The First Nova I See Tonight by Jason Kilgore (the false prince .txt) 📕

at first, but just kept looking down at Dirken, examining him. Finally he said in a baritone voice, "Captain Neenan will suffice. You're pretty confident for someone who is completely at my mercy. You won't divulge the code to the safe, even when confronted with an Oranchian and torture. So either you don't know the code or you are compelled by a more powerful force not to reveal it."

Neenan stepped slowly to Dirken's left, examining him from a different angle. The centaur was surprisingly lithe for his size. "It is of little matter. I'll open the safe one way or another. It's the item inside that holds the mysteries. So nice of you to deliver it to me."

Dirken groaned internally, remembering Yiorgos's admonishment that they should have stayed inside the Excellentia.

"You told my crew that you knew the 'secret' of using the Heart," the Bloodhawk continued. "Pray tell, what secret are you withholding?"

The heart? What is he talking about? He decided to play along.

"Well, it wouldn't be a secret if I told you, now would it? The heart is a tricky thing. You're going to have to offer me something worthwhile."

Neenan raised an eyebrow. "Your life isn't enough?"

Even if he knew the answer, Dirken understood he'd be killed the moment he revealed it. Instead, he tilted his head and answered, "Well, there are a lot of different factors at play here. Remunerations. Government entities. Reputations…."

Neenan cut him off. "Your partner's life." The Bloodhawk stepped around the back of Dirken. "I can offer remunerations. You saw what I did to your 'government entity.' And what good is a reputation when you're dead?"

He stepped back into view to Dirken's right. "We know you are called 'Dirken' and your partner is called 'Yiorgos,' but neither of you were on the crew list for the Excellentia. No passengers. And the manifest doesn't mention the Heart."

Dirken wondered how the Bloodhawk could have come across a crew list and ship manifest for a secret mission handled by Governor Juarez himself. And is there a real freakin' heart in the box? Ew.

"Dirken Nova," he said proudly. He waited for a reaction, but neither Neenan or Mom showed any recognition. "Yes, well, we are very special to the fate of the safe and its contents. We're very close to the Governor, you see. Long associates. Yes, good friends. Great friends, really. He would be very angry to know how you're treating us." Then an idea popped into his head. "I'm sure he would pay a great deal to see us delivered safely along with the, um, heart."

Captain Neenan chuckled. "A ransom, eh?" He stepped in front of Dirken and faced him again. "Well, there will certainly be a price for the heart, but whether the United Worlds wishes to be the highest bidder remains to be seen."

Dirken pictured a mummified heart sitting in the safebox. So he wants to sell it. What the hell is it? It's time for some leading questions.

"And what exactly do you think the buyer will do with it?" Dirken asked.

Dirken yelled in pain as Mom hit him in the right arm with his billy club. "The Cap'n will be askin' the questions here, maggot!"

The Bloodhawk just looked down at Dirken, but his eyes seemed glazed with thought. "Ancient enemies," the Bloodhawk muttered. "Some things are best forgotten. How much is it worth to the United Worlds to forget? And how much is it worth to their foes to bring it back to life?" Then he seemed to shake himself out of his thoughts. "But you, friend-of-a-governor, are still worth nothing compared to the Heart."

The pirate captain turned to Mom. "Beat him until he either gives us the code or he passes out. Then move on to the partner." The pirate captain then turned to leave, and as he stepped out the door he added, "Don't kill him yet. Later we'll flay him alive if we need to."

The door closed with a slam. Then Mom and Grendel stepped back in front of Dirken.

"Ya heard the Cap'n," Mom said to the Oranchian. "Beat 'im til he gives us the code."

Grendel smiled, showing the wide, thick teeth of his species. Made a fist. Drew back for another punch.

CHAPTER NINE

CAGED DEAL

Dirken arose from darkness into a haze of pain, like moving through clouds of a nebula, colors coming and going, each bringing another wave of ache.

He started to open his eyes, but shut them tight against glaring white light.

Dirken probed his teeth with his tongue. This time there were two loose teeth on the right side and a chipped molar on the left. "Crap." Clenching wasn't always enough, particularly when you're being pounded by a fist that's twice as large as your own.

Gradually he became aware that he was lying on the same metal bunk, in the same cell where he had been before.

"Ugh!" He put an arm over his eyes and turned. "Déjà vu. How many times must I wake up in pain in the same stinking cell, Yiorgos?"

He squinted and looked over to the other bunk, but it was empty. He was alone in his cell.

"They took him."

It was the Ananak who answered. The sultry alien in the next cell slid into view from behind the divider and looked through the bars at him, one leg dangling from the bunk, lithe muscles flexing beneath the silky lavender fur.

He regarded her as he massaged his stubbly, aching jawline. Her clothing adhered tightly to her belly, undulating over slim muscles and up over firm, athletic breasts just ample enough to excite him. Then he looked up to those amazing purple eyes. There was more than a hint of wildness there. A dangerous spark.

She gave a thin smile, seeming to read his thoughts, her tail flitting back and forth under her bunk.

"You look like hell," she said. "I'm guessing you met Grendel."

She spoke fluently in the common Terran tongue, but with a hint of offworld cadence that made her words slide together