Hostage: A Terran Empire story

  Produced by Al Haines

  +------------------------------------------------------+ | This work is licenced under a Creative Commons | | Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 | | Licence. | | | | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ | +------------------------------------------------------+

  HOSTAGE

  A Terran Empire story

  by Ann Wilson

  Copyright (C) 1992 by Ann Wilson

  Nemra, 2555 CE

  The crash must've been more realistic than he'd planned, Ranger EstebanTarlac thought groggily as he regained consciousness. His head hurtwhere something had hit it, and his body ached in a pattern thatmatched the crash webbing's. But at least one thing was goingaccording to plan: he'd obviously been captured by the rebels, since hewas hanging by his wrists with his arms stretched painfully apart--andonly the rebels, on this world, would be willing to risk treating aRanger with such hostility.

  He blinked a couple of times, then got his feet under him andstraightened, taking the weight off his arms. A look around satisfiedhim that he was indeed a prisoner of the rebels--and on display in themiddle of their base. That detail hadn't been part of his plan, butshouldn't affect it adversely. Even from here, the base looked likethe large recreation area it supposedly was; if Tarlac hadn't beenfamiliar with sensor data that showed it was actually close to theequivalent of a planetary defense base, as far as equipmentwent--personnel were a different matter--he would have thought himselfat the main campfire site of a particularly prosperous commercial campingarea.

  "So Your Highness finally decided to honor us by waking up."

  Tarlac winced inwardly at the sarcasm in the man's voice. It was thefirst time since he'd become a Ranger that he'd experienced openhostility, though he'd known from the beginning that sooner or later hewould. He looked toward the voice, immediately recognizing the olderman as Lord Robert Kaplan, second child of Count Jonathan Kaplan andthe reported leader of this rebellion. "Your hospitality leavessomething to be desired, my Lord. I hope you're giving my pilot andbodyguards better treatment than you're giving me."

  "In a manner of speaking," Lord Robert said. "They, at least, are inno discomfort."

  "They're dead?"

  "I'm afraid so," Lord Robert said. "Not that you would really care."

  The rebel leader was mistaken there, Tarlac thought grimly. He didcare, very much, about the Navy pilot and the four Security DivisionMarines who had volunteered for the mission that had cost them theirlives--but he couldn't let those feelings show. "What do you plan todo with me?"

  "Trade you for rule, I think, rather than fight for it," Lord Robertsaid consideringly. "That way, none of my people suffer. And I thinkI should be able to get . . . oh, a Subsector at least for you."

  In spite of his position, Tarlac had to laugh. Lord Robert wasdeluding himself if he honestly thought the Emperor would make thatsort of trade! "You must know better than that, my Lord. The Empiredoesn't make deals with criminals."

  "I think His Majesty will make this one, Highness. You are, after all,his newest Ranger, and he is bound to want to keep you; Rangers, forwhatever reason, are scarce enough to be worth trading for an entireSector." Lord Robert looked thoughtful. "Yes, a Sector would be evenbetter. Myself as Duke, my lieutenants as Earls and Counts, otherofficers as Barons--that would be just enough." He scowled. "Theremay even be places for my beloved parents and sister, once theyacknowledge that I am truly the best of them, cheated out of what isdue me by the accident of being born second."

  "You're welcome to try, but you'll be disappointed." Tarlac remainedoutwardly impassive, though he was becoming convinced that Lord Robertwas, to use the Marine expression, firing from a dead powerpack. Well,he could manage to tolerate a couple of days like this while LordRobert called the Palace and tried to negotiate; then the time limithe'd given the colonel in charge of his ship's Marine forces wouldexpire, a company or more of power-armored Marines would land to pullhim out and take prisoners, then--if necessary, which he hoped itwouldn't be--his ship would destroy the base and any of its personnelwho chose not to surrender.

  "We'll see," Lord Robert said, smiling. "In the meantime, I think yourcapture is cause for celebration."

  His people evidently agreed; not long after he left, they began partypreparations, bringing out folding tables and loading them with foodand drink--mostly drink. Their festive mood didn't extend to the youngRanger, though; Tarlac found himself the object of curses, gloating,and comments about what most would like to do with the ranking Imperialofficer who was so totally in their power.

  Tarlac ignored curses and threats alike, since there was nothing hecould do for the moment, and since he was convinced that nothingserious would be done to him, whatever was threatened. He'd neverheard of anyone deliberately injuring or killing a Ranger, which wasn'tsurprising; the punishment was death, with no reduction of sentence ormitigating circumstances allowed. He didn't notice--and wouldn't havecared--that his disregard of their threats made the rebels moredetermined to break through the reserve that was so much a part of himthat he never noticed it.

  As dusk turned into night and the campfire was lit, the party got bothloud and violent enough that he couldn't disregard it any longer.Eventually, one of the rebels brought out an animal whip, suggesting itmight be fun to see if they could get some amusement out of the damnedImperial.

  * * * * *

  Somehow, Dave Scanlon thought, being held prisoner by a bunch of rebelsjust wasn't what it was cracked up to be. He wasn't even locked up,and his guard had won every one of their chess games so far! Oh, therebels themselves seemed to be having a good enough time--it soundedlike a fun party--but he was bored. Then he heard something odd, andlooked around. "Hey, Theo, what was that?"

  His guard moved a knight before replying. "Check. What was what?"

  Dave scowled at him, waiting for the sound to come again. "That," hesaid when it did. "It sounded like a scream."

  The guard listened for a moment, then frowned as the sound came yetagain. "Bad news, if it's what I think." Dave shivered at hisexpression as he went on. "Don't do anything stupid while I'mchecking, kid. This could be serious."

  "I won't," Dave promised, impressed into obedience despite himself.He'd tried escaping a couple of times since he'd been foolish enough totry replenishing his supplies at what had seemed to be a commercialcamp, but he'd been recaptured quickly; now he endured his captivitystolidly.

  "Good enough. I'll be back as soon as I can." Theo left the tent theyshared, with Dave following him as far as the entrance. It was dark,so he saw only fire-glow from the central area--but from here, he couldhear a slapping noise like something hitting flesh before anotherscream broke through the party sounds. It made him wish again that hewas back in his own tent, maybe five kilometers away. His parents hadlet him go camping alone to celebrate his fourteenth birthday, and thathad been a lot more fun than this . . .

  Moments later Theo returned, looking grim. "It's time for you to getout of here, kid. Lord Robert's gone beyond trying to kick out his bigsister; this ain't just a family fight any more, it's treason againstthe Empire." He paused. "I'd get out myself, but maybe I can help theRanger by sticking around. Think you can slug me convincingly withthat lamp, then get the hell back home? There're grav-hoppers in theparking area just south of the camp, and it's drunk enough out that youshould be able to duck what guards're left."

  "Ranger!" Dave exclaimed, horrified. "That's a Ranger--" He broke offat Theo's expression. "Yeah . . . I think I can." Then he'd
see whathe could do!

  "Okay. Do a good job; I'll need a fair-sized lump to convince hisLordship." Theo turned his back to his prisoner.

  Dave picked up the lamp and hefted it, thinking. He and Theo bothwanted to help the Ranger, so he'd have to make his escape look real--buthe didn't want to hurt Theo, who'd been as good to him as possibleunder the circumstances. He took a deep breath, gave the lamp a coupleof practice swings, and then brought it down with what he hoped wouldbe the right amount of force.

  Without a sound, Theo collapsed.

  "Hey, it worked!" Dave exclaimed, a