The wind blew through the open-ended garage with a high-pitched whistle that annoyed him. He wouldn't hear anyone approach over the sound, but he guessed they wouldn't hear him, either.
He made his way around the back of the house, looking left to the other two houses perched on the cliff top.
He heard a faint clink from the closest one, and going suddenly still, he stood in the swirling fog and listened.
Cautiously, he pulled his shockgun from its holster and then moved down the hard-packed path between the houses for a little way until he could slip around the side of the neighboring house over grass slick with dew from the fog.
He turned the corner to the front of the house, the side that faced the ocean. The eerie sucking sound of the sea at the bottom of the cliff, deadened by the thick fog, couldn't hide the unmistakeable whine of a shockgun.
He dropped to the ground, crouching as he lifted his own weapon up.
The flash of purple reflected strangely off the fog and he sensed the flare just above him, where his head had been a moment before.
The blunt black barrel of a weapon appeared out of the swirling cloud and then the Tecran soldier holding it materialized.
They looked at each other, both with weapons raised, for a long beat.
“There are too many of us, put down your weapon.” The soldier didn't move or take his eyes off Dray, and just when Dray was going to call him a liar, two other soldiers stepped out of the fog, one on either side of him.
Reluctantly he lowered his weapon and then set it on the ground.
The soldier closest to him, a woman all in black, with no insignia, scooped it up. “What do we do with him?”
“We can't leave him here.” The soldier who'd first shot at him said. “He's apparently a Grihan UC team leader. Which means we have to think long and hard before we kill him.”
The third soldier looked across at the speaker. “Why?”
“Because the UC might very well take serious exception to that.”
“Like they won't already take exception to the Earth woman,” the third soldier answered back.
“They don't know about her. Or, if they've heard something, they don't have definite proof.” The woman tucked Dray's shockgun into the back of her pants. “They most definitely know about him. They sent him here.”
“Well, we aren't going to make a decision right now. Let's get moving.” The first soldier moved back a fraction, to let Dray up, and he stood slowly, mind racing as he considered and discarded various escape scenarios.
“Where's Lucy?”
“We have her safe.” There was no smile, no enjoyment in the Tecran's eyes. “Guess we're bringing you along.”
At least there was that. As long as they were kept together, he could help her.
“Earpiece,” the soldier said, palm out, and reluctantly, Dray pulled it out of his ear and dropped it onto the Tecran's outstretched hand.
It was no more than he'd expect, though. Earpieces and weapons were the first things to be taken.
At least Bane would have heard enough to work out what was happening.
The soldier dropped the earpiece and ground it under his heel, then kicked it off the cliff.
“Where are you taking us?” He needed to find out as much as he could. If the Tecran didn't immediately realize Lucy had an earpiece of her own, they could feed more information to Bane.
The soldiers ignored him, keeping their silence as they herded him toward the house.
They didn't talk among themselves, and he couldn't hear any other voices, although as soon as he reached the garage, he saw there were four double hovers parked beside the one Bane had stolen for them.
And then he wiped a hand across his eyes.
The hover. It was identical to the other four.
It had been one of the military's own hovers, not a private one, that Bane had taken over for them. They must have tracked it. He should have wondered why a civilian was on a hover to begin with, let alone why he had a weapon on him. He should have wondered why he hadn't been more surprised to be in the middle of a shockgun fight.
They might as well have sent the Tecrans an invitation.
The soldier glanced at him, saw the direction of his gaze. “Yes, you weren't hard to find. You took that from one of our scouts.” He smirked.
The soldier who had been walking behind him, shockgun almost touching his back, shoved him toward one of the hovers. “Hands behind you.”
He stood with his hands back as they secured him with restraints.
“Climb on.” The soldier pushed him, and he kept his balance with difficulty. He looked at the seat and saw a hoop had been attached to the back. He stepped up onto the runner board and swung his leg over and as soon as he'd settled into place, the soldier jerked his arms back even more and secured his hands with restraints to the hoop.
He'd have to use every muscle to keep his balance and stay on without straining his arms.
When the soldier finished tying him up, he moved forward with a smirk. “Just so you don't get any ideas.”
Dray looked back, face blank. If they thought making him physically uncomfortable would rob him of the ability to have ideas, they were mistaken. He had ideas. Lots of them.
Chapter 21
Lucy woke with a start, confused for a moment as to where the warning shouted at her had come from.
A shockgun was shoved in her face, and as she pulled herself upright with shaking arms, she looked wildly about the darkened room, and blinked at the three figures surrounding her.
A sense of utter desolation gripped her as she swung her legs off the couch and put her head in her hands.
She had really savored the last two days of freedom.
“Too late?” Bane whispered. And she realized it had been Bane shouting at her, through her earpiece.
“Time to go,” one of the Tecran soldiers said over the top of him.
“Before you take me, can I have some water?” That should be answer enough for Bane. She suddenly remembered Dray. “Where is--?”
“Caught,” Bane told her. “I've lost contact.”
“Your Grihan friend?” The same soldier asked, and there was a hint of glee in his tone. “Neutralized.”
Either Dray had done something personally to these soldiers, or there was some longstanding animosity between the Tecran and the Grih.
They were practically chortling at his capture.
She stood on legs that were still a little wobbly, and then, ignoring the soldiers, shuffled through to the kitchen, her blanket still wrapped around her.
She got some water and stood looking out the small kitchen window at the fog while she sipped it, her back to the soldiers.
She sensed a startled surprise from all three at her actions, and she wondered how long it would last before they got a little more assertive.
“You've had your water, now let's go.”
She turned slowly, drawing it out. “I need my--” One of the soldiers held up her bag, her cloak and her shoes.
She held out her hands for both, but was only handed her shoes. She pulled them on and when she straightened, one of the soldiers gripped her upper arm.
“Time's wasting.”
“Wait.” The one who'd had the shockgun in her face earlier grabbed her face with both hands, held her still. “Check for an earpiece.”