Chapter 13:
Talon was angry with himself, but he was also angry with Jessica. She and her friend Yori talked a good game but neither of them seemed truly interested in doing the one thing that would start the revolution that they truly seemed to want and, what was more, neither of them seemed to take into account the fact that maybe those above ground did not deserve to be on those ships away from the planet.
Of course, Yori would not have thought that. He was from above ground.
Talon said, “Are you angry with me?”
“Of course I’m mad at you. Innocent people are going to die now. The Capo are going to kill as many as they can. You’ve just incited them to violence. They’re going to go above, and there’s no telling what they may do to the people there.”
He regarded her for a moment. “Does it really matter? Do you not think that the people below deserve some justice? Do you not think that they’ve had a long-simmering hatred for the people who live above? Do you think that they have spent an entire lifetime living below ground like a mole without longing to see the sun?”
Her head jerked up and turned toward him. Her mouth held no color, and it was flat with her rage. “I come from below. I know exactly what it is like. Your brother's mate comes from below. She also knows what it is like. Yes, we hate those who live above. We know that we are nothing to them. We know that they get the best of everything while we get scraps. You are not telling me anything I do not know.”
He rocked back in the seat. “But you were a Capo.”
Her tone was venomous. “Yes, and I told you that my father pawned me into service when it couldn’t pay a debt. Did you believe that people who live above pawn their daughters and wives?”
Talon said, “It would not shock me.”
To his relief, her body relaxed. Her fingers plucked in her lap. “It shouldn’t. They do. But only in the direst of circumstances.”
Talon said, “I would be willing to bet that dire circumstances above are not nearly as dire as normal circumstances are below.”
She leaned forward, her elbows meeting her knees. Her head rested in her hand. Her voice was muffled. “You’d win that bet.”
He was torn all over again. She had said that she cared for him, but now after the way she had defended Yori, who was clearly one of the leaders of the resistance and worried over him, he found himself wondering again if the two of them were lovers and allies. Again, that spike of jealousy drove itself into his heart.
The hovercraft stopped at the docking station several ships below theirs. Jessica had probably deliberately misled the hovercraft, and he had to admit that was a smart move on her part.
They dashed onto the ship. Jessica tossed the package to Caleb saying, “You better use those well or we are all going to die.”
Talon went to the controls. His fast hands targeted an opening in the air traffic and the ship lifted and then shot away from the docking station, heading straight toward the prison.
The prison was a forbidding structure of stone and metal that soared nearly ten stories high. It was surrounded by a high-energy beam fence as well as a gravitational pull. Caleb did use the documents that Yori had procured for them very well indeed because they had no trouble at all getting into the prison.
Talon had to admit that he was worried less about getting in than he was about getting out, however.
As soon as they docked, Talon, Jessica, and Caleb, as well as the rest of the crew, gathered their arms and gave each other grim looks.
Talon said, “Jessica, you are with me. You might know who it is that we need to release first.”
Caleb asked, “What about the rest of us, boss?”
Talon gave them all a steady look. “My suggestion would be that you lay down as much cover for us as you can, but if things go bad, get back to the ship and get gone. The rest of you, protect Caleb with your lives because without him, you’re stuck here. He’s the only one who can fly besides me.”
Jessica’s warm body leaned into his for just a moment as she reached for a weapon that someone had extended to her. Talon’s heart made a little leap in his chest as it always did when she was near. When all of this was over, they were going to have to decide what they were to each other. If they lived through this.
Well then. It would be a damn shame to die without knowing whether or not the woman that he loved truly loved him back, now wouldn’t it?
They headed into the prison, not even bothering to keep up the ruse that they were there on Federation business. Weapons blasted, and guards either ran or stood and fought only to die. It did not shock Talon at all that most of the guards ran. It had long been his experience that those who enslaved others were bullies who, once the violence turned toward them, always ran from it.
These cells were miserable, cramped things made of ionized bars. The prisoners had no choice but to stay in one spot or risk losing a limb to those bars. Talon grabbed one guard who was attempting to flee and shook him like a ragdoll.
Talon shouted, “Where are the controls for the bars?”
The guard, obviously terrified, and shook his head and blubbered out, “I can’t tell you that. I can’t! I will be executed by the Federation!”
Jessica stuck a blaster to the guard’s temple. Her face held no expression. “If you do not tell us, you face being executed by me. Right here. Right now. Where are the controls?”
