Heart of Winter: A Sci-fi Alien Warrior Romance (Winter's Edge Book 2) Read online

  “Hi” said Grace in a low voice.

  “No talking to the prisoner,” barked the man. Grace’s face slipped further into terror but she seemed to regain her composure as she sat down the tray she had been holding allowing Jane to see its shabby contents which consisted of an orange lump that she couldn’t identify and a handful of peas.

  “Sabetha thought you might need a little food to get you through the night,” said the man, a wicked grin on his face. “Of course, she also said that this would be your food for the next two days. Better eat slow.” With that he beckoned Grace with a wave of his hand. The girl gave Jane a beseeching look like she wanted to tell her something before turning away and walking back towards the man. As the man turned around to open the door Jane caught site of a slim pair of keys that dangled from his belt. The two of them left through the door, shutting it behind them.

  Jane looked at what she hoped wouldn’t turn out to be two days’ worth of eating. She touched the peas which were dry and hard, almost as if they were ready to break into pieces if prodded too much. She turned her attention to the unidentified orange substance next, barely touching it with the smallest part of her finger. She felt something hard beneath the substance’s rubbery exterior. She pushed her finger further in, feeling her skin make contact with something hard and solid. Slowly, she extracted two small pieces of metal, pulling one out after the other.

  They had just the right size and were bent at just the right angles to make a perfect set of lock picks. She smiled and directed a silent prayer of thanks towards Grace.

  An inchoate plan began to take shape in her head. She moved quickly towards the door, getting on one knee so she was almost eye level with the lock. She put the two picks in, pushing and pulling for several minutes until she heard a clicking sound. One again, Jane thanked her good fortune that these people had only rudimentary technology at their disposal. Most prisons didn’t rely on locks and instead usually consisted of automated doors controlled by a complex electronic system. Sometimes grids of lasers were erected as additional barriers. Whoever these people were, it was clear that their resources were exceedingly scarce.

  Before she opened the door, Jane ran back and grabbed the tray, brushing off the peas and the remaining orange goo onto the floor. She moved towards the door, giving it a gentle pull so that it swung open while she concealed herself behind it. She only had to wait a moment before the man with the shaved head stormed in, his footsteps sounding like an angry stampede. Before he had the novel idea of looking behind the door, Jane stepped out and smashed the tray against the back of his head. The thin sheet metal of the tray connected, denting itself in the process and causing the man to give a startled cry as he fell to his knees. Jane spotted the key hanging from his belt, her hand moved swiftly and plucked it away with a nimble dexterity.

  He reached a hand behind him, grasping for her and coming up with only air. Jane had already dashed out of the room, slamming the door behind her and locking it with the key. She gave a sigh of relief before putting her ear to the door. She could hear a faint, angry noise that she assumed was the man’s animalistic screams. There was a pounding near her temple, letting her know that the man was slamming his fists against the door. It wouldn’t do him any good. She could have told him that.

  She sprinted down the hallway, taking the first exit she came to on her left. She went down another corridor, ducking behind another entranceway, as she heard the sound of padding footsteps. She waited until the noise was gone and then stepped back into the corridor, once again moving forward.

  After another turn she was greeted with the sight of the winding staircase that seemed to connect all levels of this place. She stepped out from the hallway she was in and took a brief glance at her surroundings. Below her was the dining room and entrance hallway which contained the jewel studded table they had eaten at. She looked up, seeing the staircase stretch into the distance. She was about hallway between top and bottom at the moment. The rooms they had been given were just one level up.

  Jane chewed her lip and considered her options. She had no idea what time it was. Not even if it was morning or night. Her time in the white room had seemed to exist in a vacuum and while she knew that she had spent hours in there, she was not sure how many. She also didn’t know where Sabetha planned to conduct her negotiations. It was possible that Damion was already with Sabetha along with Bill Saunter, all of them trying to figure out who would get the stone.

  She ran to the stairs, taking them two at a time while feeling relieved that there was no one else on the stairs at the same time. She reached the next level, hopping off onto the tiled ground. She found her room and moved past it, knowing that there was nothing in there that could help her. She reached Damion’s next and proceeded to give it a good pounding. She waited for a moment, knowing that it was pointless. He wasn’t here. She felt her anxiety begin to build once more. She went to the next room which happened to be Professor Jung’s.

  “Professor?” she said softy as she rapped on his door. Several seconds passed and Jane was about ready to give up before the door opened, revealing Professor Jung dressed head to toe in blue pajamas and a matching nightcap along with a pair of pink slippers.

  Professor Jung rubbed his eyes and in a sleepy voice asked, “Jane?” Jane stood there gawking at his outfit for several moments, temporarily losing her sense of urgency.

  “Okay,” she began slowly. “Were’ going to have a talk about your sense of fashion later. Right now, though we have a big fucking problem. Where’s Damion?”

  The Professor straightened up at these words, his tail uncurling from around his feet to stand erect behind him. “Sabetha came and got him less than an hour ago. They’re with Mr. Saunter attempting to negotiate a deal as we speak.”

  “Where?”

  “The top floor of the tower.”

  Jane silently cursed her timing.

  “What’s going on?” said the Professor, his brow furrowed into a single line of worry.

  Jane gave a silent motion towards the door and the Professor nodded in understanding, ushering her inside.

  Two yellow eyes and pair of long teeth greeted her as she stepped into the room.

  “Achilles!” exclaimed Jane, feeling her fear beginning to ebb. Achilles bounded forward, rubbing his brown coat against her leg while licking her thigh.

  “I went and got him off the ship,” said Professor Jung.

  “Good call.” Jane scratched Achilles behind his ears which elicited low, guttural sounds of pleasure in response.

  “So, what’s happened?” The sleepy expression on Professor Jung’s face was replaced by a serious look that bordered on grave.

  Jane opened her mouth to respond but was cut off by a thumping on the door.

  “Who is it?” called the Professor.

  “Walter and Bry,” came Bry’s squeaky high voice. Professor Jung opened the door revealing Walter Kane, dressed in a white shirt and shorts along with Bry who had on a nightgown, her hand loosely holding her cane.

  “Hey Jane.” Bry looked at both Jane and the professor in confusion. “Oh my god” she said, realization dawning on her face. “You two aren’t---” she trailed off.

  Jane folded her arms in stern disbelief. “Of course we aren’t.” The Professor wore a sheepish look on his face.

  “Oh,” said Bry, disappointment clearly in her voice. Jane suspected that Bry had been hoping to catch her with someone much the same way she had caught her and Walter together. Things had been a little awkward between them since the incident and Jane knew that Bry was looking for a way to restore the balance between them, which meant finding something just as embarrassing to tease her about.

  Walter directed himself at Jane, “What’s going on?”

  “Sabetha isn’t who she says she is.” She then went on to explain the whole sordid story, starting with her meeting Grace, talking to Jack Abbott and ending with her escape from the white room. All three of them listened closely, nobody sp
eaking until she had finished.

  “Well, that’s not good,” said Walter who was the first one to speak up.

  Jane nodded. “Yeah, I’d say that’s an understatement.”

  “What are we going to do?” pushed Bry.

  Jane looked to the Professor who was thoughtfully stroking his chin and then back to Walter and Bry who looked like two helpless newborns. Bry looked worried while Walter looked terrified. Perfect, Jane thought to herself, feeling the weight of her weariness bear down on her. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, pausing before she opened them. “Here’s what we’re going to do” she said.

  Chapter 8

  “Radio?” Jane asked.

  Professor Jung dug in his pocket, pulling out a small device in the shape of a semi-circle. It fit neatly in the palm of his hand. He pressed the front of it causing a sharp crackling noise to emerge. “Hello? “Charlie, are you there?” It was meant to be a direct link to the ship’s com system, but so far it was coming up empty. He looked over at Jane. “Somebody’s jamming our signal.”

  “What a surprise.” Jane had suspected that any attempt to contact the Winter’s Edge would end up being useless. Still, she had needed to try just to be sure.

  “Guns?” she inquired turning to look first at the Professor who had just tucked the portable radio back into his pocket. He shook his head.

  “I didn’t think I would need one.”

  “I’m starting to think that we’ll always need one” Jane turned to look at Walter and Bry.

  “We’ve got three back in our room” said Walter.

  “You think that will be enough?” Bry said. Jane noticed that she had put her cane against the wall and was standing unassisted.

  “Maybe. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

  “What now?”

  “We move” said Jane.

  ***

  They crept down the hallway with Walter in the lead, followed by Jane, Bry and the Professor with Achilles padding softly along at the rear. They moved cautiously at first, looking in both directions as often as possible as they made their way forward. They reached the winding stairwell undetected and slowly began to make their way up, step by step. Halfway to the top, they paused as several people entered the room below. It looked to be several of Sabetha’s men.

  Upon seeing them, Walter paused on the stairwell. Jane gave him a little push from behind, urging him forward.

  “We have to keep moving,” she whispered. Reluctantly, he began to move again and the rest of them followed. Not once did any of the men glance up. Instead they seemed absorbed in whatever conversation they were having with one another, their voices a dim buzzing noise that labored into incoherence by the time it reached them, high up as they were.

  They made it to the top, which consisted of a platform with a single door set into the wall. Jane moved to the front with Achilles coming along with her, his teeth barred, thin sheets of saliva dripping from them.

  Jane placed her hand on the door. “Remember, no hesitation” she said in a low voice. Walter and Bry shifted uneasily but they both gave silent nods of acquiescence, as did Professor Jung who strangely enough, looked to be the calmest among them. This was made even more peculiar considering that he was the only one of them without a gun and instead had only a small knife at his disposal. Jane had previously noticed this trait when they had fought the Umbra. The man may be bookish, but he was not easily rattled when the moment called for it.

  “Good. Everyone ready?” Jane took one of the small guns from Walter and Bry’s room and holding it ready at her side. Once again, she was greeted by the nodding of three heads and a low growl from Achilles who had hunched himself forward like he was preparing to spring. She opened the door.

  Jane stepped in her gun raised and was greeted with the sight of a small room in the shape of an oval that had a silk carpeted floor and several armchairs arranged at the far end of the room, the chairs holding three people, only one of whom Jane was happy to see. The north side of the room had no wall and was instead made entirely of paneled glass that gave a clear view of the colony and the desert sands beyond them.

  Jane surveyed the people arranged in front of her, her gaze slipping from Sabetha who to Jane’s delight, wore an open look of shock on her face, to Bill Saunter lying back with his feet propped up on a stool, a mild look of amusement in his eyes. Then there was Damion. He registered a quick look of surprise before immediately letting it slip away in favor of his usual cool detachment. To the right of Jane stood one of Sabetha’s men, large and tattooed, his arm twitching near his holster.

  “Don’t even think about it.” Jane kkept her gun trained on him. The tattooed man eyed her wearily as his hand drifted away from his weapon. Behind her, Walter, Bry and the Professor moved into the room. Achilles growled at her side and cast a wild eyed glare at the entire room.

  “What in god’s name are you doing!” Sabetha’s voice boomed all at once.

  Jane looked at her incredulously. “Yeah, let’s just pretend like you’re not the leader of a group of criminals who have enslaved the colony and then when I found out about it had me locked in a cell.”

  “You don’t honestly believe this girl?” Sabetha said, turning to look at Damion and Bill Saunter.

  “I really don’t care one way or another,” Bill Saunter said coolly. “I wouldn’t care if you were the devil’s own daughter and had slaughtered a room full of disabled orphans. I’m just here for the stone. That’s all.”

  “You locked her in a cell?” Damion’s voice was deadly quiet in a way that Jane had never heard before.

  “Now Damion—” began Sabetha.

  “It’s Captain Winter,” he snapped.

  “Listen to me then, Captain, if you want that stone you’re going to do exactly what I say,” Sabetha snarled, her usually pleasant tone unraveling altogether.

  “Hey Sabetha.” Jane took several strides forward.

  “What?” She turned, just as Jane hit her in the face. The blow knocked her head back and she fell out of her chair. The henchman moved to target Jane but he stopped as soon as he saw Bry and Walter round on him with their guns.

  “You little bitch.” Sabetha was on her hands and knees, blood dripping from her nose. Jane walked over to her and felt a surge of savage power as she grabbed Sabetha by the hair and pulled her head back.

  “Where’s the stone?” Jane’s voice was so calm that it scared her. She had been afraid of this. Afraid that everything would go wrong. And now, even though she had the upper hand, it still felt like everything was spinning out of control. And a part of her couldn’t help but be thrilled by it all.

  “Go fuck yourself!” Sabetha spat at her.

  Jane put the barrel of her gun to Sabetha’s head, pressing it hard against her temple.

  “Tell me where. I won’t ask again.”

  “For god’s sake, I have it” said the Tattooed man, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a round stone engraved with three ravens with their wings spread.

  Damion strode over the man and plucked it from his hand. He looked at it for a moment. “It’s the one we’re looking for.”

  “Idiot” said Sabetha looking at the tattooed man. “That was our only leverage.”

  “She would have killed you if I hadn’t given it up” he said. “I can tell just by looking at her.”

  Jane heard the truth in the man’s words and felt a shiver crawl down her spine. She might have done it. Certainly she had wanted to. She let go of Sabetha and took a step back. She looked around the room. Walter and Bry looked at her with concern. The professor too, although his expression also had an air of curiosity about it. Then she looked at Damion. He gave her an approving nod, almost as if he were proud of her. That’s when she looked to her right and into the eyes of Bill Saunter. He was grinning. She saw his hand flash and before she could react there was an intense explosion of light that suffused the room.

  She felt her ears ring from a noise that had come and gon
e so fast she barely remembered hearing it. In the next instant, she felt a hand grip her leg and pull her to the ground, her gun leaving her hand as she fell hard against the floor. Within moments of her fall, hands had closed around her neck. She grabbed at the fingers around her throat but couldn’t pull them off. As the bright light faded and her vision returned, she saw the snarling face of Sabetha Grey come into focus.

  Jane struggled underneath her, trying to pull her hands away to little avail. As dark spots bloomed behind Jane’s eyes she tried the first idea that echoed in her head. She raised her head forward and smashed it into Sabetha’s. She let go, allowing breath to fill Jane’s lungs once more. She threw a swift punch, her fist connecting with the side of Sabetha’s head. She felt Sabetha’s weight leave her as the woman was sent rolling onto the floor.

  Jane looked around, the room seeming to spin in front of her. She saw Damion getting up from the floor as well, his hand no longer holding the stone. Bry and Walter lay sprawled on top of one another, looking like they had been knocked out. And at the far end of the room, Professor Jung struggled with the tattooed man who had him pinned up against the wall. Jane started towards the pair of them, stopping almost immediately as Achilles beat her to them. He jumped upon the tattooed man’s back biting down on his neck. Achilles quickly dragged him down to the floor, where the man thrashed about for a few seconds before lying still.

  “He’s gone” said Damion, slowly getting to his feet and looking like he had sustained some sort of concussion. Jane looked around the room once more, registering the absence of Bill Saunter for the first time. At the moment, she didn’t’ care. She moved quickly to Walter and Bry who were just coming back to their senses. Walter sat up with a groan while Bry looked around with a dazed look on her face.

  “What the hell happened?” said Walter.

  “Well, from the looks of it, Mr. Saunter somehow managed to knock out both of you and our Captain to make off with the stone” said Professor Jung, who looked a little disoriented himself in contrast to his usual demeanor.