Jessica didn’t answer. She just looked back down at the body. “When this trip is over, and it is almost over, I’m going back to Revant Two. I give up. They don’t deserve us. They really don’t.” She walked off without another word.
Marik understood her pain. This was more than anyone should have to take. That made him think again of Jenny. He went down the hall again until he found Talon and the others all gathered around the maps that someone had laid out on a table.
Talon said, “There you are. We have intel that says the Rovers may be here, near the outskirts of the city, but opposite the ship docks. We have to get in there, get her, and then get all the way back. If we have a hovercraft that we can keep up, and that is a big if, given the hostility and the fighting, then we can get there faster.”
Marik said, “You’re pulling out, aren’t you?”
Talon nodded. His eyes rested on Marik’s face. “The Federation won’t help and we can’t. We have tried. We have brought in food and supplies, and healers, and all we keep ending up with is more of our own dead and lost. I can’t anymore.”
Marik didn’t argue.
Marik said, “We need a plan, and we need it now. I agree that even if we pay the ransom, they will likely kill her anyway.”
Or would they? The man who had helped to take her had once been her lover. Could it be possible that he was going to ransom her simply as a matter of survival but keep her as a matter of love? Did he think that he could demand a ransom for her and then refuse to return her?
He would undoubtedly refuse to return her. The larger question was would he kill her or keep her alive?
It was something Marik was not willing to risk.
It was possible that they could pay the ransom and that she would live. That she wanted to be with the man who had taken her.
He said so, and Talon looked at him. “She was unconscious when he carried her out of here. Several of the crew members tried to intervene, and he dropped her at one point. She was badly injured. It seems to me that if she had wanted to go with him, she would’ve walked out of here and not had to be carried out of here.”
Marik’s heart sank even further. Rage boiled up within him. It didn’t make sense, her being carried out that way, not if she had been willing to go with her former lover. The only thing that made sense was that she’d been taken against her will.
He said, “She had been looking for him. Is it possible that when he showed up that he said something that caused her to not want to go with him? Could he have told her his plans perhaps?”
Talon said. “There are so many pouring in the doors every single day that we don’t get a chance to check all of them. That’s something that we need to work on. Unfortunately, everyone who was in the room with them was part of the Rovers so we have no idea of what he may have said to her before he knocked her out and took her.”
Marik asked, “Do any remain alive?”
Talon nodded. “But I think he’s too far gone to question.”
Marik looked down at his leg. The pain was still there, and he knew it would slow him down some, but he had to get busy and try to save Jenny and soon. It could not afford to wait. “Show me where he is.”
Weapon fire had shattered interior walls, and there was rubble everywhere. Talon had to assist Marik in stepping over a large pile of shattered plaster and fragmented stairs. With every step, his leg pained him more and more, but he just kept going. There were other things that were far more important right now.
The injured Rover lay in a courtyard. More anger hit. Yes, the man was an enemy, but to throw him outside like trash? He shot a furious glare at Talon who merely said, “We don’t know if he is dangerous still.”
One look down told Marik that the man was too far gone to be dangerous to anybody. He shoved his anger at Talon’s callousness aside. This was war whether he liked it or not. Whether Talon liked it or not. He knelt beside the Rover. His hands went to the man’s chest and the gaping wound there. Nothing would save his life. All Marik needed was to know the location of the Rover hideout.
He said, “I think I can wake him. The only thing I might be able to get from him is an exact location. We can match it with your intel. I’m sure your intel is good, but we need to be precise. All things considered, we can’t afford even one mistake. We can’t even be one building off. They’ll see us coming if we go into the wrong building and they are likely to kill her then and there if they think we’re going to try to get her back by force.”
Talon said, “Do what you have to but don’t waste yourself.”
Marik had no intention of doing that. He brought his fingers together and let the power rest there in the palms of his hands. Heat blossomed and bloomed. He felt it run from his palms to his wrists and up along his arm before spreading into his shoulders and then his chest and lower still. His own body would heal faster if he did not do this but he had to. Even if it meant never being able to use his leg again, he had to find Jenny.
His hands went to the Rover’s chest. The Rover gasped and jerked. His eyes flew open. Death still stalked him and would take him soon, but he was awake now. The pain was horrific, and Marik could see that he was in pain. He hated to leave the man in such agony, but the agony was what had brought him out of unconsciousness.
Marik said, “I know you are hurting and I’m sorry. I will help you, but first I need to know where they took the healer.”
Now that he was leaning closer to the man’s face, he could see that he was very young. Maybe twenty human years. How had this human come to the decision to join the band of Rovers, those thieving and murderous humans who were gleefully taking advantage of and allowing other members of their own race to die simply to ensure their own survival?
The Rover whispered, “Let me die. It hurts so much. Please stop.”
Marik did not lift his hands away from the Rover’s chest. “Listen to me; I need you to hear me now. I need to know where they took the healer. Answer me, and it will all be over very quickly.”
The young Rover began to weep silently. Long silvery tears rolled down his cheeks. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this.”
