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Very good, sir.
Marcus and his men arrived at the small tunnel, and he sent his guards in first. A necessary
precaution, since he didn t want to be the victim of a booby trap. Following the guard s all clear, he walked
down the small tunnel, leaning over to avoid banging his head on the ceiling. It surprised him that Yumi
managed to bring her father and his chair this way.
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Dante I
Reporting as ordered, sir. The small team of five armed soldiers trotted up, almost bent double to
avoid banging their heads on the ceiling.
Bring the elevator up, but don t shoot the woman, Marcus ordered the soldiers. Shoot the men as
soon as you have a clear sight.
Yes, sir.
Marcus licked his lips as the elevator came closer. Driven by lust, he imagined the thousand ways he
would punish Yumi for trying to escape him. By the time he d finished she d be one of the best sex slaves
he d ever had.
Remember, it s the grunge tank for anyone who hits the woman, Marcus warned his men as the
small doors began to slip open. Stay where you are! Marcus shouted, then stopped. Marcus barely
restrained himself from shooting the guards in his rage.
The elevator was empty.
www.samhainpublishing.com 29
Chapter Four
Commodore Raol Hardstine looked into his daughter s bedroom to find her sprawled, asleep, on her
bed. Stepping quietly to avoid waking Lilithia, he walked over to the small gravbunk and tucked the sheet
and blanket gently around her.
It had been a hard decision, bringing her with him on his various ships. He didn t like the thought of
taking them into battle and other dangerous parts of space with his daughter aboard. Eventually, though,
after a string of failed nannies and one almost-successful kidnapping, he decided, whatever happened, she d
be safer with him. Not to mention, she told him, frequently, it was where she wanted to be. She didn t like
it when the ship went into battle, but she bore it as stoically as a nine-and-a-half-year-old could.
Lilithia seemed far more worried for his safety than she did her own even though a lucky hit on the
hull of the Ultimate, where the damage security measures were low, meant anyone in the crew s quarters
would die instantly. She understood that, Raol could tell. Lilithia had aged since Marcella had rescued her.
The reports he d managed to get from his spies regarding that event indicated it wasn t an easy rescue
either. Several of the Bankers had died, including some very high ranking ones. Marcella now had some
huge and tasty bounties on her head. The Omphala V Bankers wanted her dead, very badly.
They also wanted Lilithia. Only quick thinking by the men he d set to guard his daughter had
prevented the Bankers from recapturing her. Losing Lilithia as a hostage, daughter to the second most
powerful leader in the Separatist Military, had hurt the Bankers badly. They no longer held any real
negotiating power over him. Especially since all Raol s other relatives had fled, gone into hiding or simply
vanished, probably already killed by the Bankers. Lilithia now knew all this, and understood the galaxy s
cruelties far more than any normal child should. But she never let it break her. Raol was proud of her for
that. In spite of the death and violence she d experienced, Lilithia could produce some of the most beautiful
drawings he d ever seen. Still rough and untrained, she was only nine years old, but capable and displaying
an artist s eye.
Smiling, he kissed his sleeping daughter on her cheek and left the room, leaving the door open by just
a crack so light could filter in. Then, taking his workpad, he went to his own bedroom. A few minutes in
the ionic shower scrubbed off the dirt from the day. Afterward, he took the workpad to the couch in the
living room where he d eventually sleep. He d be more able to protect Lilithia here no matter how unlikely
it was that someone would attempt to kidnap her out in the middle of space. It just made him feel better to
Dante I
do so. Lifting his legs onto the couch and leaning back against the arm he turned on the workpad. Now it
was time to ponder the second half of his quandary Mandy Zharis.
Mandy had been a child, only a little older than Lilithia, when her family s Geno research base had
been raided by a couple of squadrons of Separatist Air and Space Marines. Of the one-hundred-and-thirty-
five scientists and their families on the base, only Mandy and a three-month-old baby were found alive, the
two living witnesses to the Separatists crimes. Most of the scientists had been taken and later forced to
work as research slaves in Tarug s science camps. Everyone else had been beaten and/or raped and killed.
Mandy too, but in spite of her injuries, she d survived long enough for an Independent militia vessel to find
and save her.
As his focus returned to the room Raol realized he d scrunched a cushion in his fist. He forced himself
to calm down. His anger at Tarug s inhumanities grew daily and would soon become a liability if he didn t
control himself. Strict discipline, originally enforced with some unpleasant executions, had brought Raol s
section of the army under control. He hated his inability to stop the other two thirds of the Separatist forces
from their continued rape and murder of innocent people that problem was not yet under his jurisdiction.
It was a problem he d deal with later. Even with the stolen anti-aging drugs his uncle couldn t live forever.
He never did fully understand Tarug s need for revenge against the Federation. All he d heard were vague
tales of genocide and murder that his uncle would spring upon him now and then. Any of his attempts to
research the events were blocked by either Separatist or Federation ultra high security codes. According to
Tarug, the Federation decided to annihilate Tarug s branch of the family just for the fun of it. Yet, from all
Raol had learned of the Federation, indiscriminate slaughter of innocents didn t seem to be their style
those tactics seemed to be the ones favored by his uncle.
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