Tila's eyes struggled to acclimatize to the darkness, and she closed her eyes.

She felt hands on either side of her head, and then something was jammed down, like a tight crown.

She cried out, more in surprise than in pain--although it had hurt--but no sound came out of her mouth. She snapped open her eyes, but rather than being able to see better, it was as if she were in a black pit.

A snuff.

She bet they'd shoved a snuff on her head.

The wire headgear was used on prisoners, to keep them blind and silent during prisoner transfers, although they were used more in popular fiction than in real life, she was sure.

Her head would be surrounded by a forcefield that allowed nothing in or out.

She shuddered in a breath.

Someone ran a hand over her shoulder, making her flinch away, but whatever they had to say was lost on her.

After a pause, one of them took her by the upper arm and began to lead her forward.

She balked at moving without seeing where she was going, lurching stiffly as she was propelled forward.

She sensed someone leaning in closer, as if to speak to her, but if so, they'd forgotten she was in her own little null zone.

She drew in another breath, trying to keep herself calm as she stumbled over her own feet. She thought there was a vibration under her feet, as if she was in a lift.

She couldn't see, but hopefully Nick could. As long as the snuff didn't affect the cameras, they'd be able to see where she was.

To come for her.

It was the only thing she had to hold on to.

* * *

The Halatian woman's panic, her fear, hesitating with every step she took, worried Dun.

This was one of those situations where he didn't think he could win. She wouldn't come with them voluntarily, so she had to be treated as a prisoner, as a hostage, but at the same time, Jirmain would not want her hurt in any way.

There was no good way to abduct someone, but Jirmain wouldn't be reasonable about it.

The only reason Dun continued on was that he knew Jirmain would be even less reasonable if he didn't bring her at all.

He got tired of watching her timid movements and scooped her up, feeling her shock as she was suddenly swung into his arms. He strode toward the hover on the roof, his arms tightening as she struggled.

He placed her as carefully as he could into the back seat and she leaned away from him, hands clenched at her sides.

“She's trouble.” Timbo was staring at her, his face stone cold.

“Agreed.” Dun rubbed a hand over the pocket that contained his laz. “I wish I'd left her wherever she was hiding in that building.”

Kirt made a sound. “Could we just . . . leave her?”

Dun shared a look with him, then Timbo. Saw that maybe if he'd put it to them when they were back in Freya's Puzzle, maybe they could have worked out a deal of mutual silence, but now . . .

He shook his head. “There'll be coverage. The boss would have seen her in our group when we made a break for it through the barrier. The information stations will have filmed it.”

Kirt closed his eyes and pinched his nose. “I'd forgotten that.” He shuddered, as if thinking through what would have happened if they'd tried to pretend she hadn't existed.

“So we have to take her.” Timbo's voice was flat.

“We have to take her. We have to be careful with her.” Dun lifted his shoulders in a shrug. It was what it was.

He looked out from the rooftop. There were no hovers in sight, the action all happening behind the massive buildings that were a barrier between this one and Freya's Puzzle.

“Looks like we'll have a clear run,” Kirt said, following his gaze.

Dun nodded. At least one thing was going right. “Let's go.”

* * *

There was something wrong with Tila.

She hadn't said a word, made a sound, since she'd been forced into a dark basement, and Nick noticed a jerkiness to her movements that was unlike her usual fluid grace.

The tiny cameras on the front and back of her dress were still working though. The hostage-takers had moved through the gloomy space as if they knew where they were going, and then they had herded Tila into a lift.

The lift opened into some kind of atrium, and Tila's camera showed her moving slowly to a door and then out onto an open roof. Nick didn't know why he felt such a wash of rage when one of the men picked her up and carried her in quick, purposeful strides to a hover.

“I see it,” Drake said.

They were standing at an intersection, trying to work out from the feed which building the insurgents were in.

“Send a hover to our position,” Drake was saying into his comm set.

Nick saw the three men standing beside the hover, looking inside at Tila, and his heart beat a little faster.

What were they discussing?

The look on their faces was hard to read.

The big one looked like he'd just as soon throw her off the roof than take her along, the other two looked more worried than enraged.

They seemed to come to an agreement, and then they climbed in.

They were taking her with them. As backup in case they were pursued?

Nick's head snapped back, looking upward.

He heard something, a faint whine, and he ran to the corner and looked up. Saw the glint of sunlight on the wing of a hover as it tilted to the right.

He looked at his screen quickly, saw the camera at the back of Tila's dress was recording a limited view of the buildings they were flying over, as if she had wedged her back up against the window.

She was trying to give them something to go on.

He caught a glimpse of the arena, and felt the thrill of the chase.

The insurgents had had things their way for the last three weeks, but now, they were the prey, and Nick was coming for them.