Page 66 of Protected By the Convicts
Chapter Fifteen
KY’LI
Hannah screamed, but Ky’Li was too slow. The blade shoved against his throat made him freeze.
Three men. Miners. Hadley, Perkins, and another he didn’t know. Perkins grabbed Hannah roughly by her hair and pulled her to her feet. She cried out in pain, even as she delivered a punch to the man’s nose, breaking it, exactly as Ky’Li had taught her. It was the distraction Ky’Li needed. He broke Hadley’s wrist, quickly tore the knife from him and brought the knife down to sever the man’s carotid artery.
“Enough!” a voice boomed, stopping Ky’Li from killing his attacker.
A group of ten guards surrounded them. Perkins released Hannah and helped Hadley and the third man to their feet.
Ky’Li still held the knife, but the guards held blasters. Hannah’s hand rested on his back.
“Drop the knife,” a guard ordered.
Ky’Li circled his arm around Hannah. He’d protect her until his dying breath.
The guard put a blaster to Hannah’s head. Ky’Li dropped the knife. Two guards swooped and took up a position behind Ky’Li, with their blasters pointed at his back.
“Excellent work, Hadley. Your unit will be handsomely rewarded,” the guard said as he signaled the squad to move out.
Single file, with Hannah in front of Ky’Li, Ky’Li watched, assessed, and waited for an opportunity to strike. He said nothing to Hannah, though he was sure she’d noticed. . . These men were Company guards, not Narkos guards.
* * *
SERSIE
The new manager of Narkos, one Mr. Foley, didn’t impress Sersie, not in the least. His negative feelings toward the man were likely a residual effect of Dresden, but he couldn’t help how he felt.
“Quit it,” Vaughn said, elbowing Sersie, as hundreds of men poured into the clearing. This was the third assembly in as many weeks.
“I’m not doing anything.”
Now Ren glared at Sersie. “If you keep glaring at Foley like you’re ready to murder him, we’ll never be able to convince him to let us go through the gates.
Sersie eyed the guards,Companyguards, around the perimeter of the clearing. They scrutinized the colonists, searching for possible weapons. Foley had a tight hold on every aspect of the colony, more than Dresden ever had, but he was just another Company manager here to strip the planet of its precious resources while using Company assets—the colonists—however he saw fit. In the end, Foley was the same as Dresden.
After Foley and his guards had arrived to arrest Dresden and his guards, the first action the Company guards had taken was to erect a zurlite powered fence around West Side and the mountain, with controlled access to and from the railcars that ran to the port.
To keep kuvaks out. That was the official reason for the fences. The reality was that the fence kept the prisoners contained. The addition of the fence seemed heavy-handed considering the whole damn planet was a prison. No one left Narkos. Ren had come close, but even he had failed, something Sersie would not point out given that Vaughn was here and the two were finally getting along. Hannah had done that, brought them together, all of them.
Sersie rubbed his hands against his pants, his anxiety riding him hard, especially when he thought of her. His mind returned to thoughts of Flight more than once in the three weeks since he’d been trapped inside the fence.
“Let’s go,” Vaughn said. “Maybe that new guy in supplies. . . What’s his name?”
“Tang,” Ren answered.
“Maybe he’ll be willing to trade. Tang’s allowed outside the fence to gather fruit and nuts for the commissary.”
Sersie was no longer allowed to venture beyond the fence to gather the flora he needed for research, at least not without a team of five armed guards.
For your protection, Mr. Campós. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to our premier botanist. You’re valuable to The Company.
That alone had been a reason to use Flight,to destroy their precious asset.
Fuck, his fingers itched, and he felt jumpy. He considered telling Vaughn. Heshouldtell Vaughn. He’d come close to cooking a batch yesterday when he’d found one of Hannah’s shirts stuffed in the back of his drawer. It still held her scent. He’d only pulled himself together because Ren had called out to him, asking for some help clearing another damn tree. . . as if it really mattered who might breach their fence now. Hannah wasn’t here. Let the hordes come. Open the damn gates. Just don’t make him remember she was gone.
Hell, using would be easier. . .
