“You make no sense.” I had to admit, the name Yeaven Morra didn’t ring any bells. He wasn’t someone I’d fought with or against, which meant he might be new to his position. That could be an advantage. “Youtook them. You know where they are.”Didn’t he?
Morra shifted his weight in a show of impatience. “I have fifty-seven personnel in that forest running a sweep pattern. I’ll locate your people within hours, regardless of what you say. You can ensure that fewer of them are made an example of, or not.”He paused. “My drones are down. I’m aware that’s your work. You planned for us.”
I didn’t answer. My mind was busy doing a different calculation. If he didn’t know where they were—and it was clear that he didn’t—then the Runams had gotten out.Somesort of warning must have reached them in time. They weren’t in the boats; the boats were burning. They’d gone on foot into the forest, which meant the grid and the concealed positions were between his fifty-seven personnel and whatever Maive had organized.
Maive was out there somewhere. Possibly alive.
I stayed focused on that probability and not on what the other possibility meant.
“You burned the village,” I said.
“So? We thought they were hiding in the buildings.” He glanced around at the burning buildings with no visible reaction to them. “I’d like to move past this stage.” He looked back at me. “Now, where are they?”
“I’m not saying a word unless you release that child.”
“I’m not releasing anyone until I have what I came for.” He looked at the blaster in my hand. “You’re a capable shot, I’d imagine, given your background. Run the calculation yourself. At this range, with that weapon, you’ll catch the girl in the discharge radius.”
I had already run it. He was right.
“I’ll offer you a simple trade,” Morra said. “Help me locate these people you’re so attached to, and they live. We don'twantthem harmed. We want the production running. That requires living producers.” He further tightened his grip on Aila, who looked positively livid. “If you decline, I’ll work through whoever I have available until someone in your forest decides to cooperate. I’ll start here.”
I held the blaster for another three seconds.
Then I lowered it.
“Put her down,” I said. “Let her go and I’ll help you find them.”
He paused for effect, then he set Aila on the ground.
She stomped on his foot with everything she had, which was the very least of what he deserved, then bolted straight at me.
Morra made a sharp curse, but all I could think was,thank the stars,as I dropped to one knee and caught her in my arms. She slammed into me hard and her arms went around my neck and locked there.
“I’ve got you,” I said, voice shaky. “You’re all right.”
Her mouth was right at my ear. “Gilrox.” Her voice was barely a breath. “Others came. In the night. I couldn’t get home in time.”
I went still.
My gaze lifted over the shaking form of the child who was as good as blood to me and fixed on Morra, who stood there, waiting. I rose, still holding Aila and thinking about what she’d just said, and what it meant, and whether the calculation I’d been running had just changed entirely.
“Now,” I drawled. “Who was it you were looking for again?”
Chapter
Twenty-Six
You never can tell with the weather
The smart commenthad been unwise. As a mercenary, those kinds of comments could unsettle adversaries and expose their weaknesses, but I should have been more circumspect. Even with that mask covering his face, I could tell Morra’s patience was wearing thin. “Amusing,” he said. “For a man holding a child and nothing else.”
I said nothing. I thought about putting Aila down and telling her to run for the shuttle. If she could get there without being stopped, she could seal herself inside, but with Morra’s people still out in the forest, I wouldn’t risk it.
No. She stayed with me.
I had just settled that when boots sounded on the path from the north. I turned.
Morra’s ground team was coming back. Ten, twelve of them in the same black uniforms, walking without urgency. The leader stopped a few meters from Morra and pulled his face mask up.
