Hostage To The Stars: A Sectors SF Romance by Veronica Scott Read Free Book Online Page A

in a neat pattern around each of her ankles and met her eyes. “Yes.”
    Sara swallowed hard. “I got a quick course in the harsh realities of life when the pirate boarded the Star Swan and the crew wouldn’t help me, so I’m not too surprised. But why did you come for me?”
    “Special Forces don’t leave anyone behind. I’d never abandon a Sectors citizen at the mercy of these Farduccir bastards. Especially not a woman.” He shrugged. He hadn’t questioned himself when he heard there was a prisoner about to be left behind. Of course he needed to make his best effort to rescue her. “May I have your left wrist now?”
    She extended her arm to him. “I’m grateful. “
    “Once it was reported to Command that the warlord held another Sectors citizen, some effort would have been made.” He shook his head as he examined the rope burns and bruises. The warlord’s men had played rough with her more than once. She’d fought hard. “But not enough, I can’t lie.”
    “Not in time to do me any good.” She brushed fresh tears off her cheeks.  
    “No. Not unless you have family with a lot of gravity. Or an employer with connections.”
    “Neither. No lover in high places like Tresha either.” He could tell what an effort she made to sound cheerful. “No boyfriend, much less one in politics. My family is ordinary people on an ordinary planet. Teachers. And I’m on sabbatical right now, from Sector 52 University. I took a year off to travel and study.”
    “What do you teach?”
    “The organization and retrieval of knowledge.”
    He pondered her job description while he took care of her injuries. “An archivist?”
    “Sort of. What’s our plan?”
    He sat back on his heels, reaching for the antibiotic. “That’s where things get a bit tricky.”
    “So no plan? We stay on the run on Farduccir forever?”
    He laughed. “Have a little faith, please - I can do better than permanent fugitive status on this world. I was deployed here before, about fifteen years ago, during the Mawreg push into the Sector, which is why Command wanted me as a consultant. I know where there are well-hidden caches of Special Forces supplies; including mothballed coms I hope we can use to call for extraction. Our gear stays viable for decades. There are people at home who will be making noise about retrieving me, so once I make it known we’re alive, an extraction mission will be mounted. We probably have a two to three week trek ahead of us to the depot though. I’m sorry.”
    She waved the canteen. “Never apologize to me for anything, Mr. Danver. I owe you.”
    “It’s Sergeant Danver actually, but you can call me Johnny.”
    “Do you have an extra blaster, Johnny?”
    He liked the way his name sounded on her lips. “Can you shoot?”
    “You can teach me, can’t you? I think I’ll be a lot happier if I have the means to defend myself.” She shuddered again. “Or kill myself because I am not returning to the warlord’s prison.”
    “I promise the situation won’t arise. My word on it.” He gathered his bandages and lotions, putting each carefully in its designated slot, and closed the medkit. “You’re all set. Any other aches and pains I should check?”
    “Bruises. They’ll fade.” She leaned against the rock wall and closed her eyes. "The warlord made it clear to his men I would lose my value if anyone got carried away and damaged anything permanently. He shot one man who was caught in my cell on an unauthorized visit. The only time I was happy to see my assigned jailers.”
    Johnny admired her ability to cope. He’d had intense training for what to do and how to survive if he were to be captured and tortured. She’d been an unprepared civilian. Studying her face, he decided not to voice his thoughts. Sticking to the practicalities, he said, “We can try to steal a pair of shoes for you from a village as we go.”
    “I don’t want you risking your life unnecessarily to save me from