Stung by the Cobra by Aurora Springer

Author:Aurora Springer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: sci-fi, Mystery, enemies to lovers, interstellar spy, redemption by love
Publisher: Aurora Springer Novels
Published: 2022-06-29T00:00:00+00:00

10. The Resistance

Angry shouts echoed from the city.

Men were running down the White Road to the river bank. Seven men armed with cudgels and knives. Not the Domina’s uniformed guards, but Harappian thugs.

“Seize the enemy. Seize him,” they yelled. “Death to the foreign devil.”

Shocked by their rage, Zennia looked at Nagari. Without the turban, his yellow hair ruined his disguise.

He sprang erect, standing in an alert stance with one knee slightly bent and his arms relaxed at his side. His clenched fists and compressed lips signaled his readiness to fight.

The thugs converged on him, brandishing their weapons.

Sidestepping swiftly, Nagari swung his fist and punched the foremost attacker on the chin. He floored a second opponent before two of the thugs grappled him from behind. They seized his arms and forced him backward.

Zennia leaped toward them, crying, “Stop. Leave him alone.” Displaying her sunburst badge, she warned, “The whole galaxy will know if you murder him.”

Two of the attackers moved menacingly toward her. One of them called, “Who are you to make demands, a foreigner and a woman?”

Her anger flared. The thugs must belong to the Harappian resistance. According to Ghandry, they ought to be aware of her privileged status. Despite her indignation at this threatening behavior, she declared with calm confidence, “I am Curator Shan Zennia of the Archives of Galactic Culture on Lumos. Your actions will be noted in my report.”

Wrestling free of his captors, Nagari pivoted to confront her assailants, saying in a frigid voice of command, “Do not harm the Curator. I will go with you quietly if you will release her.” He held out his arms, hands open and weaponless.

Detecting a hint of despair in his voice, she cried, “No.” She grasped Nagari’s hand and tugged his arm away before the thugs could bind his wrists. Glaring at them, she said, “Your Maharaja Bahadur invited me to Harappi to observe the festival of Vashali. After the imperial invasion, I requested permission to complete this assignment for the Archives of Galactic Culture.”

The man gripping Nagari’s other arm grated, “What’s that to us?”

“As Curator, I claim immunity to harassment during my observations and this immunity extends to my companions.”

The man scowled. “We never heard of a Curator. Or this immunity.”

“Call your leader,” she said. “Or talk to Shri Ghandry. I am a guest in his house. Ghandry knows what I am doing. He knows the name of my companion.”

A youth hovering in the background turned around and ran up the road toward the city.

The spokesman for their attackers sneered, “Does old Ghandry approve of your association with one of the hated invaders?”

“Ask him yourself.” She slipped her hand under Nagari’s free arm and pressed closer to him. “This man is not evil.”

A woman called in a quavering timid voice, “He jumped into the river to save my son from drowning.”

A boy cried, “Naga is good man.”

“Naga has washed in the Vash,” another woman said.

By this time, more people had gathered on the road behind the thugs, while the families on the riverbank drew closer to watch.

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