Page 70 of Healing Creek
“What are you doing?”
“I’m taking Bug in for a closer look,” she said, referring to her remote drone. The remote was controlled by a neural device implanted just under the skin behind Feeona’s ear. “You can watch on the screen.”
Grace turned back to the viewer and saw the facility grow larger and then more focused until all she could see was a vent on the roof of the lab. Bug zipped into the small opening and Feeona had to navigate conduits and dark spaces until she finally landed the device just outside a grate looking into a hallway in the lab building. They watched as two guards looking relaxed and confident walked down the hall. As soon as they were gone, Feeona maneuvered Bug back through the conduits to another grate. This time they couldn’t see anything but an empty corridor.
Low-pitched sounds emerged from the speaker. Feeona’s hands clenched tighter on the seat. The nausea Grace had been fighting only grew more intense. She wanted to ask what it was, but she couldn’t make herself speak. She watched Feeona’s face tighten and her lips press together until they were as pale as ash. It seemed like just noise to Grace but Feeona was listening intently and breathing faster. Seconds stretched to minutes and Grace didn’t dare make a sound. Maybe Feeona was able to hear something she wasn’t.
Finally, Feeona’s eyes shot open and the view screen went dark.
“They’re alive.” It was the first thing she said, and Grace was grateful. Grateful and horrified that the starting point of her report was life and death.
“How, what—” She didn’t know what to ask first.
“Sen can do this thing where he can speak at an ultra-low frequency and Bug is sensitive enough to pick it up. I have a special filter I use just for this sort of thing. But I didn’t have time to set a filter for the audio speaker.”
“But you weren’t talking to him.”
“No, the positioning was bad. I couldn’t get close enough.” Feeona huffed and threw her hands in the air. “It doesn’t matter. He was hoping I was listening, so he was repeating a warning for us.” As she spoke, she spun the chair around and sat down. Her hands flew quickly over the controls. Another view came up of the jungle around the exterior of the ship. “There were way more guards than we were told to expect. They were ready for them. Waiting with dart guns and who the hell knows what. Some of our guys are injured but they’re all alive.”
With Feeona in the pilot seat, panic started to set in. Grace grabbed the chair and jerked Feeona around to face her. “We’re not just leaving them there.”
Fee blinked and her eyebrows lifted. “Of course, we’re not.”
Grace released a long breath. “Okay.” Of course, Fee wouldn’t abandon the Dogs. Her mates were in there, too.
“Sen did tell us to leave them here and get reinforcements from theAbundance.”
If only they hadn’t relied on the Resistance’s intelligence, they might have brought enough Arena Dogs to make a difference. Grace rubbed her hands on her thighs as if she could scrub away her fears. “That might take too long. They could kill them.”
“Unlikely. If they were going to do that, they wouldn’t have used non-lethal force to subdue them.”
“They have a ship. They could leave the planet.” Her voice rose and cracked with the thought.
“Possible.” Feeona reached out and grabbed the hand Grace had been using to idly tap against her thigh. She squeezed, probably meaning to comfort, but it just made Grace’s nerves jump into her chest.
She jerked her hand back and returned to pacing. “We have no idea what they’ll do.”
Feeona sighed. “Well, we know one thing. Sen also said they’re sending guards out into the jungle to locate our ship. I’m not letting them get their hands on theHawley.” Feeona spun back to the control console, popped open a small compartment, and pulled out something that looked like a dark metal clip. She slipped it into her hair and it disappeared. “A long-range communication device for theHawley.”
“What are we going to do?” Grace could hear her heart pounding in her ears.
“I have a plan.” Feeona shrugged. “It’s not a very good plan.”
“I don’t care at this point,” Grace snapped. “Just tell me what we’re going to do.”
“We’re going to give them what they want.” Feeona sounded way too calm while Grace’s mind was spinning.
“What do they want?”
Feeona’s lips were pressed tightly together and she hesitated a moment before answering. “They want you.”
“Me?” It came out as a high-pitched screech.
“Yes. Roma has a bounty on you. They want you. If we go in together, willingly, they’re not going to hurt us and—”
“And?”
Feeona stood up abruptly and grabbed Grace’s hand. She tugged her through the ship and to the open hatch. “Alfred, retreat and monitor for my signal.”
