The Price of Conquest

Beyond the car windows, the city grew brighter as the Salkair driver maneuvered the vehicle into the well-lit downtown area. The car turned sharply left and started down a steep incline into a dimly lit parking garage located beneath a high-rise building.

At this time of night, the garage was empty, and the driver cut across the parking lanes with little regard for the holographic directional signs that appeared in the darkness above the car's front lights. They detoured only once to round a bank of lifts at the center of the structure.

As they reached the far side of the lifts, Lusk called for the car to slow. He indicated a lone vehicle parked against the back wall. The driver steered in that direction.

Kressa noticed nothing special about the vehicle—just a sporty two-door silver groundcar—but apparently her captors saw something different.

As they drove past, Lusk shot a questioning look at the man on Kressa's far side, but he only shook his head and shrugged. With a final suspicious glance at the car, Lusk instructed the driver to resume their previous course. A moment later, they pulled into a parking slot. To the left of the car, four steps led up to a metal service door. A dim yellow light illuminated the stairway and door.

Lusk got out of the car, gestured for his two companions to bring Kressa, and climbed the steps. Kressa's guards gave her a gentle shove and signaled with their guns. She followed Lusk, and the guards came close behind.

The scanlock on the door responded to Lusk's handprint with a dull click. He pushed the door open and dim lights flickered on in the narrow, featureless corridor beyond. Lusk and his companions escorted Kressa along the slightly inclined corridor to its end and exited through another service entrance into a wide carpeted hallway.

Kressa gazed about in the feeble lighting. They were on ground level. Glass display windows lined the hallway. From what little she could make out in the darkened displays, the majority of the goods appeared to be from off-world, which suggested that the Salkairs owned most of these businesses and probably the building, as well.

Lusk led them down an adjoining corridor and into a lift that delivered them to a bright, door-lined hall on the twenty-seventh floor. He showed them through an unlocked door into a large waiting room with dim lighting and plush, almost sensuously curved furniture and tall potted plants. A door on the back wall showed bright light underneath. Lusk's hand on the scanlock slid the barrier aside. He started into the room, and then froze in midstride, his shoulders stiff.

"Ayres," he hissed. "So that was your car."

Kressa swallowed a gasp. Ayres? She glanced into the spacious office and studied the ruddy-faced man behind the massive desk with a sinking feeling. The Patrol uniform was gone, replaced by unremarkable civilian clothing, and his attack-bitch lieutenant was not hovering at his side, but it was definitely the same Ayres who arrested her at the spaceport.

"Good evening, Lusk." Ayres smiled, and then leaned forward and cocked his head at Kressa. "Bryant, you seem surprised to see me. You didn't think the High Admiral would let you leave Calton without finding out why you came, did you? After the mistake we made with your th'Maran friend, it seems you're the only one left who can tell us what we want to know."

"What are you doing here, Ayres?" Lusk asked before Kressa could form a reply. "Where's The Salkair?"

"Calm down, Lusk." Ayres settled back into the chair. "And tell your friends to put away their guns."

To Kressa's surprise, Lusk nodded to his men, and they holstered their weapons. Her own hand was itching for hers.

Ayres waved a hand toward his visitors. "Come in. Have a seat, Mister Lusk." He waited while Lusk complied, and then motioned for Kressa's two guards to bring her into the room.

"Your boss has gone home, Lusk," Ayres finally answered the Salkair man's question. "He left orders that you're to turn your prisoner over to me. Orders from upstairs," he added in an ominous tone. "Get the picture?"

Lusk glared for a moment. "You won't mind if I call the Residence and confirm those orders." It wasn't a question.

Ayres gestured to an elaborate computer-communication set-up to one side of the office. "Be my guest," he said with an accommodating smile, and then returned his gaze to Kressa. "You should have left Calton when you had the chance, Bryant. Or did you really think your father could protect you?" He studied her for a moment. "That's it, isn't it? Then he really did let you walk off the base. Amazing man, your father. All those years trying to get his hands on his lovely daughter, only to—"

"Go to hell!" Kressa spat, and then instantly damned herself for the emotional reaction. She took firm control of her voice. "This isn't about my father."

Ayres grinned. "You're right, it isn't. But I would like to know what it is about." He leaned across the desk toward her. "What is the Confederacy so interested in that only the Moorlans have? Surely they don't need diamonds? If so, the High Admiral can get them all they want."

Kressa remained silent. What was going on here? Lusk and his men were with the Salkairs; yet here was Ayres, one of Gaunis's men, giving orders that Lusk followed (almost) without question. And Lusk was calling The Salkair for confirmation of those orders. A convenient alliance, perhaps? A temporary truce between Salkair House and Gaunis's forces to discover her business on Calton? It didn't seem likely, but it was the only answer she had.

"No, it couldn't be the diamonds," Ayres went on. "But what else do the Moorlans have? Something to do with the diamonds perhaps? Is that it?" He watched her closely for a moment.

She returned the intense look, but a sound from the doorway drew the Patrolman's attention away from her.

Kressa glanced over her shoulder to find the wiry form of Ayres' lieutenant, now plain clothed like himself, standing in the office doorway. Her dark eyes met Kressa's challengingly.

Lusk returned from the comm unit and gave the woman a sour look. "Why, if it isn't the charming Lieutenant Paige," he said snidely. "Killed anyone for kicks lately?"

The lieutenant fixed him with a cold stare.

He sneered and glanced at his men. "The Salkair says Ayres gets Bryant." His voice held a bitter, reluctant edge.

Ayres gave Kressa a triumphant look, and she struggled to keep a calm expression.

"Well, now that that's cleared up…" The commander rose to his feet. "Bryant, you're coming with us." He motioned her toward the door.

Slowly, shocked by the sudden turn of events, Kressa started for the opening. As she approached, Lieutenant Paige came forward to meet her with a feral smile, and then took her arm and thrust her face-first against the wall beside the door. A security cuff closed tight over the wrist Paige held, and then she wrenched Kressa's other arm behind her back and locked the cuffs. The lieutenant removed Kressa's gun and tossed it to Ayres.

Stolen story; please report.

Ayres gave Lusk an accusatory look and tucked Kressa's weapon into his belt. "Sloppy work, Lusk, leaving your prisoner armed."

"The Salkair said she was a guest." Lusk's hand rested on the weapon at his side.

Ayres laughed. "I'm afraid the High Admiral downgraded her status."

Kressa entertained the hope that Lusk would draw his gun on the Patrol commander, but the Salkair man simply scowled and dropped his hand to his side.

Kressa struggled to understand what was going on. What did Ayres have on these people to make them endure such blatantly antagonistic behavior? It seemed unlikely that a temporary truce between Gaunis and the Salkairs would generate even grudging loyalty to someone like Commander Ayres, and Lusk's recognition of Ayres' car and his comments about Lieutenant Paige's degenerate behavior indicated a long-time acquaintance with the pair. If Gaunis's forces had been dealing with the Salkairs for some time, it would explain a lot of what had been happening on Calton.

"Good evening, gentlemen." Ayres sketched a mock salute to Lusk and his two companions, and then pushed past Kressa with a gloating look.

Paige kept a firm grip on her arm as they moved out of the office and down the hallway toward the lift.

Kressa behaved herself. Although she did not think she would receive any permanent damage at the lieutenant's hands—Paige seemed too much of a professional for that—she did not want to give the woman any excuse to use the excessive force of which she seemed so fond. It was difficult enough simply enduring the vindictive aura emanating from the woman.

Paige gave her arm a sharp tug as they reached the lift.

Kressa stumbled through the open lift doors and flashed the woman a deadly look. The lieutenant remained stone-faced, but Ayres gave Kressa a mocking smile.

"Don't make her angry, Bryant." He pressed the ground floor button, and then turned his back on the pair as the doors slid shut.

Paige met Kressa's eyes, and a corner of her mouth twitched in a predatory smile.

Then and there, Kressa decided she had to get away, or die trying. But how? The odds seemed impossible; alone, unarmed, her hands bound behind her… If only she could find some way to distract her captors long enough to make a run for it. The problem was, it would have to be a hell of a distraction to buy the time she needed to get out of range.

The lift slowed to a gentle stop, and the doors opened. Ayres led them around the corner and down the dimly lit main hallway toward the service corridor through which Lusk had brought Kressa. The lock responded to the Patrolman's handprint, and he pushed the barrier aside. They entered the narrow service passage, and Kressa got an idea.

She took a deep breath and used her mind to reach across the physical link formed by Paige's hand on her arm. Pushing past the bitter, seething surface emotions of the woman's mind, she sought for the control she learned during her two years' of psi training on Ilek and her more recent experiences with Emre and the other th'Maran.

Thoughts of Emre nearly foiled Kressa's plan as a wave of sorrow swept over her, but she tucked it away and centered on the task she had set for herself. It took immense concentration to hold the link with her captor's mind and continue walking steadily. Sweat broke out over her entire body and soon her world had narrowed down to a sharp awareness of Paige's mind and the intense labor of moving forward, putting one foot in front of the other without missing a step. Eventually, however, she found the controls she sought. She exerted gentle pressure on Paige's mind, and the lieutenant's grip on her arm eased minutely.

They reached the far end of the service passage. Ayres opened the door and waved them through.

Paige led Kressa onto the yellow-lit landing. As they moved toward the first step down into the garage, Kressa tested her command over the lieutenant by eliciting a tiny hesitation in the woman's stride. Satisfied she had the control she needed, she waited until they reached the edge of the landing, forced Paige to release her grip, and sent a lance of stunning energy into her mind.

With a gasp, the woman staggered forward.

Kressa aided the lieutenant's upset with an out thrust foot, and then spun away as Paige tumbled gracelessly down the stairs.

Before Ayres could react to what was happening, Kressa threw herself back against the stair railing, grasped the metal bar with both hands, and leaned back. Ayres drew her gun from his belt and turned toward her. She kicked out with both feet and caught him square in the belly. He tumbled backward over the opposite railing and landed on the Salkairs' car with a bone-snapping thud. The gun flew away into the darkness.

Kressa leaped down the stairs in two unsteady strides.

Paige was on her hands and knees, a pulse gun in one hand. She looked at Kressa, her face a sickly mask of rage in the yellow light. She tried to bring the gun up, but her movements were still sluggish from the effects of Kressa's attack.

Kressa kicked the weapon out of her grasp, and then sent her sprawling with a second kick to her side. Paige tried to get up, but Kressa lashed out at her again. The toe of her boot impacted squarely with the woman's jaw. This time the lieutenant collapsed and lay still.

Kressa watched her for a moment, breathing hard, alert for the slightest sign of movement.

Satisfied Paige would not be getting up any time soon, Kressa turned her back to the woman, bent down beside her, and began to fumble through her pockets for a key to the security cuffs. As she searched, she listened for sounds of movement from Ayres and for the approach of the Salkairs from inside the building.

She felt mentally exhausted. Her head ached from the exertion of her attack on Paige, and her hands were half numbed by the tightness of the cuffs, but her plan had worked so far. If only she could locate the key and—

Her fingers closed on a small cylindrical object—the cuff's soni-key. She grasped it, stood, and hurried to where her kick had sent Paige's gun. She picked it up, and then dashed toward the center of the dark parking area where the bank of lifts could provide cover.

Part way there, she caught a glimpse of Ayres' car parked in the shadows against the back wall. She swung toward it, hoping against hope he had left it unlocked.

She reached the vehicle and ducked down on the far side, out of view of the lighted service door. She set the gun on the ground beside the vehicle and transferred the soni-key from the palm of one hand to the fingertips of the other.

By stretching her wrist, she could just touch the key to the cuffs. She pressed the activator tab on the side of the tiny cylinder, but her hands were shaking from exhaustion and the strain of contortion, and the key slipped from her sweat-dampened fingers to land with a tiny metallic click on the pavement behind her.

With a whispered oath, she groped for the key, found it, and tried again. On her fourth try, the cuffs clicked open.

She tore the bonds from her wrists, threw the key and cuffs away into the darkness, and then picked up Paige's pulse gun and tried the nearest car door. Locked. She cursed and peered around the vehicle toward the pool of yellow light near the service entrance. Nothing moved.

She started cautiously around the car, intent on trying the far door. She was just rounding the back of the vehicle when the service door opened.

"What in hell…?" The sound of Lusk's voice boomed through the hollow parking chamber. "Paige? Ayres?! Damn! You two, find Bryant."

Kressa dove for cover on the far side of Ayres' car.

"There she is!" one of Lusk's companions yelled.

Footsteps pounded toward where she hid.

Kressa stood and ran for the nearest support pillar. A pulse gun blast burned close, lighting her surroundings as it passed. She ducked behind the pillar. A second shot screeched into the pavement less than a meter away. She returned fire, and then dashed for the dark bulk of the lifts.

A volley of shots burned around her, filling the air with brief flashes and the smell of ozone.

"Mind your aim!" Lusk's shouted order halted the shots. "We need her alive! I'll call for help."

Kressa paused for breath behind the bank of lifts. The sound of running feet started toward where she hid, and then separated as they drew nearer.

She peered around the edge of the lifts, brought her weapon up, but lowered it again when she realized her pursuers had split up and were using the support pillars for cover, moving to come around on either side of her.

She started running again, trying to keep the lifts between herself and the two men as she made for the dark shadows against the far wall.

She reached the wall and pounded up the ramp toward the lighted garage entrance. The sounds of pursuit grew louder as the men rounded the lifts. Kressa redoubled her efforts, the bright street within sight.

A pair of dark figures appeared before her, seeming to materialize from the wall.

She swerved and ducked, and then tried to bring up the gun she held. But she was already too close. Two pairs of hands locked onto her. One closed tight over her mouth, and the other snatched the weapon from her grasp. She struggled silently, but the hands yanked her off balance, shoved her through a low opening, and pulled her down a steep incline into total darkness.