Together Forever?
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to Part 1 of Together Forever?
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Suzee drew in a deep breath as they entered the room. If you disregarded
its owner, it was a beautiful place. Much of the wall was made up of clear
glass-like material, so that a viewer could see space in almost all directions.
She only hoped that the Christa wasn’t in view . . . she breathed a
mental sigh of relief when she didn’t spot it after quickly scanning
the horizon. But enough speculating - the guard was taking her before Shank.
Time to focus.
“This female was found by the landing bay airlock,” the guard said
by way of explanation. “She has informed me that she wishes to conduct
business with you, Your Excellency.”
“Very well,” Shank said, staring pointedly at the guard. “I
conduct my business alone.” The guard scurried from the room. As the
door closed behind him, Shank turned to Suzee. She gulped, remembering how
the Spung treated their females. Would he listen to her?
“I - I come with a simple request,” she began. “I am a slave
trader from the planet Meaternos, and it has come to my attention that you
have in your possession a specimen in which I have great interest.”
She paused to see if her story was having an effect, but could detect no
difference in Shank’s expression.
“A young male Andromedan, from a ship called the Christa?” Suzee
heard Shank’s sharp intake of breath as he realized who she was talking
about. Judging from his face, he already suspected a trick. But Suzee hoped
that her story would convince him. “You do know that this ship is piloted
by inexperienced children?” He nodded and bade her continue.
“Approximately six months ago, the crew had been making modifications
to their ship. They wished to test them, and this creature convinced the
ship’s rogue captain to test their powers of acceleration on my home
planet.” In spite of himself, Shank looked interested. “They came
into the atmosphere of Meaternos at a great speed, and did not stop as they
approached the civilization. The ship ripped into the trees where our dwellings
are, injuring thousands and killing hundreds; and the crew did not even stop,
turning sharply and lunging back into space. Later, we received a sardonic
message of “apology.” As I have already mentioned, the Andromedan
was the leader of the operation. He is the one I want.”
“And what will I gain from this - arrangement?” Shank asked
suspiciously.
“I will use him as a decoy to capture the rest of the crew. Harlanband,
as their leader, will come with me as well. The others will be turned over
to you, along with the ship and everything on it. Fair enough?” Although
she hoped she showed no outward signs of it, Suzee was growing nervous. This
was taking much longer than she had planned . . . As she continued prattling
on, her eyes moved tensely about the room. Suddenly, a blinking light on
her hip caught her eye. Her comlink! No, she thought. It’s
too dangerous - someone could say something too easily that would blow my
cover, and I’ve almost got him convinced. Better to wait.
Rosie looked up from the communications station. “She’s still not
responding, Commander,” she said anxiously.
Harlan turned to the commander. “This is taking too long!” he said.
“She was supposed to be back ten minutes ago. Something went wrong.”
“She’s been captured,” Bova said flatly. “They’ll
put her in the torture chamber, she’ll blow our cover, and then we’ll
be dead. Better to just finish it off now!”
The commander put up a hand to hush everyone. “Look! I’m going
to find Thelma and see if she can help us get a handle on what’s going
on. Meanwhile, don’t panic. I’m sure Suzee’s fine .
. . she probably just got held up.” He headed for the tubes.
Once the commander was safely gone, Harlan turned to the younger kids. “If
anyone asks where I went - you don’t know,” he said as he left
the helm. “One of you guys should probably stand there just in case,
but it’s set on auto-pilot. As long as the killcruiser doesn’t
make any sudden changes in course you’ll be all set.” Almost before
he finished his sentence, he was gone.
Bova turned to Rosie seriously, but a grin appeared on his face as soon as
Harlan was out of sight. “All right!” he yelled. “I’m
the pilot!” Rosie joined him in a frantic rush for the central control
console. No one even thought to question where Harlan could be going in such
a hurry . . .
“All right,” Shank said finally, breaking into Suzee’s monologue.
“I will have the guards bring him up - I assume you have a craft with
bonds in it?”
“Uh, yes.” Would Shank offer to come down and help her load
him? If he did, she would have to put him in the cargo hold? There were wraps
there to keep supplies down . . . but it wasn’t exactly the resting
spot she’d had in mind for him . . .
Her thoughts were interrupted by the entrance of two big guards, tugging
a body between them. It took all of Suzee’s willpower not to cry out.
He looked horrible! Bruised and beaten . . . it brought tears to her eyes
just to see him, but she quickly blinked them away. She just hoped that he
knew enough not to acknowledge her!
As Shank fastened a thick metal chain to Radu’s neck, Suzee realized
suddenly that Radu was watching her. He was fully aware of who she was and
why she was there. But as she watched his face, his gaze suddenly went past
her . . . and she heard Shank’s gasp of stunned surprises. Turning,
her eyes widened in shock. Harlan! What was he doing here?
“It appears that you are not all that you seem, girl,” Shank said
with a wicked grin, snatching the chain back from her . . .
As the commander came back into the command post with Thelma, he stopped
dead in the doorway. Bova and Rosie were still standing excitedly at the
central console. “Where’s Mr. Band?” he asked suspiciously.
Bova turned quickly. “Uh, uh . . . he’s, uh - ” He looked
frantically at Rosie. They needed to come up with a story fast, or they would
be in hot water along with Harlan!
“He’s, uh - taking a break,” Rosie finished lamely.
The commander glared at them.
Elmira was feeling more hopeful by the second. She had gotten a visual link
to her father’s observatory and watched the dealings with “Suzee
the slave trader.” The arrangement was just about to go through - wait!
That stupid Earther! What was he doing? Harlan walked casually along the
corridor and strolled into the observatory, only to stop dead as he was met
by her father’s disbelieving gaze. Elmira covered her eyes - she
couldn’t bear to see what would happen now.
Suzee stood in frozen shock. She knew she needed to do something fast, or
everything would be lost! Grasping at the faintest glimmer of an idea, she
turned to Harlan angrily. “What are you doing here?” she
said in utter disbelief. “You had strict orders to stay in the pod!”
Turning to Shank, she said, “I apologize greatly. I captured the captain
while he was on a solitary mission, and we had an agreement that he would
be treated well until he reached the space mines.” She almost burst
out laughing at Harlan’s pitiful face. “But only if he remained
in the pod during the bargaining process for this one! Now,” she concluded,
“if you have soldiers to spare, Warlord, would you mind taking him into
custody while I prepare the cargo bay of my ship for the Andromedan?”
“Certainly . . . ” Shank said, still a bit suspicious. “But
I believe there will be a slight change of plans. Since you have two rowdy
captives, I will escort you personally to your vessel. After all, we would
not want you to get lost on the way. Would we?” He smiled.
Suzee walked anxiously to the Starling. Shank was beside her, and each of
her “prisoners” was being held on a neck chain by two guards. She
was terrified that something would blow their cover. As the Starling came
into view, she couldn’t help letting out a sigh of relief. She crossed
purposefully to her shuttle and opened the cargo hold, biting her lip as
the boys were dumped into the noticeably inflexible and unpadded strongbox.
Suzee was glad Shank couldn’t see her face as she slammed the lid down
on them - she wasn’t sure how much oxygen could be in that microscopic
space. It was plenty adequate for cargo . . . but she was anxious to be on
her way and get them out of there.
Forcing herself to keep from appearing uneasy, she slipped coolly into the
cockpit and quickly left the killcruiser behind her. But once she was out
of Shank’s sight, the trader’s bravado dropped from her like a
costume after a masquerade ball. She piloted the craft with shaking hands.
Relax! she ordered herself firmly. This trip isn’t over yet
. . .
Suzee looked down anxiously at Radu - he was attached to so much machinery
he looked like something out of a science-fiction movie. She jumped at the
touch of a hand on her shoulder. “Oh, he’ll be fine,” Rosie
said reassuringly. “He just needs a few days to heal up, and he’ll
be as good as new.” Suzee nodded distractedly, then looked up as the
door opened.
“Is he okay?” Harlan asked nervously. He had almost fully recovered
from his “experience,” but still looked a little battered. Suzee
ran to him and gave him a hug, then quickly pulled away, embarrassed. She
couldn’t get out of her mind the image that she had seen when she opened
the Starling’s cargo hold - both of them unconscious. They’d fainted
from oxygen deprivation, and for a moment, she had thought . . . But no,
Harlan was all right, and Radu would be fine in a few days - Rosie said so.
Glancing down at him, Suzee chewed her lip nervously. I hope she’s
right . . .
“Go ahead - just punch in the com-link code,” Harlan said with
a friendly grin. “She’s been calling every day, asking how you’re
doing. I guess she doesn’t trust us to take care of you,” he finished,
laughing. Everyone was in a good mood since Radu was up and about again -
there had been a few days when even Rosie had been worried . . .
Slowly, Radu entered in the code that would open a simultaneous transmission
channel with the comlink Elmira had appropriated. When she saw who the message
was from, her face lit up. “Radu! Are you okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” he said dejectedly.
“What’s the matter?”
“Nothing. It’s just that - nothing.”
“No! Tell me.”
“Well, it’s just that - I thought that we’d finally be able
to stay together, at least for a little while, and it completely fell apart.
It seems like you and me are just destined never to - to happen,” he
finished self-consciously.
“Oh!” she said finally. “Is that what’s bothering you?”
With a sad smile, she said, “Don’t worry. Someday, somewhere,
we’ll be together. And no one will ever be able to separate us again.”