Grasp the Stars by Jennifer Wingert

Author:Jennifer Wingert [Wingert, Jennifer]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Astra Publishing House
Published: 2004-07-06T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CONCHA STARED at Wu, her mouth working inarticulately, her mind blanking in fear.

“Unless,” Wu continued in a sugary tone, “unless there’s something you want to tell us?”

Concha shivered and hugged her folded arms close. Sweat left sticky trails down her sides, and her pulse throbbed in her ears.

“You realize, of course,” Sonría said, “that no one involved will escape unscathed.” She sighed and shook her head irritably. “I suppose, on the political level, it’s been a long time in coming. But I really wish it had waited until after I retired.”

Concha swallowed against the sudden dryness in her throat. “What do you mean, that Jardín and Rife . . . assaulted Doctor DeFlora?”

Wordlessly, Wu pulled a recorder out of his pocket. He aimed it at a blank area of the wall and keyed it on. A flatly lit projection began to play, all random movement and sound, and then the image coalesced into sense. Medics were treating a man with a battered face. “That’s enough,” the man said in a miserable tone, attempting to push their hands away. Both eyes were blackened and blood ran down his forehead. “Just . . . just leave me alone.”

Wu froze the image. “That, believe it or not, is our beautiful Doctor DeFlora. His medics did a good job of patching him up, don’t you think? There’s not a trace of a bruise remaining on his face.”

Her heart pounding, Concha stared. “What happened to him?”

“Jardín and Rife lured him to an isolated part of the station. Then they beat him up, drugged him, and . . . molested him.”

“What?” Shock made it hard to breathe. Concha gazed helplessly at Wu. “That’s impossible. It has to be a mistake. They would never—”

“No mistake. We caught them in the act.”

Concha’s throat contracted, and she remembered their actions on the dock. “But why would they do something like that?”

“You tell me.” Wu’s eyes glinted feverishly, and he shut off the recording. “How do any of their actions pertain to Starcatcher?”

“I think—” Concha’s voice sounded thin and far away to her own ears. “I don’t think Jardín and Rife are working on Starcatcher anymore.”

Wu gestured encouragingly. “Go on.”

“She—” Concha swallowed again, trying to remember the exact words. “Jardín told me that the Starcatcher mission had become a nuisance.”

Sonría made an interested noise. “When was this?”

“Out—” Concha started to gesture toward the dock, then realized she did not know in what direction it lay, and let her trembling hand fall to her lap. “Out on the dock. When

I went to talk to Captain Khanwa.”

Sonría and Wu regarded her silently, clearly waiting for her to continue.

Concha drew a deep breath, and then started from the beginning. She outlined her time spent observing Rachel, her hours spent in clandestine surveillance efforts aboard Gaia’s Love, Councillor Weber’s alleged gift to the Phi-Nurians, Khanwa’s resulting message, and her conversation with Jardín and Rife on the dock. “So,” she finished, “I really don’t know what’s going on, but I’m beginning to think it has something to do with Meris.

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