“How much longer is this going to take?”
“Not long.”
“And until then? She can’t take much more. If we lose her…”
“Trust me; I know what I’m doing.”
Hogan turned back toward the girl. As he did, she looked up at him defiantly. Smiling, he took the stun gun and ran it seductively down her abdomen. Stopping just below her navel, he raised it into position and brought it down quickly, making contact just below her rib cage.
775,000 volts coursed through Kupani’s body, causing her to contort in excruciating pain. Three seconds later she lay panting, barely able to speak, at least not verbally. But in her mind, her screams were loud enough for other wraiths to hear. Hogan knew this, in fact, he counted on it.
“Where’s your brother now, wraith?”
As he spat out the last word, Hogan made contact again, this time he did not disengage until Davis stepped in and forcibly pulled his arm away.
“Come on Hogs, that’s enough. Seriously, what is wrong with you? She and the others are worth some serious bonus, remember? Ten grand per, plus an extra fifteen if delivered alive.”
“She’s a goddamned wraith, one of
them,” he snarled. “Or have you forgotten Cairo?”
Davis fell silent, but maintained eye contact as well as keeping his hand on Hogan’s arm. Looking down at Kupani, he could see that her breathing and color were returning to normal. Pulling his partner away from the table, he lowered his voice in an attempt to reason him out of his murderous rage.
“No Hogs, I haven’t. But it wasn’t her, or the shadows that were responsible. We all know who was to blame, and if you kill her, we will never have our revenge.”
Hogan shook off Davis’ arm and walked toward the door. Before he got there, he turned and looked at the weakened and near unconscious Shadow wraith. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but reconsidered, and instead left the chamber slamming the door behind him.
Davis waited a few moments before returning to where she lay. Glancing up, he took note that the security camera was pointed fixedly in their direction. As he leaned in toward her, he placed his fingers along her neck in order to check her pulse. It was then he noticed her lips were moving. Never before had he seen anyone take that much voltage for as long as she had, and still remain conscious and lucid.
“I…I’m sorry about Hogs. Sometimes he gets carried away. It looks like you’ll be okay though. Your pulse is strong and your breathing is almost back to normal.”
“That pig will be the first to die when the time comes, I swear it.”
Davis could only stare in amazement at her resiliency. As he looked into her eyes, he could feel his mind losing focus until the only thought remaining was of Kupani and her body, warm and welcoming as he hovered over her. Slowly, his hands began moving down her neck and then along the length of her arms. All he could think of was one thing; how much he wanted her. Just before he reached the buckles on her bindings, he suddenly closed his eyes and shoved himself away from the table, stumbling toward the far wall. Leaning his head against the coolness of the plaster, he took deep breaths attempting to clear the thoughts she had placed into his mind.
“Goddammit Kupani! I hate it when you do that. Don’t you know we’re being watched?”
As he said that he nodded toward the camera. A sly smile was her only reply.
Just as he felt clarity returning, the door burst open and several heavily armed mercs entered and formed a perimeter around Kupani. Davis could hear the tell-tale click as each one cocked his weapon while taking a position. Just as he was about to ask what the hell was going on, another man entered the room.
“Lieutenant Davis, how many times have I told you they cannot be trusted, and that you should never, ever, be left alone with one without proper backup.”
As he said this, Commander Douglas Bell, head of internal security, walked up to the table and began fondling Kupani’s hair. In response, she gave him same defiant look as she had given Hogan, except this time it wasn’t followed by a stun gun to the chest. Instead, a large syringe containing a pale yellow substance was produced, and before Davis could object, Kupani was injected and instantly rendered unconscious.
“What in the hell do you think you’re doing?! She’s my prisoner, under my jurisdiction, if you think you can just waltz in and…”
Bell quickly turned with his hand raised in a gesture that told Davis he should immediately stop talking. To emphasize his point, several of the mercs raised their weapons and aimed them at Davis’ head.
“Your prisoner? Yes. Under your jurisdiction? No. Not anymore. Not since we got this.”
Holding up a memory stick, he walked over to the nearest console and inserted it, instantly activating the vid-screen. Davis watched as a couple of blurry images came into focus. And as they did, he began to feel sick to his stomach. The images were of him and Kupani made several days before she was brought in. It was the first time they had ever made love.
Turning to Bell, he realized that it wasn’t just the affair that had been discovered. It was obvious to him that they knew about their plan to screw MercCo out of being able to contract two of the most deadly wraiths known to exist. Esmi and her group were about to walk into a trap, and there was nothing he could do to warn them.
