Chapter Twenty Three

Harrison heard the blades of Armand’s chocker before he saw them. Without hesitating, he threw the rest of his cargo into the back and got in the front seat. Harrison secured his five-point harness, put on his earphones, and started Excalibur up.

It was a no-win situation, even before Harrison realized what Armand was planning to do. It didn’t matter where Harrison flew, they would be able to follow him with their satellites. The chocker itself was valuable. He, as the engineer and mechanic, was also valuable, but he had put all the servers and unused ruptors in the truck Paige was driving. Even if he lost everything in a fiery blaze, the most important information could be protected. She was driving straight to Osric.

Harrison’s situation was bad because he wasn’t sure if the battery power would be able to take over smoothly when the ruptor ran out of power. He wasn't entirely sure how much power the ruptor had. It might run for a month or an hour. If there was a significant break in the rotations of the helocarrier blades, he would crash.

Harrison had hoped he would be able to get to town so he could disguise and transport Excalibur before his brother caught him. After what Paige had told him, he half wanted to kill him. He’d sent Paige into their home to steal from their family. The relationship Armand had with Paige sounded like something that could only be described as a moment of convenience that ended in abuse. Harrison felt like sticking his head between the chocker blades.

Now he was in the air and the danger level had gone up. It was too late to test the chocker’s power system. Too late to worry about whether or not it would work well or not. Too late to put the ruptors away and lock the door. Too late to even fly away. Armand's chocker was circling the area above Excalibur, blocking Harrison from lifting off.

Looking up through the top of the windshield he could see Armand in his aviator shades staring back at him. His jaw was set and his expression was ugly. Harrison glared back at him, stuck his own shades on, and got back to the controls finishing preflight.

Armand waited directly above him, preventing him from taking off properly. Harrison lifted off and hovered a few meters in the air, but Armand wouldn’t back off. If Harrison’s blades bashed into Armand’s runners, they could both crash, but Armand didn’t back off.

Harrison pushed forward, flying close to the ground, but Armand kept his chocker over Excalibur with ease. Harrison sped up. It was dangerous to fly fast low to the ground. Actually, that was one of the surest ways to end up a bag of bones in the incinerator, but Harrison couldn’t let Armand get a hold of his chocker.

Damn.

Harrison sped up.

Armand had the advantage. The higher he was, the faster he could move, so it didn’t matter if Excalibur could go a whole hundred kilometers per hour faster, it was suicide to do it that close to the ground.

Outrunning him close to the ground would only be possible if he knew the landscape better than the pilot above.

Harrison’s outlook suddenly brightened. Even though Armand and Harrison had both been raised here, Harrison bet he knew the topography better than his brother did.

The path he decided to take took them in the opposite direction Paige drove, which made it better as far as Harrison was concerned.

“Come and get me,” he muttered, as he launched himself forward at speeds Armand had never even seen.

***

Later that afternoon, Paige sat in a booth at the café with Narissa and Wystan. After Wystan cut her bracelet off, he went with her to the hospital so she could get tested for M.T.N. Miraculously, she was clean. She didn’t understand it. She was sure the cow she had tested had the virus and had handled the animal. That would have been enough to spread the disease, wouldn’t it? Didn’t Harrison’s father get it just by holding hands with his wife?

Narissa played with Paige’s broken bracelet on the table. “You really shouldn’t have cut it off, Wy. It’s a felony.”

Wystan grunted. “If you heard the hellish high-pitched hullabaloo, you wouldn’t be saying that.”

She withered slightly. “I heard it. The whole town heard it.”

Paige shrugged her shoulders. “Harrison can take me to Sleeping Beauty Inc. to get it repaired or replaced or whatever. It shouldn’t be against any law. He told me to go to town. It’s not my fault he forgot to fix my perimeter settings. It doesn’t matter since I’m not running away, and Harrison should be here soon.”

“Do you really think he’s going to make it if Armand showed up at the house?” Wystan asked like he thought Paige was an idiot. “I’ll bet my digits, he won’t be here tonight. He’s not answering his phone.”

“That doesn’t mean anything,” Paige denied. “He rarely takes calls when he’s flying.”

Wystan didn’t say anything and instead of fighting with Paige, he concentrated on getting something out of his ear.

Narissa got up and took herself to the kitchen, leaving Paige and Wystan to wait for Harrison.

Finally, Paige asked, “When is Osric supposed to get here?”

“Any minute.”

Paige contemplated that if her life were a normal romance novel, Harrison or Osric would have strode in with a winning smile in under a minute if only to get the story moving, but neither of them showed up, and instead, Paige sat there staring at Wystan. Eventually, he got tired and yelled to Narissa that he was going home.

No one came to replace him and the time ticked on until dinner time. Narissa made Paige move to the bar to make room for paying customers, but she gave Paige a bowl of powdered onion soup on the house. Paige sighed and dipped her spoon into the dark liquid. It was the cheapest thing on the menu, even cheaper than the tea.

Partway through the evening, Paige went into the kitchen to wash dishes and help Narissa. Paige always thought customers there were sparse until she started cleaning their plates, then they seemed endless.

Osric arrived close to midnight.

He came into the kitchen and looked and sounded handsome and suave. It was ridiculous for a man to look so good in such thick glasses. It was also ridiculous that his charms did nothing for Paige. She wished Harrison had come instead.

Putting all that aside, she told Osric what Harrison had learned about M.T.N., the bull hearts becoming the cores of ruptors, and the cow she had met.

When she finished, Osric nodded, “Well, that certainly does raise some interesting questions. I’ll go out to the fields tomorrow and see if I can find a cow to test.”

“Be careful not to approach a bull by accident,” Narissa said vaguely from the corner of the kitchen. “They’re vicious.”

“Right. I need to find solitary cows,” Osric said cheerfully.

“Can you go stop by my house when you’re out there? Harrison may have ended up back there and it would be good if you could find out what’s going on. Can you?” Paige asked quietly.

Osric smiled like the tawny rogue that he was. “Anything… for a lady.”

Paige blinked at him.

He sighed. “Not in the mood?”

She put her index finger between her eyebrows. “No. Not really.”

***

That night Paige and Osric bunked up at Wystan’s house. Osric made a bed on the living room floor since he was too tall to lie comfortably on the crumbling compact couch. Paige tried sleeping on it, but it was no picnic for her either, since she couldn’t stretch out either. Her feet stuck out over the armrest. In the end, she rammed herself up on her side in the fetal position and looked at the top of Osric’s head.

After everyone went to bed, they were alone. It was summer and the crickets outside the open windows were chirping. Paige looked out through the patch where the window’s grime was thinner and peered at the liquid navy sky and the two or three white stars she could see twinkling. She wanted to see a chocker but saw nothing. She hoped Harrison was all right.

“Hey Osric,” she whispered. “Are you awake?”

“It’s only been three minutes since we shut off the lights. Of course, I’m awake. What do you need?”

“Can I borrow your phone? I want to try calling Harrison again.”

He forked it out and Paige tried Harrison’s number three times before she dropped it on Osric’s pillow with a quiet, “Thank you.”

“What’s so great about that guy anyway?” Osric asked as he reached his hand into his pocket to pull out his lighter. When Paige didn’t answer him, he began flicking a tiny flame on and off as a tell-tale sign of tension.

“Do you need a smoke?”

“Not really.”

The moment lasted. It was a moment where Paige hoped that Osric would let his question slide without pressing her for an answer.

But he pressed. “Is it too uncomfortable a question for me to ask? I notice you’re without your bracelet. Did he set you free or something? Is that why you’re so worried about him?”

“No,” Paige admitted. “Wystan cut it off me with a pair of bolt cutters.”

“Which is illegal.”

“Yeah,” Paige said before she explained the deafening buzzer that wouldn’t stop. “Besides, I’m not going to run away, so it doesn’t matter?”

“Why not? If I were you, I’d run away.” Osric’s voice sounded full of melancholy and deep longing in the darkness.

Something in his voice sounded like he thought any man who would buy a girl was a monster. Harrison wasn’t like that. She wasn’t his slave. She had to make Osric understand. “You know, I imagine most guys who would buy a girl would be sleazy, but Harrison’s not. In the case of belonging to him, it’s really not that different from being employed by him. He’s been a class act.”

“Really?” The tone was sarcastic.

“Yeah. He wants me to marry him.”

Osric let out a puff of air from his mouth like he was smoking. “I guess that’s that. He couldn’t be a bad guy if he wants to marry you. Most men wouldn’t marry a woman they’ve paid. A marriage contract at least gives you a few rights when you’ve already voluntarily signed them away.” He paused and still lying down, he began rummaging through his things. “You know, I really could do with a smoke.”

He sat up and took the cigarette in his hands. He lit it and just as he did, Paige saw the light from the fire gleam off something on his wrist. Paige glanced at it and then she stared. He was wearing a long-sleeved collared shirt, and for the most part, it covered a very thick linked chain that was very tight around his wrist. It could only be one thing. People didn’t wear wristwatches unless they were communicating with their slave. Paige had to see it up close to make sure.

After Osric finished his smoke, he put it out and rolled over to go to sleep. He slept on his left side, which was the same side that Paige wanted to check. So instead of going to sleep, she kept her eyes open and waited for him to turn onto his other side.

It felt like she waited forever before he finally did it.

When he did, Paige slid off the couch and tiptoed alongside him in her ankle socks. She crouched next to his hand and tugged gently on his sleeve.

BOOM! Osric snapped both her wrists into death grips and slammed her on the floor under him.

There was one breathless moment where they stared into each other’s eyes, and their bodies touched before his wristband started giving him electric shocks. He flew off her and gripped his burning wrist with his free hand. It was so violent, he was trembling.

Paige wanted to do something, but couldn’t. If she touched him again, it would no doubt trigger another shock. She could only stare at him in horror.

When it was over, Osric wiped his sweaty face with the sleeve of his shirt. “Find out what you wanted to know? You could have just asked.”

“Princess Elizabella owns you?” Paige whispered.

“I work for her in name only. In actuality, I am owned by her younger sister, Princess Angelina, who doesn't treat me the way your Harrison treats you.”

Paige swallowed a knot in her throat. “I’m sorry. That’s awful.”

“Awful? You haven’t seen the half of it. My bracelet—” he showed it to Paige freely now, “makes a report and sends it to her. It’ll say something like, ‘Model 2098 was approached by a free woman at one hundred hours.’ Then it’ll make it sound like we almost had sex before it put the buzzer on me.”

“But we didn’t almost have sex. The thought never crossed my mind. Did you think of it?”

He didn’t answer her. Instead, he said, “I’ll tell you one thing. You are damn lucky you weren’t wearing your bracelet because if you were, it would have connected you with the incident and sent a report to Harrison. It might have made him reconsider marrying you.”

“Well, if you knew that all that was going to happen then why didn’t you say something? Why did you drag me under you?”

Osric turned his head and stared off into nowhere rather than look at Paige. “I’m very attracted to you tonight.”

Paige glanced at him cautiously. Was he?

“It came out of nowhere. I have met hundreds of purchased women. Mostly, they are despicable people who would do anything for their fees. They're saving up for the day when they're no longer young and beautiful. I have never once thought that one of them was an unfortunate person. I, myself, am not a particularly unfortunate man.” He suddenly turned to face her and looking directly at her, he asked, “Do you know me? Do you know how I ended up like this? I bet you do. Guess.”

Paige thought about what she knew about him. “You were working as a private detective, but your business wasn’t doing so well. That’s how you know Wystan—because you were in similar circumstances with the plummeting economy. Then one day, just after Princess Elizabella got sick, someone from Princess Angelina’s staff came to see you. They interviewed you a few times, and eventually, you were invited to meet the princess herself. She offered you the job of hunting up information on Zaphier, but only on the condition that she would own you for five years? Did it go like that?”

Osric’s shoulders sagged and he rubbed his forehead with the palm of his hand. “You’re nearly on the money.”

“I remember a few things about the way Zaphier and his people do business. What’s different?”

“She didn’t hire me for five years. She purchased me until I figured out three things.”

“They are?”

“I have to find out how Elizabella got the virus in the first place. Second, I have to figure out a way to prove that Zaphier’s responsible so he can be prosecuted. I can't tell you the last thing she asked me to do.”

"Why?"

"Because if she had only asked me to do only the first two things, then she wouldn't have had to make me her slave. I would have been able to do the first two things without a bracelet."

"Things must have been desperate if you were willing to sign away your freedom."

"They were.” He frowned. “I thought it was a good deal when I signed up. If I can, then I’ll earn fifteen million dollars, and if I can’t, I’ll be working for Princess Angelina for the rest of my life. I might not be able to fulfill her exact wishes, but I think that I can trump her list if I can figure out a way to save Elizabella’s life.”

“You’re thinking of figuring out a way to cure M.T.N.? Holy cats! You’re ambitious!”

He shook his head. “I don’t think it’s ambitious at all. Animal testing has been done away with for ages, but after what you said today, I plan to reinstitute it.”

“I thought you wanted to run away.”

“Of course, I want to run away. What I want and what I do rarely connect.”

“Do they eat beef? I know Zaphier and his friends do, but the princesses do too? All of them?”

“All of them.”

Paige looked around the room awkwardly. “Do you think that was where Elizabella got the M.T.N.? Do you think she ate a heart while everyone else ate steaks?”

Osric gasped and sputtered, “Maybe. I’ll get a call from Angelina in the morning and see what she knows.”

“Okay. We’ve got a plan,” Paige said. She stood up and went back to her place on the couch. She scratched her head and rested it on the pillow, this time with her back to Osric.

Then she felt his voice slipping over her shoulder like a hand. “I heard that Harrison pretty much gave up everything he had to buy you. It was no mistake on his part. A girl like you is worth everything a man has.”

Paige sighed into the darkness. “I don’t know about that. I’ve made so many mistakes.” She paused. “I love him, you know.”

“I know, but tonight, I can’t stop being attracted to you.”

***

Harrison tried to get comfortable in the pilot’s seat in Excalibur, but it was no use. A helocarrier just wasn’t designed to be slept in. His engine was silent and the power was off. There was still a bit of juice left in the battery, but for now, it was better to keep everything off to let the ruptor charge naturally.

He’d lost Armand. It was nothing shy of a miracle, but now, he had no idea where he was and he dared not send any messages to the satellites in case it gave away his position.

Thinking of Paige, he hoped she was all right.