Stealing Coal (23 page)

A warm, wet cloth gently brushed Jill’s brow and she smiled. “Aunt Mary.”

Childhood memories flooded her and how her aunt had always done that when she

had a fever. Her head did hurt a little.

“I am called Rune.”

The soft, unfamiliar female voice had Jill struggling to open her eyes. She blinked,

flinching from the light that momentarily blinded her, and then stared up at a lovely

face of a blonde woman. She looked familiar but Jill couldn’t place where she knew her

from.

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Laurann Dohner

“How do you feel? I accessed the information for the drug you were given and it

states that side effects are headache, dry mouth, and dehydration.”

Jill blinked, adjusting to the light, and fought to remember who the woman could

be. She came up with a blank but then something tugged at her memory. It all came

back so suddenly that she gasped. She tried to jerk upright but then groaned loudly

when the pain in her head exploded into a throbbing mass of agony.

Gentle hands pushed her back down. “Easy. I have water for you to drink. Here.

Sip.”

A thin tube pressed against her lips and Jill drank. The cool water helped a lot,

making her feel less like shit. Her eyes focused on the sex android. That deceitful

bastard had drugged her. She tried to move her arms but then realized she only had

restricted movement. She glanced down at the shackles on both wrists connected to

something under the bed or perhaps to the floor. Her anger started to rise.

“Where is Captain Varel?”

Almond-shaped eyes shifted to the left. “Accessing the computer to locate Captain

Varel.” Her gaze fixed on Jill. “He’s having a meeting with his crew in the conference

room on the first level of the
Cutter.
You are on his shuttle.”

“How long have I been out?”

The woman’s eyes shifted left again and then back to Jill. “Two hours, six minutes,

and fourteen seconds since I became aware of your drugging.”

Jill lifted her hands. “Can you remove these?”

Rune nodded. “Yes.”

“Will you please?”

“You will attempt to escape. That is what Captain Varel said when I asked him why

he chained you.”

“That’s right. I need to get off this ship and back to my own before we undock.”

“That has happened. The shuttle
Jenny
is no longer docked to the shuttle
Cutter
.”

Fear gripped Jill hard. “They blew it up?”

“No.” Rune’s eyes shifted left. “It flew away without incident and we travel toward

the moon.” Her gaze straightened out. “We are going to Captain Varel’s home. It is

pretty.”

Jill clenched her teeth. “I need to get off this ship.”

“Why?” Rune cocked her head.

“If I give you a direct order to remove these, will you do it?”

“I can cause no severe harm to living beings. There is a possibility of you being

killed if I free you.”

“If you don’t let me go, I’m definitely going to be in a world of shit. Please?”

“Explain.”

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Stealing Coal

“You really are an android, aren’t you?” Rune could pass for human easily in Jill’s

estimation and since the woman sat on the edge of the bed just feet from her, she

couldn’t have gotten a much closer inspection. “It’s amazing how lifelike you are.”

“I’m an advanced model with enhancements. I am the most recent production of

the sexual-aid android bots they created, state-of-the-art, and made of the finest genetic

cloning research.”

“Why did they decommission you then?” Jill wondered if the captain had lied

about that. Maybe he’d stolen the android. She also needed to learn how to get the

droid to help her.

“They gave me too much data capacity with sophisticated programming to adapt

and learn.”

“That doesn’t sound bad.”

Rune blinked. “I have been created to cater to the sexual urges of men but I refuse

to allow them to use me in that capacity. It’s illogical, messy, and I always can find

better uses for my time.”

Jill gaped.

Rune blinked again and then softly smiled. “Do you want more water? I could

bring you food. I enjoy doing tasks as long as they don’t involve men trying to touch

me. I do not have real emotions or feelings but I have discovered the sensation of touch

bores me.” She kept her smile in place. “I enjoy chores. It keeps me occupied.”

Okay, now I know why they dumped the plans for this model
, she thought, smiling

despite her circumstances at the irony of it. Rune had to be the most drop-dead

beautiful woman she’d ever seen. The crew had to go crazy seeing her but not being

able to use her.

“Will you please remove these?” Jill waved her shackled wrists. “I have to escape.”

“I still don’t understand why you wish to leave.”

“I’m not marrying Captain Varel. He’s going to be really angry when I refuse and

probably kill me. I want to be long gone before he comes after me. I belong to someone

else and I don’t know why he hasn’t come for me yet but he will. I’d like to get the hell

out of here though, instead of waiting for Coal to catch up to me. Does the
Cutter
have

life pods?”

“Affirmative.” Rune reached for Jill’s restraints. “Definite harm overrides a

possibility.” Her fingers gripped the metal. “I will crush them. Hold very still.”

“Thank you.” Gratitude had Jill breathing easier. She needed to get to a life pod,

launch, and contact the
Jenny
to help them locate her. The image of Coal going crazy

with worry had her silently urging the android to work faster.

The metal groaned and then snapped where the joints met. Rune eased the pressure

instantly, pulling the broken shackles away. Jill climbed off the big bed, her gaze

flashing quickly around the room, looking for a weapon in case she came in contact

with someone.

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“They took your shoes. They are not here and I do not know where they were

taken.”

Jill looked down at her bare feet, not realizing until that moment that she no longer

wore her clothes but something that resembled silky, two-piece, short-sleeved pajamas

with loose pants.

“I changed your clothing. Captain Varel hated what you wore and threatened to

burn it on you.”

“I’m really starting to hate that creep.” She walked over to a table, picked up what

passed for a sculpture of some sort, and gripped it. The smooth metal had a nice weight

to it and parts of it were sharp at the top.

“That’s abstract art of a fish with waves. It reminds Captain Varel of his fishing

trips with his father as a boy.”

Jill frowned at it. “I don’t see it. To me it’s a mess of twisted pointy metal with some

curves to it and a lump of metal near the base.”

“I do not see what he states is there but he said it is worth a lot of money.”

“Now it’s actually got a purpose.” Jill walked to the door but it didn’t automatically

open as she approached. It brought her to a halt. “Is it locked?”

“Would you like me to open it?”

“Please.” Jill turned her head and gave the android a grim look. “Could you show

me where the life pods are?”

“Affirmative.” Rune rose to her feet. “I must point out it is dangerous for you to use

one. There’s a fourteen percent chance of it being picked up by another ship. There is a

sixty-two percent chance the
Cutter
will capture you. Your odds of safely reaching the

Jenny
are only twenty-two percent in your favor.”

Jill did the math. “What about the missing two percent?”

Rune stopped next to Jill and the doors slid open. The android gave her a warm

smile. “The pod could malfunction and blow up when you jettison away. Death would

be instantaneous.”

“Great.” Jill wished the android hadn’t shared that little possibility with her. “Lead

the way please.”

The droid turned left. “The pods are one level lower. We’ll take the lift down.”

“Thank you for this.” Jill meant it. She just wanted to get away from her father’s

insane, woman-drugging friend.

“I enjoy being helpful.”

“You really are.”

They entered the lift. Rune didn’t touch the buttons but the doors closed. “You can

remote link to the computer?”

“Yes.” Rune smiled. “It saves time while I move around the ship to do my chores.”

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Stealing Coal

Thoughts of Coal had Jill really edgy to get to the life pod. The things were

designed to full blast away from ships in case of pirate takeovers or ship failures. As

long as the
Jenny
hadn’t gotten too far away she should be able to hail them to pick her

up before the
Cutter
would have time to catch her.

What if Captain Varel comes after me
? Her eyes closed with that thought. Her ship

wouldn’t be great in a shuttle-to-shuttle battle but then Coal had taken out a huge

freighter. Her eyes opened when the lift doors did. She had faith he would think of

something to save their asses again if it came down to it.

They stepped into a cargo hold. Two life pods were secured to the deck near the far

bulkhead by the exterior loading doors. Jill jogged forward, intent on releasing one of

them from the tethers. All she’d have to do would be to activate the docking doors, seal

the pod, and it would get sucked out. She would activate the engines at that point to get

her away from the
Cutter
.

“What are you doing, Rune?”

The male voice made Jill spin toward another door she hadn’t seen. Captain Varel

stood there glaring at the android. Four of his men were behind him, looking mean,

unhappy, and tough.

“Are you giving our guest a tour?” Sarcasm dripped from Barney Varel’s cold tone.

“She doesn’t wish to marry you.” Rune shrugged. “She made logical arguments to

release her.”

“You stupid, useless pile of synthetic skin.” The captain jerked his head. “I should

have allowed that driver to take you to the incinerator factory instead of trading a barrel

of banned booze for you.” His cold stare landed on Jill. “Where do you think you were

going?”

Fear made Jill’s heart race. “You can’t force me to marry you. Coal will come after

me.”

He grinned coldly. “That dumb hulk of silver skin? He believes you met me and fell

madly in love.” His boots struck the deck when he approached. “I’m irresistible.”

Her gaze darted frantically around the cargo hold, looking for an escape, but there

wasn’t one. She backed up as he and his men approached. They spread out to corral her

into a corner.

“Why are you doing this? I thought you said you were friends with my father. Big

Jim obviously trusted you.”

The captain paused, holding up a hand to stop his advancing men. “Let me tell you

about your daddy, Jillian. We had a twenty-eighty profit split. Want to guess who got

the much lower portion?” His face turned red. “Me. He ended up richer than I could

ever dream of being while I still have to work just to keep paying for my lifestyle. He

promised me he’d leave me something but do you know what he did instead?”

Jill’s shoulders straightened and some of her fear eased to a cold kind of anger. “Let

me guess. He screwed you over somehow. I thought you said you knew him. He had a

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reputation for being a total bastard. Didn’t that ‘bloody’ part of his nickname tip you off

that he wasn’t the nicest guy?”

“He left me you,” Barney Varel snarled.

“Then problem solved. I’ll be out of your hair forever. I don’t care if you promised

to take care of me. I swear you’ll never see me again if you just let me go.”

The smile he gave Jill froze her inside. She’d never seen so much animosity directed

at her. “You don’t understand. Jim happened to be the most ruthless yet intelligent man

I ever met. He wanted to make certain I kept you alive and well after he died. He left

you all the money he had.”

Jill blinked repeatedly, staring at the man blankly. “I don’t have his money. If it

were on his ship, it went with him
when
Viking
blew up. The
Jenny
and the cargo

aboard it were all I inherited.”

“You don’t understand.”

“You’re right. I don’t.”

Jill backed up until the bulkhead trapped her with nowhere else to go when he

inched closer. Captain Varel glared down at her from his slightly taller height and lifted

a hand. His finger pointed directly at her chest, pressing right over her left breast.

“You’re the key to his money.”

Jill pushed against his chest with both hands, hard enough to knock him back a few

stumbling steps. “He never said a word to me about where his money is. Do you think

if I knew where it was that I’d be trading with lowlifes in deep space, risking my neck

on every job? I can’t even afford to pay a crew. I work with three androids I salvaged. I

love the
Jenny
but that shuttle has more things broken down on it than what actually

works.”

“Unbelievable. He seriously never told you?” Disbelief widened the guy’s eyes.

“No.”

The scowl returned. “Have you ever heard of a three-scan lock bank?”

“No.”

“Your father had. There are two of them on Earth. That’s where all his money is

stored.”

Jill was not sure what to say.