Indomitable (Chronicles of Promise Paen #2) - W. C. Bauers Page 0,130
told you to crack the armor and get her out, not to rape her. What happened to her face?”
“It was that Lusie pilot’s fault, Marcher. She hit the Marine with a full-powered disrupter blast at point-blank range. She should have stopped to look first. The helmet was damaged, cracked.”
“You’ve been drinking. You fool.”
“Marcher is lucky she didn’t fry the suit’s programming, or the Marine’s jelly. I had to cut her out of her armor with a torch and ’Publican armor doesn’t cut easy.”
“Is that what happened to her eye? Did you nick her head with a torch? Walker will kill you for this.”
“Only the nerve. Marcher did the rest. Thank her for that.”
“I will. You’re lucky you didn’t take her head off. Get out. Now!”
“Hey, we’ve got the armor.” Marcus sounded punch-drunk. “I was just having a little fun.”
“Tell that to her.”
“Is the commander’s woman going soft?”
“Get … out.”
Jupiter thought she heard the sound of lapping water in the distance. It was faint and she figured her mind was playing tricks on her.
“So, you’re Walker’s woman. Does he beat you too?”
Again the blow struck Jupiter’s good eye and it took everything she had not to holler out in pain.
“Tough girl, huh? Keep it up and neither one will work.”
Jupiter’s head lolled to the side. From the corner of her eye she saw a silver oblong, and it was the size of a large man. It had arms and legs, and a horrible black stain ran the length of its torso. Her mouth opened in horror when she realized what it was.
“Mi bebé. My armor. You’ve ruined her!”
“Access codes, please. Or your situation gets very ugly, very fast.”
“Service Number MM-I 171 563 149. Private First Class Jupiter Cer—”
The next blow rocked her jaw, causing her to bite through her tongue Warm blood slicked down the side of her chin, and the taste of copper filled her mouth.
“Access codes. Please.”
Jupiter gave her service number and full rank in Castilian, with attitude. That earned another punch to the jaw and one to the gut. She doubled over as far as her bindings would allow her to and groaned, and spit out blood and teeth. The follow-up snapped her head backward, and to the side.
Keep this up and you’re going to need two replacements, Jupiter told herself. That won’t be any way to live.
“Careful, I don’t regen.” She could barely understand herself. “You buy it, you pay for it.”
The woman half laughed. “I admire your spark. Tell me what I want to know and I’ll spare you further discomfort. I have a hypo to take the edge off. Would you like to talk?”
She thought of Lieutenant Paen’s can-do attitude and full-throat spirit, and knew the XO wouldn’t rest until she found her. Keep her talking until the lieutenant arrives.What if she doesn’t arrive in time? NO, she has to. She’s going to come “I … take your meaning. How ’bout some water?”
“Here, this will help with the swelling so you can drink.” There was a sharp prick on her neck and then the pain began to recede. “What do I get in return?” the woman asked.
“If I give you my codes my CO will know.” She almost sounded like herself now. “What if I show you the back door?”
“And you get to save face, assuming I let you live. I’m listening.”
Jupiter didn’t answer. A burning warmth slid down her neck and back, releasing anguished muscles and joints. She let herself slump to the side and started moaning. Just about every square centimeter of her body really did hurt. She clenched her fists, once, twice, a third time just to be sure—surely her mind was playing tricks upon her—but it wasn’t, and that’s when she knew it wasn’t over. They hadn’t scanned her for synths because if they had they would have discovered her artificial hand and they would have disabled it. Foolish mistake, she thought. It’s going to get you killed. She dislocated the tip of her thumb on her right hand without making a sound. With a bit of effort the tip popped, and then unscrewed to reveal a razor-thin blade. It made short work of her bindings. She moaned again to cover up the noise of fraying rope.
“Okay, my head is killing me.” Jupiter forced her head to the side to expose her carotid artery. “Please. May I have another?”
She heard feet shuffling and a moment later felt cold metal pressed against her neck. She inhaled sharply as the device knifed deep