Tagan's Child (24 page)

If I could have
tasted the food, I was pretty sure it would have been delicious but
I struggled to get much of it down. Ahran ordered a pudding and I
just settled for a coffee, not wanting to prolong the awkward
situation I had so cleverly engineered for myself. It was a relief
when Ahran paid the bill and we headed back out to the reception to
check in.

After Ahran had
given the necessary details to the teenage girl on the desk and she
had given us our key card, we headed to our room which was about
half way down the block we had parked outside. Ahran slid the card
through the card reader on the door and it clicked open.

During the time
it had taken us to get our key and find our room I had vowed that I
would do my level best to be more useful. I wasn’t quite sure what
I was going to be able to do yet but I would have to think of
something, if only to assuage my guilt. Ahran had barely said
anything since my regrettable diatribe in the diner and I sat on
the bed wishing I was anywhere but here.

“I am going
out, keep the door locked and don’t open it to anyone,” he said in
a tone that dared me to argue. I nodded in agreement. He opened the
door and left.

I threw myself
back on the bed feeling relieved. I had succeeded in making the
situation unbearable. With hindsight, I much preferred the tactile
Ahran to the cold stony faced Ahran, even if it meant I had to
fight my feelings for him the whole time. I closed my eyes and took
a few deep breaths. I would have given anything to have been back
home with Toby and for none of this to be happening.

The door
clicked, and my heart skipped a beat. I sat up too quickly and it
was a moment before I realised it was Ahran.

“That was
quick.”

He had a bag I
didn’t recognise in his hand. He came and sat down on the edge of
the bed. I had to move over to avoid touching him. To my horror, he
reached into the bag and pulled out a gun.

“What’s that
for?” I asked, as if it wasn’t obvious.

“I think it
would be sensible if we were better armed.”

“What do you
mean we, I’ve never held a gun in my life!” I said, all awkwardness
vanishing with the shock of his suggestion.

“These aren’t
ordinary guns and they are very easy to use.”

“Use? I have no
intention of using one,” I said, shaking my head adamantly.

He ignored me
and continued.

“They are laser
guns. The first shot stuns the target for a few minutes, if a
second shot is fired within that time, then it kills.”

It was Ahran
the soldier talking now and he was so cool, it was as if he was
describing the local scenery. I reminded myself that he was a
trained killer and that he himself could be pretty dangerous. Who
knows how many people he had killed in his career? But the thought
of me killing someone with one of these guns just made me feel
sick.

“Where did you
get them from?”

“The waiter in
the diner.”

I snorted. I
was having a hard time picturing the pleasant waiter in the diner
as some kind of small arms dealer. “You are kidding?”

“These people
are pretty vulnerable out here and they have to protect themselves
somehow. Here take this,” he said, passing me one of the guns. I
reluctantly took it and let it dangle impotently in my right hand.
I hardly wanted to acknowledge I was holding it, let alone accept I
might have to use it.

“It fires like
any other firearm, you just pull the trigger,” he said, ignoring my
lack of enthusiasm. When I made no move to do anything with it, he
sighed and knelt up on the bed behind me, putting his arms around
my sides. He took hold of the gun still in my hand, placed his
forefinger over mine on the trigger and pointed it towards the wall
on the far side of the room.

I struggled to
concentrate.

“Your aim
doesn’t have to be that accurate, as long as you hit the target
somewhere it will stun them.” His finger squeezed mine and we
pulled the trigger together. There was no sound just a blue flash
and then a scorch mark on the wall. The sudden bright light made me
jump.

“Jesus!”

Whether I was
responding to having just fired the gun or to his hot breath on my
neck as a result of putting himself at my eye level, I wasn’t
sure.

He seemed to
hesitate before pulling away and quickly got off the bed. I suppose
I was grateful for this, he was obviously respecting my wishes
after our conversation in the diner. Was he worried that I would
misinterpret every little gesture he made towards me? Nice one
Sophie! You really know how to make a bad situation worse.

I laid the gun
on the bedside table, not wishing to hold it any longer than I had
to.

“With a bit of
luck I won’t need to do that again.”

“Let’s hope
not, but I want you to keep it with you at all times, okay?”

“I am sure that
won’t be necessary.”

“Sophie!” he
growled.

“Okay, okay I
will keep it with me at all times,” I said, knowing that I wasn’t
in a strong position to argue.

“Do you want to
have a shower first? We’ve got an hour before we have to leave to
catch the train,” he asked.

“No, you go
ahead I’m just going to stretch out here,” I said as I hitched
further up onto the bed and swung my legs up. I needed some time on
my own.

“Alright, I
won’t be long.”

He went into
the bathroom. He didn’t fully close the door and I could hear him
getting undressed before he switched the shower on. I rolled over
and groaned.

After a minute
or two, I felt for the remote control and turned on the radio
channel on the T.V. I switched off the light and laid there for a
minute or two as I listened to the impassioned opera that filled
the room. How appropriate?! It matched my mood perfectly. I rolled
over onto my back and stared at the ceiling, trying to clear my
mind. It didn’t matter how I felt, what mattered was that we got to
Toby and rescued him as quickly as possible.

Suddenly, my
eye was caught by a shadowy figure passing our window. I sat
up.

For some
reason, I felt a distinct sense of unease. This increased
dramatically when I saw the handle on the door turn as whoever it
was, tried to get in. I weighed up my options a) This person had
innocently got the wrong room and would soon realise that their
card key wasn’t working b) This person could be after us in which
case I should go into the bathroom and alert Ahran c) This person
could be after us and I could pick up the gun on the night stand
and shoot the bastard.

My eyes darted
to the gun on the bedside table. Before I had really given it much
thought I grabbed it and dashed behind the door. My heart was in my
throat as the person trying to enter our room succeeded. The door
opened slowly. I held the gun in both hands with my finger on the
trigger, just as Ahran had showed me. The door opened wider and I
held my breath worried that it would knock me and reveal my hiding
place. Fortunately, it stopped just before it reached me and the
dark figure slipped silently into the room. My cover remained. In
the light from the bathroom, the man was as tall as Ahran but not
quite as broad. He was inching towards the bathroom door, his right
arm extended and I could make out the outline of a gun in his hand.
My heart was beating so hard I was terrified he would hear it, but
the opera was still blaring out of the television and his attention
was totally focussed on the bathroom.

This definitely
wasn’t a case of someone getting the wrong room.

He took a step
away from me and I had the perfect opportunity to shoot him in the
back.

I hesitated but
quickly reminded myself that it would only stun him and so I slowly
pulled the trigger. The flash of blue light made me jump and I
watched him fall to the floor.

I dropped the
gun.

“It’s all
yours,” Ahran said over the music as he came out of the bathroom.
He was wearing his jeans but his chest was bare and he was rubbing
his hair with a towel.

He nearly
tripped over the body on the floor and let out an expletive.

“Sophie?” I
could hear the alarm in his voice as his eyes searched for me in
the darkened room.

“I’m over
here,” I replied. I was rooted to the spot staring at the man lying
on the floor. The way he had landed was almost comic, like he was
doing an impression of a starfish.

Ahran switched
the lamp on by the bed and turned the television off. He glanced
from me to the body on the floor and back to me again.

“He had a gun.
I shot him,” I said, dazed.

“How many
times?” he asked coolly.

“Just once,” I
replied, still unable to move.

I knew what he
was about to do as soon as he stepped towards me and I didn’t make
any attempt to stop him. He picked up the gun, aimed it at the body
and fired a second shot. The man’s body jolted perceptibly. I
thought I might pass out. Gingerly, I felt my way along the wall
and then the nightstand and slumped onto the bed.

With the gun
still poised in his hand Ahran went to the open doorway and looked
out. When he was satisfied the coast was clear he shut the door and
came and sat next to me. “Did he hurt you?” he said, his eyes
searching my face.

I exhaled
through pursed lips. “No, he didn’t have a chance.”

“Good girl,” he
said, his relief evident. He pulled me to his chest.

I didn’t
protest and closed my eyes, thankful he was there. All too quickly
he pulled away.

“We should get
out of here, there could be others.”

He opened his
bag and retrieved a sweater. I tried not to notice the play of
muscles across his chest as he put it on. It wasn’t Ahran who
needed to be told to keep his distance; it was me who needed a
stern talking to.

“How did he
know we were here?” I asked, beginning to recover from the shock of
what had just happened. “We are in the middle of nowhere.”

He shrugged.
“Maybe the car we hired had a tracking device and somehow they
tapped into it.”

I stared at him
shocked.

“Come on, grab
your bag, we need to go,” he said, zipping up his own bag.

He handed me
the other gun, I just stared blankly at it. He sighed and reached
around me, I thought he was about to hug me again but instead he
pushed the gun into the waist band at the back of my jeans. He
slung our bags over his shoulder and picked up the other gun,
keeping it in his hand.

“How are we
going to leave if the car we hired is being traced?”

He tapped the
end of his nose with his gun, rather foolishly in my opinion, and
grabbed my hand with his free hand. He gently pushed me behind him
and edged out of the door to survey the car park.

It was
disconcerting to think that there could be others outside waiting
for us and it triggered a surge of adrenaline that shot to my
fingertips.

Ahran surveyed
the car park. He was very still and his head was cocked. He was
clearly using all his highly evolved senses to see if it was safe
for us to venture out. I tried to stay as still as I could and even
held my breath so it wouldn’t interfere with his surveillance. He
seemed satisfied that there was no immediate threat and we edged
out of our motel room.

I narrowed my
eyes at the traitorous hire car as we passed it. A few spaces down
was a motorbike just like the ones on Earth. “It’s a motorbike!” I
whispered, feeling ridiculously pleased that here was a vehicle I
was familiar with, its two wheels planted firmly on the ground. I
immediately felt a pang of homesickness.

“It’s an
import, you don’t see many of them and you have to have a special
licence,” he explained as we stood by the sleek, black Kawasaki
ZX-14R. I didn’t know a Kawasaki from a Robin Reliant but it’s make
and model was helpfully emblazoned down the side in silver
lettering.

“It’s the most
powerful bike you have on Earth but it’s considered more of a
classic here.” Ahran crouched down and fiddled with something on
the bike. I heard a click.

Suddenly it
occurred to me that Ahran was intending to use this bike as our
escape vehicle. “I’m not getting on that!” I said in a forced
whisper.

Ahran ignored
me and straddled the bike, organising our bags in front of him. He
held out his hand to me.

“Would you
rather stay here?” he asked, nodding towards our room where another
would-be assassin lay dead.

“We can’t just
steal it,” I said through my teeth.

The engine came
to life and Ahran revved it drowning out my protests. With his
other hand he cupped his ear and shook his head demonstrating he
could no longer hear me.

I sighed, he’d
made his point and I reluctantly climbed on the bike behind him.
I’d never been on a motorbike before. I tightened my grip around
his waist as we spun out of the car park. The motorbike quickly ate
up the ground, putting distance between us and the motel. I looked
back over my shoulder to see a man standing in the car park waving
his arms frantically. I couldn’t help but feel bad that we had just
stolen his bike.

I hugged myself
closely to Ahran’s back as the air whipped at my face. I closed my
eyes feeling scared and exhilarated all at the same time.

We were going
so fast I had to close my eyes. I clamped myself to Ahran not just
for my own safety, but because I had a legitimate reason to hold
onto him. The air was cool but the heat radiating from him was
enough to keep me warm. As I rested my cheek against his back, I
imprinted the feel of him into my memory, knowing that when I was
back home and alone at night I could draw on memories like this and
relive the feel of his body, the warmth of him, his hard stomach
muscles under my finger tips and the complete sense of security I
felt despite the fact that our lives couldn’t be more in
danger.