Lady Lure Read Free Page B

– was behind that black surface.
The voice was muted and distorted beyond easy identification. There
was no question, however, about the weapon now trained upon him.
“How convenient to have you greet us in person since you are just
the man we wanted to see.”
    “I am deeply flattered.” The drugs he had
been using recently to ease his pain had dulled Halvo’s physical
reflexes. And, apparently, they had also slowed his wits. How could
he have allowed his curiosity to override all security precautions?
He should have told Jyrit to go ahead and blow the Space
Dragon to bits as the sensible Jugarian had wanted to do. Now
it was too late. For just an instant Halvo could hear the outraged
exclamations of the security team. Then the hatch of the Space
Dragon clanged shut behind him, cutting off both sound and his
return path to the Krontar.
    “Damnation,” Halvo muttered, bitterly
regretting that his own common sense was only now awakening. He
knew what was coming before the creature in the silvery space suit
motioned him to a bench at one side of the cockpit. Halvo snarled
his response to the gesture. “Whoever you are, I regret that I
cannot cooperate with you.”
    “Would you rather die?” the distorted voice
asked.
    “I think I would,” Halvo said with perfect
honesty. “However, I do not believe your intent is to kill me. If
it were, I would be dead by now.”
    “You are partially correct, admiral. You will
not die just yet, unless you misbehave.”
    “If you are thinking of ransom, forget it. I
am of no use to anyone these days,” Halvo said, adding in a low
whisper, “least of all to myself.”
    “I have not taken you for ransom. Lie down on
that bench and strap yourself in.”
    “I can’t.” Afraid he would disgrace himself
if he tried to move, Halvo stayed where he was.
    “I do not have time to argue.” The
silver-clad arm waved. “Rolli, put him down.”
    Halvo saw the robot approaching him and
realized that it had not actually been sitting at the controls but,
rather, standing before them. The robot’s body was a metal box
approximately two feet on each side and about four feet tall; it
moved on small wheels. The spherical head sat atop this body,
joined to it by a short neck that allowed the head to swivel like a
human head. The robot had two jointed metal arms, which protruded
from opposite sides of its body. At the ends of the arms were
flexible appendages remarkably similar to human hands. These hands
grasped Halvo by the shoulders before he could force his aching
body to react; then the hands pushed him downward.
    Halvo yelped at the sudden pain in his back.
Instinct took over and he fought what was being done to him. The
robot was stronger, and as always, sudden movement brought on the
dizziness that left Halvo helpless.
    He must have lost consciousness for a few
minutes, because the next thing Halvo knew, he was flat on his back
on the hard bench and there was a tight metal band wrapped across
his upper arms and chest, with a second band over his thighs,
holding him there on the bench, confining him beyond any hope of
escape. Groaning, he cursed himself for getting into such a fix and
for endangering the captain and crew of his transport.
    “If you harm anyone on the Krontar, ”
Halvo declared through teeth gritted against unrelenting pain, “I
will see you hunted across the galaxy until you are caught and
punished.”
    “I have no intention of hurting anyone else.”
The voice was muffled because his captor, having stripped off the
silver gloves, was removing the helmet. “Rolli, send this message
to the captain of the Krontar . ‘Admiral Halvo Gibal is now a
prisoner. He will not be seen again within the Jurisdiction.
Therefore, it is useless to send out search parties.’ Is that done,
Rolli?”
    “Done, Perri.” Waiting for the next order,
the robot paused, its metal fingers raised above the control
panel.
    “You know what to do,” Perri said.