Pax Imperia (The Redemption Trilogy) (29 page)

The next thing he knew was blinding pain.

Crying out in shock at the agony emanating from his jaw, he found himself falling backwards to land on the ground. Fortunately the thick grass underfoot absorbed most of the impact. Eyes opening, in stunned disbelief he observed Sofia standing over him, with a self-satisfied grin.

“I have been dreaming of doing that for years,” she said in satisfaction. “How I long regretted the missed chance and promised myself that if another arose the next time I saw you, I would avail myself of it. I should thank you for the opportunity,” she added.

“You’re welcome, I think,” Jon muttered, still rubbing his sore jaw, only now remembering that she had a vicious right hook.

“Now get up. It’s no less than you deserved.”

“I think I’ll remain here, on the ground. It’s safer,” he retorted.

“As you wish,” she replied with an unconcerned expression, turning her back on him. “However, as it’s a beautiful night I think I’ll go for a stroll, by myself. Goodbye,” with that she took a few steps away, heading down the path, alone.

With a startled oath, Jon struggled to his feet, chasing after her. It was only when he finally caught up with her, that a third voice interrupted the pair, halting any further progress.

“Stop right there, and hand over any valuables you have. Otherwise I will be forced to use this.”

The bright moonlight reflected off the unmistakable sharp edge of a knife.

*****

So intently was Sarah focusing on the contents of the now-opened safe, that she failed to hear the door quietly slide open behind her. It was only the startled intake of breath that alerted her to the intruder. Of course, she used the term intruder lightly, considering it was she who had broken into the office, and most likely the person who had just entered had a perfectly valid and legal reason for being there. Fortunately the sight of her, naked, with her posterior sticking up in the air and her head stuck inside the safe, as she rooted around in its contents, bought her several valuable seconds of time before the intruder had time to react.

Even then she was fortunate to reach his pulse pistol, as he desperately scrabbled for the weapon at his side. She only just managed to get a hold of the pistol in time to deflect the first shot, which went wide, only just missing her by inches. Even then she could feel the searing heat of the blast as it just missed her face. With a sharp twist of her wrist, the pistol fell from his nerveless grip and Sarah kicked it away.

Luckily for her, the intruder was not one of the many mountain-sized guards she had passed earlier but, instead, of medium height and slim build, dressed in a dark suit. Had it been one of the security guards, the fight would have been over before it had even properly started.

Even so she found her attacker looming over her, his six-foot-plus frame far taller than her five-foot-four, and he must have had an additional fifty pounds on her. She only noticed the back of his wrist coming flying out of nowhere at the last second, far too late to avoid it, and her head went flying back with a sharp
crack
at the force of the blow. The impact stunned her for several seconds and all she could see was stars.

By the time she had come back to her senses her attacker had made good use of the time and made a grab for his pistol on the floor, several feet away. Knowing she was never going to reach it in time, but trying desperately anyhow, she was still a couple of feet short when he scooped up the pistol in his hand, turned the barrel of the gun on her and depressed the firing stud.

Sarah screamed in pain as the bright green light engulfed her.

*****

Jon spun around in surprise, open-mouthed in disbelief, upon hearing the voice. Squinting, he tried to locate the source of the threat, but could only just make out the vague outline of their assailant, standing concealed in the shadow cast by a tree. Only the blade he held firmly in his grip was clearly visible. “You cannot be serious,” Jon spluttered, cursing his constant string of bad luck.

Behind him came a bubble of laughter that was quickly cut off as he turned to glare at Sofia. “No laughing,” he admonished. This unfortunately only had the opposite effect as it caused her to burst out in laughter. Even he could not help but smile at the ridiculousness of the situation.

“I’m sorry. I cannot help it,” Sofia choked out as she laughed. “But you are just a magnet for trouble. For three years I have been perfectly fine on Eden Prime. You arrive and the same day we are getting mugged.”

“We are
not
getting robbed,” Jon insisted, ignoring the snort of disbelief coming from Sofia. “Anyway I don’t know how you can accuse me of being trouble. How many times have I been shot, stabbed or threatened with death whenever I’m around you?”

“Do I need to remind you of Jack Stanton and family on Altair?” Sofia inquired incredulously.

Whatever else Jon was going to say was interrupted by a growl of frustration from their assailant. “I am sorry to interrupt this lovers’ spat, but I am still here and waiting. Furthermore I am running on a tight schedule. Now hand over your valuables.”

“I’m sorry, I left my wallet behind this evening,” Jon remarked sarcastically in return. Turning to face Sofia, his gaze lingering over her figure-hugging scarlet evening dress, he added with an appreciative nod. “You’ll also notice that the lady is hardly concealing any valuables.”

However, not to be deterred, their attacker’s blade shot out, pointing in the direction of the ring fastened around Sofia’s neck, hanging from a thin silvery chain. In the moonlight it seemed to sparkle with an ethereal light. “That will do nicely and will fetch a fair few credits,” the voice called out from the shadows.

Sofia shook her head regretfully, the movement causing her hair to glisten in the moonlight. “I don’t think so. It’s a family heirloom and has been in my family for many generations. I’ll keep a hold of it thanks.”

“What do you value more, the life of your boyfriend here or the ring?”

Sofia seemed to think about the question for a moment, glancing contemplatively between Jon and the attacker.

“Well?” he insisted angrily, fast losing his patience with the both of them.

“I’ll keep the ring, you can have the boyfriend,” Sofia finally decided.

Jon just rolled his eyes in disbelief. This was his reward for almost a decade of unquestioning service to Sofia and her father? Not to mention saving both their lives—repeatedly. “Darling, perhaps you could bear to be parted with it. Just for a short while?” he asked, his voice dripping with honey.

Sofia seemed to consider it and, after a long pause, sighed theatrically, replying, “Oh I suppose so. Here,” she lifted her chin to allow him to take a step closer and retrieve the ring.

Standing in front of her, he dipped his head slightly to get a better view of the clasp holding the necklace in place, taking the opportunity to nuzzle the side of her neck with his nose. He was pleased to observe the small tremors that resulted from this action. “I’ll remember that little quip about giving me up instead of this ring.”

“There, there,” she cooed sympathetically. “It’s good to have your ego taken down a notch or two. You are becoming far too much like my father.”

“I thought that you liked your father?”

“I adored him, whenever he was not being arrogant, overbearing or egotistic, which was not very often.” When Jon smiled, she continued, “I don’t need to remind you that this ring belonged to my mother and I want it back.” Sofia nodded in the direction of their attacker. “If you don’t return it to me, then he will be the very least of your worries.”

“Trust me,” he replied, sneaking in another quick kiss on her nose, which made Sofia just roll her eyes.

Releasing the clasp and palming the ring, Jon turned back to their attacker, then took a step in his direction.

“That is close enough,” the voice called out from the shadow. “Now toss me the ring.”

“Sure thing,” Jon replied confidently, pitching the ring high into the air. All three of them watching it as, spinning, it soared into the night sky, the light from the moon catching it, causing it to glow like a falling star.

Their attacker, watching it greedily, took an unthinking step forward to catch it.

*****

It was a shock for Sarah to discover she was actually still alive. The suit she wore was designed to allow light to flow harmlessly around her, hiding her presence from others. The blast from the pulse pistol was exactly that, another form of light, albeit on a much different wavelength. Hence the suit protected her from the worst effects of the blast. Unfortunately this, in turn, had a very negative effect on the suit, as it was not designed to handle such a charge, and she could feel the static energy from the suit spread across her skin, before it completely dissipated.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, as her attacker stared at her in stunned disbelief, Sarah kicked out, catching the man on the side of the head. The impact of the blow threw him into the side of a table with a resounding
whack
, and then he was still. Hurrying forward she checked for a pulse and was relieved to find that his heart was still beating strongly, although he was bleeding heavily from a deep gash in his head. Knowing that such wounds always bled badly, she was confident he would recover in an hour or so, most likely with a blinding headache.

Hurrying back to the safe, she confirmed her earlier suspicions that the datapad wasn’t there. Anyway she was out of time and could hardly start a search for it elsewhere. Frustrated that the entire trip had been wasted, she shut and locked the safe, placing the picture back in its original position, leaving no visible sign of her presence. With a little luck, perhaps her attacker would awake wondering if he had too much to drink, hit his head and imagined the whole thing?

Unfortunately that was when she discovered, not really to her surprise, that the suit no longer functioned correctly. Its cloaking effect had become fixated on the white background that she had been standing in front of when she had been shot. The delicate nano-circuitry was obviously badly damaged.

What was she going to do now? She could hardly switch it off completely and step out into the corridor, naked. With a sigh she reluctantly moved toward the communication console on the desk and input Jon’s personal communication code.

*****

With another
splash
, the knife disappeared beneath the murky waters, following the earlier path set by Sofia’s shoes.

“Somebody fishing in this lake tomorrow is going to be in for a real shock,” Sofia laughed. Picking up her ring from the grass where it had fallen, moments after their unconscious assailant had, she pointed towards the unconscious body “What are you going to do about him?” she enquired.

“I’ll warn Senate Security and get them to send a team out to collect him. He will be out cold for quite a while longer,” he said.

Struggling with the clasp of her necklace, having once again threaded the chain through the ring, she turned back to Jon, asking, “Can you give me hand with this?”

Stepping up behind her, running his fingers through her hair, he gently brushed it aside, baring the back of her neck. Clicking the clasp firmly shut, he, gazed down at her flawless neck and endless back. Unable to help himself, he dropped a kiss on her shoulder and then followed it with tiny kisses up her neck and behind her ear. He remembered that had always been a particularly sensitive spot on her. He waited for her reaction. She turned in his embrace, her eyes dark again, but this time clouded over with desire. He instinctively lowered his mouth to her waiting lips, hovering over them for just an instant, as if waiting for her permission to proceed and kiss her. Unfortunately the pause was a moment too long, as he heard his personal communicator bleeping urgently. Knowing that only one person would call him in an emergency, and remembering his earlier promise to Albert, he reluctantly broke away from Sofia to take the call, the moment lost.

The hurt was clearly visible on Sofia’s expression, and she refused to look him in the eye. “That your girlfriend calling? I assume she has chipped a nail or something and needs your help.”

“Something like that.” He sighed, wondering what he must have done in an earlier life to deserve this amount of bad karma. “Come on, I’ll escort you back to your apartment,” was all that he could think of to say.

Neither of them said a word on the journey back. Sofia punched in the code for her personal quarters, still refusing to look him in the eye. “Well I guess that you need to be going?” she prompted him, as the door slid open.

Jon could only stare at the back of her head, not wanting the evening to end like this, to part on these words, with this hurt hanging over them. While he could never explain to her his earlier betrayal, for he never wanted her to discover her father’s duplicity, this, at least, was one thing that he
could
explain. “My
date
, Sarah, is Albert’s niece,” he explained softly. “I promised him that I would look out for her while she is here, as a favour to him. That is all. There is nothing more between us.”

“Albert?” Sofia exclaimed in surprise. “I thought that he was dead?”

“He is fine,” Jon reassured her. “Well, perhaps not fine, as I would never describe Albert as
fine
, but he is alive and well. Still as irritable and tetchy as ever.”

“I was sure, after she touched you like that at dinner, that there was more between you.” She looked aside, unsure what else to say.

“I know, but our relationship has never been like that,” he reassured her. For a moment, he just stood there, gazing into her eyes, as tomorrow he planned to depart and had no idea when he would see her again, if ever. Therefore slowly he leaned forward, making his intention blatantly clear, so that she could back away if she so wished. But she did not, instead simply stared back at him with an unfathomable look in her eyes.

As Jon’s face drifted closer she closed her eyes. She felt his lips touch her brow, her nose, the corner of her mouth, as he lifted her face with gentle pressure from his hand beneath her jaw. Her heart began to pound and a thick, languorous sensation flooded her limbs. She pressed closer to him as his thumb rubbed lightly over her cheek, pushing her hair aside; and then he was kissing her.