Chapter Eight
Ashe groaned as the dim light began to pierce her consciousness. She raised her hand and covered her eyes, praying the throbbing in the back of her head would stop. It seemed to echo the beating of her heart, as if her entire body was against her. She tried moving a finger, letting in just the barest hint of light. Her brain screamed in protest.
"I will not pass out…' she thought as she slowly scanned her surroundings. Through the blurry haze of her pain wracked vision she saw what appeared to be red velvet curtains hanging to the right above her, a tall post by her feet. She reached out with her free hand, surprised to feel soft silken pillows next to her.
'Okay, okay' she mused, taking a deep breath. ' Soft pillows, silky material under me. Am I on a bed?.' She spread her fingers a little farther, letting in a little more light. 'All right then. Red velvet curtains hanging from large wooden posts, sumptuous pillows. Okay, I am on a really gorgeous bed.'
She glanced up and froze, just able to make out a blurry, vague figure hovering above her. 'What the hell is that? Is someone watching me?' She removed her hand, and squinted. It looked like a woman, but then her eyes were still trying to adjust to the light. She squinted again, forcing her brain to ignore the pain and focus on the image above her. Her sight quickly cleared and she gasped.
'Oh my god!' Ashe groaned and the image groaned with her. 'What the hell am I wearing?' Above her the mirror reflected back her blonde hair, brown eyes and her body clad in an outfit she was sure came straight from the nearest brothel. The thinnest wisp of bronze silk stretched across her breasts, looking more like a second skin than covering. Around her hips were several long strips of the same bronze silk and very little else.
Her hand flew to her throat. "Oh my god!" she murmured again as the light caught and reflected the chain of rubies around her neck, their glittering red fire mesmerizing. She noticed her ears held similar gems; in fact her body displayed little else. Her fingers traced a line from her breasts down her naked stomach to her belly button where another perfect round ruby nestled. 'I'm a fraggin' jewelry box!' she thought.
'Still,' she moved on the bed watching the rubies catch the light, 'I look damn good!'
Then her hand flew to her hip and she snarled. 'They took my fraggin' guns.' She glared at the mirror above her, anger clearing her mind. "It's one thing to shove me on this insanely soft bed, another to dress me up like some kind of working girl, and another to shove rubies in my belly button! But no one," she shook her fist at the mirror, "no one takes my guns!"
She forced herself in to a sitting position, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. Her head swam and she thought she might vomit, so she focused on her side arms until the throbbing in her temple's lessened. Gently lowering herself to the floor, she glanced around the room for any clues as to the whereabouts of her favorite double-pulse lasers. The room was circular. The extremely large bed occupied the middle of the room, with pillows covering almost every square inch of floor space. The pillows looked extremely soft and welcoming and she contemplated falling down and just resting on some of them.
'Suck it up, sister!' she growled. Her mind played back for her the scene in the dungeon with… 'What was his name?' Oh yes… Marcus. She remembered that damn rod he had and his arrogance and how it felt when he had… well, better not to think about that.
But it was his question that had confused her. She remembered that now as she tried to steady herself. At first she thought he had just intended to use her body. But then he suggested they might work together… work on something… and she would tell him where it was. What it was he talking about?
So it wasn't her he wanted, but her cooperation and the location of it, whatever that was. What the hell was it? And why did he think she had it? Or was it something he thought she could help him acquire or at least knew its location. 'Ahh,' she grumbled, her contemplation of it not helping her throbbing head.
'Then why didn't he just ask me to dinner? Why kidnap me and torture me?' "Okay,' the voice in her head laughed. 'It wasn't exactly… torture.'
"Arggh!" she growled to the pillows.
Another glance around the room and she noted there were no other pieces of furniture. Not a cupboard or bureau to be found. Tapestries hung intermittently around the walls and she had to assume that the door lay behind one of these.
'Come on, Ashe,' she barked at herself, 'move your damn legs.' It required complete concentration to ignore the pounding in her head and force her lethargic limbs into action. With colossal effort she managed to move her legs forward without tripping over the pillows. She knew if she fell and landed on their softness she would be done for.
She reached the first tapestry in a few strides and clung to it. Glancing behind its bulk she was discouraged to find only wall.
'Damn it,' she growled again. Clinging to the tapestries for support, she moved along the wall, her head slowly clearing as she went. She made it half way around the room before finding the faint outline of an archway.
"There you are!" Ashe grinned. The outline was indistinct at best, with no handles or code pads, but that would not stop her. She laughed out loud and then grimaced as pain shot through the back of her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she ran her hands around the crack that defined the arch, feeling, sensing, daring the door to withhold information. There was always a flaw, always a way. Finding the flaw, using its weakness, that was what she did, what she had been bread to do, trained to do. And she was very, very good at what she did. Still by the time her hands had roamed three quarters of the way around the arch and found nothing she had begun to sweat.
'What if this is your Murphy?' the voice in her head asked. 'What if this your impenetrable lock?' She sighed as a rush of memories filled her thoughts. When she was young, she had spent years working the streets of Orania, running with Fargut's crew. There had been a boy, older than her, but not quite a man. His name was Conner Murphy. He was cocky and arrogant, just the way she liked her men. She and Murphy had run together. Worked the streets together. He was brilliant. There wasn't a lock or key code or palm encoder that could stop him. He had taught her everything and she in return she had worshiped him.
Then one day, they had stumbled upon a merchant. Not an ordinary merchant. No swipes, or pickngrabs, or counterfeights would work with him. No. This man had cargo. Large mild looking cargo that had locks they had never seen. She had learned early that it wasn't the flamboyance of the container that counted; it was the difficulty of the lock. The higher in value the contents, the more money spent on the lock.
She had been reluctant to test their skills on the crates. They had been stashed in the local merchant's guild, behind the local garrison. They would have to travel through the garrison, the merchant's guards and into their sanctuary unseen, then break the lock to the merchant's store house and then finally attempt the lock on these crates.
It was against all common sense and judgment, however Murphy did not hold either in high regard. He had hatched his plan and included her. She couldn't say no, he was her god. They had snuck past the garrison, not the first time, so not that difficult. Past the merchant's guards, trickier but not impossible and then through the merchant's protective wards. She had procured the pass codes for those and had been extremely proud of herself. Then, as if the gods themselves wanted them to enter, Murphy had picked the lock on their impenetrable store house in seconds.
The crates were stored in the center of the store house, as if inviting challengers. Murphy was more excited than she had ever seen him. He had caressed the locks like a lover and after ordering her to stand watch, begun the process of evaluating the lock and its mechanism.
She had heard them coming with more than enough time to escape. She had given him plenty of notice. He had ignored her, his full attention on the lock. She had even run to him and shaken him, trying to pry his hands off the lock. But he had shoved her aside and continued with his work, his eyes bright with excitement and something else she had not quite understood.
She could almost hear his voice now, low and mocking, almost a little crazed. "Back off, Runt. Finally, an true challenge!'
At the time she almost hated him for his obsession, for putting himself at risk for one stupid lock. But remembering him now, she could understand his compulsion. He had been so gifted. So brilliant. Working the street as he did must have seemed beneath him. He must have known he was capable of so much more.
She wasn't proud of herself, but she had done what any self-respecting thief would have done. She hid.
And when the solders and the merchant came, they had hauled Murphy away. All he did was scream, "No! Not yet! I haven't finished! Let me finish!"
She'd never seen him again, though she had searched for him for months. No sigh, no word, it was as if he had fallen off the planet. She laughed to herself as her hands continued their search along the crack of the arch. The funny thing was, the legacy he left behind was not his brilliance, which in the archives of thieves should have been unrivaled, but it was the one lock that beat him. The lock that got away from him. The Unpickable Lock, was now known everywhere as Murphy's Lock. Even on planets that didn't know who the hell Murphy was. They still knew what the expression meant.
Ashe smiled. He would have liked that.
Her fingers moved against a roughened edge. The metal felt colder, a light familiar electromagnetic pulse tickling her fingertips.
"Gotcha!" Ashe grinned triumphantly. She went to work on the lock, locating the pressure panel, removing the protective skin and isolating the relay. "Damn I wish I had my clothes," she mumbled. Her suit not only provided coverage and protection, it also housed a myriad of hidden tools that she used to… facilitate entry into what others might refer to as restricted areas. Working with only her knowledge was making this task almost impossible. If only she had her bandwire or heatclips or refractor, then maybe she could get this damn thing open!
One last dig with her nail and the cover sprung free. She crouched lower to observe the mechanism within. Relays, power coupling… 'oh frag it!' she groaned. 'Laser connections. Damn.' She followed the power circuit again, knowing before she finished that she was sunk. If she had her clothes, if she had access to her silver slip or even a small mirror. Then she might have a chance at redirecting the circuit. But without those…
In her crouched position, the ruby in her belly button began to dig into her flesh. Cursing, she plucked it out and in frustration almost tossed it across the room. As she raised her arm to throw it, it somehow caught the light, and burned with a deep, red fire. She stared at it for a moment and then cursed herself.
'You idiot!' she growled. She gently separated the wiring from the laser relays in the panel, careful not to break their contact. Having freed enough space she took a deep breath and held it. Timing and placement was the key with lasers. If she flinched or hiccupped or hesitated, the mechanism would lock down and she would be trapped.
She thought of Murphy, pictured his curly black hair and wicked grin and then dropped the ruby between the connectors. The blue lights of the laser key refracted off the ruby, separating them from each other. The door popped open with a soft sigh.
'That's a good girl.' Ashe grinned at the door. She waited a moment, listening for any sign of approaching trouble. There was only a welcomed quiet. She pushed the door open just wide enough to slide through. 'Now I wonder where my pulsers are?' she thought as she stepped from the room into a long hallway that curved to the left and right, following the circular dimensions of the room. Small scones of light illuminated the hall a soft blue every three meters. Not only was the hall bare of any camouflage but the continuous lighting gave her little hope of hiding. Hugging the outline of the wall she worked her way left for a few meters until the hallway straightened.
The hallway was deserted, however she knew that didn't mean it was unobserved. 'Well suga, you've got one option.' She glanced down at the little bit of bronze nothing she was wearing. 'Act like you belong. They won't be looking at your face anyways. Hopefully, my friend Marcus likes to keep a lot of girls around to… play with.' She had a quick flashback to the man, his dark brown eyes, taut body and honey voice permanently imprinted on her brain in connection with that damn rod. "Stupid girl," she mentally chided herself.
She straightened her shoulders, adopted a slightly bored expression, and made her way slowly down the hall. There were no doors or windows on either side of the corridor, but even in the dim light she could make out another curve at the end. She mentally noted that she had been tortured, 'for want of a better word,' she mocked herself, in a round room, imprisoned in a round room, and seemed to be heading toward another round room. What was curious was so many of these 'towers' formed the exterior of Marcus' fortress and that it appeared he liked to keep his most precious things in them. 'And I bet,' she continued her hypothesis, 'that one of these towers holds his bedchamber as well. Might as well check there first for my stuff.'
He had appeared an arrogant, cocky man who was, quite probably, as brilliant as he thought he was. That kind of man, Ashley smirked, would be sure to keep her things close to him. It would be a way of reminding him of his power over her. How he had bested her, beaten her. And then, if he broke her, he would have them there in his bedchamber as a reward.
"Asshole," she mumbled, more to satisfy her own conflicted thoughts than anything else. She approached the end of the corridor and found two guards at full attention outside of what was obviously an archway. The arch was sealed, the door appearing to be part of the wall but for an almost imperceptible shimmer. Ashe groaned. 'Nano-tech.', she groaned. 'God I hate Nano-tech.'
As she rounded the corner she saw the guards, both male, arch their backs, throw back their shoulders. To give them credit their attention to the door opposite them did not falter, however they were men, and she was dressed in almost nothing.
Ashe decided to adopt a slightly bored, slightly helpless tone. She moved toward the nearest guard, getting as close to him as she dared without touching him. Actually touching might be crossing a line that Marcus' 'ladies' knew not to cross.
She nodded to the door. "Is he in?" Ashe held her breath waiting to see if the question raised any red flags.
The guard turned to her, his expression blank, when an enormous explosion shook the building. The guards' response was immediate; their expressions went from blank to dark concentration in an instant. Each man moved away from the door to cover a corridor. Ashe tried to look scared and confused, while working her way towards the chamber arch. If they were focused enough on the corridor, perhaps they wouldn't notice a frightened girl working the archway keypad.
The soft sound of crackling came from the guards helmets. Though she couldn't make out what was said their response was swift. The guard closest to her hit the key pad and the arch in front of her sparkled and then became transparent.
"Get in there. Stay quiet." The guard shoved her into the room. As that had been her objective anyway she didn't struggle much. The door sealed shut behind her with a soft whush.
The room before her was almost, if possible, softer and squishier than the room where she had awoke. There were golden reams of silk covering the ceiling and walls and floor. A large armoire sat against the wall on the far side of the room, but most of the rest of the room was taken up with the enormous bed to her left. 'Good god,' Ashe stared, amazed and thought, 'you could fit a small army on that bed.' She paused as she realized he probably had. Pulling her gaze from the massive bed, she turned to the armoire, certain that it was the best place to start looking for her things.
She worked her way across the room, the damned fluffy silks making it hard to move quickly. She wondered if that was intentional. 'Too many girls trying to escape Marcus?' The thought made her smile and she hoped some of them had given him a good kick in the groin.
The armoire appeared unlocked, but she knew that to be an illusion. Marcus would never leave a trophy unguarded. She ran her hands across the sides, the front closure and the hinges. She located the imperfections and then the locks. It took her only a moment to ease the casing off the locks. Her heart raced at the simplicity of their construction. Tearing strips off her almost non-existent clothing she folded them carefully and placed them in front of the laser eye. The cloth was thin enough to allow a small amount of refraction and she smiled when she heard the soft sound of a latch release.
"Gotcha," she murmured softly. The door swung open soundlessly. The armoire was filled with silks, shirts and pants a dinner jacket or two, drawers of silken undergarments. 'Hmm,' she thought, 'didn't think he bothered with those.' She grabbed the hanging clothes and threw them recklessly onto the floor. The shoes followed. Her fingers flowed across the woodwork, scanning for imperfections, bumps, hidden latches. Next she emptied the drawers, silken boxers flying across the room. The hidden bottom was in the last draw. She worked the hinge and the base flew up.
"Yes!" she hissed aloud. There lay her clothes, neatly folded with her lasers sitting right on top. 'Thank god arrogant men are so predictable!' she rejoiced. Yanking the remaining jewelry off, she pulled the clothes from their hiding place. She had her straps of silk off in an instant and was stepping into her pants when she heard the archway behind her open with a woosh.
'Idiot! Idiot!' she cursed herself, then her gaze dropped to the double-pulse lasers and she grinned. 'Might as well use what the gods gave me.' With her back to the door, she bent over, and with a slight wiggle of her bottom, she grabbed her lasers and in one graceful motion turned her naked body toward the intruder, both lasers at the ready.
The sight of O'Connell and Maluk staring wide-eyed at her was not what she expected. "Good god, O'Connell, I almost shot you!" she said with disgust.
O'Connell and Maluk didn't move. They stood there, mouths open, eyes transfixed.
"What the hell is your…" then it dawned on her that she was completely naked. "Oh my god!" she cried in disgust, "Turn around!"
O'Connell's hand shot out and covered Maluk's eyes.
"Hey!" Maluk cried out.
"Shut up, kid. Don't ruin it for us both." Maluk yanked furiously at his hand so O'Connell pulled the kid towards him, tightening his grip even firmer.
"Bloody arse!" Maluk howled. "You stop looking at 'er!"
"Turn around, O'Connell," she said softly, keeping her guns pointed at him.
He just grinned at her.
"Turn around or I swear I will shoot you," she growled.
O'Connell shrugged. "Shoot me. It'll be worth it." Then he grinned, that grin he had, that grin that turned her knees to jelly.
"Fine." She chose disgust to cover how her heart did flips when he smiled like that. She turned her back on him and quickly threw on her clothes, their familiar feeling comforting. As soon as the blasters were strapped to her thighs she began to feel in control of her emotions again.
Ashe turned to him, her expression blank. "I assume that explosion was you?"
O'Connell released the still struggling Maluk and pushed him away. Maluk stumbled and gave him a venomous look. "Maybe,' he shrugged, "maybe it was Daddy's boys."
"Daddy's boys?" Ashe grabbed the rubies and shoved them into a pocket on her pant leg. 'Might as well take some compensation for the way I was treated. Being tortured and all.' 'Yeah tortured…' the voice is her head replied sarcastically. She ignored it and worked her way to the arch, her lasers ready.
"Hmmm… long story. Will fill you in as we go." O'Connell took the other side of the arch, and he glanced at her, the familiarity of their actions, their positions filling him with a rush of affection he couldn't shake. This was what they did; this was what made them a perfect team. They finished each other's sentences, worked together like a hand in a glove. They fit.
"It screams you," she laughed softly. "Bull in a china shop." The looked she gave him was intimate and unreserved and for a moment they were both back before the theft, before she ran off.
"Thanks," he grinned, then reminded himself he was supposed to be furious with her. He tried to appear cold and focused on the task at hand. "Let's get the hell out of here," he grunted. She nodded.
"Maluk,' she turned to the boy. "Which way, hon?"
"Follow me!" Maluk declared and then led them through the arch.
Maluk moved through the fortress like it was his home. What guards they crossed lay on the ground and Ashe could only assume that was O'Connell's handiwork.
"Came this way, did you?" She grinned at him.
"Well you know me, always like to make an impression," he replied, pleased with his own handiwork.
"So," she murmured as they worked their way along the second corridor. "Daddy's boys?"
She could see O'Connell hesitate before he replied. "A new friend and her dad… uhm… gave us a hand. It seems your friend," he said the word sarcastically, "has made some powerful enemies."
She read between the lines, it wasn't hard where O'Connell was concerned. "My friend?" There was ice in her tone.
O'Connell shrugged; when he spoke his tone was filled with accusation and anger. "You certainly were wearing an awful lot of nothin' to not be 'friendly'. How close did you two become in one day?"
Ashe could feel her temper rise. "Are you fraggin' serious? He kept asking about you. What the hell did you do that got me kidnapped and tortured?" she spoke softly but her voice held a steely edge that made him wince.
"I didn't do anything," he growled in response. 'Ok,' he thought, 'that was a lie.' He tried to ignore his guilt.
"Why," he paused, "what did he ask?"
"Apologize." She glared with one eye, while keeping the other on Maluk.
O'Connell motioned as if to refuse, but his heart wasn't in it. He still felt sick when he thought about what she may have endured over the past few hours because of him. "Sorry, Ashe."
"For what?" she continued.
He rolled his eyes and glared at her. "What the hell do you think? For getting you kidnapped!" his hissed responses were growing louder.
She shook her head. "That's not what I want an apology for." She paused a moment, then whispered, "You implied… you just suggested I liked what he did to me! Do you honestly think I asked to… to be kidnapped? That I wanted to be knocked out and stripped naked and… and… Gods! O'Connell… you of all people…" her anger grew and her voice shook.
He stopped short, glaring at the floor, the walls, the ceiling. Looking at anything but her. "I didn't mean that. I was just… just…"
"What?" she hissed.
O'Connell turned to her, angry now. "I was fraggin' worried, alright? Good god, Ashe, I didn't know if he was going to torture you or rape you or kill you! I've been out of my mind! Then I see you, standing there, perfectly fine and naked and well… I felt…"
Ashe let out the breath she didn't realize she was holding in and let a small smile play with her lips. "You… felt?"
O'Connell growled in disgust, then grabbed her by her leather jacket and pulled her to him. He kissed her passionately, his mouth drinking in hers, tasting her, draining her and filling her with nothing but the taste of him.
When he pulled away he cupped her face in his hand. "Good god, Ashe," and she could just make out a slight tremble in his voice, "I thought I had lost you." He paused, his eyes drinking in the site of her, "I'm still fraggin' angry, Ashe, but I'm going to wait until later to get explanations. Right now, I'm just glad you're not dead."
Ashe smiled, the warmth of him enhancing her joy at being alive. "Me too."
Maluk's hiss came between them. "Can we get outa' 'ere now?"
O'Connell growled at the boy, but she smiled at him. "Shall we?" She winked at O'Connell, the joy at being with him filling her with a rush of confidence.
O'Connell grinned back. "What the hell. Don't like the food here anyway."
Ashe laughed, her heart soaring, as they headed down the corridor.