Page 95 of Journey to the Forbidden Zone
Corso’s face filled the screen again, his expression now one of cold, satisfied malice. The rage had burned out, leaving something far more dangerous.
“Ten minutes, Díaz,” his voice cut through the stunned silence on the bridge, flat and final. “Have the Xena prepped and waiting in the main airlock. Unrestrained. Cooperate.”
He paused, letting the threat hang in the air, thick and suffocating.
“Or your pilot is next.”
CHAPTER 34
Corso’s ten-minutedeadline pulsed in Carmen’s skull like a bomb timer. Ten minutes until he spaced Sark. Or Letitia. Or turned theAntillesherself into glittering debris. Ten minutes until Mila …
The phantom scent, that sweet, cloying musk, gathered in the air around her. Corso’s taunts echoed, poison dripping into the cracks of her certainty.
Property. Using her. Next john.
“Captain,” Mila’s voice came over the intercom, “I recommend you report to Engineering right away. Without Zed aboard, someone needs to be at my station. I’ll report to the airlock at once.”
“Stay where the fuck you are, Mila,” Carmen snapped. “You’re not going anywhere.”
Everyone on the bridge stared at her. She sighed.
“Not yet, anyway,” she added.
She closed her eyes and imagined Mila’s face. The mesmerizing green eyes filled her vision. How could she live without them gazing on her with desire? With love….
“Options,” Carmen rasped. She didn’t turn from the screen, didn’t look at her crew. Couldn’t. “Talk. Now.”
A beat of heavy silence. Then Norvik’s calm, unnerving voice cut through.
“Captain, I believe the situation is not as dire as you think.”
“How do you figure that?” Letitia said, incredulity dripping off each word.
Carmen sighed and opened her eyes. She turned her gaze on Norvik.
“Explain,” she said.
“Nick Corso desires the XenX female intact and functional,” he replied, his tone devoid of inflection. “He clearly has a high financial investment in delivering her to her contracted buyer. He is at least a week overdue on completing his commission.
“The individual who purchased her is no doubt uncomfortable with the delay. It is illegal for XenX to be present at all in UPA space. Possession of a Harimi constitutes the highest level of felony violation there is, meaning Captain Corso’s client knows exactly what the risk is and will not want her … lost.
“It is therefore further likely that Captain Corso finds himself under extreme pressure to recover the goods, if you will.”
“In other words,” Carmen said, “the slimy piece of shit is desperate.”
“Correct,” Norvik said. “One assumes Captain’s Corso’s well-being is dependent upon fulfilling his end of the contract. Threatening Mila’s destruction, then, introduces a variable counter to his immediate aggression. It forces negotiation.”
“Negotiation?” Letitia spat from the weapons console, her voice thick with fury and unshed tears. Her hands were clenched into fists on the useless panel. “With that animal? After what he just did?”
“Negotiation is the logical path to survival,” Norvik stated. “A threat of mutually assured destruction alters the tactical calculus. If we transmit that we are initiating core overload self-destruct protocols, contingent upon his continued aggression, he must pause. He cannot risk losing the asset.”
Carmen’s mind raced, cutting through the fog of grief and fury. Norvik’s logic was chilling, but it wasn’t wrong. Corso wanted Mila whole. A threat to destroy her might make him hesitate.
“He’s not stupid, Norvik,” Carmen said, the numbness receding slightly, replaced by the sharp, tactical edge she usually wore like armor. “His sensors can scan our power grid, our core signature. He’ll know in seconds if we’re running a genuine overload buildup or just bluffing with lights and sirens. If he sniffs a bluff, he fries us where we sit.”
“Captain,” Mila said over the commlink, “there are several transponder probes in Cargo Bay Three. Their primary function is emergency, location broadcasting, but their emission matrices are highly adaptable.”
“What are you suggesting?” Carmen asked.