun, then came to stand beside her.
“The woman’s handheld—there, clipped to her belt. When you turn it on, you’ll have to pry open one of her eyelids for the retinal scan. Oh, and put your stun rod next to me. Just in case.” She wasn’t sure she could operate it, bound as she was, but she felt better with a weapon nearby.
With a look of distaste, Squire Kenwick went over to the bounty hunter. The woman had fallen facing Liza, and it was unnerving to see her blank stare as the squire held her lid open and waved the handheld in front of her face.
For a tense moment, nothing happened. Liza frantically tried to come up with a plan. Her brain felt like an asteroid knocked out of orbit, helplessly spinning in freefall.
Then the handheld beeped, the screen blossomed with text, and Liza released her breath.
“There should be an icon for the strictors,” Liza said. “A snake, I think.”
Squire Kenwick frowned, then nodded. “There is it. Let me see… release, that ought to do it.”
With a snick, the bindings around her ankles loosened. Liza waved her legs, trying to kick off the strictors. Her feet still felt like they were missing.
“Hold on, let me help you,” he said.
“Just get my wrists loose.” Now that she was almost free, she was panicking; the fear that she’d held at bay rising up to swamp her.
As if sensing Liza’s distress, Shade came up and bumped her mistress on the cheek with her cold nose.
It helped. Liza closed her eyes, forced her racing heartbeat and panting breaths to slow. They would get out of this. They would.
“Almost there,” Squire Kenwick said.
Her wrist restraints clicked off, and she gasped with the pain of sensation returning to her arms.
The male bounty hunter groaned and began to stir. Without hesitation, Liza grabbed the stun rod. It took a second for her nerveless fingers to find the button, but when she did, she shot the man solidly in the side. He subsided into unconsciousness once more.
“We need to get out of here,” Liza said. “Help me stand.”
It was easier said than done, however. Her feet were blocks of lead, and even with Squire Kenwick supporting her, she couldn’t walk.
“Put me back down,” she said after several awkward attempts.
“Whatever are we to do now?” he asked, helping prop her against the wall. “I’m afraid I haven’t the strength to carry you.”
“I know.” She pursed her mouth, trying to think. The bounty hunters had a plan… “Search for a medicot. We can put me on that, and wheel me out. It should be nearby.”
He gave her a dubious look, but went to loo
k.
Shade had disappeared again, but now let out an imperative meow. Squire Kenwick hurried toward the sound, ducked behind another stack of containers, then reappeared wheeling the cot. Shade sat in the center of it, looking smug.
Liza was glad to see her valise tucked in the rack beneath the cot. At least she hadn’t lost all her worldly possessions, although almost everything could be replaced.
Everything, except Selina’s portrait.
“Here we go,” the squire said, bringing the medicot to where Liza sat.
He levered it down as low as it would go, then gave her an apologetic look.
“Well, let’s get me on the blasted thing,” she said.
After some awkward maneuvering, they managed to get her installed in the cot. Shade hovered overhead, keeping an eye on the proceedings.
Squire Kenwick eyed the prone forms of the bounty hunters. “Should we stun them again?”
“Probably.” The last thing they needed was for her assailants to recover and chase them down.
She pulled out the stun rod, delivering half a charge to each of the bounty hunters. They didn’t have time to wait for the blasted thing to fully recharge, after all.
As soon as she finished, the squire rapidly wheeled Liza to the warehouse exit. A small trunk sat beside the door, and he paused to hoist it under the cot, next to Liza’s valise.
“Just in case, I brought my luggage,” he said. “I thought, in the unlikely even we succeeded in the rescue, we might need to make a quick getaway.
“Good thinking.” It seemed the squire did have a modicum of sense, after all.
As they stepped into the station corridors, Shade landed on the cot and burrowed under the covers at Liza’s side. Against impossible odds, they’d freed her from the bounty hunters, and the enormity of it washed over her.
“Good kitty.” Blinking back tears, she gave Shade a pat.
“A sight more than good,” Squire Kenwick said. “That is the most amazing feline I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting.”
At his words, Shade began to purr.
“She is,” Liza agreed, though she herself hadn’t quite realized the depth of the cat’s intelligence.