Marianne's Abduction by Ravenna Tate Page A

their
reaction.”
    Vaughn
grinned. “We have people working inside the prison, too. He’s going to let them
know what’s going on so they can play it cool.”
    “Can
you trust these people?” she asked.
    “With
our lives,” said River. “They’ve worked for us now for over a year. They know
what they’re doing.”
    “But
are there really two prisoners assigned to the Zoo?”
    River
shook his head. “No. We hacked into the database and falsified that part. All
the guards out front will know is that we’re there to pick up two prisoners for
the Zoo, and their records will show that. Our contacts on the inside are
responsible for making sure it’s your aunt and uncle who are brought to the
front when we arrive.”
    “How
will you get word to them?”
    “We
have a system of codes,” said Vaughn. “Don’t worry about that part. This isn’t
our first time springing people from a prison on Voyeur Moon.”
    “Okay.
But how do you get my aunt and uncle on a ship once you have them? You’re
supposed to be bringing two men to the Zoo. Won’t that be tracked?”
    Vaughn
bit his lip. “That’s the tricky part.”
    “I
don’t like the sound of that,” said Callie.
    “They’re
taking four prisoners from Atkins back to the ship,” said Jakara, “But only two
will be recorded. The other two are decoys. They’ll be the ones delivered to
the Zoo.”
    “Who
are they?” asked Marianne.
    River
gave her a sheepish look. “Let’s just say that sometimes prisoners on
transports go missing, and even the Tyranns can’t find them, and leave it at
that.”
    “Excuse
me?”
    “Marianne,
no one was harmed,” said Vaughn. “These are men convicted of true crimes. We
merely had some of our people ambush a transport, and in the diversion, two
prisoners went missing. We’re … holding them for now until we need them. Which will be when we leave Atkins. ”
    “Holding
them where?” asked Callie.
    This
time, it was Jakara’s turn to give Callie a sheepish look. “Remember when I
told you how very few people lived near my home on Voyeur Moon? We have a house
on the other side of the hills that we use for purposes like this. That’s where
the men are right now. About five minutes from Atkins Prison, right under the
Tyranns’ noses.”
    “Holy
shit,” whispered Marianne. “So you plan to pick up my aunt and uncle, get these
other two men, and take them to the
Zoo instead? But don’t they have names or something that they track?”
    “Prisoners
inside Atkins have ID bracelets with bar codes,” said Thane. “We made fake ones
to match the fake names we entered into the database. Once we have the men,
we’ll simply switch them, and destroy the ones your aunt and uncle are wearing.”
    “But
how will you get my aunt and uncle onto the ship without being seen?”
    “You
let us worry about that,” said Rune. “We’re very good at creating diversions.”
    “What
about the ship itself? Can’t they identify them?”
    “It’s
a Tyrann craft,” said Thane. “We procured it.” The men all chuckled.
    Marianne
shook her head. She didn’t ask how they’d stolen a Tyrann spacecraft. There
were so many things that could go wrong with this plan that she stopped
counting because she knew she’d lose her mind otherwise. “God save us all.”
    Because
Jakara might be too easily recognized by someone on Voyeur Moon, he was to stay
behind in the quarters with Marianne and Callie. He had instructions to take
Marianne and Callie to Sera if anything went wrong.
    “We
have contacts inside the Ministry who will keep us safe,” said Vaughn. “They
know you might be coming there to live, and they will make sure you’re kept
hidden from the Tyranns if this goes south.”
    “And Callie and Jakara? What will they do?”
    “Go
into hiding again, possibly on Sera.”
    She
stared into Vaughn and River’s eyes. “But if anything goes wrong, I might never
see you two again.”
    They
both held her close. “We are not