my siblings. For this brief slice of time, I held all of the cards. I might as well make use of it.
“I will not be kept from my brothers and sisters,” I said, “and I am not at fault if a member of the Consortium approaches me. You won’t be able to break our agreement just because you sent someone to talk to me. I agree that House von Hasenberg is not responsible for my welfare unless I am taken by an enemy of the House as a political target. Then you’d better send your best and brightest to retrieve me.”
“Agreed,” Father said.
“Very well, I agree,” Lady Rockhurst said.
“I do not agree,” Lord Yamado said. “Not until someone explains the importance of the ship.” But the pardon only needed a simple majority to proceed, so Lord Yamado could complain, but he couldn’t stop it.
It took twenty minutes of furious negotiations before the pardon and contract language were deemed acceptable, and only then because I kept pointing to the timer on my com that ticked down the minutes. If Loch or I died or were held against our will, my information would automatically go public. If either of us tried to make the information public on our own, the Consortium would hunt us both down with extreme prejudice.
I would get to see my siblings, it just wouldn’t be on Earth. And I could contact Consortium members regarding contract-related issues but otherwise could not interact with them. I’d added the contract stipulation because I knew if I didn’t, Father would attempt to steal Polaris. I still wouldn’t put it past him, but at least now I could fight him in court.
I insisted on signed and sealed hard copies in addition to the electronic copies. They would hopefully never be needed, but an additional layer of security was worth the time it took to print them out and sign them. It also caused no end of grumbling from Lady Rockhurst, which was a win in itself. Lord Yamado refused to sign anything.
Loch remained chained to the chair in the middle of the room. I wasn’t sure why he hadn’t already escaped. Perhaps he was more hurt than he was letting on. With the hard copies safely in hand, I walked over to check on him.
“Are we done here?” he asked.
“Yes,” I said. “I will get the key from the guard. Or I can pick the locks, your choice.”
“No need,” Loch said. He smirked at the councillors as he gripped the shackle around his left wrist with his right hand. His arms flexed and the lock snapped open. He dropped the blood-slicked shackle to the floor. I stared in shock as he snapped the other side open just as easily.
Just how strong was he?
He removed the chains and stood to his full height. He towered over everyone in the room. Blood coated the left side of his chest and arm, but he ignored the wound. “Come after me again,” he said, “and next time Ada will not be there to save you.”
I shivered at the lethal promise in his voice. Lady Rockhurst made a dismissive sound, but she didn’t take her eyes off of him. He was a threat and she knew it. I didn’t undermine that threat by asking if he was okay. I just handed him my spare blaster and stun pistol. Unlike me, he pocketed the stun pistol and pointed the blaster at the councillors.
“Betray us and die,” he said. “You know what I am capable of. All of the RCDF forces in the ’verse can’t stop me before I’ve killed the three of you if you try to fuck us over.”
“A deal is a deal,” Father said stiffly. “The guards have been briefed not to shoot first.”
“For your sake, I hope they follow those orders,” Loch said. “Open the door.”
Lady Rockhurst went back to her seat and swiped an arm across the chip reader. She pressed a series of buttons and the room returned to normal—no shields, no metal panels blocking the door.
Two seconds later, a dozen RCDF soldiers streamed into the room decked out in full combat armor.
Chapter 30
I edged slightly in front of Loch. When he tried to pull me back, I shook my head and flashed the cuff still around my left wrist. It wouldn’t do much against a dozen soldiers, but it might give Loch time to get a shot or two off.
“Lady Rockhurst, Lord von Hasenberg, Lord Yamado, are you well?” one of the soldiers