“Let him go.”
Celdrake coughed. “I’m sorry, I must have misheard you. Please repeat, Captain.”
“Let him go. He’s not who we’re looking for.”
“But he—”
“Now, Celdrake. And send the crew out looking for Evie and the people who took her. One female and two males.”
Ally described what they looked like as Lyk relayed the description to Celdrake. His second-in-command didn’t sound happy, but he promised to spread the description around. “We’ve almost completed our fueling. Will we still be making our scheduled departure?”
“I’ll let you know.”
Lyk lifted Ally off the counter, gently setting her on her feet. “These strangers, how did they come across you?”
Ally gave him a play by play of what happened after Epaulets had laid him out. “We ran from him, clearing the market andmaking it downstairs. Evie and I managed to hide in the dark, and he finally gave up, leaving us alone. It was then that those three showed up.”
Lyk frowned, confused. “But how did you know what they looked like? It was pitch black back there. Did they come with a light source?”
Ally shook her head. “No. We had one. The necklace.”
Lyk let out a breath. The famous heirloom, the one Evie had been hiding. She must have revealed her deception to Ally at last. “What did the strangers do? Did they say anything that might give you a clue as to who they are and what they wanted?”
“Evie asked me where we were going to go now and they just appeared suddenly in front of us. The tall blond male said he knew where we were going. When I asked where they’d come from, they refused to answer, but when I tried to leave, the big male stopped me. Then, I don’t know exactly what happened.”
Putting her hands on her forehead, Ally struggled to describe the chain of events. “Suddenly, I saw Evie go limp. She wasn’t breathing. She wasn’t responding. It was my biggest fear come to life.” Her hands were shaking as she continued. “I thought they’d done something to her, but it turned out to be some kind of illusion.”
Lyk’s breath caught inside him. This was starting to sound familiar.
“We were fighting back. Evie slapped the other female when she tried to grab her, and I managed to kick the big one in the balls so that he dropped me. But the tall male knocked me for a loop. He was so strong, he flung me halfway across the room.”
Her voice caught, and the tears started to stream down her pale cheeks once more. “The female said they only needed one of us, the one with the necklace. Then they vanished, taking Evie with them.”
Lyk pulled her close to him, burying her face in his chest and stroking her hair to soothe her. “There’s something familiar about this, something that worries me.”
Ally leaned back. “You know who took her? Who? You have to tell me!”
“I need to confirm it first. Let’s get back to the ship. I want to make sure you’re safe while we figure this out.”
He was expecting her to argue, but for once, she did as he asked, coming along quietly. When they reached the ship, Celdrake was hovering near the hatch. “Most of the crew is already on board, although I have two teams out looking for the figures you described.”
“I don’t think we’re going to find them here,” Lyk said as they entered the cruiser. “Call the teams back and seal the hatch after them. It’s time to get underway.”
“What?!” Ally shouted. “We can’t leave! We’ve got to look for my sister!”
“She’s not here. You said it yourself.”
Eyes narrowed, Ally fumed at him. “You’re a liar. You’re not going to help me find her.” Shoving past him, she headed for the hatch. “That’s fine. I knew never to depend on anyone. I’ll find her myself!”
Lyk motioned to Celdrake to cut her off, and the cyborg stepped in front of the hatch.
“Move out of my way,” she growled.
Lyk put a hand on her shoulder. “I’m going to help you, and that’s a promise. But sticking around here isn’t going to make a bit of difference. They’re gone.”
“How can you be sure?” she cried, spinning around to face him again. “What if the transporter is station specific? They could be in another area of the outpost.”
“They could be, but they’re not.”
