Page 42 of Captured
“Shut your filthy mouth!” Henrick lashes at Rakir. I can hear the edge in his voice, a thin thread of fear that I hadn’t noticed before.
Rakir growls and one of the soldiers hits him with the butt of his phaser. I can see the wrath coursing down his limbs like a current of dark energy, ready to bathe the world in fire and fury.
“I’m right, then? You can’t go back to the Senators unless you have the list. It’s not even just a question of getting paid or not. You’re as dead as we are if you fail.”
I smile, allowing it to stretch on my face. They need to know that I’m smart and serious, not to be taken lightly. I might not have fangs, but I’m no lamb to be led to the slaughter, either.
“You know that if you don’t deliver what you promise, I won’t just stop at killing both of you.” Henrick’s entire frame quivers with wrath as he speaks. He’s not used to having anyone stand up to him and he doesn’t like it one bit. “I’ll make it last.”
Yes, I bet you will.Fear shoots down my spine, but I ignore it. If I show them how terrified I am, we’re both lost.
“First, I need to know you won’t just kill me the moment I hand over the list.” I dig my heels in the rocky shore, shifting my weight to my back leg and crossing my arms. “And don’t even try giving me your word. Mercenaries have no loyalty and a man without loyalty has no honor.”
The soldiers grunt, my words rattling them. They must know I’m right, but hearing this condemnation from my mouth still stings. I guess even monsters are the heroes of their own stories.
“And how can I prove this to you?” Captain Henrick speaks through clenched teeth. He’s not showing it as much as the others, but I can see I ruffled his feathers too. Good. A man busy defending his ego is easily distracted.
More time. I need to buy more time.
I shoot a glance at the sky. The Drakian ship is out there, closing in. I can almost feel them in my bones.
“All of you are just baboons with guns.” I flip my head at Henrick’s soldiers, making them grunt some more. Their anger is almost palpable as I speak and I can see them shift their weight, becoming restless. My tactic is working. “You have no real power. I want word from your commanding officer. The very top.”
Captain Henrick’s gaze darkens until he looks like a window to Hell itself. For just a moment, I’m afraid he’s going to throw it all out the window and pull the trigger.
“Fine.” The Captain’s lips purse into an ugly snarl and he speaks into the collar of his tactical vest to whoever is leading this mission. Minutes slips by in silence as the Captain waits for an answer.
Finally, Henrick pulls the corner of his vest closer to his ear and nods.
“Looks like you got yourself a deal, sweetheart.” Captain Henrick smiles and his entire face looks like a famished wolf. “Now, I suggest you give me that List before the man in the sky changes his mind.”
I know he’s lying through his teeth, but it’s giving me the time I need. Every minute counts.
I sneak a quick glance at the sky as movement attracts my attention. Elation spreads on my tongue, coppery and salty. I realize I bit my tongue but it only registers as a remote, unimportant fact. What’s important are those tiny specks growing in the sky, far away in the distance above the forest. They are our salvation, our only hope.
Rakir’s people are coming.
I want to shout, scream and laugh in Henrick’s face. I don’t. My features remain motionless, revealing nothing of my emotions.
“I’m waiting.” Captain Henrick speaks and there’s an edge to his voice. Whoever this man in the sky is, he’s clearly given no instruction to be warm and fuzzy with me. “Give me the List or I start hacking parts off your friend, here. And if you don’t give a shit about him, then I’ll get to hacking parts off that lovely little body of yours. This is a little trick I’ve picked up over the years and it’s not failed me yet.”
The cold, emotionless tone with which Captain Henrick speaks sends a chill down my spine.
“The List is hidden inside the main computer.” I speak low, my voice suddenly trembling as Rakir turns his gaze to me. There’s a fury there that has no end, a world of reprisal I know I won’t escape. But if it means I get to save his life, then so be it. “There’s no way in hell anyone can find it if they don’t already know what they’re looking for. It would be like trying to find a single grain of sand on a beach. The main computer is that large. It’ll take an expert team weeks to find it and by then, you’ll have the entire Drakian army so far up your ass you won’t be able to sit still.”
“Butyoucan find it?”
“Yes, I can. He’s shown it to me.”
With those words, all warmth deserts Rakir’s eyes as he stares at me and my heart shatters inside my ribcage into a million shards of ice.
I’ve lost him.
