“Darling, don’t lie, it doesn’t suit you,” said the mysterious pirate. “You’re carrying mandalum from Palamar. We want it, and we’re going to have it.”
Captain Belis muted the hailing frequency. “Supervisor Singh, any luck sending a distress message to local systems?”
“Completely blocked.”
“The enemy ship has activated its weapons systems,” warned the XO.
“Captain, please don’t be like that,” said the voice from the speaker. “You’re trapped, I’m afraid. We have no interest in destroying you, as that gains us nothing. What wewantis your cargo. Give it to us, and no one has to die today.”
“What guarantee do we have that you won’t simply blow us up as soon as you have the mandalum?” She kept her voice even.
“We’rethieves, darling, not murderers. Well, we’d prefer not to be murderers. Don’t force our hand. Our precision weapons are quite capable of blowing out your command deck and leaving the cargo section intact, but that’s not the way we prefer to do business, really.”
Captain Belis was silent for a few moments.
Finally, the captain nodded. “Very well. Under the threat of destruction and murder, we will send a cargo hauler with the mandalum to your ship.”
“Excellent!” came the cheery response. “And just to make sure that there are no games, we will take the Lady Aria as our hostage. To guarantee the exchange.”
Belis narrowed her eyes.. “What?”
“Oh, don’t worry, darling. You don’t need to debate the ethics of sacrificing a passenger. We’ve already taken her.”
The captain muted the hailer. “Griggs, get to the guest quarters,now.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Griggs set off at a run.
The supervisor raced down the gangways, using his comm to alert the security detachment.
Gasping for air, he pulled up to the door to Aria’s chambers, hit the emergency override, and stepped in to be greeted by the sight of Fitzjohn. Aria’s majordomo was gagged and restrained, struggling in the chair to which he had been bound. He pulled the gag out of the man’s mouth. Fitzjohn gasped. “Lady Aria. Someone’s kidnapped her.”
“How did they get in?” Griggs opened the door to Aria’s bedroom and saw the room in a state of disorder.
“The ventilation system, I think. What in the heavens is going on?”
“Pirates.” Griggs activated his comm.
***
Aria had had little warning. Hearing an unexpected commotion outside her bedroom, she had paged Fitzjohn and received no response. Opening her door to see what was going on, she had tried to scream as two figures in black slipped through the door, one clapping a gloved hand over her mouth as the other slipped a stun rod against her side, rendering her unconscious.
When she woke up, Aria found herself tied to a flight seat on a small cutter. Two people, clad entirely in black, were wordlessly navigating toward a sleek corvette.
“What on Palamar do you think you’re doing? Do you know who I am? Release me at once!”
The two ignored her, continuing about their business.
Aria fought down rising panic, taking refuge in aristocratic outrage.
“Do you know who my father is? He’ll have your heads on poles! Unhand me and return me to my ship this instant, and I may plead for your clemency.”
No response.
Aria drew a breath and let out a piercing scream.
One of the two figures moved to the flight seat where Aria was bound and seized her jaw firmly, cutting off Aria’s cry.
“You can make this journey conscious, or I can hit you with the stun rod again,” came a menacing female voice. “Your choice.”
