Star Raiders (9 page)

He stood at the bottom of the boarding ramp with the older girl while Shyanne handed the children through the narrow door to Bear and Able. Suddenly, Shyanne dove down the ramp and crashed into him and the girl. They went down in a tangled heap. Laser-fire bounced harmlessly off the ship’s hul instead of bursting his head.

Together, Greyson and Shyanne grabbed the girl and rol ed beneath the ramp.

Above, they heard Bear and Able returning fire. Able urged them to get aboard ship, but Greyson knew better than to try; they were pinned down.

“What are you doing?” Shyanne asked as he pushed the girl against her and crawled toward the edge of the ramp.

“I’m going to take a look.”

“No,” the girl cried, and grabbed at him. Apparently, sometime during the trip from town, the girl had decided he and Shyanne were the lesser evil. “You’l get shot.”

“She’s right,” Shyanne said.

“Probably, but we need to know their positions. If they move, this ramp isn’t going to be much protection.”

Shyanne nodded. “Be careful.”

Greyson wriggled around and peered out to pinpoint their assailants’ locations.

The flat land surrounding the ship gave them little cover, so the men crouched low to the ground. A shot buzzed over his head and he pul ed back.

“There are two of them about thirty yards at three o’clock,” he said. “Take the girl out the other side and up the ramp. I’l cover you.”

“You take the girl and lift her up. You’re stronger, and I’m a better shot.” She grinned at him and, before he could argue further, rol ed out from under the ramp and came up firing.

“Damn stubborn woman!” he swore but didn’t hesitate; grabbing the girl’s arm, he lifted her up to the top of the ramp. Able reached out, snagged her and dragged her inside, keeping her out of the line of fire the whole time. Greyson then turned his attention back to Shyanne.

The acrid smel of laser-fire burned his nose. Their attackers were firing blind, and it was striking the ground al around them. It was only a matter of time until one of them was hit.

“Come on!”

He leapt onto the ramp and reached for her. Firing off one last vol ey, Shyanne whirled, grabbed hold of his hand and swung herself onto the ramp beside him. Five feet separated them from safety.

Laser-fire pinged against the ramp and the side of the ship. Greyson pushed her ahead of him through the opening. From inside the ship he could hear Able yel ing and the girls’ sobbing. He turned and shot. A man screamed.

Another blast and Shyanne’s gasp wiped away Greyson’s smile of satisfaction. He caught her as she fel and carried her inside. Able smacked his hand against the ramp controls. The ramp slid upright and the door closed.

“Get us the hel off this rock,” Greyson commanded.

Shyanne’s crewman hesitated long enough to ask, “How bad is she hurt?”

“I don’t know.” Greyson stared at Shyanne, saw a long burn mark on the side of her head near the temple. “Alert Eldin I’m bringing her to sick bay.”

“It’s just a flesh wound,” she muttered, opening her eyes and shaking her head.

“Put me down. It just grazed me.” Then her eyes closed and she went limp.

The sound of his captain’s irritation motivated Able. He nodded at Greyson and ran for the bridge.

The smel of laser-seared flesh burned Greyson’s nostrils. Shyanne’s ashen complexion and shal ow breathing were worrisome. He smoothed a strand of hair away from the wound. Off to the side, Bear waited with the children. Stil awed by his size, they huddled together, but their sobs along with the continued ping of laser-fire hitting the ship’s hul pierced Greyson’s brain like icy daggers.

“Can the crying,” he snapped.

The older girl stopped sobbing to ask, “Is she dead?”

“Why the hel do you care?” The rage and pain churning inside him revealed just how much he himself cared. His concern made his tone harsher than he intended.

The girl straightened her shoulders and growled, “I don’t.” But the tremor in her voice put paid to her words. Tears spiked her lashes and streaked the dirt on her face. Her lower lip trembled, though she met Greyson’s gaze without flinching.

Greyson put his fingers against Shyanne’s neck. The strong, steady beat eased the ache in his heart and he said, “No, she’s not dying, but when she wakes up she’l have a hel of a headache.” He couldn’t stop his grin of relief.

The girl smiled back, then jumped as another vol ey blasted the ship.

“What now?” the oldest girl spoke up.

Greyson examined her. She was older than he’d first thought, closer to twenty than seventeen. “What’s your name?” he asked.

“Brina.”

“Wel , Brina, would you please help Bear get the children settled?” Brina turned uncertain eyes toward Bear. To her credit, she hesitated only a second before nodding and moving to the others. They went eagerly into her arms.

Greyson watched in admiration. The girl had been through a horrible trauma, probably seeing her family and friends kil ed, had been beaten and probably raped and stil she sought to care for and shield the younger girls. Who was she? Who were these children? Where had they come from, and why did this whole situation feel as if it had been a trap from the get-go?

Liberty
lifted off. Shyanne groaned, and Greyson stroked her cheeks and forehead. Answers would have to wait.

“Go on with Bear,” he urged Brina. “He won’t hurt you or the children. I know you have a lot of questions. We’l talk more later, but you’re safe now. I promise.” He couldn’t help flinching. If this was a trap, had he made another promise he wasn’t sure he could keep?

Chapter Six

Simon Dempster watched with satisfaction as the blip appeared on his scanner.

How easily she’d taken the bait. And as directed, the slavers had tagged her ship.

He had her now. For over twenty years he’d been waiting to obtain his goal: possession of Shyanne Kedar. Success was only a few steps away.

When she was a child, she’d stolen the one thing he desired above al else—

Stewart Kedar’s love. He’d worked hard to position himself at Kedar’s side, to eliminate al others who’d command the man’s attention or affection. Then she’d come into his life, and Simon had ceased to matter. Then she’d caused Kedar’s downfal .

Years it had taken for Simon to recover and rebuild her father’s empire—the empire that should have been his. He’d earned it with hard work, and her womanly mistakes had destroyed it. That womanishness now meant something different to him.

Oh, on more than one occasion he’d come close to getting his revenge. Last year he’d had her in his grasp, but she’d managed to slip through his fingers. Again.

He rubbed the jagged scar on his cheek. Others wondered, though none dared ask, why he didn’t have it removed. He kept it to remind him of whom it was he chased and how dangerous she could be. Only after she paid for his pain and humiliation with her own would he visit the surgeon and have the scar eradicated.

This time, he’d set his trap with a sweet bait he’d known she couldn’t resist.

The bait was taken, the trap sprung. Now he just had to reel in his catch.

Greyson paced the corridor outside the
Independence
med bay. Memories of what had gone on in that room only hours earlier fought with the image of Shyanne lying pale and stil on the examination bed.

The door opened and Eldin came out.

Greyson started to go in. “How is she?”

Eldin blocked him from entering. “She’l be fine. I’ve given her something to make sure she rests. She’l be asleep for some time.”

“I won’t disturb her.” Greyson tried to move around the older man, who laughed.

“Oh, you’l disturb her al right.” The old man’s humor faded and he pinned Greyson with a hard stare. “Leave her be.”

Greyson’s shoulders sagged. Eldin was right. He had no rights where Shyanne was concerned. Eldin and her crew were her family, not him. He’d given up that chance long ago.

“How often does she pul this kind of stunt?” he asked. His own inability to rescue the children frustrated him, while Shyanne’s clever plan had saved them al , but it also had almost gotten her kil ed.

Eldin shrugged. “As often as necessary. It’s made her unpopular in a lot of places.” He patted Greyson on the back. “Fortunately, they didn’t recognize her on Verus. You never know when someone wil . Word gets around. Things would have gone down differently if they had. Usual y she just raids slave ships and auctions, but when that’s not possible she’l do this sort of operation.”

“The crew backs her up on this? Don’t they object to her spending their cash?”

“Most of us know firsthand what it means to be a slave. Shy’s father rescued us, so now we’re returning the favor.”

“What wil happen to the girls?”

“We’l see if we can locate any family for them, but with the way things have been going lately, that’s not likely.” Eldin shot Greyson a sly look. “I have it on good authority the pirates who likely col ected this group haven’t been leaving anyone alive.”

Greyson’s first instinct was to end his mission and take the girls back to Earth, but if he did, Shyanne and her crew would end up in prison and things would only get worse. “Kedar rarely operated in C.O.I.L. space. He kept to the outer worlds.

That’s why it took so long for ASP to track him down and arrest him. Why has Shyanne been smuggling so close in?”

The angry look on Eldin’s normal y genial face told Greyson he’d touched a nerve. The man looked ready to punch him. Had he pushed too far?

“The only reason Kedar surrendered,” the old man hissed, “was to keep ASP

from shooting up innocent students in an attempt to capture him. Deceit and betrayal brought him down.”

“Granted,” Greyson admitted. He liked to think the ASP operatives would have shown restraint, but the risk to the student population had been real. Ten years ago, Wil iams, the current director, had been the agent in charge of the operation.

His ambition, then as now, made him blind to al but the obvious. “But that doesn’t answer my question.”

Some of the fire went out of Eldin’s eyes and the old man sighed. “Because of Simon Dempster. Ever since Shy was a child, he’s hated her. Last year, during one of her runs, he caught her. We barely got her back in one piece.” Greyson shuddered. He’d read the reports of what had been done to the men, women and children of the ships and colonies attacked by Dempster and his men.

He’d known immediately upon reading those reports that Shyanne couldn’t be responsible. What had the bastard done to her?

“Since then, we’ve moved closer in,” Eldin continued. “It’s easier to avoid him in C.O.I.L. space. Our operation is smal , so we can move in and out quickly. If it wasn’t for Dempster’s trickery, we’d have gone unnoticed by you folks.”

“Oh, ASP noticed,” Greyson countered.

He’d been fol owing Shyanne’s criminal career since its start. Bringing down her father had resulted in promotions for both him and the current director, despite her escape. In his position as Wil iams’s deputy, as long as her operation remained smal and didn’t go beyond the smuggling of food, equipment and medicine, Greyson had been able to avert any direct action being taken against her. Even after he’d learned of her trading in weapons, he’d managed to shield her from exposure. Only after these current rash of murderous attacks had he become unable to help.

Nothing he’d said to the director convinced the man that Shyanne wasn’t responsible. If Wil iams ever learned of the buried evidence regarding Shyanne’s previous crimes, he’d be facing treason charges. Of course, going behind the director’s back to see Kedar and now running with known criminals had Greyson facing the same fate anyway.

“Dempster’s actions have made it impossible for ASP to ignore her,” he told Eldin. “If we don’t track him down, Shyanne wil end up paying for his crimes.” The old man gave him a considering look. “Why do you care?”

“Why? Easy. Bringing in Dempster puts me in line to be director of ASP.”

“I don’t buy it. If al you wanted was to make director, you’d just try and bring her in. She’s the one they think’s doing it. What’s your real goal?” Greyson weighed his options. Eldin and the rest of the crew deserved to know the truth, or at least part of it, but he wasn’t ready to reveal his deception. If they succeeded in stopping Dempster, Greyson hoped his superiors would honor the agreements he’d made, giving everyone pardons. If they failed…wel , at the very least he hoped to help Shyanne and her crew escape the resulting holocaust that would result from C.O.I.L.’s actions.

Leaving out his deception about the pardons, he quickly explained the situation with ASP and C.O.I.L. Eldin whistled and nodded. “The rest of the crew needs to hear this,” the old man said. “Come on.” He headed toward the lift.

Greyson hesitated. “When can I see Shyanne?”

The old man shook his head. “She should sleep for at least a couple of hours.” On the bridge, Greyson fielded questions about the situation. Eldin and Bear were neutral; their inquiries revolved around planning and logistics, if they were stil going to go forward with the assault on Dempster’s operation. Able and Damon’s questions were guarded, and more about C.O.I.L.’s possible plan, but they were receptive. As Greyson expected, Terle’s questions bespoke hostility.

“Where’s Silky?” Greyson asked when the questions stopped.

“She and her crew are keeping watch over the children,” Able said.

“Her crew?” Greyson asked.

They ignored him.

“We need a moment to discuss this,” Eldin said. “Alone.” Terle muttered an anatomical y impossible suggestion and glared until Greyson stepped off the bridge to await their decision.

A few long minutes later, Eldin cal ed him back. The crew apparently al agreed tracking down and capturing Dempster was stil their best option. Shyanne being wounded hadn’t changed anything.

“What about the children?” Greyson asked. “We can’t take them with us. It’s too dangerous.”

“Shy usual y shuttles them to a planet on the fringe of the outer worlds,” Damon said.

“How long wil it take to get there?” Greyson asked.