Chapter 11
==== Alnas Drift – Present Time ====
Harper knew that the ones that took Trance wouldn't be anywhere near the main corridors.
So returning to where he found her missing, he took to the back alleys of the Drift, his pack slung to his back as he moved like a shadow.
Are we going to play? A voice asked him as he traveled.
"Yes," he replied silently, not wanting to give his position away.
Are you actually going to let me play this time, or are you going to have all the fun?
"No, you get to play this time, just remember the last time I didn't want anyone killed, that's why I was in control."
If you say so Seamus.
The voice was silent as he continued to track his prey. Their trail was still fresh, and obvious. Apparently they were mere amateurs, easy to track for a professional like Harper.
Hiding a grin, he followed the staggered path of the one that had carried Trance. While she appeared light, Harper could attest that she was all muscle, which made her heavier than she looked.
Not that he was saying she was heavy, or fat. He quickly amended. He was just saying that looks could be deceiving.
After tracking them for half an hour, Harper finally arrived at his final destination, one of the storage rooms located well off the regular Security Patrol routes. They were smart, for amateurs, he had to give them that.
Hearing voices from the other side of the thin door, he knew he had arrived.
Glancing around the door he found a vent grill, with an evil grin he quietly removed it and climbed in, closing it behind him.
Quietly crawling along the duct, he came to the vent for the room below.
"What are we going to do with her?" a voice asked.
"Don't know, the Boss'll think of something." Another replied.
"She's kinda cute, think the Boss'll mind if we have a little fun?" the first voice asked. Harper's eyes grew wide as his rage flared.
There is no way in all the hells of Seven galaxies that they were gonna do that to his Trance.
Putting his bag on the ducting past the vent, he quietly unzipped it and pulled out a few useful tools, he didn't hear the other man reply with a laugh and encourage his friend.
"Zelazny," Harper said silently, getting the attention of the voice.
Yes Seamus? The voice became aware of the surroundings and Harper's memories of what was going to happen. Oh, goodie, playtime! Zelazny said with absolute joy.
"Don't kill them straight off, I want you to ask them some questions first, understood?" Harper said to Zelazny.
Perfectly, Zelazny replied with a grin in his voice. Harper nodded; reassured that he would keep his word.
For a moment Harper's eyes rolled back in his head before rolling back. But this Harper was different; this Harper was wearing a grin and had a twinkle of anticipation in his eye.
Pushing the bag away from the vent he watched as the first thug approached Trance, licking his lips in anticipation of having a little 'fun' with her, his friend was laughing as he approached, eager to see her struggle.
Harper waited until the man was touching Trance, luring them into a false sense of security. Harper had to bite down on his tongue to prevent from screaming as he began pulling her top off, struggling, as he couldn't get it past the ropes they had used to tie her to the chair.
While he was in the middle of struggling with the ropes and the shirt, muttering curses as he did so, Harper took the opportunity to make his move.
Pressing the button on a small EMP generator, he blew the circuit for the room below. He only had a few seconds before the breaker was automatically tripped and the lights came back on.
Removing the vent, he dropped into the room as the men began cursing at the lights. Harper silently removed the small metal knife from his belt, grinning even more as the lights flickered and came back on.
"Hello boys, mind if I play?" he said when they saw him.
Moving with unnatural speed he raced by them both, the blade flashing in the light.
Both men fell to the ground as they grabbed their legs, their hamstrings severed. Putting the knife away, Harper approached the man closest to him.
"Now, do you mind telling me what you were going to do to my girlfriend over there?" Harper asked in an overly sweet voice.
Just as the man in front of him was about to answer, Harper caught movement from the corner of his eye. The other one was going for a gun that was lying on the floor.
"Bad move," Harper said as his hand twitched and drew the knife from it's sheath, flinging it towards him in one movement.
There was a small cry as the knife found its home nestled between his eyes, buried up to the hilt.
"Pity too," Harper said as he watched him slump to the ground, "I was going to torture him first too. Now, where were we? Ah yes, you were going to tell me what you were planning on doing with her."
"We weren't gonna do nothing with her," he said.
"Now why are you lying to me? I hate it when people lie to me, and here I was going to let you live too. Now I'll have to kill you."
"NO! wait!" the man said in fear of his life as Harper pulled a strange tool from his belt. Not sure of its purpose the man was sure that it would bring him great pain.
"We was told by the Boss to kidnap her from the market. He said something about selling her to the slave trade, he thought she'd make a good sex slave or something like that."
"So you guys figured that since she was heading there anyway, you'd try out the merchandise for free?" Harper asked as a fire burned in his eyes, Zelazny struggling to keep Seamus from killing him then and there. The man only nodded at Harper's summation.
Harper released his hold on the man, throwing him to the floor as he released him. Walking calmly back to the vent he pulled the strap of the bag, pulling it into the room with him.
"Tell me something, have you ever been tortured by the Dragans? I have, and let me tell you this, they are good at what they do. But after years of torture you become immune to the pain, you learn to ignore it and soon it's over. But you don't learn this until after you've learned exactly what the methods they use on you are."
Harper placed the bag in front of the fallen man, careful to avoid the blood from his severed tendon. Reaching into the bag he brought out a small egg shaped device.
"Do you know what this is?" Harper asked as he held it for the man to see. "It's a miniature thermite plasma grenade, I invented it myself. You see, all I have to do is set it to either manual or remote. On manual it has a thirty second delay before it incinerates any and all organic matter in a 20 meter radius, actually its about the size of this room. Now remote is more fun, with that I can press a button from outside and it goes off and poof no more organic material."
Harper turned the device in his hands before continuing on, a sadistic grin on his face.
"This is going to be a little gift for your Boss when he shows up. I heard you mention that he'd be here soon, and I thought this would be a good welcoming present. What do you think?"
The man was silent for a moment before he was able to speak.
"But I'll die too," he said in panic.
Harper smiled sadly at him.
"No, the explosion won't kill you. You'll be dead before then."
"You said you wasn't gonna kill me," he stuttered out.
"I lied," Harper said before grabbing what looked like brass knuckles and hitting the man in the face. After a few moments his face was unrecognizable as human, and he was wheezing in shallow breaths.
Harper dropped him again and put the knuckles back in his bag. Taking the device from his belt he extended a barbed claw from the end.
"This little toy is also an invention of mine, based off a Dragan torture device of course. It's sole purpose is to remove a person's heart, both inflicting unimaginable amounts of pain and leaving them alive for a short period of time. Of course I've never tested it, so you have the honor of being the first."
Harper once again was wearing his sadistic grin, obviously taking pleasure in killing this man, whom for his part was looking eager to die after his beating.
"Now, hold still," Harper said as he placed the claw over his chest and thrust it in, Harper held his hand over the man's mouth to prevent him from screaming, but it was still slightly audible. Harper turned it to sever the arteries and veins as he retracted the claw and pulled it and the still beating heart from his body.
"Well, I guess it does work," Harper said as he showed the man his still beating heart even as he lost consciousness. Harper smirked as he extended the claw and dropped the failing muscle on the floor. Retracting the claw he replaced the device in his duffel bag, placing the grenade on the floor.
Harper stood and wiped the blood off his shirt. Turning he faced the still unconscious Trance. With a sigh he removed the blade from the other man's head, wiping the blood off on his shirt.
Walking to where Trance was tied up he cut the ropes and caught her as she fell forwards. Putting her shirt back on her he gently picked her up in his arms, moving to place her on the table nearby. Returning the knife to its sheath he walked to his bag and picked it up. Slipping his arms through the handles Harper grabbed a chair and replaced the vent cover in the ceiling.
Returning to Trance he picked her up and moved towards the door, opening it silently and closing it behind him just as quietly.
Pausing a moment, Harper heard the sound of boots against the grating, there were several people heading this way.
Moving quickly, he hid in the shadows, Trance still cradled against him as he pulled a small remote from his pocket.
Harper waited patiently as the boots came closer; soon voices were heard.
"They said they got the purple girl?"
"Yeah Boss, that's what they said. Said they brung her here too."
"Good, she'll turn a pretty penny at the auction, a purple girl would be a collectable item," he said with an evil laugh which his men echoed.
"Since we are going to take her to the market, why don't we try her out, what do you say boys?"
There was a chorus of cheers as they finally arrived at the storage room. Gesturing for them to open the door, a henchman quickly stepped forward and opened it. The 'Boss' stepped through with a grin of anticipation on his face, his men all following.
Seamus, Zelazny said.
Yeah? Seamus replied.
Do you want to press the button?
With pleasure Zelazny… with pleasure. Seamus replied as Harper's eyes rolled back into his head before returning to normal, a vindictive smile on his face.
Harper waited until they were all in and had noticed the bodies.
"What the..." the Boss said as Harper pressed the button. A bright, blinding white light cut off the rest of his sentence as he and his men were vaporized instantly, removing all traces of organic material from the room.
Walking past the room, Harper gave the door a shove, closing it as he carried Trance past.
==
Arriving at the Maru, Harper placed her on a bunk and went to the cockpit to send another message.
After sending the message telling Andromeda that he had it well in hand, he returned to his bunk and put the duffel back into the trunk, resealing it as he began to move it to the engine room to hide it.
After hiding it in a section of grating buried deep within the engine itself, he returned to the cockpit after checking on Trance.
Gaining permission to leave, Harper piloted the freighter away from the Drift and towards the slipstream portal. After making the first jump back into relative space, Harper set the Maru on autopilot to the next portal, a good hour or so away.
Returning to Trance, he took in her appearance. Gently running his hand down the side of her face he let a soft sigh out as he watched her sleep.
I'll never let anyone hurt you, ever, he silently vowed. Standing he began walking to the galley, he needed a cup of coffee.
"Harper?" his name froze him in his tracks, turning quickly he saw Trance struggling to wake.
"Trance," he said, at her side in an instant.
"Harper, what happened?" she asked weakly, too tired to say much more, the sedative they used still affecting her.
"Shhh," he soothed her, "don't try to talk. You'll be fine now, no one's gonna hurt you. I'm here to protect you."
"Always?" she asked as she drifted back into slumber.
"Always," Harper said as he gently kissed her forehead, pulling the blanket around her.
====
TBC: Chapter 12.