Diamond Star (60 page)

Mercifully the pain ended. And because it had never occurred to anyone in the Skolian military to program him against talking about Staver Aunchild, he said, "I gave him the money."

"I thought so." Tarex lowered the disk. "Why?"

Hatred edged Del's voice. "Because what you do to providers is twisted."

Tarex looked down at him as if from a great height. "You Allieds are so self-righteous." The anger faded from his face, replaced by satisfaction. "But those anthologies of yours must be even more lucrative than I realized, to finance Staver's little gambit. I'll make billions."

"I won't sing for you," Del rasped.

Tarex glanced up the ladder. "What do you think?" he said to someone above them. "Will he sing?"

Kryxson answered. "Of course." He was coming down the ladder. When he reached the rung where Del's wrists were bound, he stepped squarely onto the hinge in Del's hand. Del gritted his teeth, but he held back his groan, refusing them that satisfaction. At least the medical robot, or med-bot, that followed Kryxson stepped over Del's hands. It resembled the security mechs, except it was blue instead of gold and much less bulky.

When the med-bot reached the bottom of the ladder, it leaned over Del and passed its hand over his throat. Lights blinked on its arms and chest, but Del couldn't interpret the patterns.

"His vocal cords are inflamed," the med-bot said. Its finger morphed into a syringe. That one simple action told Del plenty about Tarex; it was extraordinarily expensive to build a robot that could re-form parts of itself with such fluidity. Yet this was the second of Tarex's robots Del had seen do it. Either Tarex was wealthy even among Aristos, who were probably the most avaricious group of humans alive, or else he wasted his money. From what Del had seen, he had little doubt it was the former. It scared the hell out of him, for it implied Tarex was even better at being an Aristo than most Aristos.

The med-bot set the point of its syringe against Del's neck.

"No!" Del tried to jerk away, but Kryxson held his head while the bot administered the shot. Del choked back his cry. The syringe hurt like everything else. It didn't have to; they could have used a method he didn't feel at all.

Tarex sighed and sat down on a crate, his eyes glazed. "You will be my greatest acquisition, Del. An anthology a year, eh?"

"You can't take me with you," Del said hoarsely. "I'm supposed to do a huge concert tonight. If I don't show up, everyone on Earth will find out what you did to me."

"I've permission to extradite you," Tarex told him.

"Like hell."

Tarex motioned to the med-bot. In response, it raised its hand, showing Del the syringe as it morphed into a knife.

"No," Del whispered. "Don't."

As the bot brought down the knife, all Del could think was that not only would he never see his family again, he had also let down Jud, Anne, and Randall, with all the intensity, friendship, and arguments they shared. Then the knife struck home, but instead of stabbing Del, the robot sliced the cords binding him to the stairs. With a gasp, he dropped his arms into his lap. He crumpled against the ladder, sitting with his knees bent next to his body and his head hanging. The med-bot's feet were visible, but then they moved away.

Tarex spoke gently. "Del, look at me."

He raised his head. Tarex was standing over him, staring down as if Del were an insect he had found on the floor.

"Kneel to me," Tarex said softly.

Del gritted his teeth and stayed put.

Tarex moved fast, probably with augmented reflexes, and backhanded Del across the face. Del's head slammed into the ladder.

"I said
kneel,
" Tarex told him.

"No," Del ground out.

Tarex pressed the disk.

Agony erupted in Del's body. He screamed and screamed--and he
could
scream, because the medicine was already healing his throat.

The pain ended abruptly. Then Tarex murmured, "Kneel. And say this: I submit to your magnificence, glorious Lord."

Del met his stare. In slow, succinct words, he said, "Fuck you, Tarex."

The Aristo's lower eyelid twitched.

And he pressed the disk.

"Mister Arden has already been charged," the man on the screen said. "We have to take him into custody."

Tarex was watching the screen from the pilot's chair of his yacht. Del sat in the copilot's seat, out of sight. The med-bot had given him some drug that paralyzed him. The pressure of the seat against his back hurt, with all the welts, gashes, and bruises, but he couldn't do anything to alleviate it. His head was turned sideways, toward Tarex, so he had to watch as Tarex spoke with the officer, a man called Gregori. The Allied man looked familiar, but Del couldn't figure out why.

"He's being charged under Eubian law," Tarex said. "I'm taking him to stand trial."

Liar,
Del thought. The moment they reached Trader space, Tarex would collar and cuff him, and file documents to declare Del his legal property.

"I understand," Gregori said, with a sympathy that made Del want to strangle him. "But he must stand trial here before extradition." He gave Tarex a sympathetic look. "You can't take him off Earth yet. It's against our laws even if he wants to go with you. You would be abetting the flight of a criminal."

What?
They called
him
the criminal? They were crazy. Del fought to move, protest, anything, but he could barely blink.

"I'm sure our representatives can work this out," Tarex said smoothly. "Our laws require that anyone who offends against an Aristo must face a Highton tribunal." He tried to look apologetic, but he came off patronizing. "So you see, I can't give him to you."

"I have orders to bring him back," Gregori said.

"Yes, I understand," Tarex said with impatience. "I'll make sure you aren't held responsible."

The ship's EI spoke on the bridge channel, which wouldn't carry to Gregori. "Lord Tarex, an Allied space-pod is approaching the yacht."

Tarex didn't hesitate. "Cut transmission." As Gregori's image vanished, Tarex said, "Freeze controls on the pod and have the cargo cranes immobilize it. And have my Escorts increase their surveillance of that Allied police cruiser."

"Pod frozen," the EI said. "Alert status increased to gold."

Tarex spoke to someone out of Del's sight. "Get Arden moving."

The med-bot appeared, its blue metal reflecting the harsh light. It gave Del another shot in his neck. When Del winced, Tarex frowned at the robot. "Don't use that syringe."

As much as it relieved Del to have any reprieve, he didn't trust why Tarex would spare him from pain. Then it hit him. He was a
drug
to the Aristo. In a potentially dangerous situation, Tarex didn't want to be affected by a psion any more than he wanted chemicals to blur his mind.

"Bring him," he told the med-bot.

The robot tugged Del to his feet with unexpected gentleness, but Del flinched anyway. His welts burned. The low pseudo-gravity from the yacht's rotation made him dizzy, as did the Coriolis forces when he leaned in the wrong direction.

Tarex was watching him. "Cooperate," he told Del, "or I'll let Kryxson put you in the storage unit." When Del's lips drew back in a snarl, Tarex said, "Oh, never mind, you'll just use more of those quaint little cuss words. Try this, Del. If you don't cooperate, I'll let you watch me hurt whoever is in that pod. You're responsible for what happens to them."

Del blanched. He had already been responsible for who knew how many deaths, including Tyra and possibly Cameron. He spoke with difficulty. "I'll cooperate."

Tarex nodded, his eyes glazed. "Good."

Del wanted to break the Aristo's gratingly perfect face. Regardless of what Tarex intended, he was clearly savoring Del's pain, both emotional and physical.

Kryxson was waiting in the archway between the bridge and dining area. He glanced at Del with a hint of Tarex's drugged look. Then he spoke to the Aristo. "The Escorts are ready to fire, sir. The pod is trying to dock with this ship, but they can pick it off the hull if you want."

"How many people are in it?" Tarex asked.

"None," Kryxson said.

"Don't destroy the pod yet," Tarex said. "Keep the Escorts on alert. I'd like to avoid antagonizing these police, if possible. But have the security bots meet us in the cargo bay."

Del gritted his teeth. Just his luck, that Tarex was smart enough to put his ego on hold. If the Aristo had been willing to alienate the Allieds with his arrogance, they might have been more willing to help Staver in the first place.

Kryxson and Tarex strode down the corridor, and the med-bot followed with Del, holding his upper arm as it pulled him along. Although Del moved stiffly, the low gravity helped. But the nausea roiling within him came from more than the ship's rotation. His difficulty in walking was a painful reminder of the way he had struggled even to take one step when he first came out of cryo. The idea of being crammed in a cold storage unit terrified him almost beyond thinking. It would be like being trapped in cryo, but while he was awake, buried alive in the crypt of his nightmares.

Del didn't see why the Allied police had sent a pod. If they expected Tarex just to give him up, they were woefully naive. Of course, the Allieds had always seen the Aristos though a rosy filter that denied the truth.

They stopped in the upper cargo bay, Tarex on one side of Del and Kryxson on the other while the med-bot waited behind them. Two looming security bots strode into the area, their gold bodies reflecting the curved blue bulkheads.

"Open bay doors," Tarex said.

Del went rigid. "There's no airlock!"

Everyone ignored him. He stood riveted as the huge doors in front of them pulled apart, their engines rumbling, their giant serrations reflecting the stars outside. Even knowing Tarex wouldn't open his ship to the void of space, Del waited for the roar of escaping air. The Milky Way moved across his view like a path of glitter. He stared in terrified awe at the spectacular panorama undimmed by any atmosphere. So many jeweled stars!

"Gods," Del breathed. "It's incredible."

"Aye," Tarex murmured. " 'Such majesty beyond the end of days would never compare to the dust of the gods.' "

"Did you write that?" Del asked. It wouldn't surprise him if the Aristos thought they were gods, with galaxies for stardust.

"It's from an opera sung by Vitar Carlyx." He smiled at Del. "His voice isn't as good as yours, though."

Del blinked, at a loss for a response. He motioned at the open doors. "How do you keep the air from going out?" He had only traveled in space a few times, and he had never been interested in starship design.

"It's a membrane similar to the airlock," Tarex said. "But much bigger." He gazed at the view. "I wanted it transparent so I could look out."

"I see why." With a rush of nausea, Del realized he was making small talk with his torturer. He shut his mouth and said nothing more.

A crane with a huge claw unfolded from inside the bay. When it swung toward the open area, Del tensed. "It'll break the seal." He instinctively tried to back up, as if that could save him when the atmosphere escaped. The med-bot stopped him, and held him in place.

"Relax." Tarex said. "It becomes part of the seal."

As Del watched, his pulse surging, the claw swung out into space, the shimmer of a membrane sliding along its gold surface. It moved out of sight around the edge of the doors, but within moments, it reappeared with a spherical life pod tight in its grip. The pod was barely big enough for two people.

Tarex glanced across Del at Kryxson. "What's in it?"

Kryxson was studying the mesh on his gauntlet. "Nothing, sir. No people, weapons, or supplies."

"Secure it," Tarex said. "Notify the Allied police we have it in the hold."

As Kryxson worked on his gauntlet, Tarex glanced at Del. "Do your people actually believe I'll put you in and send you back?"

"I don't know." He didn't miss Tarex's phrasing.
Your people.
Mercifully, the Aristo still believed he was an Allied.

"I have Lieutenant Gregori," Kryxson said.

Tarex lifted his own wrist gauntlet. "Lieutenant, did you send me this silly little pod?"

"I thought they sent a shuttle," Gregori said.

Del wanted to groan. Couldn't the police do any better than this? Maybe not, if they were clueless enough to believe he was the criminal here.

Gregori's voice came back. "I'm sorry, Lord Tarex. We meant to send a shuttle with one of our representatives to greet you and accompany Mister Arden back. However, you can send him in the pod. It's rated for prisoners."

"Good gods, man," Tarex said. He switched off his comm and glanced at Kryxson. "Close the doors. I want every picometer of the pod examined. Make sure it has no surprises." Grabbing Del's arm, Tarex shoved him toward the archway that led back to the dining area. "Come on. Enough of this."

Del stumbled on his lacerated feet. "Slow down."

Tarex laughed shortly. "Like the minds of your police?" He dragged Del into the dining area and pushed him at a bulkhead. "In here."

"What?" Del saw nothing but blue metal. He didn't understand the abrupt change in Tarex's behavior, but he had no idea what was normal for the Aristo.

Tarex smacked the bulkhead and it shimmered into an archway. The Aristo shoved him through the opening, and Del stumbled into living quarters with sumptuous furnishings, wooden cabinets, and panels painted with pastoral scenes. The green carpet was a balm on his ravaged feet. A bed was fitted against a bulkhead across the room, under a low ceiling where the ceiling sloped down.

"You live in here?" Del asked.

"Be quiet," Tarex muttered. It was the first time Del had heard him sound distracted. He dragged Del across the room and threw him down across the bed. "Rest. I'm going to have a drink."

Del sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. Tarex didn't even turn around as he walked away; he just raised his hand, holding the disk that activated the neural dust on Del's skin. "Stay put."

Del froze, his gaze fixed on the disk.