Chapter 3

Consciousness came back slowly. At first, she wasn't even sure she was awake. The few sounds she could hear were muted and her eyelids refused to obey. She couldn't find her body, though she knew that was silly, and she was relieved when that lack of sensation was replaced by the pins and needles sensation of her returning circulation. Even though she was newly awake, all she really desired was to sleep for a couple of days. That not being conducive to survival when one has been kidnapped, she mentally sighed and tried to figure out her next step.

She remembered Bowtie and the old broad and she reasoned that she was a captive, somewhere, somehow. Perhaps she could discover something of her surroundings if her captors thought her still asleep. She remained still and controlled her breathing, attempting to remain motionless. Sure, it was cliché, but clichés had to come from somewhere, right?

"When you are ready to open your eyes, dearie, we can talk. Not that I dislike the quiet, mind you, I get little enough time to just sit and relax these days. So, if you would prefer to pretend you are still asleep for a while longer, that is ok with me." The voice was that of the old woman from the Captain's table, the one in the flowered dress who had been working with Bowtie.

Kat forced her eyes open against what felt like the pound of sand someone had dumped beneath her eyelids, and immediately squeezed them shut again. The light in the room was dim, but even that was too much and sent spikes of pain through her cornea and into the back of her skull. She left them closed and could feel her tear ducts start working to sooth them. Kat took a shallow breath and tried to speak, but all that came out was a dry, raspy croak. Here tongue was swollen and dry, her lips, now that she could feel them, were also dry and slightly cracked.

"Oh, don't try to talk yet, you'll need a few minutes and some fluids before that will be possible. Trust me, dearie, I know. Cryo sleep is such a poor replacement for a nice leisurely cruise, but it does make the time pass quickly." The old woman slid a hand underneath Kat's head and lifted her slightly. Kat could feel a thin tube being inserted between her cracked lips and a chillingly cold, salty liquid roll over her tongue. It seemed to be absorbed by her tongue and cheeks almost as fast as it entered her mouth and it was the second or third bolus that finally reached her throat. She could feel the dry skin soaking up the liquid like a sponge, the swelling receding along with the discomfort she hadn't realized was there.

"Now then," the old woman said, laying Kat's head gently back on the cushion. "Let's see if that eases things a bit."

"Where am I?' Kat croaked, though it sounded more like "Waa am ah?"

Kat cleared her throat, swallowed a couple of times and tried again. "Where am I?" It sounded almost natural this time.

"Well," began the woman, followed by a long pause. "I am not sure where we are, exactly, though the ship we are on is just inside the jump limit of the Caster system. I am told we will be continuing on inner-system drives for the rest of the trip to Caster Prime. Should take two or three more days." She smiled at Kat, as though she had just given her a gift. Her rosy cheeks and the close curls of her gray hair made her look like central casting had sent her to be play the part of the loving grandmother.

Kat, her eyes still watering but able to look around, swiveled her head and scanned the room. They were in what appeared to be a mid-range passenger liner cabin. The cream colored ceiling flowed into pastel tinted walls and the furniture was an odd mixture of utilitarian design and faux luxury. Kat was lying in the room's sole bed, the sheets pulled up to her arm pits. The grandmotherly woman was seated in the chair that swung out from the wall-mounted desk and was leaned forward, her arms resting on her knees. The lights were set at a level equivalent to dusk, but her sensitive eyes continued to water.

"Here, take this." the older woman said, handing her a tissue. "My eyes took simply hours and hours to stop watering last time I took Cryo sleep. And the light? Lordy, it felt as though someone was trying to gouge then out of my face. Not a pleasant memory at all!"

'What the hell is going on? Why was I drugged? Why am I on a ship bound for Caster Prime, who the hell are you and why the hell would you put me in Cryo sleep for a journey that only take a couple of weeks?" Kat, her fear and frustration mounting, fired off her questions in a machine-gun staccato, not even bothering to breathe or pause from one to the next.

The older woman stared at her for a moment, then frowned slightly and sat back in her chair. Reaching around behind her, without taking her eyes off Kat, she toggled a switch on the keyboard at the desk and said, in a business-like tone, "She's awake. Let's get this party started." Still staring at Kat, she started reciting from memory.

"Kathleen Andrea Mackey. Born 3rd Cycle, 8th Day, 3225 on Ovid, 4th planet of the Oolad system. Father was James Arthur Mackey, mining engineer, convicted and executed for treason and attempted insurrection against the lawful government on 5th Cycle, 10th day, 3233. Mother was Irene Catherine Mackey nee Jands, killed by Peace Keepers while resisting arrest for treason on 2nd Cycle, 23rd Day, 3233. Subject remanded to custody of the state and force placed in Community Crèche No. 17751, Ovid City. Trained as a sanitation engineer until listed missing on 9th Cycle, 12th Day, 3240."

Kat was stunned. She had spent years burying her past and had changed identities 5 times between leaving Ovid and hooking up as an independent contractor with her current employer. The old woman was not finished, however.

"Subject was subsequently linked to the stabbing death of one Peace Keeper 2nd Oscar Plande, the abduction of Sub-Prelate Samal Jay, the murder of retired Peace Keeper John Mason and has tentatively linked to the destruction of a public structure, namely the City Speakers Rostrum in the city square and the deaths of the 23 people, including Governor Anston Marshall Jr. Subject has been tentatively identified as a person of interest in the deaths of as many as six other Proles in the Ovid City, but insufficient evidence was found to issue a warrant."

The woman paused and raised an eyebrow. "Should I continue? Do you want the names, places and contract amounts for the 23 assassinations for hire you have carried out in the intervening years, not to mention the collateral killings that were done to cover your trail or help you escape? Or are you convinced that I know enough to have you executed on any central world in the Union, not to mention all those planets where you committed the crimes in the first place?" She looked expectantly at Kat, obviously expecting a response.