BioCybe (7 page)

The brig was chilly, but she refused to give in and ask for
a blanket. Show no weakness, yet another tenet from her training that she held
onto. She picked at her fingernail as the anger bubbling inside her rose again.
She’d love to have the opportunity to go one-on-one with these bastards.

“You! Cybe. Meal time. Get into the corner, face to the wall,
and raise your hands.”

She rose with a sigh and made her way to the corner. Of
course their demands were totally unnecessary, but she either adhered to them or
missed out on another meal. She’d already done that once since she’d been there.

Complying was an indignity, but she slid her hands onto the
ceramic surface, shuddering as the chill invaded her bones. The clatter of the
dish on the metal table had her raising her head away from the surface of the
walls.

“Stand down, Cybe!” The words, bellowed so close to her ears,
left her flinching and her muscles tightened in the classic fight-or-flight
reaction.

A shove, hard between the shoulder blades, mashed her nose
to the wall and she moved instinctively away from the threat. Being compliant
wasn’t part of her nature anymore and her fists balled.

“Bloody Cybe! Want a piece of me?”

Her gaze settled on the angry man, and she snarled. “You
couldn’t beat me even if I were in a mobility chair, you slimy bastard.”

He backhanded her and she grinned.

“Is that the best you’ve got?”

He roared and she lifted her hands, ready to work some of
her current frustrations out on the man in front of her. Before either of them
could do more, three or four others crowded into the tiny cell, tugging them
apart.

The man shouted obscenities as he was dragged out, then she
was brutally pushed against the wall. “Stay there, Cybe, otherwise we’ll have
to subdue you.”

The mass of people retreated and the force field rose again.
“Maybe you better control your people better then. I was doing nothing wrong!”

Her words came too late as they disappeared from view.
Kicking the wall did nothing more than break a couple of the tiles, and she
muttered angrily about
bloody Dendarans and their grudges
.

The rumble of her stomach reminded her that the reason this
had all arisen was the mealtime. Looking in the direction of the tiny metal
table, she noted the contents of the plate. Lying on the floor was the mush
they’d served up.

“Frickin’ fantastic.”

She curled her lip and went back to the bed, lowering herself
to it. Since there wasn’t anything to eat, she might as well sleep. She dragged
the thin and scratchy sheet over her body and closed her eyes.

* * * *

Three days had passed, and finally they would be returning
to the
Golden Echo
today. Sandon had his misgivings about the situation
with Levia. His mind played over the comments and insinuations he’d heard about
Cybes, and each time his sense of disquiet had risen. He jammed his hands into
his pockets as he waited in the antechamber for her to be escorted in. They’d
assured him she’d been adequately housed and cared for, but he was forbidden
access to the detention center where she was being held.

The creak of an opening door had him turning. The sight
before him stunned and horrified him. Levia entered the room, her hair a bird’s
nest and her clothes stained with the bronzed sheen of dried blood. On her face
bloomed a large bruise, and her wrists were manacled.

“
What the fuck have you done?
” His bellow had those
dragging her into the room shrinking back. Each step he took toward her was
angry, heavy with suppressed violence, and he eyed her guards as rage boiled. Sandon
lifted a shaking hand to her face, but she pulled away, her eyes shining pools
of misery. “Get these off her now!”

One of the men hurried to comply. As soon as the restraints
were removed, her lips twisted into a pained smile. “How soon can we get out of
here?” Her words were almost silent, and the large lump of fury that lodged in
his chest got bigger.

“As soon as we get to the shuttle. Just hang in there.” He
hated that she looked as if she’d been beaten. The physical evidence was
compelling, but he wondered what damage they’d done emotionally as well. He
gripped her hand, and after a second of hesitation, she accepted his support.

“Captain, before you leave…” The general entered the room
then stopped dead, his gaze firmly fixed on Levia’s face. “Oh...” His face
paled, and Sandon bared his teeth as he glared at the man. “I had no idea…”

“No idea?” The banked rage spewed forth. “Then you should
have made an effort to ensure her safety. You entered into an agreement with
me, without making adequate arrangements for the safety of my pilot.”

“Captain, you must be aware that if I had thought this would
happen—”

The conflagration burned white hot. “I expected better,
given I was here on behalf of the Juran Commonwealth! I expected you to make
arrangements for her safety. Not that she would return to me beaten and
bloody.”

He tugged Levia against his side, and she hissed slightly as
if in pain. “Leave it, Captain. Let’s just get the cargo and leave this damned
planet.”

The general winced as she spoke, and when her words ended on
a cough, a tiny dribble of blood appeared on her lips.

“This will be duly noted. Now get us to the shuttle.”

The general nodded, whatever he’d been about to say
forgotten with the anger that sparked in the room.

With careful motions, Levia shrugged away, and for a moment,
Sandon mourned the loss of her tucked in against him. It wasn’t an emotion he
understood or was even comfortable with. In fact, he rather thought it might
change him somehow. There wasn’t time to examine his thoughts in any depth, so
he followed her. They moved quickly, Sandon watching as she stiffened with each
step, from time to time a sound emanating from between her tightly clenched
lips.
Oh, these bastards will pay for the way they treated her.
Right
now, his first concern was to get her back to the
Echo
and into the
medical bay.

At the ramp, they stopped. Long boxes were being loaded into
the transport bay. She glanced over the steady procession then turned in his
direction. “How many bodies?”

Sandon shrugged. “I don’t actually know. As many as they
load, I guess.”

For a moment he was sure she would faint, as beads of sweat
appeared on her face. Her eyes narrowed so the pupils were little more than
tiny pinpricks. She swallowed, her neck contracting, and his innards shuddered.

“Levia?”

“I’m fine.” He watched, amazed as she firmed her shoulders
and lifted her chin. “How soon ’til they finish the upload?”

He noted that she refused to directly address any of those
on duty, and honestly couldn’t blame her. He cast a molten glare at the general
who backed away.

“Let me check.” The man spun on his heel.

They waited in silence. He wasn’t going to question her there,
but once on the shuttle and airborne, there were several hours of travel, and
he’d wring every bit of information he could from her. That way, when he
presented his report to his contact from the commonwealth, he’d detail every
injury she’d received.

When the general returned, he mumbled, “Ten minutes should
finalize the last loading protocol.”

For their sake, he hoped that would be correct. He gripped
Levia’s hand once more, standing like a sentinel as the last box was loaded.
Levia tugged her hand free then rounded on the general. “Get them out of my
way. I’m about to complete my pre-flight check and if any…” The threat was
implicit as she let her voice die away, and he nodded convulsively.

“Of course.”

Sandon gave a signal, his hand shooing everyone back, and
she stalked forward, her hand running carefully over the hull, checking the
locks, wheels, and the engine recesses. Satisfied, she spun on the ball of her
foot. “I’m going aboard. You finish what you have to here.”

Watching Levia stomp up the ramp, Sandon controlled his
smile. She wasn’t happy, but at least she was alive.

“On behalf of the Dendaran Federation, I extend my
apologies—”

“Save the oxygen. What your men did is unconscionable. I
will be lodging a formal complaint with the Juran Commonwealth, and I have no
doubt they’ll be in contact soon.”

“Captain, you must understand—”

He snarled. “I don’t have to understand anything! Your men
were supposed to keep her safe. Instead, they abused her and returned her
injured. Nothing you have to say will—”

“The last time she was here, it was as an assassin. She
killed our people. The ship that captured her—”

Sandon’s breath caught as his mind shattered at that one single
word.
Captured
.

“Say one more word and I’ll gut you, General. My past is
just that.”

Sandon turned to see a cold mask on Levia’s face. He hadn’t
heard her approach, but he guessed she’d probably been taught that in assassin
school.

The general nodded and backed away. “No. Of course not. Now
that the cargo is loaded, I will arrange for your immediate departure window.”

It was clear he couldn’t get away from her fast enough, and
Sandon looked at her, noting the way her hand fisted then released cyclically.

“Levia?”

“Get on the ship, Captain. I want to go home.”

The tone wasn’t encouraging, but he noted with a modicum of
pleasure that she called the
Echo
home. It wasn’t much, but it would
have to be enough for now. When things were completed, when she took her
downtime, he was fully prepared to raise the issues with her, man to woman.

* * * *

He knew about her capture. If he asked about what happened
after that… Her mind stopped as fear crept in. She couldn’t tell anyone,
because if she did…
You are not a wimp, Levia. Get over it. You’ve done it
in the past and you can do it now.

She straightened in her seat, feeling the rigid confines of
the webbing and welcoming the sting and ache. She was alive and getting away
from Omega V. At the end of the day, that was all she wanted.

“Levia, are you…”

“I can get us off this planet and home without issue. Don’t
worry, Sandon. You won’t have to see me like this for much longer.” She hid
behind sarcasm, because showing the pain, the deep emotional pain, meant
opening herself to the heartache she’d already overcome once before.

“Levia, it’s not that and you know it.”

“Sure I do, Sandon. But right now I don’t want to talk it
over. I don’t want to rehash it, okay? Just let me get this craft off the
ground.” She dismissed him by jamming her hand onto the comm button. It
squawked loudly and she cursed herself for being ham-handed. “Ground control,
this is GE-Five-Zero-Nine BB requesting the first available ascension slot.”

“GE-Five-Zero-Nine BB, this is ground control. We have been
instructed to hold all traffic until your departure. The skies are yours. We
recommend using the following co-ordinates.” The woman in ground control
rattled off a trajectory, and Levia checked the details quickly. Her reading of
the weather meant they shouldn’t face any turbulence, and she remembered how
Sandon hadn’t handled that well on their entry. It should be smoother this
time.

She tapped her finger on the console. “Ground control. This
is GE-Five-Zero-Nine BB acknowledging. Powering up now.”

“Safe flight GE-Five-Zero-Nine BB. Ground control out.”

Letting go of the communications button, she entered the
necessary coordinates and fired the thrusters. “Buckle up, Captain. We’re outta
here.”

The craft lifted into the sky, and she gave a sigh of relief
as the building started to grow smaller in her sight. Up they went, through
clouds while the gravitational pull tugged them against the seat. The ache of
her body intensified. The protest of abused ribs and muscles continued. Just
when she was sure it would be too much, they rammed out of the atmosphere and
she jerked forward with an audible
oomph
.

“Damn it, Levia, let me see—” Sandon reached for her as she
unclipped her belt.

“No. I’m fine.” She rechecked her calculations and rose on
unsteady legs. They nearly gave out and she slumped slightly, but Sandon had
already risen, his hand ready to steady her.

“You aren’t well, and this is too much.” His tone told her
of his anger, even more so than the tight planes of his face.

Her eyes searched his gaze and saw concern. When she raised
her hand, it was only with the intention of placing it on his shoulder. Nothing
more.

A clang sounded through the shuttle, and she grimaced. “I
need to check that.”

Turning back to the console, she noted a red light shining.
It wasn’t one that usually shone, and she frowned.

“What’s wrong?”

“The fuel… For some reason, the shuttle is struggling to
consume the fuel and—” She loosed a swear word and hauled herself away from the
console. “Hail the ship, and have them meet us. Do it quickly. I’m heading down
to see if…” She shrugged. If someone had tampered with their fuel supply, they
probably only had an hour or two of power. They needed the
Echo
here
now.

She hurried away, down the short corridor, all the while
accessing the data chip in her brain—she needed to work out what had happened.
If their fuel had been contaminated, she might be able to bleed the line,
ascertain what the foreign body was and fix it. Maybe.

At the rear of the cabin, she pried loose the cover of the
crawl space and shoved herself inside. She needed to get down to the transport
bay where the main filters could be accessed. The space was small, narrow, and
though she wasn’t large, it was still difficult to maneuver within the confines
of the walls. Dropping into the bay meant going head first, so she had no time
to protect herself as she dropped. Landing on her shoulder had excruciating
pain radiating. She swore loudly.