Heart of Stone by Cathryn Cade Page A

ear,
stinging. That was going to bleed. He strode forward, shoved the
table aside and stomped on Mobius' arm just as he was about to aim
his weapon again.
    The Mauritian glared up at Stone. His
shoulder was oozing blood so dark it was nearly black through a
large rent in his clothing.
    "You should've gone when I advised you
to," Stone told him. "As it is, you may bleed out before you can
get anywhere for medical help. That's if any of your crew is in
good enough shape to fly your ugly cruiser."
    The fight over, the floor was littered
with Mobius' men, down like their leader. Raucous laughter and
cursing from the victors filled the room.
    "Not bad for quarking tourists," one of
the Bone Arch men said to the three hunters. "Who are you three,
and where'd you learn to fight like that? If you don't mind my
askin'." Many travelers here would mind.
    "We are Serpentian," said one, his eyes
dancing with amusement. He doffed his insulated hat, revealing
startling green-gold hair. "I am called Izard. This is Yvene and
Raile."
    There was a short silence and then a
loud roar of approval. Everyone in the galaxy knew of the
hand-to-hand combat skills of Serpentians. They were the elite
guards chosen for the big space cruise ship lines and royal
houses.
    "Thank you for your help," Stone said
without taking his eyes off of Mobius. "Drinks all around on me,
after we get these scum loaded back on their transport."
    Strangely, the old pirate smiled. It
was filled with pain, but something else glittered in his eerie
eyes.
    "You call me scum?" Mobius gloated.
"You're the same as me, Masterson. Always have been, always will
be. And nothing out there will change just because you throw a net
over your little planet. But never mind that, we'll go."
    Why would Mobius be content suddenly to
leave? Unless he believed he had what he'd come for.
    Stone's hair stood up on the
back of his neck. The cruiser—his cargo. Fury boiled up inside him,
white hot. Quark it! This whole encounter had been a setup to draw him away. Mobius
had known Stone would come and warn him, try to save him from the
ISF, and he'd used that to betray him.
    He remembered the smell in the road.
Had it been bad fuel, or Jangoes?
    "Jark!" he rapped out. "The cruiser!
They're after the cargo." And now there was something on board the
cruiser that even Mobius had no idea the value of—a small woman,
naked, asleep and defenseless.
    He activated his comlink.
"MacNeil. MacNeil!"
    There was no answer. Stone looked down
at Mobius and saw triumph in the other's eyes. He also saw a second
weapon in the old pirate's free hand, the barrel lifting toward
Stone.
    "I win this round after all," Mobius
hissed.
    "No, you lose," Stone gritted and shot
him again. This time in the center of his broad, blue forehead. As
his one-time ally fell back, dead, Stone turned and ran for the
door.
    "You owe me for the drinks, broken
furniture and any laser damage." The bar owner stood in his path,
fists set on her hips. "And for cleaning up the bodies."
    "Put it on my tab," he snarled as he
dashed past her, Jark at his heels.
     
    # # #
     
     
    Dropping her sweater, Rose grabbed her
laser gun. She gripped it in both hands. Her heart was pounding,
her arms trembling, her breath coming in quick gasps. She looked
wildly around the sleeping cubby. The bed took up most of the space
and the cupboards were too small for a human to squeeze into. She
had nowhere to hide except the lavatory, and the thought of being
trapped in that small space, listening and waiting, sent panic
clutching at her throat.
    "Stone?" she whispered
urgently. " Stone ?"
    She listened carefully, but no answer
came through her comlink. And the ship was not moving. They hadn't
crashed—she would have noticed that. She bit back a hiccup of
laughter edging on hysteria. All right, they'd landed somewhere,
and since Masterson hadn't answered his comlink, he was either
somewhere he couldn't hear her, or he was in trouble of some
kind.
    Either way, he