didn’t mean there weren’t people here. They congregated in one place, the capital city. It had a population of over seventy million inhabitants, with plenty of culture and interesting things to do.
I had done a lot of research on this planet.
Other than the one city, the rest of the planet held only small towns and vast tracts of wild areas. The last time I was here, I contracted an illness that sent me home. It took me a long time to recover, but I came away with immunity to the disease.
I started making a list in my head of what we needed to do. First, we had to get into the city. That shouldn’t be difficult. It was only a twenty-minute hovercraft ride away. After we reached the city, our destination was City Hall, the oldest building on the planet. I hoped to find more information about the Stone Goddess before heading up the mountain.
Morley had given me bits and pieces of information when I talked to him, but he had been too paranoid to send everything at once. He thought Abel’s men might be monitoring our conversations. It didn’t matter how many layers of encryption he added to our transmissions. He was always worried. He believed if one mind could figure out how to tangle something, another mind could learn how to untangle it.
He gave me all the clues he had, but I would have to figure out a good deal of it by myself. Morley preferred to leave secrets lost to time and hidden away rather than have them uncovered and fall into the wrong hands.
I tried not to think about Morley any longer. But being here brought back all sorts of memories. I returned to my list. Once I had the info that would get us to Zelia's ladle, we would need to get equipment to climb the mountain and buy supplies for the two-day trek.
We need transportation to the base of the mountain. I hoped the entrance to the cave leading to the ladle was at the top.
Once inside, my wits would be the only thing allowing us to find Zelia's ladle. I hoped I was smart enough.
Someone pressed cold metal against my temple. A familiar voice whispered into my ear. “What do we have here?” It was the blond man who had tried to kidnap me on Stalwart. “I believe we have unfinished business, woman.”
His hand came around my waist, pulling my body against him so I could feel his hard cock. I pressed my lips together in disgust but didn’t move. It would only take a flick of his finger to kill me.
“Put your hands in the air.” He directed his command at Ven, who obeyed but watched closely.
“You and I are going to have some fun together before I bring you back. The boss is going to be happy I didn’t let you get away.” He roughly squeezed my breasts. In the darkness, I wondered if Ven could see what he was doing. “I’m happy myself.”
I cut my eyes over to Ven without moving my head. He was glowering and looked like he was ready to jump my assailant.
“Hey man, stand back.” The blond man pressed the gun more firmly against my head. “Unless you want her in a coma.”
Before he had finished speaking, Ven lunged at us and the gun went off.
Chapter Fourteen
V EN
For someone who likes to think of himself as a smart guy, that was a dumb thing to do.
Emmy slumped to the ground as I punched the man hard across the cheek. In broad daylight, he could have seen my attack coming from a mile away, but the darkness concealed the blow. The man cursed and leveled his weapon at me. I had already moved into a different position. He looked around trying to locate me when I landed on his back and tackled him.
I was able to knock the wind out of him. He grabbed onto my body and rolled, ending up on top of me. He managed to throw a few wild punches before I pushed him off and got on my feet again. He was a better fighter than I had expected and powerful, but his size made him slow. I was confident that my training would give me an advantage.
My confidence began to wane when he managed to land some hits on my body. He faked a low attack, making
I had done a lot of research on this planet.
Other than the one city, the rest of the planet held only small towns and vast tracts of wild areas. The last time I was here, I contracted an illness that sent me home. It took me a long time to recover, but I came away with immunity to the disease.
I started making a list in my head of what we needed to do. First, we had to get into the city. That shouldn’t be difficult. It was only a twenty-minute hovercraft ride away. After we reached the city, our destination was City Hall, the oldest building on the planet. I hoped to find more information about the Stone Goddess before heading up the mountain.
Morley had given me bits and pieces of information when I talked to him, but he had been too paranoid to send everything at once. He thought Abel’s men might be monitoring our conversations. It didn’t matter how many layers of encryption he added to our transmissions. He was always worried. He believed if one mind could figure out how to tangle something, another mind could learn how to untangle it.
He gave me all the clues he had, but I would have to figure out a good deal of it by myself. Morley preferred to leave secrets lost to time and hidden away rather than have them uncovered and fall into the wrong hands.
I tried not to think about Morley any longer. But being here brought back all sorts of memories. I returned to my list. Once I had the info that would get us to Zelia's ladle, we would need to get equipment to climb the mountain and buy supplies for the two-day trek.
We need transportation to the base of the mountain. I hoped the entrance to the cave leading to the ladle was at the top.
Once inside, my wits would be the only thing allowing us to find Zelia's ladle. I hoped I was smart enough.
Someone pressed cold metal against my temple. A familiar voice whispered into my ear. “What do we have here?” It was the blond man who had tried to kidnap me on Stalwart. “I believe we have unfinished business, woman.”
His hand came around my waist, pulling my body against him so I could feel his hard cock. I pressed my lips together in disgust but didn’t move. It would only take a flick of his finger to kill me.
“Put your hands in the air.” He directed his command at Ven, who obeyed but watched closely.
“You and I are going to have some fun together before I bring you back. The boss is going to be happy I didn’t let you get away.” He roughly squeezed my breasts. In the darkness, I wondered if Ven could see what he was doing. “I’m happy myself.”
I cut my eyes over to Ven without moving my head. He was glowering and looked like he was ready to jump my assailant.
“Hey man, stand back.” The blond man pressed the gun more firmly against my head. “Unless you want her in a coma.”
Before he had finished speaking, Ven lunged at us and the gun went off.
Chapter Fourteen
V EN
For someone who likes to think of himself as a smart guy, that was a dumb thing to do.
Emmy slumped to the ground as I punched the man hard across the cheek. In broad daylight, he could have seen my attack coming from a mile away, but the darkness concealed the blow. The man cursed and leveled his weapon at me. I had already moved into a different position. He looked around trying to locate me when I landed on his back and tackled him.
I was able to knock the wind out of him. He grabbed onto my body and rolled, ending up on top of me. He managed to throw a few wild punches before I pushed him off and got on my feet again. He was a better fighter than I had expected and powerful, but his size made him slow. I was confident that my training would give me an advantage.
My confidence began to wane when he managed to land some hits on my body. He faked a low attack, making
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