Cobra Slave-eARC by Timothy Zahn Read Free Book Online Page A

added. “Make noise for ten or twelve minutes, then head over to Hollenvar Car Parts—we’ll meet you out back. Go.”
    Without waiting for a response, he and de Portola took off, sprinting down the street toward Appletree with servo-enhanced speed.
    For a second Lorne stared after them, his brain still trying to process everything that had been dumped on it in the past thirty seconds. Then, spinning on his heel, he headed toward the patroller station. There would be time later to sort it all out.
    He hoped.
    #
    They had reached the intersection of Appletree and South, and Jody was working on her fifth ridiculously heroic and utterly impractical scheme to get her recorder back when there was the muffled thud of a blowout and the car suddenly swerved violently to the side. For a handful of seconds she hung onto her restraints until the driver wrestled the car to a halt.
    The Marine in the passenger seat swore under his breath. “Damn backwater junk,” he growled, shoving open his door. “Stay here,” he ordered, and climbed out…
    …slowly, Jody drifted back to consciousness, vaguely aware that she was cold and uncomfortable and that she shouldn’t, in fact, be waking up from anything.
    A murmur in the back of her brain coalesced into voices. Two of them, male, somewhere nearby. The darkness around her grew lighter, and she realized she was lying on her back on a cold surface, her neck and head on something softer and not as cold. She opened her eyes.
    And found herself looking up at two strangers. One was crouched over her looking off to his left, the other standing on her other side and looking in the other direction.
    Apparently, she’d been kidnapped.
    With an effort she forced her eyes away from the men and focused on her surroundings. She was in a service alley somewhere, she decided, with three- and four-story buildings to either side of her and the only illumination coming from a street light half a block away in both directions. Above her, the sky was a faint haze that blocked out all but the brightest stars.
    Which meant she was still in the city. A quiet, semi-deserted part of the city, probably, but still Capitalia.
    And being in the city meant she was surrounded by patrollers and ordinary citizens and maybe even a few Cobras.
    Carefully, she filled her lungs. She had no idea if anyone was even within earshot, but she had to try. And she would only have one shot at this. She opened her mouth—
    Like a striking snake, the crouching man’s hand snapped up from his side and clamped solidly over her mouth. “Hey, none of that,” he admonished.
    Jody grabbed at his arm, trying to wrench his hand away. She might as well have tried to lift her parents’ car. She tried to open her mouth far enough to bite him, but his palm was pressed too tightly against her lips. “Easy, there—easy,” the man said as she tried to twist her head away. “We’re not going to hurt you.”
    “I’m Cobra Badger Werle,” the standing man added. “This is Cobra Dillon de Portola. We’re friends of your brother Lorne.”
    Jody paused, peering more closely at the face leaning over her. Sure enough, she recognized them now from that single trip she’d made out to Archway to visit Lorne two years ago.
    She nodded. Or rather, she tried to nod—de Portola’s grip was still holding her head immobile. But enough of the movement got through. He pulled his hand away, letting the nighttime air flow over her face again. “Sorry,” he apologized. “But we didn’t want you screaming. Someone might have heard.”
    “And then we’d all be in trouble,” a new voice said.
    And to Jody’s relief Lorne trotted up to the group. “Lorne!” she said, getting a hand under her and starting to get up.
    “No—just stay there another minute,” Lorne said, squatting down beside de Portola and gently but firmly pushing Jody’s shoulders back onto the cold pavement. “You caught a sonic blast, and your balance is probably still