He seemed to notice the new outfits for the first time. “Did those come from Shelton’s?”

  “Yeah. Do you like?” Emerald posed for her before spinning in a circle to show off her dress.

  “They’re very nice,” the nurse replied, unimpressed. “How did you pay for them?”

  “I have a neural link,” Quasar said. “I used it to contact a friend. She’s taking care of everything.”

  “A neural link?” He tapped on the slab again. “You didn’t declare it during intake.”

  “Was I supposed to?”

  He nodded. “You can transfer identification through it, which will expedite the process of setting you up with everything you need to be discharged.”

  “We need to be discharged right now,” I said. “Or at least, we need to go out for a while. We’re here on our honeymoon." I reached out and took Emerald's hand." We can’t spend the entire time cooped up in our suite.”

  “I’m sorry, sir. We’re legally obligated to restrict your movement until you're discharged. Also, I see here that Planetary Defense requested we withhold discharge papers until they’ve finished questioning you.”

  “Questioning us? About what?”

  “About what happened on the waterfront, I imagine. Apparently, they aren’t done with you yet.”

  “What happens if we try to leave anyway?” I asked.

  “I can’t physically stop you, sir. But I will be forced to inform PD, and they won’t see your actions in a positive light. You should also be aware that without PD clearance, no starship operator on Bushara would risk their livelihood to transport you.”

  “And there’s no way to convince you to keep quiet about our little…" I smiled down at Emerald as she sidled up closer to me and put her hand on my arm."...diversion."

  "Please," she implored, biting down on her lower lip.

  “We’ll be back in a few hours," I added. "As long as you stay quiet, nobody will even know we were gone.”

  He hesitated, pursing his lips as he deliberated, obviously weighing the risk versus reward of taking a bribe. “It would take a lot of convincing.”

  I glanced at Quasar. “Can you make it happen?”

  She nodded. “All I need is an account ID.”

  The nurse, still hesitant, finally pulled out his slab and turned the screen toward Quasar, showing her his ID. I assumed the neural link would capture it and Quasar could pass it on to digi-Gia. His slab buzzed while he was still showing Quasar his ID.

  “Is that convincing enough?” I asked when he turned his slab around and saw the number, his eyes widening. Fifty-thousand electro had been dropped into his account.

  “I honestly don’t know how you slipped out without me noticing,” he replied. “I must have been in the bathroom.”

  “Timing is everything,” I agreed as the elevator arrived.

  “Well, that was annoying,” Emerald, still holding onto my arm, whispered to me as we stepped into the cab.

  “He’s just doing his job,” I replied as I punched the button for the ground floor and we began our descent. “At least he took the bribe.”

  “Why do you think PD still wants to talk to us?”

  “I don’t know,” Quasar answered. “It’s only a matter of time before they realize we aren’t on any of the passenger manifests. Then they’ll really want to talk to us.”

  “I don’t intend for us to be here when that happens,” I said.

  The cab came to a stop on the eighth floor. Four PD officers, including the one from the tram, stood in front of the opening doors, waiting to get on.

  From beside me, Emerald snorted. “You were saying?”

  CHAPTER 23

  “Well, I’ll be damned,” the officer from the tram said as he stared at me through the open elevator door. “That’s them, Sergeant.” His eyes moved to Quasar. “And I remember you from the tram, too. You weren’t sitting together, though. You were with another guy. Bald and kind of ugly.”

  “I guess this is our lucky day,” the lead officer said. Probably the sergeant. “We were just coming to see you. Instead, you came to us.” Smirking, he stepped into the cab. The rest of the PD officers followed, backing us up against the wall. “Where are you three headed? As far as I know, you haven’t been cleared for discharge yet.”

  “Just going down to the lobby,” I said. “I assume you have a gift shop?”

  “We never had a chance to buy any souvenirs,” Emerald added. “What with the natural disaster and all. You should probably be more worried about that than you are about us.”

  “We have plenty of people on that already,” the sergeant replied. “And we still have a city to protect. Those are interesting outfits you're wearing for browsing in a gift shop. By their quality, I’m guessing you ordered them from Shelton’s.”

  “Is it illegal to wear nice clothes?” Quasar asked.

  “Not at all,” the sergeant replied, reaching back to the control panel. He quickly tapped in a code that opened a panel beneath the control pad. When he flipped a switch inside, the cab came to an abrupt stop between floors. “I hope you aren’t claustrophobic.”

  “Are you trying to intimidate us?” I asked. “This can’t be legal.”

  “It’s entrapment,” Emerald agreed.

  “We just want to have a chat with you,” the sergeant answered. “It should only take a few minutes, and then you can head back up to your suite.”

  “No. I still want to go to the gift shop.” Emerald pouted.

  “You can order from the gift shop over the hypernet. But I don’t believe that’s where you were going. I think you were headed for a night out on the town. Hit a few clubs. Maybe get drunk. Nothing really wrong with that, except Junto Kine said you’re responsible for what happened.” He wrapped his hand around his holstered blaster. The other officers with him did the same. “What do you say to that?”

  I looked the sergeant in the eye while doing my best not to reveal the background fury over Junto giving us up to PD. Maybe Gia could claw her electro back somehow, at least. “How are we responsible for a tsunami? We’re just people here to relax and have some fun for the next few days.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I said to Junto. And he told me I was wrong. He said you did something to keep the water out of his saferoom, otherwise everyone in it would have drowned.”

  “Junto’s in trouble for the illegal operating room, isn’t he?” I asked.

  “That’s not relevant to this interaction.”

  “Isn’t it? You don’t think he would say anything he needed to get the heat off himself?”

  “He probably would,” the sergeant admitted. “The only problem with that is we don’t just trust. We verify. Which is why I’m here talking to you. And I’ve got to tell you, the fact that you were on your way out the door without permission doesn’t look especially good for you.”

  “So he told you that I somehow kept the water out of the room, and you believed that?” I asked.

  “His wife and kid corroborated. And a survivor we found who got washed out to sea said he spotted you tossing some other guy with your mind or something. He got tossed around himself, so maybe that’s all bullshit. It all seems real strange to me, but I’m sure you can help me sort it out.”

  “Even if I could do what you’re saying, do you think I'd admit it? And you obviously don’t believe it anyway or you wouldn’t have trapped yourself in an elevator with me.”

  “I can handle myself,” the sergeant said. “But you’re right. I don’t really believe him. What I can’t figure out is why he would tell a crazy story like that to get himself out of trouble. You know how Galaxy Man is so bad it’s good?”

  “Don’t you mean it's so bad it’s bad?” Emerald asked.

  The sergeant laughed. “Well, his story was so insane, part of me wonders if there is some truth to it.”

  What I couldn’t believe was that Junto had gone that far with his story without just telling PD the whole truth. He knew who I was. He could have convinced Planetary Defense of that more easily than claiming I had something to do with the destruction. What he had proven he believed was whatever threats Gia had made to him about giving up my identity.

  “So, what do you have to say for yourself?” the sergeant continued. “I mean, it is awfully coincidental that you were on the tram when two people died and then at the waterfront when the tidal wave came in.”

  “Coincidence. Wrong place at the wrong time,” I said. “Nothing more. Like I told the officer standing behind you, we’re on our honeymoon. I know I look a little like Benjamin Murdock, but I’m not. I’m also not a damned wizard.”

  He smiled and nodded cordially. “Fair enough. What about her?” He pointed to Quasar again. “She wasn’t with you before. Now she is. The nurse tending to you said she’s your wife also.”

  “That’s not illegal where we’re from,” I said.

  “That’s not my concern. But why weren’t you sitting together on the tram? Why was wife number two the last person to touch victim number one on the tram? And wizard or not, waterfront or not, that part alone seems fishy to me.”

  "Really? As if I could actually murder a man." Emerald huffed before looking as if she might cry herself. "Ridiculous."

  “Look, Sergeant, are you planning to charge us with a crime?” I asked. “Because if not, we have every right to go down to the gift shop and then back to our suite. You can’t hold us prisoner here.”

  He shrugged. “Actually, I can take you down to the precinct and hold you for questioning all night if I want. Or you can just answer my questions right here. If you have nothing to hide, you shouldn't have a problem with that."

  I glanced at Emerald, then Quasar. I was getting tired of this waste of time. Maybe Matt could sweet talk us out of this, but Matt wasn’t here. I only knew one other way to end things.

  “I have another idea,” I said, slowly shifting my hands.

  “What’s that?” the sergeant asked.

  With gloves on, the PD officers couldn’t see the veins in my hands glowing a brighter blue. Before they could react to my push, I pinned them all back against the cab door.

  “There’s something you should know, Sergeant,” I said, glaring at them as they tried to move to draw their blasters, their eyes widening in fearful surprise over being held fast. “I am a wizard.”

  I shifted my hands, lifting them along the wall and then pulling and pushing until they were pressed one next to another along the top of the cab.

  “But I didn’t cause the tidal wave. Believe it or not, I was fighting the asshole who did. Now, we’re on our way to rescue Prince Hiro—I’m sure you know who that is—and you’re getting in the way of that. Do you know what that means?”

  “N…no,” the sergeant stammered.

  I reached up, putting my hand on his forehead and activating calm. “It means lights out for you.”

  His eyes rolled back in his head, his breathing becoming so shallow it was barely discernable.

  “What did you just do?” the officer from the tram cried. “Is he dead? Did you kill him?”

  “I just told you I’m trying to stop the bad guys and rescue the rightful heir to the Hegemony. Why would I kill him? He’s taking a very relaxing nap. He’ll wake up feeling better than he has in a long time. So will you.” I calmed the other two officers, leaving him for last.

  “Who…who are you?” he asked.

  I smiled up at him, putting my hand to his forehead. “I’m Benjamin Murdock.” It didn’t sound quite as cool and ominous as I’m Batman, but it felt pretty damn good. "Enjoy your nap." I calmed him to sleep, unable to keep the smug grin off my face as his eyes closed and his breathing slowed.

  “Okay. We’re stuck in an elevator with four unconscious PD officers. Now what?” Quasar asked.

  I turned to face her. “Hospitals on Earth are notorious for failing to patch software security flaws and getting hit with ransomware. There’s no part of me that doesn’t believe Gia can move this elevator to an empty suite. We drop off PD and by the time anyone finds them or they wake up, we’ll be back aboard Head Case.”

  “Ooh, I like that idea,” Emerald cooed.

  Quasar smiled. “Not bad, Captain. Gia’s on it.” The elevator began to move again, ascending to the sixty-third floor. “She said that based on occupancy records, this floor should be empty.”

  “Perfect,” I replied.

  The doors slid open, revealing an empty nurse’s station and a barren corridor. I pulled the officers from the ceiling before pushing them ahead of us, using the same gimmick Lyke had employed back on Omega Station.

  “Gia, pick a room,” I said, assuming she could still hear me through Quasar.

  A door opened about halfway down the hall. I guided the officers toward it, eager to be moving in the right direction again. I froze when I thought I heard a voice echo from an adjoining corridor. I enhanced my hearing, allowing me to make out the words.

  “That’s all I know,” I heard a terrified Lorai say, her voice quivering. “I swear. It’s probably for when they’re discharged. Nobody wants to leave the hospital in those white linens.”

  “Dark clothes?” a light, heavily accented voice hissed back. “In the daytime? On Bushara?”

  Lorai screeched painfully. “Please. They can’t be discharged yet. They don’t have permission.”

  “Believe me, girl. Benjamin Murdock doesn’t wait for permission.”

  It took listening to a few more words before I placed the voice. I wouldn’t have believed it if I wasn’t hearing it.

  “Ben, what is it?” Quasar asked.

  “Freaking Lagrond,” I replied. “That asshole is here.”

  “You’re kidding me.”

  “Who’s Lagrond?” Emerald asked.

  I put my finger to my lips to quiet them both. Of course, Emerald chose not to listen.”Who’s Lagrond?” she asked again, but this time she at least whispered. I ignored her, listening closer.

  “His…his name is Jackson. He’s not the fugitive that murdered all those nobles. He’s so sweet.”

  Lagrond laughed. “Poor, naive girl. I’m sorry you had to get mixed up in this. I suppose we can just add you to his ledger. Nobody will question otherwise, once they learn he was here.”

  “What? No. Noooo!”

  “Shut up!” Lagrond hissed, pausing in killing Lorai when he heard me drop the men to the floor and then our running footsteps headed his way. “You said this floor was deserted.”

  “It is,” Lorai whined back. “I swear.”

  I ripped around the corner, Quasar right behind me. Emerald was a little slower out of the gate. Lagrond had his back to me, Lorai pressed into a corner, four other Niflin and one human woman with him. Probably an archon. I hadn’t regained enough energy to beat her if she was anything more.

  Quasar shot first, smartly targeting the archon. But she didn't shoot fast enough. The woman whipped around and reflected Zar's rounds back at her. Zar dived out of the way before they nearly took her head off. Meanwhile, Lagrond and the other Niflin had turned around to face us.

  “Ahhh, Murdock, there you are,” Lagrond said, smiling. "You saved me the trouble of finding you by coming to me.”

  I smirked. The tremors in his voice had betrayed his confident words. He didn’t know I was so spent, but maybe I could use that to my advantage.

  I pushed the archon, testing her as I raced down the corridor toward them. The archon pushed back as the Niflin, except for Lagrond, drew their guns. He looked like he was trying to find somewhere to hide. The archon's counter-force overcame my effort, hitting me like a sledgehammer and flipping me backward, leaving me sprawled on my rear in the middle of the corridor.

  Both she and Lagrond would know now that I was spent.

  The archon's smile revealed her belief that she had me. I wasn't so sure that she didn't. She aimed her left hand at me. A lightning bolt shot out of her fingertips, lancing into my abdomen and burning an instantly cauterized hole right through me. What the hell? I managed to get absorb up for the next one, catching the energy. Too weak to hold it, I lost control, and it shot into the wall, burning a hole through it as well.

  “Shaq,” I groaned. “Help.”

  He squirmed out from under my scarf, darting to the wall and climbing up it to rush the archon. She flinched when she saw him, turning immediately toward him. Rather than push him against the wall, the archon unleashed plasma bolts at him. He danced this way and that along the wall, avoiding the bolts before launching himself at her. She pushed him then, throwing him back toward me. He landed beside me, stunned.

  After seeing the archon's push bowl me over, Legrond had regained his courage, pulling his blaster and swinging it my way. Still sprawled on the floor, Quasar took aim at him, but before she could fire on him, he grabbed Lorai and pulled her in front of him. Zar held her fire, letting him duck away. The Niflin beside him wasn’t as lucky. Too slow to react, he took a pair of Quasar's rounds in the chest, landing on the floor in a dead heap. The others scrambled around the adjacent corner, leaning back around the corner, to fire wildly down the passageway, their firing lanes limited by the archon standing in front of them.

  It was only then that I noticed Emerald was gone. She had stopped trailing me at some point, vanishing to who-knew-where. Had she given up on me, too? Or did she have something else in mind? I hoped it was the latter. Otherwise, I didn’t think we would survive.

  Nauseous and slightly dizzy, I stumbled to my feet, restore still working to fix the hole the archon had put in my belly. I wasn’t sure I could heal another hit like that before I completely ran out of energy. For the second time today, I was thankful I had grabbed something to eat, or I would still have been on the floor, possibly paralyzed.

  Or even dead.

  Shaq landed on the floor and quickly rolled aside to avoid the energy bolt that came his way. The archon paused her attack, raising a reflect shield as Quasar fired on her. She was smartly firing from an awkward angle over her head, making sure none of the ricochets would come back to hit us.

  I added my own blaster fire to her assault. As long as we kept shooting, the archon would need to keep her shield up to defend herself, preventing her from sending lightning bolts our way. Meanwhile, Shaq crept forward, hugging the wall and trying to sneak through the sigiltech action by limiting his velocity.