Page 97 of Stealing Mercury
The hall was clear.
She led Hera back to the station entrance, a ball of worry growing in her belly. It was too easy. Too quickly they reached the door down into the station.
Samantha stopped.
She pressed her shoulder against the smooth surface.
She looked back to Hera wanting reassurance that Hera wasn’t hearing any movement.
Before the panic on Hera’s face registered, the door was shoved against her. She’d been right there and the guard had shoved the door hard. It knocked her off her feet. The pistol went skittering across the floor.
The guard came at her, smooth and efficient. He kicked the stunner from her right hand. Pain exploded through her knuckles and wrist. She bit her tongue to hold back her scream. She didn’t want to alert any more guards and she didn’t want to frighten Hera. Carn’s mate had stepped back and plastered her body against the wall.
The guard made a grab for Samantha, but she rolled away and pulled herself toward the stunner that lay just out of reach.
A booted foot crushed the weapon then connected with her ribs and something snapped. For a heartbeat she stopped, unable even to breathe. All the oxygen had been sucked out of her lungs and she couldn’t get anything back in. The pain eased then throbbed again as the guard pulled her up by the back of her collar.
Samantha reached blindly behind her, sliding the heel of her hand down his body until she found his cock. She dug her fingers into his balls and tightened with all her strength. He released her so fast she nearly fell. She got her feet under her and spun. Dots of light danced in her vision as she pulled back a fist and punched him hard in the nose.
He collapsed to the ground, not out completely, but dazed.
She pulled her last weapon from her belt and held out a hand for Hera. “Come on.”
The woman’s fingers trembled as they slid into hers. “There are more down those stairs,” Hera warned.
“Damn!” Samantha trusted Hera’s nose and hearing so she tugged the woman toward the nearest door out of the building, pain in every step. They’d have to find another way. Samantha pulled her through the door, muscles tensed and ready to run.
“No,” Hera warned, but too late.
Chapter Thirty-One
OwensJuvenileCenter,Roma
EarthAlliance Beta Sector
2210.185
Samantha stumbled as Hera slammed into her back.
She reached behind her to steady the clinging woman.
“I tried to tell you,” Hera murmured.
Less than fifty meters away, Drake and two guards stood between them and the gate in the high pulse-fence. In the back of her mind, she’d been thinking they could get out that way, but that was no longer a possibility. The guards only carried stun-sticks, but Drake had a pulse-pistol aimed at them, negating any advantage they might have gained from the distance between them. A smile spilt Drake’s face and he held his trademark whip in a loop in his other hand.
Samantha jerked her gaze away to search for another way out.
“Don’t even think of making a run for it,” Drake shouted. “Even if you could make it before I shot you, you’d be out the moment you touched the fence.”
This couldn’t be happening.
Had Rachel set her up or had Sevti broken under interrogation? She didn’t want to contemplate what they might have done to him to get the information. And Rachel... if she was working for Owens, there would be no one coming to help.
“What are we going to do?” Hera’s voice trembled.
“Do you see anyone outside the fence?” Samantha kept her voice low.
“No,” said Hera. “No one.”
