The Face of Earth (16 page)

Karina went and knelt next to her. “What is it?”

Sharra sighed. “He has my ship. We are at his mercy. And I am afraid his stay on Bitowa was less than pleasant. He might want revenge.”

Karina bit her lip. “You’re probably right. He would see me as partly responsible for his unplanned visit to Bitowa in the first place. If his stay on your planet was as awful as you say, he’s well on his way to having his revenge, kidnapping the two of us. We’re the representatives of his recent misery.”

The door opened, and Sharra, who was leaning against it, fell back onto the floor. She found herself staring up the muzzle of a weapon to Agnar’s face. He looked at Sharra and leered, then looked into the room at Karina kneeling on the floor.

“Well. I see you ladies have been getting acquainted.” He waved the weapon at them. “I brought this in case you weren’t where I left you. And lucky I did.” He gestured to Sharra to get back in the room, and she quickly complied. Karina had already stood up and backed away from Agnar. Sharra joined her.

“I found these and thought they would be perfect for keeping you ladies out of trouble.” Agnar held up two thick, black, shiny necklaces. When Sharra saw them she gasped and her hand came up to block her throat. Karina looked at her oddly, seeing no threat in the gaudy baubles. Agnar pointed the weapon at Sharra. “Come here.” Sharra backed up a step. Agnar sighed. “No, I didn’t think you’d make it easy.” He put his weapon down outside the door and shut it, closing the three of them in the room together, with only one of them able to leave. Agnar flexed his arms and grinned. “Actually, this could be fun. It’s been awhile since I was physical with a woman. And here I have two.” He laughed a gravelly laugh and shoved one of the necklaces into his pocket, opening the clasp on the other one.

As he started toward Sharra, she screamed and ran from him. Karina looked around the room for something to use as a weapon, but since they were on a spaceship, anything of substance was bolted to the floor. By the time she discovered she had nothing to hit him with, he had Sharra cornered. Sharra was crying hysterically and shaking like a leaf in a storm. Karina ran over and leapt onto Agnar’s back, swinging her arms around his neck, trying to choke him. Agnar ignored her, his thick neck impervious to her weak arms. He reached out and closed the necklace around Sharra’s throat. Sharra screamed and fainted, falling to a heap in the corner.

With Sharra out of the picture, Karina began to feel like she had a tiger by the tail. If she let go, Agnar would get her, but she couldn’t hold on forever. She was already starting to tire. Agnar grabbed her arms and easily pulled them away from his neck. He yanked at one and pulled her around in front of him, pinning her against the wall with his body. Karina struggled ineffectually as he reached into his pocket for the other necklace. He undid the clasp and slipped it around her neck. As he redid the clasp, Karina felt the weight of the necklace settle against her skin. She gasped and tried to reach for the necklace to tear it off, but Agnar grabbed her wrists and stopped her. The necklace bonded to her neck, becoming part of her. She could feel it send tiny tentacles into her neck and attach to her spine. She went limp, unable to bear it. Agnar lifted her and lay her on the bed. He disappeared from her sight as her vision became fuzzy and dark. She could hear him as he moved Sharra to the chair. Then her mind went blank and she remembered no more.

When Karina came to she found herself lying on the bed. Sharra was passed out on the chair, and Agnar was nowhere to be seen. She could feel the vibration of the ship’s engines and the slight upward tilt of the deck. She surmised that they were in the process of leaving the planet. She sat up and put a hand to her throat, but there was nothing there. She glanced over at Sharra and saw what looked like a tattoo of the necklace encircling her throat. Karina rose and ran to the mirror on the other side of the room. She let out a cry when she saw the same tattoo on her own neck. Sharra sat up at the noise and looked around wildly. Karina ran her fingers over her neck, feeling the slightly raised skin where the tattoo lay. Karina looked over at Sharra, who held her hand to her own throat, covering most of the tattoo. She had a resigned look on her face.

“It is a halaband,” Sharra said. She absentmindedly ran her fingers over her neck as she explained. “It is a Bitowan device designed to keep prisoners under control without having to imprison them. Wearers can commit no violence while it is on, and they cannot take it off themselves. They also must completely obey the one who put it on them.” Sharra looked directly at Karina and whispered, “We are little more than slaves to Agnar now.”

*
         
*
         
*

Tresar leaned against the lobby desk as he waited for the clerk to check Karina’s room. He could see the viewscreen of the hotel layout from where he stood and he watched as the clerk focused in on her room. There were no blips to indicate occupancy, and he sighed as the clerk turned to give him the news. He left the desk and sat down on one of the plush round seats that were interspersed throughout the room. He was twenty minutes late due to the inexplicable disappearance of his and Flavoi’s clothes, and when he finally arrived at the lobby, Karina was nowhere to be seen. He couldn’t imagine where else besides her room she would go. Maybe she was teaching him a lesson for not meeting her on time. He hoped that was all it was. He would hate to think she had given up on their date so quickly. He sighed again and settled in to wait. It was warm in the lobby, and he was relaxed from his hot bath. While he was observing the different species of flowers around the room to pass the time, he inadvertently fell asleep.

When Flavoi entered the hotel forty minutes later, he found Tresar passed out on a bench. He rudely poked him, startling him awake. “Short date? Did she wear you out already?”

Tresar stood and stretched, yawning. “I haven’t seen her. I was late and she wasn’t here or in her room. I think she ditched me.” He sighed melodramatically, feeling sorry for himself. “I’m not surprised. I don’t have much luck with women.”

Flavoi chuckled. “I told you she liked me. I’ll check her room again.” He headed to the hotel desk. Tresar sat back down and glumly reflected on his bad luck. Flavoi returned a minute later, accompanied by the hotel clerk. He looked worried.

“She’s not in her room. This man says she took a call in booth three. He’s willing to let us review the security file.” They followed the clerk to a small room where he ran the file for them. They watched as Karina went into the communication booth and sat down at the screen. They continued to watch as a large bald man confronted her. He kissed her soundly before leading her out of the hotel.

Tresar gasped as he recognized the man. “Flavoi! That’s Agnar! He’s clean-shaven, but it’s definitely him!”

Flavoi looked closely at the man the clerk had stilled on the screen. “You’re right.” He turned to Tresar. “We have to find them. You know Agnar. He’s liable to sell her to the highest bidder.” They thanked the clerk and went back to the lobby, both of them thinking hard. As they exited the hotel, they heard the whine of a ship taking off. They looked at each other and grinned. “Of course!” Flavoi exclaimed. “He’s a pirate! He needs a ship. I’ll bet he’s at the docks!”

Tresar shook his head. “That’s a bet I won’t take. Let’s go check.”

Tresar and Flavoi headed to the spaceport. Tresar was searching the groups of people standing around when Flavoi, who was walking ahead of him, suddenly stopped. Tresar slammed into him. “Ow! What . . .”

Flavoi grabbed his arm hard, stopping him before he had a chance to vent his anger. He pointed up at a sleek silver ship that was just taking off. “Look!”

Tresar looked. “So, it’s a nice ship,” he conceded, irritated. “Flavoi, we don’t have time for sight-seeing.” Tresar had become short-tempered. He blamed himself for Karina’s abduction and it was making him angry. It upset him that he was taking it out on Flavoi, but he couldn’t seem to help it.

Flavoi started to run toward their ship, dragging Tresar with him. Tresar fought him, managing to wrest his arm from Flavoi’s grip. “Are you insane? Where are you going?”

Flavoi turned, looking at Tresar in surprise. “Tresar, that’s a Bitowan ship. Do you really think a Bitowan would come to Bellos for vacation? If they even take vacations?” It took a second to sink in, and then Tresar was off and running to the ship.

Flavoi shook his head and followed. In record time they were aboard and Flavoi was making his final checks. They received permission to take off and were in space in a matter of minutes, but they were too late to see where the Bitowan ship had gone.

Flavoi turned to Tresar with a questioning look. “Where to now?”

Tresar pulled on his lip, thinking. “If you were a pirate, where would you go to lick your wounds and resupply if your ship and crew had been destroyed?”

Flavoi shrugged. “I don’t know what a pirate would do, but I’d go home.”

Tresar looked at Flavoi, astounded. “Yes! That’s it! He’s going home!” He paused. “But where would that be?”

Flavoi smiled. “Oh, come on. He’s Yalsan. So he’s going back to Yalsa. As for finding him on the planet, Karina is with him. How hard could it be to scan for the only Earthling on Yalsa?”

Tresar laughed with relief. “I hate to admit it, Flavoi, but you’re a genius. Set course for Yalsa.”

Flavoi turned his attention back to piloting the ship. Tresar calling him a genius was high praise, since Tresar himself was a genius. Flavoi’s spirits soared as he worked at the helm. Once the course was set, he leaned back in his chair and daydreamed of how he would swoop in and rescue Karina, making him her hero. He imagined how grateful she’d be and how she might show it. Behind him in the captain’s chair, Tresar was already well into the same daydream.

Tresar felt almost heroic as they traveled to Yalsa. As a scientist, his life had always been a series of safety measures, and rushing off in rescue of a maiden went against everything he believed himself to be, invigorating him. But he still felt a responsibility to keep a level head despite the reckless pursuit, so he made an excuse to leave the bridge and headed to his quarters to try and come up with a viable rescue plan.

After Tresar left, mumbling something about one of his inventions, Flavoi sat alone on the bridge. He stretched, letting his head fall straight back. He rotated it from side to side, grunting as his neck popped. He always found a set course boring. Still, someone had to be at the controls in case something went wrong. He stared out at the endless stars and wished it were possible to engage the distortion drive within a galaxy. Or that someone would invent a faster means of interstellar travel. He wondered why Tresar had never directed his talents toward that end.

Suddenly the proximity alert sounded. Flavoi sat straight up and worked rapidly over the console, trying to determine the danger. Tresar flung himself breathlessly through the bridge doors and grabbed on to the back of the captain’s chair for support. “What? What is it, Flavoi?”

Flavoi scanned the area around the ship. “Well, it’s not an asteroid, since it’s gaining on us and showing a life reading.”

Tresar fell forward against the chair as the ship slowed and came to a stop. The engines died. He looked at Flavoi incredulously. “Why are you stopping?”

Flavoi feverishly worked at the now darkened console, a look of alarm growing on his face. “I didn’t stop. Someone else has control of the ship. I can’t get any response from this console at all.”

Tresar’s mouth fell open as the meanest, sleekest ship he had ever seen came into view on the screen. His voice wavered and caught in his throat. “Flavoi . . .”

Flavoi looked up. He cleared his throat anxiously. “Bitowans.” The viewscreen shifted from the Bitowan ship to a somber yellow face. The black eyes regarded them for a moment. When the man spoke, his voice rasped like sandpaper.

“I am Haron, the most elevated general of the Emperor of Bitowa. I would have a word with you.” He paused, looking at Tresar expectantly. Flavoi found his voice first.

“This is Tresar, the esteemed scientist of Yalsa, and I am Flavoi, the unparalleled pilot of Yalsa. We will hear your words.” Flavoi was glad he remembered his protocol classes from the military. His hands were cold and he was sweating profusely, but he showed no fear as he looked the Bitowan general in the eye.

Satisfied with Flavoi’s reply, Haron nodded and continued. “I seek Agnar, thief and disinherited citizen of Yalsa. He has stolen Sharra, the eldest daughter of the emperor. Have you seen him?”