Jess Granger - Realms Beyond 02 by T J

Author:T J [J, T]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-01-16T23:34:14.109000+00:00

“We’ve got a problem over here,” Xan called. Cyn turned away from Yara to help with the boy.

Venet carefully extracted the needles from one open band while Xan leaned over the other.

“These bands are so old, the connector to the release key on the command pin is corroded. The bastards hardly ever take these damn things off people. The first one was nasty, and this one is worse.” Xan moved to the side so Cyn could take a look. The boy stared at him, not saying anything, but his fear shone clearly on his face. It didn’t take much to set off a slave band to kill.

Venet smoothed a hand over the boy’s greasy hair while maintaining pressure on the raw wounds of the boy’s upper arm. Cyn carefully took up the command pin, lodged in a small port just beneath one of the injector lights of the band on his other arm.

Cyn tried to activate the connection enough to give the voice command to release, but no matter how he worked the pin, it wouldn’t connect.

“Xan, do you have a nanoscope?”

“Yeah.” Xan handed him the palm-sized viewer and a syringe. The boy flinched.

“Don’t worry. I won’t hurt you.” Cyn inspected the syringe. Once he injected the gel into the port, the nano components would automatically arrange their projection structure, sending images to the viewer of the interior of the slave band. He injected a tiny amount into the port, conscious of the risk of setting off the band.

The screen on the viewer glowed, giving him a good look at the broken connector. If he came at the connector from a slightly skewed angle, he might be able to make enough of a connection to get the thing off.

With steady hands, he made the connection and issued a sharp command to release. The band opened with a hiss, and the boy exhaled loudly as Xan pulled the terrible needles out of his arm.

“Thank you,” he whispered with a hoarse voice. “What happens now?”

“What do you mean?” Cyn asked.

“You bought me.” The boy looked at him with a sad resignation in his dark eyes.

“You’re free. You don’t belong to me.”

“Where do I go?”

Cyn looked at Xan, who had busied himself trying to remove the command pin from the band.

“Stay here with Xan. He’s a good captain. He’ll teach you well.”

Cyn heard a snap. “What?” Xan grumbled.

He shot his friend a quick glare. “I no longer have a ship. I can’t take him on. You have plenty of room. He’s Hannolen.” Cyn pushed the viewer into Xan’s hand. “He needs you.”

“Hork,” he cursed.

“Damn it, Xan, you can’t hide forever.”

“It’s not that.” Xan handed him the band and the viewer. “I think the command pin is broken.”

“Shit.” Cyn examined the viewer and tried to dislodge the pin, but it was hopelessly stuck in the corroded band. He looked over at Yara. Her brow creased.

“You can’t get the bands off?” Her eyes widened.

“You have any microbes?” he asked Xan.

The pirate shook his head. “We used the last of them when we overtook a large transport.

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