Bargain With the Enemy (12 page)

‘What do I get in return?'

‘What you get is us out of your life.'

Slowly, the other woman nodded. ‘Deal.' She turned and spoke over her shoulder to someone beyond Stephanie's vision before beckoning her forward.

‘Seat yourself in the last row and I will sit beside you. No one will dare question me.'

‘Thanks.' Stephanie dropped the laden backpack to the floor and flopped into the chair. A quick look at the woman who sat down beside her, had her banishing any thoughts of questioning her. Frozen disgust was the only way to describe the expression on her face.
You don't impress me either, lady, so that makes two of us.

But she had to give Lady Icicle kudos for the way she stared down the blustering of her relative and his officers when they entered and spotted Stephanie and Mia.

The power source fired into life, effectively eliminating any further arguments.

This is it. There's no turning back now.

Goodbye, Ice Man.

***

‘What do you mean neither she nor the youngling can be found?' Teeth bared, Ivo glared at the hapless Ensign standing before him with shoulders squared, gaze dead ahead. The bright morning sun streamed through the window of his office but did little to lighten his increasingly anxious mood.

After Stephanie had failed to appear for the morning meal, he'd looked for her himself. Then unable to find any trace of either her or the child, he'd sent for his men to widen the search.

‘Sir. We have searched your personal quarters, the lady's quarters, the entire building and the terminal. We have found no trace,' Ensign Ronal said, his face bleached of colour.

‘Search again. They must be here, possibly hiding. Stephanie appears to relish annoying me.' The memory of his last encounter with her flashed through his mind. He'd hurt her with his careless words, a hurt he'd soon discovered he'd do anything to soothe.

I should have explained my actions to her. Asked her to trust me but no, I held back, allowed my arrogance and conceit to come between us.

He'd spent the night extricating himself from his former pledge and negotiating with Gordo to ensure no repercussions from his withdrawal would fall onto any member of his family.

It had been near dawn before he'd sought his rest. His last thought before fatigue claimed him had been of Stephanie and praying to his goddess, he would be forgiven.

Stephanie will forgive me. I am certain of it. I will devise some pleasurable methods of atoning for my crass behaviour. Take her and little Mia to view the golden rings of our moon.

Ivo swung round at the tramp of booted feet to greet his second-in-command, Priar, who strode towards him.

‘Gordo's cruiser has departed this sector, Commander.'

About to respond, Ivo suddenly scowled and directed a searching stare at Priar. There was an air of barely suppressed apprehension in the normally stoic, older warrior with whom he'd shared many a battle since being teamed together at the beginning of the war.

He knew those signs.

His gut clenched. ‘What is it, Priar?'

‘It is my belief, the ones you seek are on board Gordo's ship,' said Priar drily.

‘What!'

‘Vid feeds from the departure terminal confirms an unidentified and oddly shaped figure entered the shuttle, sectons before the visitors.' Priar took the liberty of crossing to Ivo's desk and activating a data cube he placed on the shiny surface. He nodded at the streaming intel. ‘I immediately ordered our techs to hack into Gordo's intelligence system. The cruiser has changed flight paths.'

His hands curled into fists, Ivo scanned the data. ‘By the stars of Darkos! This cannot be correct. This is a direct course to the planet Zersk.'

Feeling as if all warmth had drained from his bones, he said hoarsely, ‘Given Gordo's reaction to Stephanie and Mia, I can think of only one reason for such a manoeuvre.'

Priar agreed gruffly, ‘A perfect place to get rid of unwanted bodies.'

Unable to form one word, Ivo stood battling the denial baying inside his essence.
I will kill them. If they have harmed either Stephanie or Mia, I will kill all of them
. Feeling hollow, as if someone had carved out his heart, he dragged his gaze from the floor and looked at Priar.

No need for any further words, he saw that the older warrior nodded slowly.

‘The “
pull”
. The Earth female is your one.' Priar sighed sadly, a far-away look glazing over his eyes. ‘One cannot control the “
pull”
or manipulate it. My mate was my one and when she passed into the next life, all light in my essence died with her. Do not allow your chance to slip through your fingers, friend.'

‘I do not intend to, Priar, but thank you for your words.' Swallowing hard over the constriction in his throat, Ivo sprang into action. ‘Ensign, ready my shuttle. Priar, I want the cruiser ready to vacate this sector with maximum speed the moment we board. We must reach Zersk in the minimum amount of time. Ensign, obtain up-to-date intel on the conditions on that planet. One small female and a youngling will not survive long should a volcanic eruption occur.'

His men hurried off to fulfil their tasks.

Ivo snatched up the data cube and raced to find his mother and after taking her hands in his, apprised her of recent events and his involvement.

‘Go and bring them back to us,' his mother said, her eyes overbright with unshed tears.

Unable to speak, he kissed her cheek and left the house. Sixty sectons later, he was on board his ship and standing in the Command Centre. Alone near the bank of consols, Ivo brought up the vid feeds until he found the one he wanted. Leaning closer, he paused the playback. His fingers rested lightly on the hologram outline of Stephanie as she prepared to board the shuttle. Her right arm was held protectively across the bulge Ivo suspected was Mia.

The image rippled at his touch.

Fragmented.

And just as easily, so too could the lives of his precious Stephanie and Mia be ripped apart.

‘I will get you back, little thief. And when I do…' He sucked in a deep breath to steady the powerful rage of emotions howling through his mind. ‘And when I do, I will ensure you will never run from me again.'

***

Through the floor beneath her feet, Stephanie felt the vibrations of the shuttle's power source rattle down to a steady hum. The plitza gun, which the guard still held centimetres from the side of her head, jerked upwards indicating it was time for her to move.

Her fingers shook as she released the catch and her restraints slid off her shoulders. Leaning over, she snapped off Mia's and lifted her into her arms. No sooner was Stephanie on her feet, than the guard prodded her forward by stabbing the gun's muzzle into her back.

‘Where are we?' she forced out through chattering teeth while she stumbled out the hatch and into the compact cargo bay area.

The guard behind her grunted, ‘Zersk.'

Which told her absolutely nothing.

The main door was open. Outside, two other guards, clad in cyno armour and helmeted, stood facing outwards, furlon blasters armed and at the ready.

‘Out.' The guard gestured again.

The wind shrieked as it swirled with considerable force inside the shuttle pummelling against her, a barrage of angry hands. Scorching hot and gritty it seared over her skin and her courage faltered.

Shit. What was this place?

Her mind squirreled back to that last conversation with Lady Icicle. The Darkon woman had stood in the doorway of the miniscule cabin Stephanie had been locked inside the moment she and Mia had touched down on Gordo's ship. And where they'd stayed for what had felt like days with no other contact apart from an Ensign who appeared regularly with food and drink.

When Stephanie heard the locks to her room disengage, she'd scrambled off the bunk and stood facing the door, prepared to fight to the death if necessary to protect her baby.

But a physical confrontation had not been the other woman's agenda. Instead she'd sounded triumphant when she'd told Stephanie the ship was on its way to the Mirva System. She'd said they'd located a suitable settlement on another planet where she and Mia could wait until the next supply ship departed for Darkos.

Stephanie hadn't believed a word of it. Instead she'd been grimly pleased she'd hidden portions of food and drink inside her bags over the past few days. Just in case.

Unfortunately, it seemed as if her suspicions had proved correct. Because it sure looked as if they were about to be abandoned on what hardly looked like a holiday resort. In fact, Stephanie couldn't see anything that remotely resembled any form of a settlement.

Her horrified gaze took in a bleak landscape of sharp, angular jagged rocks that covered the surface. Lava domes of varying heights dotted the landscape. Gas rose hissing from vents in the ground. Not far from where the shuttle had landed, was a circular hole from where a bright red glow emanated; an underground river of lava.

To top it off, there was a wide billowing plume of ash-laden cloud extending thousands of metres into the atmosphere from a steep-sloped volcano near the horizon.

Steph suspected that at any moment a volcanic eruption could occur. To avoid the scorching wind, she pressed Mia's face against her shirt and glared. ‘You're not seriously making us get off the ship here?'

His jaw working furiously, he broke eye contact and this time, pushed her shoulder roughly. ‘Out or I shoot you now.'

I've got no choice.
Steph pulled the hood of Mia's jumpsuit over her head and awkwardly clambered down off the shuttle. The force of the wind made her stagger, so she widened her stance, bending low over the baby to shelter her as much as possible. The guards standing beside the shuttle jerked their guns sideways.

One.

Two.

Three steps, positive that at any moment a furlon blast would sear into her back, the molten plasma eating into her flesh and her bones. An agonisingly slow death. Mia would be left alone and unprotected.

She cowered, bent over the baby, whispering useless words of,
‘I'm sorry'
into Mia's soft hair. The roar of the shuttle's engine sent her stumbling round to stare as the shuttle prepared to lift off. Her anguished eyes met the impassive face of the crew member about to close the hatch.

‘Wait! My backpack and holdall. Give us a chance,' she screamed.

After a furtive glance over his shoulder, he hoisted two bags through the doorway. Then the hatch slammed shut.

Coughing against the dust stirred up by the ship's thrusters and the frenzied dance of the manic wind, Stephanie lurched forward. She grabbed the backpack and slipped the straps over her shoulders and grasped the handle of her holdall. Crouching low, she ran, thankful for her heavy-soled boots as she scrambled over the rough rocks.

Knowing they had to be clear of the area before the shuttle lifted off, she pushed herself to her limit against the fury of the wind. If they were too close, the thrusters would flash them into cinders in seconds.

The shuttle's engine changed tune. Unwilling to risk exposing her face by looking over her shoulder, Stephanie flattened herself to the ground, huddling over the baby and praying they'd cleared the danger zone.

Heat fizzled over her back.

Then the roar of engine's died away, swallowed by the scream of the wind.

Stephanie laid Mia carefully onto the ground and ripped off her own jacket to wallop it against the rocks in an attempt to smother any sparks from the thrusters. A quick examination revealed a long scorch mark but no burning material. Satisfied, she crouched on her knees with her back to the wind and pulled out the tiny cyno suit from her bag. Ignoring the baby's indignant protests, she wrestled Mia into the suit.

‘Sorry, sweetie, but this should protect you from this heat and wind. And you're going to breathe a lot better once I switch on the oxygen feed.' She examined the small personal compu inbuilt in the left sleeve and activated the suit.

The helmet, with a protective face shield, slid up and covered Mia's head. A blue band indicated all systems were functioning. The air filter system was working just fine. A little of Steph's anxiety quietened especially when Mia blinked her silky lashes and blew a bubble.

Thank you, Ivo.

With her nose almost pressed to the outside of the face-shield, Stephanie squinted as she deciphered the data scrolling down the inside of the helmet. The in-built programme had already analysed the surrounding area and any possible threats.

The surface temperature was rising. As were the toxins in the air.

We need to get out of here, but how?

Wiping sweat from her forehead with her sleeve, Stephanie took a moment to study the terrain. It didn't inspire her. In every direction she looked, no sign of civilisation could be seen. She glanced down and her blood ran cold. A light layer of grey ash covered her clothes.

Shit.

Stephanie reefed her jacket back on and the hood over her head, zipping it up right to her throat. Sniffing, she tested the air. Sulphur. She pressed her palm on the ground and swore again at the heat beneath the surface.

‘Mia, we need to get to higher ground and if we're lucky, find a cave where we can shelter for a while.'

Mia's dimples peeked out as she smiled showing her gums.

Stephanie's heart wrenched. ‘You're such a good little girl. Now, time for us to go.' She shouldered her backpack and picked the baby up into her arms again, hesitating as she eyed the duffle bag. Having to carry another bag would definitely slow them down, but then she couldn't afford to ditch it just yet.

After another careful examination of the hostile land, Stephanie set off, her gaze firmly fixed on a rocky hill a few kilometres distant.

It was a difficult walk and she had to pick her way carefully, for fear she'd slip and fall and Mia would be injured. Although her jacket was insulated and made to moderate her body temperature no matter the external conditions, stinging sweat soon dripped down into her eyes. Each breath she took burned her lungs and it wasn't long before her throat was bone dry. She paused for a moment and after dropping the holdall that now felt as if it held a pallet of bricks, took a sip of water from the flask hanging from her belt. Longing to upend the entire bottle, she resisted. Who knew how long she'd need the water to last?