Alien Hostage (33 page)

Nur divulged information in fits and starts, as if he struggled with each little bit. Tasha thought she would have to keep encouraging him to talk. In as gentle a tone as she could manage she asked, “How is it possible for him to have access if it’s illegal?”

“The pharmaceutical company he works for is allowed access to it for research purposes.” Then in a sudden rush Nur said, “Before my mother was institutionalized, my father would smuggle doses of the drug from work to treat her. It was the only way she could live a near-normal life.”

He went quiet again. Tasha thought over the information. It explained a lot, but it also raised some questions. “No one noted the missing inventory?”

Nur blew out a breath as he wiped her face with a cleanser. Now that he’d started the tale, he seemed to find it easier to keep going. “My Imdiko father works for the same company. One of his jobs is in-house distribution of the drug and keeping account of it. He screwed with the numbers to hide what they were doing. He was good at it too. No one ever noticed.”

Tasha’s brows drew together. “If no one noticed, how did Maf get the information?”

The hurt look returned to Nur’s face. “As I mentioned, the drug is highly addictive. Plus the user develops a higher tolerance over time, meaning more and more has to be used to achieve the same effect. After a couple of years, the amount my mother needed to maintain a decent quality of life became more than they could steal. My Imdiko father couldn’t hide what was going on anymore.”

“They had to stop treating her with the medication,” Tasha guessed.

Nur nodded. “She went from almost functional – staying in a day treatment center with little supervision required – to completely out of control. Her delusions made her dangerous to herself. She saw me as a particular threat.”

“You?” Tasha looked at him in shock.

His grimace was bitter. “She swore that when she carried me as a fetus, I left poisons within her system. She tried to take my Nobek father’s blade so she could cut out her uterus and drain the toxins I’d left behind.”

Tasha filled with horror. “How old were you? You weren’t young, were you?”

He drew a deep breath, patting her face dry with a soft towel. “I was twelve. I knew she had problems. I’d seen her before the medication made her a mostly loving mother, so I realized things would be bad again when she had to stop taking it. But it was so much worse than before.” His eyes grew bright and he swallowed hard. “We all still loved her though. It wasn’t her fault she was sick and no one could help her. I learned to be grateful for the short time I got to enjoy her. It had been worth the trouble my fathers could have gotten into.”

Tasha’s vision doubled and then trebled before the tears spilled out onto her cheeks. Nur’s story was more horrible than she would have ever imagined. He dabbed her tears with the towel.

When she could speak without braying sobs she asked, “Is that when she was moved to an institution?”

He nodded. “Naturally, the facility ran blood tests as part of the admission procedure. They detected the drug in her system.”

“That still doesn’t explain how Maf got involved.”

Nur barked a bitter laugh. “Dear Dramok Maf is in everyone’s business and alert to everything that can bring him money. I used to wonder what he did with all that money, and now I think I know. The Basma’s army and fleet take financing, after all. It makes sense.” He shook himself as he realized he’d strayed off the subject. “But we were talking about my parents. Maf had either blackmailed or paid off certain people in the mental facility to do his bidding. He had – still has – a nice little drug operation through it and who knows how many others. All he needed was to get wind of my fathers’ activities and he owned them. With two of them working in areas of the pharmaceutical company that would benefit his aims, they were easy for him to coerce. My fathers now manufacture and sell drugs for him.”

Tasha’s jaw dropped. Just when she didn’t think she could be more appalled or horrified, she was proven wrong.

Afraid to know more but unable to stop herself from asking, she murmured, “Your Nobek father?”

“He knew what was going on, of course. And like the other two, he would do anything for my mother. As an officer with local law enforcement, he was as complicit in the matter as they were. More in fact, since he was supposed to uphold the law.”

Tasha thought of the desperation of the three men who had loved a woman so much that they traded their principles to gain her a couple of years of normalcy. She could understand how it had come about and sympathized with Nur’s parent clan.

She told Nur, “I was taught we always have choices. No one mentioned that sometimes none of the choices are worth a shit.”

Nur combed her damp hair out. “It’s not just that those few fucked up choices screw with your own life either. The consequences always seem to trickle down to others who didn’t have a say in the decision. My fathers learned that when Maf decided I would be the perfect Imdiko for his son.”

“That at least seems to have worked out,” Tasha said weakly.

“Fortunately. Falinset has been a wonderful Dramok in every sense of the word. He’s made it so I’m able to enjoy the life we’ve built. Well, for the most part, at least until recently.”

Tasha’s anger at their tormentor returned. “With Maf’s bid for power as the Basma, his hold on your parents and you affects more and more people.”

The look of hard steel was back in Nur’s eyes. “You and Noelle have become casualties of Maf’s power bid. Unacceptable casualties.”

* * * *

Nur meant his words. Maf’s tyranny, his evil, had gone too far when he victimized a child and women. Particularly the woman he looked at right now. The Imdiko refused to be a party to it if he could find a way to make it stop.

Tasha, who had gone through the gamut of emotions during his confession, showed her strength yet again. “I would never ask you to sacrifice your family for me. But for Noelle and those other women—”

“For you and the princess above all,” Nur asserted. “Maf can’t continue to hold me hostage because of what he can do to my parents. Even though you are the priority as far as I’m concerned, I am thinking of those other women. And not only them. The entire Empire is at stake. Maf will not stop until he’s destroyed us all.”

Tasha looked at him long and hard, as if sizing up his willingness. She finally said, “No offense Nur, but those statements come easy when we’re trapped like rats and you can’t act on them.”

He felt the need to convince her. He wanted her to believe in him, as little as he could offer her. “If there is a way out of this, Wekniz and Falinset will find it. I will be ready to do whatever I must.”

She stared at him a moment more, her lovely face transforming into something fiercely beautiful in its severity. Then she said, “So will I.”

The darkness that shadowed her eyes too often was back. Her smile was a twisted, humorless thing. Nur had no doubt Tasha could do whatever to took to get Noelle and the other women free. He thought she might even be able to kill anyone who tried to stop her.

His hands cupped her face. He kissed her, hard, holding her in place though she didn’t try to move away. He kissed her with thorough care before releasing her.

Her face had gone soft with desire. She smiled up at him. “Wow. What was that for?”

“I needed to do it.” He had needed to take that ruthless look off her face. The expression had scared him. Someone who was that willing to kill would also be willing to die.

On top of everything else, Nur could not deal with the threat of Tasha being killed. His feelings for her over the last couple of weeks had become far too intense for that.

Nothing could happen to her.

* * * *

Falinset paced, stewing over Wekniz’s report. The old helpless rage wanted to take hold of him.

No. I have to do something this time. I have to.

He rounded on his Nobek, who still shook with rage. “You are absolutely sure about this?”

The other man’s voice came out in a growl. “There is no doubt the Basma has control over Nalta City and probably all of Lobam. I went to the district fire station and talked to Otwen. He said Puri, Grif, and Camtew told him they saw military maneuvers in Drought Zone 2, maneuvers that were not cleared by the Fire Prevention Bureau. They were going to file a report. Now no one knows where they are and the report never showed up.”

“Your supervisor?”

“The head of the bureau isn’t taking coms and has issued a no-talk policy between zones. No one can reach him. All communication is one way only.”

“And you believe Maf controls everything?”

Wekniz snapped a nod so sharp his neck cracked loudly. “In the last week, all of Lobam’s cities have come under the control of the military. No one can find a single member of the government to explain what’s happening. I checked the space port. Every shuttle coming in and leaving Nalta City – hell, the entire moon – is being searched. Many are being detained. Communication frequencies are down for the most part, not just those going off Lobam.”

“Maf is clamping down. He must be on the verge of making his move.”

“Against us?”

“Not just us. Not for the princess and Tasha, when Ket can force his way in here and take them at any time. No, Maf is readying for all-out war. And yet Kalquor is still not aware? That can’t be possible.”

Wekniz considered before saying, “It is if the bases here are under the Basma’s control. My bet is that those political leaders and military leaders who aren’t under Maf’s thumb are being held. Maybe forced to send false reports to the Empire.”

The stakes had gone up astronomically. Falinset realized this was a real threat to the Empire, but his thoughts centered on Tasha and Princess Noelle. If fighting broke out and Kalquor targeted Lobam, that put the pair in more danger than ever.

“We’ve got to get them out of here,” he muttered.

Wekniz shook his head. “It’s too late, my Dramok. But maybe we can figure something out when Sitrel gets here with Maf’s incentive.”

Falinset halted his pacing. “What do you have in mind?”

“Nothing specific. I can’t figure the situation out until he gets here and I see the possibilities. I have a hope of overcoming Sitrel and forcing him to take us all out on his shuttle.”

“To get us past the gauntlet Maf has established around the moon? Damned slim hope, Wekniz.”

The Nobek raked his fingers through his hair. “I know. But any move we make to take Tasha and Noelle out of here will have Ket and his men swarming all over us. It may be our one and only chance.”

It was stupid and could never succeed. Yet Falinset’s mind repeated
I have to do something this time.

“We’ll have to take any opportunity, won’t we? No matter the cost.”

Wekniz’s face was set. Resigned. “It’s gone too far. We never should have bowed to Maf’s demands. Even at the price of my parents.”

“Or Nur’s?” Falinset asked, his tone gentle.

“Not mine either.”

The two men turned to see their Imdiko and Tasha entering the office. Looking at the beautiful Earther, Falinset wanted to go to her, to put his arms around her. She deserved to be protected. However, the look on her face made him think any such gesture would not be appreciated at this particular moment. She had gone dark again, her eyes burning with fury.

Because he would not go where he was not welcome, even though every cell in his body screamed to hold her close and keep her safe, Falinset directed his attention to Nur. “You are willing for Maf to ruin them?”

A slight shudder passed through Nur, but his expression was set. “Ready? Never. My fathers did what they did for reasons that were desperate. I cannot fault them for acts of desperation. It doesn’t matter though. They are not innocents. The innocents are suffering and more will for our silence on Maf.” He swallowed hard. “My fathers would understand. Even if they don’t, it no longer matters.”

Wekniz gave them a sour smile. “So that’s settled. Now all we need is a destroyer to fight our way out of here.”

Because Nur and Tasha hadn’t been there for Wekniz’s report on the Basma’s apparent takeover of Lobam, he filled them in. When he was done telling the tale, Falinset added, “We are hoping we can take Dramok Sitrel prisoner when he comes. Perhaps use him to bluff or force our way off this moon.”

“Do you think that will work?” Tasha’s expression spoke of her doubts.

Wekniz was matter-of-fact. “I don’t believe we can get out of this without bloodshed. But I will do all in my power to see to it you and Noelle stay safe.”

She smiled at him, her sweetness somehow shining through her anger. “I appreciate that, Wekniz. I truly do. But we’re not safe now. Ket and his men could bust in here at any moment. The only thing holding him back is Maf, who wants to have his son rule by his side.”

Her words touched off an almost rabid vehemence in the Dramok. She couldn’t believe that he would ever choose the Basma over her. He snarled, “Maf is no father to me. He never was, and he certainly can’t be after what he’s done to you and Noelle. If he was to show his face here, I would kill him.”

He shook with passion. Falinset had never thought of killing his sire before. He’d wanted to banish him from his life. He’d dreamed of running away where Maf couldn’t follow. But until this moment, he’d never for an instant considered killing the man.