Holdin' On for a Hero (81 page)

“Did you think me that big a fool?” he asked, turning the blade back and forth in front of her face. “Ummm, poison, I imagine.”

“Kitaro, listen, you’ve got it all wrong. That wasn’t meant for you. I only had it for—”

“I’ve had enough of your lies,” he cut her off. “In fact, I’ve had enough of you.”

“Kitaro, no!” she begged as he raised the blade. “You need me. How else will you convince her to activate the system?”

The downward motion of the knife stopped. It was possible that she would be useful if Senna proved troublesome. Best to wait until he had control of Sumer 1 before he killed her.

“Very well.” He lowered the knife but didn’t release it. She eyed him warily as he walked over and picked up the phone. “See Andrea to her room and make sure she does not leave until I call for her.”

“I will not be locked up like some—” Her protest was cut short.

“If you want to live you will do exactly as I say!”

She nodded in apparent defeat and let the man who entered escort her out of the room. Kitaro took a seat behind the desk and leaned back to smile at the photograph in the golden frame on his desk. “Soon,” he promised the image of the woman. “Very soon they will all be dead and I will have supreme power. And you, my darling. You will be back where you belong. With me.”

Chapter Eighteen

Everyone waited nervously for Colton to speak. He had insisted that they all eat something and took upon himself the task of cleaning up afterward.

Konnor looked over at Senna. She had barely eaten anything. Neither had Minora. He and Lucas both had pointed out that they would need their strength but neither of the women had seemed to pay it much attention.

Finally Colton took a seat at the table with them. “Now, I believe you wanted some reason as to why you should trust me, Mr. Konnor.” He looked at Konnor.

“The name is Chase.”

Colton gave him a penetrating look. “Yes, it is now. But it wasn’t always. Or don’t you remember?”

Konnor frowned at the question. He couldn’t help but notice the way Senna tensed, and looked over at her. She was watching him expectantly. “Think back to South America,” she encouraged him.

He looked across the room, staring blankly out of the window as he called upon the memories of that time. After a few minutes he looked at her in surprise. “My name was Chase Konnor. Slater changed it.”

“And had Marcus and Kitaro alter your memories,” Colton offered.

“Yes,” Konnor agreed. “But that’s hardly reason to put our lives in your hands.”

“Then how about the fact that it was me who convinced Slater not to kill you but to alter your memories instead?”

“What?” Senna blurted. “
You
were responsible? Why, were you working for Slater, too?”

“Against,” Colton corrected her. “And I did it because of who Chase is. Without him there was never a chance to make sure the project was completed as it should be.”

Konnor’s face was a hard mask of anger. “Well, thanks for saving my life and all that but fuck you, Ryder.”

“Konnor!” Senna exclaimed.

“Well, think about it,” he turned to her. “If he had just let them kill us back then—all of us—then none of this would be happening. There would be no Sumer project and the whole goddamn planet wouldn’t be teetering on the edge of annihilation from lunatics like Slater and Kitaro.”

Senna looked at Colton after a moment. “He has a point.”

Colton looked at Minora before turning his attention to her. “I suppose that’s one way of looking at it. But consider this. If Lucas hadn’t figured it out, sooner or later someone else would have, possibly someone with far less ethics and morals.”

“So what’s your stake in all this?” Konnor asked. “Just where do you fit in?”

Again Colton looked at Minora before answering. “The Laserian family and I go back a long way. I became involved when Min discovered she was pregnant.”

Senna looked over at Minora. “Pregnant? I didn’t know you had a child.”

Minora looked from her to Lucas then to Colton. At last she sighed. “I suppose this is as good a time as any to be honest. You see as Colton said, I found myself in the position of being pregnant, unmarried and totally unprepared to handle the situation. At the same time, Lucas and Andrea were trying to have a child. They were not having any luck at it, however. As Andrea and I were very close, I went to her with my news. She came up with a solution to all our problems. Lucas had left the country about two months earlier and would not return for six or seven more months. She was supposed to join him in a few weeks. But she proposed that she contact Lucas and tell him she had discovered that she was pregnant but the doctors would not let her travel. She would insist that he continue with his work and say that I had insisted she stay with me until his return. I was to have the child and give it to them. At first I said no. I was torn between wanting to keep the baby myself and being petrified at the idea of being a single mother. But Andrea was very persuasive and finally I agreed. I gave birth to a daughter six-and-a-half months later. Andrea found an attorney to take care of all of the paperwork. There was no way anyone would ever discover our deception. She contacted Lucas and when he arrived three weeks later he met his daughter, Senna.”

Senna looked at her in shock. “You mean you’re my real mother?”

“Yes.”

“And you…” She looked at Lucas. “You thought I was your real daughter?”

“For many years,” he replied. “It was not until I began to suspect Andrea that I found out the truth.”

“How did you find out?”

“I told him,” Colton supplied the answer. “I discovered what Andrea and Marcus were up to with Slater and contacted Minora. She gave me permission to tell Lucas the truth.”

Senna shook her head. It was all so convoluted and complicated. “And what about my father?” She directed the question to Minora. “Where was he during all this?”

“I never told your father I was pregnant,” she answered.

“Why?”

“Because I didn’t want to be a burden. While I had no doubt that he would have done the honorable thing, I also knew that he had duties that overrode his obligation to me.”

“So you never told him?”

“No, I told him. After you were born. He was not happy with what I had done but understood my reasons.”

“And did you ever plan on telling me the truth?”

Minora shook her head. “No.”

Senna considered it for a moment. “Okay, but will you tell me now who my father is?”

“You will know in due time,” she replied.

“I guess that means no?”

“No, it means not right now. When he wants you to know, he’ll tell you himself.”

“And how will I know it’s not just another person lying to me?” Senna asked in frustration.

“You’ll know,” Minora smiled gently.

Senna stared at her for a moment then reached across the table to take her hand. “All these years I’ve thought that if I could have any mother I wanted it would be you. I wish I had known it was you all along.”

“Would it have made any difference in the way you feel?” Minora asked.

A sense of something akin to relief washed over her. It all honesty it would not have made a difference. She had always loved Min like a mother. Giving her the title would not have changed the feelings. “No,” she admitted. “I’m glad to know it now and I’m proud to be your daughter. But…”

Minora eyed her expectantly and Senna continued. “You lied to me, Min. All this time I thought you were cripple. Why did you do that?”

“Senna, I—”

Colton interrupted. “I have a couple of things to take care of. Don’t leave. Don’t even open the door. I’ll be back within two hours.”

Minora walked with him to the door. Konnor turned to Senna. “I still have misgivings about trusting this guy. He never did give us a satisfactory explanation.”

“And he probably won’t,” Lucas volunteered from the other side of the table. “But you can trust him,” he added when Konnor looked at him.

For a long time Konnor said nothing. Minora walked through the room. “I think I’m going to lie down.” Lucas nodded and Senna gave her a hard look.. She started to leave the room but Senna stepped in her way.

“We need to talk.”

“I’m tired, Senna. Can’t this wait?”

“No, it can’t.  You lied to me.  Let me believe that you were injured, in pain, suffering for God’s sake!  You let me give up my job, Min.  A job I loved.  All so I could be close to you and keep an eye on you.  You betrayed me and I want to know why.”

“Senna, everything I’ve ever done has been to protect you.  You have to believe that.  I certainly didn’t like lying to you, and believe me, being confined to that damn wheel chair was no pleasure.  But I had to do it.  To keep you safe.”

“From what?  Or who?”  Senna demanded.

“Senna I promise I’ll explain everything to you, answer all of your questions in detail.  But right now, I really am exhausted.  Please, I beg you.  Table this discussion until I’m rested.  Please?”

Senna didn’t want to agree, but caved in to the pleading expression on Min’s face.  “Fine, but I’ll be expecting answers as soon as you wake.”

“Yes, dear,”  Min smiled and patted Senna’s cheek.  “I promise.”

Senna watched her leave the room and turned to look at Lucas and Konnor.  Konnor was still staring heatedly at Lucas.

Lucas sat calmly waiting under Konnor’s scrutiny until finally Konnor spoke. “You never lied to me, did you, Lucas?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“But you did use me.”

“Only because you volunteered.”

Senna looked at Konnor in surprise. “You volunteered? Why?”

His skin flushed and he looked down. She was surprised. She had never seen him look embarrassed the way he did then. “Well?” she asked curiously. “Why?”

“Because he was in love with you,” Lucas answered then hurriedly continued, “even though he would never have admitted it at the time.”

“Is that true?” she asked him.

Konnor looked at her and nodded. She took his hand and held on to it. “Why is that so embarrassing?”

“You were a kid,” he explained.

“I was seventeen, not exactly an infant.”

“But not an adult either,” he argued. “Which I was supposed to be. It was…it bothered me that I could fall in love with someone so young. I thought it made me sort of an old pervert or something.”

“Well, if the shoe fits,” she teased him.

“Hey!” He pulled his hand away.

“I’m sorry,” she laughed then sobered as something occurred to her. “Konnor, that woman, the one you were in love with who died. Was that before or after…”

“Neither,” he interrupted, and when her eyebrows rose in surprise, continued, “That was one of the false memories they implanted.”

“But why give you a memory like that?” she asked.

“You must understand,” Lucas spoke up. “Dealing with strong emotions is very tricky and difficult. Something as strong as love, especially passionate love, is very hard to erase. It is much easier to substitute one face for another. That way the emotions don’t have to be tampered with, only the facts and faces.”

She thought about it for a moment. “Then what about me? Why was everything taken from me?”

Lucas sighed. “You were… How can I put this? When I changed your memories, I implanted what I thought would be normal everyday memories for a teenage girl. I left the memories of your infatuation with Konnor untouched as I saw it as part of normal development. But then you were put through the process not once but twice more. Once by Marcus when he attempted to retrieve the information after Slater captured you, and again by Kitaro before you escaped and got back to the States.”

She got up and walked back and forth for a few seconds, thinking back. “So, I wasn’t taken to Kitaro first,” she murmured, trying to remember clearly. She stopped suddenly and looked at the men. “I was taken to Marcus! He used the device on me and tried to extract the data. When it didn’t work he erased the memory of me being with him from my mind and that’s when Kitaro showed up.”

“Yes,” Lucas agreed. “Apparently, when Marcus failed, Slater decided to turn you over to Kitaro. His job was either to get the information or kill you. But something happened and he never fulfilled those orders. That was what led to the rift between Slater and Kitaro and they have been bitter rivals ever since.”

“It all makes sense,” she said more to herself than to them.

“What does?” Konnor asked.

“Kitaro.”

“Well, how about explaining it to me?” he asked. “Because I don’t get this Kitaro-Shen thing at all.”

“Shen?” Lucas asked. “Who’s Shen?”

“That would be me.”

Everyone jumped at the sound of the voice that came from the direction of the small sleeping quarters in the rear of the cabin. Shen stood in the doorway holding Minora by the arm. He nodded to Lucas and Konnor and released Minora. She ran across the room and bumped into the table. Senna jumped up to help her to a seat then turned.

“Shen?” she asked.

“Yes, it is I.”

She frowned. “Why are you here?”

“We must go to the control center.”

“No,” Lucas argued.

“Yes.” Shen looked at him. “And we must hurry. There have been unexpected developments.”

Minora stood but Konnor remained seated. “Before we go anywhere I want to know the truth, Shen.”

Shen’s eyes narrowed for a moment then he smiled. “Very well. Please, have a seat everyone. I’m sure you’ll all find this highly enlightening.”

Senna remained standing and he walked over and took her arm. “Would you like to tell them or would you prefer I do it?”

“I’ll tell them,” she hissed. “And let go of me.”

His smile was one of amusement at her tone and demand but he did as she said. She turned and looked at the others. “You want to know about Shen? Okay, but first you have to know about Kitaro.”

She looked at Konnor. “I told you about first meeting Kitaro. He took my clothes, chained me, and raped me. After that he left me alone for a long time, several days, in which time I had no food or water, nothing except my fear. The third day he returned. He asked me for the information and I told him I didn’t know anything. That’s when it really began. He beat me and abused me for weeks. Several times I really thought I would die. The days turned into nothing more than one type of abuse after another. It took him almost two months to realize that I really didn’t consciously know anything. That was two months of being raped and beaten, starved and terrorized with rats and snakes and being given to three and four men at a time while Kitaro watched. But when it finally sank in that I couldn’t tell him because I didn’t remember, things changed. That’s when he started using the drugs. Unfortunately, they didn’t work either. The only thing that accomplished was to turn me into an addict.”