Marianne's Abduction (11 page)

That
would be the worst part of the trip for the Williams couple, because they’d
need to be hooded and gagged as well to make it look real. But at least it
would give them hope. And once they got past that step, the diversion would
have to work. Otherwise they’d all end up in prison, or dead.

River
shook away the thoughts of what could still go wrong. He concentrated instead
on Marianne’s face, the sound of her voice, and the look in her eyes when he
held her. He would see her again. This would work. He had confidence in every
man on board this transport, and in their moles inside the Tyrann
establishments. As long as they kept their cool, this would go according to
plan.

When
they arrived at Atkins, they were met by the Warden and one of their moles.
Their credentials were checked again, and then the Warden gave them a
fifteen-minute lecture on doing their duty, and honor and bravery, and how
proud they must be to be given such an important assignment as new guards.

The
four didn’t speak other than to mumble “Thank you, Sir” a few times. They’d
agreed ahead of time that the less any Tyrann heard their voices, the more
difficult it would be for them to identify any of them later when the shit hit
the fan.

Finally,
they were shown to a waiting area. River only wished they’d been able to have
one of them
stay
behind in the transport. If anything
went wrong at this point, there would be no one to attempt to drive back to the
ship and fly it off Voyeur Moon, or at least warn
Jakara
by radio. But they hadn’t wanted to risk having an extra person along with what
were supposed to be four new Zoo guards, without a good explanation why that
man was needed.

After
what seemed an interminable time, during which River imagined all sorts of
scenarios that involved them being found out, Blake and Betsy Williams were
brought into the room, shackled and gagged. River’s heart gave a strange lurch
to realize these two were the only family Marianne likely still had left
living. He also couldn’t believe how much they’d both changed since the last
time he’d seen them.

Both
had lost considerable weight, and Blake had a jagged scar along the right side
of his face, where it looked like someone had cut him with something. Betsy’s
eyes were haunted and dull. River averted his gaze before he gave himself away
and one of the guards bringing the two into the room saw the emotion on his
face.

Blake
and Betsy had been told by their contacts inside this prison what was going to
happen today, so River hoped they had enough presence of mind not to make it
look like they recognized River or Vaughn.

It
took what felt like forever again before Blake and Betsy were in the back of
the transport. Finally, Vaughn drove away from the prison, and all four men let
out a loud whoop. Only then did River unlock the door to the back and uncuff
Blake and Betsy, and remove their gags. They’d have to put them back on, and
put hoods on them once they picked up the two prisoners, but right now River
wanted to give them a quick reprieve.

“Is
she safe?” whispered Betsy. “Marianne. Is she all right?”

River
had to blink back tears at the desperation in her voice. He nodded,
then
cleared his throat. “Yes. She’s on Addo with Jakara and
Callie.”

Blake
thanked River in a shaky voice, and Betsy sighed out loud, leaned her head back
and closed her eyes. When tears spilled over her lids, River had to avert his
gaze. He vowed then and there to return these good, brave people to Marianne.
They needed her as much as she needed them.

Chapter
Eleven

Thane
sat in the driver’s seat of the transport, with the motor running, while Vaughn
stood outside the safe house with his rifle slung over his shoulder. He scanned
the woods, looking for any movement.

River
and Rune came out of the house, each man carrying one of the prisoners they’d
been holding there. The two
Addonians
who had kept the
prisoners in the house waved toward the group once, then went back inside. Vaughn
stood guard until River and Rune had placed the prisoners in the back of the
transport with Blake and Betsy.

When
they motioned toward Vaughn and Thane, only then did Vaughn climb into the
transport once again. Vaughn glanced into the back as they headed toward the
Zoo. All four were gagged and hooded now. Betsy had changed into the same
clothing as the men wore, and they’d pushed her hair under a cap. It was all
they could do for now.

The
two prisoners they’d been holding inside the house were drugged, but the
anesthetic would wear off in about an hour. All they’d be able to tell the
Tyranns if they should ask was that they’d been in a building, blindfolded
almost the entire time, and fed by someone who never spoke.

The
two men holding them had only removed the blindfolds to let them eat and use
the toilet once every two hours, but they’d worn masks during that time so the
prisoners wouldn’t be able to identify them.

They’d
kept the prisoners shackled by one ankle to the floor, in a mechanism that
required a key to unlock, and in separate rooms with no windows. There would be
no direct link to the house they were in that led back to Jakara or to anyone
on Addo.

Everything
was going to according to plan, but now they had to get the prisoners into the
Zoo, while securing Blake and Betsy on the spacecraft. And then they had to fly
to Addo without being tracked or followed.

As
they approached the Zoo, Thane turned off the main road into the woods, slowed
the transport, and then Vaughn and Rune jumped out. They ran into the woods
while the transport turned around to head back to the road. They had exactly
three minutes to plant the explosives and then find where the road curved
around this part of the woods, where Thane would pick them up again.

If
they failed at this part of the plan, they were done. There would be no diversion,
and they couldn’t risk going back to try it again. This was a heavily-traveled
road, and any second another transport or official vehicle could come along,
spot them, and decide to find out what they were up to.

Vaughn
felt like his lungs were on fire as he ran and counted the seconds in his head.
They hadn’t had the chance to practice this in person, only on a computer
screen in simulation to make sure the timetable worked. And Thane had to drive
at a pre-determined speed, never varying it, or they could miss their chance to
get back on the transport. Either way, they risked being seen if another
vehicle were on the road.

At
forty-eight seconds they reached the abandoned equipment shack they’d chosen
ahead of time. At sixty-two seconds the charges were planted, and Rune tested
the timer on the detonator with a pulse. It lit up, indicating it was working.
Then the men ran again.

Vaughn
could hardly breathe now, but he knew that was more from fear than a lack of
conditioning. Marianne’s words, muttered many times in the past few weeks, as
she’d expressed awe and delight at his and River’s strength and stamina came
back to him. He smiled, using the memory of her to spur him on.

They
heard the motor of a passing transport as they approached the woods, but then
Vaughn heard voices and he froze. Rune nearly collided with him, but stopped
his forward progress in time as the men crouched down among the bushes.

The
transport passing them on the road ahead was an open one, where several Tyranns
sat, talking
loudly.
The damn thing was driving so
fucking slow that there was no way their transport coming up behind it would
slow in time to avoid being seen.

Rune
pulled out one of the cell phones they’d procured for emergencies and sent a
text. It was too risky, and Vaughn knew that, but the only other alternative
was to wait until this transport stopped theirs to investigate, and that would
delay them too much plus raise suspicion.

Having
a random cell signal intercepted by the Tyranns was the lesser of two evils. These
particular cell numbers would only be traced to a fake account, and Vaughn
could only hope if the signal had been intercepted just now, no one would
bother to trace it until they were safely in the air.

Finally,
the transport moved past them, and they watched it turn off onto another road.
That was a lucky break. They weren’t heading for the Zoo. Then, as they waited
for their transport, Vaughn counted in his head again only to have something to
do. Inside, he was ready to scream. When they heard the motor of their
transport approach, both men breathed an audible sigh of relief.

They
ran toward it while it slowed, hopping into the open doors on the sides as it
kept moving, and then once they were inside again it sped up. River glared at Rune.
“Why did you send the text?”

“Would
it have been better to let them stop you?”

“We
could have handled it.”

“The
charges will go off in less than five minutes,” said Vaughn. “If they’d stopped
you, they probably would have detonated while you were busy talking to them,
and then we’d be done. At least now we still have a chance to pull this off.”

River
ran his hands through his hair. “We’re behind schedule by almost two minutes.”

“We
know that,” said Rune, his voice tight and angry. “I made a snap decision. It
was a judgment call.”

“Enough,”
said Thane, pointing. “There’s the facility. We’re back to the plan.”

****

River
took several deep breaths as they pulled into the drop-off area. Their ship was
on the tarmac, about three hundred yards away. He could see it. Next to it was
a ship he hoped like hell belonged to the four real guards. He also prayed that
Vito,
Rygal
, Daven, and Tallis were somewhere around.
It had been too risky to attempt communication with them, even with their
disguises in place.

Just
as he was about to ask the others whether they could see their contacts yet, he
spotted Vito, standing next to the second ship. He lit a cigarette, and that
was the signal they’d been waiting for. He’d spotted them. River wiped the
sweat off his brow as he grinned at Vaughn.

The
charges would go off in less than two minutes now. Thane had managed to get
them here only thirty seconds behind time, but they still had to move fast.
Once the explosions started, they had no more than a minute at best to move
Blake and Betsy onto the ship and get off the ground.

While
Vaughn and Thane dragged the real prisoners toward the waiting intake guards, River
glanced around quickly. No one was watching them. He and Rune stood next to the
transport and waited.

River
was sweating bullets now. It ran in rivulets down the back of his uniform, and
his hair was damp against the back of his neck. His pulse raced. He pictured
Marianne’s face, and that was the only thing keeping him from puking right now.
The adrenaline rush was incredible, but he’d never done anything where the
stakes were this high.

Not
only did he hold her aunt and uncle’s lives in his hands, but if this turned
sour, he’d never see her again. And if the Tyranns were able to trace this back
to the quarters on Addo where she waited with Jakara and Callie, she might end
up dead after all this.
Or worse.
She could end up
inside the building next to where they now waited.

He
closed his eyes and forced away the images.
This
will work
.

When
the first explosion sounded, he and Rune ducked into the back of the transport.
When they heard running footsteps and voices shouting, he and Rune ushered
Blake and Betsy out of the transport. He heard Betsy’s soft moan, and could
actually feel her trembling as he held her arm. “Just walk,” he hissed. “We’ve
got this.” What else could he tell her?

He
didn’t dare glance around this time. His and Rune’s only mission was to get Blake
and Betsy on the ship. It was up to Vaughn and Thane to get away from the
intake guards and make their way to the craft.

When
they’d planned this, he and Vaughn had decided it would be better for them to
be split up, in case one of them didn’t make it. They hadn’t wanted Marianne to
lose both of them, along with her aunt and uncle. But they hadn’t told her that
ahead of time. Neither man had wanted her to be sitting back on Addo, imaging
scenarios where so many things could go wrong.

They
were halfway there. River glanced over at Rune, whose face was impassive. He
was concentrating just as hard. Behind them, River heard the shouts, and he
smelled the smoke from the explosions to the west, but he didn’t look toward
the woods. They’d set the timer to explode five times, fifteen seconds apart,
and all five had gone off.

So
far, so good
.

The
ship was running. He could hear it as they approached, and he picked up the
pace, practically dragging Betsy now. She was crying, but he couldn’t do
anything about that. He got her on the ship first, and then buckled her into a
chair. “When we’re out of Tyrann air space we’ll take off the hood and gag.
Hang on a while longer.”

She
nodded.

River
turned to watch Rune board the craft with Blake, and then they buckled him in
and told him the same thing. Then both men turned toward Vito, who had boarded
their ship when the explosions went off. Rygal, Daven, and Tallis were outside
on the tarmac somewhere, doing what they could to make sure no one stopped
Vaughn and Thane.

Vito
held up five fingers on each hand, and flashed them three times. River wanted
to die inside. That meant they only had thirty seconds to wait for the others.
If they weren’t on the ship by then, they had to leave them behind.

Tallis
boarded the ship. “They’re coming,” he said. “Let’s get this thing ready to
fly.” He and Vito began the pre-flight preparations while River and Rune stood
close to the hatch, guns drawn in case the next person boarding their ship was
a Tyrann.

River
counted in his head. Twenty-four seconds to go … nineteen seconds … seven
seconds,
and just as River was about to close the hatch,
first Thane’s face, and then his brother’s came into view. Behind them came
Daven and Rygal, each with big grins on their faces.

River
closed the hatch behind them, and then Vito steered the ship away from the
others. “Cutting it a bit close, aren’t you?” asked River, staring at Vaughn.
His voice shook, betraying the casual words. That had been way too fucking
close, and he never wanted to feel such a sense of loss or helplessness again.

Vaughn’s
face had visible sweat all over it, as did Thane’s. Thane merely grinned, but
Vaughn gave River a droll look. “Fuck you.”

The
two watched out the porthole while the craft lifted off the ground, and then
they counted out loud, softly. Ninety seconds later, Vito let out a loud whoop.
“We’re clear! We did it!”

The
others cheered loudly, while River and Vaughn moved over to Betsy and Blake to
remove the gags and take the hoods off their heads. “We’re out of Voyeur Moon
airspace,” said River. “Breathe.”

“When
can we see our niece?” asked Blake.

“About an hour.”

He
glanced toward his brother, and then the two embraced. River wasn’t surprised
to find that Vaughn’s body was trembling as much as his was. “I didn’t think
we’d do it,” said River as they released the embrace.

“You
have no idea how close we came to not making it on board.” He glanced toward
Rygal
. “There’s a Tyrann guard with a knife in his gut,
behind one of the equipment shacks.
Rygal
had no
choice. It was him or us.”

River
didn’t ask, but he hoped
Rygal
had been wearing
gloves at the time, or had at least wiped his prints off the knife handle.

****

Marianne
paced the quarters. They’d been gone exactly four and a half hours. It was
supposed to take them one hour to fly to Voyeur Moon, one hour to retrieve her
aunt and uncle and then the two real prisoners, less than one hour to reach the
Zoo again, and then one hour to fly back to Addo. The only timeline they hadn’t
been sure about was how much time they’d be inside Atkins Prison, waiting for
her aunt and uncle to be brought to them for transport.

Her
bag was already packed. That’s all she was allowed to take, but she didn’t give
a shit if she took nothing out of here unless Vaughn and River were with her.
The plan was that if they weren’t back in five and a half hours, and Jakara had
heard nothing by then, he was to destroy the computers and take her and Callie
to Sera.

She
knew Jakara had heard
something
five
minutes ago, because he’d gone outside to talk on his cell phone, and when he’d
returned, his face had given him away. But he refused to tell them what the
call had been about, and now Marianne was ready to jump out of her skin. She
kept glancing out the windows, but all that did was earn her a scowl from
Jakara each time.