Soulwalker (26 page)

Derille was right, but Tarris was more interested in Asher’s life than her own. She sensed the guards around her shifting nervously, as if they were expecting her to react.

“She’s no threat,” Derille told them, “at least not while the light’s on. Keep your distance and make sure the light remains on at all times.”

“Administrator!” a technician yelled from across the room. “Call for you.”

“Stay alert,” he said as a final order. He walked across the floor to the small office on the far side. He disappeared through the sliding door to the office behind it.

An older man, obviously the leader of the guards, talked to her. “Not one move. We see that shadow of yours, and the others die. Got that?”

Tarris watched his hand lower to a button on his belt and assumed it to be some sort of alarm. She nodded her agreement. Rya couldn’t be in two places at one time, so Tarris was on her own.

Protect Asher and the boy.

But, sister…

No, Rya. This is an order, not a request. Keep them safe for me. Please.

There was another hesitation from her warrior.
All right, sister. If that’s your wish.

That is my wish, my dear friend. I want them safe.

Derille emerged from the room and stood outside the door. A couple of minutes later, Corman joined him and they talked. Both of them approached her, Derille deep in thought and Corman with an evil grin on his lips. It was not promising.

“I’m needed at the Council chambers. Corman will escort you back to the Corps headquarters. One false move on your part, and they will die. Understood?”

Tarris so wanted to answer with a smart-ass comment but instead settled for a nod. For now, she would have to follow their orders.

“Prick,” Corman muttered as they both watched the Administrator leave. Tarris kept her mouth shut. She didn’t want to agree with her mortal enemy.

Corman removed his weapon and butted her in the chest with it. “Now you’re mine,” he said and grinned wickedly at her.

“Derille said ‘hands off,’” Tarris reminded him.

“That he did,” he said enigmatically. “Move it.” He waved his pistol toward a far door.

Tarris looked in the direction he indicated then glared at him.

“Don’t you want to know what’s going to happen to your bitch girlfriend?”

It couldn’t be good. Corman took too much enjoyment in tormenting her with the possibilities. “I’m sure you can tell me.”

“Aww, come on, Waite. Can you look me in the eye and say you don’t care? I’m disappointed.” The smile dropped from his face. “Move it.”

“I’ll need my hands to do that, Corman.”

He looked around. Half a dozen armed guards watched her every move, and all the lights were on in the large open space. He nodded at the closest guard. “Do it.”

She felt the manacles loosen around her wrists.

“Don’t even think about it,” Corman said. “One false move from you, and the mediprac dies.” His finger hovered over an alarm switch on his belt.

Tarris slowly and carefully moved her arms to the front of her body. As soon as her wrists were close enough together, the manacles were refastened.

“Now, move it.”

Whether she liked it or not, Corman was going to show her Asher’s fate. She activated the suit and was glad to be able to manipulate it. Trying to climb the stairs without the legs locked down was hard work, and her abdominal muscles ached badly from the strain. Now she knew what it felt like to push the walking aid in a direction it didn’t want to go.

Her fingers brushed over the tabs, and her suit smoothly moved her across the floor to the door on the other side. Corman remained a few steps behind her, intent on her every move. She looked over her shoulder at him. He had one hand hooked in his belt, while his ever-present finger hovered over the button that would sign Asher’s death warrant.

“Open it,” he said. One of the guards obliged him, and the door slid silently into the wall cavity.

Tarris tapped the tab and nimbly stepped through the door to a room that looked suspiciously like a laboratory, or what she imagined to be a laboratory. Strapped to one of the tables was, she assumed, a homeless woman. Her tattered clothes and grimy face gave Tarris the clues to make the assumption. Strapped to the wall was another derelict, a man this time, and a young boy was next to him. Tarris’s heartbeat sped up. Was it Jerad? Quick observation allayed her fears. The child was about the same height and age, but it wasn’t him.

“So?” she asked without emotion.

“Watch.”

The woman on the table was injected with some sort of mixture, and the scientist backed away quickly. Tarris glanced at Corman and saw an almost demonic look in his eyes. Whatever was about to happen would be dramatic and unpleasant.

The woman started to twitch and escalated to what looked like a seizure. She strained and bucked under the restraints, her heaving body trying to break the straps that held her down. She moaned, screamed, growled, and dribbled over and over again as whatever she had been given overtook her senses. Slowly the jerking slowed down. It returned to twitching and finally ended in stillness and death.

The scientist moved to the prone figure and rested his fingers on her neck. “Subject number two seven nine. Failure.” There was weariness in his voice as he recorded his findings.

“Two hundred and seventy-nine? You mean to tell me you’ve killed two hundred and seventy-nine people with whatever you’re trying to do here?”

“And counting.” Corman giggled. “After the two on the wall, your mediprac whore will be next.”

“That’s barbaric.”

“They’re from the Sweeps. No one will notice they’re gone.”

Tarris had suspected as much. She tried to hide her abhorrence of the callous disregard for human life that Corman obviously enjoyed so much.

“And it’s all your fault,” he said.

Tarris bit her tongue. As much as she desperately wanted to know what it was all about, she knew Corman would tell her in good time. For now she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of asking. “Blow it out your ass, Corman,” she snarled. “You’re wasting your time trying to scare me, so just take me to HQ.”

Corman seemed unperturbed with her outburst and sighed. “Come on then. Time’s a-wasting.” His comlink sounded, and Corman snatched at it. “What?” He fell silent for a moment then cut the connection.

“Is your master calling you?” Tarris didn’t see the hand coming and took the brunt of it across her jaw. She lifted her bound hands and wiped away the blood. “Feel better?”

Corman’s white eyes blazed at her, and his hands balled into fists. “The Prime wants to see you.”

“Oh good.”

“I wouldn’t be so happy about that if I were you.” Corman pushed Tarris hard, and she nearly toppled. “He’s going to eat you for breakfast.”

Chapter 12

Asher glanced at Tarris as she was led away. Her fate was sealed, and without Tarris’s constant presence, she was terrified. Tarris could calm her fears and make her troubles seem a distant memory. While she figured that her life depended on how cooperative Tarris was, she also hoped that it wasn’t at the expense of the greater good.

There was a nudge in her back from the guard behind her. “Move it,” he growled.

An angry reply sat on her tongue, but she kept it to herself. She needed to stay alive for Tarris’s sake. Despite what Tarris said, she knew she had to be there to guide her. Too much had happened between them for her contribution to be dismissed so readily.

Asher trudged after the lead guard, who led her down a long corridor to a side doorway. When she thought she had reached her destination, the door slid aside to reveal yet another corridor. This particular corridor was darker than the one she had just left. It seemed to set the scene for where she was going. Into the darkness to a place from which there was no return.

The third door on the right opened, and Asher was shoved inside. She stumbled over a pair of legs and fell to the floor. The light was gray in the room. Not complete darkness but more a muted light. She rolled over until she was upright and seated on the floor. She looked around at the dull expressions of her co-captives. It was a look of desolation and defeat, and one she was trying very hard not to emulate.

“So you got caught, too, huh?”

Asher knew that voice and was pleased to see that Jerad was still alive. “Yeah. We came looking for you.” While that wasn’t completely true, Asher wanted the kid to know he was missed.

“I didn’t need your help,” he said brazenly. “So where is she?”

“The boss has her.”

“Who did she piss off?”

Asher scowled at him, but that didn’t stop his smirk. “She doesn’t want to be one of them anymore, and they don’t like it.”

“Figures.” He sat down next to her.

“What I don’t understand is why you’re still with us. You got your ten credits and yet you stuck with us. Why?”

Jerad studied the other prisoners around him. “Why?” he repeated. “Maybe I figured I could get more money out of her. I know she’s got more, because I saw it in the parcel.”

“You could have easily stolen that while we were asleep. No, that’s not it,” Asher said.

“I know who she is. She would find me and kill me.”

“Again, no. She didn’t show you who she was until we were in your sleeping hole.” She smiled at him. “You’ve got to do better than that.” Jerad sat there and glared at her. “No, you saw her as your chance to get out of that world. She was the key to a better life.”

“So?” he said defiantly.

“I’m not saying it was wrong, Jerad. I would have done the same thing. But I’m sure Trooper Waite would like to hear it from you when you see her.”
If you see her…
“Do you know what’s going on?”

“I dunno. They came and took two or three people, and I didn’t see them again.”

“Jerad? Honey? Is that you?”

“Momma?” The boy’s body stiffened, and his head swiveled from side to side as he looked for the source of the voice.

A woman carrying a ladle and a large pot moved into view, closely followed by two guards. She put the pot on the floor and threw herself at the boy. “Oh God! I thought I wouldn’t see you again.” She began to cry.

“Momma?”

Asher could hear the dismay in his voice. All this time he had thought himself an orphan, and it was through his connection to Tarris that he found his mother. She would have to make sure to remind Tarris of one more good thing she had done with her life.

“Momma, I thought you were dead.” Jerad clutched her tightly, as if she would disappear if he let go.

“Jerad. Honey.” His mother looked over her shoulder at one of the guards. He nudged his fellow guard and left the cell. “Why are you here?”

“I came looking for you,” he said and pulled away. He straightened up and wiped his face with his sleeve. “I knew I’d find you.”

Asher didn’t say a word and allowed Jerad to be the heroic boy looking for his mother. Whether that was what he had in mind when he stumbled upon her and Tarris, she might never know, unless Jerad told her the whole truth. Maybe it was all a rescue of circumstance.

“I hate to interrupt, but can we get out of here?” Asher hoped for a miracle.

“No one gets out,” Jerad’s mother said.

“And yet you’re not a prisoner.” Asher looked her straight in the eye and saw the shame. “Oh.”

“Oh?” Jerad looked from Asher to his mother and back again. “What?”

“Nothing, honey. I made myself useful and saved myself, that’s all.”

“Would he help us?” Asher asked hopefully.

“Maybe. Maybe not. There’s the other guard…” She left the sentence hanging.

“My name is Asher.” Asher extended her hand in invitation.

“Calia.” She took Asher’s hand and shook it. “Thank you for looking after my son.”

“It was more like he was looking after us.”

“Us?” Calia looked at her son.

“A trooper,” he said.

“You let a trooper know who you are? That was foolish, son.”

“No! No, she’s good, Momma. She’ll help us.”

“If she can help us,” Asher murmured.

“Where is she?”

“The boss has her.”

“Then she can’t help us.”

Asher sensed a stirring in the air. She closed her eyes to focus then smiled. Even in the muted light, Rya was nearby. “Oh, yes, she can,” Asher whispered.
We have to get out of here.

I will see what I can do, sister.

“She’s a woman. What can one woman do?” Calia asked.

“She’s also a trooper,” Asher pointed out.

“That changes nothing. She’s one female trooper against the rest of them.”

“Don’t underestimate her. I did. She is one extraordinary woman.” And Asher knew that was true. The more time she spent in Tarris’s company, the more she discovered about the woman who wanted to leave her past behind her. She was complicated, unpredictable, and totally unexpected. After her initial reticence, Tarris had totally blindsided her senses.

Asher waited for Rya’s response, but there was none. What was she expecting? Rya to come in and wreak havoc? Nothing happened for a few minutes, so Asher sat down on the cold floor.

Jerad stood beside her and leaned against the wall. “Where is she? She hasn’t left us behind, has she?”

Asher heard the almost wistful tone of his question. Had he developed a bit of a crush on Tarris? Not that she could blame him. She was pretty sure she had a crush on her as well. “Some things just take a bit of planning, that’s all. Help is coming.” Asher trusted it wasn’t false hope she was selling. “Sit,” she said. He slid down the wall to the floor next to her.

“What are you and you mother going to do once you’re out of here?”

“Out of here,” he said flatly, but Asher picked up the subtle signals Jerad gave. There was excitement, which Asher assumed was finding his mother alive. There was also a bit of doubt mixed with hope about a rescue. She suspected Jerad hadn’t given much thought past those two questions.

Asher only had one question. When would she see Tarris again? She had seen a lot of sides to Tarris: a shy friend, a confident trooper, a hero, a lover whose confidence had grown in leaps and bounds and left her breathless, and a woman who had stolen her heart.