AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The thoughts of her and the baby they had made together, growing inside her, tormented him, but Karn comforted himself that he wouldn’t be sad for very much longer. Soon his heart would give out or he would die of thirst or the toxic fumes would damage his lungs so badly they would no longer work well enough to send oxygen to his body. Then he would flicker out like a candle flame and hopefully go to be with the Goddess.
He wondered grimly if the Obedience Skin would keep working, even after he was dead. Would it go on lifting his arms and swinging the pickaxe, even with him dead inside it? Would he be like a zombie corpse, still animated by the suit even after his soul had left his body? Would he—
“There—that’s the one. That is the bodyslave I want!”
The imperious voice was vaguely familiar but when Karn looked up—the skin did allow him to turn his head at least—he didn’t recognize the face attached to it. Maybe because it was covered by a thick black respirator mask.
“That’s the one,” she said again to the Horvath guard standing beside her. “Bring him to my ship at once!”
Forty-Six
Lilli’s heart was pounding as she barked out orders the same way she’d seen her mother and Priss do on numerous occasions. She was pretending to be her mother, and hoping that the Horvath guards wouldn’t question her.
Oh please! she thought, as she waited for the guard who had accompanied her from the central control station to respond. Please, let them believe me! Please let me get him safely away!
Sneaking out of the house with H’rare had been a ticklish business. They’d waited until midnight, when she was certain her mother was fast asleep along with the rest of her bodyslaves. Only then had they dared to enter the docking bay and steal a ship.
Lilli had chosen the long-range vehicle to take with her. H’rare said he could drive it and it was the biggest and most expensive one. Maybe she and Karn could sell it and live on the proceeds wherever they ended up.
Which won’t be anywhere unless this guard believes I’m Mother and releases Karn to me, she thought desperately. Oh, please…
“I said, bring him to my ship,” she snapped at the guard, who seemed to be hesitating.
“You—ssstop working,” the guard said to Karn.
But the big Kindred kept going, hacking mercilessly at the steep, gray-green wall of stone that rose above them on all sides.
“Ssstop!” the guard insisted, but Karn wouldn’t. Was he mad at her, Lilli wondered? Would he prefer to stay here than coming with her? Or maybe he just didn’t know who she was—she did have on the black respirator which covered her entire face, after all. She hated for the big Kindred to be in any doubt about who she was, but she couldn’t risk any of the Diluthian fumes getting into her lungs and possibly harming the baby.
“Make him stop!” she shouted at the guard. “At once, do you hear me? At once!”
“Er…” The Horvath hissed uneasily. His long, forked tongue ran out and swiped nervously over one yellow-slitted eyeball. “I cannot release him to you, Mistresss Mirabella,” he said at last.
“What? Why not?” Lilli demanded. “Do you doubt my authority to take him?”
“No, no—of courssse not, Mistresss.” The guard held up his green, scaly hands. “But the Obedienssse Skin—it has clearly malfunctioned. I have ssseen thisss happen once before. When the skin isss made to do only one action for hoursss on end, it sometimesss ssstops responding to ordersss.”
“What?” Lilli was horrified. “But…is there no way to stop it?”
The guard shrugged his scaly shoulders.
“It isss DNA activated. Only the touch of the one who put the Skin on in the first place can make it cease itsss current motion.” He looked at her. “Asss I understand it, you are the one who put it on him, Mistress. So only you can ssstop it.”
Lilli felt as though someone had dumped a bucket of ice cubes into the pit of her stomach. Should she try touching the Obedience Skin? She had, of course, half of her mother’s DNA so it might work. But if it didn’t, her cover would be blown. The Horvaths would probably detain her and report her and then Karn would die and she would be sent back to Yonnie Six and have her baby killed so she could incubate an heir her mother liked better.
Her mind was pulled in two directions. On one hand, she loved Karn desperately and wanted to save him. But on the other hand, she also felt fiercely protective of the new life inside her. She had to save her baby! What should she do?
Suddenly the Goddess’s words came back to her.
“Do not be afraid to attempt the impossible,” she had said. Also, she had promised to send Lilli help to escape and she had done it.
