would pay for information on my whereabouts. I was presumed disoriented and should be detained until a representative of the House could retrieve me.
The atmosphere of the shop hadn’t changed at all, but I felt as if I had a spotlight shining on me. Ian Bishop was once again going to ruin my best chance of information with his ham-fisted tactics. It’s as if the man lived to frustrate me, even from halfway across the ’verse.
I ordered a transport and tracked its progress. When it was thirty seconds out, I slipped from the table and raised my hood. I wove through the crowd toward the exit. I was two meters from the door when a man bumped into my left side.
He wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “Keep moving,” he said, his voice low.
I drew my blaster under the cover of my cloak, but I continued toward the door. We stepped out into the rain and my transport settled in front of us.
“This yours?” he asked. When I didn’t answer he said, “Get in.”
I twisted away from him and he let me go. He held his hands up as if approaching a scared animal. “I just want to help you, my lady,” he said. He had a striking face, not quite handsome but somehow arresting nonetheless. He was tall and lean and probably pushing forty, but time had treated him well.
“Who are you? Did Guskov send you?”
His eyes darted over my shoulder and I spun, but not fast enough. The stunstick hit like a lightning bolt. I screamed as my body lit up in agony. The implant in my brain erupted in pain so intense I thought my head was exploding.
When darkness rose to swallow me up, I didn’t fight the pull.
I came to on a hard bench. My head ached like someone had stabbed a stiletto into it, multiple times. My brain implant really did not appreciate being hit with a stunstick.
A quick peek around assured me that I was alone in a standard mercenary holding cell. I couldn’t quite focus on the wireless signals flying about the room, but I knew I was under surveillance.
I sat up with a groan and did a quick inventory. My right cheek throbbed and when I pressed against it, it felt bruised. Had I hit it when I passed out? I couldn’t remember.
The mercs had taken everything I had on me, including my weapons, coms, and credits. They’d even taken my cloak. I hated the thought of hands riffling through my pockets while I was defenseless. Hell, I hated being defenseless in the first place.
I leaned back against the wall and closed my eyes. I realized that perhaps I hadn’t given Ada enough credit. She’d successfully dodged security teams for years. I’d been caught in five minutes, maybe less, and we’d had the same training. She was going to have a field day with this.
That thought brought me up short. Maybe Ada would arrive before Ian? The bounty hadn’t said which representative of House von Hasenberg had to pick me up, and the mercs wouldn’t care as long as they were paid. I crossed my fingers that she saw the news first.
I pieced together my public persona. Before Gregory, becoming outwardly emotionless had been second nature, drilled into me by countless tutors and Consortium events. But while physical pain sharpened some of my siblings, it completely derailed me and made it so much harder to keep my emotions in check.
The cell door opened and the man from earlier entered. In the light, his eyes were pale green and his hair was a light reddish blond. He held out a sealed bottle of water. When I refused to take it, he set it on the bench next to me.
“I’m Rob. Sorry about the cheek,” he said. “We didn’t expect you to pass out. Your nanos should take care of it in a few hours.” A hint of bitterness crept into his tone.
Nanobots had to be designed for each person’s DNA and were prohibitively expensive. My modified nanos still healed, but they were slower than most. I’d be sporting a bruised cheek for at least a day.
I raised an eyebrow. “Stunsticks are designed to incapacitate their targets,” I said. “You failed to plan for that and I paid the price.” He tried to interrupt, but I continued, “How long was I out?”
“Maybe an hour,” he said. “We had a doctor check you, just to be sure you were okay. Why did you mention Guskov?”