Upon a Mountain's Edge Part Seven and Epilogue
Heading and Part One and Two
Part Seven
“Are you warm enough?” Yusef had opted for us to move from the house to one of the private arbors after the usual rumpling and staining of the sheets. He'd booked me for the last two nights while the task force and Jim completed the plans for catching Kincaid red-handed trying to liberate his “prisoners of war,” as I'd overheard him refer to the men in custody.
“I'm warm.” He'd wrapped me in a blanket as we reclined together on the lounge, tucked away in a private corner of the garden. I was still pretending to be mind-wiped, but I could answer simple questions and stay in character. Thank all the higher powers that I could drop the act once the sun was up. The massive arrests were scheduled in the pre-dawn, when guards would be sleepy and the majority of Crawford's employees wouldn't be at work yet.
As soon as the trap at the rest stop was sprung, the brothel would be shut down. Crawford and Hannity would be arrested at their homes and their assets seized. The building Kincaid was using would be stormed and any of the Sunrise Patriots militia on the premises would be arrested.
Yusef had told me last night, once he'd satisfied himself that our brothel room hadn't come equipped with any recording devices, that the task force's plan was for us to stay out in the arbor, away from the chaos that was sure to happen once the IBI started arresting the staff. When agents swept the gardens, Yusef would identify himself as one of the good guys, and I could return to being myself.
Jim had told me, mind-to-mind, that Megan was going to take out the guard in the complex's security office and turn off the alarms and jam the gates open for the protectors to swarm inside. Megan was tops at martial arts, but she also was smuggling in some items that seemed innocuous but that she could use as weapons. During our Academy training, I'd seen her pocket stick that she disguised as a key ring. She could bring a man twice her size to his knees by applying it against the right nerves.
“I think I hear something,” Yusef said in a low voice. I listened, too, and it sounded like footsteps. This was it then, the raid was about to start.
Yusef was behind me, arms wrapped around my chest, and his legs bracketing me. I scooted forward and he swung his legs around to stand up just as four men entered the arbor.
I started to untangle myself from the blanket but stopped when one of the men asked if I was Sandburg.
“Who are you?” Yusef asked, and my feelings of relief did a pendulum swing.
The men ignored the question; one of them grabbed my hand and pulled a skimmer out of a pocket and checked my code.
“Who the hell are you?” Yusef demanded, an edge to his voice, and the first man took a step closer.
“It's him,” the goon with the skimmer confirmed to the guy who was apparently the one in charge.
“You don't need to know. He's coming with us,” said the spokesman.
“Like hell,” said Yusef, and clocked the guy. I kissed my mind-wiped act goodbye, shucking the rest of my blanket off and struggling to free myself from the one who still had my wrist. Yusef was kicking ass, but he was one against four. I managed to yank my arm free by kicking my captor in the nuts, and I dove into the fight. Yusef dropped one of our attackers to the ground, and I used some of the dirty tricks Roy had shown me so long ago. Roy, an illegal boxer, had taught me them strictly for self-defense. He'd been my friend and occasional lover, and he'd stood by me when I needed help.
We needed help right now. I knew Jim was picking up on my emotions. Anger, fear, worry for Yusef, puzzlement, too. Who were these guys? They weren't the IBI, that was for sure. I was too busy throwing punches and ducking them to use telepathy, and then I found that I couldn't, as one of the goons stunned both of us. My limbs refused to work and my mind started shutting down.
I wanted so badly to tell Jim what had happened, to shout “Quylllur” to him, but I couldn't form any words in my head. My vision narrowed to a small, dark tunnel, the last thing I saw before everything went black.
xxx
“What is it, Ellison?” Gorski, built like the mountain he'd told me his name meant, scanned the sky from our hiding place at the edge of the rest stop. “Do you hear the flitters?”
I closed my eyes and concentrated on the bond, swaying a little on my feet. Something had gone wrong, Blair had been a maelstrom of emotions - anger, worry, and the overwhelming sense of “fight” and then those emotions had been blanked out. Blair was unconscious.
“My partner's been attacked. I'm calling Banks, the raid on the brothel needs to go down now!”
I commed Simon, as Gorski said, puzzled. “Partner? Do you mean your guide? How in perdition do you know that?”
I ignored him. I didn't have time to explain about how a soul-bond worked.
The protectors transporting our decoys would be here in fifteen minutes, and Kincaid planned to swoop down with three flitters and free his men from “The oppressors of the true and natural order of society.” I'd been brought back to his headquarters, blindfolded again, to finalize the plans of my betrayal, and he'd kept spouting his twisted rhetoric for my benefit.
I was sick of hearing his garbage.
Simon's welcome voice pulled me back to the present, and I told him what I'd felt from Blair.
“Jim, I'll do what I can, but timing is essential here. We cannot let Kincaid or his cronies be tipped off and have them slip through our fingers. Blair is alive, right? You'd know if he was being hurt or dying?” Simon's concern was genuine, but he was balancing that with the needs of the mission.
“He's alive. I don't know if he's been hurt. Sir, let me go and infiltrate the brothel grounds. I'll pull him out, get him to safety.”
It was my commanding officer who answered my plea. “Ellison, until I say otherwise, stay with the plan. Kincaid expects you to be at that rest stop. He could be spooked if you're not there doing your part. That's an order, Detective. But I'll make finding Blair a top priority as soon as the raid on the brothel is a go.”
“Sir, his bone beacon. Can you get Community Service to monitor it again?”
“Good thinking. I'll have his coordinates sent to your comm and mine. We'll find him. Stay on Kincaid, Detective.”
I gritted out an affirmative and dropped down next to Gorski, who wisely kept silent.
It was a waiting game now, and I silenced the voices of my fears and clung to my one hope. Blair was alive.
xxx
Kincaid had ordered me to be at the rest stop to make sure his men were rescued, even if that meant me shooting at fellow protectors. We had armament to bring down the flitters, if needed. It would suit me to see Kincaid fall to his death. It would be even sweeter to make it happen personally. Blair probably wouldn't approve, tell me it was bad for my karma, an ancient philosophy that fascinated him, but Blair was silent. This time, he didn't get a vote.
Before long, the operatives with eyes on Kincaid's headquarters sent intelligence that flitters had arrived and left again. I had commed Kincaid's contact with confirmation that the prisoners had passed the last check point on time, and that I expected them to arrive here as scheduled for their twenty-five minutes of break time. It was a three-hour drive from Old Portland to this stop, and from here another two hours to the Westside Justice Center where their trial was scheduled to begin today. I searched with my hearing and after a while heard the distant, distinct whoom, whoom, whoom, of the arriving flitters. I passed the word to get ready.
The decoys, wearing facial replications of the prisoner's faces and chosen for similar body types, were equipped with jammers to render the flitters inoperable, once they were close enough to them. They were armed and well-trained in take downs. Kincaid's amateurs were in for a surprise, confronting trained agents instead of hapless civilians.
My comm vibrated against me; hoping that it was information on Blair's whereabouts, I quickly checked it while Gorkski muttered in disbelief that I was allowing myself to be distracted when we would be engaged in only moments.
It was Blair's coordinates, and the visual showed him not too far away and getting closer and closer. He was moving much too fast to be in a land vehicle. I joined my sight with hearing and scanned the sky. I saw three small shapes rapidly approaching, and my gut clenched.
Blair was on one of those flitters.
xxx
Dawn had broken when the large black IBI vehicle, easily identified with the official logo, checked in at the entrance to the rest stop and slowly advanced up to the building that had an open sign at the front. The other two buildings, on either side of the bathrooms, had housed cafes and small shops for travelers to browse. They were closed for renovations. The real construction workers weren't on site, but Kincaid's men would see the tools and men and women, our backup, busily working.
Blair was still unconscious and unable to respond to my telepathic demands that he talk to me.
I was afraid that Kincaid had brought Blair along to use as a hostage to force me to do something else for him, or worse, that after the prisoners were transferred to the flitters, he would make a run to leave the planet, taking Blair with him.
I was in charge, and it would be on my command that action would take place. The flitters would be here in one minute, and I gave the order for the decoys to be walked up towards the rest rooms. Everyone was wearing protective vests, but we all knew things could go wrong. I also told them Kincaid had at least one hostage on one of the flitters. I was betting Blair was with Kincaid. The prick liked having his toys close by. I zoomed up my vision and saw that two of the flitters were built to dart easily into relatively small areas. One was quite a bit larger. It would suit Kincaid's ego to be in the larger flitter, as he would think it more suitable for a leader of his status.
The flitters started to descend between the parked vehicles and the building, trapping the four agents and decoys between them. I commed my contact on the flitter and confirmed that the group on the ground was their target. A spray of weapons fire hit the ground both in front of and behind the small group, far enough away that the decoys wouldn't be hit. Everyone between the first flitter and the second flitter fell quickly to the pavement. Both flitters settled with a thump, the rotors barely moving and the sound level dropped drastically.
Kincaid's voice boomed out of the first flitter's speakers. I was still betting he was in the large flitter that was circling around the rest stop and was relaying his message through the other flitter.
“In the name of the Sunrise Patriots, I, Garrett Kincaid, order that these prisoners of war be released from the hands of the corrupt government that pushes the bastard agenda upon society.”
Kincaid's making that statement had not been expected. So far, the asshole had been content to have his name hinted at as being a part of the string of bombings, but he'd never taken credit for any actions till now. This signaled a change of policy, a blatant step towards challenging the government.
I waited, tense, for more instructions to be given. The four agents on the ground would be the most vulnerable, and they'd bargain to move to cover as the decoys went to the flitter.
“Detective James Ellison of Major Interplanetary Crimes. Show yourself. Oh, and Blair Sandburg passes along his greetings.”
What the... That wasn't in the plans Kincaid and I had made. I was there in case things went wrong during the transfer of the decoys, not to out myself as his inside man.
I stood up, wondering if Kincaid would shoot me. But he had Blair, so I did what he'd asked. It seemed more likely he had some grandstanding involving me planned. I suspected that all of this was being recorded and would go galaxy viral as soon as Kincaid released the footage.
“Detective Ellison, no longer do you have to hide your true allegiance. As a faithful member of the Sunrise Patriots, one who has risked himself to bring us needed information from the corrupt agencies that suppress the heroes fighting to rid New Rainier society and all of the Hundred Worlds' peoples of the insidious and blighting actions of the bastard class, you are now freed to join me at my side.”
I'd been right. The asshole was grandstanding. Somehow, I doubted I was going to be a Sunrise Patriot hero for long.
The large flitter came down much lower and an emergency ladder dropped out the open doorway, dragging on the ground near the decoys and agents on the ground.
I ran over by them and said, turning my body so that our communication was private, “Follow the plan once I'm up there. I'll try to stall him, but he's got my partner. Tell Banks to track Sandburg by his beacon.”
I caught the ladder and started to climb up, the flitter rising rapidly in the air. I held on grimly and continued to move upwards. Blair seemed to be starting to come around, but confusion was the main thing I was feeling from him.
I was five or six rungs away from the doorway when one of Kincaid's goons appeared and held a gun on me. I climbed up till my face was level with the deck of the flitter and then two more goons pulled me in and flung me down so that I was sprawled at Kincaid's feet.
xxx
“Glad you could join us, Detective.” I lurched to my feet with the help of the thugs, who started relieving me of my weapons. Kincaid was staring at me, a hateful expression on his face.
“What the fuck are you doing, Kincaid? Why did you break my cover like that?” I snarled.
He snorted with derision. “Do you take me for a fool, Ellison? You weren't going to put up with having only the occasional access to your guide. After watching you with him, I knew it was only a matter of time before you stole him from Crawford and disappeared out into the far reaches of space. You wouldn't have been any good to me then, so I'm going to squeeze a little more use out of you. You're going to make a series of holos to advance our cause. You'll help with recruiting, with your stirring patriotic speeches that I'll write for you. I'll enjoy that, hearing my words leaving your mouth. By rights, you should be one of us. You're an elite, although a poor specimen of one the way you treated your bastard guide as if he were your equal.”
He waved a hand towards Blair, who was slumped in a seat at the rear of the flitter. I saw Blair's eyes start to flutter and his hand twitch.
I searched with my mind for his. ”Blair, are you okay?”
He didn't answer me. He wasn't recovered enough yet.
“What's wrong with him?” Kincaid gave me a nasty, smug smile.
“He was stunned when my men invited him to join me. Do as I say, and we'll see about letting you bond again as a reward. Oh, and I've got plans for him. I'll explain them later. Right now, I've got men to rescue.”
He ordered the agents on the ground to free his men from the lockers and to let them climb in the flitters, or be killed, his voice booming from the flitter on the ground.
The expected negotiations began, with the agents having their guns trained on the decoys, who slowly advanced towards the flitters as the agents stepped towards the cover of the buildings being renovated. There were marksmen in there, part of the construction crew, but if possible the task force wanted Kincaid's men brought in alive. If they started shooting at the agents, though, the snipers had permission to return fire.
Blair was definitely stirring now, and I heard a soft groan escape him. I tried again to talk to him, mind to mind, but he didn't answer. I didn't know if he could hear me, but I explained what was happening, in case he was able to comprehend.
I was hoping to take advantage of the confusion when the decoys attacked the flitters to take out Kincaid, his three goons, and the pilot. Five targets. And I didn't want to crash us. I had plans for Blair and me, and they didn't involve dying in a flitter or making holos for Kincaid's propaganda machine.
I knew when the decoys has acted by the outraged yells of the men in the flitters as the jammers were activated and concussion stunners lobbed into the open doors. I wasn't sure Kincaid could hear them. His sentinel senses might be awakening, or might still be dormant, but that became a moot point as one of the men below us managed to comm Kincaid and alert him before he fell silent.
I jammed my elbow into the neck of the man on my left, felling him to the flitter's floor and breaking the nose of the man on my right as I hammered my forearm into his face. Quickly, I stomped on the man on the floor, hearing ribs break, and as the man on my right doubled over in pain, turned and kneed him in the groin. His dark face turned the color of putty, and he passed out.
Unfortunately, while I was taking those two out, the third thug had time to train his weapon on me. He ordered me to freeze and then dared me to make a move.
Kincaid swore; his face contorted with fury, he ordered the pilot to abort the mission and head towards his ship.
The flitter shot up high in the sky and within seconds the rest stop was far behind us. I cursed silently, knowing that if Blair and I hadn't been aboard, our people would have brought this flitter down with the weaponry brought to the rest stop.
Kincaid trained a gun on me and said, winter in his voice, “Ellison, you're going to regret that betrayal. Bennett, move the injured to the rear of the flitter and bring that bastard with you when you return. I think it's time for some payback.”
He ordered me into a seat as Bennett dragged his teammates out of the way. Bennett told Kincaid that they were both alive, but unconscious.
Blair stumbled as Bennett roughly pushed him in front of Kincaid. Kincaid put his hands on Blair's shoulders and shoved him down on his knees.
”Blair, are you okay?”
He still didn't respond, but I knew from our bond that he was bewildered.
“Keep your gun on Ellison, Bennett. I'm going to explain a few things to him shortly.”
Kincaid was standing up behind the pilot. He turned around and laid his weapon on an empty seat next to the woman. “Wang, what's our ETA?”
“Sir, we should arrive at the landing site in an hour.”
“Comm the crew, alert them that we are coming in hot and leaving as soon as the flitter is stowed.”
“Yes, sir.”
Kincaid turned and looked down at me over Blair's kneeling form. He laid his hands on Blair's head and slid them through Blair's hair, twining curls around his fingers. I longed to stop him, but the timing wasn't good. I'd grit my teeth and wait. For now.
I'd always found Blair's wild mop satisfying to caress, silky and soothing, especially when my sense of touch was strong. I had to wonder again if Kincaid was coming on-line as a sentinel.
“I have to thank you, Detective, for letting me know Mr. Natural's name. I hadn't bothered to learn it, since he was just a bastard. I recognized the name 'Sandburg' and I confirmed just who this particular little bastard happens to be. Naomi Sandburg's natural son. The beautiful Naomi Sandburg, champion of the bastard cause in her younger years; I understand she's retired now. Too risky for her to continue to rail against 'injustice' when she's a person of interest herself for the odd bombing or two of offices containing precious genetic information.”
He began caressing Blair's face.
“I hate Naomi Sandburg. She stands for everything I've fought against for all these years. She conceived her bastard as a living protest against the system that has protected the upper classes. It will give me great pleasure to let it be known that Naomi Sandburg's bastard boy sucks my cock on command. He looks good on his knees, doesn't he? Well, of course you're used to seeing him like this. Your bastard guide. But you're not used to seeing him service me. Well, not yet at any rate. Get used to it. You're going to witness it every day, until I break your bond. Please me by doing as I ask for the holos, and I'll postpone destroying it. But once your bond is gone, then I'll take Mr. Natural as my guide, and he'll learn his proper place. He'll be a slave, and the rightful order of society will be served.”
He looked at me, enjoyment written all over his face. The man was an egomaniac. His mission had gone to perdition, his men captured; I hadn't heard him give any orders about warning Crawford or Hannity or the men still at his headquarters. He was more intent on besting me by abusing Blair than taking care of his allies.
Blair was swaying on his knees, and I hated what Kincaid was planning for him.
“Don't move, Ellison. I want to see you use some self-control, so I'm not putting you in lockers. Bennett, if he does move, shoot him. Try not to kill him, but if you do, that will be considered an acceptable loss.”
He tilted Blair's face so that he had to look up at him. “Open your mouth, Blair Sandburg. When I put my cock between your pretty lips, you're going to suck it like a good boy. Suck it until I tell you to stop, and that won't be until I come in your mouth.”
He shot one last look of triumph at me and unfastened his pants, and took out his dick. He wasn't hard yet; his dick was soft and small. He pumped himself a couple of times and then pressed his rapidly hardening dick against Blair's lips.
“That's right, Mr. Natural. Open your mouth just like that. I'm sticking my cock in your guide's mouth, Ellison. Enjoy the show.”
xxx
I was told to open my mouth, but I didn't want to do it. It was so hard to think right now, but every second that went by I could feel my mind becoming clearer.
”Jim?”
”I'm behind you. Kincaid wants you to suck his cock. I'm so sorry, Blair.”
”Where are we?” Kincaid's dick nosed at my lips, and I needed time to figure out what to do. I had to stall. I let my lips part and the taste and feel of him filled my mouth. He started murmuring, “suck it, suck it.” He thrust it in deeper and I complied. I didn't know everything that was happening here, but I knew that Jim was a prisoner. My safe word was useless because he would never let this happen to me if he could stop it.
”Jim, what's happened? Tell me fast, so we can come up with a plan.”
He did, a quick military briefing, outlining where our enemies were located and where we were headed. If we were transferred to Kincaid's ship, it would be harder to escape from him. Simon was tracking my beacon, but this flitter was moving fast and they couldn't shoot it out of the sky without killing us, too. Simon would keep the task force from authorizing that move. Both Jim and I trusted him to protect us from our own side.
I tightened my mouth on Kincaid's dick as I sucked him hard and he moved his hips against me, making triumphant, gratified sounds. We needed a distraction to turn the tables on our captors, and I would give Jim the best one I could. I explained what I was going to do and gave him a countdown. Kincaid was getting close to his orgasm, his dick was so hard and round in my mouth. I wrapped my hands behind Kincaid's knees, and in his pleasure I don't think he even noticed. Three, two, one...
I bit Kincaid's dick hard and pulled him towards me. He screamed, a high-pitched wail of agony, and tried to move backwards, away from the pain. I bit him again, blood flooding my mouth. He landed on the floor of the flitter, writhing like a nest of slitherers. I landed awkwardly on top of him, and I yanked my mouth off his dick and pummeled him, my sudden fury at his raping me giving me strength.
I heard scuffling behind me. I hoped Kincaid's screaming had startled Jim's captor and that Jim had exploded into the fighting machine I knew he could be.
Suddenly I had my hands full with Kincaid. He started fighting back and wrapped his legs around me and did something so that we flipped and he was on top of me. His eyes were wild with hate, and I head butted him. He loosened his hold on me and I scrambled out from under him and staggered to my feet. I kicked at him and he caught my foot and twisted it. Something in my leg tore, but I pulled free and moved backwards. He lurched after me and I was hard pressed to stay out of his reach. He was between me and the weapon Jim told me was on the seat at the front of the flitter.
Bennett and Jim were exchanging blows and every time I was able to glance their way, I saw they were closer and closer to the open doorway of the flitter. Jim landed a series of hits on the guy's head, and he toppled to the floor. Jim jumped over him and headed for Kincaid. Kincaid saw him approaching, saw his man down, and rushed at Jim, screaming.
I grabbed the gun and turned to aim it at Kincaid and my heart stopped in fear.
Jim had tried to jump away from Kincaid's mad rush, but instead he'd tripped over the body on the floor. He was teetering at the edge of the doorway and Kincaid gave a wild laugh and jumped over Bennett to shove Jim out of the flitter.
A wave of grief and anger washed over me so strongly that it carried me over the body on the floor and straight to Kincaid. He realized just in time that I was coming for him and tried to hit me with his fists.
He couldn't stop me. Nothing could have stopped me. I was screaming Jim's name out loud and in my mind, and I rammed into Kincaid, one hand outstretched, the other shoving the gun against him, and forced him to fall out the door to end him for causing the death of my sentinel.
xxx
Diverting myself to almost crash into the metal side of the flitter, but away from the door, I thought about jumping out after Jim. I was going to die anyway, why not follow him? I didn't look out. But he wouldn't want these assholes to get away, so I lurched to the pilot and pointed the gun at her.
She refused to set down the flitter at first, telling me that if she didn't fly it I would die, but I told her I'd flown flitters and was an experienced space pilot. My tone of voice or maybe the look in my eye convinced her, and she immediately started a descent.
”Blair! What's happening?”
”Jim? Enqueri? You can still talk to me? Even when you're dead?”
”What? Blair, I'm not dead! Neither is Kincaid. He's hanging onto my legs, and I grabbed the end of the ladder. Make the pilot slow down. I'm okay, though, I've got a good grip. I'm okay, Chief.”
My legs became too wobbly for me stand up, and I sank down into the seat next to the woman. I kept the gun on her, though.
“Land this bucket now. But slowly. I've been through a lot this week, and I might get shaky otherwise. I'd hate to see you get shot.”
She glanced at me and complied. We drifted down from the sky and I checked again, mind to mind, with Jim, hardly believing that he was alive. He reassured me that he was safe, that he'd secured himself to the ladder with lockers he still had on his belt.
A ladder. There was a ladder hanging from the flitter and Jim had grabbed it. Jim hadn't fallen to his death.
It was finished. Simon would have backup here to take over after we'd landed, and then I could wrap my arms around Jim and go home.
Me. Not a mind-wiped shell of a person. Me. Me and Jim.
xxx
Epilogue
Blair was looking out the window as I began our descent into Quyllur's atmosphere. His voice sounded dreamy to me as he murmured to himself, as the sight of the land and the sea grew larger to us.
“Oh, man, I am so going to be on that beach, the one where you can walk right into Quilla Rumi and eat at that fantastic little bar. I can practically taste Manoley's grilled sea bish. And they make this dessert with Agrasa and set it on fire, and it does this thing with the sweetener that is so damn good, it could make a grown man cry.”
“Anything you want to do or eat, Chief, we're doing it. We've got two whole months to enjoy being home before we're needed for trial preparations. We can hang out on the beach until your leg is totally healed, and then we'll go visit our people. Incacha will be pleased to see his son again.”
Blair turned away from the window and smiled at me. “Everyone will be glad to see Enqueri, their sentinel. And I want us to go up to our place, at the waterfall. My safe place was modeled on it, and I feel grateful to the land. I'd like to meditate there.”
“Maybe renew our bond there, too?” I asked hopefully.
Blair waggled his eyebrows at me, looking ridiculous and adorable. “Fuck like loppers?”
“Like I said, whatever you want, you've got it.”
A mischievous grin stole across his face. “I could get used to being spoiled.”
“I like spoiling you. So we're good.”
“Yeah, we're good.” He exhaled, a slow release of tension and returned to looking out the window. He kept up a running commentary, pointing out landmarks he recognized as I flew us to the spaceport.
We both deserved and needed this time on Quyllur. The aftermath of taking down Kincaid had been hectic and demanding. The arrests had gone smoothly at Hannity's home, Crawford Industries, and the brothel, with no injuries. Kincaid's men had put up a fight at his headquarters, and two of them had been killed; one of our protectors had been shot in the shoulder. Nobody had been hurt, terrorists or agents, at the rest stop; that operation had worked like a charm, except for my unexpected invitation to join Kincaid in his flitter.
After the pilot had landed the flitter, I'd secured Kincaid with the lockers that I'd used to make sure I wouldn't fall to my death while hanging onto the ladder. Those few seconds of tumbling through the air had been bizarre, and I still couldn't remember grabbing the ladder. I'd been so tempted to just shake off Kincaid when he'd latched onto my legs, but I'd controlled myself. Barely. I wasn't a vigilante, and the thought of him facing trial and imprisonment had helped me with controlling those impulses to kick him free of me and watch him fall to his death for what he'd done to Blair.
Maybe I had enjoyed securing him roughly, making sure he was in no position to even look at Blair.
Blair had been a trooper. He'd helped secure the pilot and the three goons before dropping down to sit in the doorway of the flitter. He kept his gun trained on all of our prisoners, who were lined up face down on the grass, and watched me secure their wrists behind their backs and wrap their ankles in tape.
Blair was bleeding from a cut on his arm, and I could feel the extra warmth on his skin where bruises would be forming over the next few days. He'd been limping, and his face was white. There was blood smeared on his lips and on his chin.
It wasn't his. I hadn't bothered to check Kincaid's dick, but I'd seen the blood around his groin. There wasn't any arterial bleeding, or his trousers would be dripping with it. He could wait for medical attention.
I heard the sirens in the distance and warned Blair. He hadn't tried to wash his face or clean his mouth. He knew as well as I did that evidence of the rape would have to be collected first. I finished with the last prisoner's bonds and sat down next to him. I put my arm around him, and he relaxed and dropped his head on my shoulder. I took the gun from his hand and mentally told him to rest.
I kept watch, Blair almost dozing against me, the adrenaline let down and the effects of being stunned combining to exhaust him. Our relief arrived, lights and sirens shattering the peacefulness of the countryside, and soon afterwards Simon came himself. He told me he damn well planned on making sure that Blair was treated right by the other agents and the task force.
Blair asked about Yusef. IBI agents had found him, unconscious still from being stunned, and had taken him to the hospital to recover.
The next several days had been busy with wrapping up the case. We'd been transported to the hospital, and a rape kit completed. Blair's chip was removed and entered in the chain of custody. He'd turned it on during the attack at the brothel and when he'd regained consciousness it had still been recording; Kincaid raping Blair was documented in horrific detail.
The massive amounts of information on the chip would be a good part of the prosecution's case against Judge Hannity, Crawford and the group he'd formed to support Kincaid, and Kincaid himself, as well as a host of more minor players, such as the staff at the brothel and Kincaid's men.
Joel Taggart had come by the loft, concern written all over his warm, brown face. He'd given Blair permission to leave the planet and arranged for him to have counseling. Blair agreed with that. He'd had some trouble sleeping since Kincaid had raped him, and he told me that for a while, he'd like to skip giving me oral sex. I'd told him he never had to do anything with me that made him feel uncomfortable. He said he knew that and hugged me hard.
He'd seen the counselor twice before we left, and had told me he felt better afterwards. We both would see her when we returned, but I thought that coming to Quyllur would help immensely with Blair's healing.
The debriefings and statements had eaten up a lot of our time before we went off-planet. The media was fascinated by the story and gave some much needed attention to the flaws in our justice system.
Blair had asked if the bastards Hannity had sent to be mind-wiped could have their sentences appealed. Most of them hadn't deserved that harsh a sentence, but if the law was strictly interpreted Hannity had not sentenced them illegally. Their sentences would not be appealed, but for the ones used as whores, lawyers representing their interests in a class action suit were suing Crawford to pay for their retirement and asking that guardians be assigned to look out for their well-being. The mind-wipes were irreversible, unfortunately.
One positive repercussion of this scandal was that advocacy groups were clamoring to add an automatic appeals procedure after a person, regardless of their class, was sentenced to mind-wiping. The new proposal was that before a person had their personality and intelligence altered, a panel of judges would review the case and had to jointly agree on the procedure before it would be implemented.
I was skeptical that the law would be changed right away, but at least some first steps had been taken.
Blair had met with Yusef Collins while they both were giving statements on the brothel case. He introduced me to the man, and I thanked him for being so considerate of Blair. Yusef had winked at Blair and then told me I was a lucky man. Blair hugged him before we left.
Connor was staying in MIC as part of the protector exchange program, and the three of us had spent an evening together before we left Cascade. Connor and I teamed up to make Blair laugh with our stories about how we'd gotten along as man and wife.
And I am not anal-retentive, no matter what evidence those two thought they had on me.
Thinking about that again brought a reluctant grin to my face as I did the methodical post-flight checks on our bird, now that we had landed.
“What's making you smile like that, Jim?”
“Oh, Connor and her insistence that I'm anal-retentive. You were just going along with her the other night, right, Chief? You don't think that, do you?”
Blair bit his lip, and pushed himself out of his seat.
“Chief?”
He leaned over me and kissed me thoroughly, a slow, seductive promise of pleasure to come.
“Nice kiss, junior. Now answer the question.”
“Well, let's just say that you have an incredible gift for detail, Jim. And I'm very glad that you do. Demonstrate it on me later, okay? After we go for a swim and eat and are relaxing in our beach side cottage?”
“That's a promise, Chief.”
We gathered our luggage and disembarked. I took his hand and squeezed it when we walked towards the space port to register our bird.
I concentrated for a moment on our soul bond, and Blair was feeling more relaxed and contented with each step he took.
It was good to be home again. And when we returned to Cascade, Blair would have the right to resume his studies. Joel Taggart promised to see to it that the university re-instated Blair. Since Joel had the backing of the Justice Department, and their lawyers, he didn't expect any problems.
I stopped Blair for a moment, and he looked up at me, a little puzzled.
“I just... Blair, I'm sorry. And I'm going to clear your name. You know I haven't stopped looking for leads, right?”
“I know. But you're a sentinel, not one of the gods. If we can't find proof of my innocence, at least we'll still be together. Loving each other. That's more than a lot of people have in their lives.”
He smiled and thwacked me on the chest. “And man, we are on vacation. So kiss me, and let's go. I want us to play in the waves and get baked in the sun.”
Blair's my guide. And wise. I followed his orders and kissed him, loving him, hearing the sound of waves in our future.
xxx
The End
Author's notes: The quote from Yogi the Wise is one from Yogi Berra. Blair's paraphrased quote regarding people not objecting to others being abused, as long as they are left alone, is based on one from Pastor Martin Niemoller on the rise of the Nazis to power.