Resistance: Hathe Book One (6 page)

They
waited a bit, then the door slid back to reveal a room dominated by
a large desk. Behind it sat a small, middle-aged man wearing a
bored expression on a face that presaged little
sympathy.

She
was pushed forward to stand in front of the desk, held in place by
a strong force field and unable to move any muscles. Her two guards
positioned themselves between her and the door.

“
Your name, girl?” the man said without looking up.

“
Riarda, sir.” She made her voice as small and obsequious as
possible.

“
Riarda what?”

“
Just Riarda, sir.”

“
Hmph.” He turned to a second man, moving into her line of
vision from the far side of the room. “Is this the girl you
complained of, Radcliff?”

She
tensed as the familiar head turned to regard her, the eyes hard
green and filled with a speculative light.

“
They all look alike in that stupid shroud.”

“
Guard, remove the cloak,” the older man ordered, motioning to
one of them. The soldier strode across and whipped off her outer
wrap, unaffected by the strong field that gripped Marthe and held
her head rigidly upright as she vainly sought to duck, to hide her
face for every crucial second. But her secret was out, betrayed by
one tiny, bright curl rebelliously escaping the cap and plaits that
entrapped the rest, to slip tellingly down her temple and rest over
her eye. She longed to blow it away, make it disappear. Too late.
Radcliff had seen it.

“
This is the one, Colonel.” He moved around, an eager look of
expectation on his face as he came to a halt right beside the
Colonel. Right in front of her, where she could hide her face from
him no longer. He cannot know me. He can’t, she told
herself.

The
Colonel ignored him and barely looked up at her. “Girl, it seems
you have failed in your duties. For this, you will have your term
of punishment increased from … ah, let’s see…” and the older man
bent to read her small entry in the list of prisoners.

“
By
the Seven Pillars of Mathe!” Radcliff stood still, gazing at her
face in awe.

“
What is the matter, Major?” queried the Colonel tetchily.
“And what might be ‘the seven pillars of mathe’? You’re getting too
damn close to these natives. It’s affecting you.”

The
Terran Major, the man she was increasingly coming to think of as
her most dangerous enemy, still stood in silence, his face rigid
with surprise. The Colonel looked up in irritation. “Really,
Radcliff. Even supposing she were pretty, you’ve no need to stand
there like that.” He punched his console and rapped out an order.
“Scan in target zone. Confirm prisoner identity.”

“
You
would find the old Hathian files to be more informative,” said
Radcliff in a voice thin with shock.

“
Why? Do you know her?”

“
Yes,” he said, and in that one word, Marthe knew all her
fears come true. How could he? How was it possible? Then Radcliff
seemed to shake off the spell of stunned awe, and a gleam of sheer
delight lit his face. It did nothing to reassure Marthe. His next
words even less so. “Colonel Johne, may I present Madame Marthe asn
Castre, daughter of the Hathian Councilor and Alliance
Representative, Dr Sylvan an Castre.” The Terran commander sat up
sharply. “Yes, you have in front of you a genuine Haut Liege, one
of the despised Leigers whom we had thought to have fled and
disappeared completely. And how is the good Doctor, your father,
madame. More importantly, where is he?”

Marthe
read truth in his face. This man had seen her before. When and how,
she couldn’t imagine, and try as she might, she couldn’t recall
ever seeing him before. Which was surprising, for having seen his
face as it was at this moment, alight with excitement, she knew
that never again would she forget it, though the faces of the
others in this room who equally threatened her would undoubtedly
fade with time.

She
was caught and knew there was no escape, no point in trying to deny
who she was. She gave in to the anger brimming within, letting him
see it to the full as she attempted to clench her fists in
vexation. Even that small show of defiance was stymied by the
blasted controlling field, but with a huge effort, she
surreptitiously pressed the communications patch on her wrist
against her leg before spitting out a reply.

“
I
cannot help you, Major. It has been over four years since I last
saw my father. He was as well then as a man could be who has lost
everything and is being forced to flee his home.”

“
Leaving behind his beloved younger daughter? Your family was
renowned for their closeness, as I remember.”

“
We
had an argument.”

“
He
abandoned you?” His voice was taunting, and she saw the disbelief
there. She also saw again, written in the quirk of his lips and the
grinning sparkle of green in the hazel eyes, his triumphant
enjoyment of this moment.

“
I’d
gone off on my own and missed the embarkation call. He couldn’t
make them wait any longer. To delay meant risking the Terrans
capturing everyone. I have no idea where they are now. All I do
know for certain is that Earth does not possess the technology to
find them.”

Radcliff laughed at her brave challenge. “Perhaps you would
prefer to see just what Earth’s technology can achieve?”

She
refused to listen to the threat implicit in his words, remaining
defiant.

“
You
would do well to heed the Major, girl,” barked the Colonel. “He can
make life very unpleasant for you.”

“
Maybe, but I still can’t help you. I have no idea where my
father might be at the moment.” Which was strictly true, if not in
the way she made it sound. “The final destination of the fleet was
known to only a few, in case any were left behind and
caught.”

Radcliff stared back at her for a moment, then shrugged,
letting the first part of her answer ride. “And were there any
others? Where are your fellow Haut Liege hiding? You can’t be the
only one. What about your twin, that brother who was so protective
of you in the past?”

“
Dead, killed trying to keep you off planet long enough to let
our people escape.” She saw it in his face—his recognition of the
pain that, despite their presence, she couldn’t hide at the memory
of Bendin’s loss. Yet still she glared her defiance. “We thought
you our inferior in technology and you were, in all except warfare.
It’s a science we never cared for, never having had sufficient
dealings with your world to learn of its necessity.”

She
knew, even as she said the words, the stupidity of her pride-driven
insolence and wasn’t surprised to soon pay for it. The guard lashed
out with a resounding blow to her head that made her sway even in
the strong field.

It was
too much for Hamon. Even in his triumph, he felt the blow to her in
his own gut. “That’s enough, Corporal,” he snapped. He waited
angrily till his stern look drove the guard to step back a pace.
Then he bent to check on the girl, on Marthe asn Castre—the one
woman in all the universe he thought never to see again, had hoped
so badly he would see again, would finally be able to talk to,
unhindered by the interference of others. He put out a hand to
check her for injury and tried to ignore her flinch as he touched
her face.

Her
skin was so soft, her so beautiful eyes distant and closed to him.
One of his fingers strayed, one only. It traced the line of her
cheek, followed the curve of her neck. Then stopped as he
remembered what he must do here. They were not alone. He signed to
the guard to adjust the force field and pulled a chair
over.

“
Sit
down,” he ordered and waited till she’d obeyed him, moving slowly
in the field’s resistance. “Watch her,” he said to the guard, “but
don’t touch her unless you have to.” Then he deliberately turned
his back on her and ignored her as he addressed his commander.
Which didn’t mean that he didn’t feel the fierce glare of her eyes
or each angry breath, and he fought to ignore the part of him that
grieved for it.

“
Colonel, there is more to this than one mislaid Lieger; I’m
sure of it. Yesterday, just as I was about to expose Madame asn
Castre’s face, a native interrupted me with a bogus message from
you. You may remember it?”

“
Yes.” The Colonel was listening but his face wore the
expectant air of cynicism that Hamon had seen there too often, the
face of one about to hear an argument he’d heard and refuted many
times before.

“
I
am convinced that the girl called the other Hathian by some means
unknown to us. Her father was a leading communications scientist as
well as a member of their government. I don’t think her presence
here is purely coincidental. Nor is she on her own.”

“
It’s a possibility, though it doesn’t seem feasible that this
simple people could ever organize the kind of resistance movement
that you repeatedly claim exists. However, I daresay we had better
investigate. It appears to be a matter that comes within your
jurisdiction, so I leave it up to you.”

“
Thank you, sir. I take it that I am free to conduct this
enquiry as I see fit.”

The
Colonel looked up suspiciously. “Why?”

“
I
would like to try an experiment.”

“
Explain.”

“
As
you know, our prison regime has so far proven ineffective in
breaking these people. I even suspect that most Hathians confined
there are still in contact with their own people outside, though
we’ve found nothing to prove it, Therefore, I propose confining
Madame asn Castre in my own quarters. I can then supervise her
personally and, at the same time, get to know her well enough to
learn more of the present Hathian society. My men have never
managed to penetrate the facade these people throw up.”

“
That you claim they throw up. You know my views on that well
enough. What about security?”

“
My
quarters would be fully protected by fields, coded only to me. She
will be well guarded, I promise, yet apparently accessible. We may
even manage to net some others of interest.”

“
If
they exist! Personally, it seems an unnecessarily elaborate cover
for keeping the girl for your own use. If you want her, you can
have her. Though I have to say that your good taste appears to have
deserted you this time.” The Colonel peered dubiously at
Marthe.

“
Aah, but you haven’t seen her scrubbed and gowned. Marthe asn
Castre was known as one of the loveliest women on Hathe and it was
a reputation not undeserved, as I once saw for myself.”

A rush
of delight filled him at the blush that spread over her cheeks,
though she refused to give any other indication that she’d heard
him. The Colonel merely continued to look skeptical.

“
Whatever you say,” he said, “What you do in your own quarters
is your affair, but I shall expect you to maintain a tight
security. Apart from any suspicions you may hold, she’s the only
Lieger we’ve ever captured. As such, she is a valuable hostage, if
ever we should find the rest of her thrice-accursed people. Go
ahead with your plan, but guard her closely. I want her fully
searched, too. The one thing I do know of her people is that they
were cunning and untrustworthy. The stars know what she may be
carrying on her.”

“
Certainly, sir. And thank you for your confidence. Guard, you
heard the Colonel.” Hamon allowed himself a small smile of triumph
as he turned to follow the soldiers out of the room. They were
holding firmly to their captive, hands locked behind her but still
marching proudly along with her head high.

CHAPTER FOUR

Inwardly, it was a different matter. Marthe seethed with
anger, her derision aimed squarely at herself. How could she have
been so stupid? Her foolish, misplaced pride was about to
jeopardize everything for which her people had worked so long and
hard. They were too close to the end now to let the Terrans ruin
it. If, that is, they managed to break her. That, she vowed, must
not happen.

There
was an alternative plan, she reminded herself, but she also knew
that it came with a drastically lower margin of safety—a margin
which would realize itself in the loss of many extra lives, lives
for which she was now responsible by her silence.

She
had one consolation—the small, flesh-molded communicator patch
fixed to her wrist, which she had managed to activate. Base control
must even now be listening to all that took place and should have
alerted the Citadel natives of her plight, and of their own danger.
With luck, any further captures would be prevented—if she could
only convince the Terrans of the truth of her tale. It might sound
far-fetched, but without any other evidence, what could they do?
Even if Radcliff doubted her, the Colonel seemed easier to
persuade, and he was the commander. Radcliff would have to follow
his lead.

Or so
she told herself as they half led, half dragged her through the
Terran quarters to halt at last before the doors of the Major’s
apartment. Radcliff entered his code, letting them pass through the
field already set up to bar the door.

“
Enter, madame,” he beckoned in mock civility. She marched
past, coldly daring him to maintain the arrogance of his stance. An
amused tilt of his lips was her only answer. “You, too, Sergeant. A
search is required, remember. A full search.”