Lady Lure (3 page)

“I can’t.” Afraid he would disgrace himself
if he tried to move, Halvo stayed where he was.

“I do not have time to argue.” The
silver-clad arm waved. “Rolli, put him down.”

Halvo saw the robot approaching him and
realized that it had not actually been sitting at the controls but,
rather, standing before them. The robot’s body was a metal box
approximately two feet on each side and about four feet tall; it
moved on small wheels. The spherical head sat atop this body,
joined to it by a short neck that allowed the head to swivel like a
human head. The robot had two jointed metal arms, which protruded
from opposite sides of its body. At the ends of the arms were
flexible appendages remarkably similar to human hands. These hands
grasped Halvo by the shoulders before he could force his aching
body to react; then the hands pushed him downward.

Halvo yelped at the sudden pain in his back.
Instinct took over and he fought what was being done to him. The
robot was stronger, and as always, sudden movement brought on the
dizziness that left Halvo helpless.

He must have lost consciousness for a few
minutes, because the next thing Halvo knew, he was flat on his back
on the hard bench and there was a tight metal band wrapped across
his upper arms and chest, with a second band over his thighs,
holding him there on the bench, confining him beyond any hope of
escape. Groaning, he cursed himself for getting into such a fix and
for endangering the captain and crew of his transport.

“If you harm anyone on the
Krontar,
”
Halvo declared through teeth gritted against unrelenting pain, “I
will see you hunted across the galaxy until you are caught and
punished.”

“I have no intention of hurting anyone else.”
The voice was muffled because his captor, having stripped off the
silver gloves, was removing the helmet. “Rolli, send this message
to the captain of the
Krontar
. ‘Admiral Halvo Gibal is now a
prisoner. He will not be seen again within the Jurisdiction.
Therefore, it is useless to send out search parties.’ Is that done,
Rolli?”

“Done, Perri.” Waiting for the next order,
the robot paused, its metal fingers raised above the control
panel.

“You know what to do,” Perri said. “Activate
Starthruster.”

Halvo did not waste time speculating on how a
space pirate had acquired the latest Jurisdiction technology, a
device supposedly kept as a deep military secret. Starthruster was
able to propel a space vessel so rapidly that the ship he was
imprisoned on would be out of range of the sensors and the weapons
of the
Krontar
within a few seconds.

There would be no way for Capt. Jyrit to
trace the course the pirate ship was taking, no way for him to
follow on a rescue mission. Halvo knew the chances he would ever be
found had just diminished to near zero. Furthermore, what had
happened to him was his own fault.

These thoughts flitted quickly through
Halvo’s mind, only to be eclipsed by amazement as he watched his
captor doff the bulky, concealing helmet. The bared hands working
at the clasps at the neck of the helmet were slender, with
delicately shaped nails. Then the helmet was off and a flood of
shining, dark red hair tumbled down around the shoulders of the
silver space suit. Perri laid down the helmet and turned to regard
Halvo out of dark green eyes.

Never had Halvo seen such a face, not on any
of the various worlds he knew. Beneath the glorious cascade of
shimmering, curling red hair, Pern’s brow was wide, her cheekbones
high, her nose straight and a little too short for perfect beauty.
Her mouth was small and full, hinting at a tempting sensuality, but
that particular message was contradicted by her pointed, determined
chin. The green eyes – wide and serious and set at a slight tilt in
her charming, heart-shaped face – gave her a curiously catlike
look. But she was human and entirely bewitching.

And deadly. Perri was holding her weapon
pointed directly at Halvo’s heart.

“He is not in the best of health,” Rolli
said. “He is too pale.”

“I have noticed.” With one hand on the weapon
in the holster at her belt, Perri regarded her prisoner with cool
eyes.

Halvo was feeling increasingly apprehensive.
After her first threatening gesture toward him, Perri had put the
weapon away. Then she and the robot had left him alone for hours.
Strapped down on the cursed, hard bench, his back and legs ached
while his captors piloted the
Space Dragon
across the
galaxy. Hoping to discover where they were going, Halvo had
strained to hear what his captors said to each other, but they kept
their voices too low for him to distinguish any words. He knew it
scarcely mattered. Wherever they were, they had left the
Krontar
far behind. They might even be out of Jurisdiction
space by now.

It was too late to regret his own stupidity
in walking into an obvious trap. What was done was done. The best
Halvo could hope for was a quick death. Somehow he did not think
that was likely to happen. A brave death then, or as brave as he
could make it. Halvo tried not to think about some of the methods
he had encountered for putting prisoners to death, nor about the
many reasons space pirates were bound to have for wanting the
Admiral of the Jurisdiction Fleet dead.

“He will require nourishment,” the robot
said.

“I know, Rolli.” Perri took her weapon in
hand and pointed it at the helpless Halvo. “I want your solemn
word, Admiral. If I release you from those bands, you will not
attack me.”

“Believe me,” Halvo responded, “I am in no
condition to attack anyone.” If they were going to feed him, it
must mean they were planning to keep him alive for a while longer.
Which, in turn, meant he just might have time to think of a way to
escape. He could tell by the discomfort he was experiencing that
the benefits of the long-acting pain blockers he had last taken
while aboard the
Krontar
had dissipated. His next dose was
overdue. But there was an advantage to not having his medicine
available. Without it, he could think more clearly.

“Your word, Admiral.” Perri frowned at him.
She was no longer wearing the bulky space suit that had served to
disguise her identity from crew members of the
Krontar.
Both
suit and helmet were packed away in a locker next to the entrance
hatch. Perri was now clad in a form-fitting tunic and trousers in a
deep shade somewhere between blue and purple. Over her shoulders
and down her back the waves of dark red hair flowed, glowing
against the somber fabric background.

“I promise,” Halvo said, tearing his thoughts
away from her enticing appearance. “I will behave.” Didn’t the
wench know that a promise made under duress was not binding? Or was
she playing some intricate, unexplained game with him?

Perri reached above his head to push a button
on the bulkhead. Halvo tried not to look at the rounded breasts
revealed as the blue-purple fabric stretched at her movement. The
flexible metal bands holding him slipped soundlessly back into
their slots.

“Get up,” Perri said.

“I’m not sure I can.”

“Get up!” Her green eyes flamed.

Halvo tried to roll to his side, hoping he
could push himself to a sitting position that way. He discovered he
could not move. Perri looked impatient and tightened her grip on
her weapon.

“Sorry.” Halvo grunted. “I am doing my best.
You kept me in one position too long.”

“Rolli, get him up. I want him on his
feet.”

“Not too fast,” Halvo warned, “or I won’t be
able to stay up.”

The robot took hold of him and this time
Halvo did not resist the metal hands. He could not, however,
prevent the cry of pain that tore from his lips as Rolli drew him
upright.

“You are malingering!” Perri shouted.

“I am not!” Halvo could barely speak because
of the searing agony in his left leg and his spine. Closing his
eyes, he held on to Rolli as if his life depended on the robot’s
support, which, for all he knew, it did. If he crumpled to the
deck, the beautiful tormentor watching his every movement might
well decide to blast him out of existence. “Just let me stay like
this for a minute or two. Then I’ll be all right and I’ll be able
to walk.”

“If you are pretending,” Perri said, “you
will regret it.”

“I do not think this is pretense,” the robot
said, still supporting Halvo with hands that had become
surprisingly gentle. “Perri, you will remember the report of the
injuries he sustained last year in the pirate war near Styxia.”

Was Halvo imagining it or did Perri look at
him with a slightly more sympathetic gaze? He would have expected
her to be infuriated by mention of the battle that had effectively
wiped out all piratical activities in the Styxian Sector. It was
reasonable to assume that she had lost friends and, perhaps,
relatives in the successful war against the pirates.

“I haven’t forgotten his injuries,” Perri
said to her robot. Then, to Halvo, she said, “Are you hungry,
Admiral?”

“I haven’t thought about it until now, but,
yes, I believe I am,” Halvo responded.

“Then come to the galley. We will eat
together. Let me warn you. There are monitors all over this ship.
Rolli will be watching every move you make and listening to each
word you say. Make no foolish attempt to overpower me in hope of
commandeering the
Space Dragon.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.” Feeling steadier on
his feet by that time, Halvo let go of the robot and waved one hand
in an elegant gesture. “After you, Captain Perri.”

“Never.” Perri tilted her pointed little chin
as if to tell him without words that she was on to that particular
trick. “You go first, Admiral.”

“It was worth a try.” She didn’t have to know
that he was in no condition to take her on in hand-to-hand combat.
On second thought, she would be a fool not to know it. Keeping his
head as level as he could, moving slowly, Halvo found the
galley.

“Sit.” Perri motioned to a contoured chair at
the dining table.

“Thank you. I must warn you that it will
probably take a while.” Slowly, carefully, Halvo lowered himself
into the chair, which immediately molded itself around his body.
With his spine and his legs properly supported at last, Halvo let
himself relax for a moment of pain-free comfort.

“Only Regulan food is programmed into the
processor,” Perri said.

“Regulan? Then order up some fruits and
vegetables for me. I’ll skip the main course.” Halvo should have
known she was a Regulan by her accent and by her incredible, deep
green eyes. He might have made the connection if he hadn’t been so
concerned with his own physical discomforts and embarrassed by the
humbling realization that he had been so easily captured by a slim
young woman.

“I did not expect a man of such wide
experience to be squeamish about his food, Admiral.” From her
position by the mouth of the food processor, where she waited for
their order to appear, Perri sent him a sly glance. “But then, I
did not expect you to be weak as a toothless babe either.”

“The doctors say with time and continued
therapy the weakness will pass.”

“If you live long enough. Here.” She set a
fork and a bowl of salad in front of him and added a loaf of coarse
Regulan bread. “You will have to break the bread with your hands. I
won’t give you a knife.”

“I am flattered to know you think me so
dangerous,” Halvo said wryly. He would have given anything he
possessed for a plate of hot Demarian stew with big chunks of meat
in it and a carafe of wine, but he wasn’t going to tell Perri that.
The salad of fruits and vegetables wasn’t too unpalatable. He tried
not to look at the mess Perri was devouring with every evidence of
pleasure.

“I would like to know what you intend to do
with me,” Halvo said when he was finished eating.

“I will turn you over to the Regulan
Hierarchy.”

“The Hierarchy? If that is so, then this
kidnapping makes no sense at all,” Halvo said. “Regula holds
Membership in the Jurisdiction. Why would you abduct me from a
Jurisdiction ship only to hand me over to a Jurisdiction Member?
The Hierarchy will be duty bound to hold you as a prisoner for what
you have done.” There were sure to be several twisted reasons for
his abduction. Of that, Halvo was certain. A man in his high
position could not avoid being aware of the Regulan love of
political intrigue.

“I do not know what the Hierarchy intends,”
Perri said. But her eyes slid away from his, her delicately
shadowed lids lowering until dark lashes lay softly upon her
cheeks.

She knew.

She just wasn’t going to tell him.

Since first sighting the
Space Dragon,
Halvo’s emotions had ranged from curiosity to anger, to regret and
disgust at his own failure to employ either the brain nature had
given him or the training imparted by the Jurisdiction Service.
Now, inexplicably, he was consumed by another emotion. He wanted to
protect his captor.

The wide experience Perri had mentioned had
not only taught him to eat strange foods. He had also learned
during his years in the Service to gauge accurately the emotions of
many different Races. Thus, he knew Perri was frightened. She
concealed her fear well, but Halvo could sense it pervading her
every word and action. Except for the robot, she was alone. As he
was alone. He stared at her, sitting across the table from him and
eating as if she were famished, and he wondered what in the name of
all the stars had made a beautiful young woman embrace a career as
a space pirate. His curiosity fully awakened by the mystery of her
actions, Halvo knew he would not rest until he had plumbed Perri’s
deepest secrets…