“Euphenia Jannex,” she said, her throat raw from screaming. “People close to me call me Nia. You can call me your living nightmare as soon as I get off this bed. I’m going to take that laser scalpel over there and stab you in the head.”
“The Tells have made you violent,” he murmured, but didn’t seem concerned by her threat. “What is the name of the terrorist we found on the ship with you?”
“Mace. He’s a big scary commander, and he’s so good at hurting people, he trains others how to do it.” She hated the words coming out of her mouth but couldn’t stop them. Another rush of relaxation from the nanos had her not hating herself so much.
“What else can you tell me?”
“You should get your receding hairline fixed. There’s been so much advancement in follicle technology. Maybe there’s a correlation between hair loss and the small penises cowardly men. Someone should do a study—”
She gasped, another wave of pain halting her opinions.
“Let’s get focused again,” Forna said after the wave subsided. “Tell me about your captivity, don’t spare me any details. Let’s begin with what this Mace,” he practically spat the name, “did to you.”
“He took me from my home and kept me.”
Forna raised an eyebrow. “What else did he do to you?”
“He ignored me.”
“He ignored you?”
Nia nodded. He’d ignored her for weeks.Bastard.
Forna’s eyelid twitched. “He didn’t touch you?”
“He did touch me.” Forna leaned forward, eyebrows raised as he waited for her to continue. “I liked it and wanted more.”
“Level two,” Forna gritted between his teeth.
The specialist pulled her muscles from her body through her pores. She screamed so hard, her voice disappeared. Her brain disconnected from her spine. She must have blacked out, because the next thing she heard was the hum of a regenerator near her throat.
Her body throbbed, but the pain in her throat receded.How long have I been here?It must have been hundred years since she’d lived with Tellusians. Sweat trickled the crease of her neck and into her hair.
A frantic beeping cut through the haze of pain. The regenerator stopped. When she opened her eyes, the room around her blurred.
“Secure the door.” Forna’s voice came out harsh, laced with alarm.
“It’s Mace, isn’t it,” Nia whispered, her brain still wrapped in fog. “He’s going to kill you. I’m not sorry.”
There was a gasp, then a scream cut short. Nia turned her head toward the door. Mace filled the entrance, his face a mask of rage. Forna stood beside the bed, but something was wrong with him. Nia realized the hilt of a knife protruded from his eye, his left hand shaking. The specialist was already on the deck, dead.
The doctor had stopped a meter from the door, shaking, Mace’s weapon pointed at her. “To the bed,” he ordered. “Release her.”
The woman scurried, tears on her cheeks, and undid the restraints with trembling hands. As soon as Nia was free, she rolled off the bed—and almost collapsed when her feet hit the deck.
Mace was there in the next instant, his arms wrapping around her body to hold her upright. He cupped her face with his free hand, still aiming his gun at the doctor with the other.
“Did she hurt you?” he asked in a quiet voice.
The doctor whimpered, crouching behind the table.
Nia shook her head. “No.” Her voice came out scratchy. “She watched and did nothing.”
Mace made a sound low in his throat, then lifted his hand to her brow. “What are these?”
“Mind moles.” Her hands still shaking from the torture, Nia touched them, trying to find the release, but they wouldn’t budge. “They make me tell the truth.” His eyebrows arched and she nodded. “It’s a lot of verbal garbage, really. Whatever pops up in my head, I say it aloud and—”
He covered her mouth with his hand. “I’m getting off this ship. If you stay, you’re free, but—” He looked around the medical lab. “You’d need to get to your family as soon as possible, off this ship, and I wouldn’t be able to help you with—”
