Hostage To The Stars: A Sectors SF Romance Read Online Free PDF

came and went, and the threat is over. Grinning, he relished the idea of snatching yet another prize out from under the bastard’s nose.
    If he left right now, he could get into the compound, but then assuming he located the other woman, it would get tricky to extract her in broad daylight. Balancing against immediate action was his concern over what might be happening to her. An angry Umarri, cheated of his big payday, might take out his rage on the other prisoner. If she was even still there. Tresha - and Sara Bridges - had been kidnapped several months ago. Negotiations had been dragging on the whole time, while apparently no one even knew Sara had also been abducted. He shifted his focus to the area of the compound where he bet prisoners were held. He’d never been to Umarri’s palace during his previous time on Farduccir, but he’d visited other men at the warlord’s level, and the houses were generally built along similar lines. The prison was a squat building with no windows and a heavy front door. There was no activity in the area at the moment. Rolling onto his back, he closed his eyes and visualized the mental schematic of the place. A streambed ran along that part of the fences. He could work his way through the scrub and brush bordering the stream and then access the rear of the building unseen.
    Making up his mind, Johnny descended from the plateau where he’d been hiding and proceeded to put his plan into action.
    The fence behind the prison building was partially collapsed, so he had no problem making it to the wall he’d targeted. Scanning the interior, he found no indications of life. Stowing the tracker in his utilities’ pocket, he leaned against the cold bricks, weighing his course of action. Scanners had been known to be wrong before. Gear could go off grid with no notice. Pulse rifle at the ready, he crept along the wall, moving only an inch or so at a time, so as not to attract notice. There was only the one door, so when he got to the front of the building, he straightened and strolled to the entrance as if on an errand. The ambient light was gray, pre-dawn, so he might be mistaken for a local if glimpsed from a distance.
    A convoy was forming in the central square of the compound, several big cargo haulers idling. Men were loading containers of varying sizes into the vehicles, coming and going from several barns or storage spaces on the other side. The workers seemed to be too busy to pay attention to him.
    To his relief, the portal slid aside under his hand with no noise.
    Stepping inside and closing the door behind him, he activated his handlamp, sweeping the room. A desk, four chairs, an inactivated com and vid console. No sign of recent occupancy. Moving smoothly into the hall beyond, he found himself in front of a row of rusting cell doors, each with a single barred window. He did a sweep, pushing each door fully open, discovering the rooms were empty. At the last one, he paused. This one showed signs of recent use, a thin, ratty blanket in a tangle on the slab bed, a bucket for slops. He stepped into the cell, illuminating the room in a steady sweep of light. A set of shackles lay tangled on the floor, linked by a heavy chain to the wall. He squatted, picking one up and setting it down softly with a grimace. As he stood, ready to leave, something caught his eye.
    It was the word ‘Sara’ and a set of small marks on the wall, where she’d counted off the days of captivity by scratching the brick with a stone. In the beginning, the marks were sure and straight, becoming more wavering as time dragged on and she either became weakened or demoralized, or both. He touched his fingers to the wall, anger mixed with sorrow roaring through him. No one should have to endure what the Farduccir had probably put her through. The idea of Ms. Immer lolling in her cushioned suite in the palace across the compound while poor Sara had suffered chains and abuse in this stinking cell made him livid. Not