Mindee Arnett - Avalon

Jeth flinched, knowing perfectly well Hammer was referring to his plan to use her in one of his brothels if Jeth betrayed him one more time. Which he had. He didn’t doubt for a second that Dax had told Hammer about his plan to get his crew and family away. Even if Dax hadn’t, Sergei certainly would’ve told him about how Jeth had locked him up.

“Yes, no need to fret,” said Renford. “She’ll undergo some medical tests and a couple of surgeries, of course, to harvest her eggs.”

Breathe, Jeth thought. Just find a way out. Keep breathing . . .

Sierra shook her head. “I won’t help you. Cora and Lizzie would be better off dead than under your control.”

A sneer warped Renford’s features, his persuasive persona of a moment before vanishing. “You of all people should understand the importance of what I’m trying to accomplish. You’ve seen the consequences of the meta technology failing completely. All the worlds will end up like Rosmoor, slowly starving to death, wallowing in disease. But that will never happen again with what I have planned. The ITA has held unchecked power for far too long.”

And who will check you? Jeth wanted to say, but he didn’t get a chance as Sierra said, “Exploiting Cora and Lizzie isn’t the answer. Clones or test tube babies, it doesn’t matter. They’re all humans with human emotions. You’re not creating a solution, but an entire race of slaves.”

“Better a few should live as slaves than billions die,” said Renford.

“Don’t do it, Sierra,” Jeth said, glancing at the red implant in the back of Hammer’s skull. She was right. Death was better. In the back of his mind he thought, There has to be some other solution, some way to cure the Pyrean sickness .

Hammer laughed, although anger smoldered in his eyes as he looked at Jeth. “I don’t understand where such bravado is coming from. Do you think your friends will be coming to rescue you?” He laughed harder. “If so, I would give up the hope now. All of them have been captured. Why, Avalon herself is docked on the flight deck of this ship.”

Jeth gritted his teeth, his calm breaking. Despair pressed down on him as hatred pumped through his veins. As always, Hammer knew just the way to break him.

Sierra shook her head. “My answer is no,” she said, her voice like ice. “I won’t help you. And you can torture me all you want, but it won’t matter. You know better than anybody how well I’ve been conditioned to withstand it.”

A shiver slid over Jeth’s body. He didn’t want to know what she meant, although judging by the torture devices hanging around this place, he could guess. He wondered which machine was responsible for her deformed fingers.

Renford sighed. “Yes, I know. But that’s why he’s here.” He pointed at Jeth.

“What?” Jeth’s stomach twisted into a knot.

Sierra smirked. “Go ahead. I don’t care what you do to him.”

Jeth gaped at Renford and Sierra in turn, outrage and fear making his head pound.

“That’s not what I saw on the brig security cameras,” Renford said. “I’ve studied human interaction and body language enough to recognize genuine attraction when I see it. And I’m quite certain that you feel strongly about him.”

“You’re mistaken,” Sierra said, but Jeth thought he heard a faint hitch in her voice. He hoped it was there. Was it possible Renford was right? Not that it mattered at the moment. Jeth fought to regain his calm but failed, his breath coming in quick, silent pants.

“We shall see.” Renford motioned to the guards standing a short distance away. “Strip him down and put him on the table.”

Jeth reacted at once, leaping up and swinging with both hands at the first person within reach. It was no good. The soldiers overpowered him in seconds. They unbound his wrists, then pulled off his shirt, pants, boots, and socks, leaving only his underwear. Then they forced him onto the metal table. He continued to struggle as they strapped him down by his wrists and ankles. Finally, they tightened the shackles until he couldn’t move at all.

The cold metal bit at Jeth’s naked flesh even as sweat broke out over his body.

“Don’t forget, Renford,” Hammer said as he stood watching nearby, “no permanent damage. This one belongs to me.”

“No need to worry,” Renford said, stepping into Jeth’s view. He carried some kind of metal rod in his hand. “The effects won’t be lingering. Not physically, anyways.”

Jeth braced for pain as Renford lowered the rod toward him. The end of it buzzed and hissed with electricity. But nothing could’ve prepared him for the searing agony that shot through the left side of his body as the rod touched his shoulder. It was like being hit by a hundred stunners all at once.

He clamped his mouth shut, fighting with all his will not to scream.

The pain vanished as quickly as it had come, but Renford wasn’t finished. He lowered the rod to Jeth’s stomach and this time held it there longer. Jeth jerked against the shackles, his body desperate to curl into a fetal position, evading the pain. The shackles cut into his skin, preventing him. Blood dampened his arms and feet.

On and on Renford went, prodding him everywhere, varying the length of time he let Jeth suffer so that his mind was in as much torment as his body.

“You can stop this, Sierra,” Renford called out over the crackle. “Just say the word. I’m sure you can remember what it feels like to have this much electricity running through you.”

Jeth wanted to shout at her that he was all right, but he couldn’t open his mouth. If he did, he would cry out.

Renford lowered the rod again, but this time he touched the table itself. The sensation was like being burned alive. Every part of Jeth’s body, every nerve and hair follicle, was on fire. He gritted his teeth, his mind frantic for some way to endure this, some way to escape. It’ll pass . . . it’ll pass . . . it’ll pass .

Yet on and on it went. Tears leaked from Jeth’s eyes as he squeezed them shut. All his hair stood on end. He felt on the verge of breaking, his entire body wrenching apart. Until at last he couldn’t take it anymore.

The fight went out of him. His mouth opened, and the scream broke free.

It went on forever.

Until finally Sierra’s frantic voice blended with his. “Stop it!”

Renford lowered the rod, and the last crackle of electricity vanished. But the pain lingered. Jeth’s body hummed with it. His bones felt as fragile as needles. He stared at the ceiling above him, unable to move or think.

“What did you say, Sierra?” Renford asked, his tone smug.

“I’ll help you. With Cora.”

Through blurred vision, Jeth saw Renford beam down at him. “You see. I was right. She does care about you.”

Jeth didn’t reply. He hadn’t the will for it. It had been sucked out of him. Summoning what little energy remained, he turned his head and spat blood from where he’d bitten his tongue and the sides of his cheeks.

“But only on one condition,” Sierra said.

Renford turned away from Jeth to look at Sierra, a frown in his voice. “What condition?”

“Let Jeth and his crew go. Vince as well. Give them Avalon and let them leave unharmed.”

Renford laughed. “This isn’t a negotiation, Sierra.”

“Oh, but it is. Sooner or later you will have to wake Cora up. She’s no good to you unconscious or dead, and there’s no drug she won’t build a resistance to sooner or later. But give me what I ask, and I’ll do everything you want me to do, no questions, no deception. If you don’t, you better kill me now, because otherwise I’ll do whatever I can to teach her how to use her power against you. She will tear this ship apart. And everyone in it.”