Stumbling now for he was rapidly losingwhat energy he had left, he bumped into the lab tables, knocking beakers andflasks to the granite floor. He stepped on shards of broken glass—cutting hisbare feet—but he didn’t even notice. He was licking his dry lips, anticipatingthe Sustenance that waited on the other side of the thick stainless steeldoors. By the time he reached them, he was giddy with need.
It took several tries before he was able tojerk open one of the doors and he whimpered when he saw the deep shelves bare.The next door revealed more empty space as did the third and the fourth. By thetime he yanked the fifth of the six doors open, he was crying like a baby andso terrified he could barely stand. When the fifth door revealed neatly stackedbeakers of Sustenance and boxes of vac-syringes filled with what he prayed wastenerse, he sank to his knees in thanksgiving, burying his face in his hands ashe sobbed.
The Sustenance called to him and his queenscraped along his backbone to remind him She was in need too. Though She didnot hurt him, She was insistent and with the last of his rapidly drainingstrength, he managed to grab a beaker. He slumped down in front of the openrefrigeration unit and drained the Sustenance, gulping the thick blackliquid—some of it dripping from his lips to stain the beige jumpsuit. Hefinished that beaker and drank two more before he had even a semblance ofenergy to reach for a vac-syringe. Plunging it into his neck—barely reacting tothe terrible burning of the thick med—he waited for the pain to subside, thewithdrawal to ease, but it didn’t.
“Not enough,” he said, and fumbled foranother vac-syringe. Once again he administered the caustic narcotic and feltjust a twinge of relief. “Give it time, Ailyn. Give it time to work,” hemumbled aloud.
As the last of his strength faded away, heslumped there with his chin to his chest, waiting for his world to be maderight again.
* * * * *
“Eighteen life forms are on the ship,”Quinn reported as he stood behind the com officer, reading his screen. “Sixjoining the ship’s crew. Two Reaper heat signatures, one very weak.”
“That’s him, Sir,” the com officer said,pointing to a very weak blip on the screen as it split, showing the facility onR-9.
“You’d better get in there stat, Rory,”Leveche said. “Don’t worry about shutting down alarms. Just get to him andbring him back up here.” He looked at the other two Scaans. “Get over tothat ship and disable their Web then get your asses back here pronto!”
“We’re on it!” Quinn said, he and his menheading for the elevator.
“Throw the Net around that ship, Raoul.Don’t let it leave,” Leveche ordered his half brother.
“Can’t,” Breva reported over the vid-com.“They’ve got a clear tube all the way up.”
“Could they know we’re here?” Polemusaasked.
“No way,” Bakari said. “Can we move a shipinto position over them to block?”
“Negative,” Breva replied. “We’ve got themsurrounded but no one thought to block the airspace above them. They’ve gotenergy pulses shooting straight up to clear a path. Sorry, Gabe. My fault.”
“Can we lock on to the hag and her littlebastard?” Shanee asked. “That’s all I care about. Get them on board and let theLRC fly. Shoot her down as she attempts to power up to hyper drive.”
“Now that we can try,” Breva stated. Heasked for retinal IDs of the two Harmattans from the Coalition data banks sohis engineer could lock on to mother and son and snatch them off the Ceannusship.
“I want Cean,” Bakari said. “Can you lockon to her slimy ass?”
“I doubt it unless you have a retinal forher,” Breva replied.
“The gods-be-damn it, I don’t!” Bakarisaid.
“Then you’ll have to content yourself withblowing her to space dust when that ship attempts to leave R-9 airspace,”Leveche advised.
“It’s just not the same,” the ex-Burgoncomplained. “I wanted to use my scytheblade on that bitch.”
“Poor little guy,” Leveche said, making a tuttingsound. “There will be other people you can behead with your new little sword.Don’t worry.”
“They know we’re here,” the com officerreported. “It’s chaos on their bridge.”
“Are the Scaans over there yet?”
“Aye and the Web is powering down.”
“Where is the bitch and her pup?” Polemusaasked.
“We’re locking on to them…now!” Brevaanswered from the vid-com.
“Transport her to the gym,” Shanee asked.“She’s mine.” She gave her mother a faint grin then turned and made for theelevator that would take her to engineering.
“What about the male?” Breva inquired.
“Send him on to the transport room. They’lltake him into custody,” Bakari replied. He frowned at Leveche. “Can’t I justwhittle him up a bit?”
“If it would make you happy, Ryden,”Leveche said. “You don’t need my permission. This is your ship.”
Bakari’s face lit up. “It is, isn’t it?” Hefingered the handle of the scytheblade at his waist.
* * * * *
Rory Quinn materialized in the corridoroutside the main lab. He had slightly miscalculated but with all the alarmsgoing off around him, he didn’t think he’d done too badly. Hurrying into thelab, he made straight for Ailyn Harmattan, his heart thudding hard as he sawthe Reaper collapsed on the floor.
Dropping down beside him, Quinn put twofingers to the carotid artery in the other man’s neck and felt the faint pulse.He slapped his hand on the vid-com badge on his shirt. “I’ve got him but he’sbarely alive.”
“Then hurry, Phantom!” Leveche ordered.
Quinn slipped his arms under Ailyn’s legsand behind his back and lifted, grunting with the effort. He started to turnaway when his Scaan sixth sense kicked in and directed his attention tothe bottles of Sustenance and vac-syringes in the refrigeration unit. Not oneto dismiss the warning that was quivering down his spine, he knew he’d be backfor samples.
“Lock and load, guys,” he said. “I’ve gothim!”
As he and his burden began todematerialize, Quinn’s gaze stayed on the opened refrigeration unit and theneatly arranged bottles of black blood.
* * * * *
Shanee knew the doors to the gymnasium werelocked as she walked toward them. There would be
