Page 19 of Under His Heel: A Kidnapping

“So the kidnappers are running free, safe from the rule of law—”

“No.” Tracht set his coffee down on the coffee table. “They are not running free, of that I’m certain.”

“What did they want?” Vasilis asked quietly. “They did all this, had us terrified and scrambling for money—but what did they want?”

“From my understanding, they were professional saboteurs.” Anja Nilsen had helpfully sent along a profile of the sab group. “That new business acquisition of yours pissed somebody off.”

Rather than looking relieved, Vasilis’s face blanched further. “They hurt Johan over a business deal?” In the next moment, he was pulling out his tablet and scrolling through files. “I knew it was going to be unpopular, but we were going to keep most of the original staff, and—I suppose if you were with Gutenberg, that might be—” He shook his head. “It’s just business. It’s not worth hurting people over.”

“Vasilis, it’s not ‘just business’ and you know it. Don’t pretend you aren’t as ruthless as everybody else in the business. The only difference is that you keep that ruthlessness to the boardroom.” Tracht got up and threw away his empty coffee cup. He decided to remain standing, ignoring Koteas and Vasilis’s stares.

Koteas coughed lightly to break the silence. “It makes sense, given how they were operating. If you were completely focused on Johan, that would delay the acquisition. Might even cause the deal to fall through, if enough shareholders could be convinced during that time. Still. To hurt a child...”

This again. Johan was fine! It was Alex who had suffered the most. But Tracht held his tongue, letting Vasilis and Koteas discuss the situation between them.

“Do you think it was Argos?” Vasilis asked, this time addressing Tracht directly. “They pulled that stunt with your sailor too.”

Argos was the second largest company on Cadmus station, competing directly with Vasilis’s corporation. Tracht had actually taken contracts for them in the past, before Anna married Vasilis. Whatever goodwill Tracht had towards Argos had disappeared when they’d hired Parsons to do industrial espionage.

Tracht shook his head though. “It doesn’t feel like something they would do. The risk is too great. Do they have any investment in Gutenberg?”

“No, we triple checked on that front. And—” Vasilis broke off when the doctor entered the private waiting room.

The doctor glanced between Vasilis and Tracht, finally settling on Vasilis. “Sir, your son is doing well. The cut was surprisingly clean, given the circumstances. It should be all right for you to join your wife now.” Then he turned to Tracht. “As for your bondservant... We had to drug him because he kept panicking, but we have his hand in a cast now and the tooth replaced.”

“What about his face?” Tracht asked.

“Ah... the new cuts should heal clean. We can discuss pricing options for the old scar and his nose, however. We have a great rhinoplasty surgeon on staff who could straighten it out—“

“No, as long as the new cuts are fixed that’s enough.” Tracht caught the strange looks from everybody in the room, and he smiled lightly. “His debt is far too high to justify wasting money on his face.” He was sure that he hadn’t fooled Vasilis, but at least Koteas and the doctor accepted his explanation.

“Yes, of course, sir.” The doctor paused and looked down at his tablet. “The face aside... we noticed some behaviors from him consistent with PTSD. Not surprising given what he went through. I can recommend a therapist here on station.”

“Don’t bother,” Tracht responded. “We’ll be going back into space in ten days.”

“There are therapists who will do video call sessions, and set him up with exercises to help him cope during the stretches without communications.”

And have them undo all the work Tracht had put into Alex? Absolutely not. But he saw the way the doctor was looking at him, and it was fairly clear that his man did not have Dr. Singh’s attitudes towards bondservants.

“Fine. Send me the information and I’ll see if it’s something that will fit into our busy schedule. Is that all? May we finally go see them? I’m sure Vasilis is dying to join Anna and Johan.” Tracht hoped his tone was enough to discourage more commentary from the doctor.

“Indeed.” Vasilis got up, stopping to look at Koteas. “Could you please coordinate with station security? Even if Johannes is correct that the kidnappers are not on the loose, I’d rather be sure. And now, I’m going to see to my family.”

Tracht followed Vasilis out the door.

==

Alex woke feeling really, really fuzzy. His jaw didn’t hurt though. His nose wasn’t clogged. His hand—

Actually, there was an itch in his hand. But when he used the other hand to scratch, instead of skin he encountered a hard surface.

He raised the arm up and saw that it was covered in a cast.

“You’re awake.”

Alex turned his head and saw Tracht sitting on a chair next to him. The chair confused him, because it didn’t match the other ones Tracht had, and Tracht would never have mismatched furniture.

Then he realized he wasn’t on the ship at all. The lighting was all wrong, and the bed wasn’t half as comfortable.

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