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“You secured the human?” Seeher asked.
“Yes.”
“I don’t see her on any of the monitors. Where did you put her?” Three of her eyes scanned screens flashing vid of empty staterooms; a fourth focused on me. Having destroyed the camera in the human’s cabin, there was no vid from that area.
“In a midship starboard cabin. I disabled the comm system.”
“Why?”
“To prevent her from trying to call for help.”
In the distance, a huge cargo freighter headed for Nomoru. Traffic seems heavy. Or is this normal? On my space travels, I’d never sat on the bridge or visited an observation lounge.
“Smart move, but she won’t be a concern for much longer.” She swiveled in her chair to face me.
I blinked, my eyelids growing heavy. The human had seemed physically harmless, but there were many ways to be a threat. Hadn’t she tried to beguile me? Dissuade me from my mission with flattery, seduction, lies, pleas, and phony tears? I am immune to her wiles, but she is relentless in trying to undermine me. She is not with me, so she is against me.
I’d suggested trading her for GJW hostages, but I could see now that wouldn’t work. Besides taking time and effort away from our mission, it would require direct contact with the LOP, always a risky proposition.
I straightened in my chair as the human’s plan became clear to me. She is setting a trap. She wants us to exchange her for hostages so the LOP can capture us. The ovwet is a threat. Threats must be eliminated.
“I have been considering your suggestion to trade the prisoner for hostages,” Seeher said, watching the screens again. I shouldn’t have disabled the camera in the ovwet’s cabin. Why had I done that? I couldn’t remember now.
“I’ve changed my mind,” I said.
“Oh?”
“You were right all along. She should be eliminated. We must kill her.” A sharp pain stabbed me between the horns.
“If that’s what you think is best.” She handed me a blaster she retrieved from a compartment. “You do the honors. When you’re done, jettison the body.”
Out the wide view screen, a massive Copan commercial space cruiser headed in the direction of Nomoru.
“But wait until we’re farther out. There are too many ships. Somebody might see us eject the body,” she said.
“That would look suspicious,” I agreed. “I’ll dispense with her in the morning.”
Chapter Twelve
Kat
With a jolt and a pounding heart, I awakened to total darkness, the inability to see ratcheting up my terror. My throat closed up. I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe. I flung out an arm in panic, and light flooded the room to reveal the shattered screen on the wall of the tiny cabin. Gulping in air, I rubbed my stiff neck. I’d fallen asleep sitting up in bed.
I’d tried to stay awake in case Lomax appeared. He scared me, but he was my only source of answers. I buried my face in my hands and moaned into my palms. How can this be happening?
I wondered how long I’d been asleep. Without an operable comm system, I had no way to tell. Dropping my hands, I scanned the room for clues and spotted a jug and a covered dish on the bedside table.
That wasn’t here before. Lomax was here! I pressed a hand to my chest, feeling exposed and vulnerable. He could have killed me in my sleep. I wanted to believe he wouldn’t do that, that his moral character hadn’t been altered, but he’d shattered my faith, along with the comm screen.
I sniffed the water in the jug and lifted the lid off the covered dish to reveal several small chorts, a type of sandwich, some purple crescents, and a few yellow blobs. Fruit, perhaps. At least he doesn’t intend to starve me.
Or has the food been tainted?
My churning stomach rejected the idea of eating, even if it was safe. But I eyed the water jug longingly, my mouth like cotton. Did I dare drink?
Before today, I would have sworn he would never poison me, never lift a finger against me, but all that had changed. My instincts had been wrong. Dead wrong.
He’d stopped the four-armed woman from killing me. When she’d pulled her blaster, he’d jumped in front of me. If he intended me harm, why not let the woman kill me? Maybe he wasn’t totally brainwashed. Maybe vestiges of the old Lomax remained? Was it possible I could still reach him? Maybe he’s not lost forever.
