Tara The Great [Nuworld 2] by Lorie O'Claire

with his hand. “We need a layout of this
    place, we do. Go back to that screen.”
     
    “We don’t have to convince anybody now. Keep your hands off of me.”
     
    He grabbed the back of her hair and pulled tightly, forcing her head back. His
    expression turned hard with scorn. Then just as quickly as he’d acted, he loosened his
    grip on her hair and his face softened. He let out a slow sigh and stared into her eyes.
     
    “Keep yourself focused on this mission,” he said the words almost as if he were
    commanding his own thoughts as well as hers. “We need a layout and we don’t have
    much time, I’m thinking. I don’t imagine they’re going to tolerate our disabling their
     

 
    room, my lady. They’ll be here soon if they’ve got any warrior blood in them, yes.” He
    let go of her and moved to the door, listening.
     
    Tara backed out of the Runner transmission without making contact with her
    people. Now she was in uncharted territory. She couldn’t move as fast. The Lunian
    landlink system ran differently than anything she’d ever seen before. She accessed their
    files easily enough, but the names on the files appeared to be coded, and she started
    playing guessing games.
     
    She jumped when the light on the receiver began blinking and beeping again. Tara
    reached for it, but Darius grabbed it before she could. “If you wish to speak to us, you
    will do so in person,” he said into the receiver before returning it to the cradle. “I don’t
    know how much time that bought you, Tara, but move quickly, yes.”
     
    It didn’t buy her enough time. Within seconds, the door slid open and Brev
    appeared with several guards. Darius stood at the entrance and held the laser tight in
    his hand but pointed at the floor. Brev glanced at the small burn hole in the ceiling
    above the landlink.
     
    “As promised, here are your weapons.” Brev’s face looked strained.
     
    Tara guessed he followed orders under protest.
     
    Brev stood unmoving, with his hands clasped behind his back, and watched the
    guards turn over the confiscated weapons. His lips were pinched in a flat line, and his
    light-colored eyes followed the movement as his guards handed over lasers and the
    Eliminator to Darius.
     
    The man did not look pleased. “I’ve also arranged for some food for you,” Brev
    added as he continued to stand at the entrance of the room.
     
    One of the guards placed a tray on the edge of the bed. The only other table in the
    room had the landlink on it, and Tara was still sitting there.
     
    “After you eat, we would like to have you join us in our conference room. Would
    you be willing to do that?”
     
    There was a note of sarcasm in Brev’s voice—an implication that they might be too
    busy destroying the room to attend a meeting. At least, that was what Tara guessed
    were his thoughts.
     
    “We’ll be there, yes.” Darius either ignored the sarcasm or didn’t notice it. He
    bowed his head slightly in acknowledgment of the invitation.
     
    Brev opened his mouth as if to speak, but then closed it. He looked from Darius to
    Tara, smiled slightly and bowed his head. “Good. I’ll send an escort for you in an
    hour.” He backed out of the room, along with his guards, and was gone.
     
    A guard arrived at their room exactly one hour later. He led them down the long
    hallway, turned left to follow an adjacent hallway, then through two sliding doors into
    a large room.
     
    “Welcome,” Polva greeted them as they walked in the door. “Please, join us at the
    table. My husband will be here shortly.”
     

 
    Tara accepted a chair across the table from Polva and studied the woman, who
    chewed the corner of her finger and cast wide, pale eyes on Darius. Tara thought she
    saw a mixture of fear and curiosity in this foreign woman’s expression, and watched as
    Polva shifted in her seat and glanced at the door. Polva might know her husband’s
    work since she was here on this mission with Brev, and