CHAPTER SIX

1

Rounding up all the Activists aboard Regulator was a time-consuming and hazardous pursuit for the forces of the IP. The opposition fought hard and they fought dirty. The ship’s corridors were haunted by the sounds of laser fire and the screams of the dying.

From Regulator’s bridge, Brace Pulsar received reports of the carnage and monitored the progress of the search for the Princess and the stolen data. Standing next to him was a peacekeeper commander who could sense the President’s growing impatience.

"Maybe she escaped before we boarded," the commander suggested.

"Impossible. There were no EV launches during the pursuit and the Activists didn’t have time to rendezvous with another ship. She’s here, Commander...."

The subordinate waited, expecting Brace to finish his thought. The silence lengthened and became awkward.

"Yes, sir," the commander finally said. "We’ll find her."

Brace turned away from the woman.

She’s here, Commander....

Brace had begun to say after that was:

I can sense her.

Because he could. There was nothing subtle about it. Kia Sedana’s presence on this ship was as evident to the President as the commander standing next to him. This heightened ability to perceive was just one of the many talents Brace possessed due to his expertise in the wielding of the Power.

And if his quarry had also been a Power-user, Brace wouldn’t have had to guess at which part of the ship she was hiding in. He would have been able to see her precise location. All those who had given themselves over to the Power were connected in this way.

But there were not many left.

Due to the mysterious nature of the Power, those users who remained were regarded with suspicion, fear or outright hostility. The President was not above exploiting such superstition when it suited his purposes. Most of the time, however, he concealed his abilities, as his mentor had taught him to.

2

A commotion interrupted his reverie. A struggling Activist was carried onto the bridge by two peacekeepers who had all they could handle. In accordance with galactic law regarding prisoners of war, the Activist’s arms and legs were unbound. He flailed and kicked at his captors and cursed them with spittle-flecked lips.

The commander next to Brace stepped forward and drew her stun pistol.

"No," the President said sternly. To the two peacekeepers he added, "Let go of him."

The second the prisoner was free he attacked one of his captors, wrapping his hands around the peacekeeper’s throat. The two men fell to the deck in a writhing heap. The second peacekeeper drew an electric baton and raised it to strike.

"I said NO!" Brace cried, leaping into the fray. He pushed the second peacekeeper aside and then he hauled the prisoner to his feet, effortlessly breaking the Activist’s hold on the first ’keeper.

"Can’t you see?" Brace said, as the prisoner clawed and swung at him. "He’s wants to die. ’Suicide by peacekeeper,’ they call it. We won’t allow that."

"Coward!" the prisoner screamed. He wriggled free and pulled a blade from his boot. "Kill me or die!"

Brace made a warding off gesture to the commander and the second peacekeeper. Then he looked the prisoner in the eye and dared him to make his move.

The Activist sprang. Moving faster than anyone would have thought possible, Brace knocked the blade out of the man’s hand and then punched him in the sternum. The prisoner staggered to the deck. He reached for the blade, only to watch Brace kick it away.

The Activist shot the President an expression of pure hatred.

"We’re not savages," Brace said, extending a hand to the man.

The Activist reached deep into his pants, alarmingly deep if you must know, and produced an ion grenade. "Now what do you have to say, Mister President?!" he cackled, moving his thumb toward the detonator.

"I say you had your chance," Brace said, even while whipping out his laser sword and cutting the man cleanly in half.

"What the fraaa" said the prisoner, just before he died.

"Holy shit!" said the commander, just before she vomited.

Brace turned away from the corpse and the officer, disgust evident in his eyes. He sheathed his sword. He stared down the two peacekeepers and said, "Good thing you searched him before bringing him here."

The first peacekeeper began stammering out an apology before the President cut him off.

"I’ll give you two a choice," Brace said. "You can resign immediately, in which case I’ll make sure you never work in this galaxy again. Or you can find the princess and bring her here.

"After you check her for concealed weapons.

"Now which will it be?"

The peacekeepers took off in search of Kia Sedana.

Next Chapter: Chapter Seven