Alone in the Crowd (The Chronicles of Anna Foster Book 3) (7 page)

Almost as if in response, the button on the little box changed from red to green, and the airlock opened. Forbeck snatched up the cube and pocketed it as the other two dropped through the hole.

The trio stormed the bridge with rifles ready. While Forbeck swept through the bridge, Hunter and Cassels moved through the corridors leading aft, checking each door as they encountered it. It was a matter of moments before they all signaled the all-clear. As they regrouped at the airlock, Hunter retrieved the sensor module from his belt and initiated a scan. This time, it located a single life form hiding under the floor of the bridge.

Forbeck and Cassels traced the crawlspace depicted on the image to the access hatch behind the pilot seat. They stepped to the hidden floor plate, and Cassels pried it open with the spring-loaded bayonet he released from its niche within his rifle. Wasting no time, Forbeck pulled the pin from a small container and dropped it into the hole. They quickly reset the hatch.

* * * * *

Anna flinched when the panel opened, even though she had heard the steps approaching. Her eyes widened on seeing the gas grenade drop into the maintenance tunnel and spray its contents into the air. Once the hatch closed, she knew she had nowhere to go. Vowing to make her capture as difficult as possible for them, she typed a message to Kate to stay offline until they were out of sensors range, holstered her pistol in her tool belt, and climbed under the catwalk to fall asleep on top of the lower hull.

“You found a woman?” Catherine asked, her sandwich barely touching her lips.

Grinning, Jason nodded, sat down at the kitchen table, and put a plate holding his sandwich and potato chips down in front of him. “That’s right! I found a woman out there!”

She shook her head in disbelief. After a few seconds, she continued. “What are you going to find next, some alien civilization?”

“Maybe.” He chuckled before taking a bite.

She tossed a chip into her mouth and chewed it for a few seconds before probing further. “What is she like? Is she feral?”

Jason shot a puzzled glance at her. “She’s not feral; she’s not an animal at all. She’s living out of her crashed spaceship and carries a tool belt with all kinds of modern equipment. She’s even made a garden and a water wheel for herself.”

“Is there anyone else living with her?”

He swallowed a bite of food. “I don’t think so. At least, I didn’t see anyone else. Then again, I didn’t exactly get the grand tour.”

Catherine nodded and took another bite of her sandwich, letting the conversation drift into silence for a short while.

“Is she pretty?”

Jason had let his thoughts wander as he chewed his food. “Hmm?”

Returning her sandwich to the plate, Catherine repeated, “Is this wild woman of yours pretty?”

“Oh! Yeah, she’s pretty. She’s got long, blonde hair. She’s slender and looks really fit. I guess she gets lots of exercise.”

“I see.” Catherine’s voice trailed off.

Jason began to take another bite of his lunch, when he noticed her staring into her food. Although he had not known her long, it did not take much to figure out what she was bothered about.

“Well, she’s about as old as Ms. Armstrong, so she’s okay. She’s not stunning like you.”

To his relief, a smile formed on Catherine’s face, and she looked up at him. “Thanks.”

He smiled back and nudged her foot, starting a game of footsy which continued while they finished their lunch.

When they were done, they left the house to return to work. As they did so, Jason’s communicator paged him. He glanced at the wrist device and gave Catherine an annoyed look as he answered the call.

“This is Jason. Go ahead.”

“Jason, Haven Control. Ms. Armstrong wants you to report to the town hall this afternoon.”

His face showed his disappointment. “Okay. I’ll be there.”

“Looks like you’re on your way up around here,” Catherine commented.

Jason frowned. “Yeah, but I was hoping to actually get back in the woods this afternoon.”

“Why? So you could find that wild woman of yours again?”

He stifled a laugh. “No, I have a job to do, and I can’t do it sitting around at the town hall.”

Catherine stepped in front of him and kissed him. “Well, good luck with that. I’ll see you tonight at dinner.”

Jason watched her possessively for several seconds as she walked away, before making his way to the town hall. When he reached the square, he noticed three military skycycles parked in front of the large administrative building. He thought it a bit odd that they were parked there instead of in the motor pool. Then he remembered the plan the colonel had detailed about capturing the woman in the woods and bringing her in for questioning. Perhaps they had succeeded and were now questioning her. He picked up the pace and entered the building.

Jason soon spotted the colonel discussing something with one of his troops. He glanced over at Jason as he walked in, clapped the soldier’s shoulder, and marched over.

“Well, well, well,” the colonel said. “I have some good news for you, Jason. You don’t have to go flying across the countryside to find your new girlfriend anymore. My men brought her in.”

“She’s not my girlfriend, but thank you, Colonel. Is she okay?” Jason pursed his lips as he observed the colonel’s uncharacteristic good mood.

The colonel cringed as if somebody had just punched him across the jaw. “No, of course not! She’s perfectly fine. Not the happiest of people right now, but she’s not hurt. Do you want to see her?”

With a nod from Jason, the colonel escorted him to the same room as before. When they got there, he looked through the small square window on the closed door. The sole occupant was the mysterious woman, who sat in the chair Ms. Armstrong had used. She appeared to have her hands handcuffed behind her back and stared angrily at something against the near wall.

Jason tried to see what she was looking at, but could not make it out. “What’s she staring at?”

The colonel glanced into the room and grinned. “Good! She’s awake.

“That would be O’Reilly,” he continued as he glanced over his shoulder at Jason. “He’s standing guard over her, and she’s probably hating every second of it.”

“May I speak with her?” Jason asked.

The colonel looked at him with raised eyebrows and laughed. “Talk to her? She looks like she’d sooner rip someone’s eyes out than talk to them. But,” he shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

Without waiting for a response, he opened the door and walked in before Jason. The woman shifted her gaze but did not change her expression.

The colonel addressed her. “Looks like you have a visitor.” He stepped aside to allow Jason to enter the room.

Jason smiled nervously at her.

Her gaze turned hard. “You!”

She stood and lunged toward him. The colonel drew his pistol and leveled it at her face, as did O’Reilly with his rifle.

“I’d think twice if I were you,” the colonel said. “I don’t think you want another hole in your head.”

She stared at the colonel, glanced at O’Reilly, then back at the colonel. She stepped back in silence and returned to her seat.

Holstering his gun, the colonel nodded to O’Reilly and left the room. Jason pulled out the chair and sat down across from the woman. All the while, O’Reilly maintained his aim on her as Jason did so.

“What do you want?” Her words dripped venom.

Jason held up a hand. “First, let me apologize. Your capture was not my idea.”

Though the apology appeared to soften her mood a little, she still sounded irritated. “Did you object?”

After a second’s pause, he answered, “Well, no. Not really. But, I tried to find an alternative.”

“Did you even stop to think that I was just playing around with you?”

“What?” Her statement caused his head to flinch.

“I was only pulling your leg. I don’t drink anymore. Haven’t for over fifteen years. I don’t have a taste for alcohol anymore.”

“Then, why…” Jason stopped, when she gave a skeptical look.

“Never mind,” he continued, shaking his head. “Look, let me at least get you something to eat. That’s the least I can do to try to make it up to you.”

She cocked an eyebrow. “Do I look malnourished to you?”

Stopping after he stood, he looked her over and smiled. “Not in the slightest. But, it is lunch time.”

“I had lunch five hours ago.”

“Five hours ago? What time do you go by?”

The woman sighed. “For the last fifiteen-plus years, my watch has been set to Greenwich Mean Time back on Earth.”

“Oh, okay. The colony is set to Eastern Standard Time.” He thought a while. “Then, it must be getting close to dinner time for you.”

“As long as it’s not bread and water or gruel, some dinner would be nice.”

Jason smiled before he left the room. “Great! I’ll be right back.”

After the door shut, he thought he heard the woman say, “You can put your rifle down. I’m not going to try anything.” He hoped O’Reilly agreed with her.

* * * * *

“We have the woman in custody, Ms. Armstrong.”

Colonel McClaskey stood at ease before her desk. Her office was dusky, lit by a single lamp and the three-dimensional screen projected above her desk.

Ms. Armstrong looked at the colonel through the holographic screen. “Was she cooperative?”

“Actually, no. My men reported that they had to drag her out of the bowels of her ship after they had gassed it. She must be a computer whiz, too, ‘cause they had one hell of a time trying to hack the security code to get through the airlock.”

She frowned. “So, you haven’t had a chance to talk to her then? Get her name? Why she’s here?”

“No, ma’am. I was going to leave the questioning to you. You said you wanted to ask her about this threat of hers.”

Ms. Armstrong sighed aloud. “You know, I have to finish this requisition before the colony ship leaves in two hours. I really don’t have time to step away and conduct an interrogation.”

A sly, conniving smile formed on the colonel’s face. “I could conduct the interrogation. Make her talk.”

She did not like the way he said that. And given the recent interrogation tactics used by military forces throughout human-controlled space, the prisoner could wind up maimed or accidentally killed before any pertinent information was gained.

After glancing over the requisition form and seeing that she still had quite a bit to do to complete it, she looked back at the colonel. “All right. Bring her in here. I’ll question her while I work. Just make sure that you have one of your men in here for security.”

The colonel’s visage drooped when he heard her answer, but he nodded without objecting, turned on his heel, and exited the office.

* * * * *

“Special delivery!” The young man passed through the door holding a plate with a sandwich and chips in one hand, and a thermos in the other.

Anna could not help but smile. After eating the native meats and vegetables, she had forgotten what leaven bread tasted like, and seeing it brought to her caused her mouth to water.

“Thank you,” she responded as he set the plate in front of her. Then she frowned. “But, my hands are still bound behind my back. Is there any way that you can release me just to eat?”

The man turned his gaze to O’Reilly, who stood there shaking his head.

“Oh, come on! How is she going to eat otherwise?”

The guard smirked. “She has a mouth, doesn’t she?”

Anna’s expression changed from hopeful to shock, appalled at his response.

The young man thought for a second. “Can’t you just set her hands free for a few minutes? This sandwich is kind of messy.”

“Nope. Sorry.”

He surrendered and turned to her with an apologetic expression. “I’m sorry. I was hoping to make your lunch a little easier.”

Anna smiled. “That’s okay. I can manage.”

Before either of the men could react, she planted her hands on the chair beneath her, pushed herself back between her arms, and lifted her legs through to bring her hands in front of her body.

“What are you doing?” O’Reilly cried in surprise.

She gazed back at him as she lifted the sandwich to her mouth. “Eating dinner.”

O’Reilly shook his head. “You shouldn’t do that.”

“What am I going to do?” she asked. “You’re the one with the weapon. All I’m doing is trying to get some food down my throat. Is that too much to ask?”

Silence filled the room for a few minutes, during which time the young man sat down and watched as Anna ate her food.

“So,” he said while she drank. “We’ve gone through all of this, and I don’t even know your name. Mine’s Jason. Jason Fuller.”

Anna had lowered the thermos a little to watch him as he spoke. When she had finished her drink, she set the container on the table and picked up the last of the sandwich. “Anna.”

He grinned. “Hi, Anna. Do you have a last name?”

“Foster. I am Anna Foster.”

“Pleased to meet you, Anna Foster,” Jason said as he extended his hand to her. She stared at it for a few seconds before he awkwardly pulled it back.

The door opened seconds later, and the colonel stepped into the room. He looked straight at Anna, his face showing no emotion. “You need to come with me.”

It was then that he saw her hands before her. His eyes grew wide. “What the hell is this?”

Before Anna had a chance to react, he lunged for her, grasped a wrist, and lifted her hands into the air.

“O’Reilly! Care to explain this?”

O’Reilly snapped to attention. “Sorry, sir! She managed to get her hands in front of her, sir!”

“I see that, soldier!” The colonel’s growing rage emphasized his words. “Why did it happen?”

“She wanted to eat, sir!”

“Eat? Since when did I allow her to eat?”

“You did not give the authorization, sir!”

“So, why is she eating without my permission?”

“The civilian brought her food, sir!”

“Oh, he did! Did he?”

“Sir! Yes, sir!”

The colonel turned and stared at Jason for a few seconds until he jabbed a finger at him. “I’ll deal with you later.”

“Anyway,” he continued, looking at Anna. “The administrator wants to talk to you.”

As he pulled her out of the chair, she tried to break out of his grasp, but his hold proved to be too strong. Finding no point in resisting, she quickly calmed her fury and walked ahead of him out the door with O’Reilly falling into step behind him.