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My interference had caused Imana to bug out. An already slim chance of rescue got a whole lot slimmer. I looked at the frightened women in my cell. I’m so sorry.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Maxx
“Garrison! How did you get in?” My gaze shot to the access panel over my partner’s head. I’d checked the attic space and found no way out.
He holstered his weapon. “I cut a hole in the roof. You’ll want to fix that before the next rain.”
By the next storm, I wouldn’t be here anymore. “How did you know to come here?”
“When I didn’t hear from you, and Jessie showed up at Jericho in wet, muddy pajamas, I assumed something had gone wrong and figured I’d better check on you. I wasn’t sure if you were here. I shouted from the outside, but you didn’t answer. I didn’t think she would kill you, but I was afraid one of Imana’s men might have gotten to you first. What happened?”
“I got locked in,” I said, and filled him in on the power outage and how she had overheard our last communication and drawn the wrong conclusion. “Where is she now?”
His expression turned grim. “Imana got to her. I ran into Jessie as I got off the elevator at Jericho. She was with one of Imana’s guards. My guess is he took her to the slave ship.”
I desperately hoped so, because the alternative was much worse. “Zigqat! Zigqat, zigqat.”
“Jessie slipped me this.” Garrison waved an object.
“Imana’s personal hologram projector! How did Jessie get it?” If the LOP had been able to get the device, we could have exposed Imana, broken up her cartel, and crushed the slave trade a long time ago.
“No idea.”
“Without her glamour, Imana can’t go out in public. She can’t function on this planet. Her power as president is neutralized,” I said.
Garrison nodded. “Her accomplices can make excuses for her absence and cover for her for a while, but Erika Stadler can’t vanish from sight indefinitely. Eventually the citizens would demand answers, and, even before that, her legitimate cabinet and executive staff will sound the alarm.”
My gut tightened. “We have to move fast. Without the hologram, Imana will have no choice but to leave New Terra. We need to alert Jovi—the fleet may not be in position yet. I hope you have my handheld?”
“No, why would I?”
Chyt. “Jessie took it when she left. She didn’t have it with her when you saw her?”
“No.”
Imana probably had it. Not only could I not contact Jovi, but the information on the device could be very damaging to galactic security. I doubted Imana herself could hack into the device, but the Ceruleans could.
“My handheld is in my hovercar,” Garrison said.
“Yours doesn’t have the authorization frequencies to contact headquarters. It doesn’t have the range or the correct encryptions.”
Human partners and informants were given the equipment and functionalities they needed to do their jobs and nothing more. As they were always paired with a nonhuman agent, the LOP didn’t perceive a need for humans to contact HQ.
“We have to delay the ship’s departure. Keep it on the original schedule,” I said. “You said you know where it is?”
“Unless it moved.”
“Don’t say that. We don’t need any more bad news.”
“We’d better get a move-on then.” He held up Imana’s hologram device. “You want to take this for safekeeping, or should I hang on to it?”
I’d lost Jessie, my handheld, and both my weapons. I wasn’t sure I was the best possible person to safeguard the device. But, while my handheld had fallen into the cartel’s hands, we now had something of theirs we hadn’t had before. It wouldn’t help us now, but our technology experts could take it apart, figure out how it worked, and replicate it. The ability to change their appearance would be a lifesaver for undercover agents and informants all over the galaxy.
I held out my hand.
Garrison dropped it into my palm.
