Dwynwen Strong,
Parse Sacrod, Malena Endia, Vann telepath Shiyne and Andraxian agent Ambor Etra
were stood in the security office of the Galileo Hotel.
And
among the group, dressed in her official uniform of a blue skirt and jacket
with a crisp white blouse, was head of security, Stradd of the Vann, and like Shiyne she was a Telepath, as were all of
their kind, though by varying degrees, and many of them left their home world
at some point to use their gifts to earn a wage.
Those at the zenith of their talents worked as
corporate negotiators or in the justice systems of the Legion.
Shiyne was a Vann with mid-range capabilities and she
could read most species to some extent, her skills were limited with the more
sophisticated or complex brains, lesser minds were easier for her to explore.
In addition to reading minds she could also
implant thoughts and the suggestions would stay in place longer with someone
who was more intellectually challenged.
Stradd’s abilities however were much lower,
but for her job, it was only reading skills that were
required, she couldn’t scan deeply but she knew who was telling the truth and
who was lying.
Stradd
was a small woman and like Shiyne and the rest of the Vann women she was
completely bald, and had cerise coloured skin and purple eyes, though she was a
good many years older than the Tornado’s navigator.
It
was clear that the two Vann were deep in conversation though they didn’t speak,
and this went on for almost ten minutes, until they broke their telepathic bond
and Stradd said
“We
caught the moment of the abduction on our video scanners”
She
nodded towards a large screen on the wall and everyone turned around to look.
The
first image they saw was of Merionwen walking into the lift followed by two
humans, one tall and one small, the small one was shabbily dressed, with weasel like features, and the
other was cut from very different cloth, tall good looking and well dressed,
but they were clearly together.
They
reached the lift at the last possible second, just before the door closed the big man used his arm
to halt the doors progress and then the two men joined her in the lift.
The next image was
a bird’s eye view inside the lift and the door had just closed and the
good-looking man said
“It’s Miss Strong
isn’t it?”
Merionwen turned
to look at him and replied
“Yes, it is, but I
don’t know yo…”
While the
good-looking man had her attention, the small one paralyzed her with a jab to
the neck with a needle and Dwynwen gasped.
“Oh God this is
all my fault”
“Nonsense Dwyn”
Malena corrected her
“Are they known to
you?” Parse asked
“No, they’re not”
Stradd replied “But one of my people thinks they are mercenaries, he recognized
one but couldn’t recall his name”
“Mercenaries,
that’s good news” Mal said
“Why is that good
news?” Dwyn asked “it sounds like terrible news to me”
“It’s good because
it means they are in it for the money” Parse explained
“If they wanted to
kill her they would have done it and left her body in the lift” Shiyne added “I
suspect they want your evidence as well, and they need her alive for that”
“Where did they go
when they left the lift?” Andraxian agent Ambor Etra asked and Stradd pressed
another button and some more footage appeared
“We tracked them
all the way through the Hotel until they went out of this exit which leads to
an alleyway” Stradd said “But I have nothing else after that I’m afraid”
“So, we have no
idea where they could have gone next” Dwyn stated
“No, but if I have
to hazard a guess as to where they took her, where they wouldn’t look out of
place, despite their differences, then I would say they’re at the Concord”
Stradd said
“We appreciate all
your help” Malena said
“Yes, thank you”
the others chorused and Shiyne and Stradd stood with brows touching while they
shared a farewell.
Once they had left
Stradd’s office they were instantly barraged with questions by the rest of the
crew and Ambor said
“Ferro and I will
see if we can track down any other footage, from outside the Hotel”
In their shabby
Hotel room, Geloc and Hatt had just finished searching Merionwen’s sedated body
and were angry as they had found nothing.
They were
searching for the data tablets that Dwynwen had secreted the damning evidence
about Captain Bersian
of the Alexandretta, two of
the Science Directorate aboard, Brenhol and Ocec and the Captain of the freighter Hollander, Ca Erdd, and the corruption.
“Can we just kill
her now?” Hatt, the little weasel of a man asked
“Of course, we
can’t you idiot” Geloc replied
“Stopping her
reaching Andraxis is only half the job, and half the money, so No we can’t kill
her”
“Half’s better
than none” Hatt retorted
“Listen to me,
this is the biggest score we’ve had for years I’m not going to let it slip
through my fingers, so we need the tablet and then we’ll get the other half the
money”
“Yes, but where is
it, we searched her room and now we’ve searched her and there’s no sign”
They had bribed
one of the Hotel staff to let them into Dwyn’s suite and the two of them had
searched every inch, but to no avail.
“We simply wait
for her to wake up and we ask her” Geloc said
“What if she won’t
tell?” Hatt asked
“Then we cut
chunks off her until she does” he replied
After updating
their crew mates, they all headed for the door were Merri and her abductors
were last seen but Dwynwen was stopped by Ferro and Ambor
“It looks like
Stradd was right about the Concord” Ferro said
“Great let’s go
and get her” Dwyn said
“Hold on, you
can’t go” Ambor said
“I have to” she
replied “it’s my fault”
“We are under
orders to protect you” Ferro said “and protect you we will”
“Then you’ll have
to come with us” Dwyn said “Because I’m going with them”
“Excellent idea”
Ambor said “a bit of action at last”
Once outside they made their way towards the Concord
Hotel with Shiyne stopping every 50 yards to scan for signs of Merri and after
the tenth stop Shiyne closed her eyes and tuned her mind in and scanned the
vicinity and after a few moments she smiled.
“Well?” Dwyn asked
“Yes, she’s there and she’s fine” she replied, and
they all breathed a sigh of relief
“Is she awake?” Parse asked
“No, but she’s not as heavily sedated as before”
Shiyne replied
“Can you pin point the room” Mal asked and Shiyne
tuned her mind in again and after a few minutes she said “Got it, 14th
floor room 34”
“Great let’s go get her” Parse said
“Wait a minute we need a plan, and as our chief
planner is the one that needs rescuing, it’s down to Malena to take charge as
the Tornados second in command”
Asti said, and Murmurs of approval went around the
group
“Wait a minute I’m not a leader” Mal protested “Second
in command is just an honorary title, Parse is far better qualified, or Lyris”
“Nonsense” Lyris said “I’m too hot headed”
“And I have too much at stake” Parse added
“Well ok then” Malena said reluctantly “but we need to
give it some thought, before we go blundering in”
“Agreed” they chorused
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