collapsed to his knees with a groan and held up his hands, watching as two armed men appeared from the direction of the noise he’d originally heard. One of them relieved him of the pistol while the other searched him for further weapons.
“We’ve got one of them,” said the woman behind him as she reached around and tore out his earpiece, keeping the stun baton pressed into his back as she did so. “The hotel room is empty. The other one is around here somewhere.”
She hit him with the baton once again and he fell forward onto his stomach, his nerves on fire. The two men in front of him were hardly more than shadows as they reached down, picked him up by the arms, and began to drag him toward the apartment complex. The soft silver glow of their eyes seemed to linger in his vision even as his mind began to go blank.
-12-
Apartment Complex
Zylka, Aubin
“Who are they?”
“I don’t know. They’re not talking.”
The whole compound had come alive the moment the Haphezian spies had been apprehended. They’d been spotted leaving their hotel by one of the locals Taran had commissioned as an informant, and thus he had ordered the formation of two extra three-man teams to covertly patrol the perimeter of the complex. Both Haphezian agents had gotten closer than he had anticipated, but in the end numbers had not been on their side.
He’d had every intention of killing them outright if they ever came near the apartments, but he’d ordered that they be taken alive when it became apparent they were only performing reconnaissance. He was already running low on patience and doubted either of the men would talk, but the prospect of potentially gaining some new intel on Ronan had left him feeling merciful…at least temporarily.
“Did you hear back from your squad at the hotel?”
Mae nodded. “These guys are HSP – that’s all we know. All that comm equipment they brought was present in the room, but it was powered down and the call logs were all empty. Chances are they erased them before they left tonight. They were in possession of data regarding Ronan, but it’s all encrypted. It might take a couple of days to break into it.”
Taran sighed and rubbed his eyes. He had, by some miracle, actually been asleep when they’d received news of the Haphezians’ movements. Mae stood as alert and ready as ever with her red curls bundled into a thick ponytail that cascaded down her back. She’d personally been responsible for the capture of one of the agents, the tall yellow one. He’d been ready to put up a fight but was luckily no match for a good old fashioned stun baton. The big orange one had managed to take a swing but had still gone down after a couple of hits from a baton. In all honesty, Taran was glad. Both men were at least a head taller than any of his soldiers and could no doubt best all of them in hand-to-hand combat. They were being kept in separate apartments at the moment, thoroughly restrained and neutralized by a chemical that paralyzed their limbs but left them awake and coherent.
“I want to see them,” he sighed. “Let’s have them moved into the same room.”
Mae shrugged and led him to the door, relaying orders to the current guards via comm. They crossed the courtyard, which was now fully illuminated and bustling with nervous members of their squad, and came to a stop in front of Building Three. The door to one of the units opened and two of their men appeared, dragging Yellow along with his legs scraping on the ground behind him. Taran followed them into the room and watched as they seated him in a fresh chair beside his partner.
Both men were slumped awkwardly in their seats, unable to support themselves with their arms or legs, but they watched him with intent stares as he took up a stance in front of them and crossed his arms. Orange had a split lip thanks to the brief struggle he’d put up before falling captive, but his hardened features told Taran he barely noticed it. The
“We’ve got one of them,” said the woman behind him as she reached around and tore out his earpiece, keeping the stun baton pressed into his back as she did so. “The hotel room is empty. The other one is around here somewhere.”
She hit him with the baton once again and he fell forward onto his stomach, his nerves on fire. The two men in front of him were hardly more than shadows as they reached down, picked him up by the arms, and began to drag him toward the apartment complex. The soft silver glow of their eyes seemed to linger in his vision even as his mind began to go blank.
-12-
Apartment Complex
Zylka, Aubin
“Who are they?”
“I don’t know. They’re not talking.”
The whole compound had come alive the moment the Haphezian spies had been apprehended. They’d been spotted leaving their hotel by one of the locals Taran had commissioned as an informant, and thus he had ordered the formation of two extra three-man teams to covertly patrol the perimeter of the complex. Both Haphezian agents had gotten closer than he had anticipated, but in the end numbers had not been on their side.
He’d had every intention of killing them outright if they ever came near the apartments, but he’d ordered that they be taken alive when it became apparent they were only performing reconnaissance. He was already running low on patience and doubted either of the men would talk, but the prospect of potentially gaining some new intel on Ronan had left him feeling merciful…at least temporarily.
“Did you hear back from your squad at the hotel?”
Mae nodded. “These guys are HSP – that’s all we know. All that comm equipment they brought was present in the room, but it was powered down and the call logs were all empty. Chances are they erased them before they left tonight. They were in possession of data regarding Ronan, but it’s all encrypted. It might take a couple of days to break into it.”
Taran sighed and rubbed his eyes. He had, by some miracle, actually been asleep when they’d received news of the Haphezians’ movements. Mae stood as alert and ready as ever with her red curls bundled into a thick ponytail that cascaded down her back. She’d personally been responsible for the capture of one of the agents, the tall yellow one. He’d been ready to put up a fight but was luckily no match for a good old fashioned stun baton. The big orange one had managed to take a swing but had still gone down after a couple of hits from a baton. In all honesty, Taran was glad. Both men were at least a head taller than any of his soldiers and could no doubt best all of them in hand-to-hand combat. They were being kept in separate apartments at the moment, thoroughly restrained and neutralized by a chemical that paralyzed their limbs but left them awake and coherent.
“I want to see them,” he sighed. “Let’s have them moved into the same room.”
Mae shrugged and led him to the door, relaying orders to the current guards via comm. They crossed the courtyard, which was now fully illuminated and bustling with nervous members of their squad, and came to a stop in front of Building Three. The door to one of the units opened and two of their men appeared, dragging Yellow along with his legs scraping on the ground behind him. Taran followed them into the room and watched as they seated him in a fresh chair beside his partner.
Both men were slumped awkwardly in their seats, unable to support themselves with their arms or legs, but they watched him with intent stares as he took up a stance in front of them and crossed his arms. Orange had a split lip thanks to the brief struggle he’d put up before falling captive, but his hardened features told Taran he barely noticed it. The
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