[Hope]
Hugging to the shadows, Hope peeked around the corner of an abandoned building toward the Priestess' office. In the dim light, a guard sat on the low adobe-style wall that formed a courtyard, facing away from Hope with his rifle propped in a corner. He leaned forward to light a hand-rolled smoke, casting a flickering glow against a wall.
Hope tip-toed up behind him as quietly as she could, but with every step of her prosthetic leg, the curved foot blade made an audible clack. The guard paused, then turned toward the noise.
Damn!
Hope drew her pistol and fired, sending a stun pulse into the wide-eyed guard. The sharp twang report from her weapon shattered the nighttime silence, echoing off of nearby buildings and making her jump. Shuddering, guard slumped down into the shadows behind the wall.
I hope no one else heard that.
Orange sparks showered to the ground as her plasma cutter made quick work of severing the front door lock. Once inside, she swung the door closed behind her. A flashlight revealed the cluttered disarray of the front reception area, littered with broken planters and overturned furniture. Guided by her narrow light beam, she wove through the clutter toward the Priestess' private office. By standard design, the long-range com should be there. While stepping through the darkness, her prosthetic foot caught on something, and she flung her arms out, nearly toppling over. She hissed, hopping on one leg and gritting her teeth against the sharp pain shooting up her partial leg.
The office was in similar shambles. As Hope scanned the room with her light, a small oval device in one corner caught her eye — some sort of sensor device. Her heart rate quickened. I may not have much time.
Making her way behind the overturned desk, she found the long-range com interface and switched on the power. Three green lights on the black box flickered to life. Hope looked up, praying that the roof transmitter array had not been disabled. Once the small touchscreen glowed, she placed her hand against a biometric scanner, muttering to the darkness, "Please work, please work..."
A sigh of relief came as the screen displayed the message 'access granted, welcome Empress'. She typed in the com code for the Firebird Rise, thus inducing a quantum entanglement with the starship. Enabling an emergency toggle switch, she pressed a green button labeled transmit.
An alto female voice replied. "Firebird Rise, connected."
A wide smile came to Hope's face. "Sai, this is Hope. Get my dad right away."
Sai responded with glee, "I am so pleased to hear your voice, Hope."
"As am I yours, Sai."
Moon's disheveled head appeared on the screen. She must have woken him up. "Hope, are you safe?"
"Not for long," she replied. "I don't have much time to talk. I am on Ephenia, city of Oran, at a place called the New Hope Shelter, not far from the Sol Priestess' office."
Moon turned his head up. "Sai, get us underway and don't spare the horses." Turning back, he said, "And Gabriel?"
"They captured him. He is at some place called the Ring."
"Consortium or Commonwealth?"
Hope shook her head. "Local warlord called the Khan, but there is Consortium presence here." She bit her lip. "What about Eshe and Celeste? Are they okay?" The words nearly hung up in her throat, fearing the response.
"Eshe is onboard, bruised and battered, but okay. Celeste--" He paused, turning his eyes down and rubbing his forehead. "I don't know. I think the Commonwealth forces took her."
"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."