Striking Mars (The Saving Mars Series-5) by Swanson Cidney

Author:Swanson, Cidney [Swanson, Cidney]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Williams Press
Published: 2013-12-20T16:00:00+00:00

29

High Earth Orbit

“Come on, wake up,” said a voice Jessamyn didn’t recognize. It was not a pleasant voice.

Did Pavel have a sore throat? Was it Zussman in a very foul mood? Her eyes fluttered open. She was aboard a small craft. The Ghost’s craft. Where was Yevgeny? She twisted and discovered her hands had been cuffed together. Her feet had been cuffed as well, and she was firmly harnessed into her seat at the ship’s helm.

“Finally,” said the unfamiliar voice.

And then Jess remembered everything in a rush. The voice wasn’t unfamiliar after all: it was the spacer they’d rescued. A picture glowed on the comm panel, a picture of her. Why was she wearing an orange dress in the picture?

Of course. Lucca must have pulled the image from Jessamyn’s first encounter with Pavel at the Awards Banquet when she’d worn an orange sari. And the rescued trash harvester, recognizing her, had captured her.

“Undo these restraints at once,” she demanded. Her voice sounded raspy, as though she’d swallowed moon dust.

“No can do, duchess,” said the stranger. “Thanks to the bounty on your head, you’re going to make Harvey here a very wealthy man.”

Shizer.

She spun her head back, looking for the Ghost.

“Sorry about your boyfriend back there,” said Harvey.

Jess was on the verge of saying the Ghost wasn’t her boyfriend when her Academy training kicked in.

Admit nothing. Jessamyn could see the phrase as it had appeared in her Academy tactical textbook, right next to, Reveal nothing.

“You’re the girl, the one the Chancellor’s put that huge bounty on.”

Jessamyn said nothing.

“Nobody’s supposed to know about that except members of her elite squadron, but I got connections, see?” said Harvey.

“What did you do to … him?” Jess asked, indicating the Ghost.

“Little man there put up quite a fight, but in the end, all he did was give himself CO2 poisoning a little quicker.” Harvey shrugged. “It should be illegal to put O2 relays where arms don’t reach, don’t you think?”

“You shut off his relay?” Jessamyn felt as though a heavy weight was compressing her lungs, but it was her heart that ached. Not the Ghost. No!

Her suit prompted her to breathe.

And then she realized something: the spacer must not have noticed the emergency switches added to the wrists of her and Yevgeny’s suits. And Jess had to make sure he didn’t notice now. Even if the Ghost was only playing dead, Jess didn’t know how much air he’d have left. He’d been struggling. He lay so still now, slumped in mid-air to one side of the craft.

“Do you know who he is?” asked Jessamyn, indicating Yevgeny.

“Was, duchess. Don’t know, don’t care. He’s not the one worth the prize money.”

“He’s the Ghost,” said Jess. “Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

“The Ghost?” Harvey laughed harshly. “Sure he is, sweetheart. I’ll let you in on a little secret.” He leaned in and whispered, “The Ghost works alone.”

Everyone knew the Ghost worked alone. She had no chance of convincing someone who didn’t want to believe it. And she was wasting precious minutes, if Yevgeny was still breathing.

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