Prince's Courtesan Read online

  How the hell was she going to get past them? Crouched in the shaft she studied the problem from all sides and tried to work it out in her mind. She couldn’t just walk past them, and even though she knew how to take care of herself in a fight, these were Sector Seven commandos. They’d drop her to the floor and hog-tie her before she got the first punch in.

  No, she needed an angle, the element of surprise, and a shit-load of luck.

  * * *

  “I’m freaking bored, man.”

  Kelis sighed at the comment and concentrated on the coins he was flipping from finger to finger. He was up to five now and holding the rhythm.

  So far. He wasn’t very good at it yet, but the chicks really dug it. Plus it beat whining like Tamrin.

  “You’re always bored, Tam.”

  “Well, are you surprised? We’ve been staring at this bit of corridor for the last five hours. I mean, I know we’re “protecting His Highness” and all that, but I hardly think they’re gonna be stupid enough to try and get aboard a shuttle. That’s like…breaking in through the front door or something.”

  Kelis flipped more coins. Tamrin had a point, but he wasn’t going to admit that. They were Sector Seven, and the unit motto was “put up and shut up”…well, the unofficial one anyway. Officially there was a motto about death and honor and all that, but most S-Seven personnel did what they were told, when they were told, regardless of the order. It was what had gained them their fearful reputation with the rest of the galaxy. They were the baddest of the bad, and not even the Imadian pirates could match them.

  “Yeah well, there was that serving girl who poisoned the wine at that ball the other month and the aristo’s wife who tried with the stiletto. Actually she did come in through the front door, as I recall. Bitch was high on Tellaris root, needed seven to hold her. She was manic…it took that big bastard Jareth to take her down in the end.”

  “Yeah, he’s freaking scary, man…those eyes. Manic like—what the fuck was that?”

  Their heads whipped around as something clattered further down the hallway. In an instant both had pulse-pistols in their hands, eyes hard as they looked down the innocent looking corridor.

  Kelis jerked his head toward the noise. Tamrin moved without a word, taking up a position on the other side of the corridor. Ghostlike, the two soldiers moved in the direction of the sound. It might just have been a coincidence, but like his old combat sergeant, Kelis didn’t believe in coincidence.

  Still, it might be something as simple as a loose access hatch banging, so he didn’t call it in. Investigating with weapons drawn was more than enough.

  Despite what he’d said to Tamrin, this was the Prince’s flagship. Anyone who tried anything would have to be insane, or suicidal. Or both.

  Their footsteps were soundless on the deck plating. Their eyes were sharp, concentration complete, both pistols aimed and unwavering.

  Kel grumbled silently as they moved down the corridor, moving in a leapfrog maneuver to cover each other. If this was just something mundane, they were going to look stupid. They hit the corner, Tamrin covering Kel as he rolled to the opposite wall and to his knees. Snapping his pistol up, he looked for the target.

  The corridor was empty.

  Kelis swore and jerked his pistol down out of the aimed position.

  “Fuck it. We’re clear. Those freaking engineers have left an access hatch loose again. I tell you man, I’m gonna bounce the duty chief for this. They’ve been told more than enough about this. You head back to the door, I’ll fix this.”

  Kel stood and returned his pistol to the holster on his thigh with a vicious movement. Some engineer somewhere wasn’t going to be able to hear for a week—hell, possibly ever again—when Kelis was done with him.

  “Sure man, have fun.” Tamrin didn’t argue, just put his weapon up and turned on his heel.

  “Fucking engineers… If you want a job done, do it yourself,” Kelis muttered under his breath as he headed for the open access hatch. It was slightly open, the heavy door resting just against the rim.

  Kel knew what had happened. Someone had come through the hatch quickly and just slammed it shut without making sure the lock engaged.

  Sighing, he reached out for the edge of the hatch to close it when it flew open and slammed into his gut.

  “Oof!”

  The blow knocked Kelis off his feet. Breathless curses about defective equipment exploded from his mouth as he rolled to his knees. He didn’t see the booted feet that emerged out of the open hatch behind him, or the crowbar that crashed down on the back of his combat helmet.

  Thump…thud. Jaida winced as the guard went down. Had she hit him too hard? She didn’t want to hurt anyone, just get the hell out of here.

  Placing the crowbar within easy reach, she knelt by the fallen guard, and pushed her fingertips to his neck between the high collar and his helmet.

  Relief flooded through her as his pulse beat strongly under her fingers.

  He was okay, but he’d have a hell of a headache when he woke up. She almost felt sorry for him. Conscience assuaged, she reached down and pulled the heavy pistol from its holster. Her movements were quick and precise as she checked the safety and the settings, betraying her hard won experience with this kind of weaponry. Lips pressed together, she set it to heavy stun and turned. Time to deal with the second guard.

  On silent feet she padded to the corner and crouched to peep around it, her purloined pistol held loosely in her hand. Luck was with her. The second guard was kneeling down halfway along the corridor, tying his shoelaces.

  Jaida shook her head. It didn’t seem possible that these two were from Seth’s elite guard.

  Praise the Lady for bored soldiers.

  Silently she rose and stepped out from the corner. She raised the pistol and aimed. She moved her finger and clicked the laser sight on. A red dot appeared in the middle of the guards back. It wasn’t strictly necessary for the stun setting she was using but given the fact this guy was Sector Seven, she couldn’t afford to miss. He was the only thing that stood between her and a shuttle to freedom.

  She pulled the trigger and watched as he slumped to the ground. She flicked a glance up, noting the security camera. It swept the corridor in a continuous arc. Even if she managed to keep out of its line of sight, someone would notice the unconscious guards. If she wanted to make it out of here, she was going to have to be fast.

  Her hair swung about her shoulders as she checked behind her. She hadn’t expected to get this far, and every moment she expected to find armed men behind her.

  Her lips compressed in determination. If she made it then this time, she would get so far away he’d never find her, perhaps even the Imadian expanse.

  The place was riddled with pirate holdouts and fraught with clan wars, but it was the one place he’d never look for her.

  First though, she had to get off this damn ship. Pistol held loosely by her side she trotted down the corridor toward the shuttle bay doors. Since she wasn’t wearing a suppression bracelet like the guards, the doors detected her life signs and slid open silently. She ducked to one side, just in case there were more guards inside, and then slowly peeked around the edge of the door.

  Row upon row of sleek fighters and shuttlecraft met her eyes. At the other end of the cavernous bay, some were missing, and deckhands and mechanics milled about. That wasn’t a problem; she didn’t intend to head down to that end of the bay anyway.

  She slid through the door on silent feet and took cover behind the nearest fighter. Her gaze was fixed on the shuttle bay launch doors. Opening like a massive maw, it was all that separated the bay from cold space, along with the faint shimmer of a force field. The deckhands weren’t going to be her biggest challenge; getting through that field was.

  Chapter Five

  “What?”

  Seth looked at his second in command in utter disbelief.

  “Okay, let me get this straight. We’re on the flagship of the royal fleet, a ship li
terally crawling with commandos, and you’re telling me one small woman…one small, unarmed woman…managed to escape?”

  Colonel Jareth Nikolai, the Prince’s second in command, looked right back. He didn’t flinch, nor did he avoid Seth’s gaze. His voice was blunt and to the point as he replied. “Yes Sire. She went into the hydroponics bay at fifteen twenty-three to use the temple. As per your instructions two guards were posted on the doors at all times. At fifteen forty-five the guard was changed and the bay was checked. That was when we discovered the guards on the main launch bay doors were unconscious and Lady Jaida was missing. The security cameras on the bay doors are on a slow sweep pattern, so we can only assume it was her.”

  Seth ran his hand through his hair in exasperation, sweeping it back from his face. “Fuck it.”

  “Yeah. That just about covers it.” Jareth’s voice held a hint of quiet amusement that made Seth lift his head quickly. As usual Jareth’s face was stoic. An expression Seth knew well.

  “Okay, out with it…before you bust a gut laughing.”

  Jareth gave him a blank look. “Huh? Me?”

  His blue-black eyes were wide and innocent, but Seth knew him of old.

  They’d met the first day of basic training, beaten the crap out of each other, and been firm friends ever since. The commoner and the prince, the two most feared men in the princedom.

  “I’ve got nothing to say.”

  Seth blew out a sigh of frustration and resisted the temptation to slap his friend upside the ear. For one, it wasn’t very dignified on the bridge of an imperial battle cruiser, and for two, Seth couldn’t remember the last time he’d managed to land a blow on the other man without the element of surprise, or an excessive amount of alcohol.

  “So, she’s been missing twenty-two minutes. Where the hell could she have gone?” Seth turned and dropped down in the command chair. It had taken him years to find her, and now, in the space of hours, she’d managed to elude him again.

  “Some refreshment, Sire?”

  Warin’s voice broke through Seth’s musings. He opened his eyes to find Warin hovering solicitously at his side, a small tray containing a jug of water and a crystal goblet in his hands. Behind the manservant, Jareth’s face was set in dislike, or as near to the expression as the colonel would allow in public. Seth sighed; as much as he’d tried to persuade Warin not to hover like a puppy dog, the words seemed to go in one ear and out the other.

  “No, thank you, Warin. Please, you should be off duty now.”

  “Oh, very kind of Your Highness, but my greatest pleasure in life is to serve.” Warin flushed bright red at Seth’s direct comment and bowed so low Seth was sure he was going to go head over heels on the deck plating.

  “Be that as it may, but I really do need my favorite servant well rested. Can’t have you off duty with exhaustion, now can we?” Seth smiled and stood, towering over the shorter man. Warin backed up, muttering apologies at being in the prince’s personal space.

  “No problem,” Seth clapped the man on the shoulder, not really seeing him anymore as he looked over at Jareth and rolled his eyes. “Off you go, get some sleep.”

  “Thank you kindly, Sire.” Warin turned to go, but stopped after three steps and looked over his shoulder. There was a strange expression on his face. Somewhere between determination and need.

  “Your Majesty, if I might be so bold? She’s not worth it. There are many far more deserving of y-y-your…” The servant stuttered to a halt and dropped his gaze, the flush on his cheeks going from light pink to fire-red. “…far more deserving of your affections, Sire.”

  Seth’s eyebrow winged up. Silence fell over the bridge at the servant’s words, a silence so profound that not only would he have been able to hear a pin drop, he’d have been able to work out the length and diameter of the thing as well.

  “Yes…Thank you for your opinion, Warin.” Seth’s voice was formal and restrained. “I shall not need you until the morning. Dismissed.”

  Seth turned back to Jareth, who watched Warin walk across the bridge, not speaking until the doors slid shut behind him.

  “That man is a snake in the grass.”

  “He’s not so bad.Forgets his place at times, I must admit. Minor son of a noble lord, so I guess that’s understandable.”

  Jareth caught his arm as he walked by, stopping his progress and looking at him directly. “Just watch your back, my friend. Something about him doesn’t ring true to me.”

  Surprised, Seth just nodded. It was rare for Jareth to venture such a strong opinion on someone. So rare that, had it been anyone but Warin, Seth would have been inclined to listen to him. But this was his manservant…for heaven’s sake, he had access to Seth’s room when he slept. If he was a danger, Seth was pretty sure he’d have found out by now.

  “I’ll watch him. I’m sure you’re wrong, but I’ll watch him. Happy?”

  Jareth released his arm and went back to his console. “Of course, always am. You know me.”

  “Yeah, you’re a regular Mr. Happy.” Seth sat back down and rubbed the bridge of his nose between his fingers in an effort to sooth the headache that was beginning to form. So many things were going around in his skull he was sure it was going to explode soon.

  He’d seen the look in Jaida’s eyes when he’d found her. Fear…that was to be expected…after all she had run from the most powerful man in the princedom for years, but there had been something else as well.

  Longing perhaps. For him? He’d assumed so at the time. “Fucking hell. How arrogant…”

  “Excuse me?” Jareth’s voice broke into his thoughts.

  “Nothing, carry on.” He waved his hand in dismissal, locked in his thoughts. “Find her!”

  No, it hadn’t been longing for him. It had been exhaustion. A tiredness so complete it had suppressed the sparkling wit and spirit that had hooked him in the first place. For the first time in years, Seth felt unsure. This Jaida wasn’t the young girl who’d looked at him with adoration. This Jaida was a woman with strength, a woman he didn’t know…

  A raucous sound pierced the careful silence of the bridge, the harsh tone cutting through all activity for a second.

  Seth lifted his head and Jareth paused as he headed off the bridge. Both men looked toward the security officer.

  “Report,” Seth barked, sitting upright in his seat as Jareth came to stand at his shoulder, the traditional place for the Ship’s Second. “Unauthorized launch sir, from the primary shuttle bay.”

  “Get me a feed, put it on the holo.”

  The security officer nodded, and a moment later a flickering screen appeared suspended in midair before the raised command dais. The two men watched as a fighter patrol flew into the bay in formation and smoothly touched down. Perfect landings as far as Seth could see.

  “Play it back, reduce speed by half,” Jareth ordered, his eyes sharp as he rounded Seth’s chair to get closer to the screen. “Here, see? Bottom right of the screen. A shuttle slips out just as the field drops for the last fighter.”

  He turned to Seth, admiration on his face for a moment before he blanked his expression. “Whoever is piloting that shuttle, they’ve got split second timing. We could do with more pilots like that. You think it’s our girl?”

  Seth was shaking his head but he knew the answer. It was Jaida; there was no one else it could be, but where had she learned to fly like that?

  “Has to be. She had to have had help, there’s no way a woman raised as a noble would fly like that.” His voice was curt as he stood. “Ready my shuttle, we’re going after her.”

  Two hours later Seth was growling and gritting his teeth as he chased down the fleeing shuttle with the tenacity of a terrier. In a straight run, Jaida’s shuttle had no chance against the sleek craft Seth was piloting.

  Which was perhaps the reason she’d made straight for the asteroid field at the edge of the system. On the ship he’d thought she’d enlisted help. But no, the sensors aboard the Prince’s Dream were t
op of the range and they were only reading one bio-sign aboard the other shuttle. It was Jaida herself trying to lose him in a dizzying race of twists and turns as they barreled through the scattered asteroids and space debris.

  “You are one crazy lady.”

  He cursed as she performed another hard turn. A few more seconds and she would have ended up a sticky mess against the side of a rock. Shooting a quick prayer to the Lady Goddess, Seth hit the same hard turn. The sound of tortured metal filled the cockpit as his wing tip scraped along the surface of the rock. An inch more and he’d have ripped the wing clean off. His jaw tightened in determination, his eyes unwavering on the shuttle dodging and weaving in front of him.

  “No way out princess, you know that,” he said as though she was in the cockpit with him. All he needed was a clear straight gap in the asteroid field to hit the engines and get above her, then he could activate the mag-locks and haul her in. She knew it, he knew it.

  The trick though, was getting above her. As the two craft dodged and wove in a high-speed version of cat and mouse, Seth was pushed to the limit to keep up with his quarry.

  “Seth, will you just fuck off and die?”

  Jaida swore and hit the brakes to slow the hurtling shuttle. It all but stood on its nose, everything loose in the cabin sliding to the front of the craft.

  She didn’t bother to reach out and move the mess. Instead she just looked around a half-filled maintenance report form, and slammed her flight controls hard left. Responsive to the slightest twitch of her fingers, the small craft went into a tight barrel roll.

  Keeping one eye on the view ahead of her to avoid a fatal collision with an asteroid she kept the other on the controls. The tiny blip on her console that was Seth’s shuttle shot off to the right, following her original course.

  “Woohoo! You fell for it. Sucker!” She whooped in triumph. He’d missed the turn, and from her sensor readings, the field was too dense for him to loop back now. He’d have to exit the asteroid field before finding a way back in to come look for her. “And by that time sweetheart, I’ll be long gone.”