An Excerpt From: MARSHALL’S GUARD
Copyright © ISABO KELLY, 2005.
All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave Publishing, Inc.
As they approached the station, waiting for permission to dock, Leia outlined the plan for Jake and Matt while the others geared up. The women would triple the number of weapons they carried outwardly and add a number of concealed weapons for those just-in-case moments. Fortunately, Dockland was one of the space stations not inclined toward security scans when boarding or leaving.
“You will have to play the part of kidnapped men—which you are,” Leia said with a little frown. “The only chance of surviving long enough to reach my contact on the station is by playing this part. And some may still not truly believe we’ve gone renegade. Most cargo would be drugged, but I’d rather you were both awake. I cannot give you any obvious weapons, but…”
She reached out to Vanian who handed her two very small laser blades. “These will cut through most substances when activated. Don’t accidentally turn them on inside your pockets.” She showed them how the little devises worked and watched as they studied the weapons.
Taking a deep breath, she said, “We will have to have you restrained… handcuffed? But you’ll have the code to disengage the cuffs if it becomes necessary. I must ask that you do not act, in any way, unless I give you permission or your lives are in danger.” She met Jake’s dark blue eyes. “I know this won’t be easy. You will want to act. Don’t. Please. Let me and the other Guards handle this. You do not fully understand your situation.”
Matt raised a hand, stilling her words. “And there’s the rub, Lieutenant. What exactly is our situation? We’ve pretty much decided between us that we’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto. So where in the goddamned universe are we?”
She shook her head. “I don’t have time to explain now, and it wouldn’t make sense to you anyway. You’re in a system far from the system where Earth is located. In a different galaxy. But without a map it would be difficult to explain. The distances would mean little to you. And who is Toto?”
Jake’s grin was quick and startling. It added a whole new dimension to his handsome face. “What, you don’t have classic films here?”
Films? She frowned as her translator struggled with the word. She gave up with a shrug.
“Don’t worry, Dorothy, it’s not important. And we’ll deal with where we are when we have time. You’ve told us we were kidnap, we’re considered cargo on this station. We were to be sold, is that it?”
“Yes. Slaves. If you survived.”
“Worth much?” Matt asked with a touch of humor and a quirked eyebrow.
She felt her cheeks inexplicably warming. “Jake would be worth a fortune in any system in the known galaxies.”
“And me?” Now Matt sounded offended.
“Well… There are those that would pay quite handsomely for an Earthman like you.” It was the most diplomatic way she could think of telling him.
“Hmmm… How much?”
“In Tracnas—”
“How much in U.S. dollars?”
“There is no… translation. No way to compare the currencies. Let us just say you would be worth more than ten million Tracnas in open auction.”
Matt grinned, slapped Jake on the arm. “You hear that. Ten million of anything’s got to be a lot of money.”
“Ten million Italian lire was worth about ten bucks before they switched to the Euro, so don’t get too excited.” Jake chuckled and the sound went all the way to Leia’s toes.
She could listen to that chuckle all day. The deep vibrations of his voice stole her breath and for an instant she couldn’t think of anything else but stripping off his loose tunic and trousers and indulging her every wicked fantasy with him. It took her a moment to blink away the erotic fantasy, a moment longer to realize Jake was speaking to her again. “Sorry?”
“How much would I be worth? In Tracnas?” He was still smiling but there was a look in his blue eyes that made her stomach twist.
“At least a half…” Matt started to laugh, punching Jake’s arm this time. He stopped when she finished. “A half billion Tracnas. That is where the bidding would start.”
Matt’s mouth dropped open. Jake’s dark brows rose but it was his only reaction. Matt’s face turned red. “Why the hell would he be worth so much more than me?”
Jake chuckled again, patted Matt on the knee. “Because they know a good thing when they see it.”
Leia couldn’t agree more.
“Yeah right,” Matt spat. He slumped back in his chair, grumbling, “Ten lousy million.”
Bythan signaled from the front of the shuttle. “They’ve given us a landing sequence, Lieutenant. We’re approaching docking area 20, bay 5, ring C2 now.”
“Thank you.” Leia touched her jaw again to reactivate the translation chip. “We’ll be landing soon, gentlemen. Do you have any questions?”
“Why here?” Jake sat forward, serious and intent.
“Because I have an… acquaintance that will help us with a faster ship, a ship that can get us back to Nas without being waylaid by the pirates again.”
“Can you trust this acquaintance?”
She laughed. She couldn’t help it. “Not really. But my mother would kill him if he didn’t help.”
Jake’s dark brows rose again in a sardonic gesture she was coming to recognize. She smiled. “We won’t stay on Dockland for longer than necessary. I will explain as much of your…situation as I can once we are away. For now, remember you are our prisoners and we intend to sell you, but we are not prepared to take bids yet. We’re building up the anticipation to raise the price. You will do nothing without my permission. If you don’t follow my instructions, you could get all of us killed.”
Matt grumbled something under his breath that didn’t sound very polite. She could swear she heard “ten lousy million” again but couldn’t be sure. “Gentlemen, do you understand and do you agree?”
“You’ll answer our questions?” Jake asked. “All of them.”
She sighed. It went against every protocol in the book to tell them any more than they knew. Even now they knew much more than was supposed to be permitted. But she had little choice if she wanted their cooperation. “I will answer what I can.” It was the best she could do.
Jake and Matt exchanged a long look. “Okay,” Jake said after a moment. “We’ll follow your lead because this is your turf, but don’t expect us to let some bug-eyed alien eat us because it seemed rude to shoot it.
