The Line of the Sol Empress

Chapter 29.4

"I have to go, Dad." Hope firmed her jaw. "Come and get us and then we will go find my mother."

Moon smiled. "Stay low, daughter. We will be there in about, umm, forty hours." He put two fingers to his lips. "Love you, Hope."

She repeated the gesture. "Love you too, Dad."

Some of the dark cloud shrouding Hope's heart lifted. Eshe was safe, and her father was coming for her and Gab. With a half smile, she switched off the com and made her way around the desk toward the door. Stopping, she picked up a genetic signet test cylinder from the floor and tucked it into the scarf circling her waist. I might need this.

Upon reaching the doorway, Hope came face to face with a uniformed guard. With a snarl, the guard thrust the stock of his rifle forward, pounding it into Hope's temple. She cried out, slamming backward against the door frame and sagging to the cluttered floor. A throbbing and disorienting pain rumbled through her head, so much so that her eyes could barely focus on the rifle that pointed down at her.

The guard growled, turning up a lip on his dark face. "You are coming with me, girly."

Fffsst!

The guard's eyes widened, and his mouth gaped breathlessly. With eyes glazed, he wavered on his feet and then crumbled to the floor like a pile of dirty laundry.

Hope willed her eyes to focus in the darkness behind the guard, where stood a man holding a medical pneumatic syringe. "Stephen--" she whimpered as a warm joy spread through her like the morning sun.

Stephen kneeled down and gathered Hope into his arms, pulling her to his chest. He whispered, "You are safe now. I have you, Hope."

Yes, you do, Stephen.

As the red glow of a new day appeared on the horizon, Hope nuzzled her head into the crook of Stephen's neck while he carried her to the truck.

*****

Laid on her back, Hope squinted against the uncomfortably bright overhead lights in the clinic exam room. Dr. Stephen Boone moved the transparent scanner panel across her head. Her prosthetic leg rested on a nearby table. A reflection in the panel revealed to Hope the large bluish bruise that darkened one side of her head.

Putting on a weak smile, Hope said, "Well doc, will I live?"

"I think so. Fortunately, nothing is broken." He grinned. "You must have a hard head, but I already knew that. Bet it hurts, though. Would you like something for the pain?"

Between the throbs of pain that came with every heartbeat, Hope nodded with a grimace.

Hope jerked when her eyes caught the intense glare of Lissa, who stood in the doorway with her arms crossed. Stephen jerked as well.

Lissa growled, "Do I want to know what happened?"

"Umm," Hope stammered, "Probably not."

Turning her gaze, Lissa continued. "And you, Stephen. Were you involved?"

He gulped. "Well... Actually..."

"I don't want to know!"

Lissa snatched the scanner panel from Stephen's hands and ran it over Hope's left leg stump. Frowning, she watched the charts and data appear on an overhead display screen, then shook her head. "Hope, if you do not ease up, you will jeopardize your recovery and maybe require surgery." She pointed an accusing finger. "I made the therapy program for a reason! Today, you will stay in bed and off your legs. Got it?"

"But, I told Amil I would meet him for lunch--"

"Then you go in a wheelchair. I want no weight on your left leg. Understand?"

Hope drew her lips into a line and nodded.

"Good! I am taking this to make sure." Lissa grabbed the prosthetic leg from the table and stomped out.

Stephen let out a puff of breath. "That wasn't as bad as I feared."

"Really?" Hope's eyes widened. "What did you fear?"

"Restraints and intensive electro-muscular treatments."

"She wouldn't do that to me?" Hope gulped, lifting her head. "Would she?"

"Oh, no. She would do that to me. Your torture would be much worse." A grin broke through his solemn expression.

Hope lowered her head and laughed, and for a moment, her internal stress evaporated.

Stephen came closer and took one of her hands in his. "Hope, I know this may be improper, but would you like to have dinner with me tonight?"

She turned her head to him, holding her breath. "Are you asking me on a date?"

"I am."

No. I am the Empress heir! I shouldn't do that. She smiled. "Yes, I would like that. But what would Lissa say?"

"She will have to find her own date."

"No, I mean--" Hope closed her eyes and groaned.

The grin came back to his face. "We won't violate any of her rules. I know a special place that I think you will like." He raised her hand to his lips and place a gentle kiss on her fingers. A tingle traced its way down her arm to her chest. "I have to get back to work. I'll pick you up just before sunset."