Page 8 of Abducting Sarah

“No one knows it like Ode Hrimp.”

I smiled and nodded once. “True, and with the drugs in her system, it is prudent of her to aid Wave. She is a good doctor, Jac. I’m sorry I ever doubted her.”

“I get it—she’s with a Gorrk. That makes it hard not to question her judgment.” He hesitated for a moment, then added, “And speaking of questionable judgment, what the hell are you thinking with Sarah Hollinger?”

“We have been over this. Many times.” I walked to the monitor on the wall and said, “Allegiant, give me a view of the infirmary.”

“Infirmary in progress,” the ship’s soothing voice said as the view changed from the bridge to the infirmary.

There, I saw my new captive. She was striking—a long shock of dark brown hair flowed from her head. Only her head. Widebrown eyes—a darker shade than my own—stared upward at the camera. She wore a strange blue dress, and given her file, I assumed it was something expensive. Wave and Ode examined her together, while Ode took the lead on the matter, pointing out various interests and oddities of human anatomy.

But all I could see was how pretty she was for one of her kind. I used the link and told Wave, “Have her bathed and brought to my quarters, when she can be taken from sedation.”

“Right away, sir,” she responded.

Studying Sarah Hollinger, I noted, “She’s so small.”

Jac said, “Smaller in person. Taking her to Halla is like tossing a cina to a pack of jem’hora. It’s cruel, even for a Ladrang.”

My head whipped around at him. “What’s wrong with a little cruelty when it keeps you alive?”

“You are not like your cousins, Deacon. You never have been.”

He’s right, you know, I could almost hear my father’s voice saying it. Quietly, I said, “Perhaps if I had been crueler, my father would still be alive.”

Jac sighed. “What cruelty could you have leveled against our ruler to save your father, Deacon? He has an army and the support of the realm. What were you to do?”

“If I had been fearsome or terrible, perhaps Justice wouldn’t have taken his head. Perhaps he would have been afraid to do so. I don’t know.”

“That’s my point,” Jac said. “You can never know. We can never know anything anymore. He made it impossible…he made so much impossible…”

I swallowed my anger, while my fists tightened. I wanted to hit something. No, I wanted to hit someone. Justice the Ruler.With time, it might be possible to hit him…

“If he hadn’t murdered all the conduits…if he hadn’t demanded the people stop worshiping the ghosts of Halla and start worshiping him, then none of this would have hap—”

“If your father hadn’t gotten Justice’s daughter pregnant,” Jac pointed out, “then none of this would have happened. There is a lot to this equation, Deacon, and you can’t lay all the blame on Justice.”

I stiffened indignantly. “He did not have to behead my father.”

“No, he didn’t, and he should suffer oblivion for it,” Jac agreed. “But Valor was not innocent in all of this, and I feel like you keep overlooking that fact—”

“He is my father!” I roared and turned around to shout directly at Jac. “I am loyal to my father!”

“Even though he wasn’t loyal to you?”

More than anyone else in my life, Jac knew how to deflate my anger with a sting. I hissed and looked out the window. A Gorrk ship flew by rather close, with its amorphous shape and flashing pink cells. I wanted to stare at it all day long, instead of going through with what I had to do.

But loyalties wait for no one.

I mumbled, “He was in love. What else was he supposed to do?”

“I don’t know—maybenotimpregnate the woman you were set to unite with?”

Silence Bateen. A beauty, if ever there was one. Silken hair, satin skin, and curves made of dreams, Silence had the obsidian skin and honey eyes of a goddess. I had adored her from afar my entire youth, but when I learned of my father’s affair with her, it all came crashing down. Like the rest of my life.

“It does not matter now, does it? There is more at risk than just my pride. I have a brother or sister to save from Justice’s executioner.”

He nodded. “I know, but you really think Sarah is the key to saving your sibling?”

---