The Hostage in Hiding, page 5
“Or,” Sofia said, “Nora can just pop into my head and send emotions directly to me.”
Conley’s brows drew down, and he cocked his head. “She can do what?”
“Um, yeah,” I said, “that’s a new development. But this probably isn’t the time to go into it.”
“Agreed,” Conley said.
Barber had gone to my bodyguards’ shared room while I packed. He returned and handed me a tiny comm unit. “Put it in your ear, Miss Connaught. Once we install nano transmitters on the rest of us, you’ll be able to hear everything that goes on around us.”
“What kind of transmitters?” Sofia asked.
“Nano,” Barber replied. He held up a small injector tube. “They’re microscopic and go in your ear. Anything you hear, they’ll transmit to Miss Connaught’s comm. They are short range and pose no danger, Miss Olson.”
Sofia shrugged, “Even if there was a danger, it can’t be worse than what I’ve already volunteered for.”
Barber inserted transmitters in Sofia’s ear, then Conley’s, and then his own. Meanwhile, Conley showed me how to switch the comm between channels. I left it set for Sofia’s channel, since she was going to be pretending to be me.
The ship-wide comm came to life, and Captain Riggs said, “All passengers and crew, my worst fears have been realized. Pirates were waiting for us at the wormhole exit. Worse, since someone has sabotaged our engines and weapons, we can neither outrun nor outfight the pirates. The pirates contacted me and demanded our surrender. When I refused, they threatened to blast the Pegasus apart.
“I offered my surrender, believing we could still defeat the pirates after their ship docked with the Pegasus. But whoever sabotaged the ship’s systems is also in communication with the pirate ship. The pirates knew of our preparations and gave me five minutes to have the crew stand down. If I do not comply, the pirate spy will alert the pirates and they will simply destroy the Pegasus.
“I cannot put five thousand lives at risk for no possible gain. As much as it pains me to admit, the pirates have us where they want us. Therefore, I order all crew to stand down, store all weapons, and return to your quarters. I repeat, all crew stand down by order of the captain.
“To all aboard, I suggest you put your faith in almighty God and pray for our salvation.”
The comm fell silent. Sofia and I stared at each other in mute despair while my bodyguards checked their weapons. Seeing that, I said, “Conley, you and Barber can’t fight the pirates by yourselves.”
“Perhaps not, Miss Connaught,” Conley said, “but we must try. It comes with the job.”
“No, it doesn’t,” I said. “Your job is protecting me, and you can do that best if you’re alive. Sofia is going to need your help to pull off this switch. I need the pirates to accept the switch if I’m going to stay free in the tunnels. That means you have to stay alive if you want to protect me.”
Conley and Barber exchanged glances, then Barber ejected his blaster’s charge pack. “She’s right.”
Conley nodded, disarmed his blaster, and looked at me. “Stay safe, Miss Connaught, and stay alive. You are our best hope for salvation.”
I gave my bodyguards a weak smile, surprised them by hugging both of them, then gave Sofia a hug and whispered in her ear, “Take care of yourself.”
“You do the same,” she whispered back.
I found the tiny retina reader for the secret exit to the tunnels. It scanned my eye, and the door popped open. I peered into the dimly lit tunnel, and it looked surprisingly spacious. I’d have to walk hunched over, but it wouldn’t give me claustrophobia. Burdened with a new and extraordinarily heavy set of expectations, I entered the maintenance tunnel and shut the door behind me.
AN EYE FOR AN EYE
I spent ten seconds finding the retina scanner on the tunnel side of the hidden door. Just when I found it, the comm in my ear crackled to life.
Conley said, “Miss Connaught? Please knock twice on the door if you can hear my voice.”
I dutifully knocked two times.
Conley’s voice sounded again. “Good. We have full confidence in you, Miss Connaught, as does your grandfather.”
I rapped on the door once more in acknowledgement.
Sofia added, “Come visit me sometime, Nora. If you can find my mind without touching me.”
I knocked again to show I’d heard her, but also considered the problem. Could I filter Sofia out of all the other emotions hammering at my mind? Then shook my head at myself.
Now isn’t the time for psychic experiments, Nora. This is the time for exploring the tunnels and matching the layout you memorized to reality.
It’s not that I was worried the tunnel configuration was different from the diagrams Granddaddy gave to me. It’s that the real world always has surprises that maps and schematics never show. Nooks and crannies to serve as quick cover. Small alcoves for hiding in case the pirates decide to sweep the tunnels. And the more familiar I was with this new environment, the more comfortable I’d be living in it. Or fleeing in it. Or, God forbid, fighting in it.
Without another unnecessary word to myself, I rose from my crouch next to the door, bent way over at the waist, turned left, and headed down the tunnel.
In case you’re wondering, walking in a crouch gets uncomfortable fast. Within a few meters, a burning sensation began building in my lower back. It quickly spread down into my thighs and knees and up my spine to my neck. Only one minute in the tunnels, and I already wanted to stand straight. But my backpack brushed the tunnel’s ceiling, so that was impossible.
And then I noticed something moving to my left. I didn’t actually see the thing move, but I definitely sensed it. I whipped my head around to see what it was. And nothing was there. Well, there was the tunnel wall, but I saw nothing else. I ran my hand over the smooth metal. It was cool to the touch and absolutely couldn’t move. I glanced all around me. Nothing.
It’s your imagination playing tricks on you, Nora. Creepy tricks, but just tricks. Ignore them and keep moving.
The comm in my ear came to life as Sofia said, “Please tell me everything you can about Nora’s family. If anyone asks me about them, I want to be as truthful as possible.”
There was a pause for a minute, then Conley said, “Miss Connaught’s family loves her very much, and her parents have tried to give her as normal a life as is possible for the daughter of billionaires.”
As much as I wanted to listen to Conley and Barber dish on my family and me, I couldn’t risk having my concentration divided between their stories and my exploration of the tunnels. I raised a finger to my ear and turned down the comm’s volume. I could still hear Conley’s and Barber’s voices, but could only make out their exact words by concentrating on them.
Two steps later, the same something moved to my left. My eyes cut to the left, and there was nothing there. Again.
I gave a shake of my head. Get a grip, Nora. This isn’t the time to start acting like you’re the fog-bound blonde girl in a horror vid. The one who’s only there to bounce, act like a moron, and become the psychopathic murderer’s first victim.
I started walking again, but kept up my internal discussion. And why is it that the smart and capable girl is always a brunette? I mean, talk about stereotyping blondes! I’m blonde, and I could kick those psycho killers’ butts into next week.
And I sensed the thing a third time. Still to my left, but now I realized it was more behind me than next to me. That was weird. It’s like whatever was pinging my senses wasn’t moving with me.
I kept my head turned to look backwards, put a hand on the tunnel wall for guidance, and walked on. I felt it again. The sense that something was behind me and I was walking away from it. I had to figure out what was going on. If this was a threat, I needed to deal with it. If it was just a distraction, I needed to know I could ignore it.
Turning around, I retraced my steps and concentrated on the thing I sensed. If it was just my imagination playing tricks on me, concentrating on the sensation would make it go away. But it stayed with me. And it felt nearer as I walked.
An idea popped into my head. But I didn’t let myself believe it until I walked past the hidden door into my cabin. The sensation came from there. From my cabin. From Sofia.
But why could I suddenly sense her better than the thousands of others hammering on my empathic senses? And the answer was obvious once I gave it a moment’s thought. I hadn’t just sensed Sofia’s emotions. I’d been inside her mind. Could my ability have forged a stronger connection with Sofia during that time?
That had to be it, right? I mean, nothing else explained what was happening to me.
A different range of emotions interrupted my thoughts. Malicious glee. Greed. Hunger of the most appalling kind. And I knew where those emotions came from.
The pirates had boarded the Pegasus.
I felt the pirates spread out through the ship like a disease. It wasn’t because I’d suddenly figured out how to locate people from the emotions they broadcast—I could only do that with Sofia—but because the pirates’ foul emotions infected and tainted the feelings of everyone they came in contact with.
Courage became fear, then fear curdled into abject terror. Hope gave way to despair. Impotent anger surged and faded.
The children’s emotions were the worst. Theirs were so close to the surface that they shone sharp and bright and lashed my mental wall like hot, jagged metal.
None of the emotions got through to me. My wall held against the onslaught. It kept them all at bay. I wasn’t afraid I would lose myself and drown in an unending tidal wave of emotions. They couldn’t hurt me.
But they did affect me.
I stood in the eye of a vast and terrible emotional storm as it raged all around me, bringing destruction to everyone except me. I witnessed the devastation, but was helpless to do anything about it.
My entire world became unrelenting terror and desperation, driven by sick and twisted glee. There was no way to look away because it was all around me. There was no way to ignore it because I couldn’t turn off my brain.
Somewhere inside the ship—somewhere inside my head—panic burst forth. Fury rose alongside it. Horrible feelings suddenly exploded and briefly washed away every other emotion. Pain. Incomprehension. Loss. Sorrow.
A tiny emotional spark winked out.
Death.
The next thing I knew, I was on the tunnel floor, curled up in a ball. My arms wrapped around my head as if protecting it from physical blows. Tears ran down my cheeks, and my breath came in ragged gasps.
Oh God. I’d felt someone die.
How can you live with this, Dad? How can you be so happy and upbeat all the time if this is what it feels like inside your head? Is this the reason you and Mom stayed on Ark’s Landing even after it was safe for you to return to the Federation? Because the entire colony had fewer people than a small city on Draconis? So you could surround yourself with a loving family and get away from the rest of humanity?
I tried to imagine Dad’s response to my questions, but it was beyond me. The thousands of sharp emotions jabbing at my wall made thinking almost impossible. But I had to do it. If I couldn’t think and act while my mind withstood the passengers’ unintentional psychic assault, I wouldn’t be any good to anyone.
No-Talent Nora chose that moment to surface in my mind. As usual, she brought gobs of derision with her. You don’t seriously think you can do anything except hide? You’re not a hero, Nora. Everyone else in your family is, but not you.
I snarled and sat up. I’m not useless, and maybe I can do something besides hide. Go away, No-Talent Nora. I have a talent, and I don’t need you.
I don’t know if my self doubts would have had a response to my declaration, but sound suddenly erupted from the comm in my ear. I’d turned the volume down earlier so I could figure out what was pinging my senses—it turned out to be Sofia—but now I needed to hear what was happening in my tiny shipboard suite. A few taps on the comm brought the volume level up.
“Stay behind us, Miss Connaught,” Conley said.
I had a brief flash of confusion before I realized Conley was speaking to Sofia, who was pretending to be me.
A fist hammered on the suite’s door and a muffled voice shouted, “If you got weapons, you better put them down. We’ll blast anyone even holding a weapon. Got it?”
“Please do as they say,” Sofia said.
“If you say so, Miss Connaught,” Barber said.
I heard two blasters clatter to the deck, then Sofia called, “My bodyguards have disarmed themselves.”
With a hiss, the suite’s door slid aside. I heard many feet. Then the previously muffled voice asked, “Are you Nora Connaught?”
Somehow, Sofia's voice didn’t quaver as she replied, “I am.”
The voice vented an unpleasant laugh. “Let’s go, girl. The captain is anxious to meet you.”
My awareness of Sofia’s psychic presence rose as fear flashed through it and slammed into my mental wall like a battering ram. Had we not switched places, I knew I’d be terrified and feeling horribly alone. Oh, God, how could I have put her in this position?
Because it was the only way to ensure Dad could use his psychic ability to find me. He could sense me across light years, but not if the pirates used psychic nulls to block him. Sofia and I had understood the rationale intellectually. But, despite everything that happened during this short space voyage, neither of us truly understood the emotional toll Sofia would pay when she came face-to-face with the pirates.
I heard the shuffling of feet, and Sofia’s psychic presence began moving. She must be walking out of the suite with the pirates. I trailed after her, relieved the maintenance tunnel I was hiding in ran parallel to the ship’s corridor. Sofia only took a few steps before a voice from the suite made her stop.
“Not you two,” a man said.
“We must accompany Miss Connaught,” Conley said.
“Uh uh. You’re staying right here.”
“You have our weapons,” Conley countered. “What difference will it make if we go with her?”
“The captain asked for her, not you. That means she goes and you stay. Got it?”
Sofia said, “Do as they say, Conley. I’ll be—”
The first pirate’s voice interrupted, “Keep walking.”
Sofia’s presence lurched into motion again, and I imagined the pirate had grabbed her arm and pulled her after him. Anger replaced some of the fear pulsing through my connection with Sofia. Fabric rustled, and the pirate gave a grunt of surprise. Had Sofia brushed the pirate’s hand from her arm?
In a tart tone, Sofia said, “I can walk on my own, thank you very much.”
You tell him, Sofia!
“Looks like we’ve got us a feisty one, boys,” the pirate said.
Harsh laughter sounded around Sofia. Her anger wilted, but at least it didn’t vanish completely.
“Why is the captain so anxious to meet me?” Sofia asked.
“That’s the captain’s tale to tell,” the pirate replied.
How could the captain have a tale about me? I’d never been off Ark’s Landing before this trip, and the only people I knew who’d gone off planet were members of my family and friends so close to us they might as well be members of my family. This pirate captain simply couldn’t have any stories about me.
It says a lot about my mental state that I didn’t figure out what was coming. In general, if not in specific. In my defense, the last ten hours of my life had been really busy and more than a little emotionally draining. And that’s without even taking the pirate attack into account. So, I think my lapse in memory can be excused.
Sofia and pirates walked on in silence, and I followed them from the maintenance tunnel. Soon, I heard indistinct shouting through the comm. Random screams and wails followed the shouts. And, finally, the low murmuring of a lot of people talking quietly. The voices all had an echoing quality to them that made me think they came from a large room. Probably Pegasus’s passenger dining room.
The voices grew louder, and Sofia and her escort approached the source. Then the pirate who’d done all the speaking called, “Hey, Boone, clear the doorway.”
A different pirate—Boone, I guess—yelled, “Everybody stop and clear the door!”
“But my son just went through!” a woman said. “He’ll be scared without me!”
As if on cue, a very young boy’s voice called, “Mama? Mama!”
“See?” the woman said. “Please, just—”
A loud slap sounded, and the woman cried out in pain. “That was a warning, woman. Clear the door or I’ll burn you where you stand.”
“Mama!” the child called.
The woman sobbed quietly, but must have followed Boone’s orders because his next words were directed to the man leading Sofia. “That’s her, huh?”
“Yep.”
“She’s pretty. That’ll please the captain.”
The echoing increased as Sofia and the pirates entered the dining room. The nearest voices fell silent, I assume because they turned to stare at the girl being escorted by a gang of pirates. Silence spread quickly, and I imagined more and more heads turning to watch Sofia’s progress through the room.
“Ah,” a voice called, “I see our guest of honor has finally arrived!”
A triumphant voice.
A cruel voice.
A woman’s voice.
“Bring her to me, boys,” the woman purred. “I want to get a closer look at Matt Connaught’s first child.”
Venom dripped in the pirate captain’s voice when she spoke Dad’s name. Its timbre suggested a deep and abiding and long-standing hatred. It sounded as if the pirate captain nursed and stoked and cherished her enmity year after year, holding it in check until just the right time to unleash its pent up fury. And that moment had finally arrived.
“Well, well, well, look at you.” Something in the way the captain’s voice changed made me think she was pacing around Sofia. “You’re a pretty little thing, aren’t you, Nora?”
The captain’s voice rose, and she almost sang the ‘a’ in my name. Her mocking tone would have been comical under less dire circumstances.
